Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Wisdom of Solomon 2
There are 53 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 6, footnote 3 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Clement of Rome (HTML)
First Epistle to the Corinthians (HTML)
Chapter III.—The sad state of the Corinthian church after sedition arose in it from envy and emulation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 17 (In-Text, Margin)
... reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world.[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 1, page 140, footnote 19 (Image)
Apostolic Fathers, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus
Barnabas (HTML)
The Epistle of Barnabas (HTML)
Chapter VI.—The sufferings of Christ, and the new covenant, were announced by the prophets. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1504 (In-Text, Margin)
... understand. I am the off-scouring of your love. What, then, again says the prophet? “The assembly of the wicked surrounded me; they encompassed me as bees do a honeycomb,” and “upon my garment they cast lots.” Since, therefore, He was about to be manifested and to suffer in the flesh, His suffering was foreshown. For the prophet speaks against Israel, “Woe to their soul, because they have counselled an evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us bind the just one, because he is displeasing to us.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12] And Moses also says to them, “Behold these things, saith the Lord God: Enter into the good land which the Lord swore [to give] to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and inherit ye it, a land flowing with milk and honey.” What, then, says Knowledge? ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 470, footnote 1 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book V (HTML)
Chapter XIV.—Greek Plagiarism from the Hebrews. (HTML)
And how? Is it not similar to Scripture when it says, “Let us remove the righteous man from us, because he is troublesome to us?”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12] when Plato, all but predicting the economy of salvation, says in the second book of the Republic as follows: “Thus he who is constituted just shall be scourged, shall be stretched on the rack, shall be bound, have his eyes put out; and at last, having suffered all evils, shall be crucified.”
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 502, footnote 9 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Chapter XII.—Human Nature Possesses an Adaptation for Perfection; The Gnostic Alone Attains It. (HTML)
... have been competent to attain to perfect virtue, and others have attained to a kind of it. And some, on the other hand, through negligence, although in other respects of good dispositions, have turned to the opposite. Now much more is that knowledge which excels all branches of culture in greatness and in truth, most difficult to acquire, and is attained with much toil. “But, as seems, they know not the mysteries of God. For God created man for immortality, and made him an image of His own nature;”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:22] according to which nature of Him who knows all, he who is a Gnostic, and righteous, and holy with prudence, hastes to reach the measure of perfect manhood. For not only are actions and thoughts, but words also, pure in the case of the Gnostic: “Thou ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 502, footnote 9 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Chapter XII.—Human Nature Possesses an Adaptation for Perfection; The Gnostic Alone Attains It. (HTML)
... have been competent to attain to perfect virtue, and others have attained to a kind of it. And some, on the other hand, through negligence, although in other respects of good dispositions, have turned to the opposite. Now much more is that knowledge which excels all branches of culture in greatness and in truth, most difficult to acquire, and is attained with much toil. “But, as seems, they know not the mysteries of God. For God created man for immortality, and made him an image of His own nature;”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:25] according to which nature of Him who knows all, he who is a Gnostic, and righteous, and holy with prudence, hastes to reach the measure of perfect manhood. For not only are actions and thoughts, but words also, pure in the case of the Gnostic: “Thou ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 508, footnote 3 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book VI (HTML)
Chapter XV.—Different Degrees of Knowledge. (HTML)
... herself known to those who desire her. He that rises early for her shall not toil wearily. For to think about her is the perfection of good sense. And he that keeps vigils for her shall quickly be relieved of anxiety. For she goes about, herself seeking those worthy of her (for knowledge belongs not to all); and in all ways she benignly shows herself to them.” Now the paths are the conduct of life, and the variety that exists in the covenants. Presently he adds: “And in every thought she meets them,”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:16] being variously contemplated, that is, by all discipline. Then he subjoins, adducing love, which perfects by syllogistic reasoning and true propositions, drawing thus a most convincing and true inference, “For the beginning of her is the truest ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 220, footnote 7 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Expository Treatise Against the Jews. (HTML)
... those, too, which shall befall them in the future age, on account of the contumacy and audacity which they exhibited toward the Prince of Life; for the prophet says, “The ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright,” that is, about Christ, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous, because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings and words, and upbraideth us with our offending the law, and professeth to have knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the Child of God.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:1] And then he says, “He is grievous to us even to behold; for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and pronounceth the end of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 220, footnote 7 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Expository Treatise Against the Jews. (HTML)
