Mission and the spread of the gospel in the early church

Preaching the gospel to the nations and the spread of the church. Part of The church.

1 Clement 5.7Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Paul preached to the ends of the West and died a martyr.
1 Clement 42.3Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The apostles went out preaching the coming kingdom.
Ascension of Isaiah 3.18Anonymous · late 1st–2nd century
Epistle of the Apostles 30Anonymous · ca. 140-170 · Christ sends the apostles to Israel and the Gentiles in every quarter of the world, promising them his peace, his spirit, and his power.
Epistle of the Apostles 31Anonymous · ca. 140-170 · Christ foretells the call of Saul, called Paul, his preaching to the nations, and his sufferings, and charges the apostles to teach him.
First Apology 40Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Psalm 19 foretells the apostles' preaching; Psalms 1 and 2 teach how to live and foretell the conspiracy against Christ, God's Son.
Martyrdom of Andrew (first Greek martyrdom), chapter 1Anonymous · ca. 150-200 (the Acts); the Martyrdom text is later · After the ascension Peter urges the apostles in Jerusalem to go out into the world as Christ commanded.
Martyrdom of Andrew (first Greek martyrdom), chapter 2Anonymous · ca. 150-200 (the Acts); the Martyrdom text is later · The apostles cast lots for their mission fields, and Bithynia falls to Andrew.
Dialogue with Trypho 11.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The conversion and steadfastness of the Gentiles show that Christ is the new covenant.
Dialogue with Trypho 24.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin invites all to the new Jerusalem; Isaiah foretold that the Gentiles would find God.
Dialogue with Trypho 83.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christ's “rod of power” is the word of repentance sent from Jerusalem to the nations.
Dialogue with Trypho 109.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Micah foretold the conversion of the nations.
Dialogue with Trypho 121.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The nations are blessed in Christ himself (Ps 72:17).
Diatessaron, section 12Tatian · ca. 160-180
Diatessaron, section 15Tatian · ca. 160-180
Diatessaron, section 55Tatian · ca. 160-180
Against Heresies 3.12.6Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The apostles did not adapt their teaching to the Jews' existing beliefs; had they known a higher God, they would have proclaimed him as boldly as they denounced idols.
Against Heresies 3.12.7Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Peter's preaching to Cornelius proclaimed the Son of God, anointed with the Spirit and Judge of all, without any other God; the church keeps this one faith worldwide.
Against Heresies 4.36.2Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · Irenaeus interprets the vineyard parable as the history of God’s dealings with Israel and its handing over to the Church spread through all nations.
Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching 41Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–200
Against the Jews 7Tertullian · ca. 197–207 · The prophesied Christ has already come, for Isaiah's promise that the nations would hear him is fulfilled: his name is believed and reigns among all peoples, far beyond the reach of any earthly empire.
On the Psalms, fragment 10Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 200–235 · On Ps 96:11: the sea and its fullness foretell the gospel reaching the islands, now full of churches.
Pistis Sophia 107Anonymous · 3rd century
Prescription against Heretics 8Tertullian · ca. 203 · “Seek and you will find” was spoken early in Christ's ministry chiefly to the Jews, who had the law and prophets to seek him in; Christians receive the teaching through the apostles.
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.
Fragment 21 on Genesis (Gen. 49, 118)Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-235 · The vine is Christ and the colt bound to it is the calling of the Gentiles, joined to the Lord.
Fragment 26 on Genesis (Gen. 49, 180. ©)Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-235 · Zebulun by the sea foretells the spread of Christ's grace to the Gentiles, as the Gospel says of Galilee of the Gentiles.
Fragment 40 on Genesis (Gen. 49.212)Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-235 · Naphtali too is a type of the Gentile church, as the Gospel's quotation of Isaiah on Galilee shows.
Fragment 41 on Genesis (Gen. 49, 21)Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 202-235 · Naphtali's stem is the Gentile calling, grafted onto the Lord's tree and bearing fruit.
Against Marcion 3.20Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The conversion of the nations, foretold in the Psalms, Isaiah, and Nathan's oracle, is fulfilled in Christ, the son of David through Mary, not in David or Solomon.
Against Marcion 3.21Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The calling of all nations, not merely of proselytes, was foretold for the last days, when the law would go out from Zion and swords be beaten into ploughshares; this is fulfilled in Christ.
Against Marcion 3.22Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The apostles' mission, their break with the synagogue, their persecution, the sign of the cross on believers' foreheads, and the church's pure sacrifice of praise were all foretold by the Creator's prophets.
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 Flight in Persecution 6Tertullian · ca. 208–213 · Christ's command to flee from city to city was given to the apostles for their mission to Israel; once the gospel went to the nations the apostles no longer fled, as Paul's refusal to avoid Jerusalem shows, so the command does not bind Christians now.
On the Resurrection of the Flesh 39Tertullian · ca. 208–212 · The apostles preached the same bodily resurrection the Pharisees believed and the Sadducees denied, and the Athenians mocked Paul precisely because he preached a bodily one.
To Scapula 5Tertullian · 212 · Christians gladly offer themselves to death; persecution cannot destroy them but only spreads the faith, so Scapula should spare Carthage and himself.
On First Principles 4.1.5Origen · ca. 220–230 (Rufinus's translation 398) · The Psalms, Isaiah, Micah, Daniel and Job foretold Christ's grace, birth and victory; the spread of the Gospel by the apostles shows a power beyond human strength.
