Apostolic Constitutions:
“If anyone follows unrighteousness and does those things that are contrary to the will of God – such a person will be considered by God the same as the disobedient unbeliever.”
Apostolic Constitutions:
“The Holy Spirit always abides with those who are possessed of Him, so long as they are worthy. . . . The Holy Spirit remains with a person so long as he is doing good, and He fills him with wisdom and understanding.”
Barnabas:
“The whole past time of your faith will profit you nothing, unless now in this wicked time we also withstand coming sources of danger.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“It is neither the faith, nor the love, nor the hope, nor the endurance of one day; rather, ‘he that endures to the end will be saved.’”
Clement of Alexandria:
“He who does not believe God is cheated of his own hope. And he does not believe God, who does not do what God has commanded.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“To keep from wrong is the beginning of salvation.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“But ‘to convert’ means that we in fact cease from our sins and no longer look behind.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“The Father is the only One who is able to undo what has been done and to blot out our former sins by the dew of the Spirit. He says, in effect, ‘I will judge you by the state in which I find you.’ So there may be a person who has done incredibly good deeds during his lifetime. But if he runs headlong into wickedness at the end of his life, then all his previous good deeds will fail to profit him. At the conclusion of the drama, he has given up his role. On the other hand, it’s possible for the man who once led a wicked and immoral life to eventually repent. During the remainder of his life after his repentance, he may overcome the evil conduct of a long time. But to do so requires great care, because he is like one who has suffered from a prolonged disease and needs to follow a certain regimen. He needs special attention. Thief, do you want to be forgiven? Steal no more. Adulterer, burn no more with lust. Fornicator, live purely in the future. You who have robbed, give back – and give back more than you took. False witness, practice truth. Perjurer, swear no more. All of you, get rid of the rest of your fleshly passions – wrath, lust, grief, and fear. In doing so, at the end of your life, you may be found to have already been reconciled to your adversary during your stay in this world (Luke 12:58). It is probably impossible to eradicate all your inbred passions at once. But by God’s power, by human intercession, by the help of the brothers, by sincere repentance, and by constant care, they will be corrected.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Open your compassion to all who are enrolled as the disciples of God. Don’t look contemptuously at personal appearance. Don’t be carelessly disposed to only a certain age group. If someone appears to be penniless, or ragged, or ugly, or feeble, don’t let your soul fret about it and turn away from them. Our bodies are only a form cast around us. They are the occasion of our entrance into this world, and they allow us to enter into this common school. But inside of us dwells the hidden Father, and His Son, who died for us and rose with us.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Sometimes heretics quote from the prophetic Scriptures, but they misuse them in several ways. First, they don’t make use of all the Scriptures. Second, when they do cite a passage, they don’t quote it in its entirety. Thirdly, they quote prophetic statements out of context. Furthermore, they like to select ambiguous passages, so they can distort them to agree with their own opinions. Finally, they gather a few expressions here and there, not looking to the meaning, but making use of the mere words, while altering the meaning. “But truth is not found by twisting the meaning of Scripture. Doing violence to the Scriptures is no way to establish one’s teachings. Yet, people have used this method to corrupt all true teaching. However, to find truth, a person must consider what perfectly belongs to the Sovereign God and what is becoming to Him. One must also establish the meaning of any particular Scripture passage by using other similar passages from Scripture. “In contrast, heretics don’t want to turn to the truth. . . . When they promote false teachings to men, they are plainly fighting against almost the whole body of Scripture.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Likewise, no one is saved simply by trusting and believing that he will be saved. Instead, people should investigate the hope that the Savior gives them. By investigation, they should find out how they can confirm that which is unexpected. They can thereby possess the thing they hope for.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“So believe the prophecies, the gospels, and the apostolic words. By living in accordance with them, lending your ears, and practicing these deeds, when you die, you will see the fulfillment of these truths. For anyone who welcomes the angel of repentance in this world will not need to repent when he dies. He will not be ashamed when he sees the Savior approaching in His glory and with His army. He will not fear the fire. On the other hand, if you choose to continue to sin perpetually in pleasures – if you prefer to indulge yourself here rather than to seek eternal life – if you turn away from the Savior who offers forgiveness – blame neither God, nor riches, nor the fallen flesh. Blame your own soul, which voluntarily perishes. For whoever desires salvation and asks for it vehemently and boldly, the good Father in heaven will grant true purification and eternal life.