... those, too, which shall befall them in the future age, on account of the contumacy and audacity which they exhibited toward the Prince of Life; for the prophet says, “The ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright,” that is, about Christ, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous, because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings and words, and upbraideth us with our offending the law, and professeth to have knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the Child of God.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12-13] And then he says, “He is grievous to us even to behold; for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and pronounceth the end of ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 221, footnote 1 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Expository Treatise Against the Jews. (HTML)
... the righteous, because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings and words, and upbraideth us with our offending the law, and professeth to have knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the Child of God.” And then he says, “He is grievous to us even to behold; for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:15-16] And again, listen to this, O Jew! None of the righteous or prophets called himself the Son of God. And therefore, as in the person of the Jews, Solomon speaks again of this righteous one, who is Christ, thus: “He was made to reprove our thoughts, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 221, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Expository Treatise Against the Jews. (HTML)
... himself the Son of God. And therefore, as in the person of the Jews, Solomon speaks again of this righteous one, who is Christ, thus: “He was made to reprove our thoughts, and he maketh his boast that God is his Father. Let us see, then, if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him; for if the just man be the Son of God, He will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us condemn him with a shameful death, for by his own saying he shall be respected.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:14]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 221, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Expository Treatise Against the Jews. (HTML)
... himself the Son of God. And therefore, as in the person of the Jews, Solomon speaks again of this righteous one, who is Christ, thus: “He was made to reprove our thoughts, and he maketh his boast that God is his Father. Let us see, then, if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him; for if the just man be the Son of God, He will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us condemn him with a shameful death, for by his own saying he shall be respected.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:16-17]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 221, footnote 2 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Dogmatical and Historical. (HTML)
Expository Treatise Against the Jews. (HTML)
... himself the Son of God. And therefore, as in the person of the Jews, Solomon speaks again of this righteous one, who is Christ, thus: “He was made to reprove our thoughts, and he maketh his boast that God is his Father. Let us see, then, if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him; for if the just man be the Son of God, He will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us condemn him with a shameful death, for by his own saying he shall be respected.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:20]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 492, footnote 3 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
On Jealousy and Envy. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3648 (In-Text, Margin)
... immortality conferred, he himself has lost that which he had previously been. How great an evil is that, beloved brethren, whereby an angel fell, whereby that lofty and illustrious grandeur could be defrauded and overthrown, whereby he who deceived was himself deceived! Thenceforth envy rages on the earth, in that he who is about to perish by jealousy obeys the author of his ruin, imitating the devil in his jealousy; as it is written, “But through envy of the devil death entered into the world.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] Therefore they who are on his side imitate him.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 521, footnote 10 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book II. (HTML)
... restraineth Himself from our ways, as if from uncleanness; and He extols the last end of the righteous, and boasts that He has God for His Father. Let us see, then, if His words are true, and let us try what will come to Him. Let us interrogate Him with reproach and torture, that we may know His reverence and prove His patience. Let us condemn Him with a most shameful death. These things they considered, and erred. For their maliciousness hath blinded them, and they knew not the sacraments of God.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12-22] Also in Isaiah: “See ye how the righteous perisheth, and no man understandeth; and righteous men are taken away, and no man regardeth. For the righteous man is taken away from the face of unrighteousness, and his burial shall be in peace.” ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 367, footnote 1 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
From the Discourse on the Resurrection. (HTML)
Part I. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2872 (In-Text, Margin)
... it was because He intended man to be man, that He originally made him so. But if He so intended—since He intends what is good—man is good. Now man is said to be composed of soul and body; he cannot then exist without a body, but with a body, unless there be produced another man besides man. For all the orders of immortal beings must be preserved by God, and among these is man. “For,” says the Book of Wisdom, “God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:23] The body then perishes not; for man is composed of soul and body.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 117, footnote 2 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Lactantius (HTML)
The Divine Institutes (HTML)
Book IV. Of True Wisdom and Religion (HTML)
Chap. XVI.—Of the passion of Jesus Christ; that it was foretold (HTML)
For both David, in the beginning of his Psalms, foreseeing in spirit what a crime they were about to commit, says, “Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the way of the ungodly; “and Solomon in the book of Wisdom used these words:[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12-22] “Let us defraud the righteous, for he is unpleasant to us, and upbraideth us with our offences against the law. He maketh his boast that he has the knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the Son of God. He is made to reprove our thoughts: it grieveth us even to look upon him: for his life is not like the life of others; his ways are of another fashion. We are counted by him as ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 240, footnote 2 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
