Ante-Nicene Fathers • VOLUME 4
Tertullian, Minucius Felix, Commodian & Origen
SECTION 81
Chapter XII--Of the Need for Some Protest Against the Psychics and Their Self-Indulgence.
Chapter XII--Of the Need for Some Protest Against the Psychics and Their Self-Indulgence. For, by this time, in this respect as well as others, "you are reigning in wealth and satiety" [1091] --not making inroads upon such sins as fasts diminish, nor feeling need of such revelations as xerophagies extort, nor apprehending such …
1,225 wordsSECTION 82Chapter XIV.--Reply to the Charge of "Galaticism."
Chapter XIV.--Reply to the Charge of "Galaticism." Being, therefore, observers of "seasons" for these things, and of "days, and months, and years," [1097] we Galaticize. Plainly we do, if we are observers of Jewish ceremonies, of legal solemnities: for those the apostle unteaches, suppressing the continuance of the Old Testamen…
974 wordsSECTION 83Chapter XVI.--Instances from Scripture of Divine Judgments Upon the Self-Indulgent; And Appeals to the Practices of Heathens.
Chapter XVI.--Instances from Scripture of Divine Judgments Upon the Self-Indulgent; And Appeals to the Practices of Heathens. For even if He does prefer "the works of righteousness," still not without a sacrifice, which is a soul afflicted with fasts. [1110] He, at all events, is the God to whom neither a People incontinent of …
773 wordsSECTION 84Chapter XVII.--Conclusion.
Chapter XVII.--Conclusion. "Old" you are, if we will say the truth, you who are so indulgent to appetite, and justly do you vaunt your "priority:" always do I recognise the savour of Esau, the hunter of wild beasts: so unlimitedly studious are you of catching fieldfares, so do you come from "the field" of your most lax discipli…
3,004 wordsSECTION 853. Seeing therefore, too, these cases occur in persecutions more than at other times, as there is then among us more of proving or rejecting
3. Seeing therefore, too, these cases occur in persecutions more than at other times, as there is then among us more of proving or rejecting, more of abusing or punishing, it must be that their general occurrence is permitted or commanded by Him at whose will they happen even partially; by Him, I mean, who says, "I am He who mak…
2,366 wordsSECTION 867. Let us now see whether also the rest of our Lord's ordinances accord with a lasting command of flight. In the first place, indeed, if per
7. Let us now see whether also the rest of our Lord's ordinances accord with a lasting command of flight. In the first place, indeed, if persecution is from God, what are we to think of our being ordered to take ourselves out of its way, by the very party who brings it on us? For if He wanted it to be evaded, He had better not h…
2,379 wordsSECTION 8712. So far, my brother, as the question proposed by you is concerned, you have our opinion in answer and encouragement. But he who inquires
12. So far, my brother, as the question proposed by you is concerned, you have our opinion in answer and encouragement. But he who inquires whether persecution ought to be shunned by us must now be prepared to consider the following question also: Whether, if we should not flee from it, we should at least buy ourselves off from …
2,276 wordsSECTION 8814. But how shall we assemble together? say you; how shall we observe the ordinances of the Lord? To be sure, just as the apostles also did,
14. But how shall we assemble together? say you; how shall we observe the ordinances of the Lord? To be sure, just as the apostles also did, who were protected by faith, not by money; which faith, if it can remove a mountain, can much more remove a soldier. Be your safeguard wisdom, not a bribe. For you will not have at once com…
2,201 wordsSECTION 89Grows level, and the ether's gloom dissolves;
Grows level, and the ether's gloom dissolves; The waves on this side, and the blasts on that, 135 Are to their friendly mood restored; and, where The placid keel marks out a path secure, White traces in the emerald furrow bloom. The sailor then does to the reverend Lord Of death make grateful offering of his fear; [1211] …
2,203 wordsSECTION 90The heated water's fatty ooze is borne
The heated water's fatty ooze is borne Up to the surface; and with foamy flakes Over the level top a tawny skin Is woven. They whose function is to catch 210 That ware put to, tilting their smooth skin down With balance of their sides, to teach the film, Once o'er the gunnel, to float in: for, lo! Raising itself spontaneo…
2,202 wordsSECTION 91The woman, sadly caught by guileful words,
The woman, sadly caught by guileful words, 145 Is bidden yield her fruit with struggle hard, And bear her husband's yoke with patient zeal. [1273] "But thou, to whom the sentence [1274] of the wife (Who, vanquished, to the dragon pitiless Yielded) seemed true, shalt through long times deplore 150 Thy labour sad; for thou s…
2,202 wordsSECTION 92Have fastened cruel death; or any's blood,
Have fastened cruel death; or any's blood, His body reft by birds, unhid have lain: 155 Yet shall they not wrest from the mighty Lord His latest dues. Need is that men appear Quickened from death 'fore God, and at His bar Stand in their shapes resumed. Thus arid seeds Are drops into the vacant lands, and deep 160 In the f…
2,208 wordsSECTION 93440 Had stalked in robbery; whoe'er by fraud
440 Had stalked in robbery; whoe'er by fraud His clients had deferred; whoe'er with mind Unfriendly had behaved himself, or stained His palms with blood of men, or poison mixt Wherein death lurked, or robed with wicked guise 445 His breast, or at his neighbour's ill, or gain Iniquitous, was wont to joy; whoe'er Committed …
1,632 wordsSECTION 94Book I.--Of the Divine Unity, and the Resurrection of the Flesh.
