Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Leviticus 19

There are 63 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 12, footnote 1 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)

Book First.—Visions (HTML)

Vision Second. Again, of His Neglect in Chastising His Talkative Wife and His Lustful Sons, and of His Character. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 70 (In-Text, Margin)

“But as for you, Hermas, remember not the wrongs done to you by your children, nor neglect your sister, that they may be cleansed from their former sins. For they will be instructed with righteous instruction, if you remember not the wrongs they have done you. For the remembrance of wrongs worketh death.[Leviticus 19:18] And you, Hermas, have endured great personal tribulations on account of the transgressions of your house, because you did not attend to them, but were careless and engaged in your wicked transactions. But you are saved, because you did not depart from the living God, and on account of your simplicity and great self-control. These have saved ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 277, footnote 1 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Instructor (HTML)

Book III (HTML)
Chapter III.—Against Men Who Embellish Themselves. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1609 (In-Text, Margin)

... from adultery. Avenging justice follows their audacious deeds, and, dragging on themselves inevitable calamity, they purchase death for a small sum of money. The miserable dealers in these wares sail, bringing a cargo of fornication, like wine or oil; and others, far more wretched, traffic in pleasures as they do in bread and sauce, not heeding the words of Moses, “Do not prostitute thy daughter, to cause her to be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness.”[Leviticus 19:29]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 366, footnote 7 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)

Book II (HTML)
Chapter XVIII.—The Mosaic Law the Fountain of All Ethics, and the Source from Which the Greeks Drew Theirs. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2351 (In-Text, Margin)

... enter the debtor’s house to take the pledge with violence.” But let the former ask it to be brought out, and let not the latter, if he have it, hesitate. And in the harvest the owners are prohibited from appropriating what falls from the handfuls; as also in reaping [the law] enjoins a part to be left unreaped; signally thereby training those who possess to sharing and to large-heartedness, by foregoing of their own to those who are in want, and thus providing means of subsistence for the poor.[Leviticus 19:9] You see how the law proclaims at once the righteousness and goodness of God, who dispenses food to all ungrudgingly. And in the vintage it prohibited the grape-gatherers from going back again on what had been left, and from gathering the fallen ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 366, footnote 8 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)

Book II (HTML)
Chapter XVIII.—The Mosaic Law the Fountain of All Ethics, and the Source from Which the Greeks Drew Theirs. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2352 (In-Text, Margin)

... unreaped; signally thereby training those who possess to sharing and to large-heartedness, by foregoing of their own to those who are in want, and thus providing means of subsistence for the poor. You see how the law proclaims at once the righteousness and goodness of God, who dispenses food to all ungrudgingly. And in the vintage it prohibited the grape-gatherers from going back again on what had been left, and from gathering the fallen grapes; and the same injunctions are given to the olive-gatherers.[Leviticus 19:10] Besides, the tithes of the fruits and of the flocks taught both piety towards the Deity, and not covetously to grasp everything, but to communicate gifts of kindness to one’s neighbours. For it was from these, I reckon, and from the first-fruits ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 367, footnote 4 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)

Book II (HTML)
Chapter XVIII.—The Mosaic Law the Fountain of All Ethics, and the Source from Which the Greeks Drew Theirs. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2357 (In-Text, Margin)

... the wilderness, take it back and restore it; and if the owner be far away, keep it among your own till he return, and restore it.” It teaches a natural communication, that what is found is to be regarded as a deposit, and that we are not to bear malice to an enemy. “The command of the Lord being a fountain of life” truly, “causeth to turn away from the snare of death.” And what? Does it not command us “to love strangers not only as friends and relatives, but as ourselves, both in body and soul?”[Leviticus 19:33-34] Nay more, it honoured the nations, and bears no grudge against those who have done ill. Accordingly it is expressly said, “Thou shalt not abhor an Egyptian, for thou wast a sojourner in Egypt;” designating by the term Egyptian either one of that ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 152, footnote 8 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Apologetic. (HTML)

An Answer to the Jews. (HTML)

The Law Anterior to Moses. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1143 (In-Text, Margin)

... gave to Adam himself and Eve a law, that they were not to eat of the fruit of the tree planted in the midst of paradise; but that, if they did contrariwise, by death they were to die. Which law had continued enough for them, had it been kept. For in this law given to Adam we recognise in embryo all the precepts which afterwards sprouted forth when given through Moses; that is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God from thy whole heart and out of thy whole soul; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself;[Leviticus 19:18] Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery; Thou shalt not steal; False witness thou shalt not utter; Honour thy father and mother; and, That which is another’s, shalt thou not covet. For the primordial law was given to Adam and Eve in ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 407, footnote 10 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book IV. In Which Tertullian Pursues His Argument. Jesus is the Christ of the Creator. He Derives His Proofs from St. Luke's Gospel; That Being the Only Historical Portion of the New Testament Partially Accepted by Marcion. This Book May Also Be Regarded as a Commentary on St. Luke. It Gives Remarkable Proof of Tertullian's Grasp of Scripture, and Proves that “The Old Testament is Not Contrary to the New.“ It Also Abounds in Striking Expositions of Scriptural Passages, Embracing Profound Views of Revelation, in Connection with the Nature of Man. (HTML)
The Judicial Severity of Christ and the Tenderness of the Creator, Asserted in Contradiction to Marcion.  The Cure of the Ten Lepers. Old Testament Analogies. The Kingdom of God Within You; This Teaching Similar to that of Moses. Christ, the Stone Rejected by the Builders. Indications of Severity in the Coming of Christ. Proofs that He is Not the Impassible Being Marcion Imagined. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4864 (In-Text, Margin)