Fragments on Luke, column 335Origen · ca. 220-254 · Every disciple's mind is a lamp to be set on the lampstand of the church, and the healed Gadarene, sent home, stands for the gentiles to whom Jesus came.
Fragment on Matthew 13:44Origen · ca. 220-254 · The parables of the hidden treasure, the pearl, and the net (Matt 13:44–50) are read as Christ hidden in the Scriptures and the gathering of the nations.
PG 12:1063Origen · ca. 220-254 · The titles “for those who will be changed” (Psalms 59, 68, 44, 79 LXX) as the change of the nations, of Christ in his passion, and of the former people; “for the hidden things” as Christ’s hidden war and victory.
Commentary on John 1.48Origen · ca. 230–248 · Psalm 68 shows that preaching persuades by God's power, not by eloquence.
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 27.12Origen · ca. 233–234 · Christ is food that makes us sons of God, while those who feed on the devil become like serpents; Peter's vision shows that the clean and unclean animals signify kinds of people, all of whom God can cleanse.
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.
Homilies on Numbers 11.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Spiritually, the firstfruits are outstanding believers, like Cornelius, whom angels, apostles, and teachers offer to Christ the high priest from the field of human hearts.
Homilies on Numbers 14.3Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · God turned Balaam, a greedy sorcerer, into a means of making Christ's mysteries known to the nations, putting his word in Balaam's mouth though not in his heart.
Homilies on Numbers 17.6Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The rest of the third oracle is read of Christ: called out of Egypt, ruling as the unicorn, consuming the nations by converting them, resting like a lion on the cross; those who curse him, including Christians whose conduct brings his name into blasphemy, are cursed.
Homilies on Jeremiah 1.12Origen · ca. 240 · Jeremiah literally prophesied against the nations, but in the higher sense the Savior is the prophet to all nations foretold by Moses, still drawing people to salvation by his Spirit.
Homilies on Jeremiah 5.1Origen · ca. 240 · As the apostles turned from the synagogue to the nations, so the prophet, after rebuking Israel, calls the Gentiles to return and be healed, though Paul confesses that Israel too was once foolish and disobedient.
Homilies on Jeremiah 16.1Origen · ca. 240 · The “fishermen” of Jeremiah are the apostles and teachers who draw souls out of the sea of this world by the net of Scripture; the converted soul, transformed, lives on the mountains, where God's “hunters” will later take it.
Homilies on Jeremiah 16.8Origen · ca. 240 · The nations who come “from the end of the earth” renouncing their fathers' idols are the lowly and despised whom God chose, not the world's wise and powerful.
Homilies on Jeremiah 20.5Origen · ca. 240 · According to Origen's Jewish teacher, Jeremiah, mocked whenever he said “Thus says the Lord,” began to say “Hear my words,” which is why the Hebrew book begins “The words of Jeremiah”; Christians likewise sometimes present Christian teaching without naming it to win prejudiced hearers.
Lines 285–308Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · The prophets foretold that the Gentiles would believe in Christ's name; Christians believe for the sake of eternal life, not for this life's passing goods.
Commentary on the Song of Songs 3.204Origen · ca. 240–245 (Rufinus's translation ca. 410) · Christ leaps over the mountains as the gospel swiftly spread through the kingdoms, and as he springs out of the law and the prophets once the veil is removed.
Against Celsus 1.26Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus falsely says the Jews worship angels and practice sorcery; and the swift spread of Christ's teaching, which has transformed many lives, shows that it is from God.
Against Celsus 1.27Origen · ca. 248 · The faith spread worldwide against every power; naturally most converts are simple people, but, as Celsus admits, some are educated.
Against Celsus 1.53Origen · ca. 248 · Jacob's prophecy that rule would not leave Judah until the one came who is the nations' expectation is fulfilled in Christ, in whom the nations now hope.
Against Celsus 1.62Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus does not even know there were twelve apostles; that uneducated fishermen and tax collectors converted the world shows divine power, not human eloquence.
Against Celsus 2.13Origen · ca. 248 · Jesus foretold that his followers would be brought before rulers for his name alone—as Christians uniquely are—that the gospel would reach the whole world, and that Jerusalem would be besieged, all of which came true.
Against Celsus 2.30Origen · ca. 248 · Answering Celsus that the Son of God should have shone like the sun, Origen says he did, for the peace of Augustus's empire prepared the world for the spread of Jesus' teaching.
Against Celsus 2.79Origen · ca. 248 · Origen closes Book 2 by arguing that no mere man could have spread his teaching across the world against all opposition and transformed so many lives, since Christ is the power and wisdom of God.
Against Celsus 3.9Origen · ca. 248 · Against Celsus's claim that Christians would not want everyone to become Christian, Origen points to missionaries who travel through cities and villages without seeking wealth or glory.
Against Celsus 7.21Origen · ca. 248 · The law's promise of wealth and rule is fulfilled spiritually in people like Paul, rich in knowledge, who “lent” the gospel to many nations and ruled them by the Word.
