some church fathers on speaking in tongues
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From a Pentecostal Author,
We are now ready for a brief survey of church history (from the Apostolic Fathers to Augustine). The representative examples cited will demonstrate that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were, and are, still very much in operation. Indeed, before Chrysostom in the east (347-407 a.d.) and Augustine in the west (354-430 a.d.) no church father ever suggested that any or all of the charismata had ceased in the first century. And even Augustine later retracted his earlier cessationism (see below). So let’s conduct a quick overview. [For helpful documentation, see Stanley M. Burgess, The Spirit & the Church: Antiquity (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1984).]
https://www.samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/spiritual-gifts-in-church-history--2-
We are now ready for a brief survey of church history (from the Apostolic Fathers to Augustine). The representative examples cited will demonstrate that the miraculous gifts of the Spirit were, and are, still very much in operation. Indeed, before Chrysostom in the east (347-407 a.d.) and Augustine in the west (354-430 a.d.) no church father ever suggested that any or all of the charismata had ceased in the first century. And even Augustine later retracted his earlier cessationism (see below). So let’s conduct a quick overview. [For helpful documentation, see Stanley M. Burgess, The Spirit & the Church: Antiquity (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1984).]
https://www.samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/spiritual-gifts-in-church-history--2-
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That depends on who you ask.
A.D. 100 - Eusebius (Church Historian):
Writing to the preaching evangelists who were yet living, Eusebius says:
"Of those that flourished in these times, Quadratus is said to have been distinguished
for his prophetical gifts. There were many others, also, noted in these times who held
rank in the apostolic succession... the Holy Spirit also wrought many wonders as yet
through them, so that as the Gospel was heard, men in crowds voluntarily and eagerly
embraced the true faith with their whole minds."
A.D. 115-202 - Irenaeus:
Irenaeus was a pupil of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John.
He wrote in his book "Against Heresies", Book V, vi.: "In like manner do we also hear
many brethren in the church who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit
speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light, for the general benefit, the hidden
things of men and declare the mysteries of God, who also the apostles term spiritual."
A.D. 300 - The Early Martyrs:
The early martyrs enjoyed these gifts. Dean Ferrar, in his book "Darkness to Dawn" states:
"Even for the minutest allusions and particulars I have contemporary authority." He refers
to the persecuted Christians in Rome singing and speaking in unknown tongues.
A.D. 390 - Chrysostom of Constantinople:
Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, writes: "Whoever was baptised in apostolic days,
he straightway spoke with tongues, for since on their coming over from idols, without any
clear knowledge or training in the Scriptures, they at once received the Spirit, not that
they saw the Spirit, for He is invisible, but God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of
His energy, and one straightway spoke in the Persian language, another in the Roman,
another in the Indian, another in some other tongues, and this made manifest to them that
were without that it was the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore the apostle
calls it the manifestation of the Spirit which is given to every man to profit withal."
A.D. 400 - Augustine of Hippo:
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, one of the four great fathers of the Latin Church and
considered the greatest of them all: "We still do what the apostles did when they laid
hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them in the laying-on of hands.
It is expected that converts should speak with new tongues."
from https://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/why-is-praying-in-tongues-necessary.182766/page-11
A.D. 100 - Eusebius (Church Historian):
Writing to the preaching evangelists who were yet living, Eusebius says:
"Of those that flourished in these times, Quadratus is said to have been distinguished
for his prophetical gifts. There were many others, also, noted in these times who held
rank in the apostolic succession... the Holy Spirit also wrought many wonders as yet
through them, so that as the Gospel was heard, men in crowds voluntarily and eagerly
embraced the true faith with their whole minds."
A.D. 115-202 - Irenaeus:
Irenaeus was a pupil of Polycarp, who was a disciple of the apostle John.
He wrote in his book "Against Heresies", Book V, vi.: "In like manner do we also hear
many brethren in the church who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit
speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light, for the general benefit, the hidden
things of men and declare the mysteries of God, who also the apostles term spiritual."
A.D. 300 - The Early Martyrs:
The early martyrs enjoyed these gifts. Dean Ferrar, in his book "Darkness to Dawn" states:
"Even for the minutest allusions and particulars I have contemporary authority." He refers
to the persecuted Christians in Rome singing and speaking in unknown tongues.
A.D. 390 - Chrysostom of Constantinople:
Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, writes: "Whoever was baptised in apostolic days,
he straightway spoke with tongues, for since on their coming over from idols, without any
clear knowledge or training in the Scriptures, they at once received the Spirit, not that
they saw the Spirit, for He is invisible, but God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of
His energy, and one straightway spoke in the Persian language, another in the Roman,
another in the Indian, another in some other tongues, and this made manifest to them that
were without that it was the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore the apostle
calls it the manifestation of the Spirit which is given to every man to profit withal."
A.D. 400 - Augustine of Hippo:
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, one of the four great fathers of the Latin Church and
considered the greatest of them all: "We still do what the apostles did when they laid
hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them in the laying-on of hands.
It is expected that converts should speak with new tongues."
from https://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/why-is-praying-in-tongues-necessary.182766/page-11
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24. For I think that the expression 'Spirit of God' was used with respect to Each, lest we should believe that the Son was present in the Father or the Father in the Son in a merely corporeal manner, that is, lest God might be thought to abide in one position and exist nowhere else apart from Himself. For a man or any other thing like him, when he is in one place, cannot be in another, because what is in one place is confined to the place where it is: his nature cannot allow him to be everywhere when he exists in some one position. But God is a living Force, of infinite power, present everywhere and nowhere absent, and manifests His whole self through His own, and signifies that His own are naught else than Himself, so that where they are He may be understood to be Himself. Yet we must not think that, after a corporeal fashion, when He is in one place He ceases to be everywhere, for through His own things He is still present in all places, while the things which are His are none other than His own self. Now these things have been said to make us understand what is meant by 'nature.'
