Ante-Nicene Fathers • VOLUME 2
Fathers of the Second Century
SECTION 121
Chapter V.--The Opinions of the Philosophers Respecting God.
"Who shall refuse to look on any temples And altars, worthless seats of dumb stones, And idols of stone, and images made by hands, Stained with the life's-blood, and with sacrifices Of quadrupeds, and bipeds, and fowls, and butcheries of wild beasts." For we are expressly prohibited from exercising a deceptive art: "For tho…
1,545 wordsSECTION 122Chapter VI.--By Divine Inspiration Philosophers Sometimes Hit on the Truth.
Chapter VI.--By Divine Inspiration Philosophers Sometimes Hit on the Truth. A great crowd of this description rushes on my mind, introducing, as it were, a terrifying apparition of strange demons, speaking of fabulous and monstrous shapes, in old wives' talk. Far from enjoining men to listen to such tales are we, who avoid the …
1,443 wordsSECTION 123Chapter VII.--The Poets Also Bear Testimony to the Truth.
Chapter VII.--The Poets Also Bear Testimony to the Truth. Let poetry also approach to us (for philosophy alone will not suffice): poetry which is wholly occupied with falsehood--which scarcely will make confession of the truth, but will rather own to God its deviations into fable. Let whoever of those poets chooses advance firs…
964 wordsSECTION 124Chapter VIII.--The True Doctrine is to Be Sought in the Prophets.
Chapter VIII.--The True Doctrine is to Be Sought in the Prophets. It is now time, as we have despatched in order the other points, to go to the prophetic Scriptures; for the oracles present us with the appliances necessary for the attainment of piety, and so establish the truth. The divine Scriptures and institutions of wisdom …
1,484 wordsSECTION 125Chapter IX.--"That Those Grievously Sin Who Despise or Neglect God's Gracious Calling."
Chapter IX.--"That Those Grievously Sin Who Despise or Neglect God's Gracious Calling." I could adduce ten thousand Scriptures of which not "one tittle shall pass away," [957] without being fulfilled; for the mouth of the Lord the Holy Spirit hath spoken these things. "Do not any longer," he says, "my son, despise the chastenin…
1,746 wordsSECTION 126Chapter X.--Answer to the Objection of the Heathen, that It Was Not Right to Abandon the Customs of Their Fathers.
Chapter X.--Answer to the Objection of the Heathen, that It Was Not Right to Abandon the Customs of Their Fathers. But you say it is not creditable to subvert the customs handed down to us from our fathers. And why, then, do we not still use our first nourishment, milk, to which our nurses accustomed us from the time of our bir…
2,686 wordsSECTION 127Then, he that is uninstructed in the word, has ignorance as the excuse of his error; but as for him into whose ears instruction has been pou
Then, he that is uninstructed in the word, has ignorance as the excuse of his error; but as for him into whose ears instruction has been poured, and who deliberately maintains his incredulity in his soul, the wiser he appears to be, the more harm will his understanding do him; for he has his own sense as his accuser for not havi…
2,635 wordsSECTION 128Chapter XI.--How Great are the Benefits Conferred on Man Through the Advent of Christ.
[976] Zech. iii. 2. [977] Iliad, ii. 315. [978] Isa. i. 3. [979] Isa. liv. 17. [980] Isa. liv. 17, where Sept. reads, "ye shall be righteous." [981] Isa. lv. 1. [982] 1 Cor. ii. 9. [983] Deut. xxx. 15. [984] Isa. i. 19. [985] Isa. i. 20, xxxiii. 11. [986] Minerva. [987] Gen. i. 26. [988] [Immersion was surely the for…
2,312 wordsSECTION 129Chapter XII.--Exhortation to Abandon Their Old Errors and Listen to the Instructions of Christ.
