Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
1 Corinthians 15:47
There are 36 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 446, footnote 1 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Irenæus (HTML)
Against Heresies: Book III (HTML)
Chapter XVIII.—Continuation of the foregoing argument. Proofs from the writings of St. Paul, and from the words of Our Lord, that Christ and Jesus cannot be considered as distinct beings; neither can it be alleged that the Son of God became man merely in appearance, but that He did so truly and actually. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3633 (In-Text, Margin)
... always present with mankind, was in these last days, according to the time appointed by the Father, united to His own workmanship, inasmuch as He became a man liable to suffering, [it follows] that every objection is set aside of those who say, “If our Lord was born at that time, Christ had therefore no previous existence.” For I have shown that the Son of God did not then begin to exist, being with the Father from the beginning; but when He became incarnate, and was made man, He commenced afresh[1 Corinthians 15:47] the long line of human beings, and furnished us, in a brief, comprehensive manner, with salvation; so that what we had lost in Adam—namely, to be according to the image and likeness of God—that we might recover in Christ Jesus.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 451, footnote 2 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
The Five Books Against Marcion. (HTML)
Book V. Wherein Tertullian proves, with respect to St. Paul's epistles, what he had proved in the preceding book with respect to St. Luke's gospel. Far from being at variance, they were in perfect unison with the writings of the Old Testament, and therefore testified that the Creator was the only God, and that the Lord Jesus was his Christ. As in the preceding books, Tertullian supports his argument with profound reasoning, and many happy illustrations of Holy Scripture. (HTML)
Doctrine of the Resurrection of the Body, Continued. How are the Dead Raised? and with What Body Do They Come? These Questions Answered in Such a Sense as to Maintain the Truth of the Raised Body, Against Marcion. Christ as the Second Adam Connected with the Creator of the First Man. Let Us Bear the Image of the Heavenly. The Triumph Over Death in Accordance with the Prophets. Hosea and St. Paul Compared. (HTML)
... and another last, yet they must have one author. If, however, the author be a different one, he himself indeed may be called the last. But the thing which he introduces is the first, and that only can be the last, which is like this first in nature. It is, however, not like the first in nature, when it is not the work of the same author. In like manner (the heretic) will be refuted also with the word “ man: ” “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] Now, since the first was a man, how can there be a second, unless he is a man also? Or, else, if the second is “Lord,” was the first “Lord” also? It is, however, quite enough for me, that in his Gospel he admits the Son of man to be ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 529, footnote 12 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
On the Flesh of Christ. (HTML)
Apelles and His Followers, Displeased with Our Earthly Bodies, Attributed to Christ a Body of a Purer Sort. How Christ Was Heavenly Even in His Earthly Flesh. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7064 (In-Text, Margin)
... must be a part of that substance which they disdain to clothe Christ with, because of its sinfulness,—in other words, our own. Then, as there is no difference in the point of ignominy, let them either devise for Christ some substance of a purer stamp, since they are displeased with our own, or else let them recognise this too, than which even a heavenly substance could not have been better. We read in so many words: “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] This passage, however, has nothing to do with any difference of substance; it only contrasts with the once “earthy” substance of the flesh of the first man, Adam, the “heavenly” substance of the spirit of the second man, Christ. And so entirely does ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 582, footnote 10 (Image)
Tertullian (I, II, III)
Anti-Marcion. (HTML)
On the Resurrection of the Flesh. (HTML)
The Same Subject Continued. What Does the Apostle Exclude from the Dead? Certainly Not the Substance of the Flesh. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7639 (In-Text, Margin)
We come now to the very gist of the whole question: What are the substances, and of what nature are they, which the apostle has disinherited of the kingdom of God? The preceding statements give us a clue to this point also. He says: “The first man is of the earth, earthy”—that is, made of dust, that is, Adam; “the second man is from heaven”[1 Corinthians 15:47] —that is, the Word of God, which is Christ, in no other way, however, man (although “from heaven”), than as being Himself flesh and soul, just as a human being is, just as Adam was. Indeed, in a previous passage He is called “the second Adam,” deriving the identity of His name from His participation in the substance, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 167, footnote 14 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Exegetical. (HTML)
On Genesis. (HTML)
Hipp. Who else is this than as is shown us by the apostle, “the second man, the Lord from heaven?”[1 Corinthians 15:47] And in the Gospel, He said that he who did the will of the Father was “the last.” And by the words, “Turn back to me,” is meant His ascension to His Father in heaven after His passion. And in the phrase, “Against Him they took counsel together, and reviled Him,” who are intended but just the people in their opposition to our Lord? And as to the words, “they pressed Him sore,” who pressed Him, and to this day still press Him sore? ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 436, footnote 3 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