25. Now I think that it ought to be clearly understood that God the Father is denoted by the Spirit of God, because our Lord Jesus Christ declared that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him since He anoints Him and sends Him to preach the Gospel. For in Him is made manifest the excellence of the Father's nature, disclosing that the Son partakes of His nature even when born in the flesh through the mystery of this spiritual unction, since after the birth ratified in His baptism this intimation of His inherent Sonship was heard as a voice bore witness from Heaven:— You are My Son; this day have I begotten You. For not even He Himself can be understood as resting upon Himself or coming to Himself from Heaven, or as bestowing on Himself the title of Son: but all this demonstration was for our faith, in order that under the mystery of a complete and true birth we should recognise that the unity of the nature dwells in the Son Who had begun to be also man. We have thus found that in the Spirit of God the Father is designated; but we understand that the Son is indicated in the same way, when He says: But if I in the Spirit of God cast out devils, then has the kingdom of God come upon you. That is, He shows clearly that He, by the power of His nature, casts out devils, which cannot be cast out save by the Spirit of God. The phrase 'Spirit of God' denotes also the Paraclete Spirit, and that not only on the testimony of prophets but also of apostles, when it is said:— This is that which was spoken through the Prophet, It shall come to pass on the last day, says the Lord, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and their sons and their daughters shall prophesy. Acts 2:16-17 And we learn that all this prophecy was fulfilled in the case of the Apostles, when, after the sending of the Holy Spirit, they all spoke with the tongues of the Gentiles.
26. Now we have of necessity set these things forth with this object, that in whatever direction the deception of heretics betakes itself, it might yet be kept in check by the boundaries and limits of the gospel truth. For Christ dwells in us, and where Christ dwells God dwells. And when the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, this indwelling means not that any other Spirit dwells in us than the Spirit of God. But if it is understood that Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, we must yet recognise this Spirit of God as also the Spirit of Christ. And since the nature dwells in us as the nature of one substantive Being, we must regard the nature of the Son as identical with that of the Father, since the Holy Spirit Who is both the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God is proved to be a Being of one nature. I ask now, therefore, how can They fail to be one by nature? The Spirit of Truth proceeds from the Father, He is sent by the Son and receives from the Son. But all things that the Father has are the Son's, and for this cause He Who receives from Him is the Spirit of God but at the same time the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit is a Being of the nature of the Son but the same Being is of the nature of the Father. He is the Spirit of Him Who raised Christ from the dead; but this is no other than the Spirit of Christ Who was so raised. The nature of Christ and of God must differ in some respect so as not to be the same, if it can be shown that the Spirit which is of God is not the Spirit of Christ also.
27. But you, heretic, as you wildly rave and are driven about by the Spirit of your deadly doctrine the Apostle seizes and constrains, establishing Christ for us as the foundation of our faith, being well aware also of that saying of our Lord, If a man love Me, he will also keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. John 14:23 For by this He testified that while the Spirit of Christ abides in us the Spirit of God abides in us, and that the Spirit of Him that was raised from the dead differs not from the Spirit of Him that raised Him from the dead. For they come and dwell in us: and I ask whether they will come as aliens associated together and make Their abode, or in unity of nature? Nay, the teacher of the Gentiles contends that it is not two Spirits — the Spirits of God and of Christ — that are present in those who believe, but the Spirit of Christ which is also the Spirit of God. This is no joint indwelling, it is one indwelling: yet an indwelling under the mysterious semblance of a joint indwelling, for it is not the case that two Spirits indwell, nor is one that indwells different from the other. For there is in us the Spirit of God and there is also in us the Spirit of Christ, and when the Spirit of Christ is in us there is also in us the Spirit of God. And so since what is of God is also of Christ, and what is of Christ is also of God, Christ cannot be anything different from what God is. Christ, therefore, is God, one Spirit with God.
25. Now I think that it ought to be clearly understood that God the Father is denoted by the Spirit of God, because our Lord Jesus Christ declared that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him since He anoints Him and sends Him to preach the Gospel. For in Him is made manifest the excellence of the Father's nature, disclosing that the Son partakes of His nature even when born in the flesh through the mystery of this spiritual unction, since after the birth ratified in His baptism this intimation of His inherent Sonship was heard as a voice bore witness from Heaven:— You are My Son; this day have I begotten You. For not even He Himself can be understood as resting upon Himself or coming to Himself from Heaven, or as bestowing on Himself the title of Son: but all this demonstration was for our faith, in order that under the mystery of a complete and true birth we should recognise that the unity of the nature dwells in the Son Who had begun to be also man. We have thus found that in the Spirit of God the Father is designated; but we understand that the Son is indicated in the same way, when He says: But if I in the Spirit of God cast out devils, then has the kingdom of God come upon you. That is, He shows clearly that He, by the power of His nature, casts out devils, which cannot be cast out save by the Spirit of God. The phrase 'Spirit of God' denotes also the Paraclete Spirit, and that not only on the testimony of prophets but also of apostles, when it is said:— This is that which was spoken through the Prophet, It shall come to pass on the last day, says the Lord, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh, and their sons and their daughters shall prophesy. Acts 2:16-17 And we learn that all this prophecy was fulfilled in the case of the Apostles, when, after the sending of the Holy Spirit, they all spoke with the tongues of the Gentiles.
26. Now we have of necessity set these things forth with this object, that in whatever direction the deception of heretics betakes itself, it might yet be kept in check by the boundaries and limits of the gospel truth. For Christ dwells in us, and where Christ dwells God dwells. And when the Spirit of Christ dwells in us, this indwelling means not that any other Spirit dwells in us than the Spirit of God. But if it is understood that Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit, we must yet recognise this Spirit of God as also the Spirit of Christ. And since the nature dwells in us as the nature of one substantive Being, we must regard the nature of the Son as identical with that of the Father, since the Holy Spirit Who is both the Spirit of Christ and the Spirit of God is proved to be a Being of one nature. I ask now, therefore, how can They fail to be one by nature? The Spirit of Truth proceeds from the Father, He is sent by the Son and receives from the Son. But all things that the Father has are the Son's, and for this cause He Who receives from Him is the Spirit of God but at the same time the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit is a Being of the nature of the Son but the same Being is of the nature of the Father. He is the Spirit of Him Who raised Christ from the dead; but this is no other than the Spirit of Christ Who was so raised. The nature of Christ and of God must differ in some respect so as not to be the same, if it can be shown that the Spirit which is of God is not the Spirit of Christ also.
27. But you, heretic, as you wildly rave and are driven about by the Spirit of your deadly doctrine the Apostle seizes and constrains, establishing Christ for us as the foundation of our faith, being well aware also of that saying of our Lord, If a man love Me, he will also keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him. John 14:23 For by this He testified that while the Spirit of Christ abides in us the Spirit of God abides in us, and that the Spirit of Him that was raised from the dead differs not from the Spirit of Him that raised Him from the dead. For they come and dwell in us: and I ask whether they will come as aliens associated together and make Their abode, or in unity of nature? Nay, the teacher of the Gentiles contends that it is not two Spirits — the Spirits of God and of Christ — that are present in those who believe, but the Spirit of Christ which is also the Spirit of God. This is no joint indwelling, it is one indwelling: yet an indwelling under the mysterious semblance of a joint indwelling, for it is not the case that two Spirits indwell, nor is one that indwells different from the other. For there is in us the Spirit of God and there is also in us the Spirit of Christ, and when the Spirit of Christ is in us there is also in us the Spirit of God. And so since what is of God is also of Christ, and what is of Christ is also of God, Christ cannot be anything different from what God is. Christ, therefore, is God, one Spirit with God.
