Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Proverbs 18
There are 51 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 64, footnote 6 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter XII.—Ye are superior to me. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 712 (In-Text, Margin)
May I enjoy you in all respects, if indeed I be worthy! For though I am bound, I am not worthy to be compared to any of you that are at liberty. I know that ye are not puffed up, for ye have Jesus Christ in yourselves. And all the more when I commend you, I know that ye cherish modesty of spirit; as it is written, “The righteous man is his own accuser.”[Proverbs 18:17]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 64, footnote 8 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Magnesians: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter XII.—Ye are superior to me. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 714 (In-Text, Margin)
May I enjoy you in all respects, if indeed I be worthy! For though I am bound, I am not worthy to be compared to one of you that are at liberty. I know that ye are not puffed up, for ye have Jesus in yourselves. And all the more when I commend you, I know that ye cherish modesty of spirit; as it is written, “The righteous man is his own accuser;”[Proverbs 18:17] and again, “Declare thou first thine iniquities, that thou mayest be justified;” and again, “When ye shall have done all things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants;” “for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” For says [the Scripture], “God be merciful to me a ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 69, footnote 4 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Trallians: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter VII.—The same continued. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 770 (In-Text, Margin)
Be on your guard, therefore, against such persons, that ye admit not of a snare for your own souls. And act so that your life shall be without offence to all men, lest ye become as “a snare upon a watch-tower, and as a net which is spread out.” For “he that does not heal himself in his own works, is the brother of him that destroys himself.”[Proverbs 18:9] If, therefore, ye also put away conceit, arrogance, disdain, and haughtiness, it will be your privilege to be inseparably united to God, for “He is nigh unto those that fear Him.” And says He, “Upon whom will I look, but upon him that is humble and quiet, and that trembles at my words?” And do ye also reverence your bishop as ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 130, footnote 8 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
The Martyrdom of Ignatius (HTML)
Chapter IV.—Ignatius writes to the churches. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1418 (In-Text, Margin)
And these things he thus spake, and thus testified, extending his love to Christ so far as one who was about to[Proverbs 18:17] secure heaven through his good confession, and the earnestness of those who joined their prayers to his in regard to his [approaching] conflict; and to give a recompense to the Churches, who came to meet him through their rulers, sending letters of thanksgiving to them, which dropped spiritual grace, along with prayer and exhortation. Wherefore, seeing all men so kindly affected towards him, and fearing lest the love of the brotherhood ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 331, footnote 11 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)
To Antonianus About Cornelius and Novatian. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2477 (In-Text, Margin)
... that if He shall find the repentance of the sinners full and sound, He will then ratify what shall have been here determined by us. If, however, any one should delude us with the pretence of repentance, God, who is not mocked, and who looks into man’s heart, will judge of those things which we have imperfectly looked into, and the Lord will amend the sentence of His servants; while yet, dearest brother, we ought to remember that it is written, “A brother that helpeth a brother shall be exalted;”[Proverbs 18:19] and that the apostle also has said, “Let all of you severally have regard to yourselves, lest ye also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ;” also that, rebuking the haughty, and breaking down their arrogance, he ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 298, footnote 7 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Alexander of Alexandria. (HTML)
Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius. (HTML)
Epistle Catholic. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2462 (In-Text, Margin)
5. By saying these things, and by unfolding the divine Scriptures, we have often refuted them. But they, chameleon-like, changing their sentiments, endeavour to claim for themselves that saying: “When the wicked cometh, then cometh contempt.”[Proverbs 18:3] Before them, indeed, many heresies existed, which, having dared more than was right, have fallen into madness. But these by all their words have attempted to do away with the Godhead of Christ, have made those seem righteous, since they have come nearer to Antichrist. Wherefore they have been excommunicated and anathematized by the Church. And indeed, although we grieve at ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 395, footnote 2 (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. III.—Commandments to Women. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2575 (In-Text, Margin)
... sin thyself, and the affording scandal to others. But if thou yield thyself up, and commit the crime, thou art both guilty of thy own sin, and the cause of the ruin of the other’s soul also. Besides, when thou hast committed lewdness with one man, and beginnest to despair, thou wilt again turn away from thy duty, and follow others, and grow past feeling; as says the divine word: “When a wicked man comes into the depth of evil, he becomes a scorner, and then disgrace and reproach come upon him.”[Proverbs 18:3] For such a woman afterward being wounded, ensnares without restraint the souls of the foolish. Let us learn, therefore, how the divine word triumphs over such women, saying: “I hated a woman who is a snare and net to the heart of men worse than ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 456, footnote 10 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Sec. III.—The Heresies Attacked by the Apostles (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3233 (In-Text, Margin)
