Worship in the early church · Sophia Scriptura

Christian worship and liturgy in general: assemblies, liturgy, hymns, holy days.

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 41.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Sacrifices were offered only in the appointed place and manner.
First Apology 13Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Christians worship the Creator with prayer and thanksgiving, and honor Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, in the second place and the prophetic Spirit in the third.
Sentence 369 (Greek)Anonymous · 2nd-early 3rd cent. · It is not possible to know God without worshipping him.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 17.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Opponents claimed Christians would worship Polycarp instead of Christ, but Christians worship Christ alone.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 17.3Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Christians worship Christ as Son of God and love the martyrs as his disciples.
Diatessaron, section 21Tatian · ca. 160-180
A Plea for the Christians 13Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Christians do not offer animal sacrifices because God, the Creator, needs nothing; the sacrifice he wants is knowledge of him, prayer, and a bloodless, reasonable worship.
A Plea for the Christians 16Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · The beautiful world is an instrument, not the musician: Christians worship its Maker, not the world or the elements.
Apology 24Tertullian · ca. 197 · If the gods are not gods, Christians cannot injure religion; even granting them, one may honor the supreme God above subordinates, and to forbid choice of religion is itself irreligion.
Didascalia 2.60 (English)Anonymous · first half of the third century
On Flight in Persecution 14Tertullian · ca. 208–213 · Christians can meet safely by faith and prudence, at night or in small groups, rather than by bribery; the teaching is hard, but those who have received the Paraclete neither flee nor buy off persecution.
On First Principles 1.1.4Origen · ca. 220–230 (Rufinus's translation 398) · Jesus' saying “God is spirit” answered the Samaritan woman's question about holy places: true worship is bound to no bodily place.
PG 12:1067Origen · ca. 220-254 · The Sabbath psalm and the thanksgiving psalm (91 and 99 LXX), and the title of Psalm 33 (LXX), which Origen links with David’s visit to Ahimelech at Nob and the holy bread.
Commentary on John 1.35Origen · ca. 230–248 · Those to whom Christ has come worship God in spirit and truth, not in types.
Commentary on John 13.85Origen · ca. 230–248 · In the fullness of time, true worship will be in spirit and truth, beyond even the church's present forms.
Commentary on John 13.87Origen · ca. 230–248 · The first “hour” is worship after this bodily life; the second is the growing worship of those being perfected now.
Commentary on John 13.88Origen · ca. 230–248 · Even now one can worship in spirit and truth, while outwardly remaining in the church for the sake of simpler believers.
Commentary on John 13.89Origen · ca. 230–248 · Only the future hour excludes both mountain and Jerusalem.
Commentary on John 13.100Origen · ca. 230–248 · When the hour comes, the worshiper, having become a son, worships the Father with boldness. Next lemma: John 4:22.
Commentary on John 13.109Origen · ca. 230–248 · True worshipers worship the Father in spirit and truth, not in flesh and figures.
Commentary on John 13.110Origen · ca. 230–248 · Those enslaved to the letter worship only in figures and are not true worshipers.
Commentary on John 13.111Origen · ca. 230–248 · A true worshiper may sometimes perform outward rites to lead others to the truth, as Paul did.
Commentary on John 13.113Origen · ca. 230–248 · Now we worship as through a mirror; in the coming hour worship will be face to face.
Homilies on Leviticus 9.1Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The Day of Atonement and the death of Nadab and Abihu teach every believer, as a member of a priestly people, how to approach God's altar with clean garments and the true fire.
Instructions 2.35Commodian · 3rd century (disputed) · Commodian rebukes those who chatter in church during the readings and the eucharistic prayer.
On the Singleness of Clerics 14Anonymous · 3rd cent. (disputed) · In the church's assembly, where the Spirit rules and all are equal in Christ, men and women may rightly worship together, unlike the private cares of a shared household.
Church History 10.3.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · One Spirit united the church in faith and worship: psalms, Scripture reading, and the celebration of the sacred mysteries of Christ's passion.
Testament of Our Lord 1.26Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.27Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.32Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 1.36Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Testament of Our Lord 2.11Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Prophetic Extracts 4.11Eusebius of Caesarea · before 325 (probably ca. 310–320) · Eusebius reads the altar to the Lord in Egypt and the man sent to save the Egyptians as Christ and the worship and martyrs of the Gentile churches, including in Egypt itself.