Against Celsus 7.60Origen · ca. 248 · The prophets and apostles, like Plato learning a foreign tongue to help foreigners, spoke plainly so as to reach the multitudes, while their words still hold deeper meanings for those who study them.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 39Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · Persecutions and the preaching of the Gospel to all nations are still to be fully completed before the end, since many peoples have not yet heard it; figuratively, the one advancing to perfection suffers tribulations and false teachings, and is saved by holding to the apostolic tradition.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 66Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · The talents are the measures of understanding of Scripture given to Christ's servants, from the letter to its higher sense; one who can build up souls but hides his gift and will not teach is the servant who buried his talent, and the long delay explains why the apostles lived to old age.
Commentary on Matthew 10.18Origen · ca. 246–248 · Taken figuratively, the saying that a prophet has no honour in his own country fits all the prophets, persecuted by Israel, and Christians who live righteously and are dishonoured by the world.
Commentary on Matthew 10.23Origen · ca. 246–248 · Jesus’ withdrawal after John’s death teaches flight from avoidable persecution, and spiritually signifies the Word’s departure from the Jews to the Gentiles, whom he pities and heals.
Commentary on Matthew 11.16Origen · ca. 246–248 · Jesus withdraws to the districts of Tyre (“constraint”) and Sidon (“hunters”), standing for the Gentiles, and the Canaanite woman (“prepared for humiliation”) comes out of those regions by faith, as the sinner who turns to virtue leaves the regions of evil.
Commentary on Romans 1.13Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Origen resolves the hyperbaton and ellipsis of Rom 1:13–15; Paul's hindrance came from God's dispensation or from Satan; Paul gathers fruit from all as a branch of the true vine, and is debtor to all by the gifts of tongues, wisdom and patience.
Commentary on Romans 8.5Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Calling on the Lord presupposes faith, and since Christ is called upon he is to be prayed to and honored with the Father; preachers speak only by the power of the one who sends them, and their beautiful feet are spiritual, announcing the one good of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which heretics announce but not well.
Commentary on Romans 8.6Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Not all believe the gospel; Origen distinguishes the simple 'sound' of preaching that reaches all from the 'words' of wisdom that reach the learned, explains 'no-nation' as the honor of a people drawn from all nations, and reads Isaiah's boldness as his willingness to die for the truth, while the Jews still seek Christ and do not find him.
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 the Apocalypse 6.1Victorinus of Pettau · late 3rd century · The first seal's white horse is the preaching of the Gospel with the Holy Spirit after Christ's ascension; the other horses are famine, war, and pestilence.
Sang. 5Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · Those who go down to the sea in ships and see God's wonders in the deep are the apostles, who fish men out of the depth of error.
Sang. 9Methodius of Olympus · late 3rd cent. (disputed) · In Psalm 19 day is the apostles and the church, night the prophets and the Law with their dark sayings; after the resurrection the apostles' preaching went out to all the earth.
Against the Nations 2.5Arnobius of Sicca · ca. 297–303 · The rapid spread of Christianity, the conversion of the learned, and the steadfastness of believers under persecution are evidence of its divine origin.
Against the Nations 2.12Arnobius of Sicca · ca. 297–303 · Christ won the nations not by arguments but by mighty works; Arnobius recounts Peter's victory over Simon Magus at Rome.
Church History 2.1.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Thaddaeus healed Abgar and converted Edessa, which has been Christian ever since.
Church History 2.1.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The Ethiopian officer baptized by Philip, the first Gentile convert, is said to have taken the gospel home, fulfilling the psalm.
Church History 2.3.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The gospel spread across the world like sunlight, as the psalm foretold.
Church History 2.16.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Mark is said to have first preached in Egypt and founded the church of Alexandria.
Church History 3.1.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Tradition says the apostles divided the world: Thomas to Parthia, Andrew to Scythia, John to Asia.
Church History 3.4.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paul founded churches from Jerusalem to Illyricum, as his letters and Acts show.
Church History 3.5.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · After the Jewish leaders killed Stephen and the two Jameses and drove out the apostles, the apostles went to all nations as Christ had commanded.
Church History 3.37.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Many disciples gave their goods to the poor and went out as evangelists, carrying the written Gospels.
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 5.10.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Pantaenus went as a missionary as far as India, one of many evangelists of that time.
Recognitions 1.7Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Barnabas preaches in Rome that the Son of God has appeared in Judaea, and Clement begins to follow him.
Recognitions 9.29Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Within seven years of the true Prophet's coming, converts from many nations abandoned their sinful customs, as Thomas reports from Parthia, though their horoscopes remained the same.
Prophetic Extracts 2.2Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius applies Psalm 2 to the plots against Christ, his heavenly kingship on the spiritual Zion, and the spread of the faith to all nations, arguing it cannot fit David.
Prophetic Extracts 2.10Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius applies “their sound has gone out into all the earth” to the apostles' preaching and the sun, bridegroom, and giant of the psalm to Christ.
Prophetic Extracts 2.15Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius notes that “his word will run swiftly” shows the Word as a distinct subsisting reality and foretells the rapid spread of the Gospel.
Prophetic Extracts 4.17Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius notes Isaiah's voice in the wilderness, which John the Baptist applied to himself, as a symbol also of the apostolic preaching to the nations.
Prophetic Extracts 4.30Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius applies Isaiah's deliverer from Zion and the unfailing words in the mouth of his offspring to Christ, the nations' conversion, and the enduring Gospel of the church.
Prophetic Extracts 4.33Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius applies Isaiah's signal for the nations to the apostles' preaching and the one coming from Edom in red garments to Christ, who bore our sins and alone trampled the hostile powers.
