Browse statements from Christian writers and witnesses closest to the apostolic era. The collection is ordered by attribution and divided into manageable pages.
Cyprian:
“When the servant does not do what is commanded, the Lord will do what he threatens. . . . ‘I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you…
Cyprian:
“He follows Christ who stands in His commandments, who walks in the way of His teaching, who follows His footsteps and His ways, who imitates that which Christ both did and taught. . .…
Cyprian:
“But self-control and modesty do not consist only in purity of the flesh, but also in seemliness and in modesty of dress and adornment.”
Cyprian:
“Although there can be no other baptism but one, [the heretics] think that they can baptize; although they forsake the fountain of life, they promise the grace of living and saving water. Men are…
Cyprian:
“When the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, came unto all, He gathered alike the learned and unlearned. He published the teachings of salvation to each sex and every age. He made a…
Cyprian:
“An ever-burning Gehenna will burn up the condemned – a punishment that devours with living flames. Nor will there be any means by which at any time they can have either rest or an…
Cyprian:
“The liberty of believing or of not believing is placed in free choice. In Deuteronomy, it says: ‘Look! I have set before your face life and death, good and evil. Choose for yourself life,…
Cyprian:
“‘And allow us not to be led into temptation’ [Matt. 6:13]. In these words, it is shown that the adversary can do nothing against us unless God has first permitted it. So all of…
Cyprian:
“This pestilence and plague, which seems horrible and deadly, searches out the righteousness of each one. . . . It reveals whether those who are in health will tend the sick. It reveals whether…
Cyprian:
“He allows these things to happen for this reason: that our faith may be tested.”
Disputation of Archelaus and Manes:
“Many are still perishing – those who have not chosen to devote themselves to work of righteousness. For only those who have received Him . . . ‘have obtained power to become the sons…
Hermas:
“‘I heard, sir, that some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins.’ He said to…
Hermas:
“If you return to the Lord with all your heart, and practice righteousness the rest of your days, and serve him according to His will, He will heal your former sins, and you will…
Hippolytus:
“This shows that transgressions are blotted out and that reconciliation is made for sins. But who are the ones who have reconciliation made for their sins – except those who believe on His name…
Hippolytus:
“But now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, a locality beneath the earth, in…
Ignatius:
“Faith cannot do the works of unbelief, nor unbelief the works of faith.”
Ignatius:
“The tree is made manifest by its fruit. So those who profess themselves to be Christians will be recognized by their conduct. . . . It is better for a man to be silent…
Ignatius:
“How much more will this be the case with anyone who by wicked doctrine corrupts the faith of God, for which Jesus Christ was crucified! Such a one becomes defiled. He will go away…
Irenaeus:
“It was not to those who are on the outside that he said these things, but to us – lest we should be cast forth from the Kingdom of God by doing any such…
Irenaeus:
“Those who do not obey Him, being disinherited by Him, have ceased to be His sons.”
Irenaeus:
“With respect to obedience and doctrine, we are not all the sons of God. Rather, it is only those who truly believe in Him and do His will. Now, those who do not believe,…
Irenaeus:
“Those who believe God and follow His word receive that salvation that flows from Him. On the other hand, those who depart from Him, and despise His teachings, and by their deeds bring dishonor…
Irenaeus:
“We will give account to God not only of deeds (as slaves), but even of words and thoughts (as being those who have truly received the power of liberty). For under liberty, a man…
Irenaeus:
“‘No disciple is above the Master’ [Matt. 10:24]. . . . Our Master, therefore, did not at once depart, taking flight [to heaven]. Rather, He awaited the time of His resurrection, as determined by…