Book I.--Of the Divine Unity, and the Resurrection of the Flesh. Part I.--Of the Divine Unity. After the Evil One's impiety Profound, and his life-grudging mind, entrapped Seducèd men with empty hope, it laid Them bare, by impious suasion to false trust 5 In him,--not with impunity, indeed; For he forthwith, as guilty of …
2,208 wordsSECTION 95Ever, conjoined with her comrade soul,
Ever, conjoined with her comrade soul, And see what she hath been, when formerly 290 Converted into dust? [1383] After, renewed, Bear she to God deserved meeds of praise, Not ignorant of herself, frail, mortal, sick. [1384] Contend ye as to what the living might [1385] Of the great God can do; who, good alike 295 And pote…
1,397 wordsSECTION 96Book II.--Of the Harmony of the Old and New Laws. [1393]
Book II.--Of the Harmony of the Old and New Laws. [1393] After the faith was broken by the dint Of the foe's breathing renegades, [1394] and sworn With wiles the hidden pest [1395] emerged; with lies Self-prompted, scornful of the Deity 5 That underlies the sense, he did his plagues Concoct: skilled in guile's path, he mix…
2,207 wordsSECTION 97When dawns "the holy day"--these works, for such
When dawns "the holy day"--these works, for such As hope in Him, in plenitude, (to keep His plighted word,) He taught men thus His power To do them. What? If flesh dies, and no hope 285 Is given of salvation, say, what grounds Christ had to feign Himself a man, and head Men, or have care for flesh? If He recalls [1446] S…
2,012 wordsSECTION 98Book III.--Of the Harmony of the Fathers of the Old and New Testaments.
Book III.--Of the Harmony of the Fathers of the Old and New Testaments. Now hath the mother, formerly surnamed Barren, giv'n birth: [1461] now a new people, born From the free woman, [1462] joys: (the slave expelled, Deservedly, with her proud progeny; 5 Who also leaves ungratefully behind The waters of the living fount, […
2,204 wordsSECTION 99To tell: the washer [1521] of the flesh: the Lord's
To tell: the washer [1521] of the flesh: the Lord's Open forerunner; washer, [1522] too, of Christ, Himself first born again from Him: the first 290 Of the new convenant, last of the old, Was he; and for the True Way's sake he died, The first slain victim. See God-Christ! behold Alike, His Twelve-Fold Warrior-Youth! [1523…
2,222 wordsSECTION 100Book IV.--Of Marcion's Antitheses. [1539]
[1529] Dolorem. [1530] i.e., Ishmael's. [1531] "Immanes," if it be the true reading. [1532] This is the way Oehler's punctuation reads. Migne's reads as follows:-- ..."Of whom the first Whom mightiest Rome bade take his place and sit Upon the chair where Peter's self had sat," etc. [1533] "Is apostolicis bene notus." This ma…
2,203 wordsSECTION 101These all, we see, with the new covenant
These all, we see, with the new covenant Cohere. Thus also John; the Spirit thus To him reveals that in that number stand 265 The enthroned elders white [1620] and crowned, who (as With girding-rope) all things surround, before The Lord's throne, and upon the glassy sea Subigneous: and four living creatures, winged And fu…
1,948 wordsSECTION 102Book V.--General Reply to Sundry of Marcion's Heresies. [1625]
Book V.--General Reply to Sundry of Marcion's Heresies. [1625] The first Book did the enemy's words recall In order, which the senseless renegade Composed and put forth lawlessly; hence, too, Touched briefly flesh's hope, Christ's victory, 5 And false ways' speciousness. The next doth teach The Law's conjoined mysteries, a…
2,207 wordsSECTION 103Hence, finally, a kingdom; Lord from Lord;
Hence, finally, a kingdom; Lord from Lord; Stream from perennial Fount! He, He it was Who to the holy fathers (whosoe'er Among them doth profess to have "seen God" [1689] )-- 280 God is our witness--since the origin Of this our world, [1690] appearing, opened up The Father's words of promise and of charge From heaven high…
2,289 wordsSECTION 104[1701] See p. 156, supra.