On the Dress of Virgins. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3210 (In-Text, Margin)
... Only the things which belong to virtue and the Spirit have remained in you to glory. It is the apostle’s word whom the Lord called His chosen vessel, whom God sent to proclaim the heavenly command: “The first man,” says he, “is from the earth, of earth; the second man is from heaven. Such as is the earthy, such are they also who are earthy; and such as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of him who is earthy, let us also bear the image of Him who is heavenly.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] Virginity bears this image, integrity bears it, holiness bears it, and truth. Disciplines which are mindful of God bear it, retaining righteousness with religion, stedfast in faith, humble in fear, brave to all suffering, meek to sustain wrong, easy ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 495, footnote 3 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
On Jealousy and Envy. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3675 (In-Text, Margin)
... have risen again with Christ in the heavenly regeneration, both think upon and do the things which are Christ’s, even as the same apostle again teaches and counsels, saying: “The first man is of the dust of the earth; the second man is from heaven. Such as he is from the earth, such also are they who are from the earth and such as He the heavenly is, such also are they who are heavenly. As we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, let us also bear the image of Him who is from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47-49] But we cannot bear the heavenly image, unless in that condition wherein we have already begun to be, we show forth the likeness of Christ.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 520, footnote 3 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
... upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Wherefore that holy thing which is born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: “The first man is of the mud of the earth; the second man is from heaven. As was he from the soil, such are they also that are of the earth; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, let us also bear the image of Him who is from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47-49]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 536, footnote 7 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
... and they who buy as they that buy not, and they who possess as they who possess not, and they who use this world as they that use it not; for the fashion of this world passeth away.” Also in the same place: “The first man is of the clay of the earth, the second man from heaven. As he is of the clay, such also are they who are of the clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. Even as we have borne the image of him who is of the clay, let us bear His image also who is from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47-49] Of this same matter to the Philippians: “All seek their own, and not those things which are Christ’s; whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and their glory is to their confusion, who mind earthly things. For our conversation is in ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 50, footnote 5 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Gregory Thaumaturgus. (HTML)
Dubious or Spurious Writings. (HTML)
Twelve Topics on the Faith. (HTML)
Topic III. (HTML)
How could it be said that Christ (the Lord) assumed the perfect man just like one of the prophets, when He, being the Lord Himself, became man by the incarnation effected through the Virgin? Wherefore it is written, that “the first man was of the earth, earthy.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] But whereas he that was formed of the earth returned to the earth, He that became the second man returned to heaven. And so we read of the “first Adam and the last Adam.” And as it is admitted that the second came by the first according to the flesh, for which reason also Christ is called man and the Son of man; so is the witness given that the second is the Savior ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 214, footnote 17 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Archelaus. (HTML)
The Acts of the Disputation with the Heresiarch Manes. (HTML)
Chapter XL. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1884 (In-Text, Margin)
... in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which shall be done away is glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.” And this passage, as you are also well aware, occurs in the second Epistle to the Corinthians. Besides, he added to this another passage out of the first epistle, on which he based his affirmation that the disciples of the Old Testament were earthly and natural; and in accordance with this, that flesh and blood could not possess the kingdom of God.[1 Corinthians 15:46-50] He also maintained that Paul himself spoke in his own proper person when he said: “If I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.” Further, he averred that the same apostle made this statement most obviously on the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 342, footnote 19 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Victorinus (HTML)
On the Creation of the World (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2219 (In-Text, Margin)
