Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Matthew 12:33
There are 16 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 55, footnote 14 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter XIV.—Exhortations to faith and love. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 584 (In-Text, Margin)
None of these things is hid from you, if ye perfectly possess that faith and love towards Christ Jesus which are the beginning and the end of life. For the beginning is faith, and the end is love. Now these two, being inseparably connected together, are of God, while all other things which are requisite for a holy life follow after them. No man [truly] making a profession of faith sinneth; nor does he that possesses love hate any one. The tree is made manifest by its fruit;[Matthew 12:33] so those that profess themselves to be Christians shall be recognised by their conduct. For there is not now a demand for mere profession, but that a man be found continuing in the power of faith to the end.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 55, footnote 19 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Ignatius (HTML)
Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions (HTML)
Chapter XIV.—Exhortations to faith and love. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 589 (In-Text, Margin)
... love. And these two being inseparably connected together, do perfect the man of God; while all other things which are requisite to a holy life follow after them. No man making a profession of faith ought to sin, nor one possessed of love to hate his brother. For He that said, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,” said also, “and thy neighbour as thyself.” Those that profess themselves to be Christ’s are known not only by what they say, but by what they practise. “For the tree is known by its fruit.”[Matthew 12:33]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 56, footnote 1 (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)
True Virgins Prove Themselves Such by Self-Denial, as Does the True Believer by Good Works. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 310 (In-Text, Margin)
... persons as these “have the appearance only of the fear of God, but the power of it they deny.” For they “think with themselves that they are something, whilst they are nothing, and are deceived. But let every one constantly try his works,” and know himself; for empty worship does he offer, whosoever he be that makes profession of virginity and sanctity, “and denies its power.” For virginity of such a kind is impure, and disowned by all good works. For “every tree whatsoever is known from its fruits.”[Matthew 12:33] “See that thou understand what I say: God will give thee understanding.” For whosoever engages before God to preserve sanctity must be girded with all the holy power of God. And, if with true fear he crucify his body, he for the sake of the fear of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 776, footnote 7 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Remains of the Second and Third Centuries. (HTML)
Apollonius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3805 (In-Text, Margin)
... these forbidden things. For we shall show that those who are called among them prophets and martyrs obtain money not only from the rich, but also from the poor, from orphans and widows. And if they are confident that they are right in so doing, let them stand forward and discuss the point, in order that, if they be refuted, they may cease for the future so to transgress. For the fruits of the prophet must needs be brought to the test: for “from its fruit is the tree known.”[Matthew 12:33] But that those that desire it may become acquainted with what relates to Alexander, he was condemned by Æmilius Frontinus, proconsul at Ephesus, not on account of the name of Christ, but for the daring robberies he committed when he was ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 66, footnote 2 (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 XIV. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1050 (In-Text, Margin)
... and blasphemies with which men blaspheme shall be forgiven [29] them: but whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, there is no [30] forgiveness for him for ever, but he is deserving of eternal punishment: because they [31] said that he had an unclean spirit. And he said also, Every one that speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to [32] come.[Matthew 12:33] Either ye must make a good tree and its fruit good; or ye must make an evil [33] tree and its fruit evil: for the tree is known by its fruit. Ye children of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? from the overflowings of the heart the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 242, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
The Enchiridion. (HTML)
The Preceding Argument is in No Wise Inconsistent with the Saying of Our Lord: ‘A Good Tree Cannot Bring Forth Evil Fruit.’ (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1108 (In-Text, Margin)
... good fruit, so an evil will cannot produce good works. But from the nature of man, which is good, may spring either a good or an evil will. And certainly there was at first no source from which an evil will could spring, except the nature of angel or of man, which was good. And our Lord Himself clearly shows this in the very same place where He speaks about the tree and its fruit. For He says: “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt,”[Matthew 12:33] —clearly enough warning us that evil fruits do not grow on a good tree, nor good fruits on an evil tree; but that nevertheless the ground itself, by which He meant those whom He was then addressing, might grow either kind of trees.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 392, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
The Heresies of the Manicheans and Pelagians are Mutually Opposed, and are Alike Reprobated by the Catholic Church. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2625 (In-Text, Margin)
... “God made man upright,” and saying to the latter, “If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” The Manicheans say that the soul, as a particle of God, has sin by the commixture of an evil nature; the Pelagians say that the soul is upright, not indeed a particle, but a creature of God, and has not even in this corruptible life any sin. The catholic Church condemns both, saying to the Manicheans, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree evil and its fruit evil,”[Matthew 12:33] which would not be said to man who cannot make his own nature, unless because sin is not nature, but vice; and saying to the Pelagians, “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In these diseases, opposed as ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 31, footnote 7 (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 XXII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 226 (In-Text, Margin)
... on Him, and receive the Holy Ghost; but if, after receiving Him, they should choose to envy the brotherhood, and to assail the grace they have received, it cannot be forgiven them, neither in this world nor in the world to come. For if He reckoned them so condemned, that there was no hope left for them, He would not judge that they ought still to be admonished, as He did by adding the statement, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt.”[Matthew 12:24-33]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 60, footnote 8 (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 XXIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 465 (In-Text, Margin)