[1009] [The Catholic instinct is here; and an all-embracing benevolence is its characteristic, not worldly empire.] [1010] Gal. iii. 28, vi. 15. [1011] [He seems to be thinking of 1 Tim. vi. 6, and 1 Tim. iv. 8.] [1012] Iliad, v. 128. [1013] Ps. xix. 10. [1014] Ps. xxii. 22. [1015] [Eph. v. 14, is probably from a hymn of t…
2,119 wordsSECTION 130Book I
Book I Chapter I. The Office of the Instructor. As there are these three things in the case of man, habits, actions, and passions; habits are the department appropriated by hortatory discourse the guide to piety, which, like the ship's keel, is laid beneath for the building up of faith; in which, rejoicing exceedingly, and abj…
1,525 wordsSECTION 131Chapter III.--The Philanthropy of the Instructor.
Chapter III.--The Philanthropy of the Instructor. The Lord ministers all good and all help, both as man and as God: as God, forgiving our sins; and as man, training us not to sin. Man is therefore justly dear to God, since he is His workmanship. The other works of creation He made by the word of command alone, but man He framed…
800 wordsSECTION 132Chapter IV.--Men and Women Alike Under the Instructor's Charge.
Chapter IV.--Men and Women Alike Under the Instructor's Charge. Let us, then, embracing more and more this good obedience, give ourselves to the Lord; clinging to what is surest, the cable of faith in Him, and understanding that the virtue of man and woman is the same. For if the God of both is one, the master of both is also o…
2,436 wordsSECTION 133In contradistinction, therefore, to the older people, the new people are called young, having learned the new blessings; and we have the exu
In contradistinction, therefore, to the older people, the new people are called young, having learned the new blessings; and we have the exuberance of life's morning prime in this youth which knows no old age, in which we are always growing to maturity in intelligence, are always young, always mild, always new: for those must ne…
1,245 wordsSECTION 134Chapter VI.--The Name Children Does Not Imply Instruction in Elementary Principles.
Chapter VI.--The Name Children Does Not Imply Instruction in Elementary Principles. We have ample means of encountering those who are given to carping. For we are not termed children and infants with reference to the childish and contemptible character of our education, as those who are inflated on account of knowledge have cal…
2,748 wordsSECTION 135Thus, then, the milk which is perfect is perfect nourishment, and brings to that consummation which cannot cease. Wherefore also the same mi
Thus, then, the milk which is perfect is perfect nourishment, and brings to that consummation which cannot cease. Wherefore also the same milk and honey were promised in the rest. Rightly, therefore, the Lord again promises milk to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly shown to be both, "the Alpha and Omega, beginning and …
2,509 wordsSECTION 136Further, the Word declares Himself to be the bread of heaven. "For Moses," He says, "gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father give
Further, the Word declares Himself to be the bread of heaven. "For Moses," He says, "gave you not that bread from heaven, but My Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He that cometh down from heaven, and giveth life to the world. And the bread which I will give is My flesh, which I will give for t…
1,976 wordsSECTION 137Chapter VII.--Who the Instructor Is, and Respecting His Instruction.
Chapter VII.--Who the Instructor Is, and Respecting His Instruction. Since, then, we have shown that all of us are by Scripture called children; and not only so, but that we who have followed Christ are figuratively called babes; and that the Father of all alone is perfect, for the Son is in Him, and the Father is in the Son; i…
2,202 wordsSECTION 138Chapter VIII.--Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good.
Chapter VIII.--Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good. At this stage some rise up, saying that the Lord, by reason of the rod, and threatening, and fear, is not good; misapprehending, as appears, the Scripture which says, "And he that feareth the Lord will turn to his heart;" [1172] and most of all, oblivious of …
2,512 wordsSECTION 139Now, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus is good, the Word Himself will again avouch: "For He is kind to the unthankful and the evil;"
Now, that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus is good, the Word Himself will again avouch: "For He is kind to the unthankful and the evil;" and further, when He says, "Be merciful, as your Father is merciful." [1200] Still further also He plainly says, "None is good, but My Father, who is in heaven." [1201] In addition to these…
848 wordsSECTION 140Chapter IX.--That It is the Prerogative of the Same Power to Be Beneficent and to Punish Justly. Also the Manner of the Instruction of the Logos.