... and the remains of thy spirit. I and no other have made her.” For the Lord says: “What God has joined together, let no man put asunder.” For the wife is the partner of life, united by God unto one body from two. But he that divides that again into two which is become one, is the enemy of the creation of God, and the adversary of His providence. In like manner, he that retains her that is corrupted is a transgressor of the law of nature; since “he that retains an adulteress is foolish and impious.”[Proverbs 18:22] For says He, “Cut her off from thy flesh;” for she is not an help, but a snare, bending her mind from thee to another. Nor be ye circumcised in your flesh, but let the circumcision which is of the heart by the Spirit suffice for the faithful; for He ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 59, footnote 10 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Two Epistles Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle. (HTML)
Perniciousness of Idleness; Warning Against the Empty Longing to Be Teachers; Advice About Teaching and the Use of Divine Gifts. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 398 (In-Text, Margin)
... season, it is honourable to him.” And again it says: “Let your speech be seasoned with grace. For it is required of a man to know how to give an answer to every one in season.” For “he that utters whatsoever comes to his mouth, that man produces strife; and he that utters a superfluity of words increases vexation; and he that is hasty with his lips falls into evil. For because of the unruliness of the tongue cometh anger; but the perfect man keeps watch over his tongue, and loves his soul’s life.”[Proverbs 18:6] For these are they “who by good words and fair speeches lead astray the hearts of the simple, and, while offering them blessings, lead them astray.” Let us, therefore, fear the judgment which awaits teachers. For a severe judgment will those ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 638, footnote 1 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
The Decretals. (HTML)
The Epistles of Pope Fabian. (HTML)
To Bishop Hilary. (HTML)
On the question of an accused bishop appealing to the seat of the apostles. (HTML)
... pronounced by another than his own proper judge. It is the duty also of all the faithful to be ready to help the oppressed and the miserable in their distress, in order that by the manifestation of another manner of recompense (vindictæ) they may be able to keep the recompense (vengeance) of God from themselves. For he offers (libat) things prosperous to the Lord who keeps off things adverse from the afflicted. Whence it is written, “A brother aiding a brother shall be exalted.”[Proverbs 18:19] For the Church of God ought to be without spot or wrinkle, and therefore it ought not to be trodden and defiled by certain persons; for it is written, “My dove, my undefiled, is but one.” Hence, again, the Lord says to Moses, “There is a place with ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 274, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Of the punishment and results of man’s first sin, and of the propagation of man without lust. (HTML)
That in Adam’s Sin an Evil Will Preceded the Evil Act. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 734 (In-Text, Margin)
... less; and by aspiring to be self-sufficing, he fell away from Him who truly suffices him. Accordingly, this wicked desire which prompts man to please himself as if he were himself light, and which thus turns him away from that light by which, had he followed it, he would himself have become light,—this wicked desire, I say, already secretly existed in him, and the open sin was but its consequence. For that is true which is written, “Pride goeth before destruction, and before honor is humility;”[Proverbs 18:12] that is to say, secret ruin precedes open ruin, while the former is not counted ruin. For who counts exaltation ruin, though no sooner is the Highest forsaken than a fall is begun? But who does not recognize it as ruin, when there occurs an evident ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 445, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
On Baptism, Against the Donatists. (HTML)
Augustin undertakes the refutation of the arguments which might be derived from the epistle of Cyprian to Jubaianus, to give color to the view that the baptism of Christ could not be conferred by heretics. (HTML)
Chapter 19 (HTML)
... baptism, he yet did not forsake the unity of the Church, and was in the Lord’s vine a branch firmly rooted, bearing fruit, which the heavenly Husbandman purged with the knife of suffering, that it should bear more fruit. But the enemies of this brotherly love, whether they are openly without, or appear to be within, are false Christians, and antichrists. For when they have found an opportunity, they go out, as it is written: "A man wishing to separate himself from his friends, seeketh opportunities."[Proverbs 18:1] But even if occasions are wanting, while they seem to be within, they are severed from that invisible bond of love. Whence St. John says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for had they been of us, they would no doubt have continued ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 579, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)
In which Augustin replies to all the several statements in the letter of Petilianus, as though disputing with an adversary face to face. (HTML)
Chapter 93 (HTML)
... biting, tore him limb from limb. Was not he too a murderer at your suggestion, who, like king Ahab, whom we showed to have been persuaded by a woman, slew a poor and righteous man? So you too do not cease to murder us, who are just and poor (poor, that is, in worldly wealth; for in the grace of God no one of us is poor). For even if you do not murder a man with your hands, you do not cease to do so with your butcherous tongues. For it is written, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue.’[Proverbs 18:21] All, therefore, who have been murdered, you, the instigator of the deed, have slain. Nor indeed does the hand of the butcher glow save at the instigation of your tongue; and that terrible heat of the breast is inflamed by your words to take the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 168, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness. (HTML)
Who May Be Said to Keep the Ways of the Lord; What It is to Decline and Depart from the Ways of the Lord. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1473 (In-Text, Margin)
