Testimonia — Early Christian Bible Commentary

Date uncertain | Irenaeus of Lyons

3. These things may properly be said to hold good in men, since they are compound by nature, and consist of a body and a soul. But those who affirm that Ennœa was sent forth from God, and Nous from Ennœa, and then, in succession. Logos from these, are, in the first place, to be blamed as having improperly used these productions; and, in the next place, as describing the affections, and passions, and mental tendencies of men, while they [thus prove themselves] ignorant of God. By their manner of speaking, they ascribe those things which apply to men to the Father of all, whom they also declare to be unknown to all; and they deny that He himself made the world, to guard against attributing want of power to Him; while, at the same time, they endow Him with human affections and passions. But if they had known the Scriptures, and been taught by the truth, they would have known, beyond doubt, that God is not as men are; and that His thoughts are not like the thoughts of men. For the Father of all is at a vast distance from those affections and passions which operate among men. He is a simple, uncompounded Being, without diverse members, and altogether like, and equal to Himself, since He is wholly understanding, and wholly spirit, and wholly thought, and wholly intelligence, and wholly reason, and wholly hearing, and wholly seeing, and wholly light, and the whole source of all that is good—even as the religious and pious are wont to speak concerning God.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · Against Heresies, Book 2 / Chap. xiii. — The first order of production maintained by the heretics is altogether indefensible., source paragraph ancl:89d9bc80589351956b5c:p:96 · Original source

1867 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 1.

Editorial footnote · Exhortation to the Heathen, THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / EXHORTATION TO THE HEATHEN. / CHAPTER X. ANSWER TO THE OBJECTION OF THE HEATHEN, THAT IT WAS NOT RIGHT TO ABANDON THE CUSTOMS OF THEIR FATHERS., editorial note Footnote_120 · Original source

1868 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 8.

Editorial footnote · Against Heresies, Book 2 / Chap. xiii. — The first order of production maintained by the heretics is altogether indefensible., editorial note cite_note-58 · Original source

1869 (English edition) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 6, 7, 9.

Editorial footnote · The Stromata (Miscellanies), THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / BOOK II. / CHAPTER XXII. PLATO’S OPINION, THAT THE CHIEF GOOD CONSISTS IN ASSIMILATION TO GOD, AND ITS AGREEMENT WITH SCRIPTURE., editorial note Footnote_247 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 6.

Editorial footnote · Theophilus to Autolycus, Chapter uncertain (transcription heading: Chapter XI.); original source section: Book III, editorial note cite_note-14 · Original source

1885 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 3 to end.

Editorial footnote · Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter XIV.—Righteousness is not placed in Jewish rites, but in the conversion of the heart given in baptism by Christ., editorial note cite_note-32 · Original source

1886 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 6, 7.

Editorial footnote · The Treatises of Cyprian, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Part 11, editorial note cite_note-1 · Original source

1886 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 4.

Editorial footnote · The Treatises of Cyprian, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Part 21, editorial note cite_note-13 · Original source

1886 (historical English edition; transcription printing date uncertain) | Historical editor/translator (individual note author unspecified)

Isa. lv. 5.

Editorial footnote · The Treatises of Cyprian, Chapter uncertain; original source section: Part 21, editorial note cite_note-14 · Original source

Date uncertain | Ambrose of Milan

129. So, then, all do not buy Christ at the same price; Photinus, who buys Him for death, buys Him at one price; the Arian, who buys Him to wrong Him, at another price; the Catholic, who buys Him to glorify Him, at another. But he buys Him without money according to that which is written: “He that hath no money let him buy without price.”

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · On the Holy Spirit, Chapter XVII., source paragraph 15 · Original source

Date uncertain | Ambrose of Milan

128. Or because, “into a malicious soul wisdom does not enter,” the evil disposition of the traitor uttered this, and he valued the suffering of the Lord’s body at a dearer rate, that by the immensity of the price he might draw all away from the faith. And therefore the Lord offered Himself without price, that the necessity of poverty might hold no one back from Christ. The patriarchs sold Him for a small price that all might buy. Isaiah said: “Ye that have no money go buy and drink; eat ye without money,” that he might gain him who had no money. O traitor Judas, thou valuest the ointment of His Passion at three hundred pence, and sellest His Passion for thirty pence. Profuse in valuing, mean in selling.

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · On the Holy Spirit, Chapter XVII., source paragraph 14 · Original source

Date uncertain | Clement of Alexandria

He who addresses those who are present before him, both tests them by time, and judges by his judgment, and from the others distinguishes him who can hear; watching the words, the manners, the habits, the life, the motions, the attitudes, the look, the voice; the road, the rock, the beaten path, the fruitful land, the wooded region, the fertile and fair and cultivated spot, that is able to multiply the seed. But he that speaks through books, consecrates himself before God, crying in writing thus: Not for gain, not for vainglory, not to be vanquished by partiality, nor enslaved by fear, nor elated by pleasure; but only to reap the salvation of those who read, which he does not at present participate in, but awaiting in expectation the recompense which will certainly be rendered by Him, who has promised to bestow on the labourers the reward that is meet. But he who is enrolled in the number of men ought not to desire recompense. For he that vaunts his good services, receives glory as his reward. And he who does any duty for the sake of recompense, is he not held fast in the custom of the world, either as one who has done well, hastening to receive a reward, or as an evildoer avoiding retribution? We must, as far as we can, imitate the Lord. And he will do so, who complies with the will of God, receiving freely, giving freely, and receiving as a worthy reward the citizenship itself. “The hire of an harlot shall not come into the sanctuary,” it is said: accordingly it was forbidden to bring to the altar the price of a dog. And in whomsoever the eye of the soul has been blinded by ill-nurture and teaching, let him advance to the true light, to the truth, which shows by writing the things that are unwritten. “Ye that thirst, go to the waters,” says Esaias. And “drink water from thine own vessels,” Solomon exhorts. Accordingly in “The Laws,” the philosopher who learned from the Hebrews, Plato, commands husbandmen not to irrigate or take water from others, until they have first dug down in their own ground to what is called the virgin soil, and found it dry. For it is right to supply want, but it is not well to support laziness. For Pythagoras said that, “although it be agreeable to reason to take a share of a burden, it is not a duty to take it away.”

Source passage · edition’s verse reference · The Stromata (Miscellanies), THE WRITINGS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. / THE MISCELLANIES. / BOOK I. / CHAPTER I. PREFACE—THE AUTHOR’S OBJECT—THE UTILITY OF WRITTEN COMPOSITIONS., source paragraph 661 · Original source