Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Malachi 4
There are 47 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 219, footnote 8 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Justin Martyr (HTML)
Dialogue with Trypho (HTML)
Chapter XLIX.—To those who object that Elijah has not yet come, he replies that he is the precursor of the first advent. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2100 (In-Text, Margin)
Then I inquired of him, “Does not Scripture, in the book of Zechariah,[Malachi 4:5] say that Elijah shall come before the great and terrible day of the Lord?”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 466, footnote 6 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book IV (HTML)
Chapter IV.—Answer to another objection, showing that the destruction of Jerusalem, which was the city of the great King, diminished nothing from the supreme majesty and power of God, for that this destruction was put in execution by the most wise counsel of the same God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3840 (In-Text, Margin)
3. But why do we speak of Jerusalem, since, indeed, the fashion of the whole world must also pass away, when the time of its disappearance has come, in order that the fruit indeed may be gathered into the garner, but the chaff, left behind, may be consumed by fire? “For the day of the Lord cometh as a burning furnace, and all sinners shall be stubble, they who do evil things, and the day shall burn them up.”[Malachi 4:1] Now, who this Lord is that brings such a day about, John the Baptist points out, when he says of Christ, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, having His fan in His hand to cleanse His floor; and He will gather His fruit into the garner, but the chaff He will burn up with ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 506, footnote 21 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book IV (HTML)
Chapter XXXIII.—Whosoever confesses that one God is the author of both Testaments, and diligently reads the Scriptures in company with the presbyters of the Church, is a true spiritual disciple; and he will rightly understand and interpret all that the prophets have declared respecting Christ and the liberty of the New Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4263 (In-Text, Margin)
... infirmity, and sat upon the foal of an ass, and was a stone rejected by the builders, and was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and by the stretching forth of His hands destroyed Amalek; while He gathered from the ends of the earth into His Father’s fold the children who were scattered abroad, and remembered His own dead ones who had formerly fallen asleep, and came down to them that He might deliver them: but the second in which He will come on the clouds, bringing on the day which burns as a furnace,[Malachi 4:1] and smiting the earth with the word of His mouth, and slaying the impious with the breath of His lips, and having a fan in His hands, and cleansing His floor, and gathering the wheat indeed into His barn, but burning the chaff with unquenchable ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 110, footnote 1 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Theophilus (HTML)
Theophilus to Autolycus (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Chapter XXXVIII.—The Teachings of the Greek Poets and Philosophers Confirmatory of Those of the Hebrew Prophets. (HTML)
But what matters it whether they were before or after them? Certainly they did at all events utter things confirmatory of the prophets. Concerning the burning up of the world, Malachi the prophet foretold: “The day of the Lord cometh as a burning oven, and shall consume all the wicked.”[Malachi 4:1] And Isaiah: “For the wrath of God is as a violent hail-storm, and as a rushing mountain torrent.” The Sibyl, then, and the other prophets, yea, and the poets and philosophers, have clearly taught both concerning righteousness, and judgment, and punishment; and also concerning providence, that God cares for us, not only for the living among us, but also ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 217, footnote 1 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Apologetic. (HTML)
A Treatise on the Soul. (HTML)
The Opinions of Carpocrates, Another Offset from the Pythagorean Dogmas, Stated and Confuted. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1740 (In-Text, Margin)
... to have been so reproduced in John (the Baptist) as to make our Lord’s statement sponsor for their theory of transmigration, when He said, “Elias is come already, and they knew him not;” and again, in another passage, “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.” Well, then, was it really in a Pythagorean sense that the Jews approached John with the inquiry, “Art thou Elias?” and not rather in the sense of the divine pre diction, “Behold, I will send you Elijah” the Tisbite?[Malachi 4:5] The fact, however, is, that their metempsychosis, or transmigration theory, signifies the recall of the soul which had died long before, and its return to some other body. But Elias is to come again, not after quitting life (in the way of dying), ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 561, footnote 11 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
On the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)
The Scriptures Forbid Our Supposing Either that the Resurrection is Already Past, or that It Takes Place Immediately at Death. Our Hopes and Prayers Point to the Last Great Day as the Period of Its Accomplishment. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7426 (In-Text, Margin)
