Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Proverbs 19
There are 40 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 486, footnote 8 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book IV (HTML)
Chapter XVIII.—Concerning sacrifices and oblations, and those who truly offer them. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4055 (In-Text, Margin)
6. Now we make offering to Him, not as though He stood in need of it, but rendering thanks for His gift, and thus sanctifying what has been created. For even as God does not need our possessions, so do we need to offer something to God; as Solomon says: “He that hath pity upon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord.”[Proverbs 19:17] For God, who stands in need of nothing, takes our good works to Himself for this purpose, that He may grant us a recompense of His own good things, as our Lord says: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you. For I was an hungered, and ye gave Me to eat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 261, footnote 3 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Instructor (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Chapter X. (HTML)
... dicitur; quo nomine significatur libidinosa, publica, et incesta in coitum propensio: quæ cum aucta fuerit, magna simul morborum convenit multitudo, obsoniorum desiderium, vinolentia et amor in mulieres; luxus quoque, et simul universarum voluptatum studium; in quæ omnia tyrannidem obtinet cupidity. His autem cognatæ innumerabiles augentur affectiones, ex quibus mores intemperantes ad summum provehuntur. Dicit autem Scriptura: “Parantur intemperantibus flagella, et supplicia humeris insipientium:”[Proverbs 19:29] vires intemperantiæ, ejusque constantem tolerantiam, vocans “humeros insipientium.” Quocirca, “Amove a servis tuis spes inanes, et indecoras,” inquit, “cupiditates averte a me. Ventris appetitio et coitus ne me apprehendant.”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 270, footnote 1 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Instructor (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Chapter XIII—Against Excessive Fondness for Jewels and Gold Ornaments. (HTML)
Let there, then, be in the fruits of thy hands, sacred order, liberal communication, and acts of economy. “For he that giveth to the poor, lendeth to God.”[Proverbs 19:17] “And the hands of the manly shall be enriched.” Manly He calls those who despise wealth, and are free in bestowing it. And on your feet let active readiness to well-doing appear, and a journeying to righteousness. Modesty and chastity are collars and necklaces; such are the chains which God forges. “Happy is the man who hath found wisdom, and the mortal who knows understanding,” says the Spirit by Solomon: “for it is ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 279, footnote 2 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Instructor (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Chapter IV.—With Whom We are to Associate. (HTML)
... though maintaining parrots and curlews, they do not receive the orphan child; but they expose children that are born at home, and take up the young of birds, and prefer irrational to rational creatures; although they ought to undertake the maintenance of old people with a character for sobriety, who are fairer in my mind than apes, and capable of uttering something better than nightingales; and to set before them that saying, “He that pitieth the poor lendeth to the Lord;”[Proverbs 19:17] and this, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these My brethren, ye have done it to Me.” But these, on the other hand, prefer ignorance to wisdom, turning their wealth into stone, that is, into pearls and Indian emeralds. And they ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 366, 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)
... struggle for piety, got the upper hand of their foes. “The beginning, then, of wisdom is piety, and the knowledge of holy things is understanding; and to know the law is the characteristic of a good understanding.” Those, then, who suppose the law to be productive of agitating fear, are neither good at understanding the law, nor have they in reality comprehended it; for “the fear of the Lord causes life, but he who errs shall be afflicted with pangs which knowledge views not.”[Proverbs 19:23] Accordingly, Barnabas says mystically, “May God who rules the universe vouchsafe also to you wisdom, and understanding, and science, and knowledge of His statutes, and patience. Be therefore God-taught, seeking what the Lord seeks from you, that He ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 367, footnote 10 (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)