Lactantius (HTML)
The Divine Institutes (HTML)
The Epitome of the Divine Institutes (HTML)
Chap. XLV.—The power and works of Christ are proved from the scriptures (HTML)
When a great multitude resorted to Him on account of these miracles, and, as He truly was, believed Him to be the Son of God, and sent from God, the priests and rulers of the Jews, filled with envy, and at the same time excited with anger, because He reproved their sins and injustice, conspired to put Him to death; and that this would happen, Solomon had foretold a little more than a thousand years before, in the book of Wisdom, using these words:[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12-22] “Let us defraud the righteous, for he is unpleasant to us, and upbraideth us with our offences against the law. He maketh his boast that he has the knowledge of God, and he calleth himself the Son of God. He is made to reprove our thoughts: it grieveth us even to look upon ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 8, page 628, footnote 2 (Image)
Twelve Patriarchs, Excerpts and Epistles, The Clementina, Apocryphal Gospels and Acts, Syriac Documents
The Decretals. (HTML)
The Epistle of Pope Anterus. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2811 (In-Text, Margin)
... which being extinguished, our body shall be turned into ashes, and our spirit shall vanish as the soft air. And our life shall pass as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist that is driven away with the beams of the sun, and overcome with the heat thereof. And our name shall be forgotten in time, and no man shall have our works in remembrance. For our time is a very shadow that passeth away, and after our end there is no returning; for it is fast sealed, and no man shall come again.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-5] And for this reason every one must see to it that he keep himself with all care, and watch himself for his own good, so that when his last day and the end of his life come upon him, he may not pass over to everlasting death, but to eternal life. For ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 9, page 230, footnote 7 (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)
The Sad State of the Corinthian Church After Sedition Arose in It from Envy and Emulation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4015 (In-Text, Margin)
... reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christian, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world.[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 79, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He describes the twenty-ninth year of his age, in which, having discovered the fallacies of the Manichæans, he professed rhetoric at Rome and Milan. Having heard Ambrose, he begins to come to himself. (HTML)
On the Vanity of Those Who Wished to Escape the Omnipotent God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 359 (In-Text, Margin)
... seest them and distinguishest the shadows. And lo! all things with them are fair, yet are they themselves foul. And how have they injured Thee? Or in what have they disgraced Thy government, which is just and perfect from heaven even to the lowest parts of the earth. For whither fled they when they fled from Thy presence? Or where dost Thou not find them? But they fled that they might not see Thee seeing them, and blinded might stumble against Thee; since Thou forsakest nothing that Thou hast made[Wisdom of Solomon 2:26] —that the unjust might stumble against Thee, and justly be hurt, withdrawing themselves from Thy gentleness, and stumbling against Thine uprightness, and falling upon their own roughness. Forsooth, they know not that Thou art everywhere whom no ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 2, page 357, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: The City of God, Christian Doctrine
City of God (HTML)
The history of the city of God from Noah to the time of the kings of Israel. (HTML)
Of David’s Reign and Merit; And of His Son Solomon, and that Prophecy Relating to Christ Which is Found Either in Those Books Which are Joined to Those Written by Him, or in Those Which are Indubitably His. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1114 (In-Text, Margin)
... shall happen to him, and we shall know what shall be the end of him. For if the righteous be the Son of God, He will undertake for him, and deliver him out of the hand of those that are against him. Let us put him to the question with contumely and torture, that we may know his reverence, and prove his patience. Let us condemn him to the most shameful death; for by His own sayings He shall be respected. These things did they imagine, and were mistaken; for their own malice hath quite blinded them.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12-21] But in Ecclesiasticus the future faith of the nations is predicted in this manner: “Have mercy upon us, O God, Ruler of all, and send Thy fear upon all the nations: lift up Thine hand over the strange nations, and let them see Thy power. As Thou ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 208, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
On the Holy Trinity. (HTML)
He embraces in a brief compendium the contents of the previous books; and finally shows that the Trinity, in the perfect sight of which consists the blessed life that is promised us, is here seen by us as in a glass and in an enigma, so long as it is seen through that image of God which we ourselves are. (HTML)
Concerning the Word of the Mind, in Which We See the Word of God, as in a Glass and an Enigma. (HTML)
... to be false; and if he knows this, then he knows what is true: for it is true that that is false. We treat, therefore, now of those things which we think as known, and which are known to us even if they are not being thought of. But certainly, if we would utter them in words, we can only do so by thinking them. For although there were no words spoken, at any rate, he who thinks speaks in his heart. And hence that passage in the book of Wisdom: “They said within themselves, thinking not aright.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:1] For the words, “They said within themselves,” are explained by the addition of “thinking.” A like passage to this is that in the Gospel,—that certain scribes, when they heard the Lord’s words to the paralytic man, “Be of good cheer, my son, thy sins ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 198, 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 denies that the prophets predicted Christ. Augustin proves such prediction from the New Testament, and expounds at length the principal types of Christ in the Old Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 482 (In-Text, Margin)