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Trusting is more than faith. For when one has believed that the Son of God is our Teacher, he trusts that His teaching is true.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“What necessity is there for self-restraint to the one who has no need of it? For to have such desires that one must exercise self-restraint in order to control them is characteristic of someone who is not yet pure. Rather, he is still subject to lusts. Now, fortitude is taken on because of fear and cowardice. It is no longer fitting that the friend of God . . . should fall into pleasures or fears and be occupied with the repression of lusts.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Abstinence from sins is not sufficient for perfection, unless a person also assumes the work of righteousness – activity in doing good.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“The spiritual man will pray that he may never fall from virtue, giving his most strenuous cooperation in order that he may become unfailing. . . . Now that he has made it his choice to live perfectly, he subjects himself to training, for the attainment of the stability of knowledge on each side. . . . However, this is not apart from the exercise of will, or the force of reason, knowledge, and providence. Rather, it is through them . . .”
Clement of Alexandria:
“For it is in this manner that one truly follows the Savior: by aiming at sinlessness and at His perfection.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Repentance, then, is a result of faith. For unless a man believes that to which he was addicted to be sin, he will not abandon it. And he must believe that punishment looms over the transgressor. He must believe that salvation belongs to the one who lives according to the commandments. Otherwise, he will not reform.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“He that repents of what he did, no longer does or says the things he did. . . . He, then, who has received the forgiveness of sins should sin no more.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Being very merciful, God has promised a second repentance for those who fall into some transgression yet remain in the faith. In that manner, if anyone is tempted after his calling, and is overcome by force and fraud, he may still receive repentance. But he must not turn away from that repentance. ‘For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins.’ . . . But continual and successive repentings of sins does not differ at all from the case of those who have not believed at all.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“He, then, who from among the Gentiles and from that old life has come to faith, has obtained forgiveness of sins once. But he who has sinned after this should fear, even though he may obtain pardon because of his repentance, for he is as one no longer washed to the forgiveness of sins. . . . The frequent asking of forgiveness, then, for those things in which we often transgress is only the imitation of repentance. It is not repentance itself.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“True repentance means to be no longer bound in the same sins for which He denounced death against Himself. Rather, it is to eradicate them completely from the soul. For on their extirpation, God takes up His abode again in you.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“God gives forgiveness of past sins. However, as to future sins, each one procures this for himself. He does this by repenting, by condemning the past deeds, and by begging the Father to blot them out. For only the Father is the one who is able to undo what is done.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“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 will be saved. For works must also follow. But it was to the Jews alone that He spoke this utterance. Those persons were Jews who kept the Law and lived blamelessly. All they lacked was faith in the Lord. No one, then, can be a believer and at the same time be licentious.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“To those who were righteous according to the Law, faith was lacking. For that reason, the Lord, in healing them, said, ‘Your faith has saved you.’”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Rightly, then, to those who have believed and obey, grace will abound beyond measure.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“We have discovered faith to be the first movement towards salvation. After faith, fear, hope, and repentance (accompanied by temperance and patience) lead us to love and knowledge.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“‘For by grace we are saved’ – but not, indeed, without good works. Rather, we must be saved by being molded for what is good, acquiring an inclination for it. And we must possess the healthy mind that is fixed on the pursuit of the good.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Those who glory in their looks – not in their hearts – dress to please others.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“He who hopes for everlasting rest knows also that the entrance to it is toilsome and narrow. So let him who has once received the Gospel not turn back, like Lot’s wife, as is said – even in the very hour in which he has come to the knowledge of salvation. And let him not go back either to his former life . . . or to heresies.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“The teachings of both the Old and the New Testaments are unnecessary if a person is saved by nature (as Valentinus [a Gnostic heretic] would have it) and is a believer and an elect man by nature (as Basilides thinks).”
