Ante-Nicene Fathers • VOLUME 1
The Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr & Irenaeus
SECTION 81
Chapter IX.
Chapter IX. And ye are prepared for the building of God the Father, and ye are raised up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross; and ye are drawn by the rope, which is the Holy Spirit; and your pulley is your faith, and your love is the way which leadeth up on high to God. Chapter X. Pray for all men; f…
795 wordsSECTION 82Chapter II.
Chapter II. For there is no other time such as this, that I should be accounted worthy of God; neither will ye, if ye be silent, [ever] be found in a better work than this. If ye let me alone, I shall be the word of God; but if ye love my flesh, again am I [only] to myself a voice. Ye cannot give me anything more precious than …
850 wordsSECTION 83Chapter VI.
Chapter VI. The pains of the birth stand over against me. [1171] [1171] The Latin version translates the Greek here, "He adds gain to me." Chapter VII. And my love is crucified, and there is no fire in me for another love. I do not desire the food of corruption, neither the lusts of this world. I seek the bread of God, which…
1,440 wordsSECTION 84Chapter I.--His own sufferings: exhortation to stedfastness.
Chapter I.--His own sufferings: exhortation to stedfastness. From Syria even unto Rome I fight with beasts: not that I am devoured by brute beasts, for these, as ye know, by the will of God, spared Daniel, but by beasts in the shape of men, in whom the merciless wild beast himself lies hid, and pricks and wounds me day by day. …
747 wordsSECTION 85Chapter V.--Refutation of the previously mentioned errors.
Chapter V.--Refutation of the previously mentioned errors. And that He Himself is not God over all, and the Father, but His Son, He [shows when He] says, "I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." [1194] And again, "When all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall He also Himself be subject unto…
704 wordsSECTION 86Chapter VIII.--Exhortations to holiness and good order.
Chapter VIII.--Exhortations to holiness and good order. May I have joy of you in the Lord! Be ye sober. Lay aside, every one of you, all malice and beast-like fury, evil-speaking, calumny, filthy speaking, ribaldry, whispering, arrogance, drunkenness, lust, avarice, vainglory, envy, and everything akin to these. "But put ye on …
725 wordsSECTION 87Chapter III.--The same continued.
Chapter III.--The same continued. The prophets also, when they speak as in the person of God, [saying,] "I am God, the first [of beings], and I am also the last, [1224] and besides Me there is no God," [1225] concerning the Father of the universe, do also speak of our Lord Jesus Christ. "A Son," they say, has been given to us, …
838 wordsSECTION 88Chapter VIII.--Exhortations to the presbyters and others.
Chapter VIII.--Exhortations to the presbyters and others. Ye presbyters, "feed the flock which is among you," [1247] till God shall show who is to hold the rule over you. For "I am now ready to be offered," [1248] that I "may win Christ." [1249] Let the deacons know of what dignity they are, and let them study to be blameless, …
749 wordsSECTION 89Chapter XIV.--Conclusion.
Chapter XIV.--Conclusion. I write this letter to you from Philippi. May He who is alone unbegotten, keep you stedfast both in the spirit and in the flesh, through Him who was begotten before time [1264] began! And may I behold you in the kingdom of Christ! I salute him who is to bear rule over you in my stead: may I have joy of…
883 wordsSECTION 90Chapter IV.--Servants and women are not to be despised.
Chapter IV.--Servants and women are not to be despised. Be not ashamed of servants, for we possess the same nature in common with them. Do not hold women in abomination, for they have given thee birth, and brought thee up. It is fitting, therefore, to love those that were the authors of our birth (but only in the Lord), inasmuc…
857 wordsSECTION 91Chapter IX.--Concluding salutations and instructions.
Chapter IX.--Concluding salutations and instructions. Salute Cassian, my host, and his most serious-minded partner in life, and their very dear children, to whom may "God grant that they find mercy of the Lord in that day," [1294] on account of their ministrations to us, whom also I commend to thee in Christ. Salute by name all…
798 wordsSECTION 92Chapter III.--Christ was truly born, and died.
Chapter III.--Christ was truly born, and died. For there is but One that became incarnate, and that neither the Father nor the Paraclete, but the Son only, [who became so] not in appearance or imagination, but in reality. For "the Word became flesh." [1317] For "Wisdom builded for herself a house." [1318] And God the Word was b…
818 wordsSECTION 93Chapter VI.--Continuation.
Chapter VI.--Continuation. And how can He be but God, who raises up the dead, sends away the lame sound of limb, cleanses the lepers, restores sight to the blind, and either increases or transmutes existing substances, as the five loaves and the two fishes, and the water which became wine, and who puts to flight thy whole host …
1,082 wordsSECTION 94Chapter X.--Continuation: audacity of Satan.