... in the seventh year. Further, it prohibits suppliants from being given up to punishment. True above all, then, is that oracle. “As gold and silver are tried in the furnace, so the Lord chooseth men’s hearts. The merciful man is long-suffering; and in every one who shows solicitude there is wisdom. For on a wise man solicitude will fall; and exercising thought, he will seek life; and he who seeketh God shall find knowledge with righteousness. And they who have sought Him rightly have found peace.”[Proverbs 19:11] And Pythagoras seems to me, to have derived his mildness towards irrational creatures from the law. For instance, he interdicted the immediate use of the young in the flocks of sheep, and goats, and herds of cattle, on the instant of their birth; ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 391, footnote 6 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2519 (In-Text, Margin)
Quomodo autem fuerit is qui petit et accipit, et is qui mutuatur, si nullus sit qui habeat etdet mutuo? Quid vero? quando dicit Dominus: “Esurivi, et me pavistis; sitii, et potum mihi dedistis; hospes cram, et me collegistis; nudus, et me vestiistis;” deinde subjungit: “Quatenus fecistis uni horum minimorum, mihi fecistis.” Nunquid easdem quoque tulit leges in Veteri Testamento? “Qui dat mendico, fœneratur Deo.”[Proverbs 19:17] Et: “Ne abstinueris a benefaciendo egeno,” inquit. Et rursus: “Eleemosynæ et fides ne te deficiant,” inquit. “Paupertas” autem “virum humiliat, ditant autem manus virorum.” Subjungit autem: “Qui pecuniam suam non dedit ad usuram, fit acceptus.” Et: “Pretium redemptionis anima, propriæ ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 396, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)
Firmilian, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, to Cyprian, Against the Letter of Stephen. A.D. 256. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2956 (In-Text, Margin)
... up strange water for your own, and pollute the Church with unhallowed fountains? For when you communicate with the baptism of heretics, what else do you do than drink from their slough and mud; and while you yourself are purged with the Church’s sanctification, you become befouled with the contact of the filth of others? And do you not fear the judgment of God when you are giving testimony to heretics in opposition to the Church, although it is written, “A false witness shall not be unpunished?”[Proverbs 19:5] But indeed you are worse than all heretics. For when many, as soon as their error is known, come over to you from them that they may receive the true light of the Church, you assist the errors of those who come, and, obscuring the light of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 531, 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)
... thou hast, my son, so do: if thou hast abundant substance, give the more alms therefrom; if thou hast little, communicate even of that little. And do not fear when thou givest alms: thou layest up for thyself a good reward against the day of need; because alms delivereth from death, and does not suffer to go into darkness. Alms is a good office for all who do it in the sight of the most high God.” On this same subject in Solomon in Proverbs: “He that hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Lord.”[Proverbs 19:17] Also in the same place: “He that giveth to the poor shall never want; but he who turns away his eye shall be in much penury.” Also in the same place: “Sins are purged away by alms-giving and faith.” Again, in the same place: “If thine enemy hunger, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 555, footnote 13 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
In Solomon: “He who spareth the rod, hateth his son.” And again: “Do not cease from correcting the child.”[Proverbs 19:18]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 397, footnote 4 (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 2601 (In-Text, Margin)
... herself, and another woman who is not a widow, but is needy by reason of sickness, or the bringing up many children, or infirmity of her hands, let him stretch out his hand in charity rather to this latter. But if any one be in want by gluttony, drunkenness, or idleness, he does not deserve any assistance, or to be esteemed a member of the Church of God. For the Scripture, speaking of such persons, says: “The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, and is not able to bring it to his mouth again.”[Proverbs 19:24] And again: “The sluggard folds up his hands, and eats his own flesh.” “For every drunkard and whoremonger shall come to poverty, and every drowsy person shall be clothed with tatters and rags.” And in another passage: “If thou give thine eyes ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 425, footnote 4 (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. VIII.—On the Duty of Working for a Livelihood (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2862 (In-Text, Margin)
... thy hands on thy breast to sleep awhile. Then poverty comes on thee like an evil traveller, and want as a swift racer. But if thou beest diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall fly from thee as an evil runagate.” And again: “He that manageth his own land shall be filled with bread.” And elsewhere he says: “The slothful has folded his own hands together, and has eaten his own flesh.” And afterwards: “The sluggard hides his hand; he will not be able to bring it to his mouth.”[Proverbs 19:24] And again: “By slothfulness of the hands a floor will be brought low.” Labour therefore continually; for the blot of the slothful is not to be healed. But “if any one does not work, let not such a one eat” among you. For the Lord our God hates the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 427, footnote 8 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Sec. I.—Concerning Widows (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2883 (In-Text, Margin)