Clement of Alexandria:
“I wonder how some dare to call themselves ‘perfect’ and ‘Gnostics.’ They are inflated and boastful, viewing themselves above the apostle. For Paul himself acknowledged about himself: ‘Not that I have already attained or am already perfect.’”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Neither praises nor censures, neither rewards nor punishments, are right if the soul does not have the power of inclination and disinclination and if evil is involuntary. . . . In no respect is God the author of evil. But since free choice and inclination originate sins, . . . punishments are justly inflicted.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“The Lord clearly shows sins and transgressions to be in our own power, by prescribing modes of cure corresponding to the maladies.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Choice depended on the man as being free. But the gift depended on God as the Lord. And He gives to those who are willing, are exceedingly earnest, and who ask. So their salvation becomes their own. For God does not compel.”
Clement of Alexandria:
“Nothing happens without the will of the Lord of the universe. It remains to say that such things happen without the prevention of God. For this alone saves both the providence and the goodness of God. We must not, therefore, think that He actively produces afflictions. . . . Rather, we must be persuaded that He does not prevent those beings who cause them. Yet, He overrules for good the crimes of His enemies.”
Clement of Rome:
“On account of his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved out of Sodom when all the country round was punished by means of fire and brimstone, the Lord thus making it manifest that He does not forsake those that hope in Him, but gives up such as depart from Him to punishment and torture.”
Clement of Rome:
“For what reason was our father Abraham blessed? Was it not because he worked righteousness and truth through faith?”
Commodianus:
“If you wish to live, surrender yourselves to the second law. . . . Turn yourselves to Christ, and you will be co-workers with God.”
Cyprian:
“We are philosophers – not in words – but in deeds. We do not speak great things; we live them.”
Cyprian:
“It is clear that the devil is driven out in baptism by the faith of the believer. But he returns if the faith should afterwards fail.”
Cyprian:
“He shows that our prayers and fastings are of less avail if they are not aided by almsgiving. . . . Life is redeemed from dangers by almsgiving. Souls are delivered from death by almsgiving.”
Cyprian:
“He who is freed owes obedience to his Deliverer.”
Cyprian:
“Those sins that had been previously committed are purged by the blood and sanctification of Christ.”
Cyprian:
“The former Law that had been given by Moses was about to cease, and a new law was to be given. Another dispensation and a new covenant were to be given. The old baptism was to cease and a new one was to begin.”
Cyprian:
“Abraham believed in God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Assuredly, then, whoever believes in God and lives in faith is found righteous and is already blessed in faithful Abraham.”
Cyprian:
“How can a man say that he believes in Christ, if he does not do what Christ commanded him to do? From where will he attain the reward of faith, if he will not keep the faith of the commandment? . . . He will make no advancement in his walk toward salvation, for he does not keep the truth of the way of salvation.”
Cyprian:
“‘Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.’ There is need of righteousness, that one may deserve well of God the Judge. We must obey His teachings and warnings, so that our merits may receive their reward.”
Cyprian:
“When the servant does not do what is commanded, the Lord will do what he threatens. . . . ‘I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. . . . And these will go away into everlasting burning.”
Cyprian:
“He follows Christ who stands in His commandments, who walks in the way of His teaching, who follows His footsteps and His ways, who imitates that which Christ both did and taught. . . . To put on the name of Christ, and yet not to go in the way of Christ – what else is this but a mockery of the divine name! It is a desertion of the way of salvation. For He Himself teaches and says that the persons who keep His commandments will come into life.”
Cyprian:
“But self-control and modesty do not consist only in purity of the flesh, but also in seemliness and in modesty of dress and adornment.”
Cyprian:
“Although there can be no other baptism but one, [the heretics] think that they can baptize; although they forsake the fountain of life, they promise the grace of living and saving water. Men are not washed among them, but rather are made foul; nor are sins purged away, but are even accumulated. Such a nativity does not generate sons to God, but to the devil. By a falsehood they are born, and they do not receive the promises of truth. Begotten of perfidy, they lose the grace of faith. . . . These, doubtless, they imitate and follow, who, despising God’s tradition, seek after strange doctrines, and bring in teachings of human appointment, whom the Lord rebukes and reproves in His Gospel, saying, ‘You reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.’”