... Jews looked for one who was to save them. But in the mysterious justice of God they were blinded; and thinking only of the power of the Messiah, they did not understand His weakness, in which He died for us. In the book of Wisdom it is prophesied of the Jews: "Let us condemn him to an ignominious death; for he will be proved in his words. If he is truly the Son of God, He will aid him; and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Thus they thought, and erred; for their wickedness blinded them."[Wisdom of Solomon 2:18-21] These words apply also to those who, in spite of all these evidences, in spite of such a series of prophecies, and of their fulfillment, still deny that Christ is foretold in the Scriptures. As often as they repeat this denial, we can produce fresh ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 268, footnote 5 (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 denies that Manichæans believe in two gods. Hyle no god. Augustin discusses at large the doctrine of God and Hyle, and fixes the charge of dualism upon the Manichæans. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 773 (In-Text, Margin)
... corrupt good manners;" and when he speaks of a man deceiving himself, "Whoever thinketh himself to be anything, when he is nothing, deceiveth himself;" or again, in the passage already quoted of the judgment of God, "God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." Similarly, in the Old Testament, after the words, "God did not create death, nor hath He pleasure in the destruction of the living," we read, "By the envy of the devil death entered into the world."[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] And again of death, that men may not put the blame from themselves, "The wicked invite her with hands and voice; and thinking her a friend, they are drawn down." Elsewhere, however, it is said, "Good and evil, life and death, riches and poverty, are ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 451, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
On Baptism, Against the Donatists. (HTML)
In which he treats of what follows in the same epistle of Cyprian to Jubaianus. (HTML)
Chapter 8 (HTML)
... chapter: "What an evil, dearest brethren, is that by which an angel fell! by which that exalted and illustrious loftiness was able to be deceived and overthrown! by which he was deceived who was the deceiver! From that time envy stalks upon the earth, when man, about to perish through malignity, submits himself to the teacher of perdition,—when he who envies imitates the devil, as it is written, ‘Through envy of the devil came death into the world, and they that do hold of his side do find it.’"[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24-25] How true, how forcible are these words of Cyprian, in an epistle known throughout the world, we cannot fail to recognize. It was truly fitting for Cyprian to argue and warn most forcibly about envy and malignity, from which most deadly evil he ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 452, footnote 12 (Image)
Augustine: The Anti-Manichaean Writings, The Anti-Donatist Writings
Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy. (HTML)
On Baptism, Against the Donatists. (HTML)
In which he treats of what follows in the same epistle of Cyprian to Jubaianus. (HTML)
Chapter 9 (HTML)
14. But yet because "by the envy of the devil death entered into the world, and they that do hold of his side do find it,"[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24-25] not because they are created by God, but because they go astray of themselves, as Cyprian also says himself, seeing that the devil, before he was a devil, was an angel, and good, how can it be that they who are of the devil’s side are in the unity of Christ? Beyond all doubt, as the Lord Himself says, "an enemy hath done this," who "sowed tares among the wheat." As therefore what is of the devil within the fold must be convicted, so ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 18, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Sin Passes on to All Men by Natural Descent, and Not Merely by Imitation. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 237 (In-Text, Margin)
... infants original sin is remitted through baptism, for they contend that no such original sin exists at all in people by their birth. But if the apostle had wished to assert that sin entered into the world, not by natural descent, but by imitation, he would have mentioned as the first offender, not Adam indeed, but the devil, of whom it is written, that “he sinneth from the beginning;” of whom also we read in the Book of Wisdom: “Nevertheless through the devil’s envy death entered into the world.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] Now, forasmuch as this death came upon men from the devil, not because they were propagated by him, but because they imitated his example, it is immediately added: “And they that do hold of his side do imitate him.” Accordingly, the apostle, when ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 301, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
On Marriage and Concupiscence. (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Answer to This Argument: The Apostle Says We All Sinned in One. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2288 (In-Text, Margin)
... the first to sin, and that any one who wished afterwards to commit sin found an example for sinning in him; so that sin, you must know, did not pass from this one upon all men by birth, but by the imitation of this one. Whereas it is certain that if the apostle meant this imitation to be here understood, he would have said that sin had entered into the world and passed upon all men, not by one man, but rather by the devil. For of the devil it is written: “They that are on his side do imitate him.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] He used the phrase “by one man,” from whom the generation of men, of course, had its beginning, in order to show us that original sin had passed upon all men by generation.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 101, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XXXVII (HTML)
Part 3 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 927 (In-Text, Margin)
“The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him” (ver. 32). For he says, what it was foretold in the book of Wisdom that he should say, “He is grievous unto us, even to behold; for his life is not like other men’s.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:15] Therefore he “seeks to slay him.” What? Doth the Lord, who keepeth him, who dwelleth with him, who departeth not from his lips, from his heart, doth He forsake him? What then becomes of what was said before: “And He forsaketh not His Saints”?
