Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Ecclesiasticus 1
There are 22 footnotes for this reference.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 226, footnote 7 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Instructor (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Chapter VIII.—Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good. (HTML)
... incurable tetanic incurvature. I will send the teeth of wild beasts upon them, with the rage of serpents creeping on the earth. Without, the sword shall make them childless; and out of their chambers shall be fear.” For the Divine Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done. And this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. “For the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot be justified,”[Ecclesiasticus 1:21-22] says the Scripture. And God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 227, footnote 2 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Instructor (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Chapter VIII.—Against Those Who Think that What is Just is Not Good. (HTML)
... “I will sharpen my sword, and my hand shall lay hold on judgment; and I will render justice to mine enemies, and requite those who hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh from the blood of the wounded.” It is clear, then, that those who are not at enmity with the truth, and do not hate the Word, will not hate their own salvation, but will escape the punishment of enmity. “The crown of wisdom,” then, as the book of Wisdom says, “is the fear of the Lord.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:18] Very clearly, therefore, by the prophet Amos has the Lord unfolded His method of dealing, saying, “I have overthrown you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; and ye shall be as a brand plucked from the fire: and yet ye have not returned unto me, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 305, footnote 5 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
Chapter IV.—Human Arts as Well as Divine Knowledge Proceed from God. (HTML)
... contemplation of which themselves are the objects. For sensibility finds and invents; since it persuasively exhorts to application. And practice will increase the application which has knowledge for its end. With reason, therefore, the apostle has called the wisdom of God “manifold,” and which has manifested its power “in many departments and in many modes” —by art, by knowledge, by faith, by prophecy—for our benefit. “For all wisdom is from the Lord, and is with Him for ever,” as says the wisdom of Jesus.[Ecclesiasticus 1:1]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 2, page 363, footnote 19 (Image)
Hermas, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, Clement of Alexandria
Clement of Alexandria (HTML)
The Stromata, or Miscellanies (HTML)
Book II (HTML)
Chapter XV.—On the Different Kinds of Voluntary Actions, and the Sins Thence Proceeding. (HTML)
... be fulfilled: and this is My commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” “For the Lord is merciful and pitiful; and gracious is the Lord to all.” “Know thyself” is more clearly and often expressed by Moses, when he enjoins, “Take heed to thyself.” “By alms then, and acts of faith, sins are purged.” “And by the fear of the Lord each one departs from evil.” “And the fear of the Lord is instruction and wisdom.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:27]
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 201, footnote 3 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Hippolytus. (HTML)
The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus. (HTML)
Exegetical. (HTML)
On the Psalms. (HTML)
... with good deeds we succeed in good action though not wholly proficient in speculation; and a “song,” when, by revolving the mysteries of the truth, apart from the practical, and assenting fully to them, we have the noblest thoughts of God and His oracles, while knowledge enlightens us, and wisdom shines brightly in our souls; and a “song of psalmody,” when, while good action takes the lead, according to the word, “If thou desire wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord shall give her unto thee,”[Ecclesiasticus 1:26] we understand wisdom at the same time, and are deemed worthy by God to know the truth of things, till now kept hid from us; and a “psalm of song,” when, by revolving with the light of wisdom some of the more abstruse questions pertaining to morals, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 5, page 539, footnote 20 (Image)
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius, Novatian, Appendix
Cyprian. (HTML)
The Treatises of Cyprian. (HTML)
Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews. (HTML)
Book III. (HTML)
In the cxth Psalm: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Of the same thing in the Wisdom of Solomon: “The beginning of wisdom is to fear God.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:14] Also in the Proverbs of the same: “Blessed is the man who reverences all things with fear.” Of the same thing in Isaiah: “And upon whom else will I look, except upon him that is lowly and peaceful, and that trembleth at my words?” Of this same thing in Genesis: “And the angel of the Lord called him from heaven, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 293, footnote 4 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Alexander of Alexandria. (HTML)
Epistles on the Arian Heresy and the Deposition of Arius. (HTML)
To Alexander, Bishop of the City of Constantinople. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2416 (In-Text, Margin)
... hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength.” For if the knowledge of many other things that are incomparably inferior to this, are hidden from human comprehension, such as in the apostle Paul, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” As also God said to Abraham, that “he could not number the stars;” and that passage, “Who can number the sand of the sea, and the drops of rain.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:2] How shall any one be able to investigate too curiously the subsistence of the divine Word, unless he be smitten with frenzy? Concerning which the Spirit of prophecy says, “Who shall declare his generation?” And our Saviour Himself, who blesses the ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 381, footnote 7 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
Fragments. (HTML)
Extracts from the Work on Things Created. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2975 (In-Text, Margin)
... Therefore, all the days from our time to that which was in the beginning, in which God created the heaven and the earth, are computed to be thirteen days; before which God, because he had as yet created nothing according to their folly, is stripped of His name of Father and Almighty. But if there are thirteen days in the sight of God from the creation of the world, how can Wisdom say, in the Book of the Son of Sirach: “Who can number the sand of the sea, and the drops of rain, and the days of eternity?”[Ecclesiasticus 1:2] This is what Origen says seriously, and mark how he trifles.
