Church office in the early church

Bishops, presbyters, deacons, and other ministries, and their authority. Part of The church.

Didache 4.1Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Honor the one who teaches you God's word as you would the Lord.
Didache 10.7Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Prophets may give thanks freely.
Didache 11.1Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Welcome teachers who teach these things.
Didache 11.2Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Reject teachers who undermine this teaching; welcome those who build it up.
Didache 11.3Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Instructions on traveling apostles and prophets.
Didache 11.4Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Receive every apostle as the Lord.
Didache 11.5Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · An apostle who stays three days is a false prophet.
Didache 11.6Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · An apostle who asks for money is a false prophet.
Didache 11.7Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Do not judge a prophet speaking in the Spirit; that sin is unforgivable.
Didache 11.8Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · True and false prophets are known by their conduct.
Didache 11.9Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · A prophet who orders a meal “in the Spirit” and eats it is false.
Didache 11.10Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · A prophet who does not practice what he teaches is false.
Didache 11.11Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · A proven prophet who performs symbolic acts is left to God's judgment.
Didache 11.12Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Ignore a prophet who asks for money for himself.
Didache 12.1Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Welcome travelers in the Lord's name, but test them.
Didache 13.1Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · A true prophet who settles among you deserves support.
Didache 13.2Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · True teachers also deserve support.
Didache 13.3Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Give the firstfruits of produce and flocks to the prophets.
Didache 13.5Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Give the firstfruit of your baking.
Didache 13.6Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Give the firstfruit of wine and oil to the prophets.
Didache 13.7Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Give a firstfruit of money, clothing, and all possessions.
Didache 15.1Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Choose worthy bishops and deacons, who also serve as prophets and teachers.
Didache 15.2Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Honor your bishops and deacons.
Didache 15.3Anonymous · ca. 50–150 (often ca. 100) · Correct one another peacefully; shun the unrepentant.
1 Clement 1.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The Roman church apologizes for its delay in addressing the revolt at Corinth.
1 Clement 1.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The Corinthians once respected their leaders and elders, and their households were well ordered.
1 Clement 3.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The young rose up against their elders.
1 Clement 4.12Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Revolt against Moses destroyed Dathan and Abiram.
1 Clement 14.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Obey God, not the ringleaders of jealousy.
1 Clement 14.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Following troublemakers is dangerous.
1 Clement 15.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Side with those who truly seek peace.
1 Clement 16.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Christ belongs to the humble, not to those who lord it over his flock.
1 Clement 21.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Better to offend the proud than to offend God.
1 Clement 21.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Reverence Christ, respect leaders, honor elders, teach the young, guide wives in goodness.
1 Clement 37.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Serve God like soldiers.
1 Clement 37.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Soldiers obey their commanders in good order.
1 Clement 37.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Each soldier serves in his own rank.
1 Clement 37.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Great and small need each other.
1 Clement 37.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Like the body's members, all serve the whole.
1 Clement 38.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Let each serve the others with his own gift.
1 Clement 40.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Do everything in the order God has appointed.
1 Clement 40.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · God set times for worship.
1 Clement 40.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · God determined where and by whom worship is offered.
1 Clement 40.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Offerings made in order are acceptable.
1 Clement 40.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · In Israel's worship each order had its own role.
1 Clement 41.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Each should serve God in his own rank.
1 Clement 41.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Sacrifices were offered only in the appointed place and manner.
1 Clement 41.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Disobeying God's order brought death.
1 Clement 42.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The gospel came from God through Christ to the apostles.
1 Clement 42.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Christ from God, the apostles from Christ: all in good order.
1 Clement 42.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The apostles went out preaching the coming kingdom.
1 Clement 42.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The apostles appointed bishops and deacons from their first converts.
1 Clement 42.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Scripture foretold bishops and deacons.
1 Clement 43.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Moses too recorded God's commands, and the prophets confirmed them.
1 Clement 43.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Moses settled the priesthood dispute with the twelve rods.
1 Clement 43.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The blossoming rod would show God's choice.
1 Clement 43.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Aaron's rod blossomed and bore fruit.
1 Clement 43.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Moses acted to prevent disorder.
1 Clement 44.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The apostles foresaw strife over the office of bishop.
1 Clement 44.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The apostles provided for others to succeed the leaders they appointed.
1 Clement 44.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Leaders rightly appointed and blameless should not be removed.
1 Clement 44.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Deposing blameless bishops is a serious sin.
1 Clement 44.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Blessed are the presbyters who died in office.
1 Clement 44.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The Corinthians removed blameless leaders.
1 Clement 46.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Why is there strife among you?
1 Clement 46.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · One God, one Christ, one Spirit, one calling.
1 Clement 46.7Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Division tears apart Christ's body.
1 Clement 46.9Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The schism has harmed many and still continues.
1 Clement 47.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The Corinthian church has rebelled against its presbyters because of one or two people.
1 Clement 51.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Seek forgiveness; the ringleaders should consider the common hope.
1 Clement 51.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The loving would rather suffer than harm others or the church's harmony.
1 Clement 51.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Better to confess than to harden one's heart like Korah's rebels.
1 Clement 54.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Who among you is truly noble?
1 Clement 54.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Let the ringleaders withdraw so the church can be at peace with its presbyters.
1 Clement 54.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Whoever steps aside will be honored everywhere.
1 Clement 56.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Pray for the offenders to yield to God's will.
1 Clement 57.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The ringleaders must submit to the presbyters and repent.
1 Clement 57.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Better to be small in Christ's flock than to be cast out.
1 Clement 59.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Disobeying this letter, which speaks God's word, is dangerous.
1 Clement 63.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Submit and end the faction.
1 Clement 63.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Obey this letter, written through the Spirit, and end the quarrel.
Ascension of Isaiah 3.24Anonymous · late 1st–2nd century
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8.7.4 (73.4)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Green but cracked sticks are good people jealous for first place.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.25.2 (102.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The springs are the apostles and teachers who taught purely; their place is with the angels.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.26.2 (103.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Spotted stones are deacons who embezzled from widows and orphans.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.27.2 (104.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Sheltering trees are hospitable bishops who cared for the needy and widows.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.31.5 (108.5)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Woe to the shepherds if any sheep is lost.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.31.6 (108.6)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Shepherds of the church cannot blame the flock; they will give an account.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.2.6 (6.6)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The church's leaders must walk in righteousness.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.4.2 (8.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The woman has more to add before the book is given to the presbyters.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.4.3 (8.3)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Copies go to Clement for other cities and to Grapte for widows and orphans.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.1.8 (9.8)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Hermas defers to the presbyters, but she tells him to sit.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.5.1 (13.1)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The well-fitted stones are the apostles, bishops, teachers, and deacons who lived in harmony.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.9.7 (17.7)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Church leaders must not carry poison in their hearts.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.9.8 (17.8)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Leaders must cleanse their hearts and be of one mind.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.9.10 (17.10)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Discipline one another and keep peace, so that the church may give a good account.
2 Clement 17.3Anonymous · ca. 100–150 · Remember the teaching at home, and gather more often to grow in obedience.
2 Clement 17.5Anonymous · ca. 100–150 · Unbelievers will see Christ's glory and lament; their punishment has no end.
To the Ephesians 1.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius has met the whole church in its bishop, Onesimus.
To the Ephesians 2.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius thanks the Ephesian delegates who came to him, especially the deacon Burrhus.
To the Ephesians 2.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · United in obedience to the bishop and presbyters, the church will be holy.
To the Ephesians 3.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Christ expresses the Father's mind, and the bishops everywhere share Christ's mind.
To the Ephesians 4.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The presbyters are in tune with their bishop like strings on a lyre.
To the Ephesians 4.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The whole church should be like a choir singing to the Father with one voice.
To the Ephesians 5.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The church is joined to its bishop as the church to Christ and Christ to the Father.
To the Ephesians 5.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Whoever stays away from the church's gathering lacks the bread of God.
To the Ephesians 5.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Those who avoid the assembly are proud; to be subject to God, do not oppose the bishop.
To the Ephesians 6.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The bishop is to be received as the Lord who sent him.
To the Ephesians 20.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · In the one Eucharistic bread, the “medicine of immortality,” the united church shares Christ's life.
To the Magnesians 2.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius has met the Magnesian delegates: bishop Damas, two presbyters, and the deacon Zotion.
To the Magnesians 3.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The young bishop deserves full respect, since in obeying him the church obeys God.
To the Magnesians 3.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Deceiving the bishop means deceiving the unseen God.
To the Magnesians 4.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Those who acknowledge the bishop but act without him are Christians in name only.
To the Magnesians 6.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The bishop presides in God's place, the presbyters as the apostles' council, and the deacons serve Christ.
To the Magnesians 6.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Respect and love one another, united with the bishop and leaders.
To the Magnesians 7.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · As Christ did nothing without the Father, the church should do nothing without its bishop and presbyters.
To the Magnesians 7.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Gather as to one temple and one altar, to the one Christ who came from the one Father.
To the Magnesians 13.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Stand firm in the teaching of the Lord and the apostles, with the bishop, presbyters, and deacons.
To the Magnesians 13.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Submit to the bishop and to one another, as Christ did to the Father.
To the Philadelphians, inscriptionIgnatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius greets the church at Philadelphia, united with its bishop, presbyters, and deacons.
To the Philadelphians 1.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The Philadelphian bishop received his office from God and leads by quiet gentleness.
To the Philadelphians 1.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius praises the bishop's steady, gentle character.
To the Philadelphians 2.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Avoid division and follow the bishop as sheep follow their shepherd.
To the Philadelphians 3.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Those who belong to God are with the bishop; the repentant may return.
To the Philadelphians 4.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · One Eucharist, one flesh and cup of Christ, one altar, one bishop.
To the Philadelphians 7.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · While among them, Ignatius cried out by the Spirit: heed the bishop, presbyters, and deacons.
To the Philadelphians 7.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius's call to unity came from the Spirit, not from human reports.
To the Philadelphians 8.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · God forgives those who repent and return to the church's unity.
To the Philadelphians 10.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The church at Antioch is at peace; Philadelphia should send a deacon as envoy.
To the Philadelphians 10.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Other churches have already sent bishops, presbyters, and deacons to Antioch.
To the Philadelphians 11.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius commends two companions, Philo and Rheus Agathopus.
To Polycarp, inscriptionIgnatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius greets Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna.
To Polycarp 1.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius urges Polycarp to care for his whole church, keep it united, and bear with everyone in love.
To Polycarp 1.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Polycarp should pray constantly, watch, speak to each person, and bear others' weaknesses.
To Polycarp 2.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · A bishop must win over difficult people with gentleness, treating each according to need.
To Polycarp 2.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Polycarp should combine wisdom and innocence, care for visible needs, and pray for spiritual insight.
To Polycarp 4.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The bishop must care for widows and oversee everything in the church.
To Polycarp 4.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Polycarp should gather the church more often and know every member by name.
To Polycarp 5.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Celibacy must be kept humbly, and marriages should be made with the bishop's consent so that they are according to the Lord.
To Polycarp 6.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius tells the whole church to obey its bishop, presbyters, and deacons and to work together as God's servants.
To Polycarp 7.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius asks Polycarp to call a council and choose a messenger to go to Antioch.
To Polycarp 8.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius, forced to sail on suddenly, asks Polycarp to write to the other churches on his behalf.
To Polycarp 8.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius closes with a farewell and a greeting to Alce.
To the Romans, inscriptionIgnatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius greets the church at Rome with unusual honor.
To the Romans 2.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius asks only to be offered to God, setting like the sun in the west to rise in God.
To the Romans 4.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Unlike the apostles Peter and Paul, Ignatius is a condemned man who will be made free by martyrdom.
To the Romans 9.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius asks prayer for his church in Syria, now shepherded by God alone.
To the Smyrnaeans 8.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · A valid Eucharist is one held under the bishop or his appointee.
To the Smyrnaeans 8.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Where the bishop is, there the people should be, as the catholic church is where Christ is.
To the Smyrnaeans 9.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Honoring the bishop is honoring God.
To the Smyrnaeans 11.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Smyrna should send an envoy to congratulate the church at Antioch on its peace.
To the Smyrnaeans 11.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius urges the Smyrnaeans to send a messenger with a letter to Antioch.
To the Smyrnaeans 12.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Greetings from Troas; praise for Burrhus, who helps Ignatius write.
To the Smyrnaeans 12.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius greets the whole church in Christ's flesh and blood.
To the Smyrnaeans 13.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Greetings to families and to the consecrated women.
To the Trallians 1.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The Trallians' bishop Polybius visited Ignatius in Smyrna.
To the Trallians 2.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Obeying the bishop as Christ is living according to Christ, who died for us.
To the Trallians 2.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Do nothing without the bishop, and submit to the presbyters as to the apostles.
To the Trallians 2.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Deacons serve Christ's mysteries, not merely food and drink, and must be above reproach.
To the Trallians 3.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Deacons, bishop, and presbyters together make the church.
To the Trallians 3.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · The bishop's gentle bearing commands respect even from unbelievers.
To the Trallians 3.3Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Ignatius writes gently, not presuming to command as an apostle.
To the Trallians 7.1Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Stay close to God, the bishop, and the apostles' teaching.
To the Trallians 7.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Acting apart from the bishop, presbyters, and deacons defiles the conscience.
To the Trallians 12.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Stay united in prayer and support your bishop.
To the Trallians 13.2Ignatius of Antioch · ca. 110 (range ca. 105–135) · Farewell: obey the bishop and presbyters, and love one another.
To the Philippians, inscriptionPolycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Polycarp and his fellow presbyters greet the church at Philippi.
To the Philippians 5.2Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Deacons must be blameless servants of God, following the Lord who became the servant of all and who promises that the faithful will reign with him.
To the Philippians 5.3Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Young men must live pure lives, because the sexually immoral will not inherit God's kingdom, and they must be subject to the presbyters and deacons; the virgins must keep a pure conscience.
To the Philippians 6.1Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Presbyters must be merciful shepherds who seek the lost, care for the weak, and judge fairly, remembering that all are sinners.
To the Philippians 11.1Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Polycarp grieves over Valens, a presbyter at Philippi who misused his office, and warns the church against greed.
To the Philippians 11.2Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · A leader who cannot control his own greed cannot teach others, for greed is idolatry and the saints will judge the world.
To the Philippians 11.4Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Polycarp prays that Valens and his wife repent and urges the church to restore them as straying members rather than treat them as enemies.
Epistle of the Apostles 41Anonymous · ca. 140-170 · Christ tells the apostles that, though only the heavenly Father is to be called father and master, through him they will become fathers and teachers to those who believe.
Epistle of the Apostles 42Anonymous · ca. 140-170 · Christ explains that the apostles will be fathers because they bring people to baptism and forgiveness, and teachers because they hand on his word and correct without partiality.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 16.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Polycarp was an apostolic and prophetic teacher and the bishop of Smyrna, whose words all came true.
Acts of Peter (Vercelli) 27Anonymous · ca. 180–200 · Peter raises the widow's son, who is to serve later as deacon and bishop, and the people acclaim the God of Peter.
Fragment 9Clement of Alexandria · late 2nd–early 3rd century · A composite of fragments of Clement's Hypotyposes: brief notes on 1 Cor 11:10, 2 Cor 5:16, 2 Cor 6:12, and Gal 5:24; Christ's baptism of Peter; the choice of James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem; the origin of Mark's Gospel; secret knowledge passed from James, John, and Peter to the apostles and the seventy; the martyrdom of James with his accuser; why Paul did not name himself in Hebrews; and John's “spiritual” Gospel.
The Instructor 1.6.37Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · No one, not even the Gnostics, knows now what “eye has not seen”; we boast only in Christ, the milk of the flock, and milk and solid food are the same Word.
The Instructor 3.11.63Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · Wigs are godless: when the presbyter lays on hands in blessing he blesses someone else's hair; wives who wear false hair deceive their husbands and shame Christ; gray hair should not be dyed.
The Instructor 3.12.97Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · These are a few of Scripture's many precepts, including those for presbyters, bishops, deacons, and widows; their deeper interpretation belongs to the Teacher, to whom the Instructor now sends us.
Against Heresies 1.13.5Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Women who returned to the church confessed that Marcus had defiled them, among them the wife of a deacon in Asia.
Against Heresies 1.26.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The Nicolaitans, followers of the deacon Nicolas, live licentiously, as the Apocalypse shows.
Against Heresies 1.27.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Cerdo, at Rome under Hyginus, taught that the God of the law and prophets is not the Father of Christ.
Against Heresies 3.2.2Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Confronted with the tradition kept by the successions of presbyters, the heretics claim to be wiser than the presbyters and even the apostles.
Against Heresies 3.3.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The apostles' tradition is visible in every church through the bishops they appointed and their successors, who knew no secret doctrine.
Against Heresies 3.3.2Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Irenaeus points to the church of Rome, founded by Peter and Paul, whose apostolic tradition and succession of bishops confound the heretics.
Against Heresies 3.3.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Irenaeus lists the bishops of Rome from Linus to Eleutherius and cites Clement's letter as witness to the apostolic faith.
Against Heresies 3.3.4Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Polycarp, taught by apostles and martyred at Smyrna, and the church of Ephesus witness to the apostolic tradition against the heretics.
Against Heresies 3.4.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Valentinus, Cerdon, Marcion, and the Gnostics appeared only in the second century, long after the apostolic churches.
Against Heresies 3.12.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Peter's words at the choice of Matthias and at Pentecost show that the God of the prophets sent the promised Spirit.
Against Heresies 3.12.10Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Stephen, the first deacon and martyr, proclaimed the God of Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.
Against Heresies 3.14.2Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Paul at Miletus declared the whole counsel of God to the bishops and presbyters; the apostles and Luke handed on everything openly.
Against Heresies 4.8.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The disciples plucking grain on the sabbath acted lawfully as priests, for all the righteous are priests and the apostles have the Levites’ portion.
Against Heresies 4.26.2Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · One must obey the presbyters who have the succession from the apostles and the gift of truth, and avoid heretics and schismatics.
Against Heresies 4.26.3Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Presbyters who live for pleasure, despise others, and sin in secret will be judged like the wicked elders in Daniel and the wicked servant in the Gospel.
Against Heresies 4.26.4Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · We must hold to presbyters who keep the apostles’ teaching with sound speech and blameless life, like Moses, Samuel, and Paul.
Against Heresies 4.26.5Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The truth is to be learned in the Church from those who have the apostolic succession and a sound life and teaching.
Against Heresies 4.32.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The elder taught that both covenants come from the one Creator; whoever believes this and reads the Scriptures with the Church’s presbyters will find them consistent.
Against Heresies 4.33.8Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · True knowledge is the apostles’ teaching, kept in the Church through the succession of bishops with faithful reading of Scripture, and above all love.
Against Heresies 5.20.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The heretics are later than the bishops appointed by the apostles; the Church throughout the world holds one faith, order, and hope, and carries the light of Christ.
Prophetic Extracts 16.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · God works through human beings in teaching as in healings and prophecies.
Prophetic Extracts 16.2Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · God sends prophets and apostles as saviors of people.
Prophetic Extracts 16.3Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · God is all-powerful, yet he chooses to beget and teach us through human beings.
Prophetic Extracts 23.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · As Christ spoke and healed through his body, he did so through the prophets, and now through the apostles and teachers;
Prophetic Extracts 23.2Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · the church serves Christ's work, as the humanity he assumed served the Father's will.
Prophetic Extracts 23.3Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · God always clothes himself in human beings to save humanity, once in the prophets, now in the church.
Prophetic Extracts 29.2Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · Those who teach others need broad learning.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.2Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · After the tyrant's death, John left Patmos for Ephesus and visited nearby churches to appoint bishops and set churches in order.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.3Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · In a nearby city John entrusted a promising young man to the bishop, solemnly, before the church and Christ.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.4Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · The presbyter raised and baptized the young man, then relaxed his care, trusting in the seal of baptism.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.8Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · John asked the bishop to return the “deposit” entrusted to him; the bishop thought he meant money.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 42.9Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · John demanded the young man's soul; the bishop wept and said he was dead to God, now a robber in the mountains.
Miscellanies 1.1.3Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The parable of the talents shows that teaching must be put to work, not hidden; Paul too commands entrusting the word to faithful teachers.
Miscellanies 1.1.4Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Both writer and preacher proclaim the word; the hearer is responsible for his choice; proclaiming gives the beginnings of faith and salvation, and Paul charges Timothy to teach impartially.
Miscellanies 1.1.5Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Writer and reader must each examine themselves, as each communicant takes his own portion of the Eucharist after self-examination, as Paul teaches.
Miscellanies 1.1.6Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The teacher must examine his motives, seeking only his hearers' salvation, as Paul did; hearers too must not come from curiosity or for material gain.
Miscellanies 1.1.7Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Workers are few, so we should pray for more; the Lord's farming is both oral and written; those who teach bring peace, and each worker will be rewarded, as Paul says.
Miscellanies 1.1.9Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · A speaker can judge his hearers like the soils of the parable; a writer dedicates his work to God, seeking only the readers' salvation and no reward, giving freely as he has received.
Miscellanies 1.1.11Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Clement's notes preserve the teaching of the blessed men he heard in Greece, southern Italy, and the East, and last in Egypt, a teacher like a Sicilian bee; they handed on the apostles' tradition.
Miscellanies 1.1.12Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Writing preserves the tradition, as used wells stay clear and used iron stays bright; wisdom must be shared like a lamp on a stand; teachers learn as they teach, since the one Teacher inspires both.
Miscellanies 1.1.13Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Christ shared the mysteries only with those able to receive them; secret things are entrusted to speech, not writing; what is hidden will be revealed to the few who can grasp it; God gave the church apostles, prophets, and teachers.
Miscellanies 2.15.69Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Psalm 1 says the ungodly will not stand in judgment; the unbeliever is already judged; through Ezekiel the Lord rebukes the shepherds who neglect the weak, since the Father rejoices over one sinner saved; Abraham obeyed.
Miscellanies 3.6.53Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Peter and Philip had children, and Paul had a wife; the apostles took their wives along as sisters and fellow ministers to women; the kingdom is not food and drink; the ascetics do not match the prophets, who lived austerely yet thanked the Creator.
Miscellanies 3.12.79Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul's permission for spouses to abstain by consent and for a time teaches self-control without endangering marriage; celibacy and marriage each have their own service to the Lord, and bishops should be tested by ruling their households.
Miscellanies 3.12.90Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul accepts the husband of one wife, whether presbyter, deacon, or layman; Christ called the Jews adulterous for abandoning the law's intent; the man who excused himself from the supper because of marriage illustrates preferring pleasure to God, not a condemnation of marriage.
Miscellanies 3.18.108Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul, citing the Lord, forbids divorce, requiring a separated wife to remain unmarried or be reconciled; he also makes good household management a qualification for bishops; this refutes those who say marriage belongs only to the old law.
Miscellanies 4.17.108Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Following 1 Clement: respect leaders and elders, instruct the young, lead wives to purity, gentleness, and impartial love, and teach children humility, pure love, and the fear of the Lord, who searches hearts.
Miscellanies 4.21.132Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to build up the church toward the perfect man, Christ's fullness; we must strive for perfection in the flesh; the one Spirit distributes varied gifts to each.
Miscellanies 4.21.133Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Prophets, the righteous, martyrs, and preachers are each perfect in their own gift while sharing the common virtues; each has his own gift from God, but the apostles were filled with all.
Miscellanies 5.8.54Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The law of the uncovered pit teaches teachers to hide the depths of knowledge from those not ready, lest they stumble; the knowing teacher is accountable to God for those harmed by teaching beyond their capacity.
Miscellanies 6.13.106Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Anyone who lives the gospel perfectly can be counted among the apostles; he is a true presbyter and deacon, made so by righteousness rather than ordination, and will sit on the twenty-four thrones; there is one saving covenant for Jews and Greeks.
Miscellanies 6.13.107Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Jews and Greeks form one elect people, and the most perfect among them are the twenty-four elders; the church's bishops, presbyters, and deacons imitate the angelic order, and the perfected advance in glory from deacons to presbyters.
Miscellanies 7.1.3Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Serving God means caring for the soul and for others; as presbyters improve and deacons minister in the church, the one who knows both serves God and improves people, gathering a harvest of those saved through him.
On Idolatry 7Tertullian · ca. 196–211 · It is scandalous that idol-makers come to church, lift their hands in prayer, touch the Lord's body, and are even admitted to church office.
Apology 39Tertullian · ca. 197 · Tertullian describes Christian life together: common prayer, Scripture reading, discipline, elders chosen for character, a voluntary fund for the poor and imprisoned, and the agape meal.
On Baptism 17Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · Bishops, and under them presbyters and deacons, administer baptism; laymen may do so in necessity, but women may not, and the Acts of Paul and Thecla, which suggests otherwise, is a forgery by a presbyter who was deposed.
On Repentance 9Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · The second repentance must be shown outwardly in exomologesis, public confession with sackcloth, ashes, fasting, weeping, and kneeling before the presbyters and the faithful, through which God pardons.
To His Wife 1.7Tertullian · ca. 200–206 · A husband's death by God's will ends the marriage; the church's rules barring the twice-married from office and enrolled widows show how second marriage detracts from holiness.
Acts of Thomas 59Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · The people believe and give money for the widows, whom Thomas provides for through his deacons, and he proves from the prophets that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts of Thomas 66Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas, about to leave, urges the believers to abide in the faith, leaves the deacon Xenophon in his place, and warns against trust in wealth and beauty.
Acts of Thomas 67Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas commits the believers and Xenophon's flock to the Lord and blesses them before leaving.
Acts of Thomas 169Anonymous · ca. 200–250 · Thomas appears to Siphor and Vazan and to the women, who resist the king; the believers gather under Siphor, whom Thomas made presbyter, and Vazan, deacon; later Misdaeus resolves to heal his demon-possessed son with the apostle's bone.
Didascalia 2.1 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · The bishop should be blameless and at least fifty years old, though in a small parish a young man of proven meekness may be appointed.
Didascalia 2.2Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.3Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.6Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.7 (English)Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.8–9Anonymous · first half of the third century · The falsely slandered are blessed, but a Christian convicted of wrongdoing is a hypocrite, and the bishop must keep apart from him.
Didascalia 2.10–12Anonymous · first half of the third century · A partial bishop who tolerates sinners corrupts the flock, but a pure clergy and flock move the sinner to shame and repentance.
Didascalia 2.13 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · The bishop sits in the church with authority to judge sinners in God's place, as one given the power to bind.
Didascalia 2.17Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.18 (English)Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.21 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · A bishop who expels sinners and refuses to receive them back when they repent kills them forever, since Christ commands forgiveness.
Didascalia 2.25Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.26 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · Old Testament sacrifices and tithes correspond to the church's prayers and offerings, which are brought through the bishop; bishop, deacon, deaconess, presbyters, and widows are honored as types of God, Christ, the Spirit, the apostles, and the altar.
Didascalia 2.27Anonymous · first half of the third century · Offerings are brought to the bishop, who knows the needy and distributes fairly, and he sends the neediest widows to those who give agapes.
Didascalia 2.28 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · The bishop's portion of the agape is set apart; deacons receive double what an elder woman receives, and the presiding bishop fourfold.
Didascalia 2.29Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.30Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.31Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.32Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.33Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.34 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · The bishop, who binds and looses with heavenly power over soul and body, is to be loved as father, feared as king, and honored as God, and the people's tithes and offerings are given to him to distribute.
Didascalia 2.37Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.44Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 2.58 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · A visiting bishop is honored and invited to preach; the bishop does not interrupt the word to seat important visitors, and the deacon sees that the young give up their seats to the old.
Didascalia 2.59Anonymous · first half of the third century · The bishop gives his own seat to the poor and old, and urges the people never to miss the assembly.
Didascalia 3.8 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · Widows are to be subject to the bishop and deacons and do nothing, not even visiting, fasting, receiving gifts, or praying with laying on of hands, without the bishop's counsel.
Didascalia 3.13–19 (English)Anonymous · first half of the third century
Didascalia 3.13–19 (Latin)Anonymous · first half of the third century · Deacons must serve the brothers even to laying down their lives, after the example of Christ who washed the disciples' feet, and must visit the needy and report to the bishop.
Against Noetus 1Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 200–230 · Noetus of Smyrna taught that Christ was the Father himself; examined twice by the presbyters, he was expelled and founded a school.
Apostolic Tradition 2 (Latin)Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · The bishop-elect receives the laying on of hands in silent prayer for the Spirit, and one bishop begins the prayer of ordination.
Apostolic Tradition 3Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · The ordination prayer asks that the new bishop shepherd the flock and serve as high priest without reproach.
Apostolic Tradition 4Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · After the kiss of peace the new bishop offers the eucharistic prayer: thanksgiving for Christ's incarnation and passion, the words of institution, the remembrance and offering, and the prayer for the Spirit.
Apostolic Tradition 7Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · A presbyter is ordained by the bishop's hand with the presbyters also touching him, and the bishop prays for the Spirit of grace and counsel, recalling the elders chosen by Moses.
Apostolic Tradition 8Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · The deacon is ordained by the bishop alone, because he is ordained not to the priesthood but to the bishop's service; the presbyters join in laying hands only on a presbyter.
Apostolic Tradition 34Hippolytus of Rome · early third century · Deacons and subdeacons attend the bishop and tell him of the sick so that he may visit them.
Letters to Virgins 1.3.1Anonymous · 3rd century · A leader leads by deeds; a name does not save.
Letters to Virgins 1.13.4Anonymous · 3rd century · Pray for true workers in the harvest, like the apostles.
Letters to Virgins 2.6.5Anonymous · 3rd century · The leader must be an example to the flock.
On Dice-Players 1Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The writer, a bishop who claims the apostolic authority to bind and loose, explains his concern for the dice players in his flock.
On Dice-Players 2Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Bishops are the salt of the earth and the shepherds of the faithful, and they will answer to God if they neglect their flock.
On Dice-Players 3Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Christ's charge to Peter to feed his sheep, and the Spirit received at ordination, bind bishops to diligent teaching as stewards of the gospel.
On Dice-Players 4Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul and the teaching of the apostles forbid even eating with sinning brothers, so much more must such sinners be kept from the Eucharist.
Prescription against Heretics 3Tertullian · ca. 203 · The fall of prominent Christians proves nothing for heresy: even Saul, David, Solomon, and an apostle fell; persons are tested by the faith, not the faith by persons.
Prescription against Heretics 20Tertullian · ca. 203 · Christ sent the apostles, who founded churches in every city; all later churches derive from these and so are apostolic, united in peace, brotherhood, and hospitality by the one tradition.
Prescription against Heretics 21Tertullian · ca. 203 · Only the preachers Christ sent are to be received, and their teaching is proved by agreement with the churches the apostles founded; the church's communion with those churches is the proof of its truth.
Prescription against Heretics 25Tertullian · ca. 203 · Paul's charge to Timothy to guard the deposit refers to the teaching he had given openly before many witnesses, not to a secret doctrine.
Prescription against Heretics 32Tertullian · ca. 203 · Apostolic churches can show a succession of bishops going back to an apostle, as Smyrna from John and Rome from Peter; newer churches are apostolic by sharing the same doctrine, but heresies pass neither test.
Prescription against Heretics 36Tertullian · ca. 203 · Anyone may visit the apostolic churches, such as Corinth, Philippi, Ephesus, and Rome, where the apostles taught and died; Rome's faith, shared with Africa, is the one from which the heresies broke away.
Prescription against Heretics 41Tertullian · ca. 203 · Heretics live without discipline: no distinction between catechumens and believers, women who teach and baptize, and careless, shifting ordinations.
Prescription against Heretics 42Tertullian · ca. 203 · Heretics aim to overthrow believers rather than convert pagans; they respect no authority, and their unity is itself schism, since each follows his own choice.
Prescription against Heretics 43Tertullian · ca. 203 · Heretics associate with magicians and astrologers and deny that God is to be feared; but where God is feared there is order, discipline, and a united church.
Commentary on Daniel 1.17-18Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-204 · Paradise as a figure of the church, its trees, river and two trees interpreted, and Susanna's garden, closed doors and hidden elders as figures of entry into the church and the devil's renewed assault.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 5Anonymous · 203 · Saturus's own record of his vision: carried by angels to a heavenly garden and to the throne of God, the martyrs are asked by their quarreling bishop and presbyter to reconcile them.
Exhortation to Chastity 7Tertullian · ca. 208 · Since clergy must be married only once, and laypeople are also priests who may have to baptize or offer in need, laypeople too must keep to one marriage.
Against the Valentinians 4Tertullian · ca. 206–208 · Valentinus, passed over for a bishopric, broke with the church; his followers Ptolemy, Heracleon, Secundus, Mark, and others each changed his system, calling their own inventions revelation.
Against Marcion 4.5Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The apostolic churches have held Luke's gospel, with Matthew, Mark, and John, from the beginning; Marcion's version is known only in his own late churches, so it is the altered one.
Against Marcion 4.13Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Christ's preaching on the mountain, his night of prayer, the choice of twelve apostles, the renaming of Peter, and the crowds from Tyre all correspond to the Creator's prophecies and figures.
On the Veiling of Virgins 9Tertullian · ca. 208–213 · Women may not speak, teach, baptize, or offer in church, and virgins share this condition; so they have no special right to go unveiled, and Tertullian rebukes a bishop who enrolled a young virgin among the widows.
On Flight in Persecution 11Tertullian · ca. 208–213 · When deacons, presbyters, and bishops flee, the laity lose heart; Scripture condemns the shepherd who abandons his flock to the wolves, so church leaders above all must not flee in persecution.
On Flight in Persecution 13Tertullian · ca. 208–213 · The command to give to all who ask concerns alms, not extortion, and the saying about making friends by mammon does not mean paying off persecutors; Tertullian denounces whole churches and their bishops who pay regular protection money to soldiers.
On Fasting 13Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · The psychics themselves fast beyond what tradition fixes and bishops order fasts; the Paraclete's appointed fasts, like the Greek councils, rightly bind those who receive him.
On Fasting 17Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Tertullian ends by comparing the psychics to Esau selling his birthright for stew, mocking their love-feasts and double portions, and urging fasting as training for the spiritual contest and martyrdom.
On Monogamy 8Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · The Gospel opens with examples of monogamy and continence (Zechariah, John the Baptist, Mary, Simeon, Anna, Peter), and Christ's own teaching and example point the same way.
On Monogamy 11Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · Tertullian argues that Paul's permission for a widow to marry “in the Lord” (1 Cor 7:39) applies only to someone widowed before coming to faith, not to Christians who lose a spouse.
On Monogamy 12Tertullian · ca. 210–217 · Against the claim that monogamy binds only the clergy: the clergy are chosen from the laity, and if monogamy were for bishops alone, so would be all the other virtues Paul lists with it.
On Modesty 1Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Tertullian laments the decay of modesty and attacks a bishop's edict forgiving adultery and sexual immorality after penance, defending his New Prophecy view that such sins, like second marriage, exclude from the church.
On Modesty 3Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Penance for irremissible sins is not in vain: though the church gives no peace, it seeks pardon from God alone and may obtain it from him.
On Modesty 4Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Tertullian defines his terms, adultery and sexual immorality covering every union outside marriage, including secret unions not declared before the church, and excludes unnatural vices entirely.
On Modesty 7Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · The parables of the lost sheep and coin concern heathen sinners, and even if applied to Christians they fit lesser sins, not adultery, whose guilty are counted as dead and expelled.
On Modesty 13Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Tertullian argues that 2 Corinthians 2 does not pardon the incestuous man of 1 Corinthians 5, mocks the public penance of adulterers in the bishop's church, and reads “destruction of the flesh” as final exclusion.
On Modesty 18Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Old Testament and apostolic texts forbid communion with the sexually immoral without any time limit; God's mercy to the repentant applies to those before baptism, while after baptism only lighter sins can be pardoned by the bishop and graver ones by God alone.
On Modesty 21Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Forgiving grave sins belongs to God's power, not to church discipline; Christ's word to Peter was personal to him, and the church that forgives is the church of the Spirit acting through spiritual men, not the bishops.
On Modesty 22Tertullian · ca. 210–220 · Tertullian denies that confessors or martyrs can forgive adultery for others, since martyrdom washes only one's own sins, and protests that adulterers are readmitted more easily than those who denied Christ under torture.
On the Crown 9Tertullian · 211 · No patriarch, prophet, priest, apostle, or bishop, nor the temple or its furnishings, was ever crowned; Christ's crown of thorns was a Roman soldiers' insult, and Scripture never mentions crowns among Israel's festivities.
Eclogae on Exodus-Judges, column 397Origen · ca. 220-254 · Notes on Leviticus 4–10: unwilling sin; the “carcass” as one dead to God; the double gain of sacrifice; priests and bishops must be sober; the sin offering must be eaten.
Fragments on Job, column 75Origen · ca. 220-254 · The unkindled fire of Job 20 is an invisible inward punishment like fever, and the Overseer of Job 20:29 is God, whose image good bishops strive to bear.
Fragments on Proverbs, column 237Origen · ca. 220-254 · Fools' frenzy can be broken and they can return to God; electing the unworthy to the clergy is like seizing a dog by the tail; the double-minded are consumed; hidden temptations should be confessed to God.
PG 12:1201 (Ps 11 LXX)Origen · ca. 220-254 · On Ps 12:4–6 (LXX 11:5–7): the Lord arises for the poor and needy, as Paul’s sufferings and thanks show, and appoints in salvation; only the words of the Lord are pure, like silver purified seven times.
Refutation of All Heresies, Book 1, preface 6Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Only the Holy Spirit given to the church can refute heresy, and Hippolytus, as a successor of the apostles, must guard the church and teach.
Refutation of All Heresies 7.36.3Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus blames Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, whose followers John rebuked in Revelation for sexual immorality and eating idol sacrifices.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.7.2Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Cleomenes spread the teaching in Rome under Bishop Zephyrinus, whom Hippolytus calls ignorant and greedy, with Callistus as his adviser.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.7.3Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus says he repeatedly forced Zephyrinus and Callistus to confess the truth, but they soon fell back.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.11.1Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus says Callistus, hungry for the episcopate, manipulated the unlearned Bishop Zephyrinus and played both sides, telling each he agreed with them.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.11.3Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Callistus had Zephyrinus make ambiguous public statements; when Hippolytus resisted, Callistus called his party “worshippers of two gods.”
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.10Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Marcia, Commodus's Christian-leaning concubine, asked Bishop Victor for the names of the confessors in Sardinia; he left out Callistus.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.13Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Victor, displeased but merciful, sent Callistus to live at Antium on a monthly allowance.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.14Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Zephyrinus recalled Callistus, put him in charge of the cemetery, and fell under his influence.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.15Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Once bishop, Callistus expelled Sabellius to clear himself of suspicion, but Hippolytus calls him a charlatan.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.20Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus charges that Callistus founded a rival school and was lax, promising forgiveness to any sinner who joined him.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.21Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus says Callistus's rule drew people with bad consciences and excommunicates, and that he refused to depose bishops even for mortal sin.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.22Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus complains that under Callistus men married more than once were ordained, and clergy who married after ordination kept their office, justified by Rom 14:4 and the parable of the weeds.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.23Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Callistus likened the church to Noah's ark, with clean and unclean animals together, and crowds flocked to him.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.24Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus charges that Callistus allowed unmarried women of rank to take a slave or free man as a partner, regarded as a husband without legal marriage.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.25Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus says that as a result some Christian women used contraceptives and procured abortions, and he calls Callistus's teaching adultery and murder.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.26Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Under Callistus a second baptism was introduced, and his community, which admitted all to communion, took the name Callistians.
Commentary on John 1.1Origen · ca. 230–248 · Origen compares the tribes and Levites of old Israel with the inner ranks of the people of Christ.
Commentary on John 1.10Origen · ca. 230–248 · Ordinary Christians resemble the tribes; those wholly devoted to God's word are like Levites and priests.
Commentary on John 1.11Origen · ca. 230–248 · The most devoted Christians may be high priests after Aaron's order; Christ alone is priest after Melchizedek's.
Commentary on John 32.122Origen · ca. 230–248 · Only one who has become like the Teacher can wash others' feet, as a teacher placed in the church after apostles and prophets.
Commentary on John 32.131Origen · ca. 230–248 · The requirement that an enrolled widow have washed the saints' feet should not be taken only literally.
Commentary on John 32.132Origen · ca. 230–248 · Since older women are to teach, the widow's foot-washing may have a spiritual sense.
Commentary on John 32.133Origen · ca. 230–248 · Taken literally, the command would require bishops, masters, and parents to wash the feet of all, which is scarcely ever done.
Commentary on John 32.205Origen · ca. 230–248 · An apostle is an apostle only to those to whom he is sent.
Commentary on John 32.206Origen · ca. 230–248 · Paul says he is an apostle to those he was sent to.
Commentary on John 32.208Origen · ca. 230–248 · The great apostles were sent to whole peoples: Paul to the Gentiles, Peter to the Jews.
On Prayer 28.4Origen · ca. 233–234 · Widows, deacons, presbyters, and above all bishops have special debts to pay, as do husband and wife to each other; in this life no one is ever free of debt.
On Prayer 28.8Origen · ca. 233–234 · Everyone can forgive sins committed against himself; but only one who has received the Spirit, like the apostles, can forgive what God forgives and retain incurable sins.
On Prayer 28.9Origen · ca. 233–234 · As the law's priests could not offer sacrifice for adultery or murder, so the apostles and those like them, taught by the Spirit, know which sins can be forgiven and which must be retained.
On Prayer 28.10Origen · ca. 233–234 · Origen criticizes clergy who claim they can forgive idolatry, adultery, and sexual immorality by their prayers, ignoring the “sin unto death,” and contrasts Job's care even over possible sins of thought.
Homily on Luke 12Origen · ca. 233–250 · The shepherds who receive the angel’s news stand for the church’s pastors and for the angels set over nations, who could do little for their charges until Christ came.
Homily on Luke 13Origen · ca. 233–250 · The angels’ hymn shows that the guardian angels, unable to heal humanity themselves, rejoice at the coming of the true Physician; each church has a visible and an invisible bishop; the ass at the manger stands for the Gentiles who know the Lord.
Homily on Luke 17Origen · ca. 233–250 · Joseph is called Jesus’ father for the sake of the genealogy; the “fall and rising” happen in the same person; Christ is a sign spoken against by heretics; the sword in Mary’s soul is doubt at the passion; and Anna is held up as a model of widowhood, with remarriage said to exclude from the kingdom though not from salvation.
Homily on Luke 18Origen · ca. 233–250 · Christ, who had emptied himself, is “filled with wisdom” even as a child; he is found not among kinsfolk but in the temple among the teachers, and his calling the temple his Father’s refutes those who separate the Creator from the Father of Jesus.
Homily on Luke 20Origen · ca. 233–250 · Jesus’ words about being in his Father’s things refute the heretics and show that the true temple is the souls and churches that belong to the Father; his subjection to Joseph and Mary teaches obedience to parents and to the church’s clergy, and his growth in wisdom calls us to spiritual maturity.
Homily on Isaiah 6Origen · ca. 235–250 · Comparing Isaiah's readiness with Moses' refusal, Origen teaches that church office is service, explains the spiritual meaning of the foot-washing, and expounds the fat heart, heavy ears, and closed eyes of Isa 6:9–10.
On the Witch of Endor 1Origen · ca. 240 · Of the four passages read from 1 Samuel, the bishop asks Origen to preach on Saul and the woman who seemed to bring up Samuel.
Homily on 1 Samuel 1.7Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Eli, “outsider,” is the one who neglects discipline; his sons Hophni and Phinehas are read as warnings against refusing conversion and against priests whose mouths are stopped by ignorance or sin.
Homilies on Exodus 9.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The tabernacle built from the people's free gifts figures the Church: its silvered pillars are the teachers, their bases the prophets, their capital Christ, the curtains the faithful hanging on the threefold cord of faith in the Trinity, and its materials the virtues.
Homilies on Exodus 10.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The loss is paid as the soul's teacher imposes it, but one who destroys a soul in which the word is already formed pays life for life; eye for eye and tooth for tooth are read spiritually.
Homilies on Exodus 11.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Moses' acceptance of Jethro's advice to appoint leaders teaches church leaders humility and foreshadows the Gentiles bringing the spiritual sense to the law, which by its letter brings nothing to perfection.
Homilies on Exodus 13.7Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The princes' gifts, the breastpiece joined to the shoulder piece, oil, and incense, show that those who preside must join teaching to deeds and shine for all, and every believer must work wisely what he has received to build a tabernacle for God.
Homilies on Ezekiel 2.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Scripture addresses every kind of sinner; its words on false prophets apply to teachers in the Church whose word or life does not match what they preach.
Homilies on Ezekiel 3.7Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · The elders of Israel who came to Ezekiel figure presbyters absorbed in worldly cares, who prepare their own punishment.
Homilies on Ezekiel 5.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Sinners in the Church are punished according to their rank, clergy most of all; and like a vine branch, a believer who bears no fruit is worse than any other wood and is cut off for the fire.
Homilies on Ezekiel 9.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · Sodom’s chief sin was pride, the devil’s own sin and the greatest of all, a danger also for clergy; and to be “justified” only by comparison with worse sinners is no praise.
Homilies on Ezekiel 10.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · After sin, the second remedy is shame and the humble acceptance of disgrace, as with a deposed cleric who submits instead of causing schism; God restores those who accept his judgment.
Homilies on Ezekiel 12.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Jerome's translation in the 380s) · The true Nebuchadnezzar, the devil, seeks first to capture the Church’s leaders; sin gives him entry, and his captives are led into the “Babylon” of a confused soul.
Homilies on Joshua 4.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Jesus is exalted first at the Jordan, as he is for each believer at baptism; the waters that turned salt and those that stayed sweet signify the baptized who fall and those who persevere, and the priests must give light to the people.
Homilies on Joshua 4.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The priests carry the ark close at hand while the people keep their distance; nearness to God is blessed but is a fire that tests what each has built.
Homilies on Joshua 7.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Achan’s sin, which brought wrath on all Israel, warns church leaders that sparing an unrepentant sinner endangers the whole church; after repeated warnings he must be cut off, even if he is a presbyter.
Homilies on Joshua 9.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The true priests and Levites who carry the ark of the law are not merely those who hold priestly rank but those who live as priests and fulfill the law in deed.
Homilies on Joshua 16.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Scripture calls someone a presbyter or elder “advanced in days” not for age but for maturity and holiness, so the words to Joshua bear witness to his progress toward the eternal days of the Sun of righteousness.
Homilies on Joshua 16.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Christ, the firstborn of all creation, is the true presbyter, the prince of high priests, shepherds, presbyters, and bishops.
Homilies on Joshua 17.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The Levites, whose inheritance is the Lord, figure the few who devote themselves to wisdom and teach the simpler believers; only Jesus, not Moses, gives them dwellings, as only he calls disciples to renounce everything.
Homilies on Joshua 17.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Those whose inheritance is the Lord receive wisdom, righteousness, and all goods, and they live among the laity so that each may share with the other: the laity supporting the priests so that the priests may devote themselves to Scripture and give the people light.
Homilies on Joshua 21.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The Jebusites who remained in Jerusalem are the sinners who remain in the church, which cannot be wholly purified on earth; those whose sins are manifest are to be expelled, but no one whose sin is hidden, lest the wheat be uprooted with the tares.
Homilies on Joshua 23.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · From the lots cast for Jonah, Solomon’s proverb, the choice of Matthias, and Paul’s language of being called “by lot,” Origen concludes that a lot cast in faith and with prayer reveals God’s hidden will.
Homilies on Joshua 25.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The cities of the Levites were also assigned by lot, in an order of honor beginning with the priestly line of Aaron among the sons of Kohath, matching the order of the camp around the ark in Numbers.
Homilies on Judges 2.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · God hands sinners over to the devil both through the church's excommunication and by withdrawing from a soul enslaved to vice, leaving it empty for evil spirits.
Homilies on Judges 3.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Pride can infect even the clergy; God punishes in measure, and those who repent and cry to him of their own accord are delivered.
Homilies on Judges 3.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Othniel, filled with the Spirit, figures the angels sent to help the saved and is a model for the church's judges, who judge souls.
Homilies on Judges 4.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Ehud ("praise") killing Eglon king of Moab figures the church's teacher destroying with the sword of the word the doctrine that pleasure is the highest good.
Homilies on Judges 4.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Shamgar ("a stranger there") fighting with a plough figures the church's judge who sometimes cultivates souls gently, and the believer who keeps his hand on the plough of the cross.
Homilies on Judges 4.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · A good leader dies for the people's sins, and God gives the church rulers according to its merits; sinners are handed over to Jabin, the reprobate mind.
Homilies on Leviticus 2.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Even the high priest can sin, and God appointed priests who share human weakness; Christ, offered as a gift in heaven and for sin on earth, suffered 'outside the camp' of the heavenly angels.
Homilies on Leviticus 3.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The sin in holy things admits no cheaper substitute; literally it concerns those who misuse offerings given to the church for the saints, the clergy, and the poor, who must restore them with interest.
Homilies on Leviticus 4.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The ever-burning altar fire and the priest's linen and change of robes signify faith, chastity, and the teacher's practice, like Paul's and Christ's, of speaking one way to the perfect and another to the crowds.
Homilies on Leviticus 4.10Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The high priest's daily offering, half morning and half evening, is the law in its letter and its spirit, the latter given at the Saviour's coming; the law is 'eternal' only spiritually, and Christ's own word, like a whole burnt offering, is not to be revised.
Homilies on Leviticus 5.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The sin offering slain where the burnt offering is shows God's mercy; Christ is both the holy victim and the priest who 'eats', that is consumes like fire, the people's sins, and the church's priests must imitate him; some mysteries are reserved for God alone.
Homilies on Leviticus 5.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · An 'offence' is lighter than a 'sin'; the fat offered signifies the grossness within that must be burned away, and the priest's portion is in the sinners he brings to repentance.
Homilies on Leviticus 5.7Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The peace offering of praise is offered by one whose life causes God to be praised; its flesh, the solid food of perfect teaching, belongs to priests, and the leavened bread signifies secular learning admitted only to serve the word of God.
Homilies on Leviticus 5.8Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The peace offering must be eaten the same day because the priest's 'flesh', the word of God taught in church, must always be fresh and spiritual, not stale and literal; the old will be a blessing only in the age to come.
Homilies on Leviticus 5.12Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Only the healed may offer the peace offering, by the 'hands' of good works; the priest's portion, the breast and right shoulder, signifies the converted heart and right-handed works of sinners brought back by the priest's labour.
Homilies on Leviticus 6.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Moses, that is, the law, first washes and then clothes the priest; so those seeking baptism must first be purified by the law, and the priestly garments of incorruption replace Adam's tunics of skin.
Homilies on Leviticus 6.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The people's presence at the high priest's consecration shows that the most worthy must be chosen openly; his two tunics signify knowing the law in letter and spirit, while the apostles keep only the inner, spiritual one; the ephod signifies works.
Homilies on Leviticus 6.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The double girdle binds the priest in word and deed; the rational with 'manifestation and truth' signifies wisdom that can be explained to the people and never departs from truth; works must precede wisdom.
Homilies on Leviticus 6.5Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The mitre and golden plate bearing God's name signify that the knowledge of God crowns all knowledge; whoever is washed, anointed, kept in baptismal grace, chaste, and adorned with works and wisdom is a high priest before God.
Homilies on Leviticus 6.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The lesser priests' simpler garments show that the name of priest does not guarantee the merit of the high priesthood; the omitted linen breeches signify teachers' restraint before unworthy hearers, and the high priest's work is to learn from God, teach, and pray.
Homilies on Leviticus 7.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The law forbidding priests wine at the altar teaches sobriety, which the Gospel confirms; mystically, Christ the high priest drank wine with his disciples before his passion, but at the altar of the cross vowed not to drink until he drinks it new in the kingdom.
Homilies on Leviticus 9.9Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The outer and inner sanctuaries signify the church on earth and heaven; believers, as priests, must offer the burnt offering of their lives so that Christ may find living coals in them to carry to the Father.
Homilies on Leviticus 12.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The soul 'cast out' is one guilty of mortal sin, whether or not the bishop excludes it; the 'defiled' soul has sinned in thought or lesser ways; Christ joins to himself only a pure soul.
Homilies on Numbers 2.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The command that each Israelite march in his own order teaches that clergy, ascetics, and all Christians must live in a way that fits the order they profess.
Homilies on Numbers 4.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Priests of the church must guard the deeper mysteries and hand them on to the less skilled only veiled, as the Kohathites carried the holy objects covered.
Homilies on Numbers 6.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Moses going out to speak to the people is a pattern for teachers, who speak deeper mysteries among the mature and plain moral teaching to the crowds, as Paul did.
Homilies on Numbers 9.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The censers of Korah's rebels, hammered into plates for the altar, teach that scriptural truths found in heretics' words are not to be discarded, and that heresy, set beside the church's faith, makes the truth shine more clearly.
Homilies on Numbers 10.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The priests “bear the sins of the holy ones” because those called holy still sin, as Paul's letters to the Corinthians show, and only those who pursue holiness seek healing for their sins through the high priest.
Homilies on Numbers 10.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Priests must keep both the outward commands and the hidden mysteries within the veil, and in each person the inner sanctuary is the heart, where prayer, the knowledge of the Trinity, and God's law written on the mind are to be guarded.
Homilies on Numbers 11.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The firstfruits law still binds Christians literally: they should give firstfruits to the clergy, since Christ requires righteousness exceeding that of the Pharisees, who tithed even herbs.
Homilies on Numbers 20.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The exposure of the princes for the people’s sin shows that leaders and teachers must answer for those in their care, and, at a deeper level, that the guardian angels too will be examined at the judgment for the sins of those entrusted to them.
Homilies on Numbers 22.4Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Moses, not daring to choose his own successor, teaches church leaders never to hand on office by kinship or popular favour but to leave the choice to God; spiritually, Moses’ death is the end of the letter of the law, and Jesus leads the second people into the inheritance and gives the soul rest from inner warfare.
Homilies on Numbers 27.11Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Elim, with its twelve springs and seventy-two palms (the twelve and the seventy-two apostles), is the refreshment God gives after trials; Sin, “bush” and “temptation,” teaches the discernment of visions, a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Homilies on Jeremiah 11.3Origen · ca. 240 · Belonging to the clergy (“the lot”) saves no one: many presbyters will perish and many lay people be saved; the higher one's office, the more is required, as Christ's parable of the steward shows.
Homilies on Jeremiah 12.3Origen · ca. 240 · God spares no sinner, not even priests; presbyters and deacons who sin will be punished, and sinners are scattered from one another as a discipline, while the blessed are gathered together.
Homilies on Jeremiah 14.14Origen · ca. 240 · To pray for a share with the prophets and apostles is to ask to suffer as they did for rebuking sin; Origen alludes to a recent case of church discipline and warns his hearers not to listen to the slanders of the excommunicated.
Instructions 2.25Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · The peace after persecution is a hidden war, and leaders who led the people into schism have become soldiers of another than Christ.
Instructions 2.26Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · Readers should set an example of humble, peaceable living, as flowers and lamps among the people.
Instructions 2.27Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · Deacons should serve the mysteries chastely, set an example, and obey the bishops.
Instructions 2.28Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · Pastors should be patient, firm, and consistent, for a worldly pastor ruins the people and a devoted one sustains the whole church.
Instructions 2.29Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · Commodian rebukes the elders of the church for being corrupted by the deceitful peace, taking payment for intercession and embezzling.
Instructions 2.34Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · The clergy should give food and wine to the poor at Easter, as an example to the people.
On the Good of Modesty 1Novatian · mid-3rd cent. (disputed) · The writer, absent from his people, explains that he writes to them as part of his duty as bishop to teach and strengthen them.
Commentary on the Song of Songs 2.120Origen · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · Solomon's house, food, servants' seats, ministers, clothing, cupbearers and offerings figure the incarnation, Christ's will, bishops and presbyters, deacons, baptism, teachers and prayers.
Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.177Origen · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · The cedar beams and timbers of the house are the bishops and presbyters of the Church; Christ is the flower of the field (Israel) and the lily of the valleys (the Gentiles).
Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.189Origen · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · Love is ordered toward spouses, relatives, and those who serve the Church; even God, who loves all he made, loves each according to merit.
On the Singleness of Clerics 1Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author, a bishop absent from his clergy, writes because some clerics have disgraced themselves by living with women, and warns the negligent with Prov 1:24–31.
On the Singleness of Clerics 2Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author urges his clergy to learn from others' falls and not to trust that chastity can survive when men and women live together, any more than one can carry fire without being burned.
On the Singleness of Clerics 3Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · In the battle against the allurements of women, prudent fear and flight, not confident faith, bring victory; the clergy must separate themselves from women.
On the Singleness of Clerics 4Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Living with a woman exposes a cleric to constant temptation, since death entered through a woman; many bishops, clergy, and confessors have been shipwrecked this way.
On the Singleness of Clerics 6Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · A cleric's living with a woman bound to him by no marriage is more dangerous than marriage itself, which Paul says divides the mind; such companionship breeds only conflict and temptation.
On the Singleness of Clerics 7Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · A cleric who refuses marriage but lives with a woman shows hidden desire, like one who abstains from wine but keeps it about him; even if chaste, he brings scandal and blasphemy on the faith.
On the Singleness of Clerics 8Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Clergy must avoid giving scandal to unbelievers and the weak; like the aged Eleazar, who refused even to pretend to break the Law lest the young be misled, they must set a blameless example.
On the Singleness of Clerics 9Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · No cleric should seek the challenge of living with a woman to prove his chastity; his own flesh is enough to fight, and Scripture commends bearing the yoke alone.
On the Singleness of Clerics 10Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul's “bear one another's burdens” does not license cohabitation; Christ himself left celibacy to those to whom it is given, and the daily intimacies of a shared household inflame desire.
On the Singleness of Clerics 11Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Even a steadfast cleric endangers the women who live with him and gives occasion of sin to others; Paul's rule of not offending the weak and Christ's woe on those who cause offense forbid it.
On the Singleness of Clerics 12Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul's saying that each will bear his own load means that a cleric who takes a woman into his house becomes accountable for her, like one who keeps another's goods carelessly.
On the Singleness of Clerics 13Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The objection that men and women should not then even worship together is heretical sophistry; women have their proper places with family and in church, but not in a cleric's house.
On the Singleness of Clerics 15Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · If temptation can arise even in church, where God's command gathers and protects us, how much more in a private household, which God's command forbids.
On the Singleness of Clerics 16Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Only what God commands is just; God commands men and women to worship together but forbids clergy and consecrated virgins to share a dwelling, which kindles sin even where nothing shameful occurs.
On the Singleness of Clerics 17Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Pastoral visits to women are commanded but must be conducted with severity and propriety; holiness requires that one's acts match one's vows completely.
On the Singleness of Clerics 18Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Keeping a woman in one's house to master temptation is like locking a thief in with treasure; every opening must be closed to the devil.
On the Singleness of Clerics 19Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The devil lures clergy into cohabitation with women through apparent usefulness and calm, nursing their friendship until he can destroy both at once in an unlawful love.
On the Singleness of Clerics 20Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author's opponents cite Elijah and the widow, the apostles' women companions, John and Mary, and the women who served Jesus; he calls this the sophistry of those who seek excuses for sin.
On the Singleness of Clerics 21Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Clerics who cite the apostles to justify keeping women do not imitate their poverty, fasting, and sufferings, and presume to be their equals, against Christ's humility.
On the Singleness of Clerics 22Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul, though he labored more than all, refused to take a woman companion lest he fall into temptation; clerics must not overrate their strength, since each has his own gift.
On the Singleness of Clerics 24Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Having refuted his opponents, the author turns to instruct them gently, as Paul commands, in hope of their repentance.
On the Singleness of Clerics 25Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Christ and the apostles accepted women's service only briefly and for teaching, to forestall heretics who condemn marriage, not to license cohabitation.
On the Singleness of Clerics 27Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The saints' dealings with women were chaste and give no refuge to those who abuse their example; Paul commands the church to avoid such men.
On the Singleness of Clerics 28Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Even angels fell through women; clerics who cannot bear separation from women are ruled by the insatiable lust of the eyes, which Scripture condemns.
On the Singleness of Clerics 29Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Clerics who justify cohabitation as spiritual love counterfeit true love, which harms no one and obeys God's commands, while theirs defames the church's virgins.
On the Singleness of Clerics 30Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Families and even spouses separate for travel and duty, yet clergy refuse to part from unrelated women, falling short even of pagan custom.
On the Singleness of Clerics 31Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Married Christians who vow continence often live apart, yet celibate clergy (“eunuchs”) cannot bear to sleep without a woman's company.
On the Singleness of Clerics 32Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Married couples separate for continence out of love, while clerics claim “love” to keep unrelated women; Israel in Ezra put away unlawful wives, but these clerics would sooner deny their parents than leave their women.
On the Singleness of Clerics 33Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Those who castrate themselves, Jews who circumcise, and the self-mutilating priests of Cybele all shame clerics who will not even part from a woman; their hidden sins will be exposed.
On the Singleness of Clerics 34Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · That some cohabiting clerics died as martyrs proves nothing, since martyrdom, a baptism in blood, pardons even grave sins; their conduct still dishonored the church, Christ's spotless bride.
On the Singleness of Clerics 35Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · To count on martyrdom to cancel present sin is to say “let us do evil that good may come”; no one knows the future, and the example of earlier clergy cannot override God's commands.
On the Singleness of Clerics 36Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Paul's “Who are you to judge another's servant?” concerns matters left to free choice, like eating, not open breaches of church law, for which he commands withdrawal from disorderly brothers.
On the Singleness of Clerics 37Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · The author commands his clergy, with authority, to reject such sophistries, to avoid every occasion of impurity, and to prefer the labor of living alone to disgrace.
On the Singleness of Clerics 38Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Ministers of the altar must be as pure as the sacraments they serve; living alone, not in pairs, witnesses to their gravity, while cohabitation breeds countless evils.
On the Singleness of Clerics 40Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Solitary chastity makes clerics spiritual eunuchs and anticipates the angelic life of the resurrection, in which there is no marriage.
On the Singleness of Clerics 41Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Only living alone keeps a cleric's reputation unclouded, as Paul requires of overseers; the clergy should embrace it before desire takes hold.
On the Singleness of Clerics 44Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · Higher office brings greater temptation; clergy may live only with close female relatives, and then without maidservants or visitors, and must take no unrelated woman into their household, however old or plain.
On the Singleness of Clerics 45Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · When traveling and lodging where women are present, a cleric must keep apart and see them only briefly and when necessary, so that the clergy remain spotless.
To Vigilius, on Jewish Unbelief 9Anonymous · 3rd century (disputed) · The author hopes to see Vigilius a martyr and recalls how he was unexpectedly chosen bishop on returning from overseas.
Against Celsus 3.30Origen · ca. 248 · Origen compares the churches of Athens, Corinth, and Alexandria, and their councils and leaders, with the civic assemblies and magistrates of those cities, finding the church's members, even the weaker ones, morally superior.
Against Celsus 3.48Origen · ca. 248 · “Not many wise” does not mean none; Paul requires a bishop to be able to teach and refute opponents, so the church welcomes the educated as well as the ignorant.
Against Celsus 3.51Origen · ca. 248 · Unlike philosophers who preach to anyone, Christians examine and instruct inquirers before admitting them, expel the immoral, readmit the penitent only after a long probation, and bar the lapsed from church office.
Against Celsus 6.40Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus's claim to have seen Christian presbyters with magic books is a slander like the old tales of Christian cannibalism, easily disproved by anyone who has lived among Christians.
Against Celsus 8.75Origen · ca. 248 · Instead of holding civic office, Christians serve in the church, the other country founded by God's Word in every city, whose rulers are chosen for ability and good life and serve under compulsion from Christ, caring for those within and without.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 9Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Origen distinguishes Christ's disciples from the crowds, explains the “seat of Moses” and its counterpart in the Church, warns church leaders who demand titles or impose unbearable burdens, and reads the law's commands about Passover, phylacteries, and fringes spiritually.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 12Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Ambition for honour and titles is found in the Church too, among deacons, presbyters, and bishops; the true disciple seeks spiritual first places, calls no one on earth teacher or father, and follows Christ's humility.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 14Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · The scribes and Pharisees shut the kingdom by opposing Christ and his followers, and bad Christian teachers and clergy do the same by their example, greed, and unjust excommunications.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 24Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Hypocrites are like whitewashed tombs: feigned righteousness and chastity are dead, and pretence is found even among those who claim martyrdom or church office.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 49Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Figuratively, the darkened sun is the devil, the moon the church of heretics, and the falling stars false teachers and fallen Christians; the mourning tribes of Zechariah are grades of sinners among laity, teachers, and clergy.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 60Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · The watches of the night are the stages of life at which people begin to watch for the Lord; the faithful and wise servant is the bishop or steward who serves rather than lords it, feeds his fellow servants rightly, and administers church funds for the poor with honesty and discernment.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 62Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Faithful stewards will share Christ's rule over all his possessions, each over a part, while bad stewards who abuse fellow servants under pretext of church service will be “cut in two,” their spirit returning to God and soul and body punished.
Commentary on Matthew 11.15Origen · ca. 246–248 · Evil thoughts in the heart are the spring of all sin and can corrupt even good acts such as almsgiving, chastity, teaching, and seeking the office of bishop; eating with an unwashed heart, not unwashed hands, defiles.
Commentary on Matthew 12.11Origen · ca. 246–248 · Origen argues that the promises to Peter—the rock, the keys, binding and loosing—belong to every disciple who confesses Christ as Peter did, and that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against the rock or the Church, which are one.
Commentary on Matthew 12.14Origen · ca. 246–248 · The keys of the kingdom, one for each virtue, are given to whoever is not overcome by the gates of Hades; bishops who claim Peter’s power to bind and loose judge soundly only if they have Peter’s works and are not themselves bound by sin.
Commentary on Matthew 13.31Origen · ca. 246–248 · Origen applies “whatever you bind on earth” to those who admonish a sinner three times, and argues that Peter's power of the keys extends to all the heavens while theirs extends to one.
Commentary on Matthew 14.22Origen · ca. 246–248 · Origen asks why Paul excludes twice-married men from church office, even when they may be more chaste than the once-married, and suggests that the rule is symbolic of the soul that has not been divorced from Christ.
Commentary on Matthew 15.15Origen · ca. 246–248 · Selling everything is possible: the Cynic Crates did it for philosophy, and the first believers in Acts did it; Ananias and Sapphira died under the force of Peter’s rebuke, and bishops should encourage such renunciation.
Commentary on Matthew 15.25Origen · ca. 246–248 · Those who leave family and property for Christ’s name receive many times as much: brothers and sisters in faith, bishops and presbyters as parents, and, in the higher sense, heavenly kin and the dwellings of God’s city.
Commentary on Matthew 16.8Origen · ca. 246–248 · Jesus forbids church leaders to lord it over others as Gentile rulers do, a fault Origen sees among bishops of his day; Christ came to serve and gave his soul as a ransom to the evil one, who could not hold it, his divinity not being the ransom.
Commentary on Matthew 16.21Origen · ca. 246–248 · The church is now the living temple, but some in it, perhaps even its leaders, make it a den of robbers through greed and luxury; Christ weeps over it and will come to scourge and cleanse it.
Commentary on Matthew 16.22Origen · ca. 246–248 · The three kinds driven from the temple are worldly church members, deacons who enrich themselves from funds for the poor, and bishops and presbyters who appoint unworthy rulers over the flock; Christ will judge them at his second coming.
Commentary on Matthew 16.25Origen · ca. 246–248 · The indignant chief priests stand for bishops whose lives dishonour their office and who despise and accuse simple, fervent believers; Christ defends the children, from whose mouths God perfects praise.
Commentary on Romans 1.2Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · 'Called' is common to all believers, but not all the called are chosen: Judas, the disobedient prophet, and unworthy martyrs, virgins, shepherds and fasters.
Commentary on Romans 1.7Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Grace is for enduring labours and apostleship for the authority of preaching; Christ, the Apostle sent by the Father, shares both with his disciples, through whom the Gentiles came to faith.
Commentary on Romans 2.2Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Paul's warning is aimed at the church's own leaders who judge others, for judgment begins with God's house, and no one should even wish to escape a judgment that is really a cure.
Commentary on Romans 2.11Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Origen notes that Paul, like the prophets, shifts the speaking and addressed persons; he applies Rom 2:17–24 first to the one who is a Jew only in name, then to church leaders whose lives contradict their teaching, and finally to heretics who steal the meaning of Scripture.
Commentary on Romans 8.10Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Paul makes his ministry illustrious by ministering well, as deacons, presbyters, bishops, widows, virgins and all believers must; if Israel's casting away reconciled the world, its reception at the end will mean the resurrection of the dead and the world's incorruption.
Commentary on Romans 9.3Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Gifts such as prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, presiding and mercy are given by grace according to the measure of faith, which is partly our work; prophecy in Paul's sense is edifying speech that we can strive for, and each gift must be exercised without exceeding its measure.
Commentary on Romans 10.11Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Paul wrote 'in part' of the mysteries, knowing far more than he wrote; preaching the gospel is a priestly sacrifice (Greek hierourgōn), and the preacher must first offer himself without blemish so that the Gentiles, his offering, are made acceptable through the Holy Spirit.
Commentary on Romans 10.12Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · True boasting is in Christ; Paul speaks only of what Christ did through him in word and in signs and wonders across the nations, building on no one else's foundation, an example for church leaders not to teach virtues they lack; his visit to Rome 'in passing' is framed to draw out the Romans' love.
Commentary on Romans 10.17Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Phoebe shows that women are appointed to the ministry of the church, and that those chosen should be women who, like Lot and Abraham in hospitality, have served many; those who serve the church should be honored and helped in return.
Commentary on Romans 10.20Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Mary's labor shows that women too should labor for the churches, as in the duties set out in the Pastoral Letters.
Commentary on Romans 10.35Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Those who sow dissension serve their belly, flattering for gain; the Romans' indiscriminate obedience, though a good disposition, must learn discernment, which comes only from training in Scripture, to obey God rather than men and to tell sheep from wolves.
To Quirinus 1.14Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · God promised to remove the old shepherds of Israel and give new shepherds after his own heart.
To Quirinus 3.76Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Accusations against an elder should not be lightly received.
To Quirinus 3.85Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 248–250 (book 3 perhaps later) · Believers should stand to honor a bishop or presbyter.
Letter 1.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells the church at Furni that a council forbade naming clergy as guardians in wills, since clergy, like the Levites who lived on tithes, must be free to serve the altar.
Letter 1.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Because Victor broke this rule, no offering or prayer is to be made for him in the church at Furni, as a warning to others.
Letter 3.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells Bishop Rogatianus that he could have punished his insolent deacon himself, and recalls how God avenged Aaron against Korah and Samuel against the people.
Letter 3.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Scripture teaches honour for priests: Solomon commands it, Paul apologized to the high priest, and Christ himself respected the high priests even when they were wicked.
Letter 3.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Deacons, appointed by the apostles, must respect bishops, whom the Lord chose; the insolent deacon must do penance or be deposed or excluded, though patience is preferred.
Letter 4.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · A midwife's examination proves nothing; the very sharing of beds is shameful, and Christ, the virgins' Bridegroom, is angered; clergy above all must set an example.
Letter 4.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The offending clergy are rightly excluded; virgins found intact may return, those found corrupted must do full penance, and the obstinate are cast out, since there is no salvation outside the church.
Letter 5.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · From hiding, Cyprian asks his clergy to act in his place and to see that imprisoned confessors and the faithful poor lack nothing.
Letter 5.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Visits to the confessors in prison should be discreet, and the presbyters who celebrate the Eucharist there should take turns with one deacon each, to avoid provoking the authorities.
Letter 8.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman clergy, writing to the clergy of Carthage, note Cyprian's withdrawal and remind them that shepherds must not act like hirelings who abandon the flock.
Letter 9.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian thanks the Roman clergy for news of Bishop Fabian's glorious martyrdom and returns to them an unsigned letter (Letter 8) whose authenticity he doubts.
Letter 14.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian grieves that some clergy have fallen, and explains that on Tertullus's advice he remains in hiding for the safety of all.
Letter 14.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian charges his clergy to care for the faithful poor and needy confessors, and to teach the confessors humility after the example of Christ and Paul.
Letter 14.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian will not answer the letter of four presbyters by himself, since from the start of his episcopate he resolved to act only with the counsel of his clergy and the consent of the people.
Letter 15.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian warns the martyrs that certain presbyters are admitting the lapsed to the Eucharist on the martyrs' recommendation without penance, confession, or the laying on of hands.
Letter 15.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The lapsed are understandably eager, but pastors must not harm them by granting premature peace; the church must first have peace before their cases are decided.
Letter 15.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The martyrs should weigh carefully each request for their recommendation, since they will judge with Christ, and should resist those who abuse their favour for gain.
Letter 15.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian asks the martyrs to name each person in their certificates of peace, instead of writing vague notes covering someone “with his household”.
Letter 16.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian breaks his silence to rebuke presbyters who, in contempt of their bishop, are acting on their own authority.
Letter 16.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Denying Christ is the gravest sin; presbyters who give the lapsed communion before penance, confession, and the laying on of hands deceive them and profane the Eucharist.
Letter 16.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Those presbyters, not the lapsed, bear the guilt; they set the martyrs against the bishop and ignore the martyrs' own request to wait until the persecution ends.
Letter 16.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · God warns the church through visions and through boys who prophesy in ecstasy; if the presbyters persist, Cyprian will suspend them from offering the Eucharist.
Letter 17.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells the laity that he shares their grief for the lapsed, but their cases will be examined only when peace returns, in the presence of the people.
Letter 17.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Some presbyters are giving the lapsed communion without the due order of penance, confession, and the bishop's laying on of hands, which applies even to lesser sins.
Letter 17.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The people should restrain the lapsed from rushing back and wait for Cyprian's return, when a council of bishops will examine the martyrs' requests.
Letter 18.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Because summer brings illness, the dying who hold martyrs' certificates may confess before a presbyter, or even a deacon, receive the laying on of hands, and die in peace with the church.
Letter 18.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The other lapsed must be encouraged, and dying catechumens must not be refused God's grace.
Letter 19.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian approves of his clergy's counsel of patience to the lapsed; true penance is humble obedience and good works.
Letter 19.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The dying with martyrs' certificates may be reconciled; the rest must wait for a general council after peace returns, or, if impatient, may confess Christ now and win the martyr's crown.
Letter 20.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian writes to the Roman clergy to correct false reports: he withdrew at the start of the persecution for the people's peace, as the Lord commanded, but never stopped caring for them.
Letter 20.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian lists his thirteen letters: counsel to the clergy, encouragement to confessors, rebukes, restraint of the martyrs' flood of certificates, and the curbing of presbyters who readmitted the lapsed.
Letter 20.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian explains that he allowed the dying who held martyrs' certificates to be reconciled, in agreement with the Roman clergy's letter, and deferred all other cases to a council.
Letter 23.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The confessors tell Cyprian that they have granted peace to the lapsed whose conduct since their fall he has examined, and ask him to make this known to other bishops.
Letter 24.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Bishop Caldonius asks Cyprian whether those who once sacrificed but later confessed Christ and went into exile, losing their property, may be given peace.
Letter 25.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian agrees that the lapsed who later confessed and went into exile have washed away their sin and should be given peace, and sends his other letters on the lapsed to be circulated.
Letter 26.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian will not decide alone on the confessors' general grant of peace; his earlier instructions stand until a council meets, and the lapsed must be patient.
Letter 27.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells the Roman clergy that the confessor Lucian, zealous but untaught, has been issuing certificates of peace in bulk in the names of the martyr Paulus and the illiterate Aurelius.
Letter 27.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Lucian then wrote in the name of all the confessors granting peace to all the lapsed, which makes Cyprian's case-by-case examination look like a refusal.
Letter 27.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The confessors' letter has already sparked riots against bishops; Lucian presumes to forgive sins in Paulus's name, though sins are remitted in the name of the Trinity and martyrs are made by the gospel, not the gospel by martyrs.
Letter 27.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Letters from the Roman clergy and the Roman confessors, supporting Cyprian's discipline, arrived just in time to help him.
Letter 29.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian informs his clergy that, needing messengers to Rome, he has ordained Saturus a reader and Optatus a subdeacon, both already approved by common counsel.
Letter 30.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman clergy reply to Cyprian, commending him for seeking their agreement though his conscience answers to God alone.
Letter 30.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Strict discipline, the helm of the church, is an ancient Roman tradition going back to the faith Paul praised, and falling away from such praise would be a great crime.
Letter 30.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman confessors also uphold strict discipline, as befits those who suffered for the gospel and would lose their honour by betraying it.
Letter 30.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman clergy thank Cyprian for encouraging their imprisoned confessors, and agree that, with Rome still lacking a bishop, the lapsed should be dealt with only after peace, by a broad council.
Letter 30.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · God is both merciful and just; until Rome has a bishop, the lapsed must wait, except the truly penitent who are dying, who may be helped with caution.
Letter 31.6Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The confessors praise Cyprian for caring for his flock from hiding and for rebuking premature readmissions: penance, humility, and patience, not numbers, heal the sin of the lapsed.
Letter 31.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The lapsed must cleanse their defiled hands and mouths with good works, tears, and true penance; a wound healed too quickly reopens.
Letter 32.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian sends his clergy copies of his correspondence with the Roman clergy and confessors, to be read and copied for other churches so that all may agree.
Letter 33.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The church is built on the bishops, as on Peter; the lapsed who wrote to Cyprian in the name of “the church” presume too much, since the church is the bishop, clergy, and those who stood firm.
Letter 33.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Other lapsed have written humbly, waiting for Cyprian's return; the anonymous writers must sign their names before he will answer them.
Letter 34.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian approves the excommunication of the presbyter Gaius of Dida and his deacon, who kept giving the lapsed communion despite warnings.
Letter 34.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Presbyters who flatter the lapsed hinder their repentance, like sick people who refuse bitter medicine for sweet but harmful food.
Letter 34.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Any cleric who admits the lapsed to communion before the council's decision is to be excluded from communion until the council hears his case.
Letter 34.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian will not judge alone the case of three minor clergy who fled and returned; meanwhile they should forgo their monthly allowance until a council decides.
Letter 35.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells the Roman clergy that some lapsed are claiming peace as already granted by the martyr Paulus, and sends copies of his replies.
Letter 36.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Setting the martyrs against the gospel would undo both; in fact the martyrs, by referring the lapsed to the bishop rather than admitting them themselves, kept both modesty and truth.
Letter 36.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman clergy urge Cyprian to keep healing the lapsed with patience; their demands were probably stirred up by others, and they should instead show penance and humility.
Letter 36.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman clergy had already detected the fraud of Privatus of Lambaesis, a condemned bishop whose agent Futurus had tried to obtain a letter of communion from Rome.
Letter 38.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian announces that he has ordained Aurelius, a young man who twice confessed Christ, as a reader without the usual consultation, since God had already approved him.
Letter 39.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian announces that the confessor Celerinus, after a vision overcame his reluctance, has been added to the clergy.
Letter 39.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Like Aurelius, Celerinus has been made a reader, so that the voice that confessed Christ may read the gospel to the church.
Letter 39.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Celerinus and Aurelius are readers for now, like a lamp on a lampstand, but are designated for the presbyterate and already receive a presbyter's allowance.
Letter 40.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · By divine instruction Cyprian enrols among the presbyters of Carthage the confessor Numidicus, who survived stoning and burning in which his wife and others were martyred.
Letter 41.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian learns that the deacon Felicissimus, already guilty of fraud, is splitting the church by obstructing the relief Cyprian's deputies were distributing and threatening those who accepted it.
Letter 41.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Felicissimus has formed a faction; he is excluded from communion, also on a charge of adultery, and anyone who joins him, including Augendus, cuts himself off from the church.
Letter 42.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Bishop Caldonius and his colleagues report that they have excluded Felicissimus and several of his supporters from communion.
Letter 43.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells the whole people that the old opposition to his election among certain presbyters has kept him from returning before Easter, but they have now cut themselves off from the church.
Letter 43.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · These presbyters stirred up some confessors against their bishop and now lure the lapsed away from penance with a false peace.
Letter 43.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The five presbyters behind Felicissimus are like the five commissioners who enforced the edict of sacrifice: a second persecution that abolishes penance and defies the agreed plan to settle the lapsed in council.
Letter 43.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian grieves that he cannot yet return without provoking a riot, and warns the people not to be deceived by these presbyters, who, like the elders who assailed Susanna, try to corrupt the church.
Letter 43.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · There is one God, one Christ, one church, and one chair founded on Peter; a rival altar is sacrilege, and those who offer the lapsed a false peace are blind guides.
Letter 43.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Those who stood must persevere and the lapsed must not desert their bishops; Cyprian will return after Easter to settle matters in council, and those who join Felicissimus cannot return.
Letter 44.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells Cornelius, the new bishop of Rome, that he refused communion to envoys of Novatian, who had been made a rival bishop, once reliable witnesses confirmed Cornelius's lawful ordination.
Letter 44.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian refused to let Novatian's envoys attack Cornelius in public; they are now spreading schism in Africa, but once a bishop is lawfully made, no other can be appointed.
Letter 45.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Since Novatian's party has set up a rival bishop, Cyprian, after confirming the facts, has written to recognize Cornelius and asked the other African bishops to do the same.
Letter 45.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian refused to have Novatian's party's slanders against Cornelius read aloud in church, as Scripture forbids evil speech, and read only letters of sober character.
Letter 45.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian asked for the letters of the bishops who ordained Cornelius only to silence his slanderers; bishops, as the apostles' successors, must keep the church's unity and gather the straying sheep.
Letter 45.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian sends Cornelius the African bishops' verdict on Felicissimus and the rebel presbyters, and asks him to have Cyprian's letters on the matter read at Rome.
Letter 46.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian grieves that the Roman confessors have backed the making of a second bishop and so a second church, and begs them to return to their mother the church.
Letter 46.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Separation from Christ's flock is no defense of the gospel; good soldiers stay in the camp, so the confessors should come back to the church.
Letter 47.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian sends Cornelius his short letter to the schismatic Roman confessors, to be delivered only if Cornelius approves.
Letter 48.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The African bishops had agreed to suspend recognition until their envoys reported from Rome; Hadrumetum's clergy, not knowing this, had written to Cornelius and then fell in line.
Letter 48.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Because the African province is large, the bishops waited until Cornelius's ordination was verified before all wrote to him, so that everyone would firmly hold to his communion.
Letter 48.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cornelius's election is now confirmed by the testimony of many bishops; may God guard the priests he chooses, giving firmness against the wicked and gentleness to penitent lapsed.
Letter 49.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cornelius reports with joy that the confessors misled by Novatian have come back, admitting that they signed his slanderous letters and consented to his ordination.
Letter 49.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Before presbyters, five bishops, and the people, the returning confessors acknowledge Cornelius as the one bishop and are received back; Maximus resumes his rank as presbyter.
Letter 50.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cornelius warns that Novatian has sent Nicostratus, Novatus, Evaristus and others to Africa, and describes their crimes.
Letter 51.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian thanks God that Maximus and the other confessors have returned from schism to the catholic church, keeping their glory unstained.
Letter 51.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The confessors' return brings joy on earth and in heaven, shows the one church cannot be divided, and removes the excuse of those who followed them.
Letter 52.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Evaristus has lost his see and Nicostratus his diaconate after robbing the church; one who has denied Christ's bride, the church, cannot call himself a confessor of Christ.
Letter 52.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian describes Novatus as a lifelong troublemaker who stirred schism at Carthage and then at Rome, robbed widows and orphans, neglected his dying father, and caused his wife's miscarriage by a kick.
Letter 52.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Novatus, facing trial and excommunication, used the persecution to leave the church before he could be judged.
Letter 52.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian works to win back those Novatus misled, trusting that only those God has not planted will leave the church.
Letter 53.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Roman confessors tell Cyprian that they have made peace with Bishop Cornelius and the whole clergy.
Letter 54.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian rejoices at the confessors' return as a second confession: that the church is one.
Letter 54.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Tares in the church are no reason to leave it; only the Lord may separate wheat from tares, so the bishops have judged the lapsed with measured mercy.
Letter 54.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian refers the confessors to his treatises on the lapsed and on the unity of the church, which they now fulfill in deed.
Letter 55.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Antonianus had first written that he held communion with Cornelius, not Novatian, and asked Cyprian to tell Cornelius so.
Letter 55.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Antonianus, shaken by Novatian's letter, asked what heresy Novatian had introduced and why Cornelius received Trophimus and those who had offered incense.
Letter 55.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian will explain why his early strictness toward the lapsed and his later readiness to reconcile them are consistent and carefully weighed.
Letter 55.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · During the persecution Cyprian urged the lapsed to atone by confessing Christ, and deferred any general decision on them to a council of bishops once peace came.
Letter 55.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Rome's clergy and confessors, in a letter written by Novatian himself, agreed with Cyprian to defer the lapsed until a council and to reconcile the dying.
Letter 55.6Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The African council after the persecution neither denied the lapsed all hope nor readmitted them lightly, but required prolonged penance and case-by-case examination; Cornelius's Roman council agreed.
Letter 55.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian did nothing lightly: he gave no one communion early, then yielded to necessity with the council, and stands by its decision despite slanders.
Letter 55.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cornelius rose through every church office, was made bishop against his will by God's judgment, the clergy's testimony, the people's vote, and the bishops, to the vacant chair of Peter; anyone made bishop after him is outside the church.
Letter 55.9Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cornelius took the Roman see fearlessly under the persecuting emperor Decius and deserves to be counted among the confessors.
Letter 55.10Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Inquiry has shown the rumors false: Cornelius took no certificate and received into communion only bishops found innocent.
Letter 55.11Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Trophimus, whose defection had taken many with him, was received back only as a layman, because his return brought many others back to the church.
Letter 55.12Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The charge that Cornelius freely admits those who sacrificed is an apostates' rumor and should not be believed.
Letter 55.13Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Those reconciled when near death are not to be denied peace if they recover; and those who took certificates are not to be ranked with those who sacrificed, whose cases also differ widely.
Letter 55.14Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · One who bought a certificate to avoid sacrificing, now taught that this too was sin, weeps and repents, and should not be treated like one who sacrificed.