Chapter IX.--That It is the Prerogative of the Same Power to Be Beneficent and to Punish Justly. Also the Manner of the Instruction of the Logos. 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, …
2,207 wordsSECTION 141Feed us, the children, as sheep. Yea, Master, fill us with righteousness, Thine own pasture; yea, O Instructor, feed us on Thy holy mountain
Feed us, the children, as sheep. Yea, Master, fill us with righteousness, Thine own pasture; yea, O Instructor, feed us on Thy holy mountain the Church, which towers aloft, which is above the clouds, which touches heaven. "And I will be," He says, "their Shepherd," [1254] and will be near them, as the garment to their skin. He w…
1,337 wordsSECTION 142Chapter X.--That the Same God, by the Same Word, Restrains from Sin by Threatening, and Saves Humanity by Exhorting.
Chapter X.--That the Same God, by the Same Word, Restrains from Sin by Threatening, and Saves Humanity by Exhorting. If, then, we have shown that the plan of dealing stringently with humanity is good and salutary, and necessarily adopted by the Word, and conducive to repentance and the prevention of sins; we shall have now to l…
1,760 wordsSECTION 143Chapter XI.--That the Word Instructed by the Law and the Prophets.
Chapter XI.--That the Word Instructed by the Law and the Prophets. The mode of His love and His instruction we have shown as we could. Wherefore He Himself, declaring Himself very beautifully, likened Himself to a grain of mustard-seed; [1290] and pointed out the spirituality of the word that is sown, and the productiveness of …
1,350 wordsSECTION 144Chapter XIII.--Virtue Rational, Sin Irrational.
Chapter XIII.--Virtue Rational, Sin Irrational. Everything that is contrary to right reason is sin. Accordingly, therefore, the philosophers think fit to define the most generic passions thus: lust, as desire disobedient to reason; fear, as weakness disobedient to reason; pleasure, as an elation of the spirit disobedient to rea…
2,449 wordsSECTION 145"Souls from Erebus of inanimate corpses." [1319]
"Souls from Erebus of inanimate corpses." [1319] "For I would not that ye should have fellowship with demons," [1320] says the apostle; since the food of those who are saved and those who perish is separate. We must therefore abstain from these viands not for fear (because there is no power in them); but on account of our consc…
2,928 wordsSECTION 146Chapter II.--On Drinking.
This was the sufficient sustenance of the Israelites. But that of the Gentiles was over-abundant. No one who uses it will ever study to become temperate, burying as he does his mind in his belly, very like the fish called ass, [1354] which, Aristotle says, alone of all creatures has its heart in its stomach. This fish Epicharmus…
2,203 wordsSECTION 147Such a life as this (if life it must be called, which is spent in idleness, in agitation about voluptuous indulgences, and in the hallucinat
Such a life as this (if life it must be called, which is spent in idleness, in agitation about voluptuous indulgences, and in the hallucinations of debauchery) the divine Wisdom looks on with contempt, and commands her children, "Be not a wine-bibber, nor spend your money in the purchase of flesh; for every drunkard and fornicat…
2,235 wordsSECTION 148Chapter III.--On Costly Vessels.
[1365] Ecclus. xxxi. 27. [1366] Pentheus in Euripides, Bacch., 918. [1367] Attributed to Sophocles. [1368] Ecclus. xxxi. 29. [1369] [A beautiful maxim, and proving the habit of early Christians to use completory prayers. This the drunkard is in no state to do.] [1370] Ecclus. xxxi. 26. [1371] Prov. xxiii. 20. [1372] Prov.…
1,651 wordsSECTION 149Chapter IV.--How to Conduct Ourselves at Feasts.
Chapter IV.--How to Conduct Ourselves at Feasts. Let revelry keep away from our rational entertainments, and foolish vigils, too, that revel in intemperance. For revelry is an inebriating pipe, the chain [1400] of an amatory bridge, that is, of sorrow. And let love, and intoxication, and senseless passions, be removed from our …
1,387 wordsSECTION 150Chapter V.--On Laughter.
Chapter V.--On Laughter. People who are imitators of ludicrous sensations, or rather of such as deserve derision, are to be driven from our polity. [1416] For since all forms of speech flow from mind and manners, ludicrous expressions could not be uttered, did they not proceed from ludicrous practices. For the saying, "It is n…
832 wordsSECTION 151Chapter VI.--On Filthy Speaking.