28. Now the Apostle asserts that those words in the Gospel, I and the Father are one John 10:30, imply unity of nature and not a solitary single Being, as he writes to the Corinthians, Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man in the Spirit of God calls Jesus anathema. 1 Corinthians 12:3 Do you now perceive, O heretic, in what spirit you call Christ a creature? For since they are under a curse who have served the creature more than the Creator — in affirming Christ to be a creature, learn what you are, since you know full well that the worship of the creature is accursed. And observe what follows, And no one can call Jesus Lord, but in the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3 Do you perceive what is lacking to you, when you deny Christ what is His own? If you hold that Christ is Lord through His Divine nature, you have the Holy Spirit. But if He be Lord merely by a name of adoption you lack the Holy Spirit, and are animated by a spirit of error: because no one can call Jesus Lord, but in the Holy Spirit. But when you say that He is a creature rather than God, although you style Him Lord, still you do not say that He is the Lord. For to you He is Lord as one of a common class and by a familiar name, rather than by nature. Yet learn from Paul His nature.
29. For the Apostle goes on to say, Now there are diversities of gifts, but there is the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministrations but one and the same Lord; and there are diversities of workings but the same God, Who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for that which profits. In this passage before us we perceive a fourfold statement: in the diversity of gifts it is the same Spirit, in the diversity of ministrations it is the very same Lord, in the diversity of workings it is the same God, and in the bestowal of that which is profitable there is a manifestation of the Spirit. And in order that the bestowal of what is profitable might be recognised in the manifestation of the Spirit, he continues: To one indeed is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing in the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.
30. And indeed that which we called the fourth statement, that is the manifestation of the Spirit in the bestowal of what is profitable, has a clear meaning. For the Apostle has enumerated the profitable gifts through which this manifestation of the Spirit took place. Now in these diverse activities that Gift is set forth in no uncertain light of which our Lord had spoken to the apostles when He taught them not to depart from Jerusalem; but wait, said He, for the promise of the Father which you heard from My lips: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, which you shall also receive not many days hence. Acts 1:4-5 And again: But you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. He bids them wait for the promise of the Father of which they had heard from His lips. We may be sure that here we have a reference to the Father's same promise. Hence it is by these miraculous workings that the manifestation of the Spirit takes place. For the gift of the Spirit is manifest, where wisdom makes utterance and the words of life are heard, and where there is the knowledge that comes of God-given insight, lest after the fashion of beasts through ignorance of God we should fail to know the Author of our life; or by faith in God, lest by not believing the Gospel of God, we should be outside His Gospel; or by the gift of healings, that by the cure of diseases we should bear witness to His grace Who bestows these things; or by the working of miracles, that what we do may be understood to be the power of God, or by prophesy, that through our understanding of doctrine we might be known to be taught of God; or by discerning of spirits, that we should not be unable to tell whether any one speaks with a holy or a perverted spirit; or by kinds of tongues, that the speaking in tongues may be bestowed as a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit; or by the interpretation of tongues, that the faith of those that hear may not be imperilled through ignorance, since the interpreter of a tongue explains the tongue to those who are ignorant of it. Thus in all these things distributed to each one to profit withal there is the manifestation of the Spirit, the gift of the Spirit being apparent through these marvellous advantages bestowed upon each.
31. Now the blessed Apostle Paul in revealing the secret of these heavenly mysteries, most difficult to human comprehension, has preserved a clear enunciation and a carefully worded caution in order to show that these diverse gifts are given through the Spirit and in the Spirit (for to be given through the Spirit and in the Spirit is not the same thing), because the granting of a gift which is exercised in the Spirit is yet bestowed through the Spirit. But he sums up these diversities of gifts thus: Now all these things works one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one as He will. 1 Corinthians 12:11 Now, therefore, I ask what Spirit works these things, dividing to each one according as He wills: is it He by Whom or He in Whom there is this distribution of gifts ? But if any one shall dare to say that it is the same Person which is indicated, the Apostle will refute so faulty an opinion, for he says above, And there are diversities of workings, but the same God Who works all things in all. So there is one Who distributes and another in Whom the distribution is vouchsafed. Yet know that it is always God Who works all these things, but in such a way that Christ works, and the Son in His working performs the Father's work. And if in the Holy Spirit you confess Jesus to be Lord, understand the force of that threefold indication in the Apostle's letter; forasmuch as in the diversities of gifts, it is the same Spirit, and in the diversities of ministrations it is the same Lord, and in the diversities of workings it is the same God; and again, one Spirit that works all things distributing to each according as He will. And grasp the idea if you can that the Lord in the distribution of ministrations, and God in the distribution of workings, are this one and the same Spirit Who both works and distributes as He will; because in the distribution of gifts there is one Spirit, and the same Spirit works and distributes.
32. But if this one Spirit of one Divinity, one in both God and Lord through the mystery of the birth, does not please you, then point out to me what Spirit both works and distributes these diverse gifts to us, and in what Spirit He does this. But, you must show me nothing but what accords with our faith, because the Apostle shows us Who is to be understood, saying, For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 He affirms that diversities of gifts come from one Lord Jesus Christ Who is the body of all. Because after he had made known the Lord in ministration, and made known also God in workings, he yet shows that one Spirit both works and distributes all these things, distributing these varieties of His gracious gifts for the perfecting of one body.
33. Unless perchance we think that the Apostle did not keep to the principle of unity in that he said, And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord, and there are diversities of workings, but the same God. 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 So that because he referred ministrations to the Lord and workings to God, he does not appear to have understood one and the same Being in ministrations and operations. Learn how these members which minister are also members which work, when he says, You are the body of Christ, and of Him members indeed. For God has set some in the Church, first apostles, in whom is the word of wisdom; secondly prophets, in whom is the gift of knowledge; thirdly teachers, in whom is the doctrine of faith; next mighty works, among which are the healing of diseases, the power to help, governments by the prophets, and gifts of either speaking or interpreting various kinds of tongues. Clearly these are the Church's agents of ministry and work of whom the body of Christ consists; and God has ordained them. But perhaps you maintain that they have not been ordained by Christ, because it was God Who ordained them. But you shall hear what the Apostle says himself: Now to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And again, He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things. And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministering. Are not then the gifts of ministration Christ's, while they are also the gifts of God?