Prophetic Extracts 4.35Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius reads Isaiah's “I was found by those who did not seek me… I stretched out my hands to a disobedient people” as the calling of the nations, the rejection of Israel, and a figure of the cross, and closes the work.
Divine Institutes 4.11.7Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · God sent his Son to bring true religion to the gentiles.
Divine Institutes 4.11.8Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Malachi foretold that God's name would be glorified among the gentiles.
Divine Institutes 4.11.10Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Isaiah foretold the gathering of all nations.
Apology for Origen 4.1Pamphilus of Caesarea · ca. 308–310 (Rufinus's Latin about 397) · Pamphilus quotes Origen on the Holy Spirit as unchangeable, never a creature, and always known within the Trinity; on the limits of every creature's knowledge of God; and on the spread of the faith as proof of Christ's divinity.
Preparation for the Gospel 1.3.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · The gospel has spread through the whole world as Christ said.
Preparation for the Gospel 1.3.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · The prophets also foretold the calling of the nations, which Christ's teaching has accomplished.
Preparation for the Gospel 2.5.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Christ, like a sun for souls, brought the whole world out of superstition into true worship.
Preparation for the Gospel 5.1.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · With Christ's coming, churches and teaching spread everywhere, and the demons' oracles died.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 43.5Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · Malachi: God's name will be glorified among the nations.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 43.6Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · Isaiah: God will gather all nations.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 43.7Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · Isaiah: the Father gives the Son as a light to the nations.
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.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.1.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The prophets also foretold good news: the knowledge of God for all nations, the spread of the gospel and churches, and the church’s survival of persecution.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.3.41Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christ after his resurrection commanded that all nations be taught his commandments.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.3.42Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christ’s commandments, not Moses’, were to be taught to the nations, as the apostles recognized at the Jerusalem council.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.4.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The law from Zion is the gospel, which began in Jerusalem and spread to all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel, Book 2, preface 2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Eusebius grants that Christ was promised to Israel but denies that the nations are excluded.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Eusebius will set against Jewish proof-texts the many prophecies promising salvation to the nations through Christ.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Eusebius begins a numbered collection of prophecies about the nations, starting with Genesis.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · God revealed to Abraham the hidden mystery of the blessing of all nations, now fulfilled through the gospel.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The blessing cannot refer to Jewish proselytes, since the nations could not keep the law.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The blessing belongs to those from all nations who come through Christ; next heading: Isaac’s seed.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The psalm foretells that all nations will turn and worship the Lord.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.17Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · All the nations will come and worship the one God; next heading: Psalm 95.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah calls the islands and nations to hear, and appoints the servant as a light to the nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.1.26Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Having shown that the nations share the promises, Eusebius turns to their cause.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Zion will be plowed, but in the last days all nations will stream to the Lord’s mountain; next heading: Zechariah.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah foretells all nations coming to the Lord’s house; next heading: Isaiah 17.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · God will prepare a feast for all nations and wipe away every tear; next heading: Isaiah 43.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.21Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · God calls the ends of the earth to turn and be saved; every knee will bow; next heading: Isaiah 50.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.24Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · A law and light will go out from God to the nations; next heading: Isaiah 59.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.101Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The apostles, trusting God rather than rulers, went to all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.4.45Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The apostles’ mission to Rome, Persia, Armenia, Parthia, Scythia, India, and Britain was beyond human power.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.6.32Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christ's single command to make disciples of all nations was fulfilled at once, spreading laws against idolatry and savagery.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.7.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Jesus filled the disciples with divine power, made them fishers of souls, and sent them to all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.7.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Jesus foretold the worldwide preaching of the gospel, and the disciples believed him because of his works.
Demonstration of the Gospel 4.12.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christ empowered his apostles to preach to all nations the one God, the flight of demons, forgiveness, and one hope of salvation.
Demonstration of the Gospel 6.13.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Micah foretells the nations streaming to the mountain of the Lord.
Demonstration of the Gospel 6.13.20Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Micah’s opening summons to all peoples shows the Lord’s coming was for all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 6.16.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The one sent “after glory” is the pre-existent Word, who through his Jewish disciples won over the nations that had once enslaved Israel.
Demonstration of the Gospel 6.18.49Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The water flowing to the first and last seas is the gospel filling the whole world, as Christ promised.
Demonstration of the Gospel 7.1.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The seraphim's cry foretells that the whole earth will come to know and praise Christ.
Demonstration of the Gospel 8.3.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Countless nations have abandoned their gods and call on the God over all.
Demonstration of the Gospel 9.11.12Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · After Israel’s refusal the gospel went to the nations, who received Christ as lawgiver, fulfilling Psalm 9.
Demonstration of the Gospel 10.7.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Spiritually, the nation chose darkness and grew cold toward God, while the living water of the gospel went out from Jerusalem to all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 10.8.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Psalm 22:26–31 (LXX 21): the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord, and future generations will declare his righteousness.
Demonstration of the Gospel 10.8.107Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Psalm 22:26–28 (LXX 21): the poor will eat, and all nations will turn to the Lord.
Demonstration of the Gospel 10.8.108Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · These verses foretell the calling of the nations after the resurrection, now visibly fulfilled.
On the Incarnation 35.6Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 318–325 · Isaiah 11:10 foretells the nations' hope in the root of Jesse.