... light in the field of their aspect. But the author of the whole creation is Jesus. His name is the Word; for thus His Father says: “My heart hath emitted a good word.” John the evangelist thus says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing made that was made.” Therefore, first, was made the creation; secondly, man, the lord of the human race, as says the apostle.[1 Corinthians 15:45-47] Therefore this Word, when it made light, is called Wisdom; when it made the sky, Understanding; when it made land and sea, Counsel; when it made sun and moon and other bright things, Power; when it calls forth land and sea, Knowledge; when it formed ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 258, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
That death is penal, and had its origin in Adam’s sin. (HTML)
What We are to Understand by the Animal and Spiritual Body; Or of Those Who Die in Adam, And of Those Who are Made Alive in Christ. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 620 (In-Text, Margin)
Then the apostle subjoins a notable difference between these two men, saying, “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”[1 Corinthians 15:47-49] So he elsewhere says, “As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ;” but in very deed this shall be accomplished when that which is animal in us by our birth shall have become spiritual in our resurrection. For, to use his words again,” We are saved by hope.” Now we bear the image of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 261, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
That death is penal, and had its origin in Adam’s sin. (HTML)
How We Must Understand that Breathing of God by Which ‘The First Man Was Made a Living Soul,’ And that Also by Which the Lord Conveyed His Spirit to His Disciples When He Said, ‘Receive Ye the Holy Ghost.’ (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 637 (In-Text, Margin)
... is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.”[1 Corinthians 15:44-49] Of all which words of his we have previously spoken. The animal body, accordingly, in which the apostle says that the first man Adam was made, was not so made that it could not die at all, but so that it should not die unless he should have sinned. ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 366, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
A parallel history of the earthly and heavenly cities from the time of Abraham to the end of the world. (HTML)
When Moses Led the People Out of Egypt; And Who Were Kings When His Successor Joshua the Son of Nun Died. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1138 (In-Text, Margin)
... called the Old Testament, because it has earthly promises, and because, through Jesus Christ, there was to be a New Testament, in which the kingdom of heaven should be promised. For the same order behoved to be observed in this as is observed in each man who prospers in God, according to the saying of the apostle, “That is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural,” since, as he says, and that truly, “The first man of the earth, is earthly; the second man, from heaven, is heavenly.”[1 Corinthians 15:46-47] Now Moses ruled the people for forty years in the wilderness, and died a hundred and twenty years old, after he had prophesied of Christ by the types of carnal observances in the tabernacle, priesthood, and sacrifices, and many other mystic ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 33, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
The unity and equality of the Trinity are demonstrated out of the Scriptures; and the true interpretation is given of those texts which are wrongly alleged against the equality of the Son. (HTML)
Diverse Things are Spoken Concerning the Same Christ, on Account of the Diverse Natures of the One Hypostasis [Theanthropic Person]. Why It is Said that the Father Will Not Judge, But Has Given Judgment to the Son. (HTML)
... appear when He judges to the ungodly also; what becomes of that which He promises, as some great thing, to him who loves Him, saying, “And I will love him, and will manifest myself to him?” Wherefore He will judge as the Son of man, yet not by human power, but by that whereby He is the Son of God; and on the other hand, He will judge as the Son of God, yet not appearing in that [unincarnate] form in which He is God equal to the Father, but in that [incarnate form] in which He is the Son of man.[1 Corinthians 15:47]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 51, footnote 10 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Manichæan Controversy. (HTML)
On the Morals of the Catholic Church. (HTML)
Description of the Duties of Temperance, According to the Sacred Scriptures. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 99 (In-Text, Margin)
... us to put off the old man and put on the new. By the old man he means Adam who sinned, and by the new man him whom the Son of God took to Himself in consecration for our redemption. For he says in another place, "The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly,"[1 Corinthians 15:47-49] —that is, put off the old man, and put on the new. The whole duty of temperance, then, is to put off the old man, and to be renewed in God,—that is, to scorn all bodily delights, and the popular applause, and to turn the whole love to things divine ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 157, footnote 4 (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 claims to believe the Gospel, yet refuses to accept the genealogical tables on various grounds which Augustin seeks to set aside. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 304 (In-Text, Margin)