... mercy, and thine iniquities by bowels of compassion to the needy.” And He says by Solomon: “By acts of mercy and of faith iniquities are purged.” And He says again by David: “Blessed is he that has regard to the poor and needy; the Lord shall deliver him in the evil day.” And again: “He hath dispersed abroad, he hath given to the needy, his righteousness remaineth for ever.” And Solomon says: “He that hath mercy on the poor lendeth to the Lord; according to his gift it shall be repaid him again.”[Proverbs 19:17] And afterwards: “He that stoppeth his ear, that he may not hear him that is in want, he also shall call himself, and there shall be none to hear him.”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 436, footnote 1 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
Sec. II.—On Domestic and Social Life (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2958 (In-Text, Margin)
... extravagant, and continue without punishment from their parents, and so get relaxation before their time, and go astray from that which is good. Wherefore be not afraid to reprove them, and to teach them wisdom with severity. For your corrections will not kill them, but rather preserve them. As Solomon says somewhere in the book of Wisdom: “Chasten thy son, and he will refresh thee; so wilt thou have good hope of him. Thou verily shalt smite him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from death.”[Proverbs 19:18] And again, says the same Solomon thus, “He that spareth his rod, hateth his son;” and afterwards, “Beat his sides whilst he is an infant, lest he be hardened and disobey thee.” He, therefore, that neglects to admonish and instruct his own son, hates ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 456, footnote 5 (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 3228 (In-Text, Margin)
... and adore Him alone, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the most holy Spirit; that you are to make use of the sacred Scriptures, the law, and the prophets; to honour your parents; to avoid all unlawful actions; to believe the resurrection and the judgment, and to expect the retribution; and to use all His creatures with thankfulness, as the works of God, and having no evil in them; to marry after a lawful manner, for such marriage is unblameable. For “the woman is suited to the man by the Lord;”[Proverbs 19:14] and the Lord says: “He that made them from the beginning, made them male and female; and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they two shall be one flesh.” Nor let it be esteemed ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 463, footnote 6 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Sec. V.—The Teaching of the Apostles in Opposition to Jewish and Gentile Superstitions, Especially in Regard to Marriage and Funerals (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3321 (In-Text, Margin)
... with a beast, slay ye him: he has wrought wickedness in his people.” “And if any one defile a married woman, slay ye them both: they have wrought wickedness; they are guilty; let them die.” And afterwards: “There shall not be a fornicator among the children of Israel, and there shall not be an whore among the daughters of Israel. Thou shalt not offer the hire of an harlot to the Lord thy God upon the altar, nor the price of a dog.” “For the vows arising from the hire of an harlot are not clean.”[Proverbs 19:13] These things the laws have forbidden, but they have honoured marriage, and have called it blessed, since God has blessed it who joined male and female together. And wise Solomon somewhere says: “A wife is suited to her husband by the Lord.” And ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 463, footnote 8 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Sec. V.—The Teaching of the Apostles in Opposition to Jewish and Gentile Superstitions, Especially in Regard to Marriage and Funerals (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3323 (In-Text, Margin)
... among the children of Israel, and there shall not be an whore among the daughters of Israel. Thou shalt not offer the hire of an harlot to the Lord thy God upon the altar, nor the price of a dog.” “For the vows arising from the hire of an harlot are not clean.” These things the laws have forbidden, but they have honoured marriage, and have called it blessed, since God has blessed it who joined male and female together. And wise Solomon somewhere says: “A wife is suited to her husband by the Lord.”[Proverbs 19:14] And David says: “Thy wife is like a flourishing vine in the sides of thine house; thy children like olive-branches round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord.” Wherefore “marriage is honourable” and comely, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 468, footnote 2 (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 3427 (In-Text, Margin)