29. For the Apostle goes on to say, Now there are diversities of gifts, but there is the same Spirit; and there are diversities of ministrations but one and the same Lord; and there are diversities of workings but the same God, Who works all things in all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for that which profits. In this passage before us we perceive a fourfold statement: in the diversity of gifts it is the same Spirit, in the diversity of ministrations it is the very same Lord, in the diversity of workings it is the same God, and in the bestowal of that which is profitable there is a manifestation of the Spirit. And in order that the bestowal of what is profitable might be recognised in the manifestation of the Spirit, he continues: To one indeed is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom; and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing in the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.
30. And indeed that which we called the fourth statement, that is the manifestation of the Spirit in the bestowal of what is profitable, has a clear meaning. For the Apostle has enumerated the profitable gifts through which this manifestation of the Spirit took place. Now in these diverse activities that Gift is set forth in no uncertain light of which our Lord had spoken to the apostles when He taught them not to depart from Jerusalem; but wait, said He, for the promise of the Father which you heard from My lips: for John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, which you shall also receive not many days hence. Acts 1:4-5 And again: But you shall receive power when the Holy Ghost comes upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. He bids them wait for the promise of the Father of which they had heard from His lips. We may be sure that here we have a reference to the Father's same promise. Hence it is by these miraculous workings that the manifestation of the Spirit takes place. For the gift of the Spirit is manifest, where wisdom makes utterance and the words of life are heard, and where there is the knowledge that comes of God-given insight, lest after the fashion of beasts through ignorance of God we should fail to know the Author of our life; or by faith in God, lest by not believing the Gospel of God, we should be outside His Gospel; or by the gift of healings, that by the cure of diseases we should bear witness to His grace Who bestows these things; or by the working of miracles, that what we do may be understood to be the power of God, or by prophesy, that through our understanding of doctrine we might be known to be taught of God; or by discerning of spirits, that we should not be unable to tell whether any one speaks with a holy or a perverted spirit; or by kinds of tongues, that the speaking in tongues may be bestowed as a sign of the gift of the Holy Spirit; or by the interpretation of tongues, that the faith of those that hear may not be imperilled through ignorance, since the interpreter of a tongue explains the tongue to those who are ignorant of it. Thus in all these things distributed to each one to profit withal there is the manifestation of the Spirit, the gift of the Spirit being apparent through these marvellous advantages bestowed upon each.
31. Now the blessed Apostle Paul in revealing the secret of these heavenly mysteries, most difficult to human comprehension, has preserved a clear enunciation and a carefully worded caution in order to show that these diverse gifts are given through the Spirit and in the Spirit (for to be given through the Spirit and in the Spirit is not the same thing), because the granting of a gift which is exercised in the Spirit is yet bestowed through the Spirit. But he sums up these diversities of gifts thus: Now all these things works one and the same Spirit, dividing to each one as He will. 1 Corinthians 12:11 Now, therefore, I ask what Spirit works these things, dividing to each one according as He wills: is it He by Whom or He in Whom there is this distribution of gifts ? But if any one shall dare to say that it is the same Person which is indicated, the Apostle will refute so faulty an opinion, for he says above, And there are diversities of workings, but the same God Who works all things in all. So there is one Who distributes and another in Whom the distribution is vouchsafed. Yet know that it is always God Who works all these things, but in such a way that Christ works, and the Son in His working performs the Father's work. And if in the Holy Spirit you confess Jesus to be Lord, understand the force of that threefold indication in the Apostle's letter; forasmuch as in the diversities of gifts, it is the same Spirit, and in the diversities of ministrations it is the same Lord, and in the diversities of workings it is the same God; and again, one Spirit that works all things distributing to each according as He will. And grasp the idea if you can that the Lord in the distribution of ministrations, and God in the distribution of workings, are this one and the same Spirit Who both works and distributes as He will; because in the distribution of gifts there is one Spirit, and the same Spirit works and distributes.
32. But if this one Spirit of one Divinity, one in both God and Lord through the mystery of the birth, does not please you, then point out to me what Spirit both works and distributes these diverse gifts to us, and in what Spirit He does this. But, you must show me nothing but what accords with our faith, because the Apostle shows us Who is to be understood, saying, For as the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:12 He affirms that diversities of gifts come from one Lord Jesus Christ Who is the body of all. Because after he had made known the Lord in ministration, and made known also God in workings, he yet shows that one Spirit both works and distributes all these things, distributing these varieties of His gracious gifts for the perfecting of one body.
33. Unless perchance we think that the Apostle did not keep to the principle of unity in that he said, And there are diversities of ministrations, and the same Lord, and there are diversities of workings, but the same God. 1 Corinthians 12:5-6 So that because he referred ministrations to the Lord and workings to God, he does not appear to have understood one and the same Being in ministrations and operations. Learn how these members which minister are also members which work, when he says, You are the body of Christ, and of Him members indeed. For God has set some in the Church, first apostles, in whom is the word of wisdom; secondly prophets, in whom is the gift of knowledge; thirdly teachers, in whom is the doctrine of faith; next mighty works, among which are the healing of diseases, the power to help, governments by the prophets, and gifts of either speaking or interpreting various kinds of tongues. Clearly these are the Church's agents of ministry and work of whom the body of Christ consists; and God has ordained them. But perhaps you maintain that they have not been ordained by Christ, because it was God Who ordained them. But you shall hear what the Apostle says himself: Now to each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ. And again, He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all the heavens that He might fill all things. And he gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of ministering. Are not then the gifts of ministration Christ's, while they are also the gifts of God?