On the Paschal Feast 4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337 · Eusebius describes the forty-day fast before Easter, after the example of Moses and Elijah, as preparation for the spiritual crossing to heaven, and Pentecost as the image of the kingdom, its first-fruit loaves foreshadowing the nations offered to God.
Theophany 3.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.75Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.79Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.7Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.16Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.25Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.36Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 5.25Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 5.33Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 5.44Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 5.49Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Book 2, lines 425–450Juvencus · ca. 330 · The harvest and the labourers; the Twelve chosen and sent out with instructions.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 16.7Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · The simultaneous end of idolatry and of national wars fulfilled the prophecies of universal peace; and no one but Christ, after his death, ever made his name known in every tongue, as he foretold.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 16.9Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · Christ alone spread his teaching worldwide, abolished barbarous customs, endured constant persecution and flourished, founded a new nation, turned Egypt from animal worship, gave power over demons, and established bloodless sacrifices.
Demonstration 12.4Aphrahat · 337-345 · Jeremiah's 'painted bird' is the church gathered from many nations; the prophets show God turning to the nations when Israel would not listen.
Demonstration 16.1Aphrahat · 337-345 · The patriarchs and prophets foretold that the nations would be called to God's inheritance; Christ fulfilled Isaiah's vision by bringing them peace and true worship.
Demonstration 16.4Aphrahat · 337-345 · Israel was once written in God's book but was blotted out for its sins, while the nations are now counted; Moses declined to found a new nation because that glory belonged to the Son of God.
Demonstration 16.5Aphrahat · 337-345 · Though Israel was called God's son, the prophets foretold the calling of the nations and a famine of the word for Israel.
Commentary on Matthew 2Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 353–355 · Hilary reads Joseph’s return as a figure of the apostles turning to the Gentiles, interprets John the Baptist’s desert, clothing, food, and preaching, and explains Christ’s baptism as the pattern of ours.
Commentary on Matthew 10Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 353–355 · Hilary expounds the mission discourse: the harvest of the Spirit, the apostles’ equipment, the worthy house as the catholic church, peace given or withheld, the serpent’s prudence, persecution, the sparrows, the sword dividing the five in one house (body, soul, will, sin, unbelief), taking up the cross, and receiving Christ’s messengers.
Homilies on the Psalms 44.4Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-378 · Basil expounds Ps 45:2–7: the beauty of the Word's Godhead seen by the prophet; the grace poured on Christ's lips and on the preachers of the Gospel; the sword of the Word joined to the flesh, whose incarnation is the greatest proof of power; the arrows of the word that wound souls with love; and the throne and scepter of the Son, whom the psalm calls God.
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.
Tractates on the Psalms 13.5Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · "Salvation" is a name of the Lord promised to the nations, as Isaiah, the Psalms, and Simeon show; it is announced to the Gentiles rather than to carnal Israel.
Tractates on the Psalms 59.7Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Measuring the valley of tabernacles, the world, signifies the gathering of the full number of Gentile believers into the church.
Tractates on the Psalms 59.12Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Stretching the shoe into Edom and subjecting the foreigners signify the apostolic preaching reaching all nations.
Tractates on the Psalms 64.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · "All flesh" means all mankind; the nations, misled by idolatry and philosophy, will come to God for forgiveness through Christ, the propitiation.
Tractates on the Psalms 65.18Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The Greek means “make the voice of his praise heard”: God is to be praised by bold public preaching.
Tractates on the Psalms 65.19Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The praise to be made heard is God’s gift of steadfastness to the apostles and martyrs, whose feet carried the gospel everywhere.
Tractates on the Psalms 65.24Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The martyrs’ vows are not animal sacrifices but the offering of themselves and the instruction of others; incense means prayers, rams priests, oxen tamed converts.
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 67.32Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God is the God of the Gentiles too; those who make war against the nations’ salvation and refuse Christ’s peace are to be scattered.
Tractates on the Psalms 67.33Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Egypt’s envoys are those present at Pentecost, and Ethiopia is the eunuch who hastened to baptism; all kingdoms will come to God.
Tractates on the Psalms 119.24Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Though peaceable, the psalmist kept preaching God's word, and the enemies of peace attacked him for it.
Tractates on the Psalms 147.4Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God's word ran swiftly through all the earth with the apostles' preaching, building the heavenly city everywhere from living stones until its fullness is gathered.
Commentary on Galatians 1.21Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Paul went to Syria and Cilicia to preach among the Gentiles.
Commentary on Galatians 2.7Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · The pillars of the church, Peter, James, and John, recognized that the same God had entrusted Paul with the Gentiles as Peter with the Jews, and gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship in one gospel.
Commentary on Philippians 1.15Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Victorinus distinguishes four motives for preaching Christ in Phil 1:15–17: envy and rivalry, good will, love, and hostile contention meant to add to Paul’s sufferings.
Oration 33.8Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory answers mockery of his appearance, rusticity, and foreign origin: all share a common creation and redemption, God’s great servants came from humble places, the apostles were strangers where they preached, and true nobility is the image of God kept by virtue.
Against Auxentius 3Hilary of Poitiers · 364–365 · The apostles spread the Gospel without imperial support and in spite of persecution.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9:21Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul met the Samaritans, who keep only the Pentateuch, on the ground of the law, and the gentiles on the ground of natural reason and their own poets, to lead both to Christ.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 2:15Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Like an unseen fragrance, God is made known through the preaching of Christ, which is a good fragrance to God when Christ is rightly proclaimed.
