Browse statements from Christian writers and witnesses closest to the apostolic era. The collection is ordered by attribution and divided into manageable pages.
Methodius:
“Some persons decide that man is not possessed of free will. Rather, they assert that he is governed by the unavoidable necessities of fate and her unwritten commands. Such persons are guilty of impiety…
Novatian:
“We should not think that such an inexhaustible providence of God does not reach to even the very least of things. For the Lord says, ‘One of two sparrows will not fall without the…
Origen:
“A man may possess an acquired righteousness, from which it is possible for him to fall away.”
Origen:
“Certain ones of those [heretics] who hold different opinions misuse these passages. They essentially destroy free will by introducing ruined natures incapable of salvation and by introducing others as being saved in such a…
Origen:
“He who has not denied himself, but denied Christ, will experience the saying ‘I also will deny him.’”
Origen:
“The soul that . . . is neither holy nor blameless because of wickedness . . . is not part of the church that Christ builds upon the rock. But if anyone wishes to…
Origen:
“The apostolic teaching is that the soul, . . . after its departure from the world, will be recompensed according to its deserts. It is destined to obtain either an inheritance of eternal life…
Origen:
“The Son of God, . . . taking the form of a servant, was made obedient unto death so that He might teach obedience to those who could not obtain salvation other than by…
Origen:
“It is those who not only believe, but also enter upon the life that Jesus taught. This life elevates everyone who lives according to the commandments of Jesus. It elevates them to friendship with…
Origen:
“We do not teach concerning the unrighteous man that it is sufficient for him to humble himself on account of his wickedness. Rather, God will accept him only if – after passing condemnation upon…
Origen:
“It is our responsibility to live virtuously. God asks this of us as being our own doing – not as being dependent on Him, nor on any other, nor on Fate (as some think). …
Origen:
“The result of all the preceding remarks is to show that all the occurrences in the world . . . are not indeed brought about by God. Yet, neither do they happen without Him. …
Papias:
“If, then, anyone who had attended on the elders came, I asked minutely after their sayings, what Andrew or Peter said, or what was said by Philip, or by Thomas, or by James, or…
Polycarp:
“Into this joy, many persons desire to enter. They know that ‘by grace you are saved, not of works,’ but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. . . . But He who…
Tertullian:
“No one is a Christian but he who perseveres even to the end.”
Tertullian:
“The world returned to sin . . . and so it is destined to fire. So is the man who after baptism renews his sins.”
Tertullian:
“Some think that God is under a necessity of bestowing even on the unworthy what He has promised [to give]. So they turn His liberality into His slavery… For do not many afterwards fall…
Tertullian:
“God had foreseen… that faith – even after baptism – would be endangered. He saw that most persons – after obtaining salvation – would be lost again, by soiling the wedding dress, by failing…
Tertullian:
“The more often we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow. The blood of Christians is seed…”
Tertullian:
“By the confession of all past sins, they may express the meaning even of the baptism of John. For the Scripture says: ‘They were baptized, confessing their own sins.’ To us, it is a…
Tertullian:
“All these commandments had been given carnally, in previous times, to the people of Israel. So it follows that afterwards there was to supervene a time when the commandments of the ancient Law and…
Tertullian:
“Repentance is the price for which the Lord has determined to award pardon. . . . Sellers first examine the coin with which they make their bargains to see if it is cut, scraped,…
Tertullian:
“We ought indeed to walk so holily, and with so entire substantiality of faith, as to be confident and secure in regard of our own conscience, desiring that it may abide in us to…
Tertullian:
“Where diversity of doctrine is found, there, then, must be corruption both of the Scriptures and the explanations of them. . . . One man perverts the Scriptures with his hand, another their meaning…