Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Matthew 18:15
There are 16 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 381, footnote 17 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)
Chapter XV.—Bishops and Deacons; Christian Reproof (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2500 (In-Text, Margin)
1. Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers. 2. Despise them not therefore, for they are your honoured ones, together with the prophets and teachers. 3. And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as ye have it in the Gospel;[Matthew 18:15-17] but to every one that acts amiss against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear aught from you until he repent. 4. But your prayers and alms and all your deeds so do, as ye have it in the Gospel of our Lord.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 414, footnote 4 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book II. Of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons (HTML)
Sec. V.—On Accusations, and the Treatment of Accusers (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2765 (In-Text, Margin)
... persons to be foolish, quarrelsome, passionate, and such as delight in mischief, do not give credit to them; but observe such as they are, when you hear anything from them against their brother: for murder is nothing in their eyes, and they cast a man down in such a way as one would not suspect. Do thou therefore consider diligently the accuser, wisely observing his mode of life, what, and of what sort it is; and in case thou findest him a man of veracity, do according to the doctrine of our Lord,[Matthew 18:15] and taking him who is accused, rebuke him, that he may repent, when nobody is by. But if he be not persuaded, take with thee out or two more, and so show him his fault, and admonish him with mildness and instruction; for “wisdom will rest upon an ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 85, footnote 19 (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 XXVII. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1888 (In-Text, Margin)
... as I had mercy on thee? And his lord became wroth, and delivered [13] him to the scourgers, till he should pay all that he owed. So shall my Father which is in heaven do unto you, if one forgive not his brother his wrong conduct from [14] his heart. Take heed within yourselves: if thy brother sin, rebuke him; and if he [15] repent, forgive him. And if he act wrongly towards thee seven times in a day, and on that day return seven times unto thee, and say, I repent towards thee; forgive him. [16][Matthew 18:15] And if thy brother act wrongly towards thee, go and reprove him between thee and [17] him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two, and so at the mouth of two or three every saying ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 492, footnote 13 (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 Sinning Brother. (HTML)
“ If thy brother sin against thee, go, shew him his fault between thee and him alone.[Matthew 18:15] ” He, then, who attends closely to the expression, in proof of the surpassing philanthropy of Jesus, will say, that as the words do not suggest a difference of sins, they will act in a singular manner and contrary to the goodness of Jesus, who supply the thought, that these words are to be understood as being limited in their application to lesser sins. But another, also attending closely to the expression, and not wishing to introduce these ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 492, footnote 17 (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 Sinning Brother. (HTML)
... escaped the notice of those, who are influenced by their conception of the goodness of the Word, and grant pardon to those who have committed the greatest sins, as well as of those who teach that, in the case of the very least sins, he is to be reckoned as a Gentile and a publican, making him a stranger to the church, after he has committed three very trivial transgressions. But the following seems to me to have been overlooked by both of them, namely, the words, “Thou hast gained thy brother.”[Matthew 18:15] It is assigned by the Word to him only who heard, and He no longer applies it in the case of him who has stumbled twice or thrice and been censured; but that which was to be said about him who was censured twice or thrice, corresponding to the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 493, footnote 1 (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 Sinning Brother. (HTML)
... was censured twice or thrice, corresponding to the saying, “Thou hast gained thy brother,” He has left in the air, so to speak. He is not, therefore, altogether gained, nor will he altogether perish, or he will receive stripes. And attend carefully to the first passage, “If he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother,” and to the second passage, which is literally, “If he hear thee not, take with thyself one or two more, that at the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”[Matthew 18:15-16] What, then, will happen to him who has been censured for the second time, after every word has been established by two or three witnesses, He has left us to conceive. And, again, “If he refuse to hear them”—manifestly, the witnesses who have been ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 287, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
The progress of the earthly and heavenly cities traced by the sacred history. (HTML)
Of the Weaknesses Which Even the Citizens of the City of God Suffer During This Earthly Pilgrimage in Punishment of Sin, and of Which They are Healed by God’s Care. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 780 (In-Text, Margin)
... “Warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render evil for evil unto any man.” And in another place, “If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.” And elsewhere, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.” And in the Gospel, “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone.”[Matthew 18:15] So too of sins which may create scandal the apostle says, “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” For this purpose, and that we may keep that peace without which no man can see the Lord, many precepts are given which carefully ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 491, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on Rebuke and Grace. (HTML)
Conclusion. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3411 (In-Text, Margin)
... any man evil for evil.” Where it is to be understood that evil is then rather rendered for evil when one who ought to be rebuked is not rebuked, but by a wicked dissimulation is neglected. He says, moreover, “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear;” which must be received concerning those sins which are not concealed, lest he be thought to have spoken in opposition to the word of the Lord. For He says, “If thy brother shall sin against thee, rebuke him between thee and him.”[Matthew 18:15] Notwithstanding, He Himself carries out the severity of rebuke to the extent of saying, “If he will not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican.” And who has more loved the weak than He who became weak for us all, and ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 358, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, Matt. xviii. 15, ‘If thy brother sin against thee, go, shew him his fault between thee and him alone;’ and of the words of Solomon, he that winketh with the eyes deceitfully, heapeth sorrow upon men; but he that reproveth openly, maketh peace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2735 (In-Text, Margin)
4. Therefore ought we to rebuke in love; not with any eager desire to injure, but with an earnest care to amend. If we be so minded, most excellently do we practise that which we have been recommended to-day; “If thy brother shall sin against thee, rebuke him between thee and him alone.”[Matthew 18:15] Why dost thou rebuke him? Because thou art grieved, that he should have sinned against thee? God forbid. If from love of thyself thou do it, thou doest nothing. If from love to him thou do it, thou doest excellently. In fact, observe in these words themselves, for the love of whom thou oughtest to do it, whether of thyself or him. “If he shall hear ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 359, footnote 2 (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. xviii. 15, ‘If thy brother sin against thee, go, shew him his fault between thee and him alone;’ and of the words of Solomon, he that winketh with the eyes deceitfully, heapeth sorrow upon men; but he that reproveth openly, maketh peace. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2740 (In-Text, Margin)
7. This then ought one to do who hath done an injury. And he who hath suffered one, what ought he to do? What we have heard to-day, “If thy brother shall sin against thee, rebuke him between thee and him alone.”[Matthew 18:15] If thou shall neglect this, thou art worse than he. He hath done an injury, and by doing an injury, hath stricken himself with a grievous wound; wilt thou disregard thy brother’s wound? Wilt thou see him perishing, or already lost, and disregard his case? Thou art worse in keeping silence, than he in his reviling. Therefore when any one sins against us, let us take great care, not for ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 362, footnote 5 (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. xvii. 21, ‘How oft shall my brother sin against me,’ etc. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2764 (In-Text, Margin)
... Gospel warned us not to neglect the sins of our brethren: “But if thy brother shall sin against thee, rebuke him between him and thee alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he shall refuse to hear thee, take with thee two or three more; that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them too, tell it to the Church. But if he shall neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”[Matthew 18:15-17] To-day also the section which follows, and which we heard when it was read, relates to the same subject. For when the Lord Jesus had said this to Peter, he went on to ask his Master, how often he should forgive a brother who had sinned against him; ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 237, footnote 3 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Homily Against Publishing the Errors of the Brethren, and Uttering Imprecations upon Enemies. (HTML)
Against Publishing the Errors of the Brethren. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 774 (In-Text, Margin)
... after having sinned, if in the presence of many it be rebuked for what it has done amiss, grows thereby more shameless. In order therefore that this might not take place, the word administered its medicine to you covertly. And that you may understand that the gain which this covert treatment has is great, hear what the Christ says. “If thy brother have committed a fault against thee convince him of it,” and he did not say “between him and the whole town,” nor, “between thee and the whole people,”[Matthew 18:15] but “only between thee and him.” Let the accusation, he says, be unwitnessed to, in order that the change to amendment may be made easy of digestion. A great good surely, the making the advice unpublished. Sufficient is the conscience, sufficient ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 285, footnote 3 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)
Letters of the Blessed Theodoret, Bishop of Cyprus. (HTML)
To Nomus the Patrician. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1810 (In-Text, Margin)
... had wished to say no more, but to know my own place and the greatness of dignities, and to beg you to inform me of the cause of your silence. Really I do not know what offence I can have given to your excellency. We err unwillingly as well as willingly, and sometimes are quite ignorant in what way we are transgressing. I therefore beg your greatness, remembering the divine laws which plainly charge us “If thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between him and thee alone”[Matthew 18:15] to deign to make plain to me the origin of the annoyance, that I may either prove myself innocent, or, made aware of where I was wrong, may beg your pardon. In my confidence in the evidence of my conscience I hope for the former. All men are adorned ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 251, footnote 14 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Rusticus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3502 (In-Text, Margin)
... news in all quarters, you may pretend to confide in each individual as though you had spoken to no one else. Such a course has for its object not my correction but the indulgence of your own failing. The Lord gives commandment that those who sin against us are to be arraigned privately or else in the presence of a witness, and that if they refuse to hear reason, the matter is to be laid before the church, and those who persist in their wickedness are to be regarded as heathen men and publicans.[Matthew 18:15-17]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 314, footnote 1 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
The Letters. (HTML)
Without address. Excommunicatory. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3249 (In-Text, Margin)
... bring a man to his senses, or exclusion from the prayers of the Church to drive him to repentance, it only remains to treat him in accordance with our Lord’s directions—as it is written, “If thy brother shall trespass against thee….tell him his fault between thee and him;…if he will not hear thee, take with thee another;” “and if he shall” then “neglect to hear, tell it unto the Church; but if he neglect to hear even the Church, let him be unto thee henceforth as an heathen man, and as a publican.”[Matthew 18:15-17] Now all this we have done in the case of this fellow. First, he was accused of his fault; then he was convicted in the presence of one or two witnesses; thirdly, in the presence of the Church. Thus we have made our solemn protest, and he has not ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 441, footnote 4 (Image)
Ambrose: Select Works and Letters
Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose. (HTML)
Letter XL: To Theodosius as to the Burning of a Jewish Synagogue. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3555 (In-Text, Margin)
... towards men, I myself am bound by the benefits of your favour. And therefore I fear the more, I am the more anxious; lest even you condemn me hereafter by your own judgment, because through my want of openness or my flattery you should not have avoided some fault. If I saw that you sinned against me, I ought not to keep silence, for it is written: “If thy brother sin against thee, rebuke him at first, then chide him sharply before two or three witnesses. If he will not hear thee, tell the Church.”[Matthew 18:15] Shall I, then, keep silence in the cause of God? Let us, then, consider what I have to fear.