Letter 55.15Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Rejecting the penitent would drive whole families into schism and betray the Good Shepherd and Paul's example of becoming all things to all.
Letter 55.16Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Stoic view that all sins are equal is not Christian; Scripture calls for gentleness and mercy, and the lapsed are wounded, not dead.
Letter 55.17Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The council therefore admitted those with certificates after examination and reconciled those who sacrificed at death, since penance without hope of its fruit would drive them away.
Letter 55.18Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Lord will ratify or correct the church's judgment; meanwhile Scripture calls us to bear one another's burdens, not to judge another's servant, and to trust Christ our advocate.
Letter 55.19Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Like the Good Samaritan, not the priest and Levite, bishops should rescue the wounded brother from the devil and leave the final judgment to God.
Letter 55.20Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Pardon for the lapsed no more weakens martyrdom than pardon for adulterers weakens virginity; there is a great difference between waiting for pardon and receiving the martyr's crown.
Letter 55.21Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Some earlier African bishops refused reconciliation to adulterers, yet did not break unity with those who granted it; each bishop answers to the Lord for his own practice.
Letter 55.23Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · If an earthly father welcomes a reformed son, how much more God; but those who did no penance until death threatened are not to be reconciled on their deathbed.
Letter 55.24Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Whatever Novatian teaches, he is outside the church and not a bishop: the episcopate is one, spread through many bishops in concord, and he who breaks from it has neither the power nor the honor of a bishop.
Letter 55.25Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Novatian arrogantly claims what the Lord did not grant even the apostles: to separate wheat from tares now, before the day of the Lord.
Letter 55.26Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · If Novatian judges hearts, let him also expel adulterers, whose sin, willful and against the body, is worse than that of those who took certificates; yet Paul allows even them penance.
Letter 55.28Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · To demand penance while denying its fruit is as absurd as telling a farmer to toil for no harvest or a shipowner to build a ship that will never bring profit.
Letter 55.29Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Penitents should be received into the church and left to the Lord's judgment; but schismatics who die outside the church, even for the Name, cannot be admitted to its peace.
Letter 56.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Bishops ask Cyprian whether three confessors who gave way under prolonged torture, and have done penance for three years, may now be admitted to communion.
Letter 56.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian thinks these confessors, who fell only after long torture and have done three years of penance, should be reconciled even before the dying are.
Letter 56.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian will consult his fellow bishops after Easter before giving a firm answer.
Letter 57.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The African council tells Cornelius that, with a new persecution approaching, it has decided to reconcile at once all lapsed who have persevered in penance, so that they can be armed for the struggle.
Letter 57.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Now communion must be given to the strong who will fight, not only to the dying; the Eucharist, the body and blood of Christ, arms them, and those denied the Lord's cup cannot be fit for the cup of martyrdom.
Letter 57.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Peace is given not to apostates or schismatics but to penitents ready to fight; if some deceive, God judges the heart, and it is better that none who will be martyrs be passed over.
Letter 57.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Martyrdom is a baptism in blood, but only one armed by the church's peace and the Eucharist is fit for it; and pastors who fail their sheep will answer to God, as Ezekiel warns.
Letter 57.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Warned by visions of a coming, harsher persecution, the council has decided to reconcile the lapsed after examination, and hopes Cornelius will agree.
Letter 59.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian commends Cornelius for driving from the Roman church Felicissimus, long since condemned in Africa for schism, embezzlement, and sexual crimes.
Letter 59.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · A bishop must not be cowed by threats; from Abel to Christ betrayed by Judas, God's servants have suffered from their own brothers, and such enemies harm only themselves.
Letter 59.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Threats are no reason to relax discipline; Scripture shows that the proud, who speak from the spirit of Antichrist, are brought low, and the tongue is punished for what it has spoken.
Letter 59.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Scripture shows that God guards the honor of his priests: disobedience to the priest was punished by death, Christ and Paul respected even an unworthy high priest.
Letter 59.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Heresies and schisms come from disobedience to the one bishop who judges in Christ's place; a bishop lawfully made is made by God's will, while those made outside the church are not.
Letter 59.6Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian, lawfully elected and proven for four years, proscribed by name and repeatedly demanded for the lions, is attacked by schismatics; the real attacker is the devil, who wants to remove the church's helmsman.
Letter 59.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The bishop must try to lose no one, but those who refuse penance perish by their own fault; seeking God's favor means ignoring human abuse.
Letter 59.9Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian explains why he had not hastened to report the schismatic bishop Fortunatus, one of five excommunicated presbyters: the African bishops had already sent Rome the list of lawful bishops, and his letter was overtaken by Felicissimus.
Letter 59.10Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Fortunatus was made false bishop by five condemned men led by the old heretic Privatus of Lambaesis, together with a few lapsed.
Letter 59.11Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The schismatics' claim that twenty-five bishops consecrated Fortunatus is a lie: there were only five, all excommunicated.
Letter 59.12Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Passing over their other crimes, Cyprian names the chief one: from the start of the persecution they gave communion to the lapsed and so blocked the penance that God's anger demands.
Letter 59.13Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The schismatic presbyters, by offering the lapsed a false peace without penance, block their true healing, turn them against the clergy, and despise God's anger, for which priests must answer.
Letter 59.14Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The schismatics dare to carry their case to the chair of Peter and the principal church at Rome, though it was agreed that each case be heard where the offense occurred, and the African bishops have already judged them.
Letter 59.15Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Fortunatus's following is dwindling as many return; Cyprian weighs each case carefully and must struggle to persuade his people to accept even the unworthy, some of whom have proved false.
Letter 59.16Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Felicissimus's companions avoid Carthage because of the charges against them; yet the church there is open to any who return with penance, and Cyprian is almost too lenient in receiving them.
Letter 59.17Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The church will not yield to threats; like Zechariah stoned in the temple, a priest of God can be killed but not conquered.
Letter 59.18Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · It would be absurd for those outside the church, the lapsed and guilty, to judge its bishop and force their way in by threats; bishops will not yield, but pray for their enemies' conversion.
Letter 60.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian rejoices that Cornelius led the whole Roman church in confessing the faith when persecution struck.
Letter 61.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian and his colleagues congratulate Lucius, bishop of Rome, on returning from exile, now both bishop and confessor.
Letter 61.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Like the three youths and Daniel, Lucius is no less a martyr for being spared; he now stands at God's altar as an example of the courage he preaches.
Letter 61.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The persecution at Rome showed who was the true church, bishop, and people: the devil attacks only Christ's soldiers and leaves the heretics alone.
Letter 63.13Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Water in the cup signifies the people and wine Christ's blood; their inseparable mixture shows the church's union with Christ, as many grains make one bread and one body.
Letter 63.14Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Custom cannot override Christ's example: only Christ is to be heard, and the priest truly acts in Christ's place when he offers as Christ offered.
Letter 64.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The council rebukes Bishop Therapius for reconciling the lapsed presbyter Victor too early, but lets the peace once given stand.
Letter 65.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian is grieved that Fortunatianus, bishop of Assuras, who sacrificed in the persecution, now claims his episcopate again instead of doing penance.
Letter 65.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · A bishop who sacrificed to idols cannot return to offer God's sacrifice; the law barred even blemished priests from the altar, and God does not hear sinners.
Letter 65.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Such fallen clergy seek only the church's income and feasts; the persecution was God's judgment removing them, and they must be kept from the altar.
Letter 65.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · If Fortunatianus persists, the faithful must be separated from him, since an offering cannot be sanctified where the Holy Spirit is absent.
Letter 65.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The lapsed should stay in the one catholic church and seek its mercy by penance, not follow fallen leaders who will lead them to judgment.
Letter 66.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian rebukes Puppianus, a confessor who still doubts Cyprian's worthiness to be bishop, for setting himself as judge over God's choice of priests.
Letter 66.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian will not testify for himself, as Christ would not; God's judgment has approved him, and Puppianus believes lapsed slanderers instead.
Letter 66.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · It is Puppianus, not Cyprian, who lacks humility in judging his bishop; Scripture shows God, Christ, and Paul upholding priestly honor.
Letter 66.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The persecution's edict proscribing “Cyprian, bishop of the Christians” confirmed him as bishop; Christ's words to the apostles apply to all bishops who succeed them.
Letter 66.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian ironically asks Puppianus to confirm his episcopate, since otherwise six years of baptisms, reconciliations, and deaths in the church would have been without a true bishop.
Letter 66.6Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Even bees, cattle, and robbers obey their leaders; Puppianus is worse than they in refusing a bishop appointed by God.
Letter 66.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Martyrs, exiled bishops, confessors, virgins, widows, and all the churches are in communion with Cyprian; is Puppianus alone pure enough for heaven?
Letter 66.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Only chaff has left the church; as Peter answered for the church, the church never leaves Christ: the bishop is in the church and the church in the bishop, and the one catholic church is bound together by its bishops.
Letter 66.9Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · If Puppianus repents, Cyprian will consult the Lord about receiving him; he cites a vision warning that those who disbelieve Christ in making a priest will believe him in avenging one, and leaves both letters to Christ's judgment.
Letter 67.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · An African council answers Spanish churches that bishops Basilides and Martialis, who took certificates of idolatry, cannot hold office; God's law requires priests at the altar to be holy.
Letter 67.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Human indulgence cannot override God's law: only spotless men, whose prayers God hears, may be ordained bishops.
Letter 67.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · A people that communicates with a sinful bishop shares his sin, as Korah's followers did; the people have the power to choose worthy bishops and refuse unworthy ones.
Letter 67.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · From Moses to the apostles, bishops, priests, and deacons were chosen before the whole people, so that the unworthy might be exposed and ordinations be lawful.
Letter 67.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · By the custom of neighboring bishops ordaining before the people, Sabinus was lawfully made bishop in Basilides' place; Basilides' deceiving of Stephen of Rome to win reinstatement cannot undo that ordination.
Letter 67.6Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Basilides and Martialis, who took certificates, blasphemed, joined pagan guild banquets and burials, and publicly denied Christ, may do penance but, as Cornelius and all bishops decreed, can never again hold priestly office.
Letter 67.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Failures of faith and concord among some were foretold for the last times and should not disturb the faithful.
Letter 67.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Even in the last times faithful priests remain, like Mattathias, Elijah, Daniel, and the three youths; others' faithlessness only strengthens true faith.
Letter 67.9Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Even if some bishops hold communion with Basilides and Martialis, the Spanish faithful should not: those who consent to sinners share their guilt and punishment.
Letter 68.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian tells Stephen of Rome that Marcianus, bishop of Arles, has joined Novatian and refuses reconciliation to penitent lapsed.
Letter 68.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian urges Stephen to write to the bishops of Gaul so that Marcianus, who follows the long-excommunicated Novatian, is no longer treated as in communion.
Letter 68.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Stephen should write to Arles so that Marcianus is replaced; the many bishops form one body so that, when one fails, the others may shelter his flock, like a safe harbor or the inn of the Good Samaritan.
Letter 68.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Shepherds who neglect wounded sheep stand under Ezekiel's threat; though bishops are many, they feed one flock, and Marcianus, who spurns the penitent, must be judged, not judge.
Letter 68.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Stephen, as successor of the martyrs Cornelius and Lucius, should uphold their ruling that penitent lapsed be reconciled, and tell Cyprian who replaces Marcianus.
Letter 69.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Only the church can baptize; since Cornelius was the lawful bishop of Rome, Novatian, who succeeded no one, is outside the church and no bishop.
Letter 69.5Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · One flock and one shepherd: a self-made bishop is outside God's house, and even the eucharistic bread and wine, made of many grains and grapes, signify the church's unity.
Letter 69.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Korah, Dathan, and Abiram worshiped the same God yet were destroyed for usurping the priesthood; schismatics who seize the right to baptize and offer are worse.
Letter 69.17Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian closes, leaving each bishop free to decide, since each will answer to the Lord.
Letter 71.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Custom must yield to reason: Peter, though first, accepted Paul's correction, and bishops too should embrace better counsel.
Letter 71.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian cites the earlier council under Agrippinus of Carthage, which decided the same, and sends a copy of the council's letter.
Letter 72.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The council informs Stephen of Rome that converts from heresy must be baptized, not merely receive the laying on of hands, as Peter baptized Cornelius's household after the Spirit fell.
Letter 72.2Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Clergy who went into schism or were ordained by heretics may be readmitted only as lay communicants, not keep their office.
Letter 72.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian assures Stephen that the council imposes its view on no one; each bishop answers to the Lord for his practice.
Letter 73.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The power to forgive sins was given to Peter and the apostles, so only the church's bishops can baptize and forgive; outside there is no one to bind or loose.
Letter 73.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Korah's rebellion and the strange fire of Aaron's sons show God punishing those who usurp sacred functions, as heretics usurp baptism.
Letter 73.9Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The Samaritans in Acts received only the laying on of hands because Philip had already baptized them within the church; the same is done for the church's own baptized.
Letter 73.26Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian closes, leaving each bishop free and refusing to quarrel with colleagues, and sends his treatise on patience.
Letter 74.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian sends Pompeius a copy of Stephen of Rome's reply, which forbade rebaptism and required only the laying on of hands in penance.
Letter 74.8Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian asks whether a bishop who honors blasphemers' baptism and excludes faithful bishops gives honor to God, and warns that such advocacy makes heresies flourish.
Letter 74.10Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Bishops must be teachable; when practice goes astray, return to the source, the Lord's own and the apostles' tradition, as one traces a failing aqueduct to its spring.
Letter 75.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Firmilian adds to Cyprian's arguments; the bishops of his region meet yearly in council, among other things to guide the fallen through penance.
Letter 75.6Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Rome itself differs from Jerusalem on Easter and other rites without breaking communion; Stephen alone has broken the peace, and his “tradition” is merely human.
Letter 75.7Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Heretics agree among themselves because all blaspheme the Creator; even the Montanists, who claim new prophecy, lack the Spirit, and a council at Iconium rejected heretical baptism.
Letter 75.16Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · The power to forgive sins was given to Peter and the apostles and passed to the bishops who succeed them; rival bishops are like Korah's band and share its fate.
Letter 75.17Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Firmilian charges that Stephen, who claims Peter's succession, in effect founds many churches on other rocks by recognizing heretical baptism, and so might as well share their altar.
Letter 75.22Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Even baptism by lapsed former bishops who set up their own ordinations is rejected; Stephen absurdly holds that the sinful can give forgiveness.
Letter 75.24Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Firmilian accuses Stephen of stirring up strife across the world and, by excommunicating so many, of cutting himself off, contrary to Paul's call to unity.
Letter 75.25Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Firmilian mocks Stephen's “gentleness” in refusing even hospitality to the African envoys, argues that one baptism requires one God, faith, and church, and reports that Stephen called Cyprian a false apostle.
Letter 76.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · From his own exile, Cyprian greets the bishops, clergy, and faithful condemned to the mines, praising their confession and their leadership by example.
Letter 80.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian reports Valerian's second edict ordering the execution of clergy and penalties for Christian nobles, and the martyrdom of Bishop Xystus of Rome with four deacons.
Letter 81.1Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Cyprian's last letter explains that he has withdrawn briefly so as to be tried and die in Carthage, his own church, and forbids his people to provoke arrest.
On the Dress of Virgins 1Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 249 · Discipline keeps us in Christ and leads to God's rewards; Scripture commands it, and those who correct others do so out of love, as God does.
On the Dress of Virgins 10Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 249 · A virgin should not boast of wealth; Scripture says riches pass like a shadow, and Peter, though he had no gold, was rich in Christ's grace.
Acts of Achatius (Disputation of Achatius) 5Anonymous · ca. 250–251 · Achatius refuses to name others; Decius, amused, promotes the judge and releases Achatius.
Martyrdom of Pionius and Companions 15Anonymous · 250 (the text may be later) · After Euctemon lapses, the officials drag Pionius by force toward the temple.
Martyrdom of Pionius and Companions 19Anonymous · 250 (the text may be later) · The proconsul Quintilian examines Pionius at Smyrna (12 March 250).
Letter 3Anonymous · uncertain · A spurious synodal letter rules that clergy who handed over the Scriptures in persecution (traditores) may not serve at the altar, while those who only pretended to do so are pardoned and those who surrendered them unasked are reduced to lay communion.
On Rebaptism 5Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · If only the full rite saved, bishops could never reach every dying believer; and Cornelius's household received the Spirit and forgiveness before water baptism, which then added the invocation of Jesus' name.
On Rebaptism 10Anonymous · ca. 250–258 (disputed) · Baptisms given by unworthy or unskilled bishops are not repeated; baptism given outside the church is completed by the bishop's laying on of hands for the Spirit, since there is one baptism and the invocation of Jesus' name cannot be undone.
On the Lapsed 6Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian lists the sins that provoked the persecution: greed, vanity, fraud, marriage with unbelievers, perjury, quarreling, and bishops who neglected their people for business and usury.
On the Lapsed 14Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who sacrificed willingly have no wounds to show; flattery would harm them, and like a good physician the bishop must treat them with stern remedies for their healing.
On the Lapsed 16Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Easy readmission of the lapsed before penance and reconciliation is not peace but a new persecution by the devil, which robs them of true repentance; only the Lord can show mercy.
On the Lapsed 18Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Rash forgiveness harms the lapsed; even the martyrs beneath the altar must wait for God's judgment, so their requests for the lapsed can be honored only if they agree with the Lord's law.
On the Lapsed 20Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Christ's promise to deny those who deny him must stand, or his promise to confess the faithful falls too; the martyrs, faithful to the gospel, cannot ask bishops to act against it.
On the Lapsed 22Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Some of the lapsed, unrepentant and proud, rage against the clergy for refusing them the Eucharist, though these are the very ones praying for their forgiveness.
On the Lapsed 28Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who only considered sacrificing do well to confess it to the clergy; those with certificates sinned less than those who sacrificed, but are not innocent and must still do penance.
On the Lapsed 29Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian urges the lapsed to confess their sin while still alive and to return to God with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
On the Lapsed 32Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian begs the lapsed to join the clergy's tears and prayers with full penance.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 4Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Christ built the church on Peter to show its unity; the other apostles had equal honour and power, but the church begins from one and is one.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 5Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · The bishops must uphold unity: the episcopate is one, held jointly by each, and the church is one like a sun with many rays or a spring with many streams.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 10Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · God permits heresies to test the faithful; schismatics make themselves bishops without lawful ordination.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 13Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · God accepts neither prayer nor sacrifice from those at odds with their brothers, so schismatics cannot expect Christ's presence.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 17Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Believers must shun schismatics, who set up a rival altar and profane the Lord's sacrifice.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 18Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Korah, Uzziah, and Aaron's sons were punished for usurping the priesthood, as schismatics will be.
Against Novatian 14Anonymous · after 251 (disputed) · Novatian once taught that grave sins could be blotted out by good deeds, yet now refuses healing to the lapsed, like Saul and Judas and the false shepherds rebuked by Zechariah and Ezekiel.
On Mortality 19Cyprian of Carthage · 252–253 · Cyprian tells of a dying fellow bishop who prayed for more time and was rebuked in a vision by a radiant young man: “You fear to suffer, you do not want to go out.”
On Jealousy and Envy 6Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 256 · Jealousy is the root of many sins, feeding avarice, ambition, pride, and anger, and it breaks the church's unity, producing heresies and schisms against bishops.
Canonical Epistle, canon 5Gregory Thaumaturgus · ca. 254–264 · Taking others' property as compensation for one's own losses is like the barbarians' plunder; Gregory sends the presbyter Euphrosynus to guide the inquiries and exclusions.
Opinions of the Bishops 0Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · At the council of Carthage in 256 Cyprian asks each bishop to give his opinion on baptizing heretics, insisting that no bishop may judge or coerce another.
Opinions of the Bishops 4Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Novatus of Thamugadi has baptized converts from heresy and schism, and received their clergy as laymen, following the Scriptures and an earlier council.
Opinions of the Bishops 8Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Crescens of Cirta judges that heretics must be exorcized and baptized, while lapsed members who had been baptized in the church are reconciled by the laying on of hands.
Opinions of the Bishops 17Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Fortunatus of Thuccabori holds that Christ built the church on Peter and gave the power to baptize to bishops, not heretics.
Opinions of the Bishops 23Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Januarius of Vicus Caesaris says that truth cannot consent to error, and so the church baptizes all it has not already baptized.
Opinions of the Bishops 48Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Pomponius of Dionysiana says that heretics lack the power to bind and loose, and so cannot forgive sins in baptism.
Opinions of the Bishops 79Cyprian of Carthage · 1 September 256 · Clarus of Mascula argues that the bishops succeed to the apostles' power to baptize, which heretics do not have.
Acts of Cyprian (Proconsular Acts) 1Anonymous · 258 · At his first hearing, on 30 August 257, Cyprian confesses that he is a Christian and a bishop, refuses to name his presbyters, and is sentenced to exile at Curubis.
Acts of Cyprian (Proconsular Acts) 3Anonymous · 258 · At his second hearing, on 14 September 258, Cyprian confirms his identity, admits that he leads the Christians, and refuses to sacrifice.
Life of Cyprian 3Anonymous · ca. 258–265 · Cyprian, though a recent convert, was quickly made a presbyter and urged others to imitate the deeds for which the saints, especially Job, had pleased God.
Life of Cyprian 5Anonymous · ca. 258–265 · Though a neophyte, Cyprian was chosen bishop by God's judgment and the people's acclaim, tried to decline, and later forgave those who had opposed his election.
Life of Cyprian 6Anonymous · ca. 258–265 · As bishop Cyprian was grave and joyful, moderate in dress, and as generous to the poor as he had been as a catechumen.
Life of Cyprian 8Anonymous · ca. 258–265 · The author argues that God preserved Cyprian through his withdrawal to heal the lapsed and to steer the church between the schisms.
Life of Cyprian 18Anonymous · ca. 258–265 · Cyprian was beheaded in a wooded valley before a great crowd, the first bishop of Carthage to be martyred, and the author closes torn between joy at his glory and grief at being left behind.
Acts of Fructuosus, Augurius and Eulogius 2Anonymous · 259 (21 January) · After a baptism in prison, the governor Aemilianus interrogates the bishop and his deacons, who confess one God, and sentences them to be burned alive.
Acts of Fructuosus, Augurius and Eulogius 3Anonymous · 259 (21 January) · On the way to the amphitheater Fructuosus declines a drink because he is keeping the Friday station fast, refuses help with his shoes, and says he must keep the whole catholic church in mind.
3Anonymous · 259 · The bishops Agapius and Secundinus, on their way to martyrdom, lodge with the narrator and encourage the brothers.
Passion of Marian and James 5Anonymous · 259 · Marian, a reader, is tortured by suspension from his thumbs; James confesses himself a deacon.
Passion of Marian and James 10Anonymous · 259 · The laity are executed first; the clergy grieve at the delay.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 12Anonymous · 259 · The narrator completes the account: the others are condemned; Flavian is held back.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 14Anonymous · 259 · Montanus's last exhortations against idolatry, heresy, and hasty reconciliation of the lapsed.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 20Anonymous · 259 · Flavian maintains that he is a deacon and is sentenced without torture.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 23Anonymous · 259 · Flavian's farewell, his commendation of Lucian, and his death.
Symposium 5.8Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd century · The bronze altar is the elders and widows; the golden altar within is the virgins, pure as gold, whose prayers rise like incense.
Commentary on the Apocalypse 10.2Victorinus of Pettau · late 3rd century · John is forbidden to write what the thunders said because interpreting prophecy belongs to the later rank of prophets in the church, not to the apostles.
Book 3, chapter 16Macarius Magnes · ca. 400 (disputed) · The pagan philosopher proposes that bishops be tested by drinking poison, since Mark promises that believers will not be harmed, and argues that refusing would show that they do not believe.
Book 3, chapter 17Macarius Magnes · ca. 400 (disputed) · The pagan philosopher argues that since no Christian, bishop, or presbyter can move a mountain, none has the faith Jesus required.
Book 3, chapter 19Macarius Magnes · ca. 400 (disputed) · The pagan philosopher argues that Jesus contradicted himself by calling Peter Satan and then making him the rock of the Church and key-holder of the kingdom, especially since Peter later denied him.
Book 3, chapter 22Macarius Magnes · ca. 400 (disputed) · The pagan philosopher attacks Peter's fitness to hold the keys, citing his escape that cost the guards their lives, his early death, Paul's rebuke at Antioch, and his travelling with a wife.
Book 3, chapter 27Macarius Magnes · ca. 400 (disputed) · Macarius answers that the devil, not Peter, was called Satan for prompting Peter to oppose the Passion, while Peter, by his confession of the Christ, the Son of the living God, received the keys as one who had seen the truth of Christ's divinity.
Book 3, chapter 39Macarius Magnes · ca. 400 (disputed) · Macarius answers that Paul used the images of soldier, shepherd, and farmer not from greed but to make his converts grateful and fruitful, as God asks for first-fruits not from need but to reward.
Lepr. 6Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · Each kind of leprosy is a vice; the sinner must show his sore to Christ in prayer and, if it persists, confess to the bishop, who may separate him from communion, examine him, and cast out the impenitent.
Lepr. 9Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · In the law of leprous garments the warp is the mind, the woof the soul, and the skin the body; a sin that persists after repentance and confession to the bishop is a lasting leprosy that leads to Gehenna.
Lepr. 15Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · The Lord's garment is the church: the warp is bishops and teachers, the woof the people, the skin the catechumens; purified souls become virgins united to Christ.
Lepr. 17Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · Usurious bishops and greedy laity are the leprous warp and woof of the church; Christ's teaching on wealth, enemies, and trust in the Father condemns them.
Lepr. 18Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · Christians have become gluttonous and quarrelsome; the true shepherd must first correct himself before reproving others.
Apostolic Church Order 1Anonymous · ca. 300 · The apostles, gathered at Christ's command before dividing the provinces, are told to set out the orders of the church and send these words to the whole world.
Apostolic Church Order 12Anonymous · ca. 300 · Honour and support the one who teaches you the word of God and gave you the seal, as the Lord himself.
Apostolic Church Order 16Anonymous · ca. 300 · The choice of a bishop: where a church has fewer than twelve men, three men from neighbouring churches examine the candidate, who must be of good report, temperate, the husband of one wife or unmarried, and able to interpret Scripture.
Apostolic Church Order 17Anonymous · ca. 300 · John proposes that the bishop appoint two presbyters.
Apostolic Church Order 18Anonymous · ca. 300 · Three presbyters are to be appointed, after the pattern of the twenty-four elders; they are to be older men, generous and impartial, assisting the bishop at the altar and keeping order in the congregation.
Apostolic Church Order 19Anonymous · ca. 300 · The qualifications of a reader, who does the work of an evangelist.
Apostolic Church Order 20Anonymous · ca. 300 · Three deacons are to be appointed: tested, married once, temperate, generous, and diligent in caring for and correcting the congregation.
Apostolic Church Order 21Anonymous · ca. 300 · Three widows are to be appointed: two for prayer and revelations, one to serve sick women and report their needs to the presbyters.
Apostolic Church Order 22Anonymous · ca. 300 · The deacons' work: to seek out the needy day and night without partiality, see that they are not passed over, and urge the able to give.
Apostolic Church Order 23Anonymous · ca. 300 · Laymen are to keep to their own place and submit to those who serve at the altar, each in his calling, as the angels keep to theirs.
Apostolic Church Order 24Anonymous · ca. 300 · Andrew proposes establishing a ministry for women.
Apostolic Church Order 26Anonymous · ca. 300 · John argues from the Last Supper that women did not stand with the apostles at the offering; Martha and Mary respond.
Apostolic Church Order 28Anonymous · ca. 300 · The ministry of women is limited to supporting women in need.
PreambleAnonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · The opening of the council lists the nineteen bishops and the presbyters present at Elvira and the date, the Ides of May.
Canon 18Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Clergy who commit adultery while in office are refused communion even at death.
Canon 19Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Clergy are not to travel for trade; they may trade through agents or within their own province.
Canon 20Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Clergy who lend at interest are degraded; laymen are pardoned if they stop, but expelled if they persist.
Canon 24Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · People baptized abroad, whose lives are unknown, are not to be ordained in other provinces.
Canon 27Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Clergy may live only with a sister or daughter who is a dedicated virgin, not with an unrelated woman.
Canon 28Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · A bishop must not accept an offering from someone excluded from communion.
Canon 30Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Men who committed adultery in their youth are not to be ordained subdeacons.
Canon 32Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Penance for grave sin belongs to the bishop, but in illness a presbyter, or a deacon on the bishop's order, may give communion.
Canon 33Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · The canon on clerical continence requires married clergy to abstain from their wives on pain of removal.
Canon 51Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Converts from heresy may not be ordained, and any already ordained are to be deposed.
Canon 53Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Only the bishop who excluded someone may readmit him; another bishop who does so risks his own position.
Canon 58Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Those bringing letters of communion are to be examined everywhere, especially at the chief see.
Canon 65Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · A cleric who knowingly keeps an adulterous wife is refused communion even at death.
Canon 75Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Someone who falsely accuses a cleric is refused communion even at death.
Canon 76Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · A deacon found guilty of an earlier grave sin does three or five years' penance and returns only as a layman.
Canon 77Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Those baptized by a deacon in charge of a congregation are to be completed by the bishop's blessing, but if they die first they may be saved by their faith.
Canon 80Anonymous · ca. 306 (disputed, ca. 295–314) · Freedmen whose patrons are still in the world are not to be ordained.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 2Anonymous · 4th century · A bishop is to be chosen by the whole people, who pray for him before one of the bishops lays a hand on his head.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 3Anonymous · 4th century · The prayer for a new bishop, the kiss of peace, and the opening dialogue of the eucharistic prayer, with blessings of oil and firstfruits.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 4Anonymous · 4th century · A presbyter is ordained like a bishop with the same prayer, but does not sit on the throne and may not ordain.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 5Anonymous · 4th century · The deacon serves the bishop and presbyters, reports the sick and the hidden poor, and is ordained with a prayer naming Stephen as model.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 6Anonymous · 4th century · A confessor who suffered punishment for Christ holds priestly rank by his confession without ordination, unless he is made bishop; one not tortured is to be ordained.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 7Anonymous · 4th century · Readers receive the Gospel book without laying on of hands; an unmarried subdeacon needs his neighbors' testimony to his purity and must be of mature age.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 8Anonymous · 4th century · A man who claims a gift of healing is not to be ordained until it is shown that his healings truly come from God.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 9Anonymous · 4th century · A presbyter moving to another church must bring testimony from his bishop or be examined, and is not reordained; widows are to be honored for their prayer, care of the sick, and fasting.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 21Anonymous · 4th century · Clergy and people are to gather daily at cockcrow for prayer, psalms, and Scripture reading; absent clergy are separated, and the gravely sick are visited daily.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 23Anonymous · 4th century · The bishops have ordered their churches by the apostles' commands, which later generations must not change; teaching is boundless and must be sought with effort.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 24Anonymous · 4th century · A deacon accompanies the bishop to visit the sick, who often recover through his prayer; the dying are not put out in the cemetery, and the sick who have homes pray in church and return home.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 31Anonymous · 4th century · A deacon may distribute communion with the bishop's or presbyter's permission.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 32Anonymous · 4th century · Virgins and widows fast and pray often; clergy fast freely; a deacon may act for an absent presbyter except at the great offering; alms are distributed promptly; agapes for the poor are held with the bishop's prayer and end before dark.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 34Anonymous · 4th century · At gatherings in homes there is to be no loud talk, so as to give a good example; the bishop or, in his absence, a presbyter presides and breaks the blessed bread.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 35Anonymous · 4th century · A deacon may lead the prayer and break the blessed bread at an agape when no presbyter is present; a layman may only break it; suppers for widows end before sunset.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 37Anonymous · 4th century · Clergy and readers wear clean white garments at the eucharist, though integrity matters more; readers read in turn until the people gather.
Church History 1.10.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Early in his ministry Jesus chose the Twelve, whom he called apostles, and sent out seventy others two by two.
Church History 2.1.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Matthias replaced Judas; seven deacons, including Stephen, were ordained; Stephen became the first martyr, winning the crown his name signifies.
Church History 2.1.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · James the Just, called the Lord's brother as a son of Joseph, was the first bishop of Jerusalem.
Church History 2.1.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement (quoted): Peter, James, and John did not seek honour but chose James the Just as bishop of Jerusalem.
Church History 2.1.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Philip the deacon preached in Samaria with such power that even Simon the magician was won over.
Church History 2.1.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paul, the chosen vessel, was made an apostle by a revelation from Christ, not by men.
Church History 2.12.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · This agrees with Acts, where Antioch sent famine relief to the presbyters in Judea by Barnabas and Paul.
Church History 2.17.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius claims Philo describes deacons and a presiding bishop among them.
Church History 2.23.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Foiled with Paul, the Jewish leaders turned against James, bishop of Jerusalem.
Church History 2.23.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hegesippus (quoted): James the Lord's brother, called the Just, took charge of the church with the apostles.
Church History 2.24.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In Nero's eighth year Annianus succeeded Mark as leader of the Alexandrian church.
Church History 3.2.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Linus, mentioned in 2 Timothy, was the first bishop of Rome after Peter and Paul.
Church History 3.4.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · It is hard to know which of their followers became pastors, except those named by Paul.
Church History 3.4.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Timothy is said to have been the first bishop of Ephesus, and Titus of Crete.
Church History 3.4.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Crescens went to Gaul; Linus, with Paul in Rome, was the first bishop of Rome after Peter.
Church History 3.4.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement, third bishop of Rome, is identified with Paul's co-worker.
Church History 3.4.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius of Corinth says Dionysius the Areopagite was the first bishop of Athens.
Church History 3.7.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Providence delayed the destruction forty years while apostles and James still lived in Jerusalem as its bulwark.
Church History 3.11.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · After James's death and Jerusalem's fall, the surviving apostles and the Lord's relatives chose Simeon son of Clopas, the Lord's cousin, as bishop of Jerusalem.
Church History 3.13.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Titus succeeded Vespasian; Linus of Rome was succeeded by Anencletus; Domitian followed Titus.
Church History 3.14.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Annianus of Alexandria died and was succeeded by Abilius.
Church History 3.15.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement, whom Paul names as a co-worker, succeeded Anencletus as bishop of Rome.
Church History 3.20.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hegesippus (quoted): once released, they led the churches as confessors and relatives of the Lord until Trajan's time.
Church History 3.21.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Under Trajan, Cerdo became bishop of Alexandria; Clement, third after Linus and Anencletus, still led Rome.
Church History 3.22.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At Antioch Ignatius was second bishop after Evodius; Simeon was second at Jerusalem after James.
Church History 3.23.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · John, the beloved disciple, still lived in Asia, governing its churches after returning from exile.
Church History 3.23.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement (quoted): after Patmos, John visited nearby cities to appoint bishops and order churches.
Church History 3.23.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement (quoted): the presbyter raised and baptized the youth, then relaxed his care, trusting the seal of baptism.
Church History 3.23.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement (quoted): John returned and asked the bishop to give back the deposit entrusted to him.
Church History 3.29.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The short-lived Nicolaitans, mentioned in Revelation, claimed descent from the deacon Nicolaus; Clement tells his story.
Church History 3.32.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Under Trajan local persecutions broke out, and Simeon son of Clopas, bishop of Jerusalem, was martyred.
Church History 3.32.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hegesippus (quoted): the Lord's relatives led the churches until Simeon, denounced by heretics, was tortured and crucified at 120.
Church History 3.34.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In Trajan's third year Clement of Rome died and Evarestus succeeded him.
Church History 3.35.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · After Simeon's martyrdom a Jewish Christian named Justus became bishop of Jerusalem.
Church History 3.36.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Polycarp, companion of the apostles, was bishop of Smyrna.
Church History 3.36.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Papias of Hierapolis and Ignatius of Antioch were then known.
Church History 3.36.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · From Smyrna Ignatius wrote to Ephesus, Magnesia, and Tralles, naming their bishops.
Church History 3.36.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · From Troas Ignatius wrote to Philadelphia, Smyrna, and Polycarp, entrusting Antioch's flock to him.
Church History 3.36.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Polycarp (quoted) sends the Philippians a collection of Ignatius's letters; Heros succeeded Ignatius at Antioch.
Church History 3.37.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Quadratus, a prophet, and many others of the first generation after the apostles built on their foundations and spread the gospel.
Church History 3.37.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · They founded churches, appointed pastors, and moved on, aided by miracles through which whole crowds believed.
Church History 4.1.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Around Trajan's twelfth year Primus became bishop of Alexandria and Alexander bishop of Rome.
Church History 4.4.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Xystus succeeded Alexander at Rome, and Justus succeeded Primus at Alexandria.
Church History 4.5.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · No dates survive for the early bishops of Jerusalem, who were said to be short-lived.
Church History 4.5.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Until Hadrian's siege Jerusalem had fifteen bishops, all Hebrew Christians, leading a church of Jewish believers.
Church History 4.5.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius lists the fifteen Jewish-Christian bishops of Jerusalem from James to Judas.
Church History 4.5.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · All of Jerusalem's bishops to that time were of the circumcision.
Church History 4.5.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Telesphorus succeeded Xystus at Rome, and Eumenes succeeded at Alexandria.
Church History 4.6.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Jerusalem, refounded as Aelia, had a Gentile church whose first bishop was Mark.
Church History 4.10.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Under Antoninus Pius, Telesphorus of Rome died a martyr and Hyginus succeeded; Valentinus and Cerdo were then active in Rome.
Church History 4.11.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus (quoted): Valentinus was in Rome from Hyginus to Anicetus; Cerdo repeatedly confessed, taught secretly, and was expelled.
Church History 4.11.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Pius succeeded Hyginus at Rome; at Alexandria Mark and then Celadion succeeded Eumenes.
Church History 4.11.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Anicetus succeeded Pius at Rome; Hegesippus stayed in Rome from his time until Eleutherus.
Church History 4.14.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus (quoted): Polycarp, taught by apostles and appointed by them bishop of Smyrna, was seen by Irenaeus in his youth.
Church History 4.15.39Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The Martyrdom (quoted): his blood quenched the fire; Polycarp, apostolic and prophetic teacher, bishop of Smyrna, was one of the elect.
Church History 4.19.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Soter succeeded Anicetus at Rome, and Agrippinus succeeded Celadion at Alexandria.
Church History 4.20.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Theophilus was sixth bishop of Antioch after Heros, Cornelius, and Eros.
Church History 4.22.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hegesippus (quoted): the Corinthian church held the right doctrine under Primus, with whom he stayed on his way to Rome.
Church History 4.22.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hegesippus (quoted): in Rome he compiled the succession of bishops; in every succession and city the teaching agrees with the law, prophets, and Lord.
Church History 4.22.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hegesippus (quoted): after James's martyrdom Simeon, the Lord's cousin, became bishop; the church was then called a virgin, uncorrupted.
Church History 4.23.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, wrote useful catholic letters to many churches.
Church History 4.23.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius wrote to Sparta on orthodoxy and peace, and to Athens, which had nearly fallen away after its bishop Publius was martyred.
Church History 4.23.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Quadratus restored the Athenian church after Publius; Dionysius the Areopagite was its first bishop.
Church History 4.23.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius praised Bishop Philip of Gortyna's church and warned the Cretans against heretics.
Church History 4.23.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Pinytus replied, asking Dionysius for more solid teaching rather than milk; his letter shows his orthodoxy and learning.
Church History 4.24.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Theophilus of Antioch wrote To Autolycus, works against Hermogenes and Marcion, and catechetical books, as pastors everywhere fought the heretics; Maximinus succeeded him.
Church History 4.30.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Bardesanes left the Valentinians but never fully shed their errors; Soter of Rome died at this time.
Church History, Book 5, preface 1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius dates Book 5 by the succession of Eleutherus at Rome and the renewed popular persecution under Marcus Aurelius, which produced countless martyrs.
Church History 5.1.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The persecutors' fury fell especially on Sanctus, Maturus, Attalus, and the slave Blandina.
Church History 5.1.29Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Pothinus, the more than ninety-year-old bishop of Lyons, was dragged to the tribunal despite his frailty.
Church History 5.3.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · When the Montanist prophecy in Phrygia caused dispute, the Gallic confessors sent letters on it to Asia and to Eleutherus of Rome, seeking the churches' peace.
Church History 5.4.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The martyrs recommended the presbyter Irenaeus to Eleutherus of Rome.
Church History 5.4.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The martyrs' letter to Eleutherus commends Irenaeus as zealous for Christ's covenant.
Church History 5.5.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus succeeded Pothinus as bishop of Lyons; in youth he had heard Polycarp.
Church History 5.5.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In Against Heresies Book 3, Irenaeus lists the bishops of Rome down to Eleutherus.
Church History 5.6.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus: the apostles entrusted the church of Rome to Linus, followed by Anencletus.
Church History 5.6.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Clement, third bishop of Rome, had known the apostles and their teaching.
Church History 5.6.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Under Clement the Roman church wrote to Corinth to restore peace and faith.
Church History 5.6.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus continues the Roman list to Eleutherus, the twelfth bishop after the apostles.
Church History 5.6.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Through this succession the apostolic tradition and truth have reached Irenaeus's day.
Church History 5.9.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Commodus became emperor, and Julian succeeded Agrippinus as bishop of Alexandria.
Church History 5.12.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Narcissus was bishop of Jerusalem, fifteenth after the first Gentile bishop Mark.
Church History 5.12.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius lists the bishops of Jerusalem from Mark to Narcissus, the thirtieth after the apostles.
Church History 5.15.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At Rome the deposed presbyter Florinus and Blastus led others into their own innovations.
Church History 5.16.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The local presbyters asked for a written record, which he promised to send.
Church History 5.16.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Repeated meetings of the Asian faithful condemned the new prophecy and excommunicated its followers.
Church History 5.16.16Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Bishops who tried to examine Maximilla's spirit were prevented by her supporters.
Church History 5.16.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The writer challenges Maximilla's spirit, which claimed to be “word and spirit and power,” to prove itself before the bishops her followers silenced.
Church History 5.19.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Serapion, bishop of Antioch, refers to Apolinarius's writings against the Montanists in a letter to Caricus and Pontius.
Church History 5.19.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Serapion sends Apolinarius's writings to show that the whole church abhors the “New Prophecy.”
Church History 5.19.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Bishops signed Serapion's letter; one testifies that Sotas of Anchialus tried to exorcize Priscilla's demon but was prevented.
Church History 5.19.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Many other bishops signed in agreement.
Church History 5.22.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius lists the bishops of Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, Jerusalem, Corinth, and Ephesus around 189.
Church History 5.23.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Synods decreed that Easter be celebrated and the fast ended only on a Sunday.
Church History 5.23.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Letters survive from synods in Palestine, Rome, Pontus, and Gaul.
Church History 5.23.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Osrhoene, Corinth, and many others agreed in the same decision.
Church History 5.24.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The Asian bishops, led by Polycrates of Ephesus, defended their older custom in a letter to Victor.
Church History 5.24.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Polycrates: Polycarp and Thraseas also rest at Smyrna.
Church History 5.24.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Polycrates: all these, and his seven bishop relatives, kept the fourteenth day, as he does.
Church History 5.24.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Polycrates says many bishops assembled with him and approved his letter.
Church History 5.24.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Victor of Rome tried to excommunicate all the churches of Asia.
Church History 5.24.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Other bishops sharply urged Victor to keep peace.
Church History 5.24.11Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus agreed with Sunday observance but urged Victor not to cut off churches keeping an ancient custom.
Church History 5.24.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus: earlier Roman bishops did not keep the fourteenth day, yet remained at peace with those who did.
Church History 5.24.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus: earlier Roman bishops sent the eucharist to visitors from communities who kept the fourteenth day.
Church History 5.24.16Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Polycarp and Anicetus of Rome each kept his own custom, having failed to persuade one another.
Church History 5.24.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Anicetus let Polycarp celebrate the eucharist in Rome, and they parted in peace.
Church History 5.24.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus, a peacemaker as his name implies, wrote to many church leaders about the controversy.
Church History 5.25.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The Palestinian bishops asked that their letter be circulated and noted that Alexandria kept the same day as they did.
Church History 5.28.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The Artemonites claimed their view was apostolic and held in Rome until Victor, and corrupted under Zephyrinus.
Church History 5.28.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Victor himself excommunicated Theodotus the cobbler, the first to call Christ a mere man.
Church History 5.28.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Zephyrinus succeeded Victor about 199; the anonymous author tells of an event in his time.
Church History 5.28.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · They made Natalius their bishop for a monthly salary.
Church History 5.28.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Scourged by angels in the night, Natalius repented in sackcloth and was with difficulty readmitted by Zephyrinus.
Church History 6.2.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The setting: the tenth year of Severus (202), Laetus prefect of Egypt, Demetrius bishop of Alexandria.
Church History 6.3.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · His first pupils were Plutarch, later a martyr, and Heraclas, later bishop of Alexandria.
Church History 6.3.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Put in sole charge of catechesis, Origen gave up teaching grammar.
Church History 6.8.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Demetrius at first admired Origen's zeal and encouraged him to continue teaching.
Church History 6.8.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Later, jealous of Origen's fame, Demetrius denounced the deed when bishops in Palestine ordained Origen presbyter.
Church History 6.8.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Having no other charge, Demetrius accused Origen and those who ordained him.
Church History 6.8.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Caracalla succeeded Severus; the confessor Alexander became bishop of Jerusalem while Narcissus still lived.
Church History 6.9.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At an Easter vigil when the lamp oil ran out, Narcissus had water brought to him.
Church History 6.10.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In his absence Dius, Germanion, and Gordius succeeded as bishop, until Narcissus returned and resumed office.
Church History 6.11.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · When Narcissus grew too old, God called Alexander to share his office.
Church History 6.11.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Alexander came on pilgrimage from Cappadocia, and a revelation led Jerusalem to keep him as bishop.
Church History 6.11.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Alexander writes that Narcissus, aged 116, shared his episcopate.
Church History 6.11.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Asclepiades, a confessor, succeeded Serapion at Antioch.
Church History 6.11.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · From prison Alexander rejoiced to hear of Asclepiades's appointment at Antioch.
Church History 6.11.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The letter was carried by the presbyter Clement, who had strengthened the church in Jerusalem.
Church History 6.14.11Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Back in Alexandria he resumed catechesis at Demetrius's urging.
Church History 6.19.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · He followed the example of Pantaenus and Heraclas, who had also studied philosophy.
Church History 6.19.16Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Fleeing trouble in Alexandria, Origen went to Caesarea, where the bishops had him preach though he was a layman.
Church History 6.19.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The bishops answered Demetrius's protest that laymen never preached before bishops.
Church History 6.19.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · They cited other laymen invited to preach, showing how Origen was honoured by bishops abroad.
Church History 6.19.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Demetrius recalled Origen, who returned to his work.
Church History 6.20.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Beryllus of Bostra and Hippolytus, a bishop, left writings.
Church History 6.21.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · After Caracalla and Macrinus came Elagabalus; Zephyrinus of Rome died after eighteen years.
Church History 6.21.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Callistus and then Urban were bishops of Rome; Alexander Severus became emperor; Philetus became bishop of Antioch.
Church History 6.23.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Pontianus succeeded Urban at Rome, and Zebinus succeeded Philetus at Antioch.
Church History 6.23.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · On a journey to Greece, Origen was ordained presbyter at Caesarea, which caused a dispute recorded in Eusebius's Defence of Origen.
Church History 6.26.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In 231/2 Origen moved to Caesarea; Heraclas succeeded Demetrius as bishop of Alexandria.
Church History 6.27.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Firmilian, Alexander, and Theoctistus honoured Origen as their teacher.
Church History 6.28.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Maximin persecuted church leaders; Origen wrote his Exhortation to Martyrdom for Ambrose and Protoctetus.
Church History 6.29.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At Rome Anteros succeeded Pontianus and, a month later, Fabian succeeded Anteros.
Church History 6.29.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Fabian, a visitor from the country, was chosen bishop wonderfully.
Church History 6.29.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At the election a dove settled on Fabian's head, recalling the Spirit's descent on Christ.
Church History 6.29.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The people acclaimed Fabian bishop; Babylas became bishop of Antioch, and Dionysius head of the Alexandrian school.
Church History 6.30.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Origen's pupils at Caesarea included Gregory Thaumaturgus and Athenodorus, both later bishops in Pontus.
Church History 6.33.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The records of the synod on Beryllus survive.
Church History 6.34.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Report has it that the emperor Philip, a Christian, was made to do public penance before joining the Easter vigil.
Church History 6.35.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius succeeded Heraclas as bishop of Alexandria in 247/8.
Church History 6.36.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Origen wrote to Fabian of Rome and others defending his orthodoxy.
Church History 6.39.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Decius began a persecution (250); Fabian of Rome was martyred and succeeded by Cornelius.
Church History 6.39.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Alexander died in prison and was succeeded by Mazabanes.
Church History 6.39.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Babylas of Antioch also died in prison and was succeeded by Fabius.
Church History 6.42.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The aged bishop Chaeremon fled with his wife to the Arabian mountains and was never found.
Church History 6.42.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius asks whether the church should uphold the martyrs' mercy to the lapsed or overturn it.
Church History 6.43.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Novatian, a Roman presbyter, denied the lapsed any hope and founded the sect of the “Pure.”
Church History 6.43.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · A Roman synod of sixty bishops excommunicated Novatian and ruled that the lapsed be restored through penance.
Church History 6.43.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Letters of Cornelius and of Cyprian confirm that the lapsed should be helped and Novatian excommunicated.
Church History 6.43.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cornelius: Novatian long coveted the episcopate, hiding his ambition behind the confessors' support.
Church History 6.43.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cornelius: Novatian, who swore he did not want to be bishop, suddenly appeared as one.
Church History 6.43.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Novatian lured three simple rural bishops to Rome on a false pretext.
Church History 6.43.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Novatian had the drunken bishops ordain him by force in a sham ceremony.
Church History 6.43.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · One of the bishops repented and was received as a layman; the others were replaced.
Church History 6.43.11Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cornelius: there can be only one bishop in a catholic church, and Rome's has 46 presbyters, 7 deacons, and over 1,500 widows and needy.
Church History 6.43.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cornelius asks what merit Novatian had to claim the episcopate: none of long service or suffering.
Church History 6.43.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Novatian never received the bishop's sealing, and so, Cornelius argues, not the Spirit.
Church History 6.43.16Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cornelius: in the persecution Novatian refused to help the brethren, saying he no longer wished to be a presbyter.
Church History 6.43.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Novatian was ordained presbyter only by the bishop's special favour, over objections to his clinical baptism.
Church History 6.43.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Cornelius lists the bishops who condemned Novatian at Rome.
Church History 6.43.22Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · He also names bishops who agreed by letter.
Church History 6.44.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The sick presbyter sent a portion of the eucharist, to be moistened and given to Serapion, following Dionysius's instruction to absolve the dying.
Church History 6.46.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius wrote to the Egyptians on repentance, distinguishing degrees of lapse.
Church History 6.46.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius told Cornelius he had been invited to a synod at Antioch on the Novatianist schism.
Church History 6.46.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius reports Fabius's death, Demetrianus's succession at Antioch, and Alexander's death in prison.
Church History 7.2.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Stephen became bishop of Rome; Dionysius wrote to him on whether converts from heresy should be rebaptized, against the old custom of laying on hands.
Church History 7.5.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: the churches of the East, once divided, are united under their bishops.
Church History 7.5.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Xystus II succeeded Stephen; Dionysius wrote him a second letter on baptism.
Church History 7.5.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: Stephen had threatened to break communion with the eastern bishops who rebaptized heretics.
Church History 7.5.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: great synods had decreed that converts from heresy be instructed and baptized; he pleaded with Stephen.
Church History 7.7.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Heraclas readmitted converts from heresy after public confession, without rebaptism, since they had already been baptized in the church.
Church History 7.7.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius: rebaptism was long decided in Asia Minor as well, and he will not overturn their ancestral decisions.
Church History 7.11.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius appeared before the prefect Aemilianus with presbyters and deacons.
Church History 7.11.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Hidden presbyters and deacons secretly served the church; the deacon Eusebius cared for prisoners and buried martyrs.
Church History 7.11.26Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius later became bishop of Laodicea, Maximus succeeded Dionysius, and Faustus was martyred in Eusebius's own day.
Church History 7.13.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Gallienus ended the persecution and by rescript restored the churches' places of worship and cemeteries.
Church History 7.14.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius lists the bishops of Rome, Antioch, Cappadocia, Pontus, Caesarea, and Jerusalem at this time.
Church History 7.15.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Bishop Theotecnus made Marinus choose between his sword and the Gospels; he chose the Gospels.
Church History 7.19.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The episcopal throne of James, the Lord's brother, was still preserved at Jerusalem.
Church History 7.20.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius wrote festal letters, one setting an eight-year Easter cycle placing Easter after the spring equinox.
Church History 7.22.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Presbyters, deacons, and laity died this way, a death Dionysius ranks with martyrdom.
Church History 7.24.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In Arsinoe, where the doctrine had split churches, Dionysius called a public examination.
Church History 7.27.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius succeeded Xystus at Rome; Paul of Samosata became bishop of Antioch.
Church History 7.27.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paul taught that Christ was a mere man; bishops gathered at Antioch, and the aged Dionysius sent his view by letter.
Church History 7.28.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius names the leading bishops at the synods of Antioch.
Church History 7.28.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Dionysius died in 264/5 and was succeeded by Maximus.
Church History 7.29.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · A final synod condemned and excommunicated Paul of Samosata (ca. 268).
Church History 7.29.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The presbyter and rhetorician Malchion exposed Paul in a recorded debate.
Church History 7.30.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The synod sent a circular letter to Rome, Alexandria, and all provinces about Paul.
Church History 7.30.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The greeting of the synodal letter names its senders.
Church History 7.30.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The synod had invited Dionysius, who wrote to the Antiochene church without addressing Paul.
Church History 7.30.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Firmilian twice condemned Paul but was deceived by his promise to change.
Church History 7.30.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Firmilian died at Tarsus on his way to the final synod.
Church History 7.30.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The synod charges Paul with enriching himself by extortion and bribery.
Church History 7.30.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · They accuse him of preferring a civil title and parading with a retinue.
Church History 7.30.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · They charge him with theatrical conduct in church: a throne, demands for applause, and contempt for earlier teachers.
Church History 7.30.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The synod accuses Paul and his clergy of keeping women companions, and of buying their silence.
Church History 7.30.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Even if innocent, a bishop should avoid the scandal of living with women.
Church History 7.30.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · How can Paul warn others when he keeps two young, beautiful women with him?
Church History 7.30.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Everyone laments but fears to accuse him.
Church History 7.30.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The synod deposed Paul, appointed Domnus, and asked the churches to be in communion with him.
Church History 7.30.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Domnus succeeded Paul at Antioch.
Church History 7.30.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · When Paul refused to leave the church building, Aurelian ruled it belonged to those in communion with the bishops of Italy and Rome.
Church History 7.30.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Felix succeeded Dionysius at Rome.
Church History 7.32.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At Rome Eutychian, Gaius, and Marcellinus succeeded Felix.
Church History 7.32.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Under Cyril of Antioch, Eusebius knew the learned presbyter Dorotheus, who read Scripture in Hebrew.
Church History 7.32.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius heard Dorotheus preach; Tyrannus succeeded Cyril at the height of the persecution.
Church History 7.32.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius of Alexandria, who came to Syria about Paul of Samosata, was kept as bishop of Laodicea.
Church History 7.32.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Anatolius, a brilliant Alexandrian scholar, succeeded Eusebius at Laodicea.
Church History 7.32.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Laodicea thus received two excellent bishops from Alexandria.
Church History 7.32.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Anatolius was first ordained coadjutor at Caesarea, but was kept by Laodicea on the death of Eusebius.
Church History 7.32.22Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Stephen, a learned but faithless bishop, proved a coward in the persecution.
Church History 7.32.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Theodotus, a physician of bodies and souls, replaced Stephen at Laodicea.
Church History 7.32.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Agapius succeeded Theotecnus at Caesarea and cared especially for the poor.
Church History 7.32.25Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius knew the presbyter Pamphilus, whose life and martyrdom he recorded in a separate work.
Church History 7.32.26Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Other remarkable men were the presbyter Pierius of Alexandria and Bishop Meletius of Pontus.
Church History 7.32.29Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · At Jerusalem Zabdas and then Hermon succeeded Hymenaeus.
Church History 7.32.30Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Theonas succeeded Maximus at Alexandria; the presbyter Achillas headed the catechetical school.
Church History 7.32.31Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Peter of Alexandria, bishop for twelve years, was beheaded in the ninth year of the persecution (311).
Church History 8.1.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Church leaders were respected by officials, and congregations grew so large that new, spacious churches were built in every city.
Church History 8.1.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · When freedom bred pride, envy, and quarrels among Christians and their leaders, God's judgment began gently, with persecution of Christian soldiers.
Church History 8.1.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Because Christians and their pastors did not repent but quarreled and sought power, God brought on them the judgment described in Lamentations.
Church History 8.2.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius saw churches demolished, Scriptures burned in public, and church leaders hiding or captured, as the psalm foretold.
Church History 8.2.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius declines to describe the failures and quarrels of church leaders beyond what shows that God's judgment was just.
Church History 8.2.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · A second edict ordered all church leaders imprisoned and then forced to sacrifice.
Church History 8.3.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Many church leaders endured torture bravely, many others gave way at once, and some died under the rack and scourge.
Church History 8.6.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Bishop Anthimus of Nicomedia was beheaded, and after a palace fire was falsely blamed on Christians, many were killed by sword, fire, and drowning.
Church History 8.6.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · After uprisings in Melitene and Syria, an imperial order had church leaders everywhere imprisoned.
Church History 8.6.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The prisons filled with bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers, and exorcists until there was no room for criminals.
Church History 8.9.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Examples were Philoromus, a high imperial official at Alexandria, and Phileas, bishop of Thmuis, a learned philosopher.
Church History 8.13.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Among martyred bishops of the great cities, the first is Anthimus of Nicomedia, who was beheaded.
Church History 8.13.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Lucian, presbyter of Antioch, made a defense before the emperor at Nicomedia and died a martyr.
Church History 8.13.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The most famous martyrs of Phoenicia were Bishop Tyrannion of Tyre, the presbyter Zenobius of Sidon, and Bishop Silvanus of Emesa.
Church History 8.13.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In Palestine Bishop Silvanus of Gaza was beheaded with thirty-nine others at the Phaeno mines, and the Egyptian bishops Peleus and Nilus were burned.
Church History 8.13.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius remembers his teacher Pamphilus, presbyter of Caesarea, whose deeds he recorded elsewhere.
Church History 8.13.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius names Peter of Alexandria and other Egyptian martyrs, leaves the full record to eyewitnesses, and promises a separate work on the martyrs he saw himself.
Church History 9.6.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The commander killed himself, but persecution resumed; at Emesa the aged bishop Silvanus and two others were thrown to beasts.
Church History 9.6.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Bishop Peter of Alexandria was suddenly seized and beheaded, with many other Egyptian bishops.
Church History 9.6.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Lucian, a learned presbyter of Antioch, defended the faith at Nicomedia and was killed in prison.
Church History 10.4.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The panegyric opens by addressing the assembled clergy and Paulinus, who built God's house for Christ and his bride, the church.
Church History 10.4.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Second after Christ is Bishop Paulinus, appointed shepherd of this flock, a new Aaron or Melchizedek made like the Son of God.
Church History 10.4.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus, having long known and taught his people, is best able to see into their souls and to describe his own work.
Church History 10.4.25Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · As the Son does what he sees the Father do, so Paulinus copies Christ's work, like Bezalel who built the tabernacle after heavenly patterns.
Church History 10.4.26Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus, bearing Christ's image, built this church with the people's generous help, choosing to restore the defiled old site rather than build elsewhere.
Church History 10.4.36Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus, a new Zerubbabel, after the desolation prayed for God's mercy and with Christ's help raised the fallen church to a glory greater than before.
Church History 10.4.44Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The church has high thrones for the clergy, benches for all, and in the center the altar, enclosed by a finely carved wooden screen.
Church History 10.4.54Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus, as the bride's attendant, with the people's prayers and by Christ's power, raised the fallen church as Scripture describes.
Church History 10.4.60Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Christ used the emperors to purge the world of tyrants, then brought forth his hidden servants, the clergy, to cleanse souls by teaching.
Church History 10.4.61Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Christ entrusted the cleansed souls to Bishop Paulinus, who builds them up with gold, silver, and precious stones, as the prophecy says.
Church History 10.4.63Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus arranged his people like parts of the church building: the simple faithful as the wall, door-keepers at the entrances, beginners learning the Gospels, and catechumens near the inner hall.
Church History 10.4.67Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Christ dwells fully in the bishop and proportionately in the other clergy; angels given for guidance are like the benches.
Church History 10.5.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine writes to Bishop Miltiades of Rome about the accusations against Caecilian of Carthage and the resulting division among African bishops and people.
Church History 10.5.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Caecilian and ten bishops from each side are to come to Rome and be heard before Miltiades and three Gallic bishops.
Church History 10.5.20Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine encloses the documents and urges the bishops to settle the case justly, since he wants no schism anywhere in the catholic church.
Church History 10.5.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine reminds Bishop Chrestus of Syracuse that he had earlier summoned bishops from Gaul and Africa to Rome to settle the dispute.
Church History 10.5.22Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Because some rejected the Roman judgment as hasty and made by too few, causing scandal, Constantine resolved to end the dispute before a larger gathering.
Church History 10.5.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Chrestus is to travel to the Council of Arles by 1 August with two clergy and three servants, using the public post.
Church History 10.5.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine hopes the council will restore unity after hearing both sides; Eusebius then introduces a letter granting money to the churches.
Church History 10.6.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine tells Caecilian that he has ordered the finance officer of Africa to pay him 3,000 folles for the clergy of the catholic church.
Church History 10.6.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Caecilian is to distribute the money according to a list sent by Hosius.
Church History 10.6.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine has ordered the proconsul Anulinus and the vicar Patricius to stop those trying to lead the catholic people astray.
Church History 10.6.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Caecilian is to report any who persist in the schism to the magistrates for correction.
Church History 10.7.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Constantine explains that since true religion brings the empire prosperity, its ministers should be rewarded.
Church History 10.7.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The clergy of Caecilian's catholic church are exempted from all civic duties so that they may devote themselves to worship, which benefits the state.
Church History 10.8.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Licinius finally turned against the bishops, secretly having the most respected of them killed through his governors in unheard-of ways.
Church History 10.8.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Governors punished bishops as criminals; some were hacked to pieces and thrown into the sea.
Acta Archelai (Latin) 43Hegemonius · early to mid 4th century (Greek original) · The crowd drives Manes away; the narrator notes that the debate was written down at Marcellus's wish; Turbo is ordained deacon, and Manes flees to the village of Diodorus, whose presbyter writes to Archelaus.
Acta Archelai (Latin) 61Hegemonius · early to mid 4th century (Greek original) · The crowds praise Archelaus; he promises to tell, on the word of Manes's former companion Sisinnius, who Manes is, and recalls the apostolic order of the church.
Fragment 1Peter of Alexandria · ca. 300–311 · Peter warns the church of Alexandria not to communicate with Meletius, who has intruded into his see and ordained clergy for himself in prison.
Homilies 3.60Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter calls for prayer to choose a successor who will sit on the seat of Christ, citing the parable of the faithful and unfaithful servant.
Homilies 3.61Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Whoever can teach but refuses will be judged like the slothful servant; the faithful must obey one leader to keep peace.
Homilies 3.62Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Many kings bring war and one king brings peace; so the church must follow one guide who knows the way to the holy city.
Homilies 3.63Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter chooses Zacchaeus as bishop of Caesarea; Zacchaeus begs to be spared the title of ruler.
Homilies 3.64Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter urges Zacchaeus to accept the office, which is service like a father, physician, and shepherd, not rule like the Gentiles’ rulers.
Homilies 3.65Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · The greater the labour of leading the church, the greater the reward; Zacchaeus, a companion of the Lord, cannot name anyone better.
Homilies 3.66Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · The bishop holds the place of Christ; to disobey him is to disobey Christ and God.
Homilies 3.67Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · The church’s order: the bishop leads, presbyters carry out his orders and settle disputes, deacons care for the brothers and report to the bishop.
Homilies 3.70Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Believers must honour the bishop, whose seat is Christ’s throne, as they were told to honour the seat of Moses.
Homilies 3.71Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · The church must support Zacchaeus without his asking, since the worker deserves his wages, and must honour and provide for its clergy, widows, and orphans.
Homilies 3.72Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter ordains Zacchaeus with a prayer asking God to give him authority to bind and loose and to guard the church as Christ’s bride.
Homilies 7.5Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · The people of Tyre are baptized and repent; Peter founds a church there with a bishop and leaves for Sidon, while Simon flees to Berytus.
Homilies 7.8Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter lists the religion God requires: worship of God alone, faith in the Prophet, baptism, food and purity laws, and good works; he founds a church in Sidon.
Homilies 7.12Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter heals the people of Berytus, founds a church there, visits Byblus, and follows Simon to Tripolis.
Homilies 11.35Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Clement is baptized, and Peter warns the presbyters to receive no apostle or teacher whose preaching has not been checked with James of Jerusalem.
Homilies 11.36Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Before leaving Tripolis for Antioch, Peter baptizes many, celebrates the eucharist, and appoints Maroones bishop with twelve presbyters, deacons, and widows.
Homilies 17.19Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter rejects authority based on visions and rebukes Simon for opposing him, the rock on which the church is founded.
Recognitions 0.1Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Rufinus dedicates his Latin translation of the Recognitions to Gaudentius, explains his method and omissions, and reconciles Clement's succession with the Roman bishops Linus and Cletus.
Recognitions 1.43Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · The Jerusalem church grows under James, ordained bishop by the Lord, and the priests ask the apostles whether Jesus is the Prophet foretold by Moses.
Recognitions 1.68Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Caiaphas asks that the debate be held from the Scriptures, and James secures agreement that the law and the prophets will be the basis.
Recognitions 3.65Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Peter announces that he will ordain Zacchaeus as their shepherd, stay three months, and then follow Simon to the Gentiles.
Recognitions 3.66Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Peter ordains Zacchaeus bishop of Caesarea with twelve presbyters and four deacons, and gives the church its instructions.
Recognitions 3.74Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Peter commends the Caesarean church to its clergy and prepares to leave for Tripolis; Clement records his teaching for James.
Recognitions 4.35Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Peter warns the people to accept no teacher without the testimony of James in Jerusalem, and calls baptism the wedding garment to be kept unstained.
Recognitions 6.15Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · After three months at Tripolis Peter baptizes Clement and many others, celebrates the Eucharist, ordains Maro bishop with presbyters, deacons, and widows, and leaves for Antioch.
Recognitions 10.68Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Simon is driven out of Antioch; Peter ordains a bishop and presbyters at Laodicea, baptizes and heals many, and sets out for Antioch, where the leading citizens meet him in penance.
Recognitions 10.71Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Within seven days more than ten thousand are baptized at Antioch, and Theophilus dedicates the great hall of his house as a church, where a chair is set up for Peter.
Testament of Our Lord 1.8Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.15Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.19Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.21Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.23Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.31Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.34Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.35Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.36Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.38Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.40Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.10Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Acts of Felix of Tibiuca 1Anonymous · 303 (15 June, per the Acts) · Under Diocletian's edict (303) the curator of Thibiuca demands the Scriptures; the clergy say the bishop has them.
Acts of Felix of Tibiuca 2Anonymous · 303 (15 June, per the Acts) · Bishop Felix refuses to surrender the Scriptures.
Prophetic Extracts 1.8Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius applies Jacob's blessing of Judah to Christ: the lion's whelp, the end of Jewish rulers with Herod, and the church's leaders, who will not fail even in the present persecution.
Prophetic Extracts 3.36Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius reads Jeremiah's righteous Dayspring for David, and the promises of an unfailing Davidic king and priesthood, as fulfilled spiritually in Christ and the church's leaders and priests, since the literal throne and priesthood have ceased.
Prophetic Extracts 4.15Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius reads Isaiah's righteous king and his rulers as Christ, his apostles and church leaders or angels, reigning over the heavenly Zion.
Divine Institutes 4.30.5Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Some, failing to gain the episcopate, broke away with their supporters.
Letter of the Egyptian bishops to MeletiusAnonymous · ca. 306 · Four imprisoned Egyptian bishops rebuke Meletius for ordaining clergy in parishes not his own, against the ancient law, the honour of their bishop Peter, and Paul's warning to Timothy, while they and Peter suffered persecution.
Narrative of the Meletian schism (anonymous fragment)Anonymous · ca. 306 · An anonymous narrative: Meletius ignored the letter, entered Alexandria after the bishops' martyrdom, and with the help of Isidore and Arius set aside Peter's presbyters and ordained his own, so that Peter wrote to the people.
Letter of Peter of Alexandria to the people of AlexandriaAnonymous · ca. 306 · Peter of Alexandria warns his people not to hold communion with Meletius, who has invaded his see and ordained clergy, until the matter is examined.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 1Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · The court record of 320 before the governor Zenophilus at Thamugadi, where witnesses and the record of a search of the Cirta church in 303 show that Silvanus, later bishop of Cirta and one of Maiorinus's ordainers, had handed over church property, and that money from Lucilla and fees for ordination went to the bishops.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 2Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · The record of the proconsul Aelianus's inquiry (315) at Carthage, which showed that the Donatists' evidence against Felix of Abthugni, Caecilian's ordainer, rested on a letter of the former magistrate Alfius Caecilianus to which Ingentius had added a forged passage, and cleared Felix.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 4Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · The bishops of the council of Arles (314) report to Silvester of Rome the condemnation of Caecilian's accusers and summarize their canons: one date for Easter, clergy to stay where ordained, the excommunication of soldiers who desert in peacetime, of charioteers and actors, rules for Christian officials, and the reception of those baptized by heretics in the Trinity by laying on of hands alone.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 5Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · After the council of Arles (314), Constantine thanks the bishops, denounces the Donatists for appealing to him from the bishops' judgment as if from a secular court, and orders the obstinate to be brought to his court.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 6Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · Constantine tells the Donatist bishops that, instead of sending them back to Africa, he will hear Caecilian's case himself, and promises that proof of a single crime will count as proof of all.
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 10Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · Constantine praises the Numidian Catholic bishops for not seeking vengeance after the Donatists seized the basilica he had built at Constantina, grants them a property of the treasury for a new church built at public expense, and confirms the clergy's exemption from public duties.
Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs 2Anonymous · 304 (12 February) · Saturninus the presbyter, his children, and dozens of other Christians are arrested at Abitina while celebrating the Lord's service in the house of Octavius Felix.
Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs 3Anonymous · 304 (12 February) · The martyrs are led to the forum of Abitina, where heaven had earlier quenched with a storm the fire in which the traitor bishop Fundanus's surrendered Scriptures were being burned.
Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs 6Anonymous · 304 (12 February) · Asked who led the assembly, Thelica names Saturninus the presbyter and all of them; under torture he prays for his enemies and confesses that he cares only for the law of God.
Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs 8Anonymous · 304 (12 February) · The torture stops over the false charge about Victoria, but when Dativus confesses that he joined the Lord's service, he is tortured again, still praying not to be put to shame.
Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs 9Anonymous · 304 (12 February) · Saturninus the presbyter is brought forward and declares that the Lord's service cannot be left off; Dativus, still on the rack, prays and confesses he is a Christian, and is sent to prison.
Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs 10Anonymous · 304 (12 February) · Saturninus admits he was present; the reader Emeritus claims the assemblies were in his house; Saturninus, tortured savagely, answers that the law of God commands the Lord's service.
Acts of Euplus of Catania (Latin) 1Anonymous · 304 (12 August) · The deacon Euplius gives himself up at Catana with the Gospels and reads from them.
Passion of Irenaeus of Sirmium 1Anonymous · 304 (6 April) · Introduction: Irenaeus, bishop of Sirmium, under Diocletian.
Canonical Epistle, canon 10Peter of Alexandria · AD 306 · Clergy who gave themselves up, lapsed, and then confessed again are not to resume their ministry, but may be admitted to lay communion.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension), inscriptionEusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · A second edict ordered the arrest of all church leaders and their forced sacrifice.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 1.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Many clergy at Caesarea endured tortures; some gave way at once; others suffered scourging, racking, and crippling bonds.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 2.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Romanus, a deacon and exorcist of Caesarea, rebuked the crowds sacrificing at Antioch.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 7.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Silvanus, then a presbyter, later bishop and martyr, and his companions were lamed and sent to the copper mines.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 11.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Pamphilus, presbyter of Caesarea, excelled in renunciation, charity, and above all devotion to the Scriptures.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 11.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Valens, an aged deacon of Jerusalem (Aelia), knew the Scriptures by heart.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 12.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Eusebius deliberately passes over the failures of church leaders, ambition, irregular ordinations and schisms, telling only what is praiseworthy.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 13.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · Four leaders, the Egyptian bishops Peleus and Nilus, a presbyter, and Patermuthius, refused to deny the faith and were burned.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 13.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · The aged and maimed confessors lived apart under Silvanus, bishop from Gaza.
Preparation for the Gospel 12.44.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Ezekiel and Christ on true and false shepherds; Plato agrees.
Preparation for the Gospel 12.44.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Plato: the true shepherd and ruler seeks the good of the flock.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 2.4Lactantius · ca. 314–315 · The apostles, joined by Matthias and Paul, spread through the world and founded churches for twenty-five years.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 15.2Lactantius · ca. 314–315 · Palace eunuchs were killed and clergy condemned without trial.
Acts of the Purgation of Felix of Aptunga 5Anonymous · 314–315 (events of 303) · Apronianus, for Felix, explains how the letter was forged through Ingentius.
Acts of the Purgation of Felix of Aptunga 6Anonymous · 314–315 (events of 303) · Ingentius gives his story; Caecilianus describes how Ingentius sought the letter.
Canon 1Anonymous · 314 · Presbyters who sacrificed under persecution but then genuinely resumed the struggle keep their rank but may not exercise their ministry.
Canon 2Anonymous · 314 · Deacons who sacrificed but then confessed keep their honor without serving, though bishops may relax or tighten this.
Canon 10Anonymous · 314 · Deacons who declared at ordination that they intended to marry may do so; those who accepted celibacy at ordination and later marry lose their office.
Canon 12Anonymous · 314 · Those who sacrificed before their baptism may be ordained, since baptism washed them clean.
Canon 13Anonymous · 314 · Country bishops may not ordain presbyters or deacons, nor may city presbyters act in another district without the bishop's written permission.
Canon 14Anonymous · 314 · Clergy who abstain from meat must at least taste it; if they refuse even vegetables cooked with meat, they are deposed.
Canon 15Anonymous · 314 · Church property sold by presbyters during a vacancy is to be reclaimed, the bishop deciding whether to refund the buyers.
Canon 18Anonymous · 314 · Bishops rejected by their own see who intrude elsewhere are excommunicated, but may resume their former rank as presbyters if they keep the peace.
Preamble (synodal letter to Silvester)Anonymous · 1 August 314 · The bishops gathered at Arles, headed by Marinus, send their decisions to Silvester, bishop of Rome.
Canon 2Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Clergy are to stay in the places where they were ordained.
Canon 7Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Christian governors and officials keep communion under the care of the local bishop, unless they act against Christian discipline.
Canon 12Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Clergy who lend at interest are excluded from communion.
Canon 13Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Clergy proved by public records to have surrendered Scriptures, church vessels, or names in persecution are deposed, but the ordinations they performed remain valid.
Canon 15Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Deacons must not offer the eucharist.
Canon 17Anonymous · 1 August 314 · No bishop is to encroach on another.
Canon 18Anonymous · 1 August 314 · City deacons must defer to the presbyters.
Canon 19Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Visiting bishops are to be invited to celebrate the eucharist.
Canon 20Anonymous · 1 August 314 · No bishop may ordain another alone: seven bishops should take part, and never fewer than three.
Canon 21Anonymous · 1 August 314 · Presbyters and deacons who leave their own churches for others are to be deposed.
Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A presbyter who marries after ordination is removed from his rank; one guilty of sexual sin is expelled and put to penance.
Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A presbyter should not attend the wedding feast of a second marriage, since such a marriage requires penance.
Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A man whose wife was convicted of adultery cannot be ordained, and a cleric whose wife commits adultery must put her away or give up his ministry.
Canon 9Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A presbyter who confesses a sexual sin committed before ordination may not celebrate the eucharist but keeps his other duties.
Canon 10Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A deacon in the same case is reduced to the rank of an attendant.
Canon 11Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · No one is to be ordained presbyter before thirty, the age at which Christ was baptized and began to teach.
Canon 12Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · Someone baptized on a sickbed is not normally to be ordained presbyter, unless his later zeal and a lack of candidates justify it.
Canon 13Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · Country presbyters may not celebrate or give communion in the city church when city clergy are present.
Canon 14Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · Country bishops correspond to the Seventy and, honored for their care of the poor, may celebrate the eucharist.
Canon 15Anonymous · ca. 315 (approximate) · A city should have seven deacons, however large, following the book of Acts.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.48Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · A new altar implies a new priesthood and thus a change of law.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.9.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Teachers of the church abstain from marriage to devote themselves to spiritual children.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.9.20Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Eusebius refers to his other work on the patriarchs’ polygamy, and notes that the new covenant does not forbid children: a bishop is to be the husband of one wife.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.9.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Clergy should abstain from marital relations once ordained; for others marriage remains honorable.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.91Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The two sheep are catechumens and the baptized; the heifer is the church’s presiding clergy.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.92Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Scripture compares ordinary believers to sheep and church leaders to oxen.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.93Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Paul applies the law about oxen to ministers of the gospel.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.163Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The few chosen from Israel became shepherds of the believing nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.5.90Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Matthew records Jesus’ praise of Peter, which Peter modestly left out of his own preaching.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.5.109Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The first bishops of Jerusalem were Jews; the slander against the disciples is refuted.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.16.44Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · God promises Eli a faithful priest who will walk before his Christ.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.16.46Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The faithful priest is everyone who serves Christ in the church throughout the world, whose spiritual worship replaces the animal sacrifices God rejected.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.3.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christ still exercises his Melchizedek priesthood through his ministers.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.3.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · As Melchizedek blessed Abraham with bread and wine, Christ and the church’s priests celebrate the mysteries of his body and blood with bread and wine.
Demonstration of the Gospel 6.2.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The rulers of the peoples gathered with Abraham’s God are the church’s leaders from the nations; the next heading introduces Psalm 50.
Demonstration of the Gospel 7.1.75Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The heifer and two sheep may mean poverty, or figuratively the church's three orders: leaders, the faithful, and catechumens.
Demonstration of the Gospel 7.1.76Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The heifer may also be the church's leaders, whose elementary teaching nourishes many.
Demonstration of the Gospel, Book 8, preface 2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The end of Israel's kingship, prophecy, and high priesthood marks the time of Christ's coming.
Demonstration of the Gospel 10.3.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Matthias replaced Judas as the Psalm required; the speaker of the Psalm is Christ, praying at his passion.
Demonstration of the Gospel 10.4.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The three shepherds removed in one month are the king, the high priest, and the prophet.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 1Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · The hearing at Thamugadi (13 December 320) opens with the questioning of Victor the grammarian about Bishop Silvanus of Cirta.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 2Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · The record of the search of the church at Cirta in 303 is read: the church's goods and the codices handed over.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 3Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · A statement accusing Silvanus of being a traditor and of simony is read.
4Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Bishop Purpurius's letter to Silvanus urging secret reconciliation with Nundinarius.
5Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Purpurius's letter to the clergy and elders of Cirta urging them to settle the dispute quietly.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 6Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Bishop Fortis's letter to Silvanus urging reconciliation before the matter becomes public.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 7Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Fortis's letter to the clergy and elders of Cirta urging them to settle the dispute before Easter.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 8Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Bishop Sabinus's letter to Silvanus urging peace with Nundinarius.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 9Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Sabinus's letter to Fortis asking him to make peace before Easter.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 10Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · Victor admits that Silvanus was a traditor and was opposed by the people at his election.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 11Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · The gravediggers confirm the charges: Silvanus handed over church vessels, took the temple vinegar, and was made bishop by arena-workers.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 12Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · The deacon Castus confirms the charges about the lamp, the casks, and the money.
Proceedings before Zenophilus (Gesta apud Zenophilum) 13Anonymous · 320 (inquiry of 3 Dec. 320 into events of 303) · The subdeacon Crescentianus confirms the charges.
Canon 1Anonymous · 325 · Men who castrate themselves may not be or remain clergy, but those castrated by others or for medical reasons may.
Canon 2Anonymous · 325 · Newly baptized converts are not to be ordained at once, as Paul's rule against recent converts requires.
Canon 3Anonymous · 325 · Clergy may not keep unrelated women in their houses, only close relatives above suspicion.
Canon 4Anonymous · 325 · A bishop is to be ordained by at least three bishops of the province with the written consent of the rest, confirmed by the metropolitan.
Canon 5Anonymous · 325 · Excommunications by one bishop are binding on others but are to be reviewed at provincial synods held twice a year.
Canon 6Anonymous · 325 · The traditional authority of the bishops of Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch is confirmed, and no bishop may be made without the metropolitan's consent.
Canon 7Anonymous · 325 · The bishop of Jerusalem is given a special honor, while the metropolitan see keeps its rank.
Canon 8Anonymous · 325 · Novatianist clergy (the “Cathars”) who join the church keep their rank after the laying on of hands, if they accept the church's teaching on the remarried and the lapsed.
Canon 9Anonymous · 325 · Men ordained presbyter without examination, or despite confessed sins, are not admitted by the canon.
Canon 10Anonymous · 325 · Lapsed Christians who have been ordained are to be deposed when discovered.
Canon 15Anonymous · 325 · Bishops, presbyters, and deacons may not move from one city's church to another.
Canon 16Anonymous · 325 · Clergy who desert their own church are not to be received elsewhere, and a bishop may not ordain another bishop's cleric without consent.
Canon 17Anonymous · 325 · Clergy who lend at interest, in any form, are to be deposed.
Canon 18Anonymous · 325 · Deacons must not give communion to presbyters or receive it before bishops, and must keep their place below the presbyters.
Canon 19Anonymous · 325 · Followers of Paul of Samosata who join the church must be rebaptized, and their clergy reordained if worthy.
Section 1Anonymous · 325 · The synod of Nicaea tells the church of Alexandria that Arius's teaching was anathematized and that Melitius may keep only the bare title of bishop in his own city.
Section 2Anonymous · 325 · Clergy ordained by Melitius are received after a further laying on of hands but rank below Alexander's clergy; the East is to keep Easter with Rome and Alexandria.
On the Paschal Feast 8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337 · Eusebius reports that at the Council of Nicaea, under Constantine, the great majority of bishops from north, south and west outvoted the easterners on the date of Easter, so that one feast was kept by all, and he denies that the Gospel account of the Last Supper is a command to keep the Jewish date.
Letter to Marcellinus 25Athanasius of Alexandria · uncertain, after 335 · Psalms for blessing God's goodness, for singing to the Lord, for one raised to office among his brethren (the 151st), and for psalms with the Alleluia response.
Against Marcellus 1.4.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 336–337 · Marcellus also attacks Paulinus, bishop of Tyre and then of Antioch.
Against Marcellus 1.4.38Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 336–337 · Marcellus laments that bishops have taught the same errors as Asterius.
Against Marcellus 2.3.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 336–337 · Marcellus reads the mountains and hills of Prov 8:25 as the apostles and their successors.
Against Marcellus 2.4.29Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 336–337 · The emperor and the synod at Constantinople condemned Marcellus, and bishops asked Eusebius to write.
Demonstration 7.2Aphrahat · 337-345 · Repentance is the medicine for those wounded in the spiritual contest; the church's physicians must apply it, since God does not reject penitents.
Demonstration 7.4Aphrahat · 337-345 · Those who administer penance must give it freely and keep confessed sins confidential, so as not to expose the church to its enemies.
Demonstration 7.10Aphrahat · 337-345 · Ezekiel and Jeremiah show that God warns the righteous and offers hope to sinners who turn; those who hold the keys must open the doors to penitents gently.
Demonstration 7.25Aphrahat · 337-345 · Some ascetics who fall refuse to confess, and some clergy refuse repentance to those who do; Aphrahat urges the clergy to grant it and leave the final separation to the Lord.
Demonstration 7.26Aphrahat · 337-345 · Shepherds of the church must care for the weak and sick of the flock, unlike the worthless shepherd of Zechariah, and watchmen must warn the people.
Demonstration 10.1Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 10.2Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 10.3Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 10.4Aphrahat · 337-345
Demonstration 14.1Aphrahat · 337-345 · The demonstration opens as a synodal letter from bishops, presbyters, deacons, and people to the church in Seleucia-Ctesiphon and elsewhere.
Demonstration 14.3Aphrahat · 337-345 · Leaders in the church have become greedy usurers and corrupt judges, favouring the rich and despising the poor, so that the prophets' indictments fit their day.
Demonstration 14.7Aphrahat · 337-345 · Some leaders now condemn without trial, punishing whole communities, including infants, the poor, and the members of the covenant.
Demonstration 14.8Aphrahat · 337-345 · The writers rebuke a leader who, unwelcome in his own region, sought support from distant rulers and brought chains on his people, contrasting him with a new king who wins favour by gifts and releases.
Demonstration 14.9Aphrahat · 337-345 · A parable of a steward who imprisons his fellow servants without trial and is deposed by the king warns leaders that they will be judged as they judge.
Demonstration 14.16Aphrahat · 337-345 · The church needs leaders who stand in the breach; a long series of Gospel images urges physicians, watchmen, stewards, shepherds, and all the faithful to vigilance.
Demonstration 14.17Aphrahat · 337-345 · The clergy are called to humble themselves and not to despise God's ministry, lest they be rejected from the priesthood.
Demonstration 14.18Aphrahat · 337-345 · Priests who despised God's ministry were punished: Nadab and Abihu by fire, and Eli's sons, whom their father rebuked only weakly.
Demonstration 14.20Aphrahat · 337-345 · Disrespect for God's ministry brought punishment, as with Eli's sons and Uzzah, who carried the ark on a cart against the law, while even Philistines and Obed-edom honoured the ark and were blessed.
Demonstration 14.21Aphrahat · 337-345 · The church's present humiliation is the result of its leaders' contempt for God's ministry.