... true and truthful Son of man, both of which He testifies of Himself, derived the eternity of His godhead from true God, and His incarnation from true man. Your First Man is not the first man of the apostle. "The first man," he says, "was of the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy; as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthy, let us also bear the image of the heavenly."[1 Corinthians 15:47-49] The first man of the earth, earthy, is Adam, who was made of dust. The second man from heaven, heavenly, is the Lord Jesus Christ; for, being the Son of God, He became flesh that He might be a man outwardly, while He remained God within; that He ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 164, footnote 1 (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 claims that the Manichæans and not the Catholics are consistent believers in the Gospel, and seeks to establish this claim by comparing Manichæan and Catholic obedience to the precepts of the Gospel. Augustin exposes the hypocrisy of the Manichæans and praises the asceticism of Catholics. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 332 (In-Text, Margin)
4. replied: I have already said that the Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly calls Himself the Son of man, and that the Manichæans have contrived a silly story about some fabulous First Man, who figures in their impious heresy, not earthly, but combined with spurious elements, in opposition to the apostle, who says, "The first man is of the earth, earthy;"[1 Corinthians 15:47] and that the apostle carefully warns us, "If any one preaches to you differently from what we have preached, let him be accursed." So that we must believe Christ to be the Son of man according to apostolic truth, not according to Manichæan error. And since the evangelists assert that Christ was born of a woman, of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 179, footnote 7 (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 quotes passages to show that the Apostle Paul abandoned belief in the incarnation, to which he earlier held. Augustin shows that the apostle was consistent with himself in the utterances quoted. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 387 (In-Text, Margin)
... that it is not as regards our mortal and corruptible body, but as regards our soul, that we are to be changed, it should be observed that the apostle is not speaking of the soul, but of the body, as is evident from the question he starts with: "But some one will say, How are the dead raised, and with what body do they come?" So also, in the conclusion of his argument, he leaves no doubt of what he is speaking: "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."[1 Corinthians 15:35-53] Faustus denies this; and the God whom Paul declares to be "immortal, incorruptible, to whom alone is glory and honor," he makes corruptible. For in this monstrous and horrible fiction of theirs, the substance and nature of God was in danger of being ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 319, footnote 3 (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 explains the Manichæan denial that man was made by God as applying to the fleshly man not to the spiritual. Augustin elucidates the Apostle Paul’s contrasts between flesh and spirit so as to exclude the Manichæan view. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 997 (In-Text, Margin)
... then go on to ask when God made what He now renews, they must devise some subterfuge to prevent the exposure of their absurdities. For, according to them, the inner man is not formed or created or originated by God, but is part of His own substance sent against His enemies; and instead of becoming old by sin, it is through necessity captured and damaged by the enemy. Not to repeat all the nonsense they talk, the first man they speak of is not the man of the earth earthy that the apostle speaks of,[1 Corinthians 15:47] but an invention proceeding from their own magazine of untruths. Faustus, though he chooses man as a subject for discussion, says not a word of this first man; for he is afraid that his opponents in the discussion might come to know something about ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 509, footnote 9 (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 IV. 12–16. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2418 (In-Text, Margin)
... understand a more secret will, not surmise difficulty of doing. But what, brethren? When we shall have come out of all these snares of mortality, when the times of temptation shall have passed away, when the river of this world shall have fleeted by, and we shall have received again that “first robe,” that immortality which by sinning we have lost, “when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,” that is, this flesh shall have put on incorruption, “and this mortal shall have put on immortality;”[1 Corinthians 15:44-49] the now perfected sons of God, in whom is no more need to be tempted, neither to be scourged, shall all creatures acknowledge: subjected to us shall all things be, if we here be subjected to God.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 1, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 7 (In-Text, Margin)
1. “ is the man that hath not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly” (ver. 1). This is to be understood of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Man. “Blessed is the man that hath not gone away in the counsel of the ungodly,” as “the man of earth did,”[1 Corinthians 15:47] who consented to his wife deceived by the serpent, to the transgressing the commandment of God. “Nor stood in the way of sinners.” For He came indeed in the way of sinners, by being born as sinners are; but He “stood” not therein, for that the enticements of the world held Him not. “And hath not sat in the seat of pestilence.” He willed not an earthly kingdom, with pride, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 33, footnote 11 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm IX (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 343 (In-Text, Margin)
