Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Ecclesiastes 7
There are 53 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 25, footnote 4 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
The Pastor of Hermas (HTML)
Book Second.—Commandments (HTML)
Commandment Eighth. We Ought to Shun that Which is Evil, and Do that Which is Good. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 201 (In-Text, Margin)
“I told you,” said he, “that the creatures of God are double,[Ecclesiastes 7:14] for restraint also is double; for in some cases restraint has to be exercised, in others there is no need of restraint.” “Make known to me, sir,” say I, “in what cases restraint has to be exercised, and in what cases it has not.” “Restrain yourself in regard to evil, and do it not; but exercise no restraint in regard to good, but do it. For if you exercise restraint in the doing of good, you will commit a great sin; but if you exercise restraint, so as not to do ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 313, footnote 10 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Chapter XIII.—All Sects of Philosophy Contain a Germ of Truth. (HTML)
... perfect Word, the truth. Therefore it is written in Ecclesiastes: “And I added wisdom above all who were before me in Jerusalem; and my heart saw many things; and besides, I knew wisdom and knowledge, parables and understanding. And this also is the choice of the spirit, because in abundance of wisdom is abundance of knowledge.” He who is conversant with all kinds of wisdom, will be pre-eminently a gnostic. Now it is written, “Abundance of the knowledge of wisdom will give life to him who is of it.”[Ecclesiastes 7:13] And again, what is said is confirmed more clearly by this saying, “All things are in the sight of those who understand”—all things, both Hellenic and barbarian; but the one or the other is not all. “They are right to those who wish to receive ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 375, footnote 9 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen De Principiis. (HTML)
IV (HTML)
Sections 24-End translated from the Latin. (HTML)
... having discovered certain of the objects of its research, it sees again others which have still to be sought out. And even if it should succeed in mastering these, it will see again many others succeeding them which must form the subject of investigation. And on this account, therefore, Solomon, the wisest of men, beholding by his wisdom the nature of things, says, “I said, I will become wise; and wisdom herself was made far from me, far further than it was; and a profound depth, who shall find?”[Ecclesiastes 7:23-24] Isaiah also, knowing that the beginnings of things could not be discovered by a mortal nature, and not even by those natures which, although more divine than human, were nevertheless themselves created or formed; knowing then, that by none of these ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 114, footnote 2 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Dionysius. (HTML)
Exegetical Fragments. (HTML)
A Commentary on the Beginning of Ecclesiastes. (HTML)
Chapter II. (HTML)
25. For who eats and drinks from his own resources?” That the discourse does not deal now with material meats, he will show by what follows; namely, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting.”[Ecclesiastes 7:2] And so in the present passage he proceeds to add: “And (what) will show to his soul good in its labour.” And surely mere material meats and drinks are not the soul’s good. For the flesh, when luxuriously nurtured, wars against the soul, and rises in revolt against the spirit. And how should not intemperate eatings and drinkings also be contrary to God? He speaks, therefore, of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 395, footnote 3 (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 2576 (In-Text, Margin)
... 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.” 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 death; her hands are fetters.”[Ecclesiastes 7:26] And in another passage: “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is beauty in a wicked woman.” And again: “As a worm in wood, so does a wicked woman destroy her husband.” And again: “It is better to dwell in the corner of the house-top, than with ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 64, footnote 7 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Two Epistles Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
The Second Epistle of the Same Clement. (HTML)
David's Sin, So Admonitory to Us Weak Men. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 481 (In-Text, Margin)
... such men as these have been brought to ruin through women, what is thy righteousness, or what art thou among the holy, that thou consortest with women and with maidens day and night, with much silliness, without fear of God? Not thus, my brethren, not thus let us conduct ourselves; but let us be mindful of that word which is spoken concerning a woman: “Her hands lay snares, and her heart spreadeth nets; but the just shall escape from her, whilst the wicked falleth into her hands.”[Ecclesiastes 7:26] Therefore let us, who are consecrated, be careful not to live in the same house with females who have taken the vow. For such conduct as this is not becoming nor right for the servants of God.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 271, footnote 4 (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)
Of the Fall of the First Man, in Whom Nature Was Created Good, and Can Be Restored Only by Its Author. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 724 (In-Text, Margin)
... anticipated both,—that is to say, both how evil the man whom He had created good should become, and what good He Himself should even thus derive from him. For though God is said to change His determinations (so that in a tropical sense the Holy Scripture says even that God repented), this is said with reference to man’s expectation, or the order of natural causes, and not with reference to that which the Almighty had foreknown that He would do. Accordingly God, as it is written, made man upright,[Ecclesiastes 7:29] and consequently with a good will. For if he had not had a good will, he could not have been upright. The good will, then, is the work of God; for God created him with it. But the first evil will, which preceded all man’s evil acts, was rather a ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 358, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