XII. If thou hast by the work of thy hands, give, that thou mayest labour for the redemption of thy sins; for “by alms and acts of faith sins are purged away.” Thou shalt not grudge to give to the poor, nor when thou hast given shalt thou murmur; for thou shalt know who will repay thee thy reward. For says he: “He that hath mercy on the poor man lendeth to the Lord; according to his gift, so shall it be repaid him again.”[Proverbs 19:17] Thou shalt not turn away from him that is needy; for says he: “He that stoppeth his ears, that he may not hear the cry of the needy, himself also shall call, and there shall be none to hear him.” Thou shall communicate in all things to thy brother, and shall not say thy ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 468, footnote 4 (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 3429 (In-Text, Margin)
... stoppeth his ears, that he may not hear the cry of the needy, himself also shall call, and there shall be none to hear him.” Thou shall communicate in all things to thy brother, and shall not say thy goods are thine own; for the common participation of the necessaries of life is appointed to all men by God. Thou shalt not take off thine hand from thy son or from thy daughter, but shalt teach them the fear of God from their youth; for says he: “Correct thy son, so shall he afford thee good hope.”[Proverbs 19:18]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 632, footnote 2 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
The Decretals. (HTML)
The Epistles of Pope Fabian. (HTML)
To All the Ministers of the Church Catholic. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2837 (In-Text, Margin)
... thin froth that is driven away with the storm; and like as the smoke which is dispersed here and there with a tempest, and as the remembrance of a guest of a single day that passeth away. With the utmost care, dearly beloved, are such persons to be guarded against, and avoided, and rejected, if they show themselves injurious. For the laws of the world, no less than those of the Church, do not admit the injurious, but reject them. Whence it is written, “The mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.”[Proverbs 19:28] And the Lord, speaking by the prophet, saith, “With the holy thou wilt show thyself holy; and with the froward thou wilt show thyself froward; and with the excellent thou wilt show thyself excellent (electus); and with the innocent man thou ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 658, footnote 12 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Memoirs of Edessa And Other Ancient Syriac Documents. (HTML)
The Teaching of Addæus the Apostle. (HTML)
The Teaching of Addæus the Apostle. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2981 (In-Text, Margin)
... are yourselves also become like those who see not and hear not; and in vain do your ineffectual voices strain themselves to deaf ears. Whilst they are not to be blamed for not hearing, because they are by nature deaf and dumb, yet the blame which is justly incurred falls upon you, because ye are not willing to perceive—not even that which ye see. For the dark cloud of error which overspreads your minds suffers you not to obtain the heavenly light, which is the understanding of knowledge.[Proverbs 19:25]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 451, footnote 9 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)
Book XII. (HTML)
Why Jesus Called Them an Adulterous Generation. The Law as Husband. (HTML)
... “adulterous” because that when the Pharisees and Sadducees left that which is figuratively called man, the word of truth or the law, they were debauched by falsehood and the law of sin. For if there are two laws, the law in our members warring against the law of the mind, and the law of the mind, we must say that the law of the mind—that is, the spiritual—is man, to whom the soul was given by God as wife, that is, to the man who is law, according to what is written, “A wife is married to a man by God;”[Proverbs 19:14] but the other is a paramour of the soul which is subject to it, which also on account of it is called an adulteress. Now that the law is husband of the soul Paul clearly exhibits in the Epistle to the Romans, saying, “The law hath dominion over a ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 494, footnote 9 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on Matthew. (HTML)
Book XIV. (HTML)
The Power of Harmony in Relation to Prayer. (HTML)
... on earth,—which is most miraculous,—those things which those who have made the symphony spoken of may have asked. So also I understand the apostolic saying “Defraud ye not one the other except it be by agreement for a season that ye may give yourselves unto prayer.” For since the word harmony is applied to those who marry according to God in the passage from Proverbs which is as follows: “Fathers will divide their house and substance to their sons, but from God the woman is married to the man,”[Proverbs 19:14] it is a logical consequence of the harmony being from God, that the name and the deed should enjoy the agreement with a view to prayer, as is indicated in the word, “unless it be by agreement.” Then the Word repeating that the agreeing of two on the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 220, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