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 172, footnote 6 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XLIX (HTML)
Part 1 (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1639 (In-Text, Margin)
... saying, “If this Man were the Son of God, He would come down from the Cross:” not seeing what death is. If they had seen what death is; if they had seen, I say. He died for a time, that He might live again for ever: they lived for a time, that they might die for ever. But because they saw Him dying, they saw not death, that is to say, they understood not what was very death. What say they even in Wisdom? “Let us condemn Him with a most shameful death, for by His own sayings He shall be respected;”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:20] for if he is indeed the Son of God, He will deliver Him from the hands of His adversaries: He will not suffer His Son to die, if He is truly His Son. But when they saw themselves insulting Him upon the Cross, and Him not descending from the Cross, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 192, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LI (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1824 (In-Text, Margin)
... was nothing to be judged. For alone among men could truly say the God-Man, “If ye have found in Me sin, say.” But perchance there was what escaped men, and they found not what was really there, but was not manifest. In another place He saith, “Behold there cometh the Prince of the world,” being an acute observer of all sins; “Behold,” He saith, “there cometh the Prince of this world,” with death afflicting sinners, presiding over death: for, “By the malice of the devil death came into the world.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] “Behold,” He saith, “there cometh the Prince of the world:”—He said these words close upon His Passion:—“and in Me he shall find nothing,” nothing of sin, nothing worthy of death, nothing worthy of condemnation. And as if it were said to Him, Why ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 203, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1933 (In-Text, Margin)
3. Let us advert also to that sense, which concerning Christ our Lord Himself, our Head Himself, doth present itself. For when Himself in form of a servant appeared on earth, they that crucified Him said, “He is not God.” Because Son of God He was, truly God He was. But they that are corrupted and have become abominable said what? “He is not God:” let us slay Him, “He is not God.” Thou hast the voice of these very men in the book of Wisdom.[Wisdom of Solomon 2:18-20] For after there had gone before the verse, “The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God;” as if reasons were required why the unwise man could say this, he hath subjoined, “Corrupted they are, and abominable have become in their iniquities” (ver. 2). Hear ye those ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 203, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1934 (In-Text, Margin)
... and have become abominable said what? “He is not God:” let us slay Him, “He is not God.” Thou hast the voice of these very men in the book of Wisdom. For after there had gone before the verse, “The unwise man hath said in his heart, There is no God;” as if reasons were required why the unwise man could say this, he hath subjoined, “Corrupted they are, and abominable have become in their iniquities” (ver. 2). Hear ye those corrupted men. “For they have said with themselves, not rightly thinking:”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:1] corruption beginneth with evil belief, thence it proceedeth to depraved morals, thence to the most flagrant iniquities, these are the grades. But what with themselves said they, thinking not rightly? “A small thing and with tediousness is our life.” ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 203, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1935 (In-Text, Margin)
... as if reasons were required why the unwise man could say this, he hath subjoined, “Corrupted they are, and abominable have become in their iniquities” (ver. 2). Hear ye those corrupted men. “For they have said with themselves, not rightly thinking:” corruption beginneth with evil belief, thence it proceedeth to depraved morals, thence to the most flagrant iniquities, these are the grades. But what with themselves said they, thinking not rightly? “A small thing and with tediousness is our life.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:1] From this evil belief followeth that which also the Apostle hath spoken of, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” But in the former passage more diffusely luxury itself is described: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 203, footnote 7 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1937 (In-Text, Margin)
... proceedeth to depraved morals, thence to the most flagrant iniquities, these are the grades. But what with themselves said they, thinking not rightly? “A small thing and with tediousness is our life.” From this evil belief followeth that which also the Apostle hath spoken of, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” But in the former passage more diffusely luxury itself is described: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered; in every place let us leave the tokens of our gladness.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:8-9] After the more diffuse description of that luxury, what followeth? “Let us slay the poor just man:” this is therefore saying, “He is not God.” Soft words they seemed but now to say: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered.” What more ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 203, footnote 8 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LIII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1938 (In-Text, Margin)
