Ante-Nicene Fathers • VOLUME 2
Fathers of the Second Century
SECTION 161
Book III.
[1554] [Amber is referred to, and the extravagant values attributed to it. The mysterious enclosure of bees and other insects in amber, gave it superstitious importance. Clement may have fancied these to be remnants of a pre-adamite earth.] [1555] Matt. vi. 33. [1556] 1 Cor. x. 23. [1557] [Chrysostom enlarges on this Christia…
1,127 wordsSECTION 162Chapter II.--Against Embellishing the Body.
Chapter II.--Against Embellishing the Body. It is not, then, the aspect of the outward man, but the soul that is to be decorated with the ornament of goodness; we may say also the flesh with the adornment of temperance. But those women who beautify the outside, are unawares all waste in the inner depths, as is the case with the…
2,236 wordsSECTION 163Chapter III.--Against Men Who Embellish Themselves.
What an end was it that ensued to them, and what woes they endured, who would not restrain their self-will! Two continents were convulsed by unrestrained pleasures, and all was thrown into confusion by a barbarian boy. The whole of Hellas puts to sea; the ocean is burdened with the weight of continents; a protracted war breaks o…
2,348 wordsSECTION 164Such was predicted of old, and the result is notorious: the whole earth has now become full of fornication and wickedness. I admire the anci
Such was predicted of old, and the result is notorious: the whole earth has now become full of fornication and wickedness. 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 extremest penal…
977 wordsSECTION 165Chapter IV.--With Whom We are to Associate.
Chapter IV.--With Whom We are to Associate. But really I have unwittingly deviated in spirit from the order, to which I must now revert, and must find fault with having large numbers of domestics. For, avoiding working with their own hands and serving themselves, men have recourse to servants, purchasing a great crowd of fine c…
1,228 wordsSECTION 166Chapter V.--Behaviour in the Baths.
Chapter V.--Behaviour in the Baths. And of what sort are their baths? Houses skilfully constructed, compact, portable, transparent, covered with fine linen. And gold-plated chairs, and silver ones, too, and ten thousand vessels of gold and silver, some for drinking, some for eating, some for bathing, are carried about with them…
701 wordsSECTION 167Chapter VI.--The Christian Alone Rich.
Chapter VI.--The Christian Alone Rich. Riches are then to be partaken of rationally, bestowed lovingly, not sordidly, or pompously; nor is the love of the beautiful to be turned into self-love and ostentation; lest perchance some one say to us, "His horse, or land, or domestic, or gold, is worth fifteen talents; but the man him…
743 wordsSECTION 168Chapter VII.--Frugality a Good Provision for the Christian.
Chapter VII.--Frugality a Good Provision for the Christian. Delicacies spent on pleasures become a dangerous shipwreck to men; for this voluptuous and ignoble life of the many is alien to true love for the beautiful and to refined pleasures. For man is by nature an erect and majestic being, aspiring after the good as becomes th…
896 wordsSECTION 169Chapter VIII.--Similitudes and Examples a Most Important Part of Right Instruction.
Chapter VIII.--Similitudes and Examples a Most Important Part of Right Instruction. And if any one of you shall entirely avoid luxury, he will, by a frugal upbringing, train himself to the endurance of involuntary labours, by employing constantly voluntary afflictions as training exercises for persecutions; so that when he come…
1,109 wordsSECTION 170Chapter IX.--Why We are to Use the Bath.
Chapter IX.--Why We are to Use the Bath. There are, then, four reasons for the bath (for from that point I digressed in my oration), for which we frequent it: for cleanliness, or heat, or health, or lastly, for pleasure. Bathing for pleasure is to be omitted. For unblushing pleasure must be cut out by the roots; and the bath is…
1,563 wordsSECTION 171Chapter XI.--A Compendious View of the Christian Life.
Chapter XI.--A Compendious View of the Christian Life. 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 voluptuousness. For luxury, that has dashed on to surfeit, is prone t…
2,573 wordsSECTION 172The Instructor orders them to go forth "in becoming apparel, and adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety," [1689] "subject to thei
The Instructor orders them to go forth "in becoming apparel, and adorn themselves with shamefacedness and sobriety," [1689] "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…
2,274 wordsSECTION 173Religion in Ordinary Life.
Religion in Ordinary Life. But it is said we do not all philosophize. Do we not all, then, follow after life? What sayest thou? How hast thou believed? How, pray, dost thou love God and thy neighbour, if thou dost not philosophize? And how dost thou love thyself, if thou dost not love life? It is said, I have not learned letter…
2,209 wordsSECTION 174Chapter XII.--Continuation: with Texts from Scripture.
[1729] Rom. xvi. 16. [1730] 1 John v. 3. [1731] Matt. v. 13. [1732] Prov. xxvii. 14. [1733] Prov. iv. 25. [1734] 2 Cor. viii. 20, 21. [1735] Ecclus. ix. 8. [1736] Ecclus. ix. 8. Chapter XII.--Continuation: with Texts from Scripture. I would counsel the married never to kiss their wives in the presence of their domestics…
2,226 wordsSECTION 175"Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath; n
"Putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath; neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let…
2,205 wordsSECTION 176[1737] 1 Pet. i. 17-19.
