Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts

Hebrews 12:6

There are 34 footnotes for this reference.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 20, footnote 7 (Image)

Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus

Clement of Rome (HTML)

First Epistle to the Corinthians (HTML)

Chapter LVI.—Let us admonish and correct one another. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 250 (In-Text, Margin)

... them, both in our prayers to God, and our mention of them to the saints. Let us receive correction, beloved, on account of which no one should feel displeased. Those exhortations by which we admonish one another are both good [in themselves] and highly profitable, for they tend to unite us to the will of God. For thus saith the holy Word: “The Lord hath severely chastened me, yet hath not given me over to death.” “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] “The righteous,” saith it, “shall chasten me in mercy, and reprove me; but let not the oil of sinners make fat my head.” And again he saith, “Blessed is the man whom the Lord reproveth, and reject not thou the warning of the Almighty. For He causes ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 307, footnote 1 (Image)

Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria

Clement of Alexandria (HTML)

The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
Chapter V.—Philosophy the Handmaid of Theology. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1868 (In-Text, Margin)

... thy maid is in thine hands: deal with her as it pleases thee;” manifestly meaning, “I embrace secular culture as youthful, and a handmaid; but thy knowledge I honour and reverence as true wife.” And Sarah afflicted her; which is equivalent to corrected and admonished her. It has therefore been well said, “My son, despise not thou the correction of God; nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:5-6] And the foresaid Scriptures, when examined in other places, will be seen to exhibit other mysteries. We merely therefore assert here, that philosophy is characterized by investigation into truth and the nature of things (this is the truth of which ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 3, page 714, footnote 3 (Image)

Tertullian (I, II, III)

Ethical. (HTML)

On Patience. (HTML)

Further Reasons for Practising Patience. Its Connection with the Beatitudes. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 9125 (In-Text, Margin)

... counter-zeal of our equanimity may mock the zeal of the foe. If, however, we ourselves, either by imprudence or else voluntarily, draw upon ourselves anything, let us meet with equal patience what we have to blame ourselves for. Moreover, if we believe that some inflictions are sent on us by the Lord, to whom should we more exhibit patience than to the Lord? Nay, He teaches us to give thanks and rejoice, over and above, at being thought worthy of divine chastisement. “Whom I love,” saith He, “I chasten.”[Hebrews 12:5-6] O blessed servant, on whose amendment the Lord is intent! with whom He deigns to be wroth! whom He does not deceive by dissembling His reproofs! On every side, therefore, we are bound to the duty of exercising patience, from whatever quarter, either ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 4, page 312, footnote 8 (Image)

Tertullian (IV), Minucius Felix, Commodian, Origen

Origen. (HTML)

Origen De Principiis. (HTML)

Book III (HTML)
Chapter I. translated from the Latin of Rufinus:  On the Freedom of the Will. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2334 (In-Text, Margin)

... liberty of sinning be extended when punishment ceased?” In like manner, unless a horse continually feel the spur of his rider, and have his mouth abraded by a bit, he becomes hardened. And a boy also, unless constantly disciplined by chastisement, will grow up to be an insolent youth, and one ready to fall headlong into vice. God accordingly abandons and neglects those whom He has judged undeserving of chastisement: “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] From which we are to suppose that those are to be received into the rank and affection of sons, who have deserved to be scourged and chastened by the Lord, in order that they also, through endurance of trials and tribulations, may be able to say, ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 286, footnote 11 (Image)

Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix

Cyprian. (HTML)

The Epistles of Cyprian. (HTML)

To the Clergy, Concerning Prayer to God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2188 (In-Text, Margin)

5. Let us urgently pray and groan with continual petitions. For know, beloved brethren, that I was not long ago reproached with this also in a vision, that we were sleepy in our prayers, and did not pray with watchfulness; and undoubtedly God, who “rebukes whom He loves,”[Hebrews 12:6] when He rebukes, rebukes that He may amend, amends that He may preserve. Let us therefore strike off and break away from the bonds of sleep, and pray with urgency and watchfulness, as the Apostle Paul bids us, saying, “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same.” For the apostles also ceased not to pray day and night; and the Lord also Himself, the teacher of ...

