Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Matthew 18:16
There are 14 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 251, footnote 6 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
The Prescription Against Heretics. (HTML)
Apostolic Sanction to This Exclusion of Heretics from the Use of the Scriptures. Heretics, According to the Apostle, are Not to Be Disputed With, But to Be Admonished. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2032 (In-Text, Margin)
... to enter on “questions,” or to lend our ears to new-fangled statements, or to consort with a heretic “after the first and second admonition,” not, (be it observed,) after discussion. Discussion he has inhibited in this way, by designating admonition as the purpose of dealing with a heretic, and the first one too, because he is not a Christian; in order that he might not, after the manner of a Christian, seem to require correction again and again, and “before two or three witnesses,”[Matthew 18:16] seeing that he ought to be corrected, for the very reason that he is not to be disputed with; and in the next place, because a controversy over the Scriptures can, clearly, produce no other effect than help to upset either the stomach or the brain.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 672, footnote 11 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Ethical. (HTML)
On Baptism. (HTML)
The Angel the Forerunner of the Holy Spirit. Meaning Contained in the Baptismal Formula. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 8588 (In-Text, Margin)
... the angel, we are cleansed, and prepared for the Holy Spirit. In this case also a type has preceded; for thus was John beforehand the Lord’s forerunner, “preparing His ways.” Thus, too, does the angel, the witness of baptism, “make the paths straight” for the Holy Spirit, who is about to come upon us, by the washing away of sins, which faith, sealed in (the name of) the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, obtains. For if “in the mouth of three witnesses every word shall stand:”[Matthew 18:16] —while, through the benediction, we have the same (three) as witnesses of our faith whom we have as sureties of our salvation too—how much more does the number of the divine names suffice for the assurance of our hope likewise! Moreover, after the ...
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 482, footnote 1 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles (HTML)
Book VIII. Concerning Gifts, and Ordinations, and the Ecclesiastical Canons (HTML)
Sec. II.—Election and Ordination of Bishops: Form of Service on Sundays (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3595 (In-Text, Margin)
... have been well ordered by him; whether he has been unblameable in the course of his life. And if all the assembly together do according to truth, and not according to prejudice, witness that he is such a one, let them the third time, as before God the Judge, and Christ, the Holy Ghost being also present, as well as all the holy and ministering spirits, ask again whether he be truly worthy of this ministry, that so “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”[Matthew 18:16] And if they agree the third time that he is worthy, let them all be demanded their vote; and when they all give it willingly, let them be heard. And silence being made, let one of the principal bishops, together with two others, stand ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 434, footnote 1 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
Apocrypha of the New Testament. (HTML)
The Gospel of Nicodemus; Part I.--The Acts of Pilate: Second Greek Form. (HTML)
Chapter 16. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1928 (In-Text, Margin)
Then Annas and Caiaphas took the three apart, one by one, and questioned them singly in private. They agreed with one another, therefore, and gave, even the three, one account. The chief priests answered, saying: Our Scripture says that every word shall be established by two or three witnesses.[Matthew 18:16] Joseph, then, has confessed that he, along with Nicodemus, attended to his body, and buried him, and how it is the truth that he has risen.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 85, footnote 20 (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 1889 (In-Text, Margin)
... 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] 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.[Matthew 18:16] But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two, and so at the mouth of two or three every saying shall [18] be established. And if he listen not to these also, tell the congregation; and if he listen not even to the congregation, let him be unto ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 423, footnote 2 (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 X. (HTML)
The Householder and His Treasury. (HTML)
... the good things to come,” and in the prophets who prophesied in accordance with them. And these things will be gathered together, when we also read and know, and remembering them, compare at a fitting time things spiritual with spiritual, not comparing things that cannot be compared with one another, but things which admit of comparison, and which have a certain likeness of diction signifying the same thing, and of thoughts and of opinions, so that by the mouth of two or three or more witnesses[Matthew 18:16] from the Scripture, we may establish and confirm every word of God. By means of them also we must refute those who, as far as in them lies, cleave in twain the Godhead and cut off the New from the Old, so that they are far removed from likeness to ...
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 6, page 359, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Sermon on the Mount, Harmony of the Gospels, Homilies on the Gospels
Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament. (HTML)
On the words of the Gospel, 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 2741 (In-Text, Margin)
... therefore “between him and thee alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother;” because he would have been lost, hadst thou not done it. But “if he will not hear thee,” that is, if he will defend his sin as if it were a just action, “take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established; and if he will not hear them, refer it to the Church; but if he will not hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”[Matthew 18:16-17] Reckon him no more amongst the number of thy brethren. But yet neither is his salvation on that account to be neglected. For the very heathen, that is, the Gentiles and Pagans, we do not reckon among the number of brethren; but yet are we ever ...
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 7, page 212, 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 VIII. 15–18. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 674 (In-Text, Margin)
10. He had spoken of judgment; He means to speak of testimony. “In your law,” saith He, “it is written that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.” He expounded the law to them also, if they were not unthankful. For it is a great question, my brethren, and to me it certainly appears to have been ordained in a mystery, where God said, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand.”[Matthew 18:16] Is truth sought by two witnesses? Clearly it is; so is the custom of mankind: but yet it may be that even two witnesses lie. The chaste Susanna was pressed by two false witnesses: were they not therefore false because they were two? Do we speak of two or of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 219, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LVI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2078 (In-Text, Margin)
2. Who are then the people that from holy men were put afar off at the inscription of the Title? Let the Title itself declare to us that people. For there was written a certain title at the Passion of the Lord, when the Lord was crucified: there was in that place a Title inscribed in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin, “The King of the Jews;” in three tongues as though by three witnesses the Title was confirmed: because “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall stand every word.”[Matthew 18:16] …
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 ...