Demonstration 14.25Aphrahat · 337-345 · Church leaders prize rank in ordination and titles over the fear of God and good works; Aphrahat confronts a domineering leader whose life contradicts his teaching, citing Ezekiel's shepherds and Christ's woes.
Demonstration 14.27Aphrahat · 337-345 · Office does not guarantee God's favour, as Eli, Esau, and Saul show; leaders who justify harsh rule by appeal to Jehu's anointing misread Scripture.
Demonstration 14.28Aphrahat · 337-345 · Leaders who claim to be chosen from the womb are reminded that Aaron did not exalt himself and Moses repeatedly refused office.
Demonstration 14.29Aphrahat · 337-345 · God does not choose by stature, beauty, eloquence, or learning, but looks on the heart and chooses the lowly.
Demonstration 14.44Aphrahat · 337-345 · Leaders entrusted with the power to bind and loose have become jailers, excommunicating those who offend them while freeing those who flatter them, instead of following Christ's way of correction and forgiveness.
Demonstration 20.14Aphrahat · 337-345 · Isaiah's promise of water and trees for the thirsty poor is read of the nations receiving the Scriptures, with priests and the covenant as the evergreen trees.
On Ecclesiastical Theology 3.3.27Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Marcellus reads mountains and hills as the apostles and their successors.
Life of Constantine 1.44.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine convened and attended synods of bishops to settle church disputes, acting as a “common bishop.”
Life of Constantine 1.51.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Licinius forbade bishops to meet or hold synods, which made church government, including the ordination of bishops, impossible.
Life of Constantine 2.46.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Eusebius is to have clergy repair, enlarge, or build churches, with costs met by the governors.
Life of Constantine 3.9.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The bishops varied in gifts and age; the emperor provided for them all.
Life of Constantine 3.21.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · At his farewell Constantine urged the bishops to avoid rivalry and to bear with the weaker.
Life of Constantine 3.58.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Heliopolis received a great church with a bishop, presbyters, and deacons.
Life of Constantine 3.59.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Eusebius includes only the letters telling the Antiochenes not to take another church's bishop.
Life of Constantine 3.60.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The Antiochenes had acclaimed Eusebius of Caesarea as their bishop.
Life of Constantine 3.60.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Eusebius is worthy, but churches must not take one another's bishops; others could be found.
Life of Constantine 3.60.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The Antiochenes should honor Eusebius by their esteem and choose another bishop without tumult.
Life of Constantine 3.61.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine commends Eusebius for refusing the see of Antioch.
Life of Constantine 3.61.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Eusebius rightly kept the church rule by staying in his own see.
Life of Constantine 3.62.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine tells the bishops at Antioch that he has written to the people about their wish to have Eusebius.
Life of Constantine 3.62.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Eusebius will stay at Caesarea; Constantine suggests the presbyters Euphronius and George as candidates.
Life of Constantine 3.62.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The bishops are to choose and ordain a worthy candidate according to church rule.
Life of Constantine 3.66.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Bishops tested the converts and admitted only the sincere.
Life of Constantine 4.24.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine called himself a bishop “of those outside” the church.
Life of Constantine 4.27.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Synodal decisions were given legal force over the governors.
Life of Constantine 4.42.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The bishops are to judge impartially by church law and restore peace.
Encyclical Letter 2Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339 · Athanasius tells how the prefect announced that Gregory of Cappadocia was coming from the court to replace him, against the canons and the will of the people.
Encyclical Letter 6Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339 · Athanasius says Gregory was sent by the Eusebians to the Arians, as Pistus had been, and urges the bishops to treat the wrong done to Alexandria as done to them all.
Canon 4Anonymous · ca. 340–360 · Anyone who refuses communion from a married presbyter is anathematized.
Canon 6Anonymous · ca. 340–360 · Anyone who holds separate church services without a presbyter authorized by the bishop is anathematized.
Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 340–360 · Anyone who receives or distributes church offerings without the bishop's consent is anathematized.
Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 340–360 · Both giver and receiver of offerings made apart from the bishop or his steward are anathematized.
Canon 1Anonymous · 341 · Those who reject the Nicene decision on the date of Easter are excommunicated, and clergy who keep Easter with the Jews are deposed together with all who communicate with them.
Canon 3Anonymous · 341 · Clergy who leave their own district and refuse their bishop's call to return are to be deposed, and a bishop who receives them is to be penalized.
Canon 4Anonymous · 341 · Deposed clergy who continue to minister lose all hope of restoration, and those who knowingly communicate with them are cast out.
Canon 5Anonymous · 341 · A presbyter or deacon who sets up a separate congregation against his bishop and ignores repeated summons is to be deposed, and if he persists, restrained by the civil power.
Canon 6Anonymous · 341 · One excommunicated by his own bishop may be received only by that bishop or after a synod has reversed the sentence.
Canon 8Anonymous · 341 · Country presbyters may not issue canonical letters, but blameless chorepiscopi may issue letters of peace.
Canon 9Anonymous · 341 · The metropolitan bishop has precedence and the care of the province; other bishops govern their own districts but undertake nothing more without him, nor he without them.
Canon 10Anonymous · 341 · Chorepiscopi may appoint readers, subdeacons and exorcists but may not ordain presbyters or deacons without the city bishop, who appoints them.
Canon 11Anonymous · 341 · Clergy may not go to the emperor without the consent and letters of the provincial bishops, especially the metropolitan.
Canon 12Anonymous · 341 · Deposed clergy who appeal to the emperor instead of a larger synod of bishops lose all hope of pardon or restoration.
Canon 13Anonymous · 341 · A bishop may not ordain or act in another province unless invited by its metropolitan and bishops; uninvited acts are void and he is deposed.
Canon 14Anonymous · 341 · When the bishops of a province disagree over the guilt of an accused bishop, the metropolitan is to call in judges from a neighboring province.
Canon 15Anonymous · 341 · A unanimous verdict of all the bishops of a province against a bishop is final.
Canon 16Anonymous · 341 · A bishop without a see who takes over a vacant church without a full synod, including the metropolitan, is to be expelled even if the people want him.
Canon 17Anonymous · 341 · A bishop who refuses to take up the church to which he was ordained is excommunicated until he accepts or a full synod decides.
Canon 18Anonymous · 341 · A bishop prevented without fault of his own from taking up his see keeps his honor and ministry, pending the provincial synod's decision.
Canon 19Anonymous · 341 · A bishop is to be ordained by a synod with the metropolitan present and the majority of the province's bishops present or voting by letter.
Canon 20Anonymous · 341 · Provincial synods are to meet twice a year, in the fourth week after Easter and on 15 October, to hear complaints, and none may be held without the metropolitan.
Canon 21Anonymous · 341 · A bishop is not to be transferred from one see to another for any reason.
Canon 22Anonymous · 341 · A bishop may not ordain in a city or district belonging to another bishop without that bishop's consent.
Canon 23Anonymous · 341 · A bishop may not name his own successor; a new bishop is chosen only by a synod of the bishops with that authority.
Canon 24Anonymous · 341 · The church's property is to be kept distinct from the bishop's own, with the knowledge of the presbyters and deacons, so that neither suffers at his death.
Canon 25Anonymous · 341 · The bishop administers church property for the needy and may take what he needs, but misuse of it for himself or his family is to be judged by the provincial synod.
Canon 3Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · The newly baptized are not to be ordained.
Canon 4Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Clergy may not lend at interest.
Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Ordinations are not to be held in the presence of those in the class of hearers.
Canon 11Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Women called presbytides or presiding women are no longer to be appointed in the church.
Canon 12Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Bishops are appointed by the metropolitan and neighboring bishops from men long tested in faith and life.
Canon 13Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · The crowds are not to elect candidates for the priesthood.
Canon 20Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Deacons are not to sit before presbyters without their leave, and are to be honored by the lower clergy.
Canon 21Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Subdeacons may not occupy the diaconicon or handle the sacred vessels.
Canon 22Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Subdeacons may not wear the deacon's stole or leave their post at the doors.
Canon 23Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Readers and singers may not wear the orarion.
Canon 24Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · No clergy or ascetics may enter a tavern.
Canon 25Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Subdeacons may not distribute the eucharistic bread or bless the cup.
Canon 26Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Only those appointed by bishops may perform exorcisms.
Canon 36Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Clergy may not practice magic or astrology or make amulets, and those who wear amulets are expelled.
Canon 40Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Bishops summoned to a synod must attend unless ill.
Canon 41Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Clergy may not travel without their bishop's order.
Canon 42Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Clergy may not travel without canonical letters.
Canon 43Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Subdeacons may not leave the church doors, even to pray.
Canon 54Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Clergy must leave weddings and banquets before the entertainers come in.
Canon 56Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Presbyters are to enter the sanctuary with the bishop, not before him.
Canon 57Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · Villages are to be served by visiting clergy rather than bishops, and existing country bishops and presbyters act only with the city bishop's consent.
Canon 1Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Hosius proposes, and the bishops agree, that bishops who move from a small see to a larger one out of ambition be denied even lay communion.
Canon 2Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop who claims a popular invitation to justify his transfer is to be refused lay communion even at death.
Canon 3Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops are not to intrude into other provinces; a condemned bishop may have his case referred to Julius of Rome, who may order a retrial by neighboring bishops.
Canon 4Anonymous · 343 or 347 · When a deposed bishop appeals, no successor is to be installed until the bishop of Rome has decided the case.
Canon 5Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A deposed bishop may appeal to the bishop of Rome, who may have neighboring bishops rehear the case or send presbyters to judge with them.
Canon 6Anonymous · 343 or 347 · If one bishop of a province neglects to join in appointing a bishop the people request, the appointment may proceed; bishops are not to be appointed for villages a presbyter can serve.
Canon 7Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops are not to go to the imperial court unless summoned by the emperor, though they may intercede for the oppressed and for condemned persons who seek the church's help.
Canon 8Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops with legitimate petitions are to send them to the court through a deacon.
Canon 9Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Petitions to the court are to go through the metropolitan's deacon with letters of commendation, and those passing through Rome are first to be examined by Julius.
Canon 10Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A wealthy man or lawyer chosen as bishop must first serve for a considerable time as reader, deacon and presbyter, since Paul forbids hasty ordinations.
Canon 11Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A visiting bishop must not stay long and outshine the local bishop by frequent preaching, and no bishop may be absent from his church for long without grave cause.
Canon 12Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops with distant estates may spend up to three weeks there at harvest, attending the nearest church, but not longer.
Canon 13Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop must not give communion to a cleric whom he knows his own bishop has excommunicated.
Canon 14Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A presbyter or deacon expelled by an angry bishop may appeal to the metropolitan or a neighboring bishop, but may not claim communion until the case is decided.
Canon 15Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop may not ordain another bishop's cleric without that bishop's consent; such an ordination is void.
Canon 16Anonymous · 343 or 347 · The rules limiting bishops' absence from their churches apply also to presbyters and deacons who linger in Thessalonica.
Canon 17Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop unjustly driven from his see for his faith may stay in another city until he can return.
Canon 18Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Clergy ordained by the rival claimants Musaeus and Eutychianus at Thessalonica are to be received, since no charge lies against them.
Canon 19Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Clergy who refuse to return to the churches for which they were ordained are not to be received, and Musaeus and Eutychianus may have only lay communion.
Canon 20Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Gaudentius proposes, and the synod agrees, that bishops who break these decrees out of pride are to lose their episcopal rank.
Canon 21Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops on the main roads are to ask travelling bishops their business and refuse communion to any going to court without summons.
Canon 1Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Osius proposes, and all agree, that a bishop who moves from his own city to another be denied even lay communion.
Canon 2Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop who claims a popular invitation to justify his transfer is refused lay communion even at death.
Canon 3Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops are not to intrude into other provinces; a condemned bishop's case may be referred to Julius of Rome, who decides whether it is retried and appoints the judges.
Canon 4Anonymous · 343 or 347 · When a deposed bishop appeals to Rome, no successor is to be ordained until the Roman bishop has decided the case.
Canon 5Anonymous · 343 or 347 · If the only remaining bishop of a province neglects to ordain a bishop the people request, bishops from the neighboring province may do so.
Canon 6Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops are not to be ordained for villages or small towns that one presbyter can serve, but only for cities that have had bishops or are populous enough to deserve one.
Canon 7Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A deposed bishop may appeal to the bishop of Rome, who may have neighboring bishops rehear the case or send a presbyter to judge with them.
Canon 8Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops are not to go to the imperial court unless summoned by the emperor, though they may intercede for the oppressed and for the condemned who seek the church's mercy.
Canon 9Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops are to send petitions to court through deacons, via the metropolitan with letters of commendation, or through friends at the palace.
Canon 10Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Petitions brought to Rome are first examined by its bishop; Alypius adds that bishops have no need to go to court for self-interested requests.
Canon 11Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops who go to court out of ambition lose their rank; bishops on the highways are to check travelling bishops and refuse communion to those going without summons.
Canon 12Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop who travels toward court unaware of the new rule is to be told to send his deacon instead and go home.
Canon 13Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A rich man, lawyer or official chosen as bishop must first pass over time through the grades of reader, deacon and presbyter, since Paul forbids ordaining a neophyte.
Canon 14Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A visiting bishop must not stay long and undermine the local bishop by frequent preaching, and no bishop may be absent from his church more than three weeks without grave cause.
Canon 15Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Bishops with estates elsewhere may visit them to manage the harvest for up to three weeks, attending church in a nearby town on Sundays.
Canon 16Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop must not admit to communion a cleric whom he knows his own bishop has excommunicated.
Canon 17Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A presbyter or deacon expelled by an angry bishop may appeal to neighboring bishops, but no one may admit him to communion before the hearing.
Canon 18Anonymous · 343 or 347 · No bishop may entice another bishop's cleric away and ordain him in his own diocese.
Canon 19Anonymous · 343 or 347 · Ordaining another bishop's cleric without his consent is invalid.
Canon 20Anonymous · 343 or 347 · The limits on bishops' absence apply also to presbyters and deacons who linger in Thessalonica.
Canon 21Anonymous · 343 or 347 · A bishop unjustly expelled for his faith may stay in another city until he can return; the synod closes by committing its decrees to the whole church.
Historical Fragments 1.1.4.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Gauls excommunicate Auxentius, Ursacius, Valens, Gaius, Megasius, and Justinus.
Historical Fragments 1.1.4.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Gauls condemn the appended blasphemies and the intruded bishops, and decree deposition for any Gallic bishop who resists.
Historical Fragments 1.1.4.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Saturninus of Arles is excommunicated by all the Gallic bishops; end of the letter of the council of Paris.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Eastern bishops pray for the church's unity and for the firm keeping of church rules, especially on bishops.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Marcellus was condemned at Constantinople (336), with Protogenes of Serdica and Cyriacus of Naissus among those who signed.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners complain that Western bishops received Marcellus without examining his book.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.6Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners repeat the charges against Athanasius: the broken chalice of Ischyras, violence, and coercion.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.7Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners recount the councils of Caesarea and Tyre (335), the Mareotis commission, and Constantine's exile of Athanasius.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.8Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners accuse Athanasius of violence on his return to Alexandria (337) and before his flight (339).
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.9Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners accuse Paul of Constantinople, Marcellus, Asclepas, and Lucius of violence and sacrilege on their return.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.10Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners say Athanasius won Julius of Rome's communion by deceptive letters from people who had not judged him.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.11Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners accuse the deposed bishops of seeking a retrial abroad after their judges had died.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners reject the Western claim to judge Eastern bishops.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.13Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners claim that Athanasius, Marcellus, Paul, and Asclepas had earlier condemned one another and now united in conspiracy.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.14Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners say that at Serdica they found Athanasius and Marcellus in communion with Ossius and Protogenes.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.15Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners demanded that the Westerners exclude the condemned bishops, but they refused.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.16Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The eighty Eastern bishops refused communion with the Westerners who kept the condemned bishops.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.17Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Westerners refused the Easterners' appeals and claimed to judge the judges of the deposed bishops.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.18Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners proposed a new joint inquiry into Athanasius, which they say the Westerners refused.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.19Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners claim that a mob of criminals supported the Westerners at Serdica and stirred up the city against them.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.20Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners accuse the Western council of receiving deposed and immoral bishops.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.21Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners say the Western council pardoned what cannot be pardoned.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.22Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners say Athanasius and Marcellus should withdraw for the sake of the church's peace.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.23Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners declare that they will not receive Athanasius and Marcellus and condemn those who do.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.24Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners forbid communion with Ossius, Protogenes, Athanasius, Marcellus, Asclepas, Paul, and Julius.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.25Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners complain that a few condemned men have thrown the whole empire into turmoil, and should, like Jonah, give themselves up.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.26Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners reject the Western review of Eastern decisions and appeal to the mutual acceptance of earlier councils.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.27Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Eastern council condemns Julius of Rome, Ossius, Protogenes, Gaudentius, and Maximinus of Trier, with its reasons.
Historical Fragments 1.4.1.28Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners condemn Julius and Ossius and set out their creed for all bishops to sign.
Historical Fragments 1.4.3.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The seventy-three signatures of the Eastern bishops at Serdica.
Historical Fragments 1.5.1.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The bishops recall that Ursacius and Valens had once recanted Arianism, defend the Nicene creed drawn up under Constantine, and report that they rejected the new formula offered by Ursacius, Valens, Germinius and Gaius.
Historical Fragments 1.5.1.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council asks Constantius to hear its legates, keep the old faith unchanged, and let the bishops detained at Ariminum return to their churches.
Historical Fragments 1.5.3.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · At Nicé in Thrace (360), Restutus of Carthage recalls that the Ariminum envoys had condemned Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, and Gaius.
Historical Fragments 1.5.3.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Western envoys annul the decisions of Ariminum and restore communion with Ursacius and the others.
Historical Fragments 1.6.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The bishops ask to be sent home from Ariminum.
Historical Fragments 1.7.1.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius of Rome asks Constantius for a kind hearing.
Historical Fragments 1.7.1.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius had asked for a council to treat the faith first and then the case of Athanasius.
Historical Fragments 1.7.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius is accused of suppressing letters against Athanasius.
Historical Fragments 1.7.2.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius says he made the Eastern letter public, but eighty Egyptian bishops testified the other way.
Historical Fragments 1.7.2.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius explains that the Egyptian majority for Athanasius outweighed the Eastern charges, and the documents were sent to Arles.
Historical Fragments 1.7.3.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius protests his sincerity and his contempt for worldly things.
Historical Fragments 1.7.3.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius says he has upheld the apostolic and Roman tradition unchanged.
Historical Fragments 1.7.4.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius points out that Eastern bishops who refused to condemn Arius at Milan now seek peace.
Historical Fragments 1.7.4.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius recalls Alexander's expulsion of Arians and objects to forcing bishops to obey their judgments.
Historical Fragments 1.7.5.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius reports what his legates at Arles proposed.
Historical Fragments 1.7.5.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius reports the failure at Arles, asks for a council to confirm Nicaea, and sends Lucifer, Pancratius, and Hilary as envoys.
Historical Fragments 1.8.1.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Constantius writes to the council of Ariminum, repeating his earlier instructions.
Historical Fragments 1.8.1.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The emperor bids the council deal with faith and unity.
Historical Fragments 1.8.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The emperor forbids the council to decide anything about the Eastern bishops and orders it to send ten envoys.
Historical Fragments 1.8.2.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The emperor warns that any decree against the Easterners will be void; the letter is dated 27 May 359.
Historical Fragments 2.1.3.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary refused worldly comfort and favor at the price of corrupting the gospel truth.
Historical Fragments 2.1.5.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary passes over the emperor's interference and the condemnation of the absent, to come to graver matters.
Historical Fragments 2.1.6.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary begins with Paulinus of Trier's refusal at Arles (353).
Historical Fragments 2.2.1.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Western council recalls the earlier letters of Eusebius's party against Athanasius and Marcellus, and contrary testimony.
Historical Fragments 2.2.1.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Easterners fled Serdica because accusers and victims had come to confront them.
Historical Fragments 2.2.1.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Western council of Serdica reports that the Eastern bishops came to the city but, fearing to face Athanasius, Marcellus and Asclepas and their accusers, fled and so exposed their falsehood.
Historical Fragments 2.2.1.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council refutes the charges against Athanasius: Arsenius, supposedly murdered, is alive; the story of the broken chalice is false, as the records themselves show; and the accuser Scyrus was rewarded with a bishopric though never a presbyter.
Historical Fragments 2.2.1.7Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Eastern bishops fled Serdica out of guilty conscience; they promoted Arians in the church, kept their own party from joining the council by threats, as two defectors, Arius of Palestine and Stephen of Arabia, reported.
Historical Fragments 2.2.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council of Serdica writes to Julius of Rome, excusing his absence and affirming reference to the see of Peter.
Historical Fragments 2.2.2.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council reports that the Easterners refused trial and that Athanasius and Marcellus were rightly kept in communion.
Historical Fragments 2.2.2.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council lists the three questions: the faith, the deposed bishops, and the Eastern party's violence against the churches.
Historical Fragments 2.2.2.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council condemns Ursacius and Valens, blaming Valens for the death of Viator in a riot at Aquileia.
Historical Fragments 2.2.2.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The council asks Julius to inform the Western churches and confirms communion with Marcellus, Athanasius, and Asclepas.
Historical Fragments 2.2.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The list of bishops condemned by the Western council of Serdica.
Historical Fragments 2.2.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The list of bishops who signed the Western decisions of Serdica.
Historical Fragments 2.2.5.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary argues that the charge against Athanasius over Ischyras's altar was impossible: there was no church and no presbyter.
Historical Fragments 2.2.5.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary rebukes the bishops who condemned Athanasius on charges proved false, without even being coerced.
Historical Fragments 2.2.5.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary relates how Ursacius and Valens, at the time of Photinus's condemnation, sought pardon from Julius of Rome.
Historical Fragments 2.2.6.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Ursacius and Valens confess to Julius that their charges against Athanasius were false and embrace his communion.
Historical Fragments 2.2.8Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Ursacius and Valens write to Athanasius from Aquileia declaring peace and communion with him.
Historical Fragments 2.2.9.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary explains that Athanasius broke communion with Marcellus for new teaching, not for his book, and that this was later misused.
Historical Fragments 2.2.9.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · No council condemned Marcellus after Serdica; the Easterners slipped his name into the case of Photinus to reopen the case of Athanasius.
Historical Fragments 2.2.9.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Athanasius was right both in receiving Marcellus after Serdica and in later breaking with him.
Historical Fragments 2.2.11.6Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Athanasius championed the Nicene faith and was falsely accused but acquitted; Hilary introduces the Serdican letter to Constantius.
Historical Fragments 2.3.1.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · A letter in Liberius's name to the Eastern bishops: he summoned Athanasius to Rome.
Historical Fragments 2.3.1.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Athanasius refused the summons to Rome.
Historical Fragments 2.3.1.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The letter declares Athanasius excluded from the communion of the Roman church.
Historical Fragments 2.3.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · A comment on the letter: Potamius and Epictetus ignored it while condemning the bishop of Rome.
Historical Fragments 2.3.2.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Fortunatianus circulated the letter in vain; letters from Egypt supported Athanasius.
Historical Fragments 2.4.1.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · A letter urges leniency toward those who erred at Ariminum through ignorance, but condemnation of its authors.
Historical Fragments 2.4.1.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Those who repent and profess the Nicene faith are to be received; the obstinate are to be punished by the church.
Historical Fragments 2.4.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The Italian bishops welcome Illyricum's return to Nicaea, annul Ariminum, and call for subscription to the Nicene faith.
Historical Fragments 2.5.2.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · If Germinius affirms their creed, the complaint against his clerics will not touch him.
Historical Fragments 2.5.2.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · The letter is dated 18 December 366.
Historical Fragments 2.7.6Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius tells Ossius of Vincent's failure at Arles and his own resolve to die rather than consent.
Historical Fragments 2.7.8.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · A letter of Liberius in exile to the Eastern bishops: he accepts Athanasius's condemnation and their communion.
Historical Fragments 2.7.8.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius accepts the Sirmian creed set out by Demophilus and asks to return from exile; interjected comments anathematize him.
Historical Fragments 2.7.10.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius in exile tells the Eastern bishops that Athanasius is condemned and separated from Rome's communion.
Historical Fragments 2.7.10.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius asks the bishops to obtain his return to Rome and declares communion with Epictetus and Auxentius; a reader's note anathematizes him.
Historical Fragments 2.7.11.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Liberius asks Vincent to rally the Campanian bishops to petition for his return, warning that God will judge them.
Historical Fragments 2.8.2.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 343–367 · Hilary rebukes the Western envoys at Constantinople for joining the heretics instead of condemning their blasphemies.
Canon 2Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · No one is to be honoured as a martyr who threw himself to death in madness or died for some sin; offenders do penance or, if clerics, lose their rank.
Canon 3Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Celibate men and women devoted to virginity may not live in the same house; laymen who persist are excommunicated and clerics lose their rank.
Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · No bishop may receive another's cleric without his bishop's letters, or ordain a layman of another church without that bishop's consent.
Canon 6Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Clerics may not act as managers or agents of estates and households.
Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · No cleric or layman may receive communion in another church without letters from his bishop.
Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Estate managers and guardians may be ordained only after they have laid down their offices and rendered their accounts.
Canon 9Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Masters may not compel clerics to serve as their storekeepers or accountants; the church will defend clerics against such demands.
Canon 10Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · No bishop may intrude into another's territory or people without his request.
Canon 11Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Insolent clerics are disciplined; a deacon is tried by three bishops, a presbyter by six, a bishop by twelve.
Canon 12Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Agreements between bishops dividing their people must be kept; a bishop who breaks one faces church discipline.
Canon 13Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Clerics may not lend at interest, since Scripture plainly forbids it to all.
Canon 14Anonymous · ca. 345–348 · Gratus confirms all the decrees, with excommunication or deposition for those who violate them, and the bishops subscribe.
Catechetical Lecture 4.28Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Following the apostolic decree, Christians must abstain from idol offerings, blood, and strangled meat, and eat with reverence.
Catechetical Lecture 12.25Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The teacher of purity fittingly came from a virgin, as Psalm 22 hints in “who drew me out of the womb.”
Catechetical Lecture 14.15Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · If the Jews accept the written accounts of Elijah and Elisha raising the dead, they should accept the resurrection, attested by Hebrew apostles and Jerusalem's Hebrew bishops.
Catechetical Lecture 14.21Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Against the Manichaean claim that the resurrection was only apparent, Paul's testimony and the list of witnesses in 1 Corinthians 15, including James, Jerusalem's first bishop, establish it.
Catechetical Lecture 15.7Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The Church's own sign of the end is division and hatred among bishops, clergy and laity, which Christ foretold.
Catechetical Lecture 16.22Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The Spirit works in every believer, from the congregation present to all the churches of the world, giving each his gift.
Catechetical Lecture 17.23Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The imprisoned apostles testified boldly; the Spirit also worked in the seven deacons, above all Stephen, who saw the Son of Man in glory.
Catechetical Lecture 17.31Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Cyril passes over Troas and Miletus and traces the Spirit's power in Paul at Jerusalem, Caesarea, Malta, and Rome.
Catechetical Lecture 17.35Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Candidates must come to baptism sincerely, looking not to the minister but to the Holy Spirit, who gives a seal the demons fear.
Catechetical Lecture 18.28Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · In the catholic Church God appointed apostles, prophets, and the other gifts.
Catechetical Lecture 18.29Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The Church has every gift and virtue; once persecuted, she is now honored by kings and her power is unbounded; in her we inherit eternal life.
Catechetical Lecture 21.5Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The anointed are rightly called Christians; the chrism was prefigured in the anointing of Aaron and Solomon, but is now given in truth by the Holy Spirit.
Catechetical Lecture 23.2Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The washing of the celebrants' hands signifies purity from sin.
Defence against the Arians 5Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The Egyptian bishops deny that Athanasius caused any killings, recount the origins of the hostility of Eusebius’s party, defend Athanasius’s election, and attack Eusebius’s moves from see to see.
Defence against the Arians 11Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The bishops show that the charge of the broken chalice is impossible: Ischyras’s house was no church, he was no presbyter, and it was not the Lord’s day.
Defence against the Arians 12Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The bishops argue that Ischyras was never validly ordained, since Colluthus was only a presbyter, and that he has been rewarded for his accusation with a church and perhaps a bishopric.
Defence against the Arians 19Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The Egyptian bishops ask the bishops everywhere to accept their testimony for Athanasius, to reject Eusebius’s party, who have set up a bishop for the Arians, and to disregard letters signed in the names of Egyptian bishops.
Defence against the Arians 24Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Julius explains that the Eusebians wanted him to write to Pistus, an Arian appointed by the deposed Secundus, which would have dishonored Nicaea.
Defence against the Arians 25Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Julius turns the Eusebians’ appeal to the authority of synods against them, rebukes translations of bishops from see to see, and rejects their excuses about the short notice and the troubled times.
Defence against the Arians 29Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Julius argues that he acted canonically in receiving Athanasius, while the Eusebians acted against the canons in appointing a stranger at Antioch and sending him to Alexandria with soldiers.
Defence against the Arians 30Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Julius condemns the uncanonical installation of Gregory at Alexandria by soldiers, and the violence that accompanied it, as the real breach of the canons.
Defence against the Arians 35Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Julius closes by asking for a new synod, protesting that bishops were deposed and exiled without reference to all the churches, and claiming that matters concerning Alexandria should first be referred to Rome.
Defence against the Arians 39Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The synod of Sardica asks the emperors to stop magistrates from judging clergy, declares Gregory deposed, clears four Alexandrian presbyters, and begins its parallel letter to the bishops of Egypt and Libya.
Defence against the Arians 43Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The letter to Egypt and Libya repeats the synod’s request to the emperors and its deposition of Gregory, and introduces the synod’s encyclical letter to all bishops.
Defence against the Arians 49Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The synod declares Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas innocent, rejects the bishops intruded into their sees, deposes and excommunicates the Arian leaders, and asks all bishops to sign.
Defence against the Arians 59Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Athanasius recounts the origin of the Meletian schism, Eusebius’s alliance with the Meletians, Constantine’s threatening letter, and the charge of treason dismissed at Psammathia.
Defence against the Arians 69Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Arsenius, the bishop supposedly murdered by Athanasius, writes to him submitting to the catholic Church and breaking communion with the Meletian schismatics.
Defence against the Arians 70Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Athanasius quotes Constantine’s letter welcoming John Arcaph’s reconciliation, then tells how Eusebius’s party revived the Meletian charges at Tyre, and gives Meletius’s own list of his clergy, which shows that Ischyras was never a presbyter.
Defence against the Arians 72Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Athanasius shows from Meletius’s list that Ischyras was never a presbyter, and recounts how, after failing at Tyre, his enemies sent a hostile commission to the Mareotis with the accuser but without the accused.
Defence against the Arians 74Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The clergy of the Mareotis testify to the synod of Tyre that Ischyras was never a presbyter, that no chalice was broken, and that the commission suborned witnesses through fear of the prefect.
Defence against the Arians 75Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · The Mareotic clergy testify to the imperial officials that Ischyras is no presbyter, that his “church” is an orphan’s small house, and that no chalice was broken.
Defence against the Arians 85Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 349–357 · Athanasius points out that Ischyras was rewarded with the title of bishop in a tiny village and an imperial order to build him a church, and quotes the order of the catholicus.
Long recension, Ephesians 1Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius thanks the Ephesians for their zeal in coming to meet him and praises their bishop Onesimus.
Long recension, Ephesians 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius commends the deacon Burrhus and Crocus and urges unity in subjection to the bishop and presbytery.
Long recension, Ephesians 3Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges the Ephesians to follow the mind of God and of their bishop and to sing as one choir in unity.
Long recension, Ephesians 5Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius praises the Ephesians' union with their bishop, warns against separating from the common worship, and urges obedience to bishop, presbyters and deacons.
Long recension, Ephesians 20Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges the Ephesians to stand firm and to gather in one faith under the bishop, breaking the one bread, the medicine of immortality.
Long recension, Magnesians 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius has met the Magnesians in their bishop Damas, their presbyters and the deacon Zotion.
Long recension, Magnesians 3Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius defends the authority of the young bishop with biblical examples of youths chosen by God and of the punishment of those who rose against their superiors.
Long recension, Magnesians 5Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius sets life and death before the Magnesians, describes the true and counterfeit coin of godly and ungodly, and urges them to act in concord under bishop, presbyters and deacons.
Long recension, Magnesians 13Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges the Magnesians to stand firm in the decrees of the Lord and the apostles, asks prayer for the church in Syria, and sends greetings.
Long recension, Trallians 1Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius praises the Trallians, whom he has come to know through their bishop Polybius.
Long recension, Trallians 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges subjection to the bishop, the presbytery and the deacons, ministers of the mysteries of Christ.
Long recension, Trallians 3Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges reverence for deacons, bishop and presbyters, praises the Trallians' bishop, and confesses his need of humility.
Long recension, Trallians 7Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius warns against such teachers, urges humility, and explains the dignity of bishop and presbytery.
Long recension, Trallians 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius describes deacons as imitators of the angels, then urges the Trallians to meekness, forgiveness, and conduct that gives the Gentiles no occasion for blasphemy.
Long recension, Trallians 12Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius greets the Trallians, urges concord and care for the bishop, and asks their prayers.
Long recension, Trallians 13Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Closing greetings and exhortations to the Trallians.
Long recension, Philadelphians inscriptionAnonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius greets the church at Philadelphia, founded on the rock and united with its bishop, presbyters and deacons.
Long recension, Philadelphians 1Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius praises the bishop of Philadelphia, appointed not by men but in the love of Christ.
Long recension, Philadelphians 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges the Philadelphians to flee division and heresy and to follow their shepherd.
Long recension, Philadelphians 5Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius completes his instructions, ending with widows, and disclaims apostolic authority, writing as a fellow soldier.
Long recension, Philadelphians 7Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius recalls how the Spirit moved him to cry out at Philadelphia: do nothing without the bishop.
Long recension, Philadelphians 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges unity, forgiveness for the penitent, and faith in the Gospel, whose authentic archive is Christ's cross, death and resurrection.
Long recension, Philadelphians 10Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius asks the Philadelphians to send an envoy to congratulate the church of Antioch, now at peace.
Long recension, Smyrnaeans 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius commands that nothing in the church, Eucharist, baptism or love-feast, be done without the bishop.
Long recension, Smyrnaeans 9Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges repentance while there is time.
Long recension, Smyrnaeans 11Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius reports that the church of Antioch is at peace and asks the Smyrnaeans to send a messenger with a letter of congratulation.
Long recension, Smyrnaeans 12Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius sends greetings from Troas and greets Polycarp, the presbytery and the deacons of Smyrna.
Long recension, Polycarp 1Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius exhorts Polycarp to fulfil his office as bishop with diligence, care for unity, patience and prayer.
Long recension, Polycarp 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius counsels Polycarp to win difficult disciples by gentleness and to be wise as the serpent.
Long recension, Polycarp 3Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges Polycarp to pray, to stand firm like an anvil against false teachers, and to look for Christ, timeless, invisible and impassible, yet for us born and suffering.
Long recension, Polycarp 4Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius gives Polycarp instructions on widows, slaves, wives and husbands, celibacy and marriage, and urges the church to serve as God's soldiers under the bishop.
Long recension, Polycarp 7Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius asks Polycarp to convene a council and appoint a messenger to go to Antioch, now at peace.
Long recension, Polycarp 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius asks Polycarp to write to the other churches on his behalf and sends final greetings.
Long recension, Tarsians 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Without the resurrection we would live like beasts; Ignatius urges the Tarsians to put away vice and keep good order under bishop, presbyters and deacons.
Long recension, Antiochians 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius shows from Moses, the prophets, the evangelists and the apostles that the one God has a Son who became man and suffered, condemns those who deny either, and reminds the Antiochians of Paul, Peter and Evodius.
Long recension, Antiochians 8Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius instructs the presbyters, deacons, people and virgins of Antioch.
Long recension, Antiochians 12Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius greets the clergy and people of Antioch and sends greetings from Polycarp, Onesimus, Polybius and others.
Long recension, Hero 1Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius urges Hero to persevere, bear with the weak, and fast with moderation, since wine and meat are not abominable.
Long recension, Hero 3Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius instructs Hero on widows, orphans, his service to the bishops, slaves and women, and explains the virgin birth without disparaging marriage.
Long recension, Hero 5Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius warns Hero against pride, lying and envy, gives counsel for wives and husbands, and charges him to lead the people of Antioch as Joshua succeeded Moses.
Long recension, Philippians 13Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Opening of chapter 13: Ignatius explains why he has written.
Long recension, Philippians 14Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius greets the churches and clergy, forbids keeping the Passover with the Jews, and closes the letter.
Long recension, Maria inscriptionAnonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Mary of Cassobola greets Ignatius and asks him to send Bishop Maris to her church.
Long recension, Maria 2Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Mary assures Ignatius that young men may be fit for office, citing Samuel, Daniel, Jeremiah and Solomon.
Long recension, Mary 3Anonymous · later 4th century (probable) · Ignatius has granted Mary's request for the two young bishops, praises her, and regrets that he cannot visit her.
On Humility and Obedience 4Anonymous · uncertain (4th-6th century?) · The monk under the abbot's light yoke is freed from worldly anxiety; he should accept what the abbot gives as from God, and the brothers should correct one another as abbots to each other.
Defence before Constantius 14Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 353–357 · Athanasius answers the charge of using the great church before its dedication: the Easter crowds were too large for the small churches, and his predecessors and others had done the same.
Defence before Constantius 26Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 353–357 · Athanasius explains that he asked for a written order because a bishop may not desert his flock without cause, and promises not to return to Alexandria without the emperor’s leave.
Defence before Constantius 28Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 353–357 · Athanasius tells how, once the true bishops were removed, the Arians sold bishoprics to the wealthy, even to pagans and catechumens, and exiled the monks and ascetics Alexander had made bishops.
Commentary on Matthew 16Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 353–355 · Jesus refuses a sign except that of Jonah, warns against the Pharisees’ leaven, receives Peter’s confession (with Hilary’s statement of the Son’s eternal generation and incarnation and his praise of Peter as foundation and doorkeeper), rebukes the devil’s suggestion through Peter, and calls disciples to take up the cross.
Commentary on Matthew 21Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 353–355 · Hilary expounds the triumphal entry (the donkey and colt as Samaritans and nations), the cleansing of the temple (sellers of doves as those who sell the Spirit’s gift), the children’s praise, the cursed fig tree as the synagogue, the question about John’s baptism, and the two sons.
Commentary on Matthew 27Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 353–355 · Hilary applies the faithful and unfaithful servant to bishops, interprets the ten virgins (bridegroom and bride as the divine Spirit and the flesh in Christ, lamps as souls shining from baptism, oil as good works), and, after a gap in the text, the servant who hid his talent as the people of the law.
Letter to Dracontius 1Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius rebukes Dracontius, a monk newly chosen bishop, for fleeing his appointment, and warns of the harm his flight will do.
Letter to Dracontius 2Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius tells Dracontius that a bishop lives for his people, and that hiding the gift is like burying the talent.
Letter to Dracontius 3Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius urges Dracontius not to serve the times but the Lord, and points to Moses, Jeremiah and Jonah, who tried to refuse their calling but obeyed.
Letter to Dracontius 6Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius urges Dracontius to fear the judgment and take up the charge entrusted to him.
Letter to Dracontius 7Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius reminds Dracontius of other monks who became bishops, served well, and turned many to Christ.
Letter to Dracontius 8Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius argues that the saints grew in holiness precisely by fulfilling the ministries to which they were sent.
Letter to Dracontius 9Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius answers the claim that the episcopate leads to sin: bishops can be as ascetic as monks, and the crown depends on deeds, not on place.
Letter to Dracontius 10Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 355 · Athanasius urges Dracontius to return before Easter, and sends Hierax and Maximus to persuade him.
To the Bishops of Egypt 7Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 356 · Athanasius lists the Arian bishops who were promoted for their heresy and warns that George of Cappadocia, a man of violent character, is about to be sent to Alexandria.
To the Bishops of Egypt 9Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 356 · Athanasius warns that the Arian envoys are antichrists who use Scripture's words as bait, and that it is the mind and conduct, not the wording, that show a true believer.
Life of Antony 67Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357–360 · Antony honored the clergy, deferring even to deacons, was eager to learn, and had a face so radiant with inner peace that strangers recognized him at once among the monks.
On the Trinity 6.2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · As a bishop Hilary writes to win back many from the heresy, so that they may honor the Father by honoring the Son.
On the Trinity 6.37Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · Peter's confession of Christ as Son of God is the foundation of the church and the key of the kingdom; to call Christ a creature denies Peter's whole apostleship.
On the Trinity 8.1Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · Paul requires a bishop to join a blameless life with sound teaching able to refute those who contradict.
On the Trinity 8.33Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · The ministries and workings in the church are both God's and Christ's gifts, as 1 Cor 12:27–28 and Eph 4:7–12 show.
On Saint Athanasius 1.1Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer opens his defence of Athanasius by arguing that God himself heard Adam and Eve before sentencing them, so the emperor's demand to condemn Athanasius unheard is the serpent's work.
On Saint Athanasius 1.2Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From God's questioning of Cain, the law given to Noah against shedding blood, and Moses' judging by God's law, Lucifer argues that bishops may not condemn Athanasius unheard.
On Saint Athanasius 1.3Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From Lot's wife, God's covenant at Sinai, the commandments against killing and false witness, and the laws on just judgment, Lucifer argues that the bishops cannot condemn an innocent man at the emperor's command.
On Saint Athanasius 1.4Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From the laws of Leviticus and Deuteronomy against slander and partiality in judgment, Lucifer argues that the bishops may not favour the emperor's person, and declares that they fear no one but God.
On Saint Athanasius 1.6Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer argues that the emperor, by demanding Athanasius's condemnation and promoting heresy, breaks the first commandment and the law requiring two or three witnesses, and defies the judgment of the priests.
On Saint Athanasius 1.7Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer denies that the emperor has any authority to judge bishops, citing the law of the king in Deuteronomy and the laws on murder and false witnesses.
On Saint Athanasius 1.9Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer argues that bishops are chosen by God and ordained by catholic bishops, as Joshua succeeded Moses by the laying on of hands, so the emperor's intrusion of George into Athanasius's see is an attack on God's ordination.
On Saint Athanasius 1.10Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Citing the prophecy against Eli for honouring his unworthy sons above God, Lucifer argues that bishops who deposed Athanasius for George would have honoured the emperor above God.
On Saint Athanasius 1.20Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Contrasting Elijah's ascension with Ahab's torment, and recalling how Jeroboam expelled the Levites, Lucifer says the emperor's expulsion of bishops shows he is without God.
On Saint Athanasius 1.21Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer contrasts Jehoshaphat's charge to his judges to judge without partiality in the fear of the Lord with the emperor's order to condemn Athanasius unheard.
On Saint Athanasius 1.22Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer sets Jehoshaphat, who sent priests through Judah to teach God's law, against the emperor, who sends his orders through the empire to overturn it.
On Saint Athanasius 1.28Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From Proverbs on justice above sacrifice and the duty to rescue those led to death, Lucifer calls the emperor a pestilence that infects souls with heresy.
On Saint Athanasius 1.35Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer explains that the bishops refused to condemn Athanasius because they trust God, not princes, and applies to the emperor the prophets' rebukes of unjust rulers in Ecclesiastes, Hosea, Amos, Micah and Habakkuk.
On Saint Athanasius 1.37Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Citing Zechariah's commands to judge justly and love peace and truth, Lucifer tells the emperor that no command of God authorizes condemning the innocent, and that the bishops could not have done so and kept the Lord's peace.
On Saint Athanasius 2.3Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer accuses the emperor of laying waste the Lord's pasture by removing orthodox shepherds and silencing others, likens him to Herod slaughtering the innocents, and calls him to repent with John the Baptist's warning.
On Saint Athanasius 2.8Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer points to the exile of Dionysius of Milan and the intrusion of Auxentius as proof that the emperor persecutes the orthodox for refusing to become Arians, and quotes Susanna's trial as a parallel to the false charges against Athanasius.
On Saint Athanasius 2.13Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer rejects the emperor's appeal to Paul's judgment of the incestuous Corinthian made in absence, since Paul acted on faithful witnesses and with the church assembled, and recalls that the legates offered to go and hear Athanasius in Alexandria.
On Saint Athanasius 2.18Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer argues that the emperor ignored Christ's procedure for correcting a brother, that heretics cannot be witnesses against a catholic bishop, and recalls that the murder charge against Athanasius had already failed at Serdica.
On Saint Athanasius 2.24Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer compares the plot against Athanasius to the Jews' conspiracy to ambush Paul, and contrasts the emperor with the pagan governor Festus, who insisted on hearing Paul and his accusers together.
On Saint Athanasius 2.25Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From John 7–10 Lucifer argues that the law forbids judging a man unheard, and that the emperor and George, rejected by the flock of Alexandria, are the thieves and robbers who did not enter by the door.
On Saint Athanasius 2.27Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From Paul's qualifications for a bishop in Titus 1–2 (blameless, not violent, able to refute error), Lucifer argues that the emperor's order would make bishops murderers, while admitting with Job and 1 John that he himself is a sinner.
On Saint Athanasius 2.28Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From Titus 2, Ephesians 5 and Philippians 3, Lucifer argues that a bishop who obeyed the emperor would lose the pattern of good works and the blessed hope, and that the emperor lives under the power of darkness among the enemies of the cross.
On Saint Athanasius 2.29Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer contrasts Paul, who did such things only before his conversion, with the emperor's court bishops who sold the apostolic faith for his table, and cites Ephesians 4 on the ministries Christ gave to build up his body.
On Saint Athanasius 2.30Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer charges that the emperor removed the orthodox shepherds whom Christ gave the church (Ephesians 4) so as to lay waste the flock, and that bishops who condemned Athanasius out of fear committed a threefold crime.
Letters 7Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Liberius defends himself to Constantius over Athanasius, insists on the Nicene faith, and sends Lucifer and two legates to ask for a council.
That One Must Die for the Son of God 15Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Closing his work, Lucifer says that those who love God gladly endure brief evils for eternal rewards, that the bishops' power to bind condemns the emperor rather than he them, and that Constantius's repentance after death will be in vain.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 6Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From the priests who drove the leprous King Uzziah out of the temple, Lucifer argues that the bishops may rightly tell Constantius that an Arian may not assemble with the church, and contrasts Josiah, who killed idolaters, with the mere words the bishops have used.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 10Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Citing God's appointment of Ezekiel as watchman, whose silence would make him answerable for the sinner's blood, Lucifer argues that bishops must warn the emperor, and quotes Judith's prayer for the destruction of Israel's enemies.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 11Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer argues that bishops are shepherds who must face the wolf rather than flee like hirelings, and that warning Constantius of destruction is no insult but their duty to Christ's flock.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 13Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Contrasting Mattathias's and Phinehas's swords with his own words, Lucifer ironically wonders why the emperor has not killed him and argues from God's charge to Jeremiah that a bishop must rebuke even a king.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 19Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer says the bishops pray for the emperor as Paul commands, but must also rebuke him publicly without partiality, as Paul charged Timothy, and must, like the apostles beaten by the council, go on preaching Christ.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 27Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer applies Paul's warnings against the serpent's deceit and against false apostles disguised as ministers of righteousness to Constantius, who feigns piety while deposing catholic bishops, and cites the girl with the spirit of divination at Philippi.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 29Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · From Paul's farewell charge to the Ephesian elders to guard the flock against fierce wolves, and his rebuke of the high priest Ananias, Lucifer argues that bishops must not spare the emperor or revere his regalia.
On Not Sparing Those Who Sin against God 32Lucifer of Cagliari · ca. 356–361 · Lucifer warns Constantius of the river of fire, defends calling him a beast by Paul's words on the Cretans, and answers the emperor's appeal to the duty of obeying kings with Paul's command to Titus to rebuke with all authority.
Defence of His Flight 25Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius concludes that fleeing as Peter, Paul, Moses, and David did was obedience, not cowardice, exposes the scandalous lives of Leontius, Narcissus, and George, and ends with the Psalms of deliverance.
History of the Arians 3Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius argues that the Arians’ treatment of many other bishops shows that the charges against him were invented, and contrasts their protection of the guilty with their persecution of the orthodox.
History of the Arians 4Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius lists Eustathius of Antioch, Eutropius of Adrianople, and other bishops deposed on pretexts and replaced by Arians.
History of the Arians 14Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius contrasts Gregory’s scorn for the letters of Antony with his delight in letters from officials, and tells how the duke Balacius died after insulting Antony’s letter.
History of the Arians 15Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius describes the Council of Sardica, where the Eastern bishops, finding a church trial without officials and their accusers present, shut themselves in the palace and resolved to flee.
History of the Arians 17Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · The synod of Sardica cleared Athanasius, deposed the leaders of the Arian party, and declared Gregory’s episcopate and appointments void.
History of the Arians 20Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius tells how Stephen of Antioch tried to discredit the envoys of Sardica by sending a prostitute into Bishop Euphrates’s room at Easter, and was deposed when the plot was exposed.
History of the Arians 31Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius describes how, after the councils of Arles and Milan, Constantius sent officials throughout the empire to force bishops to condemn him and communicate with the Arians.
History of the Arians 33Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius contrasts the devil’s violence with Christ’s gentleness and recounts how Constantius exiled Paulinus, Lucifer, Eusebius of Vercelli, and Dionysius for refusing to condemn him.
History of the Arians 35Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius recounts how the Arians targeted Liberius of Rome, and how Constantius sent the eunuch Eusebius with gifts and threats to win him over.
History of the Arians 36Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Liberius refuses to condemn Athanasius and proposes a free synod, away from the palace, which would first settle the faith of Nicaea and only then examine conduct.
History of the Arians 41Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius tells of the scourging of the Roman deacon Hilary and of Liberius’s eventual signature after two years of exile, which he attributes to compulsion.
History of the Arians 44Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Hosius’s letter to Constantius: he recounts the fair challenge offered to Athanasius’s enemies at Sardica, urges the emperor to stop persecuting, and insists that church affairs belong to the bishops, not the emperor.
History of the Arians 48Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius recounts the assault of Syrianus, Constantius’s letter inciting Alexandria against him, and the emperor’s false claim that he had restored Athanasius only for his brother’s sake, contrasting his conduct with his father’s and brother’s.
History of the Arians 52Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius argues that the emperor has no place in church judgments and that the alliance of Constantius and the Arian bishops is a new and unprecedented spectacle.
History of the Arians 54Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius tells how the count Heraclius announced the transfer of the churches to the Arians and made the pagan councillors and temple-wardens sign that they would accept the emperor’s bishop.
History of the Arians 72Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius lists the Egyptian bishops exiled in 356–357 and describes the tortures of laymen and virgins, and the replacement of the exiles by unworthy men who had bought their sees.
History of the Arians 73Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius applies Daniel’s vision of the Antichrist to Constantius, who wars against the saints, overthrew three rulers, and changes the Church’s laws by imposing bishops from afar.
History of the Arians 75Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius describes the intrusion of Auxentius at Milan and George at Alexandria, and the consecration of Felix as bishop of Rome in the palace, with eunuchs for a congregation.
History of the Arians 76Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius recounts how at the Council of Milan Constantius made himself Athanasius’s accuser and exiled the bishops who protested that an absent man could not be tried.
History of the Arians 78Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357 · Athanasius describes the Meletians chosen as bishops: pagans and councillors seeking tax immunity, uncatechized and ready to become Arians at the emperor’s word.
Letter 28Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil consoles the church of Neocaesarea on the death of its bishop Musonius, praises his faithfulness to ancient tradition, and urges them to choose a worthy successor in peace.
Letter 29Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Fragment: Basil laments to the church of Ancyra the death of its bishop Athanasius and fears divisions over his successor.
Letter 53Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil warns the country bishops against taking money for ordinations, even after the fact, as simony that sells the gift of God.
Letter 54Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil orders the country bishops to restore the old canons for admitting minor clergy, to send him lists of ministers, and to expel those admitted without examination.
Letter 55Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Fragment: Basil orders an aged presbyter to send away the woman living in his house, to avoid scandal, on pain of suspension.
Letter 62Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil consoles the church of Parnassus on its bishop's death and urges them to provide for a worthy successor.
Letter 66Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil urges Athanasius to win the support of the Western bishops for the East and to heal the schism at Antioch.
Letter 67Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil asks Athanasius to support Meletius as the rightful bishop of Antioch, around whom the divided Nicene parties should unite.
Letter 69Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil sends Dorotheus to Athanasius, proposes asking the bishop of Rome to send envoys and to condemn Marcellus of Ancyra, and urges unity at Antioch.
Letters 81, 82Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil offers bishop Innocent a holy presbyter as his successor; a second letter asks Athanasius to write to the Eastern bishops seeking communion, offering to hold the letters until they reply.
Letter 92Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · A joint letter of thirty-two Eastern bishops to the bishops of Italy and Gaul describing the Arian ruin of the Eastern churches and begging them to send a synod to restore the Nicene faith and heal the schisms.
Letter 99Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells Count Terentius how he met Eustathius and found him orthodox, how Theodotus of Nicopolis then shut him out and insulted him, and what little he could do in Armenia.
Letter 102Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells the people of Satala that he has given them his own kinsman Poemenius as bishop at great personal cost, and asks them to receive him warmly.
Letter 103Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil announces to Satala that God has given them a worthy shepherd.
Letter 104Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil asks the prefect Modestus to restore the old exemption of the clergy from taxation as a general grant administered by the church.
Letter 120Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil sends Meletius a memorandum for a letter to the Western bishops and reports that Anthimus has irregularly ordained Faustus for Armenia.
Letter 121Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil greets Theodotus through Sanctissimus and tells him how Faustus, refused by Basil, got himself ordained by Anthimus.
Letter 122Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil explains to Poemenius that he refused letters and communion to the Armenians because Anthimus ordained Faustus without the votes of the Armenian bishops.
Letter 130Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil explains to Theodotus why he has broken with Eustathius of Sebasteia, who has attacked him, offered an Arian creed, and reportedly re-ordained clergy.
Letter 138Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil, prevented by illness from visiting Eusebius, asks his counsel about Evagrius's demands from Rome, the orthodox at Sebasteia, and a bishop for Iconium.
Letter 142Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil introduces a chorepiscopus to a prefect's accountant and asks him to exempt the chorepiscopus's poorhouse from taxation.
Letter 161Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil greets Amphilochius on his unwilling ordination as bishop of Iconium and counsels him to steer his church through the storms of heresy and to reform bad customs.
Letter 169Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells Gregory how the deacon Glycerius ran off with a band of virgins and asks him to send them back.
Letter 170Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil calls the runaway deacon Glycerius to return, promising fatherly pardon and warning of deposition.
Letters 188, 189Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil's first canonical letter to Amphilochius rules on the baptism of heretics and schismatics, abortion, lapsed deacons, repeated marriages, homicide, divorce, oaths, and other cases; the ref ends with most of his letter to Eustathius the physician defending the one godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Letters 190, 191Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil advises Amphilochius on providing bishops for Isauria, reports on Nyssa, answers questions on the manna and Pharaoh's chariots; then (Letter 191) he welcomes Amphilochius's first letter of communion and proposes a meeting of the like-minded.
Letter 197Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil welcomes Ambrose's election as bishop of Milan from the governor's office and reports the sending of the relics of bishop Dionysius of Milan from Cappadocia, vouching for their genuineness.
Letters 198, 199Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil explains to Eusebius why his letters are few and that he is near death; then (Letter 199, the Second Canonical Letter) he answers Amphilochius on oaths, fallen virgins, monks' vows, sexual immorality and adultery, abduction, unlawful and repeated marriages, deserted spouses, rebaptism of Encratites, and related cases.
Letter 204Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil appeals to the church of Neocaesarea, estranged from him by slander, to examine the charges fairly, recalling their common teachers (Gregory Thaumaturgus, Macrina), his orthodoxy, and his communion with bishops throughout the world.
Letter 214Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil warns Count Terentius against the party of Paulinus at Antioch and its Western letters, defends Meletius, and explains why speaking of one hypostasis in God gives ground to Sabellianism: essence is common, hypostasis particular.
Letter 215Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells the presbyter Dorotheus that a winter journey to Rome is impossible and doubts that his brother Gregory of Nyssa is fit for an embassy to the Western bishop.
Letter 216Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells Meletius of his journeys to Pisidia and Pontus, the troubles at Dazimon and Neocaesarea, and his letter warning Terentius against the party of Paulinus.
Letter 217Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil's third canonical letter to Amphilochius: after personal news, canons 51–84 set the penitential periods for murder, adultery, fornication, incest, perjury, sorcery, apostasy, and other sins, and stress that the fruits of repentance, not time alone, decide.
Letter 222Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil thanks the Chalcidians for a letter that refreshed him as the Arian 'fire' spreads toward Cappadocia, praises the unity of their clergy and people, and urges them to hold together.
Letter 225Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Writing for a synod of bishops, Basil asks the vicar Demosthenes to excuse the absence of his brother Gregory of Nyssa, who fell ill under arrest, and to hold any inquiry into Gregory's election and accounts in Cappadocia rather than abroad.
Letter 227Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil consoles the clergy of Colonia on the transfer of their bishop Euphronius to Nicopolis, urging them to accept it as the Spirit's arrangement and warning them against going to the civil courts.
Letter 228Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil asks the magistrates of Colonia to accept that their bishop Euphronius now also serves Nicopolis, as a protection for the Armenian churches against the Arian party.
Letter 229Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil praises the clergy of Nicopolis and Bishop Poemenius for the swift appointment of their new bishop, and urges them not to provoke the people of Colonia, whose bishop has been given to them.
Letters 230, 231Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil urges the magistrates of Nicopolis to hold firmly to their new bishop; in a second letter, to Amphilochius, he commends Elpidius, reports the exile of his brother Gregory and troubles at Doara, and promises to send his book On the Holy Spirit.
Letter 237Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells Eusebius of Samosata how the vicar Demosthenes has persecuted the orthodox: deposing bishops, ordering Gregory of Nyssa's arrest, enrolling Basil's clergy in the curia, and backing Eustathius against Nicopolis.
Letters 238, 239Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil consoles the presbyters of Nicopolis, driven from their church after a fellow presbyter went over to the Arian party; a second letter to Eusebius of Samosata reports the intrusion of unworthy bishops at Nyssa, Doara, and Nicopolis and voices Basil's frustration with the Western bishops.
Letter 240Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil encourages the presbyters of Nicopolis, worshiping in the open air after their church was seized, to endure, and refuses to recognize the bishop installed by the Arian party.
Letter 244Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil explains to Patrophilus of Aegae how his breach with Eustathius of Sebaste came about, rebutting the charges of communion with Apollinarius and of deceit over the Nicopolitan creed, and listing the many creeds Eustathius has accepted, before asking whether Patrophilus remains in communion with him.
Letter 258Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil thanks Epiphanius for his concern about the divided monks on the Mount of Olives, says he will add nothing to the Nicene creed but the glorifying of the Spirit, explains his loyalty to Meletius in the Antiochene schism, welcomes Epiphanius's confession of three hypostases, and describes the Magusaeans of Cappadocia.
Letter 263Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil asks the Western bishops to denounce publicly to the Eastern Churches three men who are disturbing them while claiming orthodoxy: Eustathius of Sebaste, Apollinarius, and Paulinus of Antioch, whose teachings and careers he describes.
Letters 265, 266Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil writes to exiled Egyptian bishops denouncing the innovations of Apollinarius and warning them not to admit the followers of Marcellus without an anathema of his heresy; a second letter, to Peter of Alexandria, explains his silence about recent disorders, accepts Peter's approach to the Marcellians, and defends Meletius and Eusebius against the charge of Arianism.
Letter 271Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil, sorry to have missed his old schoolfellow Eusebius, recalls their shared youth and commends to him the presbyter Cyriacus as blameless in his priesthood.
Letter 287Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil orders that a slippery offender who evades church judgment be excommunicated with his household, in the hope that he will be ashamed.
Letter 288Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil excommunicates an unrepentant offender after the three steps of Matt 18:15–17, and orders the village to shun him in everyday dealings.
Letter 290Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells his old friend Nectarius that he will not appoint church leaders to please men, but will give his testimony and leave the choice to God.
On the Synods 4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 358–359 · The Gauls keep communion only among the faithful and refuse to share in the exile of orthodox bishops by silent assent.
On the Synods 91Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 358–359 · Condemning homoousion would condemn the Nicene fathers and the bishops' own ordination; Hilary held both terms in the same sense from the Gospels.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 70Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's seventieth rule, in thirty-seven chapters, on those entrusted with preaching the word: how they are to be appointed, what and how they must teach, and how they are to care for, lead and, when necessary, leave those entrusted to them.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 71Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's seventy-first rule gathers the precepts of Scripture on bishops and presbyters, and on deacons.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 80Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's eightieth and last rule: what the word wants Christians, and those entrusted with preaching, to be, ending with his summary of the marks of a Christian.
On the Holy Spirit 24Didymus the Blind · Greek ca. 360-390; Latin 387-391 · Baptism without any one of the three names is incomplete; the Spirit appoints the church's leaders as Christ and the Father do, and like them he dwells in the heart, which no creature can.
Letter 41Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of the letter to the governor, praying he may join the persecuted rather than the persecutors; then a rebuke to Gregory for leaving his office as reader to become a teacher of rhetoric.
Letter 51Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory defends his frank letter to Eusebius as spiritual rather than insolent, then submits to him and offers to come and help the Church against its attackers.
Letter 53Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory urges Basil to be reconciled with Bishop Eusebius, who is now well disposed, and to come at once because heretics threaten the Church.
Letter 83Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory declines Basil's summons to Caesarea; then, in his father's name, he writes to the Church of Caesarea that the choice of a bishop concerns the whole Church.
Letter 85Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory the Elder commends Basil to the Church of Caesarea as the one man fit to be its bishop against the heretics, and refuses to take part if faction decides.
Letter 87Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory the Elder begs Eusebius of Samosata to come to Caesarea after the death of its bishop Eusebius, to help give the Church an orthodox shepherd.
Letter 89Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of the appeal to Eusebius of Samosata; then Gregory the Elder rebukes the bishops of the province for summoning him late and casts his vote for Basil.
Letter 91Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of the letter to the bishops; then Gregory greets Eusebius of Samosata, whose arrival has comforted the widowed Church of Caesarea, with a string of biblical praises.
Letter 93Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory ends his greeting to Eusebius of Samosata, explaining why he did not come with his father; then he congratulates Basil on becoming bishop but explains why he will not hurry to Caesarea.
Letter 99Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory protests to Basil, who has accused him of ingratitude, that he has only realized late how he was used, and lists what others say of Basil's treatment of him.
Letter 101Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory refuses to take up arms for Basil against Anthimus of Tyana over Sasima, asks only for quiet, and ends bitterly that he has learned not to trust friends.
Letter 103Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory answers Basil's charge of sloth by praising inactivity; then he begins an account of Anthimus's visit to Nazianzus and his pressure over Sasima.
Letter 105Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory tells Basil how he resisted Anthimus, who left accusing him of siding with Basil, and protests at Basil's haughty treatment of him.
Letter 123Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · A short note to Amphilochius the elder; then Gregory, grieving for his own father, protests against Amphilochius's charge that he betrayed his son, who had been made bishop against his father's wish.
Letter 125Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory explains to Amphilochius the elder that he had tried to consult him in time and was then kept away by his father's death, and that he too was overruled by their common friends.
Letter 131Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of a letter to Eusebius of Samosata; then Gregory asks the tax assessor Julian not to blame him for a family quarrel, to fulfil his promise to the poor, and to exempt Gregory's clergy from the tax register.
Letter 149Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory rebukes the noblewoman Simplicia, who praises his dead father but claims as her slave the man his father ordained bishop.
Letter 151Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory explains that the ordination was made at the people's unanimous request for a neglected district, and offers a fair settlement of Simplicia's claim.
Letter 153Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory offers to try the bishop on any charge, slave or not, and warns Simplicia not to appeal to the civil courts or to oppose the Spirit.
Letter 161Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory tells a friend that, weary of quarrelling bishops, he is withdrawing, and that he is not bound to a Church that was never his.
Letter 169Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory tells Leontius his illness freed him from the bishops' quarrels; then congratulates a prefect of Constantinople and regrets his own brief time there; then greets Heracleianus.
Letter 171Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks the town council to exempt the poor deacon Theotecnus, who serves the martyrs' shrine, from the tax on trades; then he praises Homophronius's retirement.
Letter 215Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory, after many Easters, longs to leave the Egypt of this life for the promised land, and asks his correspondents to give his Church a bishop chosen by the Spirit.
Letter 219Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory, ill and at the hot springs, asks the governor Olympius to punish the Apollinarians, who have set up a bishop of their own at Nazianzus in defiance of the imperial laws.
Letter 223Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of a letter commending a disabled man; then Gregory, bedridden, begs a governor to release the deacon Eugenius, accused because of his connection with one Rhegianus.
Letter 225Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory declines the emperor's summons to a synod: he has never seen a synod end well, and his illness keeps him at home.
Letter 229Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks Saturninus, a Christian official, to write to him and to help bring the new synod to a peaceful settlement.
Letter 235Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of a letter about the neglected Church of Nazianzus; then Gregory writes to a newly appointed bishop, explaining that he had left Nazianzus because he was never its bishop and was ill.
Letter 237Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory explains that, under pressure and with the Church in danger, he has given way and will care for Nazianzus for the present.
Letter 245Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks a governor to remit the rest of the punishment of Leontius, a former presbyter, for the sake of God and the clergy.
Letter 255Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · The end of a letter ordering an inquiry into an injury charged against a deacon; then Gregory commends the deacon George to Asterius; then begins a letter to Nectarius.
Letter 257Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory commends George to Nectarius; then he appeals to the metropolitan bishop for help, since the Church of Nazianzus is without a bishop and the Apollinarians are active.
Letter 259Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory threatens to announce publicly that Nazianzus needs a bishop; then he tells Bosporius he will no longer be deceived and will withdraw to God; then he praises Olympius after his term of office.
Letter 263Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory praises Asterius as the governor's indispensable helper, like Iolaus to Heracles; then he tells Bishop Theodore bitterly that he will trouble him no more about church affairs.
Letter 271Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory tells a bishop that George, who broke a written oath, has been brought to repentance, and asks him to impose a penance whose length matches his compunction.
Letter 283Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory congratulates the prefect Postumianus, a Christian before he took office, and urges him to bring the Churches to peace at the coming synod.
Letter 297Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory announces that Eulalius has been made bishop of Nazianzus, and answers objections that a bishop cannot be ordained in the lifetime of another: Gregory was bishop of Sasima, not Nazianzus.
Letter 299Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks a bishop to stop Helladius's hostile interference over Nazianzus, explaining that illness alone made him ask the bishops of his country to give the Church its own bishop.
Letter 301Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks that Bishop Bosporius, accused of false doctrine in a dispute over parishes, be judged fairly; the following letter to Amphilochius is unreadable in the scan.
Letter 303Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks Nectarius of Constantinople to settle the dispute over parishes himself and not let Bishop Bosporius's orthodoxy be tried in the civil courts.
Letter 357Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory urges the young monk to resist the devil's first assault; then he asks Bishop Helladius to restore Sacerdos to his work, or at least leave him the care of his monastery.
Letter 359Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory begs Helladius to lay aside his anger against Sacerdos and treat him as a son; then, in a further letter, he sends Sacerdos himself to answer the charges.
Letter 369Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 360–390 · Gregory asks the general Hellebichus to release from military service Mamas, a soldier's son who has become a reader in the Church.
To Constantius 2.1Hilary of Poitiers · 360 · Hilary declares he is a bishop in communion with Gaul, exiled through faction and false reports, with Julian as witness.
To Constantius 2.2Hilary of Poitiers · 360 · Hilary offers to prove the emperor was deceived, accepting lay penance if he is found guilty.
Against Constantius 2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–361 · Hilary recounts his break with Saturninus, Ursacius, and Valens, his exile after Béziers, and his long restraint.
Against Constantius 7Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–361 · Hilary charges Constantius with persecuting the church more cunningly than Nero, Decius, and Maximian, especially at Ariminum.
Against Constantius 10Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–361 · Constantius's gifts to the church are sheep's clothing over a wolf.
Against Constantius 11Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–361 · Hilary lists Constantius's violence: against Alexandria and Athanasius, Paulinus of Trier, Milan, Liberius of Rome, and Toulouse.
Against Constantius 15Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–361 · The condemned anomoeans won over Constantius, who forced the Eastern envoys to sign and installed heretical bishops.
Against Constantius 27Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–361 · Constantius's condemnations reach even the dead fathers of Nicaea and his own father Constantine; an appendix of excerpts follows.
Tractates on the Psalms 52.13Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God's people are distinct from those who devour them: persecutors, slanderers, and clergy who enrich themselves from the offerings; such do not truly call upon God.
Tractates on the Psalms 67.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God gives the word to the many apostolic “powers” of Christ the beloved, and adorns the church with spoils taken from the devil and the nations.
Tractates on the Psalms 67.14Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The leaders of the churches are made kings and whitened as snow on Salmon, the mountain of peace, like the transfigured Christ.
Tractates on the Psalms 67.28Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Benjamin is Paul, and the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali are the apostles called in Galilee; the church draws its teaching from the fountains of Israel.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.1.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God's justifications cover every relationship, from slaves and family to church leaders and God himself, and must all be kept equally, including right belief about the Father and the Son.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.3.16Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Even Paul was given a thorn to keep him from pride, and he forbade a new convert to be made bishop lest he grow proud.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.6.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Sin can take the word of truth from the mouth, for God forbids the sinner to preach his statutes; the preacher must be pure.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.8.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The Levites received no land because the Lord was their portion.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.14.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The apostles are the lamps of the church, Christ's body; John the Baptist was a burning lamp; the wise virgins entered with their lamps lit.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.16.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · A soul empty of God is occupied by the devil; Paul handed notorious sinners over to Satan, as those cast out of the church are handed to his power.
Tractates on the Psalms 121.3Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Those whose feet stand in Jerusalem's courts are the apostles, keepers of the keys, who announce the heavenly house built of living stones.
Tractates on the Psalms 134.27Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Israel, Aaron, Levi, and those who fear the Lord are ranks within the church; 'Israel', those who see God by knowledge and contemplation, rank above even priests and ministers.
Tractates on the Psalms 138.34Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The 'eyes' are the apostles and priests, the light of the church; if they are darkened by worldly cares and avarice, the whole body falls into darkness.
Tractates on the Psalms 138.44Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · 'Men of blood' are bishops whose flattering silence lets people perish, as Ezekiel's watchman shows, and teachers whose doctrine is deceitful.
Sermon on Baptism 6Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian explains that Christians are born of Christ’s union with the church through the Spirit in baptism, chrism, and the bishop’s ministry, and so are renewed for eternal life.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 1.6Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian argues that the power to bind and loose given to the apostles has passed to the bishops along with baptism and chrism.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 1.7Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian defends the bishop’s authority to forgive as derived from the apostles and says the pardon of penance is granted only after long and careful testing.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 2.3Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian rejects Sympronian’s insulting names for Cyprian’s people and presses him to admit that his sect is called Novatian.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 2.7Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian denies that Novatian was a martyr, recounts his schism against Cornelius from Cyprian’s letters, and argues that suffering outside the church’s peace is no martyrdom.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.5Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian shows from Cyprian’s letter to Antonianus that Novatian himself, before the schism, wrote the Roman letter allowing peace to dying lapsed Christians.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.6Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian tells how Novatus, fleeing trial at Carthage, urged the disappointed Novatian at Rome to set himself up as a rival bishop to Cornelius.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.7Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian answers that bishops who discipline penitents do not acknowledge deniers but correct them, and that it is God, through them, who forgives.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.11Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian refutes the Novatian claim that the power to bind and loose applied only to catechumens, appealing to Matt 16 and 18.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.12Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian distinguishes private forgiveness of a brother from the church’s power to loose any sin, arguing from Matt 18.
Three Letters to Sympronianus 3.19Pacian of Barcelona · ca. 360-390 · Pacian turns the Novatian charges of laxity back on them, pointing to the disreputable men they received, and reads “lay hands hastily on no one” as allowing reconciliation after penance.
Commentary on Ephesians 4.11Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Among Christ’s gifts are prophets after Christ, who are not foretellers of his coming but those who, full of the Spirit, expound the divine teaching.
Commentary on Ephesians 4.12Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Evangelists narrate and proclaim Christ, pastors (bishops) govern and teachers instruct, and all these ministries were given for presiding over the mysteries and building up the church in faith.
Commentary on Ephesians 6.19Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Prayer must be for others as well as oneself, leaders for the faithful and catechumens, and the faithful for their leaders, and Paul asks the Ephesians to pray that he may proclaim the mystery boldly.
Commentary on Philippians 2.25Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Meanwhile Paul sends Epaphroditus, whom he calls the Philippians’ “apostle” in the sense that anyone sent for the gospel can be called an apostle.
Commentary on Philippians 2.29Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · The Philippians should welcome and honor Epaphroditus, who nearly died in Christ’s work while completing the service Paul could not render them.
Oration 1.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory, anointed in a mystery, withdrew to examine himself and returns on Easter so that the risen Christ may renew him for his ministry.
Oration 1.6Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory’s father, the bishop, offers the people his son as a second shepherd, the living temple beside the church he built, and words written by the Spirit.
Oration 1.7Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory’s father, like Abraham, offers his son; the people are urged to follow their true shepherds in the faith of the one Godhead of Father, Son, and Spirit, and not strange voices.
Oration 2.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory begins his defence: order and rule in the church are God's arrangement, and a church without leaders would be crippled.
Oration 2.5Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Rising from being ruled to ruling is no disgrace, and Gregory did not refuse the presbyterate from ambition for a higher rank.
Oration 2.8Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory was ashamed of unworthy men who push themselves into the clergy as a career.
Oration 2.9Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Ruling souls is unlike tending animals: the ruler of men must be tested and pure, since his vice spreads to many.
Oration 2.12Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Evil spreads easily and good with difficulty, so a leader must not be a bad model or a physician full of sores.
Oration 2.14Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Freedom from sin is not enough for a leader: he must excel in good and never stop advancing.
Oration 2.15Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · A ruler must lead by excellence and persuasion, not by force.
Oration 2.16Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Guiding souls is the art of arts, harder and nobler than medicine, which deals with perishable bodies.
Oration 2.17Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The soul, bound to the body for its testing and the body's elevation, needs a healing far harder than any physician's.
Oration 2.23Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Clergy are servants of this healing, and healing others is harder than healing oneself.
Oration 2.27Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Physicians toil to lengthen bodily life; the shepherd of souls must treat different people with goad or bridle.
Oration 2.31Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Praise and blame, encouragement and rebuke, public and private correction suit different people.
Oration 2.32Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The shepherd must vary his treatment by person and circumstance; no single remedy fits all.
Oration 2.33Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The shepherd must keep to the royal road between extremes.
Oration 2.35Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Rightly distributing doctrine, on creation, the soul, and providence, needs much of the Spirit.
Oration 2.38Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · A long stretch of the oration: right teaching on the Trinity, the difficulty of teaching mixed congregations, the presumption of untrained teachers, Paul as the model pastor, the prophets' warnings against bad shepherds, the greatness of the priesthood, and the strife that disgraces the church.
Oration 2.40Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The war of the passions and the sanctity required of priests under the old law show that no one should accept the priesthood before being purified himself.
Oration 2.41Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory explains his return: love for his people, duty to his aged parents, and above all fear of disobedience learned from Jonah and the ancient examples; he submits and asks his father's blessing.
Oration 3.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory reproaches the people who forced him back from solitude but did not come to hear him.
Oration 3.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · They neglected to welcome him and so spoiled the feast; Gregory charges them with not returning his love.
Oration 3.4Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Like the guests in the parable of the wedding feast, but worse, the people invited Gregory and then left him.
Oration 4.23Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Julian and Gallus were educated as Christians and even served as readers in the church.
Oration 5.29Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory prays for the persecutors' conversion and celebrates the end of their outrages against churches, clergy, virgins, and martyrs' relics.
Oration 6.7Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Like Zechariah at John's birth, Gregory's tongue is loosed by the sight of the reunited church.
Oration 6.8Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory gives thanks that God used the division to teach the value of peace and restored the body's unity.
Oration 6.9Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory thanks God for regaining the flock and its shepherds, among them one ordained leader still holding back from office.
Oration 6.10Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The church of Nazianzus, long a peaceful ark amid the controversies, fell into schism last and was healed first.
Oration 6.11Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The father's party accepted the separated party's leaders in love, and the monks accepted the father's orthodoxy despite the creed he had signed; both had kept the same faith in the Trinity.
Oration 9.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory, newly consecrated bishop, explains his dismay by the examples of Isaiah, Manoah, and Peter before God's presence.
Oration 9.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Grace must be kept as well as received; Gregory asks his father and Basil to teach him the shepherd's art, reproaches Basil for forcing his consecration, and prays for himself and his flock.
Oration 10.3Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory ends his speech to Basil by describing his consecration as high priest, then, in a new oration, compares Basil and Gregory of Nyssa to Moses and Aaron and asks Gregory of Nyssa why his help came so late.
Oration 12.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory gives himself wholly to the Spirit’s leading and asks why his aged father wanted him as a fellow shepherd, citing Aaron’s sons and Joshua.
Oration 12.3Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory describes being torn between longing for contemplative retreat and the Spirit’s call to serve the church, citing Christ’s self-emptying.
Oration 12.5Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory resolves to help his father in the ministry for now, while keeping himself free to follow the Spirit, and insists that church leadership must rest on willing consent.
Oration 13.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · At the consecration of a new bishop Gregory offers his small speech of thanks and praises God for delivering the church from the dangers that threatened it.
Oration 13.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory recalls God’s mighty deeds from the Exodus to David, praises him for deliverance, and insists that the new consecration was meant for peace, not to slight the metropolitan.
Oration 13.4Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory charges the new bishop to take up his people despite opposition, to teach the worship of Father, Son, and Spirit in three hypostases and one glory, and to shepherd faithfully.
Oration 17.7Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Christ is the same for all but brings fall or rising; the people should not blame authority for their own faults, and Gregory now turns with a bishop’s frankness to the Christian governor.
Oration 17.11Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory pleads with the governor by the grey hair of a long priesthood and, more boldly, by Christ’s self-emptying, cross, resurrection, and the eucharistic table.
Oration 18.15Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory describes his father’s consistent life, his ordination, his reform of a neglected church, and his orthodox teaching on the Trinity, and alludes to a quarrel in the church that he settled.
Oration 18.21Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory praises his parents’ unostentatious generosity, his father’s just and gentle government of the church, his genuine humility, and above all his freedom from malice.
Oration 18.25Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory shows that his father’s gentleness was joined with energy, combining the serpent’s prudence and the dove’s innocence.
Oration 18.32Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory tells how his father resisted the emperor Julian, defended the forced election of a bishop of Caesarea, and, near death, travelled to Caesarea to secure Basil’s election.
Oration 18.37Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory praises his father’s resistance to the heretics backed by the emperor, and reproaches him and Basil for forcing him into the priesthood.
Oration 18.38Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory describes how his father, strengthened only by celebrating the liturgy, died in prayer at nearly a hundred after forty-five years as a priest.
Oration 19.9Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory calls each class of people to offer God what fits them, and warns priests to guard the flock lest judgment begin with them.
Oration 20.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory, disgusted with self-appointed theologians, longs for solitary contemplation and holds that no one should lead souls or speak about God before he is purified.
Oration 21.7Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory tells how Athanasius rose through the clergy to the see of Alexandria, sent by God to revive a Church perishing for lack of truth.
Oration 21.8Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory contrasts Athanasius’s lawful, spiritual election to the see of Mark with later violent intrusions, and praises his balanced character as a bishop.
Oration 21.10Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory says Paul’s descriptions of the high priest and of a bishop already portray Athanasius, and invites every class of hearer to praise the virtue that served them.
Oration 21.24Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory laments that almost all bishops yielded to the heretical creed out of fear, need, flattery, or ignorance, and mentions the zealous monks who broke communion over it.
Oration 26.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory, returning to his congregation at Constantinople, says shared longing brought him back despite his weariness with the city and his fear of approaching the altar unworthily.
Oration 26.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory tells how longing for his flock drew him back, and warns against intruders, especially the “dogs” (Cynics) who tried to make themselves shepherds.
Oration 26.3Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory contrasts himself with self-serving shepherds and asks his people to account for the fruit of his teaching in sound faith and good works.
Oration 26.13Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory says the philosopher, like God and the angels, cannot be mastered, and answers his opponents’ threats: he cares nothing for homeland, health, throne, or presidency, which is the source of the Church’s strife.
Oration 26.18Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory, unafraid of his enemies, laments the clergy who joined the schism of Maximus, and closes with a prayer to the Trinity for their return.
Oration 32.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory, a shepherd not yet accepted by his fellow bishops, resolves to use his gift and address the festival crowd.
Oration 32.11Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory applies the principle of order to the Church: like the members of a body, its members have different ranks and gifts, shepherds and flock, by the one Spirit.
Oration 32.12Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory applies the order of the body to the Church, urging each to keep his place, learning rather than teaching when not fitted for it, since God hides himself in darkness and is known now only in part.
Oration 32.16Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory points out that even Moses saw only God’s back, and that at Sinai each had his place, from Moses within the cloud to the people below.
Oration 32.17Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory cites the ordered ranks of the Old Testament priesthood and the modesty of Christ’s disciples, who asked their questions in turn, against those who rebel against their leaders after a little study.
Oration 33.13Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory says he came to Constantinople unwillingly and has not imitated the greedy, claimed churches or money, or used rulers against his opponents.
Oration 36.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory wonders at his people’s attachment to him, disclaims wisdom and originality, credits Bishop Alexander, rejects flattering, theatrical clergy, and recalls his reluctance when the people set him on the episcopal throne.
Oration 36.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory suggests three reasons for his people’s affection: they chose him themselves, he is modest and unambitious, and they pity him for the attacks he suffers.
Oration 36.6Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory answers the charge that he coveted the see of Constantinople: he came only to serve a widowed Church as a guardian, ready to hand her to a worthy bishop.
Oration 39.13Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · God made man to worship him on earth and, when man fell, became man without ceasing to be God, deceiving the deceiver; Christ's baptism teaches reverence for purification, humility before the church's ministers, and patience before teaching.
Oration 40.26Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory urges immediate baptism and warns against choosing a baptizer by rank or holiness: as gold and iron rings make the same impression, so every approved minister confers the same baptism.
Oration 42.1Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · In his farewell oration Gregory asks the assembled bishops to judge his administration at Constantinople, as Paul submitted his gospel to the apostles.
Oration 42.2Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory begins his defence, inviting refutation if it is false.
Oration 42.11Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory points to the church he leaves behind: presbyters, deacons, readers, and people of every rank, sex and age, all devoted to God.
Oration 42.12Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory claims a share in building this church by his teaching and spiritual fatherhood, asking no reward but acknowledgement.
Oration 42.13Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory's opponents have been quieted because he fought for Christ in Christ's way, without insults and without compromising the truth; he commends the same balance to all pastors.
Oration 42.18Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory will not argue from texts or resolve difficulties now; he submits his conduct at Constantinople to the bishops' judgment, claiming, like Samuel, that he has kept his priesthood pure and sought no power.
Oration 42.20Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory asks as his reward to be released and replaced, pleading old age, illness and weariness with the attacks of enemies and friends, like a pilot fighting both sea and crew.
Oration 42.21Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory laments the factions that divide East and West, compares church parties to circus factions, answers those who blame him for not taking revenge on the Arians and for lacking episcopal pomp, and asks for a successor who will please the many.
Oration 42.22Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory asks the bishops to release him with their prayers and to choose a successor who will not merely please, and bids farewell to his church of the Anastasia, the great church, the clergy, the people, the court, the city, East and West, the angels and the Trinity.
Oration 43.24Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · When the friends left Athens, Basil went first and Gregory soon followed; Basil was made presbyter in due order, and Gregory deplores the disorder by which unworthy men are hastily raised to the episcopate.
Oration 43.25Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · As Saul was among the prophets and Jeroboam among the kings, so unworthy men now become bishops overnight, while the worthy keep the lowest place.
Oration 43.26Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The unworthy bishop sits proudly above humbler and better men, thinking authority has made him wise.
Oration 43.27Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil rose through each rank in order, from reader to presbyter to bishop, not seizing honour but being sought by it.
Oration 43.28Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil's bishop, Eusebius, grew jealous of him; the monks and many of the people were ready to secede in Basil's support.
Oration 43.29Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Rather than divide the church, Basil withdrew with Gregory to Pontus and the monastic life.
Oration 43.31Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · After the Arians' defeat Basil served his bishop loyally as counsellor and assistant, and so in effect came to govern the church of Caesarea.
Oration 43.32Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil guided the inexperienced bishop, who welcomed his support.
Oration 43.34Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil's leadership of the church showed itself in many works, above all in the great famine, when grain dealers were hoarding and profiteering.
Oration 43.35Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Unable to work miracles like Moses or Elijah, Basil persuaded the rich to open their storehouses and himself served food to the starving like Christ washing feet.
Oration 43.37Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · After the death of Bishop Eusebius, Basil was elected bishop of Caesarea despite opposition; Gregory's aged father, carried there almost dead to vote and consecrate, returned restored.
Oration 43.38Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · As bishop Basil surpassed himself, holding that a ruler's virtue must exceed that of those he rules; as Christ grew in wisdom by revealing what he had, so Basil's virtue found wider scope.
Oration 43.39Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil showed that his office was a gift of God by refusing to give Gregory, his closest friend, any honour or share in power, and Gregory himself kept away to avoid envy.
Oration 43.40Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil won over his opponents by mingling gentleness and firmness and by the force of his virtue, so that they came to see separation from him as estrangement from God.
Oration 43.41Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil looked beyond his own church to the whole church, divided by errors and ravaged like the vine of Ps 80, and resolved to act for the common good.
Oration 43.43Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil defended the faith by writings and by action, visiting, admonishing and organizing like Bezalel; the emperor Valens, like the returning unclean spirit, attacked again, and, unlike Xerxes, blasphemed against heaven itself.
Oration 43.49Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil told the astonished prefect that bishops are humble in all else but unbending where God is concerned, and that no threat would make him consent to impiety.