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 246, footnote 4 (Image)

Gospel of Peter, Diatessaron, Apocalypses, Visio Pauli, Testament of Abraham, Acts of X/P, Zosimus, Aristides, Clement, Origen

The Epistles of Clement. (HTML)

The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. (HTML)

Let Us Admonish and Correct One Another. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4301 (In-Text, Margin)

... them, both in our prayers to God, and our mention of them to the saints. Let us receive correction, beloved, on account of which no one should feel displeased. Those exhortations by which we admonish one another are both good [in themselves], and highly profitable, for they tend to unite us to the will of God. For thus saith the holy Word: “The Lord hath severely chastened me, yet hath not given me over to death.” “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] “The righteous,” saith it, “shall chasten me in mercy, and reprove me; but let not the oil of sinners make fat my head.” And again he saith, “Blessed is the man whom the Lord reproveth, and reject not thou the warning of the Almighty. For He causes ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 55, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings

A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants. (HTML)

Book II (HTML)

God Punishes Both in Wrath and in Mercy. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 558 (In-Text, Margin)

... piety and purity in the Scriptures of truth, from his earliest childhood, in which his mother, to accomplish her vow, placed him in God’s temple, and devoted him to the Lord as His servant;—yet even of such men it is written, “Thou, O God, wast propitious unto them, though Thou didst punish all their devices.” Now the children of wrath God punishes in anger; whereas it is in mercy that He punishes the children of grace; since “whom He loveth He correcteth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] However, there are no punishments, no correction, no scourge of God, but what are owing to sin, except in the case of Him who prepared His back for the smiter, in order that He might experience all things in our likeness without sin, in order that ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 6, page 105, 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 Reason Why Forty Generations (Not Including Christ Himself) are Found in Matthew, Although He Divides Them into Three Successions of Fourteen Each. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 684 (In-Text, Margin)

... contemplation, a reader of the greatest attention and carefulness. For it has been acutely observed that Matthew, who had proposed to himself the task of commending the kingly character in Christ, named, exclusive of Christ Himself, forty men in the series of generations. Now this number denotes the period in which, in this age and on this earth, it behoves us to be ruled by Christ in accordance with that painful discipline whereby “God scourgeth,” as it is written, “every son that He receiveth;”[Hebrews 12:6] and of which also an apostle says that “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” This discipline is also signified by that rod of iron, concerning which we read this statement in a Psalm: “Thou shalt rule them with a rod of ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 509, footnote 6 (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 2415 (In-Text, Margin)

... were torn by the teeth of savage creatures, were they not under God? or were those three men servants of God, and the Maccabees not servants of God? The fire acknowledged as God’s servants the three men, whom it burned not, neither hurt their garments; and did it not acknowledge the Maccabees? It acknowledged the Maccabees; it did, my brethren, acknowledge them also. But there was need of a scourge, by the Lord’s permission: He hath said in Scripture, “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] For think ye, my brethren, the iron would have pierced into the vitals of the Lord unless He had permitted it, or that He would have hung fastened to the tree, unless it had been His will? Did not His own creature acknowledge Him? Or did He set an ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 511, 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 IV. 12–16. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2426 (In-Text, Margin)

... attacks thy property; he takes from thee I know not what things which thou hast on earth: therefore hatest thou him, because he puts thee to straits on earth. Be not thou straitened, remove thee to heaven above; there shalt thou have thine heart where there is wide room, so that thou mayest not be straitened in the hope of life eternal. Consider what the things are that he takes from thee: not even them would he take from thee, but by permission of Him who “scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] He, this same enemy of thine, is in a manner the instrument in the hands of God, by which thou mayest be healed. If God knows it to be good for thee that he should despoil thee, He permits him; if He knows it to be good for thee that thou shouldest ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 33, footnote 2 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm IX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 334 (In-Text, Margin)