... toucheth you toucheth the apple of my eye.” Such identity of care proceeds from one and the same Being. A trespassing brother He will have rebuked. If one failed in this duty of reproof, he in fact sinned, either because out of hatred he wished his brother to continue in sin, or else spared him from mistaken friendship, although possessing the injunction in Leviticus: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart; thy neighbor thou shalt seriously rebuke, and on his account shalt not contract sin.”[Leviticus 19:17] Nor is it to be wondered at, if He thus teaches who forbids your refusing to bring back even your brother’s cattle, if you find them astray in the road; much more should you bring back your erring brother to himself. He commands you to ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 407, footnote 12 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book IV. In Which Tertullian Pursues His Argument. Jesus is the Christ of the Creator. He Derives His Proofs from St. Luke's Gospel; That Being the Only Historical Portion of the New Testament Partially Accepted by Marcion. This Book May Also Be Regarded as a Commentary on St. Luke. It Gives Remarkable Proof of Tertullian's Grasp of Scripture, and Proves that “The Old Testament is Not Contrary to the New.“ It Also Abounds in Striking Expositions of Scriptural Passages, Embracing Profound Views of Revelation, in Connection with the Nature of Man. (HTML)
The Judicial Severity of Christ and the Tenderness of the Creator, Asserted in Contradiction to Marcion.  The Cure of the Ten Lepers. Old Testament Analogies. The Kingdom of God Within You; This Teaching Similar to that of Moses. Christ, the Stone Rejected by the Builders. Indications of Severity in the Coming of Christ. Proofs that He is Not the Impassible Being Marcion Imagined. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4866 (In-Text, Margin)

... wondered at, if He thus teaches who forbids your refusing to bring back even your brother’s cattle, if you find them astray in the road; much more should you bring back your erring brother to himself. He commands you to forgive your brother, should he trespass against you even “seven times.” But that surely, is a small matter; for with the Creator there is a larger grace, when He sets no limits to forgiveness, indefinitely charging you “not to bear any malice against your brother,”[Leviticus 19:18] and to give not merely to him who asks, but even to him who does not ask. For His will is, not that you should forgive an offence, but forget it. The law about lepers had a profound meaning as respects the forms of the disease itself, and of the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 437, footnote 15 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book V. Wherein Tertullian proves, with respect to St. Paul's epistles, what he had proved in the preceding book with respect to St. Luke's gospel. Far from being at variance, they were in perfect unison with the writings of the Old Testament, and therefore testified that the Creator was the only God, and that the Lord Jesus was his Christ. As in the preceding books, Tertullian supports his argument with profound reasoning, and many happy illustrations of Holy Scripture. (HTML)
Another Instance of Marcion's Tampering with St. Paul's Text. The Fulness of Time, Announced by the Apostle, Foretold by the Prophets.  Mosaic Rites Abrogated by the Creator Himself. Marcion's Tricks About Abraham's Name. The Creator, by His Christ, the Fountain of the Grace and the Liberty Which St. Paul Announced. Marcion's Docetism Refuted. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5366 (In-Text, Margin)

... trust?” —of that faith “which,” he says “worketh by love.” By this saying he also shows that the Creator is the source of that grace. For whether he speaks of the love which is due to God, or that which is due to one’s neighbor—in either case, the Creator’s grace is meant: for it is He who enjoins the first in these words, “Thou shalt love God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength;” and also the second in another passage: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”[Leviticus 19:18] “But he that troubleth you shall have to bear judgment.” From what God? From (Marcion’s) most excellent god? But he does not execute judgment. From the Creator? But neither will He condemn the maintainer of circumcision. Now, if none other but the ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 461, footnote 6 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book V. Wherein Tertullian proves, with respect to St. Paul's epistles, what he had proved in the preceding book with respect to St. Luke's gospel. Far from being at variance, they were in perfect unison with the writings of the Old Testament, and therefore testified that the Creator was the only God, and that the Lord Jesus was his Christ. As in the preceding books, Tertullian supports his argument with profound reasoning, and many happy illustrations of Holy Scripture. (HTML)
The Divine Power Shown in Christ's Incarnation. Meaning of St. Paul's Phrase. Likeness of Sinful Flesh. No Docetism in It. Resurrection of Our Real Bodies. A Wide Chasm Made in the Epistle by Marcion's Erasure. When the Jews are Upbraided by the Apostle for Their Misconduct to God; Inasmuch as that God Was the Creator, a Proof is in Fact Given that St. Paul's God Was the Creator. The Precepts at the End of the Epistle, Which Marcion Allowed, Shown to Be in Exact Accordance with the Creator's Scriptures. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5873 (In-Text, Margin)

... Scriptures, why did you retain these words, as if they too were not the Creator’s words? But come now, let us see without mistake the precepts of your new god: “Abhor that which is evil, and cleave to that which is good.” Well, is the precept different in the Creator’s teaching? “Take away the evil from you, depart from it, and be doing good.” Then again: “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love.” Now is not this of the same import as: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy self?”[Leviticus 19:18] (Again, your apostle says:) “Rejoicing in hope;” that is, of God. So says the Creator’s Psalmist: “It is better to hope in the Lord, than to hope even in princes.” “Patient in tribulation.” You have (this in) the Psalm: “The Lord hear thee in ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 461, footnote 15 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Anti-Marcion. (HTML)

The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)

Book V. Wherein Tertullian proves, with respect to St. Paul's epistles, what he had proved in the preceding book with respect to St. Luke's gospel. Far from being at variance, they were in perfect unison with the writings of the Old Testament, and therefore testified that the Creator was the only God, and that the Lord Jesus was his Christ. As in the preceding books, Tertullian supports his argument with profound reasoning, and many happy illustrations of Holy Scripture. (HTML)
The Divine Power Shown in Christ's Incarnation. Meaning of St. Paul's Phrase. Likeness of Sinful Flesh. No Docetism in It. Resurrection of Our Real Bodies. A Wide Chasm Made in the Epistle by Marcion's Erasure. When the Jews are Upbraided by the Apostle for Their Misconduct to God; Inasmuch as that God Was the Creator, a Proof is in Fact Given that St. Paul's God Was the Creator. The Precepts at the End of the Epistle, Which Marcion Allowed, Shown to Be in Exact Accordance with the Creator's Scriptures. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5882 (In-Text, Margin)

... (this in) the Psalm: “The Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation.” “Bless, and curse not,” (says your apostle.) But what better teacher of this will you find than Him who created all things, and blessed them? “Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.” For against such a disposition Isaiah pronounces a woe. “Recompense to no man evil for evil.” (Like unto which is the Creator’s precept:) “Thou shalt not remember thy brother’s evil against thee.”[Leviticus 19:17-18] (Again:) “Avenge not yourselves;” for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” “Live peaceably with all men.” The retaliation of the law, therefore, permitted not retribution for an injury; it rather repressed any ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 19, footnote 10 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)