34. But if impiety has assumed to itself that because he says, The same Lord and the same God 1 Corinthians 12:5-6, they are not in unity of nature, I will support this interpretation with what you deem still stronger arguments. For the same Apostle says, But for us there is one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him. And again, One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, Who is both through all, and in us all. Ephesians 4:5-6 By these words one God and one Lord it would seem that to God only is attributed, as to one God, the property of being God; since the property of oneness does not admit of partnership with another. Verily how rare and hard to attain are such spiritual gifts! How truly is the manifestation of the Spirit seen in the bestowal of such useful gifts! And with reason has this order in the distribution of graces been appointed, that the foremost should be the word of wisdom; for true it is, And no one can call Jesus Lord but in the Holy Spirit 1 Corinthians 12:3, because but through this word of wisdom Christ could not be understood to be Lord; that then there should follow next the word of understanding, that we might speak with understanding what we know, and might know the word of wisdom; and that the third gift should consist of faith, seeing that those leading and higher graces would be unprofitable gifts did we not believe that He is God. So that in the true sense of this greatest and most noble utterance of the Apostle no heretics possess either the word of wisdom or the word of knowledge or the faith of religion, inasmuch as wilful wickedness, being incapable of understanding, is void of knowledge of the word and of genuineness of faith. For no one utters what he does not know; nor can he believe that which he cannot utter; and thus when the Apostle preached one God, a proselyte as He was from the Law, and called to the gospel of Christ, he has attained to the confession of a perfect faith. And lest the simplicity of a seemingly unguarded statement might afford heretics any opportunity for denying through the preaching of one God the birth of the Son, the Apostle has set forth one God while indicating His peculiar attribute in these words, One God the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him , in order that He Who is God might also be acknowledged as Father. Afterwards, inasmuch as this bare belief in one God the Father would not suffice for salvation, he added, And one, our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we through Him, showing that the purity of saving faith consists in the preaching of one God and one Lord, so that we might believe in one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ. For he knew full well how our Lord had said, For this is the will of My Father, that every one that sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. John 6:40 But in fixing the order of the Church's faith, and basing our faith upon the Father and the Son, he has uttered the mystery of that indivisible and indissoluble unity and faith in the words one God and one Lord.
35. First of all, then, O heretic that hast no part in the Spirit which spoke by the Apostle, learn your folly. If you wrongly employ the confession of one God to deny the Godhead of Christ, on the ground that where one God exists He must be regarded as solitary, and that to be One is characteristic and peculiar to Him Who is One — what sense will you assign to the statement that Jesus Christ is one Lord? For if, as you assert, the fact that the Father alone is God has not left to Christ the possibility of Godhead, it must needs be also according to you that the fact of Christ being one Lord does not leave God the possibility of being Lord, seeing that you will have it that to be One must be the essential property of Him Who is One. Hence if you deny that the one Lord Christ is also God, you must needs deny that the one God the Father is also Lord. And what will the greatness of God amount to if He be not Lord, and the power of the Lord if He be not God: since it (viz., the greatness or power) causes that to be God which is Lord, and makes that Lord which is God?
36. Now the Apostle, maintaining the true sense of the Lord's saying, I and the Father are one John 10:30, while He asserts that Both are One, signifies that Both are One not after the manner of the soleness of a single being, but in the unity of the Spirit; for one God the Father and one Christ the Lord, since Each is both Lord and God, do not yet admit in our creed either two Gods or two Lords. So then Each is one, and though one, neither is sole. We shall not be able to express the mystery of the faith except in the words of the Apostle. For there is one God and one Lord, and the fact that there is one God and one Lord proves that there is at once Lordship in God, and Godhead in the Lord. You can not maintain a union of person, so making God single; nor yet can you divide the Spirit, so preventing the Two from being One. Nor in the one God and one Lord will you be able to separate the power, so that He Who is Lord should not also be God, and He Who is God should not also be Lord. For the Apostle in the enunciation of the Names has taken care not to preach either two Gods or two Lords. And for this reason he has employed such a method of teaching as in the one Lord Christ to set forth also one God, and in the one God the Father to set forth also one Lord. And, not to misguide us into the blasphemy that God is solitary, which would destroy the birth of the Only-begotten God, he has confessed both Father and Christ.
37. Unless perchance the frenzy of utter desperation will venture to rush to such lengths that, inasmuch as the Apostle has called Christ Lord, no one ought to acknowledge Him as anything else save Lord, and that because He has the property of Lord He has not the true Godhead. But Paul knows full well that Christ is God, for he says, Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, Who is God over all. Romans 9:5 It is no creature here who is reckoned as God; nay, it is the God of things created Who is God over all.
38. Now that He Who is God over all is also Spirit inseparable from the Father, learn also from that very utterance of the Apostle, of which we are now speaking. For when he confessed one God the Father from Whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ through Whom are all things; what difference, I ask, did he intend by saying that all things are from God and that all things are through Christ? Can He possibly be regarded as of a nature and spirit separable from Himself, He from Whom and through Whom are all things? For all things have come into being through the Son out of nothing, and the Apostle has referred them to God the Father, From Whom are all things, but also to the Son, through Whom are all things. And I find here no difference, since by Each is exercised the same power. For if with regard to the subsistence of the universe it was an exact sufficient statement that things created are from God, what need was there to state that the things which are from God are through Christ, unless it be one and the same thing to be through Christ and from God? But as it has been ascribed to Each of Them that They are Lord and God in such wise that each title belongs to Both, so too from Whom and through Whom is here referred to Both; and this to show the unity of Both, not to make known God's singleness. The language of the Apostle affords no opening for wicked error, nor is his faith too exalted for careful statement. For he has guarded himself by those specially appropriate words from being understood to mean two Gods or a solitary God: for while he rejects oneness of person he yet does not divide the unity of Godhead. For this from Whom are all things and through Whom are all things, although it did not posit a solitary Deity in the sole possession of majesty, must yet set forth One not different in efficiency, since from Whom are all things and through Whom are all things must signify an Author of the same nature engaged in the same work. He affirms, moreover, that Each is properly of the same nature. For after announcing the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, and after asserting the mystery of His inscrutable judgments and avowing our ignorance of His ways past finding out, he has yet made use of the exercise of human faith, and rendered this homage to the depth of the unsearchable and inscrutable mysteries of heaven, For of Him and through Him and in Him are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36 He employs to indicate the one nature, that which cannot but be the work of one nature.
35. First of all, then, O heretic that hast no part in the Spirit which spoke by the Apostle, learn your folly. If you wrongly employ the confession of one God to deny the Godhead of Christ, on the ground that where one God exists He must be regarded as solitary, and that to be One is characteristic and peculiar to Him Who is One — what sense will you assign to the statement that Jesus Christ is one Lord? For if, as you assert, the fact that the Father alone is God has not left to Christ the possibility of Godhead, it must needs be also according to you that the fact of Christ being one Lord does not leave God the possibility of being Lord, seeing that you will have it that to be One must be the essential property of Him Who is One. Hence if you deny that the one Lord Christ is also God, you must needs deny that the one God the Father is also Lord. And what will the greatness of God amount to if He be not Lord, and the power of the Lord if He be not God: since it (viz., the greatness or power) causes that to be God which is Lord, and makes that Lord which is God?