... good, and punishments to the evil. But then that confession will avail, not to the remedy of evils, but to the accumulation of damnation. Of these two judgments, the one hidden, the other manifest, the Lord seems to me to have spoken, where He says, “Whoso believeth on Me hath passed from death unto life, and shall not come into judgment;” into the manifest judgment, that is. For that which passes from death unto life by means of some affliction, whereby “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth,”[Hebrews 12:6] is the hidden judgment. “But whoso believeth not,” saith He, “hath been judged already:” that is, by this hidden judgment hath been already prepared for that manifest one. These two judgments we read of also in Wisdom, whence it is written, ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 35, footnote 6 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm IX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 364 (In-Text, Margin)

... persecutions of that enemy, who hath been turned behind, what harm shall he do to them whose refuge the Lord hath become? But this will be, if in this world, in which that one has an office of power, they shall choose to be poor, by loving nothing which either here leaves a man while he lives and loves, or is left by him when he dies. For to such a poor man hath the Lord become a refuge, “an Helper in due season, in tribulation.” Lo, He maketh poor, for “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] For what “an Helper in due season” is, he explained by adding “in tribulation.” For the soul is not turned to God, save when it is turned away from this world: nor is it more seasonably turned away from this world, except toils and pains be mingled ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 109, footnote 6 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm XXXVIII (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1002 (In-Text, Margin)

... whom the scourge is due. But sinners are in this life sometimes not scourged at all, or are scourged less than their deserts: because the wickedness of their heart is given over as already desperate. Those, however, for whom eternal life is prepared, must needs be scourged in this life: for that sentence is true: “My son, faint not under the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary when thou art rebuked of Him.” “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] Let not mine enemies therefore insult over me; let “them not magnify themselves;” and if my Father scourgeth me, “I am prepared for the scourge;” because there is an inheritance in store for me. Thou wilt not submit to the scourge: the inheritance ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 130, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm XLI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1193 (In-Text, Margin)

5. But why this? Because He “scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] Why this? Because to men sinning was it said, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread.” Therefore because all these chastisements, in which all our bed is turned in our infirmity, man ought to acknowledge that he suffers for sin; let him turn himself, and say what follows: “I said, Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against Thee” (ver. 4). O Lord, by tribulations do Thou exercise me; to be scourged Thou judgest every son whom Thou ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 243, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LIX (HTML)

Part 2 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2269 (In-Text, Margin)

4. What is, “in the anger of consummation shall be declared consummations”? There is an anger of consummation, and there is an anger of consuming. For every vengeance of God is called anger: sometimes God avengeth, to the end that He may make perfect; sometimes He avengeth, to the end that He may condemn. How doth He avenge, to the end that He may make perfect? “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] How doth He avenge, to the end that He may condemn? When He shall have set ungodly men on the left hand, and shall have said to them, “Go ye into fire everlasting, that hath been prepared for the devil and his angels.” This is the anger of consuming, not that of consummation. But “there shall ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 383, footnote 6 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXXIX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3708 (In-Text, Margin)

... do befall men, though they be faithful: although hence may bloom the Martyrs’ glory by occasion of their patience, and the yoke of discipline godly endured as the scourge of the Lord. Of this the Maccabees amid sharp tortures, of this the three men amid flames innocuous, of this the holy Prophets in captivity, do testify. For although paternal correction most bravely and most godly they endure, yet they do not hide the fact, that these things have befallen them for the deservings of their sins.[Hebrews 12:6]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 387, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXXX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3755 (In-Text, Margin)