... sing to Thy Name, O Most High, in turning mine enemy behind.” His enemy then, where was he turned back? Was it when it was said to him, “Get thee behind, Satan”? For then he who by tempting desired to put himself before, was turned behind, by failing in deceiving Him who was tempted, and by availing nothing against Him. For earthly men are behind: but the heavenly man is preferred before, although he came after. For “the first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is from heaven, heavenly.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] But from this stock he came by whom it was said, “He who cometh after me is preferred before me.” And the Apostle forgets “those things that are behind, and reaches forth unto those things that are before.” The enemy, therefore, was turned behind, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 508, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm CIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4686 (In-Text, Margin)
18. “For He knoweth our forming” (ver. 14): that is, our infirmity. He knoweth what He hath created, how it hath fallen, how it may be repaired, how it may be adopted, how it may be enriched. Behold, we are made of clay: “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] He sent even His own Son, Him who was made the second man, Him who was God before all things. For He was second in His coming, first in His returning: He died after many, He arose before all. “He knoweth our forming.” What forming? Ourselves. Why sayest thou that He knoweth? Because He hath pitied. “Remember that we are but dust.” Addressing God ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 2, page 364, footnote 3 (Image)
Socrates: Church History from A.D. 305-438; Sozomenus: Church History from A.D. 323-425
The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen. (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Account Given, by Gregory the Theologian, of Apolinarius and Eunomius, in a Letter to Nectarius. Their Heresy was distinguished by the Philosophy of the Monks who were then Living, for the Heresy of these two held Nearly the Entire East. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1486 (In-Text, Margin)
... nature existed in the Son from the beginning. He substantiates this evil hypothesis by a misapplication of the following words of Scripture: ‘No man hath ascended up into heaven.’ He alleges from this text, that Christ was the Son of man before He descended from heaven, and that when He did descend, He brought with Him His own flesh which He had already possessed in heaven which was before the ages and essentially united. He also states another apostolic saying: ‘The second man is from heaven.’[1 Corinthians 15:47] He, moreover, maintains that the man who came down from heaven was destitute of intellect (νοῦς), but that the Deity of the only begotten Son fulfilled the nature of intellect, and constituted the third part of ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 179, footnote 10 (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 Immutable. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1146 (In-Text, Margin)
“If any one says that the flesh came down from heaven, and not from this earth, and from us, let him be Anathema. For the words ‘The second man is from heaven,’[1 Corinthians 15:47] and ‘as is the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly’ and ‘no man hath ascended up to heaven but the son of man that came down from heaven,’ and any other similar passage, must be understood to be spoken on account of the union with man, as also the statement that ‘all things were made by Christ,’ and that ‘Christ dwells in our hearts,’ must be understood not according to the sensible, but according to the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 181, footnote 6 (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 Immutable. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1167 (In-Text, Margin)
“How was Adam disobedient in Heaven, and how of heavenly body was he formed first-formed beside the first formation? But it was the Adam of the earth who was formed at the beginning; the Adam of the earth disobeyed; the Adam of the earth was assumed. Wherefore also the Adam of the earth was saved that thus the reason of the incarnation may be proved necessary and true.”[1 Corinthians 15:47]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 375, footnote 8 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
Treatises. (HTML)
Against Jovinianus. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4529 (In-Text, Margin)
... of God (for he is foolish, and cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned), he is not fed with the food of perfect chastity, but with the coarse milk of marriage. As through man came death, so also through man came the resurrection of the dead. As in Adam we all die, so in Christ we shall all be made alive. Under the law we served the old Adam, under the Gospel let us serve the new Adam. For the first man Adam was made a living soul, the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.[1 Corinthians 15:47] “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 438, footnote 3 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Letters of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
Letters on the Apollinarian Controversy. (HTML)
To Nectarius, Bishop of Constantinople. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4696 (In-Text, Margin)
... the Gospels, namely, No man hath Ascended up into Heaven save He which came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man which is in Heaven. As though even before He came down He was the Son of Man, and when He came down He brought with Him that Flesh, which it appears He had in Heaven, as though it had existed before the ages, and been joined with His Essence. For he alleges another saying of an Apostle, which he cuts off from the whole body of its context, that The Second Man is the Lord from Heaven.[1 Corinthians 15:47] Then he assumes that that Man who came down from above is without a mind, but that the Godhead of the Only-begotten fulfils the function of mind, and is the third part of this human composite, inasmuch as soul and body are in it on its human side, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 440, footnote 1 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Letters of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