Oration 43.52Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · On the feast of the Epiphany Valens came to Basil's church and was overwhelmed by the psalmody, the people and the bishop standing unmoved before the altar.
Oration 43.53Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Overcome by the sight, Valens nearly fell when his offering was not received; afterwards Basil spoke with him within the sanctuary curtain, and the emperor's attitude began to soften.
Oration 43.54Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil's exile was prevented when Valens' son fell ill; Basil also healed the prefect; and when a governor of Pontus tried to seize a widow who had taken sanctuary and abused Basil, the people of Caesarea rose to defend him, and Basil saved the governor from the mob.
Oration 43.55Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · When Cappadocia was divided into two provinces, the bishop of the new metropolis, Tyana, claimed jurisdiction and revenues, and even seized Basil's mules, under the pretext of doctrine.
Oration 43.56Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Basil answered by creating new bishoprics, one of which he imposed on Gregory; Gregory confesses that he cannot praise this act, which troubled his whole life, but excuses Basil as one who put God above friendship.
Oration 43.57Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory praises Basil's poverty, frugality and ascetic life, his promotion of virginity and his union of solitary and communal monasticism, and above all the “new city” of charity he built for the poor and the lepers.
Oration 43.58Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory praises Basil's writings (the Hexaemeron, the books against Eunomius, On the Holy Spirit, his homilies), defends his reserve in calling the Spirit God, compares him with the great figures of the Old and New Testaments, describes those who imitated his outward manner, and comes to his death.
Tractates 2.50.1Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · A fifth form of the Easter address, listing the Easter gifts to priests, ministers, faithful, penitents, catechumens and candidates.
Homilies 20.7Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Practical counsel for humility in dress, speech, rebuke, and office, ending with Christ's call to learn from him, gentle and lowly in heart.
Homilies 23.4Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · The hirelings are those who lead for their own profit, then and now; Basil condemns schism over Christ's words and turns to the heretics' use of “I know my own and my own know me.”
Against Auxentius 3Hilary of Poitiers · 364–365 · The apostles spread the Gospel without imperial support and in spite of persecution.
Against Auxentius 7Hilary of Poitiers · 364–365 · Hilary recounts the hearing at Milan before imperial officials, where Auxentius professed orthodoxy and then gave an evasive written creed.
Against Auxentius 13Hilary of Poitiers · 364–365 · Auxentius's letter to the emperors: his accusers Hilary and Eusebius were deposed and have no standing.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.4Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Since the Donatists refuse to meet, Optatus answers in writing the treatises of Parmenian, the only one of them who has set out his case.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.13Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus begins his history: in the persecution about sixty years earlier, some African bishops handed over the Scriptures, and he names them, including the self-confessed murderer Purpurius.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.14Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · At a council in Cirta after the persecution, the bishops confessed to Secundus that they had handed over the Scriptures; when Secundus himself was accused, the case was left to God.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.15Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus announces that he will trace the schism to its root: the traitor bishops who ordained Maiorinus at Carthage against Caecilian and so went out from the church that is one throughout the world.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.17Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Mensurius, bishop of Carthage, summoned to court for hiding a deacon, entrusted the church's gold and silver to certain elders with an inventory, and died before he could return.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.18Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · After the persecution Caecilian was elected bishop of Carthage and ordained by Felix of Abthugni; disappointed candidates, elders who had kept the church's treasure, and Lucilla broke communion with him.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.19Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Numidian bishops came to Carthage, could prove nothing against Caecilian, and with Lucilla's support ordained her household member Maiorinus as a rival bishop, setting up altar against altar.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.21Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus argues that schism is the worst of sins: God spared Cain and Nineveh, but the schismatics Korah, Dathan and Abiram were swallowed alive by the earth.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.22Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Against the Donatist taunt that bishops should have nothing to do with emperors, Optatus quotes the Donatists' own petition to Constantine asking for judges from Gaul.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.23Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Constantine granted the petition, and a council of nineteen bishops under Miltiades of Rome met in the Lateran in October 313; Optatus lists them.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.24Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Roman council condemned Donatus for rebaptizing and for laying hands on lapsed bishops, and Miltiades pronounced Caecilian innocent.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.25Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Donatus appealed against the Roman verdict, and Constantine rebuked a bishop for appealing as pagans do in secular courts.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.26Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · While both rivals were detained in Italy, two bishops sent to Carthage declared that the Catholic Church is the one spread through the world, but Donatus returned first and the division was renewed.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 1.27Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · An inquiry before the proconsul Aelianus found that Felix of Abthugni, who had ordained Caecilian, had not handed over or burned the Scriptures.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.2Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Of the church's endowments the first is the chair, and the one episcopal chair was first given at Rome to Peter, head of the apostles, so that unity might be kept in it.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.3Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus lists the bishops of Rome from Peter to Siricius, with whom the Catholics and the whole world are in communion, and challenges the Donatists to show the origin of their chair.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.4Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatist bishops at Rome, a line of Africans beginning with Victor of Garba who met in a cave outside the city, cannot claim Peter's chair or even enter the apostles' shrines.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.5Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Expounding Ps 1:1, Optatus says the Donatists walked in the counsel of the ungodly, stood in the way of sinners and sat in the chair of pestilence, and he gathers texts on peace to show they have rejected it, so that the church's endowments are with the Catholics.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.6Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The second endowment, the angel, belongs with the seven churches of Asia addressed in Revelation, which are in communion with the Catholics, not with the Donatists.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.7Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Spirit cannot be confined to the Donatists; Parmenian's charge that Catholics make proselytes into sons of Gehenna rebounds on him, a foreigner brought from abroad to be a Donatist bishop.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.9Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The five endowments belong to the Catholic Church throughout the world, and so also to the Catholics in Africa; the Donatists are branches cut off from the tree.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.14Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus challenges Parmenian to name any Catholic cleric who persecuted anyone; the Catholics' only "crime" is communion with the apostolic churches.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.19Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatist bishops threw the Eucharist to dogs and the chrism out of a window, and Felix of Idicra, after violating a consecrated virgin, deposed an innocent Catholic bishop by laying penance on him.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.21Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists exorcized Catholics, washed the walls of churches, and degraded Catholic clergy to penitents, which Optatus calls a living murder foretold in the Psalms.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.23Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists violate the anointing of Catholic priests, against God's command "Touch not my anointed" and his own example with Saul, whose anointing he did not revoke though he repented of it.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.24Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · By imposing penance on Catholics of every rank, the Donatists killed their honors and fulfilled Ezekiel's woe on those who overturn souls.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.25Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Using David's sparing of Saul in the cave, Optatus argues that a priest's anointing, being God's, must not be touched even if he sins, and he condemns the Donatists for destroying Catholic clergy by penance and curses.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 2.26Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists imposed penance on whole Catholic congregations, innocent women and children included, with arbitrary lengths, fulfilling Ezekiel's woe on the daughters of Israel.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 3.3Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus blames Donatus of Carthage, who rejected the alms that Constans sent to the poor with "What has the emperor to do with the church?", and applies to him Ezekiel's rebuke of the prince of Tyre who said "I am God".
Against Parmenian the Donatist 4.4Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Optatus lists the commands of Scripture on peace, unity, single washing, the anointed and mutual love, all of which the Donatists despise.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 4.5Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatist bishops, who sit and teach, slander the Catholics in sermons and forbid their people even to greet them, misapplying texts meant for heretics such as Marcion, Praxeas, Valentinus, Arius and Photinus.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.4Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Baptism has three elements, the Trinity, the believer's faith and the minister; the first two are unchangeable and decisive, while the minister is a changeable worker, since Scripture says that God, not man, washes.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 5.7Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Baptism's gift belongs to God, not the minister: the minister is a workman, like a dyer who cannot give color without the dye, or a vinedresser who cannot make the vine grow, as Paul says of himself and Apollos.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 7.2Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Catholics receive the Donatists because no one is sinless and Christ forbade separating the tares from the wheat before the harvest; judgment belongs to Christ alone.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 7.3Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Peter, who denied Christ three times after professing him, still received the keys and was kept in the apostles' communion for the sake of unity, a pattern that shows the church must receive the Donatists.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 7.6Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Macarius, a layman acting as an imperial agent, never exercised any episcopal function, so communion with him did not pollute the bishops; like a judge he was a minister of God's will, and Moses, Phinehas and Elijah were not excluded for their killings.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 7.7Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · Even if Macarius were guilty, the bishops could not condemn him without an accuser, for God himself, though he knew Cain's crime, questioned him and let Abel's blood accuse him.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul greets the Corinthians as sanctified though some had been misled by false apostles who, like Marcion and Mani, denied the real crucifixion and the resurrection of the flesh.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:17Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Preaching ranks above baptizing, and preaching Christ in worldly eloquence empties the cross, as the false apostles did by denying the incarnation and resurrection.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul and Apollos are only servants, often sent unwillingly; the gift and the thanks belong to God.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ministers are necessary servants but nothing compared with God, who gives life.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The apostles are God's helpers as Christ's vicars.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 4:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul presents himself as Christ's servant and steward, preaching as plainly as the fishermen, and so disowns the false apostles' teaching.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 4:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Stewards must be faithful and rebuke error boldly, as Paul did at the risk of his life.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 5:12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The bishop judges only church members, who are to be shunned at table and sacrament until they amend.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Christians should settle disputes before the church's ministers rather than unbelieving judges.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:4–5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul shames the Corinthians into choosing wise members, not the least capable, as arbiters, since no bishop had yet been ordained there.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's apostleship rests on Christ's sending and appearing to him and on the Corinthian church he planted.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Law-keeping Jewish believers denied Paul's apostleship because he taught against circumcision and the sabbath; the Corinthians' conversion is its seal.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:4–5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul had the right to support and to be accompanied by a woman helper, as the other apostles and Peter were, like the women who served Jesus.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Preachers who give spiritual goods may fairly receive material support.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul waived his right to support so as to rebuke freely, unlike the false apostles who flattered sinners for gain.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Both pagan and Jewish priests live from their offerings, as Moses decreed.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:14Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Christ ordained that preachers live from the gospel, in line with natural reason, though Paul declines it.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:8–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The 'power' on a woman's head is the veil, and the 'angels' are bishops; the woman is to be veiled and silent before the bishop as Christ's vicar because transgression began through her.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 11:20–22Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Factions claimed their own offerings at the Eucharist, shaming the poor; the offering belongs to the whole people as one bread.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Confessing Jesus as Lord is the Spirit's gift, not a human favour; charisms belong to church offices by God's grace, not human merit.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The grace of a church office belongs to the order through the Spirit, not to the officeholder's merit.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:5–6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The same Spirit, Lord and God give the varied gifts, showing the one undivided work and nature of the Trinity.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:28Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Apostles, who are the bishops, head the church; prophets interpret Scripture or foretell; teachers instruct as in the synagogue; other gifts are distributed so that none has all.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:29Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · There is one bishop per church, and not all prophesy or teach.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul, called after the ascension, was an apostle 'born out of season'.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 15:9–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul, least by time and a former persecutor, owes everything to God's grace, which made him labour more than all.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 16:10–12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy, a bishop, is to be received with Paul's own authority; Apollos delayed coming, perhaps because of their quarrels.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 16:17–18Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Stephanas and his companions supported the gospel's workers, which refreshed Paul even though he took nothing from Achaia.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 16:19Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster distinguishes the public church from house churches; wherever presbyters celebrate the rites is a church.
Prologue to the Commentary on 1 ThessaloniansAmbrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The prologue explains that Paul praises the persecuted Thessalonians to spur others on, and the greeting names three bishops though the words are Paul’s alone.
Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 3:5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul sent Timothy, a bishop he had ordained, out of concern for the weaker members whom Satan might seduce.
Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul asks the church to honor and support its laboring leaders willingly and out of love, as in the double honor due to presbyters.
Prologue to the Commentary on 1 TimothyAmbrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy, son of a Jewish mother and Greek father, was circumcised by Paul for the Jews’ sake and, now a bishop, is taught by letter how to order the church.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 1:1–2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul, made an apostle by Father and Son, assures Timothy of his ordination and calls him his true son by spiritual begetting.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 1:3–4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul asks Timothy, as one bishop to another, to stop Jewish teachers from distracting the church with genealogies and fleshly observances instead of the short way of faith.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 1:18–20Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy, ordained a bishop according to prophecy, must keep faith and a good conscience; Hymenaeus and Alexander, who blasphemed, were sentenced by Paul and handed to Satan to be punished in body so as to be corrected.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A bishop must be blameless and the husband of one wife: a second marriage is lawful, but a candidate for bishop should forgo even lawful things.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul lists the bishop’s virtues; one who has dedicated himself to God by not marrying is even more worthy.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · One who cannot rule his own house cannot care for God’s church.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A new convert should not be ordained, since sudden honor breeds pride and the devil’s fall.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A bishop needs a good reputation with outsiders, since faithfulness in worldly dealings shows fitness for divine things, and a bishop whose life contradicts his preaching falls into the devil’s snare.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:8–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Deacons, the ministers of the priests, must be upright; Paul passes from bishops to deacons because bishop and presbyter share one ordination, the bishop being first among the presbyters.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The women Paul addresses must be blameless like the clergy; the Montanists wrongly use the verse to ordain deaconesses, against Paul’s command of women’s silence.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:12–13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Deacons must have had only one wife, since God blesses only one marriage, and clergy who serve daily must abstain from their wives; the church, ruled today by Damasus, is God’s house, and the mystery of Christ is unfolded from incarnation to ascension.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 4:6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy, raised on the Hebrew Scriptures, will be a good minister if he hands on Christian teaching uncorrupted.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 4:9–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · God gives life to all but salvation especially to the faithful, and young Timothy must be an example of mature conduct to young and old.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 4:13–14Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A bishop must devote himself to reading, exhortation, and teaching, since grace for this was given at his ordination by prophecy and the laying on of hands, and he will answer for himself and his hearers.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:1–2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy is to correct each age and sex with fitting gentleness; Ambrosiaster laments that the church’s council of elders has fallen into disuse.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A widow must first prove herself by caring for her own family before being enrolled as a widow of the church.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:9–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Only a widow over sixty, once married to one husband and proved by good works, is to be enrolled in the church’s records.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:16Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Believers must support their own widows so the church can care for true widows; in Ambrosiaster’s day the church is burdened with widows of rich families and even with women married two or three times.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:17Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Presbyters who rule and teach well deserve material support as well as honor, enough not to be in want.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:18Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Preachers should be paid neither too little nor too much, and accusations against presbyters, vicars of Christ, are not to be readily admitted.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:20Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A presbyter proved guilty is to be rebuked publicly as a warning to clergy and people.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:21–22Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Under solemn charge Timothy must test candidates’ lives before ordaining anyone, lest he share in their sins.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 5:24–25Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Some sins are plain now and others come to light after death or at the judgment; the steward of Christ must avoid known sinners, and hypocrites are worse than the openly wicked.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:9–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The love of money is the root of all evils, and a greedy cleric is especially harmful because many follow his example.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 6:13–16Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul charges Timothy and his successors to keep the commandment until Christ’s coming; the Father alone dwells in unapproachable light and has never been seen, while the Son, sharing all the Father has, is the one who appears.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1:12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's glory is a pure conscience; he refused support from the Corinthians so as not to resemble the false preachers who preached for gain.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 2:10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's forgiveness of the offender, given in the person of Christ, is ratified by Christ, and the Corinthians should forgive likewise.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 4:5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The apostles preach Christ, not themselves, and serve the churches for Christ's sake as he came to serve.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 6:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Now is the time of salvation, and the apostles guard against giving offence by living what they teach.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 6:4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul commends himself as God's minister by patience and endurance in afflictions, necessities, and distresses.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 8:22–23Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul sends a third tested brother with Titus, his fellow bishop, and the envoys of the churches.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul hopes not to use against the disobedient the authority Christ gave him, which some despise as fleshly.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul could boast of his God-given authority without shame, yet humbles himself, as his rivals should all the more.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:10–11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Because his authority is from the Lord, Paul is the same in person as in his letters.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul will not compare himself with unsent preachers who claim authority for themselves.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul boasts only within the measure God assigned him: the churches he himself founded, like Corinth.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:18Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Only the preacher sent by the Lord is approved; one who sends himself is presumptuous.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 11:7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul refused the Corinthians' support, though owed it, so as not to resemble the false apostles and to keep his freedom to rebuke.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 11:28Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Besides his sufferings, Paul bore the daily care of all the churches, teaching even by night.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 12:11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul is not inferior to the earlier apostles; priority in time does not confer rank, as Peter's primacy over Andrew shows.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 12:19Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's refusal of money is not self-defence but for the Corinthians' upbuilding, keeping him free to rebuke.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 13:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Apostolic power serves only the truth; where people do good it has nothing to punish.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 13:10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul writes in advance so as not to use his upbuilding authority harshly in person.
Commentary on 2 Thessalonians 3:7–9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul worked for his own bread, though entitled to support, to give a pattern of freedom that makes a preacher’s words respected.
Prologue to the Commentary on 2 TimothyAmbrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul writes again to urge Timothy toward martyrdom and to warn of coming errors, wishing him the one grace of Father and Son and a succession of fit teachers after him.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 1:3–5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul thanks God, whom he served like his Jewish forefathers, for Timothy’s inherited sincere faith, and urges him to rekindle the grace of his ordination, since God’s Spirit gives power, love, and sobriety, not fear.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 1:9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · God, foreknowing sin, predestined salvation by grace and not by merit, and called unworthy men to lead his people; this hidden gift was revealed in Christ’s coming.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 2:1–2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy must be strong in grace and entrust the teaching only to faithful men able to teach others.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 2:3–4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · A cleric, as Christ’s soldier, must keep out of worldly business, which serves greed and involves lying.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 2:5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · God’s soldier must compete by the rules, devoted wholly to divine service, to win the heavenly crown.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 2:6–7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Timothy, who abstained from the church’s funds, is told that the laborer should take his own share first and then distribute to others.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 2:24–96Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The Lord’s servant must be gentle and patient in correcting opponents, hoping God will grant them repentance.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 4:1–2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul solemnly charges Timothy to preach constantly and to correct without bitterness.
Commentary on 2 Timothy 4:5–6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Facing martyrdom, which he calls a libation to God, Paul charges Timothy to carry on his ministry so that fit teachers may never be lacking.
Commentary on Colossians 4:17Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Archippus, who succeeded Epaphras as leader of the church, is reminded through the congregation to fulfil his ministry.
Commentary on Ephesians 4:7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Diverse gifts of office given by Christ do not harm unity, since they differ in office, not nature.
Commentary on Ephesians 4:11–12Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster identifies the offices of Eph 4:11 with the church's orders and explains that the freer practice of the earliest church (all baptizing and preaching, presbyters called bishops) later gave way to ordered offices.
Commentary on Ephesians 4:13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The church's ordering lasts until all reach unity of faith, which means holding Christ to be perfect and full God.
Commentary on Galatians 1:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's apostleship comes from Christ, God and man, which refutes both the Manichees and Photinus; Christ raised himself, yet by the Father's power.
Commentary on Galatians 1:18Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul visited Peter, first among the apostles, not to learn but in fellowship, showing his agreement with the apostles.
Commentary on Galatians 1:19Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · James, bishop of Jerusalem, was the Lord's 'brother' as a son of Joseph by a former marriage, not a son of Mary.
Commentary on Galatians 2:4–5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster reads Paul as yielding 'for an hour' by circumcising Timothy to avert Jewish sedition, and argues at length against the Greek reading 'we did not yield even for an hour'.
Commentary on Galatians 2:7–8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Peter held the primacy for founding the church among Jews, Paul an equal primacy among the gentiles, each preaching to both when occasion arose.
Commentary on Galatians 2:9–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The pillar apostles recognized Paul's primacy among the gentiles as Peter's among Jews; Paul withstood Peter at Antioch, not for withdrawing out of caution, which Paul too had done, but for an error explained next.
Commentary on Galatians 2:14Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Peter's fault was not withdrawing from gentiles but compelling them to judaize, which confused them; Paul's own concession over Timothy did not urge the law on anyone.
Commentary on Philippians 1:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul writes to the saints at Philippi who confess Christ as God and man; 'bishops and deacons' means Paul and Timothy and their ministers, since a church has one bishop.
Commentary on Philippians 2:19–24Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul will send Timothy, his like-minded son, and now sends Epaphroditus, whose near-fatal illness was a trial for his good; Paul's grief would have been for the loss of a helper, not hopeless mourning.
Commentary on Romans 12:7Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ministers and teachers are strengthened by the Spirit in proportion to their faith.
Commentary on Romans 12:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Exhorters, givers, those who preside and those who show mercy are helped by the Spirit; mercy, which includes forgiving, helping the needy, clothing, feeding, rescuing exposed infants and burying the dead, must be done simply and gladly.
Commentary on Romans 16:1–2Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul commends Phoebe, minister of the church at Cenchreae, and greets Aquila and Priscilla, who risked their lives for him and taught Apollos, along with their household church, Epaenetus and Mary.
Commentary on Romans 16:10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul greets Apelles, proved in trials, the converts of Aristobulus, his kinsman Herodion, and the faithful in the household of the presbyter Narcissus.
Commentary on Romans 16:13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul greets Rufus, chosen for ministry, and his mother, whom he regards as his own.
Commentary on Romans 16:20Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul promises that God will soon crush Satan through his coming to Rome, and sends greetings from Timothy, a kind of fellow bishop, and from his kinsmen.
Prologue to the Commentary on TitusAmbrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul, having made Titus a bishop, warns him to take care in ordaining and to rebuke the heretics of the circumcision.
Commentary on Titus 1:5–11Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Titus is to appoint holy and able presbyter-bishops who can refute the judaizing teachers, who seek both money and converts to circumcision.
Commentary on Titus 2:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Young men need restraint, and Titus must be the pattern of what he teaches so that opponents are shamed.
Question 11, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Isaac meant to bless Esau, but God directed the blessing to Jacob, showing that blessing comes from God through the priestly office, not from the minister’s will.
Question 11, section 2Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Caiaphas prophesied because of his office, which shows that the Spirit’s grace attends ordination, not personal worth, and only the ordained can bless.
Question 35, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · David honored Saul because royal office comes from God: the king bears God’s image as the bishop bears Christ’s, so even pagan rulers are to be honored for their office.
Question 46, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Samuel was not a priest: under the old law priests were born from Aaron’s line, and Korah and Uzziah were punished for usurping priestly duties.
Question 46, section 2Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · To say Samuel acted as priest without being born one makes him a usurper, which is unthinkable for a man God commended and who knew that God does not change his decrees.
Question 46, section 4Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Samuel did not replace Eli’s dead sons as priest, for God, who foresaw all, had provided Aaron’s line until Christ; under the old law priests were born, under the new they are made.
Question 46, section 5Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Since Samuel was neither born of Aaron nor made a priest, which the old law did not allow, he was not a priest.
Question 46, section 6Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Samuel “offered sacrifice” as kings did, through priests, for one is said to offer whose gift it is; a non-priest can no more act as a priest than a deacon or a private citizen can act as magistrate.
Question 46, section 7Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Holiness does not confer the priesthood; Scripture calls Samuel a prophet, distinguishing him from the priests Moses and Aaron, and priests were not lacking in his day.
Question 46, section 8Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Wearing an ephod did not make Samuel a priest, since David also wore one and the word means both a garment and the priests’ oracle-case, just as deacons now wear dalmatics like bishops.
Question 46, section 9Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Had Samuel been of Aaron’s line his father and sons would have been priests; but Elkanah went up to sacrifice through Eli’s sons, and Samuel’s sons were judges.
Question 46, section 10Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Elkanah, a Levite with two wives, which priests could not have, brought offerings through the priests; the Levites’ courses were organized only later by David.
Question 46, section 11Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Hannah’s vow to give Samuel to the Lord would be pointless if he had been born a priest; as a Levite in a lawless age, like Jonathan who usurped the priesthood for Dan, he was dedicated so as not to stray.
Question 79, section 3Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Paying for himself and Peter, Jesus paid for all, because after him all the disciples are contained in Peter, whom he made their head and shepherd of the flock.
Question 93, section 2Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Ambrosiaster distinguishes three gifts of the Spirit: the grace of ordination given when Christ breathed on the apostles, the general gift to all believers at Pentecost, and the temporary power of miracles given to the apostles.
Question 97, section 20Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · The Spirit works all things as the finger of God, calls and appoints apostles and bishops, and is called God in the story of Ananias and in Paul’s language of the temple.
Question 101, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Ambrosiaster explains that love obliges him to answer a foolish claim, so that its author may be corrected.
Question 101, section 2Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Against a Roman deacon who made deacons equal to presbyters, Ambrosiaster argues from the levites’ subordinate service to Aaron that deacons are ministers of the priests.
Question 101, section 3Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Even Roman deacons do not sit in church, and like deacons everywhere they should serve the priest as Elisha served Elijah.
Question 101, section 4Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · If Rome’s greatness raised its deacons, it would raise its priests still more; in fact each order keeps its proper honor everywhere, and the higher order includes the lower.
Question 101, section 5Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Ambrosiaster argues that a bishop is the first among presbyters, who share his priesthood, while deacons are far below them; in Egypt presbyters even give the seal when no bishop is present.
Question 101, section 6Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Caiaphas prophesied because he was high priest, and in Acts the apostles, not the deacon Philip, gave the Spirit to the Samaritans, which shows how far priests stand above deacons.
Question 101, section 7Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Korah’s rebellion and Uzziah’s leprosy warn deacons not to usurp priestly functions, as some do at meals and in prayer.
Question 101, section 8Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · The Roman deacons’ influence in the bishop’s household, and the flattery it attracts, has made them forget the proper limits of their order.
Question 101, section 9Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Deacons’ part as witnesses and escorts at the ordination of presbyters gives them no superiority: lay people testified for the first deacons, and an escort serves the one it escorts.
Question 102, section 18Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · In the letter to Pergamum the risen Christ commands penance for idolatry and sexual immorality, so those sins can be repented of within the church.
Question 102, section 31Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Like an advocate whose private life does not affect his client’s case, a bishop only performs his office, while God judges the faith of those who come for baptism.
Question 109, section 1Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Hebrews says the lesser is blessed by the greater, which points not to the dignity of a priestly office but to the greatness of Melchizedek himself.
Question 109, section 2Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Melchizedek blessed Abraham by his own nature, not, like human priests, by pronouncing a formula entrusted to them.
Question 109, section 3Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Melchizedek’s blessing was always effective because it came from his nature and will, whereas a human priest’s blessing takes effect according to God’s judgment of the recipient, as with Hannah.
Question 110, section 7Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Rival bishops who set up seats outside or against the church, breaking the succession that began with Peter, also sit in the chair of pestilence and will be punished like Korah and Uzziah.
Question 127, section 33Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Peter was married with children and yet received the primacy among the apostles, so marriage does not hinder holiness.
Question 127, section 34Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Paul allows married men to become priests, has no command against marriage, and, when asked about marrying and divorcing, forbade a wife to leave her husband rather than forbidding marriage.
Question 127, section 35Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Ordained clergy abstain from marital relations because some lawful things are forbidden to certain persons or at certain times, as lay Christians also abstain for prayer on holy days.
Question 127, section 36Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Bishops and deacons, who daily act in Christ’s place at prayer, the offering, and baptism, must keep a purity beyond that of lay people, as courtiers do in the emperor’s presence.
Letter to Rufinianus 1Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 370–373 · Athanasius tells Rufinianus that the councils decided to pardon clergy who had yielded to force without embracing Arianism and to let them keep their rank, but to admit the leaders of the heresy only as laymen.
Letter 7.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome complains of the worldliness of his home town and its unworthy bishop, Lupicinus.
Letter 14.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome honors the clergy, who consecrate the Eucharist and exercise discipline, but warns that their office demands the highest standards and brings grave danger to the unworthy.
Letter 14.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome warns that church office does not make a Christian holy and that the fall of a cleric is more dangerous than that of a monk.
Letter 15.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Amid the divisions of the Eastern church, Jerome turns to Pope Damasus and the Roman see as the guardian of the faith.
Letter 15.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome declares his communion with the see of Peter and refuses to side with any of the rival bishops of Antioch until Damasus directs him.
Letter 15.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome asks Damasus for a ruling on the term and for guidance on which bishop of Antioch to recognize.
Letter 16.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Pressed by Arians and the three rival factions at Antioch, Jerome again asks Damasus to tell him with whom to be in communion.
Letter 22.16Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome warns Eustochium against the society of worldly married women and of rich widows who flaunt their freedom and patronize fawning clergy.
Letter 22.28Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome warns Eustochium against fraudulent male ascetics and worldly clergy who frequent the houses of rich women, describing one notorious example.
Letter 27.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome gives examples where the Latin text his critics prefer departs from the Greek, such as "serving the time" for "serving the Lord".
Letter 41.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome lists the Montanists' errors: Sabellian views of the Trinity, condemnation of second marriage as adultery, extra Lents, a hierarchy that ranks bishops third, and refusal of penance.
Letter 49.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome cites his statements that marriage is permitted in the Gospel though it does not win the rewards of chastity, and that the married stand in the third grade after virgins and widows.
Letter 49.21Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome closes by pointing to the virginity of Christ and the perpetual virginity of Mary, and to the continence required of clergy.
Letter 51.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Epiphanius explains to John of Jerusalem why he ordained a monk of Jerome's monastery as deacon and presbyter by force, outside John's authority.
Letter 51.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Epiphanius defends his ordination by the practice of the Cypriot bishops and denies having promised John not to ordain anyone.
Letter 52.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome, now old, agrees to write rules of life for the young cleric Nepotian, contrasting this letter with the youthful rhetoric of his earlier letter to Heliodorus.
Letter 52.4Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome promises plain teaching rather than rhetoric, guided by the wisdom that never ages, and offers the letter as a guide for Nepotian as a cleric.
Letter 52.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome explains the name 'cleric' as meaning that the Lord is his portion, and warns Nepotian against wealth, business, and familiarity with women.
Letter 52.6Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome deplores the legacy-hunting of clergy and monks that led emperors to forbid them to receive inheritances.
Letter 52.7Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome urges constant study of Scripture and consistency of life, and describes the proper relation between bishop and presbyters.
Letter 52.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome warns Nepotian against preaching for applause, illustrating the point with a jest of Gregory of Nazianzus and a passage of Cicero.
Letter 52.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome advises moderation in dress, warns against collecting alms for gain, and says each member of the church has its own role.
Letter 52.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome criticizes lavish church decoration while ministers are chosen carelessly, arguing that the gold of the temple belongs to the figures of the old law.
Letter 52.11Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome warns Nepotian against feasting with officials and against wine and all intoxicating drink, though he does not condemn wine itself.
Letter 52.15Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome urges discretion in pastoral visits, comparing it with the Hippocratic oath of silence.
Letter 52.16Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome tells clerics not to seek gifts, arrange marriages, or manage others' estates, and to distribute alms at once.
Letter 53.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises Paulinus's zeal to learn and shows from Scripture that teachers and priests must know the Scriptures.
Letter 58.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome tells Paulinus that clergy belong in cities but monks in solitude, following Elijah, Elisha, and the Rechabites.
Letter 60.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome describes Nepotian's renunciation of his property, his reluctant ordination, and his humble and studious life as a presbyter.
Letter 60.12Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises Nepotian's care for the cleanliness and decoration of the church and the martyrs' shrines.
Letter 60.14Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome notes the mourning for Nepotian and urges Heliodorus, as a bishop watched by all, to restrain his grief as one who awaits rather than has lost him.
Letter 63.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome accepts Theophilus's admonition about church canons and affirms his loyalty to the faith of Rome and Alexandria.
Letter 64.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Beginning his treatise on the priestly law for Fabiola, Jerome interprets spiritually the portions of the sacrifices given to the priests.
Letter 64.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome interprets the priests' portions, the rules of their purity and support, and the tithes and cities of the Levites.
Letter 64.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome interprets the rules that the high priest must not uncover his head, tear his garments, or approach the dead.
Letter 64.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome applies the rule that the high priest must not leave the sanctuary to the bishop's duty to live blamelessly and keep his baptismal garment.
Letter 64.20Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome interprets the blue robe, ephod, and breastplate as the higher knowledge, good works, and true teaching required of a priest, works coming before teaching.
Letter 64.22Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome ends by saying that a priest's whole life must teach, and that he dictated the letter in one night before a ship sailed.
Letter 65.21Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome interprets 'instead of your fathers, sons' as the church's teachers replacing the pagan past, or the apostles succeeding the patriarchs.
Letter 69.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome defends a Spanish bishop who married once before and once after baptism, arguing that baptism makes a wholly new man and recalling a debate at Rome.
Letter 69.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome quotes Paul's qualifications for bishops and argues that a marriage before baptism cannot count against a man when every sin before baptism is forgiven.
Letter 69.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome offers alternative readings of 'husband of one wife' (against polygamy; bishops wedded to churches) and shows the absurdities of his opponents' view.
Letter 69.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome begins to explain Paul's list of a bishop's qualities: irreproachable, sober, prudent, well ordered, hospitable, and able to teach.
Letter 69.9Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome continues through Paul's list, warning against drunken, violent, greedy, luxurious, and newly baptized bishops.
Letter 69.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome concludes that church leaders must follow the canons fairly, not private grudges, and that the accused bishop's only fault is a marriage before baptism.
Letter 78.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome interprets the sixth station, Elim, with twelve springs and seventy palms, as the twelve apostles and the seventy disciples.
Letter 82.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome contrasts Theophilus's gentleness, which wins the monks' love, with harsh bishops, citing Moses and Paul as models of meek leadership.
Letter 82.6Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome protests that John's letter is full of insults against him and answers John's charge that a former slave and informer had been ordained among Jerome's circle.
Letter 82.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome defends his brother Paulinian's ordination as presbyter by Epiphanius, arguing it lay outside John's jurisdiction and that his age of thirty was no bar.
Letter 82.11Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome insists he is in communion with John's church, asks Theophilus to urge John to seek genuine peace, and describes bishops as fathers, not lords.
Letter 92.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Theophilus accuses the presbyter Isidore, protector of the Nitrian monks, of evading a trial on a woman's grave accusation, and describes a riot staged against him in Alexandria.
Letter 98.24Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Theophilus hopes the monks will return to the church, warns them of Deuteronomy's penalty for rejecting the priest, and warns the faithful to guard themselves.
Letter 98.26Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Theophilus closes with greetings and announces the names of three newly ordained Egyptian bishops.
Letter 100.18Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Theophilus closes with greetings and lists the new bishops appointed to Egyptian sees in place of those who had died.
Letter 108.28Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Paula died peacefully, repeating verses of the Psalms, saying in Greek that all was calm, and signing her lips with the cross, surrounded by bishops, clergy, and monks.
Letter 109.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome urges Vigilantius's bishop to discipline him and argues from Scripture that the bodies of the saints are honored, not unclean.
Letter 116.33Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine explains that he sent no 'book' against Jerome to Rome, disclaims flattery, clarifies his reference to Stesichorus, and asks Jerome, though only a presbyter, to correct him freely.
Letter 123.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Reading 1 Corinthians 7 and 1 Timothy 5, Jerome argues that widowhood is a freedom, that Paul counsels widows to remain unmarried, that young widows should support themselves, and that the once-married rule binds laity as well as clergy.
Letter 125.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises solitude and urges Rusticus, if he aspires to the clergy, first to learn as a monk before he teaches.
Letter 125.15Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Since every art and society needs one head, Jerome urges Rusticus to live in a monastery under one father, and lists the obedience and humility community life teaches.
Letter 125.17Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome says he is instructing a monk, not judging clergy, and urges Rusticus to live so that he may worthily be made a cleric later.
Letter 132.18Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine notes that favouring the rich is a grave sin if it concerns church offices, and in daily life when one inwardly values people by their wealth.
Letter 137.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Pope Innocent rebukes Bishop John of Jerusalem for failing to protect the monasteries of Eustochium and Paula from the violence done to them.
Letter 146.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome argues from Scripture and Alexandrian custom that presbyters and bishops were originally the same office and that deacons rank below presbyters.
Letter 146.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome rejects the Roman custom as grounds for exalting deacons and compares bishops, presbyters and deacons to Aaron, his sons and the Levites.
Letter 147.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome denies that Sabinianus's ordination by a good bishop protects him, citing the sons of Samuel and Eli and the fate of Uzzah.
On the Holy Spirit 30.77Basil of Caesarea · ca. 374–375 · The Arian controversy has split the churches into warring factions: bishops exiled, doctrine twisted to both extremes, self-appointed men seizing office, and no one willing to obey.
Canon 1Anonymous · 374 · Henceforth no man married twice, or married to a woman previously married, may be ordained, whether the marriages were before or after baptism; those already ordained are left undisturbed.
Canon 4Anonymous · 374 · Candidates who declare themselves guilty of a mortal sin at their ordination, truly or falsely, are to be excluded from orders.
Ancoratus 9.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Peter is the firm rock of the faith; the gates of Hades are the heresies.
Ancoratus 14.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The Audians are schismatics, not heretics, over the image of God, wealth, and Easter's date.
Ancoratus 69.10Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Both the Spirit and Christ appoint ministers.
Ancoratus 101.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The addressees feed Christ's flock from the holy ground.
Ancoratus 102.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The church asks where Christ shepherds; he bids shepherds remove their sandals.
Ancoratus 102.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Pastors must loosen converts' sandals, which differ.
Ancoratus 107.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Teachers must practice what they teach.
Ancoratus 118.14Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · This faith was handed down by the apostles and the bishops of Nicaea.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 21.1.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Simon was baptized by Philip; the apostles' hands gave the Spirit to the others.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 25.1.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Nicolaus was one of the seven deacons.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 25.1.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch, was chosen to care for the widows.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 25.3.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Revelation condemns the Nicolaitans.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 26.17.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · He reported about eighty members to the bishops, who expelled them.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 27.6.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The first bishops of Rome.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 27.6.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Why Clement followed Linus and Cletus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 27.6.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Clement may have declined the episcopate at first.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 27.6.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Rome needed bishops while the apostles traveled.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 27.6.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Epiphanius conjectures how Clement came to be bishop.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 27.6.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The list of Roman bishops to Anicetus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 29.3.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · David's throne is now the priesthood of the church.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 29.3.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The royal dignity passed in Christ to the church.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 29.3.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ is king by descent and by Godhead, and high priest.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 29.3.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · James, the Lord's brother, was the first bishop.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 29.4.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ gave his kingship to those he appointed.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 29.4.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · David's throne is given to the bishops of the catholic church.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.5.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Josephus remarried to avoid ordination by the Arians.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.6.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The patriarch gave gold for an offering on his behalf.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 31.31.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · No church leader, eloquent or not, adds to or diminishes the one faith.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.3.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · A deacon's wife in Asia was seduced by Marcus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 38.8.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Matthias replaced Judas, who went 'to his own place'.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 40.1.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Peter, a deposed presbyter, had lived at Kokaba.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 41.1.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Cerdo taught at Rome under Bishop Hyginus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.1.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Epiphanius reports that Marcion, a bishop's son, seduced a virgin and was excommunicated by his father.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.1.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcion's father was a pious and eminent bishop.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.1.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcion's father refused to readmit him to penance.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.1.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcion went to Rome after Hyginus's death and was refused communion by the presbyters.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.2.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The presbyters reply that they cannot receive him without his father's permission.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.2.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Refused, Marcion vowed to divide the church, but divided only himself and his followers.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 42.4.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcionites let women baptize and celebrate the mysteries before catechumens.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 45.4.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The apostolic 'Ordinance' calls the church God's vineyard.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.9.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Priesthood is given chiefly to the once-married living in continence and to virgins.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.9.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · A layman may remarry after his wife's death.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 49.2.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The sect appeals to Eve, Miriam, and Philip's daughters to justify women clergy.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 49.2.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The sect has women bishops and presbyters, citing Galatians.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 49.3.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Epiphanius answers the appeal to Eve with Genesis 3:16.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 49.3.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Paul's teaching is cited against women holding church office.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.2.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Abraham honored an uncircumcised priest, humbling the later circumcised priesthood.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.2.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The church’s priesthood has baptism, the greater circumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.2.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · David’s oracle, spoken long after Aaron, shows the priesthood would pass from the old order.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.2.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The Melchizedek priesthood now exists in the church, chosen by virtue, not descent.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.3.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Abel and Noah were priests in uncircumcision.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.4.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Melchizedek’s order shows the priesthood transferred from Israel to the church.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 55.4.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Christ is priest, victim, altar, God and man, and founds an unchangeable priesthood.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 57.1.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The presbyters examined Noetus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 57.1.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Noetus at first denied his teaching.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 57.1.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The presbyters questioned him again.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Rules for clergy were wrongly applied to all.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The twice-married are not admitted to the priesthood.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Clergy must be continent or widowed where the canons are strict.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Married clergy begetting children is a lapse, not the canon.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The church wants undistracted service for God.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Clergy must be free for sudden ministry.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.4.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · If laity abstain for prayer, how much more priests.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 59.6.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Strictness for clergy, leniency for laity.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 63.2.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · They accuse church members with spiritual companions of the same.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 63.2.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · A confessor-bishop was accused.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 64.2.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · In Jerusalem he was asked to preach.
On Cain and Abel 2.7Ambrose · ca. 375-378 · First fruits are holy by devotion, not by time; so Israel and the Levites, though not firstborn by birth, are called firstborn because they are holy and devoted to God.
On Cain and Abel 2.15Ambrose · ca. 375-378 · God both forgives, through his Word and the priestly ministry, and punishes, through judges, nations, and even involuntary killers; when wickedness is destroyed, holiness enters.
Apostolic Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop is ordained by two or three bishops; presbyters and other clergy by one.
Apostolic Canon 2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Nothing but what the Lord ordained may be offered at the altar.
Apostolic Canon 4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Other firstfruits go to the clergy's house, not the altar.
Apostolic Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not put away their wives on the pretext of piety.
Apostolic Canon 6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not take on worldly business.
Apostolic Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who keep Easter with the Jews before the equinox are deposed.
Apostolic Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who does not receive communion must give a reason.
Apostolic Canon 11Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who prays with a deposed cleric is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 12Anonymous · ca. 380 · No one may be received in another city without letters of commendation.
Apostolic Canon 14Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop may not move to another see except for good reason and by the judgment of many bishops.
Apostolic Canon 15Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who leave their diocese without leave and refuse to return may not minister.
Apostolic Canon 16Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who receives suspended clergy is excommunicated.
Apostolic Canon 17Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man twice married after baptism, or with a concubine, cannot be ordained.
Apostolic Canon 18Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man married to a widow, a divorced woman, a courtesan, a slave or an actress cannot be ordained.
Apostolic Canon 19Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man married to two sisters or to a niece cannot be a cleric.
Apostolic Canon 20Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not stand surety.
Apostolic Canon 21Anonymous · ca. 380 · A eunuch not by his own act may become a bishop.
Apostolic Canon 22Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man who castrates himself cannot be a cleric.
Apostolic Canon 23Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who castrates himself is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 25Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy guilty of sexual immorality, perjury or theft are deposed but not also excommunicated.
Apostolic Canon 26Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only readers and singers may marry after entering the clergy.
Apostolic Canon 27Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who strike people are deposed, following Christ's example.
Apostolic Canon 28Anonymous · ca. 380 · A deposed cleric who resumes ministry is cut off from the church.
Apostolic Canon 29Anonymous · ca. 380 · Ordination bought with money brings deposition and excommunication.
Apostolic Canon 30Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who gains a church through secular rulers is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 31Anonymous · ca. 380 · A presbyter who sets up a rival altar without cause is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 32Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only the bishop who excommunicated a cleric may restore him.
Apostolic Canon 33Anonymous · ca. 380 · Visiting clergy need letters and examination before they are received.
Apostolic Canon 34Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishops of each province act with their chief bishop, and he with them.
Apostolic Canon 35Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop may not ordain outside his own territory.
Apostolic Canon 36Anonymous · ca. 380 · An ordained man who refuses his charge is excommunicated; if the people reject him, their clergy are punished.
Apostolic Canon 37Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops hold synods twice a year.
Apostolic Canon 38Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop manages church property but may not take it or give it to relatives.
Apostolic Canon 39Anonymous · ca. 380 · Presbyters and deacons act only with the bishop's consent.
Apostolic Canon 40Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop's own property and the church's must be kept distinct.
Apostolic Canon 41Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop administers the church's money and may take what he needs from it.
Apostolic Canon 42Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who gamble or get drunk must stop or be deposed.
Apostolic Canon 43Anonymous · ca. 380 · Minor clergy and laymen who gamble or get drunk must stop or be excommunicated.
Apostolic Canon 44Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not take interest on loans.
Apostolic Canon 45Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who pray with heretics are excommunicated; if they let them minister, deposed.
Apostolic Canon 46Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who accept heretical baptism or sacrifice are deposed.
Apostolic Canon 47Anonymous · ca. 380 · True baptism is not repeated; baptism by the ungodly is no baptism.
Apostolic Canon 52Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who refuse a penitent are deposed.
Apostolic Canon 53Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who refuse meat and wine on feast days are deposed.
Apostolic Canon 54Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not eat in taverns except when travelling.
Apostolic Canon 55Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who insults his bishop is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 56Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who insults a presbyter or deacon is excommunicated.
Apostolic Canon 58Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who neglect to teach their people are punished.
Apostolic Canon 59Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who neglect needy fellow clergy are punished.
Apostolic Canon 61Anonymous · ca. 380 · A believer convicted of sexual sin may not be ordained.
Apostolic Canon 62Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who denies Christ is cast out; one who denies his office is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 66Anonymous · ca. 380 · A cleric who kills someone in a fight is deposed.
Apostolic Canon 68Anonymous · ca. 380 · Ordination is not repeated, except for those ordained by heretics.
Apostolic Canon 74Anonymous · ca. 380 · An accused bishop is summoned three times before a synod judges him.
Apostolic Canon 75Anonymous · ca. 380 · A heretic, or a single witness, cannot testify against a bishop.
Apostolic Canon 76Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop may not appoint a relative as his successor.
Apostolic Canon 77Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bodily defect does not bar a worthy man from the episcopate.
Apostolic Canon 78Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deaf and blind are not made bishops, for practical reasons.
Apostolic Canon 79Anonymous · ca. 380 · The demon-possessed may not be ordained until cleansed.
Apostolic Canon 80Anonymous · ca. 380 · A new convert is not to be made a bishop at once.
Apostolic Canon 81Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop may not hold public office.
Apostolic Canon 82Anonymous · ca. 380 · Slaves may be ordained only with their masters' consent and freedom.
Apostolic Canon 83Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not hold military command.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be blameless and at least fifty years old, beyond youthful disorders and slander.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop should be educated if possible, and at least skilled in the word.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · In a small place a well-attested young man may be made bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Young kings of Israel and Judah show that youth need not bar a man from office.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · A young bishop must be gentle and quiet, as Isaiah and the Beatitudes teach.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be merciful.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.1.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be a peacemaker and pure in heart.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.2.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The qualities of a bishop from 1 Timothy are listed.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.2.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be the husband of one wife who herself has married only once, and rule his household well.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.2.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · At ordination a bishop’s character, wife, children and household are examined.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.2.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A man who cannot govern his own family cannot govern the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.3.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop’s everyday conduct must be examined for blemish.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.3.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must not be prone to anger.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.3.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be compassionate and loving.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.4.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be generous and know who most deserves help.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.4.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Aid should go first to those in real need, even if not widows.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.4.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Gluttons, drunkards and the idle are not to be helped.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.5.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must not favour the rich or neglect the poor.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.5.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The Law forbids partiality in judgment.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.5.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be frugal in food and drink.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.5.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must study Scripture and interpret the Gospel and the Law and Prophets in harmony.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.5.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must distinguish the law from the ‘second legislation’.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.5.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must teach his people thoroughly.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A long list of vices a bishop must avoid.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must teach the laity the same virtues by his example.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be wise, humble and free of worldly desires.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must have every good quality, since the people imitate their shepherd.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ did before he taught, and so must the bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops are watchmen over God’s people, as Ezekiel says.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · God appoints Ezekiel as watchman for Israel.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.6.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Ezekiel’s watchman is applied to the bishop, who must warn the people of judgment by the Gospel and teach them tirelessly, since many have not listened and have fallen into heresy.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.8.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must expel convicted sinners who do not reform.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.9.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be impartial and correct sinners kindly.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.9.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who takes bribes to spare a sinner disobeys God’s commands on justice.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.9.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Scripture commands the removal of the wicked from the community.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.10.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who spares the guilty, like Saul and Eli, profanes the church and scandalizes the young and the catechumens.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.10.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A lax bishop leads his people to share his ruin, as with Jeroboam and Korah.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.10.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A pure clergy and flock deter sinners, who are either punished or brought to repentance.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.10.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Seeing no fault in the church, the sinner leaves in tears, repents and has hope, and the flock learns from him.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.11.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop, who stands in God’s place among men, must be pure in conduct.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.11.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop has authority to judge sinners, by Christ’s word on binding and loosing.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.12.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop judges with authority but must receive the penitent, to whom God has sworn forgiveness.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.13.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop should first condemn the guilty, then receive the penitent with mercy.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.14.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Refusing the penitent hands him over to his enemies.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.14.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The penitent must be received, against rigorists who refuse all contact with sinners.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.14.10Anonymous · ca. 380 · Harsh rigorists are not to be followed; the church must heal sinners, as God wills that none of the little ones perish.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.14.12Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop, as head, must not be led by seditious laymen.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.15.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is both just and merciful, and through Isaiah commands the bishops to comfort his people.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.15.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops must comfort and encourage sinners without fearing contamination.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.15.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Pushing away a sinner who is slipping is like drowning one’s brother; one must give him a hand.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.15.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who neglects sin or rejects the penitent is like the faithless shepherds condemned by the prophets.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.16.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop puts the sinner out of the church; the deacons then intercede for him, as Christ prayed for sinners.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.16.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The penitent is examined, given weeks of fasting in proportion to his sin, and sent away to pray in humility.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.16.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Cain and Miriam show that the sinner must cease from sin and bear a time of shame.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.16.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Penitents are excluded for a time proportionate to their sin and then received.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.17.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who is himself corrupt cannot correct others.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.17.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bribe-taking bishop loses the support of his people, who will throw Christ’s word about the speck and the beam at him.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.17.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Unrebuked sin spreads like leaven or disease, so the lawless must be separated from the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.17.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Sinners must be rebuked and disciplined so that others learn reverence.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.17.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must prevent sin and proclaim reward and judgment, lest Hosea’s rebuke fall on him.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must care for the sinless and the sinners alike.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Forgiveness is to be granted at once to the sincerely penitent, as to David.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop holds authority to bind and loose and will answer for more than others.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop bears responsibility for all, as Moses and Aaron bore the sins of the priesthood.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must restore penitents with the laying on of hands and rouse the negligent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · Ezekiel’s woe on the shepherds who feed themselves is applied to negligent bishops.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Ezekiel again accuses the self-serving shepherds.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.18.10Anonymous · ca. 380 · God will rescue his sheep from bad shepherds and judge between sheep and sheep.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.19.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · God will judge bishops, laymen and rulers each against their peers.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.19.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Laymen are rational sheep and answerable for themselves.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.19.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Following a wicked shepherd is deadly, so corrupt shepherds must be avoided.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The laity must honour a good bishop, since to hear him is to hear Christ.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must love the laity as children and correct them gently.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Ezekiel’s shepherd duties are explained: guarding the strong, strengthening the tempted, healing doubters.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must bind up those broken by sin and bring back the excommunicated into the flock.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must seek out the despairing and the negligent and give them hope.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Like the good shepherd, the bishop should be ready to bear the sinner’s guilt and even die for him.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Sinners perish when the bishop has not taught them God’s promise of repentance.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must seek the missing sheep as the Father sent the Son to seek the lost.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.20.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop has authority to forgive and restore sinners to the church, and must heal them as a physician and shepherd them gently.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must be gentle and steady and accept accusations only on the word of three reliable witnesses.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Malicious accusers scatter the flock and must not be believed without discernment.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Those wrongly excommunicated fall prey to pagans and heretics, and the bishop is guilty of their ruin.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · It is unjust to be quick to expel and slow to receive the penitent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Expelling the innocent or refusing the penitent is like Cain’s murder of Abel.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · Casting out the innocent ignores God’s mercy to the penitent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.21.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is both just and merciful, and the bishop must be so too.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.22.0Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop should judge as God does with sinners and penitents, as David, Jonah and Hezekiah show; the story of Manasseh’s sins begins.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.23.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Manasseh shows that God forgives even idolatry upon genuine repentance and restores the penitent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.24.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must guard the innocent and receive the penitent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.24.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop who refuses the penitent sets himself above God, who sent his Son to become man and die for sinners.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.24.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ received Matthew, Peter and Paul despite their past, so the penitent must be received.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.24.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops must imitate Christ in gentleness and mercy and be faithful stewards of God’s gifts.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop may live modestly from the church’s goods.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must use tithes and first fruits rightly and distribute the offerings for the poor faithfully.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may live from the church’s goods but must share them with the needy.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may share in the fruits of their labour, but in moderation.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Like the Levites at the tabernacle, a figure of the church, clergy live from the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The Levites lived from the people’s offerings instead of land.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops are the priests and Levites of the church, who offer the bloodless sacrifices and must teach God’s will.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · Those who carry the burden are provided for.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.25.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · As Christ bore the people’s sins, bishops must bear them too, and so are rightly maintained by the church, as Numbers provides for the priests.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The laity, now God’s holy people, owe their offerings to Christ the high priest and his ministers.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The old sacrifices and tithes are now the church’s prayers, thanksgivings and offerings presented through the bishops.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The Old Testament orders are matched by bishops, presbyters, deacons and the lesser ministries.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop is the high priest, father and ruler of the church, to be honoured next after God.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon serves the bishop as Christ serves the Father.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deaconess, a figure of the Spirit, acts under the deacon, and women approach the clergy through her.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.26.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Presbyters represent the apostles, widows and orphans the altar, and virgins the altar of incense.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.27.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · As only priests could approach the altar, nothing in the church may be done without the bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.27.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Acts done without the bishop are worthless.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.27.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Like Saul’s sacrifice without Samuel, lay action without the priest is futile.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.27.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Laymen who usurp priestly functions will be punished like Uzziah, since even Christ did not take the priesthood on himself.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.27.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Korah, Dathan and Abiram show the punishment of those who seize priestly office.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.27.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Offerings, first fruits and tithes should be given to the bishop, who distributes them fairly to the truly needy.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Hosts of a love-feast should invite older women known to be in need.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A portion of the love-feast is reserved for the bishop even in his absence.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons receive a double portion.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Presbyters, the bishop’s council, receive a double portion in honour of the apostles.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Readers, singers and doorkeepers receive single portions; each rank is to be honoured.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The laity approach the bishop through the deacons, as all approach God through Christ.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · In the temple nothing was done without the priest, who guards knowledge.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · Even pagan worshippers obey their priests in everything.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.28.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christians must honour God through their bishops, the mouth of God, even more than pagans honour their priests.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.29.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · As Moses was called a god to Pharaoh and Aaron his prophet, the clergy are to be revered.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.30.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop is like Moses and the deacon like Aaron.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.30.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon depends on the bishop as the Son on the Father.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.31.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon must act and give only with the bishop’s knowledge.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.31.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Secret giving by deacons brings reproach on the bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.31.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · To speak against the bishop is to offend God, who called priests and judges ‘gods’.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.32.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons must give to the needy only after informing the bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.32.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Murmuring against the bishop is murmuring against God, as with Moses.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.32.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Speaking against the bishop is grave, since through him believers received the Spirit, the seal and adoption at baptism.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.33.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops are spiritual parents, who give baptism, the Spirit, the Eucharist and forgiveness, and must be honoured above natural parents.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.34.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops are to be supported by the people like kings.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.34.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The apostles legislate for bishops as Samuel and Moses did for kings and priests.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.34.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · If Israel served its king, the bishop and clergy deserve the people’s support.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.34.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The priesthood surpasses kingship as the soul surpasses the body, for it binds and looses.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.34.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The people should love, fear and honour the bishop and give him first fruits and tithes.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.34.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · God blesses those who give.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.35.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Though freed from the sacrificial law, Christians must still give to the clergy and the poor.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.35.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The laity give and the bishop administers the church’s goods.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.35.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The laity must not audit the bishop, who answers to God.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.36.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Believers must bring offerings and attend church morning and evening.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.36.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only the clergy may judge; the laity are not to judge their bishop or one another.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.37.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must judge justly.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.37.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Like skilled money-changers, bishops must distinguish the sound from the corrupt and not believe every accusation.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.37.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · False accusations arise from envy, as with Susanna and Joseph.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.37.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must not readily accept accusations, lest he condemn the innocent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.37.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Accepting false charges breeds anger, which destroys concord in the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.37.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Malicious accusers must be distrusted and watched.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.38.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · If the charge proves true, the bishop first rebukes the accused privately, as Christ taught.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.38.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · If the accused will not heed private and then witnessed rebuke, he is brought before the church and, if obstinate, excluded.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.38.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The excluded may be received back upon repentance.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.39.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The unrepentant sinner is treated as an outsider.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.39.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Penitents, like catechumens, may hear the readings but must leave before the prayers until they show the fruit of repentance.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.40.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · One who has fallen once or twice must not be shunned, since Christ ate with sinners.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.40.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The excluded are still to be cared for and encouraged.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.40.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The despondent must be comforted lest grief overwhelm them.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The penitent who shows fruit of repentance is received back to the prayers, like the prodigal son.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The penitent is reconciled by the laying on of hands, which takes the place of baptism for him.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Those who resent the penitent’s return are answered with the words of the prodigal’s father.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop should heal sinners like a physician, with gentle as well as severe remedies.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Different spiritual wounds call for different remedies: comfort, rebuke, threat of judgment and fasting.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only when all remedies fail, and after consultation, is the incurable member cut off.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · Amputation is the last resort; the bishop should first try lesser measures.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.41.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · The hardened and unrepentant are cut off with grief.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.42.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy who expel the innocent on false charges, for favour or bribes, will answer to God.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.42.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Partiality brings the Lord’s condemnation.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.42.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Unjust condemnation and defence of the wicked fall under Isaiah’s woe.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.42.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Unjust judges condemn themselves.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.42.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · An impartial judge will expose the false accuser and punish him as he meant to harm his neighbour.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.42.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The false accuser is guilty of murder in intent.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.43.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The false accuser is excluded, and may be restored after fasting if he repents, under watch.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.43.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A repeat troublemaker is to be expelled permanently, since he stains the body of Christ.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.43.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · As surgeons remove superfluous limbs, shepherds must remove a member who disrupts the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.43.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The church is more beautiful once the disruptive member is cut off.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.44.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishop and clergy must teach rightly and walk in holiness.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.44.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops must be united and teach their people to be of one mind.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.44.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon settles what he can by the bishop’s authority and refers weightier matters to him.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.44.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon relieves the bishop of lesser cares, as Jethro advised Moses.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.46.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · In disputes between brothers the guilty party is rebuked and excluded until he repents.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.46.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · The clergy must reconcile those who quarrel.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.47.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Church courts meet on Mondays so that disputes can be settled before Sunday.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.47.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Both parties are heard and the court tries to reconcile them before the bishop gives sentence.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.47.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Charges of misconduct must be judged fairly, since exclusion has eternal consequences.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.48.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Penalties must fit the offence: threats, almsgiving, fasting or exclusion.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.48.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The Law itself graded punishments by the kind of offence.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.48.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Unjust judgments will be repaid by God.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.49.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The court must first examine the accuser’s motives and conduct.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.49.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · No one may be convicted on a single witness.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.49.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Even several witnesses may conspire in a lie, as against Susanna, Naboth, Christ and Stephen.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.49.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Witnesses must be of proven good character.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.49.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Witnesses of bad character must be rejected even if they agree.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.50.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The court must also examine the life and character of the accused.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.50.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bad record makes a charge more credible, though the accused may still be innocent of it.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.50.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Sentences must be sound, and the excluded who confess may be received back.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.50.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Both false accusers and the guilty must be punished.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.51.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Condemning without hearing the accused makes the judge a partner in the slander.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.51.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Judges who condemn unheard are like the elders who accused Susanna.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.52.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Even pagan courts examine carefully before condemning, and judges protest their innocence of blood.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.52.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christian judges, knowing God, must never judge out of spite.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.52.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Just judges will be rewarded by God and unjust ones punished.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.54.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Before the prayers the deacon calls on all to be reconciled.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.54.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · As visitors greet a house with peace, the bishop must first pray peace on the people.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.54.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The one who gives peace must himself have it.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.54.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Inner peace enables the bishop to gather the Lord’s flock in concord.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.56.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · God wills that many be saved, and those who drive souls away scatter the flock.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.56.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Those who drive out the lambs undo the apostles’ labours in gathering the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must be holy, gentle and a builder-up of the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop orders the assembly like a pilot, with the deacons as crew.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop sits in the centre with the presbyters, the deacons stand by, and men and women sit separately.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Acts and Paul’s letters are read, then the four Gospels by a deacon or presbyter.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Presbyters and then the bishop preach; doorkeepers and deaconesses guard the entrances.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.11Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon moves those sitting out of place.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.12Anonymous · ca. 380 · The congregation is arranged by age and state of life, like a well-ordered flock.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.13Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon keeps order and attention in the assembly.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.14Anonymous · ca. 380 · After the dismissal of catechumens and penitents come the prayers facing east, the kiss of peace, the intercessions, the blessing and the Eucharist, received in order.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.58.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Visitors with letters of commendation are examined by the deacon and given their place.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.58.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Visiting clergy are received by their own order; a visiting bishop shares the bishop’s honour.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.58.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A visiting bishop is invited to preach and to offer the Eucharist, or at least to bless the people.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.58.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must not interrupt the service to honour an important newcomer.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.58.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Younger men must give up their seats to the more honourable.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.58.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Poor visitors must be given a place as readily as the rich.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.59.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must urge the people to attend church morning and evening every day.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.1.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Women enrolled as widows must be at least sixty, so that a second marriage is not to be feared.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.1.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A young enrolled widow who remarries is blamed for breaking her promise, not for the marriage itself.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.1.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A vow of widowhood should not be made rashly.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.2.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Young widows are not to be enrolled but should be supported, so that need does not drive them into an unseemly remarriage.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.3.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · True widows, married once and known for good works, are to be supported by the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.3.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must also provide for the poor and afflicted.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.4.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must care for all the needy, not only widows.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.4.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Gifts are brought to the bishop, who distributes them to the needy as a faithful steward.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.5.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A widow must be gentle and quiet, avoiding gossip and meddling.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.5.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The widow’s task is prayer for donors and the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.5.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Widows should refer inquirers to the clergy rather than teach.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.5.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Widows may refute polytheism but must not expound deeper mysteries, lest they be misunderstood.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.5.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Poorly explained teaching about the incarnation and passion leads unbelievers to mock.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.6.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Women are not permitted to teach in the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.6.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ sent no women to preach though many followed him, so women are not to teach.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.6.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The widow, as God’s altar, should stay at home and not go round the houses for gifts.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.6.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Virgins and widows must not roam others’ houses as gossiping beggars.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.6.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Such women distract others at the Sunday assembly so that they gain nothing from the word.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.7.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Gadabout widows have closed hearts and serve the adversary’s desires.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.7.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Such widows do not belong to Christ’s altar.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.7.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Some widows make begging a trade, hoard money and lend at interest.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.7.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The true widow, like Judith, prays without ceasing for the church and is heard by God.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.7.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · The widow should pray, fast and work like the widow with two coins; widows must obey the clergy and not accept gifts from robbers, prostitutes or the excommunicated.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.9.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Women must not baptize.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.9.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Since man is the head of woman in the order of creation, the priesthood belongs to men.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.9.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Since women may not teach, still less may they be priests, a pagan custom.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.9.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ was baptized by John, not his mother, and sent no women to baptize.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.10.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Laymen may not perform priestly acts.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.10.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Priestly dignity comes only by God’s call through the bishop’s laying on of hands.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.10.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Usurpers of priestly office will be punished like Uzziah.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.11.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only bishops and presbyters baptize, assisted by deacons.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.11.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Those who usurp baptism will be punished like Korah’s band.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.11.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only bishops may ordain to any order.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.12.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A widow in name only who does the devil’s works will be shut out of the kingdom.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.14.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Envious widows complain that others were helped before them.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.14.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The complaining widow should be silent and ask forgiveness instead of blaming the donor.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.15.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The clergy must admonish, encourage and promote peace among the widows.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.15.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · No cleric or layman may curse; the bishop must care for all.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.16.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop appoints deacons, and a deaconess for ministry to women where a man cannot go.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.16.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · At women’s baptism the deacon anoints the forehead and the deaconess the rest.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.16.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop anoints the head at baptism, as priests and kings once were anointed, for Christians are a royal priesthood.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons and deaconesses must be blameless and active in serving the church.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Each minister must fulfil his own role with zeal.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons must serve without shame, even to death, as Christ did.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · As Christ endured all for us, deacons must serve the brothers.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ washed the apostles’ feet, so deacons must humbly serve the weak.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Service must be given lovingly, for God’s sake.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.19.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons visit the needy and report to the bishop, serving as his eyes and ears.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.20.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be ordained by at least two or three bishops; presbyters, deacons and other clergy by one.
Apostolic Constitutions 3.20.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Presbyters teach, offer, baptize and bless but do not ordain; deacons only serve.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.2.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops must provide for orphans, widows and all in need.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.6.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop must discern which offerings to accept.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.6.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Gifts from cheating traders are to be refused.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.6.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Offerings from the sexually immoral, adulterers, oppressors and cruel masters are to be refused.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.6.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · A long list of wrongdoers whose offerings must be refused.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.6.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Those who feed the poor from wicked gifts will be judged, like the disobedient prophet killed by a lion.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.7.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Tainted gifts are like the forbidden price of a dog and wages of a prostitute.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.7.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Prophets refused gifts from the ungodly, and Peter and John rejected Simon’s money.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.7.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Offerings from a bad conscience must be refused.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.8.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The people’s offerings exist so that the church need not take from the wicked.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.8.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · It is better for a church to perish than to take gifts from God’s enemies.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.8.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Gifts are accepted from the holy and refused from the excommunicated.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.8.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Shortfalls are met by collections among the brothers.
Apostolic Constitutions 4.10.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Money forced on the church by the impious should be spent on fuel, not on food for the poor.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.1.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops must flee heresies and schisms.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.1.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · King Uzziah was struck with leprosy for usurping the priesthood.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.2.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Rebellion against priests is worse than rebellion against kings.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.2.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Korah's company disputed Aaron's priesthood.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.2.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Moses, God's friend who worked wonders for Israel, was opposed by Korah and the Reubenites, whom the earth swallowed and fire consumed.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.12.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · When the Judaizing heresy threatened the church, the twelve and James met in Jerusalem.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.14.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The twelve, James and Paul wrote this catholic teaching for the bishops.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops, presbyters and deacons must have married only once and may not marry or remarry after ordination.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The lower clergy must also have married once, but may marry after entering the clergy.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy may not marry a courtesan, a slave, a widow or a divorced woman.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.17.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A deaconess must be a virgin or a once-married widow.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.18.11Anonymous · ca. 380 · The apostles sent this teaching to the bishops through Clement and other companions.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.23.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ replaced daily washings with one baptism, the tribe of Levi with the best of every nation, blood sacrifice with the bloodless Eucharist, and worship in one place with worship everywhere.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.9.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The teacher of God's word is to be honored, for God is present in that teaching.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.26.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The holy may draw near; the presbyters too may give thanks.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.28.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · True prophets and teachers deserve support.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.29.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Firstfruits are given to the priests, and God will bless the giver.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.29.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Food firstfruits go to the priests, other firstfruits to orphans and widows.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.31.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bishops, presbyters and deacons must be tested men of good character, able to teach.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.31.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The clergy are to be honored as fathers.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.44.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Without the priest's invocation, baptism is a mere bodily washing.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · A list of bishops ordained by the apostles follows.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The first bishops of Jerusalem were James, Simeon and Judas.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The first bishops of Caesarea were Zacchaeus, Cornelius and Theophilus.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Euodius and Ignatius were the first bishops of Antioch.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Annianus and Avilius were the first bishops of Alexandria.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Linus and Clement were the first bishops of Rome.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Timothy and John were bishops of Ephesus.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · The first bishops of Smyrna are listed.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Gaius and Demetrius were bishops of Pergamum and Philadelphia.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.10Anonymous · ca. 380 · Paul ordained bishops in Cenchreae, Crete, Athens and Tripolis.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.12Anonymous · ca. 380 · Archippus and Philemon were bishops of Laodicea and Colossae.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.13Anonymous · ca. 380 · Onesimus and Crescens were bishops in Macedonia and Galatia.
Apostolic Constitutions 7.46.14Anonymous · ca. 380 · The list ends with an exhortation and Christ's promise to be with his church.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.2.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Faith itself is a gift; wonder-workers must not despise others, as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah and Daniel did not; clergy and laity depend on one another.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.2.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · An impious king is a tyrant, and an ignorant or malicious bishop is no bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.2.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · False bishops and presbyters will not escape God's judgment.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.2.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop is chosen by all the people, questioned three times before them, and ordained by three bishops with the Gospels held over his head.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.5.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The prayer of episcopal ordination begins by praising the unbegotten God.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.5.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is praised as Father of the only-begotten Son and Maker of all through him.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.5.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The ordination prayer asks the Spirit for the new bishop, who then offers the sacrifice, is enthroned, greets the church and preaches.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Andrew gives the order of the liturgy that follows.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon dismisses the hearers and unbelievers.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The faithful pray for the catechumens, led by the deacon.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.6.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · The people answer “Lord, have mercy”; the bishop blesses the catechumens, and they are dismissed.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.7.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop's prayer over the possessed is introduced.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.9.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop's prayer for the penitents is introduced.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.10.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Prayer for all orthodox bishops.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.10.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Prayer for the bishops of Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch and Alexandria, and for the presbyters.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.10.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Prayer for deacons, lower clergy, virgins, widows, orphans and married people.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.11.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop's prayer over the faithful is introduced.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.11.10Anonymous · ca. 380 · Deacons keep order and guard the doors during the anaphora.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.11.12Anonymous · ca. 380 · The priests wash their hands as a sign of purity.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.12.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The gifts are brought to the altar, with presbyters and deacons in attendance.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.13.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Prayer for the church and its clergy.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.13.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · After the bishop's prayer and “Holy things for the holy,” all receive communion in order, the bishop giving the body and the deacon the cup.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.15.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · The liturgy ends with a doxology and the dismissal.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.16.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · John gives the rite for ordaining presbyters.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.16.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop lays his hand on the presbyter's head.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.16.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The ordination prayer asks God to increase the church and its leaders.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.16.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is asked to fill the new presbyter with the Spirit, as he did Moses' elders.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.16.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · The presbyter is to heal, teach and perform the sacred rites.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.17.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Philip gives the rite for ordaining deacons.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.17.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop lays hands on the deacon.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.18.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The ordination prayer for a deacon begins.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.18.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is asked to fill the deacon with the Spirit, as he did Stephen.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.18.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon who serves well may rise to a higher rank.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.19.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Bartholomew gives the rite for a deaconess.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.19.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop lays hands on the deaconess.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.20.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · God, who filled prophetesses with the Spirit and had women keep the sanctuary gates, is invoked for the deaconess.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.20.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is asked to give the deaconess the Holy Spirit for her work.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.21.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Thomas gives the rite for subdeacons.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.21.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop lays hands on the subdeacon.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.21.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · God, who appointed guardians of the sanctuary vessels, is invoked.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.21.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The subdeacon is to handle the sacred vessels worthily.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.22.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Matthew gives the rite for readers.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.22.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop lays his hand on the reader.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.22.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · God is asked to give the reader a prophetic spirit.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.22.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · God, who made Ezra wise to read the law, is asked to make the reader wise.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.23.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · James son of Alphaeus legislates on confessors.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.23.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Confessors are honored but not ordained by virtue of their confession.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.23.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A confessor needed for the clergy is ordained.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.23.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · A confessor who claims clerical rank without ordination is deposed.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.24.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Virgins are not ordained; virginity is a free choice that does not disparage marriage.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.25.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Lebbaeus legislates on widows.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.25.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A widow of long standing and good life is enrolled among the widows, not ordained.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.25.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · A recently widowed woman must first be tested by time.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.26.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Exorcists are not ordained, for their gift comes from God and is evident to all.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.26.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · An exorcist needed for the clergy is ordained.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.27.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Simon legislates on the number of bishops required to ordain a bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.27.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · A bishop must be ordained by at least two bishops.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.27.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · In necessity one bishop may ordain with the written consent of others.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Rules on the powers of each order follow.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop blesses, ordains and offers, and may depose any cleric but a bishop.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The presbyter blesses and excommunicates but does not ordain or depose.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deacon neither blesses, baptizes nor offers, but distributes communion.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Only deacons may do a deacon's work.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · The deaconess keeps the doors and assists at the baptism of women.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · A deacon may excommunicate the lower clergy when no presbyter is present.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.28.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · The lower clergy may not excommunicate.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.29.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop, or in his absence a presbyter, blesses water and oil.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.30.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Firstfruits support the bishop, presbyters and deacons; tithes support the other clergy, virgins, widows and the poor.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.31.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Leftover blessed bread is shared among the clergy by rank.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.31.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Each order is honored by rank, for the church teaches good order.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.32.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Paul gives the rules for admitting converts.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.34.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · If the church cannot be used, the faithful gather in a house.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.35.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · James gives the order of evening and morning prayer.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.44.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Clergy at memorial meals must be sober and orderly.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.44.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · As rulers of the church, presbyters and deacons must avoid drunkenness.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Each must keep to the rank given him, for the orders are God's.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · As creation keeps its bounds, the clergy must keep the order set for them.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Usurping clerical functions provokes God, as Korah and Uzziah found.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The apostles warn against those who offer sacrifice without authority.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.5Anonymous · ca. 380 · Moses distinguished the duties of high priests, priests and Levites.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.6Anonymous · ca. 380 · Under Moses each order kept to its own functions on pain of death.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.7Anonymous · ca. 380 · Saul was condemned for sacrificing without Samuel.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · Uzziah lost his kingship for usurping the priesthood.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.46.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · The apostles ordained bishops, presbyters and deacons for distinct functions; no one may usurp a higher office, and even Stephen kept to his diaconate.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.48.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · The apostles close their ordinances on canons.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.48.2Anonymous · ca. 380 · Obedience brings salvation and peace; disobedience, punishment and strife.
Letter 63 (to the church of Vercelli), section 62Ambrose · ca. 377 · Ambrose explains that “the husband of one wife” does not forbid a bishop to be married, but requires him to keep his baptismal grace by conjugal chastity, not to beget children in office, and not to marry again.
Letter 63 (to the church of Vercelli), section 63Ambrose · ca. 377 · Ambrose rejects the view that a marriage before baptism does not count: baptism forgives sins, but marriage is a law, not a fault, so a twice-married man cannot be ordained though he is not guilty.
Letter 63 (to the church of Vercelli), section 64Ambrose · ca. 377 · Ambrose adds that Nicaea also excluded the twice married from the clergy, and argues that a cleric who exhorts widows not to remarry must himself have kept faith with his first marriage.
On the Christian Faith 5.0Ambrose · ca. 378–380 · In the prologue to the fifth book Ambrose, as a steward of the five talents of faith, explains why he writes against the heretics despite the warnings against disputes, and introduces John 17:3.
Anathema 9Anonymous · ca. 378–382 (traditionally 382) · Bishops who move from one see to another are out of communion until they return; if a successor has been ordained, the deserter lacks priestly rank until that successor dies.
Life of Macrina, part 5Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380 · Macrina raises her youngest brother Peter; their mother dies blessing them as first-fruits and tithe; Basil becomes bishop and ordains Peter, then dies; Gregory, after a synod at Antioch and eight years of exile, sets out to visit her.
Life of Macrina, part 9Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380 · Gregory turns the virgins' wailing into psalmody; the widow Vetiana and the deaconess Lampadia help prepare the body, revealing Macrina's iron cross, a ring holding a relic of the cross, and the scar of a healed tumour.
8.2Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius argues from Eli's sons, Timothy and Absalom that virtue is not inherited, praises Peter as the rock on which Christ built the Church, and describes his Pentecost sermon, which persuaded three thousand where Demosthenes and Socrates failed.
8.6Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius tells how Christ entrusted the whole Church to Peter, how Peter preached everywhere and was crucified head downward in Rome under Nero, and turns to Paul, the persecutor converted on the road to Damascus.
8.10Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius follows Paul from Corinth through Asia Minor and Macedonia, holds up his refusal of support as a rebuke to priests who grow rich from the altar, and compares his being caught up to the third heaven with Elijah and Moses.
12.2Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius tells how Stephen, the first deacon, calmed the hostile crowd with his long speech, then rebuked them, and how God, seeing him alone among his murderers, appeared to him with the Son standing at his right hand to strengthen him.
13.3Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius draws on Jonah and the gourd, Christ's command not to judge, the sin offering for the priest, and the parables of the lost sheep and the barren fig tree to teach that priests and people alike should intercede for sinners rather than condemn them.
13.4Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius urges priests to intercede for sinners like Moses and to welcome them like the father of the prodigal son, and urges penitents to imitate the sinful woman's tears instead of living as before while excluded from communion.
13.5Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius contrasts the sick man's change of life with the careless penitent, prescribes the opposite virtue as the remedy for each sin, and urges sinners to confess their hidden sins to the priest as to a father and physician before death overtakes them.
14.2Asterius of Amasea · ca. 380-410 · Asterius argues that the need for fasting arose from Adam's sin of eating, and that gluttony and drunkenness led to the shame of Noah, the ruin of Eli's sons, Esau's loss of his birthright, and the golden calf.
Canon 5Anonymous · 380 · Those excommunicated by their own bishop may not be received by others.
Canon 6Anonymous · 380 · A cleric who abandons his office out of vanity to pose as a monk is excluded until long satisfaction.
Canon 7Anonymous · 380 · No one may assume the title of teacher without authorization.
On the Eight Thoughts, chapter 8Evagrius of Pontus · ca. 380-399 · Vainglory feeds on imagined miracles and ordination, then hands the monk to pride, sadness or lust.
Sayings of Holy Monks, chapter 4Evagrius of Pontus · ca. 380-399 · Love all without passion, honour priests and elders; Evagrius closes his work to Anatolius.
On the Lord's Prayer 1149Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 380–394 · As the high priest was purified and vested before entering the sanctuary, so Christ makes all believers priests, clothing them with virtues and bringing them into the sanctuary of the heart to offer themselves as a living sacrifice.
Homily 53.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Peter's denial at the doorkeeper's word parallels Adam's fall through Eve, but Peter was restored more quickly: he wept silently when the Lord looked at him, and his threefold confession of love made him a shepherd.
Homily 54.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Peter, made better by his fall and tears, is the rock of the churches by his faith, as Christ is the rock by power; his walking on the water and sinking show that faith upholds and doubt sinks, and that Christ saves those who cry to him.
Homily 64.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Stephen saw the Son of Man at God's right hand to confound unbelief, became the first martyr though a deacon, and prayed for his persecutors; Christians must likewise forgive enemies, since without love no good work profits.
Homily 68.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · On the feast of Peter and Paul the preacher praises Peter's confession, keys, walking on the water, pastoral charge, and inverted crucifixion, and Paul's conversion, rapture, and martyrdom, both ending their lives in Rome, the capital of the world.
Homily 69.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · On the feast of Peter and Paul the preacher praises Peter's confession, his power of the keys, and his walking on water, and Paul's calling, blinding, and rapture to paradise.
Homily 70.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Peter, the fisherman made helmsman of the Church, and Paul, the persecutor made teacher, are celebrated together; Paul's rapture to paradise and Peter's power to bind and loose show their greatness, and Rome now glories in their patronage.
Homily 71.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Christ chose the poor fisherman Peter and the persecutor Paul, erring from zeal for the old law; Peter's confession “the Christ, the Son of the living God” expresses both natures of Christ, and the two are the pillars of the churches.
Homily 72.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Peter and Paul excel the other apostles, Peter holding the keys of power and Paul the key of knowledge; equal in merit, they died on one day in Rome, the head of the nations, after Peter's prayer brought down Simon the magician from the air.
Homily 73.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Peter and Paul, the apostles to the Jews and to the nations, were equal in merit, the one called on earth and the other from heaven; they died together in Rome, and honor paid to martyrs is paid to Christ.
Homily 74.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · On the feast of the deacon Lawrence the preacher tells of Xystus's prophecy that Lawrence would follow him in three days, of his distributing the Church's treasures to the poor, and of his martyrdom on the gridiron.
Homily 75.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · In the persecution under Xystus, Lawrence, foretold to follow his bishop in three days, gave the Church's treasures to the poor and was burned on a gridiron, but the fire of faith within him overcame the persecutor's flames.
Homily 78.2Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · A memorial sermon for a holy bishop of the city, praised after death as one safe in harbor, who healed the spiritually blind, deaf, and dead, guarded the windows of the senses, and drove vices from his people's hearts.
Homily 78.3Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · The conclusion of the memorial sermon: God set the holy bishop before his people as a model, like a portrait for a painter, so that each may copy one of his virtues and be received by him at the end.
Homily 80.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Cyprian, bishop, teacher, and martyr, is praised for his inspired eloquence, his exhortations that made many martyrs, and his death, which confirmed his teaching throughout the world.
Homily 102.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · The clergy's office is a trade in which Christ's commandment is the talent to be invested; Isaiah's innkeepers who water the wine are worldly priests, and also the Jewish priests who denied Christ's divinity.
Homily 105.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · The priest's office is a spiritual trade: alms given to the poor are a treasury that earns interest at the judgment, and the Saviour's sayings are a loan whose interest the preacher and hearers must render.
Homily 112.2Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Returning from a gathering of bishops, the preacher compares priests to bees, then rebukes the people, and even the clergy, for staying away from church while he was absent: Christ, the Bishop of bishops, is always present.
Homily 114.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Soldiers and officials cannot excuse their extortion by their office; John the Baptist's words to tax collectors and soldiers condemn unjust exaction, and apply also to clergy who trade or prey on widows.
Sermon 85.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · A short fragment for Saint Stephen's day, the day after Christmas: the layman chosen deacon to serve widows became the first martyr, an example of chastity and martyrdom.
Sermon 96.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Abraham's hospitality to the three visitors teaches the people to welcome the visiting bishops, since receiving a holy man makes the host share his holiness, and Christ comes in his priests.
Sermon 97.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · Priests must cry out against sin like a trumpet (Isa 58:1); as the priests' trumpets brought down the walls of Jericho, so the priestly voice now breaks down sin.
Sermon 98.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · The priests' trumpets at Jericho figure the preaching of priests, whose words break down the soul's defences of sin; the seven days figure the seven thousand years of the world before judgment.
Sermon 103.1Maximus of Turin · ca. 400-465 · The bishop must preach sharply because God has made priests watchmen (Ezek 3:17–18) who answer for the sinner's blood if they keep silent; so he warns drunkards and the avaricious, whose hoarded silver becomes an idol.
Chapter 11Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana · ca. 380–414 · Nicetas tells his hearers not to pray privately during the readings, citing Mary of Bethany, and to follow the deacon’s calls so that all act together.
Chapter 15Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana · ca. 380–414 · Nicetas notes that the prophets spoke for the Lord, Christ in his own name, and the new prophets for the Holy Spirit, who also sent Paul, as the Father and Christ did.
Liber Orsiesii 17Orsiesius · ca. 380-390 · Superiors must watch over their flocks like the shepherds of Bethlehem and the good shepherd, as Christ charged Peter to feed his sheep.
Book of Heresies 33.1Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, fell from sound doctrine.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 39Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · The teacher's work is reading and preaching, as Paul laboured night and day.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 45Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · A bishop must be blameless and the clergy peaceable; older men and widows likewise.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 46Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Clergy should use church courts, not public ones, judge justly, and require two or three witnesses.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 48Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · God set in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 54Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Paul commends his co-workers and church leaders, whose names are in the book of life.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 56Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Paul commands obedience to authorities, manual work, love within the household, and silence of women in church.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 62Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Paul preached without burdening the avaricious, yet says those who serve the altar should live from it.
Eleven Tractates 2.41Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · Priscillian addresses the bishop of Rome, explaining that Bishop Hydatius's attacks force him to state his faith before him.
Eleven Tractates 2.48Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · After Saragossa, Hydatius was accused by his own presbyter and deserted by many of his clergy; Priscillian's party consulted the bishops Hyginus and Symposius.
Eleven Tractates 2.50Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · Hydatius obtained an imperial rescript against 'pseudo-bishops and Manichaeans' by misrepresenting the case, and lied to Ambrose.
Eleven Tractates 2.53Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · Hydatius himself said at Saragossa only that superfluous writings should not be read; Priscillian asks Damasus for a hearing.
Eleven Tractates 2.54Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · Priscillian asks Damasus either to summon Hydatius or to write to the Spanish bishops for a council at which the accused are heard.
Eleven Tractates 2.55Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · They ask that churches not be deprived of their bishops under a rescript meant for the guilty.
Section 4Anonymous · 3 September 381 · The emperor explains that, on Ambrose's advice, only the bishops of northern Italy and nearby were needed, so the old, the weak, and the poor were spared the journey.
Section 7Anonymous · 3 September 381 · Ambrose answers that by custom Eastern and Western bishops hold their councils separately, and the Easterners were free to come but chose not to.
Section 49Anonymous · 3 September 381 · Valerian of Aquileia charges that Palladius was ordained by Photinians and condemned with them.
Section 51Anonymous · 3 September 381 · Palladius demands lay hearers; Ambrose replies that priests judge laymen, not laymen priests.
Section 52Anonymous · 3 September 381 · Ambrose pronounces Palladius unworthy of the episcopate and deposed, so that a catholic may be ordained in his place.
Canon 2Anonymous · 381–382 · Bishops are confined to their own civil dioceses (Egypt, the East, Asia, Pontus, Thrace), with Antioch's Nicene privileges kept and each province governed by its synod.
Canon 3Anonymous · 381–382 · The bishop of Constantinople ranks in honor next after the bishop of Rome, Constantinople being New Rome.