Cyprian:
“When the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came unto all, He gathered alike the learned and unlearned. He published the teachings of salvation to each sex and every age. He made a concise summary of His teachings, so that the memory of the scholars might not be burdened by the heavenly learning, but could quickly learn what was necessary to a simple faith.”
Cyprian:
“An ever-burning Gehenna will burn up the condemned – a punishment that devours with living flames. Nor will there be any means by which at any time they can have either rest or an end to their torments. Souls with their bodies will be reserved in infinite tortures for suffering. . . . This is in accord with the truth of Holy Scripture, which says, ‘Their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched.’ . . . The pain of punishment will then be without the fruit of penitence. Weeping will be useless and prayer ineffectual. Too late, they will believe in eternal punishment who would not believe in eternal life.”
Cyprian:
“The liberty of believing or of not believing is placed in free choice. In Deuteronomy, it says: ‘Look! I have set before your face life and death, good and evil. Choose for yourself life, that you may live’ [Deut. 30:19]. Also in Isaiah: ‘And if you are willing and hear me, you will eat the good of the land’ [Isa. 1:19].”
Cyprian:
“‘And allow us not to be led into temptation’ [Matt. 6:13]. In these words, it is shown that the adversary can do nothing against us unless God has first permitted it. So all of our fear, devotion, and obedience should be turned towards God. For in our temptations, nothing is permitted to do evil unless power is given from Him. . . . But power is given to evil ones against us according to our sins.”
Cyprian:
“This pestilence and plague, which seems horrible and deadly, searches out the righteousness of each one. . . . It reveals whether those who are in health will tend the sick. It reveals whether relatives affectionately love their kindred.”
Cyprian:
“He allows these things to happen for this reason: that our faith may be tested.”
Disputation of Archelaus and Manes:
“Many are still perishing – those who have not chosen to devote themselves to work of righteousness. For only those who have received Him . . . ‘have obtained power to become the sons of God.’”
Hermas:
“‘I heard, sir, that some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins.’ He said to me, ‘That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. For he who has received remission of his sins should not sin any more, but should live in purity. . . . And therefore I say to you, that if anyone is tempted by the devil, and he sins after that great and holy calling in which the Lord has called His people to everlasting life, he has opportunity to repent but once. But if he should sin frequently after this, and then repent, to such a man his repentance will be of no avail.”
Hermas:
“If you return to the Lord with all your heart, and practice righteousness the rest of your days, and serve him according to His will, He will heal your former sins, and you will have power to hold sway over the works of the devil.”
Hippolytus:
“This shows that transgressions are blotted out and that reconciliation is made for sins. But who are the ones who have reconciliation made for their sins – except those who believe on His name and propitiate His countenance by good works?”
Hippolytus:
“But now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine; and as the sun does not shine in this locality, there must necessarily be perpetual darkness there. This locality has been destined to be as it were a guard-house for souls, at which the angels are stationed as guards, distributing according to each one’s deeds the temporary punishments for different characters. And in this locality there is a certain place set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast; for it is prepared against the day determined by God, in which one sentence of righteous judgment shall be justly applied to all. And the unrighteous, and those who believed not God, who have honored as God the vain works of the hands of men, idols fashioned (by themselves), shall be sentenced to this endless punishment. But the righteous shall obtain the incorruptible and unfading kingdom, who indeed are at present detained in Hades, but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate whereof we believe an archangel is stationed with a host. And when those who are conducted by the angels appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not proceed on one and the same way; but the righteous, being conducted in the light toward the right, and being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, are brought to a locality full of light. And there the righteous from the beginning dwell, not ruled by necessity, but enjoying always the contemplation of the blessings which are in their view, and delighting themselves with the expectation of others ever new, and deeming those ever better than these. And that place brings no toils to them. . . . There is neither fierce heat, nor cold, nor thorn; but the face of the fathers and the righteous is seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location. And we call it by the name Abraham’s bosom. But the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels who are ministers of punishment, and they go of their own accord no longer, but are dragged by force as prisoners. And the angels appointed over them send them along, reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when they are brought there, those appointed to that service drag them on to the confines or hell. And those who are so near hear incessantly the agitation, and feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, (as if they were) already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, where they see the place of the fathers and the righteous, they are also punished there. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to pass it, nor any of the unrighteous dare to cross it. Thus far, then, on the subject of Hades, in which the souls of all are detained until the time which God has determined; and then He will accomplish a resurrection of all, not by transferring souls into other bodies, but by raising the bodies themselves.”