Commentary on 2 Corinthians 10:16Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul hopes to preach beyond Corinth where Christ is not yet known, not to boast in others' work.
Commentary on Colossians 1:25–26Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul was appointed to fulfil among the gentiles the mystery hidden for ages.
Commentary on Colossians 1:27–28Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The revealed mystery is that gentiles share in Christ, the hope of glory, without circumcision.
Commentary on Philippians 1:12–17Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul's imprisonment has advanced the gospel: some preach Christ sincerely from love or zeal for God, others from envy or to stir up trouble for him.
Commentary on Romans 3:29Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · God is God of the gentiles too, as the mixed multitude in the Exodus and the gentile Cornelius show.
Commentary on Romans 11:13Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Paul honours his ministry to the gentiles by hoping to win his fellow Jews, whose return would be life from the dead; the holy root and firstfruits show they can still believe, while gentiles are grafted, against nature, into the good olive.
Commentary on Romans 15:9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The gentiles, saved by mercy alone, praise God, as the psalms and Deuteronomy foretold, joining Israel in one people, as the Jerusalem church accepted in the case of Cornelius.
Letter 60.4Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome contrasts the world's ignorance of God before Christ with the spread of the gospel among all nations.
Letter 107.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome urges Laeta not to despair of her father's conversion, citing the penitent thief, Nebuchadnezzar, the prefect Gracchus who destroyed a Mithraeum, and the spread of Christianity among the nations.
Letter 112.7Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome cites Acts 10–11 and 15 to show that Peter was the first to hold that Gentiles are free from the law.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 31.31.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The preaching of truth shines everywhere like the sun.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.12.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Peter reminded the council that God chose him to bring the gospel to the Gentiles.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 73Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Paul preached where no apostle had been, sent by Christ.
Exposition of Psalm 118 4.28.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ’s horses are the apostles, who stirred the nations to faith.
Exposition of Psalm 118 4.28.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The twelve apostles, a team of horses driven by the Word, carried the fourfold gospel to the whole world.
Exposition of Psalm 118 8.58.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · God’s mercy, like rain, is for all; through the church it has spread to all nations.
Exposition of Psalm 118 11.12.3Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · The holy word of the saints, the preaching of the gospel, has power.
Exposition of Psalm 118 12.23.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Christ the Rising One went first to the Hebrews (the south), then turned to the nations (the north).
Exposition of Psalm 118 12.24.2Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Or “Arise, north wind” calls the sleeping nations to wake; Jews first, then gentiles, are invited to the church.
Exposition of Psalm 118 18.13.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · Zeal passed from the learned but cold Jewish people to the untaught gentiles.
Letter 43.25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine sums up the history and appeals to the worldwide church, foretold in Ps 2:8, as the proof that the Donatists are cut off from Christ's inheritance.
Letter 49.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues from Scripture that the church is spread through all nations and that the Catholics, unlike the Donatists, are in communion with the churches founded by the apostles.
Letter 75.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Jerome recounts from Acts how Peter was first taught that Gentiles are clean and led the Jerusalem council in freeing them from the law.
Letter 93.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Gospel and Acts foretell repentance preached to all nations; Vincentius would make forgiveness depend on finding him in Mauretania.
Letter 93.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Vincentius argues that Christendom is small in the world; Augustine replies that the Gospel is spreading among barbarian nations as Christ foretold.
Letter 102.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Christ appeared when and where he foreknew there would be believers; in earlier ages he foresaw that people would not have believed even his miracles.
Letter 137.16Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The coming of Christ, Pentecost, the spread of the church through persecution, the fall of the temple, the dispersion of the Jews carrying the Scriptures, and the rise of heresies all fulfil prophecy.
Letter 140.43Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The fruit of Christ's forsaking appears in the psalm's turn to praise: he declares God's name to his brothers in the one Catholic Church spread through all nations.
Letter 164.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · If people could believe in the underworld after death, preaching the gospel in this life would be pointless or even harmful, which is absurd.
Letter 197.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine notes the end will not come before the gospel is preached to all nations, but even that would not tell us how much time remains.
Letter 199.46Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the gospel has not yet reached the whole world, citing the many unevangelized peoples of the African interior.
Letter 199.47Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues from God's promise to Abraham and from the Psalms that the Church must spread to every nation and island, including those beyond Roman rule.
Letter 199.48Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine argues that the Church must exist in every nation, though not all in each will believe, so that both the elect and those who hate them are found among all peoples.
Letter 199.51Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine says Paul's words in Colossians describe the gospel's ongoing growth, and since no one knows when it will fill the world, no one knows when the end will come.
Homilies on Matthew 6.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The star was given to leave the Jews without excuse and to call the Gentiles by what was familiar to the magi, as God condescended to the Philistine diviners; God moved the magi without forcing their will; Jerusalem's alarm showed sluggishness and envy.
Homilies on Matthew 14.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ withdraws to Galilee after John’s arrest, teaching us not to rush into danger, fulfils Isaiah’s prophecy of light for Galilee of the Gentiles, and begins preaching only after John has borne his witness.
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 43.5John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Chrysostom defends preaching about Gehenna as a healing, urges his hearers to live so that pagans see the kingdom in them, and insists that marriage, children, work and city life are no obstacle to virtue.