The history of the city of God from Noah to the time of the kings of Israel. (HTML)
Of David’s Reign and Merit; And of His Son Solomon, and that Prophecy Relating to Christ Which is Found Either in Those Books Which are Joined to Those Written by Him, or in Those Which are Indubitably His. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1124 (In-Text, Margin)
... prophesy, “Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire; but a body hast Thou perfected for me.” Because, instead of all these sacrifices and oblations, His body is offered, and is served up to the partakers of it. For that this Ecclesiastes, in this sentence about eating and drinking, which he often repeats, and very much commends, does not savor the dainties of carnal pleasures, is made plain enough when he says, “It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting.”[Ecclesiastes 7:2] And a little after He says, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of the simple in the house of feasting.” But I think that more worthy of quotation from this book which relates to both cities, the one of the devil, the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 358, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
The history of the city of God from Noah to the time of the kings of Israel. (HTML)
Of David’s Reign and Merit; And of His Son Solomon, and that Prophecy Relating to Christ Which is Found Either in Those Books Which are Joined to Those Written by Him, or in Those Which are Indubitably His. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1125 (In-Text, Margin)
... and oblations, His body is offered, and is served up to the partakers of it. For that this Ecclesiastes, in this sentence about eating and drinking, which he often repeats, and very much commends, does not savor the dainties of carnal pleasures, is made plain enough when he says, “It is better to go into the house of mourning than to go into the house of feasting.” And a little after He says, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of the simple in the house of feasting.”[Ecclesiastes 7:4] But I think that more worthy of quotation from this book which relates to both cities, the one of the devil, the other of Christ, and to their kings, the devil and Christ: “Woe to thee, O land,” he says, “when thy king is a youth, and thy princes ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 123, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Nature and Grace. (HTML)
A Distinction Drawn by Pelagius Between the Possible and Actual. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1148 (In-Text, Margin)
... sin. Among the many passages in which he treats of this subject, occurs the following: “I once more repeat my position: I say that it is possible for a man to be without sin. What do you say? That it is impossible for a man to be without sin? But I do not say,” he adds, “that there is a man without sin; nor do you say, that there is not a man without sin. Our contention is about what is possible, and not possible; not about what is, and is not.” He then enumerates certain passages of Scripture,[Ecclesiastes 7:21] which are usually alleged in opposition to them, and insists that they have nothing to do with the question, which is really in dispute, as to the possibility or impossibility of a man’s being without sin. This is what he says: “No man indeed is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 172, footnote 13 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness. (HTML)
The Sixth Passage. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1542 (In-Text, Margin)
He has also adduced this passage of Scripture, which is very commonly quoted against his party: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”[Ecclesiastes 7:20] And he makes a pretence of answering it by other passages,—how, “the Lord says concerning holy Job, ‘Hast thou considered my servant Job? For there is none like him upon earth, a man who is blameless, true, a worshipper of God, and abstaining from every evil thing.’” On this passage we have already made some remarks. But he has not even attempted to show us how, on the one hand, Job was absolutely sinless upon ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 173, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness. (HTML)
The Sixth Passage. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1545 (In-Text, Margin)
... my servant Job? For there is none like him upon earth, a man who is blameless, true, a worshipper of God, and abstaining from every evil thing.’” On this passage we have already made some remarks. But he has not even attempted to show us how, on the one hand, Job was absolutely sinless upon earth,—if the words are to bear such a sense; and, on the other hand, how that can be true which he has admitted to be in the Scripture, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.”[Ecclesiastes 7:20]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 392, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
The Heresies of the Manicheans and Pelagians are Mutually Opposed, and are Alike Reprobated by the Catholic Church. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2623 (In-Text, Margin)
... the Pelagians, “It is not of the Father, but it is of the world;” in order that both may allow it as an evil sickness to be cured—the former by ceasing to believe it, as it were, incurable, the latter by ceasing to proclaim it as laudable. The Manicheans deny that to a good man the beginning of evil came from free will; the Pelagians say that even a bad man has free will sufficiently to perform the good commandment. The catholic Church condemns both, saying to the former, “God made man upright,”[Ecclesiastes 7:30] and saying to the latter, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” The Manicheans say that the soul, as a particle of God, has sin by the commixture of an evil nature; the Pelagians say that the soul is upright, not indeed a ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 474, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace. (HTML)
Why They May Justly Be Rebuked Who Do Not Obey God, Although They Have Not Yet Received the Grace of Obedience. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3267 (In-Text, Margin)