Canon 4Anonymous · 381–382 · The irregular consecration of Maximus the Cynic at Constantinople and all his ordinations are declared invalid.
Canon 6Anonymous · 381–382 · Private complaints against a bishop may be brought by anyone, but ecclesiastical charges only by orthodox accusers in good standing, first before the provincial bishops and then a synod of the diocese, under penalty for false accusation.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 9.2Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The bishop was raised in a monastery.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 23.3Egeria · ca. 381-395 · She meets her friend the deaconess Marthana.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 49.2Egeria · ca. 381-395 · Forty or fifty bishops attend.
Section 3Anonymous · 382 · The bishops profess the Nicene faith: one divinity, power, and essence of Father, Son, and Spirit in three perfect hypostases, against Sabellians, Arians, Eunomians, and Pneumatomachi, and Christ's full humanity.
Section 4Anonymous · 382 · The bishops report the canonical ordinations of Nectarius at Constantinople, Flavian at Antioch, and Cyril at Jerusalem and ask the West to accept them for the sake of unity.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 1Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · An account of the Roman schism: when Liberius was exiled for refusing to condemn Athanasius, the clergy broke their oath and accepted the archdeacon Felix in his place; Liberius returned after consenting to the emperor's faith, and Felix was driven out.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 2Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · After Liberius's death in 366 his loyal clergy elected Ursinus, while the former partisans of Felix chose Damasus, who, according to this account, used hired gangs and bribery to seize the Lateran, be ordained, and have Ursinus exiled.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 3Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Damasus's partisans stormed the basilica of Liberius on 26 October 366, killing 160 of Ursinus's supporters; the survivors appealed to the emperor and the bishops to depose him.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 4Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Ursinus was briefly recalled in 367 but exiled again; Damasus's men attacked his followers at Saint Agnes, the Italian bishops refused to condemn Ursinus unheard, and the presbyters Faustinus and Marcellinus, scattered in exile, addressed their petition to the emperors.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 9Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The heirs of Arius, with Constantius's support, persecuted Catholic bishops and summoned the councils of Seleucia and Ariminum (359); at Ariminum the bishops at first upheld Nicaea and condemned the formula of Ursacius and Valens, but their envoys to the emperor gave way under pressure.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 10Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The bishops at Ariminum and Seleucia, fearing exile more than eternal punishment, signed the Arian formula; the petitioners ask why they should be punished for refusing communion with such bishops.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 11Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The petitioners list the few bishops who suffered rather than betray the faith: Paulinus of Trier, Lucifer of Cagliari, Eusebius of Vercelli, Dionysius of Milan, Rhodanius, Hilary (though he later compromised), Maximus of Naples, and Rufinianus, run to death by Epictetus of Centumcellae.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 12Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · To sign a heresy out of fear is as much a sacrilege as sacrificing to idols; in matters of faith the few who suffer for the truth must be preferred to the many who gave way, and God has shown his judgment on the prevaricators by present punishments.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 13Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Potamius of Lisbon and the aged Ossius of Cordova both betrayed the Nicene faith under Constantius; Ossius, returning to Spain with an imperial order, had Gregory of Elvira, who refused his communion, summoned to Cordova.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 14Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · At Cordova Ossius tried to have Gregory of Elvira deposed and exiled, but when Gregory appealed to Christ, Ossius collapsed as he was pronouncing sentence, and the terrified pagan vicar begged Gregory's pardon.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 15Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Potamius died on the way to the estate he had been given for his subscription, and Florentius of Emerita, who knowingly communicated with Ossius and Potamius, was thrown from his throne three times and died; the petitioners present both as God's judgment.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 17Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · In the East the Arians deposed and reordained bishops who had signed their formula, and the exiled Nicene bishops decreed by letter that such bishops could be received only to lay communion as penitents.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 18Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Under Julian the exiled bishops returned, and under Jovian the bishops who had signed at Ariminum returned to the Nicene faith; some confessors received them, but the petitioners hold that this contradicts Scripture.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 19Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · A peace that restores bishops who denied the Son of God to their honor is not Christ's peace and makes the martyrs' sufferings vain; yet the petitioners are persecuted, under the emperors' laws, for refusing it.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 20Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Zosimus, set up at Naples in place of the exiled Maximus, was condemned by Maximus and by Lucifer of Cagliari; his tongue, the petitioners say, hung out of his mouth whenever he tried to celebrate, until he gave up the see.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 21Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The inconstancy of the bishops who changed their faith with each emperor led Valens to favor the Arians, and robs such bishops of authority to preach against heresy.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 22Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Truth is not decided by numbers: Noah, Lot, Elijah and Jehu each stood against an impious multitude, and God approved them.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 24Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · In Baetica the bishops Luciosus and Hyginus, with hired crowds and imperial officials, attacked the congregation of the presbyter Vincentius, a follower of Gregory of Elvira, killing clergy and a decurion and finally placing their altar beneath an idol.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 25Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The petitioners recount the persecution of their adherents at Trier and Rome, above all of the ascetic presbyter Macarius, who, arrested at a night vigil by Damasus's clergy and dragged over the stones, died of his wound in exile at Ostia.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 26Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Damasus used imperial laws against heretics to have the petitioners' adherents exiled, and tried to prosecute their bishop at Rome, Ephesius, as a "Luciferian", but the prefect Bassus refused to treat Lucifer's followers as heretics.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 28Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Lucifer wrote and lived by the Scriptures and worked miracles, as Gregory of Elvira recognized, so to brand the defenders of the true faith with his name is sacrilege.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 29Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · At Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, bishop Theodore, after being demoted and reordained by the Arian George, persecuted the strict Nicene congregation and its bishop Heraclidas, finally sending his clergy to demolish their church and altar.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 30Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Heraclidas is one of the saints "of whom the world was not worthy"; Theodore persecuted not only him but his people, his consecrated virgins and his monks.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 31Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · Theodore, reordained by an Arian and long in communion with the Meletian bishop Apollonius, has nevertheless been handed Apollonius's basilica as a Catholic under the emperors' edict, and now reordains Meletian clergy himself.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 32Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · At Eleutheropolis in Palestine the consecrated virgin Hermione and the house of the former tribune Severus, refusing communion with compromised bishops, received the visiting Luciferian bishop Ephesius.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 35Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The bishops tolerate many heresies among themselves for the sake of a false peace that preserves their possessions and honors, a peace the prophets condemned.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 36Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The petitioners ask only to be allowed to worship Christ in peace, even in humble places, and sign their petition; the emperors' rescript to the prefect Cynegius praises their petition and orders that Gregory of Elvira, Heraclidas and like-minded priests be protected from harassment.
Apology of the Prophet David 17Ambrose · ca. 384-390 · Even priests have sinned: Aaron made the golden calf, and with Miriam spoke against Moses’ foreign wife.
Apology of the Prophet David 50Ambrose · ca. 384-390 · Some refer the two verses to baptism and penance: Peter, already baptized, covered his denial by threefold love and was charged to feed the sheep.
On the Life of Moses 319Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · Gregory describes the materials of the tabernacle and the high priest’s vestments revealed to Moses on the mountain: ephod, engraved stones, breastplate, robe with bells and pomegranates, and gold plate.
On the Life of Moses 323Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · The narrative runs through the quails and their deadly surfeit, the spies and the sentence on the unbelieving generation, the water from the rock, the rebellion against Moses and Aaron, and the budding of Aaron’s rod.
On the Life of Moses 365Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · After the sea, the believer trusts God and obeys his priests; the bitter water of Marah sweetened by wood is the hard life of virtue sweetened by the cross; Elim’s twelve springs and seventy palms are the twelve apostles and the seventy.
On the Life of Moses 375Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · The trumpets growing louder signify the revelation of God, faint in the law and prophets and full in the Gospel; the people’s leaving the mountain to Moses teaches that not all should pry into the mysteries, as heretics do; Moses’ entry into darkness shows that the closer the mind comes to God, the more it sees that he cannot be seen.
On the Life of Moses 385Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · The red skins and hair curtains signify Christ’s saving passion; in the tabernacle below, the Church, the pillars and lamps are its apostles and teachers, the lavers those who baptize, the curtains the concord of believers, the red skins the mortification of the flesh.
On the Life of Moses 415Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · The bronze serpent figures Christ, who came “in the likeness of sinful flesh”: looking to the cross does not abolish desire but prevents its deadly bite; when desire is mastered, arrogance follows, as when Korah’s party seized the priesthood and went down into the earth.
On the Life of Moses 417Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 385–395 · Every passion is a fall, so mastering pleasure does not excuse ambition for the priesthood; the budding of Aaron’s rod shows that the priesthood is from God, and its nut, hard outside and nourishing within, shows what a priest’s life should be, unlike the luxury of many clergy.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, inscription and introductionSiricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius, newly bishop of Rome, answers the report Himerius of Tarragona had sent to Damasus, claiming to bear the burdens of all as Peter's heir.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 1Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Converts baptized by Arians are not to be rebaptized but received by the bishop's laying on of hands.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 7Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius condemns priests and deacons who beget children after ordination, arguing from the Levitical priests' temple service that clergy must be continent, and sets penalties.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 8Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius rebukes the Spanish metropolitans for ordaining men married several times, contrary to the law's and Paul's rule of one wife.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 9Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius sets the stages and intervals of a clerical career from childhood lector to bishop, for a man married once to a virgin.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 10Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · An adult convert may be ordained only if married once to a virgin, passing through the lower orders over set intervals.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 11Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · A cleric who marries a widow or a second wife loses his rank and is reduced to lay communion.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 12Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Clerics may have in their houses only the women Nicaea allowed, their close relatives.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 13Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Worthy monks may be ordained, but must pass through each grade at the set intervals.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 14Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Former penitents may not be ordained; penitents, twice-married men, and husbands of widows ordained in ignorance are not to be promoted.
Letter 1 to Himerius of Tarragona, chapter 15Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Penitents, twice-married men, and husbands of widows already ordained may keep their grade without promotion; Himerius is to circulate the decretal through Spain.
Letter 4 to Anysius of Thessalonica, chapter 1Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius renews his order that no bishop be ordained in Illyricum without the consent of Anysius of Thessalonica, after rival ordinations had produced, in effect, three bishops in one church.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Africa, chapter 1Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · The council at Peter's tomb sends the African bishops a reminder of existing apostolic and patristic rules, neglected by some who follow popular will rather than God's judgment.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Africa, chapter 2Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Eight rules for all catholic bishops: no ordination without the primate's knowledge; no bishop ordained by a single bishop; no former soldiers after baptism, no clerics marrying widows, no laymen married to widows in the clergy; no poaching or receiving of other churches' clerics; Novatianist and Montensian converts received by laying on of hands.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Africa, chapter 3Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · The council urges that priests and deacons abstain from intercourse with their wives, since they must always be ready to offer the sacrifice or baptize; 'husband of one wife' (1 Tim 3:2) is read as looking to future continence.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Africa, chapter 4Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Keeping these rules will bring unity and the peace Christ left; anyone who departs from them is excluded from communion.
Letter 6 to various bishops, chapter 1Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Siricius explains that his responsibility for all the churches compels him to speak against innovations.
Letter 6 to various bishops, chapter 2Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Some are introducing new practices against the canons; ordinations, above all of bishops, must follow examination of life and service, not favour.
Letter 6 to various bishops, chapter 3Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Men who served in the army or the civil service, or who seek office through patrons, are not to be made bishops; candidates should be approved by people and bishop.
Letter 6 to various bishops, chapter 4Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Wandering men claiming to be monks, whose life, baptism and faith are unknown, must not be ordained deacons, presbyters or bishops; they should be helped with travel money instead.
Letter 6 to various bishops, chapter 5Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Neophytes and laymen are not to be ordained presbyters or deacons directly, as had been done under pressure from heretics; clergy should be chosen from those already serving.
Letter 9 to Anysius of Thessalonica and the Illyrian bishops (on Bonosus), chapter 1Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · The writer declines to judge Bonosus himself, since the council of Capua (391) referred the case to the bishops of Macedonia with the bishop of Thessalonica, who act in the council's place.
Letter 9 to Anysius of Thessalonica and the Illyrian bishops (on Bonosus), chapter 2Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · When Bonosus asked Ambrose whether he might re-enter his church, he was told to do nothing against the Macedonian bishops' sentence; they, not the writer, must judge.
Letter 9 to Anysius of Thessalonica and the Illyrian bishops (on Bonosus), chapter 5Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · The writer also defers to the Macedonian bishops on the case of Senecio, given to Bishop Bassus as a colleague, and other matters.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 2Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Some bishops have changed the fathers' tradition and fallen into heresy; the Gallic bishops' questions, first on chastity, will be answered in order.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 3Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · A consecrated, veiled virgin who falls or marries is guilty of breaking her vow to Christ and must do penance for many years before pardon.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 5Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Bishops, presbyters and deacons, who baptize and consecrate the body of Christ, are bound by Scripture and the fathers to bodily continence; a married cleric who begets children cannot preach chastity.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 6Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Presbyters, deacons and bishops must be continent always, since they may at any moment have to baptize or offer the sacrifice; if even pagans and the old priests abstained, married clergy who continue relations are unworthy of the mysteries.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 7Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · A baptized man who has served in the army is unfit for the clergy, since he can hardly have avoided the shows, violence and injustice.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 8Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Only those who have kept chaste since baptism, or who are 'the husband of one wife', may be ordained; a man who sinned sexually after baptism owes penance and cannot become a priest, even if he later married.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 9Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · One faith requires one tradition and one discipline in all churches; the question is not baptism itself but the fitness of its ministers.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 10Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · At Easter presbyters and deacons baptize under the bishop; at other times, for the sick, only a presbyter may baptize, not a deacon, except once in necessity.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 13Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Former magistrates who used the sword, torture or public shows must do penance and may not be made bishops; Nicaea excluded eunuchs and men fresh from public office; ordination must not be bought or won by popular favour.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 14Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Marrying an uncle's widow (or a cousin) is forbidden as a return to a parent's bed, which is sexual immorality, not marriage; a cleric who does so is deposed unless he puts it right.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 15Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Bishops must be chosen from the clergy after service in lower orders, not from neophytes.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 16Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · A bishop who moves from his church to another is to be treated like a man who leaves his wife for another's and is to be deposed.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 17Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · A cleric excommunicated by his own bishop may not be received, even to lay communion, by another church; a bishop who receives or promotes him shares his guilt and loses communion with the apostolic see.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 18Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Bishops must not ordain in another's diocese; Nicaea requires the metropolitan with at least three bishops to ordain a bishop; intruders risk their own office.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 19Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Laymen excommunicated after trial who have been ordained by another bishop must be removed, or their ordainers reported to Rome.
Letter 10, canons of the Roman synod to the bishops of Gaul, chapter 20Siricius, bishop of Rome · 385 · Closing: keeping these rules prevents schism and heresy and makes the nations confess that God is among us.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.1Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Ambrose explains that, made bishop straight from public office, he must learn and teach at once, and offers his teaching to his clergy as to sons.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.18Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Modesty governs speech, silence, prayer, gait, and the covering of the body, as Susanna, Mary, the tax collector, and the law of priestly breeches show.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.20Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Clergy should avoid the company of the intemperate, the banquets of outsiders, and needless visits to widows and virgins, and spend free time in reading and prayer.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.23Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Clergy should avoid all jesting, which Scripture does not sanction, and use a simple, clear, manly voice.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.36Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · True fortitude defends the wronged and conquers oneself, despising external goods for the sake of virtue, and the clergy above all must scorn worldly gain and trade.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.44Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Each cleric should know his gifts, and the bishop should assign duties such as reader, cantor, exorcist, or sacristan accordingly; few sons follow fathers into the clergy.
On the Duties of the Clergy 1.50Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · The clergy, like the Levites whose portion is God, must be free of greed, married only once, continent, and guardians of the mysteries, exercising the four virtues and discerning when duties change.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.15Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Liberality includes discreet aid to the ashamed poor, ransoming captives, paying debts, caring for orphans and widows, and, for those without money, the gift of counsel and service.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.16Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Liberality needs measure against fraudulent beggars and a spur against hoarding, and Joseph, who sold grain and fixed a fifth as tribute, is the model of provident generosity.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.21Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Reputation grows by defending the oppressed and by hospitality, as with Abraham and Lot; liberality must be distinguished from prodigality, and the bishop must spend fittingly on churches, the poor, strangers, and clergy.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.24Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Ecclesiastical honour should be sought only by good acts; bishop and clergy owe each other fairness and humility, and judgments in the Church must be impartial.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.27Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Contempt of money is the form of justice; the bishop should treat his clergy as members of his body, cutting off only with grief what cannot be healed.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.28Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Ambrose defends his melting down of church vessels to ransom captives, since the Church’s true treasures are the poor, as Lawrence showed, and sets rules for using consecrated vessels.
On the Duties of the Clergy 2.29Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · The Church must guard the deposits of widows and orphans against the powerful, as God defended the temple treasury against Heliodorus and as the bishop of Ticinum did against an imperial order.
On the Duties of the Clergy 3.9Ambrose · ca. 386–390 · Love of the honourable rules out hunting for inheritances and taking sides in money cases; David spared and mourned Saul, Naboth died rather than sell his inheritance, and all fraud is condemned.
Exposition of Psalm 118 2.18.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Keeping God’s words, not age, makes a man fit to be chosen as an elder, as Joshua and Caleb show.
Exposition of Psalm 118 2.23.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · A slack bishop, presbyter, or minister of the altar would do better not to take an office he cannot fulfill.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.3.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Only one free of every worldly desire, a true minister of the altar, can say that the Lord is his portion.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.4.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Ambrose gives the meanings of the name Levi.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.4.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Levi is “for me”: offering and interceding for the people, and belonging to God alone.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.4.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · God claims the Levite himself as his possession, taken up by grace.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.4.4Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The Levites received no land, for the Lord was their portion.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.5.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The Levite, possessing nothing, is richer than landowners, for his portion is God, possessor of all.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.27.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · In the church’s penance, excommunicated sinners must not be readmitted too easily, for easy pardon invites sin.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.27.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The bishop must cut off the infected member to protect the whole church.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.33.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Alternatively: think ahead before acting or speaking, as in Christ’s order for correcting a brother.
Exposition of Psalm 118 9.4.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Exclusion from the church for penance, as with the Corinthian sinner, is exclusion for good.
Exposition of Psalm 118 9.13.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Humiliation following guilt, like the Corinthian sinner’s, leads to reconciliation.
Exposition of Psalm 118 10.17.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Having put on Christ, we receive the Spirit, who forgives sins and makes priests to forgive others; the Spirit is God’s hand.
Exposition of Psalm 118 10.39.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Bishops above all must meditate on Scripture to teach and refute, as Paul told Titus and Timothy.
Exposition of Psalm 118 13.3.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ entrusted his flock to Peter for love; God prefers willing service to forced.
Exposition of Psalm 118 13.12.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Many self-appointed teachers do not understand; one taught by God surpasses even true teachers.
Exposition of Psalm 118 15.12.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The church’s locks are its deep teachers, whom God feeds like the young ravens.
Exposition of Psalm 118 15.14.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Teeth, cheeks and lips signify the various virtues and teachers of the church.
Exposition of Psalm 118 17.18.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The church is beautiful even in its humble members; often the people kept the faith when clergy and bishop erred.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.11.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · A bishop needs zeal to keep the church pure; Christ, the chief priest, was consumed by zeal.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.13.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Ambrose fears the fire, hoping only in Christ’s mercy and the grace given through his ministry.
Exposition of Psalm 118 20.34.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ as advocate prayed all night to show how a bishop should intercede.
Exposition of Psalm 118 21.9.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Ambrose prays that in persecution he may fear Christ’s rejection more than torture.
Exposition of Psalm 118 22.15.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · There are dignities of office in the church and dignities of virtue for all.
Letter 10.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that a life of constant travel and business is incompatible with the leisure needed to prepare for death and to reach a fearless joy.
Letter 21.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine, newly ordained presbyter at Hippo, tells Bishop Valerius that church office is easy if done carelessly but most difficult and blessed if done rightly, and that he was forced into it unprepared.
Letter 21.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains the tears he shed at his ordination: he had criticized clergy before knowing the difficulty of their work and overestimated his own strength.
Letter 21.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks Valerius for leave to study the Scriptures, which he now sees he needs in order to minister the sacrament and the word.
Letter 21.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says he knows what is needed for his own salvation but not how to minister it to others, and asks for time until Easter to study the Scriptures.
Letter 21.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine imagines Christ the judge asking why he would travel for a year to defend church property but would not take time to learn to tend Christ's field.
Letter 21.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine begs Valerius by Christ to grant the time he asks and to pray for him.
Letter 22.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine hopes that Aurelius and church councils can correct the disorders of the African church, especially drunkenness and strife, which are tolerated while sexual sin is punished.
Letter 22.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Aurelius to abolish the feasts, as most churches overseas have done, by the authority of a council or by the example of Carthage.
Letter 22.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine advises that the custom be removed gently, by teaching and admonition rather than threats, since a multitude must be persuaded.
Letter 22.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says strife and jealousy, born of pride and love of praise, are worse among the clergy, and that a cleric should accept honour only for the good of others.
Letter 23.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine proposes that both sides drop the old charges about Macarius and the Circumcellions and that their letters be read publicly, so that the people may learn the difference between the Catholic Church and schism.
Letter 24.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus thanks Alypius for five books of Augustine against the Manichaeans, sends greetings to the clergy and monks, and praises Alypius's ascetic life amid his pastoral work.
Letter 24.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus asks Alypius to tell him his life story and whether he too was brought to the faith by Ambrose, and tells of his own baptism at Bordeaux and forced ordination at Barcelona.
Letter 29.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine appealed to the people by Christ's passion and by Valerius's love for them, warned them of God's chastening, and ended in tears shared with the congregation.
Letter 29.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · When some still asked why the custom was now forbidden, the objectors came to Augustine before the service and were persuaded, and he answered 'Why now?' with 'Even now'.
Letter 31.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Paulinus that Valerius has made him his fellow bishop, and begs Paulinus and Therasia to come to Africa.
Letter 32.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus rejoices that Augustine was made co-bishop with the living Valerius, an unusual arrangement, and sees in it God's work against the Donatists and Manichaeans.
Letter 34.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says he cannot be silent, and that he had the crime entered in the public records so that no one could say he invented it.
Letter 35.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports a deposed Catholic subdeacon, Primus, who was rebaptized by the Donatists with two nuns and now roams with the Circumcellions, and asks that Proculianus exclude him.
Letter 35.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine contrasts the Catholic practice of receiving degraded Donatist clergy only as penitents with the Donatist rebaptism of disciplined Catholics, who must declare themselves pagans.
Letter 36.32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine recalls Ambrose's advice to follow the custom of the church where one is, and tells Casulanus to follow his own bishop's practice on Saturday fasting.
Letter 41.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Alypius and Augustine rejoice that Aurelius has had presbyters preach to the people in his presence.
Letter 43.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that Caecilian, in communion with Rome and the churches overseas, could rightly refuse a suspect council, and Secundus should not have condemned him in absence.
Letter 43.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine imagines the counsel Secundus should have given: leave the cases to God or bring them before the churches overseas, rather than create a schism.
Letter 43.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine praises Miltiades's peaceable sentence, which blamed Donatus alone and offered to recognize bishops ordained by Majorinus, over the rash council of seventy.
Letter 43.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reads the letter to the angel of Ephesus as praise of a church leader who bore false apostles for Christ's name.
Letter 48.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks the monks of Capraria for their prayers, since secular business presses heavily on him as bishop.
Letter 48.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges the monks to persevere, not to refuse service to the church out of love of leisure, and to avoid both pride and sloth.
Letter 51.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine presses Crispinus with the Donatists' reception of Felicianus and Praetextatus, condemned as Maximianist schismatics, back into their sees.
Letter 53.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine lists the bishops of Rome from Peter to Anastasius and notes that no Donatist bishop appears in the succession.
Letter 53.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that even an unworthy bishop in the succession would not harm the church, since the faithful hope in the Lord, not in men.
Letter 59.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine excuses himself to the primate Victorinus from a council, objecting to irregularities in the summons, including the omission of Xanthippus, who also claimed the primacy.
Letter 59.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine proposes that the dispute over the Numidian primacy be settled by the senior bishops before any council is summoned.
Letter 60.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine advises Aurelius against ordaining monks who have deserted their monastery, lest it be said that a bad monk makes a good cleric.
Letter 60.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that the two monks left his monastery against his will and leaves the decision about them to Aurelius.
Letter 61.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine sets out for Theodorus the terms on which Donatist clergy are received: their error is rejected, their baptism and the name of God they bear are honoured.
Letter 61.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Donatists coming to the Catholic Church keep their baptism, orders, and vows, and receive the love and unity that make these profitable.
Letter 62.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Alypius, Augustine, and Samsucius report to Severus on their inquiry at Subsana into the affair of the reader Timothy, and apologize for a discourtesy to his messengers.
Letter 62.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The bishops explain that Timothy will abide by their joint decision, his oath binding only his own will, and ask Severus to agree.
Letter 63.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine answers Severus's complaint, explaining that Timothy was ordained subdeacon at Subsana without his consent.
Letter 63.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains how he rebuked those responsible, admonished Timothy and Carcedonius, and prayed, before Timothy left for Milevis.
Letter 63.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks Severus to judge whether Timothy, who had read publicly several times, was not already a reader of Hippo, and warns that such oaths would undermine church discipline.
Letter 64.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains to Quintianus that he cannot receive him into communion while Aurelius has not, but has passed his complaint on to Aurelius.
Letter 64.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rebukes Quintianus for having non-canonical scriptures read in church and clarifies the council's rules on receiving clergy and monks.
Letter 64.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine supports the people of Vigesila in refusing a bishop deposed by a plenary council of Africa.
Letter 65.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports to the primate Xanthippus his removal of the presbyter Abundantius for embezzlement and for dining and staying with a woman of bad reputation on a fast day.
Letter 65.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains to Xanthippus that he removed Abundantius on clear evidence, and that he cannot entrust a congregation to such a man whatever others decide.
Letter 69.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Alypius and Augustine praise Maximian, a convert from Donatism, for resigning as bishop of Bagai to avoid dissension in the church.
Letter 69.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Castorius to accept election as bishop of Bagai in his brother's place and dedicate his gifts to Christ.
Letter 77.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that he will not strike the presbyter Boniface from the clergy list, since no crime has been proved and his case with Spes awaits God’s judgment.
Letter 78.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks his people to grieve and pray over the case between the presbyter Boniface and Spes, one of whom must be guilty of a sexual advance or of slander.
Letter 78.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains how the case arose and why he sent Boniface and Spes to the shrine of St Felix at Nola, where God might reveal the guilty party.
Letter 78.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains why he has not removed Boniface’s name from the clergy list but will leave it unread if the people wish, since only a guilty conscience removes a name from the book of life.
Letter 78.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rebukes those who boasted over the fall of two Donatist deacons, and shows from Scripture that no household, not even Christ’s, is free of the wicked.
Letter 82.33Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains his earlier remarks, including the reference to Stesichorus, asks Jerome’s forgiveness, and invites his correction, acknowledging that in many things he is Jerome’s inferior.
Letter 83.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues against Alypius’s compromise of splitting the disputed property, since it would make the bishops look avaricious.
Letter 83.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine proposes that in future monks dispose of their property before entering, and that in this case the property be left to Thiave to avoid scandal.
Letter 83.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine proposes that a cleric’s property belong to the church where he is ordained, notes that by civil law Honoratus’s property is his own, and reports that bishop Samsucius was shocked at their earlier position.
Letter 83.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Alypius to send the joint letter, citing Christ’s paying the temple tax and Paul’s refusing support to avoid offence.
Letter 84.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains to bishop Novatus why he cannot return Novatus’s brother, the deacon Lucillus, comparing his own separation from his friend Severus.
Letter 84.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Lucillus’s knowledge of Latin is badly needed in his region, where Latin is scarce, and asks Novatus not to press the request.
Letter 85.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells bishop Paulus that he withholds communion not from hatred but because he cannot flatter him, and that Paulus’s worldly conduct has gravely wounded the church of Hippo.
Letter 85.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rebukes Paulus for re-entangling himself in worldly business and living beyond his church’s means, and urges him to true episcopal life.
Letter 91.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine accepts Nectarius’s account of a bishop’s duty but explains that true salvation and pardon require correction, not impunity.
Letter 95.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that he asked about the future life because managing the heavenly city's people now is so uncertain.
Letter 96.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine renews the request of Bishop Boniface of Cataqua that the emperor grant his church small estates which his predecessor Paul had bought fraudulently while in debt to the treasury.
Letter 108.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine shows that Cyprian rebuked greedy colleagues without separating from them and taught that the church must not be deserted because of the tares in it.
Letter 108.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that the occasion of the letter is the rebaptism of Rusticianus, an excommunicated and indebted subdeacon, and recalls a similar case that ended in violence.
Letter 121.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus asks Augustine to distinguish the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers of Ephesians 4:11, especially pastors from teachers.
Letter 125.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine writes to Alypius that the suspicion that they sought Pinianus's wealth is more grievous than the people's insults.
Letter 125.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine judges that Albina and her family should be healed of their suspicion of the clergy's greed, and urges Alypius that they take care to be above reproach before men.
Letter 126.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine gives Albina his account of how the crowd at Hippo demanded Pinianus as presbyter and insulted Alypius, and how he refused to break his promise.
Letter 126.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that he kept both his promises, neither ordaining Pinianus against his will nor urging him to accept, and could not safely leave with or without Alypius.
Letter 126.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine relates how Pinianus offered to swear that he would reside at Hippo if not ordained against his will, and how the people demanded that any future ordination be at Hippo.
Letter 126.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine insists that Pinianus swore in his presence but not at his command, and that the people sought his ordination, not his oath, as God's work.
Letter 126.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the people loved Pinianus's renunciation of wealth rather than coveting it, as they had loved his own renunciation of his small inheritance.
Letter 126.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says that the suspicion of greed can fall only on the clergy, and that Albina's suspicion compels him to call God to witness.
Letter 126.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine calls God to witness that he bears the administration of church property out of duty, not love of it, and that Alypius is of the same mind.
Letter 126.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine cites Paul's oath in 1 Thessalonians 2:5 as precedent for calling God to witness, and asks that the people not be accused of greed.
Letter 128.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Catholic bishops pledge to give up their sees if the Donatists prove their case, and offer the Donatist bishops their episcopal rank if they join Catholic unity.
Letter 128.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Catholic bishops propose that former Donatist bishops share sees with Catholic bishops, or that both resign for the sake of unity.
Letter 142.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges the clergy to fulfill their offices faithfully and to pray for those still estranged, that God may draw them to the sweetness of unity.
Letter 148.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine admits he was too harsh toward a fellow bishop, asks pardon, and requests Fortunatianus to reconcile them, since a meeting had been refused.
Letter 149.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · On Ephesians 4:11 Augustine identifies the prophets as New Testament prophets like Agabus and takes 'pastors and teachers' as one office, since teaching belongs to pastors.
Letter 152.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Macedonius, vicar of Africa, writes to Augustine asking whether episcopal intercession for criminals is consistent with religion, since it seems to approve their crimes, especially when they keep their gains.
Letter 153.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine answers Macedonius, imperial vicar of Africa, who asked why bishops intercede for condemned criminals when this seems to make them sharers in the guilt.
Letter 153.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Intercession differs from defense; Macedonius himself once interceded with the bishop of Carthage for a cleric, and a bishop has stronger reason to intercede against the sword.
Letter 153.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · A bishop who shields someone from making restitution shares his crime; bishops rebuke such people and may exclude them from communion.
Letter 167.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Partiality is a grave sin if it concerns church offices; in ordinary seating it is sin when one inwardly judges the rich better.
Letter 173.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · As men are compelled to become bishops, so those in error may be compelled toward good, though salvation requires a good will.
Letter 181.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pope Innocent I praises the Council of Carthage for referring the Pelagian case to the apostolic see, according to ancient custom.
Letter 182.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Innocent affirms that questions of faith are rightly referred to the see of Peter, from which answers flow to all provinces.
Letter 185.44Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Receiving Donatist clergy in their offices is like grafting, a slight wound to the church's strictness healed by peace and love.
Letter 185.45Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The rule barring penitents from clerical office is discipline, not denial of pardon, and may be relaxed to heal a whole people's schism.
Letter 185.46Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Converted Donatist clergy may serve as clergy and bishops, but should repent humbly as Peter did and not grow proud of their reception.
Letter 185.47Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Receiving converted clergy in their offices follows the precedent of the Roman council of 313 and the Donatists' own treatment of the Maximianists.
Letter 186.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains how the African councils of Carthage and Milevis and a private letter brought the case of Pelagius before Pope Innocent, who replied fittingly.
Letter 190.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns Optatus against the Pelagian heresy condemned by Innocent and Zosimus, which uses the creation of new souls to deny original sin, quoting Pelagius's argument.
Letter 191.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Sixtus to restrain open Pelagians, watch over those who spread the error secretly, and patiently teach those who have fallen silent out of fear.
Letter 194.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Sixtus to deal with three kinds of Pelagians: open defenders to be restrained, secret propagandists to be tracked down, and silent sympathizers to be patiently taught.
Letter 201.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The emperors direct Aurelius to require all bishops to subscribe to the condemnation of Pelagius and Caelestius on pain of deposition, exile, and excommunication.
Letter 208.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that both good and self-seeking pastors will exist in the Church until the end, as Christ foretold, and that one must persevere.
Letter 208.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says good and bad are mixed in the Church's flock until Christ separates them, and that the Donatists, by separating early, cut themselves off from unity.
Letter 208.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine begins to explain how Christ teaches believers to regard good and bad pastors without leaving the Church's unity.
Letter 208.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Christ's sheep hear his voice even through bad pastors, doing what they teach but not what they do, and imitate good pastors without placing their hope in them.
Letter 208.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine teaches that good sheep place their hope in Christ, not in pastors, and that the Catholic Church spread through the world contains good and bad, while those separated from it cannot be good.
Letter 209.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine congratulates Pope Celestine on his peaceful election and asks his help in a crisis Augustine himself caused.
Letter 209.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains how Fussala, a former Donatist town forty miles from Hippo, was won to unity at great cost, and why he arranged for it to have its own bishop.
Letter 209.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine recounts how, when his chosen candidate withdrew, he hastily had the young reader Antoninus ordained bishop of Fussala.
Letter 209.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports that Antoninus was cleared of charges of sexual immorality but found guilty of oppression and extortion, for which he was ordered to make restitution rather than deposed.
Letter 209.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Antoninus kept his episcopal rank but was removed from authority over the people of Fussala, whose resentment was dangerous.
Letter 209.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks Celestine to study the records of Antoninus's conduct and how he deceived the primate of Numidia into commending him to Pope Boniface.
Letter 209.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rebuts Antoninus's claim that he must either keep his see or lose his rank, arguing that a bishop can be punished without being deposed.
Letter 209.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine cites recent cases of bishops in Mauretania Caesariensis who were punished by Rome or with its approval without being deposed.
Letter 209.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine begs Celestine to protect the people of Fussala from Antoninus's threats of force and to show mercy to both parties.
Letter 209.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine confesses he is so distressed by his mistake that he has thought of resigning his see, and asks Celestine to bring relief.
Letter 211.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine directs the nuns to obey the prioress and the presbyter, and describes the prioress as one who serves in love and must give account to God.
Letter 213.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The official record of 26 September 426 at Hippo, in which Augustine, now old, names the presbyter Eraclius as his successor before clergy and people, who acclaim him.
Letter 213.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks the people to pray that God confirm the choice of Eraclius and notes that the proceedings are being officially recorded.
Letter 213.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks for the decision to be confirmed by the record and by prayer, and the people acclaim Eraclius as their future bishop.
Letter 213.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that Eraclius will not be ordained bishop during his lifetime, since his own ordination as co-bishop with Valerius had broken a canon of Nicaea.
Letter 213.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks the people to bring their business to Eraclius instead of him, so that he may devote himself to the Scriptures, as councils had earlier asked.
Letter 213.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine hands his routine duties to Eraclius so that he may give his remaining time to Scripture, and asks the people to sign the record, which they acclaim.
Letter 228.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reminds Bishop Honoratus that he has already advised, in a letter to Quodvultdeus, that clergy must not abandon their people during the barbarian invasion.
Letter 228.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that Christ's command to flee persecution applies when a minister is personally sought, not when the whole people is endangered and needs its clergy.
Letter 228.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says that clergy who stay with their people and suffer lay down their lives for the brothers, as 1 John 3:16 commands.
Letter 228.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine grants that flight from barbarians is acceptable for those without church office, but says the minister who stays bears greater fruit of love than a martyr who fled for himself.
Letter 228.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine answers Honoratus's fear of massacre and torture: the clergy may leave only when their people have left, and bishops who deserted their flocks in Spain did wrong.
Letter 228.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reconciles the command to flee with the condemnation of the hireling: ministers may flee only if no people remain or others can minister, as with Paul and Athanasius.
Letter 228.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges fearful clergy to fear spiritual ruin of their flocks more than bodily harm, adding that rape without consent does not violate chastity.
Letter 228.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine describes the crowds seeking baptism, reconciliation and communion in a crisis, and the eternal loss if the clergy have fled.
Letter 228.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine shows that the presence of ministers in danger benefits the people, citing Paul's example of seeking others' good.
Letter 228.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine allows a minister to flee to preserve himself for the Church only when others remain, as Athanasius did and as David's men asked of him.
Letter 228.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine considers the case where only clergy are hunted, and compares the Church to a ship whose crew and helmsman must not desert it in common danger.
Letter 228.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine suggests that if clergy dispute who should stay and who flee, the matter be decided by lot, and warns against anyone judging himself too valuable to stay.
Letter 228.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine advises clergy to tell their people they stay for the people's sake, and to leave only if the people leave.
Letter 228.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine concludes that flight is permitted only if the flock is not left without ministry, and commends prayer and the example of those who stayed.
Letter 236.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine informs Bishop Deuterius that Victorinus, an aged subdeacon of Malliana, has confessed to being a Manichaean Hearer.
Letter 236.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks Deuterius to depose Victorinus from clerical rank and to admit him to penance only if he names other Manichees in the province.
Letter 237.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine concludes that the Priscillianist explanations are an evasion, condemns the hymn's line making Christ a mocker, and urges Ceretius to heal the sheep they have wounded.
Letter 245.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine condemns amulets and superstitious earrings as service of demons, and declines to advise ordaining a man baptized among the Donatists.
Letter 250.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks the young bishop Auxilius by what right he excommunicated Count Classicianus together with his whole household, since spiritual punishment binds souls and each soul answers for its own sin.
Letter 250.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says he has never dared to excommunicate a whole household, since innocents would be punished and some might die unbaptized, and asks Auxilius for his reasons.
Letter 250.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Auxilius, if Classicianus did no wrong, to withdraw the sentence, admitting that bishops too can act in anger, and to restore peace.
Letter 251.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Pancarius, a landowner, that charges against the presbyter Secundinus will be heard only from Catholics, and asks him not to let the presbyter's house or church be harmed.
Letter 252.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Felix that he cannot hand over an orphan girl entrusted to the church without consulting her guardian.
Letter 261.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine rejects Audax's titles for him except “dispenser of salvation,” noting that salvation is dispensed through good and bad ministers alike.
Letter 266.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine notes the danger of pride for teachers, citing Paul's thorn, Christ's warning against being called Rabbi, and John the Baptist's humility.
Homilies on Matthew 5.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Scripture uses 'young woman' for virgins, and a sign must be extraordinary; Joseph obeys; 'until' in Matt 1:25 does not imply later relations, for Mary remained a virgin; the 'brothers' of Jesus were so called as Joseph was called husband; James's later sanctity proves the resurrection.
Homilies on Matthew 15.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The beatitudes form a golden chain leading to endurance under slander, and the disciples are called the salt of the earth because the salvation of the whole world will depend on their virtue.
Homilies on Matthew 15.7John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Salt that loses its savor is worthless, so teachers must not fear slander but hypocrisy, and as the light of the world they cannot be hidden and must live so that God is glorified.
Homilies on Matthew 32.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The Pharisees’ slander is self-refuting, for Christ does what no demon would; moved by compassion he sends the Twelve to the lost sheep of Israel, empowered to heal, to preach the kingdom, and to take nothing, since the laborer deserves his food.
Homilies on Matthew 32.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The apostles are to stay only with the worthy and not move from house to house, to give their peace as a blessing, and to go without possessions, so that their virtue may commend them even before their signs.
Homilies on Matthew 32.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The peace the apostles brought is given now by the one who presides in church; the congregation must receive it and the preacher’s words with attention and love, not with chatter and secret slander.
Homilies on Matthew 40.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Envy harms the envious, not the envied, as Cain, Esau and Joseph’s brothers show; Chrysostom rebukes envy in the church, and shows that honors, authority and popular repute are dangers rather than goods to be envied.
Homilies on Matthew 46.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The parable of the tares concerns heretics, whom the devil sows beside the truth while the guardians sleep; the master forbids the servants to pull them up, for heretics must not be killed.
Homilies on Matthew 54.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · At Caesarea Philippi Christ draws from the disciples, beyond the people’s opinions, Peter’s confession that he is the Christ, the Son of the living God, which the Father revealed; he names Peter the rock of the church’s faith and promises him the keys, gifts that show the Son’s equality with the Father.
Homilies on Matthew 72.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ bids the people obey the scribes and Pharisees who sit on Moses’ seat but not imitate their works; Chrysostom explains that “all” means the moral law, that the teachers’ office is to be respected though they are corrupt, and that their hypocrisy and harshness make their guilt greater.
Homilies on Matthew 72.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The Pharisees’ vainglory shows in their love of display: broad phylacteries, large fringes, first seats and greetings; Chrysostom explains these customs and laments the evils that love of precedence has brought on the churches.
Homilies on Matthew 72.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ forbids the disciples to be called Rabbi, father or leader, since God is the true teacher and father and Christ the one leader (which shows the Father and the Son share these titles); humility is the cure, and Chrysostom finds it among the monks, who serve one another with one table and no “mine and yours.”
Homilies on Matthew 82.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Chrysostom charges the deacons who distribute the Eucharist to keep known sinners from the table, whatever their rank, since the unworthy communicant is worse than the possessed, and declares he would rather give his life than give the Lord’s blood to the unworthy, while urging that such sinners be corrected and brought back.
Homilies on Matthew 85.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · By disowning Judas’s silver yet pressing on to the crucifixion the priests convicted themselves, and the Field of Blood proclaimed their guilt; alms from plunder insult Christ, and because the faithful do not give, the church has been forced to hold property, turning bishops and priests into estate managers instead of servants of the poor.
On Fleeing the World 6Ambrose · ca. 387-391 · The Levites, who leave everything for God, are fugitives from the world; through Christ all believers share this calling.
On Fleeing the World 7Ambrose · ca. 387-391 · The priest’s true flight is renouncing family and world to serve God alone, as Christ and Elijah did.
On Fleeing the World 8Ambrose · ca. 387-391 · The Levites carry out God’s judgment, as Paul did; the mind of the flesh must die by their sword.
On the Mysteries 2Ambrose · ca. 387–391 · In the baptistery the candidates renounced the devil and the world before the clergy, whose office, not their persons, matters, and turned to the east toward Christ.
On the Mysteries 5Ambrose · ca. 387–391 · The whole Trinity testifies at Christ’s baptism, and Christ is present at the font through the priests’ prayer; the baptismal confession binds the candidate to equal faith in Father, Son, and Spirit.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 1.23.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Christ overturned such seats in the temple; Eli's sons were "sons of pestilence".
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 1.28.7Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The sick head and heart of Isaiah 1 are the wise and the church's leaders corrupted by avarice and pleasure.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 36.28.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Simple priests, poor in words, win more than eloquent philosophers.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 37.16.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · David chose so that he could pray for the people, then offered himself for them.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 37.32.4Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Priests must suffer for the church as Paul did.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 37.43.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Priests should rebuke kings only for grave sins, but then without sparing.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 38.25.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Priests offer the sacrifice, in which Christ is offered and himself offers by his word.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 38.37.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Christ gave the apostles power to loose sins; Novatian denied it.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 38.37.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The church must loose those the Lord wills to be loosed.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 40.30.5Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Peter followed behind Christ; where Peter is, there is the church, against which hell does not prevail.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.17.5Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The sinew is love, the bond of Christ’s body the church; Peter, who professed love three times, is chosen.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.41.4Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · After his testing Peter was set over the church as shepherd, to strengthen his brothers and become food for us.
On the Catholic Way of Life and the Manichaean Way of Life 1.32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 387–389 · Augustine also praises the many holy bishops, presbyters, and deacons he has known, whose virtue is harder to keep amid the people they must heal.
Canon 2Anonymous · 390 · Bishops, presbyters, and deacons, as servants of the altar, are to abstain from their wives.
Canon 3Anonymous · 390 · Presbyters may not make the chrism, consecrate virgins, or reconcile penitents at the public Mass.
Canon 4Anonymous · 390 · A penitent in danger of death may be reconciled by a presbyter at the bishop's command.
Canon 5Anonymous · 390 · Districts that never had a bishop are not to receive one except with the consent of the bishop to whom they belong.
Canon 6Anonymous · 390 · Persons guilty of crimes may not bring accusations against presbyters or bishops.
Canon 7Anonymous · 390 · A bishop or cleric who receives into communion someone expelled from the church for crimes shares his guilt.
Canon 8Anonymous · 390 · A presbyter who, after being disciplined, sets up a separate altar is anathematized and expelled from the city; his complaint against his bishop goes to the neighbouring bishops.
Canon 9Anonymous · 390 · Presbyters may not celebrate the Eucharist in private houses without consulting the bishop.
Canon 10Anonymous · 390 · An accused bishop is tried by twelve bishops, a presbyter by six, a deacon by three with his own bishop.
Canon 11Anonymous · 390 · No bishop may encroach on another bishop's people or territory.
Canon 12Anonymous · 390 · No bishop may be ordained without the command of the primate of the province; in necessity three bishops may ordain with his command.
Commentary on Titus 1:6Jerome · ca. 387 · Jerome explains “the husband of one wife” (Titus 1:6) as the example of single marriage a bishop must give, not as making every once-married man better than the twice-married; he rejects excluding men whose first marriage was before baptism, condemns the Montanist and Novatianist ban on second marriages and Tertullian's On Monogamy, and discusses the bishop's children.
Tractates on Matthew 6.2Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius teaches that no commandment is to be set aside and that teachers must practise what they teach, as Christ did.
Tractates on Matthew 9.3Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius interprets the eye as the bishop and the hand as the presbyter, who are to be removed from the church if they cause it to stumble by false faith or bad life.
Tractates on Matthew 17.2Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius interprets the eye also as the bishop, whose faith and life give light or darkness to the whole church.
Homily 13.1 on JohnJohn Chrysostom · ca. 390 · After grieving that his preaching seems fruitless and recalling Moses’ refusal to abandon his people, Chrysostom explains why John the evangelist keeps citing the Baptist: the Jews revered him, and his witness, given before Christ appeared, prepared them to receive one whose outward appearance was lowly.
Homily 48.2 on JohnJohn Chrysostom · ca. 390 · From Christ's unbelieving brothers came James, first bishop of Jerusalem; Christ answers them meekly, and we too must master anger, which is worse than madness.
Homily 60.1 on JohnJohn Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ, the good shepherd, lays down his life for the sheep, unlike the destroyers and the negligent teachers; his knowledge of the Father is equal to the Father’s knowledge of him.
Homily 86.2 on JohnJohn Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ's “Do not touch me” lifts Mary's thoughts to his ascension; that evening he gives the disciples peace and, breathing on them, the authority to forgive sins, a gift shared by Father, Son and Spirit.
Homily 86.4 on JohnJohn Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Because priests are entrusted with the forgiving of sins and answer for their people's souls, the faithful must honor them; the sacraments do not depend on the priest's worthiness, for God's grace works all.
Homily 88.1 on JohnJohn Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ restores Peter with a threefold question of love, entrusts him with the care of his sheep and of the brothers, and foretells his martyrdom as glory to God.
Homily 7Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 390–394 · Expounding Song 3:9–4:7, Gregory reads Solomon as a type of Christ, the litter as souls transformed from wood into gold and silver, the crown as the church woven by love, and the bride's eyes, hair, teeth, lips, cheek, neck and breasts as the members of the church: its overseers, ascetics, teachers, confessors and nursing teachers.
Homily 13Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 390–394 · On Song 5:8–12 Gregory explains the bride's oath "by the powers of the field" as the gospel's "Yes" (sound faith and a pure life), the wound of love as Christ's love for sinners, and begins the description of the bridegroom as Christ in his incarnate economy and his body the church: white and ruddy for his flesh, "chosen" for his virgin birth without labour, his golden head the sinless first fruits of our nature, his locks the apostles, his eyes the church's overseers.
Homily 14Gregory of Nyssa · ca. 390–394 · On Song 5:13–16 Gregory continues the description of the bridegroom's body as the church: the cheeks are teachers who give plain, guileless food; the lips are preachers whose lily-bright words drip the myrrh of dying to the world (Paul with Thecla, Peter with Cornelius); the golden hands are faithful stewards (Judas the warning); the belly is the pure heart as a tablet of the law; the legs are the pillars of the church, or the two great commandments; and "this is my close one" is Christ as the Good Samaritan.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 21Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Virtue outlasts riches; Nilus attacks men who learn only the outward forms of monastic life and at once set up as teachers.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 22Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Every craft must be learned except, it seems, godliness; untrained men rush to lead others and make the monastic life contemptible.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 23Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Eli's fate and Job's care for his sons warn untrained superiors who take charge of others before healing their own passions.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 24Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · A guide must know the war with the passions from experience and pass it on, as Joshua set up inscribed stones at the Jordan; many superiors treat the brothers as slaves.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 25Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · True leaders teach by example, like Gideon, Paul and Christ; those who rule by command and punishment blind their own contemplation.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 26Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · As in Jotham's parable the fruitful trees refused to reign and only the bramble accepted, so those who have the fruit of virtue decline to rule others.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 27Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Ruling souls is the hardest of tasks, dangerous for an inexperienced teacher and his disciples alike.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 28Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · The temple's solid lampstand and laver-bearing oxen show that a guide must be blameless, bear the burdens of others, and know the enemy's designs.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 29Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · The devil hides behind disguises, as Paul and Job show; one who teaches spiritual discernment without secure knowledge endangers his hearers.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 30Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · The lost axe-head of Elisha's disciple figures teaching borrowed from others; repentance, hidden before the cross, was revealed through its wood.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 31Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Only one who has subdued his passions should turn from warfare to cultivating others; to the rest Scripture says to beat ploughs into swords.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 33Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Untrained men eagerly gather disciples and, to keep them, indulge their desires like a charioteer who drops the reins.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 34Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Like the women of Ezekiel who sewed pillows for every elbow, indulgent superiors destroy souls; Christ forbade even the apostles to be called Rabbi.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 35Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · One compelled to lead others must teach by his life and answer for them; the saints formed disciples better than themselves.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 36Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Ezekiel's brick shows the teacher forming disciples under his own eyes; he must warn them, or answer for their souls.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 41Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · One who leads others must know the war against the passions and live at peace himself; then obedient disciples can be shaped like material by a craftsman.
Monastic Exercise, chapter 42Nilus of Ancyra · ca. 390-430 · Disciples should trust their teacher as passengers trust a helmsman, and renounce everything without holding back, remembering Ananias.
Sermon 17.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Ezekiel's warning to watchmen applies first to bishops: Augustine speaks to free his soul, but his whole desire is not to be saved without his people.
Sermon 17.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Habitual sins such as drunkenness deaden the conscience; the Church is slow to excommunicate, but God, silent now while Christ is in heaven, will not keep silent when he comes to judge.
Sermon 17.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · People neither forgive nor ask forgiveness; Christ's rule of correction ends in treating the unrepentant as a heathen, who, however devout his outward signs, is dead.
Sermon 20.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine asks the people to listen attentively to the presbyters who preach after him, for the truth is God's whoever speaks it.
Sermon 23.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine takes the psalm just sung as his text and reminds the people that the preacher is in more danger than the hearer, since Christ alone is master.
Sermon 23.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Since all offend in speech, preacher and hearers are fellow disciples under one Master, and the people should pray for the preacher.
Sermon 24.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The people have shown their zeal against idols by acclamation; the clergy must now act with order, and the people should obey their bishop and place their hope in God.
Sermon 35.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The good neighbor rejoices in another’s goodness and grieves over his sin, and both are good for him; so the wise are wise for others too, while the wicked suffer evil alone.
Sermon 37.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ, though now absent, need not be anxious for his household, since he knows those he has predestined; when he comes, he will separate the faithful ministers from the wicked who abuse his delay.
Sermon 46.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Introducing Ezekiel 34, Augustine distinguishes his being a Christian, for his own sake, from his being a bishop, for the people’s sake, and warns that shepherds who seek their own advantage feed themselves, not the sheep.
Sermon 46.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Ezekiel lists what bad shepherds love, the milk and wool, and what they neglect; the milk is the support that the people give their clergy.
Sermon 46.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Paul had the right to be supported by the flock but worked with his own hands; when he did accept gifts, he rejoiced not in his own relief but in the givers’ fruitfulness.
Sermon 46.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Clergy may live from the people’s support, as a lamp needs oil, but must give the light of the Gospel; the Gospel is not for sale, and their reward comes from God, not the people.
Sermon 46.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The wool is the honor the people give their clergy, which covers the weakness of men who are mortal like everyone else.
Sermon 46.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Though the Galatians honored Paul as an angel, he did not spare their faults for fear of losing that honor, but rebuked them, seeking Christ’s interests, not his own.
Sermon 46.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · A bad shepherd might win crowds by promising that God forgives everything and allowing the shows and drunken feasts, even in church; but this would be feeding himself, not the sheep.
Sermon 46.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad shepherds kill even the strong sheep by their bad example; even if a sheep does not follow them, they are guilty of its death, as a man who lusts after a chaste woman is an adulterer.
Sermon 46.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The weak are strengthened by being warned that temptations will come, not by promises of worldly prosperity; their model is Christ’s sufferings.
Sermon 46.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad shepherds promise worldly happiness and so build on sand; God scourges every son he receives, as he scourged his sinless Son; the weak must be told to expect trials, and the frightened that God will not let them be tempted beyond their strength.
Sermon 46.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The weak are those who do good but cannot bear suffering; the sick are those held back from doing good by worldly desire, like the paralytic let down through the roof, whom the shepherd must bring to Christ by opening the hidden sense of Scripture.
Sermon 46.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad shepherds do not call back the straying; Augustine, against Donatists who say “Why seek us?”, declares that he will be importunate in seeking them, since Christ, not Donatus, will judge.
Sermon 46.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Neglecting the straying endangers the strong too, for if the shepherds keep silent, the faithful will conclude that it makes no difference to join the Donatists.
Sermon 46.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God swears by his life that, though bad shepherds are dead to their office, the sheep are safe; for straying sheep there is no shepherd, as there is no light for the blind.
Sermon 46.20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God will require the sheep from bad shepherds; like Ezekiel’s watchman, the bishop who fails to warn is guilty of the sinner’s death, while the people must still heed the Shepherd’s words in Scripture.
Sermon 46.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God takes his sheep from bad shepherds by bidding them do what the shepherds say, not what they do; sheep who follow bad leaders perish with them, and heretical bishops who drive sheep into error will answer for it.
Sermon 46.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · A bad shepherd still preaches God’s word, which is like a grape from the vine hanging in a thorn hedge: the faithful may pick it carefully without imitating the thorns.
Sermon 46.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God says he himself will feed the sheep he rescues from bad shepherds, as Christ, the true Joseph sold by his own and now honored among the Gentiles, seeks his sheep through the fog of this world’s error.
Sermon 46.26Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God promises to do himself all that the bad shepherds neglected, seeking, healing, and guarding his sheep, so that they need not fear.
Sermon 46.30Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God says “I will feed,” not because good shepherds are lacking, but because all good shepherds are one in Christ, as Peter, entrusted with the sheep after confessing his love, represented the unity of the Church.
Sermon 47.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine says that he, as a shepherd and also one of the sheep, must hear with trembling both what God says to shepherds and what he says to the sheep.
Sermon 61.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine preached this because the poor begged him to plead for them; he is their ambassador, and the congregation’s applause is only leaves, while fruit is what is sought.
Sermon 73.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Good Christians must bear with the bad until the angels separate them at the harvest, remembering that there are weeds among the clergy as well as the people.
Sermon 74.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad teachers can speak good things not from their own hearts but from the chair of Moses, like a herald proclaiming the judge’s sentence.
Sermon 82.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine wants his hearers not to praise but to obey, so that their pastors may give account for them with joy.
Sermon 91.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Because the mystery requires a cleansed heart, Christ turned at once to the scribes’ pride; church leaders may rightly take the first seat but must not love it, which God alone can judge.
Sermon 94.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Too tired to preach at length, Augustine applies the parable of the talents: bishops pay out God’s word, and every head of a household must act as a bishop at home, guarding the faith of wife, children, and slaves.
Sermon 101.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Preachers must sow and water faithfully, hearers receive faithfully, and God gives growth; Augustine explains the duties of stewards because many of his hearers will one day be clergy and bishops.
Sermon 102.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s words “he who rejects you rejects me” apply to the church’s pastors too, whose only consolation is the good lives of their people.
Sermon 125.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Temptation tests whether one possesses innocently, as recent troubles showed when some who had listened gladly turned to abuse; Augustine must pay out God’s word or be condemned as the lazy servant, and God, not the preacher, will question each heart.
Sermon 129.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Catholic ministers tell the people not to place their hope in them, good or bad; the Donatists make salvation hang on the minister, as if he, and not Christ, were the rock.
Sermon 135.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · No one is without sin: the Old Testament priests offered first for their own sins, Augustine himself is a sinner, and even the apostles were taught to pray daily, “Forgive us our debts.”
Sermon 137.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To enter by the door is to enter through Christ in humility, as the tax collector did; the Gospel names three persons, the shepherd to be loved, the hireling to be tolerated, and the thief to be guarded against.
Sermon 137.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · “They sit on Moses’ seat” refers also to bad pastors in the Church, which is one Church from two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, figured by the two walls, two boats, Leah and Rachel, and the two blind men.
Sermon 137.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad clerics try to twist “What they say, do”; the saying tells good laypeople to follow God’s word and not bad clergy’s example, while bad laypeople use bad clergy as an excuse and will share their punishment.
Sermon 137.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad clerics claim that “what we do, do not do” refers to offering the sacrifice, which laymen may not do; but the following verse shows that it refers to burdens they lay on others and do not carry.
Sermon 137.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s warning about those who say “Lord, Lord” shows that the Church contains bad ministers too; they preach not rightly because they seek from God something other than God, like a wife who loves her husband’s gold rather than her husband.
Sermon 137.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · God promises nothing but himself; those who preach God for God’s sake are shepherds, and this chaste love is what Christ asked of Peter.
Sermon 137.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Paul tolerated hirelings who preached Christ for their own ends, since they are useful in some things; but for setting an example he sent Timothy, a true shepherd, hard to find among many hirelings.
Sermon 137.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The robbers who climb in another way are the Donatists, who exalt themselves as those who sanctify; the hireling flees in spirit when he fails to rebuke an influential sinner for fear of losing his advantages.
Sermon 137.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bad pastors teaching from the seat of Moses are like thorn hedges into which a vine has grown: one may pluck the grapes, their good words, without being caught in the thorns of their deeds.
Sermon 137.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine refuses requests for dishonest counsel and leaves judgment of his conscience to God; like Ezekiel’s watchman and the servant entrusted with money, the preacher must warn and give, and God will exact the return.
Sermon 138.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ calls himself the good shepherd, yet Peter, Paul, the apostles, the martyr bishops, and Cyprian were good shepherds too, because they shed their blood for the sheep out of love.
Sermon 138.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The wicked may have gifts of God, but without love Christ will say “I do not know you”; he speaks of one good shepherd to commend unity to all good shepherds.
Sermon 138.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Peter was made a shepherd when Christ entrusted his sheep to him, and a good one because he truly loved Christ, as his threefold confession shows.
Sermon 146.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ entrusted his sheep to Peter as the proof of his love; pastors feed in fear and the people should obey in humility, knowing that their inheritance is the undying Father himself.
Sermon 147.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Peter, in whom the unity of all good shepherds was figured, answered truly that he loved Christ, judging only his present heart, and did not dare to claim that he loved more than the others.
Sermon 149.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Peter bore the person of the Church, so the keys given to him were given to the Church; the vision overcame his fear, under pressure from Jewish believers, of admitting Gentiles like Cornelius.
Sermon 164.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Others' sins do not justify leaving the Church, a flock and threshing floor mixed of good and bad; sharing Christ's table with a sinner does not share his sin, though church judges must still discipline the convicted.
Sermon 167.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · A Punic proverb and Christ's command to give up one's cloak teach that it is better to lose money than peace; but the bishop as judge warns the slanderer who exploits this that he will face judgment.
Sermon 176.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · No one descended from Adam is healthy without Christ's grace, including infants, whom the Church brings to baptism on others' feet, hearts, and tongues; to deny their need is to keep them from the Physician.
Sermon 178.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Prompted by the reading on the qualities of bishops, Augustine takes up the duty to be able to refute those who contradict, a heavy burden made harder by fear of harsh words.
Sermon 179.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Taking James 1:22, Augustine notes that preachers too must be hearers, and that hearers stand in a safer place than preachers, who are told to be slow to speak.
Sermon 179.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine, preaching at his bishop's command, confesses that he rejoices more securely in hearing than in preaching, since hearing humbles and preaching risks pride, like John the Baptist who stood and heard the Bridegroom.
Sermon 179.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Hearers already do now what all will do in heaven, where the Word himself teaches; all must be doers of the word both inwardly, as against lustful looks, and outwardly, as in feeding the hungry, before God who sees the heart.
Sermon 179.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To hearers who question whether the preacher practices what he preaches, Augustine answers that if he does they should imitate him, and if not they should follow Christ's rule: do what they say, not what they do.
Sermon 251.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The nets drawn to shore signify the end of the world; in the present Church, also called the kingdom of heaven, one who teaches well and lives badly is “least,” yet still useful, like the scribes on Moses’ seat.
Sermon 253.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ entrusts his sheep to Peter as the proof of his love and foretells Peter’s passion, showing that shepherds must be ready to die for the flock.
Sermon 266.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Spirit came through the apostles’ hands, but the gift was God’s, not the minister’s, as Simon Magus learned; and the apostles themselves received the Spirit without anyone’s hands.
Sermon 285.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The martyrs are not prayed for but are our advocates in Christ, the one advocate, just as Peter is a shepherd only in the body of Christ, the one shepherd whose sheep he feeds.
Sermon 292.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine urges the Donatist to hear John, who called himself only a minister of water and a disciple of Christ, the one who baptizes in the Spirit; a minister must serve Christ as food, not set himself in Christ’s place.
Sermon 295.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · On the feast of Peter and Paul Augustine explains that the rock on which Christ builds his Church is the faith Peter confessed, Christ himself, from whom Peter takes his name as Christians do from Christ.
Sermon 295.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The keys given to Peter were given to the unity of the Church, which he represented; the Church binds and looses, outside it nothing is loosed, and as with Lazarus Christ raises the sinner while the Church unbinds him.
Sermon 295.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · In Peter both the Church’s strength and its weakness were shown: he followed Christ but denied him through presumption, then, looked upon by the Lord, went out and wept bitterly.
Sermon 295.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ entrusted his sheep to Peter, first of the apostles and figure of the Church’s unity, asking his love three times so that a threefold confession might loose the threefold denial.
Sermon 295.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Peter fed Christ’s sheep, not his own; the heretics, who claim their own baptism makes clean, feed their own kids, while the Church spread through all nations knows herself; baptized by Peter or by Judas, the sheep are Christ’s.
Sermon 296.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Gospel of the feast charges ministers to feed Christ’s sheep; Peter, loving out of order, presumed to die for Christ and denied him, but after the resurrection was taught to love rightly and promised martyrdom.
Sermon 296.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Seeing death conquered in the risen Lord, Peter was taught to love; his threefold confession answered his threefold denial, and the charge to feed the sheep was followed by the prophecy of his martyrdom.
Sermon 296.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · A human master entrusts sheep to a servant able to repay their price in money; Christ, who bought his sheep with blood, entrusted them to Peter, who was fit because he repaid with his own blood.
Sermon 296.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Not only Peter but all the apostles, especially Paul, received the charge to feed the sheep; it is the will to die that makes a martyr, as with John the apostle and the three young men in the furnace.
Sermon 296.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · We show love for God by loving his gains, the sheep, since we can give God nothing for himself; what is done to the least of Christ’s brothers reaches him, so the church must not be closed to those who knock.
Sermon 298.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The feast of Peter and Paul deserved a larger crowd; the first and the last of the apostles, Stephen’s ordainer and persecutor, both atoned for their sins and now speak to all nations through their letters.
Sermon 302.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Lawrence, the archdeacon, when ordered to bring out the Church’s wealth, brought the poor in carts and said these were its wealth; he was burned on a gridiron, and his act teaches that what is given to the poor is kept safe by God.
Sermon 302.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bishops must visit officials on behalf of their people’s needs, enduring humiliations; those who say Augustine should have warned the official do not know what he said to him in private.
Sermon 303.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · For a small congregation Augustine retells how the deacon Lawrence brought the poor as the Church’s riches and, roasted on a gridiron, calmly told his persecutors to turn him over; he lost his life for Christ and saved it.
Sermon 304.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Lawrence, deacon at Rome, who ministered Christ’s blood and shed his own, fulfilled the proverb about the mighty man’s table; but not only martyrs follow Christ: married people, widows and virgins too have their place in the Lord’s garden.
Sermon 309.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Even on the night before his martyrdom, Cyprian ordered that the young women in the crowd at his door be protected, remaining a vigilant bishop to the end and feeding Christ’s sheep.
Sermon 315.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Stephen, ordained one of the seven deacons, is the first martyr and the only one whose passion is in a canonical book, the Acts of the Apostles, read in church from Easter Sunday.
Sermon 316.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Stephen, first among the deacons as Peter among the apostles, worked wonders through the name of Christ, and the miracles now done at his memorial are likewise done in Christ's name, so that he should be loved in Christ.
Sermon 319.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Stephen's spirit went to be where Christ is, as Christ promised that his minister, in Greek his deacon, would be with him.
Sermon 339.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · On the anniversary of his ordination Augustine reflects on the bishop's heavier burden of giving account for all, and on his mixed feelings about praise.
Sermon 339.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The reading of Ezekiel's watchman shows the bishop's burden: if he does not warn the sinner, God will require the sinner's blood from him.
Sermon 339.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine asks his people to lighten his burden by living well; he feeds them with words from the Lord's treasury, which each receives whole.
Sermon 339.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The parable of the servant who hid his master's money keeps Augustine from the quiet life of study: he must dispense the word, and his hearers must see how they receive it.
Sermon 340.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · On his ordination anniversary Augustine calls his people his burden, carried with Christ's help; for them he is a bishop, with them a Christian, and he lists the many tasks of the office.
Sermon 340.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Bishop and people must pray for each other, as Paul asked, so that the episcopate may profit both.
Sermon 351.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Even the most upright baptized person, and especially the ministers of word and sacrament, must remain humble and do daily penance for the faults and dust gathered in this life.
Sermon 351.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The third repentance, for grave sins, requires the sinner to judge himself, weep, and accept exclusion from the eucharist by church discipline, so as not to be excluded from the heavenly altar.
Sermon 351.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · A baptized person bound by grave sins should judge himself, go to the bishops who hold the keys, accept the satisfaction they impose, and if need be do public penance without shame.
Sermon 351.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Church discipline may exclude from communion only those who confess or are convicted by due judgment; others must be tolerated, as chaff with wheat, and no one should leave the Church to avoid them.
Sermon 351.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Penitents should not excuse themselves by the bad lives of some clergy, who are like milestones that point the way without walking it; Christ, the apostles, and the martyrs are examples to follow.
Sermon 351.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · No sinner, even after baptism, should despair; David, Peter, Simon Magus, and the Ninevites show that sincere repentance with satisfaction and almsgiving obtains pardon through the keys of the Church.
Sermon 352.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The third repentance, for grave sins such as adultery and homicide, excludes the penitent from the altar; like Lazarus, he is raised by Christ and loosed by the Church, while Judas perished through despair.
Sermon 352.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Against pagan critics and rigorist heretics, Augustine argues that offering repentance prevents sinners from despairing, while the uncertainty of the day of death prevents them from presuming on pardon.
Sermon 355.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine explains that a bishop needs not only a good conscience before God but a good reputation before men, for the sake of those who imitate him.
Sermon 355.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine recounts how, seeking a monastic life, he was ordained presbyter and then bishop at Hippo, founded a monastery in a garden given by Valerius, and later a monastery of clergy in the bishop's house, where no one may own property.
Sermon 355.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The presbyter Januarius, despite professing the common life, kept money and made a will; grieved, Augustine refuses the inheritance for the Church and will arbitrate the dispute between his children.
Sermon 355.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine defends his refusal of inheritances that disinherit children: he gladly accepts offerings, and urges parents to count Christ as one more child, but will not profit from a father's anger against his son.
Sermon 355.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine refused Boniface's shipping business so that the Church would not have to torture shipwrecked sailors or keep a reserve fund, and he praises Bishop Aurelius of Carthage for returning a gift when the donor had children.
Sermon 355.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine orders his clergy to give up private property by Epiphany, but, to avoid hypocrisy, will no longer remove from office those who choose to leave the common life, leaving them to God's judgment.
Sermon 355.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine promises to report after Epiphany on his clergy's compliance and on the settlement of Januarius's estate, and asks for prayers in his old age and weakness.
Sermon 356.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine introduces a sermon about his clergy by having the deacon Lazarus read Acts 4:31–35 on the common life of the first Christians, and then reads it again himself.
Sermon 356.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The will made by the presbyter Januarius, in a community that professes to have all things in common, gave detractors a weapon and forced Augustine to give a careful account of his clergy.
Sermon 356.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine reports that all his clergy have complied except the deacon Valens and his nephew Patricius, whose property is still undivided with relatives and who intend to free their slaves and give to the Church.
Sermon 356.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The deacon Faustinus, a former soldier, has divided his small property between his brothers and the poor church of his home town.
Sermon 356.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The blind deacon Severus has put at Augustine's disposal a house bought with gifts for his mother and sister, and plans to give his fields partly to the poor church of his home town.
Sermon 356.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · A poor deacon of Hippo will free the slaves he bought before ordination, publicly, by episcopal act.
Sermon 356.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The deacon Heraclius built the martyr's shrine, bought an estate for the Church, which Augustine kept rather than taking his money to protect the young man and his own reputation, gave a house to the Church, and will free his slaves.
Sermon 356.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The subdeacons are poor, live in common with the rest, and are not distinguished from those who brought property.
Sermon 356.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The presbyters, last in the account, are God's poor who brought only love, and Augustine will clear them of rumours about their wealth.
Sermon 356.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The presbyter Leporius had given up his wealth before coming; the monastery in his garden belongs to its monks, the guesthouse and the basilica of the Eight Martyrs he built with church funds and gifts, and the house he bought pays rent to the Church.
Sermon 356.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Januarius's son and daughter settled their dispute before Augustine judged, agreeing to share their father's money equally, with the Church renouncing its claim.
Sermon 356.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine will answer any further rumours openly without naming names, and keeps his clergy's life before the people's eyes, seeking only their good works.
Sermon 356.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine asks that gifts to the clergy go to the common stock, refuses costly garments unbecoming a poor man, and, since all have now accepted the common life, will strike from the clergy anyone found holding property.
Sermon 356.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine refutes rumours about the presbyter Barnabas, who received a farm for the monastery as a gift and managed an estate to repay a debt, and offers to hand the estate to a lay administrator.
Sermon 358.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The broad commandment of love leads the Catholics to invite the Donatist bishops into the peace of the Church, offering to share their episcopal sees if the schism is ended.
Sermon 359.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Catholics offered the Donatist bishops a share of the episcopate, rejecting only their error and recognizing their baptism; at the Conference the Donatists could answer nothing to the testimonies of a worldwide Church that does not stand or fall with Caecilian.
Sermon 383.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · On the anniversary of his episcopal ordination the bishop reviews the burden of his office, past and future: love prevents sins, humility blots out those committed, and he must forgive as he asks to be forgiven.
Sermon 383.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The bishop addresses those who resent his correction, like animals biting those who treat their wounds; he forgives them as Christ did and begs them to return love for love.
Sermon 383.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The bishop asks forgiveness of those he may have hurt through haste, harshness, or suspicion in his many duties, like a hen treading on her chicks, and asks their prayers for the rest of his ministry.
Sermon 387.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Priests must rebuke the negligent; the one rebuked should not look for faults in the rebuker, for the word of God speaks even through a bad man and is the adversary with whom we must settle while still on the way of this life.
Sermon 393.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Penitents must truly change their lives and be reconciled while in health; the baptized who sin grievously and are reconciled only on their deathbed are not refused penance, but the preacher can give them no assurance of salvation.
Sermon 396.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · At a bishop's death the preacher consoles the people and himself: human weakness grieves, but hope consoles; the bishop did not live too little, for his works filled a short life, and life with God has no end.
Sermon 396.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The people should honor their dead bishop by holding fast to his teaching and example, making their memory his living tomb; grief is human, but must not become faithless despair.
On the Profit of Believing 35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391–392 · Seeing the moral fruit of the church, secured by divine providence, one should not hesitate to embrace the Catholic church, whose authority descends from the apostolic see through the succession of bishops.
Commentary on Galatians 1.7John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom rebukes Christians who keep Jewish fasts and pagan omens, explains Paul's anathema on any other gospel even from an angel, and Paul's appeal to his sudden conversion from persecutor.
Commentary on Galatians 6.2John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Disciples should support their teachers; what one sows one reaps, so let us do good to all while there is time; Paul writes in his own hand, boasts only in the cross by which the world is crucified to him, and bears Christ's marks as his defense.
Homily 2.2 on 1 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul’s boldness in danger and his refusal of flattery, gain and honour prove that the gospel is from God; he was gentle among them as a nurse.
Homily 3.1 on 1 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul worked night and day so as not to burden the Thessalonians, treated each like a father, and gives thanks that they received his word as God’s word and suffered like the churches of Judea.
Homily 4.2 on 1 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul, more than a natural father, sent Timothy in his own danger; Timothy’s good news of their faith and love comforted him, so that he says he lives if they stand fast.
Homily 10.1 on 1 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The faithful must esteem their priests very highly in love, since the priest bears the hatred that correction brings, prays for them, ministers baptism and the mysteries, and opens heaven to them.
Homily 10.2 on 1 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Rulers must correct the disorderly gently; believers must repay evil with good, rejoice, pray and give thanks always; Chrysostom attacks the love of money and the excuse that one hoards for one’s children, citing Jacob and Abraham.
Homily 11.1 on 1 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The Spirit’s gift is a lamp in the night of this world, quenched by an unclean life, by anger and by lack of almsgiving; prophecies must be tested, not despised; Paul prays for their sanctification, asks for prayer, and adjures them, while Chrysostom laments that adjurations by Christ are now ignored.
Argument 0 to the 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · In the argument to the homilies Chrysostom describes Timothy’s character and explains why Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus, who had been put in charge of churches.
Homily 5.1 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains that teachers and priests ought to be chosen by God’s vote rather than human favor, that Timothy’s charge comes from the prophecies that chose him, and that a corrupt life and reliance on reasoning lead to shipwreck of the faith.
Homily 10.1 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's qualifications for an overseer, reading “the husband of one wife” as restraining the excess of second or plural marriage rather than requiring marriage.
Homily 10.2 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains why Paul asks for a measured virtue in overseers, a well-ruled household, no recent convert, and a good name among outsiders, and suggests “the husband of one wife” was meant not to narrow the choice.
Homily 11.1 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains the qualifications of deacons, applies “the women likewise” to women deacons, and expounds the “great mystery of godliness,” the incarnation, proclaimed and believed in all the world.
Homily 12.4 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The end of Homily 12 argues that wealth is rooted in injustice and that God made the necessities of life common to all; the section then contains Homily 13, on teaching with authority, reading the Scriptures, correcting the old and young, honoring true widows, and the living death of the self-indulgent.
Homily 14.1 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains that neglecting one's own family is a denial of faith, and begins on Paul's qualifications for enrolled widows: sixty years, wife of one husband, known for good works.
Homily 15.2 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains the “double honour” due to presbyters who preside well and teach, the rules for accusing and rebuking presbyters, and then urges fear of Gehenna, contempt for passing things, and imitation of God's generosity.
Homily 16.1 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul’s solemn charge to judge without partiality, his warning against hasty ordination, his advice that the ailing Timothy drink a little wine, and his command that Christian slaves honor their masters so that the gospel may not be blasphemed.
Homily 2.8 on 2 CorinthiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The last petitions of the litany ask the angel of peace and a Christian end for the catechumens, who then receive the blessing; Chrysostom rebukes the faithful who chatter during these prayers and during their own.
Homily 14.1 on 2 CorinthiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul asks the Corinthians to make room for him, having wronged no one, and tempers his rebuke with praise and joy at Titus’s report of their longing and zeal; Chrysostom urges congregations to share their pastors’ indignation at sinners, since true kindness binds the offender until he is healed, and penance is measured by the soul’s correction, not by time.
Homily 15.1 on 2 CorinthiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul does not regret the severe first letter, since it produced godly grief leading to repentance and salvation, unlike worldly grief, which brings death; the Corinthians’ eagerness, indignation, fear, longing, and zeal proved them innocent in the matter. Paul wrote out of love for the whole church; true rule, like fatherhood, is shown by love for those ruled, and ruling is the highest of arts, over others and over oneself.
Homily 15.4 on 2 CorinthiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Church leadership is a higher rule than civil government, aiming to prevent and heal sin for the sake of heaven; like farming, an art that depends on God and teaches the resurrection, it shapes souls, governing willing subjects as a father and judging even the inner desires.
Homily 15.5 on 2 CorinthiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The church’s rule judges even hidden sins, appoints leaders by character rather than money, teaches the soul’s true concerns, and heals sinners such as adulterers by excommunication and repentance rather than by execution; its fruits, contempt of death and wealth, the monastic life, and virginity, prove its power.
Homily 18.1 on 2 CorinthiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's commendation of Titus and the two brothers sent with him for the collection, and his care to avoid any suspicion over money (2 Cor 8:16–24); from 'in the face of the churches' he shows how much the people share with the priest in ordination, prayer and the Eucharist, and urges that good counsel be accepted from anyone, as Moses accepted Jethro's.
Homily 4.4 on 2 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The Antichrist’s false signs will convict unbelievers who rejected Christ; Elijah will come to strengthen the faithful; God chose the Thessalonians for salvation through sanctification and faith; unwritten tradition is as trustworthy as letters; Paul asks prayer, and Chrysostom begs his people to pray for their bishop, with whom they share the same table, baptism and Spirit.
Homily 5.2 on 2 ThessaloniansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul now commands sternly that the idle work and eat their own bread, yet tells the church not to let them starve but to admonish them as brothers; Chrysostom rebukes those who insult beggars, laments that church discipline has lapsed through cold love, and teaches that each Christian should teach his household by his life.
Homily 2.2 on 2 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's unashamed suffering and his “deposit” (the faith, or the believers), then urges the people to honour and obey their priests, since God ordains them and works through them whatever their own merit.
Homily 2.3 on 2 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom argues that God works through unworthy priests as he worked through Balaam's donkey and Judas, forbids the people to judge their priests or boast over them like the Pharisee, and teaches that the sacraments depend on God's grace and the recipient's faith, not the minister's virtue.
Homily 2.4 on 2 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Closing Homily 2, Chrysostom compares a bad priest to a wounded doctor whose state does not excuse the patient, and teaches that the eucharistic offering and baptism are the same whoever performs them, because God sanctifies them and everything depends on faith.
Homily 4.1 on 2 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · On 2 Tim 2:1–7, Chrysostom explains that Paul's sufferings should strengthen Timothy, that the faith must be entrusted to faithful men able to teach, and that the images of soldier, athlete and farmer call for endurance, discipline and labour.
Homily 9.1 on 2 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · On 2 Tim 3:16–4:3, Chrysostom explains that Paul offers the consolation of the inspired Scriptures, which make the man of God complete, before announcing his death, and teaches how to preach at all times, joining reproof and rebuke with exhortation, patience and love.
Homily 10.2 on 2 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · On 2 Tim 4:16–22, Chrysostom explains Paul's first defence before Nero, the “lion,” and his coming rescue from every sin; comments on the greetings, why the apostles did not heal Trophimus (to show human weakness and give God the glory), Linus as bishop of Rome, and the equal spiritual capacity of women.
Homily 3.4 on ColossiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom shows how Christ reconciled angels and men, says each believer has a guardian angel, and explains the bishop's repeated greeting “Peace to all” as Christ's own gift, which those who quarrel make an empty form.
Homily 3.5 on ColossiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom ends Homily 3 by arguing that God's grace works through unworthy priests for the people's sake, and that the bishop, as Christ's ambassador, must be heard for the dignity of his office.
Homily 7.5 on ColossiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom ends Homily 7 by threatening to bar from the church those who use silver vessels and gold ornaments, refusing to tolerate luxury for fear people will leave for other sects, and urging his hearers to give to the many poor around the church.
Homily 12.2 on ColossiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's praise of Epaphras and his charge to Archippus (Col 4:12–17), then turns “Remember my bonds” into an exhortation against luxury, vanity, and anger, and praises Paul's tears as more beautiful than any face and as watering the church.
Homily 1.1 on PhilemonJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Opening Homily 1 on Philemon, Chrysostom shows how Paul's greeting (Phlm 1–3) prepares Philemon to forgive: Paul writes as Christ's prisoner, enlists Timothy, Apphia, Archippus, and the household church, and reminds Philemon of the grace by which he himself was forgiven.
Homily 1.1 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul calls himself a servant rather than an apostle out of regard for the Philippians; Chrysostom explains that “bishops” here means presbyters, since the titles were once shared, and why Paul addresses the clergy.
Homily 9.1 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul plans to send Timothy, the only one who cares for the Philippians as he does, because love seeks news of others; Chrysostom notes that Paul did not learn everything by the Spirit, and that this made the churches more careful.
Homily 9.3 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Epaphroditus risked death to serve Paul in prison on behalf of the Philippian church, which Chrysostom counts as a kind of martyrdom; supporting those who labour for the gospel is a debt, like soldiers' pay, not a favour.
Homily 9.4 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · People pay civil taxes readily but grudge support for the clergy, though the Jews gave far more; Chrysostom rebukes those who slander clergy for having bare necessities and insists that the command to be content with food and clothing applies to all Christians.
Homily 9.5 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Scripture's warnings against luxury and riches apply to all, not only to clergy; slandering priests harms the slanderer whether the charge is true or false; and Chrysostom begins to show from Peter and Paul that apostles did own sandals, cloaks, and lodgings.
Homily 9.6 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Christ's command to the apostles to take nothing was temporary, as Luke 22:35–36 shows; God left his teachers in need so that the faithful might be sanctified by supporting them, and Christians should look at their own sins and others' virtues.
Homily 12.3 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · The apostles taught by example; if one's teacher lives badly, Christ himself is the teacher, and Scripture offers models of virtue in every state, wealth or poverty, marriage or virginity, kingship or captivity, since virtue depends on the will, not circumstances.
Homily 13.1 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Christians who live in ease and luxury are enemies of the cross; Chrysostom praises the power of the cross, by which baptism and ordination are accomplished, and laments those whose god is their belly, fearing that the charge fits his own hearers.
Homily 13.2 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Gluttons serve the belly as their god, but Christians, citizens of heaven, await a Saviour who will transform their humble bodies to be like his glorious body; mixed into this part of the scan is Chrysostom's comment on the women Paul commends in Phil 4:2–3.
Homily 13.4 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Christ himself will come on the clouds with all the angelic hosts to take his own to his kingdom; falling from that glory is worse than Gehenna, so we must labour now; mixed into this part of the scan is Chrysostom's comment on Phil 4:1–3, praising Euodia and Syntyche as leading women of the church.
Homily 15.1 on PhilippiansJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Paul rejoices in the Philippians' renewed gift for their sake, not his own, since giving benefits the giver; Chrysostom explains why Paul accepted gifts from Philippi but not Corinth, and that contentment in want and in plenty is a learned virtue.
Homily 1.1 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Introducing his homilies on Titus, Chrysostom describes Titus as a trusted companion entrusted with Crete, dates the letter before 2 Timothy, and explains the greeting: Paul's apostleship as a trust given by grace for God's elect, eternal life promised before the ages, the herald's duty to preach boldly by command, and Titus as a true child in a common faith.
Homily 1.3 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains that the bishop needs grace and peace more than anyone, warns that one who ordains an unworthy bishop will answer for all that man's sins and the souls he ruins, and argues that episcopal office is not honour or power but service to countless masters.
Homily 1.4 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains Paul's charge to Titus to appoint bishops in every Cretan city, reading “the husband of one wife” as both honouring marriage against heretics and barring the twice married from office.
Homily 1.5 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains the qualities of a bishop in Titus 1:7–11: gentleness without insult, self-mastery, and above all ability to teach and to silence false teachers.
Homily 4.1 on TitusJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · On Titus 2:2–8, Chrysostom explains the failings of old age and the virtues Paul requires of older men and women, the limits on women's teaching, the love of wives for their husbands as the source of household peace and of the gospel's good name, and the special temptation of young men.
Section 2John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom praises the widow's power of intercession with God and distinguishes poor widows supported by the church, who are helped without conditions, from the enrolled order of widows to which Paul's age limit applies.
Section 3John Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom explains that Paul does not forbid young widows to remain unmarried, but tells Timothy not to enrol them, and wishes only those who would break their pledge to Christ to remarry beforehand.