... beneath His feet” (to use the language of David), making Him more hurried than the Father, whilst every crowd in our popular assemblies is still with shouts consigning “the Christians to the lions?” Who has yet beheld Jesus descending from heaven in like manner as the apostles saw Him ascend, according to the appointment of the two angels? Up to the present moment they have not, tribe by tribe, smitten their breasts, looking on Him whom they pierced. No one has as yet fallen in with Elias;[Malachi 4:5] no one has as yet escaped from Antichrist; no one has as yet had to bewail the downfall of Babylon. And is there now anybody who has risen again, except the heretic? He, of course, has already quitted the grave of his own corpse—although he ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 567, footnote 1 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
On the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)
Other Passages Out of the Prophets Applied to the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7490 (In-Text, Margin)
... that account suppose that the purpose of revelation could have rested in a parable: its aim must have been to testify a resurrection, in order to raise the nation’s hope to even an eternal salvation and an indispensable restoration, and thereby turn off their minds from brooding over their present affairs. This indeed is the aim of other prophets likewise. “Ye shall go forth,” (says Malachi), “from your sepulchres, as young calves let loose from their bonds, and ye shall tread down your enemies.”[Malachi 4:2-3] And again, (Isaiah says): “Your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall spring up like the grass,” because the grass also is renewed by the dissolution and corruption of the seed. In a word, if it is contended that the figure of the rising bones ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 213, footnote 9 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Treatise on Christ and Antichrist. (HTML)
... was received into the heavens, and was set down on the right hand of God the Father, and is to be manifested again at the end of the world as Judge. It is a matter of course that His forerunners must appear first, as He says by Malachi and the angel, “I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the day of the Lord, the great and notable day, comes; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, lest I come and smite the earth utterly.”[Malachi 4:5-6] These, then, shall come and proclaim the manifestation of Christ that is to be from heaven; and they shall also perform signs and wonders, in order that men may be put to shame and turned to repentance for their surpassing wickedness and impiety.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 217, footnote 10 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Treatise on Christ and Antichrist. (HTML)
... seeks concealment in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: “And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.”[Malachi 4:2]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 457, footnote 5 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
On the Lord's Prayer. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3399 (In-Text, Margin)
... light. Moreover, the Holy Spirit in the Psalms manifests that Christ is called the day. “The stone,” says He, “which the builders rejected, is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; and it is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; let us walk and rejoice in it.” Also the prophet Malachi testifies that He is called the Sun, when he says, “But to you that fear the name of the Lord shall the Sun of righteousness arise, and there is healing in His wings.”[Malachi 4:2] But if in the Holy Scriptures the true sun and the true day is Christ, there is no hour excepted for Christians wherein God ought not frequently and always to be worshipped; so that we who are in Christ—that is, in the true Sun and the true ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 464, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
An Address to Demetrianus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3437 (In-Text, Margin)
... be known. But the day of judgment is still future which the Holy Scripture denounces, saying, “Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand, and destruction from God shall come; for, lo, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel with wrath and anger, to lay the earth desolate, and to destroy the sinners out of it.” And again: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, burning as an oven; and all the aliens and all that do wickedly shall be as stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord.”[Malachi 4:1] The Lord prophesies that the aliens shall be burnt up and consumed; that is, aliens from the divine race, and the profane, those who are not spiritually new-born, nor made children of God. For that those only can escape who have been new-born and ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 490, footnote 7 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
On the Advantage of Patience. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3633 (In-Text, Margin)