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 6, page 383, footnote 7 (Image)
Gregory Thaumaturgus, Dionysius the Great, Julius Africanus, Anatolius and Minor Writers, Methodius, Arnobius
Methodius. (HTML)
Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna On the Day that They Met in the Temple. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2993 (In-Text, Margin)
... earth. The publican, when he touches this ark, comes away just; the harlot, when she approaches this, is remoulded, as it were, and becomes chaste; the leper, when he touches this, is restored whole without pain. It repulses none; it shrinks from none; it imparts the gifts of healing, without itself contracting any disease; for the Lord, who loves and cares for man, in it makes His resting-place. These are the gifts of this new grace. This is that new and strange thing that has happened under the sun[Ecclesiasticus 1:10] —a thing that never had place before, nor will have place again. That which God of His compassion toward us foreordained has come to pass, He hath given it fulfilment because of that love for man which is so becoming to Him. With good right, ...
Ante-Nicene Fathers, Volume 7, page 378, footnote 15 (Image)
Lactantius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, 2 Clement, Early Liturgies
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)
The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (HTML)
Chapter IV.—Various Precepts (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2414 (In-Text, Margin)
... thee the word of God remember night and day; and thou shalt honour him as the Lord; for in the place whence lordly rule is uttered, there is the Lord. 2. And thou shalt seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that thou mayest rest upon their words. 3. Thou shalt not long for division, but shalt bring those who contend to peace. Thou shalt judge righteously, thou shalt not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. 4. Thou shalt not be undecided whether it shall be or no.[Ecclesiasticus 1:28] 5. Be not a stretcher forth of the hands to receive and a drawer of them back to give. 6. If thou hast aught, through thy hands thou shalt give ransom for thy sins. 7. Thou shalt not hesitate to give, nor murmur when thou givest; for thou ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 180, footnote 9 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He continues his explanation of the first Chapter of Genesis according to the Septuagint, and by its assistance he argues, especially, concerning the double heaven, and the formless matter out of which the whole world may have been created; afterwards of the interpretations of others not disallowed, and sets forth at great length the sense of the Holy Scripture. (HTML)
He Argues Against Adversaries Concerning the Heaven of Heavens. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1110 (In-Text, Margin)
20. For although we find no time before it, for wisdom was created before all things,[Ecclesiasticus 1:4] —not certainly that Wisdom manifestly co-eternal and equal unto Thee, our God, His Father, and by Whom all things were created, and in Whom, as the Beginning, Thou createdst heaven and earth; but truly that wisdom which has been created, namely, the intellectual nature, which, in the contemplation of light, is light. For this, although created, is also called wisdom. But as great as is the difference between the Light which enlighteneth and that which ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 1, page 181, footnote 1 (Image)
Augustine: Prolegomena: St. Augustine's Life and Work, Confessions, Letters
The Confessions (HTML)
He continues his explanation of the first Chapter of Genesis according to the Septuagint, and by its assistance he argues, especially, concerning the double heaven, and the formless matter out of which the whole world may have been created; afterwards of the interpretations of others not disallowed, and sets forth at great length the sense of the Holy Scripture. (HTML)
He Argues Against Adversaries Concerning the Heaven of Heavens. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1111 (In-Text, Margin)
20. For although we find no time before it, for wisdom was created before all things, —not certainly that Wisdom manifestly co-eternal and equal unto Thee, our God, His Father, and by Whom all things were created, and in Whom, as the Beginning, Thou createdst heaven and earth; but truly that wisdom which has been created, namely, the intellectual nature,[Ecclesiasticus 1:4] which, in the contemplation of light, is light. For this, although created, is also called wisdom. But as great as is the difference between the Light which enlighteneth and that which is enlightened, so great is the difference between the Wisdom that createth and that which hath been created; as between the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 210, footnote 3 (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)
The Likeness of the Divine Word, Such as It Is, is to Be Sought, Not in Our Own Outer and Sensible Word, But in the Inner and Mental One. There is the Greatest Possible Unlikeness Between Our Word and Knowledge and the Divine Word and Knowledge. (HTML)