On Illustrious Men 2Jerome · 392–393 · James the Lord's brother, first bishop of Jerusalem: his letter, his holiness as told by Hegesippus, his martyrdom, and his appearance in the Gospel of the Hebrews.
On Illustrious Men 15Jerome · 392–393 · Clement of Rome wrote 1 Clement, which resembles Hebrews; 2 Clement and the Disputation of Peter and Apion are wrongly ascribed to him.
On Illustrious Men 35Jerome · 392–393 · Irenaeus of Lyons, disciple of Polycarp: his works, his adjuration to copyists, and his letter urging Victor not to break unity over Easter.
On Illustrious Men 62Jerome · 392–393 · Alexander became coadjutor bishop of Jerusalem with the aged Narcissus after a revelation, wrote letters, and died a martyr under Decius.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:2 (1)Theodore of Mopsuestia · 392–428 · Theodore rejects the common practice of barring a chaste man who has married twice from the clergy while admitting a licentious man with one wife, or a man married twice before baptism.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:2 (2)Theodore of Mopsuestia · 392–428 · Theodore holds that "husband of one wife" excludes men who had two wives at once or were unfaithful to their wife, not a chaste man who remarried after his wife's death, since widowhood is a matter of chance, not of will.
Commentary on 1 Timothy 3:2 (3)Theodore of Mopsuestia · 392–428 · Theodore concludes that office depends on a man's will and life, not on accidents such as widowhood or the time of baptism, and that baptism benefits according to the faith and intention of those who receive it.
Commentary on Titus 1:6Theodore of Mopsuestia · 392–428 · Theodore refers his readers to his fuller treatment of "husband of one wife" in the commentary on 1 Timothy, and explains that a presbyter's care for his children shows his fitness to care for the church.
Letter 1.21Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore sends Ammonius the Old and New Testaments to compare with the pagan theogonies; a second letter tells a man who covets the priesthood to amend his life or give up the desire.
Letter 1.26Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · If the bishop Eusebius sells ordinations, as reported, he is like Hophni and Phinehas, for whom no one could intercede.
Letter 1.28Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Not everything desired can be had; Zosimus's shameless pursuit of the priesthood (continued in the next passage).
Letter 1.29Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One who forces his way into the priesthood must learn that God's temple is closed to the morally leprous until they are cleansed.
Letter 1.30Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The archdeacon Lucius, who should be the bishop's eye, is rebuked for enriching himself from the sale of ordinations.
Letter 1.31Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The bishop is a watchman who must warn his people, but must not sell ordinations, ignore candidates' lives, or blame others, as Adam blamed Eve.
Letter 1.35Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The priest is a lamp God sets on a lampstand to light the church by doctrine and life.
Letter 1.39Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A savage-living priest is told either to become humane or to withdraw from the altar, since his conduct brings reproach on the church.
Letter 1.40Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A city may suffer for its leader's sin, as in David's census; those who chose the unworthy bishop Eusebius share the consequences.
Letter 1.46Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Abraham's oath "under the thigh" pointed to Christ, who would take flesh from his descendants; a second letter warns a bishop that misusing the food of the poor is sacrilege.
Letter 1.47Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop who brings noise and lawless ordinations into the sanctuary is warned by the linen garments of Aaron's priests; two further letters urge a scholasticus to join word and deed and a governor to temper authority with gentleness.
Letter 1.50Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Jeremiah's rod of nut-wood signifies the priesthood: bitter on the outside, firm and sustaining within.
Letter 1.79Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Like the scribes who mistook studying the law for keeping it, clergy who think serving at the altar enough are warned that the Gospel's righteousness judges even intentions.
Letter 1.104Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Only one whose life meets Paul's standards should seek the episcopate; otherwise he approaches a consuming fire.
Letter 1.106Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The dove-sellers driven from the temple signify priests who sell the gifts of the Spirit, who appeared as a dove; "take these away" ends the blood sacrifices.
Letter 1.111Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus, who bought his priesthood like a second Caiaphas, is still urged to repent.
Letter 1.112Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop who preaches well but lives otherwise is like a man throwing stones upward onto his own head.
Letter 1.113Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eusebius builds his church with money from selling the priesthood to Zosimus, a scandal known everywhere.
Letter 1.117Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Christ did not ignore the day of judgment but declined to reveal it, so that we may watch every day; a second letter rebukes the presbyters Zosimus and Maron for defiling the priesthood.
Letter 1.119Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eusebius, who has ordained both Zosimus and Maron, multiplies simoniacs and shares the traitor's purse.
Letter 1.120Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God's patience tolerates unworthy clergy; they will be judged, but the sanctuary is not defiled by their deeds.
Letter 1.135Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Lust enslaves, as Samson's blinding shows; a second letter explains the deacons' linen as Christ's foot-washing and the bishop's woolen omophorion as the lost sheep on the Shepherd's shoulders, laid aside when the Gospel is read.
Letter 1.149Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Four letters: a bishop must oversee everything, and both he and his electors answer for unworthiness; a monastery is rebuked for a guest-master who beat travelers; an ignorant priest is told to learn; and the deposition of John Chrysostom is blamed on Theophilus of Alexandria.
Letter 1.155Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore sends John Chrysostom's book on the priesthood, which shows both its dignity and how to exercise it blamelessly.
Letter 1.157Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · An archdeacon is told to serve meekly and not to trust in ill-gotten wealth, which will soon be lost.
Letter 1.158Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A Cappadocian priest who bought his office is urged to imitate the great Cappadocians or at least not dishonor their ministry.
Letter 1.159Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop must let nothing distract from teaching the Gospel, as Christ put his hearers before his family and the apostles left the tables to others.
Letter 1.177Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Pelusium suffers under a corrupt governor and a corrupt clergy, each feeding the other's example.
Letter 1.184Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus is told that despising God's patience brings mockery here and grief hereafter; a second letter urges the bishop Eusebius to restrain his archdeacon Pansophius and correct himself.
Letter 1.202Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop is warned that praising young clergy may make them conceited and lax.
Letter 1.214Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · An unlearned man is told not to preach doctrine, since his ignorance makes heretics mock the faith; a second letter urges the bishop Eusebius to give his ill-gotten gains to the poor.
Letter 1.232Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop is encouraged to defend his people actively against enemies, as Phinehas did.
Letter 1.250Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A lament over the clergy's abuses: bishoprics seized by force, nepotism, theft from the poor, and unworthy men brought into the sanctuary.
Letter 1.262Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The bishop Eusebius is criticized for letting untrained herdsmen and runaway slaves found monasteries.
Letter 1.263Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A deacon who abused his power and lost it is reminded of the psalm on the fall of the wicked; a second letter urges a monk, as a target of the devil, to put on the Spirit's armor.
Letter 1.269Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A presbyter-steward who takes church funds for himself is reminded that the first Christians gave their goods to the church for the poor.
Letter 1.307Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rejoices that the bishop Leontius has been brought back from the brink of death to continue shepherding his flock.
Letter 1.310Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore warns Cyril of Alexandria at the Council of Ephesus not to act from personal enmity, as many accuse him of imitating his uncle Theophilus's attack on Chrysostom.
Letter 1.315Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop forced into office will have God's help; one who bought it is a Simon and a Caiaphas.
Letter 1.319Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A priest, as the model and light of the flock, should avoid jesting and laughter, like the angels.
Letter 1.330Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Psalm 139's "bone made in secret" is read as Adam speaking of Eve; a second letter reads "my unwrought substance" as God's foreknowledge or Adam's innocence; a third rebukes an ally of the bishop Eusebius.
Letter 1.341Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The bishop Eusebius, who indulges every passion, is reminded of the command to gird the loins and keep the lamps burning.
Letter 1.348Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Those who adorn the church with gifts while persecuting its bishop act from vainglory, like those who honored the temple and stoned the prophets.
Letter 1.349Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Even a negligent priest is God's minister in the sacraments; givers should not dishonor him, for he will answer for himself.
Letter 1.370Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore warns Cyril of Alexandria, as Eli's and Jonathan's examples oblige him to, to end the quarrels and not split the church to avenge personal wrongs.
Letter 1.388Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A man incited by an informer against an old priest is warned not to become another Saul, killer of the priests.
Letter 1.389Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Three letters: Isidore defends his fight against Arianism as a guard's duty; he urges a father not to send a gifted boy into the army; and he tells a physician to heal his own character.
Letter 1.409Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Christ spoke to Paul from heaven to show his gospel was heavenly; a second letter warns a bishop that sins he fails to correct become his own.
Letter 1.425Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The bishop Eusebius is rebuked for putting two violent men in charge of the poor, whether for a bribe or for nothing.
Letter 1.435Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Sinlessness belongs to God alone; from monks and priests one may expect freedom from deliberate sin, few involuntary faults, and quick repentance.
Letter 1.446Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Fasting from food while indulging in abuse is hypocrisy; a second letter shows that the Philip who baptized the eunuch was the deacon, not the apostle.
Letter 1.450Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Philip baptized but did not give the Spirit, which Peter and John supplied; so he was not an apostle.
Letter 1.451Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop is urged to resist a present storm firmly rather than yield to its deceptive mildness.
Letter 1.492Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop who robs the poor and does not give is warned of merciless judgment.
Letter 2.1Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isa 40:2 means that priests should teach above all by their lives, not by words alone.
Letter 2.10Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A new bishop must govern himself before others; vice's pleasure is deadly, virtue's toil glorious.
Letter 2.16Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A dissolute cleric is urged to repent despite those who think him beyond cure; hope in God is an unbreakable tower; a request on behalf of Hesychius.
Letter 2.21Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore defends himself against a bishop's complaint that he has not corrected Bishop Eusebius, quoting his reproaches of Eusebius for selling ordinations and robbing the poor.
Letter 2.28Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Three notorious clerics are told that pride in their sins is worse than the Pharisee's pride in his virtues, and to stop attacking the earnest.
Letter 2.32Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop's great charge demands great vigilance, since failure brings judgment as great as the reward.
Letter 2.35Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A slanderer should be restrained; swords into ploughs means the gospel taming warlike nations; baptism by an unworthy priest does not harm the baptized, as Balaam, Caiaphas and Elijah's raven show.
Letter 2.38Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus, a dissolute presbyter, is rebuked for slandering virtuous priests and making people doubt the sacraments he gave.
Letter 2.39Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A priest should not merely be blameless but praiseworthy.
Letter 2.46Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Against a pagan who objects that the Gospel is new: only newness can end an evil custom; Esau's birthright, and the priesthood of Levi and the kingship of Judah, were given for virtue, not birth order.
Letter 2.50Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Eusebius combines every fault of bad clergy and persecutes the virtuous whose lives rebuke his own.
Letter 2.52Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The priesthood, through which come rebirth and the mysteries, must not be blamed for the sins of unworthy priests like Eusebius and Zosimus.
Letter 2.59Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus is urged to recover from his vice before it overcomes him.
Letter 2.60Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Two clerics ordained as accomplices of their bishop's greed are told to stop; saved through baptism, we must still do our part.
Letter 2.62Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · No one should trust his own chastity enough to look continually at women; Paul's discipline and pagan examples (a king at Ephesus, Cyrus and Panthea) show the wisdom of Christ's warning.
Letter 2.65Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus' scandalous life makes people doubt the sacraments he administers and endangers souls Christ redeemed.
Letter 2.71Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Eusebius' excuse for selling ordinations is answered; Jer 13:23 speaks of learned evil, not nature, so sinners can change with grace, as David, Paul, Peter and the thief show.
Letter 2.75Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The aged Zosimus, who shelters licentious young men, is told to keep away from the altar.
Letter 2.78Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A nobleman is praised for helping orphans unknown to him; a bishop is urged not to give up on the dissolute presbyter Zosimus, since souls, unlike bodies, can change by choice.
Letter 2.83Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Two quarrelling deacons are urged to end their feud, or at least to stop feeding it with words.
Letter 2.94Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Despair is worse than carelessness, and Isidore has not neglected Zosimus; Daniel was honoured the night Belshazzar died; a difficulty is solved from what is agreed; virtue must be pursued; John 21:25 is restrained hyperbole like that of the Old Testament, or refers to works beyond the world's capacity.
Letter 2.101Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Hermogenes judges impartially, while at Pelusium money decides cases; Isidore asks him to pray for change.
Letter 2.108Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus is said to combine every vice; he should repent in this life while repentance can still help.
Letter 2.111Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zeno should be like the deep-rooted seed of the parable; the teacher is the eye of the Church, and a dark teacher darkens the whole body.
Letter 2.120Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A governor should listen to the poor and shut out slanderers; Bishop Eusebius, who sold ordinations, is more to blame than the bad clergy he ordained, whose sins are graver than a layman's; the matter is left to God's judgment.
Letter 2.124Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Clerics who neglect the souls in their care are worse than unbelievers; wise men flee the episcopate as it is now exercised; one must fear to scandalize anyone.
Letter 2.125Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reports to Cyril of Alexandria how the presbyter Martinian, a runaway slave, became steward of the church of Pelusium under Bishop Eusebius, plundered it, made the church his debtor in the accounts, and now seeks a bishopric at Alexandria; he asks Cyril to depose him and audit the accounts. A short letter against flatterers follows.
Letter 2.140Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Maron mocks Zosimus while imitating his vices; clergy who contradict their preaching make the gospel seem a fable.
Letter 2.151Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Reporting how virtuous men speak of the four clerics' open vices, Isidore lays out a chain of steps from acknowledging their fault to looking continually to God.
Letter 2.162Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Athanasius is right to be indignant at Zosimus' ordination, but should not defile his own tongue by mocking him.
Letter 2.171Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Four dissolute clerics are warned in veiled terms that their sins against nature will bring punishment worse than Sodom's; the cup of Ps 75:8 is the cup of judgment, not the eucharistic cup; Christ wept over Lazarus because he was recalling a righteous man from rest to the struggles of life.
Letter 2.178Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Hermogenes need not fear the clerics he admonished; God is on his side.
Letter 2.183Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Teaching by deeds, not words alone, persuades.
Letter 2.199Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Eusebius excludes the worthy from the priesthood and ordains the unworthy; God will judge him.
Letter 2.200Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The priest, who governs souls, outranks the emperor; a priest who cares for buildings and money disgraces himself, not his office.
Letter 2.205Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus, licentious in youth and age alike, should keep away from the altar.
Letter 2.208Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Priests must teach by toil and example, not by words alone; Ezekiel's command to begin judgment with the sanctuary means that those of higher rank are punished more.
Letter 2.209Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · An unworthy bishop corrupts his clergy and people, as at Pelusium under Eusebius.
Letter 2.211Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Holy teaching should not be given to scoffers.
Letter 2.221Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Lampetius should leave Bishop Eusebius' extortion to God's judgment.
Letter 2.230Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The clerics are said to live out Epicurus' doctrines more than his own disciple did; they must stop their lust.
Letter 2.234Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishops who rule like tyrants, enslave those Christ redeemed and banish the outspoken have deadened their people's virtue.
Letter 2.235Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop needs both a good life and eloquence, the one against fault-finders, the other against heresy.
Letter 2.237Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Corrupt clergy banish frank critics so that they may sin unchecked.
Letter 2.246Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The Church is the assembly of the saints, not the building; Bishop Eusebius adorns the church house with marble while destroying the true Church, unlike the apostolic age, which had gifts but no buildings.
Letter 2.251Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The apostles converted the world because their lives matched their word; Christ taught them by deeds before sending them out.
Letter 2.252Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The four clerics, hardened against admonition, now deserve lament rather than advice.
Letter 2.253Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore refuses to explain sacred matters to the dissolute clerics until they turn to virtue.
Letter 2.260Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop, like a good king, uses persuasion with the willing and the discipline of the canons with the disobedient.
Letter 2.264Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Only one who has first learned obedience under the canons is fit to become a bishop, as a good soldier becomes a good general.
Letter 2.276Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eusebius and his clerics will be judged; if the poor are not favoured in judgment, judges who favour the rich deserve worse.
Letter 2.284Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop must avoid frequent meetings with women, which weaken him like a shorn lion; even a drop of water wears through rock by persistence.
Letter 2.290Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Priests should be rich in virtue, self-controlled, and ready to die for piety.
Letter 2.295Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore writes reluctantly to call the four clerics back from unspeakable vices; the letter breaks off.
Letter 3.10Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The breastpiece (logion) on the high priest's breast signifies reason ruling the passions and the truth and clarity proper to a priest.
Letter 3.15Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The higher a cleric's rank, the graver his sin; the law required of the high priest the same sacrifice as of the whole people.
Letter 3.17Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore deplores Bishop Eusebius's ordaining the rich for profit and rejecting the poor, while noting that a few clergy still keep the apostolic standard.
Letter 3.20Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The priesthood mediates between God and humanity, and no one should think himself above it.
Letter 3.29Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Eusebius honours wicked clergy because like favours like.
Letter 3.39Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A sinner should not dispute about doctrine until he has repented, lest his life discredit the truth.
Letter 3.44Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore calms a bishop insulted by Eusebius by pointing to Christ, who endured the Jews' violence and Judas's betrayal.
Letter 3.47Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore advises avoiding Eusebius's circle; and (Letter 3.48) praises those who are lofty in private life and modest in office.
Letter 3.64Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore consoles Paul, slandered by Chaeremon, a cleric deposed by one bishop and reordained by Eusebius.
Letter 3.68Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes clergy whose office makes them proud; and (Letter 3.69) commends humility.
Letter 3.70Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore laments the scandalous presbyter Zosimus and the bishop who ordained him, and says he will not stop admonishing him.
Letter 3.72Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · True rule is over willing subjects; and (Letter 3.73) faith that justifies must show itself in works, without which there is no salvation.
Letter 3.74Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Legitimate rule serves the subjects' good; rule for one's own pleasure is tyranny.
Letter 3.75Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Rom 12:1 makes every believer priest of his own body, offering purity, while the ordained alone offer the bloodless sacrifice.
Letter 3.82Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Eusebius's misconduct after Timothy's death shows how much Timothy had restrained him.
Letter 3.85Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes a presbyter who profits from grain shortages.
Letter 3.88Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Despite church leaders who enrich themselves under pretext of the poor, one should follow the faithful ones.
Letter 3.102Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore challenges a pagan rhetor to reconcile praising virtue with crediting fortune; and (Letter 3.103) warns a bishop that the wicked clergy unite against the good.
Letter 3.111Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Clergy who enrich themselves from funds for the poor should be corrected or shunned.
Letter 3.120Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Doing and teaching together are greatest; and (Letter 3.121) rebuke should be frank yet gentle, as Isidore advises for the proud soldier Isaiah.
Letter 3.124Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One must avoid the company of the wicked for one's reputation; (3.125) heretics dilute Scripture like wine with water; (3.126) Christ's contest crowns the one who turns the other cheek; (3.127) unworthy men buy the priesthood, which is higher than kingship.
Letter 3.130Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore declines to attempt a full praise of Bishop Hermogenes, whose virtues exceed his powers.
Letter 3.134Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells Zosimus either to stop his scandalous conduct or to keep away from the altar.
Letter 3.149Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eternity belongs to God alone, and the Trinity is three in properties, one in essence; and (Letter 3.150) a newly ordained priest should honour God's choice by ordering his soul.
Letter 3.152Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Miriam alone was punished in Num 12 because Scripture names her first, showing that she instigated the slander.
Letter 3.153Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore blames Palladius and Maron as much as Zosimus, since they support his wickedness.
Letter 3.170Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The faithful steward of Matt 24:45 gives food in season; timeliness makes every gift greater, as God's ordering of the seasons shows.
Letter 3.176Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · In 1 Cor 9:5 the "sister as wife" means a believing woman who supported the apostles, not a spouse; "woman" names the sex, as when Mary the Virgin is called "woman" (Gal 4:4).
Letter 3.178Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore advises silence about the scandal of Eusebius reordaining the deposed Chaeremon, since only edifying things should be told.
Letter 3.189Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One who teaches must first practise what he teaches, or else keep silent.
Letter 3.193Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a bishop to reform the wayward clergy or else cut them off.
Letter 3.195Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Timothy, though hindered by Eusebius, died renowned; (another letter) Isa 1:18 means God heals the worst sins in part and lesser ones completely.
Letter 3.202Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Priests must teach by their lives (Isa 40:2); and (Letter 3.203) punishment in this life either cleanses lesser sins or lightens the judgment to come.
Letter 3.216Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore explains that 1 Tim 3:1 praises the work of a bishop, not the ambition for it, and describes at length the duties and dangers that should deter the unworthy.
Letter 3.223Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore praises Hierax for refusing a church office, and contrasts the self-sacrificing pastors of old with the tyrannical clergy of his day.
Letter 3.238Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isa 40:2 means priests must teach by deeds that reach the heart, not by words only.
Letter 3.240Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Wicked clergy will be punished the more for the honour they abused.
Letter 3.242Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Against a pagan who blames Christianity for its bad clergy, Isidore argues that a teaching must be judged on its own merits, not by its worst adherents.
Letter 3.245Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore laments the decline of Pelusium from the time of Bishop Ammonius to that of Eusebius, who admits the unworthy to the altar.
Letter 3.256Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore declines to praise Bishop Theodosius, whose merits exceed his words.
Letter 3.258Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore blames Bishop Eusebius, who ordained him, more than the incorrigible deacon Chaeremon.
Letter 3.259Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A teacher needs a pure life and good speech; church discipline fails because bishops receive and favour clergy condemned by others, and unworthy men seize the teaching office.
Letter 3.260Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore condemns Zosimus for absolving a perjurer in return for a gift: forgiveness requires restitution to the injured, and the power to bind and loose belongs to those led by the Spirit, not to venal priests.
Letter 3.262Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore asks a bishop to help a son who has come to free his father from prison.
Letter 3.265Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Those who teach must themselves compete for virtue, not merely proclaim others' victories, as Paul did (1 Cor 9:27).
Letter 3.270Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a bishop to pray rather than lament for Pelusium, ruined under Eusebius, since letters to Eusebius have achieved nothing.
Letter 3.272Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reassures a monk whom Bishop Eusebius calls mad for not sharing his vices.
Letter 3.275Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges the four wayward clerics to repent, since priesthood increases the punishment of the unworthy.
Letter 3.277Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Deut 16:20 condemns those who care for the poor only to enrich themselves.
Letter 3.282Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore is not to blame that Eusebius and his clergy ignore his warnings, as Paul was not to blame for the Galatians.
Letter 3.289Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Moses chose Joshua, not his own sons, to succeed him, and appointed Aaron only by God's command: office belongs to virtue, not birth.
Letter 3.290Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells the deacon Chaeremon not to mock Bishop Eusebius while committing the same faults, though Eusebius deserves the insults of the man he wrongly ordained.
Letter 3.304Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore asks Theophilus to praise the late Timothy; and (Letter 3.305) sees the fall of Jerusalem as punishment of the Jews for the crucifixion.
Letter 3.306Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop who obeys the canons becomes himself a living rule.
Letter 3.311Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore announces the death of the good presbyter Eustathius; and (Letter 3.312) says he readily believes good reports and silences slander.
Letter 3.317Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The gospel spread because the preachers lived what they taught; and (Letter 3.318) virtue masters every change of fortune.
Letter 3.319Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eusebius punishes before proof; (3.320) "Do not be very righteous" (Eccl 7:16) teaches mercy beyond justice and the mean of virtue; (3.321) each virtue is a mean; (3.322) seek virtue, not wealth; (3.323) Isidore turns to prayer for Zosimus.
Letter 3.324Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a monk to keep watch; (3.325) laments clergy who appropriate church funds and busy themselves with worldly affairs; (3.326) labour makes goods dearer; (3.327) the law of retaliation was a concession, and retaliation beyond measure is itself wrong.
Letter 3.330Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop should comfort the afflicted: trials either lighten sins or win crowns.
Letter 3.331Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The good presbyter Eustathius has died, mourned by the virtuous and mocked by the wicked.
Letter 3.337Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Like a good physician, a bishop should first treat the most urgent ills of souls.
Letter 3.339Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Not all of the Old Testament should be forced into prophecy of Christ; (3.340) a sacrament is valid even from an unworthy priest, who should nonetheless repent or withdraw; (3.341) Deut 8:3; (3.342) against the Arians, "greater" implies comparison and so excludes the Son's being a creature.
Letter 3.353Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Chaeremon perjures himself freely, but Bishop Eusebius, who supports him, bears the greater guilt.
Letter 3.354Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A priest's true wealth and pleasure lie in virtue and his people's progress.
Letter 3.362Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A teacher needs both deeds and words, though deeds without words are better than words without deeds.
Letter 3.363Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Unbelievers should be won by persuasion and example, not force.
Letter 3.367Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eusebius's false accusations against others only expose his own guilt.
Letter 3.369Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Eustathius has deadened his reason by carelessness and must turn back; and (Letter 3.370) clergy who rule by arrogance drive away those whom the apostles won by gentleness.
Letter 3.374Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Virtue is better than education; (3.375) Isidore praises a presbyter's firm gentleness; (3.376) Christ, the Word and Wisdom, does not reject learning unless it serves vice and idolatry.
Letter 3.387Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore praises a bishop worthy of his office and urges him to stay watchful.
Letter 3.394Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore advises Dorotheus, scandalized by bishops who sell ordination like Simon Magus, to await God's judgment and examine himself; (3.395) a true feast is pure; (3.396) a judge must be free of love of money.
Letter 3.397Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore resolves his doubts about rebuking sinners: one should speak frankly but gently, as the prophets did, and leave the cure to God.
Letter 3.398Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · In the parable of the talents, the money is the teaching of Scripture and the interest is good works.
Letter 3.405Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God's name was blasphemed because of Israel's sins (Isa 52:5), and Christians who do not practise what they teach cause the same blasphemy now.
Letter 3.406Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God helps those who do their part; and (Letter 3.407) one must either correct Eusebius or leave him.
Letter 4.18Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Clergy must not quote Christ's words about the seat of Moses to excuse their own bad lives; their teaching is credible only if their life matches it.
Letter 4.45Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · As the elders who accused Susanna were caught by their own charge, so Bishop Eusebius, who abuses his office, will be repaid in time.
Letter 4.72Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Two letters: power is spoiled by the will of those who use it, not by fortune; the ark, mercy seat, cherubim, manna, and Aaron's rod signify the faithful soul and above all Christ, the propitiation.
Letter 4.80Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Christ chose Paul because his life would match his grace; the gospel spread by the preachers' upright lives as much as by miracles, and teachers today should live likewise.
Letter 4.133Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Because bishops neglect Scripture and follow their passions, they wage war on one another, lose the respect of their flocks, and give them excuses for sin.
Letter 4.139Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Ten letters: rebuke sin with love and bear abuse; Scripture serves salvation, not glory; the law's exclusions of the unclean restrain incontinence and figure sinners; John 1:1 teaches the Son's consubstantial and eternal begetting; rulers must govern in piety and justice; an untitled protest against a peace sworn with pagan oaths; the pastor's art of varied remedies; Christ freed us from fear of death by teaching judgment and resurrection; Hebrews' rest is heavenly; flattery of the wicked shares their guilt.
Letter 4.177Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A teacher is responsible for teaching and living well, not for whether his hearers are persuaded, as the parable of the talents shows.
Letter 4.184Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Joab's scheming to escape punishment through Adonijah only brought it on him, a warning to the addressees that no cunning escapes justice.
Letter 4.188Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes the archdeacon Lucius for enriching himself by selling ordinations, warning him of Christ's expulsion of the dove-sellers.
Letter 4.205Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore defends himself against blame for failing to reform Bishop Eusebius and the clergy of Pelusium: a counsellor is judged by his intention, since hearers are free, as Christ with Judas, the prophets, and the greatest orators and philosophers show.
Letter 4.215Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Christ's burning lamps are the inner word that lights our souls and the spoken word that lights others, both fed by virtue.
Letter 4.219Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Paul's "if anyone aspires to the episcopate" neither urges nor forbids, but warns of a burdensome ministry under God's choice; Palladius, unable to rule himself, should not covet it.
Letter 5.2Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges three bishops at least to pray for the incorrigible clergy Zosimus, Eustathius and Maron, since only God can rescue them.
Letter 5.4Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A teacher whose life deserves punishment cannot persuade anyone that the kingdom of heaven exists.
Letter 5.6Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore shames a deacon who plans to buy a bishopric by the example of Pittacus, who gave back a rule he had won by his own blood.
Letter 5.12Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges the aged presbyter Zosimus either to give up his lechery or to withdraw from the altar; a second letter laments that he has insulted a wise man sent to correct him.
Letter 5.21Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The churches are in turmoil because lovers of money rather than lovers of virtue are now made priests, turning the office into tyranny; the good clergy are at fault only for their silence.
Letter 5.22Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a presbyter to forgive an offender even without an apology, so that the offender will be shamed into self-correction.
Letter 5.24Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus's mistreatment of his own brother shows that his earlier revenge was not for the brother's sake; a second letter says a wife's adornment is not purple and jewels but the beauty of a virtuous soul.
Letter 5.28Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore consoles Didymus on his brother's death, attacks the buyers of church office, warns of the devil's hidden snares, argues from Scripture that the Son is not a creature, sums up ethics in the Golden Rule, and condemns those who worship creation; a second letter rebukes three clerics for luxury and lechery.
Letter 5.29Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore declines to praise three bishops, since their virtue surpasses anything words could say.
Letter 5.34Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore laments that four clerics have united only to revile a gentle and helpful man, and urges them to come to their senses.
Letter 5.37Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The bad lives of some clergy give no excuse to the laity, who will be judged by the commandments and by the many good clergy they ignored.
Letter 5.48Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore commends a sophist for answering his clerical tormentors with satire rather than a lawsuit, but urges him to go further and keep his tongue free of abuse.
Letter 5.52Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore declines to forward Harpocras's satirical lament on four clerics, lest it start a war, and leaves the risk to him.
Letter 5.53Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells four clerics that a learned man's lament on them has made everyone recoil from them, and urges them, late as it is, to admit their wickedness.
Letter 5.54Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A good life refutes slander and punishes one's enemies; a second letter tells a cleric to rein in unruly charges and to warn the avaricious that greed is insatiable here and leads to unquenchable fire hereafter.
Letter 5.56Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The truly blessed is not one who suffers little but one who bears much nobly; a second letter tells Zosimus he can silence his accusers only by mending his ways.
Letter 5.76Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · True courage is moderation in prosperity and firmness in adversity; a second letter tells three clerics their crimes outrun any orator's words; a third assures a deacon that unrewarded virtue receives a greater reward hereafter.
Letter 5.79Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore asks Cyril of Alexandria to stop the greed of those who manage the funds of the church of Pelusium, so that the poor may be fed.
Letter 5.84Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Though many have given them up, Isidore again urges four clerics to rekindle any spark of reason and turn to virtue.
Letter 5.89Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells a presbyter not to be scandalized by luxurious bishops, since a few still live apostolically; further letters warn against listening to slanderers, explain that Hebrews 4 speaks of the heavenly rest, not Joshua's conquest, and boldly exhort a man to stop harming himself and attacking the virtuous.
Letter 5.103Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Since Zosimus and Maron reject rebuke, counsel and lament alike, Isidore asks a presbyter to pray for them, since only God can heal them.
Letter 5.104Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a presbyter to settle a lawsuit by kindness rather than risk a verdict, since kindness is more glorious than victory.
Letter 5.105Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore prays that four clerics may turn from wickedness and at least stop scandalizing others; a further letter tells Count Herminus not to let office shake his philosophy, since virtue alone is a robe that never wears out.
Letter 5.116Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore agrees that Zosimus's ordination was scandalous but tells a presbyter not to defile his mouth by abusing him; a second letter argues that fate refutes itself if it inspires both its defenders and its opponents.
Letter 5.118Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore laments that a deacon has outdone even his own earlier crimes and urges him to repair his reputation.
Letter 5.122Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells four clerics that they are worse than other sinners because they boast of their deeds and mock those who live well and advise them.
Letter 5.125Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore asks Harpocras to write often; further letters say the church's teachers must first reform their own lives before they can save others, that human nature calls for modesty, and that the "spiritual" accept by faith in God's power things beyond reason, such as the three youths in the furnace.
Letter 5.131Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · In a long letter Isidore laments that church leaders persecute the virtuous and reward the wicked, says that he himself has suffered for speaking frankly, and calls them to humility, honesty and repentance; a second letter refuses to answer a question until the questioner lays aside his hostility.
Letter 5.139Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The lustful look already defiles the soul, as Christ's word on adultery in the heart shows; a second letter says Eusebius is to be blamed not for his looks or speech but for his vicious character.
Letter 5.145Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore lists the virtues of good speech; further letters say the eyes must be kept modest like maidens, that Bishop Eusebius is gravely guilty if he knowingly ordained wolves over Christ's flock, and that appetite should be fed with necessities, not luxury.
Letter 5.160Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A bishop who does what he is appointed to punish will pay a greater penalty, since God sees all.
Letter 5.165Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore encourages a bishop whose efforts to correct Zosimus brought only mockery; a second letter says that the tortures devised against the preachers of the gospel only made their victory more glorious.
Letter 5.169Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore counsels a bishop said to prefer flatterers: virtue shines most when it is not displayed, as the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows, and slow, safe success is better than quick, costly success.
Letter 5.170Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges three bishops to carry out what they have decided, since they have the power to do so and will be blameless only if they do.
Letter 5.175Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore agrees that clergy who preach forbearance but punish their critics give Greeks and Jews cause to mock the faith; a second letter says that one who sins openly will sin in secret, while one who guards against small sins guards against great ones.
Letter 5.180Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Anger must be checked by gentle persuasion, since unchecked it ends in murder.
Letter 5.182Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A judge must be above bribery, since gifts blind even the wise; a second letter mocks those who see contradictions in arguments but not between their teaching on poverty and their own greed.
Letter 5.192Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reports that a man called Gothus received a bishop's admonitory letter with a smile that conquered his anger.
Letter 5.194Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells a deacon accused of luxury to reform rather than defend himself; a second letter tells a wrongdoer to stop hiding behind legal technicalities.
Letter 5.196Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells a bishop who denounces Eusebius of Pelusium's vices to keep himself free of the same faults.
Letter 5.201Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Though hearers now want entertaining rhetoric rather than edifying words, it is better to preach unheeded than to bury the talent and be condemned.
Letter 5.209Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore refuses to condemn a man unheard; a second letter rebukes the presbyter Zosimus for embezzling alms meant for the poor, warning that he faces a worse fate than those who merely refuse to give.
Letter 5.213Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reports to Zosimus a good man's scathing remark that he prays for a spotless life while defiling the church, and urges him to amend.
Letter 5.214Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore advises a presbyter to speak only of worthwhile things, lest he be thought a babbler.
Letter 5.215Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The scandal of an unworthy priest like Zosimus should strengthen faith in the judgment, since God, being just, will repay each hereafter.
Letter 5.219Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore answers a deacon who blamed him for failing to reform four clerics: the adviser is responsible only for advising well, as even Christ did not persuade Judas or the Jews, and he is proud to share in Christ's sufferings.
Letter 5.220Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God's patience with Zosimus and Maron is not neglect, since like the flood generation, Sodom and those who rejected Christ, they will be punished here or hereafter.
Letter 5.225Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · No one should seek to rule who has not first learned to be ruled; one should decline office if possible and, if compelled, govern under the law.
Letter 5.230Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God's patience with Bishop Eusebius and his partisans is meant to lead them to repentance; one should pray for them rather than complain.
Letter 5.231Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reminds the aged Zosimus that death is near and asks why he still sins like a youth.
Letter 5.233Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Words without deeds annoy, deeds without words shame; together they bring great progress to learners.
Letter 5.246Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes Zosimus for slandering the dead whom he flattered in life.
Letter 5.249Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · As a sick head makes the whole body sick, the church of Pelusium is full of evils because its bishop Eusebius is corrupt.
Letter 5.250Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · As lawgivers are not blamed when people break their laws, so those who exhorted Eusebius and his clergy are not to blame if they refuse to be cured.
Letter 5.255Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Some ancients turned tyranny into fatherly rule, but some present clergy turn pastoral care into tyranny.
Letter 5.257Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells Zosimus not to trust the approval of fellow sinners but the judgement of the sound and of Scripture.
Letter 5.260Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God's patience is a call to repentance, not licence; if ignored, he will punish all sins together.
Letter 5.263Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A good teacher shows reverence in his look and uses a moderate style; even plain diction rouses learners when the example is reverent.
Letter 5.265Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A teacher persuades by deeds; words without deeds bring only disbelief and ridicule.
Letter 5.268Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells Cyril that the priesthood once corrected emperors but now is subject to them, because unworthy priests disgrace it; the emperors rightly punish such priests to vindicate the priesthood.
Letter 5.272Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore agrees that wicked clergy threaten to obscure Christ's work by giving unbelievers cause to blaspheme.
Letter 5.275Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One who cannot govern his own passions is ridiculous trying to govern others.
Letter 5.276Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore condemns the buying and selling of the priesthood: once hereditary, it is now meant for the virtuous, yet it is more abused than ever, and good men are shut out of it.
Letter 5.278Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Priests are no longer honoured because they no longer live like their predecessors; once priests corrected kings, now they fear the people.
Letter 5.279Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore advises a bishop to temper discipline with pardon, as a physician suits treatment to the patient's strength.
Letter 5.290Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A teacher must rebuke sin frankly but without violence, as God told Ezekiel, leaving the hearer's response to his free will; Paul's excommunication and Eli's punishment are explained, with an argument that Eli's sentence fell chiefly on his house.
Letter 5.294Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Envy always attends virtue, so a deacon should not be troubled by slander; a second letter answers a pagan that Scripture is not to blame for those who do not live by it.
Letter 5.296Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · People respond differently to pardon and punishment; Isidore advises a bishop to overlook small faults when they are being amended, pardon after reproof when they persist, and meet grave sins with separation and penance until repentance.
Letter 5.297Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes a presbyter proud of his rank who is outdone in virtue by laymen; a second letter says virtue does not escape envy, which must be borne nobly.
Letter 5.299Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishops who claim to be Paul's successors admire him but do not imitate his refusal of gain and his labour with his own hands.
Letter 5.300Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Even Samuel, under the old law, could challenge the people to accuse him of greed and none could, unlike today's clergy.
Letter 5.301Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore says that Bishop Eusebius, who devours the goods of the poor, is no true steward and has no right to preach; a second letter says the inequalities of this life serve as training, while those hereafter will reflect justice.
Letter 5.309Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · An exhortation should be long, brief, methodical or plain as each point requires, since only skilled speech can rescue a soul drowned in passion.
Letter 5.311Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reports a respected man's scathing description of four clerics, says he defended them by predicting their repentance, and urges them to make it true.
Letter 5.319Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A woman who adorns herself to attract men is guilty even if none falls; further letters warn that unworthy clergy abuse God's patience, that priests who sin are punished more severely, and that a priest's sin, like a helmsman's, harms all.
Letter 5.323Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Clergy who live carelessly give their people an excuse for sin, and must give account for both themselves and their flock.
Letter 5.324Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The judgment before all humanity and the angels will make our shame immense; further letters say God both punishes and rewards with power equal to his will, and that a good man's rebuke of the wicked is not slander but truth.
Letter 5.327Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · As people help the zealous and ignore the idle, so God's help comes to those who choose to do right.
Letter 5.341Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The envious slander the virtuous; a second letter tells a pagan count not to judge Christianity by its worst clergy but by its best, or by the faith itself.
Letter 5.355Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God permitted Zosimus's priesthood but did not command it; his patience will be followed by just punishment if Zosimus does not repent.
Letter 5.357Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · God permits but does not command the purchase of priesthood, respecting free will; the guilty, not God, are to blame, and they will answer in proportion to their honour.
Letter 5.358Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells Zosimus not to resent Bishop Hermogenes' sharp rebuke, which came from care for him and fear of God's judgment on silence.
Letter 5.367Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Christ's victory over the devil is endangered only by Christians' wickedness; God upholds the faith for his name's sake but will punish those who abuse his patience.
Letter 5.372Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells four clerics that their misdeeds are too shameful for him to repeat and urges them to stop.
Letter 5.376Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Answers to questions should be plain and drawn from Scripture's clear remedies, not from one's own clever speculations, which only cast enquirers into a sea of questions.
Letter 5.377Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · True justice and temperance are shown when one has the power to do otherwise; a second letter contrasts Bishop Hermogenes, whose virtue matched his office, with Eusebius, who has the office without the virtue.
Letter 5.379Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Priests who reached ordination through long virtue must not be judged by those who seized it without preparation and then attack the virtuous.
Letter 5.389Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore's anger at three clerics has proved justified as their excesses have grown; only lament and prayer remain.
Letter 5.393Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore reproaches Zosimus for buying the priesthood and persisting in sin in old age.
Letter 5.400Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Some pastors behave like wolves, devouring their flocks' souls; a second letter says it is better to lose with truth than win by a lie.
Letter 5.401Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells four clerics that wickedness is worse than punishment and that the punishments owed to licentiousness will certainly come.
Letter 5.413Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Wine in moderation is a blessing and a medicine, but abused it avenges itself with sickness and disgrace.
Letter 5.417Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus is shunned because every vice has taken hold of him; only virtuous words and deeds can restore his name.
Letter 5.422Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Though the priesthood surpasses kingship, priests must not lord it over others, since they received it by grace for others' benefit.
Letter 5.426Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore warns Zosimus that, though Bishop Eusebius does not excommunicate him as the church once did with sinners until they repented, God's justice will judge them both.
Letter 5.427Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One who has never laboured has no claim to rest; a second letter urges a governor to pardon a man who insulted him rather than punish him.
Letter 5.435Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a deacon to warn those who innovate against church law that what is gained by reckless daring will soon fall.
Letter 5.436Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus behaves like the accursed while claiming the honour of the priesthood.
Letter 5.437Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Zosimus's ingrained vice comes not from his slave birth but from a corrupt upbringing that made wickedness a habit; prayer is the remedy.
Letter 5.440Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Rather than accusing Zosimus, which only provokes him, one should lament and pray for him.
Letter 5.445Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore would choose virtue even if it were punished and vice crowned; how much more, then, should Zosimus, since virtue is rewarded and vice punished.
Letter 5.446Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore agrees with a deacon's harsh view of Zosimus but warns him that he is beginning to follow the same path.
Letter 5.448Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Hermogenes, though outstanding in virtue, guards it all with humility, thinking he has done nothing great.
Letter 5.451Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Eusebius punishes the merely suspected and promotes the convicted for flattery or money, which is no surprise given his character.
Letter 5.464Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes a deacon for endangering those his friends entrusted to him, a sign that he knows nothing of true friendship.
Letter 5.466Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Bishop Hermogenes' humility and gentleness disarmed even envy; Isidore urges Zeno to imitate him by sealing his virtue with modesty.
Letter 5.469Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore urges a curial not to shun church assemblies; a second letter describes the injustice of Bishop Eusebius's regime, where the guilty buy acquittal and priesthood, and says God's patience is a call to repentance, not negligence.
Letter 5.472Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · For priests to use their God-given honour against God is the height of madness; they must keep themselves like sanctuaries, free of every vice.
Letter 5.473Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · True reports, unlike slanders, do not die, so Maron should mend his life rather than resent his reputation; a second letter asks a bishop to warn a powerful man that the church will protect a poor man he is oppressing.
Letter 5.475Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells a clever presbyter who excused his misdeeds with rhetoric to prefer plain truth, since God cannot be deceived.
Letter 5.476Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells four clerics of a holy intercessor who wept over their sins and marvelled at God's patience; further letters argue, with Thucydides and Plato, that character matters more than eloquence, as fruit more than leaves, and that the bad lives of some clergy do not refute this.
Letter 5.481Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Ordination is now perilous, since a priest must either keep the apostolic canons and be persecuted, or conform and be lost; better not to seek it, but if ordained, to restore apostolic practice even at the cost of deposition.
Letter 5.482Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells a bishop to lament rather than mock the wicked clergy of Pelusium, and prays for their repentance.
Letter 5.488Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Avarice can never be satisfied by gaining but only by stopping; true wealth is contentment with little.
Letter 5.491Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore rebukes Zosimus for slandering a dead man, violating the laws of nature and even of enmity, since the dead man's soul is avenged by God.
Letter 5.496Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore asks Zosimus, raised in poverty, why he now lives luxuriously at others' tables, bringing scandal on the faith.
Letter 5.498Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The church suffers because its leaders take common goods for themselves, unlike the first believers who gave their own to the common fund.
Letter 5.502Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Different people are swayed by flattery or fear, so correction must be suited to each.
Letter 5.503Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One cannot condemn the world in words while clinging to it in deeds without being seen through.
Letter 5.505Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · The clergy of Pelusium came too slowly to help a man in danger, who has fallen victim to his enemies.
Letter 5.507Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore declines to describe Zosimus's misdeeds and says only that the lower pleasures cause great evils.
Letter 5.508Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Teachers who do not practise what they teach face a heavier penalty than the merely negligent.
Letter 5.510Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells Zosimus, who gives no alms at all, that even giving for show is better than not giving, though giving in secret is best.
Letter 5.524Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Maron, justly reproached for his vices, cannot use the language of the virtuous who are slandered from envy.
Letter 5.525Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One should choose as teachers only those whose lives show virtue.
Letter 5.530Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · People judge others by themselves, so it is no wonder Zosimus thinks everyone wicked.
Letter 5.531Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · If Zosimus came to his senses he would see that it is he, not his critics, who is mad.
Letter 5.532Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Though Zosimus bought only the name of priesthood, obedience to Scripture could still make him a true priest.
Letter 5.533Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells a reader not to resent hardship, since toil leads to crowns and idleness to punishment.
Letter 5.534Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore defends those who flee a cruel and shameless man who treats the harmless as enemies.
Letter 5.535Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Unworthy priests and those who ordained them support one another against the virtuous, and claim that God wills what he only permits.
Letter 5.536Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · A presbyter is blamed for his friend Zosimus's impiety, whether as accomplice, as one who failed to stop it, or simply as his friend.
Letter 5.556Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · One should be reconciled after quarrels, quickly if possible, since endless rage is inhuman; a second letter urges a bishop to sustain his good reputation by daily virtue.
Letter 5.562Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore tells Zosimus that neither youth's poverty nor old age has restrained his desires, and he must either reform or withdraw from the altar.
Letter 5.564Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Isidore refuses to court the powerful wicked and defends the deacon Eutonius, attacked by the clergy at the bidding of Bishop Eusebius, whom he will not honour whatever the threats.
Letter 5.567Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · Maron's new, greedy wrongdoing has exposed his earlier act of revenge as wickedness too.
Letter 5.569Isidore of Pelusium · ca. 393-ca. 435 · In a long final appeal Isidore tells Zosimus that he has defended the validity of his sacraments, arguing that a priest's sins do not harm the layman, as Balaam, Caiaphas and Elijah's raven show, but that people still shun the mysteries and pagans are kept from the church because of him; he must reform or withdraw from the altar.
Against Jovinianus 1.14Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues from 1 Cor 7:39–40 and other texts that second marriage is permitted only as a concession and ranks below a single marriage.
Against Jovinianus 1.20Jerome · 393 · Jerome turns Jovinian's examples from Judah to Moses, and cites the laws of Sinai, the bread of the Presence, and priestly marriage as showing the precedence of chastity.
Against Jovinianus 1.23Jerome · 393 · Jerome answers Jovinian's examples of Samson, Deborah, Jephthah, Samuel, and Boaz and Ruth.
Against Jovinianus 1.26Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues that the apostles' marriages belonged to the time before the Gospel, that 1 Cor 9:5 refers to women who served them, and that John, the virgin apostle, was specially loved by Christ.
Against Jovinianus 1.34Jerome · 393 · Jerome answers the objection that Paul appointed married clergy: Paul's requirements were a concession to new converts, and married clergy are bound to continence.
Against Jovinianus 1.35Jerome · 393 · Jerome expounds the qualifications for a bishop in 1 Tim 3, stressing chastity, and argues that rank in the clergy does not determine merit before Christ.
Against Jovinianus 2.22Jerome · 393 · Jerome grants the division between good and evil but argues from Ezekiel and Paul that there are differences of merit and reward among the righteous themselves.
Against Jovinianus 2.23Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues from Paul's teaching on gifts, the ranks of the Church, and the different glories of sun, moon, and stars that there will be degrees of reward among the saved.
Against Jovinianus 2.28Jerome · 393 · Jerome rejects Jovinian's reading of the "many dwellings" as churches and argues from the priesthood, Ezekiel, and the angelic orders that there are ranks in heaven.
Against Jovinianus 2.34Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues from the division of the land, the temple, the Psalms of Ascents, and the orders of priesthood that there are ranks in the Church and in heaven.
Poem 14, lines 65–95Paulinus of Nola · ca. 393–431 · Pilgrims come even from Rome and from Latium and Samnium along the Appian and Latin Ways, and Nola, honoured by Felix as presbyter and martyr, rises in the likeness of Rome.
Poem 15, lines 95–125Paulinus of Nola · ca. 393–431 · Hermias chose a soldier's life, while Felix served God as reader, exorcist and presbyter under Bishop Maximus of Nola, who fled into the wilderness when persecution broke out.
Poem 15, lines 321–361Paulinus of Nola · ca. 393–431 · Felix carries Maximus on his shoulders back to his house and entrusts him to an old woman; Maximus blesses Felix with the laying on of his hand.
Poem 16, lines 224–255Paulinus of Nola · ca. 393–431 · After Maximus's death the people want Felix as bishop, but he humbly defers to Quintus, ordained presbyter seven days before him, and serves under him as his voice.
Poem 24, lines 763–794Paulinus of Nola · ca. 393–431 · One who governs himself can steer the church; Paulinus wishes the boy, like Joseph, to become God's interpreter and ruler in the King's house, clothed with grace and the yoke of love.
Poem 25, lines 193–224Paulinus of Nola · ca. 393–431 · The couple should love as Christ and the church; Bishop Memor, the groom's father, is to lead them to the altar, and Bishop Aemilius arrives to bless them, father and brother to Memor.
Letter 11Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius tells his presbyters that he accepts the episcopate only as God's will, fears it will end his philosophic leisure, and asks for the people's prayers.
Letter 12Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius readmits a clergyman, Cyril, to communion after a fixed penance imposed by the previous bishop.
Letter 13Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius asks Peter to look after the courier who brought the Easter announcement through hostile country and to have the city pray for its unworthy bishop.
Letter 57Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius explains that God uses evil men like Andronicus as instruments and then punishes them, recounts how his peaceful philosophic life was shattered by the episcopate and the death of a son, and proposes that a second man be chosen to handle civic affairs while he devotes himself to contemplation.
Letter 58Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius excommunicates the governor Andronicus for his cruelty and for nailing decrees to the church door that denied asylum at the altar and threatened the clergy.
Letter 67Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius asks Theophilus whether Alexander, a bishop of Chrysostom's party who will not return to his see, is to be treated as a bishop; reports his failed attempt to give Palaebisca and Hydrax their own bishop and the settlement of a property dispute between bishops Paul and Dioscorus; and proposes that clergy who desert their churches be treated as laymen.
Letter 72Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius tells his fellow bishops that Andronicus, once spared excommunication on a promise of repentance, has since confiscated property and caused the death of young Magnus, and so is now shut out of the church.
Letter 76Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius reports to Theophilus the election of Antonius as bishop of the Olbiatae and asks him to ordain him.
Letter 95Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · The opening of a letter on Synesius's reluctant acceptance of the episcopate; the rest is lost.
Letter 105Synesius of Cyrene · ca. 393-413 · Synesius, elected bishop of Ptolemais, tells his brother (and through him Theophilus) why he feels unfit for the office: he loves leisure and amusement, will not give up his wife, and holds philosophical views on the soul, the world, and the resurrection that differ from popular belief.
Canon 1Anonymous · 394 (or 396)
Canon 4Anonymous · 394 (or 396)
Canon 6Anonymous · 394 (or 396) · Clergy travelling abroad must have their letters signed by bishops.
Letters 1.10Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus invites Sulpicius to come to him and reports that he was ordained presbyter at Barcelona against his will on Christmas Day, on the condition that he not be bound to that church.
Letters 2.2Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus describes his forced ordination as presbyter and his acceptance of it as God's will, despite his sense of unworthiness.
Letters 2.3Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus asks Amandus to pray for him and to keep instructing him by letters, since they are one in the body of Christ.
Letters 2.4Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus asks Amandus to train him for his new pastoral work, since he was born to God through him and will be his shame or joy.
Letters 3.2Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus has received five books of Augustine from Alypius, writes to Augustine through him, and sends greetings to Alypius's clergy and monks.
Letters 3.4Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus asks Alypius for his life story and tells his own: baptized by Delphinus at Bordeaux, ordained by Lampius at Barcelona, and claimed by Ambrose as a presbyter of Milan.
Letters 5.13Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus invites Sulpicius to leave his homeland to avoid jealousy, noting that his own distance from Rome has quieted the hostility of some Roman clergy.
Letters 5.14Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Despite the coldness of the bishop of Rome, many Campanian and African bishops showed Paulinus kindness during his illness; Sulpicius should come.
Letters 7.1Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus tells Romanianus the news, just arrived from Africa, that Aurelius, Alypius, Augustine, Profuturus and Severus are all now bishops.
Letters 7.2Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus rejoices that Augustine has been consecrated co-bishop of Hippo beside the aged Valerius, as a gift of God against the Donatists and Manichees.
Letters 12.12Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus commends his freedman Sanemarius to Amandus’s care and asks him to forward an urgent letter on behalf of an elderly presbyter driven from his home.
Letters 18.1Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus writes to Victricius of Rouen by his deacon Paschasius, whom he met at Rome at the feast of the apostles and kept for a time at Nola.
Letters 18.6Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus gives thanks to God for making Victricius a preacher of the gospel and a bishop set like a lamp on a lampstand.
Letters 18.10Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus asks Victricius to remember him at the judgment, when he will be crowned as bishop and confessor and rewarded for the many he has led to God.
Letters 19.4Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus asks Delphinus to pray that his baptismal grace be kept, and commends Cardamas, formerly a mime and now an exorcist, who kept Nola’s frugal table.
Letters 20.2Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus reports that Anastasius, bishop of Rome, has shown him great kindness, writing to the bishops of Campania on his behalf and inviting him to his anniversary.
Letters 20.3Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus tells Delphinus of letters from Venerius, new bishop of Milan, and rejoices at the dedication of the new church at Alingo built by Delphinus.
Letters 21.6Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus commends Cardamas to Amandus, praising his new frugality as an exorcist, and asks for prayers for himself and his household.
Letters 26.1Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus greets a hermit living by a stream, of whom he has heard through Victor, and his brother, a deacon who supplies him with food like Elijah’s ravens.
Letters 26.2Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · The two brothers serve each other, the hermit with prayer and fasting and the deacon with bodily food, which even Christ’s words show the flesh needs.
Letters 26.4Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · The deacon and the hermit together mirror the Lord teaching in the temple and John in the wilderness, both free and both servants.
Letters 38.10Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Aper now judges himself and lives in country seclusion, preparing to serve the church in the office to which he has been called.
Letters 42.2Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus praises Florentius as a shepherd chosen by Christ, who is both Lamb and Shepherd, God and man.
Letters 42.3Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus prays that God, who made Florentius a fisher of men and shepherd, will keep him mindful of Paulinus in his prayers and offerings.
Letters 48.1Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · A fragment praising eight contemporary bishops of Gaul as worthy guardians of the faith.
Letters 50.9Paulinus of Nola · ca. 394–413 · Paulinus asks Augustine to distinguish apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers in Eph 4:11, especially pastors from teachers.
On Lying 30Augustine of Hippo · ca. 395 · Paul's refusal of support shows that Christ's instruction to live by the gospel was a permission, not a command; the saints' deeds interpret the words.
Against the Epistle of Manichaeus Called Fundamental 4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 396–397 · Augustine lists what holds him in the Catholic Church (the consent of nations, its authority, the succession of bishops from Peter’s see, and its very name) unless the Manichaeans can show the truth plainly.
On Christian Doctrine 4.16Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · That the Spirit makes teachers does not make instruction in teaching unnecessary, as Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus show; human teaching, like medicine, works only when God gives the effect.
On Christian Doctrine 4.27Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · The preacher's life gives his words more weight than eloquence; the wicked may teach truth from the chair of Moses, but a good life persuades far more.
On Christian Doctrine 4.29Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · Those who cannot compose may preach others' sermons without blame, for God's word belongs to those who obey it; a bad man who speaks well speaks words not truly his own.
Life of Saint Martin 5Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · Martin joins Hilary of Poitiers, is made an exorcist, and on his journey home converts a robber in the Alps.
Life of Saint Martin 9Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · Martin is lured from his monastery and acclaimed bishop of Tours; a chance reading of Ps 8 silences the opposing bishop Defensor.
Life of Saint Martin 10Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · As bishop Martin keeps his monastic life and founds a monastery near Tours where eighty monks live in common poverty, prayer, and fasting.
Life of Saint Martin 20Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · At the court of the usurper Maximus Martin alone refuses flattery, passes the emperor's cup to his presbyter, and foretells Maximus's fall.
Confessions 10.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · Augustine confesses his present state to his fellow Christians, whom God has made his masters to be served.
Confessions 13.25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The apostles, who left all to follow Christ, are the lights in the firmament, set on fire at Pentecost.
Confessions 13.33Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The spiritual, men and women, rulers and subjects, judge spiritually, but not Scripture, nor the hidden state of souls, nor outsiders.
Confessions 13.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The spiritual judge the church's sacraments, preaching, and the conduct of the faithful, over which they have power to correct.
Confessions 13.38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The plants given as food are works of mercy owed to ministers of the word, as Onesiphorus and the Macedonians gave to Paul.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 22.56Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine reports having examined mandrakes himself and interprets Reuben's mandrakes as the good public reputation that those engaged in active church work win for the contemplative life.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 22.57Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine interprets Leah's complaint to Rachel as the active life rebuking the contemplative for keeping men fit for church government in leisure while also seeking public honour.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 22.58Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine applies the story to monks and scholars drawn by the church into ordained ministry, whose labour brings honour to the contemplative life they left.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 28.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine appeals to the Church’s unbroken succession from the apostles as guarantee that Matthew’s Gospel, with its account of the birth, is Matthew’s, against Mani’s books and apocryphal writings.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 28.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine argues that Christ’s own words are known only through the apostles, that the Church’s succession guarantees Matthew’s Gospel, and that even Paul gained authority only by agreement with the apostles.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 32.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine interprets the levirate law of Deuteronomy as a figure of preachers who beget children for Christ, their dead brother, and of the shame of refusing that ministry.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 33.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine argues that the apostolic writings are known to be genuine by continuous testimony and the succession of bishops, just as the works of Hippocrates, Plato, and Cicero are known, and spurious works rejected.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 33.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine closes by urging the Manichaeans to follow the authority of Scripture as handed down by apostolic succession, or at least to believe God’s nature unchangeable and incorruptible, and so cease to be Manichaeans.
Canon 2Anonymous · 397 · A general African council is to meet every year, attended by legates of each province.
Canon 3Anonymous · 397 · Candidates for ordination are first to be taught the decrees of the councils.
Canon 4Anonymous · 397 · Deacons and consecrated virgins must be at least twenty-five, and readers may not give the liturgical greeting.
Canon 7Anonymous · 397 · Procedure for accusations against a bishop: hearing before the primate within a month (two if excused), suspension of a defendant who fails to appear, and penalties for an accuser who withdraws.
Canon 8Anonymous · 397 · Accused presbyters are judged by their bishop with five colleagues, deacons by their bishop with two; other clergy by their own bishop alone.
Canon 9Anonymous · 397 · Clergy who take church cases to the civil courts lose their office or what they win, since Paul tells Christians to settle disputes in the church.
Canon 10Anonymous · 397 · An appeal does not discredit the first judges unless they acted with malice or corruption, and judges chosen by both parties admit no appeal.
Canon 13Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may not give their property to non-catholics, even relatives.
Canon 14Anonymous · 397 · Clergy are not to emancipate their sons until they are sure of their maturity and character.
Canon 15Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may not be lessees or agents for others or earn a living by dishonorable business.
Canon 16Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may not take interest on loans.
Canon 17Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may live only with close female relatives and household women already there before their ordination.
Canon 18Anonymous · 397 · No one may be ordained bishop, presbyter or deacon until his whole household is catholic.
Canon 19Anonymous · 397 · Readers who reach puberty must either marry or profess continence.
Canon 20Anonymous · 397 · No bishop may take over another bishop's people or territory.
Canon 21Anonymous · 397 · No bishop may keep or promote another bishop's cleric without consent; readers, psalmists and door-keepers count as clergy.
Canon 22Anonymous · 397 · Clergy are to be ordained only after examination by the bishops or testimony of the people.
Canon 25Anonymous · 397 · Clergy and ascetics may visit widows and virgins only with permission and in company.
Canon 26Anonymous · 397 · The primate is to be called only “bishop of the first see”, not “high priest” or the like.
Canon 27Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may not eat or drink in taverns except when travelling.
Canon 28Anonymous · 397 · Bishops may not travel overseas without consulting their primate and receiving his letter.
Canon 36Anonymous · 397 · Presbyters may not consecrate virgins without the bishop, nor ever make the chrism.
Canon 37Anonymous · 397 · Clergy may not stay in another city without just cause approved by the local clergy.
Canon 38Anonymous · 397 · The synod repeats the rule of the synod of Capua against rebaptism, reordination and transfers of bishops.
Canon 39Anonymous · 397 · Against a proposal to require twelve bishops for an episcopal ordination, Aurelius keeps the ancient rule of at least three.
Canon 40Anonymous · 397 · If an objection is raised against a bishop-elect, more bishops are to be called and the charges examined publicly before he is ordained.
Canon 42Anonymous · 397 · A rural district that has never had its own bishop is not to receive one, lest ambitious presbyters set themselves up against their bishops.
Canon 43Anonymous · 397 · Aurelius adds that bishops who separate themselves from the council and refuse its summons are to lose their dioceses and even their own churches, by public authority if need be.
Canon 44Anonymous · 397 · No bishop may take another bishop's cleric without his consent.
Canon 45Anonymous · 397 · The bishop of Carthage may take clergy requested by any church to be ordained as its leader, after first asking their own bishop; a bishop with only one presbyter may still have to give him up.
Canon 46Anonymous · 397 · A bishop newly ordained for a rural district with its mother church's consent keeps only that district and may not claim others.
Canon 48Anonymous · 397 · The council will consult Siricius and Simplicianus on whether those baptized as infants among the Donatists may later be ordained; the Mauretanian legates then present their instructions.
Canon 49Anonymous · 397 · Clergy who were poor at ordination and buy land in their own name during office must give it to the church; gifts and inheritances they may use as befits their calling.
PreambleAnonymous · ca. 397–400 · Opening of the first council of Toledo: nineteen bishops resolve to keep the decrees of Nicaea in ordaining clergy.
Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Married deacons who live continently may serve, but deacons and presbyters who had relations with their wives (even before the Lusitanian prohibition) may not be promoted.
Canon 2Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Those who have done public penance are not to be ordained, except in need as door-keepers or readers.
Canon 3Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · A reader who marries a widow may rise no higher than reader or subdeacon.
Canon 4Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · A subdeacon who remarries after his wife's death is reduced to door-keeper or reader; one who marries a third time is suspended for two years and then restored only as a layman.
Canon 5Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Clergy who neglect the daily eucharist at their church cease to be counted clergy unless they make amends.
Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Clerics whose wives have sinned may confine and discipline them, short of killing them, and are not to eat with them until they repent.
Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · One who served in the army or the imperial service after baptism may not become a deacon.
Canon 10Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Men bound to a household by contract or birth may be ordained only if of proven life and with their patrons' consent.
Canon 12Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Clergy may not leave their bishop for another, and those who join the excommunicated share their condemnation.
Canon 15Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Clergy and religious must shun the excommunicated, on pain of excommunication themselves.
Canon 20Anonymous · ca. 397–400 · Bishops may not let presbyters make the chrism; the subscriptions follow, then the heading and creed of the later Rule of Faith against the Priscillianists.
Tractates 16Gaudentius of Brescia · ca. 397-410 · Gaudentius's sermon on the day of his consecration as bishop of Brescia: he accepted only under pressure from Ambrose, the bishops, and the people's oath, praises his predecessor Philastrius, and asks Ambrose, as Peter's successor and mouth of the bishops, to preach after him.
Tractates 21Gaudentius of Brescia · ca. 397-410 · Gaudentius's sermon on the anniversary of his predecessor Philastrius of Brescia: a true son of Abraham, a travelling preacher against heresies and Arianism (at Milan against Auxentius and at Rome), who evangelized Brescia, lived humbly and generously, and died on 18 July.
Letters 1.10Sulpicius Severus · ca. 397–406 · On a winter visitation Martin is lodged in a sacristy heated from below and given a soft straw bed.
Letters 3.6Sulpicius Severus · ca. 397–406 · Knowing his death was near, Martin went to Candes to make peace among its clergy.
Homily 4.6 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · Chrysostom forbids hired mourners at Christian funerals, threatens church discipline, and defends the church’s power to bind as given by Christ.
Homily 11.4 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · Chrysostom rebukes those who suspect beggars of fraud, urging Christians to give food and shelter to all without inquiry, after the example of God and of Abraham’s hospitality, keeping careful examination for those who claim clerical rank.
Homily 13.1 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · On Heb 7:11–16, Chrysostom argues that a new priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, from the royal tribe of Judah, shows the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood and requires a change of law and covenant.
Homily 14.2 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · On Heb 8:5–13, Chrysostom calls the church’s worship heavenly, explains that the new covenant is better because it is written on hearts and brings knowledge of God to all, and that the old covenant was set aside not as evil but as old and insufficient.
Homily 17.4 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · Chrysostom teaches that frequency of communion matters less than a clean conscience and a blameless life, warns against receiving after a token Lenten preparation only to return to sin, and explains the priest’s cry “Holy things for the holy” as a separation of the unworthy.
Homily 24.3 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · Chrysostom urges his hearers to live as strangers so that God will not be ashamed of them, warns that even miracle-workers and clergy will be disowned without a pure life, and proposes training in one virtue after another, month by month, as farmers divide their work.
Homily 34.1 on HebrewsJohn Chrysostom · ca. 398-404 · Expounding Heb 13:17–25, Chrysostom teaches that church leaders must be obeyed in matters of life (though not if they teach false faith), warns leaders of their accountability and those who seek office of its danger, explains Paul's closing prayer and greetings, and urges his hearers to keep the grace of the Spirit by stretching the sails of their will toward heaven.
Canon 1Anonymous · ca. 398 · Proculus of Marseilles is granted, for his lifetime only, primacy over the churches of Second Narbonensis that he founded or whose bishops he ordained.
Canon 2Anonymous · ca. 398 · The dispute between Arles and Vienne over primacy is to go to whichever proves its city the metropolis; meanwhile each may oversee the churches nearer to it.
Canon 3Anonymous · ca. 398 · Bishops who irregularly ordained other bishops are pardoned this time, but future irregular ordinations will cost the ordained his office and the ordainer his authority.
Canon 6Anonymous · ca. 398 · Gallic bishops in communion with Felix of Trier may be received if they break with him, as the letters of Ambrose and the Roman bishop direct.
Canon 7Anonymous · ca. 398 · No bishop may receive or ordain another bishop's cleric, or admit to communion one excommunicated.
Canon 8Anonymous · ca. 398 · Clergy ordained against the prohibition, or who have fathered children while in the ministry, are not to be promoted to higher orders.
Letters 2.1Anastasius I · ca. 400-402 · Like a shepherd, watchman or ship's master, Theophilus of Alexandria keeps watch to protect the churches from Origen's writings.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 1.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Baptism and the power to give it are kept by those who leave the church, as the Donatists’ own reception of Felicianus and those he baptized in Maximian’s schism shows; so baptism given in schism is real though not profitable.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 2.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Against the Donatist appeal to Cyprian’s council, Augustine cites Cyprian’s own praise of Peter, who accepted correction from Paul; if Peter could err about circumcision, Cyprian could err about rebaptism, and the universal church outweighs one province.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 2.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine quotes Cyprian’s opening speech at the Council of Carthage (256), in which he judges no one and removes no one from communion for thinking differently.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 2.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine distinguishes the canonical Scriptures, which cannot be questioned, from the letters of bishops and the decrees of councils, which can be corrected by wiser men, by plenary councils, and by later councils.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 3.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Cyprian’s speech grants freedom of judgment and inquiry on unsettled questions, and he meant it sincerely; so Catholics may freely examine the question.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 3.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Cyprian’s African councils, one of seventy-one bishops, yield to the authority of the universal church of which he was a member.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 3.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · If only the pure “dove,” the unity of the good, baptizes, how could the greedy bishops Cyprian deplored baptize? Their baptism availed through the prayers of the saints for those in unity; outside unity the sacrament is entire but does not bring forgiveness.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 3.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · The power to forgive and retain sins given in John 20 belongs to the church’s unity, the dove; greedy bishops baptized but did not forgive sins, which are forgiven to those at peace with the dove, whether baptized inside or outside.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 3.24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine agrees that usurpers like Dathan and Abiram and the sons of Aaron were punished, and that such crimes are punished unless corrected.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 4.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Cyprian bore with plainly wicked, greedy fellow bishops as well as with good colleagues who differed, for the sake of unity, as Paul bore with the envious.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 4.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Cyprian argues that the apostles curse heretics, whose word creeps like a cancer; but Cyprian’s own letter to Antonianus places such men, the vessels for dishonour of 2 Tim 2, within the great house of the church, and their cancer did not violate baptism.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 5.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Since baptism was repeated after holy John but not after greedy bishops in unity, the reason can only be that John’s baptism was not Christ’s, which cannot be repeated whoever gives it.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 5.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine quotes with delight the peaceable close of Cyprian’s letter to Jubaianus, which leaves each bishop free and keeps concord with those who differ.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 5.31Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Cyprian’s letter to Pompeius shows that Stephen of Rome opposed him; the custom Stephen upheld, though not written, is rightly believed to come from apostolic tradition.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 5.32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · If heretics are self-condemned (Titus 3:11), so are the greedy bishops in Cyprian’s communion who preached against robbery while robbing.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 5.36Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine passes over Cyprian’s heated words against Stephen; Stephen would have excommunicated innovators, but Cyprian kept unity, and the peace of Christ prevented schism; the rebaptizers, not Catholics, have split into fragments.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 5.37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Cyprian’s ideal of the teachable bishop permits learning from the later church; going back to apostolic tradition, as he urges, shows that some in Corinth had one baptism without one hope, so heretics can have one baptism without one church.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 6.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine quotes again Cyprian’s opening speech to the Council of Carthage of 256.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 6.42Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · The opinion of Fortunatus of Thuccabori: Christ gave the power of baptizing to bishops of the church built on Peter, not to heretics.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 6.43Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Fortunatus’s argument could equally exclude the wicked within, who build on sand, yet they baptize; being outside does not change what is given, and if baptism could not be given outside it could not be kept outside either.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 7.84Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · The opinion of Clarus of Mascula: only the apostles’ successors have the power to baptize; heretics have neither the power nor the church.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 7.85Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Wicked bishops within, who are outside the rock, have not truly succeeded the apostles, yet they baptize.
On Baptism, against the Donatists 7.102Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · On unsettled questions Augustine will not judge rashly; his own view would be that baptism received anywhere with the gospel words, without pretence and with some faith, is real though unprofitable without love; a baptism given wholly in jest he would leave to divine revelation sought in council.
The Harmony of the Gospels 2.73Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–400 · Christ forbade the apostles to carry provisions because they had a right to support from those they evangelized, a right that Paul, as 1 Corinthians 9 shows, chose not to use.
The Harmony of the Gospels 2.74Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–400 · 'Not even a staff' means not even the smallest thing, while 'a staff only' signifies the right to support given by the Lord; Christ said both.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · ‘As is the ruler, so are the people’ cannot mean that a bad bishop makes his people bad, since Christ commanded to do what bad teachers say; on the Donatist reading, they are all like Optatus of Thamugadi.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Isaiah’s condemnation of bad sacrificers fits the schismatic altar; a bad priest harmed neither Zechariah nor Nathanael, and still less does a bad bishop harm good Christians now that Christ is high priest.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · Parmenian cites the law’s demand for holy, unblemished priests, but in Israel the good lived alongside bad priests and peoples without harm, for each carried his own load.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · No Donatist bishop, not even Donatus, is without moral blemish, yet the notorious Optatus offered the sacrifice and his people received it; drunkenness and greed, which Paul condemns, are also blemishes.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · No one in this life is without sin while the flesh fights the spirit; the law’s unblemished priests prefigured Christ alone, the spotless lamb and high priest who intercedes in heaven, not proud bishops who put themselves in the bridegroom’s place.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · If God does not hear sinners, the good among the bad are safe and there is no reason for schism; and John, by saying ‘we have an advocate’, included himself among those who need Christ, the one mediator, whereas Parmenian made the bishop a mediator.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · The psalm’s rebuke of the sinner who recites God’s statutes means that God’s word does not profit the bad preacher, but it profits hearers who obey it, as Christ taught about the Pharisees.
Against the Letter of Parmenian 2.26Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400 · ‘Praise is not beautiful in a sinner’s mouth’ refers to the deceitful, not to every sinner, since the tax collector and Daniel confessed sins; even so, God’s praise from such a mouth remains beautiful to those who hear and believe, as with Caiaphas’s prophecy.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian compares Catholic bishops to Judas and calls them heirs of those who burned the Scriptures, contrasting them with the Maccabean martyrs.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian denies that a Catholic bishop can be a true bishop.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.40Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian calls Catholic bishops false bishops like fallen angels and the apostate disciples, and claims that Donatists conquer by fleeing or dying.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.41Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · False bishops exist, but the charge must be proved, and neither chaff nor heretical sects touch the worldwide church.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.61Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Even deceitful ministers, later convicted, gave true baptism, because the Spirit flees the man's deceit, not the sacrament's truth.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.66Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian compares a Catholic minister to a private man who presumes to declare law.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.68Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian argues that reciting a priest's prayers does not make one a priest.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.69Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · A true sacrament can be held by a false minister, just as Paul acknowledged true sayings of a Cretan prophet and an Athenian altar without approving their authors.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.70Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian asks when the Catholics received power to administer the sacraments.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.81Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian makes the gift of the Spirit depend on the water of a pure conscience.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.82Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · The Spirit came without hands or before baptism; and if baptism required pure consciences, those baptized by Optatus would need rebaptism.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.112Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Saul lacked innocence but had the holiness of the anointing, which David revered; so the sacrament is holy even in the wicked.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.115Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian threatens Catholic priests with God's vengeance on false priests.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.117Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian calls the Catholic episcopal chair the 'seat of pestilence' of Psalm 1.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.118Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · The apostolic sees of Rome and Jerusalem are no 'seat of pestilence'; Christ honoured even the chair of Moses occupied by the Pharisees.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.138Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Augustine corrects Petilian's quotation of Matt 5:19 and shows that Christ did not command the chair of Moses to be deserted because of bad occupants.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.162Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · A proselyte of the Pharisees who reformed would not be recircumcised; so no one baptized by the wicked should be rebaptized.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.237Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Every minister is a sinner, as the Lord's Prayer shows; Ps 141:5 contrasts merciful rebuke with flattery, not valid and invalid anointings.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.238Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian cites Psalm 133 on the ointment of unity.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.239Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · The ointment of Psalm 133 is the Spirit's love flowing from Christ the head through strong teachers to the perfect, beginning at Jerusalem; the visible chrism, like baptism, can be held by the wicked, but love only by the good.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.240Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian cites 1 Sam 2:25 (Old Latin) on sinning priests.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.241Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Petilian's text would make Donatist bishops sinless; Paul asked for prayers and John and Daniel confessed sin. The sinless priest no one prays for is Christ, foreshadowed by the high priest.
Against the Letters of Petilian 2.243Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · 1 Tim 5:22 was addressed to Timothy, an ordained minister, and forbids consenting to sin, not tolerating sinners in unity.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Church discipline is medicinal and necessary, but separating from the whole church over others' sins, even true ones, destroys the weak.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Augustine lists Petilian's personal attacks: dialectic, rhetoric, Manichaeism, letters, the blessed bread, and an old complaint of the bishop who ordained him, later retracted.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Testing ministers is right, but cannot prevent hidden sinners; Petilian's 'examine the baptizer' leaves those baptized by later-exposed ministers without remedy unless they are rebaptized.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.36Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Many ministers everywhere have been exposed after baptizing; Petilian cannot say from what source those they baptized were cleansed.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · On Petilian's terms, those baptized by undetected Donatist sinners would receive neither faith nor guilt; yet Donatists count them faithful, so from what source did they receive faith?
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.40Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · The Donatist Cyprian of Thubursicubure, caught in a brothel, had baptized before exposure; those he baptized are not rebaptized, so their cleansing came from Christ, not him.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.43Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Alleged sinners among Catholics prejudge nothing against the church; and Catholic discipline does depose clergy, as many degraded men show.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.44Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Catholic discipline condemned Honorius of Milevis and Splendonius, whom Petilian rebaptized and ordained; the faithful are justified by God whoever baptizes them.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.66Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · A minister is something for dispensing word and sacrament, but nothing for cleansing and justifying, which God alone does.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.67Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · A bad minister is still a steward, like Judas among the apostles; Paul begot the Corinthians through the gospel, not by baptizing them, and the Lord's money is not spoiled by a bad steward.
Against the Letters of Petilian 3.68Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–403 · Baptism and righteousness are both needed for the kingdom; Paul called the gospel 'mine' but never baptism, which is Christ's alone, so it can be received from a bad minister without harm.
On the Work of Monks 4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · In 2 Thess 3:6–12 Paul, who had a right to be supported but worked night and day, commands those who walk in disorder to work quietly and eat their own bread.
On the Work of Monks 5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · In 1 Cor 9:1–5 Paul claims the apostles' right to be supported and to take along a believing woman to minister to them, which Augustine insists means a woman helper, not a wife.
On the Work of Monks 6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Christ's purse held by Judas and the women who ministered to him show that preachers may be supported by the faithful, while Paul, like the Good Samaritan's extra outlay, gave more by working for his food.
On the Work of Monks 7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · The instructions to the seventy-two in Luke 10 show that support from those who hear the gospel is a permission, not a command, so Paul could decline it.
On the Work of Monks 8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul's question whether only he and Barnabas lack the right not to work shows that the other apostles rightly lived by the gospel without manual work, while these two chose to work.
On the Work of Monks 9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul refused the right to reap material support for spiritual sowing, so he must have earned his food by manual work.
On the Work of Monks 10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul's statement that the Lord ordained that preachers live by the gospel, but that he used none of it, can only refer to material support, not spiritual life.
On the Work of Monks 11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul's glory and reward lie in preaching the gospel willingly and free of charge, not from the necessity of earning a living by it.
On the Work of Monks 12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul's becoming all things to all, including his observances at Jerusalem and his refusal of support, was compassion for the weak, not pretense.
On the Work of Monks 13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul refused support from the Thessalonians and Corinthians and worked with his hands, as he also told the Ephesian presbyters, to cut off any pretext of greed and spare the weak.
On the Work of Monks 16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul urged the faithful to support servants of God who are in need, and assured Timothy, too weak for manual work, that taking support from those he served was his right, not begging.
On the Work of Monks 17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul urged the gentile churches to support the poor saints at Jerusalem who had given up their property, and took a companion appointed by the churches so that no one could suspect him of keeping the collection.
On the Work of Monks 19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · As Paul urged the faithful to support servants of God, so monks should obey him by working with their hands for the common good, what they lack being supplied by the offerings of the faithful.
On the Work of Monks 23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · The monks object that if the other apostles did not sin by living from the gospel, they too are free to use the same right.
On the Work of Monks 24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Paul did not blame the other apostles but followed the ministry assigned to him among the gentiles; the monks have the right to be supported only if they are evangelists or ministers of the altar.
On the Work of Monks 34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Christ's command not to be anxious about food and clothing forbids preaching the gospel for the sake of a living, that is, serving mammon, not providing honestly for necessities.
On the Work of Monks 37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine insists that he lays no burden he would not bear, for he would rather work with his hands than spend his days judging disputes as bishops must, and he urges the monks to obey Paul.
On the Work of Monks 38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 400–401 · Augustine concludes his reply to Aurelius, warning lay supporters not to encourage idle monks by a misplaced generosity, while praising their support of true servants of God.
Opusculum 2.192Mark the Hermit · early to mid fifth century · A superior must speak and forgive; every event is a market for gain or loss.
Opusculum 10.10Mark the Hermit · early to mid fifth century · The Melchizedekians are the secret false teachers Peter foretold; though excommunicated, they meet in secret and slander the orthodox.
Hymn 2, lines 33–64Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · Lawrence, chief of Rome’s seven deacons, kept the church’s treasury; the greedy prefect, believing gold was hidden in the churches, summoned him and demanded it.
Hymn 5, lines 33–64Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · Vincent, one of the seven deacons, refuses to worship stones and wood and confesses the Father and Christ his Son as the one true God; the governor Datian threatens death, and Vincent defies him.
Hymn 6, lines 1–32Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · Bishop Fructuosus of Tarragona and his deacons Augurius and Eulogius are arrested; he encourages them on the way to prison, where they baptize, and after six days they are brought before the governor.
Hymn 11, lines 225–245Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · The poet asks Bishop Valerian to add Hippolytus’ feast to the yearly feasts of his church, and prays that Valerian may guard his flock, bring back the poet as a sick sheep, and join Hippolytus in heaven.
Hymn 13, lines 1–32Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · Cyprian of Carthage, whose writings will be read as long as the world lasts, was given by the Spirit as an expounder of Paul; once a young magician who used spells to corrupt chastity, he was converted by Christ, changed his life, and became bishop.
Poem, lines 481–510Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · Avarice blinds, deceives and burns her victims and is the most destructive of vices; she dares to attack even the priests, but Reason shields them, and Avarice complains that her power fails.
Poem, lines 811–840Prudentius · ca. 400-405 · Faith urges the Virtues to build a temple in the soul for Christ, as Jerusalem received God when the ark came to rest; Faith and Concord measure out a foursquare temple with twelve gates, each a single gem, bearing the names of the twelve apostles.
Questions and Answers to the Orthodox 14Anonymous · 5th century (disputed) · Heretics who join the orthodox are not rebaptized or reordained: their error is corrected by change of belief, their baptism completed by anointing with chrism, and their ordination by the laying on of hands.
On the Good of Marriage 21Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Monogamy now signifies the future unity of the church under Christ; hence a cleric must be the husband of one wife, and a wife may never pass from a living husband to another.
On the Good of Marriage 32Augustine of Hippo · 401 · Augustine sums up the three goods of marriage, offspring, faithfulness, and sacrament, the last making the bond indissoluble while both spouses live.
Canon 57 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Those baptized as children among the Donatists who later join the catholic church by the laying on of hands may be ordained clergy.
Notice before canon 57 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Dating notices and summaries of the councils of 397, 399, and June 401, and Aurelius's opening address on the shortage of clergy.
Notice before canon 66 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The council of 13 September 401 receives the letters of Anastasius of Rome urging action against the Donatists.
Canon 68 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Rome is to be asked to allow converted Donatist clergy to keep their ranks where this serves unity, as an exception to the overseas council's ruling.
Canon 70 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Bishops, presbyters, and deacons must abstain from relations with their wives or be removed from office; lower clergy follow local custom.
Canon 71 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop may not leave his principal see for a church in his district or neglect it by staying on his estates.
Canon 73 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The date of Easter is to be announced by letters, and the annual council is to meet on 23 August, as fixed at Hippo.
Canon 74 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · An interim administrator of a vacant see may not keep it and must provide a bishop within a year; the emperors are to be asked for defenders of the poor.
Canon 76 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Bishops must attend councils in rotating groups or send excuses, under pain of being restricted to their own church's communion; Cresconius of Villa Regia is summoned.
Canon 78 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A commission of bishops, including Alypius and Augustine, is sent to provide a bishop for Hippo Diarrhytus, deprived of its deposed bishop Equitius.
Canon 79 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Excommunicated clerics who wish to prove their innocence must bring their case within a year, or lose the right to be heard.
Canon 80 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop may not ordain or make superior a monk received from another's monastery.
Canon 81 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop who leaves his property to unrelated persons, heretics, or pagans rather than to the church is anathematized after death and his name removed from the diptychs.
Canon 85 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The bishop of Carthage may dictate and sign the council's letters in the name of all, including the mandates of the legates to the Donatists.
Canon 86 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Bishops must keep the order of seniority by ordination; the register and archive of Numidia are to be kept both at the primate's see and at Constantina.
Notice before canon 85 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Dating notice and opening of the council of Milevis (27 August 402), which confirms the earlier African decrees.
Canon 87 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Quodvultdeus of Centuria is suspended from communion, but not deposed, until his case is concluded.
Canon 88 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Maximian of Bagai is asked to resign his see.
Canon 89 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Newly ordained bishops are to receive letters from their ordainers stating the date, to settle seniority.
Canon 90 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · One who has served even once as reader in a church may not be taken into the clergy of another.
Canon 94 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The compiler's brief summary of the council of 405: legations, letters to the magistrates on unity, thanks to the emperors for the edict against the Donatists, and Innocent's letter discouraging bishops' journeys overseas.
Canon 95 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The general African council is no longer to meet yearly but only when a common cause requires; there is no further appeal from judges chosen by both parties; five executors are requested for the church's needs.
Notice before canon 95 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Opening of the council of Carthage of 407, which revises the rule of an annual plenary council.
Canon 97 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The emperors are to be asked for church advocates with access to the courts; Primosus, summoned, failed to appear; districts without bishops receive them only by decree of the provincial council and consent of their bishop.
Canon 99 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Converted Donatist congregations with bishops may keep them; after the edict of unity, Donatist churches and property pass to the catholic bishop of the place.
Canon 100 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The case of Bishop Maurentius against the elders of Nova Germania is sent to judges, including Augustine, at Thubursicum.
Canon 101 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Pope Innocent is to be asked to restore peace between the churches of Rome and Alexandria.
Canon 103 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Only liturgical prayers approved in council, or collected by the more prudent, are to be used.
Canon 104 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A cleric who asks the emperor to have his case tried in the secular courts loses his rank; to ask for an episcopal court is permitted.
Canon 105 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Clerics excommunicated in Africa who take communion overseas lose their rank; clerics travelling to the court need letters of credence from Rome stating their purpose.
Canon 107 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A provincial council of 407 rules that no bishop may try a case alone; the compiler did not copy its proceedings.
Canon 117 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Where both catholic and Donatist congregations existed under different sees, a reunited place keeps its existing allegiance, whenever the union was made.