Letters on the Apollinarian Controversy. (HTML)
To Cledonius the Priest Against Apollinarius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4698 (In-Text, Margin)
... Him, for Godhead is in its nature invisible. Nay; He will come with His body—so I have learnt—such as He was seen by His Disciples in the Mount, or as he shewed Himself for a moment, when his Godhead overpowered the carnality. And as we say this to disarm suspicion, so we write the other to correct the novel teaching. If anyone assert that His flesh came down from heaven, and is not from hence, nor of us though above us, let him be anathema. For the words, The Second Man is the Lord from Heaven;[1 Corinthians 15:47] and, As is the Heavenly, such are they that are Heavenly; and, No man hath ascended up into Heaven save He which came down from Heaven, even the Son of Man which is in Heaven; and the like, are to be understood as said on account of the Union with ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 5, footnote 6 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
De Spiritu Sancto. (HTML)
That there is no distinction in the scriptural use of these syllables. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 730 (In-Text, Margin)
... always and absolutely, as they suppose, indicate the material, but it is more in accordance with the usage of Scripture to apply this term in the case of the Supreme Cause, as in the words “One God, of whom are all things,” and again, “All things of God.” The word of truth has, however, frequently used this term in the case of the material, as when it says “Thou shalt make an ark of incorruptible wood;” and “Thou shalt make the candlestick of pure gold;” and “The first man is of the earth, earthy;”[1 Corinthians 15:47] and “Thou art formed out of clay as I am.” But these men, to the end, as we have already remarked, that they may establish the difference of nature, have laid down the law that this phrase befits the Father alone. This distinction they have ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 8, page 30, footnote 2 (Image)
Basil: Letters and Select Works
De Spiritu Sancto. (HTML)
In what manner in the confession of the three hypostases we preserve the pious dogma of the Monarchia. Wherein also is the refutation of them that allege that the Spirit is subnumerated. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1112 (In-Text, Margin)
Enough has been now said to prove, in contravention of their error, that the communion of Nature is in no wise dissolved by the manner of sub-numeration. Let us, however, make a concession to our contentious and feeble minded adversary, and grant that what is second to anything is spoken of in sub-numeration to it. Now let us see what follows. “The first man” it is said “is of the earth earthy, the second man is the Lord from heaven.”[1 Corinthians 15:47] Again “that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural and afterward that which is spiritual.” If then the second is subnumerated to the first, and the subnumerated is inferior in dignity to that to which it was subnumerated, according to you the spiritual is ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 186, footnote 3 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
Title Page (HTML)
De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
De Trinitate or On the Trinity. (HTML)
Book X (HTML)
17. The blessed Apostle also perfectly describes this mystery of the ineffable birth of Christ’s body in the words, The first man was from the soil of the ground, the second man from heaven[1 Corinthians 15:47]. Calling Him ‘Man’ he expresses His birth from the Virgin, who in the exercise of her office as mother, performed the duties of her sex in the conception and birth of man. And when he says, The second man from heaven he testifies His origin from the Holy Ghost, Who came upon the Virgin. As He is then man, and from heaven, this Man was born of the Virgin, and conceived of the Holy Ghost. So ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 56b, footnote 7 (Image)
Hilary of Poitiers, John of Damascus
John of Damascus: Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. (HTML)
Book III (HTML)
That the holy Virgin is the Mother of God: an argument directed against the Nestorians. (HTML)
Although, however, he says, The first Adam is of the earth earthy; the second Adam is Lord from Heaven[1 Corinthians 15:47], he does not say that His body is from heaven, but emphasises the fact that He is not mere man. For, mark, he called Him both Adam and Lord, thus indicating His double nature. For Adam is, being interpreted, earth-born: and it is clear that man’s nature is earth-born since he is formed from earth, but the title Lord signifies His divine essence.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 182, footnote 4 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Sermons. (HTML)
On the Lord's Resurrection, I.; delivered on Holy Saturday in the Vigil of Easter. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1097 (In-Text, Margin)
Accordingly, since the Apostle says, “the first man is of the earth earthy, the second man is from heaven heavenly. As is the earthy, such also are they that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthy, so let us also bear the image of Him Who is from heaven[1 Corinthians 15:47-49],” we must greatly rejoice over this change, whereby we are translated from earthly degradation to heavenly dignity through His unspeakable mercy, Who descended into our estate that He might promote us to His, by assuming not only the substance but also the conditions of sinful nature, and by allowing the impassibility of Godhead to ...