On the Apparel of Women. (HTML)

II (HTML)
Perfect Modesty Will Abstain from Whatever Tends to Sin, as Well as from Sin Itself.  Difference Between Trust and Presumption.  If Secure Ourselves, We Must Not Put Temptation in the Way of Others.  We Must Love Our Neighbour as Ourself. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 150 (In-Text, Margin)

... been made the sword which destroys him: so that, albeit you be free from the (actual) crime, you are not free from the odium (attaching to it); as, when a robbery has been committed on some man’s estate, the (actual) crime indeed will not be laid to the owner’s charge, while yet the domain is branded with ignominy, (and) the owner himself aspersed with the infamy. Are we to paint ourselves out that our neighbours may perish? Where, then, is (the command), “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself?”[Leviticus 19:18] “Care not merely about your own (things), but (about your) neighbour’s?” No enunciation of the Holy Spirit ought to be (confined) to the subject immediately in hand merely, and not applied and carried out with a view to every occasion to ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 56, footnote 7 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)

On Exhortation to Chastity. (HTML)

Application of the Subject.  Advantages of Widowhood. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 561 (In-Text, Margin)

... necessary to men; of course continence (is so) too, since prayer is necessary. Prayer proceeds from conscience. If the conscience blush, prayer blushes. It is the spirit which conducts prayer to God. If the spirit be self-accused of a blushing conscience, how will it have the hardihood to conduct prayer to the altar; seeing that, if prayer blush, the holy minister (of prayer) itself is suffused too? For there is a prophetic utterance of the Old Testament: “Holy shall ye be, because God is holy;”[Leviticus 19:2] and again: “With the holy thou shalt be sanctified; and with the innocent man thou shalt be innocent; and with the elect, elect.” For it is our duty so to walk in the Lord’s discipline as is “worthy,” not according to the filthy concupiscences of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 78, footnote 2 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)

On Modesty. (HTML)

Of the Prohibition of Adultery in the Decalogue. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 748 (In-Text, Margin)

... the self-same mother they invoke. What doest thou, gentlest and humanest Discipline? Either to all these will it be thy duty so to be, for “blessed are the peacemakers;” or else, if not to all, it will be thy duty to range thyself on our side. Dost thou once for all condemn the idolater and the murderer, but take the adulterer out from their midst?—(the adulterer), the successor of the idolater, the predecessor of the murderer, the colleague of each? It is “an accepting of person:”[Leviticus 19:15] the more pitiable repentances thou hast left (unpitied) behind!

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 98, footnote 7 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)

On Modesty. (HTML)

From Apostolic Teaching Tertullian Turns to that of Companions of the Apostles, and of the Law. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 964 (In-Text, Margin)

... again resumes the scabs and stains of the flesh, and “is case away outside the city into an unclean place,”—“surrendered,” to wit, “to Satan for the destruction of the flesh,”—and is no more rebuilt in the Church after his ruin. So, too, with regard to lying with a female slave, who had been betrothed to an husband, but not yet redeemed, not yet set free: “provision,” says (the Law), shall be made for her, and she shall not die, because she was not yet manumitted for him for whom she was being kept.[Leviticus 19:20] For flesh not yet manumitted to Christ, for whom it was being kept, used to be contaminated with impunity: so now, after manumission, it no more receives pardon.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 407, footnote 1 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

I (HTML)
Chapter XXVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3117 (In-Text, Margin)

... everything, brings a false accusation against the Jews, when he alleges that “they worship angels, and are addicted to sorcery, in which Moses was their instructor.” Now, in what part of the writings of Moses he found the lawgiver laying down the worship of angels, let him tell, who professes to know all about Christianity and Judaism; and let him show also how sorcery can exist among those who have accepted the Mosaic law, and read the injunction, “Neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them.”[Leviticus 19:31] Moreover, he promises to show afterwards “how it was through ignorance that the Jews were deceived and led into error.” Now, if he had discovered that the ignorance of the Jews regarding Christ was the effect of their not having heard the prophecies ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 539, footnote 8 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

Book IV (HTML)
Chapter XCV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4055 (In-Text, Margin)

The true God, however, neither employs irrational animals, nor any individuals whom chance may offer, to convey a knowledge of the future; but, on the contrary, the most pure and holy of human souls, whom He inspires and endows with prophetic power. And therefore, whatever else in the Mosaic writings may excite our wonder, the following must be considered as fitted to do so: “Ye shall not practise augury, nor observe the flight of birds;”[Leviticus 19:26] and in another place: “For the nations whom the Lord thy God will destroy from before thy face, shall listen to omens and divinations; but as for thee, the Lord thy God has not suffered thee to do so.” And he adds: “A prophet ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 546, footnote 6 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)

Book V (HTML)
Chapter IX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4095 (In-Text, Margin)

... matter, he expressed his opinion that the Jews were induced by the incantations employed in jugglery and sorcery (in consequence of which certain phantoms appear, in obedience to the spells employed by the magicians) to bow down to the angels in heaven, not observing that this was contrary to their law, which said to them who practised such observances: “Regard not them which have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.”[Leviticus 19:31] He ought, therefore, either not to have at all attributed this practice to the Jews, seeing he has observed that they keep their law, and has called them “those who live according to their law;” or if he did attribute it, he ought to have shown that ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 285, footnote 4 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)

To Rogatianus the Presbyter, and the Other Confessors. A.D. 250. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2171 (In-Text, Margin)

... of God, and the members sanctified after confession and made glorious, with a disgraceful and infamous concubinage, associating their beds promiscuously with women’s! In which, even if there be no pollution of their conscience, there is a great guilt in this very thing, that by their offence originate examples for the ruin of others. There ought also to be no contentions and emulations among you, since the Lord left to us His peace, and it is written, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”[Leviticus 19:18] “But if ye bite and find fault with one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.” From abuse and revilings also I entreat you to abstain, for “revilers do not attain the kingdom of God;” and the tongue which has confessed Christ ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 376, footnote 11 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)