Canon 118 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Where a converted Donatist bishop and a catholic bishop have congregations in the same places, they divide them equally: the senior divides and the junior chooses; a single place goes to the nearer see or by the people's choice.
Canon 119 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A place converted and held for three years without challenge stays with the bishop who holds it, with three years from appointment or conversion allowed for claims.
Canon 120 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop who seizes congregations he claims instead of taking the case to episcopal judges loses his case.
Canon 121 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop who neglects to win his Donatist places within six months of a warning loses them; no appeal lies from judges chosen by consent; a bishop negligent against heretics is excluded from communion.
Canon 124 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop who falsely claims that Donatists had entered into communion with him loses his see.
Canon 125 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Clerics may appeal from their bishops to neighbouring bishops, then to African councils or primates, but anyone appealing overseas is excommunicated in Africa.
Canon 126 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · In danger of abduction or of death, a bishop may veil a virgin under twenty-five despite the age rule.
Canon 127 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A committee of three judges from each province, with Aurelius, is chosen to finish the council's business.
Canon 128 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · No one under excommunication may bring an accusation.
Notice before canon 128 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Notice of the session of 30 May 419 held by the judges chosen from each province, with the Roman legate Faustinus.
Canon 129 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Slaves, freedmen of the accused, the infamous, heretics, pagans, and Jews may not accuse clerics except in their own causes.
Canon 130 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · An accuser who fails to prove his first charge against a cleric may not proceed to others.
Canon 131 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Those barred from accusing, members of the accuser's household, and children under fourteen may not be witnesses.
Canon 132 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop's unsupported report of a private confession is not enough to condemn one who denies it.
Canon 133 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · A bishop who excommunicates on evidence he cannot prove is himself excluded from communion while he persists; Aurelius closes the session.
Canon 138 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · The African council's letter to Pope Celestine on the case of Apiarius: it reports his confession, asks Rome not to receive those excommunicated in Africa or to entertain appeals overseas, and denies that the Nicene canons allow Roman legates in such cases.
Letter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent announces his election to Anysius of Thessalonica and confirms the authority over the churches of the region that his predecessors Damasus, Siricius and Anastasius had entrusted to him.
Letter 2, inscription and introductionInnocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent sends Victricius of Rouen a book of Roman rules for church discipline, not as new laws but as apostolic tradition that some have neglected.
Letter 2, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · No bishop may ordain without the metropolitan’s knowledge, nor may a single bishop ordain alone, as Nicaea decreed.
Letter 2, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · A man who served as a soldier after baptism may not become a cleric.
Letter 2, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Disputes among clerics are to be settled by the bishops of the province, with greater cases referred afterwards to the apostolic see.
Letter 2 to Victricius of Rouen, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · A cleric may not marry a widow or a divorced woman, since the law requires a priest to marry a virgin.
Letter 2 to Victricius of Rouen, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · A man who married a widow or divorced woman, even as a layman and before baptism, cannot be ordained, because baptism forgives sins but does not dissolve a marriage.
Letter 2 to Victricius of Rouen, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · A man married twice, even if the first marriage was before baptism, cannot be ordained, because marriage is not a sin that baptism washes away.
Letter 2, chapter 7Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · No bishop may ordain a cleric of another church without his own bishop’s consent, as Nicaea decreed.
Letter 2, chapter 9Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Priests and deacons must abstain from intercourse with their wives after ordination, since their ministry is daily and continual.
Letter 2, chapter 10Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Monks who become clerics keep their former commitment, and a monk who lost his virginity before baptism may not marry after ordination.
Letter 2, chapter 12Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Bishops should not ordain curials or public officials, who are bound to public duties and shows and may be reclaimed by the emperor.
Letter 3, inscription and introductionInnocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent tells the bishops at Toledo that Hilary and Elpidius have reported schism and breaches of the canons in Spain, which he must now remedy.
Letter 3, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rebukes the bishops who broke communion because converted Priscillianists such as Symphosius and Dictinius were received and kept their rank, and urges unity.
Letter 3, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent orders an inquiry into the bishops Rufinus and Minicius, who ordained bishops in other churches against the canons of Nicaea.
Letter 3, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Bishop John and others whose communion is in doubt must either accept the Toledo settlement or be excommunicated.
Letter 3, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Past irregular ordinations of lawyers, officials, curials and sponsors of shows are let stand for peace, but future ones will be void and their ordainers deposed.
Letter 3, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · The complaint of Gregory, bishop of Mérida, is to be heard and any wrong done to him redressed.
Letter 3 to the bishops of Spain, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent sets out who may not be ordained (soldiers, advocates, officials, curials after baptism) and who may, excluding men married to a non-virgin or twice married, since a marriage before baptism still counts.
Letter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent tells Theophilus of Alexandria that he remains in communion with John Chrysostom and that Theophilus must prove his charges at a proper synod under the Nicene canons.
Letter 6 to Exsuperius, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rules that deacons and presbyters who continued marital relations after ordination are to be deposed if they knew Siricius's ruling, and otherwise kept in their grade without promotion.
Letter 7, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent condemns the installation of a new bishop of Constantinople while John was alive and unheard, declaring such an ordination null.
Letter 7, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Only the canons of Nicaea are binding; canons composed by heretics, already condemned at Sardica, are to be rejected.
Letter 7, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent says only an ecumenical synod can settle the crisis and urges patience until one can be assembled.
Letter 13, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent cites Moses’ appointment of judges, the apostles’ deacons and Paul’s delegates Titus and Timothy as precedents for delegating authority.
Letter 13, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent appoints Rufus of Thessalonica his vicar for the churches of eastern Illyricum, as his predecessors had appointed Acholius and Anysius.
Letter 13, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent gives Rufus authority to hear church cases in eastern Illyricum with bishops of his choice, and dates the letter 17 June 412.
Letter 14Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent proposes 22 March as the date of Easter for the coming year, since on 29 March the moon would be in its twenty-third day, and asks the bishop to confirm it in synod.
Letter 16, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent tells Marcian of Naissus to receive clerics ordained by Bonosus before his condemnation, if their claim is true.
Letter 17, inscription and introductionInnocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent replies to the Macedonian bishops, whose letter seemed to call into question rulings of the apostolic see.
Letter 17 to the bishops of Macedonia, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rebukes the Macedonian bishops for ordaining, even as bishops, men who married widows, against Lev 21:13–14.
Letter 17 to the bishops of Macedonia, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent refutes the view that a marriage contracted before baptism does not count toward digamy, since marriage is not a sin that baptism forgives, and the sons of such a marriage are legitimate.
Letter 17 to the bishops of Macedonia, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent argues that those ordained by heretics received not honour but condemnation through the laying on of hands, and so cannot hold clerical rank.
Letter 17 to the bishops of Macedonia, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rejects the claim that a lawful ordination cleanses an invalid one: converts baptized among heretics receive only lay communion, and lapsed Catholics only penance.
Letter 17, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent argues that receiving Bonosus’s clergy in their orders was a temporary concession, that the Nicene canon on the Novatianists applies to them alone, and that those who went over to Bonosus after his condemnation cannot be clerics.
Letter 17, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Past irregular ordinations are left to God’s judgment, but they must not be repeated now that there is peace.
Letter 17, chapter 7Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent reverses an earlier sentence on Bishop Photinus at the Macedonian bishops’ request, defends the deacon Eustathius, and asks them to end the quarrels against him.
Letter 18, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent answers a renewed complaint about Bubalius and Taurianus, saying that a re-examined judgment only makes the truth plainer.
Letter 18, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent dismisses a letter Bubalius forged in his name and asks that his ruling be sent to the bishops of Crete.
Letter 19, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent restores communion with Alexander of Antioch, who has reconciled the followers of Paulinus and Evagrius, restored Elpidius and Pappus, and satisfied the conditions concerning John Chrysostom.
Letter 19, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent conditionally restores communion with Acacius of Beroea if he accepts the settlement, and the letter is signed by twenty Italian bishops.
Letter 21Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent offers communion to a bishop who has accepted the Antiochene settlement, provided he renounces all hostility to John Chrysostom’s name before Alexander of Antioch.
Letter 22, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent refuses to write to Atticus of Constantinople until Atticus himself asks for communion and shows he has met the conditions concerning John Chrysostom, as Antioch did.
Letter 23Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent reports that Antioch has made peace with Rome, receiving the Evagrians and John Chrysostom’s followers and restoring John’s name among the departed bishops.
Letter 24, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent affirms that Nicaea gave Antioch authority over its whole diocese, as Peter’s first see, and that no bishop there should be ordained without its bishop’s consent.
Letter 24, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Church provinces are not to follow imperial divisions; Cyprus must keep the Nicene canons on ordination; Arian clergy are received only as laymen, since heretics cannot give the Spirit in ordination.
Letter 25, inscription and introductionInnocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Writing to Decentius of Gubbio, Innocent argues that the Western churches, founded by Peter or his successors, must follow Roman liturgical custom.
Letter 25, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Only bishops may sign the forehead of the baptized with chrism to give the Holy Spirit; presbyters may anoint with chrism the bishop has consecrated.
Letter 25, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent explains that the Roman bishop sends the consecrated fermentum to the city’s titular churches on Sundays as a sign of communion, but not to distant parishes.
Letter 25, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Presbyters and other clerics may lay hands on baptized demoniacs only with the bishop’s authorization.
Letter 25, chapter 7Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Penitents are reconciled on Maundy Thursday, at the priest’s judgment of their satisfaction, or earlier if in danger of death.
Letter 25, chapter 8Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rules that the anointing of the sick in James 5 may be given with the bishop’s oil by presbyters, by the bishop himself, and even by lay Christians, but not to penitents, and dates the letter 19 March 416.
Letter 29, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent praises the African bishops for referring the case of Pelagius and Caelestius to the apostolic see, which, he says, confirms the judgments of all the churches.
Letter 29, chapter 8Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · If Pelagius and Caelestius acknowledge their need of God’s help and condemn their teaching, the bishops may receive them back into the fold.
Letter 30, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent praises the bishops of Milevis and Carthage for both separating those who persist in error and receiving those who return.
Letter 30, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent says that questions of faith are rightly referred to Peter’s see and that its sentence on the authors of the new heresy will benefit the whole church.
Letter 30, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent excommunicates Pelagius and Caelestius and all who obstinately defend them, while allowing their reception if they repent, and dates the letter 27 January 417.
Letter 35, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent rebukes John of Jerusalem for failing to protect Jerome’s communities, as reported by Eustochium and Paula, after an armed attack and arson.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, inscription and introductionInnocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent answers Felix of Nuceria, who asked whether mutilated or twice-married men may be ordained for his new churches.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Men who mutilated themselves deliberately may not be ordained, but those injured by accident may.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Twice-married men may not be ordained, nor men who married a widow or a divorced woman.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent lists the laymen who may not be ordained: soldiers, advocates, and officials after baptism, and, with caution, curials.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Married laymen of good reputation, baptized as married men and attached to clergy or monasteries, may be ordained if they have had no concubine.
Letter 37 to Felix of Nuceria, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Candidates must pass through the lower orders over the set intervals before the priesthood, and Felix is to choose only men beyond reproach.
Letter 38, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent orders two bishops to try presbyters accused of begetting children after ordination and to remove them if convicted.
Letter 39, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent orders the Apulian bishops to examine Modestus, a former penitent made a cleric and seeking a bishopric, and to depose him if the charges are true.
Letter 40, chapter 1Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent orders Florentinus of Tivoli to stop exercising jurisdiction in a parish claimed by Ursus and to appear at Rome after Easter.
Apology against Rufinus 1.23Jerome · ca. 401–402 · Jerome defends his comment on Eph 1:21: ranks and advancement among angels, like grades of clergy among men, do not mean angels turning into demons or men as Origen taught.
Apology against Rufinus 1.32Jerome · ca. 401–402 · Jerome defends his teaching that baptism washes away all sins, so that a man married twice before baptism may become a cleric, and denies seeking office or wealth.
Apology against Rufinus 2.18Jerome · ca. 401–402 · Jerome translates more of Origen's letter to friends at Alexandria than Rufinus did, to show that it attacks the bishops who condemned him and that Rufinus cut its context.
Apology against Rufinus 3.17Jerome · ca. 401–402 · Jerome defends his hospitality to Paul, an Egyptian bishop deposed by Theophilus, appealing to the Samaritan and to Christ in the stranger.
Apology against Rufinus 3.20Jerome · ca. 401–402 · Jerome challenges Rufinus, who doubts Anastasius's letter against him, to verify it in the Roman archives or answer Anastasius himself.
Apology against Jerome 2.5Rufinus of Aquileia · ca. 401 · Rufinus recalls Jerome's letter to Eustochium on virginity, which pagans copied eagerly because it ridiculed virgins, widows, monks, and clergy.
Apology against Jerome 2.43Rufinus of Aquileia · ca. 401 · Rufinus ends his summary with Jerome's attacks on clergy, monks, Ambrose, Didymus, and martyrs, and his alteration of the Scriptures.
Against Felix the Manichaean 1.4Augustine of Hippo · December 404 · Augustine reads Acts 1, on the ascension, the promise of the Spirit, and Matthias's election in the place of Judas.
Dialogues 1.5Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · The old host turns out to be a presbyter of a humble brushwood church; his people neither buy nor sell, and he refuses gold for the church.
Dialogues 1.6Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · At Alexandria bishops and monks are in conflict over the condemnation of Origen’s books; Postumianus finds much to admire in Origen and some real errors.
Dialogues 1.21Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Postumianus contrasts this humility with clerics in the West who grow proud of small honors and live in luxury; Gallus asks for the lesson on false righteousness.
Dialogues 1.24Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Sulpicius argues that Martin equaled or surpassed the desert saints, for he worked amid hostile clergy and bishops, and he alone raised the dead.
Dialogues 1.26Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Postumianus agrees that Martin is known everywhere except among the envious clergy of Gaul, who deny his miracles; Sulpicius hands the narration to Gallus, Martin’s disciple.
Dialogues 2.1Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Martin secretly gives his own tunic to a poor man whom the archdeacon neglected, then celebrates in a cheap garment the archdeacon angrily buys.
Dialogues 2.7Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Gallus answers that the circumstances excused the queen’s service, which happened once only; any who cite it must keep to every condition.
Dialogues 2.12Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Martin praised a virgin who refused even to let him see her, and accepted her gift; Gallus contrasts her with virgins who seek out priests and banquets.
Dialogues 3.11Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · After the execution of Priscillian, Martin goes to Trier to plead for the condemned and against sending armed tribunes to Spain; Maximus delays him.
Dialogues 3.12Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · The bishops press Maximus against Martin; the emperor tries persuasion and, failing, sends executioners against those Martin had pleaded for.
Dialogues 3.13Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · To save the condemned and stop the tribunes, Martin takes communion once with the Ithacian bishops at Felix’s ordination, refuses to sign, is consoled and warned by an angel, and never attends a synod again.
Dialogues 3.15Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Incited by demons, Martin’s presbyter Brictio insults him after being rebuked for buying horses and slaves; he repents, and Martin refuses ever to depose him: “If Christ endured Judas, why should I not endure Brictio?”
Dialogues 3.16Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Postumianus applies the example to an unnamed neighboring bishop, quarrelsome for three years, who should imitate Martin’s patience.
Letter to the Catholics on the Sect of the Donatists (On the Unity of the Church) 4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405 · If the African bishops could not settle their dispute, the overseas bishops had to judge it; the rest of the world, which could not know the facts, is innocent, so even if the Donatist charges were true their schism is unjustified.
Letter to the Catholics on the Sect of the Donatists (On the Unity of the Church) 28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405 · Christ's last words before his ascension, which no Christian may disregard, commend the worldwide church; no bishop's words, Donatist or catholic, outweigh them.
Letter to the Catholics on the Sect of the Donatists (On the Unity of the Church) 42Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405 · No plain text says the church survived only in Africa; one could apply Ezekiel's oracle against the prince of Tyre to Donatus of Carthage, who claimed to be sinless, but such figurative arguments are not used.
Letter to the Catholics on the Sect of the Donatists (On the Unity of the Church) 46Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405 · Records prove that the first Donatists were traditors, bought Caecilian's condemnation, and lost every appeal; and the Donatists themselves condemned and then reinstated Maximianist bishops, accepting their baptism while rebaptizing the apostolic churches.
Letter to the Catholics on the Sect of the Donatists (On the Unity of the Church) 59Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405 · If the minister's holiness determined baptism's worth, those baptized by Christ's disciples would have been wronged; Christ is the one who baptizes, as John the Baptist and Paul show.
Letter to the Catholics on the Sect of the Donatists (On the Unity of the Church) 73Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405 · Many Africans first believed the council that condemned Caecilian without sin, and when they saw it lead to schism against the whole world, returned to Catholic peace; the wheat in Africa never failed.
Against Cresconius 1.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine shows from Paul's letters that a bishop is commanded to refute those who contradict sound teaching.
Against Cresconius 2.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine answers that Donatist bishops were received as bishops because the sacraments they hold belong to the church, not to the schism.
Against Cresconius 2.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine explains that clergy are received in their office as the church's peace requires, since office exists for others' sake, unlike the Christian faith itself.
Against Cresconius 2.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine distinguishes church offices, received as useful, from the Donatists' errors, which are corrected, while their sacraments are recognized.
Against Cresconius 3.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine says a good minister is better as an example, but the baptism he gives is not better, as Paul's baptism was not better than Apollos's.
Against Cresconius 3.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine answers that growth comes from God whatever the farmer's motives, and Ezekiel shows that God himself feeds his flock even through bad shepherds.
Against Cresconius 3.25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine quotes the sentence's charge that Felicianus and Praetextatus personally laid hands on Maximian.
Against Cresconius 3.40Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine explains 1 Tim 5:22: one keeps oneself pure without leaving the sacraments shared with sinners, as Cyprian did with greedy colleagues.
Against Cresconius 3.92Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine dismisses the letter of Megalius, primate of Numidia, against his ordination, saying the case concerns the church, not himself, and that he relies on God's mercy.
Against Cresconius 4.24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine agrees a good minister is better, for his own sake and as an example, but the sacrament is holy because it is God's, whoever ministers it.
Against Cresconius 4.79Augustine of Hippo · ca. 405–406 · Augustine answers insinuations about his Manichaean past and about Megalius's letter, which its author retracted, and contrasts the mutual condemnations of Felicianus and Primian.
Letter 5Firmus of Caesarea · early fifth century · Firmus is reconciled with a country bishop who had given way to his subordinates, and urges him to keep them in order.
1 Corinthians 1:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The church is the holy; calling on God belongs properly to priests, who stand in the apostles' place.
1 Corinthians 9:4Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Apostles have the right to be supported.
1 Corinthians 9:6Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul works to avoid scandalizing new Gentile converts, without condemning apostles who accept support.
1 Corinthians 9:7Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Soldier, vinedresser and shepherd show that teachers are owed support; vineyard and flock mean the people.
1 Corinthians 9:11Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Those who give spiritual things may fairly receive material support.
1 Corinthians 9:12Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul forgoes support so that his preaching may not be suspected of greed.
1 Corinthians 9:13Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The temple priesthood shows that ministers are fed by their service.
1 Corinthians 9:14Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The Lord ordained support for preachers.
1 Corinthians 12:21Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Mutual need strengthens love; the priest is the head, the lowest are the feet.
1 Corinthians 12:28Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul sets out the order of ministries in the church.
1 Corinthians 14:34Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Women are not to speak in the assembly of men, though they may teach women elsewhere.
1 Thessalonians 5:12Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Leaders govern by example, not worldly power, and deserve recognition.
1 Thessalonians 5:13Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Presbyters who labour in the word deserve double honour.
Argumentum (prefatory note)Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Pelagius's argument: Paul gives Bishop Timothy authority over church discipline and ordination and arms him against false teachers.
1 Timothy 1:18Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul gives Timothy authority to ordain and urges him to fight the devil and vice.
1 Timothy 3:1Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The episcopate is a good work to desire, not an honour.
1 Timothy 3:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · A bishop must be blameless, married only once, chaste, hospitable, and a teacher by word and example.
1 Timothy 3:3Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · A bishop must be sober, gentle, moderate, peaceable, and free of greed.
1 Timothy 3:4Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Lemma of 1 Tim 3:4.
1 Timothy 3:5Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · One who cannot govern his own children cannot govern God's church.
1 Timothy 3:6Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · A new convert must not be made bishop, lest pride bring him the devil's condemnation.
1 Timothy 3:7Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · A bishop needs a good name even among outsiders, who by nature recognize virtue.
1 Timothy 3:8Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Deacons must be chosen like bishops; presbyters are included under "bishops," being almost the same rank.
1 Timothy 3:9Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Deacons must hold the faith of Christ's redeeming passion purely, without profiting from it.
1 Timothy 3:10Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Deacons too must be tested before ordination.
1 Timothy 3:11Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The "women" are deaconesses, still found in the East, to be chosen like deacons.
1 Timothy 3:12Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · "Husband of one wife" excludes the twice-married from the diaconate, not the unmarried.
1 Timothy 3:13Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Deacons who serve well gain a great standing and boldness.
1 Timothy 3:14Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul's letter gives Timothy authority to order the church, which alone now upholds the truth once placed in law or nature.
1 Timothy 4:5Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · All God's creation is good; Timothy is to be a moderate, studious, and exemplary bishop; true widows are like Anna.
1 Timothy 5:9Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Widows enrolled as deaconesses must be older women married only once.
1 Timothy 5:10Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Enrolled widows must be proven in good works; younger widows are not to be set over others, lest they grow wanton and marry.
1 Timothy 5:17Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Presbyters who rule and teach well deserve double honour.
1 Timothy 5:18Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Teachers occupied with the word should be supported by those they teach.
1 Timothy 5:19Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Accusations against presbyters require due proof.
1 Timothy 5:20Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Proven offenders are to be rebuked publicly as a warning.
1 Timothy 5:21Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Timothy must judge impartially, before God and the angels at the altars.
1 Timothy 5:22Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Timothy must not ordain hastily and must himself stay chaste in order to rebuke others.
1 Timothy 5:24Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Some sins are exposed now, others later, so ordination must not be hasty.
2 Corinthians 1:1Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul puts his name first by apostolic authority; the "saints" of Achaia may be its priests.
2 Timothy 2:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Timothy must hand on the teaching to faithful men who can teach others.
2 Timothy 2:6Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Only those who strive fully are crowned; the teacher may live from the people's first fruits.
2 Timothy 2:14Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Timothy must avoid disputes without Scripture and confirm his teaching by example.
2 Timothy 4:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Timothy must preach always, correcting with patience and according to the law.
2 Timothy 4:5Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Timothy must fulfil his episcopal ministry, confirming his word by deeds.
Colossians 4:17Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Archippus, said to be a deacon, is to fulfil his ministry; Paul asks to be remembered in his chains.
Ephesians 4:11Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The same ministries are given by the Father and by Christ, against the Arians; pastors are priests, teachers any who can instruct.
Ephesians 4:12Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Ministers are given to perfect the saints and build up the church.
Galatians 1:1Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul's apostleship came from Christ and the Father, not from men, unlike the unworthy ordained by popular favor.
Galatians 4:3Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Israel's priests ruled as guardians; Christian clergy must lead by example, since all are a priestly people.
Philemon 1:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul greets Apphia, perhaps Philemon's wife, Archippus the deacon, and the house church.
Philippians 1:1Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Paul and Timothy greet the saints at Philippi with their bishops and deacons.
Philippians 1:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The "bishops" of Philippi are presbyters, since one city could not have several bishops.
Philippians 2:25Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Epaphroditus, Paul's fellow worker and the Philippians' apostle, is being sent back.
Romans 12:7Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Ministry means the office of priest or deacon.
Romans 12:8Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Teaching ranks above exhorting; giving, presiding, and mercy are to be done simply, carefully, and cheerfully.
Romans 16:1Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Phoebe served as eastern deaconesses do, ministering to women at baptism, or privately teaching like Priscilla.
Argumentum (prefatory note)Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Pelagius's argument: Paul instructs Bishop Titus on appointing presbyters, holy living, and avoiding Judaizing heretics.
Titus 1:5Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Titus must first set the church right, then ordain presbyters.
Titus 1:6Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · A presbyter may have married only once, since things lawful for others are forbidden to priests, and must rule his household well.
Titus 1:7Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Presbyter and bishop are the same office; God's steward must be humble, gentle, and free of greed.
Titus 1:8Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · The bishop must be hospitable, just, holy, and continent, lest marriage seem to license incontinence.
Titus 1:9Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · A bishop must hold to sound teaching so as to exhort and refute.
Titus 2:2Pelagius · ca. 405–410 · Older men, especially the church's elders, must be models of sound faith and conduct.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · What John learned through the dove was that Christ would keep the power of baptizing for himself, so that whoever ministers, good or bad, it is Christ who baptizes.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 5.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Ministers of baptism ought to be righteous, but an unworthy minister cannot defile Christ's gift, which passes through him like water through a stone channel or light through unclean places.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 18.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Augustine closes, asking his hearers to console his labors by living well, lest his work among them be in vain.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 41.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Church officers must be without crime, not without sin; freedom from crime begins freedom, but in this life weakness remains, and we are free only in the part in which we delight in God's law.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 46.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The hireling is a church leader who seeks his own advantage rather than Christ; such are known fully only to God, while leaders who are sons are shepherds as members of the one shepherd.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 46.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Hirelings are necessary because Christ's voice is heard through them, as through the scribes on Moses' seat: take the grape and avoid the thorn, and rejoice with Paul that Christ is preached even in pretense.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 46.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The apostles were shepherds as members of the one shepherd, yet they fled persecution as Christ commanded; how then is the hireling blamed for fleeing?
Tractates on the Gospel of John 46.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The hireling flees in spirit when, for fear of losing human friendship, he fails to rebuke a grave sinner; fear is the flight of the mind.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 47.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Augustine enters to his hearers through Christ the door; the good shepherd's laying down of his life is shared by his members, as John urges and as Christ foretold of Peter.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 47.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ enters through himself because he preaches himself, as light shows itself; he shares the office of shepherd with apostles and good bishops but keeps being the door as his own.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 50.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · "Me you will not always have" was said to Judas as the figure of the wicked in the Church, as Peter, receiving the keys, figured the Church of the good.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 51.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Not only clergy serve Christ: every head of a household serves him by governing his home, and many lay people have served him to the point of martyrdom.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 57.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The bride's fear of defiling her washed feet is the fear of the Church's preachers, who must tread the earth and risk pride in order to open to Christ.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 57.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ knocks at the door of the contemplative Church, calling her out of quiet to preach him in a world where love grows cold.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 57.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Church laments that her great preachers of old, who have put off the body, cannot return to preach now; they will be clothed again only at the resurrection.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 57.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Preachers who fear defilement must still open to Christ, asking him to wash the feet soiled by the praise and blame that come with preaching.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 118.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The four parts of Christ's garments figure the Church spread through the world, and the seamless tunic its unity in love, as Peter answered and received the keys in the name of all.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 122.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The apostles were free to earn their living by their trade, as Paul did, since living from the Gospel was a right and not a command.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 123.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Feeding Christ's sheep is the duty of love for him, not of self-love; pastors must seek Christ's interests and, like Peter, be ready to die for the flock.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 124.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Peter, who bore the person of the Church, figures the present life of faith, action, and suffering, which follows Christ; John figures the future life of contemplation, which waits for his coming.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 124.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Peter and John are not to be separated: the whole Church binds and looses sins and drinks the Gospel; John's virginity, held by some, fits the life without marriage that he signifies.
Against Vigilantius 2Jerome · 406 · Jerome attacks the bishops who side with Vigilantius by ordaining only married men, contrasting the churches of the East, Egypt, and Rome.
Against Vigilantius 17Jerome · 406 · Jerome closes, explaining that he wrote in one night and threatening a fuller reply.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 1.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · John humbly counts himself among sinners who need Christ as advocate; those who claim to sanctify others make schisms, but Christ's propitiation and his Church extend to the whole world.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 5.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Christ asked Peter to repay his love not by serving him, as Zacchaeus and the widow served God's servants, but by feeding his sheep and being ready to die for them.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 5.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down ours for the brothers, as he taught Peter when he told him to feed his sheep and foretold his death.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 10.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · The Donatists claim to have suffered persecution but have themselves divided the Church; they should return like Hagar to her mistress and believe Christ's word that forgiveness of sins is preached in the Church throughout all nations.
Dialogue 1Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · Prologue: the bishop explains to the Roman deacon Theodore that virginity and priesthood are special gifts, not to be seized, then tells of his arrival in Rome as one of John Chrysostom's party and of the letters that reached Pope Innocent.
Dialogue 5Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The bishop tells of John's birth in Antioch, his training, his years as a monk, his ordination as deacon and presbyter, his summons to the see of Constantinople, Theophilus's opposition, and John's reforms of the clergy, the church's finances, the widows and the rich.
Dialogue 6Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · John's enemies, among them Acacius of Beroea, seek grounds against him and turn to Theophilus; the bishop explains that the quarrel arose from Theophilus's persecution of the old presbyter Isidore and the Nitrian monks who pleaded for him.
Dialogue 7Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · Theophilus condemns the leading Nitrian monks, raids their monasteries and drives them out; they flee to Palestine and then to Constantinople, where John shelters them without receiving them into communion and writes to Theophilus, who refuses and warns him against judging outside his province.
Dialogue 8Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · John's attempt at peace fails; the Nitrian monks win an imperial order bringing Theophilus to Constantinople, where he wins allies, gathers charges, convenes the Synod of the Oak, and condemns John in his absence after John refuses to appear before judges who are his avowed enemies.
Dialogue 9Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · After a brief recall John is attacked again: his enemies invoke the Arian canon against bishops who return without a synod, the emperor orders him out of his church, and on Holy Saturday soldiers break up the baptisms of his followers.
Dialogue 10Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · John's followers are imprisoned; after Pentecost the emperor orders John to leave; John takes leave of the bishops and of Olympias and the deaconesses, slips out of the church, and fire then destroys the great church and the Senate house.
Dialogue 11Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · John's last exile and death at Comana, and, in what the printed editions number chapter 12, the bishop's defence of John's habit of eating alone, arguing from Scripture that teaching, not entertaining, is a bishop's work.
Dialogue 13Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The bishop concludes his defence of John's refusal to give banquets, rebuts Theophilus's claim that John deposed sixteen bishops, and begins the story of the charges brought by Eusebius against Antoninus of Ephesus.
Dialogue 14Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The deacon asks the bishop to shorten the story; the bishop tells how John handled Eusebius's charges against Antoninus of Ephesus, sent judges to Asia, and later, at the request of the Ephesian clergy and bishops, sailed to Ephesus to ordain a new bishop.
Dialogue 15Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The case against Antoninus's six bishops is concluded: they confess to buying their ordinations and are deposed with restitution; the bishop then denounces the bishops who, after John's exile, imprisoned John's appointee at Ephesus and replaced him with an unworthy eunuch.
Dialogue 16Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The bishop describes how Porphyrius had himself secretly ordained bishop of Antioch and persecuted John's followers there, and then defends the deaconess Olympias, whom Theophilus had reviled for sheltering the Nitrian monks.
Dialogue 18Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The bishop answers the objection that John could have accepted the Church's support and should have been more prudent with the powerful, arguing from Scripture that John's austerity set a pattern for his successors and that his open rebukes followed the prophets and apostles.
Dialogue 19Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 408 · The bishop answers charges that John was proud and insulting, lists John's exiled and persecuted supporters, reflects on the last times and on vice and virtue, and Theodore closes with a reproach to John's persecutors and a blessing on John, to which the bishop adds a final denunciation of those who sold the priesthood.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · Converts are received without their schism and error; the Donatists, by contrast, treat even Catholic bishops as unbaptized catechumens.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · Catholics who lapsed to the Donatists do a heavier penance and are barred from the clergy; the Donatists hold true baptism in unrighteousness and face God’s wrath.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · Stephen and Cyprian disagreed on rebaptism yet stayed in one communion; if that church did not perish, communion with the bad does not destroy the church, and Donatist separation is baseless.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · Augustine refuses to credit the Donatist author’s unproved charges that the Roman bishops Marcellinus, Miltiades, Marcellus, and Silvester were betrayers.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · The Donatists never charged Miltiades with betrayal when he judged Caecilian, though they did charge Felix of Abthugni, who was cleared; their late charge against Miltiades is slander.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 29Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · Mensurius kept peace with Secundus; the author’s slanders against Profuturus and Fortunatus of Cirta, known to be false, show how little his charges against long-dead men are worth.
On the One Baptism, against Petilian 31Augustine of Hippo · ca. 410–411 · Augustine can prove that Donatist founders were betrayers, but by Scripture each bears his own sin; only by the Donatists’ own principle would all of them share their founders’ guilt.
Commentary on Ezekiel 44:22Jerome · 410-414 · Jerome explains Ezekiel's rule that priests marry only virgins or priests' widows, reading the widow and divorced woman as the Synagogue and heretics, and the virgin as the church's teaching.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 1.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Catholic bishops’ letter is read, offering to share or resign their sees if the Donatists are shown to be the true church, and citing the case of the Maximianists.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 1.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Donatists demand that every Catholic signatory appear in person, suspecting fewer had come than had signed; the Catholics yield.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 1.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Catholic bishops are identified one by one; the case of Felician of Mustis, a condemned Maximianist received back by the Donatists, is raised.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 1.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Donatist roll call exposes signatures made for absent and even dead bishops; the counts are 279 Donatist and 286 Catholic bishops present.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · Asked who ordained him, Augustine names Megalius, primate of Numidia, and challenges the Donatists to produce their charges; they turn back to Caecilian.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Donatist letter is silent on Cyprian’s tolerance of bad colleagues and on the Maximianists, whose baptism the Donatists accepted.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · Anullinus’s reports, Constantine’s letter, and the Roman council under Miltiades that cleared Caecilian are read, until the Donatists force an interruption.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.26Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Donatists read the council of seventy bishops at Carthage that condemned Caecilian in absence; the Catholics note that it bears no date.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Catholics read the council of Cirta, where Secundus pardoned confessed betrayers, and Purpurius’s charge that Secundus himself was a betrayer.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.29Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Donatists argue from the custom that the primate of Numidia ordains the bishop of Carthage, and from Caecilian’s reported words in Optatus.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Donatists try to charge Miltiades with betrayal through a deacon Strato named in old minutes, but the documents never mention Miltiades.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · The Catholics answer that two men could share the name Strato and that Miltiades would not be guilty even if his deacon had sinned unknown to him.
Summary of the Collation with the Donatists 3.41Augustine of Hippo · ca. 411–412 · Constantine’s letter to Probianus, read by the Donatists, confirms that Felix of Abthugni was cleared by the proconsul Aelianus.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · The Catholics argued from the parables of the weeds, chaff, goats, and fish that the bad mixed in the church do not harm the good, while discipline continues in love.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · The Donatist charge against Miltiades rests on shared names (Strato, Cassian), though Scripture itself has two Johns, Simons, Jameses, Judases, and Herods.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · The Donatists’ own acts of martyrs show that Christians assembled, ordained, and baptized during persecution, so the council of Cirta was possible.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · The Donatists’ later gloss on their admission, that guilt passes down a “rope” of ordinations, is turned against them by their own reception of the Maximianist Felician.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · Discipline continues through degradation and excommunication, but where it cannot be applied without breaking peace the church tolerates the bad, as Cyprian did.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · Paul did not order bodily separation from the many Corinthians who denied the resurrection, as he did with the incestuous man, but warned against consenting to them.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · Augustine mocks the Donatist charge that obscure bishops like Novellus and Faustinus could defile the worldwide church.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 41Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · The Donatists’ claim of more than four hundred bishops contradicts their own notice that all but the sick had come, when only 279 signatures were listed.
To the Donatists after the Collation (Against the Party of Donatus after the Proceedings) 58Augustine of Hippo · ca. 412 · Augustine closes by calling the Donatists brothers, answers their last complaints about the night sentence and the closed hall, and urges them to unity now that the truth has appeared.
Commentary on Isaiah 1, Discourse 1, part 20Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Cyril reads the removal of the disobedient in Isa 1:25–26 as the removal of the chief priests and Pharisees, and the restored judges and counsellors as the apostles, through whom Zion, the Church, is again called the city of righteousness.
Commentary on Isaiah 1, Discourse 3, part 2Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Cyril contrasts the greedy Jewish leaders with Peter’s charge to bishops, applies the exactors also to evil powers demanding sin from the soul, and reads the flatterers of Isa 3:12 as the Pharisees.
Commentary on Isaiah 2, Tome 5, part 7Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Somnas lost his office in captivity, and God called Eliakim to replace him as a father to Jerusalem; spiritually, the faithless scribes and Pharisees were removed and Christ called as the great high priest (Isa 22:20–24).
Commentary on Isaiah 3, Tome 2, part 27Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · The rain is the gospel and the Spirit's comfort, making the faithful fruitful, while the works of the unholy come to nothing; the cattle are simple believers fed on Scripture, the oxen the preachers fed on solid teaching, and the mountains running with water are the apostles and bishops (Isa 30:23–25).
Commentary on Isaiah 1, Discourse 4, part 16Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Cyril reads Zion’s walls as the apostles, says the Jewish disciples rebuilt the Zion that the Jewish leaders had pulled down, and reads Isa 49:18 as the future return of Israel to Christ to form one flock with the church of the nations.
Commentary on Isaiah 1, Discourse 5, part 9Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Cyril reads Isa 51:4 as Christ addressing the gathered believers, “taught of God” with the law written on their hearts, and calls the apostles and their successors who lead the peoples the “kings” of the passage.
Commentary on Isaiah 5, Tome 4, part 24Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · The exchange of bronze for gold and iron for silver pictures the surpassing of the law's instruction by the gospel, and of the Jewish teachers' brittle teaching by the solid teaching of Christ's ministers, the new rulers and bishops set in peace and righteousness (Isa 60:16–17).
Commentary on Isaiah 5, Tome 5, part 7Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Believers are the generations of righteousness and God's planting, cultivated through the apostles, and the multitude of converts fills the churches; the foreign shepherds and priests of Isa 61:5–6 are gentile ministers who replace the levitical priesthood and the negligent scribes and Pharisees.
Commentary on Isaiah 5, Tome 5, part 8Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · Gentile teachers appointed by Christ replace the shepherds of Israel as ploughmen and vinedressers of the church, win over the learned of the nations, and, as Jesus was foreshadowed by Joshua, receive the whole earth as their second allotment (Isa 61:5–7).
Commentary on Isaiah 5, Tome 6, part 21Cyril of Alexandria · before ca. 428 (probably 420s) · The apostles bring believers from all nations to God as a gift, washed in baptism, along an easy road into the church, the holy city; and from both the apostles and the converted nations God takes priests and Levites, ministers of the gospel (Isa 66:20–23).
Commentary on Luke 5:2 (2)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Christ caught the apostles through their own trade and made them fishers of the world, as Jeremiah foretold; their successors in the churches are the hunters; his signs confirmed his words.
Commentary on Luke 5:24Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · The visible healing proved the unseen forgiveness; Christ forgives sins as God and has also given the apostles, filled with the Spirit, authority to forgive and retain sins.
Commentary on Luke 6:13Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · After praying, Christ chose and named the twelve apostles, the lights of the world, so that no one might usurp their office as false apostles do; the twelve loaves of the Presence, with frankincense and salt, prefigured them, and unlettered fishermen prevailed over Greek eloquence.
Commentary on Luke 6:17Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · The apostles plundered Satan of the nations he had enslaved; they were appointed publicly before Jews and half-pagan crowds from Tyre and Sidon, and Christ’s signs, worked by his own power, showed that God had appointed them.
Commentary on Luke 9:3Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Christ sent the apostles without provisions so that, free of worldly care and trusting God, they might devote themselves wholly to preaching.
Commentary on Luke 9:4Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · The apostles were to stay in one house, supported by those they taught, avoiding greed and restlessness; honour paid to them is paid to Christ, and from those who reject them they should accept nothing.
Commentary on Luke 10:1Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Because of the great number who would believe, Christ appointed seventy besides the twelve, prefigured by Moses’ seventy elders and by the twelve springs and seventy palms of Elim; he sent them as lambs among wolves, without provisions or delay, under his protection.
Commentary on Luke 12:41Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Peter asked whether the parable was for all; Christ’s answer shows that it concerns especially the Church’s teachers, stewards who must give each believer fitting spiritual food; faithful ones will be rewarded, while negligent or greedy shepherds share the lot of unbelievers, for much is required of those given much.
Commentary on Luke 17:7Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · To heal the love of glory that can follow good works, Christ teaches that servants owe their master obedience as a debt and should claim no thanks; yet God in his generosity rewards his servants beyond their toil and calls them sons.
Commentary on Luke 19:15Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · At Christ’s return the faithful ministers of the word, who multiplied the gifts entrusted to them, will be rewarded; Christ rejoices in the salvation of the lost as his food; teachers must not grow slack even if hearers are idle, since sowing is theirs and fruitfulness God’s; the lazy servant loses his gift, and those who rejected the king perished.
Letter 9 (Cyril to a follower of Nestorius)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril tells a correspondent that he is peaceable and loves Nestorius, but cannot keep silent when the faith itself is at stake and bishops must answer for their people.
Letter 11 (Cyril to Celestine, bishop of Rome)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril reports to Celestine of Rome on Nestorius's teaching and conduct, asks whether he should break communion with him, and attaches a memorandum summarizing Nestorius's views and his deposition of the presbyter Philip.
Letter 12 (Celestine, bishop of Rome, to Cyril)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Celestine of Rome praises Cyril's defence of the faith and commissions him, acting with Rome's authority, to give Nestorius ten days to recant in writing or be removed from communion.
Letter 13 (Cyril to John of Antioch)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril informs John of Antioch that the Roman synod has condemned Nestorius's teaching and that he himself will follow Rome's judgement, urging John to consider his course.
Letter 16 (Cyril to Juvenal of Jerusalem)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril sends Juvenal of Jerusalem Celestine's letters condemning Nestorius and urges joint action: letters to Nestorius, his people, and the emperor.
Letter 18 (Cyril to the clergy and people of Constantinople)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril and the Egyptian synod tell the clergy and people of Constantinople that Nestorius has been warned, urge them to keep the faith of their former bishops, and declare communion with those he has deposed.
Letter 23 (Cyril to some of the clergy of Constantinople)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril reports to his agents in Constantinople how Nestorius refused three summonses at Ephesus and was deposed, and warns that the official minutes are being delayed.
Letter 27 (Cyril to the clergy and people of Constantinople)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril reports from Ephesus that the council refuses communion with John of Antioch's party or any compromise statement of faith, and that the bishops are under guard and in hardship.
Letter 28 (Cyril to Theopemptus, Potamon and Daniel)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril answers slanders that Nestorius was deposed by his intrigue, reports that the council is under guard but refuses communion with John of Antioch's party, and asks for prayers.
Letter 30 (Maximian of Constantinople to Cyril)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Maximian, newly made bishop of Constantinople after Nestorius, congratulates Cyril as a confessor and asks for his prayers and counsel.
Letter 31 (Cyril to Maximian of Constantinople)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril welcomes Maximian as Nestorius's successor at Constantinople, restates the faith in one Christ against Apollinarius and Nestorius, and compares Nestorius's fall and Maximian's rise to Shebna and Eliakim.
Letter 35 (John of Antioch and others to Xystus and Maximian)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · John of Antioch and his bishops tell Xystus of Rome, Cyril, and Maximian that, for the sake of peace, they now accept Nestorius's deposition by the Council of Ephesus and Maximian's ordination.
Letter 36 (Libellus of Paul of Emesa to Cyril)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Paul of Emesa, John of Antioch's envoy, formally accepts Maximian's appointment and Nestorius's deposition, anathematizes Nestorius's teaching, and restores communion with Cyril on the basis of the agreed statement of faith.
Letter 37 (Cyril to Theognostus, Charmosynus and Leontius)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril reassures his agents at Constantinople that the peace talks with Paul of Emesa have kept every safeguard: Paul confessed Mary as Mother of God, and John's letters of communion will be handed over only if he signs Nestorius's deposition.
Letter 38 (John of Antioch to Cyril)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · John of Antioch sends Cyril the agreed statement of faith (the Formula of Reunion), accepts Nestorius's deposition and Maximian's ordination, and restores communion.
Letter 43 (Cyril to Rufus of Thessalonica (second))Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril tells Rufus of Thessalonica that receiving the repentant Easterners into communion is wise, and sends him several of his books on the Old Testament and against Nestorius.
Letter 47 (John of Antioch to Cyril)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · John of Antioch tells Cyril that peace has been restored through Paul of Emesa, that the small changes made to Cyril's draft alter nothing of substance, and that he will work to bring the remaining Eastern bishops along.
Letter 48 (Cyril to Donatus of Nicopolis)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril tells Donatus of Nicopolis how the reunion with John of Antioch was reached without retracting anything he had written, and that the bishops deposed for supporting Nestorius were not restored.
Letter 49 (Cyril to Maximian of Constantinople)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril tells Maximian of Constantinople that, through his prayers, John of Antioch and his bishops have accepted Nestorius's deposition and communion has been restored.
Letter 54 (Cyril to Eusebius, presbyter)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril reassures the presbyter Eusebius that the peace with John of Antioch kept every condition set at Ephesus, that the deposed Nestorian bishops were not restored, and that the charges against himself of teaching a passible Godhead or a heavenly flesh are slanders.
Letter 56 (Cyril to Gennadius, presbyter and archimandrite)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril urges the archimandrite Gennadius not to break communion with Proclus of Constantinople for receiving the bishop of Jerusalem (Aelia), explaining that strictness must sometimes give way to management for a greater good.
Letter 75 (Atticus of Constantinople to Cyril)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Atticus of Constantinople explains to Cyril why, under popular pressure and with the emperor's approval, he has entered the name of the deposed John Chrysostom in the diptychs, citing precedents, and asks Cyril to do the same in Egypt for the sake of peace.
Letter 76 (Cyril to Atticus)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril refuses Atticus's request: the deposed John Chrysostom cannot be listed among the bishops in the diptychs without overturning the canons and Nicaea; true management must do no harm, the few objectors should be left to God, and Arsacius must keep his place after Nectarius, as Matthias, not Judas, is among the apostles.
Letter 77 (Cyril to Domnus)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril asks Domnus of Antioch to have the charges heard against clergy who tried to depose their bishop Athanasius, remove him from the diptychs and replace the church stewards, and to let him decline a suspect metropolitan as judge.
Letter 78 (Cyril, canonical letter)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · In a canonical letter (to Domnus of Antioch) Cyril asks that the aged bishop Peter, removed without a hearing and robbed, either be properly tried or restored, that his money be returned, that bishops not be made to account for ordinary expenses, and that clergy not be pushed into resigning.
Letter 79 (Cyril to the bishops of Libya and Pentapolis)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril tells the bishops of Libya and Pentapolis to examine candidates for ordination (whether newly married, or expelled from monasteries) and to baptize excommunicated catechumens who are dying.
Letter 85 (Cyril to Aurelius, Valentinus and the African synod)Cyril of Alexandria · ca. 412-444 · Cyril sends the African synod at Carthage authentic copies of the Nicene canons and announces the date of Easter.
Book 1, chapter 4Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · Hesychius reads the sin offering of the anointed priest (Lev 4) as a figure of Christ's sacrifice: the calf is his flesh, the blood carried into the tabernacle his entry into heaven, the burning outside the camp his passion at Golgotha; the offerings of the multitude, the ruler and the common people teach repentance, confession, mutual prayer, and the forgiveness given through priests.
Book 2, chapter 8Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On the consecration of Aaron and his sons (Lev 8), Hesychius reads the assembly as the church, the washing as baptism, the high priest's vestments as Christ's incarnation and divinity, the anointing as the incarnation shared by Christians through the Spirit, the second ram as the mystical Passover of the Last Supper, and the seven days at the tabernacle door as the days until Pentecost.
Book 2, chapter 9Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On the eighth day of Aaron's ordination (Lev 9), Hesychius reads the whole scene as Pentecost and the church at worship: the elders are the order of presbyters, the sacrifices are preaching of Christ's sacrifice, repentance and theology, the word Moses commands is the eucharist, the priest's blessing comes from heaven, and the fire from the Lord is the Spirit descending on the apostles.
Book 2, chapter 10Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On the death of Nadab and Abihu (Lev 10), Hesychius reads their strange fire as heretical teaching that blasphemes the Spirit and misreads Scripture; the priests must keep to the doctrine of Christ, confess both his divinity and humanity, abstain from wine when ministering, and teach the people, while those who sin wilfully against the Spirit lose the offering of repentance; Book 2 ends with a doxology.
Book 4, chapter 14Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · Hesychius reads the cleansing of the leper in Leviticus 14 as Christ's work: the two sparrows are his humanity and divinity, the rites figure baptism, repentance and the Trinity, the poor man's offering is meditation on the law, and the leprous house is a church infected by false doctrine.
Book 6, chapter 19Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On Leviticus 19 Hesychius expounds the holiness code: holiness, honour of parents and the spiritual Sabbath, care for the poor and hired workers, honest judgment and weights, love of neighbour as the fullness of the law, and warnings against augury, sorcery, mixing church and synagogue, and burdening Gentile converts.
Book 6, chapter 21Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On Leviticus 21 Hesychius reads the priest's defilement by the dead as his responsibility for his household's and people's sins, the high priest as Christ, who weds the virgin church and not the harlot, widowed and divorced synagogue, and the bodily blemishes that bar priests from service as defects of soul, matching Paul's qualifications for a bishop.
Book 6, chapter 22Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On Lev 22, Hesychius applies the laws on priestly purity to the clergy and to communion: the unclean must not approach the holy things until cleansed by the tears of repentance; foreigners, sojourners and hirelings stand for unbelievers, heretics and self-seeking ministers; the 'fifth part' is Christ's word spoken over the mystery; blemished animals are those unfit to be ordained; the seven days under the mother are the present life, and the ban on sacrificing a beast with its young separates the Jewish Pascha from the Lord's.
Book 7, chapter 27Hesychius of Jerusalem · ca. 412-450 · On Lev 27, Hesychius reads the valuations of vowed persons by age and sex as degrees of the spiritual life (the hundredfold of virginity and poverty, the sixtyfold of continence, the thirtyfold of chaste marriage, down to the newly baptized and the penitent), the vowed animals, houses and fields as disciples, households made into churches, and a share in Scripture placed under a priest's guidance, redeemable by adding one's own understanding; the 'accursed' things are spoils won from the devil; the tithes passing under the rod are those numbered under the cross; the book closes with an exhortation to seek the wisdom hidden in the law.
City of God 1.9Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine gives reasons why good Christians suffered with the wicked: their own lesser sins, their failure to rebuke sinners out of attachment to temporal things, and the testing of their love for God.
City of God 17.5Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · The prophecy to Eli (1 Sam 2:27–36) foretold the end of Aaron's priesthood and the faithful priest Christ, whose Christian sacrifice of bread the remnant of Israel would share.
City of God 19.19Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine says that the Christian city is indifferent to dress and manner of life so long as they do not conflict with God's law, and that leisure should serve the search for truth and action the good of others, as the office of bishop is a work, not an honour.
City of God 20.10Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Resurrection can be spoken of souls as well as bodies, since souls also fall; and all believers, not only clergy, are the priests who reign with Christ.
On Faith and Works 6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · Some, like the Donatists, press strictness so far as to break unity; others press patience so far as to abandon discipline and leave pastors unconcerned with conduct.
On Faith and Works 7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · Sound teaching balances both: tolerate the wicked when discipline would harm peace, but exercise discipline when peace allows.
On Faith and Works 32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 413 · Refusing baptism to an adulterer who will not change is not the lazy servant's fault; admitting him would teach that unrepentant adulterers inherit the kingdom, a “bad net” pastors must avoid.
Commentary on Jeremiah 1.19Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Israel's priests, teachers, shepherds and prophets turned from God; the rebuke applies to unworthy teachers in the church.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.18Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Prophets and priests, given to avarice, promise false peace to the powerful and feel no shame at their abominations.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.34Jerome · ca. 414-419 · The church becomes a den of robbers when crimes and the greed of its leaders fill it; Christ, made poor for us, is shamed by our riches.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.54Jerome · ca. 414-419 · The so-called wise who reject God's word are shamed; avaricious prophets and priests, and their like in the church, promise false peace to sinners and the rich.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.108Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Sacrifices cannot remove the sins of a people that worships idols; likewise church leaders and the rich cannot buy mercy with gifts that are publicly praised.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.9Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Negligent shepherds, or enemy princes, have ruined God's vineyard; leaders must give account for their flocks.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.11Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Those who sowed wheat reap thorns; their clerical rank will not help clergy whose lives belie the Lord's teaching, for more is required of those entrusted with more.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.15Jerome · ca. 414-419 · As every jar is filled with wine, all classes in Judah, and in the church, are filled with the drunkenness of sin; no one living is justified before God, and drunkenness leads to division and heresy.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.37Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Death is everywhere, outside by sword and inside by famine, and even prophets and priests go into captivity; negligent church leaders share in the ruin they cause.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.62Jerome · ca. 414-419 · When the church sins, its joy is taken away; the people suffers for leaders who served the belly and greed, and for its own worse sins, for priests must teach by example.
Commentary on Jeremiah 4.34Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Jerusalem, trusting in its strong position like Tyre or a rock, will be burned by God's wrath like a fruitless forest; the warning applies to proud church leaders (Jer 21:13–14).
Commentary on Jeremiah 4.35Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Jeremiah tells the king in person to do justice, protect the stranger, orphan, and widow, and shed no innocent blood, or the palace will be desolate; the warning applies to bishops, presbyters, and deacons (Jer 22:1–5).
Commentary on Jeremiah 4.42Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Coniah is a discarded vessel and is not a type of Christ; the prophecy that none of his seed will sit on David's throne applies to his own days, since Christ came from his line; the bad shepherds give way to the apostles, and Christ is the righteous Branch, 'the Lord our righteousness' (Jer 22:28–23:6).
Commentary on Jeremiah 4.48Jerome · ca. 414-419 · The prophet's trembling before God shows that no one has perfect righteousness, against those who teach it; the land's barrenness from adultery and perjury figures the church's barrenness; polluted prophets and priests walk a slippery path in darkness (Jer 23:9–12).
Commentary on Jeremiah 4.52Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Even teachers of the church adulterate God's word and strengthen the hands of heretics; they and those they favor will be like Sodom and Gomorrah (Jer 23:14).
Commentary on Jeremiah 5.34Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Shepherds are learned church leaders, rams are leaders without learning; peace misused in luxury will be taken away by God's wrath (Jer 25:36–37).
Commentary on Jeremiah 5.68Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Shemaiah, a false prophet in Babylon, writes to the priest Zephaniah demanding that Jeremiah be imprisoned like a madman for telling the exiles their stay would be long; so heretics accuse the orthodox of their own faults (Jer 29:24–29).
Commentary on Jeremiah 6.17Jerome · ca. 414-419 · The nations are told that God, who scattered Israel, will gather and redeem it by his blood from the stronger hostile powers; the grain, wine, and oil, the watered garden, the rejoicing virgins, young and old, and the priests drunk with fatness are spiritual gifts in the church, given now in part and in full at the resurrection (Jer 31:10–14).
Commentary on Jeremiah 6.43Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Every rank of Judah, kings, princes, priests, and prophets, provoked God, who therefore calls them 'their' leaders, not his (Jer 32:32).
On Man's Perfection in Righteousness 38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 415 · Zechariah and Elizabeth were blameless, not sinless, since the priest offered sacrifice for his own sins; Ps 143:2 asks for mercy because no one will be found perfectly righteous in this life.
Apologetic Book 3.4Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Caelestius was condemned at Carthage.
Apologetic Book 6.5Orosius · ca. 415–416 · The matter is referred to Pope Innocent.
Apologetic Book 21.7Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Paul uses “without crime” of ordinary believers.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.19.2Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Maximinus's death; his persecution aimed at clergy.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.27.9Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The sixth plague: boils.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.32.13Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The Burgundians become catholic Christians.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.39.2Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Pope Innocent is absent, like Lot from Sodom.
Letter 1, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus rules that clerics from Gaul travelling to Rome or elsewhere must carry letters of credence from the bishop of Arles.
Letter 1, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus gives the bishop of Arles the right to ordain bishops in the provinces of Vienne and the two Narbonenses, under pain of deposition for any who bypass him.
Letter 1, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Bishops must keep to their own territories; Arles, founded by Trophimus sent from Rome, keeps its ancient parishes and its jurisdiction in local cases.
Letter 2, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus opens his letter to the African bishops by stressing that great matters need careful judgment and that the apostolic see seeks peace in the faith.
Letter 2, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus heard Caelestius in the basilica of Saint Clement, choosing the place for the example of Clement, Peter’s disciple and a martyr.
Letter 2, chapter 4Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus discredits the accusers Heros and Lazarus, irregularly ordained bishops whom he has deposed, and complains that Caelestius was accused in absence by their letter.
Letter 3, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus attacks the characters of Heros and Lazarus, bishops installed under the usurper Constantine, and urges the Africans not to trust their accusations against Pelagius.
Letter 4, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus denounces Ursus and Tuentius, made bishops in Gaul against the canons, one of whom had been condemned by the very bishop who later ordained him.
Letter 4, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus lists the faults in the ordination of Ursus and Tuentius: no consent of the metropolitan of Arles, no provincial bishops, the deposed Lazarus taking part, the wrong day, and seizure of Arles’s territory.
Letter 4, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Tuentius was also a Priscillianist, once pardoned by Rome, who rushed to the episcopate instead of doing penance.
Letter 4, chapter 4Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus declares Tuentius and Ursus anathematized and to be refused communion everywhere.
Letter 4, chapter 5Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · The letter repeats Zosimus’s ruling giving the bishop of Arles authority to ordain in the provinces (as in 1.2).
Letter 4, chapter 6Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · The letter repeats the ruling on territorial boundaries (as in 1.3) and is dated 22 September 417.
Letter 5Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus annuls the rights of ordination that Proculus of Marseilles and Simplicius of Vienne obtained at the synod of Turin and restores them to the bishop of Arles.
Letter 6, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus cancels the privilege Hilary of Narbonne obtained by misrepresentation, since by ancient custom Arles ordains bishops in the Narbonenses.
Letter 6, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus forbids Hilary of Narbonne to ordain bishops, under pain of excommunication, and dates the letter 26 September 417.
Letter 7, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus confirms Patroclus as metropolitan after Proculus’s condemnation and repeats that Gallic clergy travelling to Rome need his letters of credence.
Letter 7, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus forbids ordaining men from public service straight to high orders, on pain of the ordainer’s deposition, while letting past ordinations stand.
Letter 9, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus forbids ordaining monks or laymen directly as bishops and requires every cleric to pass through the orders of reader, exorcist, acolyte, subdeacon, deacon and presbyter.
Letter 9, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus asks Hesychius to publish his ruling to the bishops of the region and threatens punishment for any who disregard it.
Letter 9, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus sets the intervals for advancing through the clerical orders and excludes the twice-married and penitents from ordination; the letter is dated 21 February 418.
Letter 10, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus urges Patroclus to stop Proculus of Marseilles, who still ordains after his condemnation, and declares those ordinations void.
Letter 11, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus tells the church of Marseilles that the deposed Proculus still ordains bishops and commits them to Patroclus of Arles to obtain a worthy bishop.
Letter 12, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus asserts the authority of Peter’s see, which no one may reconsider, but says he consulted the Africans about Caelestius out of courtesy.
Letter 12, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus tells the Africans that he has not acquitted Caelestius uncritically and has left the case as it stood under Innocent.
Letter 14Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus tells his legates that the Roman presbyters who appealed against him to the imperial court are excommunicated and that their supporters will be dealt with later.
Letter 15, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus instructs his legates to Africa and quotes, as a canon of Nicaea, the canon allowing a deposed bishop to appeal to the bishop of Rome.
Letter 15, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus quotes the Sardican canon of Hosius allowing presbyters and deacons condemned by their bishop to appeal to neighbouring bishops.
Letter 16, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus rebukes the bishops of Byzacena for letting laymen, even tax-collectors, sit as judges of a bishop in their council.
Letter 16, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus objects that the accused should not be forced to bring his accuser to court, and dates the letter 16 November 418.
Sermon to the People of the Church of Caesarea 1Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Preaching at Caesarea with the Donatist bishop Emeritus present, Augustine plays on Emeritus’s words “I cannot not want what you want, but I can want what I want,” and assures the people that their bishop Deuterius will share his see for unity.
Sermon to the People of the Church of Caesarea 2Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Converts are received not as heretics but as changed men; their baptism and ordination bear God’s mark, not Donatus’s, like the emperor’s brand on a deserter, and so are not repeated.
Letter 3, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface reports the charges of the clergy of Valence against their bishop Maximus, who is accused of Manichaeism and homicide and has repeatedly evaded trial.
Letter 3, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface orders a Gallic synod before 1 November to try Maximus of Valence, in his absence if he does not appear, and reserves confirmation of the verdict to Rome.
Letter 4, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface opens by saying that Peter rejoices when his sons keep the peace of the see founded on the spiritual rock.
Letter 4, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface reminds Rufus that he holds Rome’s commission over the churches of Macedonia and Achaea and informs him of a case from there.
Letter 4, chapter 3Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface relates that the Corinthians want to keep Perigenes as their bishop, who had been rejected by Patras and was providentially brought back to his native Corinth.
Letter 4, chapter 4Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface accepts Perigenes into communion and orders Rufus to restrain those who stir up opposition to him.
Letter 5, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface praises Rufus for reporting resistance to Rome’s rulings and reminds him that Peter, shepherd of the whole church, watches over his office.
Letter 5, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface entrusts Rufus, as vicar of the apostolic see, with the care of the churches and with judging disputes between bishops.
Letter 5, chapter 3Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface commends the bishops who accepted his letters, among them Adelphius and Perigenes, whose rejection by Patras God turned to his elevation at Corinth.
Letter 5, chapter 4Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface waits for Rufus’s report before sending Perigenes his letter of confirmation as bishop of Corinth, and dates the letter 19 September 419.
Letter 7, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface asks Honorius to protect the Roman church against renewed disturbance by the rival party of Eulalius, sending legates to plead its cause.
Letter 12, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface reports the complaint of the church of Lodève that Patroclus of Arles ordained their bishop outside his province, against the Nicene rule of one metropolitan per province.
Letter 12, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface authorizes Hilary of Narbonne to investigate the Lodève ordination as metropolitan and report, insisting that each province be ordained by its own metropolitan.
Letter 13, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface urges Rufus, Peter’s vicar in Illyricum, to resist with confidence those who seek to break away from Thessalonica’s jurisdiction.
Letter 13, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface tells Rufus he has rebuked the Thessalians and forbidden a synod at Corinth to reopen the case of Perigenes, since the apostolic see’s decisions cannot be reconsidered.
Letter 13, chapter 3Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface asks Rufus to hear the complaint of Bishop Perrevius against fellow bishops seeking to expel him and to report for papal confirmation.
Letter 13, chapter 4Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface excommunicates three Thessalian bishops, leaving them only Rufus’s intercession, and deposes the irregularly ordained Maximus.
Letter 13, chapter 5Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface asks Rufus to send back his notary Severus promptly with a report, and dates the letter March 422.
Letter 14, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface tells the Thessalian bishops that the universal church began from Peter’s honour and that the Roman church is the head from which no one can separate without leaving the Christian religion.
Letter 14, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface condemns bishops who seek to leave Rome’s jurisdiction by appealing to another see that the canons gave no such power.
Letter 14, chapter 3Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface warns the Thessalian bishops that Peter can correct with gentleness or with the rod, quoting 1 Corinthians 4:21.
Letter 14, chapter 4Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface orders the Thessalian bishops to respect Rufus’s authority as papal vicar, to appeal to Rome if aggrieved, and to ordain no bishop in Illyricum without his knowledge.
Letter 15, chapter 1Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface writes that Peter, on whom the church is founded, cares for all churches, and expresses astonishment at a new attempt against the fathers’ order in Illyricum.
Letter 15, chapter 2Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface recounts how Perigenes was confirmed as bishop of Corinth after Rufus’s inquiry and protests against a synod called to reopen his case.
Letter 15, chapter 3Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface says he confirmed Perigenes through Rufus, following predecessors who honoured Thessalonica, and continues that honour to Rufus.
Letter 15, chapter 4Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface warns that pride against Peter, to whom Christ gave the keys, excludes from heaven, and urges humility.
Letter 15, chapter 5Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface protests that a synod would put Perigenes’s confirmed status in doubt, and appeals to the canons ranking Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, whose bishops defer to the apostolic see.
Letter 15, chapter 6Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface cites Athanasius, Peter of Alexandria, Meletius and Flavian of Antioch, Theodosius on Nectarius, and the Eastern reconciliation under Innocent as proofs that the East consulted Rome.
Letter 15, chapter 7Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface forbids, on pain of excommunication, any reopening of the case of Perigenes, whose appointment Peter has confirmed.
Letter 15, chapter 8Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Any charge against Perigenes concerning his conduct since his appointment is to be heard by Rufus with bishops of his choice and reported to Rome.
Letter 15, chapter 9Boniface I, bishop of Rome · 418–422 · Boniface orders the Illyrian bishops to obey Rufus and ordain no one without his knowledge, and dates the letter 11 March 422.
On Adulterous Marriages 2.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Augustine points to clergy who were ordained against their will and yet kept continence, urging those separated from spouses to do the same out of fear of judgment.
Against Gaudentius, Bishop of the Donatists 1.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Gaudentius cites the good shepherd who does not flee; Augustine answers that Paul fled through the wall, that Christ commanded flight in persecution, and that the shepherd who destroys his flock is the thief.
Against Gaudentius, Bishop of the Donatists 1.47Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · The Donatists’ own councils during the present “persecution” undercut their claim that the council of Cirta could not have met; Purpurius’s charge against Secundus confirms its minutes.
Against Gaudentius, Bishop of the Donatists 1.48Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · A Donatist council pardoned clergy who joined the Catholics unwillingly; by the same rule the original betrayers could have been pardoned, and Caecilian’s condemnation was unjust.
Against Gaudentius, Bishop of the Donatists 1.54Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Augustine challenges Gaudentius to explain the Donatists’ acceptance of the Maximianists Felician and Praetextatus and their baptism, while rejecting the baptism of the apostolic churches.
Against Gaudentius, Bishop of the Donatists 2.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · The council of Bagai condemned Felician by name, yet the Donatists later accepted his baptism; Gaudentius cannot place him among those given a grace period.
Against Gaudentius, Bishop of the Donatists 2.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · The good in the church either do not know the bad, discipline them, or tolerate them, as Cyprian did; the Donatists are both schismatic and heretical, as Cyprian called the Novatianists.
On the Soul and Its Origin 2.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · The first soul was made from nothing; to hold it was made from God’s nature is a blasphemous error, less excusable in a presbyter than in a recent convert.
On the Soul and Its Origin 2.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Victor “decrees” eucharistic sacrifices for unbaptized infants on the example of 2 Maccabees, but those sacrifices were for the circumcised.
On the Soul and Its Origin 3.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Tenth error: Christian sacrifice is not to be offered for the unbaptized; Victor, a layman, presumed to “decree” it.
The Institutes 2.3John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · In Egypt no one may lead a monastery until he has renounced everything, learned obedience, and been trained in the elders' teaching; hence the uniformity of their rule.
The Institutes 10.18John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · At Miletus Paul told the Ephesian presbyters he had worked for himself and his companions, to teach them to support the weak by their own labour.
The Institutes 11.14John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · Vainglory stirs up a desire for ordination and daydreams of holy ministry and many conversions.
The Institutes 11.18John Cassian · ca. 419–426 · The fathers taught that a monk must flee women and bishops, since both draw him from the quiet of his cell; Cassian admits he failed with his sister and his ordaining bishop.
PreambleAnonymous · 419 · Heading of the council of Carthage of 25 May 419, attended by 217 bishops and the legates of the Roman church, Faustinus, Philippus and Asellus.
Canon 1Anonymous · 419 · Aurelius opens the council and has the Nicene creed and canons and the earlier African canons read.
Canon 2Anonymous · 419 · The Roman legate Faustinus asks that the instructions of the apostolic see on the Nicene canons be read and answered point by point.
Canon 3Anonymous · 419 · Zosimus's instruction is read, citing as Nicene a canon on bishops' appeals to Rome; Alypius replies that the Greek copies of Nicaea lack it and asks that authentic copies be sought from Constantinople, Alexandria and Antioch.
Canon 5Anonymous · 419 · Faustinus asks that the question be referred to the bishop of Rome to avoid conflict; the council agrees to write to Boniface.
Canon 6Anonymous · 419 · At Novatus's request, the part of Zosimus's instruction on appeals by presbyters and deacons is read; it quotes a canon of Serdica.
Canon 7Anonymous · 419 · Augustine and the council promise to keep these rules pending inquiry into the Nicene canons, affirming that all Nicaea decreed must be observed.
Canon 8Anonymous · 419 · Faustinus asks that the bishop of Rome be consulted on the disputed rule about appeals of the lower clergy.
Canon 9Anonymous · 419 · The council inserts in its acts the Nicene creed and canons brought from Nicaea by Caecilianus, and asks Aurelius to obtain authentic copies from Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople.
Canon 11Anonymous · 419 · The African council writes to Boniface of Rome: Apiarius is restored but moved from Sicca; the rules on appeals cited as Nicene will be kept provisionally until authentic copies of the Nicene canons arrive from the East.
Commentary on Hosea, Joel and Amos 2.2.3Julian of Eclanum · ca. 420-440 · Julian explains the locusts’ likeness to an army as an elaborate comparison, then offers a moral reading in which the four insects stand for the passions of hope, joy, fear, and grief, and applies Joel’s lament to Christians and clergy of his own day who neglect virtue.
Commentary on Hosea, Joel and Amos 3.5.8Julian of Eclanum · ca. 420-440 · Julian explains when a teacher should keep silent: while a people still wishes to learn, he must teach in season and out of season; but when it rejects instruction altogether, silence becomes prudent.
Lausiac History 7Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Palladius describes the monastic settlement of Nitria: its numbers, bakeries, church with three whipping-posts, guest house, work, psalmody, and presbyters.
Lausiac History 11Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Ammonius, one of the Tall Brothers, cuts off his ear to escape being made bishop, mortifies his body, eats only raw food and bread, and is famed for learning and freedom from passion.
Lausiac History 18Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Macarius of Alexandria, presbyter of the Cells, outdoes every ascetic feat he hears of, visits the tomb of Jannes and Jambres, astonishes Pachomius's monks, heals the sick and possessed, and resists vainglory.
Lausiac History 33Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Palladius describes the Pachomian women's monastery and tells how a slander drove one nun to drown herself and the slanderer to hang herself, with the presbyter's penalties.
Lausiac History 35Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Palladius visits the enclosed prophet John of Lycopolis, who reads his thoughts, encourages him to stay in the desert, foretells his episcopate and sufferings, and warns Poemenia in vain.
Lausiac History 38Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Evagrius of Pontus, a brilliant deacon at Constantinople, flees a dangerous love after an angelic warning, becomes a monk at Nitria and the Cells, and is renowned for asceticism and wisdom.
Lausiac History 41Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Palladius introduces his stories of holy women, naming Paula (whom he says Jerome hindered), Eustochium, Photeine, the deaconess Sabiniana, Asella, and the family of Avita.
Lausiac History 47Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Chronius, James the Lame, and Paphnutius Kephalas explain to Palladius and Evagrius why monks fall: God abandons the proud to humble them, or allows trials to reveal hidden virtue.
Lausiac History 49Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Sisinnius, a former slave and disciple of Elpidius, spends three years praying in a tomb and later leads a community of men and women in Cappadocia.
Lausiac History 53Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · The Egyptian hermit Abraham, deluded by conceit, claims Christ ordained him in the night; the fathers cure him by a gentler life.
Lausiac History 58Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · Palladius describes the cave-dwelling anchorites of Antinoe: Solomon, the presbyter Dorotheus, the learned Diocles, the former robber Capito, and a monk deluded by vainglory.
Lausiac History 63Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · A virgin of Alexandria hides the bishop Athanasius from the Arians for six years until the death of Constantius.
Lausiac History 70Palladius of Helenopolis · ca. 419-420 · A presbyter's daughter falsely accuses an innocent reader of fathering her child; he accepts deposition and marries her, and her labour is released only when he prays.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine explains that daily sins after baptism are cleansed by the Lord's Prayer and almsgiving, and that many believers are without crime but none without sin.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine defends the Roman clergy and Pope Zosimus against the charge of changing their judgment, explaining that Zosimus never approved Caelestius's doctrine but gave him time to correct himself.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine quotes Pope Innocent's letter to the Council of Carthage and shows that Caelestius, by professing agreement with it, bound himself to accept original sin.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine rejects the demand for a general synod, arguing that most heresies are condemned without one, and closes by commending the church to Christ, the Shepherd of shepherds.
Life of Porphyry 4Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · Porphyry, a wealthy Thessalonian, becomes a monk in Scetis and then near the Jordan, falls gravely ill, and in Jerusalem meets Mark, a calligrapher from Asia.
Life of Porphyry 10Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · Bishop Praylius of Jerusalem ordains Porphyry presbyter and makes him keeper of the relic of the cross; Porphyry keeps his ascetic rule.
Life of Porphyry 11Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · After the death of Bishop Aeneas the divided Christians of Gaza send a delegation to the metropolitan to ask for a bishop.
Life of Porphyry 12Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · John, metropolitan of Caesarea, after a fast, is shown that Porphyry should be bishop and summons him on the pretext of a question about Scripture.
Life of Porphyry 13Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · Porphyry foresees that he must leave Jerusalem: Christ in a dream tells him to return the relic and take a lowly bride, the church of Gaza.
Life of Porphyry 20Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · Porphyry leaves Jerusalem, is ordained bishop of Gaza at Caesarea against his will, enters Gaza through pagan harassment, and is blamed by the pagans for a drought.
Life of Porphyry 32Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · Oppressed by the pagans, Porphyry asks Archbishop John of Caesarea to release him from the episcopate.
Life of Porphyry 102Marcus the Deacon · ca. 420-430 · Salaphtha becomes a consecrated virgin under the deaconess Manaris and lives a life of extreme fasting.
Enchiridion (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love) 65Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–423 · Even grave crimes can be forgiven in the Church through penance measured by sorrow; church leaders rightly set times of penance, since sins are remitted only in the Church, which has the Spirit.
Enchiridion (Handbook on Faith, Hope, and Love) 80Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–423 · Sins become thought trivial when customary, so that many now go without church discipline, as Augustine lamented in his commentary on Galatians.
Sermon 6Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · A sermon on Psalm 100 celebrating the Gentiles' return: Christ the good shepherd gathers the nations, entrusts his sheep to Peter, frees humanity from its cruel masters, and invites all to enter God's presence with joy.
Sermon 26Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · On the steward of Luke 12:41–48, Chrysologus warns clergy above all against pride and drunkenness, then applies stewardship to kings, generals, soldiers, judges, householders, slaves, the rich, and the poor.
Sermon 53Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · A short sermon on peace (Matt 5:9) praising peace and concord among brothers as God's will and the bishop's glory, and urging the congregation to shun hatred, quarrels, and slander.
Sermon 54Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · On Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1–10), Chrysologus contrasts him with the rich man of the previous Sunday, reads his climbing and descending the sycamore spiritually, defends Christ's going in to a sinner, insists that alms from fraud are worthless without restitution, and reports that Zacchaeus later became a bishop.
Sermon 84Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · Chrysologus explains Christ's entry through shut doors, his repeated gift of peace, the apostles' power to forgive sins, and Thomas's demand to touch the wounds, which ends in the confession “My Lord and my God.”
Sermon 92Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · Chrysologus explains the priestly courses, the married priesthood allowed under the law, Elizabeth's hiding herself for five months out of shame at a late pregnancy, and the honour that children bring to marriage, as a step toward the virgin birth.
Sermon 107Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · A short sermon in praise of Bishop Peter of Ravenna, whose name, asceticism and teaching are compared to those of the apostle Peter.
Sermon 128Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · Praising Apollinaris, first bishop of Ravenna, Chrysologus argues that a confessor who suffered repeatedly without being killed is no less a martyr, and that the infant Church's tears kept him alive among his flock.
Sermon 130Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · At the consecration of a bishop, Chrysologus pictures mother Church adorned like a bride as a new son is born to her, describes the duties of a good bishop, and greets the empress mother present at the rite.
Sermon 135Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · On the feast of St Lawrence, Chrysologus tells how the Roman deacon showed the persecutor the poor as the Church's treasure and lay calmly on the gridiron, and teaches that the martyrs' endurance was God's gift.
Sermon 136Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · Welcoming the visiting bishop Adelphus, who had asked to hear him preach, Chrysologus praises his humility in coming to a poor man's table, compares himself to the widow of Zarephath feeding Elijah, and invites the congregation to receive Adelphus's teaching.
Sermon 165Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · Consecrating Projectus as bishop of Forum Cornelii (Imola), Chrysologus explains his affection for that church through its namesake, Cornelius, the bishop who had raised and ordained him, and plays on the name Projectus.
Sermon 170Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · Expounding Mark 6:6–9, Chrysologus describes the many forms in which Christ comes in search of humanity (fire, pillar, eagle, hen, shepherd), interprets the twelve apostles as a chariot of the Trinity and their sending two by two as a figure of the call of Jews and gentiles, and urges trust in God's provision instead of riches.
Sermon 175Peter Chrysologus · ca. 425-450 · At the consecration of Marcellinus as bishop of Vicohabentia, the first bishop consecrated by Ravenna as a metropolitan see, Chrysologus compares the hard-won birth of this “firstborn” to Mary's journey and childbirth, complains of a bishop who resists the decree of Peter and the Christian emperor, and defends the virginal birth by Joseph's example.
1.3Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius claims Arius declined the bishopric of Alexandria in favour of Alexander.
2.5Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius's account of Ulfilas: the Gothic captives' conversion, his ordination by Eusebius, his Gothic alphabet and Bible (without Kingdoms), and his Arian sympathies.
2.7Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius on the return of Eusebius, Maris and Theognis, their creed, and the deposition of Alexander and Eustathius.
2.10Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · On the death of Alexander of Constantinople, Eusebius of Nicomedia is moved to the see of Constantinople.
2.11Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius's hostile account of Athanasius's ordination and of the councils of Tyre, which Photius rejects as lies.
2.18Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · After Constantine's death Athanasius returns from Gaul and resumes his see.
3.3Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Constantius expels Athanasius and has George of Cappadocia appointed; Athanasius flees to the West.
3.4Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Constantius's embassy under Theophilus the Indian to the Homerites of Arabia, whose ruler builds three churches.
3.12Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius's account of Athanasius's restoration through Constans's threat of war, and of the bishops who came over to him.
3.17Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Leontius, now bishop of Antioch, makes Aetius a deacon and teacher; Aetius goes to Alexandria to oppose Athanasius.
3.18Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Leontius deposes Flavian and Paulinus, followers of the exiled Eustathius.
3.19Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Aetius refuses ordination as bishop from Secundus and Serras because they communicated with the homoousians.
4.3Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius claims Liberius and Hosius signed against the homoousion and Athanasius at Sirmium, after which Liberius returned to Rome and Felix withdrew.
4.4Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Eudoxius of Germanicia becomes bishop of Antioch; Philostorgius describes his character and his father's martyrdom.
4.5Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Eunomius declines the diaconate from Eudoxius until Eudoxius adopts the strict Anomoean doctrine.
5.1Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · After the council of Constantinople Acacius deposes Basil, Macedonius and Aetius, and fills the vacant sees, Meletius at Antioch among them.
5.3Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Eunomius becomes bishop of Cyzicus on condition that Aetius be restored within three months.
5.5Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Constantius exiles Meletius for duplicity and makes Euzoius bishop of Antioch.
6.3Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Eudoxius breaks his promise and presses Eunomius to sign against Aetius; Eunomius refuses and leaves Cyzicus.
6.4Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Acacius accuses Eunomius before Constantius but fails to appear as accuser; the case is deferred as Julian revolts.
7.2Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · The pagans of Alexandria murder George; Philostorgius blames Athanasius, who then returns to his see.
7.4Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Pagans in Palestine burn the relics of Elisha and John the Baptist and sacrifice Christians; Julian sets rival bishops against each other and strips the clergy of privileges.
7.6Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · The Anomoeans ordain Aetius bishop, and Euzoius annuls his condemnation, but Julian's persecution halts further steps.
7.8Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius on the martyrdom of Babylas of Antioch, who barred an emperor from the church.
8.2Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Aetius and Eunomius set up their own church, ordaining bishops for Constantinople and several provinces.
8.4Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Theodosius and other bishops write to Eudoxius against Aetius's ordination and those he performed; Eudoxius encourages them.
9.4Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Aetius retires to Lesbos and Eunomius to Chalcedon, leading their followers without holding sees.
9.8Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Eunomius is exiled on suspicion of hiding Procopius but recalled through the bishops of Mursa and Marcianopolis; Eudoxius dies and Demophilus succeeds him.
9.10Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Demophilus is installed as bishop of Constantinople amid shouts of “Unworthy.”
9.13Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Demophilus can install a bishop at Cyzicus only after anathematizing Aetius and Eunomius; the new bishop preaches the homoousion.
9.14Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Dorotheus moves to Antioch; Philostorgius criticizes him and Demophilus, who taught that Christ's body was absorbed into the Godhead like milk in the sea.
9.18Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · The Eunomians appoint bishops for Palestine, and Eunomius and others travel to the East.
9.19Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Theodosius defeats the barbarians, gives the churches to the Nicenes, and expels the Arian and Eunomian bishops.
10.3Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Philostorgius on the divisions among the Arians over the Son's likeness to the Father, which he says all lead to the homoousion, and on their simony and vices.
12.11Philostorgius · ca. 425-433 · Lucian, Eunomius's nephew, leads the Eunomians of Constantinople and then forms his own splinter group.
Book 3, lines 152–175Sedulius · ca. 425-450 · Christ heals a deaf and mute demoniac, then sends out his disciples to heal and preach the kingdom to Israel, freely giving what they freely received; their teaching flows to all ages like the four rivers of paradise.
Book 3, section 14Sedulius · ca. 425-450 · Christ sends out the twelve to preach and heal among Israel, commanding them to give freely what they received; their teaching flows like the rivers of paradise, and ministers must be stewards, not merchants, of God's gifts.
Book 5, section 36Sedulius · ca. 425-450 · Christ asks Peter three times whether he loves him and entrusts him with his sheep and lambs, undoing his threefold denial; Peter, given the keys of the kingdom, is fittingly entrusted with the just who will enter it.
The Conferences 1.20John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Like skilled money-changers, monks must test every thought and teaching for its true metal, its lawful stamp, and its weight, since the devil disguises harmful projects, even pious ones, as good.
The Conferences 3.1John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Cassian introduces Abba Paphnutius, presbyter of Scetis, trained in the coenobium, who withdrew so far into the desert that the anchorites called him “the Buffalo”.
The Conferences 4.1John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Abba Daniel, a humble monk of Scetis, was ordained deacon and then presbyter by Paphnutius, yet kept serving as a deacon, and died before Paphnutius.
The Conferences 4.20John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Many renounce the world outwardly but keep money, seek to rule others as abbots, or show pride in feigned gravity or frivolity; vices disguised as virtues are the hardest to cure.
The Conferences 11.2John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Bishop Archebius of Panephysis, a former anchorite who counted himself unworthy of the desert, receives them and offers to lead them to holy elders nearby.
On Rebuke and Grace 3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 427 · Against the objection that superiors should only command and pray, not rebuke, Augustine shows that the apostles did all three: commanded, rebuked, and prayed.
On Rebuke and Grace 5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 427 · One who refuses rebuke must be rebuked for that very refusal; rebuke, like preaching and prayer, is a means God uses, though he can correct without it, as with Peter and Paul.
On Rebuke and Grace 15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 427 · Superiors should rebuke with love, even by excommunication, which can heal; since we do not know who is predestined, we must will all to be saved, as God makes us will, and must not neglect rebuke.
On Rebuke and Grace 16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 427 · Rebuke must not be neglected, for the watchman is answerable; since we cannot tell who is predestined, we rebuke all with love, while praying for the grace by which what is commanded is done.
Instructions 2.15Eucherius of Lyon · ca. 428-434 · Church terms of Greek origin explained (God, homoousion, bishop, presbyter, deacon, catholic, eucharist, creed), and the conclusion of the work.
On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius 3.12John Cassian · ca. 430–431 · Peter, prince of the apostles and head of the Roman church, confessed Christ as the Son of the living God; Nestorius cannot set himself above Peter.
On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius 6.6John Cassian · ca. 430–431 · The creed of Antioch brought Nestorius to baptism, the Eucharist and the episcopate; it confesses Christ as only-begotten, firstborn of all creation, born of the Father before the ages and not made, which leaves no room for his statue and instrument comparisons.
On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius 6.10John Cassian · ca. 430–431 · As a former catholic now an apostate, Nestorius condemns his own baptismal confession; Cassian denounces his holding the altar and chair while denying the God whose bishop he is.
On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius 6.11John Cassian · ca. 430–431 · Even if Nestorius was baptized as an infant, he served as deacon and presbyter under the creed without objecting; he wanted both heresy and catholic honors.
On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius 7.30John Cassian · ca. 430–431 · John Chrysostom, whose successor Nestorius was as bishop of Constantinople, confessed that the virgin’s womb bore God; Nestorius, who accuses his predecessors Gregory, Nectarius and John of error, is refuted by them.