... correcting, not as a judge condemning. In such manner evidently Thou wilt be angry, because it hath been written, “My son, drawing near unto the service of God, stand thou in righteousness and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation.” Think not that now the wrath of God hath passed away, because thou hast been converted. The wrath of God hath passed away from thee, but only so that it condemn not for everlasting. But He scourgeth, He spareth not: because He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.[Hebrews 12:6] If thou refusest to be scourged, why dost thou desire to be received? He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. He who did not spare even His only Son, scourgeth every one. But nevertheless, “How long wilt Thou be angry with the prayer of Thy ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 435, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm LXXXIX (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4182 (In-Text, Margin)

... scourges them. Let therefore thy Father’s hand be upon thee, and if thou art a good son, repel not chastening; for “what son is there, to whom his father giveth not chastening?” Let Him chasten him, so long as He takes not from him His mercy: let Him beat him when obstinate, as long as He does not disinherit him. If thou hast well understood the promises of thy Father, fear not to be scourged, but to be disinherited: “for whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth: and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] Does the sinful son spurn chastening, when he sees the only Son without sin scourged? “I will visit their offences with the rod.” Thus too the Apostle threatens: “What will ye? shall I come unto you with a rod?” Let not pious sons say, if Thou art ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 443, footnote 9 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm XC (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4257 (In-Text, Margin)

... New Testament, which the number eighty signifies, yet still our life is one of labour and sorrow, while “we groan within ourselves, awaiting the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body; for we are saved by hope; and if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” This relates to the mercy of God, of which he proceeds to say, “Since thy mercy cometh over us, and we shall be chastened:” for “the Lord chasteneth whom He loveth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth,”[Hebrews 12:6] and to some mighty ones He giveth a thorn in the flesh, to buffet them, that they may not be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, so that strength be made perfect in weakness. Some copies read, we shall be “taught,” ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 545, footnote 8 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CXI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 4990 (In-Text, Margin)

“These are the great works of the Lord, sought out unto all His wills” (ver. 2): through which mercy forsaketh none who confesseth, no man’s wickedness is unpunished.[Hebrews 12:6] …Let man choose for himself what he listeth: the works of the Lord are not so constituted, that the creature, having free discretion allowed him, should transcend the will of the Creator, even though he act contrary to His will. God willeth not that thou shouldest sin; for He forbiddeth it: yet if thou hast sinned, imagine not that the man hath done what he willed, and that hath happened to God which He willed ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 555, footnote 1 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CXVI (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 5085 (In-Text, Margin)

... hath called upon Him, save he whom He first called? Hence therefore He is in the first place “gracious;” but “righteous,” because He scourgeth; and again, “merciful,” because He receiveth; for “He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth;” nor ought it to be so bitter to me that He scourgeth, as sweet that He receiveth. For how should not “The Lord, who keepeth little ones” (ver. 6), scourge those whom, when of mature age, He seeketh to be heirs; “for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?”[Hebrews 12:6-7] “I was in misery, and He helped me.” He helped me, because I was in misery; for the pain which the physician causeth by his knife is not penal, but salutary.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 570, footnote 7 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CXIX (HTML)

Teth. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5219 (In-Text, Margin)

... who said, “Lord, increase our faith,” had faith. And as long as we live in this world, these are the words of those who are making progress. But he addeth, “understanding,” or, as most copies read, “discipline.” Now the word discipline, for which the Greeks use παιδεία, is employed in Scripture, where instruction through tribulation is to be understood: according to the words, “Whom the Lord loveth He disciplineth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] In the literature of the Church this is usually called discipline. For this word, παιδεία,52205220    [See Clement, A.N.F. vol. ii. p. 213.] is used in the Greek in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where the Latin ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 587, footnote 4 (Image)

Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms

Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)

Psalm CXIX (HTML)

Schin. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5374 (In-Text, Margin)

... affectionate sons; thus doth the chaste wife at once fear her husband, lest she be forsaken by him, and loveth him, that she may enjoy his love. If then the human father and the human husband desire at once to be feared and loved; much more doth our Father who is in heaven, and that Bridegroom, “beautiful beyond the sons of men,” not in the flesh, but in goodness. For by whom is the law of God loved, save by those by whom God is loved? And what that is severe hath the father’s law to good sons?[Hebrews 12:6] Let the Father’s judgments therefore be praised even in the scourge, if His promises be loved in the reward.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 340, footnote 6 (Image)

Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes

The Homilies on the Statues to the People of Antioch. (HTML)

Homily I (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1054 (In-Text, Margin)

22. But that you may learn that this also teaches us to consider those blessed whom we ought to consider blessed, is evident from hence. For when you hear Paul saying, “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffetted, and have no certain dwelling place.” And again; “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth;”[Hebrews 12:6] it is certain that it is not those who are enjoying quietness, but those who are in affliction for God’s sake, and who are in tribulation, whom we must applaud, emulating those who live virtuously, and cultivate piety. For so speaks the prophet: “Their right hand is a right hand of iniquity. Their ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 1, page 374, footnote 18 (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 X (HTML)

Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2871 (In-Text, Margin)

... ‘burning with fire the sanctuary of God, and profaning unto the ground the habitation of his name,’ ‘whom all that passed by upon the way plucked, and whose fences they broke down, whom the boar out of the wood ravaged, and on which the savage wild beast fed,’ now by the wonderful power of Christ, when he wills it, has become like a lily. For at that time also she was chastened at his nod as by a careful father; ‘for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.’[Hebrews 12:6]

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 40, footnote 9 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Eustochium. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 652 (In-Text, Margin)

... redeemed by the blood of Christ, gladly to lay down our lives for our Redeemer. What saint has ever won his crown without first contending for it? Righteous Abel is murdered. Abraham is in danger of losing his wife. And, as I must not enlarge my book unduly, seek for yourself: you will find that all holy men have suffered adversity. Solomon alone lived in luxury and perhaps it was for this reason that he fell. For “whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] Which is best—for a short time to do battle, to carry stakes for the palisades, to bear arms, to faint under heavy bucklers, that ever afterwards we may rejoice as victors? or to become slaves forever, just because we cannot endure for a single ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 134, footnote 4 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Theophilus. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 1914 (In-Text, Margin)

2. I thank you for your reminder concerning the canons of the Church. Truly, “whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] Still I would assure you that nothing is more my aim than to maintain the rights of Christ, to keep to the lines laid down by the fathers, and always to remember the faith of Rome; that faith which is praised by the lips of an apostle, and of which the Alexandrian church boasts to be a sharer.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 141, footnote 7 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Castrutius. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 2005 (In-Text, Margin)

... saints than Peter and Paul? Yet their blood stained the blade of Nero. And to say no more of men, did not the Son of God endure the shame of the cross? And yet you fancy those blessed who enjoy in this world happiness and pleasure? God’s hottest anger against sinners is when he shews no anger. Wherefore in Ezekiel he says to Jerusalem: “My jealousy will depart from thee and I will be quiet and will be no more angry.” For “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] The father does not instruct his son unless he loves him. The master does not correct his disciple unless he sees in him signs of promise. When once the doctor gives over caring for the patient, it is a sign that he despairs. You should answer thus: ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 223, footnote 2 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Julian. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3101 (In-Text, Margin)

... his burthen at once, how can you think that you have reached virtue’s crowning height when you have yielded up but a portion of yours? It is you yourself that the Lord wishes for, “a living sacrifice…acceptable unto God.” Yourself, I say, and not what you have. And therefore, as he trained Israel by subjecting it to many plagues and afflictions, so does He now admonish you by sending you trials of different kinds. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] The poor widow did but cast two mites into the treasury; yet because she cast in all that she had it is said of her that she surpassed all the rich in offering gifts to God. Such gifts are valued not by their weight but by the good-will with which ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 251, footnote 12 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)

To Rusticus. (HTML)

CCEL Footnote 3500 (In-Text, Margin)