To Januarius and Other Numidian Bishops, on Baptizing Heretics. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2822 (In-Text, Margin)

... and a sinner offer for a baptized person? since it is written, “God heareth not a sinner; but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth His will, him He heareth.” Who, moreover, can give what he himself has not? or how can he discharge spiritual functions who himself has lost the Holy Spirit? And therefore he must be baptized and renewed who comes untrained to the Church, that he may be sanctified within by those who are holy, since it is written, “Be ye holy, for I am holy, saith the Lord.”[Leviticus 19:2] So that he who has been seduced into error, and baptized outside of the Church, should lay aside even this very thing in the true and ecclesiastical baptism, viz., that he a man coming to God, while he seeks for a priest, fell by the deceit ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 445, footnote 9 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

On the Lapsed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3288 (In-Text, Margin)

... he is entreating the Lord with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning, who from the first day of his sin daily frequents the bathing-places with women; who, feeding at rich banquets, and puffed out with fuller dainties, belches forth on the next day his indigestions, and does not dispense of his meat and drink so as to aid the necessity of the poor? How does he who walks with joyous and glad step mourn for his death? And although it is written, “Ye shall not mar the figure of your beard,”[Leviticus 19:27] he plucks out his beard, and dresses his hair; and does he now study to please any one who displeases God? Or does she groan and lament who has time to put on the clothing of precious apparel, and not to consider the robe of Christ which she has ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 553, footnote 6 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That wages be quickly paid to the hireling. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4550 (In-Text, Margin)

In Leviticus: “The wages of thy hireling shall not sleep with thee until the morning.”[Leviticus 19:13]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 553, footnote 8 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That a tuft of hair is not to be worn on the head. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4552 (In-Text, Margin)

In Leviticus: “Ye shall not make a tuft from the hair of your head.”[Leviticus 19:27]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 553, footnote 9 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That the beard must not be plucked. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4553 (In-Text, Margin)

“Ye shall not deface the figure of your beard.”[Leviticus 19:27]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 553, footnote 10 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That we must rise when a bishop or a presbyter comes. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4554 (In-Text, Margin)

In Leviticus: “Thou shalt rise up before the face of the elder, and shall honour the person of the presbyter.”[Leviticus 19:32]

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 555, footnote 14 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)

Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
That when a wrong is received, patience is to be maintained, and vengeance to be left to God. (HTML)CCEL Footnote 4603 (In-Text, Margin)

“Say not, I will avenge me of mine enemy; but wait for the Lord, that He may be thy help.”[Leviticus 19:18] Also elsewhere: “To me belongeth vengeance; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Also in Zephaniah: “Wait on me, saith the Lord, in the day of my rising again to witness; because my judgment is to the congregations of the Gentiles, that I may take kings, and pour out upon them my anger.”

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 377, footnote 4 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)

Chapter I.—The Two Ways; The First Commandment (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2373 (In-Text, Margin)

1. There are two ways, one of life and one of death; but a great difference between the two ways. 2. The way of life, then, is this: First, thou shalt love God who made thee; second, thy neighbour as thyself;[Leviticus 19:18] and all things whatsoever thou wouldst should not occur to thee, thou also to another do not do. 3. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless them that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for them that persecute you. For what thank is there, if ye love them that love you? Do not also the Gentiles do the same? But do ye love them that hate you; and ye shall ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 378, footnote 4 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)

The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)

Chapter II.—The Second Commandment: Gross Sin Forbidden (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2401 (In-Text, Margin)

... thou shalt not forswear thyself, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not speak evil, thou shalt bear no grudge. 4. Thou shalt not be double-minded nor double-tongued; for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. 5. Thy speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed. 6. Thou shalt not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. Thou shalt not take evil counsel against thy neighbour. 7. Thou shalt not hate any man; but some thou shalt reprove,[Leviticus 19:17] and concerning some thou shalt pray, and some thou shalt love more than thy own life.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 392, footnote 10 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book I. Concerning the Laity (HTML)

Sec. II.—Commandments to Men. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2558 (In-Text, Margin)

... lasciviousness, which if thou be solicitous about in an indecent manner, thou wilt not act as becomes a good man: for it is not lawful for thee, a believer and a man of God, to permit the hair of thy head to grow long, and to brush it up together, nor to suffer it to spread abroad, nor to puff it up, nor by nice combing and platting to make it curl and shine; since that is contrary to the law, which says thus, in its additional precepts: “You shall not make to yourselves curls and round rasures.”[Leviticus 19:27] Nor may men destroy the hair of their beards, and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the law says: “Ye shall not mar your beards.” For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men. But if ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 392, footnote 11 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book I. Concerning the Laity (HTML)

Sec. II.—Commandments to Men. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2559 (In-Text, Margin)

... thee, a believer and a man of God, to permit the hair of thy head to grow long, and to brush it up together, nor to suffer it to spread abroad, nor to puff it up, nor by nice combing and platting to make it curl and shine; since that is contrary to the law, which says thus, in its additional precepts: “You shall not make to yourselves curls and round rasures.” Nor may men destroy the hair of their beards, and unnaturally change the form of a man. For the law says: “Ye shall not mar your beards.”[Leviticus 19:27] For God the Creator has made this decent for women, but has determined that it is unsuitable for men. But if thou do these things to please men, in contradiction to the law, thou wilt be abominable with God, who created thee after His own image. If, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 397, footnote 8 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)

Sec. II.—On the Character and Teaching of the Bishop (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2605 (In-Text, Margin)

V. A bishop must be no accepter of persons; neither revering nor flattering a rich man contrary to what is right, nor overlooking nor domineering over a poor man. For, says God to Moses, “Thou shalt not accept the person of the rich, nor shalt thou pity a poor man in his cause: for the judgment is the Lord’s.”[Leviticus 19:15] And again: “Thou shalt with exact justice follow that which is right.” Let a bishop be frugal, and contented with a little in his meat and drink, that he may be ever in a sober frame, and disposed to instruct and admonish the ignorant; and let him not be costly in his diet, a pamperer of himself, given to pleasure, or fond of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 409, footnote 3 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)