[1701] See p. 156, supra. [1702] See De Præscrip., cap. xxxii. vol. iii. p. 258. [1703] Cap. v. vol. iii. p. 525. [1704] Christ in the Holy Sacrament, § xi. 6. [1705] De Anima, cap. xvii. [1706] Vol. i. p. 304. [1707] Chap. xxi. verse 25. Minucius Felix Minucius Felix. [Translated by the Rev. Robert Ernest Wallis, Ph.D.…
2,585 wordsSECTION 105Chapter IV.--Argument: Cæcilius, Somewhat Grieved at This Kind of Rebuke Which for His Sake Minucius Had Had to Bear from Octavius, Begs to
Chapter IV.--Argument: Cæcilius, Somewhat Grieved at This Kind of Rebuke Which for His Sake Minucius Had Had to Bear from Octavius, Begs to Argue with Octavius on the Truth of His Religion. Octavius with His Companion Consents, and Minucius Sits in the Middle Between Cæcilius and Octavius. And thus, while we were all engaged in…
1,876 wordsSECTION 106Chapter VII.--Argument: That the Roman Auspices and Auguries Have Been Neglected with Ill Consequences, But Have Been Observed with Good Fortune.
Chapter VII.--Argument: That the Roman Auspices and Auguries Have Been Neglected with Ill Consequences, But Have Been Observed with Good Fortune. "Nor yet by chance (for I would venture in the meantime even to take for granted the point in debate, and so to err on the safe side) have our ancestors succeeded in their undertaking…
2,688 wordsSECTION 107Chapter XIII.--Argument: Cæcilius at Length Concludes that the New Religion is to Be Repudiated; And that We Must Not Rashly Pronounce Upon Doubtful Matters.
[1746] [1 Tim. iv. 7.] [1747] "And I have already shown, without any trouble," is another reading. [1748] Otherwise, "without a body or with." [1749] Otherwise, "too credulous." Chapter XII.--Argument: Moreover, What Will Happen to the Christians Themselves After Death, May Be Anticipated from the Fact that Even Now They are…
2,201 wordsSECTION 108[1761] Otherwise, "Far from his guileless subtlety is so crafty a trickery." But the readings are very unsettled.
[1761] Otherwise, "Far from his guileless subtlety is so crafty a trickery." But the readings are very unsettled. Chapter XVII.--Argument: Man Ought Indeed to Know Himself, But This Knowledge Cannot Be Attained by Him Unless He First of All Acknowledges the Entire Scope of Things, and God Himself. And from the Constitution and …
2,777 wordsSECTION 109[1771] Homer, Odyss., xviii. 136, 137.
[1771] Homer, Odyss., xviii. 136, 137. [1772] Virgil, Æneid, vi. 724. [1773] Some read, "For these things are true." [1774] Virgil, Georgics, iv. 221; Æneid, i. 743. [1775] Otherwise, "Speusippus." [1776] The ms. here inserts, "Aristoteles of Pontus varies, at one time attributing the supremacy to the world, at another to t…
2,261 wordsSECTION 110[1791] Some read, "and it is marvellous how these have prejudiced," etc.
[1791] Some read, "and it is marvellous how these have prejudiced," etc. [1792] Some read, "the truth itself." [1793] Plat., de Rep., lib. iii. [1794] Otherwise, "Then Vulcan fabricates," etc. [1795] Otherwise, "judgments." Chapter XXIII.--Argument: Although the Heathens Acknowledge Their Kings to Be Mortal, Yet They Feign …
702 wordsSECTION 111Chapter XXIV.--Argument: He Briefly Shows, Moreover, What Ridiculous, Obscene, and Cruel Rites Were Observed in Celebrating the Mysteries of Certain Gods.