[1737] 1 Pet. i. 17-19. [1738] 1 Pet. iv. 3. [1739] Ps. xxxiv. 15, 16. [1740] 1 Pet. iii. 13. [1741] Prov. x. 10, Sept. [1742] Ezek. xviii. 23. [1743] 1 Cor. ii. 9. [1744] [Here the pædagogue is the child-guide, leading to the Teacher.] [1745] [Important foot-note, Kaye, p. 105.] [1746] Ps. i. 6. [1747] Isa. xlv. 3. […
1,761 wordsSECTION 177Book I
Book I Chapter I.--Preface--The Author's Object--The Utility of Written Compositions. [1797] [Wants the beginning] . . . . . . . . . . that you may read them under your hand, and may be able to preserve them. Whether written compositions are not to be left behind at all; or if they are, by whom? And if the former, what need th…
2,299 wordsSECTION 178Of these the one, in Greece, an Ionic; [1820] the other in Magna Græcia: the first of these from Coele-Syria, the second from Egypt, and oth
Of these the one, in Greece, an Ionic; [1820] the other in Magna Græcia: the first of these from Coele-Syria, the second from Egypt, and others in the East. The one was born in the land of Assyria, and the other a Hebrew in Palestine. When I came upon the last [1821] (he was the first in power), having tracked him out concealed…
2,142 wordsSECTION 179Chapter II.--Objection to the Number of Extracts from Philosophical Writings in These Books Anticipated and Answered.
Chapter II.--Objection to the Number of Extracts from Philosophical Writings in These Books Anticipated and Answered. In reference to these commentaries, which contain as the exigencies of the case demand, the Hellenic opinions, I say thus much to those who are fond of finding fault. First, even if philosophy were useless, if t…
940 wordsSECTION 180Chapter IV.--Human Arts as Well as Divine Knowledge Proceed from God.
Chapter IV.--Human Arts as Well as Divine Knowledge Proceed from God. Homer calls an artificer wise; and of Margites, if that is his work, he thus writes:-- "Him, then, the Gods made neither a delver nor a ploughman, Nor in any other respect wise; but he missed every art." Hesiod further said the musician Linus was "skilled …
2,165 wordsSECTION 181Chapter VI.--The Benefit of Culture.
Chapter VI.--The Benefit of Culture. The readiness acquired by previous training conduces much to the perception of such things as are requisite; but those things which can be perceived only by mind are the special exercise for the mind. And their nature is triple according as we consider their quantity, their magnitude, and wh…
853 wordsSECTION 182Chapter VII.--The Eclectic Philosophy Paves the Way for Divine Virtue.
Chapter VII.--The Eclectic Philosophy Paves the Way for Divine Virtue. The Greek preparatory culture, therefore, with philosophy itself, is shown to have come down from God to men, not with a definite direction but in the way in which showers fall down on the good land, and on the dunghill, and on the houses. And similarly both…
757 wordsSECTION 183Chapter VIII.--The Sophistical Arts Useless.
Chapter VIII.--The Sophistical Arts Useless. But the art of sophistry, which the Greeks cultivated, is a fantastic power, which makes false opinions like true by means of words. For it produces rhetoric in order to persuasion, and disputation for wrangling. These arts, therefore, if not conjoined with philosophy, will be injuri…
910 wordsSECTION 184Chapter IX.--Human Knowledge Necessary for the Understanding of the Scriptures.
Chapter IX.--Human Knowledge Necessary for the Understanding of the Scriptures. Some, who think themselves naturally gifted, do not wish to touch either philosophy or logic; nay more, they do not wish to learn natural science. They demand bare faith alone, as if they wished, without bestowing any care on the vine, straightway t…
1,733 wordsSECTION 185Chapter XI.--What is the Philosophy Which the Apostle Bids Us Shun?
Chapter XI.--What is the Philosophy Which the Apostle Bids Us Shun? This, then, "the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God," and of those who are "the wise the Lord knoweth their thoughts that they are vain." [1915] Let no man therefore glory on account of pre-eminence in human thought. For it is written well in Jeremiah,…
1,240 wordsSECTION 186Chapter XII.--The Mysteries of the Faith Not to Be Divulged to All.
Chapter XII.--The Mysteries of the Faith Not to Be Divulged to All. But since this tradition is not published alone for him who perceives the magnificence of the word; it is requisite, therefore, to hide in a mystery the wisdom spoken, which the Son of God taught. Now, therefore, Isaiah the prophet has his tongue purified by fi…
981 wordsSECTION 187Chapter XIV.--Succession of Philosophers in Greece.
Chapter XIV.--Succession of Philosophers in Greece. The Greeks say, that after Orpheus and Linus, and the most ancient of the poets that appeared among them, the seven, called wise, were the first that were admired for their wisdom. Of whom four were of Asia--Thales of Miletus, and Bias of Priene, Pittacus of Mitylene, and Cleo…
1,334 wordsSECTION 188Chapter XV.--The Greek Philosophy in Great Part Derived from the Barbarians.