Sec. IV.—On the Management of the Resources Collected for the Support of the Clergy, and the Relief of the Poor (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2713 (In-Text, Margin)

... them; eating of them, but not eating them all up by yourselves: communicate with those that are in want, and thereby show yourselves unblameable before God. For if you shall consume them by yourselves, you will be reproached by God, who says to such unsatiable people, who alone devour all, “Ye eat up the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool;” and in another passage, “Must you alone live upon the earth”? Upon which account you are commanded in the law, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”[Leviticus 19:18] Now we say these things, not as if you might not partake of the fruits of your labours; for it is written, “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox which treadeth out the corn;” but that you should do it with moderation and righteousness. As, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 415, footnote 5 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)

Sec. V.—On Accusations, and the Treatment of Accusers (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2776 (In-Text, Margin)

... the saw, with its many teeth; but first use a lancet to lay open the wound, that the inward cause whence the pain is derived being drawn out, may keep the body free from pain. But if thou seest any one past repentance, and he is become insensible, then cut off the incurable from the Church with sorrow and lamentation. For: “Take out from among yourselves that wicked person.” And: “Ye shall make the children of Israel to fear.” And again: “Thou shalt not accept the persons of the rich in judgment.”[Leviticus 19:15] And: “Thou shalt not pity a poor man in his cause: for the judgment is the Lord’s.”

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 419, footnote 8 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)

Sec. VI.—The Disputes of the Faithful to Be Settled by the Decisions of the Bishop, and the Faithful to Be Reconciled (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2815 (In-Text, Margin)

... which are at enmity with their brethren by unjust quarrels, even though they should pray three times an hour, it is our duty to compose all our enmity and littleness of soul, that we may be able to pray with a pure and unpolluted heart. For the Lord commanded us to love even our enemies, and by no means to hate our friends. And the lawgiver says: “Thou shalt not hate any man; thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy mind. Thou shalt certainly reprove thy brother, and not incur sin on his account.”[Leviticus 19:17] “Thou shalt not hate an Egyptian, for thou wast a sojourner with him. Thou shalt not hate an Idumæan, for he is thy brother.” And David says: “If I have repaid those that requited me evil.” Wherefore, if thou wilt be a Christian, follow the law of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 424, footnote 8 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)

Sec. VII.—On Assembling in the Church (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2856 (In-Text, Margin)

... Avoid also indecent spectacles: I mean the theatres and the pomps of the heathens; their enchantments, observations of omens, soothsayings, purgations, divinations, observations of birds; their necromancies and invocations. For it is written: “There is no divination in Jacob, nor soothsaying in Israel.” And again: “Divination is iniquity.” And elsewhere: “Ye shall not be soothsayers, and follow observers of omens, nor diviners, nor dealers with familiar spirits. Ye shall not preserve alive wizards.”[Leviticus 19:26] Wherefore Jeremiah exhorts, saying: “Walk ye not according to the ways of the heathen, and be not afraid of the signs of heaven.” So that it is the duty of a believer to avoid the assemblies of the ungodly, of the heathen, and of the Jews, and of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 435, footnote 8 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book IV (HTML)

Sec. I.—On Helping the Poor (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2957 (In-Text, Margin)

X. But if at any time you be forced unwillingly to receive money from any ungodly person, lay it out in wood and coals, that so neither the widow nor the orphan may receive any of it, or be forced to buy with it either meat or drink, which it is unfit to do. For it is reasonable that such gifts of the ungodly should be fuel for the fire, and not food for the pious. And this method is plainly appointed by the law,[Leviticus 19:6] when it calls a sacrifice kept too long a thing not fit to be eaten, and commands it to be consumed with fire. For such oblations are not evil in their nature, but on account of the mind of those that bring them. And this we ordain, that we may not reject those that come to us, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 460, footnote 14 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VI (HTML)

Sec. IV.—Of the Law (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3293 (In-Text, Margin)

XXIII. For He did not take away the law of nature, but confirmed it. For He that said in the law, “The Lord thy God is one Lord;” the same says in the Gospel, “That they might know Thee, the only true God.” And He that said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,”[Leviticus 19:18] says in the Gospel, renewing the same precept, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.” He who then forbade murder, does now forbid causeless anger. He that forbade adultery, does now forbid all unlawful lust. He that forbade stealing, now pronounces him most happy who supplies those that are in want out of his own labours. He ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 465, footnote 11 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VII. Concerning the Christian Life, and the Eucharist, and the Initiation into Christ (HTML)

Sec. I.—On the Two Ways,—The Way of Life and the Way of Death (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3354 (In-Text, Margin)

II. The first way, therefore, is that of life; and is this, which the law also does appoint: “To love the Lord God with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, who is the one and only God, besides whom there is no other;” “and thy neighbour as thyself.”[Leviticus 19:18] And whatsoever thou wouldest not should be done to thee, that do not thou to another.” “Bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you.” “Love your enemies; for what thanks is it if ye love those that love you? for even the Gentiles do the same.” “But do ye love those that hate you, and ye shall have no enemy.” For says He, “Thou shalt not ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 466, footnote 24 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VII. Concerning the Christian Life, and the Eucharist, and the Initiation into Christ (HTML)

Sec. I.—On the Two Ways,—The Way of Life and the Way of Death (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3391 (In-Text, Margin)

IV. Thou shall not speak evil; for says He, “Love not to speak evil, lest thou beest taken away.” Nor shalt thou be mindful of injuries; for “the ways of those that remember injuries are unto death.” Thou shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued; for “a man’s own lips are a strong snare to him,” and “a talkative person shall not be prospered upon earth.” Thy words shall not be vain; for “ye shall give an account of every idle word.”[Leviticus 19:11] Thou shalt not tell lies: for says He, “Thou shalt destroy all those that speak lies.” Thou shalt not be covetous nor rapacious: for says He, “Woe to him that is covetous towards his neighbour with an evil covetousness.”