... dwells love, which without doubt is of God, and the Father gives it to His children. “This,” say they, “we have not received. Why, then, are we rebuked, as if we were able to give it to ourselves, and of our own choice would not give it?” And they do not observe that, if they are not yet regenerated, the first reason why, when they are reproached because they are disobedient to God, they ought to be dissatisfied with themselves is, that God made man upright from the beginning of the human creation,[Ecclesiastes 7:30] and there is no unrighteousness with God. And thus the first depravity, whereby God is not obeyed, is of man, because, falling by his own evil will from the rectitude in which God at first made him, he became depraved. Is, then, that depravity not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 295, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. vii. 7, ‘Ask, and it shall be given you;’ etc. An exhortation to alms-deeds. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2141 (In-Text, Margin)
... Father, that we may not always continue evil. No evil man can make another man good. If no evil man can make another good, how can an evil man make himself good? He only can make of an evil man a good man, who is good eternally. “Heal me, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.” Why then do those vain ones say to me in words vain as themselves, “Thou canst save thyself if thou wilt”? “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed.” We were created good by The Good; for “God made man upright,”[Ecclesiastes 7:29] but by our own free will, we became evil. We had power from being good to become evil, and we shall have power from being evil to become good. But it is He who is ever Good, who maketh the good out of the evil; for man by his own will had no power ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 410, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, Mark viii. 34, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself,’ etc. And on the words 1 John ii. 15, ‘if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3168 (In-Text, Margin)
6. For there is among men themselves a good world also; but one that has been made good from being evil. For the whole world if you take the word “world” for men, putting aside (what we call the world) the heaven and earth and all things that in them are; if you take the world for men, the whole world did he who first sinned make evil. The whole mass was corrupted in the root. God made man good; so runs the Scripture, “God made man upright; and men themselves found out many cogitations.”[Ecclesiastes 7:30] Run from these “many” to One, gather up thy scattered things into one: flow on together, fence thyself in, abide with One; go not to many things. There is blessedness. But we have flowed away, have gone on to perdition: we were all born with sin, and to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 369, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter XVI. 8–11. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1547 (In-Text, Margin)
... he is a sinner, will any one imagine that a righteous man is also to be reproved because he is righteous? Surely not. For if at any time a righteous man also is reproved, he is rightly reproved on this account, that, according to Scripture, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” And accordingly, when a righteous man is reproved, he is reproved of sin, and not of righteousness. Since in that divine utterance also, where we read, “Be not made righteous over-much,”[Ecclesiastes 7:16] there is notice taken, not of the righteousness of the wise man, but of the pride of the presumptuous. The man, therefore, that becomes “righteous over-much,” by that very excess becomes unrighteous. For he makes himself righteous over-much who says ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 369, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John. (HTML)
Chapter XVI. 8–11. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1547 (In-Text, Margin)
... he is a sinner, will any one imagine that a righteous man is also to be reproved because he is righteous? Surely not. For if at any time a righteous man also is reproved, he is rightly reproved on this account, that, according to Scripture, “There is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” And accordingly, when a righteous man is reproved, he is reproved of sin, and not of righteousness. Since in that divine utterance also, where we read, “Be not made righteous over-much,”[Ecclesiastes 7:20] there is notice taken, not of the righteousness of the wise man, but of the pride of the presumptuous. The man, therefore, that becomes “righteous over-much,” by that very excess becomes unrighteous. For he makes himself righteous over-much who says ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 440, 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 XV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1620 (In-Text, Margin)
4. For this then let us be thankful, and let us not be petulant or discontented; for that fear is a good thing, what we have said hath made manifest. But hear Solomon thus uttering a lesson of wisdom concerning it; Solomon, who was nourished in every luxury, and enjoyed much security. What then does he say? “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of laughter.”[Ecclesiastes 7:3] What sayest thou, I ask? Is it better to go where there is weeping, lamentation, and groans, and anguish, and so much sadness, than where there is the dance, the cymbals, and laughter, and luxury, and full eating and drinking? Yes, verily, he replies. And tell me why is it so, and for what reason? ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 440, footnote 4 (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 XV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1623 (In-Text, Margin)
6. All this Solomon perceived when he said, “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of drinking.”[Ecclesiastes 7:3] From the one grows listlessness, from the other an earnest anxiety. From the one, contempt; from the other, fear; a fear which conducts us to the practice of every virtue. If fear were not a good thing, Christ would not have expended such long and frequent discourses on the subject of punishment, and vengeance to come. Fear is nothing less than a wall, and a defence, and an impregnable tower. For indeed we stand in need of much ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 7, footnote 3 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Heathen. (Contra Gentes.) (HTML)