Chapter X.--Continuation: audacity of Satan. Darest thou, then, who didst fall "as lightning" [1341] from the very highest glory, to say to the Lord, "Cast thyself down from hence [1342] [to Him] to whom the things that are not are reckoned as if they were, [1343] and to provoke to a display of vainglory Him that was free from …
847 wordsSECTION 95Chapter XIV.--Farewells and cautions.
Chapter XIV.--Farewells and cautions. Let your prayers be extended to the Church of Antioch, whence also I as a prisoner am being led to Rome. I salute the holy bishop Polycarp; I salute the holy bishop Vitalius, and the sacred presbytery, and my fellow-servants the deacons; in whose stead may my soul be found. Once more I bid …
723 wordsSECTION 96Chapter III.--Examples of youthful devotedness.
Chapter III.--Examples of youthful devotedness. Moreover, the wise Daniel, while he was a young man, passed judgment on certain vigorous old men, [1365] showing them that they were abandoned wretches, and not [worthy to be reckoned] elders, and that, though Jews by extraction, they were Canaanites in practice. And Jeremiah, whe…
718 wordsSECTION 97Chapter I.--Acknowledgment of her excellence and wisdom.
Chapter I.--Acknowledgment of her excellence and wisdom. Sight indeed is better than writing, inasmuch as, being one [1375] of the company of the senses, it not only, by communicating proofs of friendship, honours him who receives them, but also, by those which it in turn receives, enriches the desire for better things. But the…
2,316 wordsSECTION 98Chapter I.--Desire of Ignatius for martyrdom.
[1395] He published an edition of Ignatius, Oxford, 1709. [1396] [A most remarkable statement. "References" may surely be traced, at least in Eusebius (iii. 36) and Irenæus (Adv. Hæres. v. 28), if not in Jerome, etc. But the sermon of St. Chrysostom (Opp. ii. 593) seems almost, in parts, a paraphrase.] [1397] [See on this matt…
1,067 wordsSECTION 99Chapter III.--Ignatius sails to Smyrna.
Chapter III.--Ignatius sails to Smyrna. Wherefore, with great alacrity and joy, through his desire to suffer, he came down from Antioch to Seleucia, from which place he set sail. And after a great deal of suffering he came to Smyrna, where he disembarked with great joy, and hastened to see the holy Polycarp, [formerly] his fell…
734 wordsSECTION 100Chapter VI.--Ignatius is devoured by the beasts at Rome.
Chapter VI.--Ignatius is devoured by the beasts at Rome. They pushed forth therefore from the place which is called Portus; [1425] and (the [1426] fame of all relating to the holy martyr being already spread abroad) we met the brethren full of fear and joy; rejoicing indeed because they were thought worthy to meet with Theophor…
2,210 wordsSECTION 101Chapter I.--After the salutation, the writer declares that he would communicate to his brethren something of that which he had himself received.
[1438] Discourse (p. 148) to his Genuine Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers. Philadelphia, 1846. [1439] Works, ii. 250, note; and iv. 128. [1440] On the Canon, vol. ii. p. 431. [1441] To those who may adhere to the older opinion, let me commend the eloquent and instructive chapter (xxiii.) in Farrar's Life of St. Paul. [144…
707 wordsSECTION 102Chapter II.--The Jewish sacrifices are now abolished.
Chapter II.--The Jewish sacrifices are now abolished. Since, therefore, the days are evil, and Satan [1456] possesses the power of this world, we ought to give heed to ourselves, and diligently inquire into the ordinances of the Lord. Fear and patience, then, are helpers of our faith; and long-suffering and continence are thing…
882 wordsSECTION 103Chapter IV.--Antichrist is at hand: let us therefore avoid Jewish errors.
Chapter IV.--Antichrist is at hand: let us therefore avoid Jewish errors. It therefore behoves us, who inquire much concerning events at hand, [1468] to search diligently into those things which are able to save us. Let us then utterly flee from all the works of iniquity, lest these should take hold of us; and let us hate the e…
1,035 wordsSECTION 104Chapter V.--The new covenant, founded on the sufferings of Christ, tends to our salvation, but to the Jews' destruction.
Chapter V.--The new covenant, founded on the sufferings of Christ, tends to our salvation, but to the Jews' destruction. 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 Hi…
705 wordsSECTION 105Chapter VI.--The sufferings of Christ, and the new covenant, were announced by the prophets.
Chapter VI.--The sufferings of Christ, and the new covenant, were announced by the prophets. When, therefore, He has fulfilled the commandment, what saith He? "Who is he that will contend with Me? let him oppose Me: or who is he that will enter into judgment with Me? let him draw near to the servant of the Lord." [1493] "Woe un…
1,215 wordsSECTION 106Chapter VII.--Fasting, and the goat sent away, were types of Christ.