Homilies on Matthew 46.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The tares are not to be uprooted, so that saints may not be killed with them and so that some may still become wheat, though heretics may be restrained; the mustard seed and the leaven show that the small band of disciples will transform the world.
Homilies on Matthew 52.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · After freeing the disciples from the food laws Christ goes toward Gentile territory, where the Canaanite woman, from a nation once cast out, comes out of her borders and pleads for her daughter, and he at first does not answer her.
Homilies on Matthew 75.1John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ foretells the total destruction of the temple and, answering the disciples’ question, warns first of deceivers, the Jewish war and persecutions, assuring them that the gospel will be preached in the whole world before the end of Jerusalem, which the abomination spoken of by Daniel will signal.
Homilies on Matthew 75.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The apostles’ success in preaching amid the Jewish war, universal hatred and every kind of danger, like untrained sailors overcoming a fleet in a storm, shows Christ’s power; Josephus records the calamities Christ foretold.
On the Blessings of the Patriarchs 29Ambrose · ca. 387-392 · Zebulun reaching to Sidon signifies the church's mission to the gentiles, freeing even the accursed from their guilt.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.39.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · The scattering among the nations is the sending of the apostles.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.39.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Like Christ the grain of wheat, the apostles were scattered to sow good seed among the nations.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.50.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Through Israel’s neighbours the knowledge of God reached the nations, as with the Canaanite woman.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.51.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Christ’s mission first to Israel shows his fatherly will not to reject them; when they rejected him, he turned to the gentiles.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.65.1Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · By rejecting wisdom, the Jews caused the gospel to go out to the peoples, so that the Lord reigns among the nations.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 43.65.2Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · Aquila’s “change of place” refers to the passing of the law from Judea to the nations; the scribes sit on Moses’ seat but do not move the burdens.
Explanation of Twelve Psalms 45.21.3Ambrose · ca. 387-397 · God spread the Roman peace so that the apostles could preach everywhere and all might confess the one God.
Tractates on Matthew 4.1Chromatius of Aquileia · ca. 388–407 · Chromatius explains that the apostles are the salt of the earth, formed like salt by water, sun and wind, that is, baptism, Christ and the Spirit, and seasoning the earth of our bodies with wisdom.
On True Religion 3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 389–391 · Augustine argues that what Plato could only hope a divine man might achieve, persuading the peoples to seek the unseen truth, has been accomplished through Christ and the preaching of the Gospel throughout the world.
Sermon 46.33Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Accusations against particular bishops as “traditors” prove nothing; Scripture, from Genesis to the Psalms, everywhere speaks of the Church spread through the world and nowhere of the party of Donatus or of the Church perishing.
Sermon 46.40Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Habakkuk’s “from Africus” means from Jerusalem, which Joshua places to the south, and the “shady mountain” is the Mount of Olives, from which Christ ascended and sent the Gospel to all nations.
Sermon 51.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ’s birth of a woman is known from the Gospel preached to the whole world; the Church, once only Abraham, now holds every kind of authority, gathered by humble fishermen.
Sermon 56.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine explains to the candidates for baptism why they received the Creed before the Lord’s Prayer: one must believe before one can call on God.
Sermon 62.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The centurion, a Gentile, prefigures the nations who believe in Christ without seeing him; the woman who touched his fringe shows that the Church, his body, is pressed by many but touched in faith by few.
Sermon 77.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ reached the Gentiles through his disciples, especially Paul; the healing of the woman with a flow of blood on the way to Jairus’s daughter figures this, since Christ’s deeds are visible words.
Sermon 87.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · No one should delay conversion because the wage is the same, for no one is promised another hour; Christ, now known throughout the world through the Church, has gone out to call workers.
Sermon 89.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The mountain cast into the sea is Christ preached to the Gentiles by the apostles, and the withered tree is the unbelieving Jewish nation.
Sermon 101.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The harvest to which Christ sent the apostles was among the Jews, where the prophets had sown; Paul, “the least,” was sent to sow among the Gentiles, as even the Athenians unwittingly called him a “sower of words.”
Sermon 101.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Samaritan woman’s expectation of the Messiah shows that the patriarchs and prophets had sown, so that the apostles reaped a ripe harvest among the Jews.
Sermon 101.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · After the harvest among the Jews, Christ sows among the Gentiles; the hearers must be good soil, not the road, the rock, or the thorns of worldly cares.
Sermon 101.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To greet (salutare) is to announce salvation (salus), and to greet “on the way” is to preach the Gospel incidentally, while seeking one’s own interests rather than Christ’s.
Sermon 101.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Hearers should hold the salvation preached even by self-seeking preachers, like grapes picked from a hedge of thorns, doing what they say but not what they do, as Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached even in pretense.
Sermon 200.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ the cornerstone joined unlearned shepherds and ungodly Magi; believers must cling to him in unity and seek to win back the heretics.
Sermon 203.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany signify the call of all nations from the four parts of the world by the grace of the Trinity.
Sermon 218.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The title “King of the Jews” in three languages shows that Christ reigns over all nations while remaining king of the Jews, from whom the word went forth.
Sermon 266.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Whether the Philip who baptized the eunuch was deacon or apostle, no laying on of hands is mentioned; and against the claim that after the first Pentecost the Spirit came only through hands, Augustine turns to Cornelius and Peter’s vision of the sheet, which he expounds as the Gentile nations cleansed for the Church.