36. Now the Apostle, maintaining the true sense of the Lord's saying, I and the Father are one John 10:30, while He asserts that Both are One, signifies that Both are One not after the manner of the soleness of a single being, but in the unity of the Spirit; for one God the Father and one Christ the Lord, since Each is both Lord and God, do not yet admit in our creed either two Gods or two Lords. So then Each is one, and though one, neither is sole. We shall not be able to express the mystery of the faith except in the words of the Apostle. For there is one God and one Lord, and the fact that there is one God and one Lord proves that there is at once Lordship in God, and Godhead in the Lord. You can not maintain a union of person, so making God single; nor yet can you divide the Spirit, so preventing the Two from being One. Nor in the one God and one Lord will you be able to separate the power, so that He Who is Lord should not also be God, and He Who is God should not also be Lord. For the Apostle in the enunciation of the Names has taken care not to preach either two Gods or two Lords. And for this reason he has employed such a method of teaching as in the one Lord Christ to set forth also one God, and in the one God the Father to set forth also one Lord. And, not to misguide us into the blasphemy that God is solitary, which would destroy the birth of the Only-begotten God, he has confessed both Father and Christ.
37. Unless perchance the frenzy of utter desperation will venture to rush to such lengths that, inasmuch as the Apostle has called Christ Lord, no one ought to acknowledge Him as anything else save Lord, and that because He has the property of Lord He has not the true Godhead. But Paul knows full well that Christ is God, for he says, Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, Who is God over all. Romans 9:5 It is no creature here who is reckoned as God; nay, it is the God of things created Who is God over all.
38. Now that He Who is God over all is also Spirit inseparable from the Father, learn also from that very utterance of the Apostle, of which we are now speaking. For when he confessed one God the Father from Whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ through Whom are all things; what difference, I ask, did he intend by saying that all things are from God and that all things are through Christ? Can He possibly be regarded as of a nature and spirit separable from Himself, He from Whom and through Whom are all things? For all things have come into being through the Son out of nothing, and the Apostle has referred them to God the Father, From Whom are all things, but also to the Son, through Whom are all things. And I find here no difference, since by Each is exercised the same power. For if with regard to the subsistence of the universe it was an exact sufficient statement that things created are from God, what need was there to state that the things which are from God are through Christ, unless it be one and the same thing to be through Christ and from God? But as it has been ascribed to Each of Them that They are Lord and God in such wise that each title belongs to Both, so too from Whom and through Whom is here referred to Both; and this to show the unity of Both, not to make known God's singleness. The language of the Apostle affords no opening for wicked error, nor is his faith too exalted for careful statement. For he has guarded himself by those specially appropriate words from being understood to mean two Gods or a solitary God: for while he rejects oneness of person he yet does not divide the unity of Godhead. For this from Whom are all things and through Whom are all things, although it did not posit a solitary Deity in the sole possession of majesty, must yet set forth One not different in efficiency, since from Whom are all things and through Whom are all things must signify an Author of the same nature engaged in the same work. He affirms, moreover, that Each is properly of the same nature. For after announcing the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, and after asserting the mystery of His inscrutable judgments and avowing our ignorance of His ways past finding out, he has yet made use of the exercise of human faith, and rendered this homage to the depth of the unsearchable and inscrutable mysteries of heaven, For of Him and through Him and in Him are all things: to Him be glory forever. Amen. Romans 11:36 He employs to indicate the one nature, that which cannot but be the work of one nature.
39. For whereas he has specially ascribed to God that all things are from Him, and he has assigned as a peculiar property to Christ, that all things are through Him, and it is now the glory of God that from Him and through Him and in Him are all things; and whereas the Spirit of God is the same as the Spirit of Christ, or whereas in the ministration of the Lord and in the working of God, one Spirit both works and divides, They cannot but be one Whose properties are those of one; since in the same Lord the Son, and in the same God the Father, one and the same Spirit distributing in the same Holy Spirit accomplishes all things. How worthy is this saint of the knowledge of exalted and heavenly mysteries, adopted and chosen to share in the secret things of God, preserving a due silence over things which may not be uttered, true apostle of Christ! How by the announcement of his clear teaching has he restrained the imaginations of human wilfulness, confessing, as he does, one God the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ, so that meanwhile no one can either preach two Gods or one solitary God; although He Who is not one person cannot multiply into two Gods, nor on the other hand can They Who are not two Gods be understood to be one single person; while meantime the revelation of God as Father demonstrates the true nativity of Christ.
40. Thrust out now your quivering and hissing tongues, you vipers of heresy, whether it be you Sabellius or you Photinus, or you who now preach that the Only-begotten God is a creature. Whosoever denies the Son shall hear of one God the Father, because inasmuch as a father becomes a father only by having a son, this name Father necessarily connotes the existence of the Son. And again, let him who takes away from the Son the unity of an identical nature, acknowledge one Lord Jesus Christ. For unless through unity of the Spirit He is one Lord room will not be left for God the Father to be Lord. Again, let him who holds the Son to have become Son in time and by His Incarnation, learn that through Him are all things and we through Him, and that His timeless Infinity was creating all things before time was. And meanwhile let him read again that there is one hope of our calling, and one baptism, and one faith; if, after that, he oppose himself to the preaching of the Apostle, he, being accursed because he framed strange doctrines of his own device, is neither called nor baptized nor believing; because in one God the Father and in one Lord Jesus Christ there lies the one faith of one hope and baptism. And no alien doctrine can boast that it has a place among the truths which belong to one God and Lord and hope and baptism and faith.
41. So then the one faith is, to confess the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father through the unity of an indivisible nature, not confused but inseparable, not intermingled but identical, not conjoined but coexisting, not incomplete but perfect. For there is birth not separation, there is a Son not an adoption; and He is God, not a creature. Neither is He a God of a different kind, but the Father and Son are one: for the nature was not altered by birth so as to be alien from the property of its original. So the Apostle holds the faith of the Son abiding in the Father and the Father in the Son when he proclaims that for him there is one God the Father and one Lord Christ, since in Christ the Lord there was also God, and in God the Father there was also Lord, and They Two are that unity which is God, and They Two are also that unity which is the Lord, for reason indicates that there must be something imperfect in God unless He be Lord, and in the Lord unless He were God. And so since Both are one, and Both are implied under either name, and neither exists apart from the unity, the Apostle has not gone beyond the preaching of the Gospel in his teaching, nor does Christ when He speaks in Paul differ from the words which He spoke while abiding in the world in bodily form.