Divine Institutes 1.6.16Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · The Sibyls say that only the one God, the maker of all, is to be worshipped.
Divine Institutes 3.9.14Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · The wise man answers that he was born to worship and serve God.
Divine Institutes 4.3.10Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Wisdom is honouring the true God with just and pious worship.
Divine Institutes 4.4.3Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Knowing God comes first, worship follows; both flow from one spring.
Divine Institutes 4.28.11Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · Religion is worship of the true God; superstition of false gods.
Divine Institutes 4.29.14Lactantius · ca. 303–311 · God can be worshipped only through the Son.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 53.3Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · The true sacrifice is the pure worship of the heart.
Epitome of the Divine Institutes 53.4Lactantius · ca. 314–320 · God seeks only justice, which is true worship.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.35Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Moses gave a symbolic, bodily worship and confined it to one place, Jerusalem.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.40Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christ taught that true worship is not bound to a place but is in spirit and truth.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.57Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · All nations now worship God at home in spirit and truth with bloodless worship.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.65Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The gospel frees worship from a single place.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.6.66Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · The old law prescribed animal sacrifice; the gospel teaches worship of the mind and virtuous life.
Demonstration of the Gospel 1.10.38Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Christians sacrifice by celebrating the Eucharist, offering thanksgiving and hymns, and consecrating themselves wholly to God in purity and true doctrine.
Demonstration of the Gospel 2.3.33Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah’s prophecy of an altar in Egypt shows worship outside Jerusalem.
Demonstration of the Gospel 3.3.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Jesus rejected animal sacrifice and taught that keeping his commandments and becoming like God is the true sacrifice.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.4.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah foretells a savior-king whom the nations will worship as God because the greater God, the Father, dwells in him.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.4.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah 45:14–16: the nations will worship the one in whom God is.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.4.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Isaiah teaches that the Son is worshiped as God because the Father dwells in him.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.4.18Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · This is fulfilled in the worship of Christ by all nations.
Demonstration of the Gospel 5.4.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 314–324 · Psalm 72 also foretells the Ethiopians worshiping Christ; the next heading introduces Psalm 33 on the creating Word.
Theophany 3.15Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 3.77Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Theophany 4.23Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Book 2, lines 276–300Juvencus · ca. 330 · Jesus reveals the woman's five husbands; true worship in Spirit; he declares himself the Christ; she brings the townspeople.
Demonstration 15.6Aphrahat · 337-345 · God never needed sacrifices; he gave them, and the purity laws, as 'statutes that were not good' after the golden calf, to restrain Israel; the prophets show that he requires justice and mercy, and Christ has lifted that heavy yoke.
On Ecclesiastical Theology 2.7.13Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The church worships the Son as God, as he taught.
On Ecclesiastical Theology 2.7.14Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The Son is to be honoured as the Father is honoured.
Oration II Against the Arians 24Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339–346 · Only the true Son is worshipped and has all that is the Father's; the Arian claim that God made the Son alone as a go-between because creation could not bear his direct hand is absurd.
Oration III Against the Arians 6Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339–346 · The Son is the fullness of the Father's Godhead; to name the Father is to imply the Son, so faith, honor, and worship are one, and texts on the “only” God exclude false gods, not the Son.
Canon 19Anonymous · ca. 343–381 · The order of the liturgy: prayers for catechumens and penitents after the sermon, three prayers of the faithful, the kiss of peace, then the offering; only clergy enter the sanctuary.
On the Trinity 2.31Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · Jesus' words “God is spirit” to the Samaritan woman teach that God is not confined to a place, and do not abolish the distinct name and gift of the Holy Spirit.
Homilies on the Psalms 28.5Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-378 · Basil explains Ps 29:6–11: Christ is the “unicorn” as having the one power of the Father; God's voice divides the fire of judgment into light and burning, makes the desert fruitful, prepares the “deer” (the saints) and uncovers the thickets of sin; he rebukes chatter in church, and reads the flood as baptism.
Commentary on Romans 1:9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster explains that Paul serves God in spirit through the gospel rather than through the ceremonies of the law, and that his prayers for the Romans are meant to awaken their love.