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 466, footnote 29 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VII. Concerning the Christian Life, and the Eucharist, and the Initiation into Christ (HTML)

Sec. I.—On the Two Ways,—The Way of Life and the Way of Death (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3396 (In-Text, Margin)

V. Thou shalt not be an hypocrite, lest thy “portion be with them.” Thou shalt not be ill-natured nor proud: for “God resisteth the proud.” “Thou shalt not accept persons in judgment; for the judgment is the Lord’s.” “Thou shalt not hate any man; thou shalt surely reprove thy brother, and not become guilty on his account;”[Leviticus 19:17] and, “Reprove a wise man, and he will love thee.” Eschew all evil, and all that is like it: for says He, “Abstain from injustice, and trembling shall not come nigh thee.” Be not soon angry, nor spiteful, nor passionate, nor furious, nor daring, lest thou undergo the fate of Cain, and of Saul, and of Joab: for the first of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 467, footnote 5 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VII. Concerning the Christian Life, and the Eucharist, and the Initiation into Christ (HTML)

Sec. I.—On the Two Ways,—The Way of Life and the Way of Death (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3405 (In-Text, Margin)

VI. Be not a diviner, for that leads to idolatry; for says Samuel, “Divination is sin;” and, “There shall be no divination in Jacob, nor soothsaying in Israel.” Thou shalt not use enchantments or purgations for thy child. Thou shall not be a soothsayer nor a diviner by great or little birds. Nor shalt thou learn wicked arts; for all these things has the law forbidden.[Leviticus 19:26] Be not one that wishes for evil, for thou wilt be led into intolerable sins. Thou shalt not speak obscenely, nor use wanton glances, nor be a drunkard; for from such causes arise whoredoms and adulteries. Be not a lover of money, lest thou “serve mammon instead of God.” Be not vainglorious, nor ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 467, footnote 5 (Image)

Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies

Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)

Book VII. Concerning the Christian Life, and the Eucharist, and the Initiation into Christ (HTML)

Sec. I.—On the Two Ways,—The Way of Life and the Way of Death (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3405 (In-Text, Margin)

VI. Be not a diviner, for that leads to idolatry; for says Samuel, “Divination is sin;” and, “There shall be no divination in Jacob, nor soothsaying in Israel.” Thou shalt not use enchantments or purgations for thy child. Thou shall not be a soothsayer nor a diviner by great or little birds. Nor shalt thou learn wicked arts; for all these things has the law forbidden.[Leviticus 19:31] Be not one that wishes for evil, for thou wilt be led into intolerable sins. Thou shalt not speak obscenely, nor use wanton glances, nor be a drunkard; for from such causes arise whoredoms and adulteries. Be not a lover of money, lest thou “serve mammon instead of God.” Be not vainglorious, nor ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 364, footnote 5 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)

Book VI. (HTML)
Comparison of the Statements of the Four Evangelists Respecting John the Baptist, the Prophecies Regarding Him, His Addresses to the Multitude and to the Pharisees, Etc. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4903 (In-Text, Margin)

... into this about the fruit, we shall find that it is impossible that that which has just begun to be cultivated, even should it not prove fruitless, should bear the first good fruits. The husbandman is content that the tree just coming into cultivation should bear him at first such fruits as it may; afterwards, when he has pruned and trained it according to his art, he will receive, not the fruits it chanced to bear at first, but good fruits. The law itself favours this interpretation, for it says[Leviticus 19:23] that the planter is to wait for three years, having the trees pruned and not eating the fruit of them. “Three years,” it says, “the fruit shall be unpurified to you, and shall not be eaten, but in the fourth year all the fruit shall be holy, for ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 160, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters

The Confessions (HTML)

Having manifested what he was and what he is, he shows the great fruit of his confession; and being about to examine by what method God and the happy life may be found, he enlarges on the nature and power of memory. Then he examines his own acts, thoughts and affections, viewed under the threefold division of temptation; and commemorates the Lord, the one mediator of God and men. (HTML)

He is Forcibly Goaded on by the Love of Praise. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 959 (In-Text, Margin)

... any good I have. Yet I admit that it doth increase it, and, more than that, that dispraise doth diminish it. And when I am disquieted at this misery of mine, an excuse presents itself to me, the value of which Thou, God, knowest, for it renders me uncertain. For since it is not continency alone that Thou hast enjoined upon us, that is, from what things to hold back our love, but righteousness also, that is, upon what to bestow it, and hast wished us to love not Thee only, but also our neighbour,[Leviticus 19:18] —often, when gratified by intelligent praise, I appear to myself to be gratified by the proficiency or towardliness of my neighbour, and again to be sorry for evil in him when I hear him dispraise either that which he understands not, or is good. ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 462, footnote 5 (Image)

Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises

Moral Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)

On Lying. (HTML)

Section 9 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2325 (In-Text, Margin)

... teacheth in the Gospel; whence He charges us not to fear that death: but the mouth which lies kills not the body but the soul. For in these words it is most plainly written, “The mouth that lieth slayeth the soul.” How then can it be said without the greatest perverseness, that to the end one man may have life of the body, it is another man’s duty to incur death of the soul? The love of our neighbor hath its bounds in each man’s love of himself. “Thou shall love,” saith He, “thy neighbor as thyself.”[Leviticus 19:18] How can a man be said to love as himself that man, for whom that he may secure a temporal life, himself loseth life eternal? Since if for his temporal life he lose but his own temporal life, that is not to love as himself, but more than himself: ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 57, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings

Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)

On the Morals of the Catholic Church. (HTML)

On Doing Good to the Soul of Our Neighbor.  Two Parts of Discipline, Restraint and Instruction.  Through Good Conduct We Arrive at the Knowledge of the Truth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 132 (In-Text, Margin)

... Testament. How greatly they err in this is, I think, clearly shown by the passages quoted above on both these duties. But, in a single word, and one which only stark madness can oppose, do they not see the unreasonableness of denying that these very two precepts which they commend are quoted by the Lord in the Gospel from the Old Testament, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind;" and the other, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself?"[Leviticus 19:18] Or if they dare not deny this, from the light of truth being too strong for them, let them deny that these precepts are salutary; let them deny, if they can, that they teach the best morality; let them assert that it is not a duty to love God, or to ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 166, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness. (HTML)

Who May Be Said to Walk Without Spot; Damnable and Venial Sins. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1439 (In-Text, Margin)