Ignatius:
“Faith cannot do the works of unbelief, nor unbelief the works of faith.”
Ignatius:
“The tree is made manifest by its fruit. So those who profess themselves to be Christians will be recognized by their conduct. . . . It is better for a man to be silent and be [a Christian], than to talk and not be one.”
Ignatius:
“How much more will this be the case with anyone who by wicked doctrine corrupts the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a one becomes defiled. He will go away into everlasting fire, and so will everyone that listens to him.”
Irenaeus:
“It was not to those who are on the outside that he said these things, but to us – lest we should be cast forth from the Kingdom of God by doing any such thing.”
Irenaeus:
“Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons.”
Irenaeus:
“With respect to obedience and doctrine, we are not all the sons of God. Rather, it is only those who truly believe in Him and do His will. Now, those who do not believe, and do not obey His will, are sons and angels of the devil. . . . Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons.”
Irenaeus:
“Those who believe God and follow His word receive that salvation that flows from Him. On the other hand, those who depart from Him, and despise His teachings, and by their deeds bring dishonor on Him who made them . . . heap up against themselves most righteous judgment.”
Irenaeus:
“We will give account to God not only of deeds (as slaves), but even of words and thoughts (as being those who have truly received the power of liberty). For under liberty, a man is more severely tested as to whether he will reverence, fear, and love the Lord. . . . God desires obedience, which makes [His worshippers] secure – rather than sacrifices and burnt-offerings, which avail men nothing towards righteousness.”
Irenaeus:
“‘No disciple is above the Master’ [Matt. 10:24]. . . . Our Master, therefore, did not at once depart, taking flight [to heaven]. Rather, He awaited the time of His resurrection, as determined by the Father. . . . Likewise, we also should await the time of our resurrection determined by God.”
Irenaeus:
“The Lord will say, ‘Depart from me, you cursed ones, into everlasting fire.’ These persons will be condemned forever. However, to others He will say, ‘Come, you blessed of my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you for eternity.’ These ones receive the kingdom forever, and they make constant advancement in it.”
Irenaeus:
“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 hold fast to the good, which is done through obedience to God. God has preserved the will of man free and under his own control. This is not merely in works, but also in faith.”
Irenaeus:
““[The Marcionites, a Gnostic group] say, ‘But God hardened the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants.’ Now those who allege such difficulties do not read in the Gospel the passage where the Lord replied to the disciples, when they asked Him, ‘Why do you speak in parables?’ He replied: ‘Because it is given to you to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven. However, I speak to them in parables so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not hear.’ . . . So God knows the number of those who will not believe, since He foreknows all things. So He has given them over to unbelief and turned His face away from men of this character, leaving them in the darkness that they have chosen for themselves. So what is baffling if He gave Pharaoh and those who were with him over to their unbelief? For they would never have believed.”
Irenaeus:
“When, however, they [the Gnostics] are confuted from the Scriptures, they turn around and accuse these same Scriptures as if they were not correct. . . . But, again, when we refer them to that tradition which originates from the apostles, which is preserved by means of the successions of presbyters in the churches, they object to tradition, saying that they themselves are wiser not merely than the presbyters, but even than the apostles.”
Justin Martyr:
“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 everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven’ [Matt. 7:21].”