Contra Gentes. (Against the Heathen.) (HTML)
Part I (HTML)
Refutation of dualism from reason. Impossibility of two Gods. The truth as to evil is that which the Church teaches: that it originates, and resides, in the perverted choice of the darkened soul. (HTML)
... imagined evil for herself, and moving therein, knows not that, thinking she is doing something, she is doing nothing. For she is imagining what is not, nor is she abiding in her original nature; but what she is is evidently the product of her own disorder. 5. For she is made to see God, and to be enlightened by Him; but of her own accord in God’s stead she has sought corruptible things and darkness, as the Spirit says somewhere in writing, “God made man upright, but they have sought out many inventions[Ecclesiastes 7:29].” Thus it has been then that men from the first discovered and contrived and imagined evil for themselves. But it is now time to say how they came down to the madness of idolatry, that you may know that the invention of idols is wholly due, not to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 38, footnote 4 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
The Incarnation of the Word. (HTML)
On the Incarnation of the Word. (HTML)
Our creation and God's Incarnation most intimately connected. As by the Word man was called from non-existence into being, and further received the grace of a divine life, so by the one fault which forfeited that life they again incurred corruption and untold sin and misery filled the world. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 205 (In-Text, Margin)
... of His becoming Incarnate we were the object, and for our salvation He dealt so lovingly as to appear and be born even in a human body. 4. Thus, then, God has made man, and willed that he should abide in incorruption; but men, having despised and rejected the contemplation of God, and devised and contrived evil for themselves (as was said in the former treatise), received the condemnation of death with which they had been threatened; and from thenceforth no longer remained as they were made, but[Ecclesiastes 7:29] were being corrupted according to their devices; and death had the mastery over them as king. For transgression of the commandment was turning them back to their natural state, so that just as they have had their being out of nothing, so also, as ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 260, footnote 7 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)
Defence of His Flight. (Apologia de Fuga.) (HTML)
An hour and a time for all men. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1454 (In-Text, Margin)
... besought God, saying, ‘Take me not away in the midst of my days.’ And Eliphaz, one of the friends of Job, being assured of this truth, said, ‘Thou shalt come to thy grave like ripe corn, gathered in due time, and like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season.’ And Solomon confirming his words, says, ‘The souls of the unrighteous are taken away untimely.’ And therefore he exhorts in the book of Ecclesiastes, saying, ‘Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou hard: why shouldest thou die before thy time[Ecclesiastes 7:17]?’
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 563, footnote 4 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life. (HTML)
The Festal Letters, and their Index. (HTML)
Personal Letters. (HTML)
First Letter to Monks. (Written 358-360). (HTML)
2. Considering therefore how it is written in the Book of Ecclesiastes, ‘I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me; That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who shall find it out[Ecclesiastes 7:23-24]?’ and what is said in the Psalms, ‘The knowledge of Thee is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it;’ and that Solomon says, ‘It is the glory of God to conceal a thing;’ I frequently designed to stop and to cease writing; believe me, I did. But lest I should be found to disappoint you, or by my silence to lead into impiety those who have made enquiry of you, and are given to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 563, footnote 8 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life. (HTML)
The Festal Letters, and their Index. (HTML)
Personal Letters. (HTML)
First Letter to Monks. (Written 358-360). (HTML)
... lest I should be found to disappoint you, or by my silence to lead into impiety those who have made enquiry of you, and are given to disputation, I constrained myself to write briefly, what I have now sent to your piety. For although a perfect apprehension of the truth is at present far removed from us by reason of the infirmity of the flesh, yet it is possible, as the Preacher himself has said, to perceive the madness of the impious, and having found it, to say that it is ‘more bitter than death[Ecclesiastes 7:26].’ Wherefore for this reason, as perceiving this and able to find it out, I have written, knowing that to the faithful the detection of impiety is a sufficient information wherein piety consists. For although it be impossible to comprehend what God ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 5, page 51, footnote 3 (Image)
Gregory of Nyssa: Dogmatic Treatises; Select Writings and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises. (HTML)
Against Eunomius. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
He did wrong, when mentioning the Doctrines of Salvation, in adopting terms of his own choosing instead of the traditional terms Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (HTML)
... space, when the intellectual and spiritual is under discussion. Local position is a property of the material: but the intellectual and immaterial is confessedly removed from the idea of locality. What, then, is the reason why he says that the Father alone has supreme being? For one can hardly think it is from ignorance that he wanders off into these conceptions, being one who, in the many displays he makes, claims to be wise, even “making himself overwise,” as the Holy Scripture forbids us to do[Ecclesiastes 7:16].