Homily 10.3 on 1 TimothyJohn Chrysostom · ca. 392-397 · Chrysostom urges Christians to win pagans by their lives, laments that worldliness keeps them away, and argues that sharing punishment with others brings no consolation in hell.
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.
Confessions 13.26Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The creatures of the sea are the sacraments, miracles, and preachers that spread the gospel among the nations.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 22.54Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine explains that the active life bears more spiritual children through simple preaching of Christ crucified, while contemplation, like barren Rachel, must use bodily images, as Rachel used her maidservant Bilhah.
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.
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.
The Harmony of the Gospels 1.49Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–400 · Neither magic nor the disciples' invention can explain the prophecies of the church's worldwide spread, which are now fulfilled.
Questions and Answers to the Orthodox 89Anonymous · 5th century (disputed) · The sheet in Peter's vision held only unclean animals, as his refusal shows; it foreshadowed the reception of the gentiles, whose hearts God cleansed by faith in Christ.
Dialogues 3.17Sulpicius Severus · ca. 404–406 · Sulpicius ends the day and charges Postumianus to spread Martin’s fame: to Paulinus in Campania, to Carthage, Greece, and Egypt.
On the Divination of Demons 13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–411 · Zephaniah and the Psalms foretold that through Christ all nations would turn from their gods to the God of Israel, after first opposing the church.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The apostles were sent to baptize all nations in the one name of Father, Son, and Spirit; as Paul reads 'seed' in the singular of Christ, so the singular 'name' shows that the Trinity is one God.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ sent the apostles to all nations, not to Africa alone; the pride of Babel divided tongues, but Christ's humility and love unite them in the one Church, signified by the dove.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 7.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Jacob's anointed stone signified Christ, and the angels ascending and descending are preachers like Paul, who ascended to the third heaven and descended to give milk to little ones, as a parent stoops to a child's speech.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.30Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The woman, receiving Christ, leaves her water jar, the figure of worldly desire, and runs to proclaim him to the city.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.32Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The prophets and patriarchs sowed, and the apostles reaped the ripe harvest in Judea; from it the whole world was sown for a harvest that angels will reap at the end, and sowers and reapers will rejoice together.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 31.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Not knowing what they said, the Jews prophesied that Christ would go to the Gentiles, as he did through his members, though they could not grasp that he never left the Father's bosom.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 51.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Greeks' wish to see Jesus foreshadows the faith of the nations that would follow his glorification.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 92.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Spirit, poured out at Pentecost, turned Peter's fearful denial into bold witness and turned many enemies of Christ into believers.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 100.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Spirit glorified Christ by making the disciples spiritual and bold, so that his fame spread through the world; such glory benefits the world, not Christ.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 109.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · "Their word" is the word of faith in Christ's resurrection, first entrusted to the apostles to preach; all believers, Paul and the thief included, believe through it.
City of God 18.33Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine dates Jeremiah and Zephaniah and quotes their prophecies of Christ's passion, incarnation, righteous reign, rejection by the Jews, and the calling of the nations.
City of God 18.50Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine describes the spread of the church from Jerusalem through the apostles and their successors amid persecutions, until the persecuting kings themselves submitted to Christ.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.21Jerome · ca. 414-419 · The ancient paths of the prophets lead to Christ the way; when Israel refused to hear the apostles, the gospel was turned to the nations.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 6.1.8Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The Roman peace allowed the gospel to spread.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 6.1.20Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The gods could not stop Christianity.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.41.8Orosius · ca. 417–418 · The invasions brought the nations to Christ.
Chapter 14Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 426-428 · Only those preordained to life believed; the Spirit kept the apostles from some regions; God changes hearts, and all the predestined in every nation will hear and believe.
On the Predestination of the Saints 9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 428/429 · Augustine explains what he wrote against Porphyry about why Christ came so late: he spoke then only of Christ's foreknowledge of who would believe, without discussing whether faith is God's gift, which now must be said: he came where the elect were.
Objection and reply 4Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 431-432 · Not all have been called: many died without hearing the Gospel, the apostles were kept from Asia and Bithynia, the Gospel has not yet reached all nations, and unbaptized infants were never called.
Objection and reply 10Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 431-432 · If some have not heard the Gospel, this is by God's incomprehensible judgment; and God compels no one to sin, but justly abandons those whose sins deserve it.
Letter to Valerian, paragraph 19Eucherius of Lyon · ca. 432 · God united the nations under Rome so that the faith could spread through one people like medicine through one body, and came into the world under Augustus when Rome was at its height.
Part 3, chapter 32Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · The barren woman made a joyful mother is fulfilled in the Church born through baptism among all nations; (chapter 33) Jeremiah’s new covenant, Isaiah’s new things and new name, and the new song are fulfilled in the Christian name and the new man.
Part 3, chapter 35Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · The prophecies of the nations called from east to west, from afar and from Persia, are fulfilled in the Gentile Church, as Christ, Peter, Paul, and the Apocalypse attest.
Part 3, chapter 40Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · The prophecies that all nations will worship God and offer a pure sacrifice will be fulfilled when the gospel has reached all nations, and then the end will come, as the prophets, Christ, and even pagan writers attest; the third part of the book closes.