Early Church Fathers Scripture Index : Texts
Ecclesiasticus 3:21
There are 5 footnotes for this reference.
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 355, footnote 2 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin. (HTML)
Book IV. (HTML)
God Alone Can Teach Whence Souls Come. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 2459 (In-Text, Margin)
... your loving self I greatly desire to know one of two things if I can,—either concerning the origin of souls, of which I am ignorant, or whether this knowledge is within our reach so long as we are in the present life. For what if our controversy touches the very points of which it is enjoined to us, “Seek not out the things that are too high for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength; but whatever things the Lord hath commanded and taught thee, think thereupon for evermore.”[Ecclesiasticus 3:21-22] This, then, is what I desire to know, either from God Himself, who knows what He creates, or even from some competently learned man who knows what he is saying, not from a person who is ignorant of the breath he heaves. It is not everybody who ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 5, page 537, footnote 4 (Image)
Augustine: Anti-Pelagian Writings
A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints. (HTML)
A Treatise on the Gift of Perseverance. (HTML)
Augustin Claims the Right to Grow in Knowledge. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 3623 (In-Text, Margin)
... deliver any one, small or great, save He who, for the sake of remitting our sins, both original and personal, died without any sin of His own, either original or personal. But why some rather than others? Again and again we say, and do not shrink from it, “O man, who art thou that repliest against God?” “His judgments are unsearchable, and His ways past finding out.” And let us add this, “Seek not out the things that are too high for thee, and search not the things that are above thy strength.”[Ecclesiasticus 3:21]
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 1, Volume 9, page 421, footnote 2 (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 XII (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 1519 (In-Text, Margin)
... the greatness of thy knowledge should excite thee to pride. Thus at least it was that the evil demon precipitated the first man headlong and by means of the hope of greater knowledge, deprived him of that he already possessed. Therefore also, a certain wise man exhorts, saying, “Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee; neither search the things that are too deep for thee. But what is commanded thee, think thereupon with reverence; for the greater part of His works are done in secret.”[Ecclesiasticus 3:21-23] And again; “More things are shewed unto thee than men understand.” But this he speaks for the purpose of consoling the man who is sad and vexed, because he does not know all things; for even those things he observes, which thou art permitted to ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 3, page 37, footnote 1 (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)
... name the Maker and the creature in equivalent syllables. Not that the Son of God is unbegotten, for the Father alone is unbegotten; but that the ineffable personality of the only-begotten God is beyond the keenest conception of the evangelists and perhaps even of angels. Therefore, I do not think men ought to be considered pious who presume to investigate this subject, in disobedience to the injunction, ‘ Seek not what is too difficult for thee, neither enquire into what is too high for thee[Ecclesiasticus 3:21].’ 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 ...
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series 2, Volume 7, page 34, footnote 6 (Image)
Cyril of Jerusalem, Gregory Nazianzen
The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril. (HTML)
Concerning the Unity of God. On the Article, I Believe in One God. Also Concerning Heresies. (HTML)
CCEL Footnote 830 (In-Text, Margin)
... this instance the mightiness of God: for He hath numbered the drops of rain, which have been poured down on all the earth, not only now but in all time. The sun is a work of God, which, great though it be, is but a spot in comparison with the whole heaven; first gaze stedfastly upon the sun, and then curiously scan the Lord of the sun. Seek not the things that are too deep for thee, neither search out the things that are above thy strength: what is commanded thee, think thereupon[Ecclesiasticus 3:21-22].