Chapter VI.--On Filthy Speaking. From filthy speaking we ourselves must entirely abstain, and stop the mouths of those who practice it by stern looks and averting the face, and by what we call making a mock of one: often also by a harsher mode of speech. "For what proceedeth out of the mouth," He says, "defileth a man," [1421] …
934 wordsSECTION 152Chapter VII.--Directions for Those Who Live Together.
Chapter VII.--Directions for Those Who Live Together. Let us keep away from us jibing, the originator of insult, from which strifes and contentions and enmities burst forth. Insult, we have said, is the servant of drunkenness. A man is judged, not from his deeds alone, but from his words. "In a banquet," it is said, "reprove no…
1,879 wordsSECTION 153Chapter VIII.--On the Use of Ointments and Crowns.
Chapter VIII.--On the Use of Ointments and Crowns. The use of crowns and ointments is not necessary for us; for it impels to pleasures and indulgences, especially on the approach of night. I know that the woman brought to the sacred supper "an alabaster box of ointment," [1453] and anointed the feet of the Lord, and refreshed H…
2,524 wordsSECTION 154But the use of crowns did not exist at all among the ancient Greeks; for neither the suitors nor the luxurious Phæacians used them. But at t
But the use of crowns did not exist at all among the ancient Greeks; for neither the suitors nor the luxurious Phæacians used them. But at the games there was at first the gift to the athletes; second, the rising up to applaud; third, the strewing with leaves; lastly, the crown, Greece after the Median war having given herself u…
2,248 wordsSECTION 155But devotion to activity begets an everlasting vigil after toils. Let not food weigh us down, but lighten us; that we may be injured as litt
But devotion to activity begets an everlasting vigil after toils. Let not food weigh us down, but lighten us; that we may be injured as little as possible by sleep, as those that swim with weights hanging to them are weighed down. But, on the other hand, let temperance raise us as from the abyss beneath to the enterprises of wak…
778 wordsSECTION 156Chapter X. [1489] --Quænam de Procreatione Liberorum Tractanda Sint.
Chapter X. [1489] --Quænam de Procreatione Liberorum Tractanda Sint. Tempus autem opportunum conjunctionis solis iis relinquitur considerandum, qui juncti sunt matrimonio; qui autem matrimonio juncti sunt, iis scopus est et institutum, liberorum susceptio: finis autem, ut boni sint liberi: quemadmodum agricolæ seminis quidem de…
2,578 wordsSECTION 157Tecum et adulterium est, tecum coitusque nefandus,
Tecum et adulterium est, tecum coitusque nefandus, Foedus, femineusque, urbs pessima, plane impura. Econtra autem pudicos admiratur:-- Quos desiderium tenuit nec turpe cubilis Alterius, nec tetra invisaque stupra tulerunt Ulla unquam maribus. [1506] For many think such things to be pleasures only which are against nature, …
1,190 wordsSECTION 158Chapter XI. [1518] --On Clothes.
Chapter XI. [1518] --On Clothes. Wherefore neither are we to provide for ourselves costly clothing any more than variety of food. The Lord Himself, therefore, dividing His precepts into what relates to the body, the soul, and thirdly, external things, counsels us to provide external things on account of the body; and manages th…
2,256 wordsSECTION 159The blessed John, despising the locks of sheep as savouring of luxury, chose "camel's hair," and was clad in it, making himself an example o
The blessed John, despising the locks of sheep as savouring of luxury, chose "camel's hair," and was clad in it, making himself an example of frugality and simplicity of life. For he also "ate locusts and wild honey," [1539] sweet and spiritual fare; preparing, as he was, the lowly and chaste ways of the Lord. For how possibly c…
1,653 wordsSECTION 160Chapter XIII--Against Excessive Fondness for Jewels and Gold Ornaments.
Chapter XIII--Against Excessive Fondness for Jewels and Gold Ornaments. It is childish to admire excessively dark or green stones, and things cast out by the sea on foreign shores, particles of the earth. [1554] For to rush after stones that are pellucid and of peculiar colours, and stained glass, is only characteristic of sill…
2,271 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.