22. But when shall come the divine vengeance for the righteous blood, the Holy Spirit declares by Malachi the prophet, saying, “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, burning as an oven; and all the aliens and all the wicked shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord.”[Malachi 4:1] And this we read also in the Psalms, where the approach of God the Judge is announced as worthy to be reverenced for the majesty of His judgment: “God shall come manifest, our God, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall burn before Him, and round about Him a great tempest. He shall call the heaven above, and the earth beneath, that He may ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 526, footnote 15 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
In Malachi: “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, burning as an oven; and all the aliens and all the wicked shall be as stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord.”[Malachi 4:1] Also in the forty-ninth (or fiftieth) Psalm: “God the Lord of gods hath spoken, and called the earth. From the rising of the sun even to the going down thereof, out of Sion is the beauty of His glory. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before Him, and round about Him shall be a great storm. He hath called the heaven above, and the earth, that He may ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 394, footnote 12 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
Oration on the Palms. (HTML)
Oration on the Palms. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3121 (In-Text, Margin)
... voice, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Of whom shall we inquire? Tell us, O prophet, who is this that cometh in the name of the Lord? He will say it is not my part to-day to teach you, for He hath consecrated the school to infants, who hath out of the mouth of babes and sucklings perfected praise to destroy the enemy and the avenger, in order that by the miracle of these the hearts of the fathers might be turned to the children, and the disobedient unto the wisdom of the just.[Malachi 4:6] Tell us, then, O children, whence is this, your beautiful and graceful contest of song? Who taught it you? Who instructed you? Who brought you together? What were your tablets? Who were your teachers? Do but you, they say, join us as our companions ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 352, footnote 1 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Victorinus (HTML)
Commentary on the Apocalypse of the Blessed John (HTML)
From the seventh chapter (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2279 (In-Text, Margin)
... the living God.”] He speaks of Elias the prophet, who is the precursor of the times of Antichrist, for the restoration and establishment of the churches from the great and intolerable persecution. We read that these things are predicted in the opening of the Old and New Testament; for He says by Malachi: “Lo, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, according to the time of calling, to recall the Jews to the faith of the people that succeed them.”[Malachi 4:5-6] And to that end He shows, as we have said, that the number of those that shall believe, of the Jews and of the nations, is a great multitude which no man was able to number. Moreover, we read in the Gospel that the prayers of the Church are sent ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 458, footnote 13 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Sec. IV.—Of the Law (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3261 (In-Text, Margin)
... God through Jesus Christ, and all His dispensation, as it has been from the beginning, that He gave a plain law to assist the law of nature, such a one as is pure, saving, and holy, in which His own name was inscribed, perfect, which is never to fail, being complete in ten commands, unspotted, converting souls; which, when the Hebrews forgot, He put them in mind of it by the prophet Malachi, saying, “Remember ye the law of Moses, the man of God, who gave you in charge commandments and ordinances.”[Malachi 4:4] Which law is so very holy and righteous, that even our Saviour, when on a certain time He healed one leper, and afterwards nine, said to the first, “Go, show thyself to the high priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 522, footnote 7 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
The Second Epistle of Clement (HTML)
The Homily (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3974 (In-Text, Margin)
Wherefore, brethren, having received no small occasion for repentance, while we have the opportunity, let us turn unto God that called us, while we still have Him as One that receiveth us. For if we renounce these enjoyments and conquer our soul in not doing these its evil desires, we shall partake of the mercy of Jesus. But ye know that the day of judgment even now “cometh as a burning oven,”[Malachi 4:1] and some “of the heavens shall melt,” and all the earth shall be as lead melting on the fire, and then the hidden and open works of men shall appear. Almsgiving therefore is a good thing, as repentance from sin; fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving than both; “but love covereth a ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 25, footnote 1 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs. (HTML)
The Testament of Zebulun Concerning Compassion and Mercy. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 135 (In-Text, Margin)