Justin Martyr:
“I hold further, that those of you who have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back for some reason to the legal dispensation [i.e., the Mosaic Law], and have denied that this man is Christ, and have not repented before death – you will by no means be saved.”
Justin Martyr:
“We who used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than anything else now bring what we have into a common fund and share it with anyone who needs it. We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.”
Justin Martyr:
[Addressed to Jews:] “If they repent, all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God. The Scripture foretells that they shall be blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.’ That is, after repenting of his sins, such a man can receive remission of those sins from God. It is not as you deceive yourselves and some others who resemble you in this. For you say that even though they are sinners, the Lord will not impute sin to them, for they know God.”
Justin Martyr:
“We are no longer purified by the blood of sheep and goats, by the ashes of a heifer, or by the offerings of fine flour. Rather, we are purified by faith through the blood of Christ.”
Justin Martyr:
“‘Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin’ [Ps. 32:2]. That is, having repented of his sins, he can receive remission of them from God. But this is not as you [Jews] deceive yourselves, and some others who resemble you in this. For they say, that even though they remain sinners, the Lord will not impute sin to them, because they know God.”
Justin Martyr:
“Righteousness is not placed in Jewish rites, but in the conversion of the heart given in baptism by Christ. By reason, therefore, of this laver of repentance and knowledge of God, which has been ordained on account of the transgression of God’s people, as Isaiah cries, we have believed, and testify that that very baptism which he announced is alone able to purify those who have repented; and this is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken and profitless to you. For what is the use of that baptism which cleanses the flesh and body alone? Baptize the soul from wrath and from covetousness, from envy, and from hatred; and, lo! the body is pure. For this is the symbolic significance of unleavened bread, that you do not commit the old deeds of wicked leaven. But you have understood all things in a carnal sense, and you suppose it to be piety if you do such things, while your souls are filled with deceit, and, in short, with every wickedness. Accordingly, also, after the seven days of eating unleavened bread, God commanded them to mingle new leaven, that is, the performance of other works, and not the imitation of the old and evil works.”
Justin Martyr:
“We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Now, if this is not so, but all things happen by fate, then neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it is predetermined that this man will be good, and this other man will be evil, neither is the first one meritorious nor the latter man 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.”
Justin Martyr:
“I have proved in what has been said that those who were foreknown to be unrighteous, whether men or angels, are not made wicked by God’s fault. Rather, each man is what he will appear to be through his own fault.”
Justin Martyr:
“If the Word of God foretells that some angels and men will be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeable [i.e., would remain wicked]. However, this is not because God had created them so. For all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God if they repent.”
Lactantius:
“He sent his Son as an ambassador to men, so He could turn them from their unholy and vain worship to the knowledge and worship of the true God. He also sent Him so that He could turn their minds from foolishness to wisdom, and from wickedness to deeds of righteousness.”
Lactantius:
“He Himself is virtue and He Himself is righteousness. Accordingly, He descended so that He could teach these things and mold the character of man.”
Lactantius:
“God especially desires for men to be cleansed from their sins. Therefore, he commands them to repent. Yet, to repent is nothing else than to profess and to affirm that one will sin no more. Therefore, the ones who are pardoned are those who slip into sin unintentionally and incautiously. He who sins willfully has no pardon.”
Lactantius:
“Let no one be disheartened. Let no one despair concerning himself if he has turned aside to the way of unrighteousness because he was overcome by passion, impelled by desire, deceived by error, or compelled by force. For it is possible for such a one to be brought back and to be set free. It is possible if he repents of his actions and makes satisfaction to God, turning to better things.”
Lactantius:
“By walking in the way of righteousness and following his Teacher, man can attain to eternal life.”
Lactantius:
“A son . . . who deserts his father in order not to pay him obedience is considered deserving of being disinherited and of having his name removed forever from his family. How much more so does a person [deserve to be disinherited] who forsakes God? . . . Of what punishments, therefore, is he deserving who forsakes Him who is both the true Master and Father?”