On the Incarnation of the Lord, against Nestorius 7.31John Cassian · ca. 430–431 · Cassian, ordained by John Chrysostom, urges the people of Constantinople to separate from Nestorius and follow their former bishops, and closes with a prayer that the humility of the incarnation may increase love for God.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 1.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine praises Cyril as a good shepherd; Nestorius is worse than a hireling, for he tears the sheep himself.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 1.6Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Christ taught us to seek the one lost sheep; how much more must the church try to recall a shepherd who has become a wolf.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 1.7Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Nestorius may be pardoned if he corrects himself; if he persists he must be cut off, and those he excommunicated remain in communion.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 1.8Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine commissions Cyril, in the name of the Roman see, to give Nestorius ten days to recant in writing, or else to depose him.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.5Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine rebukes Nestorius as a wolf in the fold, warns him of the account he must give for his talent, and declares that nothing may be added to or taken from the apostolic faith.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.9Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · After three admonitions, Nestorius is cut off from the Christian college unless he corrects himself; instead of feeding the flock he poisons it.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.10Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Nestorius tears the flock he should protect; Christ's voice gathers one flock, his scatters it.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.11Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Paul's warning about wolves arising from within fits Nestorius, who is now accused when he should be teaching.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.13Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Nestorius's vigilance serves plunder, not guarding; without the foundation of Christ his building is in vain.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.14Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine protests that Nestorius is persecuting the catholic clergy of Constantinople.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.17Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine approves Cyril's faith and demands that Nestorius agree with him and recall all whom he excluded.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.18Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine's sentence: Nestorius must condemn his teaching in writing within ten days of notice or be excommunicated; Cyril is to act for Rome.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 5.1Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine, quoting Paul's anxiety for all the churches, says he burns with concern for Constantinople.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 6.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Error preached by a bishop in the imperial capital is far graver than error outside the church, like a wolf in the shepherd's place.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 6.4Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine separates Nestorius and his followers from communion until he recants, and declares that those Nestorius excommunicated remain in communion.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 6.5Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine asks the Eastern bishops to defend their flocks and informs them of the ten-day sentence on Nestorius.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 7.1Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · The gathering of bishops at Ephesus, like the apostles' council, has the presence of the Holy Spirit and of Christ the teacher.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 7.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · The bishops have inherited the apostles' commission to teach and must guard what was handed down, as Paul warns.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 7.3Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · The faith is on trial; at Ephesus, where Paul left Timothy, the bishops must fight with spiritual arms and be of one mind.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 7.5Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine reminds the council of Paul's charge to the Ephesian elders, urges unity in love and prayer, and announces his legates, Arcadius, Projectus, and Philip.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 8.1Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine instructs his legates to follow Cyril's counsel, guard the authority of the apostolic see, judge rather than debate, and deliver his letters to the emperor.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 10.1Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Answering Cyril, Celestine says that God wills the repentance of sinners, so Nestorius may still be received if he corrects himself.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 10.3Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine is present at the council in spirit; he desires Nestorius's salvation but, if he persists, the earlier sentence stands.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 23.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · The emperor, like Elijah, has driven out false teachers, and has also given Constantinople a worthy bishop, Maximian, long known to Rome.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 23.3Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine asks the emperor to support Bishop Maximian, keep Nestorius from all fellowship, and protect the Asian estates that Proba left for the clergy and the poor.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 24.1Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine welcomes Maximian and urges him to steer the storm-tossed church of Constantinople like a helmsman, following Peter who walked on the water.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 24.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine urges Maximian to follow John Chrysostom, Atticus, and Sisinnius, to gather the scattered, and to resist the Pelagian error.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 25.5Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · The people of Constantinople resisted Nestorius's arrows; Christ the shepherd protected them, and they refused the poisoned food he offered.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 25.7Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Cyril, like a faithful servant, rebuked and tried to correct Nestorius, and has multiplied his talent; Nestorius, worse than Eli, has not spared even himself.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 25.9Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Rome offered Nestorius healing as well as the knife, following Christ's order of admonition; he refused and so cut himself off.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 25.12Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · The council, led by the Spirit, cut off the quarrelsome man; the church, the Lord's vineyard, was kept, and the proud have no place in God's house.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 25.16Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine commends Maximian, known at Rome, who will teach the people the ancient faith.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 26.0Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine rejoices with the council at the victory over Nestorius, won by faith alone.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 26.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine welcomes the deposition of Nestorius and the election of Maximian, a worthy successor of Sisinnius.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 26.3Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine shares spiritually in Maximian's consecration, welcomes the emperor's approval, and praises Maximian's humble path to the episcopate.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 26.4Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine warns that Nestorius, returned to Antioch, is still dangerous there and urges the council to have him removed far away.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 26.5Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine asks the council to enlist the emperors, to help Antioch, to condemn Nestorius and his named associates while allowing others to return, and to summon John of Antioch.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 16Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · Honoratus founded a monastery at Lérins and, though he had long avoided it, was ordained presbyter, keeping his monastic humility.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 18Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · Honoratus watched over each monk's needs, health, and quarrels with fatherly care, lightening the yoke of Christ for all.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 25Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · Hilary asks how the church of Arles came to choose as bishop a man unknown to it, and answers that God brought it about.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 26Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · Hilary recalls Honoratus's vigilance, serenity, and love, which Eucherius said would be painted in Honoratus's face.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 28Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · As bishop of Arles he first restored concord after a divided election, ruled by love rather than fear, and gave away the church's accumulated treasure.
Sermon on the Life of Honoratus 36Hilary of Arles · ca. 430 · Hilary, elected as Honoratus's successor, sees God's hand in the way Honoratus trained him and drew him from the island to Arles, and prays to follow his ways.
Letters 1Capreolus of Carthage · 431-433 · Capreolus of Carthage excuses the African bishops' absence from the Council of Ephesus (431), caused by the Vandal invasion, and urges the council to hold to the ancient faith; Cyril and the bishops approve the letter.
Canon 1Anonymous · 431 · A metropolitan who joins the rival assembly or holds Celestius's views is excommunicated, powerless over his bishops, and liable to deposition by orthodox bishops.
Canon 2Anonymous · 431 · Bishops who joined or returned to the rival assembly after the deposition of Nestorius are deposed.
Canon 3Anonymous · 431 · Clergy deprived by Nestorius for orthodoxy are restored, and clergy who agree with the council are freed from obedience to rebel bishops.
Canon 5Anonymous · 431 · Restorations of condemned clergy by Nestorius and his party are void.
Canon 6Anonymous · 431 · Anyone who tries to overturn the decisions of the synod of Ephesus is deposed or excommunicated.
Canon 8Anonymous · 431 · The bishops of Cyprus keep their right to ordain their own bishops without Antioch's interference, and no bishop may seize another province; appended is the council's letter granting the retired metropolitan Eustathius of Pamphylia the honor of a bishop.
Theodotus, ACO I.1.2, homily 71.1Theodotus of Ancyra · 431 · As a physician amputates a diseased limb to save the body, the church's priesthood cuts off persistent error, as God's commission to Jeremiah shows.
Letter 1, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus III announces his ordination (432) to Cyril of Alexandria through Cyril’s envoys Hermogenes and Lampetius, who were present at it.
Letter 1, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus rejoices that the Eastern legates witnessed the unanimous election at Rome, a sign of the Roman church’s single mind in faith.
Letter 1, chapter 4Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus agrees with Cyril that, Nestorius being deposed, his followers who return to the right faith are to be received.
Letter 1, chapter 5Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · John of Antioch will be received as catholic if he accepts the condemnations of the Council of Ephesus; Cyril, who forgives his injuries, will receive his crown.
Letter 1, chapter 6Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus asks Cyril to circulate the letter to neighbouring bishops as proof of the apostolic see’s continued care.
Letter 2, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus praises Cyril’s envoys, who attended his ordination, and Cyril himself, to whom the whole church is indebted.
Letter 2, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · At the urging of the archdeacon Themison, Sixtus sends further letters to the bishops named by Cyril’s envoys.
Letter 2, chapter 3Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · John of Antioch and the other supporters of Nestorius are to be received if they reject what Ephesus rejected; if not, they condemn themselves with Nestorius.
Letter 3, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus says that Christ has turned grief to joy and that the report of the reunion was fittingly heard by an assembly of bishops.
Letter 3, chapter 3Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus reports that the news was heard at Saint Peter’s by a synod gathered for his anniversary, over which Peter himself presided in spirit.
Letter 3, chapter 5Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus rejoices that the bishops of the East have returned like the lost sheep, while Nestorius, the barren branch, is condemned, and welcomes John of Antioch as a catholic.
Letter 3, chapter 7Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus awaits John of Antioch’s clergy, praises Cyril’s readiness to receive returning bishops, and dates the letter 17 September 433.
Letter 4, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus tells John of Antioch that Cyril’s news of the reunion has turned his grief to joy.
Letter 4, chapter 3Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus accepts John’s praise, read at the synod on his anniversary, and turns John’s phrase “light-bearing” into a call for all priests to shine.
Letter 4, chapter 5Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus urges John to proclaim the restored unity and to hold the simple faith that Peter received from Christ and hands on through his successors.
Letter 4, chapter 6Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus praises the emperors’ zeal for the church’s unity as a sign that earthly kings serve the heavenly King.
Letter 4, chapter 7Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus urges John to hold the one ancient faith without novelty and commends Maximian of Constantinople, who learned that faith at Rome.
Letter 5, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus reminds Proclus of Constantinople that Rome supported his ordination and gently reproves his attempt, now settled by Roman legates, to extend his jurisdiction.
Letter 5, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus tells Proclus to respect the traditional authority of Anastasius of Thessalonica over Illyricum, as Rome supported Proclus himself.
Letter 6, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus confirms the authority of Anastasius of Thessalonica over Illyricum: metropolitans ordain in their provinces only with his knowledge, and greater cases go to him.
Letter 6, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus warns the bishop of Corinth not to resist the authority of Thessalonica.
Letter 6, chapter 3Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus entrusts other matters to his legates and dates the letter 8 July 435.
Letter 7, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus urges Proclus of Constantinople to give no opening to those who try to unsettle the churches of Illyricum by appealing to him.
Letter 7, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus asks Proclus to refuse any Illyrian cleric who comes to him without letters of credence from the bishop of Thessalonica.
Letter 7, chapter 3Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus cites the case of Idduas, in which he upheld Proclus’s judgment, and closes trusting their agreement on the canons; the letter is dated 18 December 437.
Letter 8, chapter 1Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus addresses the synod of Illyrian bishops, following Paul’s example of writing to churches, and sends them instructions by the presbyter Artemius.
Letter 8, chapter 2Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus places all Illyrian churches under the bishop of Thessalonica, who is to hold councils and report to Rome for confirmation.
Letter 8, chapter 3Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus tells the Illyrian bishops that only the doctrinal decisions of the Eastern synod bind them and that disputes go to Anastasius as papal vicar, or else to Rome.
Letter 8, chapter 4Sixtus III, bishop of Rome · 432–440 · Sixtus urges the Illyrian bishops to honour their head at Thessalonica and to keep peace, and dates the letter 18 December 437.
Psalm 103, from v. 6Prosper of Aquitaine · after 432, before 455 · The persecutions that flooded the church and then were checked, the preachers as mountains and springs, and the support owed to them are read from Psalm 104:6–15 (103).
To the Church 2.37Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 435-440 · Clergy must surpass others in devotion as they do in rank.
To the Church 2.38Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 435-440 · Even under the old law the Levites and priests were forbidden to own land.
To the Church 2.39Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 435-440 · Christ counseled perfection to the rich young man but commanded poverty to his ministers.
To the Church 2.40Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 435-440 · Christ forbade his apostles even a bag, a second tunic, and shoes.
To the Church 2.41Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 435-440 · Clergy, successors of the apostles, should not leave rich heirs.
On 1 Tim 3.2Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret explains “the husband of one wife” as excluding polygamy, not a second marriage after a wife's death, while a man who put away his first wife and married another is blameworthy.
On 1 Tim 3.12Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret applies his reading of “the husband of one wife” to deacons as well.
On 1 Tim 5.9Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret holds that “the wife of one husband” does not reject a second marriage, which Paul himself permitted, but requires chaste living in marriage.
On 1 Tim 5.11Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret explains that younger widows are not to be enrolled because, maintained by the church without work, they fall into idleness and break their pledge by wishing to marry.
Psalm 44:9–50Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 45:8–17: the King's fragrant garment is his body and passion; the queen is the church from the nations, told to forget her idolatrous ancestry, adorned within by the Spirit's gifts; her sons are the apostles and martyrs who rule the world.
Psalm 47:13–14Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 48:12–14: the church's towers are the ascetics, and its palaces the local churches, which the preachers are to divide among themselves and hand on from generation to generation under Christ the one good shepherd.
Psalm 86:1Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 87, title and verse 1: the foundations on the holy mountains are the divine teachings laid on the apostles, as Paul and Christ's words to Peter show.
Psalm 108:8Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 109:8: Judas died at once by hanging, and Matthias took his office.
Psalm 113:18–19Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 115:9–10: Israel and the priests of Aaron's house, who trust in the true God, enjoy his protection; the priests are named separately in honor.
Psalm 116:1Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 117:1: 'all nations' are the Gentiles evangelized by the apostles, from India to Spain; 'all peoples' are the dispersed Jews, many of whom also believed.
Psalm 134:20Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Psalm 135:20: the Levites are named apart from the priests, recalling Korah's rebellion; 'those who fear the Lord' are proselytes, showing that God prefers kinship in conduct to kinship by blood.
On Titus 1.6Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 436-448 · Theodoret refers the qualifications in Titus 1:6, including “the husband of one wife”, to his comments on 1 Timothy.
PreambleAnonymous · 439 · The bishops at Riez (439) take up the invalid ordination at Embrun, performed by two bishops without the metropolitan's authority.
Canon 1Anonymous · 439 · The two bishops who performed the ordination are received into communion but barred for life from ordinations and councils, following the synod of Turin.
Canon 2Anonymous · 439 · The ordination at Embrun is annulled as invalid, since none of the canonical requirements were met.
Canon 3Anonymous · 439 · Armentarius, the young man irregularly ordained for Embrun, is spared condemnation; a bishop may give him one rural church, outside the Maritime Alps, where he may confirm and celebrate but not ordain.
Canon 4Anonymous · 439 · Clerics ordained by Armentarius who were excommunicate are deposed; the rest stay or follow him as the bishop of Embrun decides; Armentarius may bless and confirm in his church and act above presbyters in the countryside.
Canon 5Anonymous · 439 · Armentarius may bless and consecrate virgins in his church, ranking below a bishop and above a presbyter.
Canon 6Anonymous · 439 · When a bishop dies, only the neighbouring bishop is to come to the church, for the funeral, and he takes charge of it as visitor until the new ordination.
Canon 7Anonymous · 439 · The visiting bishop governs a vacant church until the metropolitan's mandate; no bishop may come to a vacant church unless invited by the metropolitan.
Canon 8Anonymous · 439 · The bishops bind themselves to the decrees and to hold councils twice a year in quiet times.
Canon 9Anonymous · 439 · Those who tamper with the canons and stir up sedition against the church are excommunicated; after penance they may return to communion but not to the clergy.
Canon 10Anonymous · 439 · Provincial councils are to meet twice a year, in the fourth week after Easter and on 15 October.
On the Governance of God 4.58Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 439-451 · Sins are graver in those of higher rank or holier profession, so Christians sin worse than barbarians.
On the Governance of God 5.19Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 439-451 · Almost no one protects the oppressed, not even the bishops.
On the Governance of God 5.20Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 439-451 · Bishops keep silent before the powerful, fearing to make them worse.
On the Governance of God 5.52Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 439-451 · Even clergy and professed religious often change only their dress, not their lives.
On the Governance of God 7.39Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 439-451 · In the war of 439 the humble Goths, who trusted God and sent bishops to ask peace, defeated the proud Romans who trusted the Huns.
On the Governance of God 7.74Salvian of Marseilles · ca. 439-451 · Only the clergy at the altar, Salvian supposes, were pure in Carthage, like Lot in Sodom.
Church History 1.8Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Constantine convenes the synod of Nicaea; Socrates quotes Eusebius on the assembly, the Nicene Creed, the five who objected to homoousios, and Eusebius of Caesarea’s letter to his church explaining his assent.
Church History 1.9Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates gives the synodal letter of Nicaea to the Alexandrians (on Arius, the Melitians, and Easter) and Constantine’s letters on Nicaea, against Arius, on Easter, on church building, on fifty copies of Scripture, and to Macarius on the church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Church History 1.11Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Paphnutius, a confessor honoured by Constantine, persuades the bishops at Nicaea not to forbid married clergy to live with their wives, while those already ordained should not marry.
Church History 1.13Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates tells, on the authority of the Novatianist Auxanon, how the monk Eutychian freed a prisoner; the bishops of Nicaea issue canons and go home, and a partial list of signatories and the date are given.
Church History 1.15Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Athanasius succeeds Alexander at Alexandria; Socrates repeats Rufinus’s story that as a boy he played at being bishop and was then trained by Alexander.
Church History 1.19Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Frumentius, a captive raised at the court of the inner Indians, gathers Christians there, is made bishop by Athanasius, and evangelizes the country.
Church History 1.24Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · A synod at Antioch deposes Eustathius, probably on other pretexts than Sabellianism; rioting follows, Eusebius of Caesarea declines the see, and Eusebius of Nicomedia works for Arius’s return.
Church History 1.27Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Arius is refused by Athanasius at Alexandria; Constantine threatens Athanasius; Eusebius’s party and the Melitians bring charges against him (linen tribute, treason, the broken chalice of Ischyras, the severed hand of Arsenius).
Church History 1.28Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Constantine has the bishops on their way to the dedication at Jerusalem meet first at Tyre (335) to judge Athanasius, who attends under compulsion.
Church History 1.34Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Constantine’s letter summons the bishops of Tyre to Constantinople after Athanasius met him in the road and asked for a hearing in their presence.
Church History 2.6Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Alexander of Constantinople dies, naming Paul or Macedonius as possible successors; the Nicene party ordains Paul, the Arians back Macedonius.
Church History 2.7Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Constantius has Paul removed and transfers Eusebius of Nicomedia to the see of Constantinople.
Church History 2.8Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · At the dedication synod of Antioch (341), held without Julius of Rome, the Eusebians accuse Athanasius of resuming his see without a synod and of violence.
Church History 2.15Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Exiled eastern bishops in Rome are restored by Julius’s letters; the eastern bishops at Antioch reject his authority; Socrates defends Athanasius against Sabinus’s charges of violence.
Church History 2.17Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Accused of selling the Alexandrian poor-relief grain, Athanasius flees; Julius of Rome rebukes the bishops at Antioch; Paul too comes to Italy.
Church History 2.20Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The westerners reject the long creed; the synod of Sardica (343) meets, the easterners withdraw to Philippopolis, and the westerners confirm Nicaea and restore Athanasius, Paul, and Marcellus.
Church History 2.23Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Constantius, under pressure from Constans, recalls Athanasius with three letters; Julius of Rome writes to the Alexandrians welcoming his return; Constantius restores the exiled bishops and issues letters in Athanasius’s favour.
Church History 2.24Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Maximus of Jerusalem holds a synod restoring Athanasius to communion; Ursacius and Valens recant at Rome; Athanasius returns to Alexandria, ordaining on the way.
Church History 2.26Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · With Constantius sole emperor, the Arians renew charges against Athanasius; Paul is strangled in exile, Marcellus and Lucius removed, and Athanasius flees a death sentence; Leontius, who had castrated himself, becomes bishop of Antioch.
Church History 2.36Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · At the synod of Milan (355) the easterners press for Athanasius’s condemnation; Paulinus of Treves, Dionysius, and Eusebius of Vercelli protest, and the assembly breaks up.
Church History 2.37Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The synod of Ariminum (359) rejects the dated creed of Sirmium (“like in all things”, banning “essence”), confirms Nicaea, and deposes Valens, Ursacius, and others; Socrates quotes Athanasius’s ridicule of the dated creed, the synod’s letter, and Constantius’s replies; Liberius is exiled and Felix installed; the Arians publish the creed at Nice in Thrace.
Church History 2.39Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The eastern synod, moved from Nicomedia after an earthquake, meets at Seleucia (359); it splits between Acacius’s party, which rejects Nicaea, and the majority, who accept all of Nicaea but the word homoousios and sign the creed of the Antioch dedication.
Church History 2.40Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · At Seleucia Acacius’s party presents a creed rejecting homoousios and homoiousios and confessing the Son “like” the Father; the majority depose Acacius, Eudoxius, and others, appoint Anianus to Antioch, and go to Constantinople to report to the emperor.
Church History 2.42Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Acacius’s party deposes Macedonius, Eleusius, Basil of Ancyra, Cyril of Jerusalem, and others on disciplinary rather than doctrinal pretexts.
Church History 2.43Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Eustathius of Sebastia, previously deposed, is later condemned at Gangra for forbidding marriage and separating married couples; Eudoxius becomes bishop of Constantinople and jests at the dedication of the Great Church.
Church History 2.44Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Meletius, made bishop of Antioch, preaches the homoousios and is exiled; Euzoius replaces him, and the Nicene party at Antioch splits between Meletians and the older Nicene congregation.
Church History 3.5Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Lucifer of Cagliari and Eusebius of Vercelli, recalled from exile, consult on restoring church order.
Church History 3.6Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Lucifer goes to Antioch and ordains Paulinus bishop for the older Nicene congregation.
Church History 3.9Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Eusebius of Vercelli disapproves of Paulinus’s ordination at Antioch; the angered Lucifer’s followers form the Luciferian schism, while Eusebius strengthens the faithful in the East, Illyricum, and Italy.
Church History 3.25Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Jovian refuses the Macedonians’ petition and urges concord; Acacius’s party, with Meletius at Antioch (363), accepts the Nicene faith, explaining homoousios as “like in essence”; Themistius praises Jovian’s toleration.
Church History 4.14Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · After Eudoxius's death the Arians make Demophilus bishop of Constantinople, while the Nicene party has Evagrius ordained by Eustathius.
Church History 4.20Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Athanasius dies after forty-six years as bishop and leaves Peter as his successor.
Church History 4.23Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates digresses on the Egyptian monks: Amoun's chaste marriage, sayings of Pambo and others, the two Macarii, Evagrius's writings with excerpts from his Practical Life and Gnostic, and Ammonius who cut off his ear to avoid becoming a bishop.
Church History 4.26Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates praises Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, describes their training and work against the Arians, and tells of Basil's defiance before the prefect and Valens and the death of Valens's son.
Church History 4.29Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The disputed election of Damasus and Ursinus at Rome leads to riots and deaths, which the prefect punishes.
Church History 4.30Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · When the Milanese riot over a successor to Auxentius, the governor Ambrose, still a catechumen, is acclaimed, baptized and made bishop with Valentinian's approval.
Church History 4.36Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Queen Mavia ends her war on condition that the monk Moses be her people's bishop; Moses refuses ordination from the Arian Lucius and is ordained by exiled bishops.
Church History 4.37Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Peter returns to Alexandria with letters from Damasus, the people expel Lucius, and Peter dies leaving his brother Timothy as successor.
Church History 5.3Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates surveys who held the main sees at Gratian's accession.
Church History 5.5Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Meletius returns to Antioch; his followers force his enthronement beside Paulinus, and an agreement is sworn that the survivor of the two will succeed alone.
Church History 5.6Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Gregory of Nazianzus is transferred to Constantinople; Theodosius, falling ill at Thessalonica, is baptized by the Nicene bishop Ascholius and comes to Constantinople.
Church History 5.7Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Gregory resigns at Constantinople; Theodosius orders the Arian Demophilus to accept Nicaea or leave the churches, and the Arians withdraw outside the city after forty years.
Church History 5.8Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Theodosius convenes the synod of Constantinople (381): the Macedonians walk out, Nectarius is ordained bishop, Constantinople is given precedence after Rome, and the dioceses are assigned to leading bishops.
Church History 5.9Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Theodosius brings the body of Paul of Constantinople back to the city; Meletius dies during the synod, and his party makes Flavian bishop instead of accepting Paulinus.
Church History 5.10Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Theodosius holds a conference of all sects; on Sisinnius's advice he asks whether they accept the pre-Nicene teachers, and then, reading each creed, accepts only the Nicene one and favours the Novatians.
Church History 5.12Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Theodosius prepares war against Maximus; Honorius is born; Theophilus succeeds Timothy at Alexandria and the Arians replace Demophilus; Theodosius marches on Milan.
Church History 5.15Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · At Antioch the party of Paulinus has Evagrius ordained; after his death Flavian, reconciled with Theophilus and Damasus, gradually reunites the church; John succeeds Cyril at Jerusalem.
Church History 5.19Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Nectarius abolishes the office of penitentiary presbyter at Constantinople after a woman's confession exposes a deacon's sin; Socrates doubts the wisdom of the change.
Church History 5.21Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Agelius names Marcian and then Sisinnius as his successors; Sabbatius, a convert from Judaism, splits the Novatians over keeping Easter on the Jewish date, and a synod at Angarus declares the date a matter of indifference.
Church History 5.22Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates digresses on the diversity of church customs: the date of Easter, the Lenten fast, Saturday and Sunday assemblies, clerical continence, baptism, and other local usages, arguing that such things rest on custom, not apostolic law.
Church History 6.1Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Arcadius and Honorius succeed Theodosius; the returning army kills the prefect Rufinus; Sisinnius succeeds Marcian as Novatian bishop.
Church History 6.2Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · After Nectarius's death John of Antioch is chosen bishop of Constantinople; Theophilus, who wanted his own presbyter Isidore, is forced by Eutropius to ordain him.
Church History 6.3Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates sketches John Chrysostom's family, education, ascetic life under Diodore, early writings and ordinations at Antioch, and his severe and outspoken character.
Church History 6.4Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · As bishop John alienates his clergy by his severity, urged on by the deacon Serapion, and his habit of eating alone feeds slander; the people love his preaching.
Church History 6.5Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · John's rebukes of the powerful, his sermon against the fallen Eutropius, and his refusal of a church to Gainas's Arians multiply enemies; Theophilus begins to plot against him.
Church History 6.7Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The Anthropomorphite controversy: Theophilus, threatened by monks who believe God has human form, condemns Origen's books, then turns the monks against the Tall Brothers, whom he had come to hate.
Church History 6.9Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The Tall Brothers and Isidore, expelled by Theophilus, come to Constantinople; John receives them without giving communion, but Theophilus, hearing otherwise, begins a campaign against Origen's books to bring John down.
Church History 6.10Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Theophilus wins over Epiphanius, who condemns Origen's books at a Cypriot synod; Theophilus assembles bishops against Origen, and John's enemies at Constantinople prepare a synod against him.
Church History 6.11Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Severian of Gabala, a popular preacher in Constantinople, quarrels with John's deacon Serapion; John expels Severian, and Eudoxia forces a public reconciliation.
Church History 6.12Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Epiphanius comes to Constantinople with condemnations of Origen's books; Theotimus of Scythia refuses to sign, showing orthodox teaching in Origen's writings.
Church History 6.14Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · John rebukes Epiphanius for uncanonical actions in Constantinople; Epiphanius leaves for Cyprus and dies at sea, and the two men's reported mutual predictions come true.
Church History 6.15Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · After a sermon against women taken as aimed at Eudoxia, Theophilus convenes the Synod of the Oak, which deposes John for not appearing; John gives himself up for exile.
Church History 6.16Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The people's uproar and Severian's tactless sermon lead the emperor to recall John, whom the crowd forces back onto his throne.
Church History 6.17Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · A riot between Constantinopolitans and Alexandrians over the trial of Heraclides drives Theophilus from the city; Theophilus is discredited for reading Origen again, and John makes Serapion bishop of Heraclea.
Church History 6.18Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · After John denounces the games at Eudoxia's statue and preaches the 'Herodias' sermon, a second synod condemns him under the Antiochene canon; his followers, the Johannites, meet apart, and when he is exiled the church and senate house burn.
Church History 6.19Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Arsacius succeeds John; Cyrinus's crushed foot mortifies, and a hailstorm and Eudoxia's death are taken by some as judgments, while others think John was justly punished; Socrates leaves the judgment to God.
Church History 6.20Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Arsacius dies in 405 and, after a long vacancy, Atticus is made bishop of Constantinople in 406.
Church History 6.21Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · John dies in exile at Comana in 407; Socrates criticizes his teaching that repentance may be granted repeatedly, which Sisinnius the Novatian answered in writing.
Church History 6.22Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Anecdotes of the witty and learned Novatian bishop Sisinnius, including his white clothing, his retorts to Leontius of Ancyra and to John Chrysostom.
Church History 6.23Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Arcadius's prayer at the martyr-shrine of Acacius saves a crowd from a collapsing house, and he dies in 408; an alternative version of the quarrel of Severian and Serapion from other manuscripts is appended.
Church History 7.2Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates describes Atticus, bishop of Constantinople: learned, prudent, gentle toward heretics, a diligent but unremarkable preacher.
Church History 7.3Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Theodosius of Synnada persecutes the Macedonians out of greed; their bishop Agapetus leads his people into the Nicene faith and takes over the see, which Atticus confirms.
Church History 7.7Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Cyril succeeds his uncle Theophilus at Alexandria after a contested election, extends the bishop's power, and despoils the Novatians.
Church History 7.9Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates lists the successions at Antioch and Rome, noting that Innocent was the first Roman bishop to persecute the Novatians.
Church History 7.11Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates lists the Roman bishops after Innocent and complains that Celestine, out of envy and love of power, suppressed the Novatians in Rome, unlike the bishops of Constantinople.
Church History 7.12Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The former official Chrysanthus is forced to become Novatian bishop of Constantinople despite Sabbatius's attempt to seize the see; he gives to the poor from his own means and ordains the orator Ablabius.
Church History 7.13Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Rioting over theatre shows leads to Orestes' torture of Cyril's follower Hierax and a Jewish night attack on Christians, after which Cyril seizes the synagogues and drives the Jews out of Alexandria; Orestes and Cyril remain enemies.
Church History 7.14Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Nitrian monks attack the prefect Orestes, and one of them, Ammonius, who wounded him with a stone, dies under torture; Cyril's attempt to honour him as a martyr is rejected by sober Christians.
Church History 7.25Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Atticus restores John Chrysostom's name to the commemorations, sends alms beyond his see with a letter to Calliopius, renames places, defends the Novatians, and dies in 425.
Church History 7.26Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · After a contested vacancy, the laity secure the ordination of the presbyter Sisinnius in 426; the disappointed Philip of Side attacks the choice in his history.
Church History 7.28Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Cyzicus rejects Proclus, whom Sisinnius had ordained its bishop; Sisinnius dies in 427, praised for his simplicity and care for the poor.
Church History 7.29Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Nestorius of Antioch is made bishop of Constantinople in 428 and at once promises the emperor to rid the earth of heretics; his attack on the Arians earns him the name Firebrand.
Church History 7.34Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · At the council of Ephesus (431) Cyril's party deposes Nestorius and Nestorius's party deposes Cyril; John of Antioch joins the quarrel; Nestorius's late acceptance of Theotokos is rejected, he is exiled, and the clergy of Constantinople anathematize him.
Church History 7.35Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · After Nestorius's deposition Proclus is blocked by appeal to a canon against translating bishops, and the ascetic presbyter Maximian is chosen.
Church History 7.36Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates argues that the canon against transferring bishops was misused against Proclus, quotes it, and lists many bishops who moved from one see to another.
Church History 7.37Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The frail ascetic Silvanus, moved from cold Philippopolis to Troas, launches a stuck ship by prayer and has disputes judged by honest laymen; Maximian becomes bishop of Constantinople in 431.
Church History 7.40Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · When Maximian dies in Holy Week of 434, Theodosius has Proclus enthroned at once, with the support of letters of Celestine of Rome on transferring bishops.
Church History 7.41Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Socrates describes Proclus's career under Atticus and praises his gentleness toward the sects, like that of Theodosius.
Church History 7.45Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Proclus has John Chrysostom's body brought to Constantinople in 438, reconciling the Johannites; Socrates contrasts the treatment of John and of Origen.
Church History 7.46Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · The Novatian bishop Paul, whose funeral unites all the sects, secretly names his ascetic disciple Marcian as successor in a sealed document, and Marcian is ordained.
Church History 7.48Socrates Scholasticus · ca. 439-443 · Proclus makes the prefect Thalassius bishop of Caesarea; Socrates ends his History with a prayer for peace and a summary of the period covered (306–439).
Church History 1.2Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The bishops of the great sees in 324 are listed, and Christians in Licinius's East are said to worship in fear while those in Constantine's West worship freely.
Church History 1.8Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Once sole emperor, Constantine restores the persecuted, returns their property, curbs pagan rites, funds churches, endows the clergy, marks his army with the cross, and makes Sunday and Friday days of rest.
Church History 1.9Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantine repeals the penalties on the unmarried and childless, lets those vowed to virginity make wills, exempts clergy from taxes, makes bishops' judgments binding, and grants citizenship to slaves freed in church.
Church History 1.11Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Stories of Spyridon of Trimythus: the bound sheep-thieves, the deposit recovered from his dead daughter, the dishonest borrower, his rebuke of Triphyllius for altering a Gospel word, and his eating with a guest in Lent.
Church History 1.17Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantine summons the council of Nicaea; about 320 bishops gather, the emperor burns their petitions of complaint against one another, and the bishops debate Arius's teaching, in which the deacon Athanasius stands out.
Church History 1.23Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Nicaea Paphnutius dissuades the bishops from requiring married clergy to abstain from their wives, appealing to the ancient tradition that clergy do not marry after ordination but do not leave wives already married.
Church History 1.24Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The council confines Melitius to Lycopolis with the bare title of bishop and sets terms for receiving the clergy he had ordained.
Church History 2.17Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Athanasius succeeds Alexander at Alexandria, according to Apolinarius by a divinely guided choice he tried to flee; Sozomen rejects the Arian account of an irregular ordination and tells how the boy Athanasius played at baptizing other children, whose baptism Alexander accepted.
Church History 2.19Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · A synod at Antioch deposes Eustathius, ostensibly for misconduct but really for his defence of Nicaea; riots follow, Eusebius of Caesarea declines the see, and Euphronius is ordained.
Church History 2.20Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Julius becomes bishop of Rome and Maximus of Jerusalem, Maximus having been kept back from Diospolis to succeed Macarius.
Church History 2.22Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Eusebius of Nicomedia and the Melitians accuse Athanasius before Constantine; the emperor first threatens Athanasius if he excludes anyone from the church, then acquits him of charges of taxing linen and sending gold to a conspirator.
Church History 2.24Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Frumentius and Aedesius, captured as boys by “Indians” after their kinsman Meropius is killed, serve the king, gather Christians, and Frumentius is ordained bishop by Athanasius and evangelizes the country.
Church History 2.25Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At the synod of Tyre Athanasius faces charges of violence, of breaking a chalice, of murdering Arsenius and of violating a woman; he exposes the last two, but fearing for his life flees to Constantinople and is deposed in his absence.
Church History 2.28Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Athanasius appeals in person to Constantine, who summons the bishops of Tyre to Constantinople; Eusebius of Nicomedia's party renews the charge of the broken chalice, and Constantine exiles Athanasius to Trier.
Church History 3.2Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantine II restores Athanasius to Alexandria with a letter to its church; the Arians renew their charges; Acacius succeeds Eusebius at Caesarea; Constantine II is killed fighting Constans.
Church History 3.3Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Paul becomes bishop of Constantinople on Alexander's recommendation over Macedonius; Sozomen judges him a fine teacher but poor at handling enemies, who later had him exiled and, it is said, strangled.
Church History 3.4Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · After Alexander's death the church of Constantinople divides between supporters of Macedonius and of Paul; Paul is chosen, but Constantius has a synod depose him and installs Eusebius of Nicomedia.
Church History 3.6Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Eusebius of Emesa, a learned Edessene, declines the see of Alexandria; Gregory is installed by soldiers, and Athanasius escapes from his church during a psalm and goes to Rome.
Church History 3.7Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Rome and the West receive Athanasius; at Constantinople rival bishops Paul and Macedonius are installed, riots kill the general Hermogenes, and Constantius expels Paul and cuts the city's grain dole; George replaces Gregory at Alexandria.
Church History 3.8Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Athanasius, Paul, Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius, deposed in the East, are received at Rome by Julius, who restores them and rebukes the Eastern bishops; these answer with a sharp letter defending their synod and threatening to break communion.
Church History 3.9Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The prefect Philip secretly removes Paul from Constantinople and installs Macedonius amid a massacre in the church; Athanasius, threatened with death by Constantius on new charges, goes into hiding.
Church History 3.10Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Julius rebukes the Eastern bishops for acting without him and against Nicaea; at his request Constans summons Eastern envoys, who present a new creed but fail to convince him.
Church History 3.11Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The Eastern bishops send the Long Exposition west; the council called to Sardica splits, and the Easterners, meeting apart, depose Julius of Rome, Hosius and others and issue their own creed.
Church History 3.12Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The Western bishops at Sardica, led by Hosius, acquit Athanasius, Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius, depose leading Eastern bishops, and issue an expanded statement of the Nicene faith.
Church History 3.14Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · A survey of the monks of Constantius's reign: the two Macarii and other Egyptian ascetics, Pachomius and his rule, Hilarion in Palestine, Julian near Edessa, Eustathius of Sebaste and the excesses condemned at Gangra, Martin in the West, and the learned bishops of the time.
Church History 3.16Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Ephrem the Syrian, whose writings keep their power in Greek translation, counters the heretical hymns of Harmonius with orthodox hymns to the same melodies; anecdotes of his chastity, meekness and humility, and of his famine relief at Edessa.
Church History 3.17Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Under Constantius and Constans the churches are well led and grow; the emperors exempt the clergy, close pagan temples, build churches, and forbid Jews to own or circumcise non-Jewish slaves.
Church History 3.21Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantius sends Athanasius back with letters commending him; Athanasius replaces Arian clergy in Egypt and is welcomed by the bishops of Palestine, who hold a synod at Jerusalem.
Church History 3.22Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The synodal letter of the bishops at Jerusalem rejoices with the church of Alexandria at the return of Athanasius.
Church History 3.24Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Ursacius and Valens write to Athanasius offering peace; Athanasius, Paul, Marcellus, Asclepas and Lucius recover their sees, with disturbance only at Ancyra.
Church History 4.2Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantius again expels the restored bishops; Paul dies in exile at Cucusus, reportedly strangled, and Macedonius persecutes Paul's followers at Constantinople.
Church History 4.8Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Julius dies and Liberius becomes bishop of Rome; the Eastern bishops renew their attacks on Athanasius, and Constantius, now sole emperor, tries to win the Western bishops to condemn him.
Church History 4.9Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At the council of Milan most Western bishops condemn Athanasius; the few who resist, with Hilary, are exiled; Athanasius sends envoys to Constantius, resists a summons, and escapes when troops break into the church of Theonas.
Church History 4.10Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Stories of Athanasius's foresight: escaping a treacherous maid, outsailing his pursuers on the Nile, and interpreting a crow's cry as Latin “cras”; George's violent rule at Alexandria provokes the people, and he is driven out and returns.
Church History 4.11Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · After Milan Constantius exiles its opponents; Liberius of Rome refuses to condemn Athanasius, defends him with the retraction of Valens and Ursacius, rejects the emperor's gold, and is exiled to Beroea; Felix replaces him, and the Roman people demand Liberius back.
Church History 4.14Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantius's letter to the church of Antioch disowns Eudoxius and denounces Aetius and his followers, affirming that the Son is like the Father in essence.
Church History 4.15Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Sirmium Liberius, under pressure from Basil and the Eastern bishops, signs a composite creed and anathematizes those who deny the Son is like the Father in essence; he returns to Rome, where Felix soon dies.
Church History 4.17Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At the council of Ariminum (359) over four hundred Western bishops reject the Dated Creed of Sirmium offered by Valens and Ursacius, reaffirm Nicaea, and depose its proponents, who appeal to the emperor.
Church History 4.18Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The synodal letter of the council of Ariminum to Constantius defends the Nicene faith, reports the deposition of Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, Auxentius and Gaius, and asks that the exiled bishops be allowed home.
Church History 4.19Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Constantius ignores the envoys of Ariminum; the bishops return home; Sozomen gives two accounts of how the council was later brought to sign the creed of Valens and Ursacius, published at Nice in Thrace to be confused with Nicaea.
Church History 4.24Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The Acacian synod at Constantinople (360) confirms the creed of Ariminum, deposes Aetius, and then deposes Macedonius, Basil of Ancyra, Eustathius, Eleusius and others on disciplinary charges.
Church History 4.25Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Cyril of Jerusalem, in rivalry with Acacius of Caesarea, is deposed on the charge of having sold church treasures in a famine; the deposed bishops are replaced, Eudoxius taking Constantinople, Eunomius Cyzicus and Meletius Sebaste.
Church History 4.28Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Meletius, transferred to Antioch by Eudoxius's party, declares the Son of the same essence as the Father and, when the archdeacon covers his mouth, signs the Trinity with his fingers; he is exiled, Euzoius replaces him, and his followers form a separate congregation.
Church History 4.30Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · George persecutes pagans and dissenting Christians at Alexandria, preparing his own death; after Cyril's deposition Herennius, Heraclius and Hilarius hold Jerusalem until Cyril's return under Theodosius.
Church History 5.13Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Eusebius of Vercelli fails to reconcile the Meletians and Paulinians at Antioch; Lucifer breaks with him and the Luciferian schism begins; Eusebius and Hilary strengthen the Nicene faith in the West.
Church History 6.5Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Jovian rejects the Arian Lucius’s charges against Athanasius and sends him back to Alexandria; the Nicene faith prevails again for a time, though Antony’s vision of mules kicking the altar foretold further turmoil.
Church History 6.12Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The synod of Tyana welcomes the western letters and summons a synod to Tarsus, which Valens forbids; ordered to expel bishops restored under Julian, the authorities fail to seize Athanasius, and Valens lets him return.
Church History 6.13Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Eudoxius’s death the Arians ordain Demophilus at Constantinople and the Nicene party Evagrius, ordained by Eustathius of Antioch; Valens exiles both Eustathius and Evagrius.
Church History 6.15Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Valens hopes to seize the churches of Caesarea while Basil is estranged from its bishop Eusebius and living with monks in Pontus, but Basil returns, is reconciled with Eusebius and defends the church.
Church History 6.17Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus, trained in rhetoric and in Origen’s exegesis, defend the Nicene faith: Basil founds monastic communities in Pontus and Gregory leads the Nicene remnant at Constantinople.
Church History 6.19Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Athanasius’s death the Arian Lucius is installed at Alexandria by Euzoius and imperial officers; Athanasius’s successor Peter is imprisoned and escapes to Rome, and the Nicene clergy and virgins are tortured and exiled.
Church History 6.21Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · In Scythia, whose one bishop Bretannio defies Valens at Tomi, the emperor exiles him but soon restores him for fear of the Scythians; in the West Valentinian leaves church matters to the priests.
Church History 6.23Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Damasus succeeds Liberius at Rome despite the violent rival claim of Ursicinus; a Roman synod condemns Auxentius of Milan, and Sozomen quotes Damasus’s letter to the bishops of Illyricum upholding Nicaea and the consubstantial Spirit against the creed of Ariminum.
Church History 6.24Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Auxentius’s death the people of Milan acclaim the governor Ambrose, still unbaptized, as bishop, and Valentinian confirms it; the Novatians of Phrygia begin keeping Pascha with the Jews.
Church History 6.30Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The elders of Scetis and the Tall Brothers, including Ammonius, who cut off his ear to avoid ordination; and Evagrius, Gregory of Nazianzus’s archdeacon, who after a dream fled Constantinople and became a monk.
Church History 6.31Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The monastic settlements of Nitria and the Cells; and the church of Rhinocorura under its monk-bishops Melas and Solon, Melas welcoming and feeding the officers sent to exile him.
Church History 6.38Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Queen Mavia of the Saracens wars on the Roman East until Valens grants her the monk Moses as bishop; Moses refuses ordination from the Arian Lucius, and Sozomen relates the Saracens’ descent from Ishmael, their Jewish customs, and the conversion of Zocomus’s tribe.
Church History 6.39Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Peter returns to Alexandria with Damasus’s letters and Lucius is expelled; with the Goths at the gates, the people of Constantinople jeer Valens into marching out against them.
Church History 7.2Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Gratian makes Theodosius co-emperor; the Macedonians reclaim churches and reject the homoousios at Antioch in Caria, while some returning Nicene bishops, like Eulalius of Amasea, offer to share their sees with Arian bishops for the sake of unity.
Church History 7.3Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Antioch Meletius’s and Paulinus’s parties agree that the survivor of the two will be sole bishop, the candidates swearing not to seek the see meanwhile; Meletius and other bishops resolve to transfer Gregory of Nazianzus to Constantinople.
Church History 7.5Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Constantinople Gregory leads the Nicene minority in the Anastasia church, scene of healings and a woman restored to life; Theodosius orders the Arian bishop Demophilus to accept Nicaea or leave, and the Nicene party receives the churches (380).
Church History 7.7Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Theodosius summons the council of Constantinople (381): 150 Nicene bishops and 36 Macedonians, who refuse the homoousios and leave; Gregory of Nazianzus, chosen for the see, resigns in the face of opposition.
Church History 7.8Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Theodosius picks the unbaptized senator Nectarius, last on the bishops’ list at Diodore of Tarsus’s suggestion, as bishop of Constantinople; he is baptized and consecrated while still in his white baptismal garment.
Church History 7.9Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The council of Constantinople confirms Nicaea, limits bishops to their own provinces, gives Constantinople second rank after Rome as “new Rome,” and annuls the ordination of Maximus the Cynic; Theodosius’s law names the bishops whose communion marks orthodoxy.
Church History 7.10Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Nectarius is taught church order by Cyriacus of Adana; his physician Martyrius refuses ordination, arguing that baptism had cleansed Nectarius but not himself; the relics of Paul of Constantinople and of Meletius are solemnly translated.
Church History 7.11Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Flavian is ordained at Antioch on Meletius’s death in breach of the oaths, prolonging the schism with Paulinus; Egypt, Cyprus and the West back Paulinus and summon the eastern bishops.
Church History 7.14Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Honorius is born; Theodosius marches against Maximus; the Novatian Agelius names Marcian and then Sisinnius as successors; Theophilus and John succeed at Alexandria and Jerusalem; Arians burn Nectarius’s house on a false rumour, and Maximus is killed.
Church History 7.16Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Nectarius abolishes the office of penitentiary presbyter after a scandal involving a noblewoman and a deacon; Sozomen describes public penance as still kept at Rome, and Theodosius’s law restricting the ministry of women to mothers over sixty.
Church History 7.19Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Sozomen lists differences of church custom: the Paschal dispute settled by Victor and Polycarp, bishops in villages, seven deacons at Rome, the Alleluia, preaching, Gospel reading, the length of Lent, Saturday assemblies, and the reading of the Apocalypses of Peter and Paul.
Church History 7.25Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Ambrose bars Theodosius from the church at Milan for the massacre at Thessalonica; the emperor does public penance and decrees a thirty-day delay for death sentences; Sozomen adds Ambrose’s placing of the emperor’s seat outside the sanctuary and his rescue of a man condemned by Gratian.
Church History 7.28Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Bishops of the time: Acacius of Beroea, who kept his house open day and night; Ajax of Botolium, who after three sons lived continently as a monk; and Zeno of Maiuma, still at every service and weaving linen near the age of a hundred.
Church History 8.2Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At Nectarius’s death John (Chrysostom), the eloquent presbyter of Antioch, pupil of Libanius and of Diodore, who had recalled Theodore of Mopsuestia to the monastic life, is chosen bishop of Constantinople, spirited away from Antioch, and consecrated despite Theophilus’s preference for Isidore.
Church History 8.3Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Chrysostom disciplines his clergy and, with Theophilus, sends Acacius and Isidore to Rome to reconcile the West and Egypt with Flavian, ending the Antiochene schism.
Church History 8.6Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Chrysostom deposes thirteen simoniac bishops in Asia, installs Heraclides at Ephesus, and replaces the popular physician-bishop Gerontius of Nicomedia with Pansophius, provoking charges that he overrode the rights of ordination.
Church History 8.9Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Chrysostom’s harsh archdeacon Serapion, his advice to the deaconess Olympias to give wisely, and his rebukes of wandering monks earn him enemies among clergy and monks, who also slander him for eating alone.
Church History 8.10Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Severian of Gabala, left in charge during Chrysostom’s absence, quarrels with the archdeacon Serapion and is expelled for a rash remark about the incarnation; the empress Eudoxia forces a reconciliation by laying her infant son on Chrysostom’s knees.
Church History 8.12Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Theophilus turns against the Tall Brothers because of their support for Isidore, whom he had excommunicated over a disputed inheritance and the funds for the poor, and sets the Anthropomorphite monks against them as Origenists.
Church History 8.13Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The Tall Brothers flee to Constantinople, where Chrysostom receives them but withholds communion pending trial; the empress Eudoxia promises a synod, and Theophilus resolves to depose Chrysostom.
Church History 8.14Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Theophilus enlists Epiphanius against Origen’s books; Epiphanius comes to Constantinople, holds aloof from Chrysostom and seeks condemnations of Origen, opposed by Theotimus of Scythia, but is turned back from denouncing Chrysostom in the church.
Church History 8.16Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Chrysostom’s sermon against women is taken as aimed at the empress, who summons Theophilus; the bishops gather at Chalcedon, where Cyrinus, who reviled Chrysostom, is trodden on by Maruthas and dies of the wound.
Church History 8.17Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · At the synod of the Oak (403) Theophilus reconciles the Tall Brothers’ monks and summons Chrysostom, who demands a greater synod and impartial judges; after four summonses he is deposed for not appearing.
Church History 8.18Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Riots follow Chrysostom’s deposition; Severian’s sermon on his pride inflames the crowd; the empress has him recalled, and he is carried back to his throne, preaching on Pharaoh’s attempt on Sarah as a figure of Theophilus.
Church History 8.19Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Theophilus’s attempt to try Heraclides of Ephesus in absence sparks a riot, and he flees to Egypt; at Gerae the monk Nilammon dies in prayer rather than be ordained; a synod of sixty bishops annuls the acts of the Oak.
Church History 8.20Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Chrysostom denounces the games at the dedication of Eudoxia’s statue and preaches “Again Herodias rages”; a new synod, without hearing the charges, deposes him under an Arian-made canon forbidding a deposed bishop to resume his see without a synod.
Church History 8.22Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Chrysostom, ordered to leave, slips away to Bithynia (404); the great church and the senate house burn as his supporters struggle to leave, each side blaming the other; he is exiled to Cucusus and his followers imprisoned.
Church History 8.23Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Arsacius succeeds Chrysostom; soldiers break up the Johannite assemblies and rob the women; many of his followers, among them the noble virgin Nicarete, whom Sozomen praises, leave the city, and the pagan prefect tortures many over the fire.
Church History 8.24Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · The reader Eutropius dies under torture, honoured in a dream to the Novatian Sisinnius; the deaconess Olympias defies the prefect and leaves for Cyzicus; the presbyter Tigrius is tortured; Innocent becomes bishop of Rome and Porphyry of Antioch, and a law expels those not in communion with Arsacius, Porphyry and Theophilus.
Church History 8.26Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Innocent of Rome, condemning the proceedings against Chrysostom and seeking an ecumenical synod, writes a letter of consolation to John and another to his clergy denouncing the uncanonical installation of bishops in the place of the living and rejecting canons made by heretics.
Church History 8.27Sozomen · ca. 439-450 · Hail and the death of the empress Eudoxia (404) are seen as God’s anger; Arsacius dies and Atticus, a former Macedonian from Sebasteia, becomes bishop; Chrysostom in exile ransoms captives and draws visitors from Syria and Cilicia.
Letter 4 to the bishops of Campania, Picenum and Tuscany, chapter 2Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo orders that husbands of widows and men married more than once be removed from clerical office, as the Apostle and Leviticus require.
Letter 5 to the bishops of Illyricum, chapter 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Clergy must be married once and to a virgin; a man who remarried after baptism, his first wife having died before it, is still twice married.
Letter 6 to Anastasius of Thessalonica, chapter 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo tells Anastasius of Thessalonica to ordain only proven men married once to a virgin, counting a marriage before baptism.
Letter 12 to the bishops of Mauretania Caesariensis, chapter 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Leo rules that neither a man married twice nor a man whose wife had been married before may be ordained, because priestly marriage figures Christ's marriage to the one church.
Letter 167 to Rusticus of Narbonne, inquiry 3Leo I, bishop of Rome (Leo the Great) · 440–461 · Deacons, like bishops and presbyters, must live in continence with their wives after ordination, without putting them away.
Canon 2Anonymous · 441 · Baptizers must always use the chrism; one not anointed at baptism is to be anointed at confirmation, since the anointing is not repeated.
Canon 3Anonymous · 441 · Penitents in danger of death receive communion as viaticum without the reconciling laying on of hands; if they recover they complete their penance.
Canon 4Anonymous · 441 · Clerics who ask for penance are not to be refused.
Canon 8Anonymous · 441 · A bishop may ordain a cleric from elsewhere only if he will reside with him and after consulting his former bishop.
Canon 9Anonymous · 441 · Bishops who ordain men belonging to another church must either keep them or obtain the other bishop's approval.
Canon 10Anonymous · 441 · A bishop who builds a church in another's territory may not dedicate it; the local bishop dedicates and governs it, though he ordains the founder's choice of clergy.
Canon 11Anonymous · 441 · A bishop who knowingly communicates with someone excommunicated by another bishop is liable; the case goes to the next synod.
Canon 16Anonymous · 441 · Those who have been publicly possessed may not be ordained, and if ordained are removed.
Canon 21Anonymous · 441 · If two bishops ordain an unwilling man bishop, both are deposed and he may take one of their sees; if he consented, he too is condemned.
Canon 22Anonymous · 441 · Married men may not be ordained deacons unless they first profess continence.
Canon 23Anonymous · 441 · A deacon who has relations with his wife after ordination is removed from office.
Canon 24Anonymous · 441 · Deacons ordained earlier who fail in continence are not to be promoted, following the synod of Turin.
Canon 25Anonymous · 441 · Worthy men who have married may be ordained, but not beyond the subdiaconate.
Canon 26Anonymous · 441 · Deaconesses are no longer to be ordained; existing ones receive the blessing with the laity.
Canon 29Anonymous · 441 · The bishops confirm their decrees, rebuke absentees, and announce the next council for 18 October of the following year at Lucianum near Orange.
Canon 30Anonymous · 441 · A bishop disabled by illness must call in another bishop for episcopal functions rather than let presbyters perform them.
Canon 1Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · The newly baptized may not be ordained deacon or priest.
Canon 2Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A married man may not be ordained priest unless he has first undertaken continence.
Canon 3Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Clerics from deacon upward may not keep women in their homes other than close relatives or a wife living in continence with them.
Canon 4Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Clergy may not admit girls or women servants into their private rooms.
Canon 5Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A bishop may be ordained only with the metropolitan or his letter and three bishops of the province; in a disputed election the metropolitan follows the majority.
Canon 6Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · One made bishop without the metropolitan's knowledge is no bishop, according to Nicaea.
Canon 7Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Men who castrate themselves may not be ordained.
Canon 8Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Whoever receives someone excommunicated by another bishop answers for it before the council.
Canon 10Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Those who apostatized willingly in persecution do the penance set by Nicaea, which the bishop may shorten for true repentance.
Canon 11Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Those forced by torture to deny or sacrifice do two years among the catechumens and three among the penitents.
Canon 12Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Penitents who die before reconciliation receive communion and have their offering accepted.
Canon 13Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · No cleric may leave his own church; an ordination conferred on him elsewhere against his bishop's will is void.
Canon 14Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Clerics who lend at interest, farm others' property, or trade for gain are deposed and excommunicated.
Canon 15Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A deacon may not sit with presbyters or give the Eucharist in a presbyter's presence.
Canon 18Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Synods are to meet at the call of the bishop of Arles; a bishop prevented by illness sends a deputy.
Canon 19Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A bishop who fails to attend or leaves a council early is excluded from communion until the next synod.
Canon 21Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A penitent widow who remarries or lives in suspect familiarity with a man is excluded from the church with him; the same applies to a male penitent.
Canon 22Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · A married person may enter public penance only with the spouse's consent.
Canon 24Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Those convicted (of the offence named in the lost heading) are excluded from communion until death, unless they do worthy penance.
Canon 25Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Those who abandon the religious life without penance are excluded from communion and from the clergy; a penitent may not return to secular dress.
Canon 28Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Penitents who recover after receiving the viaticum return to the order of penitents (the end of Orange, canon 3).
Canon 31Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Clerics may not take church causes or disputes among clergy to secular courts.
Canon 36Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Repeats Orange, canon 10, adding that gifts of the founding bishop to the church may not be taken away by the local bishop.
Canon 37Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Repeats the end of Orange, canon 10, on lay founders who invite another bishop.
Canon 42Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · If two bishops ordain a bishop without the metropolitan's letter, he is deposed with them.
Canon 43Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Repeats Orange (441), canon 22, on married deacons.
Canon 44Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Repeats Orange (441), canon 23, on deacons who are incontinent with their wives.
Canon 45Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Men married to a widow or married twice may not be ordained above subdeacon, and are removed if ordained.
Canon 47Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Whoever withholds bequests to the church is excluded from it, as at Vaison.
Canon 48Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · One who rejects his bishop's sentence is heard by the synod (Vaison, canon 5).
Canon 49Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · One excommunicated by his bishop is to be shunned by clergy and people alike until he repents.
Canon 52Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Consecrated virgins over twenty-five who marry are excommunicated with their husbands; they may do penance, but reconciliation is long delayed.
Canon 54Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · For a bishop's election the bishops nominate three candidates, and the clergy and citizens choose one.
Canon 56Anonymous · date disputed (between ca. 442 and 506) · Metropolitans may claim nothing for themselves against the decrees of Nicaea.
Canon 1Anonymous · 442 · Bishops travelling within the Gallic provinces need not be examined if no one has barred them from communion.
Canon 2Anonymous · 442 · Penitents who die suddenly before reconciliation are to have their offerings received and to be commemorated in the liturgy.
Canon 3Anonymous · 442 · Presbyters are to fetch the chrism each year before Easter from their own bishop, in person or through a subdeacon.
Canon 4Anonymous · 442 · Those who withhold bequests made by the dead to the church are excommunicated as defrauders of the poor.
Canon 5Anonymous · 442 · One who rejects his bishop's sentence may appeal to the synod.
Canon 6Anonymous · 442 · The council adopts from the letter of Clement to James the rule that the faithful should shun those whom their bishop treats as enemies, even without being told.
Canon 7Anonymous · 442 · Bishops are to restrain accusations against one another: a bishop may be entreated to forgive a brother after rebuke, but a charge of crime must be properly examined.
Canon 8Anonymous · 442 · A bishop who alone knows of another's secret crime must not accuse him publicly while he cannot prove it, but should rebuke him privately.
Church History 1.2Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret lists the bishops of Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople at the time and announces that he will quote Alexander's letter against Arius and the related documents.
Church History 1.6Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Constantine, after a failed attempt at mediation, convenes the Council of Nicaea; Theodoret describes the confessors present, the emperor's entry and appeal for concord, the rejection of a creed proposed by Arius's supporters, and the signing of the faith.
Church History 1.8Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret explains the Melitian schism and quotes the synodal letter of Nicaea to the church of Alexandria, which reports the condemnation of Arius, the terms for receiving Melitius and his clergy, and the agreement on the date of Pascha.
Church History 1.10Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Constantine feasts the bishops, kisses the wounds of the confessors, grants grain allowances to virgins, widows, and clergy, and burns unread the written accusations bishops had brought against one another.
Church History 1.14Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes Constantine's circular letter to Eusebius urging the bishops to repair, enlarge, or build churches at public expense now that persecution has ended.
Church History 1.18Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · After the death of Alexander of Byzantium, Eusebius of Nicomedia seizes the see of Constantinople against the canon on translation of bishops; Theodoret recalls his earlier move from Berytus and his exile after Nicaea, and introduces Constantine's letter to the Nicomedians.
Church History 1.19Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes the end of Constantine's letter to the Nicomedians, which accuses Eusebius of Nicomedia of having supported the tyrant Licinius and of sheltering condemned Arians with Theognis, and announces their banishment; Theodoret adds that they were replaced but later regained power.
Church History 1.20Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Eusebius of Nicomedia and his allies travel to Jerusalem and Antioch, where at a council they use a bribed woman's oath to condemn Eustathius of Antioch for adultery without witnesses, and persuade Constantine to exile him.
Church History 1.21Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · After Eustathius's exile a series of Arian-minded bishops are installed at Antioch, the faithful who separate are called Eustathians, and the woman who accused Eustathius later confesses, during an illness, that she had been bribed and that the father was a coppersmith of the same name.
Church History 1.22Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Frumentius and Aedesius, Tyrian youths captured by “Indians” and raised to positions of trust at court, encourage Christian worship there; Frumentius later reports to Athanasius in Alexandria, is consecrated bishop, and returns to evangelize that nation with miracles.
Church History 1.25Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Athanasius, who had served Alexander as chief deacon at Nicaea, succeeds him as bishop of Alexandria; the Arian party uses Melitians to accuse him of financing a usurper, but Constantine clears him and writes to the Alexandrians in his favour.
Church History 1.26Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theognis, and Theodore of Perinthus accuse Athanasius of crimes and have a synod called at Caesarea; when he refuses to attend, they charge him with arrogance, and Constantine orders a synod at Tyre instead.
Church History 1.27Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes Constantine's letter summoning the synod of Tyre to restore peace, announcing that the former consul Dionysius will oversee it and that anyone who refuses to attend will be compelled; the bishops, Asclepas of Gaza, and Athanasius assemble.
Church History 1.28Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At the synod of Tyre Athanasius's opponents bring a woman who falsely accuses him of rape, and display a severed hand claimed to be that of the Melitian bishop Arsenius; both charges collapse when the woman fails to recognize him and Arsenius is produced alive with both hands, and Athanasius escapes by ship while his enemies send a commission to the Mareotes.
Church History 1.29Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · The bishops move from Tyre to Jerusalem (Aelia) to dedicate Constantine's churches; when Athanasius appeals to the emperor, his accusers charge him with threatening to stop the grain shipments from Alexandria, and Constantine exiles him to Trier.
Church History 2.1Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Athanasius returns from Trier to Alexandria with a letter from Constantine II explaining that his father had sent Athanasius to Gaul for his safety and intended to restore him; the Arian party again begins to work on the young emperor Constantius.
Church History 2.3Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Constantius exiles Athanasius, who appeals to Julius of Rome while his accusers refuse to come; Gregory is installed in Alexandria, and Constans, at Athanasius's plea, persuades his brother to convene a council of East and West at Sardica.
Church History 2.6Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes the encyclical letter of the Western bishops at Sardica, which recounts the flight of the Eastern bishops, clears Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas, deposes their opponents, and ends with a statement of faith confessing one hypostasis of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; Constans then presses Constantius by letter to restore Athanasius.
Church History 2.7Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At Antioch Bishop Stephen's agent Onager smuggles a harlot at night into the lodging of the bishops Euphratas and Vincent, envoys from Sardica, to discredit them; the plot fails, his men are caught, and the general Salianus insists on a judicial investigation in the palace, where the woman tells what happened.
Church History 2.8Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · The plot is traced through Onager to Bishop Stephen, who is deposed; Leontius, a secret Arian, succeeds him at Antioch.
Church History 2.9Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Constantius repeatedly invites Athanasius to return and receives him kindly; when the Arian courtiers ask that Athanasius give one church at Alexandria to his opponents, he asks for one church at Antioch for the orthodox, and the Arians drop the request; Athanasius is welcomed back at Alexandria; Constans dies.
Church History 2.10Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · After the death of Constans, Constantius, urged by the Arians, orders Athanasius to be killed and sends a general with troops; Theodoret quotes Athanasius's own account of how soldiers surrounded his church at night and how he escaped after the people had left.
Church History 2.12Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · With a price on Athanasius's head, Constantius, while campaigning against Magnentius, has a synod at Milan demand the condemnation of Athanasius; the bishops who refuse, including Liberius of Rome and Hosius, are exiled, and Theodoret quotes Athanasius's lists of bishops persecuted by the Arian party, then introduces Liberius's dialogue with the emperor.
Church History 2.13Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret gives the record of Liberius of Rome's dialogue with Constantius, in which Liberius refuses to condemn Athanasius unheard, asks that the Nicene faith be confirmed and a fair hearing held at Alexandria, refuses the emperor's money, and is exiled to Beroea in Thrace.
Church History 2.14Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Two years after Liberius's exile, the noblewomen of Rome petition Constantius to restore him; when the emperor proposes that Liberius share the see with Felix, the crowd in the hippodrome mocks the decree with the cry “One God, one Christ, one bishop,” and Liberius returns.
Church History 2.15Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At the council of Ariminum the Western bishops reject the Arian proposal to drop “essence” and “of the same essence,” excommunicate Ursacius, Valens, and their allies, and write to Constantius asking that the Nicene faith stand and that they be sent home; when their envoys are kept waiting, they write a second letter asking leave to return before winter.
Church History 2.17Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes the letter of Damasus of Rome and a Roman synod to the bishops of Illyricum, which condemns Auxentius of Milan, upholds the Nicene faith in one essence of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and declares the council of Ariminum without force.
Church History 2.18Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes Athanasius's Letter to the Africans, which rejects appeals to the council of Ariminum, recalls that the Arian leaders were deposed there and that the majority held to Nicaea until they were coerced in Thrace.
Church History 2.19Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Leontius, a self-made eunuch, becomes bishop of Antioch, hides his Arian views by muttering the doxology, promotes Arians such as Aetius, and is opposed by the ascetics Flavian and Diodore, who introduce antiphonal psalm singing and night vigils at the martyrs' shrines.
Church History 2.20Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Eudoxius of Germanicia seizes the see of Antioch after Leontius's death and openly persecutes the orthodox; Basil of Ancyra and Eustathius of Sebasteia report him to Constantius.
Church History 2.21Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Constantius disowns Eudoxius and orders a synod to judge him at Nicaea; Eudoxius has the place fixed there, but an earthquake destroys the city and the synod disperses, which Theodoret interprets as God preventing a counterfeit “creed of Nicaea.”
Church History 2.22Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Constantius moves the synod to Seleucia; Theodoret explains the quarrel over precedence in which Acacius of Caesarea deposed Cyril of Jerusalem, and how at Seleucia Acacius refused to sit with Cyril, walked out, and went with Eudoxius to Constantinople.
Church History 2.23Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At Constantinople Acacius turns Constantius against the bishops from Seleucia, slandering Cyril of Jerusalem; when Eustathius produces an Anomoean statement, Aetius admits authorship and is banished, Eudoxius is forced to disown it, Silvanus argues that rejecting “out of nothing” implies “of the same essence,” and the protesting bishops are expelled while Eudoxius takes Constantinople and Eunomius Cyzicus.
Church History 2.24Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes the letter of the synod of Constantinople (360) to George of Alexandria, reporting the deposition of the deacon Aetius and the six-month suspension of the bishops who refused to sign it.
Church History 2.25Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Eunomius, made bishop of Cyzicus, at first hides his views on Eudoxius's advice, but reveals them when orthodox members of his flock feign agreement; they denounce him to Constantius, Eudoxius warns him to flee, and Eunomius breaks with Eudoxius and founds his own sect.
Church History 2.27Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · After the Persian war Constantius holds a synod at Antioch; Meletius, believed by the Arians to share their views, is chosen bishop by both parties, but when he expounds Prov 8:22 in an orthodox sense and sums up the faith by showing three fingers and then one, he is exiled and replaced by Euzoius, and the orthodox separate and meet in the Old Town.
Church History 2.28Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Eusebius of Samosata refuses to surrender the decree concerning Meletius's election even when Constantius threatens to cut off his hand, offering both hands instead; Constantius, marching against Julian, dies in Cilicia lamenting that he had abandoned his father's faith.
Church History 3.2Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Julian recalls the exiled bishops; Meletius returns to Antioch and Athanasius to Alexandria; Lucifer of Cagliari, sent to reconcile the two orthodox parties at Antioch, instead ordains Paulinus bishop of the Eustathians, prolonging a schism that lasted eighty-five years until Bishop Alexander healed it.
Church History 3.5Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At the pagans' petition Julian orders Athanasius to be killed; Athanasius, saying the storm is a passing cloud, flees by boat up the Nile, then turns back toward his pursuers, tells them Athanasius is near, and hides in Alexandria until Julian's death.
Church History 3.10Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · The son of a pagan priest, taught by a deaconess, flees to Meletius; his father finds him, tortures him with hot spits and locks him up, but the door's bolts fall away at his prayer, and disguised as a woman he escapes to Cyril of Jerusalem; later he converts his father, and Theodoret heard the story from him in old age.
Church History 4.2Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Jovian makes a thirty-year peace with Persia, which supplies his army; he recalls the exiled bishops, restores the churches to the Nicene party, and asks Athanasius for an exact statement of the faith.
Church History 4.4Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Jovian restores a third of Constantine's grain allowance to the churches, promising the whole after the famine, but dies at Dadastana on his way to Constantinople; Theodoret sees his early death as God's rebuke of human unworthiness.
Church History 4.5Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · After Jovian's death the army proclaims Valentinian emperor; he refuses to let the soldiers choose his colleague, makes his brother Valens emperor of the East, and, when Auxentius of Milan dies, charges the bishops to choose a bishop whose life matches his teaching, to whose rebukes the emperor too will submit.
Church History 4.6Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · The bishops leave the choice of Milan's bishop to the people, who are divided until the governor Ambrose, coming to keep order, is acclaimed by both sides; Valentinian has him baptized and ordained at once, thanks God for the choice, and later invites Ambrose's rebukes.
Church History 4.8Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes the synodal letter of the bishops of Illyricum to the bishops of Asia and Phrygia, sending the presbyter Elpidius, condemning those who separate the Holy Spirit from the Father and Son, prescribing that clergy be chosen from the clergy, and naming deposed Arians.
Church History 4.12Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At his baptism Valens swears to Eudoxius to maintain Arianism and to expel its opponents; he exiles Meletius to Armenia, Eusebius of Samosata to Thrace, and Pelagius of Laodicea, who had persuaded his bride to live with him in continence, to Arabia; Eusebius had travelled in disguise ordaining clergy for the churches.
Church History 4.13Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Eusebius of Samosata, ordered into exile in Thrace, leaves secretly by night and, overtaken by his grieving people, urges them to submit to authority but hold the faith; the people of Samosata shun the Arian bishop Eunomius, even pouring away his bathwater, and treat Lucius with contempt, while Lucius exiles Eusebius's clergy, including his nephew Antiochus, who later refused ordination at the hands of a bishop who had communicated with the Arians.
Church History 4.14Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Barses, bishop of Edessa, famous for healing, is exiled by Valens first to Aradus, then to Oxyrhynchus, and finally to a remote frontier fort, while his bed on Aradus continues to heal the sick.
Church History 4.15Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At Edessa the prefect Modestus, moved by a woman hurrying with her infant to share the expected martyrdom, persuades Valens not to massacre the orthodox, but eighty clergy led by Eulogius are exiled; at Antinoë Eulogius prays while Protogenes teaches pagan boys, heals the sick on condition of baptism, and brings converts to Eulogius, and both later become bishops of Edessa and Carrhae.
Church History 4.16Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At Caesarea Basil refuses the prefect's offers and threats; after Valens's son falls ill and dies when baptized by Arians against Basil's condition, Valens attends Basil's church, endows his hospital for lepers, and later, trying to sign Basil's exile, breaks three pens and tears up the decree.
Church History 4.17Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · On Athanasius's death (373) his companion Peter, whom Athanasius had nominated, is chosen bishop of Alexandria with the support of clergy, officials, people, neighbouring bishops, and monks.
Church History 4.20Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Mavia, queen of the Arab tribes, makes peace with Rome on condition that the hermit Moses be her people's bishop; Moses refuses ordination from the Arian Lucius, denouncing his persecutions, and is ordained by orthodox bishops of his choosing.
Church History 4.22Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At Antioch Flavian and Diodore lead the orthodox in exile from the churches, moving their assemblies from the mountainside to the riverbank to the parade ground, Diodore preaching and Flavian supplying arguments, and the ascetic Aphrahat leaves his cell to help them.
Church History 4.27Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret names the bishops who defended orthodoxy under Valens: Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, and Peter of Sebaste in Cappadocia, Optimus and Amphilochius, Damasus of Rome, Ambrose of Milan, and the exiles who wrote to their flocks.
Church History 4.31Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · The monk Isaac warns Valens that he will not return from his war against the Goths unless he restores the orthodox bishops, and Vetranio, bishop of Scythia, also rebukes him.
Church History 5.2Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Gratian recalls the exiled bishops and orders the churches given to those in communion with Damasus of Rome, sending the general Sapor to enforce it; at Antioch a dispute follows.
Church History 5.3Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · At Antioch, when Sapor arrives, Paulinus and Apolinarius both claim communion with Damasus; Theodoret describes Apolinarius's teaching that Christ had no human mind, Flavian exposes both claimants, Meletius proposes that he and Paulinus share the flock with the Gospel on the throne between them, and Sapor gives the churches to Meletius.
Church History 5.4Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Apolinarius openly heads his own sect and ordains Vitalius at Antioch; Meletius and Eusebius of Samosata appoint orthodox bishops in Syria and Cilicia, and Eusebius is killed by a tile thrown by an Arian woman at Doliche, forgiving her as he dies; Gratian moves to Pannonia against the Goths.
Church History 5.6Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodosius dreams that Meletius crowns him; when his victory is confirmed, Gratian makes him emperor of the East, and Theodosius summons the eastern bishops to Constantinople, since only the East had been infected by Arianism.
Church History 5.7Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret lists the eastern bishops who spread Arianism; at the council of Constantinople (381) Theodosius recognizes Meletius from his dream among the hundred and fifty bishops and embraces him.
Church History 5.8Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Meletius confirms Gregory of Nazianzus as bishop of Constantinople and then dies; after Timothy of Alexandria ordains the Cynic Maximus, Gregory resigns for the sake of peace, the council elects Nectarius, deposes Maximus, issues canons, and confirms the Nicene faith; the next summer the bishops decline an invitation to Rome and write a letter.
Church History 5.9Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes the letter of the bishops at Constantinople (382) to Damasus and the western bishops, declining to come to Rome, recounting their sufferings, professing one essence in three perfect hypostases and Christ's complete humanity, and defending the elections of Nectarius, Flavian, and Cyril.
Church History 5.10Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret quotes Damasus's letter to the eastern bishops confirming the deposition of Apolinarius and his disciple Timothy and urging them to hold to the Nicene faith and to Christ's complete humanity and divinity.
Church History 5.11Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Theodoret gives the anathemas of the Roman synod under Damasus (the “Tome of Damasus”) against Sabellians, Arians, Macedonians, Photinians, Apolinarians, and others, affirming the full divinity and equality of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Christ's complete human soul, and baptism into the one God, Father, Son, and Spirit.
Church History 5.13Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Justina, Valentinian II's mother, draws her son to Arianism; when Ambrose refuses to hand over a church, Valentinian surrounds it with soldiers and orders him out, and Ambrose answers that he will not betray the flock and is ready to die inside.
Church History 5.17Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · After Theodosius's anger leads to the massacre of seven thousand at Thessalonica (390), Ambrose bars him from the church; eight months later, at Christmas, Theodosius seeks reconciliation, accepts Ambrose's demand for a law delaying capital sentences thirty days, performs public penance, and learns to stay outside the sanctuary, later praising Ambrose as the only true bishop.
Church History 5.21Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Marcellus of Apamea destroys the great temple of Zeus with the help of a labourer who undermines its columns, after a demon that kept the props from burning is put to flight by water blessed by the bishop; Marcellus later dies a martyr.
Church History 5.23Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · Flavian succeeds Meletius at Antioch; Rome and Alexandria back Paulinus and his irregularly ordained successor Evagrius, but Flavian offers Theodosius to step down if the dispute is only about the see, Theodosius defends him before the western bishops, and an embassy led by Acacius of Beroea finally reconciles Antioch with Rome and Alexandria after seventeen years.
Church History 5.28Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 449-450 · John reforms the clergy of Constantinople and extends his discipline over Thrace, Asia, and Pontus.
Part 1, chapter 30Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Joseph’s brothers coming to buy grain from the brother they sold, his demand for Benjamin, and Simeon’s binding figure the Jews who crucified Christ coming to repent, Paul of Benjamin, and Peter’s power to bind and loose.
Part 2, chapter 2Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · The tabernacle and its materials, measures, curtains, columns, ark, table, lamp, and courts figure the Church, its martyrs, teachers, sacraments, and Christ the priest and victim.
Part 2, chapter 3Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Aaron’s anointing and vestments, ephod, stones, breastpiece, girdle, bells, pomegranates, and inscribed plate, figure Christ the anointed priest, his love, the apostles, the gifts of the Spirit, and the Church of every tongue.
Part 2, chapter 10Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Aaron’s rod that budded and bore nuts confirms Christ’s priesthood against rebels and heretics; the nut, with its shell, kernel, and cross-shaped divisions, figures the world, the Church, the two Testaments, the cross, and baptism.
Part 2, chapter 16Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Joshua’s conquest and division of the land, the inheritance of Zelophehad’s daughters, and his farewell figure Christ’s conquest of vices, his gift of himself as inheritance, his farewell covenant, and the rulers of his Church.
Part 2, chapter 24Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Ruth the Moabite, refused by the nearer kinsman and married by Boaz, figures the Church of the nations rejected by Israel; (chapter 24) Samuel, leader, priest, and prophet, figures Christ, while Eli’s sinful sons, the captured ark, and the demand for a king warn sinful priests and rulers.
Part 2, chapter 30Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Elisha, who clung to Elijah and received a double portion of his spirit with his mantle, figures the disciples who received the Spirit twice, after the resurrection and at Pentecost, and did greater works than Christ.
Part 3, chapter 12Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · Jeremiah’s fishers and hunters are fulfilled in Christ’s call of Peter and Andrew to be fishers of men, with Psalms on the beasts and fish of their catch.
Letter 1 (= Leo, Ep. 22), chapter 4Flavian of Constantinople · 448-449 · Flavian tells Leo that Eutyches has been deposed and excommunicated and asks him to inform the bishops under him.
Letter 2 (= Leo, Ep. 26), chapter 2Flavian of Constantinople · 448-449 · Flavian reports that Eutyches, accused by Eusebius of Dorylaeum and deposed, has not repented but agitates against the church with placards and petitions to the emperor.
Letter 2 (= Leo, Ep. 26), chapter 3Flavian of Constantinople · 448-449 · Flavian denies that Eutyches appealed to Rome at his trial and asks Leo to confirm the deposition by letter, so that the rumored council may be avoided.
Aphy 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · As bishop, Aphy learns that grace has not left him; men now give the help God gave in the desert.
Basil the Great 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Basil ordains a monk deacon and presbyter after testing his obedience.
Gelasius 4Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Gelasius refuses to join the anti-Chalcedonian usurper Theodosius of Jerusalem, even under threat of burning.
Theodore of Pherme 25Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Shown a pillar of fire as the measure of a deacon, Theodore refuses to serve in the diaconate.
Amma Theodora 5Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Theodora describes the true teacher; then demons confess that only humility defeats them.
Isaac, priest of the Cells 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Isaac flees ordination but is found by the Fathers’ donkey and accepts it as God’s will.
Moses 4Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Ordained, Moses is driven from the sanctuary as an Ethiopian to test him, and accepts the humiliation.
Matoes 9Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Matoes and his brother, ordained presbyters against their will, never celebrated the Eucharist, holding ordination to be for the blameless.
Motius 2Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Motius breaks down his door for joy to welcome the brother who had wronged him, and returns to his monastery.
Mark the Egyptian 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Mark refuses to judge a presbyter accused by a demoniac, and sees the presbyter purified by an angel at the altar.
Macarius the Citizen 2Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Macarius tells Pachomius to discipline his own monks but judge no outsiders.
Netras 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · As bishop, Netras became stricter than in the desert, lest worldly comfort destroy the monk in him.
Orsisius 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Orsisius warns that only those fired by God’s fear, like Joseph, can bear authority without dissolving.
Poemen 11Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Poemen leads a presbyter who expelled careless monks to admit his own sin and restore them.
Poemen 78Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Poemen answers heretics’ slander of the archbishop only by feeding them and sending them away.
Peter of Dios 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Peter of Dios, though a priest, humbly stood behind others at prayer.
Spyridon 1Anonymous · compiled ca. 450-500 (sayings 4th-5th century) · Bishop Spyridon finds thieves miraculously bound at his sheepfold, frees them, and gives them a ram.
Life of Syncletica 11Anonymous · 5th–6th century · After her parents died she moved with her blind sister to a family tomb outside the city, gave her property to the poor and had a presbyter cut her hair, becoming a consecrated virgin.
Genesis Question 107Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Joseph's acquisition of Egypt's land was a famine measure, returned for a fifth of the produce; Theodoret notes that pagan priests' land was exempt, an honor Christian priests do not receive.
Exodus Question 36Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The washing of clothes and the terrors of Sinai taught Israel inner purity and fear of God, and the priests that their office demands greater holiness.
Exodus Question 60Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Theodoret explains the tabernacle as a portable sanctuary given to wean Israel from idolatry, an image of creation divided between heaven and earth, and he interprets its furnishings and the priestly vestments, ending with the breastpiece and ephod as figures of contemplation and action.
Exodus Question 63Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The priest's portions signify contemplation and right action, since faith needs works for perfection.
Leviticus Question 3Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The priest's offering was wholly burned to teach total dedication.
Leviticus Question 8Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The anointing of the priest's right ear, hand, and foot prefigures the saving blood and the chrism, obedience, and good works.
Leviticus Question 10Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Priests were forbidden wine only while serving; the episode of the uneaten sin offering teaches that clergy who live on the people's offerings must pray earnestly for them.
Leviticus Question 15Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The leprosy laws figure the diseases of the soul, which the priest must judge.
Leviticus Question 30Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Priests' marriages and bodily integrity were regulated to make them models of chastity and figures of a sound soul.
Numbers Question 18Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · God punished quickly at the law's beginning, yet forgave; giving Moses' spirit to the seventy elders did not diminish his grace, as baptism and ordination do not diminish the minister's.
Numbers Question 20Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The seventy prophesied once only, to show they had received the Spirit; their gift was administration.
Numbers Question 32Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The Reubenites joined Korah because they thought the priesthood belonged to the firstborn, forgetting that Reuben had forfeited his birthright.
Numbers Question 33Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Moses appealed to God against the rebels, interceded for the people, and God swallowed up Dathan and Abiram and burned Korah's company.
Numbers Question 34Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The censers became a memorial of the priesthood's exclusivity; the priests and Levites lived from firstfruits, firstborn and tithes instead of land.
Numbers Question 47Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Joshua, though already filled with the Spirit, received the laying on of hands so that the people would know his appointment came from God; vows of daughters and wives depend on father's or husband's consent.
Deuteronomy Question 44Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Theodoret explains the blessings of Moses on Reuben, Judah and Levi, reading Judah's as pointing to David and Christ and Levi's as teaching priestly detachment.
Joshua Question 18Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Joshua took no allotment for himself, prefiguring Christ's humility and teaching rulers to seek their subjects' good.
Judges Question 26Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · The Danite priesthood was held by Moses' descendant Jonathan, unlawfully, since Moses' line were Levites, not priests, perhaps because of Moses' foreign marriage.
2 Chronicles, question 1Theodoret of Cyrus · ca. 453 · Theodoret's running commentary on 2 Chronicles 10–36 supplements Kings: God divides the kingdom and spares Judah for David's sake; pious kings (Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah) are rewarded and their lapses punished; impious ones (Joram, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah, Ahaz) are disciplined; Manasseh repents; the book was compiled from prophetic sources after the exile.
Canon 1Anonymous · 451 · The canons of earlier synods are confirmed.
Canon 2Anonymous · 451 · Bishops who ordain or appoint church officers for money, those so ordained, and their go-betweens are punished.
Canon 3Anonymous · 451 · Clergy and monks are not to lease estates or manage secular business, except legal guardianships or charitable tasks given by the bishop.
Canon 4Anonymous · 451 · Monks are subject to the bishop, may not found monasteries or leave them for outside affairs without his consent, and may not receive slaves without their masters' consent.
Canon 5Anonymous · 451 · The earlier canons against bishops and clergy moving from city to city are confirmed.
Canon 6Anonymous · 451 · No one is to be ordained without assignment to a particular church, shrine or monastery; such ordinations are void.
Canon 7Anonymous · 451 · Clergy and monks who take up military service or secular office and do not return are anathematized.
Canon 8Anonymous · 451 · Clergy of poorhouses, monasteries and shrines remain under the city bishop's authority.
Canon 9Anonymous · 451 · Disputes among clergy go first to their bishop, those with a bishop to the provincial synod, and those with a metropolitan to the exarch of the diocese or the see of Constantinople.
Canon 10Anonymous · 451 · A cleric may not belong to the churches of two cities at once, and one transferred has no further share in his former church.
Canon 12Anonymous · 451 · Bishops may not use imperial decrees to split a province and create a second metropolitan; cities already so honored keep only the title.
Canon 13Anonymous · 451 · Unknown clergy from elsewhere may not minister without letters of commendation from their bishop.
Canon 14Anonymous · 451 · Readers and singers who may marry are not to take wives of another faith, nor have their children baptized among heretics or married to non-orthodox persons.
Canon 15Anonymous · 451 · Women deacons must be at least forty and carefully examined, and one who later marries is anathematized with her husband.
Canon 17Anonymous · 451 · Rural parishes held for thirty years stay with their bishop; disputes go to the provincial synod and above, and church boundaries follow those of newly founded cities.
Canon 18Anonymous · 451 · Clergy or monks who conspire against bishops or fellow clergy lose their rank.
Canon 19Anonymous · 451 · Provincial synods are to meet twice a year as the canons require, and absent bishops without excuse are to be rebuked.
Canon 20Anonymous · 451 · Clergy may not move to another city's church except as refugees; a bishop who receives another's cleric is excommunicated with him.
Canon 21Anonymous · 451 · Accusers of bishops or clergy are heard only after their own reputation has been examined.
Canon 22Anonymous · 451 · Clergy may not seize their bishop's property after his death.
Canon 23Anonymous · 451 · Clergy and monks who linger in Constantinople without commission and cause trouble are to be expelled by the church's advocate.
Canon 25Anonymous · 451 · Metropolitans must ordain bishops to vacant sees within three months, and the steward keeps the vacant church's revenue intact.
Canon 26Anonymous · 451 · Every bishop is to have a steward from his clergy to manage church property under his direction.
Canon 28Anonymous · 451 · The council confirms Constantinople's privileges as New Rome, second after Rome, and gives its archbishop the ordination of the metropolitans of Pontus, Asia and Thrace.
Canon 29Anonymous · 451 · A bishop may not be reduced to a presbyter: either he is removed altogether for just cause or, if blameless, restored as bishop.
Canon 30Anonymous · 451 · The Egyptian bishops are allowed to delay signing Leo's letter until a new archbishop of Alexandria is ordained, on surety that they stay in Constantinople.