... sounds of many and diverse languages through the hearts and mouths of men; and which is therefore called the word of God, because the doctrine that is delivered is not human, but divine);—but we are now seeking to see, in whatsoever way we can, by means of this likeness, that Word of God of which it is said, “The Word was God;” of which it is said, “All things were made by Him;” of which it is said, “The Word became flesh;” of which it is said “The Word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:5] We must go on, then, to that word of man, to the word of the rational animal, to the word of that image of God, that is not born of God, but made by God; which is neither utterable in sound nor capable of being thought under the likeness of sound ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 3, page 237, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: On the Holy Trinity, Doctrinal Treatises, Moral Treatises
Doctrinal Treatises of St. Augustin (HTML)
The Enchiridion. (HTML)
The Author Desires the Gift of True Wisdom for Laurentius. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1092 (In-Text, Margin)
... where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” but one of those of whom it is said, “The multitude of the wise is the welfare of the world,” and such as the apostles wishes those to become, whom he tells,” I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.” Now, just as no one can exist of himself, so no one can be wise of himself, but only by the enlightening influence of Him of whom it is written,” All wisdom cometh from the Lord.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:1]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 4, page 292, 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 states his objections to the morality of the law and the prophets, and Augustin seeks by the application of the type and the allegory to explain away the moral difficulties of the Old Testament. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 867 (In-Text, Margin)
53. To this purpose it is written: "Thou hast desired wisdom; keep the commandments, and the Lord shall give it thee."[Ecclesiasticus 1:33] The commandments are those concerning righteousness, and the righteousness is that which is by faith, surrounded with the uncertainty of temptations; so that understanding is the reward of a pious belief of what is not yet understood. The meaning I have given to these words, "Thou hast desired wisdom; keep the commandments, and the Lord shall give it thee," I find also in the passage, "Unless ye believe, ye shall not understand;" ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 7, page 516, footnote 1 (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. 17–21. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2458 (In-Text, Margin)
... were not operated upon; it smarts more under the healing operation, but only that it may never smart when the healing is effected. Then let fear occupy thine heart, that it may bring in charity; let the cicatrice succeed to the leech’s knife. He is such an Healer, that the cicatrices do not even appear: only do thou put thyself under His hand. For if thou be without fear, thou canst not be justified. It is a sentence pronounced by the Scriptures; “For he that is without fear, cannot be justified.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:28] Needs then must fear first enter in, that by it charity may come. Fear is the healing operation: charity, the sound condition. “But he that feareth is not made perfect in love.” Why? “Because fear hath torment;” just as the cutting of the surgeon’s ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 8, page 48, footnote 3 (Image)
Augustine: Expositions on the Psalms
Expositions on the Book of Psalms. (HTML)
Psalm XV (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 502 (In-Text, Margin)
... one hath been brought to nought in his sight” (ver. 4). This is perfection, that the malicious one have no force against a man; and that this be “in his sight;” that is, that he know most surely that the malicious is not, save when the mind turns itself away from the eternal and immutable form of her own Creator to the form of the creature, which was made out of nothing. “But those that fear the Lord, He glorifieth:” the Lord Himself, that is. Now “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”[Ecclesiasticus 1:14] As then the things above belong to the perfect, so what he is now going to say belongs to beginners.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 212, footnote 2 (Image)
Chrysostom: On the Priesthood, Ascetic Treatises, Select Homilies and Letters, Homilies on the Statutes
Homily on the Paralytic Let Down Through the Roof: and Concerning the Equality of the Divine Father and the Son. (HTML)
Homily on the Paralytic Let Down Through the Roof. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 702 (In-Text, Margin)