... abomination, and every idol will ye worship, and your enemies shall lead you captive, and ye shall dwell among the nations with all infirmities and tribulations and anguish of soul. And after these things ye will remember the Lord, and will repent, and He will lead you back; for He is merciful and full of compassion, not imputing evil to the sons of men, because they are flesh, and the spirits of error deceive them in all their doings. And after these things shall the Lord Himself arise to you,[Malachi 4:2] the Light of righteousness, and healing and compassion shall be upon His wings. He shall redeem all captivity of the sons of men from Beliar, and every spirit of error shall be trodden down. And He shall bring back all the nations to zeal for Him, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 498, footnote 1 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)
The Acts of Philip. (HTML)
Of the Journeyings of Philip the Apostle. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2164 (In-Text, Margin)
... them from thee from their root, because thou art my sister, one mother brought us forth twins. Thou hast forsaken thy father, thou hast forsaken the path leading thee to the dwelling-place of thy mother, being in error; thou hast left the temple of that deception, and of the temporary glory, and hast come to us, fleeing from the enemy, because he is the dwelling-place of death. Behold, now thy Redeemer has come to redeem thee; Christ the Sun of righteousness has risen upon thee, to enlighten thee.[Malachi 4:2]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 355, footnote 4 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Book VI. (HTML)
Of the Birth of John, and of His Alleged Identity with Elijah. Of the Doctrine of Transcorporation. (HTML)
“And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? and he said, I am not.” No one can fail to remember in this connection what Jesus says of John, “If ye will receive it, this is Elijah which is to come.” How, then, does John come to say to those who ask him, “Art thou Elijah?”—“I am not.” And how can it be true at the same time that John is Elijah who is to come, according to the words of Malachi,[Malachi 4:5-6] “And behold I send unto you Elijah the Tishbite, before the great and notable day of the Lord come, who shall restore the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his neighbour, lest I come, and utterly smite the earth.” The words of the angel of the Lord, too, who appeared to ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 476, footnote 11 (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 XIII. (HTML)
“The Spirit and Power of Elijah”—Not the Soul—Were in the Baptist. (HTML)
... them about John the Baptist. Upon Elisha, then, only the spirit of Elijah rested, but John came before, not only in the spirit, but also in the power of Elijah. Wherefore, also, Elisha could not have been called Elijah, but John was Elijah himself. But if it be necessary to adduce the Scripture from which the scribes said that Elijah must first come, listen to Malachi who says, “And behold I will send to you Elijah the Tishbite,” etc., down to the words, “Lest I come and smite the earth utterly.”[Malachi 4:5-6] And it seems to be indicated by these words, that Elijah was to prepare for the glorious coming of Christ by certain holy words and dispositions in their souls, those who had been made fittest for this, which those upon earth could not have endured, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 382, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
A parallel history of the earthly and heavenly cities from the time of Abraham to the end of the world. (HTML)
Of the Prophecy of the Three Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1210 (In-Text, Margin)
... burn them up; and all the aliens and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that shall come will set them on fire, saith the Lord Almighty, and shall leave neither root nor branch. And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, and health shall be in His wings; and ye shall go forth, and exult as calves let loose from bonds. And ye shall tread down the wicked, and they shall be ashes under your feet, in the day in which I shall do [this], saith the Lord Almighty.”[Malachi 4:3] This day is the day of judgment, of which, if God will, we shall speak more fully in its own place.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 447, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Of the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the Old and New Testaments. (HTML)
Of the Separation of the Good and the Bad, Which Proclaim the Discriminating Influence of the Last Judgment. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1467 (In-Text, Margin)
The passage also which I formerly quoted for another purpose from this prophet refers to the last judgment, in which he says, “They shall be mine, saith the Lord Almighty, in the day in which I make up my gains,”[Malachi 4:3] etc. When this diversity between the rewards and punishments which distinguish the righteous from the wicked shall appear under that Sun of righteousness in the brightness of life eternal,—a diversity which is not discerned under this sun which shines on the vanity of this life,—there shall then be such a judgment as has never before been.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 447, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Of the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the Old and New Testaments. (HTML)
That the Law of Moses Must Be Spiritually Understood to Preclude the Damnable Murmurs of a Carnal Interpretation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1468 (In-Text, Margin)