... arrives at the home where there shall remain no more conflict with death. Well now, it is in our present struggle therewith that we are clothed with the righteousness in which we here live by faith,—clothed with it as it were with a breastplate. Judgment also we take on ourselves; and even when it is against us, we turn it round to our own behalf; for we become our own accusers and condemn our sins: whence that scripture which says, “The righteous man accuses himself at the beginning of his speech.”[Proverbs 18:17] Hence also he says: “I put on righteousness, and clothed myself with judgment like a mantle.” Our vesture at present no doubt is wont to be armour for war rather than garments of peace, while concupiscence has still to be subdued; it will be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 364, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin. (HTML)
Book IV. (HTML)
Figurative Speech Must Not Be Taken Literally. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2491 (In-Text, Margin)
... predicated of the Creator? Then you will have to give us wings of literal bodily substance, since it is not the Creator, but only a human creature, who said, “If I should take my wings like a dove.” Moreover, if the rich man of the parable had a bodily tongue, on the ground of his exclaiming, “Let him cool my tongue,” it would look very much as if our tongue, even while we are in the flesh, itself possessed material hands, because it is written, “Death and life are in the hands of the tongue.”[Proverbs 18:21] I suppose it is even to yourself self-evident, that sin is neither a creature nor a bodily substance; why, then, has it a face? For do you not hear the psalmist say, “There is no peace in my bones, in the face of my sins”?
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 88, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XXXVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 827 (In-Text, Margin)
... abyss, thou findest also mountains; thou findest there but few good, because the mountains are few, the abyss broad; that is, thou findest many living ill after the wrath of God, because they have so worked that they are delivered up to the lusts of their own heart; so now they defend their sins and confess them not; but say, Why? What have I done? Such an one did this, and such an one did that. Now will they even defend what the Divine Word reproves. This is the abyss. Therefore in a certain place[Proverbs 18:3] saith the Scripture (hear this abyss), “The sinner when he cometh unto the depth of sin despiseth.” See, “Thy Judgments are like the great abyss.” But yet not art thou a mountain; not yet art thou in the abyss; fly from the abyss, tend towards the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 120, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XL (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1095 (In-Text, Margin)
... another Psalm, “Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord.” And those who are already “crying out of the deep,” are not absolutely in the lowest deep: the very act of crying is already lifting them up. There are some deeper in the deep, who do not even perceive themselves to be in the deep. Such are those who are proud despisers, not pious entreaters for pardon; not tearful criers for mercy: but such as Scripture thus describes. “The sinner when he comes into the depth of evil despiseth.”[Proverbs 18:3] For he is deeper in the deep, who is not satisfied with being a sinner, unless instead of confessing he even defends his sins. But he who has already “cried out of the deep,” hath already lifted up his head in order that he might “cry out of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 287, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2704 (In-Text, Margin)
... not able, and are praying of God that they may be able, and are saying to Him, “From my necessities lead me forth.” By whom being heard, they give thanks, saying, “Thou hast broken asunder my bonds.” But these provoking men that dwell in the tombs, are of that kind, which in another passage the Scripture pointeth out, saying, “From a dead man, as from one that is not, confession perisheth.” Whence there is this saying, “When a sinner shall have come into the depth of evil things, he despiseth.”[Proverbs 18:3] For it is one thing to long for, another thing to fight against righteousness: one thing from evil to desire to be delivered, another thing one’s evil doings to defend rather than to confess: both kinds nevertheless the Grace of Christ leadeth forth ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 305, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXIX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2962 (In-Text, Margin)
... against? Great is the pit of the depth of human iniquity: every one, if he shall have fallen into it, will fall into the deep. But yet if a man being there placed confesseth his sins to his God, the pit will not shut her mouth upon him: as is written in another Psalm, “From the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord; Lord, hearken unto my voice.” But if there is done in him that which another passage of Scripture saith, “When a sinner shall have come into the depth of evil things, he will despise,”[Proverbs 18:3] upon him the pit hath shut her mouth. Why hath she shut her mouth? Because she hath shut his mouth. He hath lost confession, really dead he is, and there is fulfilled in him that which elsewhere is spoken of, “From a dead man, as from one that is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 340, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3291 (In-Text, Margin)
... hand hath a hand. “The hand Thou hast held of my right hand,” in order that Thou mightest conduct me. For what hath he put hand? For power. For we say that a man hath that in his hand which he hath in his power: just as the devil said to God concerning Job, “Lay to Thine hand, and take away the things which he hath.” What is, lay to Thine hand? Put forth power. The hand of God he hath called the power of God: as hath been written in another place, “death and life are in the hands of the tongue.”[Proverbs 18:21] Hath the tongue hands? But what is, in the hands of the tongue? In the power of the tongue. What is, in the power of the tongue? “Out of thy mouth thou shalt be justified, and out of thy mouth thou shalt be condemned.” “Thou hast held,” therefore, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 554, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5075 (In-Text, Margin)
... work. May they therefore abide, heaven and earth, in their God, who made them, and let them live from Him, confessing unto Him, and praising Him; for if they choose to live from themselves, they shall die, as it is written, “From the dead, as though he were not, confession ceaseth.” But, “The dead praise not Thee, O Lord, neither all they that go down into silence” (ver. 17). For the Scripture in another passage proclaimeth, “The sinner, when he cometh into the abyss of wickednesses, scorneth.”[Proverbs 18:3] “But we, who live, will praise the Lord, from this time forth for evermore” (ver. 18).