Lactantius:
“We believe that our children have been corrected when we see that they repent of their errors. And though we may have disinherited them and cast them off, we again receive, cherish, and embrace them. Why, then, should we despair as if the mercy of God our Father might not be appeased by repentance? He who is both the Lord and a most indulgent Parent promises that He will remit the sins of the penitent. He promises that He will blot out all the iniquities of the one who begins afresh to practice righteousness. The uprightness of one’s past life is to no avail to him who lives badly, for the subsequent wickedness has destroyed his works of righteousness. Likewise, former sins do not stand in the way of him who has amended his life. For the subsequent righteousness has wiped away the stain of his former life.”
Lactantius:
“Let no one imagine that souls are immediately judged after death. For all are detained in one and a common place of confinement – until the arrival of the time in which the great Judge will make an investigation of their deserts. Those whose piety will have been approved will receive the reward of immortality. However, those whose sins and crimes will have been brought to light – these will not rise again. Rather, they will be hidden in the same darkness with the wicked, being destined to certain punishment.”
Methodius:
“Man was made with a free will . . . on account of his capacity of obeying or disobeying God. For this was the meaning of the gift of free will.”
Methodius:
“Man received power and enslaved himself – not because he was overpowered by the irresistible tendencies of his nature. . . . For if he had been made as any of the elements of creation, . . . he would cease to receive a reward befitting deliberate choice. Instead, he would be like an instrument of the Maker. And it would be unreasonable for him to suffer blame for his wrong-doings. For the real author of them would be the one by whom he is used.”
Methodius:
“Some persons decide that man is not possessed of free will. Rather, they assert that he is governed by the unavoidable necessities of fate and her unwritten commands. Such persons are guilty of impiety towards God Himself. For they make Him out to be the cause and author of human evils.”
Novatian:
“We should not think that such an inexhaustible providence of God does not reach to even the very least of things. For the Lord says, ‘One of two sparrows will not fall without the will of the Father. For even the very hairs of your head are all numbered’ [Matt. 10:29-30]. His care and providence did not permit even the clothes of the Israelites to be worn out. . . . Since He embraces all things and contains all things, . . . His care consequently extends to every single thing. For His providence encompasses the whole, whatever it is.”
Origen:
“A man may possess an acquired righteousness, from which it is possible for him to fall away.”
Origen:
“Certain ones of those [heretics] who hold different opinions misuse these passages. They essentially destroy free will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation and by introducing others as being saved in such a way that they cannot be lost.”
Origen:
“He who has not denied himself, but denied Christ, will experience the saying ‘I also will deny him.’”
Origen:
“The soul that . . . is neither holy nor blameless because of wickedness . . . is not part of the church that Christ builds upon the rock. But if anyone wishes to embarrass us in regard to these things because of the great majority of those of the church who are thought to believe, it must be said to him that ‘many are called, but few chosen.’ . . . ‘Many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in and will not be able.’ You will understand that this refers to those who boast that they are of the church, but who live weakly and contrary to the Word.”
Origen:
“The apostolic teaching is that the soul, . . . after its departure from the world, will be recompensed according to its deserts. It is destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life and blessedness (if its actions will have procured this for it) or to be delivered up to eternal fire and punishments – if the guilt of its crimes will have brought it down to this.”
Origen:
“The Son of God, . . . taking the form of a servant, was made obedient unto death so that He might teach obedience to those who could not obtain salvation other than by obedience.”
Origen:
“It is those who not only believe, but also enter upon the life that Jesus taught. This life elevates everyone who lives according to the commandments of Jesus. It elevates them to friendship with God and communion with Him.”
Origen:
“We do not teach concerning the unrighteous man that it is sufficient for him to humble himself on account of his wickedness. Rather, God will accept him only if – after passing condemnation upon himself for his past conduct – he walks humbly on account of it and in a righteous manner for his remaining days.”
Origen:
“It is our responsibility to live virtuously. God asks this of us as being our own doing – not as being dependent on Him, nor on any other, nor on Fate (as some think). The prophet Micah proves this when he says: ‘If it has been announced to you, O man, what is good, or what does the Lord require of you, except to do justice and to love mercy?’ [Mic. 6:8] Moses too, said: ‘I have placed before your face the way of life and the way of death. Choose what is good and walk in it’ [Deut. 30:19].”