40. Thrust out now your quivering and hissing tongues, you vipers of heresy, whether it be you Sabellius or you Photinus, or you who now preach that the Only-begotten God is a creature. Whosoever denies the Son shall hear of one God the Father, because inasmuch as a father becomes a father only by having a son, this name Father necessarily connotes the existence of the Son. And again, let him who takes away from the Son the unity of an identical nature, acknowledge one Lord Jesus Christ. For unless through unity of the Spirit He is one Lord room will not be left for God the Father to be Lord. Again, let him who holds the Son to have become Son in time and by His Incarnation, learn that through Him are all things and we through Him, and that His timeless Infinity was creating all things before time was. And meanwhile let him read again that there is one hope of our calling, and one baptism, and one faith; if, after that, he oppose himself to the preaching of the Apostle, he, being accursed because he framed strange doctrines of his own device, is neither called nor baptized nor believing; because in one God the Father and in one Lord Jesus Christ there lies the one faith of one hope and baptism. And no alien doctrine can boast that it has a place among the truths which belong to one God and Lord and hope and baptism and faith.
41. So then the one faith is, to confess the Father in the Son and the Son in the Father through the unity of an indivisible nature, not confused but inseparable, not intermingled but identical, not conjoined but coexisting, not incomplete but perfect. For there is birth not separation, there is a Son not an adoption; and He is God, not a creature. Neither is He a God of a different kind, but the Father and Son are one: for the nature was not altered by birth so as to be alien from the property of its original. So the Apostle holds the faith of the Son abiding in the Father and the Father in the Son when he proclaims that for him there is one God the Father and one Lord Christ, since in Christ the Lord there was also God, and in God the Father there was also Lord, and They Two are that unity which is God, and They Two are also that unity which is the Lord, for reason indicates that there must be something imperfect in God unless He be Lord, and in the Lord unless He were God. And so since Both are one, and Both are implied under either name, and neither exists apart from the unity, the Apostle has not gone beyond the preaching of the Gospel in his teaching, nor does Christ when He speaks in Paul differ from the words which He spoke while abiding in the world in bodily form.
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 123
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The preaching evangelists that were yet living in that age.
Of those that flourished in these times, Quadratus is said to have
been distinguished for his prophetical gifts. There were many
others, also, noted in these times, who held the first rank in the apos-
tolic succession. These, as the holy disciples of such men, also built
up the churches where foundations had been previously laid in
every place by the apostles. They augmented the means of promul-
gating the gospel more and more, and spread the seeds of salva-
tion and of the heavenly kingdom throughout the world far and
wide. For the most of the disciples at that time, animated with
a more ardent love of the divine word, had first fulfilled the Sa-
viour's precept by distributing their substance to the needy. Af-
terwards leaving their country, they performed the oflice of evan-
gelists to those who had not yet heard the faith, whilst with a
noble ambition to proclaim Christ, they also delivered to them the
books of the holy gospels. After laying the foundation of the
faith in foreign parts as the particular object of their mission,
and after appointing others as shepherds of the flocks, and com-
mitting to these the care of those that had been recently intro-
duced, they went again to other regions and nations, with the
grace and co-operation of God. The holy Spirit also, wrought
many wonders as yet through them, so that as soon as the gospel
was heard, men voluntarily in crowds, and eagerly, embraced the
true faith with their whole minds. As it is impossible for us to
give the numbers of the individuals that became pastors or evan-
gelists, during the first immediate succession from the apostles in
the churches throughout the world, we have only recorded those
by name in our history, of whom we have received the traditional
account as it is delivered in the various comments on the apostolic
doctrine, still extant.
13=^
124 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
CHAPTER XXXVIIL
The Epistle of Clement, and those that are falsely ascribed to him.
We may mention as an instance what Ignatius has said in the
epistles we have cited, and Clement in that universally received
by all, which he wrote in the name of the church at Rome to
that of Corinth. In which, after giving many sentiments taken
from the Epistle to the Hebrews, and also, literally quoting the
words, he most clearly shows that this work is by no means a late
production. Whence it is probable that this was also numbered
with the other writings of the apostles. For as Paul had address-
ed the Hebrews in the language of his country ; some say that the
evangelist Luke, others that Clement, translated the epistle.
Which also appears more like the truth, as the epistle of Clement
and that to the Hebrews, preserve the same features of style and
phraseology, and because the sentiments in both these works are
When I see ... I wonder what was there.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The preaching evangelists that were yet living in that age.
Of those that flourished in these times, Quadratus is said to have
been distinguished for his prophetical gifts. There were many
others, also, noted in these times, who held the first rank in the apos-
tolic succession. These, as the holy disciples of such men, also built
up the churches where foundations had been previously laid in
every place by the apostles. They augmented the means of promul-
gating the gospel more and more, and spread the seeds of salva-
tion and of the heavenly kingdom throughout the world far and
wide. For the most of the disciples at that time, animated with
a more ardent love of the divine word, had first fulfilled the Sa-
viour's precept by distributing their substance to the needy. Af-
terwards leaving their country, they performed the oflice of evan-
gelists to those who had not yet heard the faith, whilst with a
noble ambition to proclaim Christ, they also delivered to them the
books of the holy gospels. After laying the foundation of the
faith in foreign parts as the particular object of their mission,
and after appointing others as shepherds of the flocks, and com-
mitting to these the care of those that had been recently intro-
duced, they went again to other regions and nations, with the
grace and co-operation of God. The holy Spirit also, wrought
many wonders as yet through them, so that as soon as the gospel
was heard, men voluntarily in crowds, and eagerly, embraced the
true faith with their whole minds. As it is impossible for us to
give the numbers of the individuals that became pastors or evan-
gelists, during the first immediate succession from the apostles in
the churches throughout the world, we have only recorded those
by name in our history, of whom we have received the traditional
account as it is delivered in the various comments on the apostolic
doctrine, still extant.
13=^
124 ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
CHAPTER XXXVIIL
The Epistle of Clement, and those that are falsely ascribed to him.
We may mention as an instance what Ignatius has said in the
epistles we have cited, and Clement in that universally received
by all, which he wrote in the name of the church at Rome to
that of Corinth. In which, after giving many sentiments taken
from the Epistle to the Hebrews, and also, literally quoting the
words, he most clearly shows that this work is by no means a late
production. Whence it is probable that this was also numbered
with the other writings of the apostles. For as Paul had address-
ed the Hebrews in the language of his country ; some say that the
evangelist Luke, others that Clement, translated the epistle.
Which also appears more like the truth, as the epistle of Clement
and that to the Hebrews, preserve the same features of style and
phraseology, and because the sentiments in both these works are
When I see ... I wonder what was there.