He embraces in a brief compendium the contents of the previous books; and finally shows that the Trinity, in the perfect sight of which consists the blessed life that is promised us, is here seen by us as in a glass and in an enigma, so long as it is seen through that image of God which we ourselves are. (HTML)
Against Eunomius, Saying that the Son of God is the Son, Not of His Nature, But of His Will. Epilogue to What Has Been Said Already. (HTML)
... or essence, but the Son of the will of God; so as to mean to assert that the will by which he begot the Son was something accidental [and optional] to God,—to wit, in that way that we ourselves sometimes will something which before we did not will, as though it was not for these very things that our nature is perceived to be changeable,—a thing which far be it from us to believe of God. For it is written, “Many are the thoughts in the heart of man, but the counsel of the Lord abideth for ever,”[Proverbs 19:21] for no other reason except that we may understand or believe that as God is eternal, so is His counsel for eternity, and therefore unchangeable, as He himself is. And what is said of thoughts can most truly be said also of the will: there are many ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 297, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Catechising of the Uninstructed. (HTML)
Of the Remedy Against the Fifth and Sixth Sources of Weariness. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1416 (In-Text, Margin)
... Lord God in His vast superiority to us men, so that in the said love which we entertain for our own order, we should thus (exhibit the disposition to) despise order? For “no one orders for the better” what he has to do, except the man who is rather ready to leave undone what he is prohibited from doing by the divine power, than desirous of doing that which he meditates in his own human cogitations. For “there are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord stands for ever.”[Proverbs 19:21]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 380, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Another Calumny of Julian,—That 'It is Said that Marriage is Not Appointed by God.' (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2546 (In-Text, Margin)
... repeats them afterwards when he wishes to insinuate what such men as they would say, as if against my words. On that point, with God’s assistance, I must contend with him as far as the matter shall seem to demand. Now, therefore, I reply that marriage was ordained by God both then, when it was said, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be two in one flesh,” and now, wherefore it is written, “A woman is joined to a man by the Lord.”[Proverbs 19:24] For nothing else is even now done than that a man cleave to his wife, and they become two in one flesh. Because concerning that very marriage which is now contracted, the Lord was consulted by the Jews whether it was lawful for any cause to put away ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 444, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
Sinners are Convicted When Attempting to Excuse Themselves by Blaming God, Because They Have Free Will. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2957 (In-Text, Margin)
... “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Solomon, too, in his book of Proverbs, has this answer for such as wish to find an excuse for themselves from God Himself: “The folly of a man spoils his ways; but he blames God in his heart.”[Proverbs 19:3] And in the book of Ecclesiasticus we read: “Say not thou, It is through the Lord that I fell away; for thou oughtest not to do the things that He hateth: nor do thou say, He hath caused me to err; for He hath no need of the sinful man. The Lord ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 463, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Grace and Free Will. (HTML)
Abstract. (HTML)
God Operates on Men’s Hearts to Incline Their Wills Whithersoever He Pleases. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3212 (In-Text, Margin)
... righteous. This ought to be the fixed and immoveable conviction of your heart, that there is no unrighteousness with God. Therefore, whenever you read in the Scriptures of Truth, that men are led aside, or that their hearts are blunted and hardened by God, never doubt that some ill deserts of their own have first occurred, so that they justly suffer these things. Thus you will not run counter to that proverb of Solomon: “The foolishness of a man perverteth his ways, yet he blameth God in his heart.”[Proverbs 19:3] Grace, however, is not bestowed according to men’s deserts; otherwise grace would be no longer grace. For grace is so designated because it is given gratuitously. Now if God is able, either through the agency of angels (whether good ones or evil), ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 356, footnote 1 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch. (HTML)