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 613, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXXX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5568 (In-Text, Margin)
... For where hath not he God present, whose voice is faithful? Nevertheless, we also ought to understand from what deep we cry unto the Lord. For this mortal life is our deep. Whoever hath understood himself to be in the deep, crieth out, groaneth, sigheth, until he be delivered from the deep, and come unto Him who sitteth above all the deeps.…For they are very deep in the deep, who do not even cry from the deep. The Scripture saith, “When the wicked hath reached the depth of evils, he despiseth.”[Proverbs 18:3] Now consider, brethren, what sort of deep that is, where God is despised. When each man seeth himself overwhelmed with daily sins, pressed down by heaps and weights, so to speak, of iniquities: if it be said unto him, Pray unto God, he laughs. In ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 36, footnote 3 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Treatise Concerning the Christian Priesthood. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 51 (In-Text, Margin)
... more, and the deadly pest of envy has crept into its place: we walk in the midst of snares, and on the edge of battlements; those who are ready to rejoice in our misfortunes, if any should befall us, are many and beset us from many quarters: whereas there is no one to condole with us, or at least the number of such may be easily counted. Beware that we do not by separation incur much ridicule, and damage worse than ridicule. Brother aided by brother is like a strong city, and well fortified kingdom.[Proverbs 18:19] Do not dissolve this genuine intimacy, nor break down the fortress. Such things and more I was continually saying, not indeed that I ever suspected anything of this kind, but supposing you to be entirely sound in your relation towards me, I did it ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 91, footnote 4 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall. (HTML)
Letter I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 224 (In-Text, Margin)
... more will God be able to draw thee up again to thy former confidence; and not only indeed to make you what you were before, but even much happier. Only be not downcast, nor fling away good hopes, nor fall into the condition of the ungodly. For it is not the multitude of sins which is wont to plunge men into despair, but impiety of soul. Therefore Solomon did not make the unqualified statement “ every one who has entered into the den of the wicked, despiseth;” but only “he who is ungodly.”[Proverbs 18:3] For it is such persons only who are affected in this way when they have entered the den of the wicked. And this it is which does not suffer them to look up, and re-ascend to the position from which they fell. For this accursed thought pressing down ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 109, footnote 7 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall. (HTML)
Letter I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 299 (In-Text, Margin)
... present who then threatened the Corinthians, yet Christ is present, who was then speaking through his mouth; and if we continue obdurate, He will not spare us, but will smite us with a mighty blow, both in this world and the next. “Let us then anticipate His countenance by our confession,” let us pour out our hearts before Him. For “thou hast sinned,” we read, “do not add thereto any more, and pray on behalf of thy former deeds;” and again “a righteous man is his own accuser in the first instance.”[Proverbs 18:17] Let us not then tarry for the accuser, but let us seize his place beforehand, and so let us make our judge more merciful by means of our candour. Now I know indeed that you confess your sins, and call yourself miserable above measure; but this is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 150, footnote 6 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Homily Concerning Lowliness of Mind. (HTML)
Concerning Lowliness of Mind. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 423 (In-Text, Margin)
... to God: it is interrupted by no one of human things, since it has its roots from above in the heavens and its recompense. And what says he? “Now I desire that ye should know, brethren.” Seest thou solicitude for his scholars? seest thou a teacher’s carefulness? Hear too of loving affection of scholars towards their teacher, that thou mayest know that this was what made them strong and unconquerable—the being bound together with one another. For if “Brother helped by brother is as a strong city;”[Proverbs 18:19] far more so many bound together by the bonds of love would have entirely repulsed the plotting of the wicked demon. That indeed then Paul was bound up with the disciples, requires not even any demonstration further nor argument for us, since in ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 163, footnote 6 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Instructions to Catechumens. (HTML)
First Instruction. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 516 (In-Text, Margin)
... seal of wisdom upon my lips?” Dost thou not see, each one fearing these falls and bewailing them, both giving advice, and praying that the tongue may have the benefit of much watchfulness? and for what reason, says one, if this organ brings us such ruin, did God originally place it within us? Because indeed, it is of great use, and if we are careful, it is of use only, and brings no ruin. Hear, for example, what he says who spoke the former words, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.”[Proverbs 18:21] And Christ points to the same thing when he says, “By thy words thou shalt be condemned, and by thy words thou shalt be justified.” For the tongue stands in the midst ready for use on either hand. Thou art its master. Thus indeed a sword lies in the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 11, page 546, footnote 2 (Image)
Chrysostom: Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle to the Romans