... If an evil man, therefore, wishes to perform good works, let him first become good. So the Lord Himself says in another passage more plainly: “Either make the tree good, or make the tree bad.” But if He were figuratively representing the two natures of such parties by these two trees, He would not say, “Make:” for who of the sons of men can make a nature? Then also in that passage, when He had made mention of these two trees, He added, “Ye hypocrites, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?”[Matthew 12:33-34] As long, therefore, as any one is evil, he cannot bring forth good fruits; for if he were to bring forth good fruits, he would no longer be evil. So it might most truly have been said, snow cannot be warm; for when it begins to be warm, we no longer ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 142, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
The Harmony of the Gospels. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Of the Occasion on Which It Was Said to Him that He Cast Out Devils in the Power of Beelzebub, and of the Declarations Drawn Forth from Him by that Circumstance in Regard to the Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit, and with Respect to the Two Trees; And of the Question Whether There is Not Some Discrepancy in These Sections Between Matthew and the Other Two Evangelists, and Particularly Between Matthew and Luke. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1013 (In-Text, Margin)
85. Matthew proceeds with his narrative in the following terms: “And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils but in Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation;” and so on, down to the words, “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”[Matthew 12:23-37] Mark does not bring in this allegation against Jesus, that He cast out devils in [the power of] Beelzebub, in immediate sequence on the story of the dumb man; but after certain other matters, recorded by himself alone, he introduces this incident also, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 332, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xii. 33, ‘Either make the tree good, and its fruit good,’ etc. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2484 (In-Text, Margin)
1. Lord Jesus hath admonished us, that we be good trees, and that so we may be able to bear good fruits. For He saith, “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit.”[Matthew 12:33] When He says, “Make the tree good, and his fruit good;” this of course is not an admonition, but a wholesome precept, to which obedience is necessary. But when He saith, “Make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt;” this is not a precept that thou shouldest do it; but an admonition, that thou shouldest beware of it. For He spoke against those, who thought that ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 521, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
The tenth chapter of the Gospel of John. Of the shepherd, and the hireling, and the thief. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4117 (In-Text, Margin)
13. My Brethren, does ever either Presbyter or Bishop come up here, and say anything from this higher place, but that the property of others must not be plundered, that there must be no fraud committed, no wickedness done? They cannot say ought else who sit in Moses’ seat, and it is it that speaks by them, not they themselves. What then is, “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” and, “Every tree is known by his fruit”?[Matthew 12:33] Can a Pharisee speak good things? A Pharisee is a thorn; how from a thorn do I gather grapes? Because Thou, Lord, hast said, “What they say, do; but what they do, do not.” Dost Thou bid me gather grapes of thorns when Thou sayest, “Do men gather grapes of thorns”? The Lord ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 528, footnote 4 (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 V. 16; De Sermone Domini in Monte, lib. i. 22, § 73. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2560 (In-Text, Margin)
And this, perhaps, it is “to sin against the Holy Ghost:” i.e. through malice and envy to fight against brotherly charity after receiving the grace of the Holy Spirit: that sin which the Lord saith hath no forgiveness, either here or in the world to come. . . . For the Lord in saying to the Pharisees, “Whosoever shall speak an evil word against the Son of Man,”[Matthew 12:24-33] &c., may have meant to warn them to come to the grace of God, and having received it, not to sin as they have now sinned. For now they have spoken an evil word against the Son of Man, and it may be forgiven them, if they be converted and believe and receive the Holy Spirit: which when they have received, if they ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 230, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LVIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2169 (In-Text, Margin)
... he cried out to them, “If truly indeed justice ye speak,”—if not falsely justice ye speak, if not one thing on lips doth sound, whilst another thing is concealed in hearts,—“judge right things, ye sons of men.” Hear out of the Gospel His own voice, the very same as is in this Psalm: “Hypocrites,” saith the Lord to the Pharisees, “how are ye able good things to speak, when ye are evil men?.…Either make the tree good, and the fruit thereof good: or make the tree evil, and the fruit thereof evil.”[Matthew 12:33-34] Why wilt thou whiten thee, wall of mud? I know thy inward parts, I am not deceived by thy covering: I know what thou holdest forth, I know what thou coverest. “For there was no need for Him, that any one to Him should bear testimony of man: for He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 1, page 236, footnote 5 (Image)
Eusebius: Church History from A.D. 1-324, Life of Constantine the Great, Oration in Praise of Constantine
The Church History of Eusebius. (HTML)
Book V (HTML)
The Manner in which Apollonius refuted the Phrygians, and the Persons whom he Mentions. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1633 (In-Text, Margin)
8. But if they are confident, let them stand up and discuss these matters, that if convicted they may hereafter cease transgressing. For the fruits of the prophet must be tried; ‘for the tree is known by its fruit.’[Matthew 12:33]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 239, footnote 6 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
Title Page (HTML)
Homilies on Psalms I., LIII., CXXX. (HTML)
Homilies on the Psalms. (HTML)
Homily on Psalm I. (HTML)
... prophetic warrant that Wisdom, which is Christ, is called the tree of Life in accordance with the mystery of the coming Incarnation and Passion, we must go on to find support for the strict truth of this interpretation from the Gospels. The Lord with His own lips compared Himself to a tree when the Jews said that He cast out devils in Beelzebub: Either make the tree good, said He, and its fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit[Matthew 12:33]; because although to cast out devils is an excellent fruit, they said He was Beelzebab, whose fruits are abominable. Nor yet did He hesitate to teach that the power that makes the tree happy resided in His Person, when on the way to the Cross He ...