... themselves said they, thinking not rightly? “A small thing and with tediousness is our life.” From this evil belief followeth that which also the Apostle hath spoken of, “Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we shall die.” But in the former passage more diffusely luxury itself is described: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered; in every place let us leave the tokens of our gladness.” After the more diffuse description of that luxury, what followeth? “Let us slay the poor just man:”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:10] this is therefore saying, “He is not God.” Soft words they seemed but now to say: “Let us crown us with roses, before they be withered.” What more delicate, what more soft? Wouldest thou expect, out of this softness, Crosses, swords? Wonder not, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 264, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2500 (In-Text, Margin)
... delirious in high fever raving at the physician, they devised the plan of destroying Him that had come to heal them; as though therein they would prove whether He were indeed a man, that could die, or were somewhat above men, and would not suffer Himself to die. The word of these same men we perceive in the wisdom of Solomon: “with death most vile,” say they, “let us condemn Him; let us question Him, for there will be regard in the discourses of Him; for if truly Son of God He is, let Him deliver Him.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:18] Let us see therefore what was done.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 264, footnote 5 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm LXIV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2500 (In-Text, Margin)
... delirious in high fever raving at the physician, they devised the plan of destroying Him that had come to heal them; as though therein they would prove whether He were indeed a man, that could die, or were somewhat above men, and would not suffer Himself to die. The word of these same men we perceive in the wisdom of Solomon: “with death most vile,” say they, “let us condemn Him; let us question Him, for there will be regard in the discourses of Him; for if truly Son of God He is, let Him deliver Him.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:20] Let us see therefore what was done.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 192, footnote 1 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Three Homilies Concerning the Power of Demons. (HTML)
Homily III. On the Power of Man to Resist the Devil. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 605 (In-Text, Margin)
... winds, become stronger. And there is a gain to the wicked from their mixing with the good. They feel confusion, they are ashamed, they blush in their presence; and even if they do not abstain from evil, yet nevertheless they dare what they dare with secrecy. And this is no small thing not to have transgression publicly committed. For the life of the others becomes the accuser of the wickedness of these. Hear at least what they say about the righteous man. “He is grievous to us, even when beheld,”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:15] and it is no small beginning of amendment to be tormented at his presence. For if the sight of the righteous man did not torment them, this word would not have been uttered. But to be stung, and pinched in conscience at his presence, would be no ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 38, footnote 9 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
The Incarnation of the Word. (HTML)
On the Incarnation of the Word. (HTML)
For God has not only made us out of nothing; but He gave us freely, by the Grace of the Word, a life in correspondence with God. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 210 (In-Text, Margin)
... of the Word, a life in correspondence with God. But men, having rejected things eternal, and, by counsel of the devil, turned to the things of corruption, became the cause of their own corruption in death, being, as I said before, by nature corruptible, but destined, by the grace following from partaking of the Word, to have escaped their natural state, had they remained good. 2. For because of the Word dwelling with them, even their natural corruption did not come near them, as Wisdom also says[Wisdom of Solomon 2:23]: “God made man for incorruption, and as an image of His own eternity; but by envy of the devil death came into the world.” But when this was come to pass, men began to die, while corruption thence-forward prevailed against them, gaining even more ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 296, footnote 11 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Arian History. (Historia Arianorum ad Monachos.) (HTML)
Arian History. (Historia Arianorum ad Monachos.) (HTML)
Persecution in Egypt. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1754 (In-Text, Margin)
... Athanasius and the rest of the Bishops whom they banished, yet what is this to their later practices? What charges have they to allege against the whole of Egypt and Libya and Pentapolis? For they have begun no longer to lay their plots against individuals, in which case they might be able to frame a lie against them; but they have set upon all in a body, so that if they merely choose to invent accusations against them, they must be condemned. Thus their wickedness has blinded their understanding[Wisdom of Solomon 2:21]; and they have required, without any reason assigned, that the whole body of the Bishops shall be expelled, and thereby they shew that the charges they framed against Athanasius and the rest of the Bishops whom they banished were false, and invented ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 535, footnote 1 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life. (HTML)
The Festal Letters, and their Index. (HTML)
Festal Letters. (HTML)
For 339. Coss. Constantius Augustus II, Constans I; Præfect, Philagrius the Cappadocian, for the second time; Indict. xii; Easter-day xvii Kal. Mai, xx Pharmuthi; Æra Dioclet. 55. (HTML)