... should be holy and without blemish.’ So in his first Epistle to the Corinthians he says ‘Be ye sober, and righteous, and sin not.’ So again in the Epistle of St. Peter it is written: ‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is offered to you: . . . as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: but as He who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written,[Leviticus 19:2] Be ye holy; for I am holy.’ Whence blessed David likewise says: ‘O Lord, who shall sojourn in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest on Thy holy mountain? He that walketh without blame, and worketh righteousness.’ And in another passage: ‘I shall be ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 457, footnote 17 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)

Abstract. (HTML)

A Good Will May Be Small and Weak; An Ample Will, Great Love. Operating and Co-operating Grace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3132 (In-Text, Margin)

... will,—that is, with great love. Of this love the Lord Himself thus speaks: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” In accordance with this, the apostle also says, “He that loveth his neighbour hath fulfilled the law. For this: Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.[Leviticus 19:18] Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” This love the Apostle Peter did not yet possess, when he for fear thrice denied the Lord. “There is no fear in love,” says the Evangelist John in his first Epistle, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 458, footnote 13 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)

Abstract. (HTML)

The Apostle’s Eulogy of Love. Correction to Be Administered with Love. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3145 (In-Text, Margin)

... beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love never faileth.” And a little afterwards he says, “And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Follow after love.” He also says to the Galatians, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”[Leviticus 19:18] This is the same in effect as what he writes to the Romans: “He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” In like manner he says to the Colossians, “And above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness.” And to Timothy he ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 459, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)

Abstract. (HTML)

Love Commended by Our Lord Himself. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3160 (In-Text, Margin)

... the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him: Which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus answered him: The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is one Lord; and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first commandment. And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.[Leviticus 19:18] There is none other commandment greater than these.” Also, in the Gospel according to St. John, He says, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 29, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels

Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. (HTML)

Explanation of the First Part of the Sermon Delivered by Our Lord on the Mount, as Contained in the Fifth Chapter of Matthew. (HTML)

Chapter XXI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 206 (In-Text, Margin)

... restraining them in their luxury. That man therefore rises a certain step, who loves his neighbour, although as yet he hates his enemy. But in the kingdom of Him who came to fulfil the law, not to destroy it, he will bring benevolence and kindness to perfection, when he has carried it out so far as to love an enemy. For the former stage, although it is something, is yet so little that it may be reached even by the publicans as well. And as to what is said in the law, “Thou shalt hate thine enemy,”[Leviticus 19:18] it is not to be understood as the voice of command addressed to a righteous man, but rather as the voice of permission to a weak man.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 317, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies

Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)

Chapter XIII. 34, 35. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1236 (In-Text, Margin)

1. Lord Jesus declares that He is giving His disciples a new commandment, that they should love one another. “A new commandment,” He says, “I give unto you, that ye love one another.” But was not this already commanded in the ancient law of God, where it is written, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”?[Leviticus 19:18] Why, then, is it called a new one by the Lord, when it is proved to be so old? Is it on this account a new commandment, because He hath divested us of the old, and clothed us with the new man? For it is not indeed every kind of love that renews him that listens to it, or rather yields it obedience, but that love regarding which the Lord, in ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 411, footnote 3 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXXXVI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3949 (In-Text, Margin)

... Word, and all this, One Son of God, One Christ, One Saviour; in the form of God equal to the Father, in the form of a servant the Head of the Church. When therefore I hear, “for I am holy,” I recognise His voice: yet do I exclude my own? Surely He speaks inseparably from His body when He speaks thus. Shall I then dare to say, “For I am holy”? If holy as making holy, and as needing none to sanctify, I should be proud and false: but if holy as made holy, as it is written, “Be ye holy, for I am holy,”[Leviticus 19:2] then the body of Christ may venture, and that one Man “crying from the end of the earth,” may venture with his Head, and under his Head, to say, “For I am holy.” For he hath received the grace of holiness, the grace of Baptism, and of remission of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 287, footnote 3 (Image)

Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome

The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)

Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus. (HTML)

To Bishop Basilius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1823 (In-Text, Margin)

... be assailed? If this is because you disregard the helpless and insignificant, remember the plain proclamation of the commandment of the Lord “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones which believe in me, for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.” If however it is the influence of my calumniators which imposes silence upon you, you must listen to the other law which says “Thou shalt not honour the person of the mighty”[Leviticus 19:15] and “Judge righteous judgment” and “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil” and “He that shutteth his eyes from seeing evil and stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood.” You may find innumerable similar passages in holy Scripture, which I have ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 5, page 125, footnote 3 (Image)

Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises; Select Writings and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises. (HTML)

Against Eunomius. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)
He thus proceeds to a magnificent discourse of the interpretation of “Mediator,” “Like,” “Ungenerate,” and “generate,” and of “The likeness and seal of the energy of the Almighty and of His Works.” (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 421 (In-Text, Margin)

... they that raise their frog-like croakings against your heavenly thunder? What then saith the son of thunder? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And what saith he that came after him, that other who had been within the heavenly temple, who in Paradise had been initiated into mysteries unspeakable? “Being,” he says, “the Brightness of His glory, and the express Image of His person.” What, after these have thus spoken, are the words of our ventriloquist[Leviticus 19:31]? “The seal,” quoth he, “of the energy of the Almighty.” He makes Him third after the Father, with that non-existent energy mediating between them, or rather moulded at pleasure by non-existence. God the Word, Who was in the beginning, is “the seal ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 163, footnote 6 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Salvina. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2390 (In-Text, Margin)

... the example of Him who said: “learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart,” the course that I am taking may be attributed to a desire for notoriety. Men may say that I am not so much trying to console a widow in affliction as endeavouring to creep into the imperial court; and that, while I make a pretext of offering comfort, I am really seeking the friendship of the great. Clearly this will not be the opinion of any one who knows the commandment: “thou shalt not respect the person of the poor,”[Leviticus 19:15] a precept given lest under pretext of shewing pity we should judge unjust judgment. For each individual is to be judged not by his personal importance but by the merits of his case. His wealth need not stand in the way of the rich man, if he makes a ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 223, footnote 6 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Julian. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3105 (In-Text, Margin)