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 67, footnote 1 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pammachius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1038 (In-Text, Margin)
... to their wives whom they have renounced, or, if they persist in living apart from them, they will have to confess—by their lives if not by their words—that, in preferring virginity to marriage, they have chosen the better course. Am I then a mere novice in the Scriptures, reading the sacred volumes for the first time? And is the line there drawn between virginity and marriage so fine that I have been unable to observe it? I could know nothing, forsooth, of the saying, “Be not righteous overmuch!”[Ecclesiastes 7:16] Thus, while I try to protect myself on one side, I am wounded on the other; to speak more plainly still, while I close with Jovinian in hand-to-hand combat, Manichæus stabs me in the back. Have I not, I would ask, in the very forefront of my work ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 70, footnote 5 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pammachius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1094 (In-Text, Margin)
8. In the sequel we go on to speak thus: “The apostle, in concluding his discussion of marriage and of virginity, is careful to observe a mean course in discriminating between them, and, turning neither to the right hand nor to the left, he keeps to the King’s highway, and thus fulfils the injunction, ‘Be not righteous overmuch.’[Ecclesiastes 7:16] Moreover, when he goes on to compare monogamy with digamy, he puts digamy after monogamy, just as before he subordinated marriage to virginity.” Do we not clearly show by this language what is typified in the Holy Scriptures by the terms right and left, and also what we take to be the meaning of the words “Be not righteous ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 164, footnote 7 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Salvina. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2403 (In-Text, Margin)
3. These remarks are intended to shew that the youth of whom I speak used his kinship to the royal family, his abundant wealth, and the outward tokens of power, as helps to virtue. For, as the preacher says, “wisdom is a defence and money is a defence”[Ecclesiastes 7:12] also. We must not hastily conclude that this statement conflicts with that of the Lord: “verily I say unto you that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven; and again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Were it so, the salvation of Zacchæus the publican, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 273, footnote 7 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Ctesiphon. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3784 (In-Text, Margin)
... fairest skins. Many of our writers, it is true, unwisely, take this course; however, a few sentences of scripture will dispose alike of the heretics and the philosophers. What says the chosen vessel? “God had concluded all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all;” and in another place, “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The preacher also who is the mouthpiece of the Divine Wisdom freely protests and says: “there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not:”[Ecclesiastes 7:20] and again, “if thy people sin against thee, for there is no man that sinneth not:” and “who can say, I have made my heart clean?” and “none is clean from stain, not even if his life on earth has been but for one day.” David insists on the same thing ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 358, footnote 3 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4339 (In-Text, Margin)
14. He has ended his discussion of wedlock and virginity, and has carefully steered between the two precepts without turning to the right hand or to the left. He has followed the royal road and fulfilled the command[Ecclesiastes 7:16] not to be righteous over much. Now again he compares monogamy with digamy, and as he had subordinated marriage to virginity, so he makes second marriages inferior to first, and says, “A wife is bound for so long time as her husband liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is free to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord. But she is happier if she abide as she is, after my ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 368, footnote 2 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4445 (In-Text, Margin)
... to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.” We brought forth young under the law with Moses, let us die under the Gospel with Christ. We planted in marriage, let us by chastity pluck up that which was planted. “A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing: a time to love, and a time to hate: a time for war, and a time for peace.” And at the same time he warns us not to prefer the law to the Gospel; nor to think that virgin purity is to be placed on a level with marriage:[Ecclesiastes 7:10] “Better,” he says, “is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” And he immediately adds: “Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.” And he gives the reason ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 368, footnote 4 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4447 (In-Text, Margin)
... marriage: “Better,” he says, “is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof.” And he immediately adds: “Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this.” And he gives the reason why the latter days are better than the former: “For wisdom with an inheritance is good.” Under the law carnal wisdom was followed by the sword of death; under the Gospel an eternal inheritance awaits spiritual wisdom. “Behold, this have I found,[Ecclesiastes 7:28-29] saith the Preacher, one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found. Behold this only have I found, that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” He says that he had found man upright. ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 454, footnote 1 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5160 (In-Text, Margin)
... pass, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” From this it is clear that men are called righteous, and said to be without fault; but that, if negligence comes over them, they may fall; and that a man always occupies a middle place, so that he may slip from the height of virtue into vice, or may rise from vice to virtue; and that he is never safe, but must dread shipwreck even in fair weather; and, therefore, that a man cannot be without sin. Solomon says,[Ecclesiastes 7:21] “There is not a righteous man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not”; and likewise in the book of Kings: “There is no man that sinneth not.” So, also, the blessed David says: “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from hidden faults, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 465, footnote 5 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5252 (In-Text, Margin)