Chapter VII.--Fasting, and the goat sent away, were types of Christ. Understand, then, ye children of gladness, that the good Lord has foreshown all things to us, that we might know to whom we ought for everything to render thanksgiving and praise. If therefore the Son of God, who is Lord [of all things], and who will judge the…
859 wordsSECTION 107Chapter VIII.--The red heifer a type of Christ.
Chapter VIII.--The red heifer a type of Christ. Now what do you suppose this to be a type of, that a command was given to Israel, that men of the greatest wickedness [1541] should offer a heifer, and slay and burn it, and, that then boys should take the ashes, and put these into vessels, and bind round a stick [1542] purple woo…
1,219 wordsSECTION 108Chapter X.--Spiritual significance of the precepts of Moses respecting different kinds of food.
Chapter X.--Spiritual significance of the precepts of Moses respecting different kinds of food. Now, wherefore did Moses say, "Thou shalt not eat the swine, nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish which is not possessed of scales?" [1575] He embraced three doctrines in his mind [in doing so]. Moreover, the Lord…
1,008 wordsSECTION 109Chapter XI.--Baptism and the cross prefigured in the Old Testament.
Chapter XI.--Baptism and the cross prefigured in the Old Testament. Let us further inquire whether the Lord took any care to foreshadow the water [of baptism] and the cross. Concerning the water, indeed, it is written, in reference to the Israelites, that they should not receive that baptism which leads to the remission of sins…
1,588 wordsSECTION 110Chapter XIII.--Christians, and not Jews, the heirs of the covenant.
Chapter XIII.--Christians, and not Jews, the heirs of the covenant. But let us see if this people [1630] is the heir, or the former, and if the covenant belongs to us or to them. Hear ye now what the Scripture saith concerning the people. Isaac prayed for Rebecca his wife, because she was barren; and she conceived. [1631] Furth…
1,094 wordsSECTION 111Chapter XV.--The false and the true Sabbath.
Chapter XV.--The false and the true Sabbath. Further, [1654] also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the Decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai, "And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart." [1655] And He says in another place, "If my sons keep the Sabbath, t…
1,305 wordsSECTION 112Chapter XVII.--Conclusion of the first part of the epistle.
Chapter XVII.--Conclusion of the first part of the epistle. As far as was possible, and could be done with perspicuity, I cherish the hope that, according to my desire, I have omitted none [1683] of those things at present [demanding consideration], which bear upon your salvation. For if I should write to you about things futur…
1,307 wordsSECTION 113Chapter XX.--The way of darkness.
Chapter XX.--The way of darkness. But the way of darkness [1713] is crooked, and full of cursing; for it is the way of eternal [1714] death with punishment, in which way are the things that destroy the soul, viz., idolatry, over-confidence, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, rapine, haughti…
2,237 wordsSECTION 114[1746] [See Grabe, apud Routh, 1. 29.]
[1746] [See Grabe, apud Routh, 1. 29.] V. [1747] As the presbyters say, then [1748] 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 splendour of the city; [1749] for everywhere the Saviour will be seen, according as they shall be worthy…
2,214 wordsSECTION 115He wore his philosopher's gown after his conversion, as a token that he had attained the only true philosophy. And seeing, that, after the c
He wore his philosopher's gown after his conversion, as a token that he had attained the only true philosophy. And seeing, that, after the conflicts and tests of ages, it is the only philosophy that lasts and lives and triumphs, its discoverer deserves the homage of mankind. Of the philosophic gown we shall hear again when we co…
969 wordsSECTION 116Chapter I.--Address.
Chapter I.--Address. To the Emperor Titus Ælius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Cæsar, and to his son Verissimus the Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, the natural son of Cæsar, and the adopted son of Pius, a lover of learning, and to the sacred Senate, with the whole People of the Romans, I, Justin, the son of Priscu…
1,157 wordsSECTION 117Chapter V.--Christians charged with atheism.
Chapter V.--Christians charged with atheism. Why, then, should this be? In our case, who pledge ourselves to do no wickedness, nor to hold these atheistic opinions, you do not examine the charges made against us; but, yielding to unreasoning passion, and to the instigation of evil demons, you punish us without consideration or …
756 wordsSECTION 118Chapter VII.--Each Christian must be tried by his own life.
Chapter VII.--Each Christian must be tried by his own life. But some one will say, Some have ere now been arrested and convicted as evil-doers. For you condemn many, many a time, after inquiring into the life of each of the accused severally, but not on account of those of whom we have been speaking. [1777] And this we acknowle…
757 wordsSECTION 119Chapter X.--How God is to be served.
Chapter X.--How God is to be served. 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 i…
982 wordsSECTION 120Chapter XIII.--Christians serve God rationally.
Chapter XIII.--Christians serve God rationally. What sober-minded man, then, will not acknowledge that we are not atheists, worshipping as we do the Maker of this universe, and declaring, as we have been taught, that He has no need of streams of blood and libations and incense; whom we praise to the utmost of our power by the e…
1,419 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.