Homily III (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1131 (In-Text, Margin)
5. I have heard many saying, “The threats of a king are like the wrath of a lion;”[Proverbs 19:12] being full of dejection and lamentation. What then should we say to such? That He who said, “The wolves and the lambs shall feed together; and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox,” will be able to convert the lion into a mild lamb. Let us therefore supplicate Him; let us send an embassy to Him; and He will doubtless allay the Emperor’s wrath, and deliver us from the impending distress. Our Father hath gone ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 101, footnote 3 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Defence Against the Arians. (Apologia Contra Arianos.) (HTML)
Apologia Contra Arianos. (Defence Against the Arians.) (HTML)
Part I (HTML)
Introduction. (HTML)
... sojourn in a foreign and far distant country in the place of his own, after his narrow escape from death through their calumnies, but thanks to the clemency of the Emperor,—distress which would have satisfied even the most cruel enemy,—they are still insensible to shame, are again acting insolently against the Church and Athanasius; and from indignation at his deliverance venture on still more atrocious schemes against him, and are ready with an accusation, fearless of the words in holy Scripture[Proverbs 19:5], ‘A false witness shall not be unpunished;’ and, ‘The mouth that belieth slayeth the soul;’ we therefore are unable longer to hold our peace, being amazed at their wickedness and at the insatiable love of contention displayed in their intrigues.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 534, footnote 9 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life. (HTML)
The Festal Letters, and their Index. (HTML)
Festal Letters. (HTML)
For 339. Coss. Constantius Augustus II, Constans I; Præfect, Philagrius the Cappadocian, for the second time; Indict. xii; Easter-day xvii Kal. Mai, xx Pharmuthi; Æra Dioclet. 55. (HTML)
... delight in wicked actions, they hasten thereto without turning back, even treading under foot the commandment with regard to neighbours, and, instead of loving them, devise evil against them, as the saint testifies, saying, ‘And those who seek me evil have spoken vanity, and imagined deceit all the day.’ But that the cause of such meditation is none other than the want of instruction, the divine proverb has already declared; ‘The son that forsaketh the commandment of his father meditateth evil words[Proverbs 19:27].’ But such meditation, because it is evil, the Holy Spirit blames in these words, and reproves too in other terms, saying, ‘Your hands are polluted with blood, your fingers with sins; your lips have spoken lawlessness, and your tongue imagineth ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 106, footnote 16 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Furia. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1595 (In-Text, Margin)
... neither startle you nor make you blush. The face is the mirror of the mind and a woman’s eyes without a word betray the secrets of her heart. I have lately seen a most miserable scandal traverse the entire East. The lady’s age and style, her dress and mien, the indiscriminate company she kept, her dainty table and her regal appointments bespoke her the bride of a Nero or of a Sardanapallus. The scars of others should teach us caution. ‘When he that causeth trouble is scourged the fool will be wiser.’[Proverbs 19:25] A holy love knows no impatience. A false rumor is quickly crushed and the after life passes judgment on that which has gone before. It is not indeed possible that any one should come to the end of life’s race without suffering from calumny; the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 407, footnote 3 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
Funeral Oration on the Great S. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4458 (In-Text, Margin)
... by an exchange of their own products for what is imported: but an inland city like ours can neither turn its superfluity to profit, nor supply its need, by either disposing of what we have, or importing what we have not: but the hardest part of all such distress is, the insensibility and insatiability of those who possess supplies. For they watch their opportunities, and turn the distress to profit, and thrive upon misfortune: heeding not that he who shows mercy to the poor, lendeth to the Lord,[Proverbs 19:17] nor that he that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: nor any other of the promises to the philanthropic, and threats against the inhuman. But they are too insatiate, in their ill-judged policy; for while they shut up their bowels against ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 170, footnote 3 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1477 (In-Text, Margin)