A. Do you expect me to explain the purposes and plans of God? The Book of Wisdom gives an answer to your foolish question: “Look not into things above thee, and search not things too mighty for thee.” And elsewhere,[Ecclesiastes 7:16] “Make not thyself overwise, and argue not more than is fitting.” And in the same place, “In wisdom and simplicity of heart seek God.” You will perhaps deny the authority of this book; listen then to the Apostle blowing the Gospel trumpet: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out! For who hath ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 465, footnote 8 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5255 (In-Text, Margin)
... the authority of this book; listen then to the Apostle blowing the Gospel trumpet: “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past tracing out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been His counsellor?” Your questions are such as he elsewhere describes: “But foolish and ignorant questioning avoid, knowing that they gender strifes.” And in Ecclesiastes (a book concerning which there can be no doubt) we read,[Ecclesiastes 7:24-25] “I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me. That which is exceeding deep, who can find it out?” You ask me to tell you why the potter makes one vessel to honour, another to dishonour, and will not be satisfied with Paul, who replies on behalf ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 8, footnote 3 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
On Repentance and Remission of Sins, and Concerning the Adversary. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 494 (In-Text, Margin)
... the Prophet says plainly in a certain place: Yet I planted thee a fruitful vine, wholly true: how art thou turned to bitterness, (and become) the strange vine? The planting was good, the fruit coming from the will is evil; and therefore the planter is blameless, but the vine shall be burnt with fire since it was planted for good, and bore fruit unto evil of its own will. For God, according to the Preacher, made man upright, and they have themselves sought out many inventions[Ecclesiastes 7:29]. For we are His workmanship, says the Apostle, created unto good works, which God afore prepared, that we should walk in them. So then the Creator, being good, created for good works; but the creature turned of its own free will to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 220, footnote 12 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
In Defence of His Flight to Pontus, and His Return, After His Ordination to the Priesthood, with an Exposition of the Character of the Priestly Office. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2775 (In-Text, Margin)
75. Who is it, Who made all things by His Word, and formed man by His Wisdom, and gathered into one things scattered abroad, and mingled dust with spirit, and compounded an animal visible and invisible, temporal and immortal, earthly and heavenly, able to attain to God but not to comprehend Him, drawing near and yet afar off. I said, I will be wise, says Solomon, but she (i.e. Wisdom) was far from me beyond what is:[Ecclesiastes 7:24] and, Verily, he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. For the joy of what we have discovered is no greater than the pain of what escapes us; a pain, I imagine, like that felt by those who are dragged, while yet thirsty, from the water, or are unable to retain what they think they ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 296, footnote 5 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Second Theological Oration. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3486 (In-Text, Margin)
... cuts off its further advance, just like men who suddenly check with the rein the horses in full career, and turn them right round by the unexpected shock. Thus Solomon, who was the wisest of all men, whether before him or in his own time, to whom God gave breadth of heart, and a flood of contemplation, more abundant than the sand, even he, the more he entered into the depth, the more dizzy he became, and declared the furthest point of wisdom to be the discovery of how very far off she was from him.[Ecclesiastes 7:23] Paul also tries to arrive at, I will not say the nature of God, for this he knew was utterly impossible, but only the judgments of God; and since he finds no way out, and no halting place in the ascent, and moreover, since the earnest searching of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 154, footnote 4 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
To Bishop Bosporius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2178 (In-Text, Margin)
do you think my heart was pained at hearing of the slanders heaped on me by some of those that feel no fear of the Judge, who “shall destroy them that speak leasing”? I spent nearly the whole night sleepless, thinking of your words of love; so did grief lay hold upon my heart of hearts. For verily, in the words of Solomon, slander humbleth a man.[Ecclesiastes 7:7] And no man is so void of feeling as not to be touched at heart, and bowed down to the ground, if he falls in with lips prone to lying. But we must needs put up with all things and endure all things, after committing our vindication to the Lord. He will not despise us; for “he that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker.” ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 262, footnote 6 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
Against Eustathius of Sebasteia. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2881 (In-Text, Margin)
... in silence, and had persisted in covering his anguish in the bottom of his heart, at last he opened his mouth and uttered his well-known words. In my own case this is now the third year of my silence, and my boast has become like that of the Psalmist, “I was as a man that heareth not and in whose mouth are no reproofs.” Thus I shut up in the bottom of my heart the pangs which I suffered on account of the calumnies directed against me, for calumny humbles a man, and calumny makes a poor man giddy.[Ecclesiastes 7:8] If, therefore, the mischief of calumny is so great as to cast down even the perfect man from his height, for this is what Scripture indicates by the word man, and by the poor man is meant he who lacks the great doctrines, as is the view also of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 329, footnote 2 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Repentance. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter I. St. Ambrose writes in praise of gentleness, pointing out how needful that grace is for the rulers of the Church, and commended to them by the meekness of Christ. As the Novatians have fallen away from this, they cannot be considered disciples of Christ. Their pride and harshness are inveighed against. (HTML)
2. For he who endeavours to amend the faults of human weakness ought to bear this very weakness on his own shoulders, let it weigh upon himself, not cast it off. For we read that the Shepherd in the Gospel carried the weary sheep, and did not cast it off. And Solomon says: “Be not overmuch righteous;”[Ecclesiastes 7:17] for restraint should temper righteousness. For how shall he offer himself to you for healing whom you despise, who thinks that he will be an object of contempt, not of compassion, to his physician?