The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Paul's Epistle to the Romans (HTML)
Homily XXIX on Rom. xv. 14. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1647 (In-Text, Margin)
... not enough, “on my father’s house” also. “For I,” he says, “the shepherd have sinned.” As though he had said, that if they also sinned, I was the person who should suffer the vengeance, as I corrected them not. But since the sin is mine also, it is I who deserve to suffer the vengeance. For wishing to increase the crime he used the name of “Shepherd.” Thus then he stayed the wrath, thus he got the sentence revoked! So great is the power of confession. “For the righteous is his own accuser first.”[Proverbs 18:17] So great is the concern and sympathy of a good Pastor. For his bowels were writhed at their falling, as when one’s own children are killed. And on this ground he begged that the wrath might come upon himself. And in the beginning of the slaughter he ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 12, page 47, footnote 1 (Image)
Chrysostom: Homilies on First and Second Corinthians
Homilies on First Corinthians. (HTML)
Homily VIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 51 (In-Text, Margin)
... lower ropes and draw them up. Nay rather, we need not others only, but ourselves also, that we for our part may fasten on ourselves and ascend, I say not so much as we have descended, but much further, if we be willing: for why? God also helpeth: for He willeth not the death of a sinner so much as his conversion. Let no one then despair; let no one have the feeling of the ungodly; for to them properly belongs this kind of sin: “an ungodly man having come into any depth of evils, makes light of it[Proverbs 18:3].” So that it is not the multitude of men’s sins which causes their despair, but their ungodly mind.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 13, page 97, footnote 2 (Image)
Chrysostom: Homilies on the Epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, Titus, and Philemon
The Commentary and Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on Galatians and Ephesians. (HTML)
Homilies on Ephesians. (HTML)
Ephesians 4:1-3 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 276 (In-Text, Margin)
... soul. A glorious bond is this; with this bond let us bind ourselves together with one another and unto God. This is a bond that bruises not, nor cramps the hands it binds, but it leaves them free, and gives them ample play, and greater courage than those which are at liberty. The strong if he be bound to the weak, will support him, and not suffer him to perish: and if again he be tied to the indolent, him he will rather rouse and animate. “Brother helped by brother,” it is said, “is as a strong city[Proverbs 18:19].” This chain no distance of place can interrupt, neither heaven, nor earth, nor death, nor any thing else, but it is more powerful and strong than all things. This, though it issue from but one soul, is able to embrace numbers at once; for hear what ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 2, page 5, footnote 1 (Image)
Socrates: Church History from A.D. 305-438; Sozomenus: Church History from A.D. 323-425
The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Division begins in the Church from this Controversy; and Alexander Bishop of Alexandria excommunicates Arius and his Adherents. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 136 (In-Text, Margin)
... in part. But if it would be improper to affirm this, and it be admitted that the Father perfectly knows the Son, it is evident that as the Father knows his own Word, so also does the Word know his own Father, whose Word he is. And we, by stating these things, and unfolding the divine Scriptures, have often confuted them: but again as chameleons they were changed, striving to apply to themselves that which is written, ‘When the ungodly has reached the depths of iniquity, he becomes contemptuous.’[Proverbs 18:3] Many heresies have arisen before these, which exceeding all bounds in daring, have lapsed into complete infatuation: but these persons, by attempting in all their discourses to subvert the Divinity of, as having made a nearer approach to Antichrist, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 517, footnote 1 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus. (HTML)
Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
A vindication of the importance of the Hebrew Text of Scripture. (HTML)
... Apollinarius, who, with a laudable zeal though not according to knowledge, attempted to patch up into one garment the rags of all the translations, and to weave a consistent text of Scripture at his own discretion, not according to any sound rule of criticism. The Hebrew Scriptures are used by apostolic men; they are used, as is evident, by the apostles and evangelists. Our Lord and Saviour himself whenever he refers to the Scriptures, takes his quotations from the Hebrew; as in the instance of the words[Proverbs 18:4] “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” and in the words used on the cross itself, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” which is by interpretation “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 519, footnote 4 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus. (HTML)
Jerome's Apology for Himself Against the Books of Rufinus. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Your letter is full of falsehood and violence. I will try not to take the same tone. (HTML)
I have read the letter which you in your wisdom have written me. You inveigh against me, and, though you once praised me and called me true partner and brother, you now write books to summon me to reply to the charges with which you terrify me. I see that in you are fulfilled the words of Solomon: “In the mouth of the foolish is the rod of contumely,” and[Proverbs 18:2] “A fool receives not the words of prudence, unless you say what is passing in his heart;” and the words of Isaiah: “The fool will speak folly, and his heart will understand vain things, to practise iniquity and speak falsehood against the Lord.” For what need was there for you to send me whole volumes full of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 8, footnote 2 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Heathen. (Contra Gentes.) (HTML)