... whether you like it or not, you must leave behind you when you die. Rather offer to God that which no enemy can carry off and no tyrant take from you, which will go down with you into the grave, nay on to the kingdom of heaven and the enchantments of paradise. You already build monasteries and support in the various islands of Dalmatia a large number of holy men. But you would do better still if you were to live among these holy men as a holy man yourself. “Be ye holy, saith the Lord, for I am holy.”[Leviticus 19:2] The apostles boasted that they had left all things and had followed the Saviour. We do not read that they left anything except their ship and their nets; yet they were crowned with the approval of Him who was to be their judge. Why? Because in ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 70, footnote 8 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

On the Duties of the Clergy. (HTML)

Book III. (HTML)
Chapter III. The rule given about not seeking one's own gain is established, first by the examples of Christ, next by the meaning of the word, and lastly by the very form and uses of our limbs. Wherefore the writer shows what a crime it is to deprive another of what is useful, since the law of nature as well as the divine law is broken by such wickedness. Further, by its means we also lose that gift which makes us superior to other living creatures; and lastly, through it civil laws are abused and treated with the greatest contempt. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 622 (In-Text, Margin)

20. Why, the very law of the Lord teaches us that this rule must be observed, so that we may never deprive another of anything for the sake of our own advantage. For it says: “Remove not the bounds which thy fathers have set.” It bids a neighbour’s ox to be brought back if found wandering. It orders a thief to be put to death. It forbids the labourer to be deprived of his hire,[Leviticus 19:13] and orders money to be returned without usury. It is a mark of kindly feeling to help him who has nothing, but it is a sign of a hard nature to extort more than one has given. If a man has need of thy assistance because he has not enough of his own wherewith to repay a debt, is it not a wicked thing to ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 103, footnote 2 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

On the Holy Spirit. (HTML)

Book I. (HTML)
Chapter V. The Holy Spirit, since He sanctifies creatures, is neither a creature nor subject to change. He is always good, since He is given by the Father and the Son; neither is He to be numbered amongst such things as are said to fail. He must be acknowledged as the source of goodness. The Spirit of God's mouth, the amender of evils, and Himself good. Lastly, as He is said in Scripture to be good, and is joined to the Father and the Son in baptism, He cannot possibly be denied to be good. He is not, however, said to progress, but to be made perfect in goodness, which distinguishes Him from all creatures. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 886 (In-Text, Margin)

74. Good, then, is the Spirit, but good, not as though acquiring but as imparting goodness. For the Holy Spirit does not receive from creatures but is received; as also He is not sanctified but sanctifies; for the creature is sanctified, but the Holy Spirit sanctifies. In which matter, though the word is used in common, there is a difference in the nature. For both the man who receives and God Who gives sanctity are called holy, as we read: “Be ye holy, for I am holy.”[Leviticus 19:2] Now sanctification and corruption cannot share the same nature, and therefore the grace of the Holy Spirit and the creature cannot be of one substance.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 238, footnote 3 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

Exposition of the Christian Faith. (HTML)

Book II. (HTML)
Chapter XIII. The wicked and dishonourable opinions held by Arians, Sabellians, and Manichæans as concerning their Judge are shortly refuted. Christ's remonstrances regarding the rest of His adversaries being set forth, St. Ambrose expresses a hope of milder judgment for himself. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2058 (In-Text, Margin)

116. “Be good to me.” “Why dost thou ask what thou hast denied [to Me]? I would have had thee to be good, and I said ‘Be ye holy, for I Myself am holy,’[Leviticus 19:2] and thou settest thyself to deny that I am good? Dost thou then look for forgiveness of sins? Nay, none can forgive sins, but God alone. Seeing, then, that to thee I am not the true and only God, I cannot by any means forgive thee thy sins.”

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 56, footnote 8 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)

The Doubtful Letters of Sulpitius Severus. (HTML)

Letter I. A Letter of the Holy Presbyter Severus to His Sister Claudia Concerning the Last Judgment. (HTML)
Chapter IV. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 150 (In-Text, Margin)

... beheld, although thou didst appear to me in a different form from thine own, that these might learn to judge, not according to the flesh, but according to the spirit.” Him the blessed Moses will support in his pleadings, saying: “I Lord, delivered the law to all these, at thy command, that those whom a free faith did not influence, the spoken law at least might restrain: I said, ‘Thou shalt not commit adultery,’ in order that I might prevent the licentiousness of fornication: I said, ‘Thou shalt love[Leviticus 19:18] thy neighbor,’ that affection might abound; I said, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord alone,’ in order that these might not sacrifice to idols, or allow temples to exist; I commanded that false witness should not be spoken, that I might shut the lips of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 262, footnote 1 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)

Book VIII. Of the Spirit of Anger. (HTML)
Chapter XV. How the Old Law would root out anger not only from the actions but from the thoughts. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 943 (In-Text, Margin)

But why should we spend any more time over evangelic and apostolic precepts, when even the old law, which is thought to be some what slack, guards against the same thing, when it says, “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart;” and again, “Be not mindful of the injury of thy citizens;”[Leviticus 19:17-18] and again, “The ways of those who preserve the recollection of wrongs are towards death”? You see there too that wickedness is restrained not only in action, but also in the secret thoughts, since it is commanded that hatred be utterly rooted out from the heart, and not merely retaliation for, but the very recollection of, a wrong done.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 512, footnote 8 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)

Conference XXI. The First Conference of Abbot Theonas. On the Relaxation During the Fifty Days. (HTML)
Chapter XXII. The answer on the way to keep control over abstinence. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2201 (In-Text, Margin)

... who thus deceives himself by unfair considerations, saying: “But vain are the children of men: the children of men are liars upon the balances that they may deceive.” And therefore the blessed Apostle warns us to keep hold of the reins of discretion and not to be attracted by excess and swerve to either side, saying: “Your reasonable service.” And the giver of the law similarly forbids the same thing, saying: “Let the balance be just and the weights equal, the bushel just and the sextarius equal,”[Leviticus 19:36] and Solomon also gives a like opinion on this matter: “Great and small weights and double measures are both unclean before the Lord, and one who uses them shall be hindered in his contrivances.” Further not only in the way in which we have said, but ...

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs