Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Matthew 5:14
There are 43 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 324, footnote 1 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book I (HTML)
Chapter VI.—The threefold kind of man feigned by these heretics: good works needless for them, though necessary to others: their abandoned morals. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2734 (In-Text, Margin)
... afflatus of incorruption. As to every animal existence (which they also denominate “on the right hand”), they hold that, inasmuch as it is a mean between the spiritual and the material, it passes to the side to which inclination draws it. Spiritual substance, again, they describe as having been sent forth for this end, that, being here united with that which is animal, it might assume shape, the two elements being simultaneously subjected to the same discipline. And this they declare to be “the salt”[Matthew 5:13-14] and “the light of the world.” For the animal substance had need of training by means of the outward senses; and on this account they affirm that the world was created, as well as that the Saviour came to the animal substance (which was possessed of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 470, footnote 8 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book IV (HTML)
Chapter VII.—Recapitulation of the foregoing argument, showing that Abraham, through the revelation of the Word, knew the Father, and the coming of the Son of God. For this cause, he rejoiced to see the day of Christ, when the promises made to him should be fulfilled. The fruit of this rejoicing has flowed to posterity, viz., to those who are partakers in the faith of Abraham, but not to the Jews who reject the Word of God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3875 (In-Text, Margin)
3. He is therefore one and the same God, who called Abraham and gave him the promise. But He is the Creator, who does also through Christ prepare lights in the world, [namely] those who believe from among the Gentiles. And He says, “Ye are the light of the world;”[Matthew 5:14] that is, as the stars of heaven. Him, therefore, I have rightly shown to be known by no man, unless by the Son, and to whomsoever the Son shall reveal Him. But the Son reveals the Father to all to whom He wills that He should be known; and neither without the goodwill of the Father nor without the agency of the Son, can any man know God. Wherefore did the Lord say ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 601, footnote 5 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
Who is the Rich Man that shall be saved? (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3901 (In-Text, Margin)
... by which they are encircled as with a diadem. There are, besides, some, the elect of the elect, and so much more or less distinguished by drawing themselves, like ships to the strand, out of the surge of the world and bringing themselves to safety; not wishing to seem holy, and ashamed if one call them so; hiding in the depth of their mind the ineffable mysteries, and disdaining to let their nobleness be seen in the world; whom the Word calls “the light of the world, and the salt of the earth.”[Matthew 5:13-14] This is the seed, the image and likeness of God, and His true son and heir, sent here as it were on a sojourn, by the high administration and suitable arrangement of the Father, by whom the visible and invisible things of the world were created; ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 71, footnote 7 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Apologetic. (HTML)
On Idolatry. (HTML)
Concerning Festivals in Honour of Emperors, Victories, and the Like. Examples of the Three Children and Daniel. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 286 (In-Text, Margin)
... submissive to Darius, remained in his duty so long as it was free from danger to his religion; for, to avoid undergoing that danger, he feared the royal lions no more than they the royal fires. Let, therefore, them who have no light, light their lamps daily; let them over whom the fires of hell are imminent, affix to their posts, laurels doomed presently to burn: to them the testimonies of darkness and the omens of their penalties are suitable. You are a light of the world,[Matthew 5:14] and a tree ever green. If you have renounced temples, make not your own gate a temple. I have said too little. If you have renounced stews, clothe not your own house with the appearance of a new brothel.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 25, footnote 7 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Tertullian: Part Fourth. (HTML)
On the Apparel of Women. (HTML)
II (HTML)
It is Not Enough that God Know Us to Be Chaste: We Must Seem So Before Men. Especially in These Times of Persecution We Must Inure Our Bodies to the Hardships Which They May Not Improbably Be Called to Suffer. (HTML)
... not require the testimony of men: God is the inspector of the heart.” (That) we all know; provided, however, we remember what the same (God) has said through the apostle: “Let your probity appear before men.” For what purpose, except that malice may have no access at all to you, or that you may be an example and testimony to the evil? Else, what is (that): “Let your works shine?” Why, moreover, does the Lord call us the light of the world; why has He compared us to a city built upon a mountain;[Matthew 5:14] if we do not shine in (the midst of) darkness, and stand eminent amid them who are sunk down? If you hide your lamp beneath a bushel, you must necessarily be left quite in darkness, and be run against by many. The things which make us luminaries of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 547, footnote 10 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)
Book V (HTML)
Chapter X (HTML)
... of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” It was not therefore consonant to reason that those who had been taught sublimely to ascend above all created things, and to hope for the enjoyment of the most glorious rewards with God on account of their virtuous lives, and who had heard the words, “Ye are the light of the world,”[Matthew 5:14] and, “Let your light so shine before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify your Father who is in heaven,” and who possessed through practice this brilliant and unfading wisdom, or who had secured even the “very reflection of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 633, footnote 4 (Image)
Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen
Origen. (HTML)
Origen Against Celsus. (HTML)
Book VII (HTML)
Chapter LI (HTML)
... Being in no other way than in that which leads him ever to have regard to the Creator of all, to address his prayers to Him alone, and to do all things as in the sight of God, who sees us altogether, even to our thoughts. Our earnest desire then is both to see for ourselves, and to be leaders of the blind, to bring them to the Word of God, that He may take away from their minds the blindness of ignorance. And if our actions are worthy of Him who taught His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world,”[Matthew 5:14] and of the Word, who says, “The light shineth in darkness,” then we shall be light to those who are in darkness; we shall give wisdom to those who are without it, and we shall instruct the ignorant.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 332, footnote 3 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity. (HTML)
Procilla. (HTML)
Virgins Being Martyrs First Among the Companions of Christ. (HTML)
... and orders, according to the analogy of the faith of each. And this Paul, too, sets forth, saying, “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead.” And the Lord does not profess to give the same honours to all; but to some He promises that they shall be numbered in the kingdom of heaven, to others the inheritance of the earth, and to others to see the Father.[Matthew 5:3-16] And here, also, He announces that the order and holy choir of the virgins shall first enter in company with Him into the rest of the new dispensation, as into a bridal chamber. For they were martyrs, not as bearing the pains of the body for a little ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 55, footnote 10 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Two Epistles Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle. (HTML)
For True Virginity Perfect Virtue is Necessary. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 301 (In-Text, Margin)
... Christ. Now, those who are truly virgins for the sake of God give heed to Him who hath said, “Let not righteousness and faith fail thee; bind them on thy neck, and thou shalt find favour for thyself; and devise thou good things before God and before men.” “The paths,” therefore, “of the righteous shine as the light, and the light of them advances until the day is perfect.” For the beams of their light illumine the whole creation even now by good works, as those who are truly “the light of the world,”[Matthew 5:14] giving light to “those who sit in darkness,” that they may arise and go forth from the darkness by the light of the good works of the fear of God, “that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.” For it is required of the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 60, footnote 10 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Two Epistles Concerning Virginity. (HTML)
The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle. (HTML)
What Priests Should Be and Should Not Be. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 423 (In-Text, Margin)
... those who work the works of the Lord should work the works of the Lord in the fear of God. Thus is it required of them to conduct themselves. That “the harvest is great, but the workmen are few,” this also is well-known and manifest. Let us, therefore, “ask of the Lord of the harvest” that He would send forth workmen into the harvest; such workmen as “shall skilfully dispense the word of truth;” workmen “who shall not be ashamed;” faithful workmen; workmen who shall be “the light of the world;”[Matthew 5:14] workmen who “work not for the food that perisheth, but for that food which abideth unto life eternal;” workmen who shall be such as the apostles; workmen who imitate the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit; who are concerned for the salvation ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 166, footnote 3 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Pseudo-Clementine Literature. (HTML)
The Recognitions of Clement. (HTML)
Book VIII. (HTML)
The Question Stated. (HTML)
... the souls of men, seem to me to be like the rays of the sun, which, when once they have come forth and appeared to the world, can no longer be concealed or hidden, while they are not so much seen by men, as they afford sight to all. Therefore it was well said by One to the heralds of the truth, ‘Ye are the light of the world, and a city set upon a hill cannot be hid; neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may enlighten all who are in the house.’[Matthew 5:14-15] ” Then said the old man: “He said well, whoever he is. But let one of you state what, according to his opinion, ought to be followed, that we may direct our speech to a definite aim. For, in order to find the truth, it is not sufficient to overthrow ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 56, footnote 46 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
The Diatessaron of Tatian. (HTML)
The Diatessaron. (HTML)
Section VIII. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 658 (In-Text, Margin)
[40] Unto you do I say, ye which hear, Ye are the salt of the earth: if then the salt become tasteless, wherewith shall it be salted? For any purpose it is of no use, but [41] is thrown outside, and men tread upon it.[Matthew 5:14] Ye are the light of the world. It is [42] impossible that a city built on a mountain should be hid. Neither do they light a lamp and place it under a bushel, but on the lamp-stand, and it giveth light to all [43] who are in the house. So shall your light shine before men, that they may see [44] your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. There is nothing [45] secret ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 311, footnote 5 (Image)
Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen
Epistle to Gregory and Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Christ as Light; How He, and How His Disciples are the Light of the World. (HTML)
... reasonable souls which are in the sensible world, and if there be any beings beyond these in the world from which He declares Himself to be our Saviour. He is, indeed, the most determining and distinguished part of that world, and, as we may say, the sun who makes the great day of the Lord. In view of this day He says to those who partake of His light, “Work while it is day; the night cometh when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Then He says to His disciples,[Matthew 5:14] “Ye are the light of the world,” and “Let your light shine before men.” Thus we see the Church, the bride, to present an analogy to the moon and stars, and the disciples have a light, which is their own or borrowed from the true sun, so that they ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 380, footnote 2 (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)
The World, of Which the Sin is Taken Away, is Said to Be the Church. Reasons for Not Agreeing with This Opinion. (HTML)
The reader will do well to consider what was said above and illustrated from various quarters on the question what is meant in Scripture by the word “world”; and I think it proper to repeat this. I am aware that a certain scholar understands by the world the Church alone, since the Church is the adornment of the world, and is said to be the light of the world. “You,” he says,[Matthew 5:14] “are the light of the world.” Now, the adornment of the world is the Church, Christ being her adornment, who is the first light of the world. We must consider if Christ is said to be the light of the same world as His disciples. When Christ is the light of the world, perhaps it is meant that He is the light ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 198, footnote 24 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
Of the goodness of God explained in the creation of things, and of the Trinity as found in the first words of Genesis. The story concerning the origin of the world (Gen. I.) is allegorically explained, and he applies it to those things which God works for sanctified and blessed man. Finally, he makes an end of this work, having implored eternal rest from God. (HTML)
All Men Should Become Lights in the Firmament of Heaven. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1337 (In-Text, Margin)
... they illumine it in its degree. For behold God (as it were) saying, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven.” There came suddenly a sound from heaven, as it had been the rushing of a mighty wind, and there appeared cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And there were made lights in the firmament of heaven, having the word of life. Run ye to and fro everywhere, ye holy fires, ye beautiful fires; for ye are the light of the world, nor are ye put under a bushel.[Matthew 5:14] He to whom ye cleave is exalted, and hath exalted you. Run ye to and fro, and be known unto all nations.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 108, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
He resolves the question he had deferred, and teaches us that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit is one power and one wisdom, no otherwise than one God and one essence. And he then inquires how it is that, in speaking of God, the Latins say, One essence, three persons; but the Greeks, One essence, three substances or hypostases. (HTML)
Why the Son Chiefly is Intimated in the Scriptures by the Name of Wisdom, While Both the Father and the Holy Spirit are Wisdom. That the Holy Spirit, Together with the Father and the Son, is One Wisdom. (HTML)
... light.” Because, “as the Father hath life in Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life in Himself:” and, “He was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world:” and this light, “the Word,” was “with God;” but “the Word also was God;” and “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all:” but a light that is not corporeal, but spiritual; yet not in such way spiritual, that it was wrought by illumination, as it was said to the apostles, “Ye are the light of the world,”[Matthew 5:14] but “the light which lighteth every man,” that very supreme wisdom itself who is God, of whom we now treat. The Son therefore is Wisdom of wisdom, namely the Father, as He is Light of light, and God of God; so that both the Father singly is light, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 204, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Faustus asserts that even if the Old Testament could be shown to contain predictions, it would be of interest only to the Jews, pagan literature subserving the same purpose for Gentiles. Augustin shows the value of prophesy for Gentiles and Jews alike. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 515 (In-Text, Margin)
... believe in Christ, the prophet answers this question in what follows, and teaches that the Church of Christ, which he describes prophetically, is conspicuously visible. His words are: "A glorious high throne is our sanctuary." This glorious throne is the Church of which the apostle says: "The temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." The Lord also, foreseeing the conspicuousness of the Church as a help to young disciples who might be misled, says, "A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid."[Matthew 5:14] Since, then, a glorious high throne is our sanctuary, no attention is to be paid to those who would lead us into sectarianism, saying, "Lo, here is Christ," or "Lo there." Lo here, lo there, speaks of division; but the true city is on a mountain, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 225, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
Reply to Faustus the Manichæan. (HTML)
Faustus willing to believe not only that the Jewish but that all Gentile prophets wrote of Christ, if it should be proved; but he would none the less insist upon rejecting their superstitions. Augustin maintains that all Moses wrote is of Christ, and that his writings must be either accepted or rejected as a whole. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 596 (In-Text, Margin)
... this point, when he says, "This rock was Christ." In the command of God, that the death of the flesh of Moses should take place on the mountain, we see the divine appointment that the carnal doubt of the divinity of Christ should die on Christ’s exaltation. As the rock is Christ, so is the mountain. The rock is the fortitude of His humiliation; the mountain the height of His exaltation. For as the apostle says, "This rock was Christ," so Christ Himself says, "A city set upon an hill cannot be hid,"[Matthew 5:14] showing that He is the hill, and believers the city built upon the glory of His name. The carnal mind lives when, like the smitten rock, the humiliation of Christ on the cross is despised. For Christ crucified is to the Jews a stumbling-block, and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 548, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist. (HTML)
In which Augustin replies to all the several statements in the letter of Petilianus, as though disputing with an adversary face to face. (HTML)
Chapter 32 (HTML)
... tongue. But because this passage itself signified that the gospel should be found hereafter in all nations and languages, and that the body of Christ should sound forth throughout all the world in every tongue, therefore he goes on to say, "Their sound is gone out throughout all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world." Hence it is that the true Church is hidden from no one. And hence comes that which the Lord Himself says in the gospel, "A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid."[Matthew 5:14] And therefore David continues in the same psalm, "In the sun hath He placed His tabernacle," that is, in the open light of day; as we read in the Book of Kings, "For thou didst it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 171, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness. (HTML)
The Fourth Passage. In What Sense God Only is Good. With God to Be Good and to Be Himself are the Same Thing. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1512 (In-Text, Margin)
... good, are yet, when compared with their Creator, not good, being in fact incapable of any comparison with Him. For in a transcendent, and yet very proper sense, He said of Himself, “ ” The statement therefore before us, “None is good save one, that is, God,” is used in some such way as that which is said of John, “He was not that light;” although the Lord calls him “a lamp,” just as He says to His disciples: “Ye are the light of the world: . . .neither do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel.”[Matthew 5:14-15] Still, in comparison with that light which is “the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world,” he was not light. Or else, because the very sons of God even, when compared with themselves as they shall hereafter become in their ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 34, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. (HTML)
On the Latter Part of Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, Contained in the Sixth and Seventh Chapters of Matthew. (HTML)
Chapter I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 246 (In-Text, Margin)
... being seen by men. For, [were it the former], what would become of the statement made in the beginning of this sermon, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works”? But He did not set up this as the end; for He has added, “and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”[Matthew 5:14-16] But here, because he is finding fault with this, if the end of our right actions is there, i.e. if we act rightly with this design, only of being seen of men; after He has said, “Take heed that ye do not your righteousness before men,” He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 233, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)
Book IV (HTML)
Of the Evangelist John, and the Distinction Between Him and the Other Three. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1650 (In-Text, Margin)
... them.” By which designation He clearly distinguished Himself from the light which He made, and presented Himself as the Light by which all things have been made. Consequently, when He said that He was the light of the world, we are not to take the words to bear simply the sense intended when He addressed the disciples in similar terms, saying, “Ye are the light of the world.” For they are compared only to the kindled light, which is not to be put beneath a bushel, but to be set upon a candlestick;[Matthew 5:14-15] as He also says of John the Baptist, that “he was a burning and shining light.” But He is Himself the beginning, of whom it is likewise declared, that “of His fulness have all we received.” On the occasion presently under review, He asserted further ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 49, footnote 5 (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 I. 34–51. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 152 (In-Text, Margin)
5. “The next day, John stood, and two of his disciples; and looking upon Jesus as He walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” Assuredly, in a special sense, the Lamb; for the disciples were also called lambs: “Behold, I send you as lambs in the midst of wolves.” They were also called light: “Ye are the light of the world;”[Matthew 5:14] but in another sense is He called so, concerning whom it was said, “That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” In like manner was He called the dove in a special sense, alone without stain, without sin; not one whose sins have been washed away, but One who never had stain. For what? Because John ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 151, footnote 5 (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 V. 19–40. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 469 (In-Text, Margin)
... immediately subjoined, “A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid; neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but an a candlestick, that it may shine on all that are in the house.” But what if He did not call the apostles the candle, but the lighters of the candle, which they were to put on a candlestick? Hear that He called themselves the candle. “So let your light shine,” saith He, “before men, that they, seeing your good works, may glorify,” not you, but “your Father who is in heaven.”[Matthew 5:14-16]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 297, footnote 2 (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 XII. 44–50. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1113 (In-Text, Margin)
4. Attend to what follows: “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.” He said in a certain place to His disciples, “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; that it may give light to all that are in the house: so let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven:”[Matthew 5:14-16] but He did not say to them, Ye are come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on you should not abide in darkness. Such a statement, I maintain, can nowhere be met with. All the saints, therefore, are lights, but they are illuminated by Him ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 469, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Homilies on the Gospel of John, Homilies on the First Epistle of John, Soliloquies
Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John. (HTML)
1 John I. 1–II. 11. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2066 (In-Text, Margin)
... seen what they have not seen. Do we in this way point out the Church, my brethren? Is it not open? Is it not manifest? Has it not possessed all nations? Is not that fulfilled which so many years before was promised to Abraham, that in his seed should all nations be blessed? It was promised to one believer, and the world is filled with thousands of believers. Behold here the mountain filling the whole face of the earth! Behold the city of which it is said, “A city set upon a mountain cannot be hid!”[Matthew 5:14] But those stumble at the mountain, and when it is said to them, Go up; “There is no mountain,” say they, and dash their heads against it sooner than seek a habitation there. Esaias was read yesterday; whosoever of you was awake not with his eyes ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 155, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1469 (In-Text, Margin)
30. “They shall be mindful of thy name in every generation and generation; therefore shall the peoples confess unto Thee” (ver. 17). What does it profit then to “confess” indeed and yet to confess out of “the Temple”? What does it profit to pray, and yet not to pray on the Mount? “I cried,” says he, “unto the Lord with my voice: and He heard me out of His holy hill.” Out of what “hill”? Out of that of which it is said, “A city set upon a hill cannot be hid.”[Matthew 5:14] Of what “hill”? Out of that hill which Daniel saw “grow out of a small stone, and break all the kingdoms of the earth; and cover all the face of the earth.” There let him pray, who hopes to receive: there let him ask, who would have his prayer heard: there let him ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 164, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1559 (In-Text, Margin)
2. “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised” (ver. 1).…That is, “in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.” This is the city set upon an hill, which cannot be hid: this is the candle which is not hidden under a bushel,[Matthew 5:14-15] to all known, to all proclaimed. Yet are not all men citizens thereof, but they in whom “great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” What then is that city: let us see whether perhaps, since it is said, “In the city of our God, in His holy mountain,” we ought not to enquire for this mountain where also we may be heard.…What then is that mountain, brethren? One is it with great ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 293, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2784 (In-Text, Margin)
... compare the Lord Jesus Christ with the rest of the Saints, who are themselves also called mountains of God.…For there were not wanting men to call Him, some John Baptist, some Elias, some Jeremias, or one of the Prophets; He turneth to them and saith, “Why do ye imagine mountains full of curds, a mountain,” he saith, “wherein it hath pleased God to dwell therein”? (ver. 16). “Why do ye imagine?” For as they are a light, because to themselves also hath been said, “Ye are the Light of the world,”[Matthew 5:14] but something different hath been called “the true Light which enlighteneth every man,” so they are mountains; but far different is the Mountain “prepared on the top of the mountains.” These mountains therefore in bearing that Mountain are glorious: ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 433, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXXXIX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4160 (In-Text, Margin)
13. “Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name.” Those mountains are here understood, but they have a meaning. “Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in Thy name.” Thabor, when interpreted, signifies an approaching light. But whence comes the light of which it is said, “Ye are the light of the world,”[Matthew 5:14] unless from Him concerning whom it is written, “That was the true light, which lighteth every man coming into the world”? The light then which is the light of the world comes from that light which is not kindled from any other source, so that there is no fear lest it be extinguished. The light then comes from Him, who is that candle which is not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 224, footnote 4 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Homily to Those Who Had Not Attended the Assembly: and on the Apostolic Saying, 'If Thine Enemy Hunger, Feed Him, Etc. (Rom. xii. 20), and Concerning Resentment of Injuries.' (HTML)
To Those Who Had Not Attended the Assembly. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 745 (In-Text, Margin)
... the greater part of the body of the Church is like a dead and motionless carcase. “And what concern is that to us?” you say. The greatest possible concern if you pay no attention to your brethren, if you do not exhort and advise, if you put no constraint on them, and do not forcibly drag them hither, and lead them away out of their deep indolence. For that one ought not to be useful to himself alone, but also to many others, Christ declared plainly, when He called us salt, and leaven, and light:[Matthew 5:14] for these things are useful and profitable to others. For a lamp does not shine for itself, but for those who are sitting in darkness: and thou art a lamp not that thou mayest enjoy the light by thyself, but that thou mayest bring back yonder man ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 200, footnote 4 (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 1297 (In-Text, Margin)
... too will share. Moreover in its glory they will participate, as 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,”[Matthew 5:14] and being named servants and being named “Sun of Righteousness” 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 ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 461, footnote 4 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
Life and Works of Rufinus with Jerome's Apology Against Rufinus. (HTML)
The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus, in Reply to Jerome's Letter to Pammachius. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Jerome's commentaries on Ephesians follow Origen's interpretation of the texts about a secret federation to whom higher truths are to be told. (HTML)
... Paul himself, who was one of the perfect, says in another Epistle “We speak wisdom among them that are perfect.” This then is what is commanded, that those mystic and secret things, which are full of divine truth, should be spoken by each man to his neighbour, so that day unto day may utter speech and night to night shew knowledge, that is, that a man should show all those clear and lucid truths which he knows to those to whom the words can be worthily addressed: “Ye are the light of the world.”[Matthew 5:14] On the other hand, he should exhibit everything involved in darkness and wrapped up in the mist of symbols to others who are themselves nothing but mist and darkness, those of whom it is said “And there was darkness under his feet,” that is, of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 18, footnote 20 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Pope Damasus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 272 (In-Text, Margin)
... 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 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,”[Matthew 5:14] “ye are the salt of the earth,” ye are “vessels of gold and of silver.” Here are vessels of wood or of earth, which wait for the rod of iron, and eternal fire.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 119, footnote 18 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Paulinus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1749 (In-Text, Margin)
... to our old riches. How can we faithfully distribute what belongs to another when we thus timidly keep back what is our own? When the stomach is full, it is easy to talk of fasting. What is praiseworthy is not to have been at Jerusalem but to have lived a good life while there. The city which we are to praise and to seek is not that which has slain the prophets and shed the blood of Christ, but that which is made glad by the streams of the river, which is set upon a mountain and so cannot be hid,[Matthew 5:14] which the apostle declares to be a mother of the saints, and in which he rejoices to have his citizenship with the righteous.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 312, footnote 3 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
The Life of S. Hilarion. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4031 (In-Text, Margin)
37. Once more, on thinking the matter over and fearing that merchants coming from the East might make him known, he fled to the interior, some twenty miles from the sea, and there on an abandoned piece of ground, every day tied up a bundle of firewood which he laid upon the back of his disciple, and sold at some neighbouring mansion. They thus supported themselves and were able to purchase a morsel of bread for any chance visitors. But that came exactly to pass which is written:[Matthew 5:14] “a city set on a hill cannot be hid.” It happened that one of the shields-men who was vexed by a demon was in the basilica of the blessed Peter at Rome, when the unclean spirit within him cried out, “A few days ago Christ’s servant Hilarion entered Sicily ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 312, footnote 12 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Fourth Theological Oration, Which is the Second Concerning the Son. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3634 (In-Text, Margin)
... they are used sometimes in respect of deficiency of strength, sometimes in respect of time, and sometimes relatively to a certain object; as for instance, A Child cannot be an Athlete, or, A Puppy cannot see, or fight with so and so. Perhaps some day the child will be an athlete, the puppy will see, will fight with that other, though it may still be unable to fight with Any other. Or again, they may be used of that which is Generally true. For instance,—A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid;[Matthew 5:14] while yet it might possibly be hidden by another higher hill being in a line with it. Or in another sense they are used of a thing which is not reasonable; as, Can the Children of the Bridechamber fast while the Bridegroom is with them; whether He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 374, footnote 3 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Oration on Holy Baptism. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4149 (In-Text, Margin)
... enlightenment.” But such are they, and in this condition; but let us kindle for ourselves the light of knowledge. This will be done by sowing unto righteousness, and reaping the fruit of life, for action is the patron of contemplation, that amongst other things we may learn also what is the true light, and what the false, and be saved from falling unawares into evil wearing the guise of good. Let us be made light, as it was said to the disciples by the Great Light, ye are the light of the world.[Matthew 5:14] Let us be made lights in the world, holding forth the Word of Life; that is, let us be made a quickening power to others. Let us lay hold of the Godhead; let us lay hold of the First and Brightest Light. Let us walk towards Him shining, before our ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 335, footnote 4 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)