Contra Gentes. (Against the Heathen.) (HTML)
Part I (HTML)
The origin of idolatry is similar. The soul, materialised by forgetting God, and engrossed in earthly things, makes them into gods. The race of men descends into a hopeless depth of delusion and superstition. (HTML)
... so it is with mankind. For they did not keep to idolatry in a simple form, nor did they abide in that with which they began; but the longer they went on in their first condition, the more new superstitions they invented: and, not satiated with the first evils, they again filled themselves. with others, advancing further in utter shamefulness, and surpassing themselves in impiety. But to this the divine Scripture testifies when it says, “When the wicked cometh unto the depth of evils, he despiseth[Proverbs 18:3].”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 71, footnote 3 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Deposition of Arius. (Depositio Arii.) (HTML)
Deposition of Arius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 379 (In-Text, Margin)
5. By these arguments and references to the sacred Scriptures we frequently overthrew them; but they changed like chameleons, and again shifted their ground, striving to bring upon themselves that sentence, “when the wicked falleth into the depth of evils, he despiseth[Proverbs 18:3].” There have been many heresies before them, which, venturing further than they ought, have fallen into folly; but these men by endeavouring in all their cavils to overthrow the Divinity of the Word, have justified the other in comparison of themselves, as approaching nearer to Antichrist. Wherefore they have been excommunicated and anathematized by the Church. ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 151, footnote 4 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Defence of the Nicene Definition. (De Decretis.) (HTML)
De Decretis. (Defence of the Nicene Definition.) (HTML)
Introduction. The complaint of the Arians against the Nicene Council; their fickleness; they are like Jews; their employment of force instead of reason. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 757 (In-Text, Margin)
... disease,’ but they complained still according to their wont, and by calling Him Beelzebub, preferred the suspicion of Atheism, to a recantation of their own wickedness. And though in such sundry times and divers manners the Saviour shewed His Godhead and preached the Father to all men, nevertheless, as kicking against the pricks, they contradicted in the language of folly, and this they did, according to the divine proverb, that by finding occasions, they might separate themselves from the truth[Proverbs 18:1].
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 314, footnote 10 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Discourse I (HTML)
Subject Continued. Objection, that the Son's eternity makes Him coordinate with the Father, introduces the subject of His Divine Sonship, as a second proof of His eternity. The word Son is introduced in a secondary, but is to be understood in real sense. Since all things partake of the Father in partaking of the Son, He is the whole participation of the Father, that is, He is the Son by nature; for to be wholly participated is to beget. (HTML)
... plausibility; but if, while we say that He is eternal, we also confess Him to be Son from the Father, how can He that is begotten be considered brother of Him who begets? And if our faith is in Father and Son, what brotherhood is there between them? and how can the Word be called brother of Him whose Word He is? This is not an objection of men really ignorant, for they comprehend how the truth lies; but it is a Jewish pretence, and that from those who, in Solomon’s words, ‘through desire separate themselves[Proverbs 18:1] ’ from the truth. For the Father and the Son were not generated from some pre-existing origin, that we may account Them brothers, but the Father is the Origin of the Son and begat Him; and the Father is Father, and not born the Son of any; and the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 393, footnote 6 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Discourse III (HTML)
Texts Explained; Seventhly, John xiv. 10. Introduction. The doctrine of the coinherence. The Father and the Son Each whole and perfect God. They are in Each Other, because their Essence is One and the Same. They are Each Perfect and have One Essence, because the Second Person is the Son of the First. Asterius's evasive explanation of the text under review; refuted. Since the Son has all that the Father has, He is His Image; and the Father is the One God, because the Son is in the Father. (HTML)
1. Ario-maniacs, as it appears, having once made up their minds to transgress and revolt from the Truth, are strenuous in appropriating the words of Scripture, ‘When the impious cometh into a depth of evils, he despiseth[Proverbs 18:3];’ for refutation does not stop them, nor perplexity abash them; but, as having ‘a whore’s forehead,’ they ‘refuse to be ashamed ’ before all men in their irreligion. For whereas the passages which they alleged, ‘The Lord created me,’ and ‘Made better than the Angels,’ and ‘First-born,’ and ‘Faithful to Him that made Him ’ have a right sense, and inculcate religiousness towards Christ, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 157, footnote 7 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Abigaus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2306 (In-Text, Margin)
... have striven so much to avoid from my boyhood up as a swelling mind and a stiff neck, things which always provoke against themselves the wrath of God. For I know that my master and Lord and God has said in the lowliness of His flesh: “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart,” and that before this He has sung by the mouth of David: “Lord, remember David and all his gentleness.” Again we read in another passage, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty; and before honour is humility.”[Proverbs 18:12] Do not, then, I implore you, suppose that I have received your letter and have passed it over in silence. Do not, I beseech you, lay to my charge the dishonesty and negligence of which others have been guilty. For why should I, when called on to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 225, footnote 13 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Rusticus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3126 (In-Text, Margin)