Origen:
“The result of all the preceding remarks is to show that all the occurrences in the world . . . are not indeed brought about by God. Yet, neither do they happen without Him. For He not only does not prevent those wicked and opposing powers who are desirous to bring these things about, but He even permits them to do so. . . . Therefore, Holy Scripture teaches us to receive all that happens as though sent by God, knowing that without Him no event occurs.”
For material and physical things count as fleeting feeble shadow, in no way comparable to the saving holy gifts of the God of All. What comparison is there between material riches and the riches that are in every word and all wisdom? Who in his senses would compare health of flesh and bone with health of mind, strength of soul, and consistency of thought—things which, if kept in measure by God’s word, make bodily sufferings a paltry scratch, and even slighter if we can grasp it. – Origen, On Prayer, Chapter 11
Papias:
“If, then, anyone 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.”
Polycarp:
“Into this joy, many persons desire to enter. They know that ‘by grace you are saved, not of works,’ but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. . . . But He who raised him up from the dead will raise up us also – if we do His will, and walk in His commandments, and love what He loved, keeping ourselves from all unrighteousness.”
Tertullian:
“No one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end.”
Tertullian:
“The world returned to sin . . . and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.”
Tertullian:
“Some think that God is under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy what He has promised [to give]. So they turn His liberality into His slavery… For do not many afterwards fall out of [grace]? Is not this gift taken away from many? These, no doubt, are they who… after approaching to the faith of repentance, build on the sands a house doomed to ruin.”
Tertullian:
“God had foreseen… that faith – even after baptism – would be endangered. He saw that most persons – after obtaining salvation – would be lost again, by soiling the wedding dress, by failing to provide oil for their torches.”
Tertullian:
“The more often we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow. The blood of Christians is seed…”
Tertullian:
“By the confession of all past sins, they may express the meaning even of the baptism of John. For the Scripture says: ‘They were baptized, confessing their own sins.’ To us, it is a matter for thankfulness if we now do publicly confess our iniquities or our depravities. For, by mortification of our flesh and spirit, we make satisfaction for our former sins. At the same time, we lay in advance the foundation of defenses against the temptations that will closely follow.”
Tertullian:
“All these commandments had been given carnally, in previous times, to the people of Israel. So it follows that afterwards there was to supervene a time when the commandments of the ancient Law and of the old ceremonies would cease. There would come the promise of the new law, and the recognition of spiritual sacrifices, and the promise of the New Covenant.”
Tertullian:
“Repentance is the price for which the Lord has determined to award pardon. . . . Sellers first examine the coin with which they make their bargains to see if it is cut, scraped, or counterfeit. Likewise, we believe that the Lord, when about to grant us such costly merchandise – eternal life – first tests our repentance.”
Tertullian:
“We ought indeed to walk so holily, and with so entire substantiality of faith, as to be confident and secure in regard of our own conscience, desiring that it may abide in us to the end. Yet, we should not presume [that it will]. For he who presumes, feels less apprehension. He who feels less apprehension, takes less precaution. He who takes less precaution, runs more risk. 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, fear to caution, and caution to salvation. On the other hand, if we presume, there will be neither fear nor caution to save us.”
Tertullian:
“Where diversity of doctrine is found, there, then, must be corruption both of the Scriptures and the explanations of them. . . . One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning by his exposition. For although Valentinus seems to use the entire volume [of Scripture], he has nonetheless 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. Valentinus, however, abstained from such excision, because he did not invent Scriptures to square with his own subject-matter, but adapted his matter to the Scriptures; and yet he took away more, and added more, by removing the proper meaning of every particular word, and adding fantastic arrangements of things which have no real existence.”
Tertullian:
“Some things seem to indicate the will of God, seeing that they are allowed by Him. However, it does not necessarily follow that everything that is permitted proceeds out of the unqualified and absolute will of Him who permits it.”
Theophilus:
“He who acts righteously will escape the eternal punishments, and he will be thought worthy of the eternal life from God.”