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 352, footnote 2 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Repentance. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
Chapter VI. St. Ambrose teaches out of the prophet Isaiah what they must do who have fallen. Then referring to our Lord's proverbial expression respecting piping and dancing, he condemns dances. Next by the example of Jeremiah he sets forth the necessary accompaniments of repentance. And lastly, in order to show the efficacy of this medicine of penance, he enumerates the names of many who have used it for themselves or for others. (HTML)
51. And, lastly, Ezekiel was bidden to weep for Jerusalem, and he took the book, at the beginning of which was written: “Lamentation, and melody, and woe,” two things sad and one pleasant, for he shall be saved in the future who has wept most in this age. “For the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, and the heart of fools in the house of feasting.”[Ecclesiastes 7:4] And the Lord Himself said: “Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.”
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 472, footnote 8 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose. (HTML)
Epistle LXIII: To the Church at Vercellæ. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3798 (In-Text, Margin)
106. Compassionate those who are bound with chains, as though bound with them. Comfort those in sorrow; for, “It is better to go into the house of mourning than into the house of rejoicing.”[Ecclesiastes 7:2] From the one is gained the merit of a good work, from the other a lapse into sin. Lastly, in the one case you still hope for the reward, in the other you have already received it. Feel with those who are afflicted as if also afflicted with them.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 257, footnote 4 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Twelve Books on the Institutes of the Cœnobia, and the Remedies for the Eight Principal Faults. (HTML)
Book VIII. Of the Spirit of Anger. (HTML)
Chapter I. How our fourth conflict is against the sin of anger, and how many evils this passion produces. (HTML)
... blinds with its hurtful darkness the eye of the soul, we can neither acquire right judgment and discretion, nor gain the insight which springs from an honest gaze, or ripeness of counsel, nor can we be partakers of life, or retentive of righteousness, or even have the capacity for spiritual and true light: “for,” says one, “mine eye is disturbed by reason of anger.” Nor can we become partakers of wisdom, even though we are considered wise by universal consent, for “anger rests in the bosom of fools.”[Ecclesiastes 7:10] Nor can we even attain immortal life, although we are accounted prudent in the opinion of everybody, for “anger destroys even the prudent.” Nor shall we be able with clear judgment of heart to secure the controlling power of righteousness, even ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 312, footnote 4 (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 II. Second Conference of Abbot Moses. (HTML)
Chapter XI. The words of Abbot Serapion on the decline of thoughts that are exposed to others, and also on the danger of self-confidence. (HTML)
... slavery. For you have today triumphed over your victorious adversary, by laying him low by your confession in a manner which more than makes up for the way in which you were overthrown by him through your former silence, as when, never confuting him with your own answer or that of another, you had allowed him to lord it over you, according to that saying of Solomon’s: ‘Because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the heart of the children of men is full within them to do evil:’[Ecclesiastes 7:11] and therefore after this exposure of him that evil spirit will no longer be able to vex you, nor will that foul serpent henceforth make his lurking place in you, as he has been dragged out into light from the darkness by your life-giving ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 363, footnote 2 (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)
... ought to prepare, toward which it may bring back its unwearied flight and acquire strength for remaining, and thus may succeed in driving away the 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.”[Ecclesiastes 7:29] 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.” For where anything is subject to our prudence and industry so that it can be found out, there if it ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 386, footnote 12 (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 VIII. The Second Conference of Abbot Serenus. On Principalities. (HTML)
Chapter XXV. How this that is said of the devil in the gospel is to be understood; viz., that “he is a liar, and his father.” (HTML)