60. By this alone he gave a sufficient proof of his fear of God, and set an example of religious feeling as regards men. For what he gave to the poor he offered to God, since “he that distributeth to the poor lendeth unto God;”[Proverbs 19:17] and by requiring what was just, he left them not a little, but the whole. For this is the total sum of justice, to sell what one has and give to the poor. For he who “hath dispersed, and hath given to the poor, his righteousness endureth for ever.” So he left us as stewards, not heirs; for the inheritance is to the heirs a matter of question, the stewardship is a duty to the poor.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 436, footnote 1 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose. (HTML)
Sermon Against Auxentius on the Giving Up of the Basilicas. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3514 (In-Text, Margin)
... Christ’s poor. I know how to collect this treasure. On that they may even charge me with this crime, that I have spent money on the poor! and if they make the charge that I seek for defence at their hands, I do not deny it; nay, I solicit it. I have my defence, but it consists in the prayers of the poor. The blind and the lame, the weak and the old, are stronger than hardy warriors. Lastly, gifts to the poor make God indebted to us, for it is written: “He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to God.”[Proverbs 19:17] The guards of warriors often do not merit divine grace.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 467, footnote 1 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose. (HTML)
Epistle LXIII: To the Church at Vercellæ. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3746 (In-Text, Margin)
... exile above an Emperor’s friendship. And so these illustrious men, surrounded with arms, closed in by soldiers, when torn away from the larger Church, triumphed over the imperial power, because by earthly shame they purchased fortitude of soul, and kingly power; they from whom the band of soldiers and the din of arms could not tear away the faith subdued the raging of the brutal mind, which was unable to hurt the saints. For, as you read in Proverbs, “the king’s wrath is as the wrath of a lion.”[Proverbs 19:12]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 363, footnote 3 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X. (HTML)
Conference VII. First Conference of Abbot Serenus. On Inconstancy of Mind, and Spiritual Wickedness. (HTML)
Chapter IV. The discourse of the old man on the state of the soul and its excellence. (HTML)
... hostile suggestion of the enemy by which it is distracted, and in persisting in that state and condition which it yearns for. We ought not then to ascribe this wandering inclination of our heart either to human nature or to God its Creator. For it is a true statement of Scripture, that “God made man upright; but they themselves found out many thoughts.” The character of these then depends on us ourselves, for it says “a good thought comes near to those that know it, but a prudent man will find it.”[Proverbs 19:7] For where anything is subject to our prudence and industry so that it can be found out, there if it is not found out, we ought certainly to set it down to our own laziness or carelessness and not to the fault of our nature. And with this ...
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 19:10] 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 525, 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 XXIII. The Third Conference of Abbot Theonas. On Sinlessness. (HTML)
Chapter IX. Of the care with which a monk should preserve the recollection of God. (HTML)
... from them.” For “thine own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy apostasy shall rebuke thee. Know thou and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee to have left the Lord thy God;” for “every man is bound by the cords of his sins.” To whom this rebuke is aptly directed by the Lord: “Behold,” He says, “all you that kindle a fire, encompassed with flames, walk ye in the light of your fire and in the flames which you have kindled;” and again: “He that kindleth iniquity, shall perish by it.”[Proverbs 19:9]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 543, footnote 4 (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 XXIV. Conference of Abbot Abraham. On Mortification. (HTML)
Chapter XXV. Of the good which an attack of temptation brings about. (HTML)
... it is we who by troublesome distractions bring sorrows and troubles upon ourselves, while we try even with the utmost exertion and difficulty to follow the crooked and perverse ways of this world. But when in this way we have made the Lord’s yoke heavy and hard to us, we at once complain in a blasphemous spirit of the hardness and roughness of the yoke itself or of Christ who lays it upon us, in accordance with this passage: “The folly of man corrupteth his ways, but he blames God in his heart;”[Proverbs 19:3] and as Haggai the prophet says, when we say that “the way of the Lord is not right” the reply is aptly made to us by the Lord: “Is not My way right? Are not your ways rather crooked?” And indeed if you will compare the sweet scented flower of ...