... Saul because he neglected to treat the ulcers of pride with the balm of penitence. And Paul wept for the Corinthians who refused to wash out with their tears the stains of fornication. For the same reason Ezekiel swallowed the book where were written within and without song, and lamentation and woe; the song in praise of the righteous, the lamentation over the penitent, and the woe for those of whom it is written, “When the wicked man falleth into the depths of evil, then is he filled with scorn.”[Proverbs 18:3] It is to these that Isaiah alludes when he says: “in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning and to baldness and to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen; and killing sheep, eating flesh” and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 454, footnote 8 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5167 (In-Text, Margin)
... the writer says in the same place: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us?” You cannot explain. You hesitate and are confused. Listen to the same Evangelist telling us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We are then righteous when we confess that we are sinners, and our righteousness depends not upon our own merits, but on the mercy of God, as the Holy Scripture says,[Proverbs 18:17] “The righteous man accuseth himself when he beginneth to speak,” and elsewhere, “Tell thy sins that thou mayest be justified.” “God hath shut up all under sin, that He may have mercy upon all.” And the highest righteousness of man is this—whatever ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 330, footnote 6 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
Against The Arians, and Concerning Himself. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3768 (In-Text, Margin)
VI. Now since your antecedents are such, I should be glad if you too will tell me of my crimes, that I may either amend my life or be put to shame. My greatest wish is that I may be found free from wrong altogether; but if this may not be, at least to be converted from my crime; for this is the second best portion of the prudent. For if like the just man I do not become my own accuser in the first instance,[Proverbs 18:17] yet at any rate I gladly receive healing from another. “Your City, you say to me, is a little one, or rather is no city at all, but only a village, arid, without beauty, and with few inhabitants.” But, my good friend, this is my misfortune, rather than my fault;—if indeed it be a misfortune; ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 361, footnote 18 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Oration on Holy Baptism. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4033 (In-Text, Margin)
... so He gave new creation to that which did exist, a diviner creation and a loftier than the first, which is to those who are beginning life a Seal, and to those who are more mature in age both a gift and a restoration of the image which had fallen through sin, that we may not, by becoming worse through despair, and ever being borne downward to that which is more evil, fall altogether from good and from virtue, through despondency; and having fallen into a depth of evil (as it is said) despise Him;[Proverbs 18:3] but that like those who in the course of a long journey make a brief rest from labour at an inn, we should be enabled to accomplish the rest of the road fresh and full of courage. Such is the grace and power of baptism; not an overwhelming of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 147, footnote 5 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To a lapsed Monk. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2098 (In-Text, Margin)
... of an ear, spring back from the beast that has wounded you. Remember the mercies of God and how He cures with oil and wine. Do not despair of salvation. Recall your recollection of how it is written in the Scriptures that he who is falling rises and he who turns away returns; the wounded is healed, the prey of beasts escapes; he who owns his sin is not rejected. The Lord willeth not the death of a sinner but rather that he should turn and live. Do not despise, like the wicked in the pit of evil.[Proverbs 18:3] There is a time of endurance, a time of long suffering, a time of healing, a time of correction. Have you stumbled? Arise. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand in the way of sinners, but spring away. When you are converted and groan you shall be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 227, footnote 4 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To Amphilochius, concerning the Canons. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2639 (In-Text, Margin)
... unlawful to withdraw from wedlock, save on account of fornication, applies, according to the argument, to men and women alike. Custom, however, does not so obtain. Yet, in relation with women, very strict expressions are to be found; as, for instance, the words of the apostle “He which is joined to a harlot is one body” and of Jeremiah, If a wife “become another man’s shall he return unto her again? shall not that land be greatly polluted?” And again, “He that hath an adulteress is a fool and impious.”[Proverbs 18:22] Yet custom ordains that men who commit adultery and are in fornication be retained by their wives. Consequently I do not know if the woman who lives with the man who has been dismissed can properly be called an adulteress; the charge in this case ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 237, footnote 7 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To Amphilochius, concerning the Canons. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2701 (In-Text, Margin)