... itself a defence, and so also is his rank as an elder. Still, since we are but human and sometimes in spite of the ripeness of our years fall into the sins of youth, if I do wrong and you wish to correct me, accuse me openly of my fault: do not backbite me secretly. “Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness, and let him reprove me; but let not the oil of the sinner enrich my head.” For what says the apostle? “Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.”[Hebrews 12:6] By the mouth of Isaiah the Lord speaks thus: “O my people, they who call you happy cause you to err and destroy the way of your paths.” How do you help me by telling my misdeeds to others? You may, without my knowing of it, wound some one else by ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 463, footnote 2 (Image)

Jerome: Letters and Select Works

Treatises. (HTML)

Against the Pelagians. (HTML)

Book I (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 5229 (In-Text, Margin)

... person is wicked and a sinner; but we cannot conversely say every sinner and wicked person is also impious, for impiety properly belongs to those who have not the knowledge of God, or, if they have once had it, lose it by transgression. But the wounds of sin and wickedness, like faults in general, admit of healing. Hence, it is written, “Many are the scourges of the sinner”; it is not said that he is eternally destroyed. And through all the scourging and torture the faults of Israel are corrected,[Hebrews 12:6] “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth.” It is one thing to smite with the affection of a teacher and a parent; another to be madly cruel towards adversaries. Wherefore, we sing in the first Psalm, “The ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 10, page 339, footnote 3 (Image)

Ambrose: Select Works and Letters

Dogmatic Treatises, Ethical Works, and Sermons. (HTML)

Concerning Repentance. (HTML)

Book I. (HTML)
Chapter XII. Another passage of St. John is considered. The necessity of keeping the commandments of God may be complied with by those who, having fallen, repent, as well as by those who have not fallen, as is shown in the case of David. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3003 (In-Text, Margin)

... between those who have paid continual obedience to God’s commandments, and those who at some time, either by error or by compulsion, have fallen. And that you may not think that it is only our arguments which press you, consider the decision of Christ, Who said: “If the servant knew his Lord’s will and did it not, he shall be beaten with many stripes, but if he knew it not, he shall be beaten with few stripes.” Each, then, if he believes, is received, for God “chasteneth every son whom He receiveth,”[Hebrews 12:6] and him whom He chasteneth He does not give over unto death, for it is written: “The Lord hath chastened me sore, but He hath not given me over unto death.”

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 354, footnote 3 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X. (HTML)

Conference VI. Conference of Abbot Theodore. On the Death of the Saints. (HTML)
Chapter VI. The answer to the question proposed. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1381 (In-Text, Margin)

... the spur and the whip pleasant to a restive horse. Moreover all chastisement seems at the moment to be a bitter thing to those who are chastised, as the Apostle says: “Now all chastisement for the present indeed seemeth not to bring with it joy but sorrow; but afterwards it will yield to them that are exercised by it most peaceable fruits of righteousness,” and “whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth: for what son is there whom the father doth not correct?”[Hebrews 12:6-11] And so evils are sometimes wont to stand for afflictions, as where we read: “And God repented of the evil which He had said that He would do to them and He did it not.” And again: “For Thou, Lord, are gracious and merciful, patient and very merciful ...

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 358, footnote 1 (Image)

Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian

The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)

The Conferences of John Cassian. Part I. Containing Conferences I-X. (HTML)

Conference VI. Conference of Abbot Theodore. On the Death of the Saints. (HTML)
Chapter XI. Of the two kinds of trials, which come upon us in a three-fold way. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1402 (In-Text, Margin)

... fire of judgment to discover when hereafter it searches them with penal torments according to this saying: “Many are the tribulations of the righteous.” And: “My son, neglect not the discipline of the Lord, neither be thou wearied whilst thou art rebuked by Him. For whom the Lord loveth He chastiseth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. For what son is there whom the father doth not correct? But if ye are without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.”[Hebrews 12:5-8] And in the Apocalypse: “Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten.” To whom under the figure of Jerusalem the following words are spoken by Jeremiah, in the person of God: “For I will utterly consume all the nations among which I scattered thee: but ...

Online Dictionary & Commentary of Early Church Beliefs