Commentary on Romans 9:5Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Ambrosiaster lists Israel’s privileges, lost by rejecting the Saviour, and argues at length that “God over all, blessed for ever” refers to Christ, who is worshipped as God with the Father as one God.
On the Destruction of Jerusalem 1.46Anonymous · ca. 370 · Herod's will is read in the amphitheater at Jericho, the army acclaims Archelaus, and Herod is buried with great pomp at Herodium.
Question 91, section 6Ambrosiaster · ca. 370–384 · Christ alone is called the true and only Son of God and accepts worship, which belongs to God alone, so he is not a mere man as Photinus held.
Letter to Adelphius 3Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 370 · Athanasius explains that Christians do not worship a creature but the Word made flesh, never dividing the body from the Word, as the leper and others in the Gospels show.
Letter to Adelphius 7Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 370 · Athanasius argues that as Israel rightly worshiped God in the temple, so the Lord's body, his temple, is rightly worshiped with him.
On the Holy Spirit 26.62Basil of Caesarea · ca. 374–375 · The Spirit is called the "place" of the saints—the place of true worship and of the sacrifice of praise—and the saint in turn is a place for the Spirit.
Ancoratus 50.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · A created Son could not be worshiped.
Ancoratus 50.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The Word is worshiped, so he is not created.
Ancoratus 51.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The objection: worshiping Christ's body is worshiping a creature.
Ancoratus 51.2Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The king's purple is honored together with the king.
Ancoratus 51.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Christ is worshiped together with his body.
Ancoratus 51.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · Christ is worshiped with his buried and risen body.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 64.8.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · A created God could not be worshiped.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 64.8.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Worship belongs to the Creator, not a creature.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 64.8.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · If one creature is worshiped, all could be.
On Virgins 3.3Ambrose · ca. 377 · Virgins should seldom pay visits and should speak little, especially in church; Ambrose cites Rebecca, Rachel, and Mary, a pagan boy who endured a burn in silence during Alexander’s sacrifice, and frogs that fell silent at a bishop’s command.
On the Christian Faith 5.3Ambrose · ca. 378–380 · Ambrose answers the Arian charge that one substance means two gods: Scripture uses plurality for things of different substance, while Father and Son, being of one substance, are one God, to be served and worshiped together.
Chapter 18Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana · ca. 380–414 · Nicetas sums up the Spirit’s works and concludes that he who is confessed in baptism with the Father and the Son must be worshipped with them.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 24.1Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The daily night office begins before cockcrow at the Anastasis.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 24.4Egeria · ca. 381-395 · At the tenth hour comes the lamp-lighting office.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 24.7Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The evening office continues with processions to the Cross.
Letter 102.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Sacrifice is as old as Cain and Abel and is owed only to the true God, who needs nothing; sacrifices are signs of spiritual realities.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The woman, beginning to understand, calls Jesus a prophet and raises the dispute between Jews and Samaritans over the place of worship.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 15.24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · With understanding present, the woman is told to believe: God is spirit and is worshiped not on a mountain or in a temple but in spirit and truth.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 44.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Cast out by the Pharisees, the man is found by Jesus and, his heart now washed, confesses and worships the Son of God.
City of God 10.1Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine opens Book 10 by asking whether the blessed immortals wish worship and sacrifice for themselves or only for God, and defines the worship owed to God alone (latreia).
City of God 10.3Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine describes the true worship of God as the offering of the heart, love, and oneself, and argues that blessed spirits who love us would not wish to be worshipped in God's place.
City of God 10.4Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine argues that sacrifice, unlike other honors, has always been offered only to one held to be God, as with Cain and Abel.
City of God 10.7Augustine of Hippo · 413–426 · Augustine teaches that the holy angels, fellow citizens of the one city of God, wish us to sacrifice only to God, as the law they ministered commands.
Commonitorium 1.61–90Orientius of Auch · ca. 420-450 · God is to be known and worshipped not with sacrifices and costly gifts but with faith and praise, as the psalm says; all that is required is to believe in the one God and call on him.
Cyril, Twelve Anathemas, Anathema VIIIAnonymous · 430–433 · Eighth anathema: Emmanuel receives one worship and one doxology, not a man worshipped alongside the Word.