... lament for them, saying, ‘Why do the people exalt themselves, and the nations imagine vain things?’ For vain indeed was the imagination of the Jews, meditating death against the Life, and devising unreasonable things against the ‘Word of the Father.’ For who that looks upon their dispersion, and the desolation of their city, may not aptly say, ‘Woe unto them, for they have imagined an evil imagination, saying against their own soul, let us bind the righteous man, because he is not pleasing to us[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12].’ And full well is it so, my brethren; for when they erred concerning the Scriptures, they knew not that ‘he who diggeth a pit for his neighbour falleth therein; and he who destroyeth a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.’ And if they had not turned ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 546, footnote 11 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life. (HTML)
The Festal Letters, and their Index. (HTML)
Festal Letters. (HTML)
(For 347.) Coss. Rufinus, Eusebius; Præf. the same Nestorius; Indict. v; Easter-day, Prid. Id. Apr., Pharmuthi xvii; Æra Dioclet. 63; Moon 15. (HTML)
... and pleases God, as He saith, ‘The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me.’ Let a man ‘learn what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice,’ and I will not condemn the adversaries. But this wearied them, for they were not anxious to understand, ‘for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.’ And what their end is, the prophet foretold, crying, ‘Woe unto their soul, for they have devised an evil thought, saying, let us bind the just man, because he is not pleasing to us[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12].’ The end of such abandonment as this can be nothing but error, as the Lord, when reproving them, saith, ‘Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures.’ Afterwards when, being reproved, they should have come to their senses, they rather grew insolent, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 88, footnote 2 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
From Epiphanius, Bishop of Salamis, in Cyprus, to John, Bishop of Jerusalem. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1297 (In-Text, Margin)
... one hundred and seventeen years. Yet the Holy Spirit in the thirty-ninth psalm, while lamenting that all men walk in a vain show, and that they are subject to sins, speaks thus: “For all that every man walk eth in the image.” Also after David’s time, in the reign of Solomon his son, we read a somewhat similar reference to the divine likeness. For in the book of Wisdom, which is inscribed with his name, Solomon says: “God created man to be immortal, and made him to be an image of His own eternity.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:23] And again, about eleven hundred and eleven years afterwards, we read in the New Testament that men have not lost the image of God. For James, an apostle and brother of the Lord, whom I have mentioned above—that we may not be entangled in the snares ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 6, page 204, footnote 3 (Image)
Jerome: Letters and Select Works
The Letters of St. Jerome. (HTML)
To Eustochium. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2892 (In-Text, Margin)
18. Envy always follows in the track of virtue: as Horace says, it is ever the mountain top that is smitten by the lightning. It is not surprising that I declare this of men and women, when the jealousy of the Pharisees succeeded in crucifying our Lord Himself. All the saints have had illwishers, and even Paradise was not free from the serpent through whose malice death came into the world.[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] So the Lord stirred up against Paula Hadad the Edomite to buffet her that she might not be exalted, and warned her frequently by the thorn in her flesh not to be elated by the greatness of her own virtues or to fancy that, compared with other women, she had attained the summit of perfection. For my ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 85, footnote 15 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
On the words, Crucified and Buried. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1541 (In-Text, Margin)
12. They bound Jesus, and brought Him into the hall of the High-priest. And wouldest thou learn and know that this also is written? Esaias says, Woe unto their soul, for they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us bind the Just, for He is troublesome to us[Wisdom of Solomon 2:12]. And truly, Woe unto their soul! Let us see how Esaias was sawn asunder, yet after this the people was restored. Jeremias was cast into the mire of the cistern, yet was the wound of the Jews healed; for the sin was less, since it was against man. But when the Jews sinned, not against man, but against God in man’s nature, Woe unto their ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 274, footnote 8 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
On the Great Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3325 (In-Text, Margin)
18. Such was the lot of Job: such at first sight his history. In reality it was a contest between virtue and envy:[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] the one straining every nerve to overcome the good, the other enduring everything, that it might abide unsubdued; the one striving to smooth the way for vice, by means of the chastisement of the upright, the other to retain its hold upon the good, even if they do exceed others in misfortunes. What then of Him who answered Job out of the whirlwind and cloud, Who is slow to chastise and swift to help, Who suffers not utterly the rod of the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 425, footnote 1 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Second Oration on Easter. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 4596 (In-Text, Margin)