Chapter XXIV.--Argument: He Briefly Shows, Moreover, What Ridiculous, Obscene, and Cruel Rites Were Observed in Celebrating the Mysteries of Certain Gods. "How much more truly do dumb animals naturally judge concerning your gods? Mice, swallows, kites, know that they have no feeling: they gnaw them, they trample on them, they s…
2,682 wordsSECTION 112[1806] Some read "slumbers" for "all men."
[1806] Some read "slumbers" for "all men." [1807] "Cling to" is another reading. Chapter XXVIII.--Argument: Nor is It Only Hatred that They Arouse Against the Christians, But They Charge Against Them Horrid Crimes, Which Up to This Time Have Been Proved by Nobody. This is the Work of Demons. For by Them a False Report is Both …
2,444 wordsSECTION 113[1818] [Fronto is called "our Cirtensian" in cap. ix. supra; and this suggests that the Octavius was probably written in Cirta, circaa.d. 21
[1818] [Fronto is called "our Cirtensian" in cap. ix. supra; and this suggests that the Octavius was probably written in Cirta, circaa.d. 210. See supra, p. 178.] Chapter XXXII.--Argument: Nor Can It Be Said that the Christians Conceal What They Worship Because They Have No Temples and No Altars, Inasmuch as They are Persuaded …
2,295 wordsSECTION 114[1828] pur sophronoun is an expression of Clemens Alexandrinus, so that there is no need for the emendation of "rapiens" instead of "sapiens
[1828] pur sophronoun is an expression of Clemens Alexandrinus, so that there is no need for the emendation of "rapiens" instead of "sapiens," suggested by one editor. [1829] "Are known as" is another reading. Chapter XXXVI.--Argument: Fate is Nothing, Except So Far as Fate is God. Man's Mind is Free, and Therefore So is His A…
2,218 wordsSECTION 115Chapter XL.--Argument: Then Cæcilius Exclaims that He is Vanquished by Octavius; And That, Being Now Conqueror Over Error, He Professes the
Chapter XL.--Argument: Then Cæcilius Exclaims that He is Vanquished by Octavius; And That, Being Now Conqueror Over Error, He Professes the Christian Religion. He Postpones, However, Till the Morrow His Training in the Fuller Belief of Its Mysteries. While, therefore, I was silently turning over these things in my own mind, Cæc…
2,215 wordsSECTION 116IX.--Mercury.
IX.--Mercury. Let your Mercury be depicted with a Saraballum, and with wings on his helmet or his cap, and in other respects naked. I see a marvellous thing, a god flying with a little satchel. Run, poor creatures, with your lap spread open when he flies, that he may empty his satchel: do ye from thence be prepared. Look on the…
2,205 wordsSECTION 117Thou who thinkest that, by living doubtfully between the two, thou art on thy guard, goest on thy way stript of law, broken down by luxury.
Thou who thinkest that, by living doubtfully between the two, thou art on thy guard, goest on thy way stript of law, broken down by luxury. Thou art looking forward vainly to so many things, why seekest thou unjust things? And whatever thou hast done shall there remain to thee when dead. Consider, thou foolish one, thou wast not…
2,262 wordsSECTION 118XXXIV.--Moreover, to Ignorant Gentiles.
XXXIV.--Moreover, to Ignorant Gentiles. The unsubdued neck refuses to bear the yoke of labour. Then it delights to be satisfied with herbs in the rich plains. And still unwillingly is subdued the useful mare, and it is made to be less fierce when it is first brought into subjection. O people, O man, thou brother, do not be a br…
2,286 wordsSECTION 119[1853] [The translator here inserts a mark of interrogation. The meaning is: lick up them (the wicked) who have persecuted them. Dan. iii. 2
[1853] [The translator here inserts a mark of interrogation. The meaning is: lick up them (the wicked) who have persecuted them. Dan. iii. 22.] [1854] [Rev. iii. 14.] XLIV.--Of the First Resurrection. From heaven will descend the city in the first resurrection; this is what we may tell of such a celestial fabric. We shall ari…
2,296 wordsSECTION 120LVIII.--That the Christian Should Be Such.
LVIII.--That the Christian Should Be Such. When the Lord says that man should eat bread with groaning, here what art thou now doing, who desirest to live with joy? Thou seekest to rescind the judgment uttered by the highest God when He first formed man; thou wishest to abandon the curb of the law. If the Almighty God have bidde…
2,316 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.