XXI. If a man living with a wife is not satisfied with his marriage and falls into fornication, I account him a fornicator, and prolong his period of punishment. Nevertheless, we have no canon subjecting him to the charge of adultery, if the sin be committed against an unmarried woman. For the adulteress, it is said, “being polluted shall be polluted,” and she shall not return to her husband: and “He that keepeth an adulteress is a fool and impious.”[Proverbs 18:22] He, however, who has committed fornication is not to be cut off from the society of his own wife. So the wife will receive the husband on his return from fornication, but the husband will expel the polluted woman from his house. The argument here is not easy, but the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 352, footnote 5 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Repentance. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
Chapter VII. An exhortation to mourning and confession of sins for Christ is moved by these and the tears of the Church. Illustration from the story of Lazarus. After showing that the Novatians are the successors of those who planned to kill Lazarus, St. Ambrose argues that the full forgiveness of every sin is signified by the odour of the ointment poured by Mary on the feet of Christ; and further, that the Novatian heretics find their likeness in Judas, who grudged and envied when others rejoiced. (HTML)
53. Why do you fear to confess your sins to our good Lord? “Set them forth,” He says, “that thou mayest be justified.” The rewards of justification are set before him who is still guilty of sin, for he is justified who voluntarily confesses his own sin; and lastly, “the just man is his own accuser in the beginning of his speaking.”[Proverbs 18:17] The Lord knows all things, but He waits for your words, not that He may punish, but that He may pardon. It is not His will that the devil should triumph over you and accuse you when you conceal your sins. Be beforehand with your accuser: if you accuse yourself, you will fear no accuser; if you report yourself, though you were dead ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 452, footnote 10 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose. (HTML)
Letter LI: To Theodosius After the Massacre at Thessalonica. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3637 (In-Text, Margin)
... contempt. For the Word of God Himself tells us that He prefers the performance of His commandments to the offering of sacrifice. God proclaims this, Moses declares it to the people, Paul preaches it to the Gentiles. Do that which you understand is most profitable for the time. “I prefer mercy,” it is said, “rather than sacrifice.” Are they not, then, rather Christians in truth who condemn their own sin, than they who think to defend it? “The just is an accuser of himself in the beginning of his words.”[Proverbs 18:17] He who accuses himself when he has sinned is just, not he who praises himself.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 444, footnote 5 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part II. Containing Conferences XI-XVII. (HTML)
Conference XIV. The First Conference of Abbot Nesteros. On Spiritual Knowledge. (HTML)
Chapter XVII. To whom the method of perfection should be laid open. (HTML)
... experience, and so incur what Solomon, that wisest of men, denounced: “Attach not a wicked man to the pastures of the just, and be not led astray by the fulness of the belly,” for “delicacies are not good for a fool, nor is there room for wisdom where sense is wanting: for folly is the more led on, because a stubborn servant is not improved by words, for even though he understands, he will not obey.” And “Do not say anything in the ears of an imprudent man, lest haply he mock at thy wise speeches.”[Proverbs 18:2] And “give not that which is holy to dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest haply they trample them under foot and turn again and rend you.” It is right then to hide the mysteries of spiritual meanings from men of this sort, that you ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 484, footnote 3 (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 XVIII. Conference of Abbot Piamun. On the Three Sorts of Monks. (HTML)
Chapter XI. Of true humility, and how Abbot Serapion exposed the mock humility of a certain man. (HTML)
... awful sins you bring a reproach upon your reputation; how is it then, I pray, that now, at our simple admonition, which involved no reproof, but simply showed a feeling for your edification and love, I see that you are moved with such disgust that you cannot hide it by your looks, or conceal it by an appearance of calmness? Perhaps while you were humiliating yourself, you were hoping to hear from our lips this saying: “The righteous man is the accuser of himself in the opening of his discourse?”[Proverbs 18:17] Further, true humility of heart must be preserved, which comes not from an affected humbling of body and in word, but from an inward humbling of the soul: and this will only then shine forth with clear evidences of patience when a man does not boast ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 228, footnote 6 (Image)
Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat
Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)
Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh. (HTML)
Hymn II. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 396 (In-Text, Margin)
Blessed the Shepherd Who became a Lamb for our reconcilement! Blessed the Branch Who became the Cup of our Redemption! Blessed also be the Cluster, Fount of medicine of life! Blessed also be the Tiller, Who became Wheat, that He might be sown; and a Sheaf, that He might be cut! [Blessed be] the Architect Who became a Tower for our place of safety! Blessed He Who so tempered the feelings of our mind,[Proverbs 18:10] that we with our harp should sing that which the winged creatures’ mouth knows not with its strains to sing! Glory to Him, Who beheld how we had pleased to be like to brutes in our rage and our greediness; and came down and was one of us, that we might become heavenly!