Concerning Repentance. (HTML)
Book I. (HTML)
Chapter VIII. It was the Lord's will to confer great gifts on His disciples. Further, the Novatians confute themselves by the practices of laying on of hands and of baptism, since it is by the same power that sins are remitted in penance and in baptism. Their conduct is then contrasted with that of our Lord. (HTML)
... gave them power to raise the dead. And whereas He could Himself have restored to Saul the use of his sight, He nevertheless sent him to His disciple Ananias, that by his blessing Saul’s eyes might be restored, the sight of which he had lost. Peter also He bade walk with Himself on the sea, and because he faltered He blamed him for lessening the grace given him by the weakness of his faith. He Who Himself was the light of the world granted to His disciples to be the light of the world through grace.[Matthew 5:14] And because He purposed to descend from heaven and to ascend thither again, He took up Elijah into heaven to restore him again to earth at the time which should please Him. And being baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, He foreshadowed the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 230, footnote 3 (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 IV. Of the Institutes of the Renunciants. (HTML)
Chapter XXXI. How when Abbot Pinufius was brought back to his monastery he stayed there for a little while and then fled again into the regions of Syrian Palestine. (HTML)
... which were unknown and strange and separated by a wide distance. For embarking in a ship he managed to travel to Palestine, believing that he would more securely lie hid if he betook himself to those places in which his name had never been heard. And when he had come thither, at once he sought out our own monastery which was at no great distance from the cave in which our Lord vouchsafed to be born of a virgin. And though he concealed himself here for some time, yet like “a city set on an hill”[Matthew 5:14] (to use our Lord’s expression) he could not long be hid. For presently some of the brethren who had come to the holy places from Egypt to pray there recognized him and recalled him with most fervent prayers to his own Cœnobium.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 479, footnote 3 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)
Conference XVIII. Conference of Abbot Piamun. On the Three Sorts of Monks. (HTML)
Chapter I. How we came to Diolcos and were received by Abbot Piamun. (HTML)
... like most eager merchants, at once we undertook the journey on an uncertain quest, urged on by the hope of greater gain. And when we wandered about there for some long time and fixed our curious eyes on those mountains of virtue conspicuous for their lofty height, the gaze of those around first singled out Abbot Piamun, the senior of all the anchorites living there and their presbyter, as if he were some tall lighthouse. For he was set on the top of a high mountain like that city in the gospel,[Matthew 5:14] and at once shed his light on our faces, whose virtues and miracles, which were wrought by him under our very eyes, Divine Grace thus bearing witness to his excellence, if we are not to exceed the plan and limits of this volume, we feel we must pass ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 540, footnote 1 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)
Conference XXIV. Conference of Abbot Abraham. On Mortification. (HTML)
Chapter XIX. The answer on the devil's illusion, because he promises us the peace of a vaster solitude. (HTML)
... former man, it is right that none—I say not of the saints—but of any men should visit him. But you, if you are inflamed with true and perfect love of our Lord, and follow God, who indeed is love, with entire fervour of spirit, are sure to be resorted to by men, to whatever inaccessible spot you may flee, and, in proportion as the ardour of divine love brings you nearer to God, so will a larger concourse of saintly brethren flock to you. For, as the Lord says, “A city set on an hill cannot be hid,”[Matthew 5:14] because “them that love Me,” saith the Lord, “will I honour, and they that despise Me shall be contemned.” But you ought to know that this is the subtlest device of the devil, this is his best concealed pitfall, into which he precipitates some ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 13, page 348, footnote 17 (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)
Aphrahat: Select Demonstrations. (HTML)
Of Faith. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 687 (In-Text, Margin)
... light of Christ, in that they did not believe on Him, as it is written:— He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. And also our Lord Jesus called them darkness, for He said to His disciples;— Whatsoever I say unto you in the darkness, that speak ye in the light, namely, let your light shine among the Gentiles; because they received the light of Christ, Who is the Light of the Gentiles. And He said again to His Apostles:— Ye are the light of the world.[Matthew 5:14] And again He said unto them;— Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven. And again He showed with regard to Himself that He is the light, for He said to His disciples:— ...