In the succeeding words, “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded to him in Horeb for all Israel,”[Malachi 4:4] the prophet opportunely mentions precepts and statutes, after declaring the important distinction hereafter to be made between those who observe and those who despise the law. He intends also that they learn to interpret the law spiritually, and find Christ in it, by whose judgment that separation between the good and the bad is to be made. For it is not without reason that the Lord Himself says to the Jews, “Had ye believed Moses, ye ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 448, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
Of the last judgment, and the declarations regarding it in the Old and New Testaments. (HTML)
Of the Coming of Elias Before the Judgment, that the Jews May Be Converted to Christ by His Preaching and Explanation of Scripture. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1474 (In-Text, Margin)
After admonishing them to give heed to the law of Moses, as he foresaw that for a long time to come they would not understand it spiritually and rightly, he went on to say, “And, behold, I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the great and signal day of the Lord come: and he shall turn the heart of the father to the son, and the heart of a man to his next of kin, lest I come and utterly smite the earth.”[Malachi 4:5-6] It is a familiar theme in the conversation and heart of the faithful, that in the last days before the judgment the Jews shall believe in the true Christ, that is, our Christ, by means of this great and admirable prophet Elias who shall expound the law to them. For not without reason do we ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 130, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Against the Epistle of Manichæus, Called Fundamental. (HTML)
Why the Manichæans Should Be More Gently Dealt with. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 265 (In-Text, Margin)
... avoided. Let those rage against you who know not how rare and hard it is to overcome the fancies of the flesh by the serenity of a pious disposition. Let those rage against you who know not the difficulty of curing the eye of the inner man that he may gaze upon his Sun,—not that sun which you worship, and which shines with the brilliance of a heavenly body in the eyes of carnal men and of beasts,—but that of which it is written through the prophet, "The Sun of righteousness has arisen upon me;"[Malachi 4:2] and of which it is said in the gospel, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Let those rage against you who know not with what sighs and groans the least particle of the knowledge of God is obtained. And, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 32, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. (HTML)
Explanation of the First Part of the Sermon Delivered by Our Lord on the Mount, as Contained in the Fifth Chapter of Matthew. (HTML)
Chapter XXIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 236 (In-Text, Margin)
... own likeness. For He, as is said in what follows, “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Whether you are to understand His sun as being not that which is visible to the fleshly eyes, but that wisdom of which it is said, “She is the brightness of the everlasting light;” of which it is also said, “The Sun of righteousness has arisen upon me;” and again, “But unto you that fear the name of the Lord shall the Sun of righteousness arise:”[Malachi 4:2] so that you would also understand the rain as being the watering with the doctrine of truth, because Christ hath appeared to the good and the evil, and is preached to the good and the evil. Or whether you choose rather to understand that sun which ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 286, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
Again on the Lord’s Prayer, Matt. vi. To the Competentes. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2060 (In-Text, Margin)
... remitteth with the mouth for men’s sake, and retaineth in the heart, as not fearing the eyes of God. But do ye remit entirely. Whatever ye have retained up to these holy days, in these holy days at least remit. “The sun ought not to go down upon your wrath,” yet many suns have passed. Let then your wrath at length pass away also, now that we are celebrating the days of the great Sun, of that Sun of which Scripture saith, “Unto you shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.”[Malachi 4:2] What is, “in His wings”? In His protection. Whence it is said in the Psalms, “Keep me under the shadow of Thy wings.” But as to others who in the day of judgment shall repent, but all too late, and who shall mourn, yet unavailingly, it hath been ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 41, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 419 (In-Text, Margin)
... the Church, because in its spiritual part the Church is bright, but in its carnal part is dark: and sometimes the spiritual part is seen by good works, but sometimes it lies hid in the conscience, and is known to God alone, since in the body alone is it seen by men.…But according to the other opinion also the moon is understood to be the Church, because she has no light of her own, but is lighted by the only-begotten Son of God, who in many places of holy Scripture is allegorically called the Sun.[Malachi 4:2] Whom certain heretics being ignorant of, and not able to discern Him, endeavour to turn away the minds of the simple to this corporeal and visible sun, which is the common light of the flesh of men and flies, and some they do pervert, who as long as ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 677, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CXLVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5973 (In-Text, Margin)
... made them. “And He shall exalt the horn of His people.” Behold what Haggai and Zachariah prophesied. Now the “horn of His people” is humble in afflictions, in tribulations, in temptations, in beating of the breast; when will He “exalt the horn of His people”? When the Lord hath come, and our Sun is risen, not the sun which is seen with the eye, and “riseth upon the good and the evil,” but That whereof is said, To you that hear God, “the Sun of Righteousness shall rise, and healing in His wings;”[Malachi 4:2] and of whom the proud and wicked shall hereafter say, “The light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose not upon us.” This shall be our summer. Now during the winter weather the fruits appear not on the stock; ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 101, footnote 8 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
An Exhortation to Theodore After His Fall. (HTML)
Letter I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 263 (In-Text, Margin)
... the day of His coming or who shall stand when He appeareth? for He cometh like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers soap: and He shall sit refining and purifying as it were silver, and as it were gold.” And again, “Behold,” he saith, “the day of the Lord cometh, burning like an oven, and it shall consume them, and all the aliens, and all who work iniquity shall be stubble, and the day which is coming shall set fire to them saith the Lord almighty; and there shall be left neither root nor branch.”[Malachi 4:1] And the man greatly beloved saith “I beheld until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days was seated, and his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head was pure as wool: His throne was a flame of fire, and the wheels thereof burning ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 200, footnote 5 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)
Dialogues. The “Eranistes” or “Polymorphus” of the Blessed Theodoretus, Bishop of Cyrus. (HTML)
The Unconfounded. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1298 (In-Text, Margin)
... says the Apostle, “If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” It is in quantity that the vast difference may be found, a difference as great as between sun and stars, or rather between master and slaves, and that which gives and that which receives light. Yet has He given a share of His own name to His servants and as He is Light, calls His saints light, for “Ye,” He says, “are the Light of the world,” and being named servants and being named “Sun of Righteousness”[Malachi 4:2] He says of his servants “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the Sun.” It is therefore according to quality, not according to quantity, that the bodies of the saints shall be fashioned like unto the body of the Lord. Now I have shewn you plainly ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 506, footnote 1 (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 329. Easter-day xi Pharmuthi; viii Id. April; Ær. Dioclet. 45; Coss. Constantinus Aug. VIII. Constantinus Cæs. IV; Præfect. Septimius Zenius; Indict. II. (HTML)
, my beloved, the season calls us to keep the feast. Again, ‘the Sun of Righteousness[Malachi 4:2], causing His divine beams to rise upon us, proclaims beforehand the time of the feast, in which, obeying Him, we ought to celebrate it, lest when the time has passed by, gladness likewise may pass us by. For discerning the time is one of the duties most urgent on us, for the practice of virtue; so that the blessed Paul, when instructing his disciple, teaches him to observe the time, saying, ‘Stand (ready) in season, and out of season ’—that knowing ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 519, footnote 1 (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 333. Easter-day, Coss. Dalmatius and Zenophilus; Præfect, Paternus; vi Indict.; xvii Kal. Maii, xx Pharmuthi; xv Moon; vii Gods; Æra Dioclet. 49. (HTML)
... the heathen think the accomplishment of the feast is in the abundance of food; the Jews, erring in the type and shadow, think it still such; the schismatics keep it in separate places, and with vain imaginations. But let us, my brethren, be superior to the heathen, in keeping the feast with sincerity of soul, and purity of body; to the Jews, in no longer receiving the type and the shadow, but as having been gloriously illumined with the light of truth, and as looking upon the Sun of Righteousness[Malachi 4:2]; to the schismatics, in not rending the coat of Christ, but in one house, even in the Catholic Church, let us eat the Passover of the Lord, Who, by ordaining His holy laws, guided us towards virtue, and counselled the abstinence of this feast. For ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 18, footnote 17 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pope Damasus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 269 (In-Text, Margin)
... Christ. The wide space of sea and land that lies between us cannot deter me from searching for “the pearl of great price.” “Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” Evil children have squandered their patrimony; you alone keep your heritage intact. The fruitful soil of Rome, when it receives the pure seed of the Lord, bears fruit an hundredfold; but here the seed corn is choked in the furrows and nothing grows but darnel or oats. In the West the Sun of righteousness[Malachi 4:2] is even now rising; in the East, Lucifer, who fell from heaven, has once more set his throne above the stars. “Ye are the light of the world,” “ye are the salt of the earth,” ye are “vessels of gold and of silver.” Here are vessels of wood or of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 78, footnote 21 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pammachius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1196 (In-Text, Margin)