On this account a certain wise man admonishes us saying “My Son, if thou come to serve the Lord prepare thy soul for temptation, set thy heart aright and constantly endure and make not haste in time of trouble;”[Ecclesiasticus 1:1-2] “yield to Him” he says, “in all things,” for He knoweth exactly when it is right to pluck us out of the furnace of evil. We ought therefore everywhere to yield to Him and always to give thanks, and to bear all things contentedly, whether He bestows benefits or chastisement upon us, for this also is a species of benefit. For the physician, not only when he bathes and nourishes the patient ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 37, footnote 4 (Image)
Theodoret, Jerome and Gennadius, Rufinus and Jerome
The Ecclesiastical History, Dialogues, and Letters of Theodoret. (HTML)
The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret. (HTML)
Book I (HTML)
The Epistle of Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria to Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople. (HTML)
... For if the knowledge of many other things incomparably inferior is beyond the capacity of the human mind, and cannot therefore be attained, as has been said by Paul, ‘ Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,’ and as God also said to Abraham, that the stars could not be numbered by him; and it is likewise said, ‘ Who shall number the grains of sand by the sea-shore, or the drops of rain[Ecclesiasticus 1:2]?’ how then can any one but a madman presume to enquire into the nature of the Word of God? It is said by the Spirit of prophecy, ‘ Who shall declare His generation?’ And, therefore, our Saviour in His kindness to those men who were the ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 204, footnote 1 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) (HTML)
Life of Antony. (Vita Antoni.) (HTML)
His address to monks, rendered from Coptic, exhorting them to perseverance, and encouraging them against the wiles of Satan. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1050 (In-Text, Margin)
... after by them as wounding them that love virtue and fear God. But since they have no power to effect anything, they do nought but threaten. But if they could, they would not hesitate, but forthwith work evil (for all their desire is set on this), and especially against us. Behold now we are gathered together and speak against them, and they know when we advance they grow weak. If therefore they had power they would permit none of us Christians to live, for godliness is an abomination to a sinner[Ecclesiasticus 1:25]. But since they can do nothing they inflict the greater wounds on themselves; for they can fulfil none of their threats. Next this ought to be considered, that we may be in no fear of them: that if they had the power they would not come in crowds, ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 4, page 391, footnote 11 (Image)
Athanasius: Select Writings and Letters
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) (HTML)
Discourse II (HTML)
Texts Explained; Sixthly, the Context of Proverbs viii. 22 Vz. 22-30. It is right to interpret this passage by the Regula Fidei. 'Founded' is used in contrast to superstructure; and it implies, as in the case of stones in building, previous existence. 'Before the world' signifies the divine intention and purpose. Recurrence to Prov. viii. 22, and application of it to created Wisdom as seen in the works. The Son reveals the Father, first by the works, then by the Incarnation. (HTML)
... Scripture? for ‘a wise man feareth and departeth from evil;’ and ‘through wisdom is a house builded;’ and the Preacher says, ‘A man’s wisdom maketh his face to shine;’ and he blames those who are headstrong thus, ‘Say not thou, what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire in wisdom concerning this.’ But if, as the Son of Sirach says, ‘He poured her out upon all His works; she is with all flesh according to His gift, and He hath given her to them that love Him[Ecclesiasticus 1:9-10],’ and this outpouring is a note, not of the Essence of the Very Wisdom and Only-begotten, but of that wisdom which is imaged in the world, how is it incredible that the All-framing and true Wisdom Itself, whose impress is the wisdom and knowledge ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 320, footnote 4 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen. (HTML)
The Fifth Theological Oration. On the Holy Spirit. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3708 (In-Text, Margin)
... Creature; and inasmuch as He is not Begotten is no Son; and inasmuch as He is between the Unbegotten and the Begotten is God. And thus escaping the toils of your syllogisms, He has manifested himself as God, stronger than your divisions. What then is Procession? Do you tell me what is the Unbegottenness of the Father, and I will explain to you the physiology of the Generation of the Son and the Procession of the Spirit, and we shall both of us be frenzy-stricken for prying into the mystery of God.[Ecclesiasticus 1:2] And who are we to do these things, we who cannot even see what lies at our feet, or number the sand of the sea, or the drops of rain, or the days of Eternity, much less enter into the Depths of God, and supply an account of that Nature which is so ...