Chapter XV.--The Greek Philosophy in Great Part Derived from the Barbarians. These are the times of the oldest wise men and philosophers among the Greeks. And that the most of them were barbarians by extraction, and were trained among barbarians, what need is there to say? Pythagoras is shown to have been either a Tuscan or a T…
1,979 wordsSECTION 189Chapter XVI.--That the Inventors of Other Arts Were Mostly Barbarians.
Chapter XVI.--That the Inventors of Other Arts Were Mostly Barbarians. And barbarians were inventors not only of philosophy, but almost of every art. The Egyptians were the first to introduce astrology among men. Similarly also the Chaldeans. The Egyptians first showed how to burn lamps, and divided the year into twelve months,…
1,466 wordsSECTION 190Chapter XVII.--On the Saying of the Saviour, "All that Came Before Me Were Thieves and Robbers." [1985]
Chapter XVII.--On the Saying of the Saviour, "All that Came Before Me Were Thieves and Robbers." [1985] 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 t…
1,491 wordsSECTION 191Chapter XVIII.--He Illustrates the Apostle's Saying, "I Will Destroy the Wisdom of the Wise."
Chapter XVIII.--He Illustrates the Apostle's Saying, "I Will Destroy the Wisdom of the Wise." And of such it is said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise: I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." The apostle accordingly adds, "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?" set…
820 wordsSECTION 192Chapter XIX.--That the Philosophers Have Attained to Some Portion of Truth.
Chapter XIX.--That the Philosophers Have Attained to Some Portion of Truth. Since, then, the Greeks are testified to have laid down some true opinions, we may from this point take a glance at the testimonies. Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles, is recorded to have said to the Areopagites, "I perceive that ye are more than ordina…
1,697 wordsSECTION 193Chapter XX.--In What Respect Philosophy Contributes to the Comprehension of Divine Truth.
Chapter XX.--In What Respect Philosophy Contributes to the Comprehension of Divine Truth. As many men drawing down the ship, cannot be called many causes, but one cause consisting of many;--for each individual by himself is not the cause of the ship being drawn, but along with the rest;--so also philosophy, being the search for…
1,096 wordsSECTION 194Chapter XXI.--The Jewish Institutions and Laws of Far Higher Antiquity Than the Philosophy of the Greeks.
Chapter XXI.--The Jewish Institutions and Laws of Far Higher Antiquity Than the Philosophy of the Greeks. On the plagiarizing of the dogmas of the philosophers from the Hebrews, we shall treat a little afterwards. But first, as due order demands, we must now speak of the epoch of Moses, by which the philosophy of the Hebrews wi…
2,216 wordsSECTION 195And after this Solomon the son of David reigned forty years. Under him Nathan continued to prophesy, who also exhorted him respecting the bu
And after this Solomon the son of David reigned forty years. Under him Nathan continued to prophesy, who also exhorted him respecting the building of the temple. Achias of Shilo also prophesied. And both the kings, David and Solomon, were prophets. And Sadoc the high priest was the first who ministered in the temple which Solomo…
2,398 wordsSECTION 196On the completion, then, of the eleventh year, in the beginning of the following, in the reign of Joachim, occurred the carrying away captiv
On the completion, then, of the eleventh year, in the beginning of the following, in the reign of Joachim, occurred the carrying away captive to Babylon by Nabuchodonosor the king, in the seventh year of his reign over the Assyrians, in the second year of the reign of Vaphres over the Egyptians, in the archonship of Philip at At…
2,211 wordsSECTION 197There are some that from Cecrops to Alexander of Macedon reckon a thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight years; and from Demophon, a thousa
There are some that from Cecrops to Alexander of Macedon reckon a thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight years; and from Demophon, a thousand two hundred and fifty; and from the taking of Troy to the expedition of the Heraclidæ, a hundred and twenty or a hundred and eighty years. From this to the archonship of Evænetus at Athen…
2,210 wordsSECTION 198Chapter XXII.--On the Greek Translation of the Old Testament.
[2050] i.e., of Ochozias. [2051] Athalia. [2052] She was slain in the seventh year of her reign. [2053] Not of her brother, but of her son Ahaziah, all of whom she slew except Joash. [2054] Clement is wrong in asserting that Amos the prophet was the father of Isaiah. The names are written differently in Hebrew, though the sa…
1,092 wordsSECTION 199Chapter XXIII.--The Age, Birth, and Life of Moses.
Chapter XXIII.--The Age, Birth, and Life of Moses. Moses, originally of a Chaldean [2098] family, was born in Egypt, his ancestors having migrated from Babylon into Egypt on account of a protracted famine. Born in the seventh generation, [2099] and having received a royal education, the following are the circumstances of his hi…
1,501 wordsSECTION 200Chapter XXIV.--How Moses Discharged the Part of a Military Leader.
Chapter XXIV.--How Moses Discharged the Part of a Military Leader. Our Moses then is a prophet, a legislator, skilled in military tactics and strategy, a politician, a philosopher. And in what sense he was a prophet, shall be by and by told, when we come to treat of prophecy. Tactics belong to military command, and the ability …
1,369 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.