... after Him. Mary is “a garden enclosed…a fountain sealed,” and from that fountain flows, according to Joel, the river which waters the torrent bed either of cords or of thorns; of cords being those of the sins by which we were beforetime bound, the thorns those which choked the seed the goodman of the house had sown. She is the east gate, spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel, always shut and always shining, and either concealing or revealing the Holy of Holies; and through her “the Sun of Righteousness,”[Malachi 4:2] our “high priest after the order of Melchizedek,” goes in and out. Let my critics explain to me how Jesus can have entered in through closed doors when He allowed His hands and His side to be handled, and showed that He had bones and flesh, thus ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 201, footnote 15 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2849 (In-Text, Margin)
... twelve stones brought thither out of the bed of Jordan to be symbols of those twelve foundations on which are written the names of the twelve apostles. She saw also that fountain of the Law most bitter and barren which the true Elisha healed by his wisdom changing it into a well sweet and fertilising. Scarcely had the night passed away when burning with eagerness she hastened to the Jordan, stood by the brink of the river, and as the sun rose recalled to mind the rising of the sun of righteousness;[Malachi 4:2] how the priest’s feet stood firm in the middle of the river-bed; how afterwards at the command of Elijah and Elisha the waters were divided hither and thither and made way for them to pass; and again how the Lord had cleansed by His baptism waters ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 407, footnote 7 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4876 (In-Text, Margin)
... frost, or melted with the broiling heat. The sun and the moon, and all the company of the stars, the showers, the whole world run their course for us all alike, and, as the Gospel tells us, the same refreshing rain falls upon all, good and bad, just and unjust. If the present is a picture of the future, then the Sun of Righteousness will rise upon sinners as well as upon the righteous, upon the wicked and the holy, upon the heathen as well as upon Jews and Christians, though the Scripture says,[Malachi 4:2] “Unto you that fear the Lord shall the Sun of Righteousness arise.” If He will rise to those that fear, He will set to the despisers and the false prophets. The sheep which stand on the right hand will be brought into the kingdom of heaven, the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 91, footnote 16 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
On the words, Crucified and Buried. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1633 (In-Text, Margin)
34. The Sun was darkened, because of the Sun of Righteousness[Malachi 4:2]. Rocks were rent, because of the spiritual Rock. Tombs were opened, and the dead arose, because of Him who was free among the dead; He sent forth His prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water. Be not then ashamed of the Crucified, but be thou also bold to say, He beareth our sins, and endureth grief for us, and with His stripes we are healed. Let us not be unthankful to our Benefactor. And again; for the transgression of my people was ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 427, footnote 4 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Second Oration on Easter. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4604 (In-Text, Margin)
... Deity, and having become one with That which anointed It, and I am bold to say, made equal with God. A Male, because offered for Adam; or rather the Stronger for the strong, when the first Man had fallen under sin; and chiefly because there is in Him nothing feminine, nothing unmanly; but He burst from the bonds of the Virgin-Mother’s womb with much power, and a Male was brought forth by the Prophetess, as Isaiah declares the good tidings. And of a year old, because He is the Sun of Righteousness[Malachi 4:2] setting out from heaven, and circumscribed by His visible Nature, and returning unto Himself. And “The blessed crown of Goodness,”—being on every side equal to Himself and alike; and not only this, but also as giving life to all the circle of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 82, footnote 4 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Hexæmeron. (HTML)
The creation of luminous bodies. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1570 (In-Text, Margin)
... exceeds the measure of human intelligence, what mind shall be able to trace the nature of the everlasting? If the sun, subject to corruption, is so beautiful, so grand, so rapid in its movement, so invariable in its course; if its grandeur is in such perfect harmony with and due proportion to the universe: if, by the beauty of its nature, it shines like a brilliant eye in the middle of creation; if finally, one cannot tire of contemplating it, what will be the beauty of the Sun of Righteousness?[Malachi 4:2] If the blind man suffers from not seeing the material sun, what a deprivation is it for the sinner not to enjoy the true light!