... enemies of God wag their tongues in that direction, or imitate the serpent. But it would have been good if partaken of at the proper time; for the Tree was, according to my theory, Contemplation, which it is only safe for those who have reached maturity of habit to enter upon; but which is not good for those who are still somewhat simple and greedy; just as neither is solid food good for those who are yet tender and have need of milk. But when through the devil’s malice and the woman’s caprice,[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] to which she succumbed as the more tender, and which she brought to bear upon the man, as she was the more apt to persuade—alas for my weakness, for that of my first father was mine; he forgot the commandment which had been given him, and yielded to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 45b, footnote 8 (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)
Concerning the Divine Œconomy and God's care over us, and concerning our salvation. (HTML)
... diversity of tongues, by the rule of angels, by the burning of cities, by figurative manifestations of God, by wars and victories and defeats, by signs and wonders, by manifold faculties, by the law and the prophets: for by all these means God earnestly strove to emancipate man from the wide-spread and enslaving bonds of sin, which had made life such a mass of iniquity, and to effect man’s return to a life of happiness. For it was sin that brought death like a wild and savage beast into the world[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24] to the ruin of the human life. But it behoved the Redeemer to be without sin, and not made liable through sin to death, and further, that His nature should be strengthened and renewed, and trained by labour and taught the way of virtue which leads ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 9, page 75b, footnote 5 (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 IV (HTML)
Why it was the Son of God, and not the Father or the Spirit, that became man: and what having became man He achieved. (HTML)
... which He created him. For He created him after His own image, endowed with intellect and free-will, and after His own likeness, that is to say, perfect in all virtue so far as it is possible for man’s nature to attain perfection. For the following properties are, so to speak, marks of the divine nature: viz. absence of care and distraction and guile, goodness, wisdom, justice, freedom from all vice. So then, after He had placed man in communion with Himself (for having made him for incorruption[Wisdom of Solomon 2:23], He led him up through communion with Himself to incorruption), and when moreover, through the transgression of the command we had confused and obliterated the marks of the divine image, and had become evil, we were stripped of our communion with ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 11, page 488, footnote 3 (Image)
Sulpitius Severus, Vincent of Lerins, John Cassian
The Works of John Cassian. (HTML)
The Conferences of John Cassian. Part III. Containing Conferences XVIII.-XXIV. (HTML)
Conference XVIII. Conference of Abbot Piamun. On the Three Sorts of Monks. (HTML)
Chapter XVI. On the perfection of patience. (HTML)
... you serpents, basilisks, against which there is no charm: and they shall bite you.” Rightly then are the stings of envy compared by the prophet to the deadly poison of basilisks, as by it the first author of all poisons and their chief perished and died. For he slew himself before him of whom he was envious, and destroyed himself before that he poured forth the poison of death against man: for “by the envy of the devil death entered into the world: they therefore who are on his side follow him.”[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24-25] For just as he who was the first to be corrupted by the plague of that evil, admitted no remedy of penitence, nor any healing plaster, so those also who have given themselves up to be smitten by the same pricks, exclude all the aid of the sacred ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 161, footnote 1 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Sermons. (HTML)
On Lent, XI. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 946 (In-Text, Margin)
... present, when by the observance of a special strictness a habit is acquired which must be persevered in. For it is well known to you that this is the time when throughout the world the devil waxes furious, and the Christian army has to combat him, and any that have grown lukewarm and slothful, or that are absorbed in worldly cares, must now be furnished with spiritual armour and their ardour kindled for the fray by the heavenly trumpet, inasmuch as he, through whose envy death came into the world[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24], is now consumed with the strongest jealousy and now tortured with the greatest vexation. For he sees whole tribes of the human race brought in afresh to the adoption of God’s sons and the offspring of the New Birth ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 12, page 192, footnote 1 (Image)
Leo the Great, Gregory the Great
The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great. (HTML)
Sermons. (HTML)
On Whitsuntide, III. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1150 (In-Text, Margin)
... class="sc">God, had retained the dignity of his own nature, and had not been deceived by the devil’s wiles into transgressing through lust the law laid down for him, the Creator of the world would not have become a Creature, the Eternal would not have entered the sphere of time, nor God the Son, Who is equal with God the Father, have assumed the form of a slave and the likeness of sinful flesh. But because “by the devil’s malice death entered into the world[Wisdom of Solomon 2:24],” and captive humanity could not otherwise be set free without His undertaking our cause, Who without loss of His majesty should both become true Man, and alone have no taint of sin, the mercy of the Trinity divided for Itself the work of our ...