... is bringing to a close our discussion, which has occupied nearly two whole nights, and our brief and simple words have drawn our bark of this Conference from the deep sea of questions to a safe harbour of silence, in which deep indeed, as the breath of the Divine Spirit drives us further in, so is there ever opened out a wider and boundless space reaching beyond the sight of our eye, and, as Solomon says, “It will become much further from us than it was, and a great depth; who shall find it out?”[Ecclesiastes 7:25] Wherefore let us pray the Lord that both His fear and His love, which cannot fail, may continue steadfast in us, and make us wise in all things, and ever shield us unharmed, from the darts of the devil. For with these guards it is impossible for ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 428, footnote 6 (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 XIII. The Third Conference of Abbot Chæremon. On the Protection of God. (HTML)
Chapter XII. That a good will should not always be attributed to grace, nor always to man himself. (HTML)
... about men after the fall stand: “Behold, Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil?” For we cannot think that before, he was such as to be altogether ignorant of good. Otherwise we should have to admit that he was formed like some irrational and insensate beast: which is sufficiently absurd and altogether alien from the Catholic faith. Moreover as the wisest Solomon says: “God made man upright,” i.e., always to enjoy the knowledge of good only, “But they have sought out many imaginations,”[Ecclesiastes 7:29] for they came, as has been said, to know good and evil. Adam therefore after the fall conceived a knowledge of evil which he had not previously, but did not lose the knowledge of good which he had before. Finally the Apostle’s words very clearly ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 459, footnote 6 (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 XVI. The First Conference of Abbot Joseph. On Friendship. (HTML)
Chapter XXVII. How anger should be repressed. (HTML)
... make out that those give place to anger, who go away from a man in a rage, seem to me not to cut off but rather to foment the incitement to quarrelling, for unless a neighbour’s wrath is overcome at once by amends being humbly made, a man provokes rather than avoids it by his flight. And there is something like this that Solomon says: “Be not hasty in thy spirit to be wroth, for anger reposes in the bosom of fools;” and: “Be not quick to rush into a quarrel, lest thou repent thereof at the last.”[Ecclesiastes 7:9] For he does not blame a hasty exhibition of quarrelling and anger in such a way as to praise a tardy one. In the same way too must this be taken: “A fool declares his anger in the very same hour, but a prudent man hides his shame.” For he does not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 522, 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 V. How no one can be continually intent upon that highest good. (HTML)
... troubles and cares of the present life look forward to the state of the world to come with an heart raised above the stains of earth? Whence the blessed David when laying down that this alone is good for man, longs to cling constantly to God, and says: “It is good for me to cling to God, and to put my hope in the Lord.” And Ecclesiastes also declares that this cannot be done without fault by any of the saints, and says: “For there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not.”[Ecclesiastes 7:21] For who, even if he be the chief of all righteous and holy men, can we ever think could, while bound in the chains of this life, so acquire this chief good, as never to cease from divine contemplation, or be thought to be drawn away by earthly ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 530, 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 XVIII. That even good and holy men are not without sin. (HTML)
... remedy of that prayer? But since all the saints who altogether keep the commands of their King, say every day “Forgive us our debts,” if they speak the truth there is indeed no one free from sin, but if they speak falsely, it is equally true that they are not free from the sin of falsehood. Wherefore also that most wise Ecclesiastes reviewing in his mind all the actions and purposes of men declares without any exception: “that there is not a righteous man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not,”[Ecclesiastes 7:21] i.e., no one ever could or ever will be found on this earth so holy, so diligent, so earnest as to be able continually to cling to that true and unique good, and not day after day to feel that he is drawn aside from it and fails. But still though he ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 109, footnote 4 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Letters. (HTML)
To Rusticus, Bishop of Gallia Narbonensis, with the replies to his Questions on various points. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 618 (In-Text, Margin)
... that Sabinian and Leo, presbyters, lacked confidence in your action, and that they have no longer any just cause for complaint, seeing that of their own accord they withdrew from the discussion that had been begun. What form or what measure of justice you ought to mete out to them I leave to your own discretion advising you, however, with the exhortation of love that to the healing of the sick you ought to apply spiritual medicine, and that remembering the Scripture which says “be not over just[Ecclesiastes 7:17],” you should act with mildness towards these who in zeal for chastity seem to have exceeded the limits of vengeance, lest the devil, who deceived the adulterers, should triumph over the avengers of the adultery.