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 72b, footnote 13 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
Concerning the Descent to Hades. (HTML)
The soul when it was deified descended into Hades, in order that, just as the Sun of Righteousness[Malachi 4:2] rose for those upon the earth, so likewise He might bring light to those who sit under the earth in darkness and shadow of death: in order that just as He brought the message of peace to those upon the earth, and of release to the prisoners, and of sight to the blind, and became to those who believed the Author of everlasting salvation and to those who did not believe a reproach of their unbelief, so He might become the same to those in Hades: ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 81b, footnote 13 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
Concerning Worship towards the East. (HTML)
Since, therefore, God is spiritual light, and Christ is called in the Scriptures Sun of Righteousness[Malachi 4:2] and Dayspring, the East is the direction that must be assigned to His worship. For everything good must be assigned to Him from Whom every good thing arises. Indeed the divine David also says, Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth: O sing praises unto the Lord: to Him that rideth upon the Heavens of heavens towards the East. Moreover the Scripture also says, And God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 99b, footnote 8 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
Concerning the Antichrist. (HTML)
But Enoch and Elias the Thesbite shall be sent and shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children[Malachi 4:6], that is, the synagogue to our Lord Jesus Christ and the preaching of the apostles: and they will be destroyed by him. And the Lord shall come out of heaven, just as the holy apostles beheld Him going into heaven, perfect God and perfect man, with glory and power, and will destroy the man of lawlessness, the son of destruction, with the breath of His mouth. Let no one, therefore, look for the Lord to come from earth, but out of Heaven, as He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 365, footnote 4 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Virgins. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter III. Virginity is praised on many grounds, but chiefly because it brought down the Word from heaven, and hence its pursuit, which existed in but few under the old covenant, has spread to countless numbers. (HTML)
12. But some one will say: “But Elijah is seen to have had nothing to do with the embraces of bodily love.” And therefore was he carried by a chariot into heaven, therefore he appeared glorified with the Lord, and therefore he is to come as the forerunner of the Lord’s advent.[Malachi 4:5] And Miriam taking the timbrel led the dances with maidenly modesty. But consider whom she was then representing. Was she not a type of the Church, who as a virgin with unstained spirit joins together the religious gatherings of the people to sing divine songs? For we read that there were virgins appointed also in the temple at Jerusalem. But what says the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 260, footnote 5 (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 X. Of the sun, of which it is said that it should not go down upon your wrath. (HTML)
And of this sun God clearly makes mention by the prophet, when He says, “But to those that fear my name the sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.”[Malachi 4:2] And this again is said to “go down” at midday on sinners and false prophets, and those who are angry, when the prophet says, “Their sun is gone down at noon.” And at any rate “tropically” the mind, that is the νοῦς or reason, which is fairly called the sun because it looks over all the thoughts and discernings of the heart, should not be put out by the sin of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 250, footnote 1 (Image)
Gregory the Great II, Ephriam Syrus, Aphrahat
Selections from the Hymns and Homilies of Ephraim the Syrian and from the Demonstrations of Aphrahat the Persian Sage. (HTML)
Ephraim Syrus: Nineteen Hymns on the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh. (HTML)
Hymn XIII. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 504 (In-Text, Margin)
35. In the year that is thirteenth, let the dead praise Him with us, because they are quickened, and the living, because they have turned to repentance,[Malachi 4:6] because height and depth were set at one by Him. Blessed be He and His Father!