======================================================================== EARLY CHRISTIAN DICTIONARY by The Early Church ======================================================================== A reference dictionary of terms, concepts, and names important to early Christianity, providing definitions and explanations of the vocabulary and ideas that shaped the first centuries of the church. Chapters: 130 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 0. Early Christian Dictionary 1. Abel 2. Abortion 3. Academics 4. Adam 5. Adornment, Outward 6. Adultery 7. Angels 8. Antichrist 9. Apostles 10. Assembly, Christian 11. Atonement 12. Baptism 13. Beard 14. Beast, Description and Mark of the 15. Bishops and Deacons 16. Blood of Christ 17. Occupations of Christians 18. Canon, New Testament 19. Celibacy 20. Children 21. Christ 22. Christianity 23. Chronology 24. Church and State 25. Church, The 26. Clothing 27. Commandments, Keeping 28. Community, Christian 29. Confession of sin 30. Conversations 31. Cosmetics 32. Covenant, Old & New 33. Cross, The 34. Dead 35. Death, Christian attitude towards 36. Demons 37. Deuterocanonical Books 38. Divisions 39. Divorce and Remarriage 40. Easter 41. Judging Others 42. Enoch 43. Entertainment 44. Eternal rewards and punishments 45. Eucharist 46. Evangelism 47. Excommunication 48. Exorcism 49. Faith 50. Fall of man 51. Fasting 52. Fear of God 53. Food 54. Free-will and predestination 55. Gifts of the Holy Spirit 56. God 57. Gods, pagan 58. Grace 59. Happiness of man 60. Headcovering 61. Heresies 62. Hermeneutics 63. Holidays 64. Holy Kiss 65. Holy Spirit 66. Homosexuality 67. Hospitality 68. Husbands 69. Hymns 70. Ignatius 71. James, the Lord's brother 72. Jesus 73. Judaism 74. John, the Apostle 75. Judgment of God 76. Judging Others 77. Kingdoms, Two 78. Lasts Days 79. Law, Mosaic 80. Law Suits 81. Lord's Day 82. Love of Enemies 83. Septuagint; or the LXX 84. Fall of man 85. Beast, Description and Mark of the 86. Marriage 87. Martyrs, Martyrdom 88. Materialism 89. Medicine 90. Millennium 91. Miracles 92. Modesty 93. Music 94. New Birth 95. Oaths, Swearing 96. Offerings 97. Paradise 98. Patriotism 99. Perfection, Christian 100. Persecution 101. Peter and Paul 102. Pharisees 103. Philosophy 104. Politics 105. Polycarp 106. Polygamy 107. Poverty and Prosperity 108. Prayer 109. Prophets and Prophecy 110. Purity 111. Repentance 112. Resurrection of the Dead 113. Rewards and Punishments, Eternal 114. Sabbath 115. Salvation 116. Satan 117. Sibyl 118. Soul 119. Taxes 120. Temples 121. Tithes 122. Tree of Life & Tree Knowledge 123. Usury 124. War 125. Widows and Orphans 126. Wine 127. The Woman's Place 128. Works, Good 129. World, Separation From ======================================================================== CHAPTER 0: EARLY CHRISTIAN DICTIONARY ======================================================================== ======================================================================== CHAPTER 1: ABEL ======================================================================== And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. Genesis 4:2-8 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. 1 John 3:11-12 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaks. Hebrews 11:4 For thus it is written: “And it came to pass after certain days, that Cain brought of the fruits of the earth a sacrifice unto God; and Abel also brought of the firstlings of his sheep, and of the fat thereof. And God had respect to Abel and to his offerings, but Cain and his sacrifices He did not regard. And Cain was deeply grieved, and his countenance fell. And God said to Cain, Why are you grieved, and why is your countenance fallen? If you offer rightly, but dost not divide rightly, has you not sinned? Be at peace: your offering returns to yourself, and you shall again possess it. And Cain said to Abel his brother, Let us go into the field. And it came to pass, while they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” You see, brethren, how envy and jealousy led to the murder of a brother. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 4 [These act] as Cain [did, who], when he was counseled by God to keep quiet, because he had not made an equitable division of that share to which his brother was entitled, but with envy and malice thought that he could domineer over him, not only did not acquiesce, but even added sin to sin, indicating his state of mind by his action. For what he had planned, that did he also put in practice: he tyrannized over and slew him; God subjecting the just to the unjust, that the former might be proved as the just one by the things which he suffered, and the latter detected as the unjust by those which he perpetrated. And he was not softened even by this, nor did he stop short with that evil deed; but being asked where his brother was, he said, "I know not; am I my brother's keeper?" extending and aggravating [his] wickedness by his answer. For if it is wicked to slay a brother, much worse is it thus insolently and irreverently to reply to the omniscient God as if he could battle Him. And for this he did himself bear a curse about with him, because he gratuitously brought an offering of sin, having had no reverence for God, nor being put to confusion by the act of fratricide. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 pg. 456-457 For at the beginning God had respect to the gifts of Abel, because he offered with single-mindedness and righteousness; but He had no respect unto the offering of Cain, because his heart was divided with envy and malice, which he cherished against his brother, as God says when reproving his hidden [thoughts], "Though you offer rightly, yet, if you dost not divide rightly, have you not sinned? Be at rest;" since God is not appeased by sacrifice. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 pg. 485 "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you are like white sepulchers. For the sepulcher appears beautiful outside, but within it is full of dead men's bones, and all uncleanness; even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of wickedness and hypocrisy." For while they were thought to offer correctly so far as outward appearance went, they had in themselves jealousy like to Cain; therefore they slew the Just One, slighting the counsel of the Word, as did also Cain. For [God] said to him, "Be at rest;" but he did not assent. Now what else is it to "be at rest" than to forego purposed violence? Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 pg. 485 Thus, also, when He gave the law of prayer, He added, saying, “And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” And He calls back from the altar one who comes to the sacrifice in strife, and bids him first agree with his brother, and then return with peace and offer his gift to God: for God had not respect unto Cain’s offerings; for he could not have God at peace with him, who through envious discord had not peace with his brother. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 5 pg. 425 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 2: ABORTION ======================================================================== If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life. Exodus 21:22-23 And the second commandment of the Teaching; you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 2 They marry like all other men and they beget children; but they do not cast away their offspring. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 5 But as for us, we have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men; and this we have been taught lest we should do any one an injury, and lest we should sin against God, first, because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are brought up to prostitution. Justin Martyr (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 pg. 172 And again [we fear to expose children], lest some of them be not picked up, but die, and we become murderers. But whether we marry, it is only that we may bring up children; or whether we decline marriage, we live continently. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 pg. 172 And when we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder? For it does not belong to the same person to regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being, and therefore an object of God's care, and when it has passed into life, to kill it; and not to expose an infant, because those who expose them are chargeable with child-murder, and on the other hand, when it has been reared to destroy it. Athenagoras (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.147 And though maintaining parrots and curlews, they do not receive the orphan child; but they expose children that are born at home, and take up the young of birds, and prefer irrational to rational creatures. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.279 How many even of your rulers, notable for their justice to you and for their severe measures against us, may I charge in their own consciences with the sin of putting their offspring to death? As to any difference in the kind of murder, it is certainly the more cruel way to kill by drowning, or by exposure to cold and hunger and dogs…our case, murder being once for all forbidden, we may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man-killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth. That is a man which is going to be one. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.25 But then you make away with them in a more cruel manner, because you expose them to the cold and hunger, and to wild beasts, or else you get rid of them by the slower death of drowning. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 123-124 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 3: ACADEMICS ======================================================================== Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. 1 Timothy 4:15-16 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law does he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he dos shall prosper. Psalm 1:1-3 And that it did so come to pass, we can convince you. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world, men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the word of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 For [God] sets before every race of mankind that which is always and universally just, as well as all righteousness; and every race knows that adultery, and fornication, and homicide, and such like, are sinful; and though they all commit such practices, yet they do not escape from the knowledge that they act unrighteous whenever they so do, with the exception of those who are possessed with an unclean spirit, and who have been debased by education, by wicked customs, and by sinful institutions, and who have lost, or rather quenched and put under, their natural ideas. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.246 For neither by nature nor by human conception is it possible for men to know things so great and divine, but by the gift which then descended from above upon the holy men, who had no need of rhetorical art, nor of uttering anything in a contentious or quarrelsome manner, but to present themselves pure to the energy of the Divine Spirit, in order that the divine plectrum itself, descending from heaven, and using righteous men as an instrument like a harp or lyre, might reveal to us the knowledge of things divine and heavenly. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 276 Not that I am practiced either in composition or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to you and all your companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment until now, but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to light. "For there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be made known." You will not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltae, and am accustomed for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display of rhetoric, which I have never learned, or any excellence of composition, which I have never practiced, or any beauty and persuasiveness of style, to which I make no pretensions. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.316 The Instructor (Jesus) being practical, not theoretical, His aim is thus to improve the soul, not to teach, and to train it up to a virtuous, not to an intellectual life…But our Educator (Jesus) being practical, first exhorts to the attainment of right dispositions and character, and then persuades us to the energetic practice of our duties, commanding on us pure commandments, and exhibiting to such as come after representations of those who formerly wandered in error. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.209 What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? What concord is there between the Academy and the Church? What between heretics and Christians? Our instruction comes from "the porch of Solomon," who had himself taught that "the Lord should be sought in simplicity of heart." Away with all attempts to produce a mottled Christianity of Stoic, Platonic, and dialectic composition! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 246 SEE ALSO: PHILOSOPHY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 4: ADAM ======================================================================== And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the LORD God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. Genesis 2:16-19 And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. 1 Corinthians 15:45 For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.457 Now Adam had been conquered, all life having been taken away from him: wherefore, when the foe was conquered in his turn, Adam received new life; and the last enemy, death, is destroyed, which at the first had taken possession of man. Therefore, when man has been liberated, "what is written shall come to pass, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is thy victory? O death where is thy sting?" This could not be said with justice, if that man, over whom death did first obtain dominion, were not set free. For his salvation is death's destruction. When therefore the Lord quickens man, that is, Adam, death is at the same time destroyed. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.457 But he did not know God's power. Thus also do those who disallow Adam's salvation gain nothing, except this, that they render themselves heretics and apostates from the truth, and show themselves patrons of the serpent and of death. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 458 In the beginning, therefore, did God form Adam, not as if He stood in need of man, but that He might have [some one] upon whom to confer His benefits. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 478 "But that is not first which is spiritual," says the apostle, speaking this as if with reference to us human beings; "but that is first which is animal, afterwards that which is spiritual," in accordance with reason. For there had been a necessity that, in the first place, a human being should be fashioned, and that what was fashioned should receive the soul; afterwards that it should thus receive the communion of the Spirit. Wherefore also "the first Adam was made" by the Lord "a living soul, the second Adam a quickening spirit." As, then, he who was made a living soul forfeited life when he turned aside to what was evil, so, on the other hand, the same individual, when he reverts to what is good, and receives the quickening Spirit, shall find life. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.538 Adam readily chose what was wrong, following his wife. So he neglected what is true and good. On which account he exchanged his immortal life for a mortal life – but not forever. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.369 Adam was perfect as far as his formation. … So the cause [of his sin] lay in his choosing – his choosing what was forbidden. God was not the cause. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.437 The question propounded to us by the heretics is: Was Adam created perfect or imperfect? If imperfect, how could the work of a perfect God … be imperfect? And if Adam was created perfect, how did he transgress the commandment? They shall hear from us in reply that he was not perfect [or complete] at his creation. Rather, he was adapted to the reception of virtue. … For God created man for immortality and made him an image of His own nature. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.502 God did not actually curse Adam and Eve, because they were candidates for restoration. That is because they had been relieved by confession. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 317 Since Adam was a figure of Christ, Adam’s sleep foreshadowed the death of Christ (who was to sleep a mortal slumber). Similarly, the church, the true mother of the living, was pictured by the wound inflicted on His side. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.222 God, having made man, … placed him in Paradise – that is, in a most fruitful and pleasant garden. He planted the garden in the regions of the east with every kind of wood and tree. This was so that man could be nourished by their various fruits. Being free from all labors, man could devote himself entirely to the service of God his Father. Then He gave to man fixed commands, by the observance of which he might continue immortal. Or, if he transgressed them, he would be punished with death. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 62 SEE ALSO: FALL OF MAN, FREE WILL ======================================================================== CHAPTER 5: ADORNMENT, OUTWARD ======================================================================== Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1 Peter 3:3-4 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; but (which becomes women professing godliness) with good works. 1 Timothy 2:9-10 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Revelation 17:3-5 It is childish to admire excessively dark or green stones, and things cast out by the sea on foreign shores, particles of the earth. For to rush after stones that are pellucid and of peculiar colors, and stained glass, is only characteristic of silly people, who are attracted by things that have a striking show. Thus children, on seeing the fire, rush to it, attracted by its brightness; not understanding through senselessness the danger of touching it. Such is the case with the stones which silly women wear fastened to chains and set in necklaces. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.267 But these women, who comprehend not the symbolism of Scripture, gape all they can for jewels, adducing the astounding apology, "Why may I not use what God has exhibited?" and, "I have it by me, why may I not enjoy it?" and, "For whom were these things made, then, if not for us?" Such are the utterances of those who are totally ignorant of the will of God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.268 For God has given to us, I know well, the liberty of use, but only so far as necessary; and He has determined that the use should be common. And it is monstrous for one to live in luxury, while many are in want. How much more glorious is it to do good to many, than to live sumptuously! How much wiser to spend money on human being, than on jewels and gold! Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.269 And let not their ears be pierced, contrary to nature, in order to attach to them earrings and ear-drops. For it is not right to force nature against her wishes. Nor could there be any better ornament for the ears than true instruction, which finds its way naturally into the passages of hearing. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.270 Love of dainties and love of wine, though great vices, are not of such magnitude as fondness for finery. "A full table and repeated cups" are enough to satisfy greed. But to those who are fond of gold, and purple, and jewels, neither the gold that is above the earth and below it is sufficient… Such people are ready to die with their gold. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.273 To such an extent, then, has luxury advanced, that not only are the female sex deranged about this frivolous pursuit, but men also are infected with the disease. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.275 Wherefore the wearing of gold and the use of softer clothing is not to be entirely prohibited. But irrational impulses must be curbed, lest, carrying us away through excessive relaxation, they impel us to sensuality… But there are circumstances in which this strictness may be relaxed. For allowance must sometimes be made in favor of those women who have not been fortunate in having godly husbands, and adorn themselves in order to please their husbands. But let desire for the admiration of their husbands alone be proposed as their aim. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.284-285 The Word prohibits us from doing violence to nature by boring the lobes of the ears. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.285 But women who wear gold seem to me to be afraid, lest, if one strip them of their jewelry, they should be taken for servants, without their ornaments. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.285 The Instructor orders them to go forth "in becoming apparel, and adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety," "subject to their own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold," he says, "your chaste conversation. Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." For the labor of their own hands, above all, adds genuine beauty to women, exercising their bodies and adorning themselves by their own exertions; not bringing unnatural ornament wrought by others, which is vulgar and superficial, but that of every good woman, supplied and woven by her own hands whenever she most requires. For it is never suitable for women whose lives are framed according to God, to appear arrayed in things bought from the market, but in their own home-made work. For a most beautiful thing is it thrifty wife, who clothes both herself and her husband with fair array of her own working; in which all are glad--the children on account of their mother, the husband on account of his wife, she on their account, and all in God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.287 Not to deck and adorn herself beyond what is becoming, renders a wife free of calumnious suspicion. While she devotes herself assiduously to prayers and supplications; avoiding frequent departures from the house, and shutting herself up as far as possible from the view of all not related to her, and deeming housekeeping of more consequence than impertinent trifling. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.379 Therefore a woman, taking counsel from the apostles' foresight, will not too elaborately adorn herself, that she may not either be crowned with any exquisite arrangement of her hair. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 102 For they, withal, who instituted them are assigned, under condemnation, to the penalty of death, --those angels, to wit, who rushed from heaven on the daughters of men; so that this ignominy also attaches to woman. For when to an age much more ignorant (than ours) they had disclosed certain well-concealed material substances, and several not well-revealed scientific arts--if it is true that they had laid bare the operations of metallurgy, and had divulged the natural properties of herbs, and had promulgated the powers of enchantments, and had traced out every curious art, even to the interpretation of the stars--they conferred properly and as it were peculiarly upon women that instrumental mean of womanly ostentation, the radiances of jewels wherewith necklaces are variegated, and the circlets of gold wherewith the arms are compressed, and the medicaments of orchil with which wools are colored, and that black powder itself wherewith the eyelids and eyelashes are made prominent. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 14-15 Nay, rather banish quite away from your "free" head all this slavery of ornamentation. In vain do you labor to seem adorned: in vain do you call in the aid of all the most skilful manufacturers of false hair. God bids you "be veiled." I believe (He does so) for fear the heads of some should be seen! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 22 Let us only wish that we may be no cause for just blasphemy! But how much more provocative of blasphemy is it that you, who are called modesty's priestesses, should appear in public decked and painted out after the manner of the immodest? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.24 The characteristics of ornaments, and of garments, and the allurements of beauty, are not fitting for any but prostitutes and immodest women; and the dress of none is more precious than of those whose modesty is lowly. Thus in the Holy Scriptures, by which the Lord wished us to be both instructed and admonished, the harlot city is described more beautifully arrayed and adorned, and with her ornaments; and the rather on account of those very ornaments about to perish. “And there came,” it is said, “one of the seven angels, which had the seven phials [vials], and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show you the judgment of the great whore, that sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And he carried me away in spirit; and I saw a woman sit upon a beast, and that woman was arrayed in a purple and scarlet mantle, and was adorned with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of curses, and filthiness, and fornication of the whole earth.” Let chaste and modest virgins avoid the dress of the unchaste, the manners of the immodest, the ensigns of brothels, the ornaments of harlots. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 5 pg. 433 SEE ALSO: COSMETICS, CLOTHING, WOMEN, VEIL ======================================================================== CHAPTER 6: ADULTERY ======================================================================== For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries. Matthew 15:19 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Romans 7:2-3 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind…shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9 My child, be not a lustful one, for lust leads to fornication. Be neither a filthy talker, nor of lofty eye, for out of all these adulteries are engendered. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 3 "Sir," say I, "if a man who has a wife that is faithful in the Lord detect her in adultery, does the husband sin in living with her?" "So long as he is ignorant," said he, "he sins not; but if the husband know of her sin, and the wife repent not, but continue in her fornication, and her husband live with her, he makes himself responsible for her sin and an accomplice in her adultery." "What then, Sir," say I, "shall the husband do, if the wife continue in this case?" "Let him divorce her," said he, "and let the husband abide alone: but if after divorcing his wife he shall marry another, he likewise commits adultery." "If then, Sir," say I, "after the wife is divorced, she repent and desire to return to her own husband, shall she not be received?" "Certainly," said he, "if the husband receives her not, he sins and brings great sin upon himself; nay, one who has sinned and repented must be received, yet not often; for there is but one repentance for the servants of God. For the sake of her repentance therefore the husband ought not to marry. This is the manner of acting commanded on husband and wife. For this cause you were commanded to remain single, whether husband or wife; for in such cases repentance is possible." "I am not giving an excuse that this matter should be concluded thus, but to the end that the sinner should sin no more. But as concerning his former sin, there is One Who is able to give healing; it is He Who has authority over all things." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 2 pg. 29 Concerning chastity, He uttered such sentiments as these: "Whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart before God." And, "If your right eye offend you, cut it out; for it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of heaven with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into everlasting fire." And, "Whosoever shall many her that is divorced from another husband, commits adultery." And, "There are some who have been made eunuchs of men, and some who were born eunuchs, and some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake; but all cannot receive this saying." So that all who, by human law, are twice married, are in the eye of our Master sinners, and those who look upon a woman to lust after her. For not only he who in act commits adultery is rejected by Him, but also he who desires to commit adultery: since not only our works, but also our thoughts, are open before God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 But to put to shame and to discourage those inclined to contract a second marriage the apostle appropriately uses strong language and says at once: "Every other sin is external to the body, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body."… as idolatry is an abandonment of the one God to embrace many gods, so fornication is apostasy from single marriage to several. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 12 SEE ALSO: DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE ======================================================================== CHAPTER 7: ANGELS ======================================================================== I. Nature and position of angels (Top) Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire? Psalm 104:4 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire. Hebrews 1:7 Neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. Luke 20:36 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 2 Peter 2:11 Papias thus speaks, word for word: To some of them [angels] He gave dominion over the arrangement of the world, and He commissioned them to exercise their dominion well. And he says, immediately after this: but it happened that their arrangement came to nothing. Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment VII But let us now pass to another sort of knowledge and doctrine. There are two ways of doctrine and authority, the one of light, and the other of darkness. But there is a great difference between these two ways. For over one are stationed the light-bringing angels of God, but over the other the angels' of Satan. And He indeed (i.e., God) is Lord forever and ever, but he (i.e., Satan) is prince of the time of iniquity. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.18 For I myself also, albeit I am in bonds and can comprehend heavenly things and the arrays of the angels and the principalities, things visible and things invisible -- I myself am not yet by reason of this a disciple. Ignatius: to the Trallians (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 "Hear now," said he, "concerning faith. There are two angels with a man, one of righteousness and one of wickedness. …The angel of righteousness is delicate and bashful and gentle and tranquil. When then this one enters into your heart, forthwith he speaks with you of righteousness, of purity, of holiness, and of contentment, of every righteous deed and of every glorious virtue. When all these things enter into your heart, know that the angel of righteousness is with you… Now see the works of the angel of wickedness also. First of all, he is quick tempered and bitter and senseless, and his works are evil, overthrowing the servants of God. Whenever then he enters into your heart, know him by his works." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.24 For regiments of angels are distributed over the nations and cities. And, perchance, some are assigned to individuals. The Shepherd, then, cares for each of his sheep; and his closest inspection is given to those who are excellent in their natures, and are capable of being most useful. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.517 The apostle says that "God put it into the heart of Titus." That certain thoughts are suggested to men's hearts either by good or evil angels, is shown both by the angel that accompanied Tobias, and by the language of the prophet, where he says, "And the angel who spoke in me answered." Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 332 II. Angels of God (Top) He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending angels of calamity among them. Psalm 78:49 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Psalm 91:11 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 18:10 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 13:41-42 These are the holy angels of God, that were created first of all, unto whom the Lord delivered all His creation to increase and to build it (the church), and to be masters of all creation. By their hands therefore the building of the tower (church) will be accomplished. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.14 They are young in the faith, and faithful; but they are warned by the angels to do good, because wickedness was found in them. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.14 And the fences are the [holy] angels of the Lord who keep together His people. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 58 God planted the vineyard, that is, He created the people, and delivered them over to His Son. And the Son placed the angels in charge of them, to watch over them. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 35 "This," said he, "is the angel of punishment, and he is one of the just angels, and presides over punishment. So he receives those who wander away from God, and walk after the lusts and deceits of this life, and punishes them, as they deserve, with fearful and various punishments." "I would fain learn, Sir," said I, "of what sort are these various punishments." "Listen," said he; "the various tortures and punishments are…" Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.37 But the great and glorious angel is Michael, who has the power over this people and is their captain. For this is he that puts the law into the hearts of the believers; therefore he himself inspects them to whom he gave it, to see whether they have observed it. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.40 “The glorious man," said he, "is the Son of God, and those six are the glorious angels who guard Him on the right hand and on the left. Of these glorious angels not one," said he, "shall enter in unto God without Him; whosoever shall not receive His name, shall not enter into the kingdom of God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.47 For all these things I gave thanks unto the Lord, because He had compassion on all that called upon His name, and sent forth the angel of repentance to us that had sinned against Him, and refreshed our spirit, and, when we were already ruined and had no hope of life, restored our life. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.48 III. Fallen angels (Top) And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. Genesis 6:1-2 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment. 2 Peter 2:4 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Jude 1:6 "This," said he, "is the angel of self-indulgence and of deceit. He crushes the souls of the servants of God, and perverts them from the truth, leading them astray with evil desires, wherein they perish. For they forget the commandments of the living God, and walk in vain deceits and acts of self-indulgence, and are destroyed by this angel, some of them unto death, and others unto corruption." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.36 God committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment, and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to themselves, partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and the punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations, of which things they stood in need after they were enslaved by lustful passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate deeds, and all wickedness. Whence also the poets and mythologists, not knowing that it was the angels and those demons who had been begotten by them that did these things to men, and women, and cities, and nations, which they related, ascribed them to god himself, and to those who were accounted to be his very offspring, and to the offspring of those who were called his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, and to the children again of these their offspring. For whatever name each of the angels had given to himself and his children, by that name they called them. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 We know that the wicked angels appointed laws conformable to their own wickedness, in which the men who are like them delight; and the right Reason, when He came, proved that not all opinions nor all doctrines are good, but that some are evil, while others are good. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.191 So that, when we arrive at the end of life, we may ask the same petition from God, who is able to turn away every shameless evil angel from taking our souls. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.252 Enoch, too, pleasing God, without circumcision, discharged the office of God's legate to the angels although he was a man, and was translated, and is preserved until now as a witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels when they had transgressed fell to the earth for judgment, but the man who pleased [God] was translated for salvation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 481 And in the days of Noah He justly brought on the deluge for the purpose of extinguishing that most infamous race of men then existent, who could not bring forth fruit to God, since the angels that sinned had commingled with them, and [acted as He did] in order that He might put a check upon the sins of these men, but [that at the same time] He might preserve the archetype, the formation of Adam. And it was He who rained fire and brimstone from heaven, in the days of Lot, upon Sodom and Gomorrah, "an example of the righteous judgment of God," that all may know, "that every tree that brings not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.516 For this is the office of the angels,--to exercise providence for God over the things created and ordered by Him… Just as with men, who have freedom of choice as to both virtue and vice, so is it among the angels….but some outraged both the constitution of their nature and the government entrusted to them: …these fell into impure love of virgins, and were subjugated by the flesh, and he became negligent and wicked in the management of the things entrusted to him. Of these lovers of virgins, therefore, were begotten those who are called giants. Athenagoras (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.142 These angels, then, who have fallen from heaven, and haunt the air and the earth, and are no longer able to rise to heavenly things, and the souls of the giants, which are the demons who wander about the world, perform actions similar, the one (that is, the demons) to the natures they have received, the other (that is, the angels) to the appetites they have indulged. Athenagoras (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.142 For they, withal, who instituted them are assigned, under condemnation, to the penalty of death, --those angels, to wit, who rushed from heaven on the daughters of men; so that this ignominy also attaches to woman. For when to an age much more ignorant (than ours) they had disclosed certain well-concealed material substances, and several not well-revealed scientific arts--if it is true that they had laid bare the operations of metallurgy, and had divulged the natural properties of herbs, and had promulgated the powers of enchantments, and had traced out every curious art, even to the interpretation of the stars--they conferred properly and as it were peculiarly upon women that instrumental mean of womanly ostentation, the radiances of jewels wherewith necklaces are variegated, and the circlets of gold wherewith the arms are compressed, and the medicaments of orchil with which wools are colored, and that black powder itself wherewith the eyelids and eyelashes are made prominent. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 14-15 SEE ALSO: SATAN, NOAH ======================================================================== CHAPTER 8: ANTICHRIST ======================================================================== Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denies the Father and the Son. 1 John 2:22 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 He shall come from heaven with glory, when the man of apostasy, who speaks strange things against the Most High, shall venture to do unlawful deeds on the earth against us the Christians… Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.253-254 But also by means of the events which shall occur in the time of Antichrist is it shown that he, being an apostate and a robber, is anxious to be adored as God; and that, although a mere slave, he wishes himself to be proclaimed as a king. For he (Antichrist) being endued with all the power of the devil, shall come, not as a righteous king, nor as a legitimate king, [i.e., one] in subjection to God, but an impious, unjust, and lawless one; as an apostate, iniquitous and murderous; as a robber, concentrating in himself [all] satanic apostasy, and setting aside idols to persuade [men] that he himself is God… Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, amongst whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of perdition shall come. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 553 That is, for three years and six months, during which time, when he (The Antichrist) comes, he shall reign over the earth. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 554 Moreover, another danger, by no means trifling, shall overtake those who falsely presume that they know the name of Antichrist. For if these men assume one [number], when this [Antichrist] shall come having another, they will be easily led away by him, as supposing him not to be the expected one, who must be guarded against…"When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction shall come upon them." And Jeremiah does not merely point out his sudden coming, but he even indicates the tribe from which he shall come, where he says, "We shall hear the voice of his swift horses from Dan; the whole earth shall be moved by the voice of the neighing of his galloping horses: he shall also come and devour the earth, and the fullness thereof, the city also, and they that dwell therein." This, too, is the reason that this tribe is not reckoned in the Apocalypse along with those which are saved. It is therefore more certain, and less hazardous, to await the fulfillment of the prophecy. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.559 We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 559 But when this Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem; and then the Lord will come from heaven in the clouds…Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.560 Enoch no doubt was translated, and so was Elijah; nor did they experience death: it was postponed, (and only postponed,) most certainly: they are reserved for the suffering of death, that by their blood they may extinguish Antichrist. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 227 In the crisis of the last moment, and from their instantaneous death, whilst encountering the oppressions of Antichrist, undergo a change, obtaining therein not so much a divestiture of body as "a clothing upon" with the vesture which is from heaven. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.455 "Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, unless indeed there first come a falling away," he means indeed of this present empire, "and that man of sin be revealed," that is to say, Antichrist, "the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or religion; so that he sits in the temple of God, affirming that he is God. Remember you not, that when I was with you, I used to tell you these things? And now you know what detains, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity does already work; only he who now hinders must hinder, until he be taken out of the way." What obstacle is there but the Roman state, the falling away of which, by being scattered into ten kingdoms, shall introduce Antichrist upon (its own ruins)? "And then shall be revealed the wicked one, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 563 When, then, we read, "Go, my people, enter into your closets for a little season, until my anger pass away," we have in the closets graves, in which they will have to rest for a little while, who shall have at the end of the world departed this life in the last furious onset of the power of Antichrist. Why else did He use the expression closets, in preference to some other receptacle, if it were not that the flesh is kept in these closets or cellars salted and reserved for use, to be drawn out thence on a suitable occasion? …it appears that by the very phrase which he uses, "Until His anger pass away," which shall extinguish Antichrist, he in fact shows that after that indignation the flesh will come forth from the sepulcher, in which it had been deposited previous to the bursting out of the anger. Now out of the closets nothing else is brought than that which had been put into them, and after the extirpation of Antichrist shall be busily transacted the great process of the resurrection. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.565 Isaiah said: This is the man who moves the world anti so many kings, and under whom the land shall become desert. Hear you how the prophet foretold concerning him. I have said nothing elaborately, but negligently. Then, doubtless, the world shall be finished when he shall appear. He himself shall divide the globe into three ruling powers, when, moreover, Nero shall be raised up from hell, Elias shall first come to seal the beloved ones; at which things the region of Africa and the northern nation, the whole earth on all sides, for seven years shall tremble. But Elias shall occupy the half of the time, Nero shall occupy half. Then the whore Babylon, being reduced to ashes, its embers shall thence advance to Jerusalem; and the Latin conqueror shall then say, I am Christ, whom you always pray to; and, indeed, the original ones who were deceived combine to praise him. He does many wonders, since his is the false prophet. Especially that they may believe him, his image shall speak. The Almighty has given it power to appear such. The Jews, recapitulating Scriptures from him, exclaim at the same time to the Highest that they have been deceived. Commodianus (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 210-211 "After threescore and two weeks the times will be fulfilled, and one week will make a covenant with many; and in the midst (half) of the week sacrifice and oblation will be removed, and in the temple will be the abomination of desolations." For when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled, and Christ is come, and the Gospel is preached in every place, the times being then accomplished, there will remain only one week, the last, in which Elias will appear, and Enoch, and in the midst of it the abomination of desolation will be manifested, viz., Antichrist, announcing desolation to the world. And when he comes, the sacrifice and oblation will be removed, which now are offered to God in every place by the nations. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 182 Thus, then, does the prophet set forth these things concerning the Antichrist, who shall be shameless, a war-maker, and despot, who, exalting himself above all kings and above every god, shall build the city of Jerusalem, and restore the sanctuary. Him the impious will worship as God, and will bend to him the knee, thinking him to be the Christ. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.184 For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion; Christ is a king, so Antichrist is also a king. The Savior was manifested as a lamb; so he too, in like manner, will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf. The Savior came into the World in the circumcision, and he will come in the same manner. The Lord sent apostles among all the nations, and he in like manner will send false apostles. The Savior gathered together the sheep that were scattered abroad, and he in like manner will bring together a people that is scattered abroad. The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on Him, and he will give one like manner. The Savior appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man. The Savior rose up and showed His holy flesh like a temple, and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 206 Thus did the Scriptures preach before-time of this lion and lion's whelp. And in like manner also we find it written regarding Antichrist. For Moses speaks thus: "Dan is a lion's whelp, and he shall leap from Bashan." But that no one may err by supposing that this is said of the Savior, let him attend carefully to the matter. "Dan," he says, "is a lion's whelp;" and in naming the tribe of Dan, he declared clearly the tribe from which Antichrist is destined to spring. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 207 By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist; and by the two horns he means him and the false prophet after him…For he will act with vigor again, and prove strong by reason of the laws established by him; and he will cause all those who will not worship the image of the beast to be put to death…For, being full of guile, and exalting himself against the servants of God, with the wish to afflict them and persecute them out of the world, because they give not glory to him, he will order incense-pans to be set up by all everywhere, that no man among the saints may be able to buy or sell without first sacrificing; for this is what is meant by the mark received upon the right hand. And the word--"in their forehead"--indicates that all are crowned, and put on a crown of fire, and not of life, but of death. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 214 For he will call together all the people to himself, out of every country of the dispersion, making them his own, as though they were his own children, and promising to restore their country, and establish again their kingdom and nation, in order that he may be worshipped by them as God. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 215 SEE ALSO: LAST DAYS, BEAST MARK OF, CHRONOLOGY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 9: APOSTLES ======================================================================== Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute. Luke 11:49 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. Acts 2:43 For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. 1 Corinthians 4:9 The Martyrdom of James, Judea A.D. 45 Thus wrote Irenaeus. Moreover, Papias himself, in the introduction to his books, makes it manifest that he was not himself a hearer and eye-witness of the holy apostles; but he tells us that he received the truths of our religion from those who were acquainted with them [the apostles] in the following words: If, then, any one who had attended on the elders came, I asked minutely after their sayings, --what Andrew or Peter said, or what was said by Philip, or by Thomas, or by James, or by John, or by Matthew, or by any other of the Lord's disciples: which things Aristion and the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord, say. For I imagined that what was to be got from books was not so profitable to me as what came from the living and abiding voice. Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment I Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the Church] have been persecuted and put to death…To these men who spent their lives in the practice of holiness, there is to be added a great multitude of the elect, who, having through envy endured many indignities and tortures, furnished us with a most excellent example. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 5-6 Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they (the apostles) went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their first-fruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe. And this they did in no new fashion; for indeed it had been written concerning bishops and deacons from very ancient times; for thus said the scripture in a certain place, I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.42 "Because," said he, "these, the apostles and the teachers who preached the name of the Son of God, after they had fallen asleep in the power and faith of the Son of God, preached also to them that had fallen asleep before them, and themselves gave unto them the seal of the preaching." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 49 And that it did so come to pass, we can convince you. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world, men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the word of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 Moreover, the prescription that twelve bells be attached to the [robe] of the high priest, which hung down to the feet, was a symbol of the twelve apostles, who depend on the power of Christ, the eternal Priest; and through their voice it is that all the earth has been filled with the glory and grace of God and of His Christ. Wherefore David also says: 'Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.' And Isaiah speaks as if he were personating the apostles, when they say to Christ that they believe not in their own report, but in the power of Him who sent them. And so he says: 'Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?’ Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.215 Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh. And John, who carded temperance to the extreme, "ate locusts and wild honey." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.241 "But each has his own proper gift of God" - one in one way, another in another. But the apostles were perfected in all. You will find, then, if you choose, in their acts and writings, knowledge, life, preaching, righteousness, purity, prophecy. We must know, then, that if Paul is young in respect to time -- having flourished immediately after the Lord's ascension -- yet his writings depend on the Old Testament, breathing and speaking of them. For faith in Christ and the knowledge of the Gospel are the explanation and fulfillment of the law; and therefore it was said to the Hebrews, "If you believe not, neither shall you understand;" that is, unless you believe what is prophesied in the law, and orally delivered by the law, you will not understand the Old Testament, which He by His coming expounded. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.434 SEE ALSO: JAMES, PETER AND PAUL ======================================================================== CHAPTER 10: ASSEMBLY, CHRISTIAN ======================================================================== And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:42 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. Hebrews 10:25 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence of all them that are about him. Psalm 89:7 Christians meeting together in a small boat in times of persecution Remember the day of judgment, night and day. You shall seek out every day the faces of the saints, either by word examining them, and going to exhort them, and meditating how to save a soul by the word, or by your hands you shall labor for the redemption of your sins. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.19 And seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that you may rest upon their words. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 4 But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: "In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations." Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 14 Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come. But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 16 For, if the prayer of one and another has so great force, how much more that of the bishop and of the whole Church. Whosoever therefore comes not to the congregation, he does thereby show his pride and has separated himself; for it is written, "God resists the proud." Let us therefore be careful not to resist the bishop, that by our submission we may give ourselves to God. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 Do your diligence therefore to meet together more frequently for thanksgiving to God and for His glory. For when you meet together frequently, the powers of Satan are cast down; and his mischief comes to naught in the concord of your faith. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 12 Assemble yourselves together in common, every one of you severally, man by man, in grace, in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who after the flesh was of David's race, who is Son of Man and Son of God, to the end that you may obey the bishop and presbytery without distraction of mind; breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote that we should not die but live for ever in Jesus Christ. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 20 And attempt not to think anything right for yourselves apart from others: but let there be one prayer in common, one supplication, one mind, one hope, in love and in joy unblameable, which is Jesus Christ, than whom there is nothing better. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 Let meetings be held more frequently. Seek out all men by name. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 Toil together one with another, struggle together, run together, suffer together, lie down together, rise up together, as God's stewards and assessors and ministers. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch. 6 And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.186 Rusticus the prefect said, “Where do you assemble?” Justin said, “Where each one chooses and can: for do you fancy that we all meet in the very same place? Not so; because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by place; but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is worshipped and glorified by the faithful.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers?” Justin said, “I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time) I am unaware of any other meeting than his. And if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the doctrines of truth.” Rusticus said, “Are you not, then, a Christian?” Justin said, “Yes, I am a Christian.” Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 295 We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in. We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation. We assemble to read our sacred writings, if any peculiarity of the times makes either forewarning or reminiscence needful… In the same place also exhortations are made, rebukes and sacred censures are administered. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.46 SEE ALSO: EUCHARIST, HYMNS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 11: ATONEMENT ======================================================================== I. Christ’s ransom (Top) Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee. Job 36:18 I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Hosea 13:14 For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Acts 20:28 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:20 But He was made manifest, in order that at the same time they might be perfected in their sins, and we might receive the covenant through Him who inherited it, even the Lord Jesus, who was prepared beforehand hereunto, that appearing in person He might redeem out of darkness our hearts which had already been paid over unto death and delivered up to the iniquity of error, and thus establish the covenant in us through the word. For it is written how the Father charges Him to deliver us from darkness, and to prepare a holy people for Himself. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.14 For to this end the Lord endured to deliver up His flesh to corruption, that we might be sanctified through the remission of sins, which is effected by His blood of sprinkling. For it is written concerning Him, partly with reference to Israel, and partly to us; and [the Scripture] said thus: "He was wounded for our transgressions, and braised for our iniquities: with His stripes we are healed. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb which is dumb before its shearer." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.5 Understand how it was that He endured to suffer at the hand of men. The prophets, having obtained grace from Him, prophesied concerning Him. And He (since it behooved Him to appear in flesh), that He might abolish death, and reveal the resurrection from the dead, endured [what and as He did], in order that He might fulfill the promise made unto the fathers, and by preparing a new people for Himself, might show, while He dwelt on earth, that He, when He has raised mankind, will also judge them. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 5 Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world… Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, made atonement to God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.7 Compiler's note: Unless you use an English translation of the Greek Septuagint, you will notice that the next two quotes from Isa. 53 read differently than do our modern English bibles. That is because the early writers, following the example of the apostles, were quoting from the Septuagint (see also: Septuagint [LXX]), which was a Greek translation of an older Hebrew text than that of the Hebrew text from which our Old Testament was translated. These next two verses are also important in light of the early Christians’ understanding of the atonement, also known as the ‘Ransom’, because the Septuagint version of Isa. 53:10 agrees more with the ‘Ransom’ view of the atonement as opposed to the more widely known modern view of the ‘Satisfaction Model’. And the Lord desires to cleanse Him from His stripes. If you offer for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord desires to take away from the toil of His soul… Isa. 53:10 (LXX) quoted by Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 16 And the Lord is pleased to cleanse Him from the stripe. If He be given for sin, your soul shall see His seed prolonged in days. And the Lord is pleased to deliver His soul from grief, to show Him light. Isa. 53:10 (LXX) quoted by Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.179 Corruption then becoming inherent in nature, it was necessary that He who wished to save should be one who destroyed the efficient cause of corruption. And this could not otherwise be done than by the life which is according to nature being united to that which had received the corruption, and so destroying the corruption, while preserving as immortal for the future that which had received it. It was therefore necessary that the Word should become possessed of a body, that He might deliver us from the death of natural corruption. For if, as you say, He had simply by a nod warded off death from us, death indeed would not have approached us on account of the expression of His will; but none the less would we again have become corruptible, inasmuch as we carried about in ourselves that natural corruption. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.301 For the love which He had toward us, Jesus Christ our Lord has given His blood for us by the will of God, and His flesh for our flesh, and His life for our lives. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 50 (God) Himself parted with His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy for the lawless, the guileless for the evil, the just for the unjust, the incorruptible for the corruptible, the immortal for the mortal. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.9 And then, speaking of John, he thus says: "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." For whom, then, did he prepare the people, and in the sight of what Lord was he made great? Truly of Him who said that John had something even "more than a prophet," and that "among those born of women none is greater than John the Baptist;" who did also make the people ready for the Lord's advent, warning his fellow-servants, and preaching to them repentance, that they might receive remission from the Lord when He should be present, having been convened to Him, from whom they had been alienated because of sins and transgressions. As also David says, "The alienated are sinners from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born." And it was on account of this that he, turning them to their Lord, prepared, in the spirit and power of Elias, a perfect people for the Lord. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 421 For He fought and conquered; for He was man contending for the fathers, and through obedience doing away with disobedience completely: for He bound the strong man, and set free the weak, and endowed His own handiwork with salvation, by destroying sin. For He is a most holy and merciful Lord, and loves the human race. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.447-448 Death… "reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." But the law coming, which was given by Moses, and testifying of sin that it is a sinner… It laid, however, a weighty burden upon man, who had sin in himself, showing that he was liable to death. For as the law was spiritual, it merely made sin to stand out in relief, but did not destroy it. For sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over man. For it behooved Him who was to destroy sin, and redeem man under the power of death, that He should Himself be made that very same thing which he was, that is, man; who had been drawn by sin into bondage, but was held by death, so that sin should be destroyed by man, and man should go forth from death. For as by the disobedience of the one man who was originally molded from virgin soil, the many were made sinners, and forfeited life; so was it necessary that, by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, many should be justified and receive salvation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 448 By means of the second man did He bind the strong man, and spoiled his goods, and abolished death, vivifying that man who had been in a state of death. For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan's) possession, whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously, and under color of immortality entailing death upon him. For, while promising that they should be as gods, which was in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death in them: wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured in his turn by God; but man, who had been led captive, was loosed from the bonds of condemnation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 456 If a hostile force had overcome certain [enemies], had bound them, and led them away captive, and held them for a long time in servitude, so that they begat children among them; and somebody, compassionating those who had been made slaves, should overcome this same hostile force; he certainly would not act equitably, were he to liberate the children of those who had been led captive, from the sway of those who had enslaved their fathers, but should leave these latter… For God is neither devoid of power nor of justice, who has afforded help to man, and restored him to His own liberty. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.456 For Abraham, according to his faith, followed the command of the Word of God, and with a ready mind delivered up, as a sacrifice to God, his only-begotten and beloved son, in order that God also might be pleased to offer up for all his seed His own beloved and only-begotten Son, as a sacrifice for our redemption. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 467 His Son was His Word, by whom He founded all things; and that He, in the last times, was made a man among men; that He reformed the human race, but destroyed and conquered the enemy of man, and gave to His handiwork victory against the adversary. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.495 How, too, could He have subdued him who was stronger than men, who had not only overcome man, but also retained him under his power, and conquered him who had conquered, while he set free mankind who had been conquered, unless He had been greater than man who had thus been vanquished? Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 507 The Lord, indeed, sowed good seed in His own field; and He says, "The field is the world." But while men slept, the enemy came, and "sowed tares in the midst of the wheat, and went his way." Hence we learn that this was the apostate angel and the enemy, because he was envious of God's workmanship, and took in hand to render this [workmanship] an enmity with God. For this cause also God has banished from His presence him who did of his own accord stealthily sow the tares, that is, him who brought about the transgression; but He took compassion upon man, who, through want of care no doubt, but still wickedly [on the part of another], became involved in disobedience; and He turned the enmity by which [the devil] had designed to make [man] the enemy of God, against the author of it, by removing His own anger from man, turning it in another direction, and sending it instead upon the serpent. As also the Scripture tells us that God said to the serpent, "And I will place enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." And the Lord summed up in Himself this enmity, when He was made man from a woman, and trod upon his [the serpent's] head, as I have pointed out in the preceding book. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.524 Redeeming us by His own blood in a manner consonant to reason, gave Himself as a redemption for those who had been led into captivity. And since the apostasy tyrannized over us unjustly, and, though we were by nature the property of the omnipotent God, alienated us contrary to nature, rendering us its own disciples, the Word of God, powerful in all things, and not defective with regard to His own justice, did righteously turn against that apostasy, and redeem from it His own property, not by violent means, as the [apostasy] had obtained dominion over us at the beginning, when it insatiably snatched away what was not its own, but by means of persuasion, as became a God of counsel, who does not use violent means to obtain what He desires; so that neither should justice be infringed upon, nor the ancient handiwork of God go to destruction. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 527 But now, by means of communion with Himself, the Lord has reconciled man to God the Father, in reconciling us to Himself by the body of His own flesh, and redeeming us by His own blood, as the apostle says to the Ephesians, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins;" and again to the same he says, "You who formerly were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ;" and again, "Abolishing in His flesh the enmities, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances." And in every Epistle the apostle plainly testifies, that through the flesh of our Lord, and through His blood, we have been saved. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 542 For doing away with [the effects of] that disobedience of man which had taken place at the beginning by the occasion of a tree, "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross;" rectifying that disobedience which had occurred by reason of a tree, through that obedience which was [wrought out] upon the tree [of the cross]… God Himself, whom indeed we had offended in the first Adam, when he did not perform His commandment. In the second Adam, however, we are reconciled, being made obedient even unto death. For we were debtors to none other but to Him whose commandment we had transgressed at the beginning. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.544 (Because we) transgressing whose commandment became His enemies... Therefore in the last times the Lord has restored us into friendship through His incarnation, having become "the Mediator between God and men;" propitiating indeed for us the Father against whom we had sinned, and cancelling (consolatus) our disobedience by His own obedience; conferring also upon us the gift of communion with, and subjection to, our Maker…He the God who is proclaimed in the Scriptures, to whom we were debtors, having transgressed His commandment? Now the commandment was given to man by the Word. For Adam, it is said, "heard the voice of the Lord God." Rightly then does His Word say to man, "Your sins are forgiven you;" He, the same against whom we had sinned in the beginning, grants forgiveness of sins in the end. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 544-545 …In His work of recapitulation, (Christ) summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.548 (Christ) spurned (Satan) from Him finally as being conquered out of the law; and there was done away with that infringement of God's commandment which had occurred in Adam, by means of the precept of the law, which the Son of man observed, who did not transgress the commandment of God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 549 It was necessary that through man himself he should, when conquered, be bound with the same chains with which he had bound man, in order that man, being set free, might return to his Lord, leaving to him (Satan) those bonds by which he himself had been fettered, that is, sin. For when Satan is bound, man is set free; since "none can enter a strong man's house and spoil his goods, unless he first bind the strong man himself." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.550 And justly indeed (Satan) is led captive, who had led men unjustly into bondage; while man, who had been led captive in times past, was rescued from the grasp of his possessor, according to the tender mercy of God the Father, who had compassion on His own handiwork, and gave to it salvation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.550 For even then, as ransomed by Christ, you were under no bondage to man; and now, though man has given you liberty, you are the servant of Christ. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.101 But that I may lose no opportunity of supporting my argument from the name of Adam, why is Christ called Adam by the apostle, unless it be that, as man, He was of that earthly origin? And even reason here maintains the same conclusion, because it was by just the contrary operation that God recovered His own image and likeness, of which He had been robbed by the devil. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 536 For it is probable that there is in the nature of things, for certain mysterious reasons which are difficult to be understood by the multitude, such a virtue that one just man, dying a voluntary death for the common good, might be the means of removing wicked spirits, which are the cause of plagues, or barrenness, or tempests, or similar calamities. Let those, therefore, who would disbelieve the statement that Jesus died on the cross on behalf of men, say whether they also refuse to accept the many accounts current both among Greeks and Barbarians, of persons who have laid down their lives for the public advantage, in order to remove those evils which had fallen upon cities and countries. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 409 "You hypocrites, does not each one of you loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound these eighteen years, be loosed on the Sabbath-day?" Whomsoever, therefore, Satan bound in chains, these did the Lord on His coming loose from the bonds of death, having bound our strong adversary and delivered humanity. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.181 “You are not your own, for you are bought with a great price; glorify and bear God in your body.” Let us glorify and bear God in a pure and chaste body, and with a more complete obedience; and since we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, let us obey and give furtherance to the empire of our Redeemer by all the obedience of service, that nothing impure or profane may be brought into the temple of God, lest He should be offended, and forsake the temple which He inhabits. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 430 The Father sent the Son to preserve us and give us life, in order that He might restore us; and that the Son was willing to be sent and to become the Son of man, that He might make us sons of God; humbled Himself, that He might raise up the people who before were prostrate; was wounded that He might heal our wounds; served, that He might draw out to liberty those who were in bondage; underwent death, that He might set forth immortality to mortals. For when the Lord at His advent had cured those wounds which Adam had born, and had healed the old poisons of the serpent, He gave a law to the sound man and bade him sin no more, lest a worse thing should befall the sinner. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 476 For with this purpose the Word assumed the nature of man, that, having overcome the serpent, He might by Himself destroy the condemnation which had come into being along with man’s ruin. For it was fitting that the Evil One should be overcome by no other, but by him whom he had deceived, and whom he was boasting that he held in subjection, because no otherwise was it possible that sin and condemnation should be destroyed, unless that same man on whose account it had been said, “Dust you are, and unto dust you shall return,” should be created anew, and undo the sentence which for his sake had gone forth on all, that “as in Adam” at first “all die, even so” again “in Christ,” who assumed the nature and position of Adam, should “all be made alive.” Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.318-319 For “behold I set before you life and death;” meaning that death would result from disobedience of the spiritual law, that is of the commandment; and from obedience to the carnal law, that is the counsel of the serpent; for by such a choice “I am sold” to the devil, fallen under sin. Hence evil, as though besieging me, cleaves to me and dwells in me, justice giving me up to be sold to the Evil One, in consequence of having violated the law. Therefore also the expressions: “That which I do, I allow not,” and “what I hate, that do I,” are not to be understood of doing evil, but of only thinking it. For it is not in our power to think or not to think of improper things, but to act or not to act upon our thoughts. For we cannot hinder thoughts from coming into our minds, since we receive them when they are inspired into us from without; but we are able to abstain from obeying them and acting upon them. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 371 For this cause, therefore, a mediator came - that is, God in the flesh - that the flesh might be able to follow Him, and that He might rescue man from death, which has dominion over the flesh. Therefore He clothed Himself with flesh, that the desires of the flesh being subdued, He might teach that to sin was not the result of necessity, but of man’s purpose and will. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 127 This slain lamb has been made, according to certain hidden reasons, a purification of the whole world, for which, according to the Father’s love to man, He submitted to death, purchasing us back by His own blood from him who had got us into his power, sold under sin. And He who led this lamb to the slaughter was God in man, the great High-Priest, as he shows by the words: “No one takes My life away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” Origen (248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg. 377 But to whom did He give His soul as a ransom for many? Surely not to God. Could it, then, be to the Evil One? For he had us in his power, until the ransom for us should be given to him, even the life (or soul) of Jesus, since he (the Evil One) had been deceived, and led to suppose that he was capable of mastering that soul, and he did not see that to hold Him involved a trial of strength (thasanon) greater than he was equal to. Therefore also death, though he thought he had prevailed against Him, no longer lords over Him, He (Christ) having become free among the dead and stronger than the power of death, and so much stronger than death that all who will amongst those who are mastered by death may also follow Him (i.e. out of Hades, out of death's domain), death no longer prevailing against them. For every one who is with Jesus is unassailable by death. Origen (248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.10 pg. Commentary on Matthew XVI, 8 SEE ALSO: BLOOD OF CHRIST, FALL OF MAN, SALVATION II. Recapitulation through Christ (Top) (Note by Mike Atnip) Recapitulation is a word that is transliterated from the Latin. It means to "re-chapter," (notice the similarity of the root which is capítulo (chapter) in Spanish) in the sense that a "chapter" is the heading, or the summary, of a string of events. Thus, a recapitulation is a rerunning of former chapters in a story. The recapitulation of Christ was His going over the main events of the life of the first Adam, straightening out what Adam had messed up. Christ was born, tempted in everything humanity is tempted in, but lived a perfectly holy life, thus proving He was stronger than all man's enemies, and earning Him the right to rescue others. The first Adam fell for the temptation to sin, the second overcame it. The first Adam chose the flesh over the Spirit, the second chose the Spirit over the flesh. The first Adam sold mankind into slavery, the second bought mankind back. Etc. and etc. For this reason, the coming of Christ into the world is called a recapitulation. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. Colossians 1:1 For He came to save all through means of Himself - all, I say, who through Him are born again to God - infants, and children, and boys, and youths, and old men. He therefore passed through every age, becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age, being at the same time made to them an example of piety, righteousness, and submission; a youth for youths, becoming an example to youths, and thus sanctifying them for the Lord. So likewise He was an old man for old men, that He might be a perfect Master for all, not merely as respects the setting forth of the truth, but also as regards age, sanctifying at the same time the aged also, and becoming an example to them likewise. Then, at last, He came on to death itself, that He might be "the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre-eminence," the Prince of life, existing before all, and going before all. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.391 Therefore, as I have already said, He caused man (human nature) to cleave to and to become, one with God. For unless man had overcome the enemy of man, the enemy would not have been legitimately vanquished. And again: unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we could never have possessed it securely. And unless man had been joined to God, he could never have become a partaker of incorruptibility. For it was incumbent upon the Mediator between God and men, by His relationship to both, to bring both to friendship and concord, and present man to God, while He revealed God to man. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 448 He who is the Word, recapitulating Adam in Himself, rightly received a birth, enabling Him to gather up Adam [into Himself], from Mary, who was as yet a virgin. If, then, the first Adam had a man for his father, and was born of human seed, it were reasonable to say that the second Adam was begotten of Joseph. But if the former was taken from the dust, and God was his Maker, it was incumbent that the latter also, making a recapitulation in Himself, should be formed as man by God, to have an analogy with the former as respects His origin. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.454 And thus also it was that the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.455 God had power at the beginning to grant perfection to man; but as the latter was only recently created, he could not possibly have received it, or even if he had received it, could he have contained it, or containing it, could he have retained it. It was for this reason that the Son of God, although He was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common with the rest of mankind, partaking of it thus not for His own benefit, but for that of the infantile stage of man's existence, in order that man might be able to receive Him. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.521 He turned the enmity by which [the devil] had designed to make [man] the enemy of God, against the author of it, by removing His own anger from man, turning it in another direction, and sending it instead upon the serpent. As also the Scripture tells us that God said to the serpent, "And I will place enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." And the Lord summed up in Himself this enmity, when He was made man from a woman, and trod upon his [the serpent's] head, as I have pointed out in the preceding book. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.524 For He would not have been one truly possessing flesh and blood, by which He redeemed us, unless He had summed up in Himself the ancient formation of Adam. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 527 In like manner, too, did the Lord say to those who should afterwards shed His blood, "All righteous blood shall be required which is shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." He thus points out the recapitulation that should take place in his own person of the effusion of blood from the beginning, of all the righteous men and of the prophets, and that by means of Himself there should be a requisition of their blood. Now this [blood] could not be required unless it also had the capability of being saved; nor would the Lord have summed up these things in Himself, unless He had Himself been made flesh and blood after the way of the original formation [of man], saving in his own person at the end that which had in the beginning perished in Adam. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.541 He had Himself, therefore, flesh and blood, recapitulating in Himself not a certain other, but that original handiwork of the Father, seeking out that thing which had perished. And for this cause the apostle, in the Epistle to the Colossians, says, "And though you were formerly alienated, and enemies to His knowledge by evil works, yet now you have been reconciled in the body of His flesh, through His death, to present yourselves holy and chaste, and without fault in His sight." He says, "You have been reconciled in the body of His flesh," because the righteous flesh has reconciled that flesh which was being kept under bondage in sin, and brought it into friendship with God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.541 So that as by means of a tree we were made debtors to God, [so also] by means of a tree we may obtain the remission of our debt. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 545 That the Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation which is supported by Himself, and was making a recapitulation of that disobedience which had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience which was [exhibited by Himself when He hung] upon a tree, [the effects] also of that deception being done away with, by which that virgin Eve, who was already espoused to a man, was unhappily misled, was happily announced, through means of the truth [spoken] by the angel to the virgin Mary, who was [also espoused] to a man. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 547 And if the former did disobey God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the virgin Mary might become the patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. For in the same way the sin of the first created man (protoplasti) receives amendment by the correction of the First-begotten, and the coming of the serpent is conquered by the harmlessness of the dove. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.547 Into this paradise the Lord has introduced those who obey His call, "summing up in Himself all things which are in heaven, and which are on earth;" but the things in heaven are spiritual, while those on earth… These things, therefore, He recapitulated in Himself: by uniting man to the Spirit, and causing the Spirit to dwell in man, He is Himself made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit to be the head of man: for through Him (the Spirit) we see, and hear, and speak.…in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 548 "But when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman." For indeed the enemy would not have been fairly vanquished, unless it had been a man [born] of a woman who conquered him. For it was by means of a woman that he got the advantage over man at first, setting himself up as man's opponent. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.548-549 For as at the beginning it was by means of food that [the enemy] persuaded man, although not suffering hunger, to transgress God's commandments, so in the end he did not succeed in persuading Him that was an hungered to take that food which proceeded from God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.549 And we believe the Logos to have passed through every period in this life, in order that He Himself might serve as a law for every age, and that, by being present (amongst) us, He might exhibit His own manhood as an aim for all men. And that by Himself in Person He might prove that God made nothing evil, and that man possesses the capacity of self-determination, inasmuch as he is able to will and not to will, and is endued with power to do both. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 152 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 12: BAPTISM ======================================================================== I. The meaning of baptism II. Mode and description of baptism III. Baptism and heretics I. The meaning of baptism (Top) Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Acts 22:16 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Galatians 3:27 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 3:21 Further, what says He? "And there was a river flowing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees; and whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." This means, that we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement, but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.11 "Before a man," said he, "has borne the name of [the Son of] God, he is dead; but when he has received the seal, he lays aside his deadness, and resumes life. The seal then is the water: so they go down into the water dead, and they come up alive." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 49 For Christ also said, "Except you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs, is manifest to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Isaiah the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: "Wash you, make you clean…" Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe; he who leads to the layer the person that is to be washed calling him by this name alone. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 And this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 "And dipped himself," says [the Scripture], "seven times in Jordan." It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: "Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 574 Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated, we become sons; being made sons, we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are made immortal. "I," says He, "have said that you are gods, and all sons of the Highest." This work is variously called grace, and illumination, and perfection, and washing: washing, by which we cleanse away our sins; grace, by which the penalties accruing to transgressions are remitted; and illumination, by which that holy light of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.215 And there are two methods of correction -- the instructive and the punitive, which we have called the disciplinary. It ought to be known, then, that those who fall into sin after baptism are those who are subjected to discipline; for the deeds done before are remitted, and those done after are purged. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.438 For it is not the soul which is sanctified by the baptismal bath: its sanctification comes from the "answer." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 582 That baptismal washing is a sealing of faith, which faith is begun and is commended by the faith of repentance. We are not washed in order that we may cease sinning, but because we have ceased, since in heart we have been bathed already. For the first baptism of a learner is this, a perfect fear; thenceforward, in so far as you have understanding of the Lord faith is sound, the conscience having once for all embraced repentance. Otherwise, if it is (only) after the baptismal waters that we cease sinning, it is of necessity, not of free-will, that we put on innocence. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 662 Happy is our sacrament of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.669 "Wash you, and seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow. And come and let us reason together, said the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, I shall make them white as snow; and though they be like crimson, I shall make them white as wool. And if you be willing, and hear my voice, you shall eat the good of the land." Do you see, beloved, how the prophet spoke beforetime of the purifying power of baptism? For he who comes down in faith to the layer of regeneration, and renounces the devil, and joins himself to Christ; who denies the enemy, and makes the confession that Christ is God; who puts off the bondage, and puts on the adoption, he comes up from the baptism brilliant as the sun, flashing forth the beams of righteousness, and, which is indeed the chief thing, he returns a son of God and joint-heir with Christ. To Him be the glory and the power, together with His most holy, and good, and quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to all the ages of the ages. Amen. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.237 We next remark in passing that the baptism of John was inferior to the baptism of Jesus which was given through His disciples. Those persons in the Acts who were baptized to John’s baptism and who had not heard if there was any Holy Ghost are baptized over again by the Apostle. Regeneration did not take place with John, but with Jesus through His disciples it does so, and what is called the layer of regeneration takes place with renewal of the Spirit; for the Spirit now comes in addition since it comes from God and is over and above the water and does not come to all after the water. Origen (248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.367 SEE ALSO: NEW BIRTH, SALVATION, REPENTANCE II. Mode and description of baptism (Top) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Matthew 28:19 John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there. John 3:23 Further, what says He? "And there was a river flowing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees; and whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." This means, that we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement, but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.11 And concerning baptism, baptize this way: Having first said all these things, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in living water. But if you have no living water, baptize into other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, do so in warm. But if you have neither, pour out water three times upon the head into the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit. But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.7 But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs." Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.9 Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the bishop… It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize or to hold a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve, this is well-pleasing also to God; that everything which you do may be sure and valid. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.8 "Before a man," said he, "has borne the name of [the Son of] God, he is dead; but when he has received the seal, he lays aside his deadness, and resumes life. The seal then is the water: so they go down into the water dead, and they come up alive." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 49 As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, "Except you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs, is manifest to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Isaiah the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: "Wash you, make you clean." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person… There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks … Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.185 "And dipped himself," says [the Scripture], "seven times in Jordan." It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: "Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 574 Lest any one think that we are dealing in mere argumentative subtleties, I shall turn to that highest authority of our "seal" itself. When entering the water, we make profession of the Christian faith in the words of its rule; we bear public testimony that we have renounced the devil, his pomp, and his angels. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 81 To deal with this matter briefly, I shall begin with baptism. When we are going to enter the water, but a little before, in the presence of the congregation and under the hand of the president, we solemnly profess that we disown the devil, and his pomp, and his angels. Hereupon we are thrice immersed, making a somewhat ampler pledge than the Lord has appointed in the Gospel. Then when we are taken up (as new-born children), we taste first of all a mixture of milk and honey, and from that day we refrain from the daily bath for a whole week. We take also, in congregations before daybreak, and from the hand of none but the presidents, the sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Lord both commanded to be eaten at meal-times, and commanded to be taken by all alike. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 94 He commands them to baptize into the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, not into a unipersonal God. And indeed it is not once only, but three times, that we are immersed into the Three Persons, at each several mention of Their names. [see Compiler’s Note in section III] Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.623 And so it is becoming that learners desire baptism, but do not hastily receive it: for he who desires it, honors it; he who hastily receives it, disdains it: in the one appears modesty, in the other arrogance; the former satisfies, the latter neglects it; the former covets to merit it, but the latter promises it to himself as a due return; the former takes, the latter usurps it. Whom would you judge worthier, except one who is more amended? Whom more amended, except one who is more timid, and on that account has fulfilled the duty of true repentance? For he has feared to continue still in sin, lest he should not merit the reception of baptism. But the hasty receiver, inasmuch as he promised it himself (as his due), being forsooth secure (of obtaining it), could not fear: thus he fulfilled not repentance either, because he lacked the instrumental agent of repentance, that is, fear. Hasty reception is the portion of irreverence; it inflates the seeker, it despises the Giver. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.662 With so great simplicity, without pomp, without any considerable novelty of preparation, finally, without expense, a man is dipped in water. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.669 For why is it necessary--if (baptism itself) is not so necessary--that the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger? Who both themselves, by reason of mortality, may fail to fulfill their promises, and may be disappointed by the development of an evil disposition, in those for whom they stood? The Lord does indeed say, "Forbid them not to come unto me." Let them "come," then, while they are growing up; let them "come" while they are learning, while they are learning whither to come; let them become Christians when they have become able to know Christ. Why does the innocent period of life hasten to the "remission of sins?" More caution will be exercised in worldly matters: so that one who is not trusted with earthly substance is trusted with divine! Let them know how to "ask" for salvation, that you may seem (at least) to have given "to him that asks." … If any understand the weighty import of baptism, they will fear its reception more than its delay: sound faith is secure of salvation. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 678 For the Lord after His resurrection, sending His disciples, instructed and taught them in what manner they ought to baptize, saying, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go you, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” He suggests the Trinity, in whose sacrament the nations were to be baptized. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 380 III. Baptism and heretics (Top) This class of men have been instigated by Satan to a denial of that baptism which is regeneration to God, and thus to a renunciation of the whole [Christian] faith. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.345 But there are some of them who assert that it is superfluous to bring persons to the water, but mixing oil and water together, they place this mixture on the heads of those who are to be initiated, with the use of some such expressions as we have already mentioned. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 346 "For so shall you pass through the water of another;" reckoning heretical baptism not proper and true water. "And you shall pass over another's river," that rushes along and sweeps down to the sea; into which he is cast who, having diverged from the stability which is according to truth, rushes back into the heathenish and tumultuous waves of life. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.322 The flesh is not, according to Marcion, immersed in the water of the sacrament, unless it be in virginity, widowhood, or celibacy, or has purchased by divorce a title to baptism, as if even generative impotents did not all receive their flesh from nuptial union. Now, such a scheme as this must no doubt involve the proscription of marriage. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 393 I am not bound to recognize in them a thing which is commanded on me, because they and we have not the same God, nor one - that is, the same - Christ. And therefore their baptism is not one with ours either, because it is not the same; a baptism which, since they have it not duly, doubtless they have not at all; nor is that capable of being counted which is not had. Thus they cannot receive it either, because they have it not. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 676 (Compiler’s Note: Tertullian describes a baptismal mode of dipping three times, most likely a reflection of his heretical Montanist leanings as he himself describes it as “a somewhat ampler pledge than the Lord has appointed.”) To deal with this matter briefly, I shall begin with baptism. When we are going to enter the water, but a little before, in the presense of the congregation and under the hand of the president, we solemnly profess that we disown the devil, and his pomp, and his angels. Hereupon we are thrice immersed, making a somewhat ampler pledge than the Lord has appointed in the Gospel. Then when we are taken up (as new-born children), we taste first of all a mixture of milk and honey, and from that day we refrain from the daily bath for a whole week. We take also, in congregations before daybreak, and from the hand of none but the presidents, the sacrament of the Eucharist, which the Lord both commanded to be eaten at meal-times, and commanded to be taken by all alike. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 3 pg. 94 For I know not by what presumption some of our colleagues are led to think that they who have been dipped by heretics ought not to be baptized when they come to us, for the reason that they say that there is one baptism… And he who of his own authority grants this advantage to them yields and consents to them, that the enemy and adversary of Christ should seem to have the power of washing, and purifying, and sanctifying a man. But we say that those who come thence are not re-baptized among us, but are baptized. For indeed they do not receive anything there, where there is nothing. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 377 Therefore, dearest brother, having explored and seen the truth; it is observed and held by us, that all who are converted from any heresy whatever to the Church must be baptized by the only and lawful baptism of the Church, with the exception of those who had previously been baptized in the Church, and so had passed over to the heretics. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 389-390 SEE ALSO: HERETICS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 13: BEARD ======================================================================== Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard. Leviticus 19:27 They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in their flesh. Leviticus 21:5 He is gone up to Bajith, and to Dibon, the high places, to weep: Moab shall howl over Nebo, and over Medeba: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard cut off. Isaiah 15:2 For every head shall be bald, and every beard clipped: upon all the hands shall be cuttings, and upon the loins sackcloth. Jeremiah 48:37 But for one who is a man to comb himself and shave himself with a razor, for the sake of fine effect, to arrange his hair at the looking-glass, to shave his cheeks, pluck hairs out of them, and smooth them, how womanly! And, in truth, unless you saw them naked, you would suppose them to be women. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.275 For God wished women to be smooth, and rejoice in their locks alone growing spontaneously, as a horse in his mane; but has adorned man, like the lions, with a beard, and endowed him, as an attribute of manhood, with shaggy breasts, a sign his of strength and rule. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.275 This, then, the mark of the man, the beard, by which he is seen to be a man, is older than Eve, and is the token of the superior nature. In this God deemed it right that he should excel, and dispersed hair over man's whole body. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.276 It is therefore impious to desecrate the symbol of manhood, hairiness. But the embellishment of smoothing (for I am warned by the Word), if it is to attract men, is the act of an effeminate person, if to attract women, is the act of an adulterer; and both must be driven as far as possible from our society. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.276 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered," says the Lord; those on the chin, too, are numbered, and those on the whole body. There must be therefore no plucking out, contrary to God's appointment, which has counted them in according to His will… For it is not lawful to pluck out the beard, man's natural and noble ornament. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.276-277 But let the chin have the hair… For an ample beard suffices for men. And if one, too, shave a part of his beard, it must not be made entirely bare, for this is a disgraceful sight. The shaving of the chin to the skin is reprehensible, approaching to plucking out the hair and smoothing. For instance, thus the Psalmist, delighted with the hair of the beard, says, "As the ointment that descends on the beard, the beard of Aaron." Having celebrated the beauty of the beard by a repetition, he made the face to shine with the ointment of the Lord. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.286 The moustache similarly, which is dirtied in eating, is to be cut round, not by the razor, for that were not well-bred, but by a pair of cropping scissors. But the hair on the chin is not to be disturbed, as it gives no trouble, and lends to the face dignity and paternal terror. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.286 If it is true, (as it is,) that in men, for the sake of women (just as in women for the sake of men), there is implanted, by a defect of nature, the will to please; and if this sex of ours acknowledges to itself deceptive trickeries of form peculiarly its own, -- (such as) to cut the beard too sharply; to pluck it out here and there; to shave round about (the mouth). Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 22 Then the nature of the beard contributes in an incredible degree to distinguish the maturity of bodies, or to the distinction of sex, or to the beauty of manliness and strength. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg.288 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 14: BEAST, DESCRIPTION AND MARK OF THE ======================================================================== And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. Revelation 11:7 The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings.” In like manner Daniel says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great horns." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Let no one imagine that he performs these wonders by divine power, but by the working of magic. And we must not be surprised if, since the demons and apostate spirits are at his service, he through their means performs wonders, by which he leads the inhabitants of the earth astray. John says further: "And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath to the image, so that the image shall speak; and he shall cause those to be slain who will not adore it." He says also: "And he will cause a mark [to be put] in the forehead and in the right hand, that no one may be able to buy or sell, unless he who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name; and the number is six hundred and sixty-six," that is, six times a hundred, six times ten, and six units. [He gives this] as a summing up of the whole of that apostasy which has taken place during six thousand years. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 557 And there is therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all apostate power, flowing into and being shut up in him, may be sent into the furnace of fire. Fittingly, therefore, shall his name possess the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he sums up in his own person all the commixture of wickedness which took place previous to the deluge, due to the apostasy of the angels. For Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And [Antichrist] also sums up every error of devised idols since the flood, together with the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just. For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a height of sixty cubits, while the breadth was six cubits; on account of which Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, when they did not worship it, were cast into a furnace of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what happened to them, the wrath against the righteous which shall arise towards the [time of the] end. For that image, taken as a whole, was a prefiguring of this man's coming, decreeing that he should undoubtedly himself alone be worshipped by all men. Thus, then, the six hundred years of Noah, in whose time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy, and the number of the cubits of the image for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of six thousand years…Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 558 Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony [to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.558 For if there are many names found possessing this number, it will be asked which among them shall the coming man bear. It is not through a want of names containing the number of that name that I say this, but on account of the fear of God, and zeal for the truth: for the name Evanthas (Euanqas) contains the required number, but I make no allegation regarding it. Then also Lateinos (Lateinos) has the number six hundred and sixty-six…Teitan too, is rather worthy of credit. For it has in itself the predicted number…We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.559 SEE ALSO: ANTICHRIST, LAST DAYS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 15: BISHOPS AND DEACONS ======================================================================== I. Requirements for ordination (Top) For a bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. Titus 1:7-9 Deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. But let these also first be tested; then let them serve as deacons, being found blameless. Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 1 Timothy 3:8-11 Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers. Therefore do not despise them, for they are your honored ones, together with the prophets and teachers. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 15 So preaching everywhere in country and town, they (The Apostles) appointed their first-fruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe. And this they did in no new fashion; for indeed it had been written concerning bishops and deacons from very ancient times; for thus said the scripture in a certain place, I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.42 In like manner deacons should be blameless in the presence of His righteousness, as deacons of God and Christ and not of men; not calumniators, not double-tongued, not lovers of money, temperate in all things, compassionate, diligent, walking according to the truth of the Lord who became a minister (deacon) of all. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch. 5 "And from the fifth mountain, which had green grass and was rugged, they that believed are such as these; they are faithful, but slow to learn and stubborn and self-pleasers, desiring to know all things, and yet they know nothing at all. By reason of this their stubbornness, understanding stood aloof from them, and a foolish senselessness entered into them; and they praise themselves as having understanding, and they desire to be self-appointed teachers, senseless though they are. Owing then to this pride of heart many, while they exalted themselves, have been made empty; for a mighty demon is stubbornness and vain confidence. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.51 II. Bishop’s authority (Top) I. Bishop’s authority But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. Matthew 20:25-26 My child, remember night and day him who speaks the word of God to you, and honor him as you do the Lord. For wherever the lordly rule is uttered, there is the Lord. And seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that you may rest upon their words. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.4 For Christ is with them that are lowly of mind, not with them that exalt themselves over the flock. The scepter [of the majesty] of God, even our Lord Jesus Christ, came not in the pomp of arrogance or of pride, though He might have done so, but in lowliness of mind, according as the Holy Spirit spoke concerning Him. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.16 I do not command you, as though I were somewhat. For even though I am in bonds for the Name's sake, I am not yet perfected in Jesus Christ. [For] now am I beginning to be a disciple; and I speak to you as to my school-fellows. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 And in proportion as a man sees that his bishop is silent, let him fear him the more. For every one whom the Master of the household sends to be steward over His own house, we ought so to receive as Him that sent him. Plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church. Ignatius: to the Trallians (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 I do not give you orders as Peter and Paul did. They were Apostles, I am a convict; they were free, but I am a slave to this very hour. Yet if I shall suffer, then am I a freed-man of Jesus Christ, and I shall rise free in Him. Now I am learning in my bonds to put away every desire. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 I am amazed at his forbearance; whose silence is more powerful than others' speech. For he is attuned in harmony with the commandments, as a lyre with its strings. Wherefore my soul blesses his godly mind, for I have found that it is virtuous and perfect -- even the imperturbable and calm temper which he has, while living in all godly forbearance. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.1 Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the bishop. Let that be held a valid Eucharist which is under the bishop or one to whom he shall have committed it. Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be; even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal Church. It is not lawful apart from the bishop either to baptize or to hold a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve, this is well-pleasing also to God; that everything which you do may be sure and valid. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.8 Life is for all those that keep the commandments of the Lord. But in the commandments there is nothing about first places, or about glory of any kind, but about long-suffering and humility in man. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 41 III. Responsibility and personal relationship to the congregation (Top) Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Isaiah 65:5 For you did all things without respect of persons, and walked in the commandments of God, being obedient to those who had the rule over you, and giving all fitting honor to the presbyters among you. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.1 So then it becomes you to run in harmony with the mind of the bishop; which thing also you do. For your honorable presbytery, which is worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop, even as its strings to a lyre. Therefore in your concord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is sung. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 4 Yea, and it becomes you also not to presume upon the youth of your bishop, but according to the power of God the Father to render unto him all reverence, even as I have learned that the holy presbyters also have not taken advantage of his outwardly youthful estate, but give place to him as to one prudent in God; yet not to him, but to the Father of Jesus Christ, even to the Bishop of all. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 3 Therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, [being united with Him], either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do you anything without the bishop and the presbyters. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 They that have the spots are deacons that exercised their office ill, and plundered the livelihood of widows and orphans, and made gain for themselves from the ministrations which they had received to perform. If then they abide in the same evil desire, they are dead and there is no hope of life for them. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.52 They that believed are such as these; bishops, hospitable persons, who gladly received into their houses at all times the servants of God without hypocrisy. [These bishops] at all times without ceasing sheltered the needy and the widows in their ministration and conducted themselves in purity at all times. These [all] then shall be sheltered by the Lord forever. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.52 IV. Exhortations to bishops (Top) I beseech you who are superiors, if you will receive any counsel of my good-will, have among yourselves those to whom you may show kindness: do not forsake them. For the day is at hand on which all things shall perish with the evil [one]. The Lord is near, and His reward. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.21 Exhortation of Ignatius to Polycarp the Bishop at Smyrna: If you love good disciples, this is not thankworthy in you. Rather bring the more rebellious to submission by gentleness. All wounds are not healed by the same salve. Allay sharp pains by cold compresses. The season requires you, as pilots require winds or as a storm-tossed mariner a haven, that it may attain unto God. Be sober, as God's athlete. The prize is incorruption and life eternal, concerning which you also are persuaded. Stand you firm, as an anvil when it is smitten. It is the part of a great athlete to receive blows and be victorious. But especially must we for God's sake endure all things, that He also may endure us. Be you more diligent than you are. Mark the seasons. Let not widows be neglected. After the Lord be you their protector. Let nothing be done without your consent; neither do you anything without the consent of God, as indeed you doest not. Be steadfast. Let meetings be held more frequently. Seek out all men by name. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch.2,3,4 Now therefore I say unto you that are rulers of the Church, and that occupy the chief seats; be not you like unto the sorcerers. The sorcerers indeed carry their drugs in boxes, but you carry your drug and your poison in your heart. You are case-hardened, and you will not cleanse your hearts and mix your wisdom together in a clean heart, that you may obtain mercy from the Great King. Look you therefore, children, lest these divisions of yours deprive you of your life. How is it that you wish to instruct the elect of the Lord, while you yourselves have no instruction? Instruct one another therefore, and have peace among yourselves. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.16 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 16: BLOOD OF CHRIST ======================================================================== If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 9:14 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Hebrews 9:12 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:29 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 1 Corinthians 11:25 For to this end the Lord endured to deliver up His flesh to corruption, that we might be sanctified through the remission of sins, which is effected by His blood of sprinkling. For it is written concerning Him, partly with reference to Israel, and partly to us; and [the Scripture] said thus: "He was wounded for our transgressions, and braised for our iniquities: with His stripes we are healed. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb which is dumb before its shearer." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.5 Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.7 …being imitators of God, and having your hearts kindled in the blood of God, you have perfectly fulfilled your congenial work. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.1 Jesus Christ… unto whom all things were made subject that are in heaven and that are on the earth; to whom every creature that has breath does service; who comes as judge of quick and dead; whose blood God will require of them that are disobedient unto Him. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch. 2 And that expression which was committed to writing by Moses, and prophesied by the patriarch Jacob, namely, 'He shall wash His garments with wine, and His vesture with the blood of the grape,' signified that He would wash those that believe in Him with His own blood. For the Holy Spirit called those who receive remission of sins through Him, His garments; amongst whom He is always present in power, but will be manifestly present at His second coming. That the Scripture mentions the blood of the grape has been evidently designed, because Christ derives blood not from the seed of man, but from the power of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.222 I affirm that He announced beforehand the future salvation for the human race through the blood of Christ. For the sign of the scarlet thread, which the spies, sent to Jericho by Joshua, son of Nave (Nun), gave to Rahab the harlot, telling her to bind it to the window through which she let them down to escape from their enemies, also manifested the symbol of the blood of Christ, by which those who were at one time harlots and unrighteous persons out of all nations are saved, receiving remission of sins, and continuing no longer in sin. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.254 The Lord thus has redeemed us through His own blood, giving His soul for our souls, and His flesh for our flesh, and has also poured out the Spirit of the Father for the union and communion of God and man, imparting indeed God to men by means of the Spirit, and, on the other hand, attaching man to God by His own incarnation, and bestowing upon us at His coming immortality durably and truly, by means of communion with God, all the doctrines of the heretics fall to ruin. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 527 As far as concerned the apostasy, indeed, He redeems us righteously from it by His own blood; but as regards us who have been redeemed, [He does this] graciously. For we have given nothing to Him previously, nor does He desire anything from us, as if He stood in need of it; but we do stand in need of fellowship with Him. And for this reason it was that He graciously poured Himself out, that He might gather us into the bosom of the Father. But vain in every respect are they who despise the entire dispensation of God, and disallow the salvation of the flesh, and treat with contempt its regeneration, maintaining that it is not capable of incorruption. But if this indeed does not attain salvation, then neither did the Lord redeem us with His blood, nor is the cup of the Eucharist the communion of His blood, nor the bread which we break the communion of His body… By His own blood he redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins." And as we are His members, we are also nourished by means of the creation (and He Himself grants the creation to us, for He causes His sun to rise, and sends rain when He wills). He has acknowledged the cup (which is a part of the creation) as His own blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of the creation) He has established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.528 In like manner, too, did the Lord say to those who should afterwards shed His blood, "All righteous blood shall be required which is shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias the son of Barachias, whom you slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation." He thus points out the recapitulation that should take place in his own person of the effusion of blood from the beginning, of all the righteous men and of the prophets, and that by means of Himself there should be a requisition of their blood. Now this [blood] could not be required unless it also had the capability of being saved; nor would the Lord have summed up these things in Himself, unless He had Himself been made flesh and blood after the way of the original formation [of man], saving in his own person at the end that which had in the beginning perished in Adam. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 541 But now, by means of communion with Himself, the Lord has reconciled man to God the Father, in reconciling us to Himself by the body of His own flesh, and redeeming us by His own blood, as the apostle says to the Ephesians, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, the remission of sins;" and again to the same he says, "You who formerly were far off have been brought near in the blood of Christ;" and again, "Abolishing in His flesh the enmities, [even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances." And in every Epistle the apostle plainly testifies, that through the flesh of our Lord, and through His blood, we have been saved. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.542 Christ, who was called the Son of God before the ages, was manifested in the fullness of time, in order that He might cleanse us through His blood, who were under the power of sin, presenting us as pure sons to His Father, if we yield ourselves obediently to the chastisement of the Spirit. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.575 SEE ALSO: ATONEMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 17: OCCUPATIONS OF CHRISTIANS ======================================================================== Labour not for the meat which perishs, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him has God the Father sealed. John 6:27 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread. 2 Thess. 3:10,12 "Neither shall you eat," says he "the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the kite, nor the raven." "You shall not join yourself," he means, "to such men as know not how to procure food for themselves by labor and sweat, but seize on that of others in their iniquity, and although wearing an aspect of simplicity, are on the watch to plunder others." So these birds, while they sit idle, inquire how they may devour the flesh of others, proving themselves pests [to all] by their wickedness. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.10 But receive everyone who comes in the name of the Lord, and prove and know him afterward; for you shall have understanding right and left. If he who comes is a wayfarer, assist him as far as you are able; but he shall not remain with you more than two or three days, if need be. But if he wants to stay with you, and is an artisan, let him work and eat. But if he has no trade, according to your understanding, see to it that, as a Christian, he shall not live with you idle. But if he wills not to do, he is a Christ-monger. Watch that you keep away from such. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.12 The good workman receives the bread of his work with boldness, but the slothful and careless dare not look his employer in the face. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.34 Work that which is good, and of your labors, which God gives you, give to all that are in want freely, not questioning to whom you shall give, and to whom you shall not give. Give to all; for to all God desires that there should be given of His own bounties. They then that receive shall render an account to God why they received it, and to what end; for they that receive in distress shall not be judged, but they that receive by false pretence shall pay the penalty. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.20 Besides, He makes preparation for a self-sufficing mode of life, for simplicity, and for girding up our loins, and for free and unimpeded readiness of our journey; in order to the attainment of an eternity of beatitude, teaching each one of us to be his own storehouse. For He says, "Take no anxious thought for to-morrow," meaning that the man who has devoted himself to Christ ought to be sufficient to himself, and servant to himself, and moreover lead a life which provides for each day by itself. For it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and luxury craves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require no arms nor excessive preparation. The Word is their sustenance. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.235 Take heed therefore; as dwelling in a strange land, do not prepare for yourself one thing more than is necessary to be self sufficient, and make ready that, whensoever’s the master of this city may desire to cast you out for your opposition to his law, you may go forth from his city and depart into your own city and use your own law joyfully, free from all insult. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 But abstain from overmuch business, and you shall never fall into any sin. For they that busy themselves overmuch, sin much also, being distracted about their business, and in no wise serving their own Lord…But if any one work just one business, he is able also to serve the Lord; for his mind shall not be corrupted from (following) the Lord, but he shall serve Him, because he keeps his mind pure. If therefore you do these things, you shall be able to bear fruit unto the world to come. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.33 These are they that are mixed up in business and cleave not to the saints. Therefore the one half of them lives, but the other half is dead. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.42 Grant now that there may be some righteousness in business, secure from the duty of watchfulness against covetousness and falsehood… . Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 67 And yet in the sequel it, the new law, says: “My Father works hitherto, and I work.” Does that mean, then, that He is still making heaven, or sun, or man, or animals, or trees, or any such thing? Nay; but the meaning is, that when these visible objects were perfectly finished, He rested from that kind of work; while, however, He still continues to work at objects invisible with an inward mode of action, and saves men. In like manner, then, the legislator desires also that every individual amongst us should be devoted unceasingly to this kind of work, even as God Himself is; and he commands us consequently to rest continuously from secular things, and to engage in no worldly sort of work whatsoever; and this is called our Sabbath. Archelaus (3rd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.203 ALSO SEE MATERIALISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 18: CANON, NEW TESTAMENT ======================================================================== And the presbyter said this. Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatsoever he remembered. It was not, however, in exact order that he related the sayings or deeds of Christ. For he neither heard the Lord nor accompanied Him. But afterwards, as I said, he accompanied Peter, who accommodated his instructions to the necessities [of his hearers], but with no intention of giving a regular narrative of the Lord's sayings. Wherefore Mark made no mistake in thus writing some things as he remembered them. For of one thing he took especial care, not to omit anything he had heard, and not to put anything fictitious into the statements. [This is what is related by Papias regarding Mark; but with regard to Matthew he has made the following statements]: Matthew put together the oracles [of the Lord] in the Hebrew language, and each one interpreted them as best he could. [The same person uses proofs from the First Epistle of John, and from the Epistle of Peter in like manner. And he also gives another story of a woman who was accused of many sins before the Lord, which is to be fount in the Gospel according to the Hebrews.] Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment VI With regard to the inspiration of the book (Revelation), we deem it superfluous to add another word; for the blessed Gregory Theologus and Cyril, and even men of still older date, Papias, Irenaeus, Methodius, and Hippolytus, bore entirely satisfactory testimony to it. Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment VIII As, then, philosophy has been brought into evil repute by pride and self-conceit, so also ghosts by false ghosts called by the same name; of which the apostle writing says, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science (gnosis) falsely so called; which some professing, have erred concerning the faith." Convicted by this utterance, the heretics reject the Epistles to Timothy. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.359 The Epistle of Jude, indeed, and two belonging to the above-named John - or bearing the name of John - are reckoned among the Universal epistles. And the book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in his honor. We receive also the Apocalypse of John and that of Peter, though some amongst us will not have this latter read in the Church. The Pastor, moreover, did Hermas write very recently in our times in the city of Rome, while his brother bishop Pius sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. And therefore it also ought to be read; but it cannot be made public in the Church to the people, nor placed among the prophets, as their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time. Of the writings of Arsinous, called also Valentinus, or of Miltiades, we receive nothing at all. Those are rejected too who wrote the new Book of Psalms for Marcion, together with Basilides and the founder of the Asian Cataphrygians. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 603-604 SEE ALSO: PSEUDEPIGRAPHA NEW TESTAMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 19: CELIBACY ======================================================================== All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Matthew 19:11-12 He that is pure in the flesh, let him be so, and not boast, knowing that it is Another who bestowed his continence upon him. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.38 If any one is able to abide in chastity to the honor of the flesh of the Lord, let him so abide without boasting. If he boast, he is lost; and if it be known beyond the bishop, he is polluted. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch. 5 "If a wife, Sir," say I, "or, it may be, a husband fall asleep, and one of them marry, does the one that marries sin?" "He sins not," said he, "but if he remain single, he invests himself with more exceeding honor and with great glory before the Lord; yet even if he should marry, he sins not. Preserve purity and holiness therefore, and you shall live unto God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.22 And many, both men and women, who have been Christ's disciples from childhood, remain pure at the age of sixty or seventy years; and I boast that I could produce such from every race of men. For what shall I say, too, of the countless multitude of those who have reformed intemperate habits, and learned these things? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 But whether we marry, it is only that we may bring up children; or whether we decline marriage, we live continently. And that you may understand that promiscuous intercourse is not one of our mysteries, one of our number a short time ago presented to Felix the governor in Alexandria a petition, craving that permission might be given to a surgeon to make him an eunuch. For the surgeons there said that they were forbidden to do this without the permission of the governor. And when Felix absolutely refused to sign such a permission, the youth remained single, and was satisfied with his own approving conscience, and the approval of those who thought as he did. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.172 And therefore it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their hard nature. But why say I these things concerning the Old Testament? For in the New also are the apostles found doing this very thing, on the ground which has been mentioned, Paul plainly declaring, “But these things I say, not the Lord." And again: "But this I speak by permission, not by commandment." And again: "Now, as concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord; yet I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful." But further, in another place he says: "That Satan tempt you not for your incontinence." If, therefore, even in the New Testament, the apostles are found granting certain precepts in consideration of human infirmity, because of the incontinence of some, lest such persons, having grown obdurate, and despairing altogether of their salvation, should become apostates from God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 480 Nay, you would find many among us, both men and women, growing old unmarried, in hope of living in closer communion with God. But if the remaining in virginity and in the state of an eunuch brings nearer to God, while the indulgence of carnal thought and desire leads away from Him, in those cases in which we shun the thoughts, much more do we reject the deeds. For we bestow our attention; not on the study of words, but on the exhibition and teaching of actions, that a person should either remain as he was born, or be content with one marriage. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.146 Right mystically and sacredly the apostle, teaching us the choice which is truly gracious, not in the way of rejection of other things as bad, but so as to do things better than what is good, has spoken, saying, "So he that gives his virgin in marriage does well; and he that gives her not does better; as far as respects seemliness and undistracted attendance on the Lord." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.437 And they say that by the words "it is better to marry than to burn" the apostle means this: "Do not cast your soul into the fire, so that you have to endure night and day and go in fear lest you should fall from continence. For a soul which has to concentrate upon "endurance has lost hope." In his Ethics, Isidore says in these very words: "Abstain, then, from a quarrelsome woman lest you are distracted from the grace of God. But when you have rejected the fire of the seed, then pray with an undisturbed conscience. And when your prayer of thanksgiving is reduced to a prayer of request, and your request is not that in future you may do right, but that you may do no wrong, then marry. But perhaps a man is too young or poor or suffers from weak health, and has not the will to marry as the apostle's saying suggests. Such a man should not separate himself from his brother Christian. He should say, I have come into the sanctuary, I can suffer nothing. And if he has a presentiment that he may fall, he may say, Brother, lay your hand on me lest I sin, and he will receive help both spiritually and physically. Let him only wish to accomplish what is right and he will achieve his object. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 1 Our view is that we welcome as blessed the state of abstinence from marriage in those to whom this has been granted by God. We admire monogamy and the high standing of single marriage, holding that we ought to share suffering with another and "bear one another's burdens," lest anyone who thinks he stands securely should himself fall. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.1 Whether a man becomes a celibate or whether he joins himself in marriage with a woman for the sake of having children, his purpose ought to be to remain unyielding to what is inferior. If he can live a life of intense devotion, he will gain to himself great merit with God, since his continence is both pure and reasonable. But if he goes beyond the rule he has chosen to gain greater glory, there is a danger that he may lose hope. Both celibacy and marriage have their own different forms of service and ministry to the Lord; I have in mind the caring for one's wife and children. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.12 Again the Lord says, "Let not the married person seek a divorce, nor the unmarried person marriage,” that is, he who has confessed his intention of being celibate, let him remain unmarried. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.15 All proof of abstinence is lost when excess is impossible; for sundry things have thus their evidence in their contraries. Just as "strength is made perfect in weakness," so likewise is continence made manifest by the permission to marry. Who indeed will be called continent, if that be taken away which gives him the opportunity of pursuing a life of continence? What room for temperance in appetite does famine give? What repudiation of ambitious projects does poverty afford? What bridling of lust can the eunuch merit? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.294 Thus in the Revelation of John it is said: "These are they which have not defiled their clothes with women," indicating, of course, virgins, and such as have become "eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake." Therefore they shall be "clothed in white raiment," that is, in the bright beauty of the unwedded flesh. In the gospel even, "the wedding garment" may be regarded as the sanctity of the flesh. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 564-565 Why, are there not many, withal, who so do, and seal themselves up to eunuchhood for the sake of the kingdom of God, spontaneously relinquishing a pleasure so honorable, and (as we know) permitted? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.23 In short, there is no place at all where we read that nuptials are prohibited; of course on the ground that they are "a good thing." What, however, is better than this "good," we learn from the apostle, who permits marrying indeed, but prefers abstinence; the former on account of the insidiousnesses of temptations, the latter on account of the straits of the times. Now, by looking into the reason thus given for each proposition, it is easily discerned that the ground on which the power of marrying is conceded is necessity; but whatever necessity grants, she by her very nature depreciates. In fact, in that it is written, "To marry is better than to burn," what, pray, is the nature of this "good" which is (only) commended by comparison with "evil," so that the reason why "marrying" is good is (merely) that "burning" is less? Nay, but how far better is it neither to marry nor to burn? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.40 “The children of this world beget and are begotten; but they who are counted worthy of that world, and of the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage: neither shall they die any more: for they are equal to the angels of God, being the children of the resurrection.” That which we shall be, you have already begun to be. You possess already in this world the glory of the resurrection. You pass through the world without the contagion of the world; in that you continue chaste and virgins, you are equal to the angels of God. Only let your virginity remain and endure substantial and uninjured; and as it began bravely, let it persevere continuously, and not seek the ornaments of necklaces nor garments, but of conduct. Let it look towards God and heaven, and not lower to the lust of the flesh and of the world, the eyes uplifted to things above, or set them upon earthly things. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 436 SEE ALSO: PURITY, MARRIAGE ======================================================================== CHAPTER 20: CHILDREN ======================================================================== Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 19:14 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. Matthew 18:10 Do not remove your hand from your son or daughter; rather, teach them the fear of God from their youth. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 4 Let our children be partakers of the instruction which is in Christ: let them learn how lowliness of mind prevails with God, what power chaste love has with God, how the fear of Him is good and great and saves all them that walk therein in a pure mind with holiness. For He is the searcher out of the intents and desires; whose breath is in us, and when He lists, He shall take it away. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 Yet it is not for this that God is wroth with you, but that you may convert your family, that has done wrong against the Lord and against you their parents. But out of fondness for your children you didst not admonish your family, but didst suffer it to become fearfully corrupt. Hermas (A.D. 150) ch.10 Only be not you careless, but take courage, and strengthen your family. For as the smith hammering his work conquers the task which he wills, so also does righteous discourse repeated daily conquer all evil. Cease not therefore to reprove your children; for I know that if they shall repent with all their heart, they shall be written in the books of life with the saints. Hermas (A.D. 150) ch. 10 "But do you, Hermas, no longer bear a grudge against your children, neither suffer your sister to have her way, so that they may be purified from their former sins. For they shall be chastised with a righteous chastisement, unless you bear a grudge against them yourself." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.11 And for the married he goes on to say, "My elect shall not labor in vain nor bear children to be accursed; for they are a seed blessed by the Lord." For him who begets children and brings them up and educates them in the Lord, just as for him who begets children by means of the true teaching, a reward is laid up, as also for the elect seed. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 15 SEE ALSO: HUSBANDS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 21: CHRIST ======================================================================== I. Christ is God II. Relationship to the Father I. Christ is God (Top) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. John 20:27-28 Continue in intimate union with Jesus Christ our God… I pray for your happiness forever in our God, Jesus Christ. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.68,96 The Christians trace the beginning of their religion to Jesus the Messiah. He is called the son of the most high God. It is said that God came down from heaven. Aristides (A.D.125) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.265 God did not as some might imagine send to men any servant, angel or ruler… Rather he sends his son, who is also a king, so God sent Him. He sent Him as God. Letter to Diognetus (A.D.125) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.27 Brethren it is fitting that you should think of Jesus Christ as of God…Second Clement (A.D.150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg.517 For Christ is king, priest, God, Lord, angel and man. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 But so much is written for the sake of proving that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, being of old the Word, and appearing sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels; but now, by the will of God, having become man for the human race, He endured all the sufferings which the devils instigated the senseless Jews to inflict upon Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.184 He deserves to be worshipped as God and as Christ. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.229 The Son ministered to the will of the father. Yet, nevertheless, he is God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.262 God was put to death, King of Israel slain. Melito (A.D.170) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8 pg.75 8 Thus He indicates in clear terms that He is God, and that His advent was in Bethlehem… God, then was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us. Irenaeus (A.D.180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.507 He is God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of the father’s will, the word who is God…Clement of Alexandria (A.D.195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.210 Since, therefore, the Father is eternal, the Son also is eternal, Light of Light. For where there is the begetter, there is also the offspring. And if there is no offspring, how and of what can He be the begetter? But both are, and always are. Since, then, God is the Light, Christ is the Brightness. And since He is a Spirit - for says He, “God is a Spirit” - fittingly again is Christ called Breath; for “He,” said He, “is the breath of God’s power.”And again he says: Moreover, the Son alone, always co-existing with the Father, and filled with Him who is, Himself also is, since He is of the Father. Dionysius of Alexandria (A.D. 264) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.92 II. Relationship to the Father (Top) No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.John 6:44-46 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. John14:9-10 For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all; for they do not discern the mystery that is herein, to which, as we make it plain to you, we pray you to give heed. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 "No one knows the Father, but the Son; nor the Son but the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him." The Jews, accordingly, being throughout of opinion that it was the Father of the universe who spoke to Moses, though He who spoke to him was indeed the Son of God, who is called both Angel and Apostle, are justly charged, both by the Spirit of prophecy and by Christ Himself, with knowing neither the Father nor the Son. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.184 We may learn through Him that the Father is above all things. For "the Father," says He, "is greater than I." The Father, therefore, has been declared by our Lord to excel with respect to knowledge; for this reason, that we, too, as long as we are connected with the scheme of things in this world, should leave perfect knowledge, and such questions [as have been mentioned], to God, and should not by any chance, while we seek to investigate the sublime nature of the Father, fall into the danger of starting the question whether there is another god above God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 402 And through the Word Himself who had been made visible and palpable, was the Father shown forth, although all did not equally believe in Him; but all saw the Father in the Son: for the Father is the invisible of the Son, but the Son the visible of the Father. And for this reason all spoke with Christ when He was present [upon earth], and they named Him God. Yea, even the demons exclaimed, on beholding the Son: "We know You who You are, the Holy One of God." And the devil looking at Him, and tempting Him, said: "If You are the Son of God;" all thus indeed seeing and speaking of the Son and the Father, but all not believing [in them]. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 469 So did the Father previously say to the Son “Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness.” Tertullian (A.D. 207) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.549 Should anyone inquire whether all that the Father knows… Is known by the Savior also, and should he - imagining that he will thereby glorify the Father - show that some things known to the Father are unknown to the Son. Origen (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.313 SEE ALSO: JESUS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 22: CHRISTIANITY ======================================================================== I. Description of Christians II. Meaning of the name “Christian” III. True accusations of Christians IV. False accusations of Christians I. Description of Christians (Top) Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Matthew 5:13-14 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. John 13:34-35 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Romans 8:36 Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labor, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. 1 Corinthians 4:11-13 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. Acts 4:32-35 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. Hebrews 11:13-16 We know that many among ourselves have delivered themselves to bondage, that they might ransom others. Many have sold themselves to slavery, and receiving the price paid for themselves have fed others. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.55 Let us show ourselves their brothers by our forbearance; but let us be zealous to be imitators of the Lord, vying with each other who shall suffer the greater wrong, who shall be defrauded, who shall be set at naught. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.10 Christianity is at it’s greatest, whenever it is hated by the world. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 Since I see, that you are exceedingly anxious to understand the religion of the Christians, as to what God they trust and how they worship Him, that they all disregard the world and despise death, and take no account of those who are regarded as gods by the Greeks, neither observe the superstition of the Jews, and as to the nature of the affection which they entertain one to another, and of this new development or interest, which has entered into men's lives now and not before. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.1 For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in customs. For they dwell not somewhere in cities of their own, neither do they use some different language, nor practice an extraordinary kind of life…But while they dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the native customs in dress and food and the other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvelous, and confessedly contradicts expectation. They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign…They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they live not after the flesh. Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, and they surpass the laws in their own lives. They love all men, and they are persecuted by all. They are ignored, and yet they are condemned. They are put to death, and yet they are endued with life. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.5 In a word, what the soul is in a body, this the Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through all the members of the body, and Christians through the divers cities of the world. The soul has its abode in the body, and yet it is not of the body. So Christians have their abode in the world, and yet they are not of the world. The soul which is invisible is guarded in the body which is visible: so Christians are recognized as being in the world, and yet their religion remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul and wages war with it, though it receives no wrong, because it is forbidden to indulge in pleasures; so the world hates Christians, though it receives no wrong from them, because they set themselves against its pleasures. The soul loves the flesh which hates it, and the members: so Christians love those that hate them. The soul is enclosed in the body, and yet itself holds the body together; so Christians are kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they themselves hold the world together. The soul though itself immortal dwells in a mortal tabernacle; so Christians sojourn amidst perishable things, while they look for the imperishability which is in the heavens. The soul when poorly treated in the matter of food and drinks is improved; and so Christians when punished increase more and more daily. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.6 But the Christians, O King, while they went about and made search, have found the truth; and as we learned from their writings, they have come nearer to truth and genuine knowledge than the rest of the nations…. Wherefore they do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honor father and mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges, they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not to others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they are pure. And their oppressors they appease (lit: comfort) and make them their friends; they do good to their enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.276 Yet, banded together as we are, ever so ready to sacrifice our lives, what single case of revenge for injury are you able to point to, though, if it were held right among us to repay evil by evil, a single night with a torch or two could achieve an ample vengeance? … If we desired, indeed, to act the part of open enemies, not merely of secret avengers, would there be any lacking in strength, whether of numbers or resources? The Moors, the Marcomanni, the Parthians themselves, or any single people, however great, inhabiting a distinct territory, and confined within its own boundaries, surpasses, forsooth, in numbers, one spread over all the world! We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you - cities, islands, fortresses, towns, market-places, the very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum, - we have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods… For now it is the immense number of Christians which makes your enemies so few, almost all the inhabitants of your various cities being followers of Christ. Yet you choose to call us enemies of the human race, rather than of human error. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 45 [Pagan antagonist]: All men must be indignant, all men must feel pain, that certain persons – and these unskilled in learning, strangers to literature, without knowledge even of sordid arts – should dare to teach with any certainty about nature at large and the divine majesty. … Is it not a thing to be lamented, that men … of a reprobate, unlawful, and desperate faction should rage against the gods? These persons have gathered together from the lowest dregs the more unskilled men, along with women – credulous and by the facility of their sex, yielding – thereby establishing a herd of profane conspiracy. This is linked together by nightly meetings, solemn fasts, and inhuman meats. … They despise the temples as dead houses. They reject the gods. They laugh at sacred things. Wretched, they pity the priests – if they are allowed. Half naked themselves, they despise honors and purple robes. Oh, unbelievable folly and incredible audacity! They scorn present torments, although they fear those that are uncertain and future. While they fear to die after death, they do not fear to die for the present. … Look! A portion of you – and, as you declare, the larger and better portion – are in want, are cold, laboring in hard work and hunger. Yet, your God allows it. … So He either is not willing or not able to assist His people. … You do not visit exhibitions. You have no interest in public displays. You reject the public banquets and abhor the sacred contests. You refuse the meats previously tasted by (and the drinks made an offering upon) the altars. … You do not wreath your heads with flowers. You do not grace your bodies with perfume. You reserve ointments for funeral rites. You even refuse garlands for your sepulchers. [Christian reply]: We do not, at once, stand on the level of the lowest of the people, simply because we refuse your honors and purple robes. … We do not distinguish our people by some small bodily mark (as you suppose) but easily enough by the sign of innocency and modesty. Thus we love one another (to your regret) with a mutual love, because we do not know how to hate. For that reason, we call one another (to your envy) brothers, as being men born of one God. … You [pagans] forbid, and yet commit, adulteries. We are born men only for our own wives. You punish crimes when committed. With us, even to think of crimes is to sin. … From your numbers the prison boils over. But there is no Christian there, unless he is accused on account of his religion, or else is an apostate. Mark Minucius Felix (A.D. 200) vol. 4 pg. 175-195 II. Meaning of the name “Christian” (Top) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke 9:23 It is therefore meet that we not only be called Christians, but also be such. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105 ) ch. 4 Only pray that I may have power within and without, so that I may not only say it but also desire it; that I may not only be called a Christian, but also be found one. For if I shall be found so, then can I also be called one, and be faithful then, when I am no more visible to the world. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 And those among yourselves who are accused you do not punish before they are convicted; but in our case you receive the name as proof against us, and this although, so far as the name goes, you ought rather to punish our accusers. For we are accused of being Christians, and to hate what is excellent is unjust. Again, if any of the accused deny the name, and say that he is not a Christian, you acquit him, as having no evidence against him as a wrong-doer; but if any one acknowledge that he is a Christian, you punish him on account of this acknowledgment. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 And let those who are not found living as He taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ; for not those who make profession, but those who do the works, shall be saved, according to His word: "Not every one who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.168 In the first place [we furnish proof], because, though we say things similar to what the Greeks say, we only are hated on account of the name of Christ, and though we do no wrong, are put to death as sinners. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.171 The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ, yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be more faithful and steadfast in the hope announced by Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.212 Yet they style themselves Christians, just as certain among the Gentiles inscribe the name of God upon the works of their own hands, and partake in nefarious and impious rites.) Some are called Marcians, and some Valentinians, and some Basilidians, and some Saturnilians, and others by other names; each called after the originator of the individual opinion, just as each one of those who consider themselves philosophers, as I said before, thinks he must bear the name of the philosophy which he follows, from the name of the father of the particular doctrine. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.212 Moreover, I pointed out to you that some who are called Christians, but are godless, impious heretics, teach doctrines that are in every way blasphemous, atheistical, and foolish. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.239 III. True accusations of Christians (Top) And when you hear that we look for a kingdom, you suppose, without making any inquiry, that we speak of a human kingdom; whereas we speak of that which is with God, as appears also from the confession of their faith made by those who are charged with being Christians, though they know that death is the punishment awarded to him who so confesses. For if we looked for a human kingdom, we should also deny our Christ, that we might not be slain; and we should strive to escape detection, that we might obtain what we expect. But since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men cut us off; since also death is a debt which must at all events be paid. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all; for they do not discern the mystery that is herein, to which, as we make it plain to you, we pray you to give heed. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 In the first place [we furnish proof], because, though we say things similar to what the Greeks say, we only are hated on account of the name of Christ, and though we do no wrong, are put to death as sinners. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.171 And Socrates, who was more zealous in this direction than all of them, was accused of the very same crimes as ourselves. For they said that he was introducing new divinities, and did not consider those to be gods whom the state recognized. But he cast out from the state both Homer and the rest of the poets, and taught men to reject the wicked demons and those who did the things which the poets related; and he exhorted them to become acquainted with the God who was to them unknown. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.191 IV. False accusations of Christians (Top) And when Socrates endeavored, by true reason and examination, to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons, then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that "he was introducing new divinities;" and in our case they [make similar accusations].Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 Hence are we called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 Why do you hate those who follow the word of God, as if they were the vilest of mankind? It is not we who eat human flesh - they among you who assert such a thing have been suborned as false witnesses. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.76 Godless lips falsely accuse us, who are worshippers of God, and are called Christians, alleging that the wives of us all are held in common and made promiscuous use of; and that we even commit incest with our own sisters, and, what is most impious and barbarous of all, that we eat human flesh. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.112 Three things are alleged against us: atheism, Thyestean feasts, Oedipodean intercourse. But if these charges are true, spare no class: proceed at once against our crimes; destroy us root and branch, with our wives and children, if any Christian is found to live like the brutes. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.130 But they have further also made up stories against us of impious feasts and forbidden intercourse between the sexes. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.145 Monsters of wickedness, we are accused of observing a holy rite in which we kill a little child and then eat it; in which, after the feast, we practice incest, the dogs - our pimps, forsooth, overturning the lights and getting us the shamelessness of darkness for our impious lusts. This is what is constantly laid to our charge, and yet you take no pains to elicit the truth of what we have been so long accused. Either bring, then, the matter to the light of day if you believe it, or give it no credit as having never inquired into it. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.23 They think the Christians the cause of every public disaster, of every affliction with which the people are visited. If the Tiber rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not send its waters up over the fields, if the heavens give no rain, if there is an earthquake, if there is famine or pestilence, straightway the cry is, "Away with the Christians to the lion!" Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.47 And now, as wickeder things advance more fruitfully, and abandoned manners creep on day by day, those abominable shrines of an impious assembly are maturing themselves throughout the whole world. Assuredly this confederacy ought to be rooted out and execrated. They know one another by secret marks and insignia, and they love one another almost before they know one another. Everywhere also there is mingled among them a certain religion of lust, and they call one another promiscuously brothers and sisters, that even a not unusual debauchery may by the intervention of that sacred name become incestuous…I hear that they adore the head of an ass…Some say that they worship the virilia of their pontiff and priest, and adore the nature, as it were, of their common parent. I know not whether these things are false; certainly suspicion is applicable to secret and nocturnal rites. Minucius Felix (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 177 Now the story about the initiation of young novices is as much to be detested as it is well known. An infant covered over with meal, that it may deceive the unwary, is placed before him who is to be stained with their rites: this infant is slain by the young pupil, who has been urged on as if to harmless blows on the surface of the meal, with dark and secret wounds. Thirstily - O horror! - they lick up its blood; eagerly they divide its limbs. Minucius Felix (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 177-178 On a solemn day they assemble at the feast, with all their children, sisters, mothers, people of every sex and of every age. There, after much feasting, when the fellowship has grown warm, and the fervor of incestuous lust has grown hot with drunkenness, a dog that has been tied to the chandelier is provoked, by throwing a small piece of offal beyond the length of a line by which he is bound, to rush and spring; and thus the conscious light being overturned and extinguished in the shameless darkness, the connections of abominable lust involve them in the uncertainty of fate. Minucius Felix (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 178 SEE ALSO: PERSECUTION, MARTYRDOM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 23: CHRONOLOGY ======================================================================== For in as many days as this world was made, in so many thousand years shall it be concluded. And for this reason the Scripture says: "Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their adornment. And God brought to a conclusion upon the sixth day the works that He had made; and God rested upon the seventh day from all His works." This is an account of the things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six days created things were completed: it is evident, therefore, that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand year. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.557 So that even from these writings Moses and his followers are proved to be 900 or even 100 years prior to the Trojan war…Then concerning the building of the temple in Judaea, which Solomon the king built 566 years after the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, there is among the Tyrians a record how the temple was built; and in their archives writings have been preserved, in which the temple is proved to have existed 143 years 8 months before the Tyrians founded Carthage. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.117 During Noah's life, in his 600th year, the flood came. The total number of years, therefore, till the flood, was 2242. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.118 From the creation of the world to the deluge were 2242 years. And from the deluge to the time when Abraham our forefather begat a son, 1036 years…All the years from the creation of the world amount to a total of 5698 years, and the odd months and days…And perhaps our knowledge of the whole number of the years is not quite accurate, because the odd months and days are not set down in the sacred books. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.120-121 Besides, Eupolemus, in a similar work, says that all the years from Adam to the fifth year of Ptolemy Demetrius, who reigned twelve years in Egypt, when added, amount to five thousand a hundred and forty-nine; and from the time that Moses brought out the Jews from Egypt to the above-mentioned date, there are, in all, two thousand five hundred and eighty years. And from this time till the consulship in Rome of Caius Domitian and Casian, a hundred and twenty years are computed. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.332 From Adam to the death of Commodus, five thousand seven hundred and eighty-four years, two months, twelve days. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.333 The whole Jewish nation was overthrown within one single generation after Jesus had undergone these sufferings at their hands. For forty and two years, I think, after the date of the crucifixion of Jesus, did the destruction of Jerusalem take place. Now it has never been recorded, since the Jewish nation began to exist, that they have been expelled for so long a period from their venerable temple-worship and service, and enslaved by more powerful nations. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 506 For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem, under Augustus, in the year 5500; and He suffered in the thirty-third year. And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day "on which God rested from all His works." For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they "shall reign with Christ," when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years." Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled. And they are not yet fulfilled, as John says: "five are fallen; one is," that is, the sixth; "the other is not yet come." In mentioning the "other," moreover, he specifies the seventh, in which there is rest. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. It is an ancient adversary and an old enemy with whom we wage our battle: six thousand years are now nearly completed since the devil first attacked man. All kinds of temptation, and arts, and snares for his overthrow, he has learned by the very practice of long years. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 496 At the seventh thousand years, when God shall have completed the world, He shall rejoice in us. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 344 For when a thousand years are reckoned as one day in the sight of God, and from the creation of the world to His rest is six days, so also to our time, six days are defined, as those say who are clever arithmeticians. Therefore, they say that an age of six thousand years extends from Adam to our time. For they say that the judgment will come on the seventh day, that is in the seventh thousand years. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 381 SEE ALSO: LAST DAYS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 24: CHURCH AND STATE ======================================================================== Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings and powers and princes and for them that persecute and hate you and for the enemies of the cross, that your fruit may be manifest among all men, that you may be perfect in Him. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.12 The proconsul replied, "Persuade the people." But Polycarp said, "To you I have thought it right to offer an account [of my faith]; for we are taught to give all due honor (which entails no injury upon ourselves) to the powers and authorities which are ordained of God. But as for these, I do not deem them worthy of receiving any account from me." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 10 They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.5 And everywhere we, more readily than all men, endeavor to pay to those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Him; for at that time some came to Him and asked Him, if one ought to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered, "Tell Me, whose image does the coin bear?" And they said, "Caesar's." And again He answered them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.168 Nay, even in terms, and most clearly, the Scripture says, "Pray for kings, and rulers, and powers, that all may be peace with you." For when there is disturbance in the empire, if the commotion is felt by its other members, surely we too, though we are not thought to be given to disorder, are to be found in some place or other which the calamity affects. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.43 Yet, banded together as we are, ever so ready to sacrifice our lives, what single case of revenge for injury are you able to point to, though, if it were held right among us to repay evil by evil, a single night with a torch or two could achieve an ample vengeance? … For now it is the immense number of Christians which makes your enemies so few, almost all the inhabitants of your various cities being followers of Christ. Yet you choose to call us enemies of the human race, rather than of human error. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.45 Therefore, too, the Lord demanded that the money should be shown Him, and inquired about the image, whose it was; and when He had heard it was Caesar's, said, "Render to Caesar what are Caesar's, and what are God's to God;" that is, the image of Caesar, which is on the coin, to Caesar, and the image of God, which is on man, to God; so as to render to Caesar indeed money, to God yourself. Otherwise, what will be God's, if all things are Caesar's? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.70 "I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority;" and the more any one excels in piety, the more effective help does he render to kings, even more than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply: "Do not those who are priests at certain shrines, and those who attend on certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle, these too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are fighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to those who act righteously may be destroyed!" And as we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army--an army of piety--by offering our prayers to God. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.668 SEE ALSO: PATRIOTISM, TAXES, WAR, LOVE OF ENEMIES ======================================================================== CHAPTER 25: CHURCH, THE ======================================================================== I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 Wherefore, brethren, if we do the will of God our Father, we shall be of the first Church, which is spiritual, which was created before the sun and moon; but if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall be of the scripture that said, My house was made a den of robbers. So therefore let us choose rather to be of the Church of life, that we may be saved. And I do not suppose you are ignorant that the living Church is the body of Christ: for the scripture said, God made man, male and female. The male is Christ and the female is the Church. And the Books and the Apostles plainly declare that the Church exists not now for the first time, but has been from the beginning: for she was spiritual, as our Jesus also was spiritual, but was manifested in the last days that He might save us. Now the Church, being spiritual, was manifested in the flesh of Christ, thereby showing us that, if any of us guard her in the flesh and defile her not, he shall receive her again in the Holy Spirit. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 14 In like manner let all men respect the deacons as Jesus Christ, even as they should respect the bishop as being a type of the Father and the presbyters as the council of God and as the college of Apostles. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church. Ignatius: to the Trallians (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the bishop. Let that be held a valid Eucharist which is under the bishop or one to whom he shall have committed it. Wheresoever the bishop shall appear, there let the people be; even as where Jesus may be, there is the universal Church. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch. 8 "Who then is she?" I say. "The Church," said he. I said unto him, "Wherefore then is she aged?" "Because," said he, "she was created before all things; therefore is she aged; and for her sake the world was framed." Hermas (A.D. 150) ch. 12 For it was not lawful for Jacob to marry two sisters at once. And he serves Laban for [one of] the daughters; and being deceived in [the obtaining of] the younger, he again served seven years. Now Leah is your people and synagogue; but Rachel is our Church. And for these, and for the servants in both, Christ even now serves…Jacob served Laban for speckled and many-spotted sheep; and Christ served, even to the slavery of the cross, for the various and many-formed races of mankind, acquiring them by the blood and mystery of the cross. Leah was weak-eyed; for the eyes of your souls are excessively weak. Rachel stole the gods of Laban, and has hid them to this day; and we have lost our paternal and material gods. Jacob was hated for all time by his brother; and we now, and our Lord Himself, are hated by you and by all men, though we are brothers by nature. Jacob was called Israel; and Israel has been demonstrated to be the Christ, who is, and is called, Jesus. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.267 For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same throughout the whole world, so also the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and enlightens all men that are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 331 For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, "Behold, the prince of this world comes, and will find nothing in me." For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of her way behind her, so neither does the Church, which is situate in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, because she has her life reserved in heaven; and as she holds her way here only for a short time, it is not possible to trace out her course. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 174 There is one God, and Christ is one, and there is one Church, and one chair founded upon the rock by the word of the Lord. Another altar cannot be constituted nor a new priesthood be made, except the one altar and the one priesthood. Whosoever gathers elsewhere, scatters. Whatsoever is appointed by human madness, so that the divine disposition is violated, is adulterous, is impious, is sacrilegious. Depart far from the contagion of men of this kind. And flee from their words, avoiding them as a cancer and a plague, as the Lord warns you and says, “They are blind leaders of the blind. But if the blind lead the blind, they shall both fall into the ditch.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 318 Moreover, Peter himself, showing and vindicating the unity, has commanded and warned us that we cannot be saved, except by the one only baptism of one Church. “In the ark,” says he, “of Noah, few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water, as also baptism shall in like manner save you.” In how short and spiritual a summary has he set forth the sacrament of unity! For as, in that baptism of the world in which its ancient iniquity was purged away, he who was not in the ark of Noah could not be saved by water, so neither can he appear to be saved by baptism who has not been baptized in the Church which is established in the unity of the Lord according to the sacrament of the one ark. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 389 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 26: CLOTHING ======================================================================== The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God. Deuteronomy 22:5 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. 1 Peter 3:3-4 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array. 1 Timothy 2:9 I say, then, that man requires clothes for nothing else than the covering of the body, for defense against excess of cold and intensity of heat, lest the inclemency of the air injure us. And if this is the object of clothing, see that one kind be not assigned to men and another to women. For it is common to both to be covered, as it is to eat and drink. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.264 In short, I find no dress cursed by God, except a woman's dress on a man: for "cursed," said He, "is every man who clothes himself in woman's attire." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 71 Then, too, as in His law it is declared that the man is cursed who attires himself in female garments, what must be His judgment of the pantomime, who is even brought up to play the woman! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.89 Nay, there is more than this: for even Christ, we shall find, has ordinary raiment; Paul, too, has his cloak. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 97-98 But if any necessity arises, commanding the presence of married women, let them be well clothed--without by raiment, within by modesty. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.252 For these superfluous and diaphanous materials are the proof of a weak mind, covering as they do the shame of the body with a slender veil. For luxurious clothing, which cannot conceal the shape of the body, is no more a covering. For such clothing, falling close to the body, takes its form more easily, and adhering as it were to the flesh, receives its shape, and marks out the woman's figure, so that the whole make of the body is visible to spectators, though not seeing the body itself. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.265 Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.290 Touching modesty of dress and ornamentation, indeed, the prescription of Peter likewise is plain, checking as he does with the same mouth, because with the same Spirit, as Paul, the glory of garments, and the pride of gold, and the meretricious elaboration of the hair. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 687 You call yourself wealthy and rich; but Paul meets your riches, and with his own voice prescribes for the moderating of your dress and ornament within a just limit. “Let women,” said he, “adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly array, but as becomes women professing chastity, with a good conversation.” Also Peter consents to these same precepts, and says, “Let there be in the woman not the outward adorning of array, or gold, or apparel, but the adorning of the heart.” …and draw the sighs of young men after you, nourish the lust of concupiscence, and inflame the fuel of sighs, so that, although you yourself perish not, yet you cause others to perish, and offer yourself, as it were, a sword or poison to the spectators; you cannot be excused on the pretense that you are chaste and modest in mind. Your shameful dress and immodest ornament accuse you; nor can you be counted now among Christ’s maidens and virgins, since you live in such a manner as to make yourselves objects of desire. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.432 SEE ALSO: MODESTY, WOMEN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 27: COMMANDMENTS, KEEPING ======================================================================== If ye love me, keep my commandments. John 14:15 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:2 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Matthew 28:20 You never grudged any act of kindness, being “ready to every good work.” Adorned by a thoroughly virtuous and religious life, you did all things in the fear of God. The commandments and ordinances of the Lord were written upon the tablets of your hearts. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 2 For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the laws of His commandments. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 3 Let him that has love in Christ fulfill the commandments of Christ. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 49 Blessed are we, dearly beloved, if we should be doing the commandments of God in concord of love, to the end that our sins may through love be forgiven us. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 50 And we ought not rather to fear men but God. For this cause, if you do these things, the Lord said, Though you be gathered together with Me in My bosom, and do not My commandments, I will cast you away and will say unto you, Depart from Me, I know you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.4 "Sir, these commandments are great and beautiful and glorious, and are able to gladden the heart of the man who is able to observe them. But I know not whether these commandments can be kept by a man, for they are very hard." He answered and said unto me; "If you set it before yourself that they can be kept, you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard; but if it once enter into your heart that they cannot be kept by a man, you will not keep them. But now I say unto you; if you keep them not, but neglect them you shall not have salvation, neither your children nor your household, since you have already pronounced judgment against yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by a man." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.29 ”If then," [he said,] "man is lord of all the creatures of God and masters all things, cannot he also master these commandments?" "Aye" said he, "The man that has the Lord in his heart can master [all things and] all these commandments. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 29 "Man, Sir," I say, "is eager to keep the commandments of God, and there is no one that asks not of the Lord that he may be strengthened in His commandments, and be subject to them; but the devil is hard and overmasters them." "He cannot," said he, "overmaster the servants of God, who set their hope on Him with their whole heart. The devil can wrestle with them, but he cannot overthrow them. If then you resist him, he will be vanquished and will flee from you disgraced.” Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 29 "And I hope, Sir, that I am now able to keep these commandments which you have commanded, the Lord enabling me." "You shall keep them," said he, "if your heart be found pure with the Lord; yea, and all shall keep them, as many as shall purify their hearts from the vain desires of this world, and shall live unto God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 The teaching of the Lord, with whom not only is the adulterer rejected, but also the man who desires to commit adultery; and not only is the actual murderer held guilty of having killed another to his own damnation, but the man also who is angry with his brother without a cause: who commanded [His disciples] not only not to hate men, but also to love their enemies; and commanded them not only not to swear falsely, but not even to swear at all; and not only not to speak evil of their neighbors, but not even to style any one "Raca" and "fool;" [declaring] that otherwise they were in danger of hell-fire; and not only not to strike, but even, when themselves struck, to present the other cheek [to those that maltreated them]; and not only not to refuse to give up the property of others, but even if their own were taken away, not to demand it back again from those that took it; and not only not to injure their neighbors, nor to do them any evil, but also, when themselves wickedly dealt with, to be long-suffering, and to show kindness towards those [that injured them], and to pray for them, that by means of repentance they might be saved. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 408 As in the law, therefore, and in the Gospel [likewise], the first and greatest commandment is, to love the Lord God with the whole heart, and then there follows a commandment like to it, to love one's neighbor as one's self; the author of the law and the Gospel is shown to be one and the same. For the precepts of an absolutely perfect life, since they are the same in each Testament, have pointed out [to us] the same God, who certainly has promulgated particular laws adapted for each; but the more prominent and the greatest [commandments], without which salvation cannot [be attained], He has exhorted [us to observe] the same in both. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 476 "Why call you me Lord, Lord," He says, "and do not the things which I say?" For "the people that love with their lips, but have their heart far away from the Lord," is another people, and trust in another, and have willingly sold themselves to another; but those who perform the commandments of the Lord, in every action "testify," by doing what He wishes, and consistently naming the Lord's name; and "testifying" by deed to Him in whom they trust, that they are those "who have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.417 "The kingdom of God," He says, "comes not with observation; neither do they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Now, who will not interpret the words "within you" to mean in your hand, within your power, if you hear, and do the commandment of God? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 409 But how can we possess immortality, unless we keep those commands of Christ whereby death is driven out and overcome, when He Himself warns us, and says, “If you will enter into life, keep the commandments”? And again: “If you do the things that I command you, henceforth I call you not servants, but friends.” Finally, these persons He calls strong and steadfast; these He declares to be founded in robust security upon the rock, established with immovable and unshaken firmness, in opposition to all the tempests and hurricanes of the world. “Whosoever,” says He, “hears my words, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, that built his house upon a rock: the rain descended, the floods came, the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.” We ought therefore to stand fast on His words, to learn and do whatever He both taught and did. But how can a man say that he believes in Christ, who does not do what Christ commanded him to do? Or whence shall he attain to the reward of faith, who will not keep the faith of the commandment? He must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error, like dust which is shaken by the wind, be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 421 SEE ALSO: REPENTANCE, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 28: COMMUNITY, CHRISTIAN ======================================================================== All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:44-46 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.Acts4:32-35 You shall communicate in all things with your neighbor; you shall not call things your own; for if you are partakers in common of things which are incorruptible, how much more [should you be] of those things which are corruptible! Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.19 Do not turn away from him who is in want; rather, share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal? Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.4 Toil together one with another, struggle together, run together, suffer together, lie down together, rise up together, as God's stewards and assessors and ministers. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 They have their meals in common, but not their wives. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.5 But whosoever takes upon himself the burden of his neighbor, whosoever desires to benefit one that is worse off in that in which he himself is superior, whosoever by supplying to those that are in want possessions which he received from God becomes a God to those who receive them from him, he is an imitator of God. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 10 Have regard one to another, and assist one another, and do not partake of the creatures of God alone in abundance, but share them also with those that are in want. For some men through their much eating bring weakness on the flesh, and injure their flesh: whereas the flesh of those who have naught to eat is injured by their not having sufficient nourishment, and their body is ruined. This exclusiveness therefore is hurtful to you that have and do not share with them that are in want. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 16 The rich man has much wealth, but in the things of the Lord he is poor, being distracted about his riches, and his confession and intercession with the Lord is very scanty; and even that which he gives is small and weak and has not power above… The rich man then supplies all things to the poor man without wavering. But the poor man being supplied by the rich makes intercession for him, thanking God for him that gave to him. And the other is still more zealous to assist the poor man, that he may be continuous in his life: for he knows that the intercession of the poor man is acceptable and rich before God. And this work great and acceptable with God, because (the rich man) has understanding concerning his riches, and works for the poor man from the bounties of the Lord, and accomplishes the ministration of the Lord rightly. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.32 We who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to every one in need. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.185 And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.277 And if we owe our lives to the brethren, and have made such a mutual compact with the Savior, why should we any more hoard and shut up worldly goods, which are beggarly, foreign to us and transitory? Shall we shut up from each other what after a little shall be the property of the fire? Divinely and weightily John says, "He that loves not his brother is a murderer," the seed of Cain, a nursling of the devil. He has not God's compassion. He has no hope of better things. He is sterile; he is barren; he is not a branch of the ever-living supercelestial vine. He is cut off; he waits the perpetual fire. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.601 The family possessions, which generally destroy brotherhood among you, create fraternal bonds among us. One in mind and soul, we do not hesitate to share our earthly goods with one another. All things are common among us but our wives. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.46 SEE ALSO: OFFERINGS, MATERIALISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 29: CONFESSION OF SIN ======================================================================== If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 In the church you shall acknowledge your transgressions, and you shall not come near for your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.4 For it is good for a man to make confession of his trespasses rather than to harden his heart, as the heart of those was hardened who made sedition against Moses the servant of God; whose condemnation was clearly manifest, for they went down to hades alive, and death shall be their shepherd. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 50 But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one who is at odds with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.14 "Hermas, make an end of constantly entreating for your sins; entreat also for righteousness, that you may take some part forthwith to your family." Hermas (A.D. 150) ch. 12 "Born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh,"… consists in repenting by not giving way to the same fault. For frequent repentance and readiness to change easily from want of training, is the practice of sin again. The frequent asking of forgiveness, then, for those things in which we often transgress, is the semblance of repentance, not repentance itself. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.361 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 endures 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. He is a confessor; but after confession his peril is greater, because the adversary is more provoked. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.428 SEE ALSO: REPENTANCE, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 30: CONVERSATIONS ======================================================================== Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Prov. 21:23 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. James 1:19-21 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. James 3:6 You shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued, for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. Your speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.2 Let us clothe ourselves in concord, being lowly-minded and temperate, holding ourselves aloof from all backbiting and evil speaking, being justified by works and not by words. For He said, He that said much shall hear also again. Does the ready talker think to be righteous? Blessed is the offspring of woman that lives but a short time. Be not you abundant in words. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.30 And in proportion as a man sees that his bishop is silent, let him fear him the more. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 It is better to keep silence and to be, than to talk and not to be. It is a fine thing to teach, if the speaker practice. Now there is one teacher, who "spoke and it came to pass:" yea and even the things which He has done in silence are worthy of the Father. He that truly possesses the word of Jesus is able also to hearken unto His silence, that he may be perfect; that through his speech he may act and through his silence he may be known. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.15 But make these words known to all your children, and to your wife who shall be as your sister; for she too refrains not from using her tongue. Hermas (A.D. 150) ch. 11 First of all, speak evil of no man, neither take pleasure in listening to a slanderer. Otherwise you that hear too shall be responsible for the sin of him that speaks the evil, if you believe the slander, which you hear; for in believing it you yourself also will have a grudge against your brother. So then shall you be responsible for the sin of him that speaks the evil. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 20 For the saying, "It is not a good tree which produces corrupt fruit, nor a corrupt tree which produces good fruit," is to be applied in this case. For speech is the fruit of the mind. If, then, jokers are to be ejected from our society, we ourselves must by no manner of means be allowed to stir up laughter. For it were absurd to be found imitators of things of which we are prohibited to be listeners; and still more absurd for a man to set about making himself a laughing-stock, that is, but of insult and derision. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.249 Pleasantry (an agreeable playfulness in conversation or good humor) is allowable, not waggery (mischievous humor). Besides, even laughter must be kept in check; for when given vent to in the right manner it indicates orderliness, but when it issues differently it shows a want of restraint. For, in a word, whatever things are natural to men we must not eradicate from them, but rather impose on them limits and suitable times. For man is not to laugh on all occasions because he is a laughing animal, any more than the horse neighs on all occasions because he is a neighing animal. But as rational beings, we are to regulate ourselves suitably, harmoniously relaxing the austerity and over-tension of our serious pursuits, not inharmoniously breaking them up altogether. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.250 But, on the other hand, one needs not be gloomy, only grave. For I certainly prefer a man to smile who has a stern countenance than the reverse; for so his laughter will be less apt to become the object of ridicule. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.250 From filthy speaking we ourselves must entirely abstain, and stop the mouths of those who practice it by stern looks and averting the face. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.250 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 31: COSMETICS ======================================================================== If, then, He takes away anxious care for clothes and food, and superfluities in general, as unnecessary; what are we to imagine ought to be said of love of ornament, and dyeing of wool, and variety of colors, and fastidiousness about gems, and exquisite working of gold, and still more, of artificial hair and wreathed curls; and furthermore, of staining the eyes, and plucking out hairs, and painting with rouge and white lead, and dyeing of the hair, and the wicked arts that are employed in such deceptions? Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.264 So those women who wear gold, occupying themselves in curling at their locks, and engaged in anointing their cheeks, painting their eyes, and dyeing their hair, and practicing the other pernicious arts of luxury, decking the covering of flesh, in truth, imitate the Egyptians, in order to attract their infatuated lovers. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.272 Unawares the poor wretches destroy their own beauty, by the introduction of what is spurious. At the dawn of day, mangling, racking, and plastering themselves over with certain compositions, they chill the skin, furrow the flesh with poisons, and with curiously prepared washes, thus blighting their own beauty. Wherefore they are seen to be yellow from the use of cosmetics, and susceptible to disease, their flesh, which has been shaded with poisons, being now in a melting state. So they dishonor the Creator of men, as if the beauty given by Him were nothing worth. As you might expect, they become lazy in housekeeping, sitting like painted things to be looked at, not as if made for domestic economy. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.272 But there are circumstances in which this strictness may relaxed. For allowance must sometimes be made in favor of those women who have not been fortunate in falling in with believing husbands, and adorn themselves in order to please their husbands. But let desire for the admiration of their husbands alone be proposed as their aim. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.285 Nor are the women to smear their faces with the ensnaring devices of wily cunning. But let us show to them the decoration of sobriety. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.286 But why are we a (source of) danger to our neighbor? Why do we import concupiscence into our neighbor? …Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbors may perish? Where, then, is (the command), "You shall love your neighbor as yourself”? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.19 For they who rub their skin with medicaments, stain their cheeks with rouge, make their eyes prominent with antimony, sin against HIM. To them, I suppose, the plastic skill of God is displeasing! In their own persons, I suppose, they convict, they censure, the Artificer of all things! For censure they do when they amend, when they add to, (His work;) taking these their additions, of course, from the adversary artificer. That adversary artificer is the devil. For who would show the way to change the body, but he who by wickedness transfigured man's spirit? He it is, undoubtedly, who adapted ingenious devices of this kind; that in your persons it may be apparent that you, in a certain sense, do violence to God. Whatever is born is the work of God. Whatever, then, is plastered on (that), is the devil's work. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.20-21 But are sincerity and truth preserved, when what is sincere is polluted by adulterous colors, and what is true is changed into a lie by the deceitful dyes of medicaments? Your Lord says, “You canst not make one hair white or black;” and you, in order to overcome the word of your Lord, will be more mighty than He, and stain your hair with a daring endeavor and with profane contempt. With evil presage of the future, you make a beginning to yourself already of flame-colored hair; and sin (oh, wickedness!) with your head - that is, with the nobler part of your body! And although it is written of the Lord, “His head and His hair were white like wool or snow,” you curse that whiteness and hate that hoariness which is like to the Lord’s head. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.434 SEE ALSO: ADORNMENTS OUTWARD, WOMEN, MODESTY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 32: COVENANT, OLD & NEW ======================================================================== Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Hebrews 8:13 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days. Colossians 2:14-16 For the Lord speaks thus to Moses: "Moses go down quickly; for the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt have transgressed." And Moses understood [the meaning of God], and cast the two tables out of his hands; and their covenant was broken, in order that the covenant of the beloved Jesus might be sealed upon our heart, in the hope which flows from believing in Him. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one; and an eternal and final law--namely, Christ--has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.200 If, therefore, God proclaimed a new covenant which was to be instituted, and this for a light of the nations, we see and are persuaded that men approach God…Moreover, by the works and by the attendant miracles, it is possible for all to understand that He is the new law, and the new covenant, and the expectation of those who out of every people wait for the good things of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.200 For this reason were four principal covenants given to the human race: one, prior to the deluge, under Adam; the second, that after the deluge, under Noah; the third, the giving of the law, under Moses; the fourth, that which renovates man, and sums up all things in itself by means of the Gospel, raising and bearing men upon its wings into the heavenly kingdom. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.429 Since, then, the law originated with Moses, it terminated with John as a necessary consequence. Christ had come to fulfill it: wherefore "the law and the prophets were" with them "until John." And therefore Jerusalem, taking its commencement from David, and fulfilling its own times, must have an end of legislation when the new covenant was revealed. For God does all things by measure and in order. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 466 The Lord says to the disciples, "Therefore every scribe, which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a man that is an householder, which brings forth out of his treasure things new and old." … For the Lord is the good man of the house, who rules the house of His Father; and who delivers a law suited both for slaves and those who are as yet undisciplined; and gives fitting precepts to those that are free, and have been justified by faith, as well as throws His own inheritance open to those that are sons. And He called His disciples "scribes" and "teachers of the kingdom of heaven;" of whom also He elsewhere says to the Jews: "Behold, I send unto you wise men, and scribes, and teachers; and some of them you shall kill, and persecute from city to city." Now, without contradiction, He means by those things which are brought forth from the treasure new and old, the two covenants; the old, that giving of the law which took place formerly; and He points out as the new, that manner of life required by the Gospel. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.472 The same Lord granted, by means of His advent, a greater gift of grace to those of a later period, than what He had granted to those under the Old Testament dispensation. For they indeed used to hear, by means of [His] servants, that the King would come, and they rejoiced to a certain extent, inasmuch as they hoped for His coming; but those who have beheld Him actually present, and have obtained liberty, and been made partakers of His gifts, do possess a greater amount of grace, and a higher degree of exultation, rejoicing because of the King's arrival. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 474 No new covenant was given, but they used the Mosaic law until the coming of the Lord; but from the Lord's advent, the new covenant which brings back peace, and the law which gives life, has gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall break down their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they shall no longer learn to fight."… the law of liberty… caused such a change in the state of things, that these [nations] did form the swords and war-lances into ploughshares, and changed them into pruning-hooks for reaping the corn, [that is], into instruments used for peaceful purposes, and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten, offer also the other cheek. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.512 "Behold, I make with you a new covenant, not as I made with your fathers in Mount Horeb." He made a new covenant with us; for what belonged to the Greeks and Jews is old. But we, who worship Him in a new way, in the third form, are Christians. For clearly, as I think, he showed that the one and only God was known by the Greeks in a Gentile way, by the Jews Judicially, and in a new and spiritual way by us. And further, that the same God that furnished both the Covenants was the giver of Greek philosophy to the Greeks, by which the Almighty is glorified among the Greeks, he shows. And it is clear from this. Accordingly, then, from the Hellenic training, and also from that of the law are gathered into the one race of the saved people those who accept faith: not that the three peoples are separated by time, so that one might suppose three natures, but trained in different Covenants of the one Lord, by the word of the one Lord. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.489-490 And perhaps the two tables themselves may be the prophecy of the two covenants. They were accordingly mystically renewed, as ignorance along with sin abounded. The commandments are written, then, doubly, as appears, for twofold spirits, the ruling and the subject. "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." …The commandment, then, "You shall not lust," says, you shall not serve the carnal spirit, but shall rule over it; "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit," and excites to disorderly conduct against nature; "and the Spirit against the flesh" exercises sway, in order that the conduct of the man may be according to nature. Is not man, then, rightly said "to have been made in the image of God?" -- not in the form of his [corporeal] structure; but inasmuch as God creates all things by the Word and the man who has become a knowledgeable performs good actions by the faculty of reason, properly therefore the two tables are also said to mean the commandments that were given to the twofold spirits. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.511-512 SEE ALSO: LAW ======================================================================== CHAPTER 33: CROSS, THE ======================================================================== And he that takes not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor. 1:18 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Gal. 6:14 My spirit is made an offscouring for the Cross, which is a stumbling-block to them that are unbelievers, but to us salvation and life eternal. ”Where is the wise? Where is the disputer?” Where is the boasting of them that are called prudent? Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.18 (Addressed to the Jews) And you yourselves, if you will confess the truth, must acknowledge that we, who have been called by God through the despised and shameful mystery of the cross (for the confession of which, and obedience to which, and for our piety, punishments even to death have been inflicted on us by demons, and by the host of the devil, through the aid ministered to them by you), and endure all torments rather than deny Christ even by word, through whom we are called to the salvation prepared beforehand by the Father, are more faithful to God than you. Justin Martyr (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 265 For that He did not say this with reference to the acknowledging of the (cross) above, as some among them venture to expound, but with respect to the suffering which He should Himself undergo, and that His disciples should endure, He implies when He says, "For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever will lose, shall find it. And that His disciples must suffer for His sake, He [implied when He] said to the Jews, "Behold, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you shall kill and crucify." And to the disciples He was wont to say, "And you shall stand before governors and kings for My sake; and they shall scourge some of you, and slay you, and persecute you from city to city." He knew, therefore, both those who should suffer persecution, and He knew those who should have to be scourged and slain because of Him; and He did not speak of any other cross, but of the suffering which He should Himself undergo first, and His disciples afterwards. For this purpose did He give them this exhortation: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to send both soul and body into hell;" [thus exhorting them] to hold fast those professions of faith which they had made in reference to Him. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 447 And for this reason, indeed, when at this present time the law is read to the Jews, it is like a fable; for they do not possess the explanation of all things pertaining to the advent of the Son of God, which took place in human nature; but when it is read by the Christians, it is a treasure, hid indeed in a field, but brought to light by the cross of Christ, and explained, both enriching the understanding of men, and showing forth the wisdom of God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 496 He knows accurately the declaration, "Unless you hate father and mother, and besides your own life, and unless you bear the sign [of the cross]." For he hates the inordinate affection: of the flesh, which possess the powerful spell of pleasure; and entertains a noble contempt for all that belongs to the creation and nutriment of the flesh. He also withstands the corporeal soul, putting a bridle-bit on the restive irrational spirit: "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit." And "to bear the sign of [the cross]" is to bear about death, by taking farewell of all things while still alive; since there is not equal love in "having sown the flesh," and in having formed the soul for knowledge. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.546 In the same way the martyrs bear witness for a testimony to the unbelieving, and so do all the saints whose deeds shine before men. They spend their life rejoicing in the cross of Christ and bearing witness to the true light. Origen (248 A.D.) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg. 343 SEE ALSO: SALVATION, REPENTANCE, COMMANDMENTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 34: DEAD ======================================================================== I. Intermediate state of the dead II. Christ’s descent into Hades I. Intermediate state of the dead (Top) "Because," said he, "these, the apostles and the teachers who preached the name of the Son of God, after they had fallen asleep in the power and faith of the Son of God, preached also to them that had fallen asleep before them, and themselves gave unto them the seal of the preaching. Therefore they went down with them into the water, and came up again. But these went down alive [and again came up alive]; whereas the others that had fallen asleep before them went down dead and came up alive. So by their means they were quickened into life, and came to the full knowledge of the name of the Son of God. For this cause also they came up with them, and were fitted with them into the building of the tower and were builded with them, without being shaped; for they fell asleep in righteousness and in great purity. Only they had not this seal. You have then the interpretation of these things also." "I have, Sir," say I. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 49 For reflect upon the end of each of the preceding kings, how they died the death common to all, which, if it issued in insensibility, would be a godsend to all the wicked. But since sensation remains to all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up (i.e., for the wicked), see that you neglect not to be convinced, and to hold as your belief, that these things are true. For let even necromancy, and the divinations you practice by immaculate children, and the evoking of departed human souls, and those who are called among the magi, Dream-senders and Assistant-spirits (Familiars), and all that is done by those who are skilled in such matters--let these persuade you that even after death souls are in a state of sensation. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.169 The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.197 For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.239 Christ declared that ignorance was not on His side, but on theirs, who thought that He was not the Christ, but fancied they would put Him to death, and that He, like some common mortal, would remain in Hades. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.248 But these men are in all points inconsistent with themselves, when they decide that all souls do not enter into the intermediate place, but those of the righteous only. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 403 The Lord has taught with very great fullness, that souls not only continue to exist, not by passing from body to body, but that they preserve the same form [in their separate state] as the body had to which they were adapted… in that narrative which is recorded respecting the rich man and that Lazarus who found repose in the bosom of Abraham. By these things, then, it is plainly declared that souls continue to exist that they do not pass from body to body, that they possess the form of a man, so that they may be recognized, and retain the memory of things in this world; moreover, that the gift of prophecy was possessed by Abraham, and that each class [of souls] receives a habitation such as it has deserved, even before the judgment. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 411 If, then, the Lord observed the law of the dead, that He might become the first-begotten from the dead, and tarried until the third day "in the lower parts of the earth;" …how must these men not be put to confusion, who allege that "the lower parts" refer to this world of ours, but that their tuner man, leaving the body here, ascends into the super-celestial place? For as the Lord "went away in the midst of the shadow of death," where the souls of the dead were, yet afterwards arose in the body, and after the resurrection was taken up [into heaven], it is manifest that the souls of His disciples also, upon whose account the Lord underwent these things, shall go away into the invisible place allotted to them by God, and there remain until the resurrection, awaiting that event; then receiving their bodies, and rising in their entirety, that is bodily, just as the Lord arose, they shall come thus into the presence of God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 560 If, then, the Lord descended to Hades for no other end but to preach the Gospel, as He did descend; it was either to preach the Gospel to all or to the Hebrews only. If, accordingly, to all, then all who believe shall be saved, although they may be of the Gentiles, on making their profession there; since God's punishments are saving and disciplinary, leading to conversion, and choosing rather the repentance than the death of a sinner; and especially since souls, although darkened by passions, when released from their bodies, are able to perceive more clearly, because of their being no longer obstructed by the paltry flesh. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.490-491 So I think it is demonstrated that the God being good, and the Lord powerful, they save with a righteousness and equality which extend to all that turn to Him, whether here or elsewhere. For it is not here alone that the active power of God is beforehand, but it is everywhere and is always at work… For it is not right that these should be condemned without trial, and that those alone who lived after the advent should have the advantage of the divine righteousness. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.491 You have a treatise by us, (on Paradise), in which we have established the position that every soul is detained in safe keeping in Hades until the day of the Lord. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 231 Our answer to this is, that the Scripture itself which dazzles his sight expressly distinguishes between Abraham's bosom, where the poor man dwells, and the infernal place of torment. "Hell" (I take it) means one thing, and "Abraham's bosom" another. "A great gulf" is said to separate those regions, and to hinder a passage from one to the other…It must therefore be evident to every man of intelligence who has ever heard of the Elysian fields, that there is some determinate place called Abraham's bosom, and that it is designed for the reception of the souls of Abraham's children, even from among the Gentiles…by Abraham's bosom is meant some temporary receptacle of faithful souls, wherein is even now delineated an image of the future, and where is given some foresight of the glory of both judgments? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 406 Therefore as it has acted in each several instance, so proportionably does it suffer in Hades, being the first to taste of judgment as it was the first to induce to the commission of sin; but still it is waiting for the flesh in order that it may through the flesh also compensate for its deeds, inasmuch as it laid upon the flesh the execution of its own thoughts. This, in short, will be the process of that judgment which is postponed to the last great day, in order that by the exhibition of the flesh the entire course of the divine vengeance may be accomplished. Besides, (it is obvious to remark) there would be no delaying to the end of that doom which souls are already tasting in Hades, if it was destined for souls alone. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 557 For who is there that will not desire, while he is in the flesh, to put on immortality, and to continue his life by a happy escape from death, through the transformation which must be experienced instead of it, without encountering too that Hades which will exact the very last farthing? Notwithstanding, he who has already traversed Hades is destined also to obtain the change after the resurrection. For from this circumstance it is that we definitively declare that the flesh will by all means rise again, and, from the change that is to come over it, will assume the condition of angels. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 575 II. Christ’s descent into Hades (Top) He seeing this before spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. Acts 2:31 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? Ephesians 4:8-9 It was for this reason, too, that the Lord descended into the regions beneath the earth, preaching His advent there also, and [declaring] the remission of sins received by those who believe in Him. Now all those believed in Him who had hope towards Him, that is, those who proclaimed His advent, and submitted to His dispensations, the righteous men, the prophets, and the patriarchs, to whom He remitted sins in the same way as He did to us, which sins we should not lay to their charge, if we would not despise the grace of God. For as these men did not impute unto us (the Gentiles) our transgressions, which we wrought before Christ was manifested among us, so also it is not right that we should lay blame upon those who sinned before Christ's coming. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.499 For three days He dwelt in the place where the dead were, as the prophet said concerning Him, “And the Lord remembered His dead saints who slept formerly in the land of the dead. And He descended to them to rescue and save them.” The Lord Himself said, “As Jonah remained three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so will the Son of man be in the heart of the earth.” Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.560 The Lord preached the Gospel to those in Hades. … Do not [the Scriptures] show that the Lord preached the Gospel to those who perished in the flood, or rather had been chained, as to those kept in ward and guard? And it has been shown also … that the apostles, following the Lord, preached the Gospel to those in Hades. … If, then, the Lord descended to Hades for no other reason but to preach the Gospel (as He did descend), it was either to preach the Gospel to all, or else to the Hebrews only. If, accordingly, He preached to all, then all who believe will be saved on making their profession there – even though they may be Gentiles. For God’s punishments are saving and disciplinary, leading to conversion. He desires the repentance, rather than the death, of a sinner. This is especially so since souls, although darkened by passions, when released from their bodies, are able to perceive more clearly. For they are no longer obstructed by the paltry flesh. … Did not the same dispensation obtain in Hades? For even there, all the souls, on hearing the proclamation, could either exhibit repentance, or confess that their punishment was just, because they did not believe. And it was not arbitrary that they could obtain either salvation or punishment. For those who had departed before the coming of the Lord had not had the gospel preached to them. So they had been given no opportunity to either believe or not believe. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.490,491 Christ in His death spent three days in the heart of the earth, that is, in the secret inner recess which is hidden in the earth, and enclosed by the earth, and superimposed on the abysmal depths which lie still lower down. Now although Christ is God, yet, being also man, "He died according to the Scriptures," and "according to the same Scriptures was buried." With the same law of His being He fully complied, by remaining in Hades in the form and condition of a dead man; nor did He ascend into the heights of heaven before descending into the lower parts of the earth, that He might there make the patriarchs and prophets partakers of Himself. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 231 [John the Baptist] also first preached to those in Hades, becoming a forerunner there when he was put to death by Herod. So even there, too, John revealed that the Savior would descend to ransom the souls of the saints from the hand of death. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.213 “Put to death,” he says, “in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit; in which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which at one time were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God once waited in the days of Noah while the ark was a preparing.” He, then, who is able worthily to set forth the meaning of these two journeys is able to untie the latchet of the shoes of Jesus; he, bending down in his mind and going with Jesus as He goes down into Hades, and descending from heaven and the mysteries of Christ’s deity to the advent He of necessity made with us when He took on man (as His shoes). Now He who put on man also put on the dead, for “for this end Jesus both died and revived, that He might be Lord both of dead and living.” This is why He put on both living and dead, that is, the inhabitants of the earth and those of Hades, that He might be the Lord of both dead and living. Origen (248 A.D.) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg. 368 SEE ALSO: DEATH, ATONEMENT, ETERNAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 35: DEATH, CHRISTIAN ATTITUDE TOWARDS ======================================================================== I write to all the churches, and I bid all men know, that of my own free will I die for God, unless you should hinder me. I exhort you, be you not an unseasonable kindness to me. Let me be given to the wild beasts, for through them I can attain unto God. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread [of Christ]. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my sepulcher and may leave no part of my body behind, so that I may not, when I am fallen asleep, be burdensome to any one. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 [For] I write to you in the midst of life, yet lusting after death. My lust has been crucified, and there is no fire of material longing in me, but only water living speaking in me, saying within me, Come to the Father…I desire no longer to live after the manner of men. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 And why then have I delivered myself over to death, unto fire, unto sword, unto wild beasts? But near to the sword, near to God; in company with wild beasts, in company with God. Only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ, so that we may suffer together with Him. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 …When you shall despise the apparent death which is here on earth, when you shall fear the real death, which is reserved for those that shall be condemned to the eternal fire that shall punish those delivered over to it unto the end. Then shall you admire those who endure for righteousness' sake the fire that is for a season, and shall count them blessed when you perceive that fire ... Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.10 And if you also read these words in a hostile spirit, you can do no more, as I said before, than kill us; which indeed does no harm to us, but to you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, brings eternal punishment by fire. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.178 For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged we must surely die; and there is nothing new, but all things continue the same in this administration of things; and if satiety overtakes those who enjoy even one year of these things, they ought to give heed to our doctrines, that they may live eternally free both from suffering and from want. But if they believe that there is nothing after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they become our benefactors when they set us free from sufferings and necessities of this life, and prove themselves to be wicked, and inhuman, and bigoted. For they kill us with no intention of delivering us, but cut us off that we may be deprived of life and pleasure. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.182 But lest some one say to us, "Go then all or you and kill yourselves, and pass even now to God, and do not trouble us," I will tell you why we do not so, but why, when examined, we fearlessly confess…. If, then, we all kill ourselves, we shall become the cause, as far as in us lies, why no one should be born, or instructed in the divine doctrines, or even why the human race should not exist; and we shall, if we so act, be ourselves acting in opposition to the will of God. But when we are examined, we make no denial, because we are not conscious of any evil, but count it impious not to speak the truth in all things, which also we know is pleasing to God, and because we are also now very desirous to deliver you from an unjust prejudice. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.189 But neither should we be put to death, nor would wicked men and devils be more powerful than we, were not death a debt due by every man that is born. Wherefore we give thanks when we pay this debt. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.192 For I myself, too, when I was delighting in the doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered, and saw them fearless of death, and of all other things which are counted fearful, perceived that it was impossible that they could be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what sensual or intemperate man, or who that counts it good to feast on human flesh, could welcome death that he might be deprived of his enjoyments, and would not rather continue always the present life, and attempt to escape the observation of the rulers; and much less would he denounce himself when the consequence would be death? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.192 So that, when we arrive at the end of life, we may ask the same petition from God, who is able to turn away every shameless evil angel from taking our souls. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.252 Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 457 Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.69-70 And, therefore, God invented death for our sakes, that He might destroy sin, lest rising up in us immortals, as I said, it should be immortal. When the apostle says, “for I know that in me - that is, in my flesh - dwells no good thing,” by which words he means to indicate that sin dwells in us, from the transgression, through lust; out of which, like young shoots, the imaginations of pleasure rise around us. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 372 SEE ALSO: DEAD, PERSECUTION, MARTYRDOM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 36: DEMONS ======================================================================== But, yielding to unreasoning passion, and to the instigation of evil demons, you punish us without consideration or judgment. For the truth shall be spoken; since of old these evil demons, effecting apparitions of themselves, both defiled women and corrupted boys, and showed such fearful sights to men, that those who did not use their reason in judging of the actions that were done, were struck with terror; and being carried away by fear, and not knowing that these were demons, they called them gods, and gave to each the name which each of the demons chose for himself. And when Socrates endeavored, by true reason and examination, to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons, then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that "he was introducing new divinities;" and in our case they [make the same accusation].Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 And neither do we honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honor), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 For we forewarn you to be on your guard, lest those demons whom we have been accusing should deceive you, and keep you from reading and understanding what we say. For they strive to hold you their slaves and servants; and sometimes by appearances in dreams, and sometimes by magical impositions, they subdue all who make no strong opposing effort for their own salvation. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 For they who are called devils attempt nothing else than to seduce men from God who made them, and from Christ His first-begotten; and those who are unable to raise themselves above the earth they have riveted, and do now rivet, to things earthly, and to the works of their own hands; but those who devote themselves to the contemplation of things divine, they secretly beat back; and if they have not a wise sober-mindedness, and a pure and passionless life, they drive them into godlessness. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.182 He evidently made for man - committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to themselves… Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those who used incantations and drugs. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 Such are the demons; these are they who laid down the doctrine of Fate. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.68 For, as the inhuman robber is wont to overpower those like himself by daring; so the demons, going to great lengths in wickedness, have utterly deceived the souls among you which are left to themselves by ignorance and false appearances. These beings do not indeed die easily, for they do not partake of flesh. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.71 And do not fewer kinds of sin break out among men owing to the brevity of their lives, while on the part of these demons transgression is more abundant owing to their boundless existence? Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.71 Sometimes they themselves disturb the habit of the body by a tempest of folly; but, being smitten by the word of God, they depart in terror, and the sick man is healed. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.72 The demons do not cure, but by their art make men their captives. And the most admirable Justin has rightly denounced them as robbers. For, as it is the practice of some to capture persons and then to restore them to their friends for a ransom, so those who are esteemed gods, invading the bodies of certain persons, and producing a sense of their presence by dreams, command them to come forth into public, and in the sight of all, when they have taken their fill of the things of this world, fly away from the sick, and, destroying the disease which they had produced, restore men to their former state. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.73 These angels, then, who have fallen from heaven, and haunt the air and the earth, and are no longer able to rise to heavenly things, and the souls of the giants, which are the demons who wander about the world, perform actions similar, the one (that is, the demons) to the natures they have received, the other (that is, the angels) to the appetites they have indulged. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.142 They who draw men to idols, then, are the aforesaid demons, who are eager for the blood of the sacrifices, and lick them. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.143 The demons who hover about matter, greedy of sacrificial odors and the blood of victims, and ever ready to lead men into error, avail themselves of these delusive movements of the souls of the multitude; and, taking possession of their thoughts, cause to flow into the mind empty visions as if coming from the idols and the statues; and when, too, a soul of itself, as being immortal, moves conformably to reason, either predicting the future or healing the present, the demons claim the glory for themselves. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.143 But those who bend around inflammatory tables, nourishing their own diseases, are ruled by a most gluttonous demon, whom I shall not blush to call the Belly-demon, and the worst and most abandoned of demons. He is therefore exactly like the one who is called the Ventriloquist-demon. It is far better to be happy than to have a demon dwelling with us. And happiness is found in the practice of virtue. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.241 We declare, then, that dreams are inflicted on us mainly by demons, although they sometimes turn out true and favorable to us. When, however, with the deliberate aim after evil, of which we have just spoken, they assume a flattering and captivating style, they show themselves proportionately vain, and deceitful, and obscure, and wanton, and impure. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.225 SEE ALSO: NOAH, ANGELS, SATAN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 37: DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS ======================================================================== Compiler's Note: The Deuterocanonical books are found in the Septuagint; unfortunately the Septuagint never was passed on to western Christians. Even still, the dueterocanonical books continued to be included in the western Bibles until the eighteen hundreds. Today these books are also referred to as the Apocrypha, however both of the terms given to these books are misleading. The word "deuterocanonical" comes from the Greek meaning 'belonging to the second canon' thus indicating the hesitation by some with which these books were accepted into the canon. However the term does not mean non-canonical. Many who do not accept these books as part of the canon of Scripture designate them instead by the term “Apocrypha” which simply means "hidden". It is important to take note of the place the deuterocanonical works retained during a time in which the church was moving further and further away from what the Primitive Church held to. The Apocrypha continued to have a place in the translations made by the reformers. Even the King James translation originally contained these works, although their value was minimized due to their exclusion from the Masoretic text. It wasn’t until long after the reformation that the Apocrypha began to be omitted from the Authorized Version when Puritans and Presbyterians began to argue for its complete removal from the Bible. In 1825 the British and Foreign Bible Society got involved in the controversy, and from that time on, the Apocrypha has been eliminated from practically all English Bibles. I. The early Christians acceptance and use of the deuterocanonical books II. Why the Jews rejected the deuterocanonical books I. The early Christians acceptance and use of the deuterocanonical books (Top) The blessed Judith, when the city was beleaguered, asked of the elders that she might be suffered to go forth into the camp of the aliens. So she exposed herself to peril and went forth for love of her country and of her people which were beleaguered; and the Lord delivered Holophernes into the hand of a woman. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.55 The five books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, the four books of Kings, the two of Chronicles, the book of the Psalms of David, the Proverbs of Solomon, also called the Book of Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, Job, the books of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, of the twelve contained in a single book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Esdras. From these I have made my extracts, dividing them into six books. Melito (190) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8 pg.759 But Judith too, who became perfect among women, in the siege of the city, at the entreaty of the elders went forth into the strangers' camp, despising all danger for her country's sake, giving herself into the enemy's hand in faith in God; and straightway she obtained the reward of her faith, though a woman, prevailing over the enemy of her faith, and gaining possession of the head of Holofernes. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.431 But that we may believe on the authority of holy Scripture that such is the case, hear how in the book of Maccabees, where the mother of seven martyrs exhorts her son to endure torture, this truth is confirmed; for she says, "I ask of you, my son, to look at the heaven and the earth, and at all things which are in them, and beholding these, to know that God made all these things when they did not exist." (2 Macabees 7:28) Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.270 The apostle says that "God put it into the heart of Titus." That certain thoughts are suggested to men's hearts either by good or evil angels, is shown both by the angel that accompanied Tobias, and by the language of the prophet, where he says, "And the angel who spoke in me answered." Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 332 "Behold, I show you a mystery;" which is his usual style in introducing matters of a profounder and more mystical nature, and such as are fittingly concealed from the multitude, as is written in the book of Tobit: "It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but honorable to reveal the works of God," in a way consistent with truth and God's glory, and so as to be to the advantage of the multitude. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 551 Moreover, the Holy Spirit gave signs of His presence at the beginning of Christ's ministry, and after His ascension He gave still more; but since that time these signs have diminished, although there are still traces of His presence in a few who have had their souls purified by the Gospel, and their actions regulated by its influence. "For the holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding." (Wisdom 1:5) Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 614 "For even now the angel of God." He shows also, that when Susannah prayed to God, and was heard, the angel was sent then to help her, just as was the case in the instance of Tobias and Sara. For when they prayed, the supplication of both of them was heard in the same day and the same hour, and the angel Raphael was sent to heal them both. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.193 I produce now the prophecy of Solomon, which speaks of Christ, and announces clearly and perspicuously things concerning the Jews; and those which not only are befalling them at the present time, but those, too, which shall befall them in the future age, on account of the contumacy and audacity which they exhibited toward the Prince of Life; for the prophet says, "The ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright," that is, about Christ, "Let us lie in wait for the righteous, because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings and words, and upbraids us with our offending the law, and profess to have knowledge of God; and he calls himself the Child of God." And then he says, "He is grievous to us even to behold; for his life is not like other men's, and his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits, and he abstains from our ways as from filthiness, and pronounces the end of the just to be blessed." And again, listen to this, O Jew! None of the righteous or prophets called himself the Son of God. And therefore, as in the person of the Jews, Solomon speaks again of this righteous one, who is Christ, thus: "He was made to reprove our thoughts, and he makes his boast that God is his Father. Let us see, then, if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him; for if the just man be the Son of God, He will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us condemn him with a shameful death, for by his own saying he shall be respected." (Wisdom 2:1,12,13) Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 220-221 And again David, in the Psalms, says with respect to the future age, "Then shall He" (namely Christ) "speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure." And again Solomon says concerning Christ and the Jews, that "when the righteous shall stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted Him, and made no account of His words, when they see it they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of His salvation; and they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, This is He whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach; we fools accounted His life madness, and His end to he without honor. How is He numbered among the children of God, and His lot is among the saints? Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness bath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose not on us. We wearied ourselves in the way of wickedness and destruction; we have gone through deserts where there lay no way: but as for the way of the Lord, we have not known it. What has our pride profited us? all those things are passed away like a shadow." (Wisdom 5:1-9) Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.221 On which account, let us forsake the error and follow the truth, knowing that in Esdras also the truth conquers, as it is written: “Truth endures and grows strong to eternity, and lives and prevails for ever and ever. With her there is no accepting of persons or distinctions; but what is just she does: nor in her judgments is there unrighteousness, but the strength, and the kingdom, and the majesty, and the power of all ages. Blessed be the Lord God of truth!” (Esdras 4:38-40) This truth Christ showed to us in His Gospel, and said, “I am the truth.” Wherefore, if we are in Christ, and have Christ in us, if we abide in the truth, and the truth abides in us, let us keep fast those things which are true. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 389 And thus Holy Scripture instructs us, saying, “Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving.” (Tobit 20:8) For He who will give us in the day of judgment a reward for our labors and alms, is even in this life a merciful hearer of one who comes to Him in prayer associated with good works. Thus, for instance, Cornelius the centurion, when he prayed, had a claim to be heard. For he was in the habit of doing many alms-deeds towards the people, and of ever praying to God. To this man, when he prayed about the ninth hour, appeared an angel bearing testimony to his labors, and saying, “Cornelius, your prayers and your alms are gone up in remembrance before God.” Those prayers quickly ascend to God which the merits of our labors urge upon God. Thus also Raphael the angel was a witness to the constant prayer and the constant good works of Tobias, saying, “It is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. For when you didst pray, and Sarah, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the holiness of God. And when you didst bury the dead in simplicity, and because you didst not delay to rise up and to leave your dinner, but didst go out and cover the dead, I was sent to prove you; and again God has sent me to heal you, and Sarah your daughter-in-law. For I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which stand and go in and out before the glory of God.” (Tobit 12:12-15) Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.456 The Epistle of Jude, indeed, and two belonging to the above-named John - or bearing the name of John - are reckoned among the universal epistles. And the book of Wisdom, written by the friends of Solomon in his honor. We receive also the Apocalypse of John and that of Peter, though some amongst us will not have this latter read in the Church. The Pastor, moreover, did Hermas write very recently in our times in the city of Rome, while his brother bishop Pius sat in the chair of the Church of Rome. And therefore it also ought to be read; but it cannot be made public in the Church to the people, nor placed among the prophets, as their number is complete, nor among the apostles to the end of time. Of the writings of Arsinous, called also Valentinus, or of Miltiades, we receive nothing at all. Those are rejected too who wrote the new Book of Psalms for Marcion, together with Basilides and the founder of the Asian Cataphrygians. Caius (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 603-604 ORIGEN to Africanus… Your letter, from which I learn what you think of the Susanna in the Book of Daniel, which is used in the Churches… In answer to this, I have to tell you what it behooves us to do in the cases not only of the History of Susanna, which is found in every Church of Christ in that Greek copy which the Greeks use, but is not in the Hebrew, or of the two other passages you mention at the end of the book containing the history of Bel and the Dragon, which likewise are not in the Hebrew copy of Daniel. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 386 Tobias (as also Judith), we ought to notice, the Jews do not use. They are not even found in the Hebrew Apocrypha, as I learned from the Jews themselves. However, since the Churches use Tobias, you must know that even in the captivity some of the captives were rich and well to do. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 391 II. Why the Jews rejected the deuterocanonical books (Top) But since Enoch in the same Scripture has preached likewise concerning the Lord, nothing at all must be rejected by us which pertains to us; and we read that "every Scripture suitable for edification is divinely inspired." By the Jews it may now seem to have been rejected for that (very) reason, just like all the other (portions) nearly which tell of Christ. Nor, of course, is this fact wonderful, that they did not receive some Scriptures which spoke of Him whom even in person, speaking in their presence, they were not to receive. To these considerations is added the fact that Enoch possesses a testimony in the Apostle Jude. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.16 Moreover, I remember hearing from a learned Hebrew, said among themselves to be the son of a wise man, and to have been specially trained to succeed his father, with whom I had intercourse on many subjects, the names of these elders, just as if he did not reject the History of Susanna…But probably to this you will say, Why then is the "History" not in their Daniel, if, as you say, their wise men hand down by tradition such stories? The answer is, that they (the Jews) hid from the knowledge of the people as many of the passages which contained any scandal against the elders, rulers, and judges, as they could, some of which have been preserved in the (Apocrypha). Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.388 Let us see now if in these cases we are not forced to the conclusion, that while the Savior gives a true account of them, none of the Scriptures which could prove what He tells are to be found…"If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." In the blood of what prophets, can any one tell me? For where do we find anything like this written of Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or any of the twelve, or Daniel? Then about Zacharias the son of Barachias, who was slain between the temple and the altar, we learn from Jesus only, not knowing it otherwise from any Scripture. Wherefore I think no other supposition is possible, than that they who had the reputation of wisdom, and the rulers and elders, took away from the people every passage which might bring them into discredit among the people. We need not wonder, then, if this history of the evil device of the licentious elders against Susanna is true, but was concealed and removed from the Scriptures by men themselves not very far removed from the counsel of these elders…In the Acts of the Apostles also, Stephen, in his other testimony, says, "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers." That Stephen speaks the truth, every one will admit who receives the Acts of the Apostles; but it is impossible to show from the extant books of the Old Testament how with any justice he throws the blame of having persecuted and slain the prophets on the fathers of those who believed not in Christ. And Paul, in the first Epistle to the Thessalonians, testifies this concerning the Jews: "For you, brethren, became followers of the Churches of God which in Judea are in Christ Jesus: for you also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews; who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men." What I have said is, I think, sufficient to prove that it would be nothing wonderful if this history were true, and the licentious and cruel attack was actually made on Susanna by those who were at that time elders, and written down by the wisdom of the Spirit, but removed by these (Jewish) rulers of Sodom, as the Spirit would call them. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.389 SEE ALSO: SEPTUAGINT, PSEUDEPIGRAPHA OLD TESTAMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 38: DIVISIONS ======================================================================== Do not long for division, but rather bring those who contend to peace. Judge righteously, and do not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. You shall not be undecided whether or not it shall be. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 4 Every kind of faction and schism was abominable in your sight. You mourned over the transgressions of your neighbors: their deficiencies you deemed your own. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 2 Every kind of honor and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, “My beloved did eat and drink, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked.” Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honored, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 3 Wherefore are there strifes and wraths and factions and divisions and war among you? Have we not one God and one Christ and one Spirit of grace that was shed upon us? And is there not one calling in Christ? Wherefore do we tear and rend asunder the members of Christ, and stir up factions against our own body, and reach such a pitch of folly, as to forget that we are members one of another? Remember the words of Jesus our Lord: for He said, Woe unto that man. It were good for him if he had not been born, rather than that he should offend one of Mine elect. It were better for him that a mill-stone were about him, and he cast into the sea, than that he should pervert one of Mine elect. Your division has perverted many; it has brought many to despair, many to doubting, and all of us to sorrow. And your sedition still continues. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 46 Who therefore is noble among you? Who is compassionate? Who is fulfilled with love? Let him say; If by reason of me there be faction and strife and divisions, I retire, I depart, whither you will, and I do that which is ordered by the people: only let the flock of Christ be at peace with its duly appointed presbyters. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.54 As children therefore [of the light] of the truth, shun division and wrong doctrines; and where the shepherd is, there follow you as sheep. For many specious wolves with baneful delights lead captive the runners in God's race; but, where you are at one, they will find no place. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.2 Abstain from noxious herbs, which are not the husbandry of Jesus Christ, because they are not the planting of the Father. Not that I have found division among you, but filtering. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 He shall also judge those who give rise to schisms, who are destitute of the love of God, and who look to their own special advantage rather than to the unity of the Church; and who for trifling reasons, or any kind of reason which occurs to them, cut in pieces and divide the great and glorious body of Christ, and so far as in them lies, [positively] destroy it,-men who prate of peace while they give rise to war, and do in truth strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 508 SEE ALSO: HERESIES ======================================================================== CHAPTER 39: DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE ======================================================================== Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced commits adultery. Matthew 5:31-32 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she commits adultery. Mark 10:11-12 And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, 39 Envy has alienated wives from their husbands, and changed that saying of our father Adam, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 6 "Sir," say I, "if a man who has a wife that is faithful in the Lord detect her in adultery, does the husband sin in living with her?" "So long as he is ignorant," said he, "he sins not; but if the husband know of her sin, and the wife repent not, but continue in her fornication, and her husband live with her, he makes himself responsible for her sin and an accomplice in her adultery." "What then, Sir," say I, "shall the husband do, if the wife continue in this case?" "Let him divorce her," said he, "and let the husband abide alone: but if after divorcing his wife he shall marry another, he likewise commits adultery." "If then, Sir," say I, "after the wife is divorced, she repent and desire to return to her own husband, shall she not be received?" "Certainly," said he, "if the husband receives her not, he sins and brings great sin upon himself; nay, one who has sinned and repented must be received, yet not often; for there is but one repentance for the servants of God. For the sake of her repentance therefore the husband ought not to marry. This is the manner of acting commanded on husband and wife. For this cause you were commanded to remain single, whether husband or wife; for in such cases repentance is possible.” "I am not giving an excuse that this matter should be concluded thus, but to the end that the sinner should sin no more. But as concerning his former sin, there is One Who is able to give healing; it is He Who has authority over all things." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 21 Concerning chastity, He uttered such sentiments as these: "Whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery with her already in his heart before God." And, "If your right eye offend you, cut it out; for it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of heaven with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into everlasting fire." And, "Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced from another husband, commits adultery." And, "There are some who have been made eunuchs of men, and some who were born eunuchs, and some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake; but all cannot receive this saying." So that all who, by human law, are twice married, are in the eye of our Master sinners, and those who look upon a woman to lust after her. For not only he who in act commits adultery is rejected by Him, but also he who desires to commit adultery: since not only our works, but also our thoughts, are open before God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 A certain woman lived with an intemperate husband; she herself, too, having formerly been intemperate. But when she came to the knowledge of the teachings of Christ she became sober-minded, and endeavored to persuade her husband likewise to be temperate, citing the teaching of Christ, and assuring him that there shall be punishment in eternal fire inflicted upon those who do not live temperately and conformably to right reason. But he, continuing in the same excesses, alienated his wife from him by his actions. For she, considering it wicked to live any longer as a wife with a husband who sought in every way means of indulging in pleasure contrary to the law of nature, and in violation of what is right, wished to be divorced from him. And when she was persuaded by her friends, who advised her still to continue with him, in the idea that some time or other her husband might give hope of amendment, she did violence to her own feeling and remained with him. But when her husband had gone into Alexandria, and was reported to be conducting himself worse than ever, she - that she might not, by continuing in matrimonial connection with him, and by sharing his table and his bed, become a partaker also in his wickedness and impieties - gave him what you call a bill of divorce, and was separated from him… when she had gone from him without his desire, brought an accusation against her, affirming that she was a Christian. And she presented a paper to you, the Emperor, requesting that first she be permitted to arrange her affairs, and afterwards to make her defense against the accusation, when her affairs were set in order. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.188 And not only so, but the Lord also showed that certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be obedient, when, on their saying to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to send away a wife?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he permitted these things to you; but from the beginning it was not so;" thus exculpating Moses as a faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their hard nature. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.480 A second marriage is only a specious adultery. "For whosoever puts away his wife," says He, "and marries another, commits adultery;" not permitting a man to send her away whose virginity he has brought to an end, nor to marry again. For he who deprives himself of his first wife, even though she be dead, is a cloaked adulterer, resisting the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, and dissolving the strictest union of flesh with flesh, formed for the intercourse of the race. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.146 Now that the Scripture counsels marriage, and allows no release from the union, is expressly contained in the law, "You shall not put away your wife, except for the cause of fornication;" and it regards as fornication, the marriage of those separated while the other is alive…"He that takes a woman that has been put away," it is said, "commits adultery; and if one puts away his wife, he makes her an adulteress," that is, compels her to commit adultery. And not only is he who puts her away guilty of this, but he who takes her, by giving to the woman the opportunity of sinning; for did he not take her, she would return to her husband. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.379 But to put to shame and to discourage those inclined to contract a second marriage the apostle appropriately uses strong language and says at once: "Every other sin is external to the body, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body."… as idolatry is an abandonment of the one God to embrace many gods, so fornication is apostasy from single marriage to several. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 12 (Describing pagan society in general) Where is that happiness of married life ever so desirable that distinguished our earlier manners as the result of which for about 600 years there was not among us a single divorce? Now, women have every member of the body heavy laden with gold; wine-bibbing is so common among them, that the kiss is never offered with their will; and as for divorce, they long for it as though it were the natural consequence of marriage. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 22-23 For in the Gospel of Matthew he says, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causes her to commit adultery." He also is deemed equally guilty of adultery, who marries a woman put away by her husband… You find Him also protecting marriage, in whatever direction you try to escape. He prohibits divorce when He will have the marriage inviolable; He permits divorce when the marriage is spotted with unfaithfulness. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.405 For the apostle, although preferring the grace of continence, yet permits the contraction of marriage and the enjoyment of it, and advises the continuance therein rather than the dissolution thereof. Christ plainly forbids divorce, Moses unquestionably permits it. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 443 SEE ALSO: ADULTERY , MARRIAGE ======================================================================== CHAPTER 40: EASTER ======================================================================== We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lord's day to be unlawful. We rejoice in the same privilege also from Easter to Whitsunday. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.94 You have sent to me, most faithful and accomplished son, in order to inquire what is the proper hour for bringing the fast to a close on the day of Pentecost. For you say that there are some of the brethren who hold that that should be done at cockcrow, and others who hold that it should be at nightfall. For the brethren in Rome, as they say, wait for the cock; whereas, regarding those here, you told us that they would have it earlier. And it is your anxious desire, accordingly, to have the hour presented accurately, and determined with perfect exactness, which indeed is a matter of difficulty and uncertainty. However, it will be acknowledged cordially by all, that from the date of the resurrection of our Lord, those who up to that time have been humbling their souls with fastings, ought at once to begin their festal joy and gladness. But in what you have written to me you have made out very clearly, and with an intelligent understanding of the Holy Scriptures, that no very exact account seems to be offered in them of the hour at which He rose. Dionysius of Alexandria (A.D. 264) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.94 As the case stands thus, we make the following statement and explanation to those who seek an exact account of the specific hour, or half-hour, or quarter of an hour, at which it is proper to begin their rejoicing over our Lord’s rising from the dead. Those who are too hasty, and give up even before midnight, we reprehend as remiss and intemperate, and as almost breaking off from their course in their precipitation, for it is a wise man’s word, “That is not little in life which is within a little.” And those who hold out and continue for a very long time, and persevere even on to the fourth watch, which is also the time at which our Savior manifested Himself walking upon the sea to those who were then on the deep, we receive as noble and laborious disciples. Dionysius of Alexandria (A.D. 264) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 95 And the other party, passing the day of the Lord’s Passion as one replete with sadness and grief, hold that it should not be lawful to celebrate the Lord’s mystery of the Passover at any other time but on the Lord’s day, on which the resurrection of the Lord from death took place, and on which rose also for us the cause of everlasting joy. For it is one thing to act in accordance with the precept given by the apostle, yea, by the Lord Himself, and be sad with the sad, and suffer with him that suffers by the cross, His own word being: “My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death;" and it is another thing to rejoice with the victor as he triumphs over an ancient enemy, and exults with the highest triumph over a conquered adversary, as He Himself also says: “Rejoice with Me; for I have found the sheep which I had lost."Anatolius Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 149 When Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time that Sagaris suffered martyrdom, there arose a great controversy at Laodicea concerning the time of the celebration of the Passover, which on that occasion had happened to fall at the proper season; and this treatise was then written. Melito (190) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8 pg.758 As for us, then, we scrupulously observe the exact day, neither adding nor taking away. For in Asia great luminaries have gone to their rest, who shall rise again in the day of the coming of the Lord…These all kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month, in accordance with the Gospel, without ever deviating from it, but keeping to the rule of faith. Polycrates (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8 pg. 773-774 We would have you know, too, that in Alexandria also they observe the festival on the same day as ourselves. For the Paschal letters are sent from us to them, and from them to us: so that we observe the holy day in unison and together. Theophilus (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8 pg. 774 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 41: JUDGING OTHERS ======================================================================== Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. John 7:24 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 1 Cor. 6:2-4 Judge righteously, and do not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. You shall not be undecided whether or not it shall be. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.4 And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as you have it in the Gospel. But to anyone that acts amiss against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear anything from you until he repents. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.15 And the presbyters also must be compassionate, merciful towards all men, turning back the sheep that are gone astray… abstaining from all anger, respect of persons, unrighteous judgment… not quick to believe anything against any man, not hasty in judgment, knowing that we all are debtors of sin. If then we entreat the Lord that He would forgive us, we also ought to forgive: for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and we must all stand at the judgment-seat of Christ, and each man must give an account of himself. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.6 For though one should speak ten thousand words well, if there happen to be one little word displeasing to you, because not sufficiently intelligible or accurate, you make no account of the many good words, but lay hold of the little word, and are very zealous in setting it up as something impious and guilty; in order that, when you are judged with the very same judgment by God, you may have a much heavier account to render for your great audacities, whether evil actions, or bad interpretations which you obtain by falsifying the truth. For with what judgment you judge, it is righteous that you be judged withal. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.257 The Lord said: "Judge not, that you be not judged: for with what judgment you shall judge, you shall be judged." [The meaning is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sinners, nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the dispensations of God, inasmuch as He has Himself made provision that all things shall turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 504 A spiritual disciple of this sort truly receiving the Spirit of God, who was from the beginning, in all the dispensations of God, present with mankind, and announced things future, revealed things present, and narrated things past -[such a man] does indeed "judge all men, but is himself judged by no man." For he judges the Gentiles, "who serve the creature more than the Creator," and with a reprobate mind spend all their labor on vanity. And he also judges the Jews, who do not accept of the word of liberty. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 506 [The spiritual man] shall also judge the vain speeches of the perverse Gnostics, by showing that they are the disciples of Simon Magus. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 507 (A spiritual man) shall also judge false prophets, who, without having received the gift of prophecy from God, and not possessed of the fear of God, but either for the sake of vainglory, or with a view to some personal advantage, or acting in some other way under the influence of a wicked spirit, pretend to utter prophecies, while all the time they lie against God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 508 (A spiritual man) shall also judge those who give rise to schisms, who are destitute of the love of God, and who look to their own special advantage rather than to the unity of the Church; and who for trifling reasons, or any kind of reason which occurs to them, cut in pieces and divide the great and glorious body of Christ, and so far as in them lies, [positively] destroy it - men who prate of peace while they give rise to war, and do in truth strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.508 And how shall one "judge" the apostate "angels," who has become himself an apostate from that forgetfulness of injuries, which is according to the Gospel? "Why do you not rather suffer wrong?" he says; "why are you not rather defrauded? Yea, you do wrong and defraud," Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.548 How then does man give these things? For I will give not only to friends, but to the friends of friends. And who is it that is the friend of God? Do not you judge who is worthy or who is unworthy. For it is possible you may be mistaken in your opinion. As in the uncertainty of ignorance it is better to do good to the undeserving for the sake of the deserving, than by guarding against those that are less good to fail to meet in with the good. For though sparing, and aiming at testing, who will receive meritoriously or not, it is possible for you to neglect some that are loved by God; the penalty for which is the punishment of eternal fire. But by offering to all in turn that need, you must of necessity by all means find some one of those who have power with God to save. "Judge not, then, that you be not judged. With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again; good measure, pressed and shaken, and running over, shall be given to you." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.600-601 "Judge not, lest you be judged," does He not require patience? For who will refrain from judging another, but he who shall be patient in not revenging himself? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 713 SEE ALSO: EVANGELISM, EXCOMMUNICATION, LAW SUITS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 42: ENOCH ======================================================================== And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. Genesis 5:24 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Hebrews 11:5 Let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings." In like manner Daniel says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great horns." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Let us take (for instance) Enoch, who, being found righteous in obedience, was translated, and death was never known to happen to him. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.9 Enoch, too, pleasing God, without circumcision, discharged the office of God's legate to the angels although he was a man, and was translated, and is preserved until now as a witness of the just judgment of God, because the angels when they had transgressed fell to the earth for judgment, but the man who pleased [God] was translated for salvation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.481 Enoch had preceded, predicting that "the demons, and the spirits of the angelic apostates, would turn into idolatry all the elements, all the garniture of the universe, all things contained in the heaven, in the sea, in the earth, that they might be consecrated as God, in opposition to God." All things, therefore, does human error worship, except the Founder of all Himself. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 62-63 Enoch no doubt was translated, and so was Elijah; nor did they experience death: it was postponed, (and only postponed,) most certainly: they are reserved for the suffering of death, that by their blood they may extinguish Antichrist. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 227 I am aware that the Scripture of Enoch, which has assigned this order (of action) to angels, is not received by some, because it is not admitted into the Jewish canon either. I suppose they did not think that, having been published before the deluge, it could have safely survived that world-wide calamity, the abolisher of all things. If that is the reason (for rejecting it), let them recall to their memory that Noah, the survivor of the deluge, was the great-grandson of Enoch himself; and he, of course, had heard and remembered, from domestic renown and hereditary tradition, concerning his own great-grandfather's "grace in the sight of God," and concerning all his preachings; since Enoch had given no other charge to Methuselah than that he should hand on the knowledge of them to his posterity. Noah therefore, no doubt, might have succeeded in the trusteeship of (his) preaching; or, had the case been otherwise, he would not have been silent alike concerning the disposition (of things) made by God, his Preserver, and concerning the particular glory of his own house. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.15 But since Enoch in the same Scripture has preached likewise concerning the Lord, nothing at all must be rejected by us which pertains to us; and we read that "every Scripture suitable for edification is divinely inspired." By the Jews it may now seem to have been rejected for that (very) reason, just like all the other (portions) nearly which tell of Christ. Nor, of course, is this fact wonderful, that they did not receive some Scriptures which spoke of Him whom even in person, speaking in their presence, they were not to receive. To these considerations is added the fact that Enoch possesses a testimony in the Apostle Jude. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.16 SEE ALSO: NOAH, PSEUDEPIGRAPHA OLD TESTAMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 43: ENTERTAINMENT ======================================================================== I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. Psalm 101:3 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Philippians 4:8 Then, again, at every heathen festival celebrated in honor of the idols, these men are the first to assemble; and to such a pitch do they go, that some of them do not even keep away from that bloody spectacle hateful both to God and men, in which gladiators either fight with wild beasts, or singly encounter one another. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 324 We are forbidden so much as to witness shows of gladiators, lest we become partakers and abettors of murders. But neither may we see the other spectacles, lest our eyes and ears be defiled, participating in the utterances there sung. For if one should speak of cannibalism, in these spectacles the children of Thyestes and Tereus are eaten; and as for adultery, both in the case of men and of gods, whom they celebrate in elegant language for honors and prizes, this is made the subject of their dramas. But far be it from Christians to conceive any such deeds; for with them temperance dwells, self-restraint is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded…Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.115 But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles. How, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death? Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.147 The Instructor will not then bring us to public spectacles; nor inappropriately might one call the racecourse and the theatre "the seat of plagues;"…Let spectacles, therefore, and plays that are full of scurrility and of abundant gossip, be forbidden. For what base action is it that is not exhibited in the theatres? Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.289 Among us nothing is ever said, or seen, or heard, which has anything in common with the madness of the circus, the immodesty of the theatre, the atrocities of the arena, the useless exercises of the wrestling-ground. Why do you take offence at us because we differ from you in regard to your pleasures? If we will not partake of your enjoyments, the loss is ours, if there be loss in the case, not yours. We reject what pleases you. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 46 It is from you the exhibitors of gladiatorial shows always get their herds of criminals to feed up for the occasion. You find no Christian there, except simply as being such; or if one is there as something else, a Christian he is no longer. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.50 Well, we never find it expressed with the same precision, "You shall not enter circus or theatre, you shall not look on combat or show;" as it is plainly laid down, "You shall not kill; you shall not worship an idol; you shall not commit adultery or fraud." But we find that that first word of David bears an this very sort of thing: "Blessed," he says, "is the man who has not gone into the assembly of the impious, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of scorners." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 80-81 Well, how shall this be made to accord with the shows? For the show always leads to spiritual agitation, since where there is pleasure, there is keenness of feeling giving pleasure its zest; and where there is keenness of feeling, there is rivalry giving in turn its zest to that. Then, too, where you have rivalry, you have rage, bitterness, wrath and grief, with all bad things which flow from them - the whole entirely out of keeping with the religion of Christ. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 86 For all licentiousness of speech, nay, every idle word, is condemned by God. Why, in the same way, is it right to look on what it is disgraceful to do? How is it that the things which defile a man in going out of his mouth, are not regarded as doing so when they go in at his eyes and ears--when eyes and ears are the immediate attendants on the spirit--and that can never be pure whose servants-in-waiting are impure? You have the theatre forbidden, then, in the forbidding of immodesty. If, again, we despise the teaching of secular literature as being foolishness in God's eyes, our duty is plain enough in regard to those spectacles, which from this source derive the tragic or comic play. If tragedies and comedies are the bloody and wanton, the impious and licentious inventors of crimes and lusts, it is not good even that there should be any calling to remembrance the atrocious or the vile. What you reject in deed, you are not to bid welcome to in word. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.87 We shall now see how the Scriptures condemn the amphitheatre. If we can maintain that it is right to indulge in the cruel, and the impious, and the fierce, let us go there. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.87 So it strangely happens, that the same man who can scarcely in public lift up his tunic, even when necessity of nature presses him, takes it off in the circus, as if bent on exposing himself before everybody; the father who carefully protects and guards his virgin daughter's ears from every polluting word, takes her to the theatre himself, exposing her to all its vile words and attitudes; he, again, who in the streets lays hands on or covers with reproaches the brawling pugilist, in the arena gives all encouragement to combats of a much more serious kind; and he who looks with horror on the corpse of one who has died under the common law of nature, in the amphitheatre gazes down with most patient eyes on bodies all mangled and torn and smeared with their own blood. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 88 Let them tell us, then, whether it is right in Christians to frequent the show. Why, the rejection of these amusements is the chief sign to them that a man has adopted the Christian faith. If any one, then, puts away the faith's distinctive badge, he is plainly guilty of denying it. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 89 SEE ALSO: HAPPINESS OF MAN, WORLD SEPARATION OF ======================================================================== CHAPTER 44: ETERNAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS ======================================================================== Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28-29 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Revelation 22:12 But I will forewarn ye whom you shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him. Luke 12:5 [As the elders who saw John the disciple of the Lord remembered that they had heard from him how the Lord taught in regard to those times, and said]: The days will come in which vines shall grow, having each ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in every one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five-and-twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, 'I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.' In like manner, [He said] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear would have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds of clear, pure, fine flour; and that apples, and seeds, and grass would produce in similar proportions; and that all animals, feeding then only on the productions of the earth, would become peaceable and harmonious, and be in perfect subjection to man. Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment IV As the presbyters say, then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of Paradise, and others shall possess the splendor of the city; for everywhere the Savior will be seen, according as they shall be worthy who see Him. But that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundredfold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold; for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second class will dwell in Paradise, and the last will inhabit the city; and that on this account the Lord said, "In my Father's house are many mansions:" for all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place, even as His word says, that a share is given to all by the Father, according as each one is or shall be worthy. And this is the couch in which they shall recline who feast, being invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; and that, moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father; and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father…Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment V And Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh. He speaks of that day of judgment, when men shall see those among us that lived ungodly lives and dealt falsely with the commandments of Jesus Christ. But the righteous, having done good and endured torments and hated the pleasures of the soul, when they shall behold them that have done amiss and denied Jesus by their words or by their deeds, how that they are punished with grievous torments in unquenchable fire, shall give glory to God, saying, There will be hope for him that has served God with his whole heart. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.17 No righteous man has reaped fruit quickly, but waits for it. For if God had paid the recompense of the righteous speedily, then straightway we should have been training ourselves in merchandise, and not in godliness; for we should seem to be righteous, though we were pursuing not that which is godly, but that which is gainful. And for this cause Divine judgment overtakes a spirit that is not just, and loads it with chains. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.20 And, looking to the grace of Christ, they despised all the torments of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by [the suffering of] a single hour. For this reason the fire of their savage executioners appeared cool to them. For they kept before their view escape from that fire which is eternal and never shall be quenched, and looked forward with the eyes of their heart to those good things which are laid up for such as endure; things "which ear has not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man," but were revealed by the Lord to them. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 2 But again the proconsul said to him, "I will cause you to be consumed by fire, seeing you despise the wild beasts, if you will not repent." But Polycarp said, "You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why do you wait? Bring forth what you will." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.11 You shall behold that God lives in heaven; then shall you begin to declare the mysteries of God; then shall you both love and admire those that are punished because they will not deny God; then shall you condemn the deceit and error of the world; when you shall perceive the true life which is in heaven, when you shall despise the apparent death which is here on earth, when you shall fear the real death, which is reserved for those that shall be condemned to the eternal fire that shall punish those delivered over to it unto the end. Then shall you admire those who endure for righteousness' sake the fire that is for a season, and shall count them blessed when you perceive that fire ... Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.10 "He that knows not God," said he, "and commits wickedness, has a certain punishment for his wickedness; but he that knows God fully ought not any longer to commit wickedness, but to do good. If then he that ought to do good commits wickedness, does he not seem to do greater wickedness than the man that knows not God? Therefore they that have not known God, and commit wickedness, are condemned to death; but they that have known God and seen His mighty works, and yet commit wickedness, shall receive a double punishment, and shall die eternally. In this way therefore shall the Church of God be purified. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.50 Each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his actions. For if all men knew this, no one would choose wickedness even for a little, knowing that he goes to the everlasting punishment of fire; but would by all means restrain himself, and adorn himself with virtue, that he might obtain the good gifts of God, and escape the punishments. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 For reflect upon the end of each of the preceding kings, how they died the death common to all, which, if it issued in insensibility, would be a godsend to all the wicked. But since sensation remains to all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up (i.e., for the wicked), see that you neglect not to be convinced, and to hold as your belief, that these things are true. For let even necromancy, and the divinations you practice by immaculate children, and the evoking of departed human souls, and those who are called among the magi, Dream-senders and Assistant-spirits (Familiars), and all that is done by those who are skilled in such matters - let these persuade you that even after death souls are in a state of sensation. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.169 And we have learned that those only are deified who have lived near to God in holiness and virtue; and we believe that those who live wickedly and do not repent are punished in everlasting fire. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.170 We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man's actions. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 For as, in the New Testament, that faith of men [to be placed] in God has been increased, receiving in addition [to what was already revealed] the Son of God, that man too might be a partaker of God. Thus also the punishment of those who do not believe the Word of God, and despise His advent, and are turned away backwards, is increased; being not merely temporal, but rendered also eternal. For to whomsoever the Lord shall say, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire," these shall be damned for ever; and to whomsoever He shall say, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity," these do receive the kingdom for ever, and make constant advance in it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.501 Conformably, therefore, there are various abodes, according to the worth of those who have believed. To the point Solomon says, "For there shall be given to him the choice grace of faith, and a more pleasant lot in the temple of the Lord." For the comparative shows that there are lower parts in the temple of God, which is the whole Church. And the superlative remains to be conceived, where the Lord is. These chosen abodes, which are three, are indicated by the numbers in the Gospel -- the thirty, the sixty, the hundred. And the perfect inheritance belongs to those who attain to "a perfect man," according to the image of the Lord… But "it is enough for the disciple to become as the Master," said the Master. To the likeness of God, then, he that is introduced into adoption and the friendship of God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.506 All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked, for whom it were better that they were not deathless. For, punished with the endless vengeance of quenchless fire, and not dying, it is impossible for them to have a period put to their misery. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.581 Accordingly, we get ourselves laughed at for proclaiming that God will one day judge the world. For, like us, the poets and philosophers set up a judgment-seat in the realms below. And if we threaten Gehenna, which is a reservoir of secret fire under the earth for purposes of punishment, we have in the same way derision heaped on us. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.52 SEE ALSO: FEAR OF GOD, SALVATION, DEAD ======================================================================== CHAPTER 45: EUCHARIST ======================================================================== I. Meaning of the Eucharist II. How the Eucharist was celebrated I. Meaning of the Eucharist (Top) The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 Assemble yourselves together in common, every one of you severally, man by man, in grace, in one faith and one Jesus Christ, who after the flesh was of David's race, who is Son of Man and Son of God, to the end that you may obey the bishop and presbytery without distraction of mind; breaking one bread, which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote that we should not die but live for ever in Jesus Christ. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 20 I have no delight in the food of corruption or in the delights of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Christ who was of the seed of David; and for a draught I desire His blood, which is love incorruptible. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 Be you careful therefore to observe one Eucharist (for there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ and one cup unto union in His blood; there is one altar, as there is one bishop, together with the presbytery and the deacons my fellow-servants), that whatsoever you do, you may do it after God. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 4 They (the heretics) abstain from Eucharist (thanksgiving) and prayer, because they allow not that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which flesh suffered for our sins, and which the Father of His goodness raised up. They therefore that gainsay the good gift of God perish by their questionings. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 And this food is called among us Eukaristia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has commanded. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was commanded upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do you in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.185 "And the offering of fine flour, sirs," I said, "which was prescribed to be presented on behalf of those purified from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, the celebration of which our Lord Jesus Christ prescribed, in remembrance of the suffering which He endured on behalf of those who are purified in soul from all iniquity, in order that we may at the same time thank God for having created the world, Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.215 Accordingly, God, anticipating all the sacrifices which we offer through this name, and which Jesus the Christ commanded us to offer, i.e., in the Eucharist of the bread and the cup, and which are presented by Christians in all places throughout the world, bears witness that they are well-pleasing to Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.257 Again, giving directions to His disciples to offer to God the first-fruits of His own, created things-not as if He stood in need of them, but that they might be themselves neither unfruitful nor ungrateful-He took that created thing, bread, and gave thanks, and said, "This is My body." And the cup likewise, which is part of that creation to which we belong, He confessed to be His blood, and taught the new oblation of the new covenant; which the Church receiving from the apostles, offers to God throughout all the world. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 484 As far as concerned the apostasy, indeed, He redeems us righteously from it by His own blood… By His own blood he redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, "In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins." And as we are His members, we are also nourished by means of the creation (and He Himself grants the creation to us, for He causes His sun to rise, and sends rain when He wills). He has acknowledged the cup (which is a part of the creation) as His own blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread (also a part of the creation) He has established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our bodies. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.528 The Word of God becomes the Eucharist, which is the body and blood of Christ; so also our bodies, being nourished by it, and deposited in the earth, and suffering decomposition there, shall rise at their appointed time, the Word of God granting them resurrection to the glory of God, even the Father, who freely gives to this mortal immortality, and to this corruptible incorruption, because the strength of God is made perfect in weakness, in order that we may never become puffed up, as if we had life from ourselves, and exalted against God, our minds becoming ungrateful. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 528 And the blood of the Lord is twofold. For there is the blood of His flesh, by which we are redeemed from corruption; and the spiritual, that by which we are anointed. And to drink the blood of Jesus, is to become partaker of the Lord's immortality; the Spirit being the energetic principle of the Word, as blood is of flesh…And the mixture of both - of the water and of the Word - is called Eucharist, renowned and glorious grace; and they who by faith partake of it are sanctified both in body and soul. For the divine mixture, man, the Father's will has mystically compounded by the Spirit and the Word. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.242 II. How the Eucharist was celebrated (Top) For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. Acts 20:7 Now concerning the Eucharist, give thanks this way… First, concerning the cup: We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of David Your servant, which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever.. And concerning the broken bread: We thank You, our Father, for the life and knowledge which You made known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever. Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let Your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into Your kingdom; for Yours is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.. But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, unless they have been baptized into the name of the Lord; for concerning this also the Lord has said, "Give not that which is holy to the dogs." But after you are filled, give thanks this way: We thank You, holy Father, for Your holy name which You didst cause to tabernacle in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality, which You madest known to us through Jesus Your Servant; to You be the glory for ever. You, Master almighty, didst create all things for Your name's sake; You gave food and drink to men for enjoyment, that they might give thanks to You; but to us You didst freely give spiritual food and drink and life eternal through Your Servant. Before all things we thank You that You are mighty; to You be the glory for ever. Remember, Lord, Your Church, to deliver it from all evil and to make it perfect in Your love, and gather it from the four winds, sanctified for Your kingdom which You have prepared for it; for Yours is the power and the glory for ever. Let grace come, and let this world pass away. Hosanna to the God (Son) of David! If any one is holy, let him come; if any one is not so, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.9 Let no man do aught of things pertaining to the Church apart from the bishop. Let that be held a valid Eucharist which is under the bishop or one to whom he shall have committed it. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.8 But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost…And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.185 Since, then, neither the apostle himself nor an angel from heaven can preach or teach any otherwise than Christ has once taught and His apostles have announced, I wonder very much whence has originated this practice, that, contrary to evangelical and apostolic discipline, water is offered in some places in the Lord’s cup, which water by itself cannot express the blood of Christ. The Holy Spirit also is not silent in the Psalms on the sacrament of this thing, when He makes mention of the Lord’s cup, and says, “Your inebriating cup, how excellent it is!” Now the cup which inebriates is assuredly mingled with wine, for water cannot inebriate anybody. And the cup of the Lord in such wise inebriates, as Noah also was intoxicated drinking wine, in Genesis. But because the intoxication of the Lord’s cup and blood is not such as is the intoxication of the world’s wine, since the Holy Spirit said in the Psalm, “Your inebriating cup,” He added, “how excellent it is,” because doubtless the Lord’s cup so inebriates them that drink, that it makes them sober; that it restores their minds to spiritual wisdom; that each one recovers from that flavor of the world to the understanding of God; and in the same way, that by that common wine the mind is dissolved, and the soul relaxed, and all sadness is laid aside, so, when the blood of the Lord and the cup of salvation have been drunk, the memory of the old man is laid aside, and there arises an oblivion of the former worldly conversation, and the sorrowful and sad breast which before was oppressed by tormenting sins is eased by the joy of the divine mercy; because that only is able to rejoice him who drinks in the Church which, when it is drunk, retains the Lord’s truth. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.361 SEE ALSO: BLOOD OF CHRIST, ASSEMBLIES CHRISTIAN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 46: EVANGELISM ======================================================================== But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 1 Peter 3:15 Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. Colossians 4:6 He then, who wishes to be saved, looks not to man, but to Him who dwells in him, and speaks in him, amazed at never having either heard him utter such words with his mouth, nor himself having ever desired to hear them. This is the spiritual temple built for the Lord. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.16 Remember the day of judgment, night and day. You shall seek out every day the faces of the saints, either by word examining them, and going to exhort them, and meditating how to save a soul by the word…Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.19 Let us rather give offence to foolish and senseless men who exalt themselves and boast in the arrogance of their words, than to God. Let us fear the Lord Jesus [Christ], whose blood was given for us. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 Having therefore received a charge, and having been fully assured through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and confirmed in the word of God with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth with the glad tidings that the kingdom of God should come. So preaching everywhere in country and town, they appointed their first-fruits, when they had proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons unto them that should believe. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.42 The Work is not of persuasiveness, but Christianity is at it’s greatest, whensoever’s it is hated by the world. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 Come then, clear your mind of all its preconceived notions and cast aside the custom that deceives you, and become a new man, as it were, from the beginning, as if you were about to hear a new message. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.2 And that it did so come to pass, we can convince you. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world, men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the word of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 And if we persuade even a few, our gain will be very great; for, as good husbandmen, we shall receive the reward from the Master. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 When he had spoken these and many other things, which there is no time for mentioning at present, he went away, bidding me attend to them; and I have not seen him since. But straightway a flame was kindled in my soul; and a love of the prophets, and of those men who are friends of Christ, possessed me. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.198 God testified by Ezekiel, when He said, 'I have made you a watchman to the house of Judah. If the sinner sin, and you warn him not, he himself shall die in his sin; but his blood will I require at your hand. But if you warn him, you shall be innocent.' And on this account we are, through fear, very earnest in desiring to converse [with men] according to the Scriptures, but not from love of money, or of glory, or of pleasure. For no man can convict us of any of these [vices]. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.240 …(for the matters of our religion lie in works, not in words), and learn from them what will give you life everlasting. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.288 Not that I am practiced either in composition or eloquence; but my feeling of affection prompts me to make known to you and all your companions those doctrines which have been kept in concealment until now, but which are at last, through the goodness of God, brought to light. "For there is nothing hidden which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be made known." You will not expect from me, who am resident among the Keltae, and am accustomed for the most part to use a barbarous dialect, any display of rhetoric, which I have never learned, or any excellence of composition, which I have never practiced, or any beauty and persuasiveness of style, to which I make no pretensions. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.316 For the apostles, who were commissioned to find out the wanderers, and to be for sight to those who saw not, and medicine to the weak, certainly did not address them in accordance with their opinion at the time, but according to revealed truth. For no persons of any kind would act properly, if they should advise blind men, just about to fall over a precipice, to continue their most dangerous path, as if it were the right one, and as if they might go on in safety. Or what medical man, anxious to heal a sick person, would prescribe in accordance with the patient's whims, and not according to the requisite medicine? But that the Lord came as the physician of the sick, He does Himself declare saying, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." How then shall the sick be strengthened, or how shall sinners come to repentance? Is it by persevering in the very same courses? Or, on the contrary, is it by undergoing a great change and reversal of their former mode of living, by which they have brought upon themselves no slight amount of sickness, and many sins? But ignorance, the mother of all these, is driven out by knowledge. Wherefore the Lord used to impart knowledge to His disciples, by which also it was His practice to heal those who were suffering, and to keep back sinners from sin. He therefore did not address them in accordance with their pristine notions, nor did He reply to them in harmony with the opinion of His questioners, but according to the doctrine leading to salvation, without hypocrisy or respect of person. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 418 The Lord said: "Judge not, that you be not judged: for with what judgment you shall judge, you shall be judged." [The meaning is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sinners, nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the dispensations of God, inasmuch as He has Himself made provision that all things shall turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 504 But among us you will find uneducated persons, and artisans, and old women, who, if they are unable in words to prove the benefit of our doctrine, yet by their deeds exhibit the benefit arising from their persuasion of its truth: they do not rehearse speeches, but exhibit good works; when struck, they do not strike again; when robbed, they do not go to law; they give to those that ask of them, and love their neighbors as themselves. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.134 Now, reproof addressed to sinners has their salvation for its aim, the word being harmoniously adjusted to each one's conduct; now with tightened, now with relaxed cords. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.226 With all His power, therefore, the Instructor of humanity, the Divine Word, using all the resources of wisdom, devotes Himself to the saving of the children, admonishing, upbraiding, blaming, chiding, reproving, threatening, healing, promising, favoring; and as it were, by many reins, curbing the irrational impulses of humanity… In fine, the system He pursues to inspire fear is the source of salvation. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.228,230 For as the mirror is not evil to an ugly man because it shows him what like he is; and as the physician is not evil to the sick man because he tells him of his fever, - for the physician is not the cause of the fever, but only points out the fever; - so neither is He, that reproves, ill-disposed towards him who is diseased in soul. For He does not put the transgressions on him, but only shows the sins which are there; in order to turn him away from similar practices… "They that fall into sins shall be cast into outer darkness, where there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth," and the like. So that from these things it is clear that the Lord, going the round of all the methods of curative treatment, calls humanity to salvation. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.231-232 We dread the Creator's tremendous threats, and yet scarcely turn away from evil. What if He threatened not? Will you call this justice an evil, when it is all unfavorable to evil? Will you deny it to be a good, when it has its eye towards good? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.307-308 What would be said, if, when you thought the doctor necessary, you were to find fault with his instruments, because they cut, or cauterize, or amputate, or tighten; whereas there could be no doctor of any value without his professional tools? Censure, if you please, the practitioner who cuts badly, amputates clumsily, is rash in his surgery; and even blame his implements as rough tools of his are. Your conduct is equally unreasonable, when you allow indeed that God is a judge, but at the same time destroy those operations and dispositions by which He discharges His judicial functions. We are taught God by the prophets, and by Christ, not by the philosophers nor by Epicurus. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 309 But since he is manifestly guilty of falsehood in the statements which follow, let us examine his assertion when he says, "If all men wished to become Christians, the latter would not desire such a result." Now that the above statement is false is clear from this, that Christians do not neglect, as far as in them lies, to take measures to disseminate their doctrine throughout the whole world. Some of them, accordingly, have made it their business to itinerate not only through cities, but even villages and country houses, that they might make converts to God. And no one would maintain that they did this for the sake of gain, when sometimes they would not accept even necessary sustenance; or if at any time they were pressed by a necessity of this sort, were contented with the mere supply of their wants. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.468 We do desire to instruct all men in the word of God, so as to give to young men the exhortations which are appropriate to them, and to show to slaves how they may recover freedom of thought, and be ennobled by the word. And those amongst us who are the ambassadors of Christianity sufficiently declare that they are debtors to Greeks and Barbarians, to wise men and fools. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.485 "And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." For the word of God declares that the preaching (although in itself true and most worthy of belief) is not sufficient to reach the human heart, unless a certain power be imparted to the speaker from God, and a grace appear upon his words; and it is only by the divine agency that this takes place in those who speak effectually. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.573 We have learned to know "how we ought to answer every man." And there are some who are capable of receiving nothing more than an exhortation to believe, and to these we address that alone; while we approach others, again, as far as possible, in the way of demonstration, by means of question and answer. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.577 "We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us," so would we in the same spirit and language earnestly desire to be ambassadors for Christ to men, even as the Word of God beseeches them to the love of Himself, seeking to win over to righteousness truth, and the other virtues, those who, until they receive the doctrines of Jesus Christ, live in darkness about God and in ignorance of their Creator. Again, then, I would say, may God bestow upon us His pure and true Word, even "the Lord strong and mighty in battle" against sin. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.640 “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” For when you used often to come to me with the desire of contradicting rather than with the wish to learn, and preferred impudently to insist on your own views, which you shouted with noisy words, to patiently listening to mine, it seemed to me foolish to contend with you; since it would be an easier and slighter thing to restrain the angry waves of a turbulent sea with shouts, than to check your madness by arguments. Assuredly it would be both a vain and ineffectual labor to offer light to a blind man, discourse to a deaf one, or wisdom to a brute; since neither can a brute apprehend, nor can a blind man admit the light, nor can a deaf man hear. In consideration of this, I have frequently held my tongue, and overcome an impatient man with patience; since I could neither teach an unteachable man, nor check an impious one with religion, nor restrain a frantic man with gentleness. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 458 SEE ALSO: REPENTANCE, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 47: EXCOMMUNICATION ======================================================================== But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. 1 Timothy 1:20 And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as you have it in the Gospel. But to anyone that acts amiss against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear anything from you until he repents. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.15 All of those who separate from the church and give heed to old wives’ tales, like these persons, are truly self-condemned. Paul commands us “to avoid [these men] after a first and second admonition.” Furthermore, John, the disciple of the Lord, has intensified their condemnation. For he desires us not even to address them with the salutation of “Godspeed.” He says, “He who bids them Godspeed is a partaker with their evil deeds.” Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 341, 342 “Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience; be not you therefore partakers with them.” Therefore let no one associate himself with the contumacious, and those who do not fear God, and those who entirely withdraw from the Church. But if any one should be impatient of entreating the Lord who is offended, and should be unwilling to obey us, but should follow desperate and abandoned men, he must take the blame to himself when the day of judgment shall come. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.365 From all such persons, therefore, it behooves us to keep aloof, but to adhere to those who, as I have already observed, do hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, together with the order of priesthood (presbyterii ordine), display sound speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation and correction of others. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 497 Now, reproof addressed to sinners has their salvation for its aim, the word being harmoniously adjusted to each one's conduct; now with tightened, now with relaxed cords. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.226 But it will be said that some of us, too, depart from the rules of our discipline. In that case, however, we count such persons no longer as Christians. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.51 [ADDRESSED TO PAGANS:] Persons of this doubtful mold do not assemble with us. Neither do they belong to our communion. By their delinquency, they become yours once more. For we are unwilling to mix even with those whom your violence and cruelty have compelled to recant. Yet, we should, of course, be more ready to have included among us those who have unwillingly forsaken our discipline, than willful apostates. However, you have no right to call them Christians to whom Christians themselves deny that name. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.113 What would be said, if, when you thought the doctor necessary, you were to find fault with his instruments, because they cut, or cauterize, or amputate, or tighten; whereas there could be no doctor of any value without his professional tools? Censure, if you please, the practitioner who cuts badly, amputates clumsily, is rash in his surgery; and even blame his implements as rough tools of his are. Your conduct is equally unreasonable, when you allow indeed that God is a judge, but at the same time destroy those operations and dispositions by which He discharges His judicial functions. We are taught God by the prophets, and by Christ, not by the philosophers nor by Epicurus. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 309 In this example of a leper … [the Law] prohibited any contact with a person who was defiled with sin. The apostle also forbids us even to eat food with such a one. For the taint of sins can be communicated as if contagious, wherever a man mixes himself with the sinner. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 355 We must separate from a believer who lives irregularly and contrary to discipline. Paul [said] to the Thessalonians: “But we have commanded you, in the name of Jesus Christ, that you depart from all brethren who walk disorderly and not according to the tradition that you have received from us.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 551 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 48: EXORCISM ======================================================================== For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those who used incantations and drugs. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 For we call Him Helper and Redeemer, the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, governor of Judaea, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to all, that His Father has given Him so great power, by virtue of which demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His suffering. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.209 And again, in other words, He said, 'I give unto you power to tread on serpents, and on scorpions, and on scolopendras, and on all the might of the enemy.' And now we, who believe on our Lord Jesus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, when we exorcise all demons and evil spirits, have them subjected to us. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.236 But if any of you exorcise it in [the name of] the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, it will perhaps be subject to you. Now assuredly your exorcists, I have said, make use of craft when they exorcise, even as the Gentiles do, and employ fumigations and incantations. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.241 How many men of rank (to say nothing of common people) have been delivered from devils, and healed of diseases! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 107 SEE ALSO: ANGELS, DEMONS, SATAN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 49: FAITH ======================================================================== Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. James 2:17-26 And so we, having been called through His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or piety or works which we wrought in holiness of heart, but through faith, whereby the Almighty God justified all men that have been from the beginning; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. What then must we do, brethren? Must we idly abstain from doing good, and forsake love? May the Master never allow this to befall us at least; but let us hasten with instancy and zeal to accomplish every good work. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.32-33 None of these things is hidden from you, if you be perfect in your faith and love toward Jesus Christ, for these are the beginning and end of life - faith is the beginning and love is the end - and the two being found in unity are God, while all things else follow in their train unto true nobility. No man professing faith sins, and no man possessing love hates. "The tree is manifest from its fruit;" so they that profess to be Christ's shall be seen through their actions. For the Work is not a thing of profession now, but is seen then when one is found in the power of faith unto the end. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 14 And the second, that is girded about and looks like a man, is called Self-Control; she is the daughter of Faith. Whosoever then shall follow her, becomes happy in his life, for he shall refrain from all evil deeds, believing that, if he refrain from every evil desire, he shall inherit eternal life. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.16 And not merely in works, but also in faith, has God preserved the will of man free and under his own control, saying, "According to your faith be it unto you;" thus showing that there is a faith specially belonging to man, since he has an opinion specially his own. And again, "All things are possible to him that believes;" and, "Go your way; and as you has believed, so be it done unto you." Now all such expressions demonstrate that man is in his own power with respect to faith. And for this reason, "He that believes in Him has eternal life while he who believes not the Son has not eternal life, but the wrath of God shall remain upon him." In the same manner therefore the Lord, both showing His own goodness, and indicating that man is in his own free will and his own power, said to Jerusalem, "How often have I wished to gather your children together, as a hen [gathers] her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Wherefore your house shall be left unto you desolate." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.520 "The subject of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," according to the divine apostle. "For hereby," pre-eminently, "the elders obtained a good report. But without faith it is impossible to please God."… And since choice is the beginning of action, faith is discovered to be the beginning of action, being the foundation of rational choice in the case of any one who exhibits to himself the previous demonstration through faith. Voluntarily to follow what is useful, is the first principle of understanding. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.349 For knowledge is a state of mind that results from demonstration; but faith is a grace which from what is indemonstrable conducts to what is universal and simple, what is neither with matter, nor matter, nor under matter. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.350 Happy is he who speaks in the ears of the hearing. Now faith is the ear of the soul. And such the Lord intimates faith to be, when He says, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear;" so that by believing he may comprehend what He says, as He says it. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.444 So that when we hear, "Your faith has saved you”, we do not understand Him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever shall be saved, unless also works follow. But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this utterance, who kept the law and lived blamelessly, who wanted only faith in the Lord. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.505 But how can a man say that he believes in Christ, who does not do what Christ commanded him to do? Or whence shall he attain to the reward of faith, who will not keep the faith of the commandment? He must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error, like dust which is shaken by the wind, be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 421 “That salvation has this day come to this house, for that he also is a son of Abraham.” For if Abraham believed in God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, certainly he who gives alms according to God’s precept believes in God, and he who has the truth of faith maintains the fear of God; moreover, he who maintains the fear of God considers God in showing mercy to the poor. For he labors thus because he believes - because he knows that what is foretold by God’s word is true, and that the Holy Scripture cannot lie - that unfruitful trees, that is, unproductive men, are cut off and cast into the fire, but that the merciful are called into the kingdom. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 478 SEE ALSO: GRACE, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 50: FALL OF MAN ======================================================================== And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:7-8 For the scriptures state clearly how God from the beginning planted a tree [of knowledge and a tree] of life in the midst of Paradise, revealing life through knowledge; and because our first parents used it not genuinely they were made naked by the deceit of the serpent. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.12 For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.446 But Eve was disobedient; for she did not obey when as yet she was a virgin. And even as she, having indeed a husband, Adam, but being nevertheless as yet a virgin (for in Paradise "they were both naked, and were not ashamed," inasmuch as they, having been created a short time previously, had no understanding of the procreation of children: for it was necessary that they should first come to adult age, and then multiply from that time onward), having become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 455 By means of the second man did He bind the strong man, and spoiled his goods, and abolished death, vivifying that man who had been in a state of death. For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan's) possession, whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously, and under color of immortality entailing death upon him. For, while promising that they should be as gods, which was in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death in them: wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured in his turn by God; but man, who had been led captive, was loosed from the bonds of condemnation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.456 For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.456 Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords no gratification, but which gnaws have retained this clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig-leaves. For this purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might light upon the woman; and again, He interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred. "The serpent," says she, "beguiled me, and I did eat." But He put no question to the serpent; for He knew that he had been the prime mover in the guilty deed; but He pronounced the curse upon him in the first instance, that it might fall upon man with a mitigated rebuke. For God detested him who had led man astray, but by degrees, and little by little, He showed compassion to him who had been beguiled. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 457 Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.457 In the first place, then, in the garden of God he disputed about God, as if God was not there, for he was ignorant of the greatness of God; and then, in the next place, after he had learned from the woman that God had said that they should die if they tasted the aforesaid tree, opening his mouth, he uttered the third falsehood, "You shall not die by death." But that God was true, and the serpent a liar, was proved by the result, death having passed upon them who had eaten. For along with the fruit they did also fall under the power of death, because they did eat in disobedience; and disobedience to God entails death. Wherefore, as they became forfeit to death, from that [moment] they were handed over to it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.551 For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the expression, "till it," no other kind of labor is implied than the observance of God's command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.104 And God showed great kindness to man in this, that He did not suffer him to remain in sin for ever; but, as it were, by a kind of banishment, cast him out of Paradise, in order that, having by punishment expiated, within an appointed time, the sin, and having been disciplined, he should afterwards be restored. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.104 SEE ALSO: ADAM, SATAN, ATONEMENT, FREE WILL ======================================================================== CHAPTER 51: FASTING ======================================================================== Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life: Tobit 12:8-9 Did I not choose such a fast, says the Lord. But untie every bond of injustice! Part violent perverseness of exchanges! Send out by a free release the ones having been devastated and tear apart every unjust writ! Break your bread with ones hungering, and bring the homeless poor into your house! If you behold one naked, clothe him! And concerning the members of your family of your seed, you shall not disdain them. Isaiah 58:6-7 (LXX) And they said unto him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but thine eat and drink? And he said unto them, Can ye make the children of the bride chamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. Luke 5:33-35 But before the baptism let the baptizer fast, and the baptized, and whoever else can; but you shall order the baptized to fast one or two days before. But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second and fifth day of the week. Rather, fast on the fourth day and the Preparation (Friday). Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.7-8 Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, even as repentance from sin. Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving than both. And love covers a multitude of sins, but prayer out of a good conscience delivers from death. Blessed is every man that is found full of these. For almsgiving lifts off the burden of sin. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.16 Wherefore let us forsake the vain doing of the many and their false teachings, and turn unto the word which was delivered unto us from the beginning, being sober unto prayer and constant in fastings, entreating the all-seeing God with supplications that He bring us not into temptation, according as the Lord said, The Spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.7 The soul when poorly treated in the matter of food and drinks is improved; and so Christians when punished increase more and more daily. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 6 Every enquiry needs humility. Fast therefore, and you shall receive what you ask from the Lord. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.16 "I tell you," said he, "that this is not a fast, wherein you think to fast; but I will teach you what is a complete fast and acceptable to the Lord. Listen," said he; "God desires not such a vain fast; for by so fasting unto God you shall do nothing for righteousness. But fast you [unto God] such a fast as this; do no wickedness in your life, and serve the Lord with a pure heart; observe His commandments and walk in His ordinances, and let no evil desire rise up in your heart; but believe God. Then, if you shall do these things, and fear Him, and control yourself from every evil deed, you shall live unto God; and if you do these things, you shall accomplish a great fast, and one acceptable to God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.33 This then is the way, that you shall keep this fast which you are about to observe. First of all, keep yourself from every evil word and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you keep these things, this fast shall be perfect for you. And thus shall you do. Having fulfilled what is written, on that day on which you fast you shall taste nothing but bread and water; and from your meats, which you would have eaten, you shall reckon up the amount of that day's expenditure, which you would have incurred, and shall give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to one in want, and so shall you humble your soul, that he that has received from your humiliation may satisfy his own soul, and may pray for you to the Lord. If then you shall so accomplish this fast, as I have commanded you, your sacrifice shall be acceptable in the sight of God, and this fasting shall be recorded; and the service so performed is beautiful and joyous and acceptable to the Lord. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.34 And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.277 "Fasting with prayer is a good thing." Now fastings signify abstinence from all evils whatsoever, both in action and in word, and in thought itself. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.503 We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lord's day to be unlawful. We rejoice in the same privilege also from Easter to Whitsunday. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.94 At fasts, moreover, and Stations, no prayer should be made without kneeling, and the remaining customary marks of humility; for (then) we are not only praying, but deprecating, and making satisfaction to God our Lord. Touching times of prayer nothing at all has been prescribed, except clearly "to pray at every time and every place." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 689 And thus Holy Scripture instructs us, saying, “Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving.” For He who will give us in the day of judgment a reward for our labors and alms, is even in this life a merciful hearer of one who comes to Him in prayer associated with good works. Thus, for instance, Cornelius the centurion, when he prayed, had a claim to be heard. For he was in the habit of doing many alms-deeds towards the people, and of ever praying to God. To this man, when he prayed about the ninth hour, appeared an angel bearing testimony to his labors, and saying, “Cornelius, your prayers and your alms are gone up in remembrance before God.” Those prayers quickly ascend to God which the merits of our labors urge upon God. Thus also Raphael the angel was a witness to the constant prayer and the constant good works of Tobias, saying, “It is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. For when you didst pray, and Sarah, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the holiness of God. And when you didst bury the dead in simplicity, and because you didst not delay to rise up and to leave your dinner, but didst go out and cover the dead, I was sent to prove you; and again God has sent me to heal you, and Sarah your daughter-in-law. For I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels which stand and go in and out before the glory of God.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.456 SEE ALSO: OFFERINGS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 52: FEAR OF GOD ======================================================================== Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 And the spirit of the LORD will be caused to rest upon him; a spirit of wisdom and understanding; a spirit of counsel and strength; a spirit of knowledge and piety; a spirit of the fear of God shall fill him up. Isaiah 11:2-3 (LXX) Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 Let us be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God. As much as in us lies, let us meditate upon the fear of God, and let us keep His commandments, that we may rejoice in His ordinances. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Adorned by a thoroughly virtuous and religious life, you did all things in the fear of God. The commandments and ordinances of the Lord were written upon the tablets of your hearts. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.2 For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the laws of His commandments. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.3 Let us fear the Lord Jesus [Christ], whose blood was given for us… the fear of Him is good and great and saves all them that walk therein in a pure mind with holiness. For He is the searcher out of the intents and desires; whose breath is in us, and when He wills, He shall take it away. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 The Father, who is pitiful in all things, and ready to do good, has compassion on them that fear Him. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.23 Since therefore all things are seen and heard, let us fear Him, and forsake the abominable lusts of evil works, that we may be shielded by His mercy from the coming judgments. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 28 You see, brethren, in proportion as greater knowledge has been vouchsafed unto us, so much the more are we exposed to danger. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 41 For such as walk in fear and love desire that they themselves should fall into suffering rather than their neighbors; and they pronounce condemnation against themselves rather than against the harmony which has been handed down to us nobly and righteously. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.50 Brethren, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ, as of God, as of the Judge of quick and dead. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 1 And we ought not rather to fear men but God. For this cause, if you do these things, the Lord said, Though you be gathered together with Me in My bosom, and do not My commandments, I will cast you away and will say unto you, Depart from Me, I know you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.4 These are the last times. Henceforth let us have reverence; let us fear the long-suffering of God, lest it turn into a judgment against us. For either let us fear the wrath which is to come or let us love the grace which now is - the one or the other; provided only that we be found in Christ Jesus unto true life. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 11 "Fear the Lord," said he, "and keep His commandments. So keeping the commandments of God you shall be powerful in every deed, and your doing shall be incomparable. For whilst you fear the Lord, you shall do all things well. But this is the fear wherewith you ought to be afraid, and you shall be saved. But fear not the devil; for, if you fear the Lord, you shall be master over the devil, for there is no power in him. [For] in whom is no power, neither is there fear of him; but in whom power is glorious, of him is fear likewise. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.37 Fear therefore is of two kinds. If you desire to do evil, fear the Lord, and you shall not do it. If again you desire to do good, fear the Lord and you shall do it. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 24 Every creature fears the Lord, but not every one keeps His commandments. Those then that fear Him and keep His commandments, they have life unto God; but they that keep not His commandments have no life in them. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 24 But do you clothe yourself in the desire of righteousness, and, having armed yourself with the fear of the Lord, resist them. For the fear of God dwells in the good desire. If the evil desire shall see you armed with the fear of God and resisting itself, it shall flee far from you, and shall no more be seen of you, being in fear of your arms. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.28 In fine, the system He pursues to inspire fear is the source of salvation. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.230 By guarding against sinning, we guard against suffering. "For I would have you know," says Jude, "that God, having once saved His people from the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not; and the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He has reserved to the judgment of the great day, in everlasting chains under darkness of the savage angels." And a little after he sets forth, in a most instructive manner, representations of those that are judged: "Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and run greedily after the error of Balaam, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." For those, who cannot attain the privilege of adoption, fear keeps from growing insolent. For punishments and threats are for this end, that fearing the penalty we may abstain from sinning. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.282 They say that God is not to be feared; therefore all things are in their view free and unchecked. Where, however is God not feared, except where He is not? Where God is not, there truth also is not. Where there is no truth, then, naturally enough, there is also such a discipline as theirs. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.264-265 Fear is the foundation of salvation; presumption is an impediment to fear. More useful, then, is it to apprehend that we may possibly fail, than to presume that we cannot; for apprehending will lead us to fear, fearing to caution, and caution to salvation. On the other hand, if we presume, there will be neither fear nor caution to save us. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 19 SEE ALSO: ETERNAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 53: FOOD ======================================================================== I. Temperance vs. Gluttony II. Abstaining from meats (Mosaic Law) I. Temperance vs. Gluttony (Top) Let all your things be done with charity. 1 Corinthians 16:14 (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things). Philippians 3:18-19 And concerning food, bear what you are able; but against that which is sacrificed to idols be exceedingly careful; for it is the service of dead gods. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.6 I have no delight in the food of corruption or in the delights of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Christ who was of the seed of David; and for a draught I desire His blood, which is love incorruptible. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 The soul when poorly treated in the matter of food and drinks is improved; and so Christians when punished increase more and more daily. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 6 (When the angry temper) insinuates itself into the heart of the man, and for no cause whatever the man or the woman is embittered on account of worldly matters, either about food, or something trivial... Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 23 "Sir," say I, "are they from which we must be temperate and abstain?" "Listen," said he; "from adultery and fornication, from the lawlessness of drunkenness, from wicked luxury, from many kinds of foods and the costliness of riches." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 25 "Listen," [said he,] "through what works the evil desire brings death to the servants of God. Before all is desire for the wife or husband of another, and for extravagance of wealth, and for many needless things to eat and drink and other luxuries, many and foolish. For even luxury is foolish and vain for the servants of God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.28 But we lay hands on and take of all herbs which are sweet, very nourishing and good, whether they are marine or land plants. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.204 And your public assemblies I have come to hate. For there are excessive banqueting, and subtle flutes which provoke to lustful movements, and useless and luxurious anointings, and crowning with garlands. With such a mass of evils do you banish shame; and you fill your minds with them, and are carried away by intemperance, and indulge as a common practice in wicked and insane fornication. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.272 What noble thing have you produced by your pursuit of philosophy? Who of your most eminent men has been free from vain boasting? Diogenes, who made such a parade of his independence with his tub, was seized with a bowel complaint through eating a raw polypus, and so lost his life by gluttony. Aristippus, walking about in a purple robe, led a profligate life, in accordance with his professed opinions. Plato, a philosopher, was sold by Dionysius for his gormandizing propensities. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.65 Some men, in truth, live that they may eat, as the irrational creatures, "whose life is their belly, and nothing else." But the Instructor commands us to eat that we may live. For neither is food our business, nor is pleasure our aim; but both are on account of our life here, which the Word is training up to immortality. Wherefore also there is discrimination to be employed in reference to food. And it is to be simple, truly plain, suiting precisely simple and artless children - as ministering to life, not to luxury. And the life to which it conduces consists of two things - health and strength; to which plainness of fare is most suitable, being conducive both to digestion and lightness of body, from which come growth, and health, and right strength, not strength that is wrong or dangerous and wretched, as is that of athletes produced by compulsory feeding. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.237 Altering these by means of condiments, the gluttons gape for the sauces. "Whatever earth and the depths of the sea, and the unmeasured space of the air produce," they cater for their gluttony. In their greed and solicitude, the gluttons seem absolutely to sweep the world with a drag-net to gratify their luxurious tastes. These gluttons, surrounded with the sound of hissing frying-pans, and wearing their whole life away at the pestle and mortar, cling to matter like fire. More than that, they emasculate plain food, namely bread, by straining off the nourishing part of the grain, so that the necessary part of food becomes matter of reproach to luxury. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.237-238 "Desire not," says the Scripture, "rich men's dainties;" for they belong to a false and base life. They partake of luxurious dishes, which a little after go to the dunghill. But we who seek the heavenly bread must role the belly, which is beneath heaven, and much more the things which are agreeable to it, which "God shall destroy," says the apostle, justly execrating gluttonous desires. For "meats are for the belly," for on them depends this truly carnal and destructive life. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg238 But let our diet be light and digestible, and suitable for keeping awake, unmixed with diverse varieties. Nor is this a point which is beyond the sphere of discipline. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.238 For we do not abolish social intercourse, but look with suspicion on the snares of custom, and regard them as a calamity. Wherefore daintiness is to be shunned, and we are to partake of few and necessary things. "And if one of the unbelievers call us to a feast, and we determine to go" (for it is a good thing not to mix with the dissolute), the apostle bids us "eat what is set before us, asking no questions for conscience sake." Similarly he has commanded to purchase "what is sold in the shambles," without curious questioning. We are not, then, to abstain wholly from various kinds of food, but only are not to be taken up about them. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.239 Wherefore we must guard against those articles of food which persuade us to eat when we are not hungry, bewitching the appetite. … Accordingly, the apostle Matthew partook of seeds, and nuts, and vegetables, without flesh. And John, who carded temperance to the extreme, "ate locusts and wild honey." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.241 Pleasure has often produced in men harm and pain; and full feeding begets in the soul uneasiness, and forgetfulness, and foolishness. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.242 I therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are fond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible from wine, shunning it as they would the danger of fire. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.242 Socrates accordingly bids "people guard against enticements to eat when they are not hungry, and to drink when not thirsty.” Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.373 "For wine," says Androcydes, "and gluttonous feeds of flesh make the body strong, but the soul more sluggish." Accordingly such food, in order to clear understanding, is to be rejected. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.532 The vivid remembrance of death is a check upon diet; and when the diet is lessened, the passions are diminished along with it. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.581 When the Lord says that man should eat bread with groaning, here what are you now doing, who desire to live with joy? You seek to rescind the judgment uttered by the highest God when He first formed man; you wish to abandon the curb of the law. If the Almighty God has bidden you live with sweat, you who are living in pleasure will already be a stranger to Him. The Scripture said that the Lord was angry with the Jews. Their sons, refreshed with food, rose up to play. Commodianus (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 214 Are there not some who prohibit to themselves (the use of) the very "creature of God," abstaining from wine and animal food, the enjoyments of which border upon no peril or solicitude; but they sacrifice to God the humility of their soul even in the chastened use of food? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 23 II. Abstaining from meats (Mosaic Law) (Top) For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:7 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days… Col. 2:16 Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. Heb. 9:10 Moses then issued three doctrines concerning meats with a spiritual significance; but they received them according to fleshly desire, as if he had merely spoken of [literal] meats. David, however, comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 10 But again their (the Jews) scruples concerning meats… are ridiculous and unworthy of any consideration. For of the things created by God for the use of man to receive some as created well, but to decline others as useless and superfluous, is not this impious? Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.4 Moreover, you were commanded to abstain from certain kinds of food, in order that you might keep God before your eyes while you ate and drank, seeing that you were prone and very ready to depart from His knowledge, as Moses also affirms: 'The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.' And again: 'Jacob ate, and was satisfied, and waxed fat; and he who was beloved kicked: he waxed fat, he grew thick, he was enlarged, and he forsook God who had made him.' For it was told you by Moses in the book of Genesis, that God granted to Noah, being a just man, to eat of every animal, but not of flesh with the blood, which is dead. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.204 But neither do the Jews pride themselves upon abstaining from swine's flesh, as if it were some great thing; but upon their having ascertained the nature of clean and unclean animals, and the cause of the distinction, and of swine being classed among the unclean. And these distinctions were signs of certain things until the advent of Jesus; after whose coming it was said to His disciple, who did not yet comprehend the doctrine concerning these matters, but who said, "Nothing that is common or unclean has entered into my mouth," "What God has cleansed, call not you common." It therefore in no way affects either the Jews or us that the Egyptian priests abstain not only from the flesh of swine, but also from that of goats, and sheep, and oxen, and fish. But since it is not that "which enters into the mouth that defiles a man," and since "meat does not commend us to God," we do not set great store on refraining from eating, nor yet are we induced to eat from a gluttonous appetite. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 565 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 54: FREE-WILL AND PREDESTINATION ======================================================================== I. Free will of men and Angels II. The elect III. Predestination and foreknowledge of God IV. Synergism I. Free will of men and Angels (Top) For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor: yet what I shall choose I wot not. Philippians 1:21-22 And the man said, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” And the LORD God said unto the woman, “What is this that thou hast done?” And the woman said, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” Genesis 3:13-14 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth. Revelation 12:5 The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Jude 1:6 But the faithful in love the stamp of God the Father through Jesus Christ, through whom unless of our own free choice we accept to die unto His passion, His life is not in us. Ignatius: To the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 I write to all the churches, and I bid all men know, that of my own free will I die for God, unless you should hinder me. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 "Sir, these commandments are great and beautiful and glorious, and are able to gladden the heart of the man who is able to observe them. But I know not whether these commandments can be kept by a man, for they are very hard." He answered and said unto me; "If you set it before yourself that they can be kept, you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard; but if it once enter into your heart that they cannot be kept by a man, you will not keep them. But now I say unto you; if you keep them not, but neglect them you shall not have salvation, neither your children nor your household, since you have already pronounced judgment against yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by a man." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.29 "If then," [he said,] "man is lord of all the creatures of God and masters all things, cannot he also master these commandments?" "Aye," said he, "the man that has the Lord in his heart can master [all things and] all these commandments." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 29 For as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so do we consider that, in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of fellowship with Him. For the coming into being at first was not in our own power; and in order that we may follow those things which please Him, choosing them by means of the rational faculties He has Himself endowed us with, He both persuades us and leads us to faith. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 In the beginning He made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing right, so that all men are without excuse before God; for they have been born rational and contemplative. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.172 Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race has the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. But that it is by free choice they both walk uprightly and stumble, we thus demonstrate. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 For not like other things, as trees and quadrupeds, which cannot act by choice, did God make man: for neither would he be worthy of reward or praise did he not of himself choose the good, but were created for this end; nor, if he were evil, would he be worthy of punishment, not being evil of himself, but being able to be nothing else than what he was made. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 But neither do we affirm that it is by fate that men do what they do, or suffer what they suffer, but that each man by free choice acts rightly or sins; and that it is by the influence of the wicked demons that earnest men, such as Socrates and the like, suffer persecution and are in bonds. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 But since God in the beginning made the race of angels and men with free-will, they will justly suffer in eternal fire the punishment of whatever sins they have committed. And this is the nature of all that is made, to be capable of vice and virtue. For neither would any of them be praiseworthy unless there were power to turn to both [virtue and vice]. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 For God, wishing both angels and men, who were endowed with freewill, and at their own disposal, to do whatever He had strengthened each to do, made them so, that if they chose the things acceptable to Himself, He would keep them free from death and from punishment; but that if they did evil, He would punish each as He sees fit. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.243 But the wheat and the chaff, being inanimate and irrational, have been made such by nature. But man, being endowed with reason, and in this respect like to God, having been made free in his will, and with power over himself, is himself the cause to himself, that sometimes he becomes wheat, and sometimes chaff. Wherefore also he shall be justly condemned, because, having been created a rational being, he lost the true rationality, and living irrationally, opposed the righteousness of God, giving himself over to every earthly spirit, and serving all lusts; as says the prophet, "Man, being in honor, did not understand: he was assimilated to senseless beasts, and made like to them." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.466 No doubt, if any one is unwilling to follow the Gospel itself, it is in his power [to reject it], but it is not expedient. For it is in man's power to disobey God, and to forfeit what is good; but [such conduct] brings no small amount of injury and mischief. And on this account Paul says, "All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;" referring both to the liberty of man, in which respect "all things are lawful," God exercising no compulsion in regard to him; and [by the expression] "not expedient" pointing out that we "should not use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness, for this is not expedient….If then it were not in our power to do or not to do these things, what reason had the apostle, and much more the Lord Himself, to give us counsel to do some things, and to abstain from others? But because man is possessed of free will from the beginning, and God is possessed of free will, in whose likeness man was created, advice is always given to him to keep fast the good, which thing is done by means of obedience to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 519 And not merely in works, but also in faith, has God preserved the will of man free and under his own control, saying, "According to your faith be it unto you;" thus showing that there is a faith specially belonging to man, since he has an opinion specially his own. And again, "All things are possible to him that believes;" and, "Go your way; and as you has believed, so be it done unto you." Now all such expressions demonstrate that man is in his own power with respect to faith. And for this reason, "he that believes in Him has eternal life while he who believes not the Son has not eternal life, but the wrath of God shall remain upon him." In the same manner therefore the Lord, both showing His own goodness, and indicating that man is in his own free will and his own power, said to Jerusalem, "How often have I wished to gather your children together, as a hen [gathers] her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Wherefore your house shall be left unto you desolate." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 519 The Logos, too, before the creation of men, was the Framer of angels. And each of these two orders of creatures was made free to act as it pleased, not having the nature of good, which again is with God alone, but is brought to perfection in men through their freedom of choice, in order that the bad man may be justly punished, having become depraved through his own fault, but the just man be deservedly praised for his virtuous deeds, since in the exercise of his free choice he refrained from transgressing the will of God. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.67 Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.69-70 From us, then, are demanded the things which are in our own power, and of the things which pertain to us, both present and absent, the choice, and desire, and possession, and use, and permanence. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.536-537 For again He says, "Let him who is able to receive, receive;" that is, let him who is not able go his way. That rich man did go his way who had not "received" the precept of dividing his substance to the needy, and was abandoned by the Lord to his own opinion. Nor will "harshness" be on this account imputed to Christ, on the ground of the vicious action of each individual free-will. "Behold," said He, "I have set before you good and evil." Choose that which is good: if you cannot, because you will not - for that you can if you will He has shown, because He has proposed each to your free-will - you ought to depart from Him whose will you do not. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.71 Let us begin, then, with those words which were spoken to Pharaoh, who is said to have been hardened by God, in order that he might not let the people go; and, along with his case, the language of the apostle also will be considered, where he says, "Therefore He has mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardens." For it is on these passages chiefly that the heretics rely, asserting that salvation is not in our own power, but that souls are of such a nature as must by all means be either lost or saved; and that in no way can a soul which is of an evil nature become good, or one which is of a virtuous nature be made bad… If we can show, e.g., that by one and the same act God has pity upon one individual, but hardens another; not purposing or desiring that he who is hardened should be so, but because, in the manifestation of His goodness and patience, the heart of those who treat His kindness and forbearance with contempt and insolence is hardened by the punishment of their crimes being delayed; while those, on the other hand, who make His goodness and patience the occasion of their repentance and reformation, obtain compassion…Now it is not incorrect to say that the sun, by one and the same power of its heat, melts wax indeed, but dries up and hardens mud: not that its power operates one way upon mud, and in another way upon wax; but that the qualities of mud and wax are different, although according to nature they are one thing, both being from the earth. In this way, then, one and the same working upon the part of God, which was administered by Moses in signs and wonders, made manifest the hardness of Pharaoh, which he had conceived in the intensity of his wickedness but exhibited the obedience of those other Egyptians who were intermingled with the Israelites, and who are recorded to have fled Egypt at the same time with the Hebrews…"Despisest the riches of His goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? but, after your hardness and impenitent heart, treasure up unto yourself wrath on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Such are the words of the apostle to him who is in his sins. Let us apply these very expressions to Pharaoh, and see if they also are not spoken of him with propriety, since, according to his hardness and impenitent heart, he treasured and stored up for himself wrath on the day of wrath, inasmuch as his hardness could never have been declared and manifested, unless signs and wonders of such number and magnificence had been performed. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.308-312 To show more clearly, however, what we mean, let us take the illustration employed by the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he says, "For the earth, which drinks in the rain that comes oft upon it, and brings forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, will receive blessing from God; but that which bears thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned." Now from those words of Paul which we have quoted, it is clearly shown that by one and the same act on the part of God - that being by which He sends rain upon the earth - one portion of the ground, when carefully cultivated, brings forth good fruits; while another, neglected and uncared for, produces thorns and thistles…Now, although it is due to the beneficial action of the rain that the earth has produced herbs of both kinds, it is not to the rain that the diversity of the herbs is properly to be ascribed; but on those will justly rest the blame for the bad seed, who, although they might have turned up the ground by frequent ploughing, and have broken the clods by repeated harrowing, and have extirpated all useless and noxious weeds, and have cleared and prepared the fields for the coming showers by all the labor and toil which cultivation demands, have nevertheless neglected to do this, and who will accordingly reap briers and thorns, the most appropriate fruit of their sloth…Let us therefore view those signs and miracles which were done by God, as the showers furnished by Him from above; and the purpose and desires of men, as the cultivated and uncultivated soil, which is of one and the same nature indeed, as is every soil compared with another, but not in one and the same state of cultivation. From which it follows that every one's will, if untrained, and fierce, and barbarous, is either hardened by the miracles and wonders of God, growing more savage and thorny than ever, or it becomes more pliant, and yields itself up with the whole mind to obedience, if it be cleared from vice and subjected to training. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.310-311 Let us now look to the expression, "It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." For our opponents assert, that if it does not depend upon him that wills, nor on him that runs, but on God that shows mercy, that a man be saved, our salvation is not in our own power. For our nature is such as to admit of our either being saved or not, or else our salvation rests solely on the will of Him who, if He wills it, shows mercy, and confers salvation. Now let us inquire, in the first place, of such persons, whether to desire blessings be a good or evil act; and whether to hasten after good as a final aim be worthy of praise. If they were to answer that such a procedure was deserving of censure, they would evidently be mad; for all holy men both desire blessings and run after them, and certainly are not blameworthy. How, then, is it that he who is not saved, if he be of an evil nature, desires blessing, and runs after them, but does not find them? …It is established, then, that to desire and follow after blessings is not an indifferent, but a virtuous proceeding… "It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." In the book of Psalms - in the Songs of Degrees, which are ascribed to Solomon - the following statement occurs: "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain." By which words he does not indeed indicate that we should cease from building or watching over the safe keeping of that city which is within us; but what he points out is this, that whatever is built without God, and whatever is guarded without him, is built in vain, and guarded to no purpose. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 320-321 After this there followed this point, that "to will and to do are of God." Our opponents maintain that if to will be of God, and if to do be of Him, or if, whether we act or desire well or ill, it be of God, then in that case we are not possessed of free-will. Now to this we have to answer, that the words of the apostle do not say that to will evil is of God, or that to will good is of Him; nor that to do good or evil is of God; but his statement is a general one, that to will and to do are of God. For as we have from God this very quality, that we are men that we breathe, that we move; so also we have from God (the faculty) by which we will, as if we were to say that our power of motion is from God, or that the performing of these duties by the individual members, and their movements, are from God. From which, certainly, I do not understand this, that because the hand moves, e.g., to punish unjustly, or to commit an act of theft, the act is of God, but only that the power of motion is from God; while it is our duty to turn those movements, the power of executing which we have from God, either to purposes of good or evil. And so what the apostle says is, that we receive indeed the power of will, but that we misuse the will either to good or evil desires. In a similar way, also, we must judge of results. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.323 But with respect to the declaration of the apostle, "Therefore has He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens. You will say then unto me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will? Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why have you made me thus? Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" Some one will perhaps say, that as the potter out of the same lump makes some vessels to honor, and others to dishonor, so God creates some men for perdition, and others for salvation; and that it is not therefore in our own power either to be saved or to perish; by which reasoning we appear not to be possessed of free-will. We must answer those who are of this opinion with the question, whether it is possible for the apostle to contradict himself? And if this cannot be imagined of an apostle, how shall he appear, according to them, to be just in blaming those who committed fornication in Corinth, or those who sinned, and did not repent of their unchasity, and fornication, and uncleanness, which they had committed? …"We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one of us may receive in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad." For what reward of good will be conferred on him who could not commit evil, being formed by the Creator to that very end? Or what punishment will deservedly be inflicted on him who was unable to do good in consequence of the creative act of his maker? Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.324 For this cause, therefore, a mediator came - that is, God in the flesh - that the flesh might be able to follow Him, and that He might rescue man from death, which has dominion over the flesh. Therefore He clothed Himself with flesh, that the desires of the flesh being subdued, He might teach that to sin was not the result of necessity, but of man’s purpose and will. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.127 II. The elect (Top) Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:1 And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. Mark 13:20 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:2 Day and night you were anxious for the whole brotherhood, that the number of God’s elect might be saved with mercy and a good conscience. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.2 And we will ask, with instancy of prayer and supplication, that the Creator of the universe may guard intact unto the end the number that has been numbered of His elect throughout the whole world, through His beloved Son Jesus Christ, through whom He called us from darkness to light, from ignorance to the full knowledge of the glory of His Name. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.59 But the white portion is the coming age, in which the elect of God shall dwell; because the elect of God shall be without spot and pure unto life eternal. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 18 III. Predestination and foreknowledge of God (Top) So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, Romans 9:16-23 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:2 God, wishing men and angels to follow His will, resolved to create them free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so. So that if they repent, all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.270 "But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son." By which is made manifest, that all things which had been foreknown of the Father, our Lord did accomplish in their order, season, and hour, foreknown and fitting, being indeed one and the same, but rich and great. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 443 If, therefore, in the present time also, God, knowing the number of those who will not believe, since He foreknows all things, has given them over to unbelief, and turned away His face from men of this stamp, leaving them in the darkness which they have themselves chosen for themselves, what is there wonderful if He did also at that time give over to their unbelief, Pharaoh, who never would have believed, along with those who were with him? Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 502 He then avoids denying Christ through fear by reason of the command; nor does he sell his faith in the hope of the gifts prepared, but in love to the Lord he will most gladly depart from this life; perhaps giving thanks both to him who afforded the cause of his departure hence, and to him who laid the plot against him, for receiving an honorable reason which he himself furnished not, for showing what he is, to him by his patience, and to the Lord in love, by which even before his birth he was manifested to the Lord, who knew the martyr's choice. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.411 We are they "upon whom the ends of the ages have met, having ended their course." We have been predestined by God, before the world was, (to arise) in the extreme end of the times. And so we are trained by God for the purpose of chastising, and (so to say) emasculating, the world. We are the circumcision - spiritual and carnal - of all things; for both in the spirit and in the flesh we circumcise worldly principles. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.23 IV. Synergism (Top) But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1:7 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Romans 8:6, 10, 14 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. 1 Peter 1:22 But God foreknowing all that shall be done by all men, and it being His decree that the future actions of men shall all be recompensed according to their several value, He foretells by the Spirit of prophecy that He will bestow meet rewards according to the merit of the actions done, always urging the human race to effort and recollection, showing that He cares and provides for men. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 For when you are desirous to do well, God is also ready to assist you. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105 ) ch. 11 The Holy Pre-existent Spirit, which created the whole creation, God made to dwell in flesh that He desired. This flesh, therefore, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt, was subject unto the Spirit, walking honorably in holiness and purity, without in any way defiling the Spirit. When then it had lived honorably in chastity, and had labored with the Spirit, and had cooperated with it in everything, behaving itself boldly and bravely, He chose it as a partner with the Holy Spirit; for the career of this flesh pleased [the Lord], seeing that, as possessing the Holy Spirit, it was not defiled upon the earth. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.35 But for this reason does God demand service from men, in order that, since He is good and merciful, He may benefit those who continue in His service. For, as much as God is in want of nothing, so much does man stand in need of fellowship with God. For this is the glory of man, to continue and remain permanently in God's service. Wherefore also did the Lord say to His disciples, "You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you;" indicating that they did not glorify Him when they followed Him; but that, in following the Son of God, they were glorified by Him. And again, "I will, that where I am, there they also may be, that they may behold My glory;" not vainly boasting because of this, but desiring that His disciples should share in His glory. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 478 God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey… God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God… And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, be not found in possession of the good, and shall receive just punishment… God therefore has given that which is good… and they who work it shall receive glory and honor, because they have done that which is good when they had it in their power not to do it; but those who do it not shall receive the just judgment of God, because they did not work good when they had it in their power so to do. But if some had been made by nature bad, and others good, these latter would not be deserving of praise for being good, for such were they created; nor would the former be reprehensible, for thus they were made [originally]. But since all men are of the same nature, able both to hold fast and to do what is good; and, on the other hand, having also the power to cast it from them and not to do it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 519 Nay, he will pray that he may never fall from virtue; giving his most strenuous co-operation in order that he may become infallible. For he knows that some of the angels, through carelessness, were hurled to the earth, not having yet quite reached that state of oneness, by extricating themselves from the propensity to that of duality… And as the physician ministers health to those who co-operate with him in order to health, so also God ministers eternal salvation to those who co-operate for the attainment of knowledge and good conduct; and since what the commandments command are in our own power, along with the performance of them, the promise is accomplished. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.536 But the Lord replies, "Because what is impossible with men is possible with God." This again is full of great wisdom. For a man by himself working and toiling at freedom from passion achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows himself very desirous and earnest about this, he attains it by the addition of the power of God. For God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save the unwilling is the part of one exercising compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace. Nor does the kingdom of heaven belong to sleepers and sluggards, "but the violent take it by force." For this alone is commendable violence, to force God, and take life from God by force. And He, knowing those who persevere firmly, or rather violently, yields and grants. For God delights in being vanquished in such things. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.597 Forgiveness of past sins, then, God gives; but of future, each one gives to himself. And this is to repent, to condemn the past deeds, and beg oblivion of them from the Father, who only of all is able to undo what is done, by mercy proceeding from Him, and to blot out former sins by the dew of the Spirit. "For by the state in which I find you will I judge," Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.602 They who hear the word powerfully proclaimed filled with power, which they manifest both by their dispositions and their lives, and by struggling even to death on behalf of the truth; while some are altogether empty, although they profess to believe in God through Jesus, inasmuch as, not possessing any divine power, they have the appearance only of being converted to the word of God. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 424 For ourselves, we maintain that human nature is in no way able to seek after God, or to attain a clear knowledge of Him without the help of Him whom it seeks. He makes Himself known to those who, after doing all that their powers will allow, confess that they need help from Him, who discovers Himself to those whom He approves. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.628 SEE ALSO: FALL OF MAN, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 55: GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ======================================================================== Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:4, 8-10 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 1 Corinthians 13:8 "Be you prudent as the serpent in all things and guileless always as the dove." Therefore are you made of flesh and spirit, that you may humor the things which appear before your eyes; and as for the invisible things, pray you that they may be revealed unto you; that you may be lacking in nothing, but may abound in every spiritual gift. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch. 2 For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time. And hence you ought to understand that [the gifts] formerly among your nation have been transferred to us. And just as there were false prophets contemporaneous with your holy prophets, so are there now many false teachers amongst us, of whom our Lord forewarned us to beware; so that in no respect are we deficient, since we know that He foreknew all that would happen to us after His resurrection from the dead and ascension to heaven. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.240 Now, it is possible to see amongst us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God; so that it was prophesied that the powers enumerated by Isaiah would come upon Him, not because He needed power, but because these would not continue after Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.243 For this reason does the apostle declare, "We speak wisdom among them that are perfect," terming those persons "perfect" who have received the Spirit of God, and who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used Himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms "spiritual," they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.531 SEE ALSO: PROPHECY, HOLY SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 56: GOD ======================================================================== I. Attributes of God II. Love of God III. Name of God I. Attributes of God (Top) And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. Isaiah 11:5 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 Our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29 Be ye holy; for I am holy. 1 Peter 1:16 For He has revealed to us by all the prophets that He needs neither sacrifices, nor burnt-offerings, nor oblations… Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.2 I say, then, that God is not born, not made, an ever-abiding nature without beginning and without end, immortal, perfect, and incomprehensible. Now when I say that he is "perfect", this means that there is not in him any defect, and he is not in need of anything but all things are in need of him. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.262 For as the soul in man is not seen, being invisible to men, but is perceived through the motion of the body, so God cannot indeed be seen by human eyes, but is beheld and perceived through His providence and works. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.90 For the Divine Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done. And this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. "For the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot be justified," says the Scripture. And God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the blame lies with him who chooses. God is without blame. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.226 II. Love of God (Top) And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receives. Hebrews 12:5-6 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 1 John 4:8 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 1 John 5:3 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it. 2 John 1:6 Let him that has love in Christ fulfill the commandments of Christ. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.49 You see, dearly beloved, how great and marvelous a thing is love, and there is no declaring its perfection. Who is sufficient to be found therein, save those to whom God shall vouchsafe it? Let us therefore entreat and ask of His mercy, that we may be found blameless in love, standing apart from the factiousness of men. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 50 Blessed were we, dearly beloved, if we should be doing the commandments of God in concord of love, to the end that our sins may through love be forgiven us. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.50 For such as walk in fear and love desire that they themselves should fall into suffering rather than their neighbors; and they pronounce condemnation against themselves rather than against the harmony which has been handed down to us nobly and righteously. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.50 You read how broad is the road to evil, how thronged in comparison with the opposite: would not all glide down that road were there nothing in it to fear? We dread the Creator's tremendous threats, and yet scarcely turn away from evil. What, if He threatened not? Will you call this justice an evil, when it is all unfavorable to evil? Will you deny it to be a good, when it has its eye towards good? What sort of being ought you to wish God to be? Would it be right to prefer that He should be such, that sins might flourish under Him, and the devil make mock at Him? Would you suppose Him to be a good God, who should be able to make a man worse by security in sin? Who is the author of good, but He who also requires it? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.307 God… both a perfect father and a perfect master: a father in His mercy, a master in His discipline; a father in the mildness of His power, a master in its severity; a father who must be loved with dutiful affection, a master who must needs be feared; be loved, because He prefers mercy to sacrifice; be feared because He dislikes sin; be loved, because He prefers the sinners repentance to his death; be feared, because He dislikes the sinners who do not repent. Accordingly, the divine law commands duties in respect of both these attributes: You shall love God, and, You shall fear God. It proposed one for the obedient man, the other for the transgressor. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.308 III. Name of God (Top) He has no name, for everything which has a name is kindred to things created. Form he has none, nor yet any union of members; for whatsoever possesses these is kindred to things fashioned. He is neither male nor female. The heavens do not limit him, but the heavens and all things, visible and invisible, receive their bounds from him. Adversary he has none, for there exists not any stronger than he. Wrath and indignation he possesses not, for there is nothing which is able to stand against him. Ignorance and forgetfulness are not in his nature, for he is altogether wisdom and understanding; and in Him stands fast all that exists. He requires not sacrifice and libation, nor even one of things visible; He requires not aught from any, but all living creatures stand in need of him. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.262 But we have received by tradition that God does not need the material offerings which men can give, seeing, indeed, that He Himself is the provider of all things. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and do believe, that He accepts those only who imitate the excellences which reside in Him, temperance, and justice, and philanthropy, and as many virtues as are peculiar to a God who is called by no proper name. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 For God cannot be called by any proper name, for names are given to mark out and distinguish their subject-matters, because these are many and diverse; but neither did any one exist before God who could give Him a name, nor did He Himself think it right to name Himself, seeing that He is one and unique, as He Himself also by His own prophets testifies, when He says, "I God am the first," and after this, "And beside me there is no other God." On this account, then, as I before said, God did not, when He sent Moses to the Hebrews, mention any name, but by a participle He mystically teaches them that He is the one and only God. "For," says He; "I am the Being;" Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 281 The name of God the Father had been published to no one. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 682 Neither must you ask for a name of God. God is His name. We have need of names when a multitude are to be separated into individuals. … To God, who is alone, the name “God” is the whole. Minucius Felix (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 183 Christians in prayer do not even use the precise names that divine Scripture applies to God. Rather, the Greeks use Greek names. The Romans use Latin names. And everyone prays and sings praises to God as best he can in his mother tongue. For the Lord of all the languages of the earth hears those who pray to Him in each different languages. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 653 God’s own name also cannot be declared, for He cannot be conceived. … For the name is the significance of whatever thing can be comprehended from a name. Novatian (A.D. 257) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 615 Neither must you ask the name of God. God is His name. Where a multitude is to be distinguished by the appropriate characteristics of names, there is a need of names. However, to God – who alone is – belongs the whole name of God. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 467 As I have shown in the beginning, God does not need a name, since He is alone. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 65 SEE ALSO: FEAR OF GOD ======================================================================== CHAPTER 57: GODS, PAGAN ======================================================================== But, yielding to unreasoning passion, and to the instigation of evil demons, you punish us without consideration or judgment. For the truth shall be spoken; since of old these evil demons, effecting apparitions of themselves, both defiled women and corrupted boys, and showed such fearful sights to men, that those who did not use their reason in judging of the actions that were done, were struck with terror; and being carried away by fear, and not knowing that these were demons, they called them gods, and gave to each the name which each of the demons chose for himself. And when Socrates endeavored, by true reason and examination, to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons, then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that "he was introducing new divinities;" and in our case they [make the same accusation]. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 Hence are we called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 And neither do we honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honor), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 But those who hand down the myths which the poets have made, adduce no proof to the youths who learn them; and we proceed to demonstrate that they have been uttered by the influence of the wicked demons, to deceive and lead astray the human race. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.181 Men, therefore, having been duped by the deceiving demon, and having dared to disobey God, were cast out of Paradise, remembering the name of gods, but no longer being taught by God that there are no other gods. For it was not just that they who did not keep the first commandment, which it was easy to keep, should any longer be taught, but should rather be driven to just punishment. Being therefore banished from Paradise, and thinking that they were expelled on account of their disobedience only, not knowing that it was also because they had believed in the existence of gods which did not exist. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.283 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 58: GRACE ======================================================================== For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Titus 2:11-12 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18 The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, "As I live, said the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;" Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.7 You see, dearly beloved, what is the pattern that has been given unto us; for, if the Lord was thus lowly of mind, what should we do, who through Him have been brought under the yoke of His grace? Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.16 Let us therefore cleave unto those to whom grace is given from God…being justified by works and not by words. For He said; He that said much shall hear also again. Does the ready talker think to be righteous? Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 30 Though you saw Him not, you believe with joy unutterable and full of glory; unto which joy many desire to enter in; forasmuch as you know that it is by grace you are saved, not of works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. Wherefore gird up your loins and serve God in fear and truth, forsaking the vain and empty talking and the error of the many. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.1-2 And, looking to the grace of Christ, they despised all the torments of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by [the suffering of] a single hour. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 2 Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace: for the divine prophets lived after Christ Jesus. For this cause also they were persecuted, being inspired by His grace to the end that they which are disobedient might be fully persuaded that there is one God who manifested Himself through Jesus Christ His Son. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.8 For wearing bonds in Christ Jesus I hope to salute you, if it be the Divine will that I should be counted worthy to reach unto the end; for the beginning verily is well ordered, if so be I shall attain grace, that I may receive my fate without hindrance. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.1 But mark you those who hold strange doctrine touching the grace of Jesus Christ which came to us, how that they are contrary to the mind of God. They have no care for love, none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the afflicted, none for the prisoner, none for the hungry or thirsty. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 Grace; which confers understanding, which reveals mysteries, which announces seasons, which rejoices over the faithful, which is bestowed upon those who seek her, even those by whom the pledges of faith are not broken, nor the boundaries of the fathers overstepped. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.11 If you grieve not this grace, you shall understand the discourses which the Word holds by the mouth of those whom He desires when He wishes. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 11 Unless, therefore, a man by God's great grace receives the power to understand what has been said and done by the prophets, the appearance of being able to repeat the words or the deeds will not profit him, if he cannot explain the argument of them. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.245 Others of the (Gnostics) yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. For they (the Gnostics) declare that we (the church) simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken away from us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special possession, which has descended from above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will be given them. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.324 (God) may, in the exercise of His grace, confer immortality on the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning [of their Christian course], and others from [the date of] their repentance, and may surround them with everlasting glory. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 331 The same Lord granted, by means of His advent, a greater gift of grace to those of a later period, than what He had granted to those under the Old Testament dispensation. For they indeed used to hear, by means of [His] servants, that the King would come, and they rejoiced to a certain extent, inasmuch as they hoped for His coming; but those who have beheld Him actually present, and have obtained liberty, and been made partakers of His gifts, do possess a greater amount of grace, and a higher degree of exultation, rejoicing because of the King's arrival. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.475 The Author of all blessings to us; by whom we, being taught to live righteously, are sent on our way to life eternal. For, according to that inspired apostle of the Lord,"the grace of God which brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for the blessed hope, and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ."…The Word, who in the beginning bestowed on us life as Creator when He formed us, taught us to live righteously when He appeared as our Teacher; that as God He might afterwards conduct us to the life which never ends. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.173 Rightly, then, to those that have believed and obey, grace will superabound. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.196 Being baptized, we are illuminated; illuminated, we become sons; being made sons, we are made perfect; being made perfect, we are made immortal. "I," says He, "have said that you are gods, and all sons of the Highest." This work is variously called grace, and illumination, and perfection, and washing: washing, by which we cleanse away our sins; grace, by which the penalties accruing to transgressions are remitted; and illumination, by which that holy light of salvation is beheld, that is, by which we see God clearly. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.215 Therefore God does not here take the semblance of man, but of a dove, because He wished to show the simplicity and gentleness of the new manifestation of the Spirit by the likeness of the dove. For the law was stern, and punished with the sword; but grace is joyous, and trains by the word of meekness. Hence the Lord also says to the apostles, who said that He should punish with fire those who would not receive Him, after the manner of Elias: "You know not what manner of spirit you are of." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.584 We must hear the savior speaking thus, "Come, follow Me." For to the pure in heart He now becomes the way. But into the impure soul the grace of God finds no entrance. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.595 For God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save the unwilling is the part of one exercising compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace. Nor does the kingdom of heaven belong to sleepers and sluggards…Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.597 Solomon, who, although so long as he walked in God’s ways, retained that grace which he had received from the Lord, yet after he forsook the Lord’s way he lost also the Lord’s grace. And therefore it is written, “Hold fast that which you have, lest another take your crown.” But assuredly the Lord would not threaten that the crown of righteousness might be taken away, were it not that, when righteousness departs, the crown must also depart. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.428 SEE ALSO: FAITH, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 59: HAPPINESS OF MAN ======================================================================== Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.Matt. 16:24 He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 12:25 For this cause is a man unable to attain happiness, seeing that they call in the fears of men, preferring rather the enjoyment which is here than the promise which is to come. For they know not how great torment the enjoyment which is here brings, and what delight the promise which is to come brings. And if verily they were doing these things by themselves alone, it had been tolerable: but now they continue teaching evil to innocent souls, not knowing that they shall have their condemnation doubled, both themselves and their hearers. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.10 For happiness consists not in lordship over one's neighbors, nor in desiring to have more than weaker men, nor in possessing wealth and using force to inferiors; neither can any one imitate God in these matters; nay, these lie outside His greatness. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.10 And the second, that is girded about and looks like a man, is called Self-Control; she is the daughter of Faith. Whosoever then shall follow her, becomes happy in his life, for he shall refrain from all evil deeds, believing that, if he refrain from every evil desire, he shall inherit eternal life. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.16 "What kinds of self-indulgence, Sir," say I, "are harmful?" "Every action," said he, "is self-indulgence to a man, which he does with pleasure; for the ill tempered man, when he gives the reins to his passion..." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.38 We cannot sit down in fellowship with them, as neither can they with us. Things in this matter go by their turns. Now they have gladness and we are troubled. "The world," says Jesus, "shall rejoice; you shall be sorrowful." Let us mourn, then, while the heathen are merry, that in the day of their sorrow we may rejoice; lest, sharing now in their gladness, we share then also in their grief. You are too dainty, Christian, if you wouldst have pleasure in this life as well as in the next; nay, a fool you are, if you think this life's pleasures to be really pleasures. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 90 If you seek to live, being a believing man, as do the Gentiles, the joys of the world remove you from the grace of Christ. With an undisciplined mind you seek what you presume to be easily lawful, both your dear actors and their musical strains; nor do you care that the offspring of such an one should babble follies. While you think that you are enjoying life, you are improvidently erring. The Highest commands, and you shun His righteous precepts. Commodianus (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 214 When the Lord says that man should eat bread with groaning, here what are you now doing, who desire to live with joy? You seek to rescind the judgment uttered by the highest God when He first formed man; you wish to abandon the curb of the law. If the Almighty God has bidden you live with sweat, you who are living in pleasure will already be a stranger to Him. The Scripture said that the Lord was angry with the Jews. Their sons, refreshed with food, rose up to play…Hope comes with labor, and the palm is given to victory. If you wish to be refreshed, give help and encouragement to the martyr. Wait for the repose to come in the passage of death. Commodianus (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 214 SEE ALSO: CROSS, ENTERTAINMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 60: HEADCOVERING ======================================================================== But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. 1 Corinthians 11:3-5 The following photos are etchings found in the Catacombs. Such evidence gives us invaluable insight to how the early Christian women applied the apostles instructions regarding the head covering. Now after I had passed the beast, and had gone forward about thirty feet, behold, there meets me a virgin arrayed as if she were going forth from a bridal-chamber all in white and with white sandals, veiled up to her forehead, and her head-covering consisted of a turban, and her hair was white. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 18 Although such a covering ought to be assumed as is requisite for covering the eyes of women. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.265 It has also been commanded that the head should be veiled and the face covered; for it is a wicked thing for beauty to be a snare to men. Nor is it seemly for a woman to wish to make herself conspicuous, by using a purple veil. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.266 And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.290 Demanding then a law of God, you have that common one prevailing all over the world, engraved on the natural tables to which the apostle too is wont to appeal, as when in respect of the woman's veil he says, "Does not even Nature teach you?" - as when to the Romans, affirming that the heathen do by nature those things which the law requires, he suggests both natural law and a law-revealing nature. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 96 Christ is the Head of the Christian man - (for his head) is as free as even Christ is, under no obligation to wear a covering, not to say a crown. But even the head which is bound to have the veil, I mean woman's, as already taken possession of by this very thing, is not open also to a crown. She has the burden of her own humility to bear. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 102 But that point which is promiscuously observed throughout the churches, whether virgins ought to be veiled or no, must be treated of. For they who allow to virgins immunity from head-covering, appear to rest on this; that the apostle has not defined "virgins" by name, but "women," as "to be veiled;" Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 687 "Every woman," said he, "praying and prophesying with head uncovered, dishonors her own head." What is "every woman”, but woman of every age, of every rank, of every condition? "Every man." As, then, in the masculine sex, under the name of "man" even the "youth" is forbidden to be veiled; so, too, in the feminine, under the name of "woman," even the "virgin" is bidden to be veiled… For indeed it is "on account of the angels" that he said women must be veiled, because on account of "the daughters of men" angels revolted from God. Who then, would contend that "women" alone - that is, such as were already wedded and had lost their virginity - were the objects of angelic concupiscence, unless "virgins" are incapable of excelling in beauty and finding lovers? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 688 Why do you denude before God what you cover before men? Will you be more modest in public than in the church? Be veiled, virgin, if virgin you are; for you ought to blush. If you are a virgin, shrink from (the gaze of) many eyes. Let no one wonder at your face; let no one perceive your falsehood. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 689 Nay, rather banish quite away from your "free" head all this slavery of ornamentation. In vain do you labor to seem adorned: in vain do you call in the aid of all the most skilful manufacturers of false hair. God bids you "be veiled." I believe (He does so) for fear the heads of some should be seen! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.22 It behooves our virgins to be veiled from the time that they have passed the turning-point of their age: that this observance is exacted by truth, on which no one can impose prescription - no space of times, no influence of persons, no privilege of regions. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.27 Throughout Greece, and certain of its barbaric provinces, the majority of Churches keep their virgins covered. There are places, too, beneath this (African) sky, where this practice obtains; lest any ascribe the custom to Greek or barbarian Gentilehood. But I have proposed (as models) those Churches which were founded by apostles or apostolic men. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.28 "If any," he says, "is contentious, we have not such a custom, nor (has) the Church of God." So, too, did the Corinthians themselves understand him. In fact, at this day the Corinthians do veil their virgins. What the apostles taught, their disciples approve. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.32-33 But even if it is "on account of the angels" that she is to be veiled, doubtless the age from which the law of the veil will come into operation will be that from which "the daughters of men" were able to invite concupiscence of their persons, and to experience marriage. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.24 And as they veil their head in presence of heathens, let them at all events in the church conceal their virginity, which they do veil outside the church. They fear strangers: let them stand in awe of the brethren too. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.35 For some, with their turbans and woolen bands, do not veil their head, but bind it up; protected, indeed, in front, but, where the head properly lies, bare. Others are to a certain extent covered over the region of the brain with linen coifs of small dimensions - I suppose for fear of pressing the head - and not reaching quite to the ears. If they are so weak in their hearing as not to be able to hear through a covering, I pity them. Let them know that the whole head constitutes "the woman." Its limits and boundaries reach as far as the place where the robe begins. The region of the veil is co-extensive with the space covered by the hair when unbound; in order that the necks too may be encircled. For it is they which must be subjected, for the sake of which "power" ought to be "had on the head:" the veil is their yoke. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.37 Arabia's heathen females will be your judges, who cover not only the head, but the face also, so entirely, that they are content, with one eye free, to enjoy rather half the light than to prostitute the entire face. A female would rather see than be seen. And for this reason a certain Roman queen said that they were most unhappy, in that they could more easily fall in love than be fallen in love with; whereas they are rather happy, in their immunity from that second (and indeed more frequent) infelicity, that females are more apt to be fallen in love with than to fall in love. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.37 To us the Lord has, even by revelations, measured the space for the veil to extend over. For a certain sister of ours was thus addressed by an angel, beating her neck, as if in applause: "Elegant neck, and deservedly bare! it is well for you to unveil yourself from the head right down to the loins, lest withal this freedom of your neck profit you not!" And, of course, what you have said to one you have said to all. But how severe a chastisement will they likewise deserve, who, amid (the recital of) the Psalms, and at any mention of (the name of) God, continue uncovered; (who) even when about to spend time in prayer itself, with the utmost readiness place a fringe, or a tuft, or any thread whatever, on the crown of their heads, and suppose themselves to be covered? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.37 SEE ALSO: MODESTY, CLOTHING, WOMEN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 61: HERESIES ======================================================================== It is interesting to take note of the how doctrines and practices of the early heretical groups so closely resemble the doctrines and teachings found in today’s modern churches. I. THE GNOSTICS 1. Introduction 2. Basic Gnostic doctrines II. THE DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES OF LEADING GNOSTIC TEACHERS 1. First century 1.1 Simon Magus 1.2 Cerinthus 1.3 The Nicolaitans 2. Second century 2.1 Carpocrates 2.2 Valentinians 2.3 Marcion 2.4 Marcus the Heretic 3. Third century 3.1 Montanists 3.2 Monarchianism III. HOW THE HERETICS MISINTERPRET THE SCRIPTURES IV. THE CHURCH'S ATTITUDE AND RESPONSE TO HERETICS I. THE GNOSTICS (Top) 1. Introduction Gnosticism was the first known heresy during the time of the early church. Among some of their basic doctrines, they were found to believe that the world was created by another god other than the Father of Christ. This inferior god was known as the Demiurge, also called by some as the God of Justice, as opposed to the Christ’s Father, the good God. As a result they held a doctrine that stated we are inherently depraved by nature and incapable of salvation. The Gnostics taught that the good God, having compassion on the human race, sent his Son to show them the way to salvation. However since the physical nature of man is inherently corrupt, they taught that the Son never really became man or God in the flesh. Many of the Gnostics rejected the physical sacraments such as baptism and communion because they considered them useless. They also rejected the doctrine of the intermediate state of the dead and the resurrection. The Gnostic teachers taught that the apostles had secretly revealed their teachings to only a few close disciples, and without this hidden knowledge salvation is not possible. Some of the Gnostic sects practiced a rigorous asceticism while others maintained an openly liberal lifestyle - as was the case with the Nicolaitans and followers of Marcus. 2. Basic Gnostic Doctrines The following verses are references the apostles made specifically regarding the Gnostic heresies. O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen. 1 Timothy 6:20-21 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. 2 Timothy 2:18 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 1 John 4:3 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 2 John 7 The unbelieving say that he only seemed to suffer. Ignatius (A.D. 35-105) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.70 How does anyone benefit me if he praises me but blasphemes my Lord - not confessing that he had a body? Ignatius (A.D. 35-105) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.88 They [the Gnostics] abstain from Eucharist (thanksgiving) and prayer, because they allow not that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, which flesh suffered for our sins, and which the Father of His goodness raised up. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 For if you have fallen in with some who are called Christians, but who do not admit this [truth], and venture to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; who say there is no resurrection of the dead, and that their souls, when they die, are taken to heaven; do not imagine that they are Christians. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.239 The Gnostics say: Carnal men, again, are instructed in carnal things; such men, namely, as are established by their works, and by a mere [i.e. infierior] faith, while they have not perfect knowledge. We of the Church, the gnostics say, are these persons. Wherefore also they maintain that good works are necessary to us, for that otherwise it is impossible we should be saved. But as to themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and undoubtedly saved, not by means of conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 324 Others of the (Gnostics) yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. For they (the Gnostics) declare that we (the church) simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken away from us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special possession, which has descended from above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will be given them. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.324 But these men (the Gnostics) are in all points inconsistent with themselves, when they decide that all souls do not enter into the intermediate place, but those of the righteous only. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 403 Now, such are all the heretics, and those who imagine that they have hit upon something more beyond the truth, so that by following those things already mentioned, proceeding on their way variously, in harmoniously, and foolishly, not keeping always to the same opinions with regard to the same things, as blind men are led by the blind, they shall deservedly fall into the ditch of ignorance lying in their path, ever seeking and never finding out the truth. It behooves us, therefore, to avoid their doctrines, and to take careful heed lest we suffer any injury from them…They therefore form opinions on what is beyond the limits of the understanding. For this cause also the apostle says, "Be not wise beyond what it is fitting to be wise, but be wise prudently," Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 548 For the heretics, despising the handiwork of God, and not admitting the salvation of their flesh… affirm that immediately upon their death they shall pass above the heavens… "For no disciple is above the Master, but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master." As our Master, therefore, did not at once depart, taking flight [to heaven], but awaited the time of His resurrection prescribed by the Father, which had been also shown forth through Jonas, and rising again after three days was taken up [to heaven]; so ought we also to await the time of our resurrection prescribed by God and foretold by the prophets, and so, rising, be taken up, as many as the Lord shall account worthy of this [privilege]. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.560-561 As, then, philosophy has been brought into evil repute by pride and self-conceit, so also ghosts by false ghosts called by the same name; of which the apostle writing says, "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding the profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science (gnosis) falsely so called; which some professing, have erred concerning the faith." Convicted by this utterance, the heretics reject the Epistles to Timothy. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.359 Besides all this, I add a review of the doctrines themselves, which, existing as they did in the days of the apostles… Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, sets his mark on certain who denied and doubted the resurrection. This opinion was the especial property of the Sadducees. A part of it, however, is maintained by Marcion and Apelles and Valentinus, and all other impugners of the resurrection. Writing also to the Galatians, he inveighs against such men as observed and defend circumcision and the (Mosaic) law. Thus runs Hebion's heresy. Such also as "forbid to marry" he reproaches in his instructions to Timothy. Now, this is the teaching of Marcion and his follower Apelles. (The apostle) directs a similar blow against those who said that "the resurrection was past already." Such an opinion did the Valentinians assert of themselves. When again he mentions "endless genealogies," one also recognizes Valentinus… But in his epistle he especially designates those as "Antichrists" who "denied that Christ was come in the flesh," and who refused to think that Jesus was the Son of God. The one dogma Marcion maintained; the other, Hebion. The doctrine, however, of Simon's sorcery, which inculcated the worship of angels, was itself actually reckoned amongst idolatries and condemned by the Apostle Peter in Simon's own person. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.259 II. THE DOCTRINES AND PRACTICES OF LEADING GNOSTIC TEACHERS (Top) 1. First century (Top) 1.1 Simon Magus But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one. Acts 8:9 And, thirdly, because after Christ's ascension into heaven the devils put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods; and they were not only not persecuted by you, but even deemed worthy of honors. There was a Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty acts of magic, by virtue of the art of the devils operating in him. He was considered a god, and as a god was honored by you with a statue, which statue was erected on the river Tiber, between the two bridges, and bore this inscription, in the language of Rome: "Simoni Deo Sancto," "To Simon the holy God." And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even of other nations, worship him, and acknowledge him as the first god; and a woman, Helena, who went about with him at that time, and had formerly been a prostitute, they say is the first idea generated by him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.171 Simon the Samaritan was that magician of whom Luke, the disciple and follower of the apostles, says… was addressed in these words by Peter: "Your money perish with you, because you have thought that the gift of God can be purchased with money: you have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God; for I perceive that you are in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." He, then, not putting faith in God a whit the more, set himself eagerly to contend against the apostles, in order that he himself might seem to be a wonderful being, and applied himself with still greater zeal to the study of the whole magic art, that he might the better bewilder and overpower multitudes of men. Such was his procedure in the reign of Claudius Caesar, by whom also he is said to have been honored with a statue, on account of his magical power. This man, then, was glorified by many as if he were a god; and he taught that it was himself who appeared among the Jews as the Son. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.347 Now this Simon of Samaria, from whom all sorts of heresies derive their origin, formed his sect out of the following materials: Having redeemed from slavery at Tyre, a city of Phoenicia, a certain woman named Helena, he was in the habit of carrying her about with him, declaring that this woman was the first conception of his mind. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 348 In fine, they have a name derived from Simon, the author of these most impious doctrines, being called Simonians; and from them "knowledge, falsely so called," received its beginning, as one may learn even from their own assertions. The successor of this man was Menander, also a Samaritan by birth, and he, too, was a perfect adept in the practice of magic. He affirms that the primary Power continues unknown to all, but that he himself is the person who has been sent forth from the presence of the invisible beings as a savior, for the deliverance of men. The world was made by angels, whom, like Simon, he maintains to have been produced by Ennoea. He gives, too, as he affirms, by means of that magic which he teaches, knowledge to this effect, that one may overcome those very angels that made the world; for his disciples obtain the resurrection by being baptized into him, and can die no more, but remain in the possession of immortal youth. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 348 But the rest, who are called Gnostics, take rise from Menander, Simon's disciple, as I have shown; and each one of them appeared to be both the father and the high priest of that doctrine into which he has been initiated. But all these (the Marcosians) broke out into their apostasy much later, even during the intermediate period of the Church. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 417 [This spiritual man] shall also judge the vain speeches of the perverse Gnostics, by showing that they are the disciples of Simon Magus. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 507 I could have wished that it might at least have been Lais or Phryne - among your Junos, and Cereses, and Dianas; when you install in your Pantheon Simon Magus, giving him a statue and the title of Holy God. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.29 For thenceforward Simon Magus, just turned believer, (since he was still thinking somewhat of his juggling sect; to wit, that among the miracles of his profession he might buy even the gift of the Holy Spirit through imposition of hands) was cursed by the apostles, and ejected from the faith. Both he and that other magician, who was with Sergius Paulus, (since he began opposing himself to the same apostles) was mulcted with loss of eyes. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 66 There is the (infamous) Simon of Samaria in the Acts of the Apostles, who bargained for the Holy Ghost: after his condemnation by Him, and a vain remorse that he and his money must perish together, he applied his energies to the destruction of the truth, as if to console himself with revenge. Besides the support with which his own magic arts furnished him, he had recourse to imposture, and purchased a Tyrian woman of the name of Helen out of a brothel, with the same money which he had offered for the Holy Spirit - a traffic worthy of the wretched man. He actually reigned himself to be the Supreme Father, and further pretended that the woman was his own primary conception. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 215 At this very time, even, the heretical dupes of this same Simon (Magus) are so much elated by the extravagant pretensions of their art, that they undertake to bring up from Hades the souls of the prophets themselves. And I suppose that they can do so under cover of a lying wonder. For, indeed, it was no less than this that was anciently permitted to the Pythonic (or ventriloquistic) spirit - even to represent the soul of Samuel, when Saul consulted the dead, after (losing the living) God. God forbid, however, that we should suppose that the soul of any saint, much less of a prophet, can be dragged out of (its resting-place in Hades) by a demon. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 234 The doctrine, however, of Simon's sorcery, which inculcated the worship of angels, was itself actually reckoned amongst idolatries and condemned by the Apostle Peter in Simon's own person. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.259 There was also Simon the Samaritan magician, who wished to draw away certain by his magical arts. And on that occasion he was successful; but now-a-days it is impossible to find, I suppose, thirty of his followers in the entire world, and probably I have even overstated the number. There are exceedingly few in Palestine; while in the rest of the world, through which he desired to spread the glory of his name, you find it nowhere mentioned. And where it is found, it is found quoted from the Acts of the Apostles; so that it is to Christians that he owes this mention of himself, the unmistakable result having proved that Simon was in no respect divine. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 422 Celsus next pours down upon us a heap of names, saying that he knows of the existence of certain Simonians who worship Helene, or Helenus, as their teacher, and are called Helenians. But it has escaped the notice of Celsus that the Simonians do not at all acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God, but term Simon the "power" of God. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 570 Now Simonians are found nowhere throughout the world; and yet, in order to gain over to himself many followers, Simon freed his disciples from the danger of death, which the Christians were taught to prefer, by teaching them to regard idolatry as a matter of indifference. But even at the beginning of their existence the followers of Simon were not exposed to persecution. For that wicked demon, who was conspiring against the doctrine of Jesus, was well aware that none of his own maxims would be weakened by the teaching of Simon. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 578 The disciples, then, of this (Magus), celebrate magical rites, and resort to incantations. And (they profess to) transmit both love-spells and charms…This Simon, deceiving many in Samaria by his sorceries, was reproved by the Apostles, and was laid under a curse, as it has been written in the Acts. But he afterwards abjured the faith, and attempted these (aforesaid practices). And journeying as far as Rome, he fell in with the Apostles; and to him, deceiving many by his sorceries, Peter offered repeated opposition. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.80-81 1.2 Cerinthus Cerinthus, again, a man who was educated in the wisdom of the Egyptians, taught that the world was not made by the primary God, but by a certain Power far separated from him, and at a distance from that Principality who is supreme over the universe, and ignorant of him who is above all. He represented Jesus as having not been born of a virgin, but as being the son of Joseph and Mary according to the ordinary course of human generation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.352 There are also those who heard from Polycarp that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.416 John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith, and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are an offset of that "knowledge" falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 426 1.3 The Nicolaitans And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch. Acts 6:5 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate. Revelation 2:6 The Nicolaitanes are the followers of that Nicolas who was one of the seven first ordained to the diaconate by the apostles. They lead lives of unrestrained indulgence. The character of these men is very plainly pointed out in the Apocalypse of John, [when they are represented] as teaching that it is a matter of indifference to practice adultery, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Wherefore the Word has also spoken of them thus: "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.352 John, the disciple of the Lord, preaches this faith, and seeks, by the proclamation of the Gospel, to remove that error which by Cerinthus had been disseminated among men, and a long time previously by those termed Nicolaitans, who are an offset of that "knowledge" falsely so called, that he might confound them, and persuade them that there is but one God, who made all things by His Word. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 426 Such also are those who say that they follow Nicolaus, quoting an adage of the man, which they pervert, "that the flesh must be abused."… But they, abandoning themselves to pleasure like goats, as if insulting the body, lead a life of self-indulgence; not knowing that the body is wasted, being by nature subject to dissolution; while their soul is buffed in the mire of vice; following as they do the teaching of pleasure itself, not of the apostolic man. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.373 Nicolaus, they say, had a lovely wife. When after the Savior’s ascension he was accused before the apostles of jealousy, he brought his wife into the concourse and allowed anyone who so desired to marry her. For, they say, this action was appropriate to the saying: "One must abuse the flesh." Those who share his heresy follow both his action and his words simply and without qualification by indulging in the gravest enormity. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.4 John, however, in the Apocalypse is charged to chastise those "who eat things sacrificed to idols," and "who commit fornication." There are even now another sort of Nicolaitans. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.259 We do not aim at destroying the happiness of sanctity, as do certain Nicolaitans in their maintenance of lust and luxury. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 294 But Nicolaus has been a cause of the wide-spread combination of these wicked men. He, as one of the seven (that were chosen) for the diaconate, was appointed by the Apostles. (But Nicolaus) departed from correct doctrine, and was in the habit of inculcating indifference of both life and food. And when the disciples (of Nicolaus) continued to offer insult to the Holy Spirit, John reproved them in the Apocalypse as fornicators and eaters of things offered unto idols. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.115 2. Second century (Top) 2.1 Carpocrates Carpocrates, again, and his followers maintain that the world and the things which are therein were created by angels greatly inferior to the unbegotten Father. They also hold that Jesus was the son of Joseph, and was just like other men, with the exception that he differed from them in this respect, that inasmuch as his soul was steadfast and pure, he perfectly remembered those things which he had witnessed within the sphere of the unbegotten God. On this account, a power descended upon him from the Father, that by means of it he might escape from the creators of the world; and they say that it, after passing through them all, and remaining in all points free, ascended again to him. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.350 (Carpocrates says:) The soul, therefore, which is like that of Christ can despise those rulers who were the creators of the world, and, in like manner, receives power for accomplishing the same results. This idea has raised them to such a pitch of pride, that some of them declare themselves similar to Jesus; while others, still more mighty, maintain that they are superior to his disciples, such as Peter and Paul, and the rest of the apostles… But if any one shall have despised the things in this world more than he did, he thus proves himself superior to him. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 350 And in their writings we read as follows, the interpretation which they give [of their views], declaring that Jesus spoke in a mystery to His disciples and apostles privately, and that they requested and obtained permission to hand down the things thus taught them, to others who should be worthy and believing. We are saved, indeed, by means of faith and love; but all other things, while in their nature indifferent, are reckoned by the opinion of men - some good and some evil, there being nothing really evil by nature. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 351 Moreover, those also will be thus confuted who belong to Simon and Carpocrates, and if there be any others who are said to perform miracles - who do not perform what they do either through the power of God, or in connection with the truth, nor for the well-being of men, but for the sake of destroying and misleading mankind, by means of magical deceptions, and with universal deceit, thus entailing greater harm than good on those who believe them, with respect to the point on which they lead them astray. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.407 But the followers of Carpocrates and Epiphanes think that wives should be common property. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 2 These then are the doctrines of the excellent Carpocratians. These, so they say, and certain other enthusiasts for the same wickednesses, gather together for feasts (I would not call their meeting an Agape), men and women together. After they have sated their appetites… then they overturn the lamps and so extinguish the light that the shame of their adulterous "righteousness" is hidden, and they have intercourse where they will and with whom they will. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.2 However, it is not for you alone, (Simon), that the transmigration philosophy has fabricated this story. Carpocrates also makes equally good use of it, who was a magician and a fornicator like yourself, only he had not a Helen. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.216 Carpocrates affirms that the world and the things in it were made by angels, far inferior to the unbegotten Father; and that Jesus was generated of Joseph, and that, having been born similar to (other) men, He was more just than the rest (of the human race). And (Carpocrates asserts) that the soul (of Jesus), inasmuch as it was made vigorous and undefiled, remembered the things seen by it in its converse with the unbegotten God. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 113 And they make counterfeit images of Christ, alleging that these were in existence at the time (during which our Lord was on earth, and that they were fashioned) by Pilate. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 114 2.2 Valentinians At the same time, the Valentinians deny that He assumed anything material [into His nature], since indeed matter is incapable of salvation. They further hold that the consummation of all things will take place when all that is spiritual has been formed and perfected by Gnosis (knowledge); and by this they mean spiritual men who have attained to the perfect knowledge of God, and been initiated into these mysteries by Achamoth. And they represent themselves to be these persons. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.324 Others of them yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. And committing many other abominations and impieties, they run us down (who from the fear of God guard against sinning even in thought or word) as utterly contemptible and ignorant persons, while they highly exalt themselves, and claim to be perfect, and the elect seed. For they declare that we simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken away from us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special possession, which has descended from above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will be given them. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.324 They conceive, then, of three kinds of men, spiritual, material, and animal, represented by Cain, Abel, and Seth. Such, then, is their system, which neither the prophets announced, nor the Lord taught, nor the apostles delivered, but of which they boast that beyond all others they have a perfect knowledge. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 326 Valentinus, who adapted the principles of the heresy called "Gnostic" to the peculiar character of his own school. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.332 But those who are from Valentinus, being, on the other hand, altogether reckless, while they put forth their own compositions, boast that they possess more Gospels than there really are. Indeed, they have arrived at such a pitch of audacity, as to entitle their comparatively recent writing "the Gospel of Truth," though it agrees in nothing with the Gospels of the Apostles, so that they have really no Gospel which is not full of blasphemy. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 429 The followers of Valentinus assign faith to us, the simple, but will have it that knowledge springs up in their own selves (who are saved by nature). Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.349 Valentinian… Also, similarly with Basilides, supposes a class saved by nature, and that this different race has come hither to us from above for the abolition of death. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.425 Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, sets his mark on certain who denied and doubted the resurrection. This opinion was the especial property of the Sadducees. A part of it, however, is maintained by Marcion and Apelles and Valentinus, and all other impugners of the resurrection. Writing also to the Galatians, he inveighs against such men as observed and defend circumcision and the (Mosaic) law. Thus runs Hebion's heresy. Such also as "forbid to marry" he reproaches in his instructions to Timothy. Now, this is the teaching of Marcion and his follower Apelles. (The apostle) directs a similar blow against those who said that "the resurrection was past already." Such an opinion did the Valentinians assert of themselves. When again he mentions "endless genealogies," one also recognizes Valentinus. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.259 One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning by his exposition. For although Valentinus seems to use the entire volume, he has none the less laid violent hands on the truth only with a more cunning mind and skill than Marcion. Marcion expressly and openly used the knife, not the pen, since he made such an excision of the Scriptures as suited his own subject-matter. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 262 The Valentinians, who are no doubt a very large body of heretics… If you propose to them inquiries sincere and honest, they answer you with stern look and contracted brow, and say, "The subject is profound." …For this reason we are branded by them as simple. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.503-504 Let, however, any man approach the subject from a knowledge of the faith which he has otherwise learned, as soon as he finds so many names of Æons, so many marriages, so many offsprings, so many exits… of a dispersed and mutilated Deity, will that man hesitate at once to pronounce that these are "the fables and endless genealogies" which the inspired apostle by anticipation condemned, whilst these seeds of heresy were even then shooting forth? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 505 Valentinus had expected to become a bishop, because he was an able man both in genius and eloquence. Being indignant, however, that another obtained the dignity by reason of a claim which confessorship had given him, he broke with the church of the true faith. Just like those (restless) spirits which, when roused by ambition, are usually inflamed with the desire of revenge, he applied himself with all his might to exterminate the truth. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.505 Axionicus at Antioch is the only man who at the present time does honor to the memory of Valentinus, by keeping his rules to the full. But this heresy is permitted to fashion itself into as many various shapes as a prostitute, who usually changes and adjusts her dress every day… Whenever they have hit upon any novelty, they forthwith call their presumption a revelation, their own perverse ingenuity a spiritual gift. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 505 For this reason it is that they neither regard works as necessary for themselves, nor do they observe any of the calls of duty, eluding even the necessity of martyrdom on any pretence which may suit their pleasure. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 517 2.3 Marcion He mentions this fact also, that when Marcion, after whom the Marcionites are called, met the holy Polycarp on one occasion, and said 'Recognize us, Polycarp,' he said in reply to Marcion, 'Yes indeed, I recognize the firstborn of Satan.' Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.22 (Moscow MS trans. JB Lightfoot) And there is Marcion, a man of Pontus, who is even at this day alive, and teaching his disciples to believe in some other god greater than the Creator. And he, by the aid of the devils, has caused many of every nation to speak blasphemies, and to deny that God is the maker of this universe, and to assert that some other being, greater than He, has done greater works. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.171 And, as we said before, the devils put forward Marcion of Pontus, who is even now teaching men to deny that God is the maker of all things in heaven and on earth, and that the Christ predicted by the prophets is His Son, and preaches another god besides the Creator of all, and likewise another son. And this man many have believed, as if he alone knew the truth, and laugh at us, though they have no proof of what they say, but are carried away irrationally as lambs by a wolf, and become the prey of atheistical doctrines, and of devils. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.182 Marcion of Pontus succeeded him, and developed his doctrine. In so doing, he advanced the most daring blasphemy against Him who is proclaimed as God by the law and the prophets, declaring Him to be the author of evils, to take delight in war, to be infirm of purpose, and even to be contrary to Himself. But Jesus being derived from that father who is above the God that made the world…was manifested in the form of a man to those who were in Judaea, abolishing the prophets and the law, and all the works of that God who made the world… Besides this, he mutilates the Gospel which is according to Luke, removing all that is written respecting the generation of the Lord, and setting aside a great deal of the teaching of the Lord, In like manner, too, he dismembered the Epistles of Paul, removing all that is said by the apostle respecting that God who made the world. Salvation will be the attainment only of those souls which had learned his doctrine. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 352 And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Dost you know me?" "I do know you, the first-born of Satan." Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sins, being condemned of himself." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.416 With regard to those (the Marcionites) who allege that Paul alone knew the truth, and that to him the mystery was manifested by revelation, let Paul himself convict them… Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 436 The followers of Marcion, and... those who are like to these, maintain that time prophets were from another God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.511 On this false principle it was that Marcion actually chose to believe that He was a phantom, denying to Him the reality of a perfect body. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.197 John… in his epistle he especially designates those as "Antichrists" who "denied that Christ was come in the flesh," and who refused to think that Jesus was the Son of God. The one dogma Marcion maintained. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 259 One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning by his exposition. For although Valentinus seems to use the entire volume, he has none the less laid violent hands on the truth only with a more cunning mind and skill than Marcion. Marcion expressly and openly used the knife, not the pen, since he made such an excision of the Scriptures as suited his own subject-matter. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 262 Marcion has removed from his God all his severity and judicial character… A better god has been discovered, who never takes offence, is never angry, never inflicts punishment, who has prepared no fire in hell, no gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness! He is purely and simply good. He indeed forbids all delinquency, but only in word. He is in you, if you are willing to pay him homage, for the sake of appearances, that you may seem to honor God; for your fear he does not want. And so satisfied are the Marcionites with such pretences, that they have no fear of their god at all. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.291-292 The flesh is not, according to Marcion, immersed in the water of the sacrament, unless it be in virginity, widowhood, or celibacy, or has purchased by divorce a title to baptism, as if even generative impotents did not all receive their flesh from nuptial union. Now, such a scheme as this must no doubt involve the proscription of marriage. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 393 Marcionites, whom the Apostle John designated as antichrists, when they denied that Christ was come in the flesh… Now, the more firmly the antichrist Marcion had seized this assumption, the more prepared was he, of course, to reject the bodily substance of Christ. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.327 "Be not deceived, God is not mocked." But Marcion's god can be mocked; for he knows not how to be angry, or how to take vengeance. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.438 We must now encounter the subject of marriage, which Marcion, more continent than the apostle, prohibits… Now, when Marcion wholly prohibits all carnal intercourse to the faithful (for we will say nothing about his catechumens), and when he prescribes repudiation of all engagements before marriage, whose teaching does he follow, that of Moses or of Christ? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.443 Let Marcion know that the principle term of his creed comes from the school of Epicurus… But how remote is our faith from the artifices of this heretic, when it dreads to arouse the anger of God. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.471 2.4 Marcus the Heretic But there is another among these heretics, Marcus by name, who boasts himself as having improved upon his master. He is a perfect adept in magical impostures, and by this means drawing away a great number of men, and not a few women, he has induced them to join themselves to him, as to one who is possessed of the greatest knowledge and perfection, and who has received the highest power from the invisible and ineffable regions above. Thus it appears as if he really were the precursor of Antichrist. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.334 It appears probable enough that this man possesses a demon as his familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems able to prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his Charis themselves to prophesy. He devotes himself especially to women, and those such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth, whom he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive words… On the woman replying, "I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy;" then engaging, for the second time, in certain invocations, so as to astound his deluded victim, he says to her, "Open your mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to you, and you shall prophesy." She then, vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one superior to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious and impudent when heated with empty air.) Henceforth she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks to Marcus for having imparted to her of his own Chaffs. She then makes the effort to reward him, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 334-335 With good reason, therefore, and very fittingly, in reference to your rash attempt, has that divine elder and preacher of the truth burst forth in verse against you as follows: "Marcus, you former of idols, inspector of portents, skilled in consulting the stars, and deep in the black arts of magic, ever by tricks such as these confirming the doctrines of error, furnishing signs unto those involved by you in deception, wonders of power that is utterly severed from God and apostate, which Satan, your true father, enables you still to accomplish, by means of Azazel, that fallen and yet mighty angel, thus making you the precursor of his own impious actions." Such are the words of the saintly elder. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.340 3. Third century (Top) 3.1 Montanists But there are others who themselves are even more heretical in nature (than the foregoing) and are Phrygians by birth. These have been rendered victims of error from being previously captivated by (two) wretched women, called a certain Priscilla and Maximilla, whom they supposed (to be) prophetesses. And they assert that into these the Paraclete Spirit had departed; and antecedently to them, they in like manner consider Montanus as a prophet… And they allege that they have learned something more through these, than from law, and prophets, and the Gospels. But they magnify these wretched women above the Apostles and every gift of Grace, so that some of them presume to assert that there is in them a something superior to Christ. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 123 These acknowledge God to be the Father of the universe, and Creator of all things, similarly with the Church, and (receive) as many things as the Gospel testifies concerning Christ. They introduce, however, the novelties of fasts, and feasts, and meals of parched food, and repasts of radishes, alleging that they have been instructed by women. And some of these assent to the heresy of the Noetians, and affirm that the Father himself is the Son. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 123-124 3.2 Monarchianism For they who affirm that the Son is the Father, are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the universe has a Son; who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God. And of old He appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an angel to Moses and to the other prophets; but now in the times of your reign, having, as we before said, become Man by a virgin, according to the counsel of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe on Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.184 In various ways has the devil rivaled and resisted the truth. Sometimes his aim has been to destroy the truth by defending it… He says that the Father Himself came down into the Virgin, was Himself born of her, Himself suffered, indeed was Himself Jesus Christ. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 597 This heresy (Monarchianism), which supposes itself to possess the pure truth, in thinking that one cannot believe in One Only God in any other way than by saying that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are the very selfsame Person. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 598 They are constantly throwing out against us that we are preachers of two gods and three gods, while they take to themselves pre-eminently the credit of being worshippers of the One God… We, say they, maintain the Monarchy. As for myself, however, if I have gleaned any knowledge of either language, I am sure that monarkia (or Monarchy) has no other meaning than single and individual rule; but for all that, this monarchy does not, because it is the government of one, preclude him whose government it is, either from having a son… If, moreover, there be a son belonging to him whose monarchy it is, it does not forthwith become divided and cease to be a monarchy, if the son also be taken as a sharer in it. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 599 We have been already able to show that the Father and the Son are two separate Persons, not only by the mention of their separate names as Father and the Son, but also by the fact that He who delivered up the kingdom, and He to whom it is delivered up - and in like manner, He who subjected (all things), and He to whom they were subjected - must necessarily be two different Beings. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 600 If the number of the Trinity also offends you, as if it were not connected in the simple Unity, I ask you how it is possible for a Being who is merely and absolutely One and Singular, to speak in plural phrase, saying, "Let us make man in our own image, and after our own likeness;" whereas He ought to have said, "Let me make man in my own image, and after my own likeness," Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.606 "I and my Father are one;" and, "He that has seen me has seen the Father; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me." They would have the entire revelation of both Testaments yield to these three passages, whereas the only proper course is to understand the few statements in the light of the many. But in their contention they only act on the principle of all heretics. For, inasmuch as only a few testimonies are to be found (making for them) in the general mass, they set off the few against the many, and assume the later against the earlier. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.615 And now it may be seen in what sense it was said, "He that has seen me has seen the Father," even in the same in which it was said in a previous passage, "I and my Father are one." "If you had known me, you would have known the Father also." For in all these passages He had shown Himself to be the Father's Commissioner, through whose agency even the Father could be seen in His works, and heard in His words. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 620 …"and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." Now, does this mean, I ascend as the Father to the Father, and as God to God? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.621 He commands them to baptize into the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, not into a unipersonal God. And indeed it is not once only, but three times, that we are immersed into the Three Persons, at each several mention of Their names. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 623 Nay, but you do blaspheme; because you allege not only that the Father died, but that He died the death of the cross… since, however, you convert Christ into the Father, you are chargeable with blasphemy against the Father. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 626 There has appeared one, Noetus by name, and by birth a native of Smyrna. This person introduced a heresy from the tenets of Heraclitus… The school of these heretics during the succession of such bishops, continued to acquire strength and augmentation, from the fact that Zephyrinus and Callistus helped them to prevail. Never at any time, however, have we been guilty of collusion with them; but we have frequently offered them opposition, and have refuted them, and have forced them reluctantly to acknowledge the truth. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 125 Now, that Noetus affirms that the Son and Father are the same, no one is ignorant. But he makes his statement thus: "When indeed, then, the Father had not been born, He yet was justly styled Father; and when it pleased Him to undergo generation, having been begotten, He Himself became His own Son, not another's." For in this manner he thinks to establish the sovereignty of God, alleging that Father and Son, so called, are one and the same (substance), not one individual produced from a different one, but Himself from Himself; and that He is styled by name Father and Son, according to vicissitude of times…That this person suffered by being fastened to the tree, and that He commended His spirit unto Himself, having died to appearance, and not being (in reality) dead. And He raised Himself up the third day, after having been interred in a sepulcher, and wounded with a spear, and perforated with nails. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 127-128 Now Callistus brought forward Zephyrinus himself, and induced him publicly to avow the following sentiments… And we, becoming aware of his sentiments, did not give place to him, but reproved and withstood him for the truth's sake. And he hurried headlong into folly, from the fact that all consented to his hypocrisy - we, however, did not do so. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.128 Callistus alleges that the Logos Himself is Son, and that Himself is Father; and that though denominated by a different title, yet that in reality He is one indivisible spirit. And he maintains that the Father is not one person and the Son another. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.130 Some others are secretly introducing another doctrine, who have become disciples of one Noetus, who was a native of Smyrna, (and) lived not very long ago… When the blessed presbyters heard this they summoned him before the church and examined him… But he stood out against them, saying, "What evil, then, am I doing in glorifying Christ?" And the presbyters replied to him, "We too know in truth one God; we know Christ; we know that the Son suffered even as He suffered, and died even as He died, and rose again on the third day, and is at the right hand of the Father, and comes to judge the living and the dead. And these things which we have learned we allege." Then, after examining him, they expelled him from the Church. And he was carried to such a pitch of pride, that he established a sect. ...Now they seek to exhibit the foundation for their dogma by citing the word in the law, "I am the God of your fathers: you shall have no other gods beside me;" and again in another passage, "I am the first," He said, "and the last; and beside me there is none other." Thus they say they prove that God is one. And then they answer in this manner: "If therefore I acknowledge Christ to be God, He is the Father Himself, if He is indeed God; and Christ suffered, being Himself God; and consequently the Father suffered, for He was the Father Himself." But the case stands not thus; for the Scriptures do not set forth the matter in this manner. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 224 III. HOW THE HERETICS MISINTERPRET THE SCRIPTURES (Top) They gather their views from other sources than the Scriptures; and, to use a common proverb, they strive to weave ropes of sand, while they endeavour to adapt with an air of probability to their own peculiar assertions the parables of the Lord, the sayings of the prophets, and the words of the apostles, in order that their scheme may not seem altogether without support. In doing so, however, they disregard the order and the connection of the Scriptures, and so far as in them lies, dismember and destroy the truth. By transferring passages, and dressing them up anew, and making one thing out of another, they succeed in deluding many through their wicked art in adapting the oracles of the Lord to their opinions. Their manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or of a fox. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.326 But, say they, it is written, "All who were before the Lord's advent are thieves and robbers." All, then, who are in the Word (for it is these that were previous to the incarnation of the Word) are understood generally. But the prophets, being sent and inspired by the Lord, were not thieves, but servants. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.319 The story goes that one of them came to a virgin of our church who had a lovely face and said to her: "Scripture says, 'Give to everyone that asks you.'" She, however, not understanding the lascivious intention of the man gave the dignified reply: "On the subject of marriage, talk to my mother." What godlessness! Even the words of the Lord are perverted by these immoral fellows, the brethren of lust, a shame not only to philosophy but to all human life, who corrupt the truth, or rather destroy it; as far as they can. These thrice wretched men treat carnal and sexual intercourse as a sacred religious mystery, and think that it will bring them to the kingdom of God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.4 Perhaps it is such people that the apostle attacks in the epistle to the Romans when he writes: "And not as we are blasphemously accused and some assert that we say, Let us do evil that good may come, an argument which is rightly condemned." These are they who when reading the Bible pervert the sense to their own desires by their tone of voice, and by changing certain accents and marks of punctuation twist words that are wise and useful to conform to their own lusts. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.4 Those who hold that for them there is no difference between right and wrong force a few passages of Scripture and think they favor their own immoral opinions. In particular they quote the saying: "Sin shall not have dominion over you; for you are not under the law but under grace," and others of this sort, which there is no reason to add, for I am not proposing to fit out a pirate ship. Let us then briefly put a stop to their argument. The noble apostle himself refutes the charge against him implied in their false exegesis by the words with which he continues after the saying just quoted: "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? God forbid." In this inspired and prophetic way he at once destroys the device of these licentious sophists. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.8 Now all men, having the same judgment, some, following the Word speaking, frame for themselves proofs; while others, giving themselves up to pleasures, wrest Scripture, in accordance with their lusts. And the lover of truth, as I think, needs force of soul. For those who make the greatest attempts must fail in things of the highest importance; unless, receiving from the truth itself the rule of the truth, they cleave to the truth. But such people, in consequence of falling away from the right path, err in most individual points; as you might expect from not having the faculty for judging of what is true and false, strictly trained to select what is essential. For if they had, they would have obeyed the Scriptures. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.551 And if those also who follow heresies venture to avail themselves of the prophetic Scriptures; in the first place they will not make use of all the Scriptures, and then they will not quote them entire, nor as the body and texture of prophecy prescribe. But, selecting ambiguous expressions, they wrest them to their own opinions, gathering a few expressions here and there; not looking to the sense, but making use of the mere words. For in almost all the quotations they make, you will find that they attend to the names alone, while they alter the meanings; neither knowing, as they affirm, nor using the quotations they adduce, according to their true nature. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.551 Well, but they actually treat of the Scriptures and recommend (their opinions) out of the Scriptures! To be sure they do. From what other source could they derive arguments concerning the things of the faith, except from the records of the faith? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.250 One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning by his exposition. For although Valentinus seems to use the entire volume, he has none the less laid violent hands on the truth only with a more cunning mind and skill than Marcion. Marcion expressly and openly used the knife, not the pen, since he made such an excision of the Scriptures as suited his own subject-matter. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.262 In this manner heretics either wrest plain and simple words to any sense they choose by their conjectures, or else they violently resolve by a literal interpretation words which imply a conditional sense and are incapable of a simple solution. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 377 They (the heretica) have found their opportunity, as is usual with heretics, in wresting the plain meaning of certain words… We, however, insist on the proper signification of every word, and say that principium means beginning,- being a term which is suitable to represent things which begin to exist. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 488 Take away, indeed, from the heretics the wisdom which they share with the heathen, and let them support their inquiries from the Scriptures alone: they will then be unable to keep their ground. For that which commends men's common sense is its very simplicity, and its participation in the same feelings, and its community of opinions; and it is deemed to be all the more trustworthy, inasmuch as its definitive statements are naked and open, and known to all. Divine reason, on the contrary, lies in the very pith and marrow of things, not on the surface, and very often is at variance with appearances. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 574 They would have the entire revelation of both Testaments yield to these three passages, whereas the only proper course is to understand the few statements in the light of the many. But in their contention they only act on the principle of all heretics. For, inasmuch as only a few testimonies are to be found (making for them) in the general mass, they set off the few against the many, and assume the later against the earlier. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.615 SEE ALSO: HERMENEUTICS IV. THE CHURCH'S ATTITUDE AND RESPONSE TO HERETICS (Top) I exhort you therefore - yet not I, but the love of Jesus Christ - take you only Christian food, and abstain from strange herbage, which is heresy: for these men do even mingle poison with Jesus Christ, imposing upon others by a show of honesty, like persons administering a deadly drug with honeyed wine, so that one who knows it not, fearing nothing, drinks in death with a baneful delight. Ignatius: to the Trallians (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 But mark you those who hold heretical opinions touching the grace of Jesus Christ which came to us, how that they are contrary to the mind of God. They have no care for love, none for the widow, none for the orphan, none for the afflicted, none for the prisoner, none for the hungry or thirsty. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch. 6 Yet they style themselves Christians, just as certain among the Gentiles inscribe the name of God upon the works of their own hands, and partake in nefarious and impious rites. Some are called Marcians, and some Valentinians, and some Basilidians, and some Saturnilians, and others by other names; each called after the originator of the individual opinion, just as each one of those who consider themselves philosophers, as I said before, thinks he must bear the name of the philosophy which he follows, from the name of the father of the particular doctrine. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.212 Many offshoots of numerous heresies have already been formed from those heretics we have described. This arises from the fact that numbers of them - indeed, we may say all - desire themselves to be teachers, and to break off from the particular heresy in which they have been involved. Forming one set of doctrines out of a totally different system of opinions, and then again others from others, they insist upon teaching something new, declaring themselves the inventors of any sort of opinion which they may have been able to call into existence. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 353 Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in the Church,- those who, as I have shown, possess the succession from the apostles; those who, together with the succession of the episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth, according to the good pleasure of the Father. But [it is also incumbent] to hold in suspicion others who depart from the primitive succession, and assemble themselves together in any place whatsoever, [looking upon them] either as heretics of perverse minds, or as schematics puffed up and self-pleasing, or again as hypocrites, acting thus for the sake of lucre and vainglory. For all these have fallen from the truth. And the heretics, indeed, who bring strange fire to the altar of God - namely, strange doctrines - shall be burned up by the fire from heaven, as were Nadab and Abiud. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 497 From all such persons, therefore, it behooves us to keep aloof, but to adhere to those who, as I have already observed, do hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, together with the order of priesthood, display sound speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation and correction of others. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 497 Now all these [heretics] are of much later date than the bishops to whom the apostles committed the Churches. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 547 Further, it is said that it is on account of "those that are approved that heresies exist." [The apostle] calls "approved," either those who in reaching faith apply to the teaching of the Lord with some discrimination (as those are called skilful money-changers, who distinguish the spurious coin from the genuine by the false stamp), or those who have already become approved both in life and knowledge… On account of the heresies, therefore, the toil of discovery must be undertaken; but we must not at all abandon [the truth]. For, on fruit being set before us, some real and ripe, and some made of wax, as like the real as possible, we are not to abstain from both on account of the resemblance. But by the exercise of the apprehension of contemplation, and by reasoning of the most decisive character, we must distinguish the true from the seeming. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.549-550 And again, those also are likewise unclean that part the hoof, but do not ruminate. For these point out the heretics, who indeed go upon the name of the Father and the Son, but are in capable of triturating and grinding down the clear declaration of the oracles, and who, besides, perform the works of righteousness coarsely and not with precision, if they perform them at all. To such the Lord says, "Why will you call me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" And those that neither part the hoof nor chew the cud are entirely unclean. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.555-556 Heresies would have no power, if (men) would cease to wonder that they have such power. For it either happens that, while men wonder, they fall into a snare, or, because they are ensnared, they cherish their surprise, as if heresies were so powerful because of some truth which b ======================================================================== CHAPTER 62: HERMENEUTICS ======================================================================== Those who have never investigated concerning the truth, nor enquired concerning the deity, but have merely believed, and have been mixed up in business affairs and riches and heathen friendships, and many other affairs of this world - as many, I say, as devote themselves to these things, comprehend not the parables of the deity; for they are darkened by these actions, and are corrupted and become barren. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 26 "Whosoever," said he, "is a servant of God, and has his own Lord in his heart, asks understanding of Him, and receives it, and interprets every parable, and the words of the Lord which are spoken in parables are made known unto him. But as many as are sluggish and idle in intercession, these hesitate to ask of the Lord." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 35 But when you hear the utterances of the prophets spoken as it were personally, you must not suppose that they are spoken by the inspired themselves, but by the Divine Word who moves them. For sometimes He declares things that are to come to pass, in the manner of one who foretells the future; sometimes He speaks as from the person of God the Lord and Father of all; sometimes as from the person of Christ; sometimes as from the person of the people answering the Lord or His Father, just as you can see even in your own writers, one man being the writer of the whole, but introducing the persons who converse. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 For these words have neither been prepared by me, nor embellished by the art of man; but David sung them, Isaiah preached them, Zechariah proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them. Are you acquainted with them, Trypho? They are contained in your Scriptures, or rather not yours, but ours. For we believe them; but you, though you read them, do not catch the spirit that is in them. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.209 But since parables admit of many interpretations, what lover of truth will not acknowledge, that for them to assert God is to be searched out from these, while they desert what is certain, indubitable, and true, is the part of men who eagerly throw themselves into danger, and act as if destitute of reason? And is not such a course of conduct not to build one's house upon a rock which is firm, strong, and placed in an open position, but upon the shifting sand? Hence the overthrow of such a building is a matter of ease. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 399 But those who possess the Holy Spirit "search the deep things of God," - that is, grasp the secret that is in the prophecies. "To impart of holy things to the dogs" is forbidden, so long as they remain beasts. For never ought those who are envious and perturbed, and still infidel in conduct, shameless in barking at investigation, to dip in the divine and clear stream of the living water. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.348 For neither prophecy nor the Savior Himself announced the divine mysteries simply so as to be easily apprehended by all and sundry, but express them in parables. The apostles accordingly say of the Lord, that "He spoke all things in parables, and without a parable spoke He nothing unto them;"… For many reasons, then, the Scriptures hide the sense. First, that we may become inquisitive, and be ever on the watch for the discovery of the words of salvation. Then it was not suitable for all to understand, so that they might not receive harm in consequence of taking in another sense the things declared for salvation by the Holy Spirit. Wherefore the holy mysteries of the prophecies are veiled in the parables - preserved for chosen men, selected to knowledge in consequence of their faith; for the style of the Scriptures is parabolic. Wherefore also the Lord, who was not of the world, came as one who was of the world to men….Wherefore also He employed metaphorical description; for such is the parable, - a narration based on some subject which is not the principal subject, but similar to the principal subject, and leading him who understands to what is the true and principal thing; or, as some say, a mode of speech presenting with vigor, by means of other circumstances, what is the principal subject. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.509 They (the heretica) have found their opportunity, as is usual with heretics, in wresting the plain meaning of certain words… We, however, insist on the proper signification of every word, and say that principium means beginning,- being a term which is suitable to represent things which begin to exist. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 488 Take away, indeed, from the heretics the wisdom which they share with the heathen, and let them support their inquiries from the Scriptures alone: they will then be unable to keep their ground. For that which commends men's common sense is its very simplicity, and its participation in the same feelings, and its community of opinions; and it is deemed to be all the more trustworthy, inasmuch as its definitive statements are naked and open, and known to all. Divine reason, on the contrary, lies in the very pith and marrow of things, not on the surface, and very often is at variance with appearances. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 574-576 And, indeed, (since some passages are more obscure than others), it cannot but be right - as we have shown above - that uncertain statements should be determined by certain ones, and obscure ones by such as are clear and plain; else there is fear that, in the conflict of certainties and uncertainties, of explicitness and obscurity, faith may be shattered, truth endangered, and the Divine Being Himself be branded as inconstant. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.560 In this way, then, they choose to set forth these things, and they make use only of one class of passages; …And these words he cites without understanding what precedes them. For whenever they wish to attempt anything underhand, they mutilate the Scriptures. But let him quote the passage as a whole, and he will discover the reason kept in view in writing it. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 224 For Paul is not to be despised when he passes over the literal meaning, and shows that the words extend to Christ and the Church… For it is a dangerous thing wholly to despise the literal meaning, as has been said, and especially of Genesis, where the unchangeable decrees of God for the constitution of the universe are set forth, in agreement with which, even until now. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg. 317 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 63: HOLIDAYS ======================================================================== Why, on the day of gladness, do we neither cover our door-posts with laurels, nor intrude upon the day with lamps? It is a proper thing, at the call of a public festivity, to dress your house up like some new brothel. However, in the matter of this homage to a lesser majesty, in reference to which we are accused of a lower sacrilege, because we do not celebrate along with you the holidays of the Caesars in a manner forbidden alike by modesty, decency, and purity,- in truth they have been established rather as affording opportunities for licentiousness than from any worthy motive. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 44 Yes, and persons who are now daily brought to light as confederates or approvers of these crimes and treasons, the still remnant gleanings after a vintage of traitors, with what verdant and branching laurels they clad their door-posts, with what lofty and brilliant lamps they smoked their porches… arts which, as made known by the angels who sinned, and forbidden by God, Christians do not even make use of in their own affairs. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.44 What less of defilement does he recur on that ground, than a business brings which, both nominally and virtually, is consecrated publicly to an idol? … New-year's gifts likewise must be caught at, and the Septimontium kept; and all the presents of Midwinter and the feast of Dear Kinsmanship must be exacted; the schools must be wreathed with flowers; the flamens' wives and the aediles sacrifice; the school is honored on the appointed holy-days. The same thing takes place on an idol's birthday; every pomp of the devil is frequented. Who will think that these things are befitting to a Christian master, unless it be he who shall think them suitable likewise to one who is not a master? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 66 "Then," do you say, "the lamps before my doors, and the laurels on my posts are an honor to God?" They are there of course, not because they are an honor to God, but to him who is honor in God's stead by ceremonial observances of that kind, so far as is manifest, saving the religious performance, which is in secret appertaining to demons. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 70 Let, therefore, them who have no light, light their lamps daily; let them over whom the fires of hell are imminent, affix to their posts, laurels doomed presently to burn: to them the testimonies of darkness and the omens of their penalties are suitable. You are a light of the world, and a tree ever green. If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple. I have said too little. If you have renounced stews, clothe not your own house with the appearance of a new brothel. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 71 But as for you, you are a foreigner in this world, a citizen of Jerusalem, the city above. Our citizenship, the apostle says, is in heaven. You have your own registers, your own calendar; you have nothing to do with the joys of the world; nay, you are called to the very opposite, for "the world shall rejoice, but you shall mourn." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.101 It would follow as a consequence that we might take part in public feasts, if it were proved that the public feasts had nothing wrong in them, and were grounded upon true views of the character of God, so that they resulted naturally from a devout service of God. If, however, the so-called public festivals can in no way be shown to accord with the service of God, but may on the contrary be proved to have been devised by men when occasion offered to commemorate some human events, or to set forth certain qualities of water or earth, or the fruits of the earth,- in that case, it is clear that those who wish to offer an enlightened worship to the Divine Being will act according to sound reason, and not take part in the public feasts. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 647 SEE ALSO: WORLD SEPARATION OF ======================================================================== CHAPTER 64: HOLY KISS ======================================================================== And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, Acts 20:37 Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you. Rom.16:16 All the brethren greet you. Greet ye one another with an holy kiss. 1 Cor.16:20 Greet one another with an holy kiss. 2 Cor. 13:12 Greet all the brethren with an holy kiss. 1 Thess. 5:26 Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen. 1 Peter 5:14 Therefore the kiss, or rather the salutation, should be given with the greatest care, since, if there be mixed with it the least defilement of thought, it excludes us from eternal life. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.146 But love is not proved by a kiss, but by kindly feeling. But there are those, that do nothing but make the churches resound with a kiss, not having love itself within. For this very thing, the shameless use of a kiss, which ought to be mystic, occasions foul suspicions and evil reports. The apostle calls the kiss holy. When the kingdom is worthily tested, we dispense the affection of the soul by a chaste and closed mouth, by which chiefly gentle manners are expressed. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.291 Accordingly, he says, they were both led away together (to be martyred), and on the way the other asked James to forgive him. And he, considering a little, said, "Peace be to you" and kissed him. And so both were beheaded together. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.579 But even if there be some reason far this practice, still, lest you offend against this precept, you may perhaps defer your "peace" at home, where it is not possible for your fast to be entirely kept secret. But wherever else you can conceal your observance, you ought to remember the precept: thus you may satisfy the requirements of Discipline abroad and of custom at home. So, too, on the day of the Passover, when the religious observance of a fast is general, and as it were public, we justly forego the kiss, caring nothing to conceal anything which we do in common with all. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 687 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 65: HOLY SPIRIT ======================================================================== If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 14:15-17, Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. John16:7-11 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.Acts 5:32 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30 The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; and that, moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father; and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father. Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment V For this flesh is the counterpart and copy of the spirit. No man therefore, when he has defiled the copy, shall receive the original for his portion. This therefore is what He means, brethren; Guard you the flesh, that you may receive the spirit. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.14 For they received of Him a spirit free from lies. This if they shall return a lying spirit, they have defiled the commandment of the Lord and have become robbers. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 21 For if you are long-suffering, the Holy Spirit that abides in you shall be pure, not being darkened by another evil spirit, but dwelling in a large room shall rejoice and be glad with the vessel in which he dwells, and shall serve God with much cheerfulness, having prosperity in himself. But if any angry temper approach, forthwith the Holy Spirit, being delicate, is straitened, not having [the] place clear, and seeks to leave from the place. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.23 But the angry temper is in the first place foolish, fickle and senseless; then from foolishness is engendered bitterness, and from bitterness wrath, and from wrath anger, and from anger spite; then spite being composed of all these evil elements becomes a great sin and incurable. For when all these spirits dwell in one vessel, where the Holy Spirit also dwells, that vessel cannot contain them, but overflows. The delicate spirit therefore, as not being accustomed to dwell with an evil spirit nor with harshness, departs from a man of that kind, and seeks to dwell with gentleness and tranquility. Then, when it has removed from that man, in whom it dwells, that man becomes emptied of the righteous spirit. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.23 Afflict not the Holy Spirit that dwells in you, lest haply He intercede with God [against you], and depart from you. For the Spirit of God, that was given unto this flesh, endures not sadness neither constraint. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 26 The Holy Pre-existent Spirit, which created the whole creation, God made to dwell in flesh that He desired. This flesh, therefore, in which the Holy Spirit dwelt, was subject unto the Spirit, walking honorably in holiness and purity, without in any way defiling the Spirit. When then it had lived honorably in chastity, and had labored with the Spirit, and had cooperated with it in everything, behaving itself boldly and bravely, He chose it as a partner with the Holy Spirit; for the career of this flesh pleased [the Lord], seeing that, as possessing the Holy Spirit, it was not defiled upon the earth. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.35 For all flesh, which is found undefiled and unspotted, wherein the Holy Spirit dwelt, shall receive a reward… "Listen now," said he, "Keep this your flesh pure and undefiled, that the Spirit which dwells in it may bear witness to it, and your flesh may be justified" Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 35-36 The Lord, how great and glorious it is, and He has given (His) Spirit to those that are worthy of repentance. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 41 If therefore you are thus vexed in the matter of your garment, and complain because you receive it not back whole, what do you think the Lord will do to you, He, Who gave you the spirit whole, and you have made it absolutely useless, so that it cannot be of any use at all to its Lord? For its use began to be useless, when it was corrupted by you. Will not therefore the Lord of this spirit for this your deed punish [you with death]? Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.54 The Holy Ghost reproaches men because they were made like God, free from suffering and death, provided that they kept His commandments, and were deemed deserving of the name of His sons, and yet they, becoming like Adam and Eve, work out death for themselves. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.262 Still further did He also make it manifest, that we ought, after our calling, to be also adorned with works of righteousness, so that the Spirit of God may rest upon us; for this is the wedding garment, of which also the apostle speaks, "Not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by immortality." But those who have indeed been called to God's supper, yet have not received the Holy Spirit, because of their wicked conduct "shall be," He declares, "cast into outer darkness." He thus clearly shows that the very same King who gathered from all quarters the faithful to the marriage of His Son, and who grants them the incorruptible banquet, [also] orders that man to be cast into outer darkness who has not on a wedding garment, that is, one who despises it. For as in the former covenant, "with many of them was He not well pleased;" so also is it the case here, that "many are called, but few chosen." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 517 And on this account does Paul declare to the Corinthians, "I have fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it." That is, you have indeed learned the advent of our Lord as a man; nevertheless, because of your infirmity, the Spirit of the Father has not as yet rested upon you. "For when envying and strife," he says, "and dissensions are among you, are you not carnal, and walk as men?" That is, that the Spirit of the Father was not yet with them, on account of their imperfection and shortcomings of their walk in life. As, therefore, the apostle had the power to give them strong meat - for those upon whom the apostles laid hands received the Holy Spirit, who is the food of life [eternal] - but they were not capable of receiving it, because they had the sentient faculties of the soul still feeble and undisciplined in the practice of things pertaining to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 521 But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing indeed the image [of God] in his formation, but not receiving the similitude through the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 532 So likewise men, if they do truly progress by faith towards better things, and receive the Spirit of God, and bring forth the fruit thereof, shall be spiritual, as being planted in the paradise of God. But if they cast out the Spirit, and remain in their former condition, desirous of being of the flesh rather than of the Spirit, then it is very justly said with regard to men of this stamp, "That flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God;" Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.536 Wherefore also "the first Adam was made" by the Lord "a living soul, the second Adam a quickening spirit." As, then, he who was made a living soul forfeited life when he turned aside to what was evil, so, on the other hand, the same individual, when he reverts to what is good, and receives the quickening Spirit, shall find life. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 538 Christ, who was called the Son of God before the ages, was manifested in the fullness of time, in order that He might cleanse us through His blood, who were under the power of sin, presenting us as pure sons to His Father, if we yield ourselves obediently to the chastisement of the Spirit. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.575 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. And the souls that are obedient to wisdom have attracted to themselves the cognate spirit; but the disobedient, rejecting the minister of the suffering God, have shown themselves to be fighters against God, rather than His worshippers. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.71 Therefore God does not here take the semblance of man, but of a dove, because He wished to show the simplicity and gentleness of the new manifestation of the Spirit by the likeness of the dove. For the law was stern, and punished with the sword; but grace is joyous, and trains by the word of meekness. Hence the Lord also says to the apostles, who said that He should punish with fire those who would not receive Him, after the manner of Elias: "You know not what manner of spirit you are of." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.584 For God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save the unwilling is the part of one exercising compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace. Nor does the kingdom of heaven belong to sleepers and sluggards… Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.597 For since, by the introduction into an appropriation (in) us of the Holy Spirit, we are all "the temple of God," modesty is the sacristan and priestess of that temple, who is to suffer nothing unclean or profane to be introduced (into it), for fear that the God who inhabits it should be offended, and quite forsake the polluted abode. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 18 Moreover, the Holy Spirit gave signs of His presence at the beginning of Christ's ministry, and after His ascension He gave still more; but since that time these signs have diminished, although there are still traces of His presence in a few who have had their souls purified by the Gospel, and their actions regulated by its influence. "For the holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding." Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 614 SEE ALSO: SALVATION, NEW BIRTH ======================================================================== CHAPTER 66: HOMOSEXUALITY ======================================================================== Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind…shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 And any one who uses such persons, besides the godless and infamous and impure intercourse, may possibly be having intercourse with his own child, or relative, or brother. And there are some who prostitute even their own children and wives, and some are openly mutilated for the purpose of homosexuality. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.172 The Greeks consider intercourse with a mother as unlawful, but this practice is esteemed most becoming by the Persian Magi; paederasty is condemned by the Barbarians, but by the Romans, who endeavour to collect herds of boys like grazing horses, it is honored with certain privileges. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.77 (The pagans) do not abstain even from males, males with males committing shocking abominations, outraging all the noblest and comeliest bodies in all sorts of ways, so dishonoring the fair workmanship of God (for beauty on earth is not self-made, but sent hither by the hand and will of God), - these men, I say, revile us for the very things which they are conscious of themselves. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.147 Men play the part of women, and women that of men, contrary to nature; women are at once wives and husbands: no passage is closed against libidinousness; and their promiscuous lechery is a public institution, and luxury is domesticated. O miserable spectacle! horrible conduct! Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.276 I admire the ancient legislators of the Romans: these detested effeminacy of conduct; and the giving of the body to feminine purposes, contrary to the law of nature, they judged worthy of the extremist penalty, according to the righteousness of the law. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.277 The fate of the Sodomites was judgment to those who had done wrong, instruction to those who hear. The Sodomites having, through much luxury, fallen into uncleanness, practicing adultery shamelessly, and burning with insane love for boys. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.282 A true gentleman must have no mark of effeminacy visible on his face, or any other part of his body. Let no blot on his manliness, then, be ever found either in his movements or habits. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.289 The Christian confines himself to the female sex… The Christian husband has nothing to do with any but his own wife. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 51 In short, I find no dress cursed by God, except a woman's dress on a man: for "cursed," said He, "is every man who clothes himself in woman's attire." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 71 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 67: HOSPITALITY ======================================================================== Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Romans 12:13 Do not let a widow under sixty years old be taken into the number, and not unless she has been the wife of one man, well reported for good works: if she has brought up children, if she has lodged strangers, if she has washed the saints’ feet, if she has relieved the afflicted, if she has diligently followed every good work. 1 Tim. 5:9-10 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. Heb. 13:2 For who ever dwelt even for a short time among you, and did not find your faith to be as fruitful of virtue as it was firmly established? Who did not admire the sobriety and moderation of your godliness in Christ? Who did not proclaim the magnificence of your habitual hospitality? Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.1 Abraham, who was called the 'friend,' was found faithful in that he rendered obedience unto the words of God. ...For his faith and hospitality a son was given unto him in old age, and by obedience he offered him a sacrifice unto God on one of the mountains which He showed him. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.10 For his hospitality and godliness Lot was saved from Sodom, when all the country round about was judged by fire and brimstone. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.11 For her faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 12 Let us therefore contend, that we may be found in the number of those that patiently await Him, to the end that we may be partakers of His promised gifts. But how shall this be, dearly beloved? …if we accomplish such things as beseem His faultless will, and follow the way of truth, casting off from ourselves all unrighteousness and iniquity, covetousness, strifes, malignities and deceits, whisperings and backbitings, hatred of God, pride and arrogance, vainglory and inhospitality. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 35 Hear now what follow upon these; to minister to widows, to visit the orphans and the needy, to ransom the servants of God from their afflictions, to be hospitable (for the practice of hospitality results in doing good). Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 25 And akin to love is hospitality, being a congenial and devoted to the treatment of strangers. And those are strangers, to whom the things of the world are strange. For we regard as worldly those, who hope in the earth and carnal lusts. "Be not conformed," says the apostle, "to this world: but be you transformed in the renewal of the mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Hospitality, therefore, is occupied in what is useful for strangers; and guests are strangers and friends are guests; and brethren are friends. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.357 SEE ALSO: OFFERINGS, COMMUNITY CHRISTIAN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 68: HUSBANDS ======================================================================== Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. Ephesians 5:25-29 But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. 1 Cor. 11:3 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her. Eph. 5:25 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. 1 Peter 3:7 But make these words known to all your children, and to your wife who shall be as your sister; for she too refrains not from using her tongue. Hermas (A.D. 150) ch.11 "But do you, Hermas, no longer bear a grudge against your children, neither suffer your wife to have her way, so that they may be purified from their former sins. For they shall be chastised with a righteous chastisement, unless you bear a grudge against them yourself.” Hermas (A.D. 150) ch.11 "They cannot be afflicted otherwise," said he, "unless you, the head of the [whole] house, be afflicted; for if you be afflicted, they also of necessity will be afflicted; but if you be prosperous, they can suffer no affliction." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.38 SEE ALSO: WOMEN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 69: HYMNS ======================================================================== Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 For God gave man also a voice; and yet love-songs and indecent things are not on that account to be sung. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 433 We offer thanks for our creation by invocations and hymns. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 All our women are chaste. And the maidens at their work sing of divine things more nobly than that woman of yours. Tatian (A.D. 160 ) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. pg.2 79 We cultivate our fields, praising. We sail the sea, singing hymns. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.533 A HYMN TO CHRIST THE SAVIOR. Composed by Clement of Alexandria: I. Bridle of colts untamed, Over our wills presiding; Wing of unwandering birds, Our flight securely guiding. Rudder of youth unbending, Firm against adverse shock; Shepherd, with wisdom tending Lambs of the royal flock: Your simple children bring In one, that they may sing In solemn lays Their hymns of praise With guileless lips to Christ their King. II. King of saints, almighty Word Of the Father highest Lord; Wisdom's head and chief; Assuagement of all grief; Lord of all time and space, Jesus, Savior of our race; Shepherd, who dost us keep; Husbandman, who tills, Bit to restrain us, Rudder To guide us as You willest; Of the all-holy flock celestial wing; Fisher of men, whom You to life dost bring; From evil sea of sin, And from the billowy strife, Gathering pure fishes in Caught with sweet bait of life: Lead us, Shepherd of the sheep, Reason-gifted, holy One; King of youths, whom You dost keep, So that they pollution shun: Steps of Christ, celestial Way; Word eternal, Age unending; Life that never can decay; Fount of mercy, virtue-sending; Life august of those who raise Unto God their hymn of praise, Jesus Christ! III. Nourished by the milk of heaven, To our tender palates given; Milk of wisdom from the breast Of that bride of grace expressed; By a dewy spirit filled From fair Reason's breast distilled; Let us sucklings join to raise With pure lips our hymns of praise As our grateful offering, Clean and pure, to Christ our King. Let us, with hearts undefiled, Celebrate the mighty Child. We, Christ-born, the choir of peace; We, the people of His love, Let us sing, nor ever cease, To the God of peace above. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.295-296 The Spirit, distinguishing from such revelry the divine service, sings, "Praise Him with the sound of trumpet;" for with sound of trumpet He shall raise the dead. "Praise Him on the psaltery;" for the tongue is the psaltery of the Lord. "And praise Him on the lyre." By the lyre is meant the mouth struck by the Spirit, as it were by a plectrum. "Praise with the timbrel and the dance," refers to the Church meditating on the resurrection of the dead in the resounding skin. "Praise Him on the chords and organ." Our body He calls an organ, and its nerves are the strings, by which it has received harmonious tension, and when struck by the Spirit, it gives forth human voices. "Praise Him on the clashing cymbals." He calls the tongue the cymbal of the mouth, which resounds with the pulsation of the lips. Therefore He cried to humanity, "Let every breath praise the Lord," because He cares for every breathing thing which He has made. For man is truly a pacific instrument; while other instruments, if you investigate, you will find to be warlike, inflaming to lusts, or kindling up amours, or rousing wrath. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.248 And again he adds, "The LORD will take pleasure in His people." For temperate harmonies are to be admitted; but we are to banish as far as possible from our robust mind those liquid harmonies, which, through pernicious arts in the modulations of tones, train to effeminacy and scurrility. But grave and modest strains say farewell to the turbulence of drunkenness. Chromatic harmonies are therefore to be abandoned to immodest revels, and to florid and meretricious music. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.249 SEE ALSO: MUSIC, ASSEMBLY CHRISTIAN ======================================================================== CHAPTER 70: IGNATIUS ======================================================================== Remember me in your prayers, that I may attain unto God; and remember also the church which is in Syria, whereof I am not worthy to be called a member. For I have need of your united prayer and love in God, that it may be granted to the church which is in Syria to be refreshed by the dew of your fervent supplication. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.14 I exhort you all therefore to be obedient unto the word of righteousness and to practice all endurance, which also you saw with your own eyes in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus and Rufus, yea and in others also who came from among yourselves, as well as in Paul himself and the rest of the Apostles; being persuaded that all these ran not in vain but in faith and righteousness, and that they are in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not the present world, but Him that died for our sakes and was raised by God for us. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.13 You wrote to me, both you yourselves and Ignatius, asking that if any one should go to Syria he might carry thither the letters from you. And this I will do, if I get a fit opportunity, either I myself, or he whom I shall send to be ambassador on your behalf also. The letters of Ignatius which were sent to us by him, and others as many as we had by us, we send unto you, according as you gave charge; the which are subjoined to this letter; from which you will be able to gain great advantage. For they comprise faith and endurance and every kind of edification, which pertains unto our Lord. Moreover concerning Ignatius himself and those that were with him, if you have any sure tidings, certify us. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch. 13 As a certain man of ours said, when he was condemned to the wild beasts because of his testimony with respect to God: "I am the wheat of Christ, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.557 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 71: JAMES, THE LORD'S BROTHER ======================================================================== James, the Lord’s brother, succeeds to the government of the Church, in conjunction with the apostles. He has been universally called the Just, from the days of the Lord down to the present time. For many bore the name of James; but this one was holy from his mother’s womb. He drank no wine or other intoxicating liquor, nor did he eat flesh; no razor came upon his head; he did not anoint himself with oil, nor make use of the bath. He alone was permitted to enter the holy place: for he did not wear any woolen garment, but fine linen only. He alone, I say, was wont to go into the temple: and he used to be found kneeling on his knees, begging forgiveness for the people - so that the skin of his knees became horny like that of a camel’s, by reason of his constantly bending the knee in adoration to God, and begging forgiveness for the people. Therefore, in consequence of his pre-eminent justice, he was called the Just, and Oblias, which signifies in Greek Defense of the People, and Justice, in accordance with what the prophets declare concerning him. Now some persons belonging to the seven sects existing among the people, which have been before described by me in the Notes, asked him: “What is the door of Jesus?” And he replied that He was the Savior. In Consequence of this answer, some believed that Jesus is the Christ. But the sects before mentioned did not believe, either in a resurrection or in the coming of One to requite every man according to his works; but those who did believe, believed because of James. So, when many even of the ruling class believed, there was a commotion among the Jews, and scribes, and Pharisees, who said: “A little more, and we shall have all the people looking for Jesus as the Christ. They came, therefore, in a body to James, and said: “We entreat you, restrain the people: for they are gone astray in their opinions about Jesus, as if he were the Christ. We entreat you to persuade all who have come hither for the day of the Passover, concerning Jesus. For we all listen to your persuasion; since we, as well as all the people, bear testimony that you are just, and show partiality to none. Do you, therefore, persuade the people not to entertain erroneous opinions concerning Jesus: for all the people, and we also, listen to your persuasion. Take your stand, then, upon the summit of the temple, that from that elevated spot you may be clearly seen, and your words may be plainly audible to all the people. For, in order to attend the Passover, all the tribes have congregated hither, and some of the Gentiles also.” The aforesaid scribes and Pharisees accordingly set James on the summit of the temple, and cried aloud to him, and said: “O just one, whom we are all bound to obey, forasmuch as the people is in error, and follow Jesus the crucified, do you tell us what is the door of Jesus, the crucified.” And he answered with a loud voice: “Why ask you me concerning Jesus the Son of man? He Himself sits in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven.” And, when many were fully convinced by these words, and offered praise for the testimony of James, and said, “Hosanna to the son of David,” then again the said Pharisees and scribes said to one another, “We have not done well in procuring this testimony to Jesus. But let us go up and throw him down, that they may be afraid, and not believe him.” And they cried aloud, and said: “Oh! oh! the just man himself is in error.” Thus they fulfilled the Scripture written in Isaiah: “Let us away with the just man, because he is troublesome to us: therefore shall they eat the fruit of their doings.” So they went up and threw down the just man, and said to one another: “Let us stone James the Just.” And they began to stone him: for he was not killed by the fall; but he turned, and kneeled down, and said: “I beseech You, Lord God our Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And, while they were thus stoning him to death, one of the priests, the sons of Rechab, the son of Rechabim, to whom testimony is born by Jeremiah the prophet, began to cry aloud, saying: “Cease, what do you? The just man is praying for us.” But one among them, one of the fullers, took the staff with which he was accustomed to wring out the garments he dyed, and hurled it at the head of the just man. And so he suffered martyrdom; and they buried him on the spot, and the pillar erected to his memory still remains, close by the temple. This man was a true witness to both Jews and Greeks that Jesus is the Christ. And shortly after Vespasian besieged Judaea, taking them captive. Hegesippus (A.D. 170) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.8 pg. 762-763 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 72: JESUS ======================================================================== I. Early Christian's view of Jesus II. Titles of Jesus III. Physical appearance of Jesus I. Early Christian's view of Jesus (Top) In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Romans 2:16 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom 2 Tim. 4:1 the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. 2 Thess. 1:7-10 Brethren, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ, as of God, as of the Judge of quick and dead. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.1 Let us fear the Lord Jesus [Christ], whose blood was given for us… the fear of Him is good and great and saves all them that walk therein in a pure mind with holiness. For He is the searcher out of the intents and desires; whose breath is in us, and when He lists, He shall take it away. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 There is one only physician, of flesh and of spirit, generate and ingenerate, God in man, true Life in death, Son of Mary and Son of God, first passible and then impassible, Jesus Christ our Lord. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 Be you deaf therefore, when any man speaks to you apart from Jesus Christ, who was of the race of David, who was the Son of Mary, who was truly born and ate and drank, was truly persecuted under Pontius Pilate, was truly crucified and died in the sight of those in heaven and those on earth and those under the earth; who moreover was truly raised from the dead, His Father having raised Him, who in the like fashion will so raise us also who believe on Him - His Father, I say, will raise us - in Christ Jesus, apart from whom we have not true life. Ignatius: to the Trallians (A.D. 35-105) ch.9 For with what reason should we believe of a crucified man that He is the first-born of the unbegotten God, and Himself will pass judgment on the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him published before He came and was born as man, and unless we saw that things had happened accordingly. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.180 I have frequently remarked that this very Christ is the Judge of all the living and the dead. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.258 Sometimes He upbraids, and sometimes He threatens. Some men He mourns over, others He addresses with the voice of song, just as a good physician treats some of his patients with cataplasms, some with rubbing, some with fomentations; in one case cuts open with the lancet, in another cauterizes, in another amputates, in order if possible to cure the patient's diseased part or member. The Savior has many tones of voice, and many methods for the salvation of men; by threatening He admonishes, by upbraiding He converts, by bewailing He pities… Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.173 With all His power, therefore, the Instructor of humanity, the Divine Word, using all the resources of wisdom, devotes Himself to the saving of the children, admonishing, upbraiding, blaming, chiding, reproving, threatening, healing, promising, favoring; and as it were, by many reins, curbing the irrational impulses of humanity… In fine, the system He pursues to inspire fear is the source of salvation. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.228,230 Because God once decreed from the beginning what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He Himself is the Judge appointed by the Father on account of His assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged by the word that He had declared, He says: “Think you that I will judge you at the last day? Nay, but the word,” says He, “which I have spoken unto you, that shall judge you in the last day.” Victorinus (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 345 II. Titles of Jesus (Top) "Who He is that is called at one time the Angel of great counsel, and a Man by Ezekiel, and like the Son of man by Daniel, and a Child by Isaiah, and Christ and God to be worshipped by David, and Christ and a Stone by many, and Wisdom by Solomon, and Joseph and Judah and a Star by Moses, and the East by Zechariah, and the Suffering One and Jacob and Israel by Isaiah again, and a Rod, and Flower, and Corner-Stone, and Son of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.262 (Jesus) is called an Angel because He came to men (for by Him the commands of the Father have been proclaimed to men); is called Glory, because He appears in a vision sometimes that cannot be borne; is called a Man, and a human being, because He appears strayed in such forms as the Father pleases; and they call Him the Word, because He carries tidings from the Father to men. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.264 This is the name of Jesus; for this name, if you reckon up the numerical value of the letters, amounts to eight hundred and eighty-eight. Thus, then, you have a clear statement of their opinion as to the origin of the supercelestial Jesus. Wherefore, also, the alphabet of the Greeks contains eight Monads, eight Decads, and eight Hecatads, which present the number eight hundred and eighty-eight, that is, Jesus, who is formed of all numbers; and on this account He is called Alpha and Omega, indicating His origin from all. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 339 III. Physical appearance of Jesus (Top) He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2 That Lord walked in humility and obscurity, with no definite home: for "the Son of man," said He, "has not where to lay His head;" unadorned in dress, for else He had not said, "Behold, they who are clad in soft raiment are in kings' houses:" in short, inglorious in countenance and aspect, just as Isaiah withal had fore-announced. If, also, He exercised no right of power even over His own followers, to whom He discharged menial ministry; if, in short, though conscious of His own kingdom, He shrank back from being made a king, He in the fullest manner gave His own an example for turning coldly from all the pride and garb, as well of dignity as of power. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 73 Nay, there is more than this: for even Christ, we shall find, has ordinary raiment; Paul, too, has his cloak. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 97-98 "Whence has this man this wisdom and these mighty works?" Thus spoke even they who despised His outward form. His body did not reach even to human beauty, to say nothing of heavenly glory. Had the prophets given us no information whatever concerning His ignoble appearance, His very sufferings and the very contumely He endured bespeak it all. The sufferings attested His human flesh, the contumely proved its abject condition. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 530 As John says these things to the multitude, and as the people watch in eager expectation of seeing some strange spectacle with their bodily eyes, and the devil is struck with amazement at such a testimony from John, lo, the Lord appears, plain, solitary, uncovered, without escort, having on Him the body of man like a garment, and hiding the dignity of the Divinity, that He may elude the snares of the dragon. And not only did He approach John as Lord without royal retinue; but even like a mere man, and one involved in sin, He bent His head to be baptized by John. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 235 SEE ALSO: CHRIST ======================================================================== CHAPTER 73: JUDAISM ======================================================================== I. Christian attitude toward Judaism II. How the Jews persecuted the Christians III. How the Jews rejected God I. Christian attitude toward Judaism (Top) Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Romans 11:20-21 Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 It is monstrous to talk of Jesus Christ and to practice Judaism. For Christianity did not believe in Judaism, but Judaism in Christianity, wherein every tongue believed and was gathered together unto God. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.10 But if any one propound Judaism unto you, hear him not: for it is better to hear Christianity from a man who is circumcised than Judaism from one uncircumcised. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 In the next place, I fancy that you are chiefly anxious to hear about their not practicing their religion in the same way as the Jews… For whereas the Greeks, by offering these things to senseless and deaf images, make an exhibition of stupidity, the Jews considering that they are presenting them to God, as if He were in need of them, ought in all reason to count it folly and not religious worship. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.3 That the Christians are right therefore in holding aloof from the common silliness and error of the Jews and from their excessive fussiness and pride, I consider that you have been sufficiently instructed; but as regards the mystery of their own religion, expect not that you canst be instructed by man. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 4 "But if some, through weak-mindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given by Moses, from which they expect some virtue, but which we believe were appointed by reason of the hardness of the people's hearts, along with their hope in this Christ, and [wish to perform] the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and piety, yet choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not inducing them either to be circumcised like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such ceremonies, then I hold that we ought to join ourselves to such, and associate with them in all things as kinsmen and brethren. But if, Trypho," I continued, "some of your race (the Jews), who say they believe in this Christ, compel those Gentiles who believe in this Christ to live in all respects according to the law given by Moses, or choose not to associate so intimately with them, I in like manner do not approve of them." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.218 II. How the Jews persecuted the Christians (Top) And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. Acts 5:41 Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned. 2 Corinthians 11:24-25 Doing good they (the Christians) are punished as evil-doers; being punished they rejoice, as if they were thereby quickened by life. War is waged against them as aliens by the Jews, and persecution is carried on against them by the Greeks, and yet those that hate them cannot tell the reason of their hostility. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.5 For other nations have not inflicted on us and on Christ this wrong to such an extent as you (the Jews) have, who in very deed are the authors of the wicked prejudice against the Just One, and us who hold by Him. For after that you had crucified Him, the only blameless and righteous Man,- through whose stripes those who approach the Father by Him are healed,- when you knew that He had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, as the prophets foretold He would, you not only did not repent of the wickedness which you had committed, but at that time you selected and sent out from Jerusalem chosen men through all the land to tell that the godless heresy of the Christians had sprung up, and to publish those things which all they who knew us not speak against us. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.203 You (the Jews) have sent chosen and ordained men throughout all the world to proclaim that a godless and lawless heresy had sprung from one Jesus, a Galilaean deceiver, whom we crucified, but his disciples stole him by night from the tomb, where he was laid when unfastened from the cross, and now deceive men by asserting that he has risen from the dead and ascended to heaven. Moreover, you accuse Him of having taught those godless, lawless, and unholy doctrines which you mention to the condemnation of those who confess Him to be Christ, and a Teacher from and Son of God. Besides this, even when your city is captured, and your land ravaged, you do not repent, but dare to utter imprecations on Him and all who believe in Him. Yet we do not hate you or those who, by your means, have conceived such prejudices against us; but we pray that even now all of you may repent and obtain mercy from God, the compassionate and long-suffering Father of all. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.253 But the highest pitch of your wickedness lies in this, that you hate the Righteous One, and slew Him; and so treat those who have received from Him all that they are and have, and who are pious, righteous, and humane. Therefore 'woe unto their soul,' says the Lord, 'for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us take away the righteous, for he is distasteful to us.' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.268 III. How the Jews rejected God (Top) But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? And they cried out again, Crucify him. Mark 15:11-13 And this the Jews who possessed the books of the prophets did not understand, and therefore did not recognize Christ even when He came, but even hate us who say that He has come, and who prove that, as was predicted, He was crucified by them. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 And again, when He says, "They spoke with their lips, they wagged the head, saying, Let Him deliver Himself." And that all these things happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews, you can ascertain. For when He was crucified, they did shoot out the lip, and wagged their heads, saying, "Let Him who raised the dead save Himself." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 This same law you have despised, and His new holy covenant you have slighted; and now you neither receive it, nor repent of your evil deeds. 'For your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and the heart is hardened,' Jeremiah has cried; yet not even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.200 “Man sees the outward appearance, but God sees the heart.” The Lord Himself also forewarns and prepares us, saying, “And all the churches shall know that I am He which searches the reins and the heart.” He looks into the hidden and secret things, and considers those things which are concealed; nor can any one evade the eyes of the Lord, who says, “I am a God at hand, and not a God afar off. If a man be hidden in secret places, shall not I therefore see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth?” He sees the heart and mind of every person; and He will judge not alone of our deeds, but even of our words and thoughts. He looks into the minds, and the wills, and conceptions of all men, in the very lurking-places of the heart that is still closed up. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.445 SEE ALSO: LAW MOSAIC, COVENANT OLD AND NEW ======================================================================== CHAPTER 74: JOHN, THE APOSTLE ======================================================================== The writings of Papias in common circulation are five in number, and these are called an Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord. Irenaeus makes mention of these as the only works written by him, in the following words: "Now testimony is borne to these things in writing by Papias, an ancient man, who was a hearer of John, and a friend of Polycarp, in the fourth of his books; for five books were composed by him." Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment I With regard to the inspiration of the book (Revelation), we deem it superfluous to add another word; for the blessed Gregory Theologus and Cyril, and even men of still older date, Papias, Irenaeus, Methodius, and Hippolytus, bore entirely satisfactory testimony to it. Papias (A.D. 60-130) Fragment VIII Taking occasion from Papias of Hierapolis, the illustrious, a disciple of the apostle who leaned on the bosom of Christ, and Clemens, and Pantaenus the priest of [the Church] of the Alexandrians, and the wise Ammonius, the ancient and first expositors, who agreed with each other, who understood the work of the six days as referring to Christ and the whole Church. Papias (A.D. 60-130) Fragment IX And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place. Just as our Lord also said, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels, the children of the God of the resurrection.' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.139,240 And that you may be still more confident, that repenting thus truly there remains for you a sure hope of salvation, listen to a tale, which is not a tale but a narrative, handed down and committed to the custody of memory, about the Apostle John. For when, on the tyrant's death, he returned to Ephesus from the isle of Patmos, he went away, being invited, to the contiguous territories of the nations, here to appoint bishops, there to set in order whole Churches, there to ordain such as were marked out by the Spirit. Having come to one of the cities not far off (the name of which some give), and having put the brethren to rest in other matters, at last, looking to the bishop appointed, and seeing a youth, powerful in body, comely in appearance, and ardent, said, "This (youth) I commit to you in all earnestness, in the presence of the Church, and with Christ as witness." And on his accepting and promising all, he gave the same injunction and testimony. And he set out for Ephesus. And the presbyter taking home the youth committed to him, reared, kept, cherished, and finally baptized him. After this he relaxed his stricter care and guardianship, under the idea that the seal of the Lord he had set on him was a complete protection to him. But on his obtaining premature freedom, some youths of his age, idle, dissolute, and adepts in evil courses, corrupt him. First they entice him by many costly entertainments; then afterwards by night issuing forth for highway robbery, they take him along with them. Then they dared to execute together something greater. And he by degrees got accustomed; and from greatness of nature, when he had gone aside from the right path, and like a hard-mouthed and powerful horse, had taken the bit between his teeth, rushed with all the more force down into the depths. And having entirely despaired of salvation in God, he no longer meditated what was insignificant, but having perpetrated some great exploit, now that he was once lost, he made up his mind to a like fate with the rest. Taking them and forming a band of robbers, he was the prompt captain of the bandits, the fiercest, the bloodiest, the cruelest. Time passed, and some necessity having emerged, they send again for John. He, when he had settled the other matters on account of which he came, said, "Come now, O bishop, restore to us the deposit which I and the Savior committed to you in the face of the Church over which you preside, as witness." The other was at first confounded, thinking that it was a false charge about money which he did not get; and he could neither believe the allegation regarding what he had not, nor disbelieve John. But when he said "I demand the young man, and the soul of the brother," the old man, groaning deeply, and bursting into tears, said, "He is dead." "How and what kind of death?" "He is dead," he said, "to God. For he turned wicked and abandoned, and at last a robber; and now he has taken possession of the mountain in front of the church, along with a band like him." Rending, therefore, his clothes, and striking his head with great lamentation, the apostle said, "It was a fine guard of a brother's soul I left! But let a horse be brought me, and let some one be my guide on the way." He rode away, just as he was, straight from the church. On coming to the place, he is arrested by the robbers' outpost; neither fleeing nor entreating, but crying, "It was for this I came. Lead me to your captain;" who meanwhile was waiting, all armed as he was. But when he recognized John as he advanced, he turned, ashamed, to flight. The other followed with all his might, forgetting his age, crying, "Why, my son, dost you flee from me, your father, unarmed, old? Son, pity me. Fear not; you have still hope of life. I will give account to Christ for you. If need be, I will willingly endure your death, as the Lord did death for us. For you I will surrender my life. Stand, believe; Christ has sent me." And he, when he heard, first stood, looking down; then threw down his arms, then trembled and wept bitterly. And on the old man approaching, he embraced him, speaking for himself with lamentations as he could, and baptized a second time with tears, concealing only his right hand. The other pledging, and assuring him on oath that he would find forgiveness for himself from the Savior, beseeching and failing on his knees, and kissing his right hand itself, as now purified by repentance, led him back to the church. Then by supplicating with copious prayers, and striving along with him in continual fastings, and subduing his mind by various utterances of words, did not depart, as they say, till he restored him to the Church, presenting in him a great example of true repentance and a great token of regeneration, a trophy of the resurrection for which we hope; when at the end of the world, the angels, radiant with joy, hymning and opening the heavens, shall receive into the celestial abodes those who truly repent; and before all, the Savior Himself goes to meet them, welcoming them; holding forth the shadowless, ceaseless light; conducting them, to the Father's bosom, to eternal life, to the kingdom of heaven. Let one believe these things, and the disciples of God, and God, who is surety, the Prophecies, the Gospels, the Apostolic words; living in accordance with them, and lending his ears, and practicing the deeds, he shall at his decease see the end and demonstration of the truths taught. For he who in this world welcomes the angel of penitence will not repent at the time that he leaves the body, nor be ashamed when he sees the Savior approaching in His glory and with His army. He fears not the fire. But if one chooses to continue and to sin perpetually in pleasures, and values indulgence here above eternal life, and turns away from the Savior, who gives forgiveness; let him no more blame either God, or riches, or his having fallen, but his own soul, which voluntarily perishes. But to him who directs his eye to salvation and desires it, and asks with boldness and vehemence for its bestowal, the good Father who is in heaven will give the true purification and the changeless life. To whom, by His Son Jesus Christ, the Lord of the living and dead, and by the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, power, eternal majesty, both now and ever, from generation to generation, and from eternity to eternity. Amen. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.603-604 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 75: JUDGMENT OF GOD ======================================================================== And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. Acts 10:42 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. 2 Cor.5:10 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17 The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he has done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is before him. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 …(Jesus) by preparing a new people for Himself, might show, while He dwelt on earth, that He, when He has raised mankind, will also judge them. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.5 Remember the day of judgment, night and day. You shall seek out every day the faces of the saints, either by word examining them, and going to exhort them, and meditating how to save a soul by the word, or by your hands you shall labor for the redemption of your sins. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.19 And be you taught of God, inquiring diligently what the Lord asks from you; and do it that you may be safe in the day of judgment. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 21 Look you, brethren, lest His benefits, which are many, turn unto judgment to all of us, if we walk not worthily of Him, and do those things which are good and well-pleasing in His sight with concord. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 Since therefore all things are seen and heard, let us fear Him, and forsake the abominable lusts of evil works, that we may be shielded by His mercy from the coming judgments. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.28 Brethren, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ, as of God, as of the Judge of quick and dead. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.1 If then we entreat the Lord that He would forgive us, we also ought to forgive: for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and we must all stand at the judgment-seat of Christ, and each man must give an account of himself. Let us therefore so serve Him with fear and all reverence. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.6 But again the proconsul said to him, "I will cause you to be consumed by fire, seeing you despise the wild beasts, if you will not repent." But Polycarp said, "You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why do you wait? Bring forth what you will." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.11 For with what reason should we believe of a crucified man that He is the first-born of the unbegotten God, and Himself will pass judgment on the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him published before He came and was born as man, and unless we saw that things had happened accordingly. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.180 The God, therefore, who does benevolently cause His sun to rise upon all, and sends rain upon the just and unjust, shall judge those who, enjoying His equally distributed kindness, have led lives not corresponding to the dignity of His bounty; but who have spent their days in wantonness and luxury, in opposition to His benevolence, and have, moreover, even blasphemed Him who has conferred so great benefits upon them. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 459 The Maker presides over the things which He Himself has made, inspecting all things whatsoever which exist, or come into existence, Judge of both deeds and purposes. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.159 Forgiveness of past sins, then, God gives; but of future, each one gives to himself. And this is to repent, to condemn the past deeds, and beg oblivion of them from the Father, who only of all is able to undo what is done, by mercy proceeding from Him, and to blot out former sins by the dew of the Spirit. "For by the state in which I find you will I judge," Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.602 If, however, He speaks of His own coming, why does He compare it with the days of Noah and of Lot, which were dark and terrible…Why does He bid us "remember Lot's wife," who despised the Creator's command, and was punished for her contempt, if He does not come with judgment to avenge the infraction of His precepts? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.409 Because God once decreed from the beginning what shall be even to the end. Finally, as He Himself is the Judge appointed by the Father, on account of His assumption of humanity, wishing to show that men shall be judged by the word that He had declared, He says: “Think you that I will judge you at the last day? Nay, but the word,” says He, “which I have spoken unto you, that shall judge you in the last day.” Victorinus (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 345 For He is present with those who sin, for their condemnation, and He condemns the man who does not prefer Him to everything else. Hence we find it written: “The word which I have spoken unto you, the same shall judge you.” That is as if He should say: “I, the Word, who am always lifting up my voice in you, I, myself, will judge you, and no refuge or excuse will then be left you.” Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.332 SEE ALSO: FEAR OF GOD, SALVATION, ETERNAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 76: JUDGING OTHERS ======================================================================== Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. John 7:24 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 1 Cor. 6:2-4 Judge righteously, and do not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. You shall not be undecided whether or not it shall be. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.4 And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as you have it in the Gospel. But to anyone that acts amiss against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear anything from you until he repents. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.15 And the presbyters also must be compassionate, merciful towards all men, turning back the sheep that are gone astray… abstaining from all anger, respect of persons, unrighteous judgment… not quick to believe anything against any man, not hasty in judgment, knowing that we all are debtors of sin. If then we entreat the Lord that He would forgive us, we also ought to forgive: for we are before the eyes of our Lord and God, and we must all stand at the judgment-seat of Christ, and each man must give an account of himself. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.6 For though one should speak ten thousand words well, if there happen to be one little word displeasing to you, because not sufficiently intelligible or accurate, you make no account of the many good words, but lay hold of the little word, and are very zealous in setting it up as something impious and guilty; in order that, when you are judged with the very same judgment by God, you may have a much heavier account to render for your great audacities, whether evil actions, or bad interpretations which you obtain by falsifying the truth. For with what judgment you judge, it is righteous that you be judged withal. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.257 The Lord said: "Judge not, that you be not judged: for with what judgment you shall judge, you shall be judged." [The meaning is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sinners, nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the dispensations of God, inasmuch as He has Himself made provision that all things shall turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 504 A spiritual disciple of this sort truly receiving the Spirit of God, who was from the beginning, in all the dispensations of God, present with mankind, and announced things future, revealed things present, and narrated things past -[such a man] does indeed "judge all men, but is himself judged by no man." For he judges the Gentiles, "who serve the creature more than the Creator," and with a reprobate mind spend all their labor on vanity. And he also judges the Jews, who do not accept of the word of liberty. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 506 [The spiritual man] shall also judge the vain speeches of the perverse Gnostics, by showing that they are the disciples of Simon Magus. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 507 (A spiritual man) shall also judge false prophets, who, without having received the gift of prophecy from God, and not possessed of the fear of God, but either for the sake of vainglory, or with a view to some personal advantage, or acting in some other way under the influence of a wicked spirit, pretend to utter prophecies, while all the time they lie against God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 508 (A spiritual man) shall also judge those who give rise to schisms, who are destitute of the love of God, and who look to their own special advantage rather than to the unity of the Church; and who for trifling reasons, or any kind of reason which occurs to them, cut in pieces and divide the great and glorious body of Christ, and so far as in them lies, [positively] destroy it - men who prate of peace while they give rise to war, and do in truth strain out a gnat, but swallow a camel. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.508 And how shall one "judge" the apostate "angels," who has become himself an apostate from that forgetfulness of injuries, which is according to the Gospel? "Why do you not rather suffer wrong?" he says; "why are you not rather defrauded? Yea, you do wrong and defraud," Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.548 How then does man give these things? For I will give not only to friends, but to the friends of friends. And who is it that is the friend of God? Do not you judge who is worthy or who is unworthy. For it is possible you may be mistaken in your opinion. As in the uncertainty of ignorance it is better to do good to the undeserving for the sake of the deserving, than by guarding against those that are less good to fail to meet in with the good. For though sparing, and aiming at testing, who will receive meritoriously or not, it is possible for you to neglect some that are loved by God; the penalty for which is the punishment of eternal fire. But by offering to all in turn that need, you must of necessity by all means find some one of those who have power with God to save. "Judge not, then, that you be not judged. With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again; good measure, pressed and shaken, and running over, shall be given to you." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.600-601 "Judge not, lest you be judged," does He not require patience? For who will refrain from judging another, but he who shall be patient in not revenging himself? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 713 SEE ALSO: EVANGELISM, EXCOMMUNICATION, LAW SUITS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 77: KINGDOMS, TWO ======================================================================== Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. John 18:36 Thus also, says He, "Those who wish to behold Me, and lay hold of My kingdom, must through tribulation and suffering obtain Me." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.7 And you know, brethren, that the sojourn of this flesh in this world is mean and for a short time, but the promise of Christ is great and marvelous, even the rest of the kingdom that shall be and of life eternal. What then can we do to obtain them, but walk in holiness and righteousness, and consider these worldly things as alien to us, and not desire them? For when we desire to obtain these things we fall away from the righteous path. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.5 But the Lord said, No servant can serve two masters. If we desire to serve both God and mammon, it is unprofitable for us: For what advantage is it, if a man gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Now this age and the future are two enemies. The one speaks of adultery and defilement and avarice and deceit, but the other bids farewell to these. We cannot therefore be friends of the two, but must bid farewell to the one and hold companionship with the other. Let us consider that it is better to hate the things which are here, because they are mean and for a short time and perishable, and to love the things which are there, for they are good and imperishable. For, if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; but if otherwise, then nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we should disobey His commandments. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.6 But while (The Christians) dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the native customs in dress and food and the other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvelous, and confessedly contradicts expectation. They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.5 He said to me; "You know that you, who are the servants of God, are dwelling in a foreign land; for your city is far from this city. If then you know your city, in which you shall dwell, why do you here prepare fields and expensive displays and buildings and dwelling-chambers which are superfluous? He, therefore, that prepares these things for this city does not purpose to return to his own city. O foolish and double-minded and miserable man, do you not perceive that all these things are foreign, and are under the power of another? For the lord of this city shall say, "I do not wish you to dwell in my city; go forth from this city, for you dost not conform to my laws." You, therefore who have fields and dwellings and many other possessions, when you are cast out by him, what will you do with your field and your house and all the other things that you prepared for yourself? For the lord of this country said to you justly, "Either conform to my laws, or depart from my country." What then shall you do, who are under law in your own city? For the sake of your fields and the rest of your possessions will you altogether repudiate your law, and walk according to the law of this city? Take heed, lest it be inexpedient to repudiate the law; for if you should desire to return again to your city, you shall surely not be received [because you didst repudiate the law of the city], and shall be shut out from it. Take heed therefore; as dwelling in a strange land prepare nothing more for yourself but a competency which is sufficient for you, and make ready that, whensoever’s the master of this city may desire to cast you out for your opposition to his law, you may go forth from his city and depart into your own city and use your own law joyfully, free from all insult. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 And when you hear that we look for a kingdom, you suppose, without making any inquiry, that we speak of a human kingdom; whereas we speak of that which is with God, as appears also from the confession of their faith made by those who are charged with being Christians, though they know that death is the punishment awarded to him who so confesses. For if we looked for a human kingdom, we should also deny our Christ, that we might not be slain; and we should strive to escape detection, that we might obtain what we expect. But since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men cut us off; since also death is a debt which must at all events be paid. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 SEE ALSO: CHURCH AND STATE, WORLD SEPARATION OF, WAR, POLITICS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 78: LASTS DAYS ======================================================================== And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Matthew 24:11-12 Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Matthew 24:22 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away. Matthew 24:37-39 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. Luke 21:11-12 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring. Luke 21:25 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 Timothy 3:1 Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts. 2 Peter 3:3 We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becomes the sons of God. That the Black One may find no means of entrance. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it." Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, "Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years." Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. "And He rested on the seventh day." This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the-sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.15 Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come. But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time. For in the last days false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; for when lawlessness increases, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but those who endure in their faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead - yet not of all, but as it is said: "The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him." Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.16 These are the last times. Henceforth let us have reverence; let us fear the long-suffering of God, lest it turn into a judgment against us. For either let us fear the wrath which is to come or let us love the grace which now is - the one or the other; provided only that we be found in Christ Jesus unto true life. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 11 The fire and blood color shows that this world must perish by blood and fire; and the golden part are you that has escaped from this world. For as the gold is tested by the fire and is made useful, so you also [that dwell in it] are being tested in yourselves. You then that abide and pass through the fire will be purified by it. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 18 And therefore, when in the end the Church shall be suddenly caught up from this, it is said, "There shall be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, neither shall be." For this is the last contest of the righteous, in which, when they overcome they are crowned with incorruption. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 558 Nay, even in terms, and most clearly, the Scripture says, "Pray for kings, and rulers, and powers, that all may be peace with you." For when there is disturbance in the empire, if the commotion is felt by its other members, surely we too, though we are not thought to be given to disorder, are to be found in some place or other which the calamity affects…There is also another and a greater necessity for our offering prayer in behalf of the emperors, nay, for the complete stability of the empire, and for Roman interests in general. For we know that a mighty shock impending over the whole earth - in fact, the very end of all things threatening dreadful woes - is only retarded by the continued existence of the Roman empire. We have no desire, then, to be overtaken by these dire events; and in praying that their coming may be delayed, we are lending our aid to Rome's duration. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.43 Who has yet beheld Jesus descending from heaven in like manner as the apostles saw Him ascend, according to the appointment of the two angels? Up to the present moment they have not, tribe by tribe, smitten their breasts, looking on Him whom they pierced. No one has as yet fallen in with Elias; no one has as yet escaped from Antichrist; no one has as yet had to bewail the downfall of Babylon. And is there now anybody who has risen again. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 561 Perhaps some one may now ask when these things of which we have spoken are about to come to pass? …The subject itself declares that the fall and ruin of the world will shortly take place; except that while the city of Rome remains it appears that nothing of this kind is to be feared. But when that capital of the world shall have fallen, and shall have begun to be a street, which the Sibyls say shall come to pass, who can doubt that the end has now arrived to the affairs of men and the whole world? It is that city, that only, which still sustains all things; and the God of heaven is to be entreated by us and implored - if, indeed, His arrangements and decrees can be delayed - lest, sooner than we think for, that detestable tyrant should come who will undertake so great a deed, and dig out that eye, by the destruction of which the world itself is about to fall. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 220 Then the last anger of God shall come upon the nations, and shall utterly destroy them; and first He shall shake the earth most violently, and by its motion the mountains of Syria shall be rent, and the hills shall sink down precipitously, and the walls of all cities shall fall, and God shall cause the sun to stand, so that he set not for three days, and shall set it on fire; and excessive heat and great burning shall descend upon the hostile and impious people, and showers of brimstone, and hailstones, and drops of fire; and their spirits shall melt through the heat, and their bodies shall be bruised by the hail, and they shall smite one another with the sword. The mountains shall be filled with carcasses, and the plains shall be covered with bones; but the people of God during those three days shall be concealed under caves of the earth, until the anger of God against the nations and the last judgment shall be ended. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 220 SEE ALSO: ANTICHRIST, BEAST, MARK OF ======================================================================== CHAPTER 79: LAW, MOSAIC ======================================================================== I. Christians are not under the law II. Spiritual meaning of the law III. Purpose of the law I. Christians are not under the law (Top) For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14 The circumcision in which they trusted is abolished. For He declared that circumcision was not of the flesh, but they transgressed because an evil angel deluded them. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.9 For He has revealed to us by all the prophets that He needs neither sacrifices, nor burnt-offerings, nor oblations… He has therefore abolished these things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of necessity, might have a human oblation. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.2 To this end, therefore, brethren, He is long-suffering, foreseeing how the people whom He has prepared shall with guilelessness believe in His Beloved. For He revealed all these things to us beforehand, that we should not rush forward as rash acceptors of their laws. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.3 Be not seduced by strange doctrines nor by antiquated fables, which are profitless. For if even unto this day we live after the manner of Judaism, we avow that we have not received grace. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.8 But again their scruples concerning meats, and their superstition relating to the Sabbath and the vanity of their circumcision and the dissimulation of their fasting and new moons, I do [not] suppose you need to learn from me, are ridiculous and unworthy of any consideration. For of the things created by God for the use of man to receive some as created well, but to decline others as useless and superfluous, is not this impious? And again to lie against God, as if He forbad us to do any good thing on the Sabbath day, is not this profane? Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.4 And Trypho again inquired, "But if some one, knowing that this is so, after he recognizes that this man is Christ, and has believed in and obeys Him, wishes, however, to observe these [institutions], will he be saved?" I said, "In my opinion, Trypho, such an one will be saved, if he does not strive in every way to persuade other men - I mean those Gentiles who have been circumcised from error by Christ, to observe the same things as himself, telling them that they will not be saved unless they do so. This you did yourself at the commencement of the discourse, when you declared that I would not be saved unless I observe these institutions." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.218 II. Spiritual meaning of the law (Top) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30-31 He said to them, "These things said the Lord your God" (here I find a new commandment) "Sow not among thorns, but circumcise yourselves to the Lord." And why speaks He thus: "Circumcise the stubbornness of your heart, and harden not your neck?" And again: "Behold, said the Lord, all the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but this people are uncircumcised in heart." But you will say, "Yea, verily the people are circumcised for a seal." But so also is every Syrian and Arab, and all the priests of idols: are these then also within the bond of His covenant? Yea, the Egyptians also practice circumcision. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.9 Now, wherefore did Moses say, "You shall not eat the swine, nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is not possessed of scales?" Is there then not a command of God they should not eat [these things]? There is, but Moses spoke with a spiritual reference. For this reason he named the swine, as much as to say, "You shall not join yourself to men who resemble swine." For when they live in pleasure, they forget their Lord; but when they come to want, they acknowledge the Lord. And [in like manner] the swine, when it has eaten, does not recognize its master; but when hungry it cries out, and on receiving food is quiet again. "Neither shall you eat," says he "the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the kite, nor the raven." "You shall not join yourself," he means, "to such men as know not how to procure food for themselves by labor and sweat, but seize on that of others in their iniquity, and although wearing an aspect of simplicity, are on the watch to plunder others." So these birds, while they sit idle, inquire how they may devour the flesh of others, proving themselves pests [to all] by their wickedness. "And you shall not eat," he says, "the lamprey, or the polypus, or the cuttlefish." He means, "You shall not join yourself or be like to such men as are ungodly to the end, and are condemned to death." In like manner as those fishes, above accursed, float in the deep, not swimming [on the surface] like the rest, but make their abode in the mud which lies at the bottom. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.10 Moses then issued three doctrines concerning meats with a spiritual significance; but they received them according to fleshly desire, as if he had merely spoken of [literal] meats. David, however, comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines… But Moses says still further, "You shall eat every animal that is cloven-footed and ruminant." What does he mean? [The ruminant animal denotes him] who, on receiving food, recognizes Him that nourishes him, and being satisfied by Him, is visibly made glad. Well spoke [Moses], having respect to the commandment. What, then, does he mean? That we ought to join ourselves to those that fear the Lord, those who meditate in their heart on the commandment which they have received, those who both utter the judgments of the Lord and observe them, those who know that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate upon the word of the Lord. But what means the cloven-footed? That the righteous man also walks in this world, yet looks forward to the holy state [to come]. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 10 The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it." Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. ... "And He rested on the seventh day." This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.15 "And the offering of fine flour, sirs," I said, "which was prescribed to be presented on behalf of those purified from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, the celebration of which our Lord Jesus Christ prescribed, in remembrance of the suffering which He endured on behalf of those who are purified in soul from all iniquity, in order that we may at the same time thank God for having created the world." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.215 Moreover, the prescription that twelve bells be attached to the [robe] of the high priest, which hung down to the feet, was a symbol of the twelve apostles, who depend on the power of Christ, the eternal Priest; and through their voice it is that all the earth has been filled with the glory and grace of God and of His Christ. Wherefore David also says: 'Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.' And Isaiah speaks as if he were personating the apostles, when they say to Christ that they believe not in their own report, but in the power of Him who sent them. And so he says: 'Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?’ Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.215 And that expression which was committed to writing by Moses, and prophesied by the patriarch Jacob, namely, 'He shall wash His garments with wine, and His vesture with the blood of the grape,' signified that He would wash those that believe in Him with His own blood. For the Holy Spirit called those who receive remission of sins through Him, His garments; amongst whom He is always present in power, but will be manifestly present at His second coming. That the Scripture mentions the blood of the grape has been evidently designed, because Christ derives blood not from the seed of man, but from the power of God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.222 III. Purpose of the law (Top) Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane. 1 Timothy 1:9 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24 For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were commanded you - namely, on account of your transgressions and the hardness of your hearts. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.203 Moreover, you were commanded to abstain from certain kinds of food, in order that you might keep God before your eyes while you ate and drank, seeing that you were prone and very ready to depart from His knowledge, as Moses also affirms: 'The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.' And again: 'Jacob ate, and was satisfied, and waxed fat; and he who was beloved kicked: he waxed fat, he grew thick, he was enlarged, and he forsook God who had made him.' For it was told you by Moses in the book of Genesis, that God granted to Noah, being a just man, to eat of every animal, but not of flesh with the blood, which is dead. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.204 Moreover, that God commanded you to keep the Sabbath, and impose on you other precepts for a sign, as I have already said, on account of your unrighteousness, and that of your fathers - as He declares that for the sake of the nations, lest His name be profaned among them. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.205 And that you may learn that it was for the sins of your own nation, and for their idolatries and not because there was any necessity for such sacrifices, that they were likewise commanded. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.206 As, then, circumcision began with Abraham, and the Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings and feasts with Moses, and it has been proved they were given on account of the hardness of your people's heart, so it was necessary, in accordance with the Father's will, that they should have an end in Him who was born of a virgin. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.216 But if some, through weak-mindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given by Moses, from which they expect some virtue, but which we believe were appointed by reason of the hardness of the people's hearts… Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.218 Death… "reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression." But the law coming, which was given by Moses, and testifying of sin that it is a sinner… It laid, however, a weighty burden upon man, who had sin in himself, showing that he was liable to death. For as the law was spiritual, it merely made sin to stand out in relief, but did not destroy it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 448 And Paul likewise declares, "And so all Israel shall be saved;" but he has also said, that the law was our pedagogue [to bring us] to Christ Jesus. Let them not therefore ascribe to the law the unbelief of certain [among them]. For the law never hindered them from believing in the Son of God; nay, but it even exhorted them so to do, saying that men can be saved in no other way from the old wound of the serpent than by believing in Him who, in the likeness of sinful flesh, is lifted up from the earth upon the tree of martyrdom, and draws all things to Himself, and vivifies the dead. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.465 They [the Jews] were unwilling to be subject to the law of God, which prepares them for the coming of Christ. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 475 Now, that the law did beforehand teach mankind the necessity of following Christ, He does Himself make manifest, when He replied as follows to him who asked Him what he should do that he might inherit eternal life: "If you will enter into life, keep the commandments." But upon the other asking "Which?" again the Lord replies: "Do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself,"-setting as an ascending series (velut gradus) before those who wished to follow Him, the precepts of the law, as the entrance into life; and what He then said to one He said to all. But when the former said, "All these have I done" (and most likely he had not kept them, for in that case the Lord would not have said to him, "Keep the commandments"), the Lord, exposing his covetousness, said to him, "If you will be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and distribute to the poor; and come, follow me;" Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.476 For the law, since it was laid down for those in bondage, used to instruct the soul by means of those corporeal objects which were of an external nature, drawing it, as by a bond, to obey its commandments, that man might learn to serve God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 477 And not only so, but the Lord also showed that certain precepts were enacted for them by Moses, on account of their hardness [of heart], and because of their unwillingness to be obedient, when, on their saying to Him, "Why then did Moses command to give a writing of divorcement, and to send away a wife?” "He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he permitted these things to you; but from the beginning it was not so;" thus exculpating Moses as a faithful servant, but acknowledging one God, who from the beginning made male and female, and reproving them as hard-hearted and disobedient. And therefore it was that they received from Moses this law of divorcement, adapted to their hard nature. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.480 Why, then, did the Lord not form the covenant for the fathers? Because "the law was not established for righteous men." But the righteous fathers had the meaning of the Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, that is, they loved the God who made them, and did no injury to their neighbor. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.481 "But each has his own proper gift of God" - one in one way, another in another. But the apostles were perfected in all. You will find, then, if you choose, in their acts and writings, knowledge, life, preaching, righteousness, purity, prophecy. We must know, then, that if Paul is young in respect to time - having flourished immediately after the Lord's ascension - yet his writings depend on the Old Testament, breathing and speaking of them. For faith in Christ and the knowledge of the Gospel are the explanation and fulfillment of the law; and therefore it was said to the Hebrews, "If you believe not, neither shall you understand;" that is, unless you believe what is prophesied in the law, and oracularly delivered by the law, you will not understand the Old Testament, which He by His coming expounded. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.434 Now this, we affirm, was the function of the law as preparatory to the gospel. It was engaged in forming the faith of such as would learn, by gradual stages, for the perfect light of the Christian discipline. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.373 SEE ALSO: COVENANTS NEW AND OLD, JUDAISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 80: LAW SUITS ======================================================================== Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? …But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortionist, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Cor. 6:1-10 These we hold in contempt, though to the generality they appear matters of great importance; for we have learned, not only not to return blow for blow, nor to go to law with those who plunder and rob us, but to those who smite us on one side of the face to offer the other side also, and to those who take away our coat to give likewise our cloak. But, when we have surrendered our property, they plot against our very bodies and souls, pouring upon us wholesale charges of crimes of which we are guiltless even in thought, but which belong to these idle praters themselves, and to the whole tribe of those who are like them. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.129 But among us you will find uneducated persons, and artisans, and old women, who, if they are unable in words to prove the benefit of our doctrine, yet by their deeds exhibit the benefit arising from their persuasion of its truth: they do not rehearse speeches, but exhibit good works; when struck, they do not strike again; when robbed, they do not go to law; they give to those that ask of them, and love their neighbors as themselves. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.134 For in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the divine apostle says: "Dare any of you, having a matter against the other, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Know you not that the saints shall judge the world?" and so on. The section being very long, we shall exhibit the meaning of the apostle's utterance by emphasizing such of the apostolic expressions… For he does not merely instance the Gnostic as characterized by suffering wrong rather than doing wrong; but he teaches that he is not mindful of injuries, and does not allow him even to pray against the man who has done him wrong. For he knows that the Lord expressly commanded "to pray for enemies." To say, then, that the man who has been injured goes to law before the unrighteous, is nothing else than to say that he shows a wish to retaliate, and a desire to injure the second in return, which is also to do wrong likewise himself. And his saying, that he wishes "some to go to law before the saints," points out those who ask by prayer that those who have done wrong should suffer retaliation for their injustice, and intimates that the second are better than the former; but they are not yet obedient, if they do not, having become entirely free of resentment, pray even for their enemies. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.547-548 And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 99 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 81: LORD'S DAY ======================================================================== And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. Acts 20:7 Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come. 1 Cor. 16:2 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. Revelation 1:10 Further, He says to them, "Your new moons and your Sabbath I cannot endure." You perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day (Sunday) with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.15 If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.9 And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Savior on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.186 He, in fulfillment of the precept, according to the Gospel, keeps the Lord's day, when he abandons an evil disposition, and assumes that of (knowledge), glorifying the Lord's resurrection in himself. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.545 We count fasting or kneeling in worship on the Lord's day to be unlawful. We rejoice in the same privilege also from Easter to Whitsunday. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.94 It is a well-known fact that we pray towards the east, or because we make Sunday a day of festivity. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 123 We, however (just as we have received), only on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude; deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.689 SEE ALSO: ASSEMBLIES CHRISTIAN, SABBATH ======================================================================== CHAPTER 82: LOVE OF ENEMIES ======================================================================== Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asks thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:38-48 There are two ways, one of life and one of death, but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone strikes your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. If someone impresses you for one mile, go with him two. If someone takes your cloak, give him also your coat. If someone takes from you what is yours, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able. Give to every one who asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.1 Against their outbursts of wrath be you meek; against their proud words be you humble; against their railings set you your prayers; against their errors be you steadfast in the faith; against their fierceness be you gentle. And be not zealous to imitate them by requital. Let us show ourselves their brothers by our forbearance; but let us be zealous to be imitators of the Lord, vying with each other who shall suffer the greater wrong, who shall be defrauded, who shall be set at naught; that no herb of the devil be found in you: but in all purity and temperance abide you in Christ Jesus, with your flesh and with your spirit. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 We who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who hate us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts of Christ, to the end that they may become partakers with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from God the ruler of all. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 We who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not lie nor deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing Christ. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.176 And concerning our being patient of injuries, and ready to serve all, and free from anger, this is what He said: "To him that smites you on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that takes away your cloak or coat, forbid not. And whosoever shall be angry, is in danger of the fire. And every one that compels you to go with him a mile, follow him two. And let your good works shine before men, that they, seeing them, may glorify your Father which is in heaven." For we ought not to strive; neither has He desired us to be imitators of wicked men, but He has exhorted us to lead all men, by patience and gentleness, from shame and the love of evil. And this indeed is proved in the case of many who once were of your way of thinking, but have changed their violent and tyrannical disposition, being overcome either by the constancy which they have witnessed in their neighbors’ lives, or by the extraordinary forbearance they have observed in their fellow-travelers when defrauded, or by the honesty of those with whom they have transacted business. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.168 But they who were brought up licentiously in wicked customs, and are prejudiced in their own opinions, should kill and hate us; whom we not only do not hate, but, as is proved, pity and endeavour to lead to repentance. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.182 These we hold in contempt, though to the generality they appear matters of great importance; for we have learned, not only not to return blow for blow, nor to go to law with those who plunder and rob us, but to those who smite us on one side of the face to offer the other side also, and to those who take away our coat to give likewise our cloak. But, when we have surrendered our property, they plot against our very bodies and souls, pouring upon us wholesale charges of crimes of which we are guiltless even in thought, but which belong to these idle praters themselves, and to the whole tribe of those who are like them. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.129 If we are commanded, then, to love our enemies, as I have remarked above, whom have we to hate? If injured, we are forbidden to retaliate, lest we become as bad ourselves: who can suffer injury at our hands? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 45 For all love those who love them; it is peculiar to Christians alone to love those that hate them. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 105 SEE ALSO: WAR ======================================================================== CHAPTER 83: SEPTUAGINT; OR THE LXX ======================================================================== Compiler's note: The Septuagint (LXX) was the first Greek translation made of the Old Testament by seventy two translators in Alexandria, Egypt during the third century B.C.. The word “Septuagint” comes from the Latin word for seventy. The Septuagint was the bible that Jesus, the apostles and the early Christians read and quoted from. According to Justin Martyr, a believer of the second century, the unbelieving Jews were rejecting the Septuagint along with some of the books it contained because there were valuable prophecies of Christ to be found in them… By the end of the first century AD the Septuagint had become such a threat to the Jewish leaders that they decided only to use a Hebrew text known today as the Masoretic text. They went so far as to declare that the Septuagint be discarded. By the end of the second century the Jews had two new Greek translations made to replace the Septuagint which they declared a faulty translation. It wasn’t until the about year 400 AD that the Roman Catholic church, under Bishop Damisis, authorized a man named Jerome to make a Latin translation which became known as the Latin Vulgate. Everyone thought that Jerome would translate the Bible from the Septuagint. To do his translation, Jerome traveled to Bethlehem where he was influenced by the Jews. He was eventually persuaded by the Jews to use the Masoretic text for his Latin translation instead of the Septuagint. It is important to note however that the Latin Vulgate translated by Jerome did retain the works known as the Apocrypha in spite their being excluded by the unbelieving Jews. The reformers and those who followed in their footsteps continued to use the Masoretic text which Jerome’s Latin Vulgate came from for their new translations. This is why Jerome’s error is reinforced today in popular translations such as the King James and others. I. History and use of the Septuagint II. Differences between The Septuagint and the Old Testament texts used by the unbelieving Jews III. Quotes of the Septuagint from the early church writers I. History and use of the Septuagint (Top) When Ptolemy king of Egypt formed a library, and endeavored to collect the writings of all men, he heard also of these prophets, and sent to Herod, who was at that time king of the Jews, requesting that the books of the prophets be sent to him. And Herod the king did indeed send them, written, as they were, in the foresaid Hebrew language. And when their contents were found to be unintelligible to the Egyptians, he again sent and requested that men be commissioned to translate them into the Greek language. And when this was done, the books remained with the Egyptians, where they are until now. They are also in the possession of all Jews throughout the world. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.173 Ptolemy, king of Egypt, when he had built the library in Alexandria, and by gathering books from every quarter had filled it, then learnt that very ancient histories written in Hebrew happened to be carefully preserved; and wishing to know their contents, he sent for seventy wise men from Jerusalem, who were acquainted with both the Greek and Hebrew language, and appointed them to translate the books; and that in freedom from all disturbance they might the more speedily complete the translation, he ordered that there should be constructed, not in the city itself, but seven stadia off…and ordered those officers who were appointed to this duty, to afford them all attendance, but to prevent communication with one another, in order that the accuracy of the translation might be discernible even by their agreement. And when he ascertained that the seventy men had not only given the same meaning, but had employed the same words, and had failed in agreement with one another not even to the extent of one word; but had written the same things, and concerning the same things, he was struck with amazement, and believed that the translation had been written by divine power, and perceived that the men were worthy of all honor, as beloved of God; and with many gifts ordered them to return to their own country. And having, as was natural, marveled at the books, and concluded them to be divine, he consecrated them in that library. These things, you men of Greece, are no fable, nor do we narrate fictions; but we ourselves having been in Alexandria, saw the remains of the little cots at the Pharos still preserved, and having heard these things from the inhabitants, who had received them as part of their country's tradition, we now tell to you what you can also learn from others, and specially from those wise and esteemed men who have written of these things, Philo and Josephus. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 279 God, then, was made man, and the Lord did Himself save us, giving us the token of the Virgin. But not as some allege, among those now presuming to expound the Scripture, [thus:] "Behold, a young woman shall conceive, and bring forth a son," as Theodotion the Ephesian has interpreted, and Aquila of Pontus, both Jewish proselytes… For before the Romans possessed their kingdom, while as yet the Macedonians held Asia, Ptolemy the son of Lagus, being anxious to adorn the library which he had founded in Alexandria, with a collection of the writings of all men, which were [works] of merit, made request to the people of Jerusalem, that they should have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language. And they - for at that time they were still subject to the Macedonians - sent to Ptolemy seventy of their elders, who were thoroughly skilled in the Scriptures and in both the languages, to carry out what he had desired. But he, wishing to test them individually, and fearing lest they might perchance, by taking counsel together, conceal the truth in the Scriptures, by their interpretation, separated them from each other, and commanded them all to write the same translation. He did this with respect to all the books. But when they came together in the same place before Ptolemy, and each of them compared his own interpretation with that of every other, God was indeed glorified, and the Scriptures were acknowledged as truly divine. For all of them read out the common translation [which they had prepared] in the very same words and the very same names, from beginning to end, so that even the Gentiles present perceived that the Scriptures had been interpreted by the inspiration of God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 451-452 For the apostles, since they are of more ancient date than all these [heretics], agree with this aforesaid translation [of the Septuagint]; and the translation harmonizes with the tradition of the apostles. For Peter, and John, and Matthew, and Paul, and the rest successively, as well as their followers, did set forth all prophetical [announce-merits], just as the interpretation of the elders contains them. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 452 Wherefore also the Scriptures were translated into the language of the Greeks, in order that they might never be able to allege the excuse of ignorance, inasmuch as they are able to hear also what we have in our hands, if they only wish. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.308 It is said that the Scriptures both of the law and of the prophets were translated from the dialect of the Hebrews into the Greek language in the reign of Ptolemy the son of Lagos, or, according to others, of Ptolemy surnamed Philadelphus… For the Macedonians being still in possession of Asia, and the king being ambitious of adorning the library he had at Alexandria with all writings, desired the people of Jerusalem to translate the prophecies they possessed into the Greek dialect. And they being the subjects of the Macedonians, selected from those of highest character among them seventy elders, versed in the Scriptures, and skilled in the Greek dialect, and sent them to him with the divine books. And each having severally translated each prophetic book, and all the translations being compared together, they agreed both in meaning and expression. For it was the counsel of God carried out for the benefit of Grecian ears. It was not alien to the inspiration of God, who gave the prophecy, also to produce the translation, and make it as it were Greek prophecy. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.334 But that the understanding of their books might not be wanting, this also the Jews supplied to Ptolemy; for they gave him seventy-two interpreters…The same account is given by Aristaeus. So the king left these works unlocked to all, in the Greek language. To this day, at the temple of Serapis, the libraries of Ptolemy are to be seen, with the identical Hebrew originals in them. The Jews, too, read them publicly. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 32 II. Differences between The Septuagint and the Old Testament texts used by the unbelieving Jews (Top) Have you ever noticed when you compare the passages in the New Testament where Jesus or the apostles quote from the Old Testament, you find in many places that it differs from the way our Old Testament reads? That’s because they were quoting from a different Old Testament text than the one our English bibles were translated from. When we read our Old Testament we are not reading the exact words Christ was reading when he read his. Following the example of Jesus and the apostles the early Christians as well read and quoted from the Septuagint. For the most part their quotes match exactly the way the Septuagint reads. The following New Testament verses prove that their writers were using the Septuagint rather than our Old Testament. Matthew 3:3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.’” vs… Isaiah 40:3 (KJV) The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Stephen was “full of faith and power…” and “…Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke, and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council… (Then we read Steven’s discourse where he goes through the whole Old Testament wherein he quotes in Acts 7:14 - Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. vs… Genesis 46:27 (KJV) And the sons of Joseph who were born to him in Egypt were two persons. All the persons of the house of Jacob who went to Egypt were seventy. Exodus 1:5 (KJV) All those who were descendants of Jacob were seventy persons… Hebrews 10:5-6 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure.” vs… Psalm 40:6 (KJV) Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require .. Also explore: Romans 15:12/Isaiah 11:10, Gal3:13/Deut21:23, Heb13:6/Psalm118:6, James4:6/Proverbs 3:34, IPeter2:22/Is53:9, IPeter4:18/ Proverbs 11:31 {Important note: The following quote by Justin Martyr in his discussion with an unbelieving Jew shows a fundamental difference between two different texts being used at the time. That is, the Septuagint, used by the Apostles and the early Christians, and the Masoretic Hebrew text, being used by the unbelieving Jews} But since you [the Jews] and your teachers venture to affirm that in the prophecy of Isaiah it is not said, 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive,' but, 'Behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son;' … I shall endeavor to [discuss shortly this point in opposition to you, and to show that reference is made to Him who is acknowledged by us as Christ (pg.216)…And I, resuming the discourse where I had left off at a previous stage, when proving that He was born of a virgin, and that His birth of a virgin had been predicted by Isaiah, quoted again the same prophecy. .. And Isaiah said, Hear then, O house of David; Is it no small thing for you to contend with men? And how do you contend with the Lord? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel. (Isa.7:14) …And Trypho answered, "The Scripture has not, 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,' but, 'Behold, the young woman shall conceive, and bear a son,' and so on, as you quoted.' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.216 &231 "But I am far from putting reliance in your (Jewish) teachers, who refuse to admit that the interpretation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy [king] of the Egyptians is a correct one; and they attempt to frame another. And I wish you to observe, that they have altogether taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy elders who were with Ptolemy, and by which this very man who was crucified is proved to have been set forth expressly as God, and man, and as being crucified, and as dying; but since I am aware that this is denied by all of your nation, I do not address myself to these points, but I proceed to carry on my discussions by means of those passages which are still admitted by you. For you assent to those which I have brought before your attention, except that you contradict the statement, 'Behold, the virgin shall conceive,' and say it ought to be read, 'Behold, the young woman shall conceive.' And I promised to prove that the prophecy referred, not, as you were taught, to Hezekiah, but to this Christ of mine: and now I shall go to the proof." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.234 Here Trypho (an unbelieving Jew) remarked, "We ask you first of all to tell us some of the Scriptures which you allege have been completely cancelled." And I said, "I shall do as you please. From the statements, then, which Esdras made in reference to the law of the Passover, they have taken away the following: 'And Esdras said to the people, This Passover is our Savior and our refuge. And if you have understood, and your heart has taken it in, that we shall humble Him on a standard, and thereafter hope in Him, then this place shall not be forsaken for ever, says the God of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, and will not listen to His declaration, you shall be a laughing-stock to the nations.' And from the sayings of Jeremiah they have cut out the following: 'I [was] like a lamb that is brought to the slaughter: they devised a device against me, saying, Come, let us lay on wood on His bread, and let us blot Him out from the land of the living; and His name shall no more be remembered.' And since this passage from the sayings of Jeremiah is still written in some copies [of the Scriptures] in the synagogues of the Jews (for it is only a short time since they were cut out), and since from these words it is demonstrated that the Jews deliberated about the Christ Himself, to crucify and put Him to death, He Himself is both declared to be led as a sheep to the slaughter, as was predicted by Isaiah, and is here represented as a harmless lamb; but being in a difficulty about them, they give themselves over to blasphemy. And again, from the sayings of the same Jeremiah these have been cut out: 'The Lord God remembered His dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and He descended to preach to them His own salvation.' "And from the ninety-fifth (ninety-sixth) Psalm they have taken away this short saying of the words of David: 'From the wood.' For when the passage said, 'Tell you among the nations, the Lord has reigned from the wood,' they have left, 'Tell you among the nations, the Lord has reigned.' Now no one of your people has ever been said to have reigned as God and Lord among the nations, with the exception of Him only who was crucified, of whom also the Holy Spirit affirms in the same Psalm that He was raised again, and freed from [the grave], declaring that there is none like Him among the gods of the nations. Here Trypho remarked, "Whether [or not] the rulers of the people have erased any portion of the Scriptures, as you affirm, God knows; but it seems incredible." "Assuredly," said I, "it does seem incredible. For it is more horrible than the calf which they made, when satisfied with manna on the earth; or than the sacrifice of children to demons; or than the slaying of the prophets. But," said I, "you appear to me not to have heard the Scriptures which I said they had stolen away. For such as have been quoted are more than enough to prove the points in dispute, besides those which are retained by us, and shall yet be brought forward." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.234,235 But you in these matters venture to pervert the expositions which your elders that were with Ptolemy king of Egypt gave forth, since you assert that the Scripture is not so as they have expounded it… Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.241 I do not proceed to have a mere verbal controversy with you, as I have not attempted to establish proof about Christ from the passages of Scripture which are not admitted by you, which I quoted from the words of Jeremiah the prophet, and Esdras, and David; but from those which are even now admitted by you, which had your teachers comprehended, be well assured they would have deleted them, as they did those about the death of Isaiah, whom you sawed asunder with a wooden saw. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.259 And in many other of the sacred books I found sometimes more in our copies (i.e. the LXX) than in the Hebrew, sometimes less. I shall adduce a few examples, since it is impossible to give them all. Of the Book of Esther neither the prayer of Mardochaios nor that of Esther, both fitted to edify the reader, is found in the Hebrew. Neither are the letters; nor the one written to Amman about the rooting up of the Jewish nation, nor that of Mardochaios in the name of Artaxerxes delivering the nation from death. Then in Job, the words from "It is written, that he shall rise again with those whom the Lord raises," to the end, are not in the Hebrew, and so not in Aquila's edition; while they are found in the Septuagint and in Theodotion's version, agreeing with each other at least in sense. And many other places I found in Job where our copies have more than the Hebrew ones, sometimes a little more, and sometimes a great deal more… while I paid particular attention to the interpretation of the Seventy, lest I might be found to accredit any forgery to the Churches which are under heaven, and give an occasion to those who seek such a starting-point for gratifying their desire to slander the common brethren, and to bring some accusation against those who shine forth in our community. And I make it my endeavour not to be ignorant of their various readings, lest in my controversies with the Jews I should quote to them what is not found in their copies, and that I may make some use of what is found there, even although it should not be in our Scriptures. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 386-387 Now at this point we have an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur in the Septuagint. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 163 II. Early Christian quotes from the Septuagint (Top) My friends, I now refer to the Scriptures as the Seventy have interpreted them; for when I quoted them formerly as you possess them, I made proof of you [to ascertain] how you were disposed. For, mentioning the Scripture which says, 'Woe unto them! for they have devised evil counsel against themselves, saying (as the Seventy have translated, I continued): 'Let us take away the righteous, for he is distasteful to us;' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.268 Daniel the prophet, when Cyrus king of the Persians said to him, "Why do you not worship Bel?" did proclaim, saying, "Because I do not worship idols made with hands, but the living God, who established the heaven and the earth and has dominion over all flesh." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 467 For of this tree likewise it is that God hints, through Jeremiah, that you would say, "Come, let us put wood into his bread, and let us wear him away out of the land of the living; and his name shall no more be remembered." (Jer. 11:19) Of course on His body that "wood" was put; for so Christ has revealed, calling His body "bread," whose body the prophet in bygone days announced under the term "bread." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 166 For in the times of the Maccabees, too, they did bravely in fighting on the Sabbaths, and routed their foreign foes, and recalled the law of their fathers to the primitive style of life by fighting on the Sabbaths. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.156 Who is this but Christ? "Come, say they, let us take away the righteous, because He is not for our turn, (and He is clean contrary to our doings)." (Wisdom 2:12) Premising, therefore, and likewise subjoining the fact that Christ suffered, He foretold that His just ones should suffer equally with Him - both the apostles and all the faithful in succession. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 340 ALSO SEE DEUTEROCANONICAL BOOKS, PSEUDEPIGRAPHA OLD TESTAMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 84: FALL OF MAN ======================================================================== And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. Genesis 3:7-8 For the scriptures state clearly how God from the beginning planted a tree [of knowledge and a tree] of life in the midst of Paradise, revealing life through knowledge; and because our first parents used it not genuinely they were made naked by the deceit of the serpent. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.12 For as it was not possible that the man who had once for all been conquered, and who had been destroyed through disobedience, could reform himself, and obtain the prize of victory; and as it was also impossible that he could attain to salvation who had fallen under the power of sin,the Son effected both these things, being the Word of God, descending from the Father, becoming incarnate, stooping low, even to death, and consummating the arranged plan of our salvation, upon whom [Paul], exhorting us unhesitatingly to believe, again says, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring down Christ; or who shall descend into the deep? that is, to liberate Christ again from the dead." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.446 But Eve was disobedient; for she did not obey when as yet she was a virgin. And even as she, having indeed a husband, Adam, but being nevertheless as yet a virgin (for in Paradise "they were both naked, and were not ashamed," inasmuch as they, having been created a short time previously, had no understanding of the procreation of children: for it was necessary that they should first come to adult age, and then multiply from that time onward), having become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 455 By means of the second man did He bind the strong man, and spoiled his goods, and abolished death, vivifying that man who had been in a state of death. For at the first Adam became a vessel in his (Satan's) possession, whom he did also hold under his power, that is, by bringing sin on him iniquitously, and under color of immortality entailing death upon him. For, while promising that they should be as gods, which was in no way possible for him to be, he wrought death in them: wherefore he who had led man captive, was justly captured in his turn by God; but man, who had been led captive, was loosed from the bonds of condemnation. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.456 For [Adam] showed his repentance by his conduct, through means of the girdle [which he used], covering himself with fig-leaves, while there were many other leaves, which would have irritated his body in a less degree. He, however, adopted a dress conformable to his disobedience, being awed by the fear of God; and resisting the erring, the lustful propensity of his flesh. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.456 Inasmuch as, he says, I have by disobedience lost that robe of sanctity which I had from the Spirit, I do now also acknowledge that I am deserving of a covering of this nature, which affords no gratification, but which gnaws have retained this clothing for ever, thus humbling himself, if God, who is merciful, had not clothed them with tunics of skins instead of fig-leaves. For this purpose, too, He interrogates them, that the blame might light upon the woman; and again, He interrogates her, that she might convey the blame to the serpent. For she related what had occurred. "The serpent," says she, "beguiled me, and I did eat." But He put no question to the serpent; for He knew that he had been the prime mover in the guilty deed; but He pronounced the curse upon him in the first instance, that it might fall upon man with a mitigated rebuke. For God detested him who had led man astray, but by degrees, and little by little, He showed compassion to him who had been beguiled. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 457 Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.457 In the first place, then, in the garden of God he disputed about God, as if God was not there, for he was ignorant of the greatness of God; and then, in the next place, after he had learned from the woman that God had said that they should die if they tasted the aforesaid tree, opening his mouth, he uttered the third falsehood, "You shall not die by death." But that God was true, and the serpent a liar, was proved by the result, death having passed upon them who had eaten. For along with the fruit they did also fall under the power of death, because they did eat in disobedience; and disobedience to God entails death. Wherefore, as they became forfeit to death, from that [moment] they were handed over to it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.551 For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the expression, "till it," no other kind of labor is implied than the observance of God's command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.104 And God showed great kindness to man in this, that He did not suffer him to remain in sin for ever; but, as it were, by a kind of banishment, cast him out of Paradise, in order that, having by punishment expiated, within an appointed time, the sin, and having been disciplined, he should afterwards be restored. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.104 SEE ALSO: ADAM, SATAN, ATONEMENT, FREE WILL ======================================================================== CHAPTER 85: BEAST, DESCRIPTION AND MARK OF THE ======================================================================== And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. Revelation 11:7 The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings.” In like manner Daniel says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great horns." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Let no one imagine that he performs these wonders by divine power, but by the working of magic. And we must not be surprised if, since the demons and apostate spirits are at his service, he through their means performs wonders, by which he leads the inhabitants of the earth astray. John says further: "And he shall order an image of the beast to be made, and he shall give breath to the image, so that the image shall speak; and he shall cause those to be slain who will not adore it." He says also: "And he will cause a mark [to be put] in the forehead and in the right hand, that no one may be able to buy or sell, unless he who has the mark of the name of the beast or the number of his name; and the number is six hundred and sixty-six," that is, six times a hundred, six times ten, and six units. [He gives this] as a summing up of the whole of that apostasy which has taken place during six thousand years. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 557 And there is therefore in this beast, when he comes, a recapitulation made of all sorts of iniquity and of every deceit, in order that all apostate power, flowing into and being shut up in him, may be sent into the furnace of fire. Fittingly, therefore, shall his name possess the number six hundred and sixty-six, since he sums up in his own person all the commixture of wickedness which took place previous to the deluge, due to the apostasy of the angels. For Noah was six hundred years old when the deluge came upon the earth, sweeping away the rebellious world, for the sake of that most infamous generation which lived in the times of Noah. And [Antichrist] also sums up every error of devised idols since the flood, together with the slaying of the prophets and the cutting off of the just. For that image which was set up by Nebuchadnezzar had indeed a height of sixty cubits, while the breadth was six cubits; on account of which Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, when they did not worship it, were cast into a furnace of fire, pointing out prophetically, by what happened to them, the wrath against the righteous which shall arise towards the [time of the] end. For that image, taken as a whole, was a prefiguring of this man's coming, decreeing that he should undoubtedly himself alone be worshipped by all men. Thus, then, the six hundred years of Noah, in whose time the deluge occurred because of the apostasy, and the number of the cubits of the image for which these just men were sent into the fiery furnace, do indicate the number of the name of that man in whom is concentrated the whole apostasy of six thousand years…Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 558 Such, then, being the state of the case, and this number being found in all the most approved and ancient copies [of the Apocalypse], and those men who saw John face to face bearing their testimony [to it]; while reason also leads us to conclude that the number of the name of the beast, [if reckoned] according to the Greek mode of calculation by the [value of] the letters contained in it, will amount to six hundred and sixty and six. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.558 For if there are many names found possessing this number, it will be asked which among them shall the coming man bear. It is not through a want of names containing the number of that name that I say this, but on account of the fear of God, and zeal for the truth: for the name Evanthas (Euanqas) contains the required number, but I make no allegation regarding it. Then also Lateinos (Lateinos) has the number six hundred and sixty-six…Teitan too, is rather worthy of credit. For it has in itself the predicted number…We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this present time, it would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic vision. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.559 SEE ALSO: ANTICHRIST, LAST DAYS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 86: MARRIAGE ======================================================================== Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4 It becomes men and women too, when they marry, to unite themselves with the consent of the bishop, that the marriage may be after the Lord and not after concupiscence. Let all things be done to the honor of God. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 "If a wife, Sir," say I, "or, it may be, a husband fall asleep, and one of them marry, does the one that marries sin?" "He sins not," said he, "but if he remain single, he invests himself with more exceeding honor and with great glory before the Lord; yet even if he should marry, he sins not. Preserve purity and holiness therefore, and you shall live unto God.” Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 22 Therefore, having the hope of eternal life, we despise the things of this life, even to the pleasures of the soul, each of us reckoning her his wife whom he has married according to the laws laid down by us, and that only for the purpose of having children. For as the husbandman throwing the seed into the ground awaits the harvest, not sowing more upon it, so to us the procreation of children is the measure of our indulgence in appetite. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.146 And they say that by the words "it is better to marry than to burn" the apostle means this: "Do not cast your soul into the fire, so that you have to endure night and day and go in fear lest you should fall from continence. For a soul which has to concentrate upon endurance has lost hope." In his Ethics, Isidore says in these very words: "Abstain, then, from a quarrelsome woman lest you are distracted from the grace of God. But when you have rejected the fire of the seed, then pray with an undisturbed conscience. And when your prayer of thanksgiving," he says, "descends to a prayer of request, and your request is not that in future you may do right, but that you may do no wrong, then marry. But perhaps a man is too young or poor or suffers from weak health, and has not the will to marry as the apostle's saying suggests. Such a man should not separate himself from his brother Christian. He should say, I have come into the sanctuary, I can suffer nothing. And if he has a presentiment that he may fall, he may say, Brother, lay your hand on me lest I sin, and he will receive help both spiritually and physically. Let him only wish to accomplish what is right and he will achieve his object. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.1 Our view is that we welcome as blessed the state of abstinence from marriage in those to whom this has been granted by God. We admire monogamy and the high standing of single marriage, holding that we ought to share suffering with another and "bear one another's burdens," lest anyone who thinks he stands securely should himself fall. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 1 For we are children not of desire but of will. A man who marries for the sake of begetting children must practice continence so that it is not desire he feels for his wife, whom he ought to love, and that he may beget children with a chaste and controlled will. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.7 If by agreement marriage relations are suspended for a time to give opportunity for prayer, this teaches continence. He adds the words "by agreement" lest anyone should dissolve his marriage, and the words "for a time" lest a married man, brought to continence by force, should then fall into sin; for if he spares his own wife he may fall into desire for another woman. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 12 And again when the apostle says, "It is good for a man not to touch a woman; but because of the risk of immorality let man have his own wife," he explains it, as it were, by the further words "lest Satan tempt you." In the phrase "because of continence" he speaks not to those who chastely use marriage for procreation alone, but to those who were desiring to beyond procreation, lest the adversary should raise a storm and arouse desire for alien pleasures. But perhaps because Satan is zealously hostile to those who live rightly and contends against them, and wishes to bring them over to his own side, he aims to give them occasions for falling by making it difficult for to be continent. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 15 And for the married he goes on to say, "My elect shall not labor in vain nor bear children to be accursed; for they are a seed blessed by the Lord." For him who begets children and brings them up and educates them in the Lord, just as for him who begets children by means of the true teaching, a reward is laid up, as also for the elect seed. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.15 Assuredly also, when (the apostle) rules that marriage should be "only in the Lord," that no Christian should intermarry with a heathen, he maintains a law of the Creator, who everywhere prohibits marriage with strangers. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.443-444 SEE ALSO: DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE, ADULTERY, POLYGAMY, CELIBACY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 87: MARTYRS, MARTYRDOM ======================================================================== I. Descriptions of martyrs (Top) Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10 Felícia, martyred with her seven sons, Roma 104 d.C. I rejoiced with you greatly in our Lord Jesus Christ, for that you received the followers of the true Love and escorted them on their way, as befitted you - those men confined by chains which are the diadems of them that be truly chosen of God and our Lord... Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.1 We have written to you, brethren, as to what relates to the martyrs, and especially to the blessed Polycarp, who put an end to the persecution, having, as it were, set a seal upon it by his martyrdom. For almost all the events that happened previously [to this one], took place that the Lord might show us from above a martyrdom becoming the Gospel. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. All the martyrdoms, then, were blessed and noble which took place according to the will of God. For it becomes us who profess greater piety than others, to ascribe the authority over all things to God. And truly, who can fail to admire their nobleness of mind, and their patience, with that love towards their Lord which they displayed? Who, when they were so torn with scourges, that the frame of their bodies, even to the very inward veins and arteries, was laid open, still patiently endured, while even those that stood by pitied and bewailed them. But they reached such a pitch of magnanimity, that not one of them let a sigh or a groan escape them; thus proving to us all that those holy martyrs of Christ, at the very time when they suffered such torments, were absent from the body, or rather, that the Lord then stood by them, and communed with them. And, looking to the grace of Christ, they despised all the torments of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by [the suffering of] a single hour. For this reason the fire of their savage executioners appeared cool to them. For they kept before their view escape from that fire which is eternal and never shall be quenched, and looked forward with the eyes of their heart to those good things which are laid up for such as endure; things "which ear has not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man," but were revealed by the Lord to them, inasmuch as they were no longer men, but had already become angels. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.2 For, when the proconsul sought to persuade him (Germanicus), and urged him to take pity upon his age, he attracted the wild beast towards himself, and provoked it, being desirous to escape all the more quickly from an unrighteous and impious world. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.3 Now one named Quintus, a Phrygian, who was but lately come from Phrygia, when he saw the wild beasts, became afraid. This was the man who forced himself and some others to come forward voluntarily [for trial]. Him the proconsul, after many entreaties, persuaded to swear and to offer sacrifice. Wherefore, brethren, we do not commend those who give themselves up [to suffering], seeing the Gospel does not teach so to do. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.4 But when they were about also to fix him with nails, he said, "Leave me as I am; for He that gives me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails, to remain without moving in the pile." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.13 It is neither possible for us ever to forsake Christ, who suffered for the salvation of such as shall be saved throughout the whole world (the blameless one for sinners), nor to worship any other. For Him indeed, as being the Son of God, we adore; but the martyrs, as disciples and followers of the Lord, we worthily love on account of their extraordinary affection towards their own King and Master, of whom may we also be made companions and fellow-disciples! Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 17 I write to all the churches, and I bid all men know, that of my own free will I die for God, unless you should hinder me. I exhort you, be you not an unseasonable kindness to me. Let me be given to the wild beasts, for through them I can attain unto God. I am God's wheat, and I am ground by the teeth of wild beasts that I may be found pure bread [of Christ]. Rather entice the wild beasts, that they may become my sepulcher and may leave no part of my body behind, so that I may not, when I am fallen asleep, be burdensome to any one. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 May naught of things visible and things invisible envy me; that I may attain unto Jesus Christ. Come fire and cross and grapplings with wild beasts, [cuttings and manglings,] wrenching of bones, hacking of limbs, crushings of my whole body, come cruel tortures of the devil to assail me. Only be it mine to attain unto Jesus Christ. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 Wherefore the Church does in every place, because of that love which she cherishes towards God, send forward, throughout all time, a multitude of martyrs to the Father. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 511 He then avoids denying Christ through fear by reason of the command; nor does he sell his faith in the hope of the gifts prepared, but in love to the Lord he will most gladly depart from this life; perhaps giving thanks both to him who afforded the cause of his departure hence, and to him who laid the plot against him, for receiving an honorable reason which he himself furnished not, for showing what he is, to him by his patience, and to the Lord in love, by which even before his birth he was manifested to the Lord, who knew the martyr's choice. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.411 "We are indeed confident and deem it good rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord;'' in order, that is, that we may walk by sight rather than by faith, in realization rather than in hope. Observe how he here also ascribes to the excellence of martyrdom a contempt for the body. For no one, on becoming absent from the body, is at once a dweller in the presence of the Lord, except by the prerogative of martyrdom, he gains a lodging in Paradise, not in the lower regions. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.576 II. Exhortations to martyrs (Top) Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection. Hebrews 11:35 Since, O son, you desire martyrdom, hear. Be you such as Abel was, or such as Isaac himself, or Stephen, who chose for himself on the way the righteous life. You indeed desire that which is a matter suited for the blessed. First of all, overcome the evil one with your good acts by living well; and when He your King shall see you, be you secure. It is His own time, and we are living for both; so that if war fails, the martyrs shall go in peace. Many indeed err who say, With our blood we have overcome the wicked one; and if he remains, they are unwilling to overcome. He perishes by lying in wait, and the wicked thus feels it; but he that is lawful does not feel the punishments applied. With exclamation and with eagerness beat your breast with your fists. Even now, if you have conquered by good deeds, you are a martyr in Him. You, therefore, who seek to extol martyrdom with your word, in peace clothe yourself with good deeds, and be secure. Commodianus (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 215 III. Rewards of martyrdom (Top) If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us. 2 Timothy 2:12 "What did they suffer?" say I. "Listen," said she. "Stripes, imprisonments, great tribulations, crosses, wild beasts, for the Name's sake. Therefore to them belongs the right side of the Holiness - to them, and to all who shall suffer for the Name. But for the rest is the left side. Howbeit, to both, to them that sit on the right, and to them that sit on the left, are the same gifts, and the same promises, only they sit on the right and have a certain glory.” Hermas (A.D. 150) ch. 13 And if you also read these words in a hostile spirit, you can do no more, as I said before, than kill us; which indeed does no harm to us, but to you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, brings eternal punishment by fire. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.178 We call martyrdom perfection, not because the man comes to the end of his life as others, but because he has exhibited the perfect work of love. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.411 You see that martyrdom for love's sake is taught. And should you wish to be a martyr for the recompense of advantages, you shall hear again. "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." "But if we also suffer for righteousness' sake," says Peter, "blessed are we. Be not afraid of their fear, neither be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to him that asks a reason of the hope that is in you." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.417 SEE ALSO: PERSECUTION, DEATH, CHRISTIANITY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 88: MATERIALISM ======================================================================== Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 1 John 2:15-16 And the way of death is this: First of all it is evil and accursed: loving vanities, pursuing revenge, not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him Who made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God, turning away from him who is in want, afflicting him who is distressed, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners. Be delivered, children, from all these. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.5 Bear with me, brethren. Do not hinder me from living; do not desire my death. Bestow not on the world one who desires to be God's, neither allure him with material things. Suffer me to receive the pure light. When I am come thither, then shall I be a man. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 [For] I write to you in the midst of life, yet lusting after death. My lust has been crucified, and there is no fire of material longing in me, but only living water speaking in me, saying within me, Come to the Father. I have no delight in the food of corruption or in the delights of this life. I desire no longer to live after the manner of men. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 “These are they that have faith, but have also riches of this world. When tribulation comes, they deny their Lord by reason of their riches and their business affairs." And I answered and said unto her, "When then, lady, will they be useful for the building?" "When," she replied, "their wealth, which leads their souls astray, shall be cut away, then will they be useful for God. For just as the round stone, unless it be cut away, and lose some portion of itself, cannot become square, so also they that are rich in this world, unless their riches be cut away, cannot become useful to the Lord. Learn first from yourself. When you had riches, you were useless; but now you are useful and profitable unto life.” Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 14 (The angry temper) insinuates itself into the heart of the man, and for no cause whatever the man or the woman is embittered on account of worldly matters, either about meats, or some triviality, or about some friend, or about giving or receiving, or about follies of this kind. For all these things are foolish and vain and senseless and inexpedient for the servants of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 23 He said to me; "You know that you, who are the servants of God, are dwelling in a foreign land; for your city is far from this city. If then you know your city, in which you shall dwell, why do you here prepare fields and expensive displays and buildings and dwelling-chambers which are superfluous? He, therefore, that prepares these things for this city does not purpose to return to his own city. O foolish and double-minded and miserable man, do you not perceive that all these things are foreign, and are under the power of another?” Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 Therefore, instead of fields buy you souls that are in trouble, as each is able, and visit widows and orphans, and neglect them not; and spend your riches and all your displays, which you received from God, on fields and houses of this kind. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 The rich man has much wealth, but in the things of the Lord he is poor, being distracted about his riches, and his confession and intercession with the Lord is very scanty; and even that which he gives is small and weak and has not power above… Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.32 These are they that are mixed up in business and cleave not to the saints. Therefore the one half of them lives, but the other half is dead. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 42 Some of them are wealthy and others are entangled in many business affairs. The briars are the wealthy, and the thorns are they that are mixed up in various business affairs. These [then, that are mixed up in many and various business affairs,] cleave [not] to the servants of God, but go astray, being choked by their affairs, but the wealthy unwillingly cleave to the servants of God, fearing lest they may be asked for something by them. Such men therefore shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God. For as it is difficult to walk on briars with bare feet, so also it is difficult for such men to enter the kingdom of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.50 We who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to every one in need. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 And again, the Lord Himself exhibits Abraham as having said to the rich man, with reference to all those who were still alive: "If they do not obey Moses and the prophets, neither, if any one were to rise from the dead and go to them, will they believe him." Now, He has not merely related to us a story respecting a poor man and a rich one; but He has taught us, in the first place, that no one should lead a luxurious life, nor, living in worldly pleasures and perpetual feastings, should be the slave of his lusts, and forget God. "For there was," He says, "a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and delighted himself with splendid feasts." Of such persons, too, the Spirit has spoken by Isaiah: "They drink wine with [the accompaniment of] harps, and tablets, and psalteries, and flutes; but they regard not the works of God, neither do they consider the work of His hands." Lest, therefore, we should incur the same punishment as these men, the Lord reveals [to us] their end. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 464 Besides, He makes preparation for a self-sufficing mode of life, for simplicity, and for girding up our loins, and for free and unimpeded readiness of our journey; in order to the attainment of an eternity of beatitude, teaching each one of us to be his own storehouse. For He says, "Take no anxious thought for to-morrow," meaning that the man who has devoted himself to Christ ought to be sufficient to himself, and servant to himself, and moreover lead a life which provides for each day by itself. For it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and luxury craves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require no arms nor excessive preparation. The Word is their sustenance. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.235 "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these My brethren, you have done it to Me." But these (unbelievers), on the other hand, prefer ignorance to wisdom, turning their wealth into stone, that is, into pearls and Indian emeralds. And they squander and throw away their wealth on fading dyes, and bought slaves; like crammed fowls scraping the dung of life. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.279 Love of wealth displaces a man from the right mode of life, and induces him to cease from feeling shame at what is shameful… For what end, then, are such dainty dishes prepared, but to fill ones belly? The filthiness of gluttony is proved by the sewers into which our bellies discharge the refuse of our food. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.280 "Covetousness," the Spirit of the Lord has through the apostle pronounced "a root of all evils." Let us not interpret that covetousness as consisting merely in the concupiscence of what is another's: for even what seems ours is another's; for nothing is ours, since all things are God's, whose are we also ourselves. And so, if, when suffering from a loss, we feel impatiently, grieving for what is lost from what is not our own, we shall be detected as bordering on covetousness. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 711 But how can they follow Christ, who are held back by the chain of their wealth? Or how can they seek heaven, and climb to sublime and lofty heights, who are weighed down by earthly desires? They think that they possess, when they are rather possessed; as slaves of their profit, and not lords with respect to their own money, but rather the bond-slaves of their money. These times and these men are indicated by the apostle, when he says, “But they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and in perdition. For the root of all evil is the love of money, which, while some have coveted, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 449 SEE ALSO: POVERTY AND PROSPERITY, OFFERINGS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 89: MEDICINE ======================================================================== As, then, for those of us who are diseased in body a physician is required, so also those who are diseased in soul require a pedagogue to cure our maladies. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.209 The physician is not evil to the sick man because he tells him of his fever, for the physician is not the cause of the fever, but only points out the fever; so neither is He, that reproves, ill-disposed towards him who is diseased in soul. For He does not put the transgressions on him, but only shows the sins which are there; in order to turn him away from similar practices... So that from these things it is clear that the Lord, going the round of all the methods of curative treatment, calls humanity to salvation. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.231-232 "Use a little wine," says the apostle to Timothy, who drank water, "for your stomach's sake;" most properly applying its aid as a strengthening tonic suitable to a sickly body… and specifying "a little," lest the remedy should, on account of its quantity, unobserved, create the necessity of other treatment. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.242 I therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are fond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible from wine, shunning it as they would the danger of fire. It is proper, therefore, that boys and girls should keep as much as possible away from this medicine. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.243 Ointment is to be employed as a medicine and help in order to bring up the strength when enfeebled, and against colds and flu. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.255 And as the physician ministers health to those who co-operate with him in order to health, so also God ministers eternal salvation to those who co-operate for the attainment of knowledge and good conduct; and since what the commandments command are in our own power, along with the performance of them, the promise is accomplished. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.536 What would be said, if, when you thought the doctor necessary, you were to find fault with his instruments, because they cut, or cauterize, or amputate, or tighten; whereas there could be no doctor of any value without his professional tools? Censure, if you please, the practitioner who cuts badly, amputates clumsily, is rash in his surgery; and even blame his implements as rough tools of his are. Your conduct is equally unreasonable, when you allow indeed that God is a judge, but at the same time destroy those operations and dispositions by which He discharges His judicial functions. We are taught God by the prophets, and by Christ, not by the philosophers nor by Epicurus. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 309 For if, on account of those bad effects which we bring upon ourselves by eating and drinking, we deem it necessary for the health of the body to make use of some unpleasant and painful drug, sometimes even, if the nature of the disease demand, requiring the severe process of the amputating knife; and if the virulence of the disease shall transcend even these remedies, the evil has at last to be burned out by fire; how much more is it to be understood that God our Physician, desiring to remove the defects of our souls, which they had contracted from their different sins and crimes, should employ penal measures of this sort, and should apply even, in addition, the punishment of fire to those who have lost their soundness of mind! Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 295 I indeed, from no wish to flatter Christianity, but from a desire thoroughly to examine the facts, would say that even those who are engaged in the healing of numbers of sick persons, do not attain their object - the cure of the body - without divine help. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.407 But in seeking recovery from disease, a man must either follow the ordinary and simple method, and have recourse to medical art; or if he would go beyond the common methods adopted by men, he must rise to the higher and better way of seeking the blessing of Him who is God over all, through piety and prayers. Origen (A.D. 248) f. vol.4 pg. 662 “As many as I love,” said the Lord, “I rebuke and chasten.” And thus also it behooves the Lord’s priest not to mislead by deceiving concessions, but to provide with salutary remedies. He is an unskillful physician who handles the swelling edges of wounds with a tender hand, and, by retaining the poison shut up in the deep recesses of the body, increases it. The wound, must be opened, and cut, and healed by the stronger remedy of cutting out the corrupting parts. The sick man may cry out, may vociferate, and may complain, in impatience of the pain; but he will afterwards give thanks when he has felt that he is cured. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.441 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 90: MILLENNIUM ======================================================================== And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. Revelation 20:4 Amongst these (Papias) says that there will be a millennium after the resurrection from the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be established on this earth. Papias (A.D. 60-130) frag. VII For Isaiah spoke thus concerning this space of a thousand years: 'For there shall be the new heaven and the new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, or come into their heart… And there shall be no more there a person of immature years, or an old man who shall not fulfill his days. For the young man shall be an hundred years old; but the sinner who dies an hundred years old, he shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and shall themselves inhabit them; and they shall plant vines, and shall themselves eat the produce of them, and drink the wine. They shall not build, and others inhabit; they shall not plant, and others eat. For according to the days of the tree of life shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound. Mine elect shall not toil fruitlessly, or beget children to be cursed; for they shall be a seed righteous and blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them.’ Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.239 And it shall come to pass, that before they call I will hear; while they are still speaking, I shall say, What is it? Then shall the wolves and the lambs feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent [shall eat] earth as bread. They shall not hurt or maltreat each other on the holy mountain, saith the Lord.' Now we have understood that the expression used among these words, 'According to the days of the tree [of life] shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound' obscurely predicts a thousand years. For as Adam was told that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have perceived, moreover, that the expression, 'The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,' is connected with this subject. And further, there was a certain man with us, whose name was John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied, by a revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem; and that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal resurrection and judgment of all men would likewise take place. Just as our Lord also said, 'They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal to the angels, the children of the God of the resurrection.' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.139,240 After its thousand years are over, within which period is completed the resurrection of the saints, who rise sooner or later according to their deserts there will ensue the destruction of the world and the conflagration of all things at the judgment: we shall then be changed in a moment into the substance of angels, even by the investiture of an incorruptible nature, and so be removed to that kingdom in heaven. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.343 SEE ALSO: LAST DAYS, RESURRECTION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 91: MIRACLES ======================================================================== God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will? Hebrews 2:4 Moreover, those also will be thus confuted who belong to Simon and Carpocrates, and if there be any others who are said to perform miracles - who do not perform what they do either through the power of God, or in connection with the truth, nor for the well-being of men, but for the sake of destroying and misleading mankind, by means of magical deceptions, and with universal deceit, thus entailing greater harm than good on those who believe them, with respect to the point on which they lead them astray. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.407 And so far are they from being able to raise the dead, as the Lord raised them, and the apostles did by means of prayer, and as has been frequently done in the brotherhood on account of some necessity - the entire Church in that particular locality entreating [the boon] with much fasting and prayer, the spirit of the dead man has returned, and he has been bestowed in answer to the prayers of the saints. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 407 What nobler than to tread under foot the gods of the nations, to exorcise evil spirits, to perform cures, to seek divine revealings, to live to God? These are the pleasures, these the spectacles that befit Christian men - holy, everlasting, free. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.91 They will, besides, add a good deal respecting the high authority of each doctor of heresy, how that these mightily strengthened belief in their own doctrine; how that they raised the dead, restored the sick, foretold the future, that so they might deservedly be regarded as apostles. As if this caution were not also in the written record: that many should come who were to work even the greatest miracles, in defense of the deceit of their corrupt preaching. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 264-265 He declared that many would come and "show great signs and wonders," so as to turn aside the very elect, and yet for all that were not to be received, He showed how rash was belief in signs and wonders, which were so very easy of accomplishment by even false christs. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 322 Moreover, the Holy Spirit gave signs of His presence at the beginning of Christ's ministry, and after His ascension He gave still more; but since that time these signs have diminished, although there are still traces of His presence in a few who have had their souls purified by the Gospel, and their actions regulated by its influence. "For the holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, and remove from thoughts that are without understanding." Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.614 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 92: MODESTY ======================================================================== In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array. 1 Timothy 2:9 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel. 1 Peter 3:3 And much more must we keep pure from shameful deeds: on the one hand, from exhibiting and exposing parts of the body which we ought not; and on the other, from beholding what is forbidden. For the modest son could not bear to look on the shameful exposure of the righteous man; and modesty covered what intoxication exposed - the spectacle of the transgression of ignorance. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.251 But if any necessity arises, commanding the presence of married women, let them be well clothed - without by raiment, within by modesty. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.252 For these superfluous and diaphanous materials are the proof of a weak mind, covering as they do the shame of the body with a slender veil. For luxurious clothing, which cannot conceal the shape of the body, is no more a covering. For such clothing, falling close to the body, takes its form more easily, and adhering as it were to the flesh, receives its shape, and marks out the woman's figure, so that the whole make of the body is visible to spectators, though not seeing the body itself. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.265 And again, "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." They must, as far as possible, correct their gestures, looks, steps, and speech. For they must not do as some, who, imitating the acting of comedy, and practicing the mincing motions of dancers, conduct themselves in society as if on the stage, with voluptuous movements, and gliding steps, and affected voices, casting languishing glances round, tricked out with the bait of pleasure. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.287 Let the woman observe this, further. Let her be entirely covered, unless she happen to be at home. For that style of dress is grave, and protects from being gazed at. And she will never fall, who puts before her eyes modesty, and her shawl; nor will she invite another to fall into sin by uncovering her face. For this is the wish of the Word, since it is becoming for her to pray veiled. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.290 I would counsel the married never to kiss their wives in the presence of their domestics. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.291 For since, by the introduction into an appropriation us of the Holy Spirit, we are all "the temple of God," modesty is the sacristan and priestess of that temple, who is to suffer nothing unclean or profane to be introduced (into it), for fear that the God who inhabits it should be offended, and quite forsake the polluted abode. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.18 For most women… have the audacity so to walk as if modesty consisted only in the (bare) integrity of the flesh, and in turning away from (actual) fornication…wearing in their gait the self-same appearance as the women of the nations, from whom the sense of true modesty is absent…How many a one, in short, is there who does not earnestly desire even to look pleasing to strangers? Who does not on that very account take care to have herself painted out, and denies that she has (ever) been an object of (carnal) appetite? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 18-19 Why therefore excite toward yourself that evil (passion)? Why invite (that) to which you profess yourself a stranger? …But why are we a (source of) danger to our neighbor? Why do we import concupiscence into our neighbor? I know not whether He allows impunity to him who has been the cause of perdition to some other. For that other, as soon as he has felt concupiscence after your beauty, and has mentally already committed (the deed) which his concupiscence pointed to, perishes; and you have been made the sword which destroys him: so that, albeit you be free from the (actual) crime, you are not free from the odium (attaching to it)… Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbors may perish? Where, then, is (the command), "You shall love your neighbor as yourself?" Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4pg. 19 Let a holy woman, if naturally beautiful, give none so great occasion (for carnal appetite). Certainly, if even she be so, she ought not to set off (her beauty), but even to obscure it…"You are bound to please your husbands only." But you will please them in proportion as you take no care to please others. Be you without carefulness, blessed (sisters): no wife is "ugly" to her own husband. She "pleased" him enough when she was selected (by him as his wife)… Every husband is the exactor of chastity; but beauty, a believing (husband) does not require, because we are not captivated by the same graces which the Gentiles think (to be) graces: an unbelieving one, on the other hand, even regards with suspicion…Why are you eager to please either one who is suspicious, or else one who desires it not? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 20 Let us only wish that we may be no cause for just blasphemy! But how much more provocative of blasphemy is it that you, who are called modesty's priestesses, should appear in public decked and painted out after the manner of the immodest? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 24 But continence and modesty consist not alone in purity of the flesh, but also in seemliness, as well as in modesty of dress and adornment; so that, according to the apostle, she who is unmarried may be holy both in body and in spirit. Paul instructs and teaches us, saying, “He that is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please God: but he who has contracted marriage cares for the things which are of this world, how he may please his wife. So both the virgin and the unmarried woman consider those things which are the Lord’s, that they may be holy both in body and spirit.” A virgin ought not only to be so, but also to be perceived and believed to be so: no one on seeing a virgin should be in any doubt as to whether she is one. Perfectness should show itself equal in all things; nor should the dress of the body discredit the good of the mind. Why should she walk out adorned? Why with dressed hair, as if she either had or sought for a husband? Rather let her dread to please if she is a virgin; and let her not invite her own risk, if she is keeping herself for better and divine things. They who have not a husband whom they profess that they please, should persevere, sound and pure not only in body, but also in spirit. For it is not right that a virgin should have her hair braided for the appearance of her beauty, or boast of her flesh and of its beauty, when she has no struggle greater than that against her flesh, and no contest more obstinate than that of conquering and subduing the body. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 431 Paul proclaims in a loud and lofty voice, “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” And yet a virgin in the Church glories concerning her fleshly appearance and the beauty of her body! Paul adds, and says, “For they that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh, with its faults and lusts.” And she who professes to have renounced the lusts and vices of the flesh, is found in the midst of those very things which she has renounced! Virgin, you are taken, you are exposed, you boast one thing and do another. You sprinkle yourself with the stains of carnal concupiscence, although you are a candidate of purity and modesty. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.431 You call yourself wealthy and rich; but Paul meets your riches, and with his own voice prescribes for the moderating of your dress and ornament within a just limit. “Let women,” said he, “adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broidered hair, nor gold, nor pearls, nor costly array, but as becomes women professing chastity, with a good conversation.” Also Peter consents to these same precepts, and says, “Let there be in the woman not the outward adorning of array, or gold, or apparel, but the adorning of the heart.” …For the rest, if you dress your hair sumptuously, and walk so as to draw attention in public, and attract the eyes of youth upon you, and draw the sighs of young men after you, nourish the lust of concupiscence, and inflame the fuel of sighs, so that, although you yourself perish not, yet you cause others to perish, and offer yourself, as it were, a sword or poison to the spectators; you cannot be excused on the pretense that you are chaste and modest in mind. Your shameful dress and immodest ornament accuse you; nor can you be counted now among Christ’s maidens and virgins, since you live in such a manner as to make yourselves objects of desire. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.432 SEE ALSO: WOMEN, ADORNMENTS OUTWARD, CLOTHING, COSMETICS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 93: MUSIC ======================================================================== Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16 And your public assemblies I have come to hate. For there are excessive banqueting, and subtle flutes which provoke to lustful movements, and useless and luxurious anointings, and crowning with garlands. With such a mass of evils do you banish shame; and you fill your minds with them, and are carried away by intemperance, and indulge as a common practice in wicked and insane fornication. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 272 Of such persons, too, the Spirit has spoken by Isaiah: "They drink wine with [the accompaniment of] harps, and tablets, and psalteries, and flutes; but they regard not the works of God, neither do they consider the work of His hands." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.464 For if people occupy their time with pipes, and psalteries, and choirs, and dances, and Egyptian clapping of hands, and such disorderly frivolities, they become quite immodest and intractable, beat on cymbals and drums, and make a noise on instruments of delusion; for plainly such a banquet, as seems to me, is a theatre of drunkenness. For the apostle decrees that, "putting off the works of darkness, we should put on the armor of light, walking honestly as in the day, not spending our time in rioting and drunkenness, in chambering and wantonness." Let the pipe be resigned to the shepherds, and the flute to the superstitious who are engrossed in idolatry. For, in truth, such instruments are to be banished from the temperate banquet, being more suitable to beasts than men, and the more irrational portion of mankind. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.248 For we have heard of stags being charmed by the pipe, and seduced by music into the toils, when hunted by the huntsmen. And when mares are being covered, a tune is played on the flute - a nuptial song, as it were. And every improper sight and sound, to speak in a word, and every shameful sensation of licentiousness - which, in truth, is privation of sensation - must by all means be excluded; and we must be on our guard against whatever pleasure titillates eye and ear, and effeminates. For the various spells of the broken strains and plaintive numbers of the Carian muse corrupt men's morals, drawing to perturbation of mind, by the licentious and mischievous art of music. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.248 The Spirit, distinguishing from such revelry the divine service, sings, "Praise Him with the sound of trumpet;" for with sound of trumpet He shall raise the dead. "Praise Him on the psaltery;" for the tongue is the psaltery of the Lord. "And praise Him on the lyre." By the lyre is meant the mouth struck by the Spirit, as it were by a plectrum. "Praise with the timbrel and the dance," refers to the Church meditating on the resurrection of the dead in the resounding skin. "Praise Him on the chords and organ." Our body He calls an organ, and its nerves are the strings, by which it has received harmonious tension, and when struck by the Spirit, it gives forth human voices. "Praise Him on the clashing cymbals." He calls the tongue the cymbal of the mouth, which resounds with the pulsation of the lips. Therefore He cried to humanity, "Let every breath praise the Lord," because He cares for every breathing thing which He has made. For man is truly a pacific instrument; while other instruments, if you investigate, you will find to be warlike, inflaming to lusts, or kindling up amours, or rousing wrath. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.248 In their wars, therefore, the Etruscans use the trumpet, the Arcadians the pipe, the Sicilians the pectides, the Cretans the lyre, the Lacedaemonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the drum, and the Arabians the cymbal. The one instrument of peace, the Word alone by which we honor God, is what we employ. We no longer employ the ancient psaltery, and trumpet, and timbrel, and flute, which those expert in war and void of the fear of God were wont to make use of also in the choruses at their festive assemblies; that by such strains they might raise their dejected minds. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.248-249 And again he adds, "The LORD will take pleasure in His people." For temperate harmonies are to be admitted; but we are to banish as far as possible from our robust mind those liquid harmonies, which, through pernicious arts in the modulations of tones, train to effeminacy and scurrility. But grave and modest strains say farewell to the turbulence of drunkenness. Chromatic harmonies are therefore to be abandoned to immodest revels, and to florid and meretricious music. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.249 Music is then to be handled for the sake of the embellishment and composure of manners. For instance, at a banquet we pledge each other while the music is playing; soothing by song the eagerness of our desires, and glorifying God for the copious gift of human enjoyments, for His perpetual supply of the food necessary for the growth of the body and of the soul. But we must reject superfluous music, which enervates men's souls, and leads to variety, -- now mournful, and then licentious and voluptuous, and then frenzied and frantic. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.500-501 (In the theater) they resemble each other also in their pomp, having the same procession to the scene of their display from temples and altars, and that mournful profusion of incense and blood, with music of pipes and trumpets. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.84 Nay, if he also first strung the chord to give forth melody, I will not deny, when listening to David, that this invention has been in use with the saints, and has ministered to God. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.97 What trumpet of God is now heard unless it be in the entertainments of the heretics? Tertullian (A.D.198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.562 If you seek to live, being a believing man, as do the Gentiles, the joys of the world remove you from the grace of Christ. With an undisciplined mind you seek what you presume to be easily lawful, both your dear actors and their musical strains; nor do you care that the offspring of such an one should babble follies. While you think that you are enjoying life, you are improvidently erring. The Highest commands, and you shun His righteous precepts. Commodianus (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.214 For God gave man also a voice; and yet love-songs and indecent things are not on that account to be sung. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 433 “Be sober, and watch; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking any one to devour.” He goes about every one of us; and even as an enemy besieging those who are shut up (in a city), he examines the walls, and tries whether there is any part of the walls less firm and less trustworthy, by entrance through which he may penetrate to the inside. He presents to the eyes seductive forms and easy pleasures, that he may destroy chastity by the sight. He tempts the ears with harmonious music, that by the hearing of sweet sounds he may relax and enervate Christian vigor. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.491 Was it for this He sent souls, that beings of a sacred and august race should here practice singing and piping; that they should swell out their cheeks in blowing the flute; that they should take the lead in singing impure songs, and raising the loud din of the castanets, by which another crowd of souls should be led in their wantonness to abandon themselves to clumsy motions, to dance and sing, form rings of dancers, and finally, raising their haunches and hips, float along with a tremulous motion of the loins? Arnobius (A.D. 330) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.450 SEE ALSO: HYMNS, ENTERTAINMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 94: NEW BIRTH ======================================================================== Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:5-6 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. 1 John 2:29 Since, therefore, having renewed us by the remission of our sins, He has made us after another pattern, [it is His purpose] that we should possess the souls of children, inasmuch as He has created us anew by His Spirit. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.5 Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How? His word of faith; His calling of promise; the wisdom of the statutes; the commands of the doctrine; He himself prophesying in us; He himself dwelling in us; opening to us who were enslaved by death the doors of the temple, that is, the mouth; and by giving us repentance introduced us into the incorruptible temple. He then, who wishes to be saved, looks not to man, but to Him who dwells in him, and speaks in him, amazed at never having either heard him utter such words with his mouth, nor himself having ever desired to hear them. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.16 Noah, being found faithful, preached a second birth to the world through his ministry; and the Lord saved by him the animals which, with one accord, entered into the ark. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.9 (Written By Ignatius Facing Martyrdom) Him I seek, who died on our behalf; Him I desire, who rose again [for our sake]. The pangs of a new birth are upon me. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 Come then, clear your mind of all its preconceived notions and cast aside the custom that deceives you, and become a new man, as it were, from the beginning, as if you were about to hear a new message. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.2 As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, Except you be born again, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs, is manifest to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Isaiah the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: “Wash you, make you clean…” Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe; he who leads to the laver the person that is to be washed calling him by this name alone. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 And this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.183 “And dipped himself,” says [the Scripture], “seven times in Jordan.” It was not for nothing that Naaman of old, when suffering from leprosy, was purified upon his being baptized, but [it served] as an indication to us. For as we are lepers in sin, we are made clean, by means of the sacred water and the invocation of the Lord, from our old transgressions; being spiritually regenerated as new-born babes, even as the Lord has declared: “Except a man be born again through water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.574 Every soul, then, by reason of its birth, has its nature in Adam until it is born again in Christ; moreover, it is unclean all the while that it remains without this regeneration; and because unclean, it is actively sinful, and suffuses even the flesh (by reason of their conjunction) with its own shame. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 220 “And the multitude of them that believed acted with one heart and one soul; neither was there any distinction among them, nor did they esteem anything their own of the goods which belonged to them, but they had all things common.” This is truly to become sons of God by spiritual birth; this is to imitate by the heavenly law the equity of God the Father. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 483 “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” He said that the children of God would thus become perfect. He showed that they were thus completed, and taught that they were restored by a heavenly birth, if the patience of God our Father dwell in us - if the divine likeness, which Adam had lost by sin, be manifested and shine in our actions. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 485 SEE ALSO: BAPTISM, SALVATION, HOLY SPIRIT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 95: OATHS, SWEARING ======================================================================== But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Matthew 5:34-37 And with regard to our not swearing at all, and always speaking the truth, He commanded as follows: "Swear not at all; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these comes of evil." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.168 The man of proved character in such piety is far from being apt to lie and to swear. For an oath is a decisive affirmation, with the taking of the divine name. For how can he, that is once faithful, show himself unfaithful, so as to require an oath; and so that his life may not be a sure and decisive oath? He lives, and walks, and shows the trustworthiness of his affirmation in an unwavering and sure life and speech. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.537 But he does not even swear, preferring to make averment, in affirmation by "yea," and in denial by "nay." For it is an oath to swear, or to produce anything from the mind in the way of confirmation in the shape of an oath. It suffices, then, with him, to add to an affirmation or denial the expression "I say truly," for confirmation to those who do not perceive the certainty of his answer. For he ought, I think, to maintain a life calculated to inspire confidence towards those without, so that an oath may not even be asked; and towards himself and those with whom he associates? Good feeling, which is voluntary righteousness. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.537 Where, then, is the necessity for an oath to him who lives in accordance with the extreme of truth? He, then, that does not even swear will be far from perjuring himself… And so he swears not even when asked for his oath; nor does he ever deny, so as to speak falsehood, though he should die by tortures. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.537-538 In borrowing money from heathens under pledged securities, Christians give a guarantee under oath, and deny themselves to have done so… .Christ prescribes that there is to be no swearing. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 75 Of perjury I am silent since even swearing is not lawful. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 67 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 96: OFFERINGS ======================================================================== I. Exhortations to help the poor II. The recompense of helping the poor III. Making friend with unrighteous mammon IV. How offerings were made in the early church I. Exhortations to help the poor (Top) Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life:Tobit 12:8-9 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? 1 John 3:17 You shall not hesitate to give, nor murmur when you give. "Give to every one that asks you," and you shall know who is the good Recompenser of the reward. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.19 Give to every one who asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he who gives according to the commandment, for he is guiltless. Woe to him who receives; for if one receives who has need, he is guiltless; but he who receives not having need shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what. And coming into confinement, he shall be examined concerning the things which he has done, and he shall not escape from there until he pays back the last penny. And also concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 1 Be not a stretcher forth of the hands to receive and a drawer of them back to give. If you have anything, through your hands you shall give ransom for your sins. Do not hesitate to give, nor complain when you give; for you shall know who is the good repayer of the hire. Do not turn away from him who is in want; rather, share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal? Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.4 And the way of death is this: First of all it is evil and accursed: loving vanities, pursuing revenge, not pitying a poor man, not laboring for the afflicted, not knowing Him Who made them, murderers of children, destroyers of the handiwork of God, turning away from him who is in want, afflicting him who is distressed, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, utter sinners. Be delivered, children, from all these. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.5 Let not the strong neglect the weak; and let the weak respect the strong. Let the rich minister aid to the poor; and let the poor give thanks to God, because He has given him one through whom his wants may be supplied. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 38 Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, even as repentance from sin. Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving than both. And love covers a multitude of sins, but prayer out of a good conscience delivers from death. Blessed is every man that is found full of these. For almsgiving lifts off the burden of sin. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.16 Look you to the judgment that comes. You then that have more than enough, seek out them that are hungry, while the tower is still unfinished; for after the tower is finished, you will desire to do good, and will find no place for it. Look you therefore, you that exult in your wealth, lest they that are in want shall moan, and their moaning shall go up unto the Lord, and you with your abundance of good things be shut outside the door of the tower. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.16 Work that which is good, and of your labors, which God gives you, give to all that are in want freely, not questioning to whom you shall give, and to whom you shall not give. Give to all; for to all God desires that there should be given of His own bounties. They then that receive shall render an account to God why they received it, and to what end; for they that receive in distress shall not be judged, but they that receive by false pretence shall pay the penalty. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.20 He then that gives is guiltless; for as he received from the Lord the ministration to perform it, he has performed it in sincerity, by making no distinction to whom to give or not to give. This ministration then, when sincerely performed, becomes glorious in the sight of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.20 Therefore, instead of fields buy you souls that are in trouble, as each is able, and visit widows and orphans, and neglect them not; and spend your riches and all your displays, which you received from God, on fields and houses of this kind. For to this end the Master enriched you, that you might perform these ministrations for Him. It is much better to purchase fields [and possessions] and houses of this kind, which you will find in your own city, when you visit it. This lavish expenditure is beautiful and joyous, not bringing sadness or fear, but bringing joy. The expenditure of the heathen then practice not you; for it is not convenient for you the servants of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 I say moreover that every man ought to be rescued from misfortune; for he that has need, and suffers misfortune in his daily life, is in great torment and want. Whosoever therefore rescues from penury a life of this kind, wins great joy for himself. For he who is harassed by misfortune of this sort is afflicted and tortured with equal torment as one who is in chains. For many men on account of calamities of this kind, because they can bear them no longer, lay violent hands on themselves. He then who knows the calamity of a man of this kind and rescues him not, commits great sin, and becomes guilty of the man's blood. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.55 And that we should communicate to the needy, and do nothing for glory, He said, "Give to him that asks, and from him that would borrow turn not away; for if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what new thing do you? even the publicans do this. Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where robbers break through; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 For God has given to us, I know well, the liberty of use, but only so far as necessary; and He has determined that the use should be common. And it is monstrous for one to live in luxury, while many are in want. How much more glorious is it to do good to many, than to live sumptuously! How much wiser to spend money on human being, than on jewels and gold! Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.268 We, then, on our journey to the truth, must be unencumbered. "Carry not," said the Lord, "purse, nor money, nor shoes;" that is, possess not wealth, which is only treasured up in a purse; fill not your own stores, as if laying up produce in a bag, but communicate to those who have need. Do not trouble yourselves about horses and servants, who, as bearing burdens when the rich are travelling, are allegorically called shoes. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.281 He, too, while doing the most excellent things, wishes to elude the notice of men, persuading the Lord along with himself that he is living in accordance with the commandments, preferring these things from believing them to exist. "For where any one's mind is, there also is his treasure." He impoverishes himself, in order that he may never overlook a brother who has been brought into affliction, through the perfection that is in love, especially if he know that he will bear want himself easier than his brother. He considers, accordingly, the other's pain his own grief; and if, by contributing from his own indigence in order to do good, he suffer any hardship, he does not fret at this, but augments his beneficence still more. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.545 Spare not perils and toils, that you may purchase here the heavenly kingdom. Why do transparent stones and emeralds delight you so much, and a house that is fuel for fire, or a plaything of time, or the sport of the earthquake, or an occasion for a tyrant's outrage? Aspire to dwell in the heavens, and to reign with God. This kingdom a man imitating God will give you. By receiving a little here, there through all ages He will make you a dweller with Him. Ask that you may receive; strive; fear lest He disgrace you. For He is not commanded to receive, but you to give. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.600 How then does man give these things? For I will give not only to friends, but to the friends of friends. And who is it that is the friend of God? Do not you judge who is worthy or who is unworthy. For it is possible you may be mistaken in your opinion. As in the uncertainty of ignorance it is better to do good to the undeserving for the sake of the deserving, than by guarding against those that are less good to fail to meet in with the good. For though sparing, and aiming at testing, who will receive meritoriously or not, it is possible for you to neglect some that are loved by God; the penalty for which is the punishment of eternal fire. But by offering to all in turn that need, you must of necessity by all means find some one of those who have power with God to save. "Judge not, then, that you be not judged. With what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again; good measure, pressed and shaken, and running over, shall be given to you." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.600 If your brother should be weak—I speak of the poor man—do not empty-handed visit such an one as he lies ill. Do good under God; pay your obedience by your money. Thence he shall be restored; or if he should perish, let a poor man be refreshed, who has nothing wherewith to pay you, but the Founder and Author of the world on his behalf. Or if it should displease you to go to the poor man, always hateful, send money, and something whence he may recover himself. And, similarly, if your poor sister lies upon a sick-bed, let your matrons begin to bear her victuals. God Himself cries out, Break your bread to the needy. There is no need to visit with words, but with benefits. It is wicked that your brother should be sick through want of food. Satisfy him not with words. He needs meat and drink. Look upon such assuredly weakened, who are not able to act for themselves. Give to them at once. I pledge my word that fourfold shall be given you by God. Commodianus (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 217 III. Making friend with unrighteous mammon (Top) If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Luke 16:11 For in some cases there follows us a small, and in others a large amount of property, which we have acquired from the mammon of unrighteousness. For from what source do we derive the houses in which we dwell, the garments in which we are clothed, the vessels which we use, and everything else ministering to our every-day life, unless it be from those things which, when we were Gentiles, we acquired by avarice, or received them from our heathen parents, relations, or friends who unrighteous obtained them? Not to mention that even now we acquire such things when we are in the faith. For who is there that sells, and does not wish to make a profit from him who buys? Or who purchases anything, and does not wish to obtain good value from the seller? Or who is there that carries on a trade, and does not do so that he may obtain a livelihood thereby? Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 502-503 God dwells in those who act uprightly, as the Lord says: "Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that they, when you shall be put to flight, may receive you into eternal tabernacles." For whatsoever we acquired from unrighteousness when we were heathen, we are proved righteous, when we have become believers, by applying it to the Lord's advantage. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.504 But contrary to what is the case with the rest of men, collect for yourself an unarmed, an unwarlike, a bloodless, a passionless, a stainless host, pious old men, orphans dear to God, widows armed with meekness, men, adorned with love. Obtain with your money such guards, for body and for soul… All these warriors and guards are trusty. No one is idle, no one is useless. One can obtain your pardon from God, another comfort you when sick, another weep and groan in sympathy for you to the Lord of all, another teach some of the things useful for salvation, another admonish with confidence, another counsel with kindness. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.601 "And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness," that is to say, of money, even as the steward had done. Now we are all of us aware that money is the instigator of unrighteousness, and the lord of the whole world. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 403 Who fears not to lose, finds it not irksome to give. Else how will one, when he has two coats, give the one of them to the naked, unless he be a man likewise to offer to one who takes away his coat his cloak as well? How shall we fashion to us friends from mammon, if we love it so much as not to put up with its loss? We shall perish together with the lost mammon. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 712 He said: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” For what the Lord then called “habitations,” the apostle here calls “clothing.” And what He there calls “friends” “of unrighteousness,” the apostle here calls “houses” “dissolved.” As then, when the days of our present life shall fail, those good deeds of beneficence to which we have attained in this unrighteous life, and in this “world” which “lies in wickedness,” will receive our souls; so when this perishable life shall be dissolved, we shall have the habitation which is before the resurrection - that is, our souls shall he with God, until we shall receive the new house which is prepared for us, and which shall never fall. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.374 IV. How offerings were made in the early church (Top) Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. Acts 4:34-35 But concerning the apostles and prophets, act according to the decree of the Gospel... If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. … And every prophet who teaches the truth, but does not do what he teaches, is a false prophet. …But whoever says in the Spirit, Give me money, or something else, you shall not listen to him. But if he tells you to give for others' sake who are in need, let no one judge him. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 11 Now can a divine Spirit receive money and prophesy? It is not possible for a prophet of God to do this, but the spirit of such prophets is earthly. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.27 And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place…. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.186 And if they hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God commanded them. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.277 There is no buying and selling of any sort in the things of God. Though we have our treasure-chest, it is not made up of purchase-money, as of a religion that has its price. On the monthly day, if he likes, each puts in a small donation; but only if it be his pleasure, and only if he be able: for there is no compulsion; all is voluntary. These gifts are, as it were, piety's deposit fund. For they are not taken thence and spent on feasts, and drinking-bouts, and eating-houses, but to support and bury poor people, to supply the wants of boys and girls destitute of means and parents, and of old persons confined now to the house; such, too, as have suffered shipwreck; and if there happen to be any in the mines, or banished to the islands, or shut up in the prisons, for nothing but their fidelity to the cause of God's Church, they become the nurslings of their confession. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 46 If, then, any one in our time who has the bag of the Church speaks like Judas on behalf of the poor, but takes away what is put therein, let there be assigned to him the portion along with Judas who did these things; on account of which things eating like a gangrene into his soul, the devil cast it into his heart to betray the Savior. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.438-439 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 97: PARADISE ======================================================================== And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. Luke 16:22 As the presbyters say, then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shah enjoy the delights of Paradise, and others shall possess the splendor of the city; for everywhere the Savior will be seen, according as they shall be worthy who see Him. But that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundredfold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold; for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second class will dwell in Paradise, and the last will inhabit the city; and that on this account the Lord said, "In my Father's house are many mansions:" for all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place, even as His word says, that a share is given to all by the Father, according as each one is or shall be worthy. Papias (A.D. 60-130) frag. V For the scriptures state clearly how God from the beginning planted a tree [of knowledge and a tree] of life in the midst of Paradise, revealing life through knowledge; and because our first parents used it not genuinely they were made naked by the deceit of the serpent. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.12 Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.457 In paradise certainly, as the Scripture declares, "And God planted a garden [paradisum] eastward in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed." And then afterwards when [man] proved disobedient, he was cast out thence into this world. Wherefore also the elders who were disciples of the apostles tell us that those who were translated were transferred to that place (for paradise has been prepared for righteous men, such as have the Spirit; in which place also Paul the apostle, when he was caught up, heard words which are unspeakable as regards us in our present condition), and that there shall they who have been translated remain until the consummation [of all things], as a prelude to immortality. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 531 For man had been made a middle nature, neither wholly mortal, nor altogether immortal, but capable of either; so also the place, Paradise, was made in respect of beauty intermediate between earth and heaven. And by the expression, "till it," no other kind of labor is implied than the observance of God's command, lest, disobeying, he should destroy himself, as indeed he did destroy himself, by sin. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.104 SEE ALSO: DEAD, FALL OF MAN, ADAM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 98: PATRIOTISM ======================================================================== Wherefore we have no country on earth, that we may despise earthly possessions. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.281 But as for you, you are a foreigner in this world, a citizen of Jerusalem, the city above. Our citizenship, the apostle says, is in heaven. You have your own registers, your own calendar; you have nothing to do with the joys of the world; nay, you are called to the very opposite, for "the world shall rejoice, but you shall mourn." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 101 For how can a man be just who injures, who hates, who despoils, who puts to death? And they who strive to be serviceable to their country do all these things…Whoever, then, has gained for his country these goods - as they themselves call them - that is, who by the overthrow of cities and the destruction of nations has filled the treasury with money, has taken lands and enriched his country-men - he is extolled with praises to the heaven: in him there is said to be the greatest and perfect virtue. And this is the error not only of the people and the ignorant, but also of philosophers…Therefore, when they are speaking of the duties relating to warfare, all that discourse is accommodated neither to justice nor to true virtue, but to this life and to civil institutions. Lactantius (A.D. 303-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.168-169 (Lucilius, a Pagan writes) “It is a virtue to give that which is really due to honor… That is, we should consider the interests of our country first, those of our parents should come next and our own interests should be in the third and last place.”… (Christian Reply) “However, we will presently see how false these things are… It is a virtue to restrain anger to control desire, and to curb lust. For this is to flee from vice. …Also, if desire is restrained, no one will use violence by land or sea. Nor will anyone lean an army off and lay waste to the property of others. For what are the interests of our country but the hardships of another state or nation? To extend the boundaries that are violently taken from others, to increase the power of the state to improve revenues - all these things are not virtues, but the overthrowing of virtues. Lactantius (A.D. 303-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.168-169 SEE ALSO: WAR, LOVE OF ENEMIES, KINGDOMS TWO SEPARATE ======================================================================== CHAPTER 99: PERFECTION, CHRISTIAN ======================================================================== Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48 All the generations from Adam unto this day have passed away: but they that by God's grace were perfected in love dwell in the abode of the pious; and they shall be made manifest in the visitation of the kingdom of God. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.50 I do not command you, as though I were somewhat. For even though I am in bonds for the Name's sake, I am not yet perfected in Jesus Christ. [For] now am I beginning to be a disciple; and I speak to you as to my school-fellows. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 3 Though I am in chains for his sake I am the more afraid, because I am not yet perfected. But your prayer will make me perfect [unto God], that I may attain unto the inheritance wherein I have found mercy. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 We call martyrdom perfection, not because the man comes to the end of his life as others, but because he has exhibited the perfect work of love. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.411 And since the omnipotent God Himself "gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;" we are then to strive to reach manhood as befits the knowledge, and to be as perfect as we can while still abiding in the flesh, making it our study with perfect concord here to concur with the will of God, to the restoration of what is the truly perfect nobleness and relationship, to the fullness of Christ, that which perfectly depends on our perfection. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.433 For instance, on Abraham becoming a believer, it was reckoned to him for righteousness, he having advanced to the greater and more perfect degree of faith. For he who merely abstains from evil conduct is not just, unless he also attain besides beneficence and knowledge; and for this reason some things are to be abstained from, others are to be done. "By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left," the apostle says, the righteous man is sent on to the inheritance above - by some [arms] defended, by others putting forth his might. For the defense of his armor alone, and abstinence from sins, are not sufficient for perfection, unless he assume in addition the work of righteousness - activity in doing good. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.504 Conformably, therefore, there are various abodes, according to the worth of those who have believed. To the point Solomon says, "For there shall be given to him the choice grace of faith, and a more pleasant lot in the temple of the Lord." For the comparative shows that there are lower parts in the temple of God, which is the whole Church. And the superlative remains to be conceived, where the Lord is. These chosen abodes, which are three, are indicated by the numbers in the Gospel - the thirty, the sixty, the hundred. And the perfect inheritance belongs to those who attain to "a perfect man," according to the image of the Lord… But "it is enough for the disciple to become as the Master," said the Master. To the likeness of God, then, he that is introduced into adoption and the friendship of God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.506 "Be you perfect as your father, perfectly," by forgiving sins, and forgetting injuries, and living in the habit of passionlessness. For as we call a physician perfect, and a philosopher perfect… Ought we not then to be perfect, as the Father wills? For it is utterly impossible for any one to become perfect as God is. Now the Father wishes us to be perfect by living blamelessly, according to the obedience of the Gospel. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.549 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 100: PERSECUTION ======================================================================== If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. John 15:18-21 Persecution of the early Christians under emperors Diocletuian and Maximilian, A.D. 301 From Syria even unto Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only wax worse when they are kindly treated. Howbeit through their wrong doings I become more completely a disciple. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 And why then have I delivered myself over to death, unto fire, unto sword, unto wild beasts? But near to the sword, near to God; in company with wild beasts, in company with God. Only let it be in the name of Jesus Christ, so that we may suffer together with Him. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 "And from the eleventh mountain, where were trees full of fruit, decked with divers kinds of fruits, they that believed are such as these; they that suffered for the Name [of the Son of God], who also suffered readily with their whole heart, and yielded up their lives."… "Listen," said he; "all as many as ever suffered for the Name's sake are glorious in the sight of God, and the sins of all these were taken away, because they suffered for the name of the Son of God. Now hear why their fruits are various, and some surpassing others." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.52 But you that suffer for the Name's sake ought to glorify God, because God deemed you worthy that you should bear this name, and that all your sins should be healed. Reckon yourselves blessed therefore; yea, rather think that you have done a great work, if any of you shall suffer for God's sake. The Lord bestows life upon you, and you perceived it not; for your sins weighed you down, and if you had not suffered for the Name [of the Lord], you had died unto God by reason of your sins. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.52 And those among yourselves who are accused you do not punish before they are convicted; but in our case you receive the name as proof against us, and this although, so far as the name goes, you ought rather to punish our accusers. For we are accused of being Christians, and to hate what is excellent is unjust. Again, if any of the accused deny the name, and say that he is not a Christian, you acquit him, as having no evidence against him as a wrong-doer; but if any one acknowledge that he is a Christian, you punish him on account of this acknowledgment. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 And reckon you that it is for your sakes we have been saying these things; for it is in our power, when we are examined, to deny that we are Christians; but we would not live by telling a lie. For, impelled by the desire of the eternal and pure life, we seek the abode that is with God, the Father and Creator of all, and hasten to confess our faith, persuaded and convinced as we are that they who have proved to God by their works that they followed Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 And if you also read these words in a hostile spirit, you can do no more, as I said before, than kill us; which indeed does no harm to us, but to you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, brings eternal punishment by fire. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.178 For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged we must surely die; and there is nothing new, but all things continue the same in this administration of things; and if satiety overtakes those who enjoy even one year of these things, they ought to give heed to our doctrines, that they may live eternally free both from suffering and from want. But if they believe that there is nothing after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they become our benefactors when they set us free from sufferings and necessities of this life, and prove themselves to be wicked, and inhuman, and bigoted. For they kill us with no intention of delivering us, but cut us off that we may be deprived of life and pleasure. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.182 But if this idea take possession of some one that if we acknowledge God as our helper, we should not, as we say, be oppressed and persecuted by the wicked; this, too, I will solve…Wherefore God delays causing the confusion and destruction of the whole world, by which the wicked angels and demons and men shall cease to exist, because of the seed of the Christians, who know that they are the cause of preservation in nature. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 Now it is evident that no one can terrify or subdue us who have believed in Jesus over all the world. For it is plain that, though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but the more such things happen, the more do others and in larger numbers become faithful, and worshippers of God through the name of Jesus. For just as if one should cut away the fruit-bearing parts of a vine, it grows up again, and yields other branches flourishing and fruitful; even so the same thing happens with us. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.254 When, again, He says, "When they persecute you in this city, flee you to the other," He does not advise flight, as if persecution were an evil thing; nor does He command them by flight to avoid death, as if in dread of it, but wishes us neither to be the authors nor abettors of any evil to any one, either to ourselves or the persecutor and murderer. For He, in a way, bids us take care of ourselves. But he who disobeys is rash and foolhardy. If he who kills a man of God sins against God, he also who presents himself before the judgment-seat becomes guilty of his death. And such is also the case with him who does not avoid persecution, but out of daring presents himself for capture. Such a one, as far as in him lies, becomes an accomplice in the crime of the persecutor. And if he also uses provocation, he is wholly guilty, challenging the wild beast. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.423 But why are you not helped when persecuted? say they. What wrong is done us, as far as we are concerned, in being released by death to go to the Lord, and so undergoing a change of life, as if a change from one time of life to another? Did we think rightly, we should feel obliged to those who have afforded the means for speedy departure, if it is for love that we bear witness; and if not, we should appear to the multitude to be base men. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.423 When God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we suffer persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even in the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting in the protection of Him who said, "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." And truly He has overcome the world. Wherefore the world prevails only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the Father power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take courage. Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for our religion, let the enemy come against us, and we will say to them, "I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our Lord, which strengthens me." Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 666 SEE ALSO: MARTYRDOM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 101: PETER AND PAUL ======================================================================== And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach… Simon he surnamed Peter. Mark 3:14, 16 But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Acts 9:15-16 The Apostle Paul Decapitated A.D.69 Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the Church] have been persecuted and put to death. Let us set before our eyes the illustrious apostles. Peter, through unrighteous envy, endured not one or two, but numerous labors, and when he had at length suffered martyrdom, departed to the place of glory due to him. Owing to envy, Paul also obtained the reward of patient endurance, after being seven times thrown into captivity, compelled to flee, and stoned. After preaching both in the east and west, he gained the illustrious reputation due to his faith, having taught righteousness to the whole world, and come to the extreme limit of the west, and suffered martyrdom under the prefects. Thus was he removed from the world, and went into the holy place, having proved himself a striking example of patience. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.5 For neither am I (Polycarp), nor is any other like unto me, able to follow the wisdom of the blessed and glorious Paul, who when he came among you taught face to face with the men of that day the word which concerns truth carefully and surely; who also, when he was absent, wrote a letter unto you, into the which if you look diligently, you shall be able to be builded up unto the faith given to you. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.3 I exhort you all therefore to be obedient unto the word of righteousness and to practice all endurance, which also you saw with your own eyes in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus and Rufus, yea and in others also who came from among yourselves, as well as in Paul himself and the rest of the Apostles; being persuaded that all these ran not in vain but in faith and righteousness, and that they are in their due place in the presence of the Lord, with whom also they suffered. For they loved not the present world, but Him that died for our sakes and was raised by God for us. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch. 13 The Apostle Paul will show, saying: "Take also the Hellenic books, read the Sibyl, how it is shown that God is one, and how the future is indicated. And taking Hystaspes, read, and you will find much more luminously and distinctly the Son of God described, and how many kings shall draw up their forces against Christ, hating Him and those that bear His name, and His faithful ones, and His patience, and His coming." Then in one word he asks us, "Whose is the world, and all that is in the world? Are they not God's?" Wherefore Peter says, that the Lord said to the apostles: "If any one of Israel then, wishes to repent, and by my name to believe in God, his sins shall be forgiven him, after twelve years. Go forth into the world, that no one may say, We have not heard." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.490 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 102: PHARISEES ======================================================================== For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. Matthew 23:4 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Matthew 23:13-14 Then what is next said in the Psalm - 'For trouble is near, for there is none to help me. Many calves have compassed me; fat bulls have beset me round. They opened their mouth upon me as a ravening and roaring lion…' For on that night when some of your nation, who had been sent by the Pharisees and Scribes, and teachers, came upon Him from the Mount of Olives, those whom Scripture called butting and prematurely destructive calves surrounded Him. And the expression, 'Fat bulls have beset me round,' He spoke beforehand of those who acted similarly to the calves, when He was led before your teachers. And the Scripture described them as bulls, since we know that bulls are authors of calves' existence. As therefore the bulls are the begetters of the calves, so your teachers were the cause why their children went out to the Mount of Olives to take Him and bring Him to them. And the expression, 'For there is none to help,' is also indicative of what took place. For there was not even a single man to assist Him as an innocent person. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.250 …As I have learned also from the memoirs. For He exhorted His disciples to surpass the pharisaic way of living, with the warning, that if they did not, they might be sure they could not be saved; and these words are recorded in the memoirs: 'Unless your righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.252 But if your teachers… never venture either to speak of or to expound the points which are great and worthy of investigation, or command you to give no audience to us while we expound them, and to come not into conversation with us; will they not deserve to hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: 'Whitened sepulchers, which appear beautiful outward, and within are full of dead men's bones; which pay tithe of mint, and swallow a camel: you blind guides!' If, then, you will not despise the doctrines of those who exalt themselves and wish to be called Rabbi, Rabbi, and come with such earnestness and intelligence to the words of prophecy as to suffer the same inflictions from your own people which the prophets themselves did, you cannot receive any advantage whatsoever from the prophetic writings. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.255 Assent, therefore, and pour no ridicule on the Son of God; obey not the Pharisaic teachers, and scoff not at the King of Israel, as the rulers of your synagogues teach you to do after your prayers: for if he that touches those who are not pleasing to God, is as one that touches the apple of God's eye, how much more so is he that touches His beloved! Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.268 For He who uttered them was Truth, and did truly vindicate His own house, by driving out of it the changers of money, who were buying and selling, saying unto them: "It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but you have made it a den of thieves."… But [He did so], that He might point out the transgressors of His Father's law; for neither did He bring any accusation against the house, nor did He blame the law, which He had come to fulfill; but He reproved those who were putting His house to an improper use, and those who were transgressing the law. And therefore the scribes and Pharisees, too, who from the times of the law had begun to despise God, did not receive His Word, that is, they did not believe on Christ. Of these Isaiah says: "Your princes are rebellious, companions of thieves, loving gifts, following after rewards, not judging the fatherless, and negligent of the cause of the widows." And Jeremiah, in like manner: "They," he says, "who rule my people did not know me; they are senseless and imprudent children; they are wise to do evil, but to do well they have no knowledge." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 464 SEE ALSO: LAW MOSAIC ======================================================================== CHAPTER 103: PHILOSOPHY ======================================================================== I. Early Christian view of Philosophy II. Socrates III. Plato IV. Stoics I. Early Christian view of Philosophy (Top) And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the LORD, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. Job 28:28 ‘But after letting the mind ever wander to infinity, you would at length, wearied out, take your stand on one Unbegotten, and say that this is the Cause of all. Did such escape the observation of Plato and Pythagoras, those wise men,' I said, 'who have been as a wall and fortress of philosophy to us?' …'It makes no matter to me,' said he, 'whether Plato or Pythagoras, or, in short, any other man held such opinions. For the truth is so; since therefore it is impossible to learn anything true concerning religion from your teachers, who by their mutual disagreement have furnished you with sufficient proof of their own ignorance, I consider it reasonable to recur to our Christian teachers, who both in point of time have by a great way the precedence of your teachers, and who have taught us nothing from their own private fancy, nor differed with one another, nor attempted to overturn one another's positions, but without wrangling and contention received from God the knowledge which also they taught to us. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 276 All your teachers, whether sages, poets, historians, philosophers, or lawgivers, by far the oldest, as the Greek histories show us, was Moses, who was our first religious teacher. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 277 What noble thing have you produced by your pursuit of philosophy? Who of your most eminent men has been free from vain boasting? Diogenes, who made such a parade of his independence with his tub, was seized with a bowel complaint through eating a raw polypus, and so lost his life by gluttony. Aristippus, walking about in a purple robe, led a profligate life, in accordance with his professed opinions. Plato, a philosopher, was sold by Dionysius for his gormandizing propensities. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.65 "Behold, I make with you a new covenant, not as I made with your fathers in Mount Horeb." He made a new covenant with us; for what belonged to the Greeks and Jews is old. But we, who worship Him in a new way, in the third form, are Christians. For clearly, as I think, he showed that the one and only God was known by the Greeks in a Gentile way, by the Jews Judicially, and in a new and spiritual way by us. And further, that the same God that furnished both the Covenants was the giver of Greek philosophy to the Greeks, by which the Almighty is glorified among the Greeks, he shows. And it is clear from this. Accordingly, then, from the Hellenic training, and also from that of the law are gathered into the one race of the saved people those who accept faith: not that the three peoples are separated by time, so that one might suppose three natures, but trained in different Covenants of the one Lord, by the word of the one Lord. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.489-490 Would to God that no "heresies had been ever necessary, in order that they which are approved may be made manifest!" We should then be never required to try our strength in contests about the soul with philosophers, those patriarchs of heretics, as they may be fairly called. The apostle, so far back as his own time, foresaw, indeed, that philosophy would do violent injury to the truth. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.183 From all these, when the apostle would restrain us, he expressly names philosophy as that which he would have us be on our guard against. Writing to the Colossians, he says, "See that no one beguile you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, and contrary to the wisdom of the Holy Ghost." He had been at Athens, and had in his interviews (with its philosophers) become acquainted with that human wisdom which pretends to know the truth, whilst it only corrupts it, and is itself divided into its own manifold heresies, by the variety of its mutually repugnant sects. What indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 246 II. Socrates (Top) And when Socrates endeavored, by true reason and examination, to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons, then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that "he was introducing new divinities;" and in our case they display a similar activity. For not only among the Greeks did reason (Logos) prevail to condemn these things through Socrates, but also among the Barbarians were they condemned by Reason (or the Word, the Logos) Himself. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.164 It is by the influence of the wicked demons that earnest men, such as Socrates and the like, suffer persecution and are in bonds, while Sardanapalus, Epicurus, and the like, seem to be blessed in abundance and glory. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 And Socrates, who was more zealous in this direction than all of them, was accused of the very same crimes as ourselves. For they said that he was introducing new divinities, and did not consider those to be gods whom the state recognized. But he cast out from the state both Homer and the rest of the poets, and taught men to reject the wicked demons and those who did the things which the poets related; and he exhorted them to become acquainted with the God who was to them unknown, by means of the investigation of reason, saying, "That it is neither easy to find the Father and Maker of all, nor, having found Him, is it safe to declare Him to all." But these things our Christ did through His own power. For no one trusted in Socrates so as to die for this doctrine, but in Christ, who was partially known even by Socrates (for He was and is the Word who is in every man, and who foretold the things that were to come to pass both through the prophets and in His own person when He was made of like passions, and taught these things), not only philosophers and scholars believed, but also artisans and people entirely uneducated, despising both glory, and fear, and death; since He is a power of the ineffable Father, and not the mere instrument of human reason. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.191 For Socrates was the teacher of Plato, and Plato of Aristotle. Now these men flourished in the time of Philip and Alexander of Macedon, in which time also the Athenian orators flourished. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 278 But Plato, though he accepted, as is likely, the doctrine of Moses and the other prophets regarding one only God, which he learned while in Egypt, yet fearing, on account of what had befallen Socrates, lest he also should raise up some Anytus or Meletus against himself, who should accuse him before the Athenians, and say, "Plato is doing harm, and making himself mischievously busy, not acknowledging the gods recognized by the state;" in fear of the hemlockjuice, contrives an elaborate and ambiguous discourse concerning the gods. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 281 And if "the discovery of the truth" be given among them as one definition of philosophy, how are they who are not in possession of the true knowledge worthy of the name of philosophy? For if Socrates, the wisest of your wise men, to whom even your oracle, as you yourselves say, bears witness, saying, "Of all men Socrates is the wisest" - if he confesses that he knows nothing, how did those who came after him profess to know even things heavenly? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.288 Socrates accordingly bids "people guard against enticements to eat when they are not hungry, and to drink when not thirsty." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.373 III. Plato (Top) And the holy Spirit of prophecy taught us this, telling us by Moses that God spoke thus to the man first created: "Behold, before your face are good and evil: choose the good."… And so, too, Plato, when he says, "The blame is his who chooses, and God is blameless," took this from the prophet Moses and uttered it. For Moses is more ancient than all the Greek writers. And whatever both philosophers and poets have said concerning the immortality of the soul, or punishments after death, or contemplation of things heavenly, or doctrines of the like kind, they have received such suggestions from the prophets as have enabled them to understand and interpret these things. And hence there seem to be seeds of truth among all men. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 For I myself, too, when I was delighting in the doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered, and saw them fearless of death, and of all other things which are counted fearful, perceived that it was impossible that they could be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what sensual or intemperate man, or who that counts it good to feast on human flesh, could welcome death that he might be deprived of his enjoyments, and would not rather continue always the present life, and attempt to escape the observation of the rulers; and much less would he denounce himself when the consequence would be death? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.192 [Justin Martyr’s search for truth before finding Christianity] In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately settled in our city - a sagacious man, holding a high position among the Platonists - and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected forthwith to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.195 "Will the mind of man see God at any time, if it is uninstructed by the Holy Spirit? Plato indeed says," replied I, "that the mind's eye is of such a nature, and has been given for this end, that we may see that very Being when the mind is pure itself, who is the cause of all discerned by the mind, having no color, no form, no greatness - nothing, indeed, which the bodily eye looks upon; but It is something of this sort, he goes on to say, that is beyond all essence, unutterable and inexplicable, but alone honorable and good, coming suddenly into souls well-dispositioned, on account of their affinity to and desire of seeing Him." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.196 Plato and Aristotle … these, they say, have learned the perfect and true religion…But if we find that even they do not agree with each other, I think it is easy to see clearly that they too are ignorant. For Plato, with the air of one that has descended from above, and has accurately ascertained and seen all that is in heaven, says that the most high God exists in a fiery substance. But Aristotle, in a book addressed to Alexander of Macedon, giving a compendious explanation of his own philosophy, clearly and manifestly overthrows the opinion of Plato, saying that God does not exist in a fiery substance: but inventing, as a fifth substance, some kind of aetherial and unchangeable body, says that God exists in it. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 275 And that these very wonderful sages of yours do not even agree in other respects, can be easily learned from this. For while Plato says that there are three first principles of all things, God, and matter, and form - God, the maker of all; and matter, which is the subject of the first production of all that is produced, and affords to God opportunity for His workmanship; and form, which is the type of each of the things produced - Aristotle makes no mention at all of form as a first principle, but says that there are two, God and matter. And again, while Plato says that the highest God and the ideas exist in the first place of the highest heavens, and in fixed sphere, Aristotle says that, next to the most high God, there are, not ideas, but certain gods, who can be perceived by the mind. Thus, then, do they differ concerning things heavenly. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 275-276 So that one can see that they not only are unable to understand our earthly matters, but also, being at variance among themselves regarding these things, they will appear unworthy of credit when they treat of things heavenly. And that even their doctrine regarding the human soul as it now is does not harmonize, is manifest from what has been said by each of them concerning it. For Plato says that it is of three parts, having the faculty of reason, of affection, and of appetite. But Aristotle says that the soul is not so comprehensive as to include also corruptible parts, but only reason. And Plato loudly maintains that "the whole soul is immortal." But Aristotle, naming it "the actuality," would have it to be mortal, not immortal. And the former says it is always in motion; but Aristotle says that it is immoveable, since it must itself precede all motion. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 276 For Socrates was the teacher of Plato, and Plato of Aristotle. Now these men flourished in the time of Philip and Alexander of Macedon, in which time also the Athenian orators flourished. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 278 And what men does he think beloved of God, but Moses and the rest of the prophets? For their prophecies he read, and, having learned from them the doctrine of the judgment, he thus proclaims it in the first book of the Republic: When a man begins to think he is soon to die, fear invades him, and concern about things which had never before entered his head. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.288 Here Plato seems to me to have learned from the prophets not only the doctrine of the judgment, but also of the resurrection, which the Greeks refuse to believe. For his saying that the soul is judged along with the body, proves nothing more clearly than that he believed the doctrine of the resurrection. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 288 For Plato, as we said above, when he had demonstrated that a deluge had happened, said that it extended not over the whole earth, but only over the plains, and that those who fled to the highest hills saved themselves. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.116 IV. Stoics (Top) For so we say that there will be the conflagration, but not as the Stoics, according to their doctrine of all things being changed into one another, which seems most degrading. But neither do we affirm that it is by fate that men do what they do, or suffer what they suffer, but that each man by free choice acts rightly or sins; and that it is by the influence of the wicked demons that earnest men, such as Socrates and the like, suffer persecution and are in bonds, while Sardanapalus, Epicurus, and the like, seem to be blessed in abundance and glory. The Stoics, not observing this, maintained that all things take place according to the necessity of fate. But since God in the beginning made the race of angels and men with free-will, they will justly suffer in eternal fire the punishment of whatever sins they have committed. And this is the nature of all that is made, to be capable of vice and virtue. For neither would any of them be praiseworthy unless there were power to turn to both [virtue and vice]. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.190 And those of the Stoic school - since, so far as their moral teaching went, they were admirable, as were also the poets in some particulars, on account of the seed of reason [the Logos] implanted in every race of men - were, we know, hated and put to death. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.191 [Justin Martyr’s search for truth before finding Christianity] Being at first desirous of personally conversing with one of these men, I surrendered myself to a certain Stoic; and having spent a considerable time with him, when I had not acquired any further knowledge of God (for he did not know himself, and said such instruction was unnecessary) I left him and betook myself to another. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.195 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 104: POLITICS ======================================================================== It is good for me to die for Jesus Christ rather than to reign over the farthest bounds of the earth. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) Ch.6 They (the Christians) dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) Ch.5 No more do we wish to live like the rulers of your people, whom God reproaches when He says, 'Your rulers are companions of thieves, lovers of bribes, followers of the rewards.' Justin Martyr (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.240 I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I decline military command; I detest fornication; I am not impelled by an insatiable love of gain to go to sea; I do not contend for chaplets; I am free from a mad thirst for fame; I despise death. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.69 But as those in whom all ardour in the pursuit of glory and honour is dead, we have no pressing inducement to take part in your public meetings; nor is there aught more entirely foreign to us than affairs of state. We acknowledge one all-embracing commonwealth - the world… Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 45-46 SEE ALSO: Church and State, Two Seperate Kingdoms, War ======================================================================== CHAPTER 105: POLYCARP ======================================================================== And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich). Revelation 2:8-9 [The writings of Papias in common circulation are five in number, and these are called an Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord. Irenaeus makes mention of these as the only works written by him, in the following words:] "Now testimony is borne to these things in writing by Papias, an ancient man, who was a hearer of John, and a friend of Polycarp, in the fourth of his books; for five books were composed by him." Papias (A.D. 60-130) frag. I The Ephesians from Smyrna salute you, from whence also I write to you. They are here with me for the glory of God, as also are you; and they have comforted me in all things, together with Polycarp bishop of the Smyrnaeans. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 15 "Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian." This proclamation having been made by the herald, the whole multitude both of the heathen and Jews, who dwelt at Smyrna, cried out with uncontrollable fury, and in a loud voice, "This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of our gods, he who has been teaching many not to sacrifice, or to worship the gods." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.12 The following statement also is made in the writings of Irenaeus, that on the very day and hour when Polycarp was martyred in Smyrna Irenaeus being in the city of the Romans heard a voice as of a trumpet saying, 'Polycarp is martyred.' Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 22 But Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time, a man who was of much greater weight, and a more steadfast witness of truth, than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused many to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles, that, namely, which is handed down by the Church. There are also those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe at Ephesus, and perceiving Cerinthus within, rushed out of the bath-house without bathing, exclaiming, "Let us fly, lest even the bath-house fall down, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp himself replied to Marcion, who met him on one occasion, and said, "Dost you know me?" "I do know you, the first-born of Satan." Such was the horror which the apostles and their disciples had against holding even verbal communication with any corrupters of the truth; as Paul also says, "A man that is an heretic, after the first and second admonition, reject; knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sins, being condemned of himself." There is also a very powerful Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those who choose to do so, and are anxious about their salvation, can learn the character of his faith, and the preaching of the truth. Then, again, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul, and having John remaining among them permanently until the times of Trajan, is a true witness of the tradition of the apostles. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 416 For, while I was yet a boy, I saw you in Lower Asia with Polycarp, distinguishing yourself in the royal court, and endeavoring to gain his approbation. For I have a more vivid recollection of what occurred at that time than of recent events (inasmuch as the experiences of childhood, keeping pace with the growth of the soul, become incorporated with it); so that I can even describe the place where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse - his going out, too, and his coming in - his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord; and how he would call their words to remembrance. Whatsoever things he had heard from them respecting the Lord, both with regard to His miracles and His teaching, Polycarp having thus received [information] from the eye-witnesses of the Word of life, would recount them all in harmony with the Scriptures. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 568 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 106: POLYGAMY ======================================================================== And sitting each under his vine, i.e., each man possessing his own married wife. For you are aware that the prophetic word says, 'And his wife shall be like a fruitful vine.'…Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.254 If, then, the teaching of the prophets and of Himself moves you, it is better for you to follow God than your imprudent and blind masters, who even till this time permit each man to have four or five wives; and if any one see a beautiful woman and desire to have her, they quote the doings of Jacob [called] Israel, and of the other patriarchs, and maintain that it is not wrong to do such things; for they are miserably ignorant in this matter. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.266 Others, again, following upon Basilides and Carpocrates, have introduced promiscuous intercourse and a plurality of wives, and are indifferent about eating meats sacrificed to idols, maintaining that God does not greatly regard such matters. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 353 But far be it from Christians to conceive any such deeds; for with them temperance dwells, self-restraint is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.115 But the followers of Carpocrates and Epiphanes think that wives should be common property. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 2 But it is the same man and Lord who makes the old new, by no longer allowing several marriages (for at that time God required it when men had to increase and multiply), and by teaching single marriage for the sake of begetting children and looking after domestic affairs, for which purpose woman was given as a "helpmeet." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.12 For he also lays down that the bishop who is to rule the Church must be a man who governs his own household well. A household pleasing to the Lord consists of a marriage with one wife.. "To the pure," he says, "all things are pure: but to the defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but their mind and conscience are polluted." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.18 And thus, from the time of Abraham, the custom of marrying with sisters has ceased; and from the times of the prophets the contracting of marriage with several wives has been done away with; for we read, “Go not after your lusts, but refrain yourself front your appetites;”… Lest, however, we should seem prolix in collecting the testimonies of the prophets, let us again point out how chastity succeeded to marriage with one wife, taking away by degrees the lusts of the flesh, until it removed entirely the inclination for sexual intercourse engendered by habit. Methodius (A.D. 311) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.6 pg.312 SEE ALSO: MARRIAGE, DIVORCE AND REMARRIAGE ======================================================================== CHAPTER 107: POVERTY AND PROSPERITY ======================================================================== Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Luke 6:20 But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Luke 6:24 But the Lord said, No servant can serve two masters. If we desire to serve both God and mammon, it is unprofitable for us: For what advantage is it, if a man gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Now this age and the future are two enemies. The one speaks of adultery and defilement and avarice and deceit, but the other bids farewell to these. We cannot therefore be friends of the two, but must bid farewell to the one and hold companionship with the other. Let us consider that it is better to hate the things which are here, because they are mean and for a short time and perishable, and to love the things which are there, for they are good and imperishable. For, if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; but if otherwise, then nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we should disobey His commandments. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.6 Therefore let not the godly be grieved, if he be miserable in the times that now are: a blessed time awaits him. He shall live again in heaven with the fathers, and shall have rejoicing throughout a sorrowless eternity. Neither suffer you this again to trouble your mind, that we see the unrighteous possessing wealth, and the servants of God straitened. Let us then have faith, brothers and sisters. We are contending in the lists of a living God; and we are trained by the present life, that we may be crowned with the future. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.20 "These are they that have faith, but have also riches of this world. When tribulation comes, they deny their Lord by reason of their riches and their business affairs." And I answered and said unto her, "When then, lady, will they be useful for the building?" "When," she replied, "their wealth, which leads their souls astray, shall be cut away, then will they be useful for God. For just as the round stone, unless it be cut away, and lose some portion of itself, cannot become square, so also they that are rich in this world, unless their riches be cut away, cannot become useful to the Lord. Learn first from yourself when you had riches, you were useless; but now you are useful and profitable unto life." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 14 Have regard one to another, and assist one another, and do not partake of the creatures of God alone in abundance, but share them also with those that are in want. For some men through their much eating bring weakness on the flesh, and injure their flesh: whereas the flesh of those who have naught to eat is injured by their not having sufficient nourishment, and their body is ruined. This exclusiveness therefore is hurtful to you that have and do not share with them that are in want. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.16 Those who have never investigated concerning the truth, nor enquired concerning the deity, but have merely believed, and have been mixed up in business affairs and riches and heathen friendships, and many other affairs of this world - as many, I say, as devote themselves to these things, comprehend not the parables of the deity; for they are darkened by these actions, and are corrupted and become barren. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 26 He said to me; "You know that you, who are the servants of God, are dwelling in a foreign land; for your city is far from this city. If then you know your city, in which you shall dwell, why do you here prepare fields and expensive displays and buildings and dwelling-chambers which are superfluous? He, therefore, that prepares these things for this city does not purpose to return to his own city. O foolish and double-minded and miserable man, do you not perceive that all these things are foreign, and are under the power of another?" Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.30 Therefore, instead of fields buy you souls that are in trouble, as each is able, and visit widows and orphans, and neglect them not; and spend your riches and all your displays, which you received from God, on fields and houses of this kind. For to this end the Master enriched you, that you might perform these ministrations for Him. It is much better to purchase fields [and possessions] and houses of this kind, which you will find in your own city, when you visit it. This lavish expenditure is beautiful and joyous, not bringing sadness or fear, but bringing joy. The expenditure of the heathen then practice not you; for it is not convenient for you the servants of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 30 The rich man has much wealth, but in the things of the Lord he is poor, being distracted about his riches, and his confession and intercession with the Lord is very scanty; and even that which he gives is small and weak and has not power above… The rich man then supplies all things to the poor man without wavering. But the poor man being supplied by the rich makes intercession for him, thanking God for him that gave to him. And the other is still more zealous to assist the poor man, that he may be continuous in his life: for he knows that the intercession of the poor man is acceptable and rich before God. And this work great and acceptable with God, because (the rich man) has understanding concerning his riches, and works for the poor man from the bounties of the Lord, and accomplishes the ministration of the Lord rightly. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.32 These are men who have been believers, but grew rich and became renowned among the Gentiles. They clothed themselves with great pride and became high-minded, and abandoned the truth and did not cleave to the righteous, but lived together after the manner of the Gentiles. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 42 Some of them are wealthy and others are entangled in many business affairs. The briars are the wealthy, and the thorns are they that are mixed up in various business affairs. These [then, that are mixed up in many and various business affairs,] cleave [not] to the servants of God, but go astray, being choked by their affairs, but the wealthy unwillingly cleave to the servants of God, fearing lest they may be asked for something by them. Such men therefore shall hardly enter into the kingdom of God. For as it is difficult to walk on briars with bare feet, so also it is difficult for such men to enter the kingdom of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.50 Now hear wherefore they have been found round. Their riches have darkened and obscured them a little from the truth. When therefore the Lord perceived their mind, that they could favor the truth, and likewise remain good, He commanded their possessions to be cut off from them, yet not to be taken away altogether, so that they might be able to do some good with that which has been left to them, and might live unto God for that they come of a good kind. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 53 And when they see a stranger, they take him in to their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.277 For God has given to us, I know well, the liberty of use, but only so far as necessary; and He has determined that the use should be common. And it is monstrous for one to live in luxury, while many are in want. How much more glorious is it to do good to many, than to live sumptuously! How much wiser to spend money on human being, than on jewels and gold! Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.268 Love of wealth displaces a man from the right mode of life, and induces him to cease from feeling shame at what is shameful… For what end, then, are such dainty dishes prepared, but to fill one belly? The filthiness of gluttony is proved by the sewers into which our bellies discharge the refuse of our food. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.280 Accordingly he has not forbidden us to be rich in the right way, but only a wrongful and insatiable grasping of money… For he who sows and gathers more is the man who by giving away his earthly and temporal goods has obtained a heavenly and eternal prize; the other is he who gives to no one, but vainly "lays up treasure on earth where moth and rust corrupt"; of him it is written: "In gathering motley, he has gathered it into a condemned cell." Of his land the Lord says in the gospel that it produced plentifully; then wishing to store the fruits he built larger store-houses, saying to himself in the words dramatically put into his mouth "You have many good things laid up for many years to come, eat, drink, and be merry. You fool," says the Lord, "this night your soul shall be required of you. Whose then shall be the things you have prepared?" Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch.6 So also let not the man that has been invested with worldly wealth proclaim himself excluded at the outset from the Savior’s lists, provided he is a believer and one who contemplates the greatness of God's philanthropy; nor let him, on the other hand, expect to grasp the crowns of immortality without struggle and effort, continuing untrained, and without struggle and effort. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.592 For if no one had anything, what room would be left among men for giving? … He so praises the use of property as to command, along with this addition, the giving a share of it, to give drink to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, to take the houseless in, and clothe the naked... Riches, then, which benefit also our neighbors, are not to be thrown away… So let no man destroy wealth, rather than the passions of the soul, which are incompatible with the better use of wealth. So that, becoming virtuous and good, he may be able to make a good use of these riches. The renunciation, then, and selling of all possessions, is to be understood as spoken of the passions of the soul. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.594-595 Abandon the alien possessions that are in your soul, that, becoming pure in heart, you may see God; which is another way of saying, Enter into the kingdom of heaven. And how may you abandon them? By selling them…It is thus that you dost rightly sell the possessions, many are superfluous, which shut the heavens against you by exchanging them for those which are able to save. Let the former be possessed by the carnal poor, who are destitute of the latter. But you, by receiving instead spiritual wealth, shall have now treasure in the heavens… For it was difficult for the soul not to be seduced and ruined by the luxuries and flowery enchantments that beset remarkable wealth. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.596 But I think that our proposition has been demonstrated in no way inferior to what we promised, that the Savior by no means has excluded the rich on account of wealth itself, and the possession of property, nor fenced off salvation against them; if they are able and willing to submit their life to God's commandments. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.598 A rich man is a difficult thing (to find) in the house of God; and if such an one is (found there), difficult (is it to find such) unmarried. What, then, are they to do?... To a Christian believer it is irksome to wed a believer inferior to herself in estate, destined as she will be to have her wealth augmented in the person of a poor husband! For if it is "the poor," not the rich, "whose are the kingdoms of the heavens," the rich will find more in the poor (than she brings him, or than she would in the rich). She will be dowered with an ampler dowry from the goods of him who is rich in God. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 48 SEE ALSO: MATERIALISM, OFFERINGS, OCCUPATIONS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 108: PRAYER ======================================================================== Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life.Tobit 12:8-9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13 Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, even as repentance from sin. Fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving than both. And love covers a multitude of sins, but prayer out of a good conscience delivers from death. Blessed is every man that is found full of these. For almsgiving lifts off the burden of sin. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 16 For, if the prayer of one and another has so great force, how much more that of the bishop and of the whole Church. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 5 He [Polycarp] departed, therefore, to a country house not far distant from the city. There he stayed with a few [friends], engaged in nothing else night and day than praying for all men, and for the Churches throughout the world, according to his usual custom. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 5 [Polycarp] besought them to allow him an hour to pray without disturbance. And on their giving him leave, he stood and prayed, being full of the grace of God, so that he could not cease for two full hours, to the astonishment of them that heard him, insomuch that many began to repent that they had come forth against so godly and venerable an old man. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.7 (The following was written by a pagan Roman emperor regarding his experience with professing Christian soldiers in his army who refused to fight but instead offered prayers.) The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius, to the People of Rome, and to the sacred Senate… I was surrounded by the enemy; And the enemy being at hand... there was close on us a mass of a mixed multitude of 977,000 men, which indeed we saw… Having then examined my own position, and my host, with respect to… the enemy, I quickly betook myself to prayer to the gods of my country. But being disregarded by them, I summoned those who among us go by the name of Christians. And having made inquiry, I discovered a great number and vast host of them, and raged against them, which was by no means becoming; for afterwards I learned their power. Wherefore they began the battle, not by preparing weapons, nor arms, nor bugles; for such preparation is hateful to them, on account of the God they bear about in their conscience. Therefore it is probable that those whom we suppose to be atheists, have God as their ruling power entrenched in their conscience. For having cast themselves on the ground, they prayed not only for me, but also for the whole army as it stood, that they might be delivered from the present thirst and famine. For during five days we had got no water, because there was none; for we were in the heart of Germany, and in the enemy's territory. And simultaneously with their casting themselves on the ground, and praying to God (a God of whom I am ignorant), water poured from heaven, upon us most refreshingly cool, but upon the enemies of Rome a withering hail. And immediately we recognized the presence of God following on the prayer - a God unconquerable and indestructible. Founding upon this, then, let us pardon such as are Christians, lest they pray for and obtain such a weapon against ourselves. And I counsel that no such person be accused on the ground of his being a Christian. But if any one be found laying to the charge of a Christian that he is a Christian, I desire that it be made manifest that he who is accused as a Christian, and acknowledges that he is one, is accused of nothing else than only this, that he is a Christian; but that he who arraigns him be burned alive. And I further desire, that he who is entrusted with the government of the province shall not compel the Christian, who confesses and certifies such a matter, to retract; neither shall he commit him. And I desire that these things be confirmed by a decree of the Senate. And I command this my edict to be published in the Forum of Trajan, in order that it may be read. The prefect Vitrasius Pollio will see that it be transmitted to all the provinces round about, and that no one who wishes to make use of or to possess it be hindered from obtaining a copy from the document I now publish. Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.187 Prayer is, then, to speak more boldly, converse with God. Though whispering, consequently, and not opening the lips, we speak in silence, yet we cry inwardly. For God hears continually all the inward converse. So also we raise the head and lift the hands to heaven, and set the feet in motion at the closing utterance of the prayer, following the eagerness of the spirit directed towards the intellectual essence; and endeavoring to abstract the body from the earth, along with the discourse, raising the soul aloft, winged with longing for better things, we compel it to advance to the region of holiness, magnanimously despising the chain of the flesh… Now, if some assign definite hours for prayer - as, for example, the third, and sixth, and ninth - yet the more knowledgeable prays throughout his whole life, endeavoring by prayer to have fellowship with God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.534 We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in. We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation. We assemble to read our sacred writings, if any peculiarity of the times makes either forewarning or reminiscence needful. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.46 In the matter of kneeling also prayer is subject to diversity of observance…We, however (just as we have received), only on the day of the Lord's Resurrection ought to guard not only against kneeling, but every posture and office of solicitude; deferring even our businesses lest we give any place to the devil…At fasts, moreover, and Stations, no prayer should be made without kneeling, and the remaining customary marks of humility; for (then) we are not only praying, but deprecating, and making satisfaction to God our Lord. Touching times of prayer nothing at all has been prescribed, except clearly "to pray at every time and every place." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 689 Touching the time, however, the extrinsic observance of certain hours will not be unprofitable - those common hours, I mean, which mark the intervals of the day - the third, the sixth, the ninth - which we may find in the Scriptures to have been more solemn than the rest. The first infusion of the Holy Spirit into the congregated disciples took place at "the third hour." Peter, on the day on which he experienced the vision of Universal Community, (exhibited) in that small vessel, had ascended into the more lofty parts of the house, for prayer's sake "at the sixth hour." The same (apostle) was going into the temple, with John, at the “ninth hour," when he restored the paralytic to his health. Albeit these practices stand simply without any precept for their observance. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 689-690 Let us urgently pray and groan with continual petitions. For know, beloved brethren, that I was not long ago reproached with this also in a vision, that we were sleepy in our prayers, and did not pray with watchfulness; and undoubtedly God, who “rebukes whom He loves,” when He rebukes, rebukes that He may amend, amends that He may preserve. Let us therefore strike off and break away from the bonds of sleep, and pray with urgency and watchfulness, as the Apostle Paul bids us, saying, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 286 The physical voice we use in prayer need not be great nor startling; even should we not lift up any great cry or shout, God will yet hear us. He says to Moses, “Why do you cry unto Me?” when Moses had not cried audibly at all. It is not recorded in Exodus that he did so; but Moses had cried mightily to God in prayer with that voice which is heard by God alone. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg. 359 SEE ALSO: FASTING ======================================================================== CHAPTER 109: PROPHETS AND PROPHECY ======================================================================== I. Prophets and Prophecy in the early church II. How to discern a true prophet from a false prophet III. Prophets in the Old testament IV. Interpretations of Old testament Prophecies. I. Prophets and Prophecy in the early church (Top) But every true prophet who wants to live among you is worthy of his support. So also a true teacher is himself worthy, as the workman, of his support. Every first-fruit, therefore, of the products of wine-press and threshing-floor, of oxen and of sheep, you shall take and give to the prophets, for they are your high priests. But if you have no prophet, give it to the poor. If you make a batch of dough, take the first-fruit and give according to the commandment. So also when you open a jar of wine or of oil, take the first-fruit and give it to the prophets; and of money (silver) and clothing and every possession, take the first-fruit, as it may seem good to you, and give according to the commandment. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.13 And while he [Polycarp] was praying, a vision presented itself to him three days before he was taken; and, behold, the pillow under his head seemed to him on fire. Upon this, turning to those that were with him, he said to them prophetically, "I must be burnt alive." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.5 Then it seemed good to them to cry out with one consent, that Polycarp should be burnt alive. For thus it behooved the vision which was revealed to him in regard to his pillow to be fulfilled, when, seeing it on fire as he was praying, he turned about and said prophetically to the faithful that were with him, "I must be burnt alive." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 12 [I speak of] Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who is laid to rest at Hierapolis. Also his two daughters, who arrived at old age unmarried. His other daughter also, who passed her life under the influence of the Holy Spirit, reposes at Ephesus. Polycrates (A.D. 2nd cent.) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 8 pg.773 Never have any of those who have not embraced our faith done anything similar to what was done by the ancient prophets. And in more recent times, since the coming of Christ, no prophets have arisen among the Jews, who have confessedly been abandoned by the Holy Spirit. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 614 Celsus is not to be believed when he says that he has heard such men prophesy. For no prophets bearing any resemblance to the ancient prophets have appeared in the time of Celsus [i.e., the second century]. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 615 Besides the vision of the night, by day also, the innocent age of boys is among us filled with the Holy Spirit – seeing in an ecstasy with their eyes, and hearing and speaking those things by which the Lord warns and instructs us. And you will hear all things when the Lord, who bade me to withdraw, will bring me back again to you. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 290 Consider, too, if, because of the fact that the saying, “I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all flesh, and they shall prophesy,” has been fulfilled in the churches from the Gentiles, you can say that those formerly of the world and who by believing became no longer of the world, having received the Holy Spirit in their own country - that is, the world - and prophesying, have not honor, but are dishonored. Wherefore blessed are they who suffer the same things as the prophets, according to what was said by the Savior, “For in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets.” Now if any one who attends carefully to these things be hated and attacked, because of his living with rigorous austerity, and his reproof of sinners, as a man who is persecuted and reproached for the sake of righteousness, he will not only not be grieved, but will rejoice and be exceeding glad, being assured that, because of these things, he has great reward in heaven from Him who likened him to the prophets on the ground of his having suffered the same things. Therefore, he who zealously imitates the prophetic life, and attains to the spirit which was in them, must be dishonored in the world, and in the eyes of sinners, to whom the life of the righteous man is a burden. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.426 II. How to discern a true prophet from a false prophet (Top) When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 18:22 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings. Jeremiah 23:21-22 But concerning the apostles and prophets, act according to the decree of the Gospel. ...If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. …And every prophet who teaches the truth, but does not do what he teaches, is a false prophet. …But whoever says in the Spirit, Give me money, or something else, you shall not listen to him. But if he tells you to give for others' sake who are in need, let no one judge him. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 11 But receive everyone who comes in the name of the Lord, and prove and know him afterward; for you shall have understanding right and left. …But if he has no trade, according to your understanding, see to it that, as a Christian, he shall not live with you idle. But if he wills not to do, he is a Christ-monger. Watch that you keep away from such. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.12 "These," said he, "are faithful, but he that sits on the chair is a false prophet who destroys the mind of the servants of God - I mean, of the doubtful-minded, not of the faithful. These doubtful-minded ones then come to him as to a soothsayer and enquire of him what shall befall them. And he, the false prophet, having no power of a divine Spirit in himself, speaks with them according to their enquiries [and according to the lusts of their wickedness], and fills their souls as they themselves wish. For being empty himself he gives empty answers to empty enquirers; for whatever enquiry may be made of him, he answers according to the emptiness of the man. But he speaks also some true words; for the devil fills him with his own spirit, if so be he shall be able to break down some of the righteous…For he that consults a false prophet on any matter is an idolater and emptied of the truth, and senseless. For no Spirit given of God needs to be consulted; but, having the power of deity, speaks all things of itself, because it is from above, even from the power of the divine Spirit." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.27 "How then, Sir," say I, "shall a man know who of them is a prophet, and who a false prophet?" "Hear," said he, "concerning both the prophets; and, as I shall tell you, so shall you test the prophet and the false prophet. By his life test the man that has the divine Spirit. In the first place, he that has the [divine] Spirit, which is from above, is gentle and tranquil and humble-minded, and abstains from all wickedness and vain desire of this present world, and holds himself inferior to all men, and gives no answer to any man when enquired of, nor speaks in solitude (for neither does the Holy Spirit speak when a man wishes Him to speak); but the man speaks then when God wishes him to speak. When then the man who has the divine Spirit comes into an assembly of righteous men, who have faith in a divine Spirit, and intercession is made to God by the gathering of those men, then the angel of the prophetic spirit, who is attached to him, fills the man, and the man, being filled with the Holy Spirit, speaks to the multitude, according as the Lord wills. In this way then the Spirit of the deity shall be manifest. This then is the greatness of the power as touching the Spirit of the deity of the Lord." "Hear now," said he, "concerning the earthly and vain spirit, which has no power but is foolish. In the first place, that man who seems to have a spirit exalts himself, and desires to have a chief place, and straight-way he is impudent and shameless and talkative and conversant in many luxuries and in many other deceits and receives money for his prophesying, and if he receives not, he prophesies not. Now can a divine Spirit receive money and prophesy? It is not possible for a prophet of God to do this, but the spirit of such prophets is earthly. In the next place, it never approaches an assembly of righteous men; but avoids them, and cleaves to the doubtful-minded and empty, and prophesies to them in corners, and deceives them, speaking all things in emptiness to gratify their desires; for they too are empty whom it answers. For the empty vessel placed together with the empty is not broken, but they agree one with the other. But when he comes into an assembly full of righteous men who have a Spirit of deity, and intercession is made from them, that man is emptied, and the earthly spirit flees from him in fear, and that man is struck dumb and is altogether broken in pieces, being unable to utter a word. Thus also the empty prophets, whenever they come unto the spirits of righteous men, are found just such as they came. I have given you the life of both kinds of prophets. Therefore test, by his life and his works, the man who says that he is moved by the Spirit." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.27 (A spiritual man) shall also judge false prophets, who, without having received the gift of prophecy from God, and not possessed of the fear of God, but either for the sake of vainglory, or with a view to some personal advantage, or acting in some other way under the influence of a wicked spirit, pretend to utter prophecies, while all the time they lie against God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.508 III. Prophets in the Old testament (Top) For the Lord has made known to us by the prophets both the things which are past and present, giving us also the first-fruits of the knowledge of things to come, which things as we see accomplished, one by one, we ought with the greater richness of faith and elevation of spirit to draw near to Him with reverence. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.1 For the divine prophets lived after Christ Jesus. For this cause also they were persecuted, being inspired by His grace to the end that they which are disobedient might be fully persuaded that there is one God who manifested Himself through Jesus Christ His Son. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.8 Yea, and we love the prophets also, because they too pointed to the Gospel in their preaching and set their hope on Him and awaited Him; in whom also having faith they were saved in the unity of Jesus Christ, being worthy of all love and admiration as holy men, approved of Jesus Christ and numbered together in the Gospel of our common hope. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 For the beloved Prophets in their preaching pointed to Him; but the Gospel is the completion of immortality. All things together are good, if you believe through love. Ignatius: to the Philadelphians (A.D. 35-105) ch.9 There were, then, among the Jews certain men who were prophets of God, through whom the prophetic Spirit published beforehand things that were to come to pass, ere ever they happened. And their prophecies, as they were spoken and when they were uttered, the kings who happened to be reigning among the Jews at the several times carefully preserved in their possession, when they had been arranged in books by the prophets themselves in their own Hebrew language. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.173 But when you hear the utterances of the prophets spoken as it were personally, you must not suppose that they are spoken by the inspired themselves, but by the Divine Word who moves them. For sometimes He declares things that are to come to pass, in the manner of one who foretells the future; sometimes He speaks as from the person of God the Lord and Father of all; sometimes as from the person of Christ; sometimes as from the person of the people answering the Lord or His Father, just as you can see even in your own writers, one man being the writer of the whole, but introducing the persons who converse. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.175 There existed, long before this time, certain men more ancient than all those who are esteemed philosophers, both righteous and beloved by God, who spoke by the Divine Spirit, and foretold events which would take place, and which are now taking place. They are called prophets. These alone both saw and announced the truth to men, neither reverencing nor fearing any man, not influenced by a desire for glory, but speaking those things alone which they saw and which they heard, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.198 But men of God carrying in them a holy spirit and becoming prophets, being inspired and made wise by God, became God-taught, and holy, and righteous. Wherefore they were also deemed worthy of receiving this reward, that they should become instruments of God, and contain the wisdom that is from Him, through which wisdom they uttered both what regarded the creation of the world and all other things. For they predicted also pestilences, and famines, and wars. And there was not one or two, but many, at various times and seasons among the Hebrews; and also among the Greeks there was the Sibyl; and they all have spoken things consistent and harmonious with each other, both what happened before them and what happened in their own time, and what things are now being fulfilled in our own day: wherefore we are persuaded also concerning the future things that they will fall out, as also the first have been accomplished. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.97 The devil is called "thief and robber;" having mixed false prophets with the prophets, as tares with the wheat. "All, then, that came before the Lord, were thieves and robbers;" not absolutely all men, but all the false prophets, and all who were not properly sent by Him. For the false prophets possessed the prophetic name dishonestly, being prophets, but prophets of the liar. For the Lord says, "You are of your father the devil; and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it." But among the lies, the false prophets also told some true things. And in reality they prophesied "in an ecstasy," as the servants of the apostate. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.319 But we know that prophecy expressed itself by things no less than by words. By words, and also by deeds, is the resurrection foretold. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.565 IV. Interpretations of Old testament Prophecies (Top) Ps. 45:2,3,4,7 There are also some [of them] who declare, "You are fairer than the children of men;" and, "God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows;" and, "Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Most Mighty, with Your beauty and Your fairness, and go forward and proceed prosperously; and rule You because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness." And whatever other things of a like nature are spoken regarding Him, these indicated that beauty and splendor which exist in His kingdom, along with the transcendent and pre-eminent exaltation [belonging] to all who are under His sway, that those who hear might desire to be found there, doing such things as are pleasing to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 509 Isaiah 1:11-13 For He has revealed to us by all the prophets that He needs neither sacrifices, nor burnt-offerings, nor oblations, saying thus, "What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me, said the Lord? I am full of burnt-offerings, and desire not the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats, not when you come to appear before Me: for who has required these things at your hands? Tread no more My courts, not though you bring with you fine flour. Incense is a vain abomination unto Me, and your new moons and Sabbaths I cannot endure." He has therefore abolished these things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of necessity, might have a human oblation. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 2 Isa.1:16-19 "Wash you, and seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow. And come and let us reason together, said the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, I shall make them white as snow; and though they be like crimson, I shall make them white as wool. And if you be willing, and hear my voice, you shall eat the good of the land." Do you see, beloved, how the prophet spoke beforetime of the purifying power of baptism? For he who comes down in faith to the layer of regeneration, and renounces the devil, and joins himself to Christ; who denies the enemy, and makes the confession that Christ is God; who puts off the bondage, and puts on the adoption,--he comes up from the baptism brilliant as the sun, flashing forth the beams of righteousness, and, which is indeed the chief thing, he returns a son of God and joint-heir with Christ. To Him be the glory and the power, together with His most holy, and good, and quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to all the ages of the ages. Amen. Hippolytus (A.D. 225) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 237 Isa. 26:20 When, then, we read, "Go, my people, enter into your closets for a little season, until my anger pass away," we have in the closets graves, in which they will have to rest for a little while, who shall have at the end of the world departed this life in the last furious onset of the power of Antichrist. Why else did He use the expression closets, in preference to some other receptacle, if it were not that the flesh is kept in these closets or cellars salted and reserved for use, to be drawn out thence on a suitable occasion? …it appears that by the very phrase which he uses, "Until His anger pass away," which shall extinguish Antichrist, he in fact shows that after that indignation the flesh will come forth from the sepulcher, in which it had been deposited previous to the bursting out of the anger. Now out of the closets nothing else is brought than that which had been put into them, and after the extirpation of Antichrist shall be busily transacted the great process of the resurrection. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 565 Isa. 48:18-21“He shall lead them through the deserts, shall bring forth water for them out of the rock; the rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow, and my people shall drink;” which is fulfilled in the Gospel, when Christ, who is the Rock, is cloven by a stroke of the spear in His passion; who also, admonishing what was before announced by the prophet, cries and says, “If any man thirst, let him come and drink. He that believes on me, as the Scripture said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” And that it might be more evident that the Lord is speaking there, not of the cup, but of baptism, the Scripture adds, saying, “But this spoke He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive.” For by baptism the Holy Spirit is received; and thus by those who are baptized, and have attained to the Holy Spirit, is attained the drinking of the Lord’s cup. And let it disturb no one, that when the divine Scripture speaks of baptism, it says that we thirst and drink, since the Lord also in the Gospel says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness;” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 360 Isa. 54:1 Rejoice, you barren that bear not. Break out and cry, you that travail not; for more are the children of the desolate than of her that has the husband. In that He said, Rejoice, you barren that bear not, He spoke of us: for our Church was barren, before that children were given unto her. And in that He said, Cry aloud, you that travail not, He means this; Let us not, like women in travail, grow weary of offering up our prayers with simplicity to God. Again, in that He said, For the children of the desolate are more than of her that has the husband, He so spoke, because our people seemed desolate and forsaken of God, whereas now, having believed, we have become more than those who seemed to have God. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.2 Dan. 7:14 The final stumbling-block (or source of danger) approaches, concerning which it is written, as Enoch says, "For this end the Lord has cut short the times and the days, that His Beloved may hasten; and He will come to the inheritance." And the prophet also speaks thus: "Ten kingdoms shall reign upon the earth, and a little king shall rise up after them, who shall subdue under one three of the kings. In like manner Daniel says concerning the same, "And I beheld the fourth beast, wicked and powerful, and more savage than all the beasts of the earth, and how from it sprang up ten horns, and out of them a little budding horn, and how it subdued under one three of the great horns." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 4 Dan. 8:13-14 "How long shall be the vision, the sacrifice taken away, the abomination of desolation, which is given, and the power and the holy place shall be trodden under foot? And he said to him, Till the evening and morning, two thousand three hundred days, and the holy place shall be taken away." These two thousand three hundred days, then, make six years four months, during the half of which Nero held sway, and it was half a week; and for a half, Vespasian with Otho, Galba, and Vitellius reigned. And on this account Daniel says, "Blessed is he that comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days." For up to these days was war, and after them it ceased. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.334 Dan. 9:24-27 From the captivity at Babylon, which took place in the time of Jeremiah the prophet, was fulfilled what was spoken by Daniel the prophet as follows: Seventy weeks are determined upon your people, and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to seal sins… That the temple accordingly was built in seven weeks, is evident; for it is written in Esdras. And thus Christ became King of the Jews, reigning in Jerusalem in the fulfillment of the seven weeks. And in the sixty and two weeks the whole of Judaea was quiet, and without wars. And Christ our Lord, "the Holy of Holies," having come and fulfilled the vision and the prophecy, was anointed in His flesh by the Holy Spirit of His Father. In those "sixty and two weeks," as the prophet said, and "in the one week," was He Lord. The half of the week Nero held sway, and in the holy city Jerusalem placed the abomination; and in the half of the week he was taken away, and Otho, and Galba, and Vitellius. And Vespasian rose to the supreme power, and destroyed Jerusalem, and desolated the holy place. And that such are the facts of the case, is clear to him that is able to understand, as the prophet said. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.329 Isa. 65:1-3 And again, how it was said by the same Isaiah, that the Gentile nations who were not looking for Him should worship Him, but the Jews who always expected Him should not recognize Him when He came. And the words are spoken as from the person of Christ; and they are these "I was manifest to them that asked not for Me; I was found of them that sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, to a nation that called not on My name. I spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walked in a way that is not good, but follow after their own sins; a people that provoke Me to anger to My face." For the Jews having the prophecies, and being always in expectation of the Christ to come, did not recognize Him; and not only so, but even treated Him shamefully. But the Gentiles, who had never heard anything about Christ, until the apostles set out from Jerusalem and preached concerning Him, and gave them the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, and cast away their idols, and dedicated themselves to the Unbegotten God through Christ. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.179 But Jeremiah also says, "In the last days they shall understand these things." For every prophecy, before its fulfillment, is to men [full of] enigmas and ambiguities. But when the time has arrived, and the prediction has come to pass, then the prophecies have a clear and certain exposition. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 496 Dan.7:8,23 Daniel too, looking forward to the end of the last kingdom, i.e., the ten last kings, amongst whom the kingdom of those men shall be partitioned, and upon whom the son of perdition shall come, declares that ten horns shall spring from the beast, and that another little horn shall arise in the midst of them, and that three of the former shall be rooted up before his face. He says: "And, behold, eyes were in this horn as the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things, and his look was more stout than his fellows. I was looking, and this horn made war against the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Ancient of days came and gave judgment to the saints of the most high God, and the time came, and the saints obtained the kingdom." Then, further on, in the interpretation of the vision, there was said to him: "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall excel all other kingdoms, and devour the whole earth, and tread it down, and cut it in pieces. And its ten horns are ten kings which shall arise; and after them shall arise another, who shall surpass in evil deeds all that were before him, and shall overthrow three kings; and he shall speak words against the most high God, and wear out the saints of the most high God, and shall purpose to change times and laws; and [everything] shall be given into his hand until a time of times and a half time," that is, for three years and six months, during which time, when he comes, he shall reign over the earth. Of whom also the Apostle Paul again, speaking in the second [epistle] to the Thessalonians, and at the same time proclaiming the cause of his advent, thus says: "And then shall the wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the spirit of His mouth, and destroy by the presence of His coming; whose coming [i.e., the wicked one's] is after the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and portents of lies, and with all deceivableness of wickedness for those who perish; because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And therefore God will send them the working of error, that they may believe a lie; that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but gave consent to iniquity," Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 553-554 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 110: PURITY ======================================================================== He that is pure in the flesh, let him be so, and not boast, knowing that it is Another who bestows his continence upon him. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.38 In like manner also the younger men must be blameless in all things, caring for purity before everything and curbing themselves from every evil. For it is a good thing to refrain from lusts in the world, for every lust wars against the Spirit, and neither whoremongers nor effeminate persons nor defilers of themselves with men shall inherit the kingdom of God, neither they that do untoward things. Wherefore it is right to abstain from all these things, submitting yourselves to the presbyters and deacons as to God and Christ. The virgins must walk in a blameless and pure conscience. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.5 "I charge you," said he, "to keep purity, and let not a thought enter into your heart concerning another's wife, or concerning fornication, or concerning any such like evil deeds; for in so doing you commit a great sin. But remember your own wife always, and you shall never go wrong." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.21 "Not only," said he, "is it adultery, if a man pollute his flesh, but whosoever does things like unto the heathen commits adultery. If therefore in such deeds as these likewise a man continue and repent not, keep away from him, and live not with him. Otherwise, you also are a partaker of his sin." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg. 21 "If a wife, Sir," say I, "or, it may be, a husband fall asleep, and one of them marry, does the one that marries sin?" "He sins not," said he, "but if he remain single, he invests himself with more exceeding honor and with great glory before the Lord; yet even if he should marry, he sins not. Preserve purity and holiness therefore, and you shall live unto God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.22 But we are so far from practicing promiscuous intercourse, that it is not lawful among us to indulge even a lustful look. "For," said He, "he that looks on a woman to lust after her, has committed adultery already in his heart." Those, then, who are forbidden to look at anything more than that for which God formed the eyes, which were intended to be a light to us, and to whom a wanton look is adultery, the eyes being made for other purposes, and who are to be called to account for their very thoughts, how can any one doubt that such persons practice self-control? Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.146 And their (Christian) women, O King, are pure as virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to come in the other world. Aristides (2nd century) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.9 pg.277 Wherefore also the Lord commands "to watch," so that our soul may never be perturbed with passion, even in dreams; but also to keep the life of the night pure and stainless, as if spent in the day. For assimilation to God, as far as we can, is preserving the mind in its relation to the same things. And this is the relation of mind as mind. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.435 SEE ALSO: CELIBACY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 111: REPENTANCE ======================================================================== Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. Acts 3:19 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 2 Corinthians 7:9-11 Noah preached repentance, and as many obeyed were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, made atonement to God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God. The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance… And in another place He speaks thus: “Wash you, and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before mine eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if you be willing and obey Me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse, and will not hearken unto Me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations]. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.7-8 While we are on earth, then, let us repent: for we are clay under the craftsman's hand. For in like manner as the potter, if he be making a vessel, and it get twisted or crushed in his hands, reshapes it again; but if he have once put it into the fiery oven, he shall no longer mend it: so also let us, while we are in this world, repent with our whole heart of the evil things which we have done in the flesh, that we may be saved by the Lord, while we have yet time for repentance. For after that we have departed out of the world, we can no more make confession there, or repent any more. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.8 While we have time to be healed, let us place ourselves in the hands of God the physician, giving Him a recompense. What recompense? Repentance from a sincere heart. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.9 Therefore, brethren, let us repent forthwith. Let us be sober unto that which is good: for we are full of much folly and wickedness. Let us wipe away from us our former sins, and let us repent with our whole soul and be saved. And let us not be found men-pleasers. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.13 Therefore, brethren, since we have found no small opportunity for repentance, seeing that we have time, let us turn again unto God that called us, while we have still One that receives us. For if we bid farewell to these enjoyments and conquer our soul in refusing to fulfill its evil lusts, we shall be partakers of the mercy of Jesus. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.16 I read to you an exhortation to the end that you may give heed to the things which are written, so that you may save both yourselves and him that reads in the midst of you. For I ask of you as a reward that you repent with your whole heart, and give salvation and life to yourselves. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.19 The proconsul then said to him, "I have wild beasts at hand; to these will I cast you, except you repent." But he answered, "Call them then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil; and it is well for me to be changed from what is evil to what is righteous." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 11 Only pray you for them (the Heretics), if haply they may repent. This indeed is difficult, but Jesus Christ, our true life, has power over it. Ignatius: to the Smyrnaeans (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 Yea, and to all the saints that have sinned unto this day, if they repent with their whole heart, and remove double-mindedness from their heart. For the Master swore by His own glory, as concerning His elect; that if, now that this day has been set as a limit, sin shall hereafter be committed, they shall not find salvation; for repentance for the righteous has an end; the days of repentance are accomplished for all the saints; whereas for the Gentiles there is repentance until the last day. Hermas (A.D. 150) ch.11 They then that shall repent, if they repent, will be strong in the faith, if they repent now while the tower is building. But if the building shall be finished, they have no more any place, but shall be castaways. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 14 "To repent is great understanding," said he. "For the man that has sinned understands that he has done evil before the Lord, and the deed which he has done enters into his heart, and he repents, and does no more evil, but does good lavishly, and humbles his own soul and puts it to torture because it sinned. You see then that repentance is great understanding." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.22 "But I say unto you," said he, "if after this great and holy calling any one, being tempted of the devil, shall commit sin, he has only one (opportunity of) repentance. But if he sin off-hand and repent, repentance is unprofitable for such a man; for he shall live with difficulty." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.22 You then that repent, cast away the evil doings of this world which crush you; and, by putting on every excellence of righteousness, you shall be able to observe these commandments, and to add no more to your sins. If then you add no further sin at all, you will depart from your former sins. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 36 Well, do you think that the sins of those who repent are forgiven immediately? Certainly not; but the person who repents must torture his own soul, and must be thoroughly humble in his every action, and be afflicted with all the divers kinds of affliction; and if he endure the afflictions which come upon him, assuredly He Who created all things and endowed them with power will be moved with compassion and will bestow some remedy. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.38 "…the Lord, how great and glorious it is, and He has given (His) Spirit to those that are worthy of repentance." "Wherefore then, Sir," say I, "did they not all repent?" "To those, whose heart He saw about to become pure and to serve Him with all the heart, to them He gave repentance; but those whose craftiness and wickedness He saw, who intend to repent in hypocrisy, to them He gave not repentance, lest haply they should again profane His name." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 41 Go, and tell all men to repent, and they shall live unto God; for the Lord in His compassion sent me to give repentance to all, though some of them, because of their deeds do not deserve to be saved. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 42 "As many," [said he,] "as [shall repent] from their whole heart [and] shall cleanse themselves from all the evil deeds aforementioned, and shall add nothing further to their sins, shall receive healing from the Lord for their former sins, unless they be double-minded concerning these commandments, and they shall live unto God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.42 These are they that have heard my commandments now, and have practiced repentance with their whole heart. So when the Lord saw that their repentance was good and pure, and that they could continue therein, he ordered their former sins to be blotted out. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 54 And the Lord, knowing the heart, and foreknowing the future, foresaw both the fickleness of man and the craft and subtlety of the devil from the first, from the beginning; how that, envying man for the forgiveness of sins, he would present to the servants of God certain causes of sins; skillfully working mischief, that they might fall together with himself. Accordingly, being very merciful, He has vouch-safed, in the case of those who, though in faith, fall into any transgression, a second repentance; so that should any one be tempted after his calling, overcome by force and fraud, he may receive still a repentance not to be repented of. "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shah devour the adversaries." But continual and successive repentings for sins differ nothing from the case of those who have not believed at all, except only in their consciousness that they do sin. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.360 "Born again, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh," but in the Spirit; which consists in repenting by not giving way to the same fault. For frequent repentance and readiness to change easily from want of training, is the practice of sin again. The frequent asking of forgiveness, then, for those things in which we often transgress, is the semblance of repentance, not repentance itself. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.361 Repentance then becomes capable of wiping out every sin, when on the occurrence of the soul's fault it admits no delay, and does not let the impulse pass on to a long space of time. For it is in this way that evil will be unable to leave a trace in us, being plucked away at the moment of its assault like a newly planted plant. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.580 "But these three abide, Faith, Hope, Love. But the greatest of these is Love." And rightly. For Faith departs when we are convinced by vision, by seeing God. And Hope vanishes when the things hoped for come. But Love comes to completion, and grows more when that which is perfect has been bestowed. If one introduces it into his soul, although he be born in sins, and has done many forbidden things, he is able, by increasing love, and adopting a pure repentance, to retrieve his mistakes. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.602 Forgiveness of past sins, then, God gives; but of future, each one gives to himself. And this is to repent, to condemn the past deeds, and beg oblivion of them from the Father, who only of all is able to undo what is done, by mercy proceeding from Him, and to blot out former sins by the dew of the Spirit. "For by the state in which I find you will I judge," Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.602 SEE ALSO: SALVATION, NEW BIRTH, BAPTISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 112: RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD ======================================================================== But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Philippians 3:7-11 It is well, therefore, that he who has learned the judgments of the Lord, as many as have been written, should walk in them. For he who keeps these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; but he who chooses other things shall be destroyed with his works. On this account there will be a resurrection, on this account a retribution. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.20 And then shall appear the signs of the truth: first, the sign of an outspreading in heaven, then the sign of the sound of the trumpet. And third, the resurrection of the dead - yet not of all, but as it is said: "The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him." Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.16 Let us understand, dearly beloved, how the Master continually shows unto us the resurrection that shall be hereafter; whereof He made the Lord Jesus Christ the first fruit, when He raised Him from the dead. Let us behold, dearly beloved, the resurrection which happens at its proper season. Day and night show unto us the resurrection. The night falls asleep, and day arises; the day departs, and night comes on. Let us mark the fruits, how and in what manner the sowing takes place. The sower goes forth and casts into the earth each of the seeds; and these falling into the earth dry and bare decay: then out of their decay the mightiness of the Master's providence raises them up, and from being one they increase manifold and bear fruit. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 24 Do we then think it to be a great and marvelous thing, if the Creator of the universe shall bring about the resurrection of them that have served Him with holiness in the assurance of a good faith, seeing that He shows to us even by a bird the magnificence of His promise? For He said in a certain place; And You shall raise me up, and I will praise You; and I went to rest and slept, I was awaked, for You are with me. And again Job said; And You shall raise this my flesh which has endured all these things. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 26 And let not any one of you say that this flesh is not judged neither rises again. Understand you. In what were you saved? In what did you recover your sight? if you were not in this flesh. We ought therefore to guard the flesh as a temple of God: for in like manner as you were called in the flesh, you shall come also in the flesh. If Christ the Lord who saved us, being first spirit, then became flesh, and so called us, in like manner also shall we in this flesh receive our reward. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 9 Now He that raised Him from the dead will raise us also; if we do His will and walk in His commandments and love the things which He loved, abstaining from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness; not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing or blow for blow or cursing for cursing; Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch. 2 They who maintain the wrong opinion say that there is no resurrection of the flesh; giving as their reason that it is impossible that what is corrupted and dissolved should be restored to the same as it had been. And besides the impossibility, they say that the salvation of the flesh is disadvantageous; and they abuse the flesh, adducing its infirmities, and declare that it only is the cause of our sins, so that if the flesh, say they, rise again, our infirmities also rise with it. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 294 "That the blind should receive sight, and the deaf hear," …For if on earth He healed the sicknesses of the flesh, and made the body whole, much more will He do this in the resurrection, so that the flesh shall rise perfect and entire. In this manner, then, shall those dreaded difficulties of theirs be healed. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 295 And shall not God be able to collect again the decomposed members of the flesh, and make the same body as was formerly produced by Him? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 297 And if the resurrection of the flesh is not found impossible on the principles even of unbelievers, how much more will it be found in accordance with the mind of believers! Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 297 If the resurrection were only spiritual, it was requisite that He, in raising the dead, should show the body lying apart by itself, and the soul living apart by itself. But now He did not do so, but raised the body, confirming in it the promise of life. Why did He rise in the flesh in which He suffered, unless to show the resurrection of the flesh? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 298 And when He had thus shown them that there is truly a resurrection of the flesh, wishing to show them this also, that it is not impossible for flesh to ascend into heaven (as He had said that our dwelling-place is in heaven), "He was taken up into heaven while they beheld," as He was in the flesh. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.298 The resurrection is a resurrection of the flesh which died. For the spirit dies not; the soul is in the body, and without a soul it cannot live. The body, when the soul forsakes it, is not. For the body is the house of the soul; and the soul the house of the spirit. These three, in all those who cherish a sincere hope and unquestioning faith in God, will be saved. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 298 In the same way, having been born, and through death existing no longer, and seen no longer, I shall exist again, just as before I was not, but was afterwards born. Even though fire destroy all traces of my flesh, the world receives the vaporized matter; and though dispersed through rivers and seas, or torn in pieces by wild beasts, I am laid up in the storehouses of a wealthy Lord. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.67 The result of all this is very plain to every one - namely, that, in the language of the apostle, "this corruptible (and dissoluble) must put on incorruption," in order that those who were dead, having been made alive by the resurrection, and the parts that were separated and entirely dissolved having been again united, each one may, in accordance with justice, receive what he has done by the body, whether it be good or bad. Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.159 After its thousand years are over, within which period is completed the resurrection of the saints, who rise sooner or later according to their deserts there will ensue the destruction of the world and the conflagration of all things at the judgment: we shall then be changed in a moment into the substance of angels, even by the investiture of an incorruptible nature, and so be removed to that kingdom in heaven. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 343 When, then, we read, "Go, my people, enter into your closets for a little season, until my anger pass away," we have in the closets graves, in which they will have to rest for a little while, who shall have at the end of the world departed this life in the last furious onset of the power of Antichrist. Why else did He use the expression closets, in preference to some other receptacle, if it were not that the flesh is kept in these closets or cellars salted and reserved for use, to be drawn out thence on a suitable occasion? …it appears that by the very phrase which he uses, "Until His anger pass away," which shall extinguish Antichrist, he in fact shows that after that indignation the flesh will come forth from the sepulcher, in which it had been deposited previous to the bursting out of the anger. Now out of the closets nothing else is brought than that which had been put into them, and after the extirpation of Antichrist shall be busily transacted the great process of the resurrection. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 565 SEE ALSO: MILLENNIUM, DEAD ======================================================================== CHAPTER 113: REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS, ETERNAL ======================================================================== Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. John 5:28-29 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Revelation 22:12 But I will forewarn ye whom you shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him. Luke 12:5 [As the elders who saw John the disciple of the Lord remembered that they had heard from him how the Lord taught in regard to those times, and said]: The days will come in which vines shall grow, having each ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in every one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give five-and-twenty metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, 'I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.' In like manner, [He said] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear would have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds of clear, pure, fine flour; and that apples, and seeds, and grass would produce in similar proportions; and that all animals, feeding then only on the productions of the earth, would become peaceable and harmonious, and be in perfect subjection to man. Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment IV As the presbyters say, then those who are deemed worthy of an abode in heaven shall go there, others shall enjoy the delights of Paradise, and others shall possess the splendor of the city; for everywhere the Savior will be seen, according as they shall be worthy who see Him. But that there is this distinction between the habitation of those who produce an hundredfold, and that of those who produce sixty-fold, and that of those who produce thirty-fold; for the first will be taken up into the heavens, the second class will dwell in Paradise, and the last will inhabit the city; and that on this account the Lord said, "In my Father's house are many mansions:" for all things belong to God, who supplies all with a suitable dwelling-place, even as His word says, that a share is given to all by the Father, according as each one is or shall be worthy. And this is the couch in which they shall recline who feast, being invited to the wedding. The presbyters, the disciples of the apostles, say that this is the gradation and arrangement of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature; and that, moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father; and that in due time the Son will yield up His work to the Father…Papias (A.D. 60-130) fragment V And Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh. He speaks of that day of judgment, when men shall see those among us that lived ungodly lives and dealt falsely with the commandments of Jesus Christ. But the righteous, having done good and endured torments and hated the pleasures of the soul, when they shall behold them that have done amiss and denied Jesus by their words or by their deeds, how that they are punished with grievous torments in unquenchable fire, shall give glory to God, saying, There will be hope for him that has served God with his whole heart. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.17 No righteous man has reaped fruit quickly, but waits for it. For if God had paid the recompense of the righteous speedily, then straightway we should have been training ourselves in merchandise, and not in godliness; for we should seem to be righteous, though we were pursuing not that which is godly, but that which is gainful. And for this cause Divine judgment overtakes a spirit that is not just, and loads it with chains. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.20 And, looking to the grace of Christ, they despised all the torments of this world, redeeming themselves from eternal punishment by [the suffering of] a single hour. For this reason the fire of their savage executioners appeared cool to them. For they kept before their view escape from that fire which is eternal and never shall be quenched, and looked forward with the eyes of their heart to those good things which are laid up for such as endure; things "which ear has not heard, nor eye seen, neither have entered into the heart of man," but were revealed by the Lord to them. Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch. 2 But again the proconsul said to him, "I will cause you to be consumed by fire, seeing you despise the wild beasts, if you will not repent." But Polycarp said, "You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why do you wait? Bring forth what you will." Martyrdom of Polycarp (A.D. 156) ch.11 You shall behold that God lives in heaven; then shall you begin to declare the mysteries of God; then shall you both love and admire those that are punished because they will not deny God; then shall you condemn the deceit and error of the world; when you shall perceive the true life which is in heaven, when you shall despise the apparent death which is here on earth, when you shall fear the real death, which is reserved for those that shall be condemned to the eternal fire that shall punish those delivered over to it unto the end. Then shall you admire those who endure for righteousness' sake the fire that is for a season, and shall count them blessed when you perceive that fire ... Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.10 "He that knows not God," said he, "and commits wickedness, has a certain punishment for his wickedness; but he that knows God fully ought not any longer to commit wickedness, but to do good. If then he that ought to do good commits wickedness, does he not seem to do greater wickedness than the man that knows not God? Therefore they that have not known God, and commit wickedness, are condemned to death; but they that have known God and seen His mighty works, and yet commit wickedness, shall receive a double punishment, and shall die eternally. In this way therefore shall the Church of God be purified. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.50 Each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his actions. For if all men knew this, no one would choose wickedness even for a little, knowing that he goes to the everlasting punishment of fire; but would by all means restrain himself, and adorn himself with virtue, that he might obtain the good gifts of God, and escape the punishments. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 For reflect upon the end of each of the preceding kings, how they died the death common to all, which, if it issued in insensibility, would be a godsend to all the wicked. But since sensation remains to all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up (i.e., for the wicked), see that you neglect not to be convinced, and to hold as your belief, that these things are true. For let even necromancy, and the divinations you practice by immaculate children, and the evoking of departed human souls, and those who are called among the magi, Dream-senders and Assistant-spirits (Familiars), and all that is done by those who are skilled in such matters - let these persuade you that even after death souls are in a state of sensation. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.169 And we have learned that those only are deified who have lived near to God in holiness and virtue; and we believe that those who live wickedly and do not repent are punished in everlasting fire. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.170 We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man's actions. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.177 For as, in the New Testament, that faith of men [to be placed] in God has been increased, receiving in addition [to what was already revealed] the Son of God, that man too might be a partaker of God. Thus also the punishment of those who do not believe the Word of God, and despise His advent, and are turned away backwards, is increased; being not merely temporal, but rendered also eternal. For to whomsoever the Lord shall say, "Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire," these shall be damned for ever; and to whomsoever He shall say, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity," these do receive the kingdom for ever, and make constant advance in it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.501 Conformably, therefore, there are various abodes, according to the worth of those who have believed. To the point Solomon says, "For there shall be given to him the choice grace of faith, and a more pleasant lot in the temple of the Lord." For the comparative shows that there are lower parts in the temple of God, which is the whole Church. And the superlative remains to be conceived, where the Lord is. These chosen abodes, which are three, are indicated by the numbers in the Gospel -- the thirty, the sixty, the hundred. And the perfect inheritance belongs to those who attain to "a perfect man," according to the image of the Lord… But "it is enough for the disciple to become as the Master," said the Master. To the likeness of God, then, he that is introduced into adoption and the friendship of God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.506 All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked, for whom it were better that they were not deathless. For, punished with the endless vengeance of quenchless fire, and not dying, it is impossible for them to have a period put to their misery. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.581 Accordingly, we get ourselves laughed at for proclaiming that God will one day judge the world. For, like us, the poets and philosophers set up a judgment-seat in the realms below. And if we threaten Gehenna, which is a reservoir of secret fire under the earth for purposes of punishment, we have in the same way derision heaped on us. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.52 SEE ALSO: FEAR OF GOD, SALVATION, DEAD ======================================================================== CHAPTER 114: SABBATH ======================================================================== Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Colossians 2:14-17 The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: "And God made in six days the works of His hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it." Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, "He finished in six days." This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with Him a thousand years. And He Himself testifies, saying, "Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years." Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. "And He rested on the seventh day." This means: when His Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, He says, "You shall sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart." If, therefore, any one can now sanctify the day which God has sanctified, except he is pure in heart in all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly then one properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the promise, wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having been first sanctified ourselves. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 15 Further, He says to them, "Your new moons and your Sabbath I cannot endure." You perceive how He speaks: Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, [namely this,] when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day (Sunday) with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when He had manifested Himself, He ascended into the heavens. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.15 If then those who had walked in ancient practices attained unto newness of hope, no longer observing Sabbaths but fashioning their lives after the Lord's day, on which our life also arose through Him and through His death which some men deny. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.9 But again their scruples concerning meats, and their superstition relating to the Sabbath and the vanity of their circumcision and the dissimulation of their fasting and new moons, I do [not] suppose you need to learn from me, are ridiculous and unworthy of any consideration… And again to lie against God, as if He forbad us to do any good thing on the Sabbath day, is not this profane? Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 4 The new law requires you to keep perpetual Sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true Sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.200 Do you see that the elements are not idle, and keep no Sabbaths? Remain as you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or of the observance of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses; no more need is there of them now. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.206 "You hypocrites, does not each one of you on the Sabbath-days loose his ox or his ass, and lead him away to watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath-days?" It is clear therefore, that He loosed and vivified those who believe in Him as Abraham did, doing nothing contrary to the law when He healed upon the Sabbath-day. For the law did not prohibit men from being healed upon the Sabbaths; [on the contrary,] it even circumcised them upon that day, and gave command that the offices should be performed by the priests for the people; yea, it did not disallow the healing even of dumb animals. Both at Siloam and on frequent subsequent occasions, did He perform cures upon the Sabbath; and for this reason many used to resort to Him on the Sabbath-days. For the law commanded them to abstain from every servile work, that is, from all grasping after wealth which is procured by trading and by other worldly business; but it exhorted them to attend to the exercises of the soul, which consist in reflection, and to addresses of a beneficial kind for their neighbors’ benefit. And therefore the Lord reproved those who unjustly blamed Him for having healed upon the Sabbath-days. For He did not make void, but fulfilled the law, by performing the offices of the high priest, propitiating God for men, and cleansing the lepers, healing the sick, and Himself suffering death, that exiled man might go forth from condemnation, and might return without fear to his own inheritance. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 471 To His disciples He said, who had a priesthood of the Lord, to whom it was lawful when hungry to eat the ears of corn, "For the workman is worthy of his meat." And the priests in the temple profaned the Sabbath, and were blameless. Wherefore, then, were they blameless? Because when in the temple they were not engaged in secular affairs, but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling the law, but not going beyond it, as that man did, who of his own accord carded dry wood into the camp of God, and was justly stoned to death. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.471 And in Exodus, God says to Moses: "And you shall observe My Sabbaths; for it shall be a sign between Me and you for your generations."… But the Sabbaths taught that we should continue day by day in God's service. "For we have been counted," says the Apostle Paul, "all the day long as sheep for the slaughter;" that is, consecrated [to God], and ministering continually to our faith, and persevering in it, and abstaining from all avarice, and not acquiring or possessing treasures upon earth. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 481 It follows, accordingly, that, in so far as the abolition of carnal circumcision and of the old law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary. … And through this arises the question for us, what Sabbath God willed us to keep? For the Scriptures point to a Sabbath eternal and a Sabbath temporal. For Isaiah the prophet says, "Your Sabbaths my soul hates;" and in another place he says, "My Sabbaths you have profaned." Whence we discern that the temporal Sabbath is human, and the eternal Sabbath is accounted divine. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.155 SEE ALSO: LORD’S DAY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 115: SALVATION ======================================================================== Fear is the foundation of salvation; presumption is an impediment to fear. More useful, then, is it to apprehend that we may possibly fail, than to presume that we cannot; for apprehending will lead us to fear, fearing to caution, and caution to salvation. On the other hand, if we presume, there will be neither fear nor caution to save us. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 19 I. Salvation only in the name of Christ II. The role of grace in salvation III. The role of faith in salvation IV. The role of obedience in salvation V. The righteousness of God vs. the righteousness of the law VI. Is it possible to loose your salvation? VII. Calling on and confessing the name of the Lord VIII. How the early church preached salvation IX. How the heretics preached salvation X. The violent who take the kingdom of heaven by force I. Salvation only in the name of Christ (Top) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12 Brethren, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ, as of God, as of the Judge of the living and the dead. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.1 …We might now be made deserving by the goodness of God, and having made clear our inability to enter into the kingdom of God of ourselves, might be enabled by the ability of God… Having then in the former time demonstrated the inability of our nature to obtain life, and having now revealed a Savior able to save even creatures which have no ability, He willed that for both reasons we should believe in His goodness and should regard Him as nurse, father, teacher, counselor, physician, mind, light, honor, glory, strength and life. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.9 "I saw, Sir," say I. "Thus," said he, "no one shall enter into the kingdom of God, except he receive the name of His Son… Whosoever shall not receive His name, shall not enter into the kingdom of God." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.47 "They," said he, "are holy spirits; and no man can otherwise be found in the kingdom of God, unless these shall clothe him with their garment; for if you receive only the name, but receive not the garment from them, you profit nothing... If [therefore] you bear the Name, and bear not His power, you shall bear His Name to none effect.” Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.48 Even those that bear His name with their whole heart. He Himself then is become their foundation, and He sustains them gladly, because they are not ashamed to bear His name." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 48 The first is Faith, and the second, Continence, and the third, Power, and the fourth, Long-suffering. But the others stationed between them have these names - Simplicity, Guilelessness, Purity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Concord, Love. He that bears these names and the name of the Son of God shall be able to enter into the kingdom of God. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 49 II. The role of grace in salvation (Top) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Ephesians 2:8 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Titus 2:11, 12 Let us look steadfastly to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which, having been shed for our salvation, has set the grace of repentance before the whole world. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.7 Let us therefore cleave unto those to whom grace is given from God … being justified by works and not by words. For He said; He that said much shall hear also again. Does the ready talker think to be righteous? Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 30 For He had mercy on us, and in His compassion saved us, having beheld in us much error and perdition, even when we had no hope of salvation, save that which came from Him. For He called us, when we were not, and from not being He willed us to be. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.1 Though you saw Him not, you believe with joy unutterable and full of glory; unto which joy many desire to enter in; forasmuch as you know that it is by grace you are saved, not of works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. Wherefore gird up your loins and serve God in fear and truth, forsaking the vain and empty talking and the error of the many. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.1-2 Grace; which confers understanding, which reveals mysteries, which announces seasons, which rejoices over the faithful, which is bestowed upon those who seek her, even those by whom the pledges of faith are not broken, nor the boundaries of the fathers overstepped. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.11 We must hear the savior speaking thus, "Come, follow Me." For to the pure in heart He now becomes the way. But into the impure soul the grace of God finds no entrance. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.595 For God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save the unwilling is the part of one exercising compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace. Nor does the kingdom of heaven belong to sleepers and sluggards…Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.597 SEE ALSO: GRACE, FAITH (Top) III. The role of faith in salvation (Top) For her faith and hospitality Rahab the harlot was saved. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.12 And so we, having been called through His will in Christ Jesus, are not justified through ourselves or through our own wisdom or understanding or piety or works which we wrought in holiness of heart, but through faith, whereby the Almighty God justified all men that have been from the beginning; to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. What then must we do, brethren? Must we idly abstain from doing good, and forsake love? May the Master never allow this to befall us at least; but let us hasten with instancy and zeal to accomplish every good work. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 32-33 Let us therefore contend, that we may be found in the number of those that patiently await Him, to the end that we may be partakers of His promised gifts. But how shall this be, dearly beloved? If our mind be fixed through faith towards God; if we seek out those things which are well pleasing and acceptable unto Him; if we accomplish such things as beseem His faultless will, and follow the way of truth, casting off from ourselves all unrighteousness and iniquity, covetousness, strifes, malignities and deceits, whisperings and backbitings, hatred of God, pride and arrogance, vainglory and inhospitality. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.35 None of these things is hidden from you, if you be perfect in your faith and love toward Jesus Christ, for these are the beginning and end of life - faith is the beginning and love is the end - and the two being found in unity are God, while all things else follow in their train unto true nobility. No man professing faith sins, and no man possessing love hates. The tree is manifest from its fruit; so they that profess to be Christ's shall be seen through their actions. For the Work is not a thing of profession now, but is seen then when one is found in the power of faith unto the end. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.14 And the second, that is girded about and looks like a man, is called Self-Control; she is the daughter of Faith. Whosoever then shall follow her, becomes happy in his life, for he shall refrain from all evil deeds, believing that, if he refrain from every evil desire, he shall inherit eternal life. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.16 And now, by the parable of the leaven, the Lord shows concealment; for He says, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." For the tripartite soul is saved by obedience, through the spiritual power hidden in it by faith. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.463 So that when we hear, "Your faith has saved you,” we do not understand Him to say absolutely that those who have believed in any way whatever shall be saved, unless also works follow. But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this utterance, who kept the law and lived blamelessly, who wanted only faith in the Lord. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.505 But how can a man say that he believes in Christ, who does not do what Christ commanded him to do? Or whence shall he attain to the reward of faith, who will not keep the faith of the commandment? He must of necessity waver and wander, and, caught away by a spirit of error, like dust which is shaken by the wind, be blown about; and he will make no advance in his walk towards salvation, because he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.421 SEE ALSO: GRACE, FAITH IV. The role of obedience in salvation (Top) …being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. Hebrews 5:9 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 Thessalonians 1:8 But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Romans 2:8 Noah preached repentance, and those who obeyed were saved. Jonah proclaimed destruction to the Ninevites; but they, repenting of their sins, made atonement to God by prayer, and obtained salvation, although they were aliens [to the covenant] of God. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.7 The fear of (God) is good and great and saves all them that walk therein in a pure mind with holiness. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 Let us therefore cleave unto those to whom grace is given from God. Let us clothe ourselves in concord, being lowly-minded and temperate, holding ourselves aloof from all backbiting and evil speaking, being justified by works and not by words. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.30 Blessed were we, dearly beloved, if we should be doing the commandments of God in concord of love, to the end that our sins may through love be forgiven us. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.50 Let us therefore be obedient unto His most holy and glorious Name, thereby escaping the threatenings which were spoken of old by the mouth of Wisdom against them which disobey, that we may dwell safely, trusting in the most holy Name of His majesty. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.57 For, if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; but if otherwise, then nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we should disobey His commandments. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.6 So then, my brethren, let us contend, knowing that the contest is nigh at hand, and that, while many resort to the corruptible contests, yet not all are crowned, but only they that have toiled hard and contended bravely. And if we cannot all be crowned, let us at least come near to the crown. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.7 Wherefore, brethren, if we shall have done the will of the Father and kept the flesh pure and guarded the commandments of the Lord, we shall receive life eternal. For the Lord said in the Gospel, If you kept not that which is little, who shall give unto you that which is great? For I say unto you that he which is faithful in the least, is faithful also in much. So then He means this, Keep the flesh pure and the seal unstained, to the end that we may receive life. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.8 Wherefore, my brethren, let us not be double-minded but endure patiently in hope, that we may also obtain our reward. For faithful is He that promised to pay to each man the recompense of his works. If therefore we shall have wrought righteousness in the sight of God, we shall enter into His kingdom and shall receive the promises which ear has not heard nor eye seen, neither has it entered into the heart of man. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.11 But if we do not the will of the Lord, we shall be of the scripture that said, My house was made a den of robbers. So therefore let us choose rather to be of the Church of life, that we may be saved. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.14 Now I do not think that I have given any mean counsel respecting continence, and whosoever performs it shall not repent thereof, but shall save both himself and me his counselor. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.15 I read to you an exhortation to the end that you may give heed to the things which are written, so that you may save both yourselves and him that reads in the midst of you. For I ask of you as a reward that you repent with your whole heart, and give salvation and life to yourselves. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 19 Now He that raised Him from the dead will raise us also; if we do His will and walk in His commandments and love the things which He loved, abstaining from all unrighteousness, covetousness, love of money, evil speaking, false witness; not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing or blow for blow or cursing for cursing; Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.2 "For I know that, if I shall add no more to my sins, I shall be saved." "You shall be saved," he said, "you and all, as many as shall do these things." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.22 "Sir, these commandments are great and beautiful and glorious, and are able to gladden the heart of the man who is able to observe them. But I know not whether these commandments can be kept by a man, for they are very hard." He answered and said unto me; "If you set it before yourself that they can be kept, you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard; but if it once enter into your heart that they cannot be kept by a man, you will not keep them. But now I say unto you; if you keep them not. but neglect them you shall not have salvation, neither your children nor your household, since you have already pronounced judgment against yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by a man." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.29 Go, and tell all men to repent, and they shall live unto God; for the Lord in His compassion sent me to give repentance to all, though some of them, because of their deeds do not deserve to be saved. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.42 And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received - of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 Nor did He stand in need of our service when He ordered us to follow Him; but He thus bestowed salvation upon ourselves. For to follow the Savior is to be a partaker of salvation, and to follow light is to receive light. But those who are in light do not themselves illumine the light, but are illumined and revealed by it: they do certainly contribute nothing to it, but, receiving the benefit, they are illumined by the light. Thus, also, service [rendered] to God does indeed profit God nothing, nor has God need of human obedience; but He grants to those who follow and serve Him life and in-corruption and eternal glory, bestowing benefit upon those who serve [Him], because they do serve Him, and on His followers, because they do follow Him; but does not receive any benefit from them: for He is rich, perfect, and in need of nothing. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 478 For as man, disobeying, drew death upon himself; so, obeying the will of God, he who desires is able to procure for himself life everlasting. For God has given us a law and holy commandments; and every one who keeps these can be saved, and, obtaining the resurrection, can inherit incorruption. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.105 Forgiveness of past sins, then, God gives; but of future, each one gives to himself. And this is to repent, to condemn the past deeds, and beg oblivion of them from the Father, who only of all is able to undo what is done, by mercy proceeding from Him, and to blot out former sins by the dew of the Spirit. "For by the state in which I find you will I judge," Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.602 SEE ALSO: COMMANDMENTS KEEPING V. The righteousness of God vs. the righteousness of the law (Top) Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Galatians 2:16 And again He says to them, "Did I command your fathers, when they went out from the land of Egypt, to offer unto Me burnt-offerings and sacrifices? But this rather I commanded them, Let no one of you cherish any evil in his heart against his neighbor, and love not an oath of falsehood." …We ought therefore, brethren, carefully to inquire concerning our salvation, lest the wicked one, having made his entrance by deceit, should huff us forth from our [true] life. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 2 And Trypho again inquired, "But if some one, knowing that this is so, after he recognizes that this man is Christ, and has believed in and obeys Him, wishes, however, to observe these [institutions], will he be saved?" I said, "In my opinion, Trypho, such an one will be saved, if he does not strive in every way to persuade other men - I mean those Gentiles who have been circumcised from error by Christ, to observe the same things as himself, telling them that they will not be saved unless they do so. This you did yourself at the commencement of the discourse, when you declared that I would not be saved unless I observe these institutions." Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.218 …As I have learned also from the memoirs. For He exhorted His disciples to surpass the pharisaic way of living, with the warning, that if they did not, they might be sure they could not be saved; and these words are recorded in the memoirs: 'Unless your righteousness exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.' Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.252 The teaching of the Lord, with whom not only is the adulterer rejected, but also the man who desires to commit adultery; and not only is the actual murderer held guilty of having killed another to his own damnation, but the man also who is angry with his brother without a cause: who commanded [His disciples] not only not to hate men, but also to love their enemies; and commanded them not only not to swear falsely, but not even to swear at all; and not only not to speak evil of their neighbors, but not even to style any one "Raca" and "fool;" [declaring] that otherwise they were in danger of hell-fire; and not only not to strike, but even, when themselves struck, to present the other cheek [to those that maltreated them]; and not only not to refuse to give up the property of others, but even if their own were taken away, not to demand it back again from those that took it; and not only not to injure their neighbors, nor to do them any evil, but also, when themselves wickedly dealt with, to be long-suffering, and to show kindness towards those [that injured them], and to pray for them, that by means of repentance they might be saved. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 408 For the tradition of the elders themselves, which they pretended to observe from the law, was contrary to the law given by Moses. Wherefore also Isaiah declares: "Your dealers mix the wine with water," showing that the elders were in the habit of mingling a watered tradition with the simple command of God; that is, they set up a spurious law, and one contrary to the [true] law; as also the Lord made plain, when He said to them, "Why do you transgress the commandment of God, for the sake of your tradition?" For not only by actual transgression did they set the law of God at naught, mingling the wine with water; but they also set up their own law in opposition to it, which is termed, even to the present day, the pharisaical. In this [law] they suppress certain things, add others, and interpret others, again, as they think proper, which their teachers use, each one in particular; and desiring to uphold these traditions, they were unwilling to be subject to the law of God, which prepares them for the coming of Christ. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 475 "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me: howbeit in vain do they worship Me, teaching the doctrines and the commandments of men." He does not call the law given by Moses commandments of men, but the traditions of the elders themselves which they had invented, and in upholding which they made the law of God of none effect, and were on this account also not subject to His Word. For this is what Paul says concerning these men: "For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God.” Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 476 As He does Himself declare: "Unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." For what meant “exceed” (that of the scribes and Pharisees) referred to? In the first place, [we must] believe not only in the Father, but also in His Son now revealed; for He it is who leads man into fellowship and unity with God. In the next place, [we must] not only say, but we must do; for they said, but did not. And [we must] not only abstain from evil deeds, but even from the desires after them. Now He did not teach us these things as being opposed to the law, but as fulfilling the law, and implanting in us the varied righteousness of the law. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.477 And for this reason did the Lord, instead of that [commandment], "You shall not commit adultery," forbid even concupiscence; and instead of that which runs thus, "You shall not kill," He prohibited anger; and instead of the law commanding the giving of tithes, [He told us] to share all our possessions with the poor; and not to love our neighbors only, but even our enemies; and not merely to be liberal givers and bestowers, but even that we should present a gratuitous gift to those who take away our goods. For "to him that takes away your coat," He says, "give to him your cloak also; and from him that takes away your goods, ask them not again; and as you would that men should do unto you, do you unto them:" so that we may not grieve as those who are unwilling to be defrauded, but may rejoice as those who have given willingly, and as rather conferring a favor upon our neighbors than yielding to necessity. "And if any one," He says, "shall compel you [to go] a mile, go with him twain;" so that you may not follow him as a slave, but may as a free man go before him, showing yourself in all things kindly disposed and useful to your neighbor, not regarding their evil intentions, but performing your kind offices, assimilating yourself to the Father, "who makes His sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sends rain upon the just and unjust." Now all these [precepts], as I have already observed, were not the injunctions of one doing away with the law, but of one fulfilling, extending, and widening it among us. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 477 Why, then, did the Lord not form the covenant for the fathers? Because "the law was not established for righteous men." But the righteous fathers had the meaning of the Decalogue written in their hearts and souls, that is, they loved the God who made them, and did no injury to their neighbor. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.481 For men were of old were accustomed to require "eye for eye, and tooth for tooth" and to repay with usury "evil with evil;" for, as yet, patience was not on earth, because faith was not either. Of course, meantime, impatience used to enjoy the opportunities which the law gave. That was easy, while the Lord and Master of patience was absent. But after He has supervened, and has united the grace of faith with patience, now it is no longer lawful to assail even with word, nor to say "fool" even, without "danger of the judgment." Anger has been prohibited, our spirits retained, the petulance of the hand checked, the poison of the tongue extracted. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 711 SEE ALSO: LAW MOSAIC VI. Is it possible to loose your salvation? (Top) For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. 2 Peter 2:20-22 Take heed now to yourselves, and not to be like some, adding largely to your sins, and saying, "The covenant is both theirs and ours." But they thus finally lost it, after Moses had already received it. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 We take earnest heed in these last days; for the whole [past] time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger, as becomes the sons of God that the Black One may find no means of entrance. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. And all the more attend to this, my brethren, when you reflect and behold, that after so great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel, they were thus [at length] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that saying], as it is written, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ready, for you know not the hour in which our Lord will come. But come together often, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, if you are not made perfect in the last time. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 16 Look you, brethren, lest His benefits, which are many, turn unto judgment to all of us, if we walk not worthily of Him, and do those things which are good and well-pleasing in His sight with concord. … It is right therefore that we should not be deserters from His will. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 But they that endured patiently in confidence inherited glory and honor; they were exalted, and had their names recorded by God in their memorial for ever and ever. Amen. To such examples as these therefore, brethren, we also ought to cleave. For it is written; Cleave unto the saints, for they that cleave unto them shall be sanctified. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 46 And we ought not rather to fear men but God. For this cause, if you do these things, the Lord said, Though you be gathered together with Me in My bosom, and do not My commandments, I will cast you away and will say unto you, Depart from Me, I know you not whence you are, you workers of iniquity. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.4 The promise of Christ is great and marvelous, even the rest of the kingdom that shall be and of life eternal. What then can we do to obtain them, but walk in holiness and righteousness, and consider these worldly things as alien to us, and not desire them? For when we desire to obtain these things we fall away from the righteous path. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.5 And the scripture also said in Ezekiel, Though Noah and Job and Daniel should rise up, they shall not deliver their children in the captivity. But if even such righteous men as these cannot by their righteous deeds deliver their children, with what confidence shall we, if we keep not our baptism pure and undefiled, enter into the kingdom of God? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found having holy and righteous works? Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 6 We ought to know that he which contends in the corruptible contest, if he be found dealing corruptly with it, is first flogged, and then removed and driven out of the race-course. What think you? What shall be done to him that has dealt corruptly with the contest of incorruption? For as concerning them that have not kept the seal, He said, Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be for a spectacle unto all flesh. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.7 Wherefore, my brethren, let us not be double-minded but endure patiently in hope, that we may also obtain our reward. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch. 11 Let us therefore practice righteousness that we may be saved unto the end. Blessed are they that obey these ordinances. Though they may endure affliction for a short time in the world, they will gather the immortal fruit of the resurrection. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.19 For since, by the introduction into an appropriation us of the Holy Spirit, we are all "the temple of God," modesty is the sacristan and priestess of that temple, who is to suffer nothing unclean or profane to be introduced (into it), for fear that the God who inhabits it should be offended, and quite forsake the polluted abode. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 18 Fear is the foundation of salvation; presumption is an impediment to fear. More useful, then, is it to apprehend that we may possibly fail, than to presume that we cannot; for apprehending will lead us to fear, fearing to caution, and caution to salvation. On the other hand, if we presume, there will be neither fear nor caution to save us. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 19 SEE ALSO: FREE WILL SYNERGISM VII. Calling on and confessing the name of the Lord (Top) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Matt. 7:21 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Mark 8:38 Let us therefore cleave unto those to whom grace is given from God…being justified by works and not by words. For He said; He that said much shall hear also again. Does the ready talker think that he is righteous? Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 30 For thus says the all virtuous Wisdom: “…Because I called and you obeyed not, and I held out words and you heeded not, but made My counsels of none effect, and were disobedient unto My reproofs; therefore I also will laugh at your destruction, and will rejoice over you when ruin comes upon you, and when confusion overtakes you suddenly, and your overthrow is at hand like a whirlwind, or when anguish come upon you. For it shall be, when you call upon Me, yet will I not hear you”. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 57 Yea, He Himself said, Whoso confess Me, Him will I confess before the Father. This then is our reward, if verily we shall confess Him through whom we were saved. But wherein do we confess Him? When we do that which He said and are not disobedient unto His commandments, and not only honor Him with our lips, but with our whole heart and with our whole mind. Now He said also in Isaiah, This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.3 Let us therefore not only call Him Lord, for this will not save us: for He said, Not every one that said unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall be saved, but he that does righteousness. So then, brethren, let us confess Him in our works, by loving one another, by not committing adultery nor speaking evil one against another nor envying, but being temperate, merciful, kindly. And we ought to have fellow-feeling one with another and not to be covetous. By these works let us confess Him, and not by the contrary. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.4 For some are wont of malicious guile to hawk about the Name, while they do certain other things unworthy of God. These men you ought to shun, as wild beasts; for they are mad dogs, biting by stealth; against whom you ought to be on your guard, for they are hard to heal. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 Some of it dried up by the sun, they that believed are such as these; the double-minded, and they that have the Lord on their lips, but have Him not in their heart. Therefore their foundations are dry and without power, and their words only live, but their works are dead. Such men are neither alive nor dead. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 51 And when you hear that we look for a kingdom, you suppose, without making any inquiry, that we speak of a human kingdom; whereas we speak of that which is with God, as appears also from the confession of their faith made by those who are charged with being Christians, though they know that death is the punishment awarded to him who so confesses. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.166 And let those who are not found living as He taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ; for not those who make profession, but those who do the works, shall be saved, according to His word: "Not every one who said to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.168 "Why call you me Lord, Lord," He says, "and do not the things which I say?" For "the people that loves with their lips, but have their heart far away from the Lord," is another people, and trust in another, and have willingly sold themselves to another; but those who perform the commandments of the Lord, in every action "testify," by doing what He wishes, and consistently naming the Lord's name; and "testifying" by deed to Him in whom they trust, that they are those "who have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts." "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.417 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 endures 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. He is a confessor; but after confession his peril is greater, because the adversary is more provoked. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.428 VIII. How the early church preached salvation (Top) But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. Acts 26:20 Come then, clear your mind of all its preconceived notions and cast aside the custom that deceives you, and become a new man, as it were, from the beginning, as if you were about to hear a new message. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.2 There are two ways, one of life and one of death, but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone strikes your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. If someone impresses you for one mile, go with him two. If someone takes your cloak, give him also your coat. If someone takes from you what is yours, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able. Give to every one who asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch.1 SEE ALSO: EVANGELISM IX. How the heretics preached salvation (Top) The Gnostics say: Carnal men, again, are instructed in carnal things; such men, namely, as are established by their works, and by an mere (i.e. infierior faith), while they have not perfect knowledge. We of the Church, the gnostics say, are these persons. Wherefore also they maintain that good works are necessary to us, for that otherwise it is impossible we should be saved. But as to themselves, they hold that they shall be entirely and undoubtedly saved, not by means of conduct, but because they are spiritual by nature. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 324 Others of the [Gnostics] yield themselves up to the lusts of the flesh with the utmost greediness, maintaining that carnal things should be allowed to the carnal nature, while spiritual things are provided for the spiritual. For they [the Gnostics] declare that we (the church) simply receive grace for use, wherefore also it will again be taken away from us; but that they themselves have grace as their own special possession, which has descended from above by means of an unspeakable and indescribable conjunction; and on this account more will be given them. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.324 And in their writings [of the heretics] we read as follows, the interpretation which they give [of their views], declaring that Jesus spoke in a mystery to His disciples and apostles privately, and that they requested and obtained permission to hand down the things thus taught them, to others who should be worthy and believing. We are saved, indeed, by means of faith and love; but all other things, while in their nature indifferent, are reckoned by the opinion of men - some good and some evil, there being nothing really evil by nature. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.351 They say that God is not to be feared; therefore all things are in their view free and unchecked. Where, however is God not feared, except where He is not? Where God is not, there truth also is not. Where there is no truth, then, naturally enough, there is also such a discipline as theirs. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.264-265 Marcion has removed from his God all his severity and judicial character… A better god has been discovered, who never takes offence, is never angry, never inflicts punishment, who has prepared no fire in hell, no gnashing of teeth in the outer darkness! He is purely and simply good. He indeed forbids all delinquency, but only in word. He is in you, if you are willing to pay him homage, for the sake of appearances, that you may seem to honor God; for your fear he does not want. And so satisfied are the Marcionites with such pretences, that they have no fear of their god at all. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.291-292 "Be not deceived, God is not mocked." But Marcion's [the Gnostic heretic] god can be mocked; for he knows not how to be angry, or how to take vengeance. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.438 For this reason it is that they [the Valentian heretics] neither regard works as necessary for themselves, nor do they observe any of the calls of duty, eluding even the necessity of martyrdom on any pretence which may suit their pleasure. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. Let us begin, then, with those words which were spoken to Pharaoh, who is said to have been hardened by God, in order that he might not let the people go; and, along with his case, the language of the apostle also will be considered, where he says, "Therefore He has mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardens." For it is on these passages chiefly that the heretics rely, asserting that salvation is not in our own power, but that souls are of such a nature as must by all means be either lost or saved; and that in no way can a soul which is of an evil nature become good, or one which is of a virtuous nature be made bad. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.308 Let us now look to the expression, "It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy." For our opponents assert, that if it does not depend upon him that wills, nor on him that runs, but on God that shows mercy, that a man be saved, our salvation is not in our own power. For our nature is such as to admit of our either being saved or not, or else our salvation rests solely on the will of Him who, if He wills it, shows mercy, and confers salvation. Now let us inquire, in the first place, of such persons, whether to desire blessings be a good or evil act; and whether to hasten after good as a final aim be worthy of praise. If they were to answer that such a procedure was deserving of censure, they would evidently be mad; for all holy men both desire blessings and run after them, and certainly are not blameworthy. How, then, is it that he who is not saved, if he be of an evil nature, desires blessing, and runs after them, but does not find them? It is established, then, that to desire and follow after blessings is not an indifferent, but a virtuous proceeding. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.321 But with respect to the declaration of the apostle, "Therefore has He mercy on whom He will have mercy, and whom He will He hardens." You will say then unto me, Why does He yet find fault? For who has resisted His will? Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? "Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" Some one will perhaps say, that as the potter out of the same lump makes some vessels to honor, and others to dishonor, so God creates some men for perdition, and others for salvation; and that it is not therefore in our own power either to be saved or to perish; by which reasoning we appear not to be possessed of free-will. We must answer those who are of this opinion with the question, Whether it is possible for the apostle to contradict himself? And if this cannot be imagined of an apostle, how shall he appear, according to them, to be just in blaming those who committed fornication in Corinth, or those who sinned, and did not repent of their unchasity, and fornication, and uncleanness, which they had committed? …"We must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one of us may receive in his body, according to what he has done, whether it be good or bad." For what reward of good will be conferred on him who could not commit evil, being formed by the Creator to that very end? or what punishment will deservedly be inflicted on him who was unable to do good in consequence of the creative act of his maker? Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.324 SEE ALSO: HERESIES X. The violent who take the kingdom of heaven by force (Top) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12 And what crown is it to those who have not followed in pursuit of it, like those victorious in the contest? On this account, too, did the Lord assert that the kingdom of heaven was the portion of "the violent;" and He says, "The violent take it by force;" that is, those who by strength and earnest striving axe on the watch to snatch it away on the moment… This able wrestler, therefore, exhorts us to the struggle for immortality, that we may be crowned, and may deem the crown precious, namely, that which is acquired by our struggle... Since, then, this power has been conferred upon us, both the Lord has taught and the apostle has commanded us the more to love God, that we may reach this [prize] for ourselves by striving after it. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 520 It is truly a difficult matter, then, as turns out, to find out latent good; since "Before virtue is placed exertion, And long and steep is the way to it, And rough at first; but when the summit is reached, Then is it easy, though difficult [before]." "For narrow," in truth, "and strait is the way" of the Lord. And it is to the "violent that the kingdom of God belongs." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.410 For it is said, "To him that knocks, it shall be opened: ask, and it shall be given to you." "For the violent that storm the kingdom" are not so in disputations speeches; but by continuance in a right life and unceasing prayers, are said "to take it by force," wiping away the blots left by their previous sins. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.448 For the kingdom belongs pre-eminently to the violent, who, from investigation, and study, and discipline, reap this fruit, that they become kings. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.315 But the Lord replies, "Because what is impossible with men is possible with God." This again is full of great wisdom. For a man by himself working and toiling at freedom from passion achieves nothing. But if he plainly shows himself very desirous and earnest about this, he attains it by the addition of the power of God. For God conspires with willing souls. But if they abandon their eagerness, the spirit which is bestowed by God is also restrained. For to save the unwilling is the part of one exercising compulsion; but to save the willing, that of one showing grace. Nor does the kingdom of heaven belong to sleepers and sluggards, "but the violent take it by force." For this alone is commendable violence, to force God, and take life from God by force. And He, knowing those who persevere firmly, or rather violently, yields and grants. For God delights in being vanquished in such things. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.597 We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. This violence God delights in. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.46 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 116: SATAN ======================================================================== And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Revelation 12:9 "Man, Sir," I say, "is eager to keep the commandments of God, and there is no one that asks not of the Lord that he may be strengthened in His commandments, and be subject to them; but the devil is hard and overmasters them." "He cannot," said he, "overmaster the servants of God, who set their hope on Him with their whole heart. The devil can wrestle with them, but he cannot overthrow them. If then you resist him, he will be vanquished and will flee from you disgraced." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.29 "But I, the angel of repentance, say unto you; Fear not the devil; for I was sent," said he, "to be with you who repent with your whole heart, and to strengthen you in the faith." Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.30 If you turn unto the Lord with your whole heart, and work righteousness the remaining days of your life, and serve Him rightly according to His will, He will give healing to your former sins, and you shall have power to master the works of the devil. But of the threatening of the devil fear not at all; for he is unstrung, like the sinews of a dead man. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.30 I know that you will crush all the power of the devil, and we shall be masters over him, and shall prevail over all his works. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.30 "As many," said he, "as wrestled with the devil and overcame him in their wrestling, are crowned:" these are they that suffered for the law. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.40 For among us the prince of the wicked spirits is called the serpent, and Satan, and the devil, as you can learn by looking into our writings. And that he would be sent into the fire with his host, and the men who follow him, and would be punished for an endless duration, Christ foretold. For the reason why God has delayed to do this, is His regard for the human race. For He fore-knows that some are to be saved by repentance, some even that are perhaps not yet born. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.172 And though the devil is ever at hand to resist us, and anxious to seduce all to himself, yet the Angel of God, i.e., the Power of God sent to us through Jesus Christ, rebukes him, and he departs from us. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.257 For when He became man, as I previously remarked, the devil came to Him - i.e., that power which is called the serpent and Satan - tempting Him, and striving to effect His downfall by asking Him to worship him. But He destroyed and overthrew the devil, having proved him to be wicked, in that he asked to be worshipped as God, contrary to the Scripture; who is an apostate from the will of God. For He answers him, 'It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.' Then, overcome and convicted, the devil departed at that time. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.262 And at that time, indeed, the apostate angel, having effected the disobedience of mankind by means of the serpent, imagined that he escaped the notice of the Lord; wherefore God assigned him the form and name [of a serpent]. But now, since the last times are [come upon us], evil is spread abroad among men, which not only renders them apostates, but by many stratagems does [the devil] raise up blasphemers against the Creator, namely, by means of all the heretics already mentioned. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.462-463 It is therefore one and the same God the Father who has prepared good things with Himself for those who desire His fellowship, and who remain in subjection to Him; and who have the eternal fire for the ringleader of the apostasy, the devil, and those who revolted with him, into which [fire] the Lord has declared those men shall be sent who have been set apart by themselves on His left hand. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 523 So likewise also the devil, being one among those angels who are placed over the spirit of the air, as the Apostle Paul has declared in his Epistle to the Ephesians, becoming envious of man, was rendered an apostate from the divine law: for envy is a thing foreign to God. And as his apostasy was exposed by man, and man became the [means of] searching out his thoughts, he has set himself to this with greater and greater determination, in opposition to man, envying his life, and wishing to involve him in his own apostate power. The Word of God, however, the Maker of all things, conquering him by means of human nature, and showing him to be an apostate, has, on the contrary, put him under the power of man. For He says, "Behold, I confer upon you the power of treading upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy," in order that, as he obtained dominion over man by apostasy, so again his apostasy might be deprived of power by means of man turning back again to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 553 We know that "Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light" - much more into a man of light - and that at last he will "show himself to be even God," and will exhibit "great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, he shall deceive the very elect." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 234 SEE ALSO: DEMONS, ANTICHRIST, FALL OF MAN, ATONEMENT ======================================================================== CHAPTER 117: SIBYL ======================================================================== Greek and Roman prophetesses predating the Christ were known as Sibyls. Due to the fact that their prophecies often support Christian belief, the early Christians believed that God had planted seeds of truth in the Greek and Roman cultures through the sibyls. We must also mention what the ancient and exceedingly remote Sibyl, whom Plato and Aristophanes, and others besides, mention as a prophetess, taught you in her oracular verses concerning one only God. And she speaks thus: There is one only unbegotten God, omnipotent, invisible, most high, all-seeing, but Himself seen by no flesh. Then elsewhere thus: But we have strayed from the Immortal's ways, and worship with a dull and senseless mind idols, the workmanship of our own hands, and images and figures of dead men. And again somewhere else: Blessed shall be those men upon the earth who shall love the great God before all else, blessing Him when they eat and when they drink; trusting it, this their piety alone. Who shall abjure all shrines which they may see, all altars and vain figures of dumb stones, worthless and stained with blood of animals, and sacrifice of the four-footed tribes, beholding the great glory of One God. These are the Sibyl's words. And you may in part easily learn the right religion from the ancient Sibyl, who by some kind of potent inspiration teaches you, through her oracular predictions, truths which seem to be much akin to the teaching of the prophets… she there uttered her oracular sayings in a city called Cumae, six miles from Baiae, where the hot springs of Campania are found. …And in the middle of the basilica they showed us three receptacles cut out of one stone, in which, when filled with water, they said that she washed, and having put on her robe again, retires into the inmost chamber of the basilica, which is still a part of the one stone; and sitting in the middle of the chamber on a high rostrum and throne, thus proclaims her oracles. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 289 "Those whom we now call prophetic persons we should rightly name divine. And not least would we say that they are divine, and are raised to the prophetic ecstasy by the inspiration and possession of God, when they correctly speak of many and important matters, and yet know nothing of what they are saying," - plainly and manifestly referring to the prophecies of the Sibyl. As I said, the most ancient and time-honored Sibyl, whose books are preserved in all the world, and who by some kind of potent inspiration both teaches us in her oracular utterances concerning those that are called gods, that have no existence; and also clearly and manifestly prophesies concerning the predicted advent of our Savior Jesus Christ, and concerning all those things which were to be done by Him. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 289 But men of God carrying in them a holy spirit and becoming prophets, being inspired and made wise by God, became God-taught, and holy, and righteous. Wherefore they were also deemed worthy of receiving this reward, that they should become instruments of God, and contain the wisdom that is from Him, through which wisdom they uttered both what regarded the creation of the world and all other things. For they predicted also pestilences, and famines, and wars. And there was not one or two, but many, at various times and seasons among the Hebrews; and also among the Greeks there was the Sibyl; and they all have spoken things consistent and harmonious with each other, both what happened before them and what happened in their own time, and what things are now being fulfilled in our own day: wherefore we are persuaded also concerning the future things that they will fall out, as also the first have been accomplished. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.97 And similarly did the Sibyl speak, when she declared that wrath would come on the world. She says: "When are fulfilled the threats of the great God, with which He threatened men, when formerly in the Assyrian land they built a tower, and all were of one speech, and wished to rise even till they climbed unto the starry heaven, then the Immortal raised a mighty wind and laid upon them strong necessity; for when the wind threw down the mighty tower, then rose among mankind fierce strife and hate. One speech was changed to many dialects, and earth was filled with divers tribes and kings." Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.106 The Apostle Paul will show, saying: "Take also the Hellenic books, read the Sibyl, how it is shown that God is one, and how the future is indicated. And taking Hystaspes, read, and you will find much more luminously and distinctly the Son of God described, and how many kings shall draw up their forces against Christ, hating Him and those that bear His name, and His faithful ones, and His patience, and His coming." Then in one word he asks us, "Whose is the world, and all that is in the world? Are they not God's?" Wherefore Peter says, that the Lord said to the apostles: "If any one of Israel then, wishes to repent, and by my name to believe in God, his sins shall be forgiven him, after twelve years. Go forth into the world, that no one may say, We have not heard." Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.490 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 118: SOUL ======================================================================== I. Nature of the soul II. Distinction between the body and the soul I. Nature of the soul (Top) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 For reflect upon the end of each of the preceding kings, how they died the death common to all, which, if it issued in insensibility, would be a godsend to all the wicked. But since sensation remains to all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up (i.e., for the wicked), see that you neglect not to be convinced, and to hold as your belief, that these things are true. For let even necromancy, and the divinations you practice by immaculate children, and the evoking of departed human souls, and those who are called among the magi, Dream-senders and Assistant-spirits (Familiars), and all that is done by those who are skilled in such matters - let these persuade you that even after death souls are in a state of sensation. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.169 Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which was molded after the image of God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 531 The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks, but mortal. Yet it is possible for it not to die. If, indeed, it knows not the truth, it dies, and is dissolved with the body, but rises again at last at the end of the world with the body, receiving death by punishment in immortality. But, again, if it acquires the knowledge of God, it dies not, although for a time it be dissolved. In itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it. And this is the meaning of the saying, "The darkness comprehends not the light." For the soul does not preserve the spirit, but is preserved by it, and the light comprehends the darkness. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.70 Pleasure has often produced in men harm and pain; and full feeding begets in the soul uneasiness, and forgetfulness, and foolishness. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.242 All souls are immortal, even those of the wicked, for whom it were better that they were not deathless. For, punished with the endless vengeance of quenchless fire, and not dying, it is impossible for them to have a period put to their misery. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.581 In the Gospel itself they will be found to have the clearest evidence for the corporeal nature of the soul. In hell the soul of a certain man is in torment, punished in flames, suffering excruciating thirst, and imploring from the finger of a happier soul, for his tongue, the solace of a drop of water. Do you suppose that this end of the blessed poor man and the miserable rich man is only imaginary? … Therefore, whatever amount of punishment or refreshment the soul tastes in Hades, in its prison or lodging, in the fire or in Abraham's bosom, it gives proof thereby of its own corporeality. For an incorporeal thing suffers nothing, not having that which makes it capable of suffering; else, if it has such capacity, it must be a bodily substance. For in as far as every corporeal thing is capable of suffering, in so far is that which is capable of suffering also corporeal. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 186-187 II. Distinction between the body and the soul (Top) In a word, what the soul is in a body, this the Christians are in the world. The soul is spread through all the members of the body, and Christians through the divers cities of the world. The soul has its abode in the body, and yet it is not of the body. So Christians have their abode in the world, and yet they are not of the world. The soul which is invisible is guarded in the body which is visible: so Christians are recognized as being in the world, and yet their religion remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul and wages war with it, though it receives no wrong, because it is forbidden to indulge in pleasures; so the world hates Christians, though it receives no wrong from them, because they set themselves against its pleasures. The soul loves the flesh which hates it, and the members: so Christians love those that hate them. The soul is enclosed in the body, and yet itself holds the body together; so Christians are kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they themselves hold the world together. The soul though itself immortal dwells in a mortal tabernacle; so Christians sojourn amidst perishable things, while they look for the imperishability which is in the heavens. The soul when hardly treated in the matter of meats and drinks is improved; and so Christians when punished increase more and more daily. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.6 The soul assuredly is or has life. If, then, it is life, it would cause something else, and not itself, to live, even as motion would move something else than itself. Now, that the soul lives, no one would deny. But if it lives, it lives not as being life, but as the partaker of life; but that which partakes of anything, is different from that of which it does partake. Now the soul partakes of life, since God wills it to live. Thus, then, it will not even partake [of life] when God does not will it to live. For to live is not its attribute, as it is God's; but as a man does not live always, and the soul is not for ever conjoined with the body, since, whenever this harmony must be broken up, the soul leaves the body, and the man exists no longer; even so, whenever the soul must cease to exist, the spirit of life is removed from it, and there is no more soul, but it goes back to the place from whence it was taken. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.198 Quite true, say they; yet the flesh is a sinner, so much so, that it forces the soul to sin along with it. And thus they vainly accuse it, and lay to its charge alone the sins of both. But in what instance can the flesh possibly sin by itself, if it have not the soul going before it and inciting it? For as in the case of a yoke of oxen, if one or other is loosed from the yoke, neither of them can plough alone; so neither can soul or body alone effect anything, if they be unyoked from their communion. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.297 The resurrection is a resurrection of the flesh which died. For the spirit dies not; the soul is in the body, and without a soul it cannot live. The body, when the soul forsakes it, is not. For the body is the house of the soul; and the soul the house of the spirit. These three, in all those who cherish a sincere hope and unquestioning faith in God, will be saved. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 298 And there is a ten in man himself: the five senses, and the power of speech, and that of reproduction; and the eighth is the spiritual principle communicated at his creation; and the ninth the ruling faculty of the soul; and tenth, there is the distinctive characteristic of the Holy Spirit, which comes to him through faith. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.511 But the operation of death is plain and obvious: it is the separation of body and soul. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 228 SEE ALSO: DEAD, DEATH, ETERNAL REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 119: TAXES ======================================================================== And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee. Matthew 17:24-27 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. Matthew 22:16-21 For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Romans 13:6-7 And everywhere we, more readily than all men, endeavour to pay to those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Him; for at that time some came to Him and asked Him, if one ought to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered, "Tell Me, whose image does the coin bear?" And they said, "Caesar's." And again He answered them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.168 "For he bears not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath to him who does evil." Now, that he spoke these words, not in regard to angelical powers, nor of invisible rulers - as some venture to expound the passage - but of those of actual human authorities, [he shows when] he says, "For this cause pay you tribute also: for they are God's ministers, doing service for this very thing." This also the Lord confirmed, when He did not do what He was tempted to by the devil; but He gave directions that tribute should be paid to the tax-gatherers for Himself and Peter; because "they are the ministers of God, serving for this very thing." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 552 Therefore, too, the Lord demanded that the money should be shown Him, and inquired about the image, whose it was; and when He had heard it was Caesar's, said, "Render to Caesar what are Caesar's, and what are God's to God;" that is, the image of Caesar, which is on the coin, to Caesar, and the image of God, which is on man, to God; so as to render to Caesar indeed money, to God yourself. Otherwise, what will be God's, if all things are Caesar's? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 70 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 120: TEMPLES ======================================================================== Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. John 4:20-21 Let us be spiritually-minded: let us be a perfect temple to God. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 He says in another prophet, "Behold, said the Lord, I will take away from these, that is, from those whom the Spirit of the Lord foresaw, their stony hearts, and I will put hearts of flesh within them," because He was to be manifested in flesh, and to sojourn among us. For, my brethren, the habitation of our heart is a holy temple to the Lord. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.6 Moreover, I will also tell you concerning the temple, how the wretched [Jews], wandering in error, trusted not in God Himself, but in the temple, as being the house of God. For almost after the manner of the Gentiles they worshipped Him in the temple. But learn how the Lord speaks, when abolishing it: "Who has meted out heaven with a span, and the earth with his palm? Have not I? Thus said the Lord, Heaven is My throne, and the earth My footstool: what kind of house will you build to Me, or what is the place of My rest?" Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 16 Let us inquire, then, if there still is a temple of God. There is - where He himself declared He would make and finish it. For it is written, "And it shall come to pass, when the week is completed, the temple of God shall be built in glory in the name of the Lord." I find, therefore, that a temple does exist. Learn, then, how it shall be built in the name of the Lord. Before we believed in God, the habitation of our heart was corrupt and weak, as being indeed like a temple made with hands. For it was full of idolatry, and was a habitation of demons, through our doing such things as were opposed to [the will of] God. But it shall be built, observe you, in the name of the Lord, in order that the temple of the Lord may be built in glory. How? Learn [as follows]. Having received the forgiveness of sins, and placed our trust in the name of the Lord, we have become new creatures, formed again from the beginning. Wherefore in our habitation God truly dwells in us. How? His word of faith; His calling of promise; the wisdom of the statutes; the commands of the doctrine; He himself prophesying in us; He himself dwelling in us; opening to us who were enslaved by death the doors of the temple, that is, the mouth; and by giving us repentance introduced us into the incorruptible temple. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.16 Forasmuch as you are stones of a temple, which were prepared beforehand for a building of God the Father, being hoisted up to the heights through the engine of Jesus Christ, which is the Cross, and using for a rope the Holy Spirit; while your faith is your windlass, and love is the way that leads up to God. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 9 Hasten to come together all of you, as to one temple, even God; as to one altar, even to one Jesus Christ, who came forth from One Father and is with One and departed unto One. Ignatius: to the Magnesians (A.D. 35-105) ch. 7 Rusticus the prefect said, “Where do you assemble?” Justin said, “Where each one chooses and can: for do you fancy that we all meet in the very same place? Not so; because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by place; but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is worshipped and glorified by the faithful.” Rusticus the prefect said, “Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers?” Justin said, “I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time) I am unaware of any other meeting than his. And if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the doctrines of truth.” Rusticus said, “Are you not, then, a Christian?” Justin said, “Yes, I am a Christian.” Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 395 Whence also he says, that this handiwork is "the temple of God," thus declaring: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man, therefore, will defile the temple of God, him will God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] you are." Here he manifestly declares the body to be the temple in which the Spirit dwells. As also the Lord speaks in reference to Himself, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." He spoke this, however, it is said, "of the temple of His body." And not only does he (the apostle) acknowledge our bodies to be a temple, but even the temple of Christ, saying thus to the Corinthians, "Know you not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?" He speaks these things, not in reference to some other spiritual man; for a being of such a nature could have nothing to do with an harlot: but he declares "our body," that is, the flesh which continues in sanctity and purity, to be "the members of Christ;" but that when it becomes one with an harlot, it becomes the members of an harlot. And for this reason he said, "If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy." Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.532 Superstition, then, as was to be expected, having taken its rise thus, became the fountain of insensate wickedness; and not being subsequently checked, but having gone on augmenting and rushing along in full flood, it became the originator of many demons, and was displayed… and building temples, which were in reality tombs: for I will not pass these over in silence, but make a thorough exposure of them, though called by the august name of temples; that is, the tombs which got the name of temples. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.184 What work of builders, and stonecutters, and mechanical art can be holy? ...For it is not now the place, but the assemblage of the elect, that I call the Church. This temple is better for the reception of the greatness of the dignity of God. For the living creature which is of high value, is made sacred. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.530 Pure speech and a spotless life are the throne and true temple of God. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.581 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 121: TITHES ======================================================================== But concerning the apostles and prophets, act according to the decree of the Gospel. ...If he asks for money, he is a false prophet. …And every prophet who teaches the truth, but does not do what he teaches, is a false prophet. ...But whoever says in the Spirit, Give me money, or something else, you shall not listen to him. But if he tells you to give for others' sake who are in need, let no one judge him. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 11 Now can a divine Spirit receive money and prophesy? It is not possible for a prophet of God to do this, but the spirit of such prophets is earthly. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.27 Instead of the law commanding the giving of tithes, [He told us] to share all our possessions with the poor. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 477 And for this reason they (the Jews) had indeed the tithes of their goods consecrated to Him, but those who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord's purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not the less valuable portions of their property, since they have the hope of better things [hereafter]; as that poor widow acted who cast all her living into the treasury of God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 485 SEE ALSO: OFFERINGS ======================================================================== CHAPTER 122: TREE OF LIFE & TREE KNOWLEDGE ======================================================================== And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9 Further, what says He? "And there was a river flowing on the right, and from it arose beautiful trees; and whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." This means, that we indeed descend into the water full of sins and defilement, but come up, bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear [of God] and trust in Jesus in our spirit. "And whosoever shall eat of these shall live for ever," This means: Whosoever, He declares, shall hear you speaking, and believe, shall live for ever. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch. 11 For in this garden a tree of knowledge and a tree of life has been planted; yet the tree of knowledge does not kill, but disobedience kills; for the scriptures state clearly how God from the beginning planted a tree [of knowledge and a tree] of life in the midst of Paradise, revealing life through knowledge; and because our first parents used it not genuinely, they were made naked by the deceit of the serpent. For neither is there life without knowledge, nor sound knowledge without true life; therefore the one (tree) is planted near the other. Discerning the force of this and blaming the knowledge which is exercised apart from the truth of the injunction which leads to life, the apostle says, “Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies.” For the man who supposes that he knows anything without the true knowledge which is testified by the life, is ignorant, he is deceived by the serpent, because he loved not life; whereas he who with fear recognizes and desires life plants in hope expecting fruit. Let your heart be knowledge, and your life true reason, duly comprehended. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch.12 Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 457 The tree of knowledge itself was good, and its fruit was good. For it was not the tree, as some think, but the disobedience, which had death in it. For there was nothing else in the fruit than only knowledge; but knowledge is good when one uses it discreetly. But Adam, being yet an infant in age, was on this account as yet unable to receive knowledge worthily. Theophilus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.104 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 123: USURY ======================================================================== Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase. Lev. 25:36,37 He that puts not out his money to usury, nor takes reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved. Psalm 15:5 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD. Ezekiel 22:12 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. Luke 6:34 His money he will not give on usury, and will not take interest…This is a righteous man. He shall surely live, saith the Lord. These words contain a description of the conduct of Christians, a notable exhortation to the blessed life, which is the reward of a life of goodness - everlasting life. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.233 Respecting imparting and communicating, though much might be said, let it suffice to remark that the law prohibits a brother from taking usury. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.366 The following quotes were written as a rebuke to unfaithful Christians: In borrowing money from heathens under pledged securities, Christians give a guarantee under oath, and deny themselves to have done so… Christ prescribes that there is to be no swearing. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 75 And now, on the subject of a loan, when He asks, "And if you lend to them of whom you hope to receive, what thank have you?" compare with this the following words of Ezekiel, in which He says of the before-mentioned just man, "He has not given his money upon usury, nor will he take any increase" - meaning the redundance of interest, which is usury. The first step was to eradicate the fruit of the money lent, the more easily to accustom a man to the loss, should it happen, of the money itself, the interest of which he had learnt to lose. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.372-373 One gives gifts that he may make another of no account; or if you have lent on usury, taking twenty-four per cent, you wish to bestow charity that you may purge yourself, as being evil, with that which is evil. The Almighty absolutely rejects such works as these. Commodianus (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 216 In the fifteenth Psalm: “He that has not given his money upon usury, and has not received gifts concerning the innocent. He who does these things shall not be moved for ever.” Also in Ezekiel: “But the man who will be righteous, shall not oppress a man, and shall return the pledge of the debtor, and shall not commit rapine, and shall give his bread to the hungry, and shall cover the naked, and shall not give his money for usury.” Also in Deuteronomy: “You shall not lend to your brother with usury of money, and with usury of victuals.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 546 If (a Christian) shall have lent any money, he will not receive interest, that the benefit may be unimpaired which succors necessity, and that he may entirely abstain from the property of another. For in this kind of duty he ought to be content with that which is his own; since it is his duty in other respects not to be sparing of his property, in order that he may do good; but to receive more than he has given is unjust. And he who does this lies in wait in some manner, that he may gain booty from the necessity of another. But the just man will omit no opportunity of doing anything mercifully: nor will he pollute himself with gain of this kind; but he will so act that without any loss to himself, that which he lends may be reckoned among his good works. Lactantius (A.D. 304-313) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.7 pg. 183 SEE ALSO: OFFERINGS, MATERIALISM, POVERTY PROSPERITY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 124: WAR ======================================================================== And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. Isaiah 2:4 And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages. Luke 3:14 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone strikes your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. Didache (A.D. 80-140) ch. 1 We who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who hate us unjustly to live conformably to the good precepts of Christ, to the end that they may become partakers with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from God the ruler of all. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 We who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not lie nor deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing Christ. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.176 (The following was written by a pagan Roman emperor regarding his experience with professing Christian soldiers in his army who refused to fight but instead offered prayers.) The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius, to the People of Rome, and to the sacred Senate… I was surrounded by the enemy; And the enemy being at hand... there was close on us a mass of a mixed multitude of 977,000 men, which indeed we saw… Having then examined my own position, and my host, with respect to… the enemy, I quickly betook myself to prayer to the gods of my country. But being disregarded by them, I summoned those who among us go by the name of Christians. And having made inquiry, I discovered a great number and vast host of them, and raged against them, which was by no means becoming; for afterwards I learned their power. Wherefore they began the battle, not by preparing weapons, nor arms, nor bugles; for such preparation is hateful to them, on account of the God they bear about in their conscience. Therefore it is probable that those whom we suppose to be atheists, have God as their ruling power entrenched in their conscience. For having cast themselves on the ground, they prayed not only for me, but also for the whole army as it stood, that they might be delivered from the present thirst and famine. For during five days we had got no water, because there was none; for we were in the heart of Germany, and in the enemy's territory. And simultaneously with their casting themselves on the ground, and praying to God (a God of whom I am ignorant), water poured from heaven, upon us most refreshingly cool, but upon the enemies of Rome a withering hail. And immediately we recognized the presence of God following on the prayer - a God unconquerable and indestructible. Founding upon this, then, let us pardon such as are Christians, lest they pray for and obtain such a weapon against ourselves. And I counsel that no such person be accused on the ground of his being a Christian. But if any one be found laying to the charge of a Christian that he is a Christian, I desire that it be made manifest that he who is accused as a Christian, and acknowledges that he is one, is accused of nothing else than only this, that he is a Christian; but that he who arraigns him be burned alive. And I further desire, that he who is entrusted with the government of the province shall not compel the Christian, who confesses and certifies such a matter, to retract; neither shall he commit him. And I desire that these things be confirmed by a decree of the Senate. And I command this my edict to be published in the Forum of Trajan, in order that it may be read. The prefect Vitrasius Pollio will see that it be transmitted to all the provinces round about, and that no one who wishes to make use of or to possess it be hindered from obtaining a copy from the document I now publish. Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.187 We who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons - our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage - and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.254 No new covenant was given, but they used the Mosaic law until the coming of the Lord; but from the Lord's advent, the new covenant which brings back peace, and the law which gives life, has gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall break down their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks, and they shall no longer learn to fight."… the law of liberty… caused such a change in the state of things, that these [nations] did form the swords and war-lances into ploughshares, and changed them into pruning-hooks for reaping the corn, [that is], into instruments used for peaceful purposes, and that they are now unaccustomed to fighting, but when smitten, offer also the other cheek. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.512 For when they know that we cannot endure even to see a man put to death, though justly; who of them can accuse us of murder or cannibalism? …But we, deeming that to see a man put to death is much the same as killing him, have abjured such spectacles. How, then, when we do not even look on, lest we should contract guilt and pollution, can we put people to death? Athenagorus (A.D. 137) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.147 For He says, "Take no anxious thought for tomorrow," meaning that the man who has devoted himself to Christ ought to be sufficient to himself, and servant to himself, and moreover lead a life which provides for each day by itself. For it is not in war, but in peace, that we are trained. War needs great preparation, and luxury craves profusion; but peace and love, simple and quiet sisters, require no arms nor excessive preparation. The Word is their sustenance. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.235 In their wars, therefore, the Etruscans use the trumpet, the Arcadians the pipe, the Sicilians the pectides, the Cretans the lyre, the Lacedaemonians the flute, the Thracians the horn, the Egyptians the drum, and the Arabians the cymbal. The one instrument of peace, the Word alone by which we honor God, is what we employ. We no longer employ the ancient psaltery, and trumpet, and timbrel, and flute, which those expert in war and despisers of the fear of God were wont to make use of also in the choruses at their festive assemblies; that by such strains they might raise their dejected minds. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.248-249 For we do not train our women like Amazons to manliness in war; since we wish the men even to be peaceable. I hear that the Sarmatian women practice war no less than the men; and the women of the Sacae besides, who shoot backwards, feigning flight as well as the men. I am aware, too, that the women near Iberia practice manly work and toil, not refraining from their tasks even though near their delivery; but even in the very struggle of her pains, the woman, on being delivered, taking up the infant, carries it home. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.420 Above all, Christians are not allowed to correct with violence the delinquencies of sins. For it is not those that abstain from wickedness from compulsion, but those that abstain from choice, that God crowns. It is impossible for a man to be steadily good except by his own choice. For he that is made good by compulsion of another is not good; for he is not what he is by his own choice. For it is the freedom of each one that makes true goodness and reveals real wickedness. Whence through these dispositions God contrived to make His own disposition manifest. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.581 But now inquiry is made about this point, whether a believer may turn himself unto military service, and whether the military may be admitted unto the faith, even the rank and file, or each inferior grade, to whom there is no necessity for taking part in sacrifices or capital punishments… But how will a Christian man war, nay, how will he serve even in peace, without a sword, which the Lord has taken away? For albeit soldiers had come unto John, and had received the formula of their rule; albeit, likewise, a centurion had believed; still the Lord afterward, in disarming Peter, disarmed every soldier. No dress is lawful among us, if assigned to any unlawful action. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.73 I think we must first inquire whether warfare is proper at all for Christians. What sense is there in discussing the merely accidental, when that on which it rests is to be condemned? Do we believe it lawful for a human oath to be superadded to one divine, for a man to come under promise to another master after Christ, and to abjure father, mother, and all nearest kinsfolk, whom even the law has commanded us to honor and love next to God Himself, to whom the gospel, too, holding them only of less account than Christ, has in like manner rendered honor? Shall it be held lawful to make an occupation of the sword, when the Lord proclaims that he who uses the sword shall perish by the sword? And shall the son of peace take part in the battle when it does not become him even to sue at law? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 99 Of course, if faith comes later, and finds any preoccupied with military service, their case is different, as in the instance of those whom John used to receive for baptism, and of those most faithful centurions, I mean the centurion whom Christ approves, and the centurion whom Peter instructs; yet, at the same time, when a man has become a believer, and faith has been sealed, there must be either an immediate abandonment of it, which has been the course with many; or all sorts of quibbling will have to be resorted to in order to avoid offending God, and that is not allowed even outside of military service; or, last of all, for God the fate must be endured which a citizen-faith has been no less ready to accept. Neither does military service hold out escape from punishment of sins, or exemption from martyrdom. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.100 "I exhort, therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority;" and the more any one excels in piety, the more effective help does he render to kings, even more than is given by soldiers, who go forth to fight and slay as many of the enemy as they can. And to those enemies of our faith who require us to bear arms for the commonwealth, and to slay men, we can reply: "Do not those who are priests at certain shrines, and those who attend on certain gods, as you account them, keep their hands free from blood, that they may with hands unstained and free from human blood offer the appointed sacrifices to your gods; and even when war is upon you, you never enlist the priests in the army. If that, then, is a laudable custom, how much more so, that while others are engaged in battle, these too should engage as the priests and ministers of God, keeping their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to God on behalf of those who are fighting in a righteous cause, and for the king who reigns righteously, that whatever is opposed to those who act righteously may be destroyed!" And as we by our prayers vanquish all demons who stir up war, and lead to the violation of oaths, and disturb the peace, we in this way are much more helpful to the kings than those who go into the field to fight for them. And we do take our part in public affairs, when along with righteous prayers we join self-denying exercises and meditations, which teach us to despise pleasures, and not to be led away by them. And none fight better for the king than we do. We do not indeed fight under him, although he require it; but we fight on his behalf, forming a special army - an army of piety - by offering our prayers to God. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 668 SEE ALSO: LOVE OF ENEMIES, POLITICS, PATRIOTISM ======================================================================== CHAPTER 125: WIDOWS AND ORPHANS ======================================================================== Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth. Job 29:12-17 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27 Our widows must be sober-minded as touching the faith of the Lord, making intercession without ceasing for all men, abstaining from all calumny, evil speaking, false witness, love of money, and every evil thing, knowing that they are God's altar, and that all sacrifices are carefully inspected, and nothing escapes Him either of their thoughts or intents or any of the secret things of the heart. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.4 Let not widows be neglected. After the Lord be you their protector. Let nothing be done without your consent; neither do you anything without the consent of God, as indeed you doest not. Be steadfast. Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch.4 Hear now what follow upon these; to minister to widows, to visit the orphans and the needy, to ransom the servants of God from their afflictions, to be hospitable (for in hospitality benevolence from time to time has a place). Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 25 You shall reckon up the amount of that day's expenditure, of the cost of food you would have eaten on the day on which you intend to fast, and shall give it to a widow, or an orphan, or to one in want, and so shall you humble your soul, that he that has received from your humiliation may satisfy his own soul, and may pray for you to the Lord. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 34 They that have the spots are deacons that exercised their office ill, and plundered the livelihood of widows and orphans, and made gain for themselves from the ministrations which they had received to perform. If then they abide in the same evil desire, they are dead and there is no hope of life for them. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.52 And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place… And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succors the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.186 And though maintaining parrots and curlews, they do not receive the orphan child; but they expose children that are born at home, and take up the young of birds, and prefer irrational to rational creatures. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.279 There are also some now who rank the widow higher than the virgin in the matter of continence, on the ground that she scorns pleasure of which she has had experience. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 16 Further, if we set down in order the higher and happier grades of bodily patience, (we find that) it is she who is entrusted by holiness with the care of continence of the flesh: she keeps the widow, and sets on the virgin the seal and raises the self-made eunuch to the realms of heaven. That which springs from a virtue of the mind is perfected in the flesh; and, finally, by the patience of the flesh, does battle under persecution. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 715 SEE ALSO: POVERTY AND PROSPERITY, CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY ======================================================================== CHAPTER 126: WINE ======================================================================== "Use a little wine," says the apostle to Timothy, who drank water, "for your stomach's sake;" most properly applying its aid as a strengthening tonic suitable to a sickly body… and specifying "a little," lest the remedy should, on account of its quantity, unobserved, create the necessity of other treatment. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.242 I therefore admire those who have adopted an austere life, and who are fond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible from wine, shunning it as they would the danger of fire. It is proper, therefore, that boys and girls should keep as much as possible away from this medicine. For it is not right to pour into the burning season of life the hottest of all liquids - wine - adding, as it were, fire to fire. For hence wild impulses and burning lusts and fiery habits are kindled; and young men inflamed from within become prone to the indulgence of vicious propensities; so that signs of injury appear in their body, the members of lust coming to maturity sooner than they ought. The breasts and organs of generation, inflamed with wine, expand and swell in a shameful way, already exhibiting beforehand the image of fornication. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.243 And, besides, it suits divine studies not to be heavy with wine. "For unmixed wine is far from compelling a man to be wise, much less temperate," according to the comic poet. But towards evening, about supper-time, wine may be used, when we are no longer engaged in more serious readings. Then also the air becomes colder than it is during the day; so that the failing natural warmth requires to be nourished by the introduction of heat. But even then it must only be a little wine that is to be used; for we must not go on to intemperate potations. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.243 "Be not mighty," he says, "at wine; for wine has overcome many." The Scythians, the Celts, the Iberians, and the Thracians, all of them war like races, are greatly addicted to intoxication, and think that it is an honorable, happy pursuit to engage in. But we, the people of peace, feasting for lawful enjoyment, not to wantonness, drink sober cups of friendship, that our friendships may be shown in a way truly appropriate to the name. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.245-246 Wherefore also Noah's intoxication was recorded in writing, that, with the clear and written description of his transgression before us, we might guard with all our might against drunkenness. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.246 "For wine," says Androcydes, "and gluttonous feeds of flesh make the body strong, but the soul more sluggish." Accordingly such food, in order to clear understanding, is to be rejected. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.532 ======================================================================== CHAPTER 127: THE WOMAN'S PLACE ======================================================================== I. Counsel to women II. Examples of godly women III. The woman’s role in the church IV. The woman’s role in heretic and pagan religions I. Counsel to women (Top) The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becomes holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Titus 2:3-5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. 1 Corinthians 11:5-6 Let us instruct our young men in the lesson of the fear of God. Let us guide our women toward that which is good: let them show forth their lovely disposition of purity; let them prove their sincere affection of gentleness; let them make manifest the moderation of their tongue through their silence; let them show their love, not in factious preferences, but without partiality towards all them that fear God, in holiness. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.21 Let us teach ourselves first to walk in the commandment of the Lord; and then our wives also, to walk in the faith that has been given unto them and in love and purity, cherishing their own husbands in all truth and loving all men equally in all chastity, and to train their children in the training of the fear of God. Polycarp (A.D. 69-156) ch.4 Tell my sisters to love the Lord and to be content with their husbands in flesh and in spirit. In like manner also charge my brothers in the name of Jesus Christ to love their wives, “as the Lord loved the Church.” Ignatius: to Polycarp (A.D. 35-105) ch.5 But make these words known to all your children, and to your wife who shall be as your sister; for she too refrains not from using her tongue. Hermas (A.D. 150) ch.11 Nor are women to be deprived of bodily exercise. But they are not to be encouraged to engage in wrestling or running, but are to exercise themselves in spinning, and weaving, and superintending the cooking if necessary. And they are, with their own hand, to fetch from the store what we require. And it is no disgrace for them to apply themselves to the mill. Nor is it a reproach to a wife - housekeeper and helpmeet - to occupy herself in cooking, so that it may be palatable to her husband. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.283 Not to deck and adorn herself beyond what is becoming, renders a wife free of calumnious suspicion. while she devotes herself assiduously to prayers and supplications; avoiding frequent departures from the house, and shutting herself up as far as possible from the view of all not related to her, and deeming housekeeping of more consequence than impertinent trifling. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.379 We do not say that woman's nature is the same as man's, as she is woman. For undoubtedly it stands to reason that some difference should exist between each of them, in virtue of which one is male and the other female. Pregnancy and parturition, accordingly, we say belong to woman, as she is woman, and not as she is a human being. But if there were no difference between man and woman, both would do and suffer the same things. As then there is sameness, as far as respects the soul, she will attain to the same virtue; but as there is difference as respects the peculiar construction of the body, she is destined for child-bearing and housekeeping. "For I would have you know," says the apostle, "that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man: for the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. For neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman, in the Lord." For as we say that the man ought to be continent, and superior to pleasures. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.420 Christ is the Head of the Christian man - (for his head) is as free as even Christ is, under no obligation to wear a covering, not to say a crown. But even the head which is bound to have the veil, I mean woman's, as already taken possession of by this very thing, is not open also to a crown. She has the burden of her own humility to bear… Therefore a woman, taking counsel from the apostles' foresight, will not too elaborately adorn herself, that she may not either be crowned with any exquisite arrangement of her hair. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 102 "You are bound to please your husbands only." But you will please them in proportion as you take no care to please others. Be you without carefulness, blessed (sisters): no wife is "ugly" to her own husband. She "pleased" him enough when she was selected (by him as his wife). Every husband is the exactor of chastity; but beauty, a believing (husband) does not require, because we are not captivated by the same graces which the Gentiles think (to be) graces: an unbelieving one, on the other hand, even regards with suspicion. Why are you eager to please either one who is suspicious, or else one who desires it not? Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.20 II. Examples of godly women (Top) Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. Hebrews 11:11 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Luke 1:45-47 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. 1 Peter 3:5-6 Through envy, those women, the Danaids and Dircae, being persecuted, after they had suffered terrible and unspeakable torments, finished the course of their faith with steadfastness, and though weak in body, received a noble reward. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.6 Many women, also, being strengthened by the grace of God, have performed numerous manly exploits. The blessed Judith, when her city was besieged, asked the elders for permission to go forth into the camp of the strangers, …and the Lord delivered Holofernes into the hands of a woman. Esther also, being perfect in faith, exposed herself to no less danger, in order to deliver the twelve tribes of Israel from impending destruction. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1 pg.20 [I speak of] Philip, one of the twelve apostles, who is laid to rest at Hierapolis. I speak also of his two daughters, who arrived at old age unmarried. His other daughter also, who passed her life under the influence of the Holy Spirit, lies at Ephesus. Polycrates (A.D. 2nd cent.) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 8 pg.773 It is related in the Gospels that there were certain women who had been healed of their diseases. Among these was Susanna. From their own possessions, these women provided the disciples the means of support. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 426 For such was the charm of Jesus’ words, that not only were men willing to follow him to the wilderness, but women also, forgetting the weakness of their sex and a regard for the outward propriety in so following their Teacher into desert places. Origen (A.D. 240) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 468 There are blessed women, too, who are established with you in the same glory of confession. For they have maintained the Lord’s faith and are braver than their sex. Not only are they near to the crown of glory themselves, but they have provided an example to other women by their constancy. Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg.407 III. The woman’s role in the church (Top) Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 14:34-37 You instructed your wives to do all things with a blameless, becoming, and pure conscience, loving their husbands as in duty bound; and you taught them that, living in the rule of obedience, they should manage their household affairs becomingly, and be in every respect marked by discretion. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 1 The wise woman, then, will first choose to persuade her husband to be her associate in what is conducive to happiness. And should that be found impracticable, let her by herself earnestly aim at virtue, gaining her husband's consent in everything, so as never to do anything against his will, with exception of what is reckoned as contributing to virtue and salvation. But if one keeps from such a mode of life either wife or maid-servant, whose heart is set on it; what such a person in that case plainly does is nothing else than determine to drive her away from righteousness and sobriety, and to choose to make his own house wicked and licentious. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.432 Accordingly he says in a letter: "Have we not a right to take about with us a wife that is a sister like the other apostles?" But the latter, in accordance with their particular ministry, devoted themselves to preaching without any distraction, and took their wives with them not as women with whom they had marriage relations, but as sisters, that they might be their fellow-ministers in dealing with housewives. It was through them that the Lord's teaching penetrated also the women's quarters without any scandal being aroused. We also know the directions about women deacons which are given by the noble Paul in his second letter to Timothy. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Miscellanies, book III ch. 6 It is not permitted to a woman to speak in the church; but neither (is it permitted her) to teach, nor to baptize, nor to offer, nor to claim to herself a lot in any manly function, not to say (in any) sacerdotal office. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.33 (Women) - that is, married women - are at length elected, but "mothers" to boot, yes, and "educators of children;" in order, forsooth, that their experimental training in all the affections may, on the one hand, have rendered them capable of readily aiding all others with counsel and comfort, and that, on the other, they may none the less have travelled down the whole course of probation whereby a female can he tested. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg.33 In the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: “Let women be silent in the church. But if any wish to learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home.” Also to Timothy: “Let a woman learn with silence, in all subjection. But I permit not a woman to teach, nor to be set over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not seduced, but the woman was seduced.” Cyprian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 546 IV. The woman’s role in heretic and pagan religions (Top) Teach Minerva and Diana the works of women, and Bacchus the works of men. What seemliness is there in a woman's girding herself with armor, or in a man's decorating himself with cymbals, and garlands, and female attire, and accompanied by a herd of bacchanalian women? Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.271-272 It appears probable enough that this man possesses a demon as his familiar spirit, by means of whom he seems able to prophesy, and also enables as many as he counts worthy to be partakers of his Charis themselves to prophesy. He devotes himself especially to women, and those such as are well-bred, and elegantly attired, and of great wealth, whom he frequently seeks to draw after him, by addressing them in such seductive words… On the woman replying, "I have never at any time prophesied, nor do I know how to prophesy;" then engaging, for the second time, in certain invocations, so as to astound his deluded victim, he says to her, "Open your mouth, speak whatsoever occurs to you, and you shall prophesy." She then, vainly puffed up and elated by these words, and greatly excited in soul by the expectation that it is herself who is to prophesy, her heart beating violently [from emotion], reaches the requisite pitch of audacity, and idly as well as impudently utters some nonsense as it happens to occur to her, such as might be expected from one heated by an empty spirit. (Referring to this, one superior to me has observed, that the soul is both audacious and impudent when heated with empty air.) Henceforth she reckons herself a prophetess, and expresses her thanks to Marcus for having imparted to her of his own Chaffs. She then makes the effort to reward him, not only by the gift of her possessions (in which way he has collected a very large fortune), but also by yielding up to him her person, desiring in every way to be united to him, that she may become altogether one with him. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 334-335 For we do not train our women like Amazons to manliness in war; since we wish the men even to be peaceable. I hear that the Sarmatian women practice war no less than the men; and the women of the Sacae besides, who shoot backwards, feigning flight as well as the men. I am aware, too, that the women near Iberia practice manly work and toil, not refraining from their tasks even though near their delivery; but even in the very struggle of her pains, the woman, on being delivered, taking up the infant, carries it home. Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.420 Another woman, the maiden Philumene (whom we have already mentioned), who herself afterwards became an enormous prostitute. Having been imposed on by her vigorous spirit, he committed to writing the revelations which he had learned of her. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 257 I must not omit an account of the conduct also of the heretics - how frivolous it is, how worldly, how merely human, without seriousness, without authority, without discipline, as suits their creed… The very women of these heretics, how wanton they are! For they are bold enough to teach, to dispute, to enact exorcisms, to undertake cures - it may be even to baptize. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 263 The consequence is, that a viper of the Cainite heresy, lately conversant in this quarter, has carried away a great number with her most venomous doctrine, making it her first aim to destroy baptism… so that most monstrous creature, who had no right to teach even sound doctrine, knew full well how to kill the little fishes, by taking them away from the water! Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 669 But the woman of pertness, who has usurped the power to teach, will of course not give birth for herself likewise to a right of baptizing, unless some new beast shall arise like the former; so that, just as the one abolished baptism, so some other should in her own right confer it! But if the writings which wrongly go under Paul's name, claim Thecla's example as a licence for women's teaching and baptizing, let them know that, in Asia, the presbyter who composed that writing, as if he were augmenting Paul's fame from his own store, after being convicted, and confessing that he had done it from love of Paul, was removed from his office. For how credible would it seem, that he who has not permitted a woman even to learn with over-boldness, should give a female the power of teaching and of baptizing! "Let them be silent," he says, "and at home consult their own husbands." Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg.677 There is one place where a man may not go, and there are some that are sacred from women: it is a crime needing atonement for a slave even to be present at some ceremonies. Some sacred places are crowned by a woman having one husband, some by a woman with many; and she who can reckon up most adulteries is sought after with most religious zeal. Minucius Felix (A.D. 200) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 187 He, that is, Jupiter… has rejected the male sex, and, as Celsus observes, employs the women of Dodona for the prophetic office. Origen (A.D. 248) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.4 pg. 613 There arose among us on a sudden a certain woman, who in a state of ecstasy announced herself as a prophetess, and acted as if filled with the Holy Ghost. And she was so moved by the impetus of the principal demons, that for a long time she made anxious and deceived the brotherhood, accomplishing certain wonderful and portentous things, and promised that she would cause the earth to be shaken… Here also she deceived one of the presbyters, a countryman, and another, a deacon, so that they had intercourse with that same woman, which was shortly afterwards detected. For on a sudden there appeared unto her one of the exorcists, a man approved and always of good conversation in respect of religious discipline… Yet that exorcist, inspired by God’s grace, bravely resisted, and showed that that which was before thought holy, was indeed a most wicked spirit. But that woman, who previously by wiles and deceitfulness of the demon was attempting many things for the deceiving of the faithful, among other things by which she had deceived many, also had frequently dared this; to pretend that with an invocation not to be contemned she sanctified bread and celebrated, the Eucharist, and to offer sacrifice to the Lord, not without the sacrament of the accustomed utterance; and also to baptize many, making use of the usual and lawful words of interrogation, that nothing might seem to be different from the ecclesiastical rule. What, then, shall we say about the baptism of this woman, by which a most wicked demon baptized through means of a woman? Can it be believed that either remission of sins was given, or the regeneration of the saving laver duly completed, when all things, although after the image of truth, yet were done by a demon? Fermilian (A.D. 250) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.5 pg. 393 SEE ALSO: VEIL, MODESTY, CLOTHING, ADORNMENTS OUTWARD ======================================================================== CHAPTER 128: WORKS, GOOD ======================================================================== Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Titus 2:14 The way of light, then, is as follows. If any one desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.18 You never grudged any act of kindness, being “ready to every good work.” Adorned by a thoroughly virtuous and religious life, you did all things in the fear of God. The commandments and ordinances of the Lord were written upon the tablets of your hearts. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. Let us therefore cleave unto those to whom grace is given from God. Let us clothe ourselves in concord, being lowly-minded and temperate, holding ourselves aloof from all backbiting and evil speaking, being justified by works and not by words. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.30 We have seen that all the righteous were adorned in good works. Yea, and so the Lord Himself having adorned Himself with works rejoiced. Seeing then that we have this pattern, let us conform ourselves with all diligence to His will; let us with all our strength work the work of righteousness. The good workman receives the bread of his work with boldness, but the slothful and careless dare not look his employer in the face. It is therefore needful that we should be zealous unto well-doing, for of Him are all things: since He forewarns us saying, Behold, the Lord, and His reward is before His face, to recompense each man according to his work. He exhorts us therefore to believe on Him with our whole heart, and to be not idle nor careless unto every good work. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.33-34 Let the wise display his wisdom, not in words, but in good works. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.38 And the scripture also said in Ezekiel, Though Noah and Job and Daniel should rise up, they shall not deliver their children in the captivity. But if even such righteous men as these cannot by their righteous deeds deliver their children, with what confidence shall we, if we keep not our baptism pure and undefiled, enter into the kingdom of God? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found having holy and righteous works? Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.6 For the Gentiles, when they hear from our mouth the oracles of God, marvel at them for their beauty and greatness; then, when they discover that our works are not worthy of the words which we speak, forthwith they betake themselves to blasphemy, saying that it is an idle story and a delusion. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.13 And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received - of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.165 For not only he who in act commits adultery is rejected by Him, but also he who desires to commit adultery: since not only our works, but also our thoughts, are open before God. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.167 (For the matters of our religion lie in works, not in words), and learn from them what will give you life everlasting. Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 288 SEE ALSO: COMMANDMENTS KEEPING, SALVATION ======================================================================== CHAPTER 129: WORLD, SEPARATION FROM ======================================================================== Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. 2 Corinthians 6:14, 17 Let us not give loose reins to our soul, that it should have power to run with sinners and the wicked, lest we become like them. Barnabas (A.D. 70-130) ch.4 Let us be imitators also of them which went about in goatskins and sheepskins, preaching the coming of Christ. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch.17 Let us rather give offence to foolish and senseless men who exalt themselves and boast in the arrogance of their words, than to God. Clement of Rome (A.D. 96) ch. 21 Wherefore, brethren, let us forsake our sojourn in this world and do the will of Him that called us, and let us not be afraid to depart out of this world. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.5 And you know, brethren, that the sojourn of this flesh in this world is mean and for a short time, but the promise of Christ is great and marvelous, even the rest of the kingdom that shall be and of life eternal. What then can we do to obtain them, but walk in holiness and righteousness, and consider these worldly things as alien to us, and not desire them? For when we desire to obtain these things we fall away from the righteous path. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.5 But the Lord said, No servant can serve two masters. If we desire to serve both God and mammon, it is unprofitable for us: For what advantage is it, if a man gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Now this age and the future are two enemies. The one speaks of adultery and defilement and avarice and deceit, but the other bids farewell to these. We cannot therefore be friends of the two, but must bid farewell to the one and hold companionship with the other. Second Clement (A.D. 100) ch.6 And I too, taking part in the festivity, am permitted by letter to bear you company and to rejoice with you, that you set not your love on anything after the common life of men, but only on God. Ignatius: to the Ephesians (A.D. 35-105) ch.9 The work is not of persuasiveness, but Christianity is at it’s greatest, whenever it is hated by the world. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.3 Bear with me, brethren. Do not hinder me from living; do not desire my death. Bestow not on the world one who desires to be God's, neither allure him with material things. Suffer me to receive the pure light. When I am come thither, then shall I be a man. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.6 Rather stand you on my side, that is on God's side. Speak not of Jesus Christ and withal desire the world. Ignatius: to the Romans (A.D. 35-105) ch.7 Since I see, that you are exceedingly anxious to understand the religion of the Christians, as to what God they trust and how they worship Him, that they all disregard the world and despise death. Letter to Diognetus (A.D. 125-200) ch. 1 Those who have never investigated concerning the truth, nor enquired concerning the deity, but have merely believed, and have been mixed up in business affairs and riches and heathen friendships, and many other affairs of this world - as many, I say, as devote themselves to these things, comprehend not the parables of the deity; for they are darkened by these actions, and are corrupted and become barren. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 26 These are men who have been believers, but grew rich and became renowned among the Gentiles. They clothed themselves with great pride and became high-minded, and abandoned the truth and did not cleave to the righteous, but lived together after the manner of the Gentiles… Others at the last living with the Gentiles, and being corrupted by the vain opinions of the Gentiles, departed from God, and worked the works of the Gentiles. These therefore were numbered with the Gentiles. Hermas (A.D. 150) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.42 The Lord said: "Judge not, that you be not judged: for with what judgment you shall judge, you shall be judged." [The meaning is] not certainly that we should not find fault with sinners, nor that we should consent to those who act wickedly; but that we should not pronounce an unfair judgment on the dispensations of God, inasmuch as He has Himself made provision that all things shall turn out for good, in a way consistent with justice. Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.504 I do not wish to be a king; I am not anxious to be rich; I decline military command; I detest fornication; I am not impelled by an insatiable love of gain to go to sea; I do not contend for chaplets; I am free from a mad thirst for fame; I despise death… Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it. Tatian (A.D.160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.69 Among us nothing is ever said, or seen, or heard, which has anything in common with the madness of the circus, the immodesty of the theatre, the atrocities of the arena, the useless exercises of the wrestling-ground. Why do you take offence at us because we differ from you in regard to your pleasures? If we will not partake of your enjoyments, the loss is ours, if there be loss in the case, not yours. We reject what pleases you. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 46 We cannot sit down in fellowship with them, as neither can they with us. Things in this matter go by their turns. Now they have gladness and we are troubled. "The world," says Jesus, "shall rejoice; you shall be sorrowful." Let us mourn, then, while the heathen are merry, that in the day of their sorrow we may rejoice; lest, sharing now in their gladness, we share then also in their grief. You are too dainty, Christian, if you wouldst have pleasure in this life as well as in the next; nay, a fool you are, if you think this life's pleasures to be really pleasures. Tertullian (A.D. 198) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.3 pg. 90 ======================================================================== Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/early-christian-dictionary/ ========================================================================