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1
- Show all
https://archive.org/stream/ecclesiasticalhi00euse/ecclesiasticalhi00euse_djvu.txt the link for last post.
Against Heresies (Book V, Chapter 6)
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God will bestow salvation upon the whole nature of man, consisting of body and soul in close union, since the Word took it upon Him, and adorned with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, of whom our bodies are, and are termed, the temples.
1. Now God shall be glorified in His handiwork, fitting it so as to be conformable to, and modelled after, His own Son. For by the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not [merely] a part of man, was made in the likeness of God. Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which was moulded after the image of God. For this reason does the apostle declare, We speak wisdom among them that are perfect, 1 Corinthians 2:6 terming those persons perfect who have received the Spirit of God, and who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used Himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms spiritual, they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit, and not because their flesh has been stripped off and taken away, and because they have become purely spiritual. For if any one take away the substance of flesh, that is, of the handiwork [of God], and understand that which is purely spiritual, such then would not be a spiritual man but would be the spirit of a man, or the Spirit of God. But when the spirit here blended with the soul is united to [God's] handiwork, the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because of the outpouring of the Spirit, and this is he who was made in the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing indeed the image [of God] in his formation (in plasmate), but not receiving the similitude through the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect. Thus also, if any one take away the image and set aside the handiwork, he cannot then understand this as being a man, but as either some part of a man, as I have already said, or as something else than a man. For that flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, but the body
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103506.htm
Context is important.
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God will bestow salvation upon the whole nature of man, consisting of body and soul in close union, since the Word took it upon Him, and adorned with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, of whom our bodies are, and are termed, the temples.
1. Now God shall be glorified in His handiwork, fitting it so as to be conformable to, and modelled after, His own Son. For by the hands of the Father, that is, by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not [merely] a part of man, was made in the likeness of God. Now the soul and the spirit are certainly a part of the man, but certainly not the man; for the perfect man consists in the commingling and the union of the soul receiving the spirit of the Father, and the admixture of that fleshly nature which was moulded after the image of God. For this reason does the apostle declare, We speak wisdom among them that are perfect, 1 Corinthians 2:6 terming those persons perfect who have received the Spirit of God, and who through the Spirit of God do speak in all languages, as he used Himself also to speak. In like manner we do also hear many brethren in the Church, who possess prophetic gifts, and who through the Spirit speak all kinds of languages, and bring to light for the general benefit the hidden things of men, and declare the mysteries of God, whom also the apostle terms spiritual, they being spiritual because they partake of the Spirit, and not because their flesh has been stripped off and taken away, and because they have become purely spiritual. For if any one take away the substance of flesh, that is, of the handiwork [of God], and understand that which is purely spiritual, such then would not be a spiritual man but would be the spirit of a man, or the Spirit of God. But when the spirit here blended with the soul is united to [God's] handiwork, the man is rendered spiritual and perfect because of the outpouring of the Spirit, and this is he who was made in the image and likeness of God. But if the Spirit be wanting to the soul, he who is such is indeed of an animal nature, and being left carnal, shall be an imperfect being, possessing indeed the image [of God] in his formation (in plasmate), but not receiving the similitude through the Spirit; and thus is this being imperfect. Thus also, if any one take away the image and set aside the handiwork, he cannot then understand this as being a man, but as either some part of a man, as I have already said, or as something else than a man. For that flesh which has been moulded is not a perfect man in itself, but the body
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103506.htm
Context is important.
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A.D. 300 - The Early Martyrs:
The early martyrs enjoyed these gifts. Dean Ferrar, in his book "Darkness to Dawn" states:
"Even for the minutest allusions and particulars I have contemporary authority." He refers
to the persecuted Christians in Rome singing and speaking in unknown tongues.
The above is only a secondary source.
I have endeavoured to choose a title for this book which
shall truly describe its contents. The ' Darkness ' of which
I speak is the darkness of a decadent Paganism ; the
' Dawn ' is the dawn of Christianity. Although the story
is continuous, I have called it ' Scenes in the Days of Nero,'
because the outline is determined by the actual events of
Pagan and Christian history, more than by the fortunes of
the characters who are here introduced. In other words,
the fiction is throughout controlled and dominated by
historic facts. The purport of this tale is no less high
and serious than that which I have had in view in every
other book which I have written. It has been the illustra
tion of a supreme and deeply interesting problem—the
causes, namely, why a religion so humble in its origin and
so feeble in its earthly resources as Christianity, won so
majestic a victory over the power, the glory, and the intellect
of the civilised world.
The greater part of the following story has been for
some years in manuscript, and, since it was designed,
and nearly completed, several books have appeared which
deal with the same epoch. Some of these I have not
seen. From none of them have I consciously borrowed
Vlll DARKNESS AND DAWN
century will recognise that even for the minutest allusions
and particulars I have contemporary authority. Expres
sions and incidents which, to some, might seem to be
startlingly modern, are in reality suggested by passages in
the satirists, epigrammatists, and romancers 'of the Empire,
or by anecdotes preserved in the grave pages of Seneca and
the elder Pliny. I have, of course, so far assumed the
liberty accorded to writers of historic fiction as occasionally
to deviate, to a small extent, from exact chronology, but
such deviations are very trivial in comparison with those
which have been permitted to others, and especially to the
great masters of historic fiction.
All who know most thoroughly the real features of
that Pagan darkness which was deepest before the Christian
dawn will see that scarcely even by the most distant
allusion have I referred to some of the worst features in
the life of that day. While I have not extenuated the
realities of cruelty and bloodshed, I have repeatedly softened
down their more terrible incidents and details. To have
altered that aspect of monotonous misery which pained
and wearied its ancient annalist would have been to falsify
the real characteristics of the age with which I had to deal.
The book is not a novel, nor is it to be judged as a
novel. The outline has been imperatively decided for me
by the exigencies of fact, not by the rules of art. I have
been compelled to deal with an epoch which I should never
have touched if I had not seen, in the features which it
presented, one main explanation of an historical event the
most sacred and the most interesting on which the mind
can dwell.
The same object has made it inevitable that, at least
PREFACE IX
in passing glimpses, the figures of several whose names
are surrounded with hallowed associations should appear in
these pages. I could not otherwise bring out the truths
which it was my aim to set forth. But in this matter I do
not think that any serious reader will accuse me of irre
verence. Onesimus, Pudens, Claudia, and a few others,
must be regarded as imaginary persons, except in name,
but scarcely in one incident have I touched the Preachers
of early Christianity with the finger of fiction. They
were, indeed, men of like passions with ourselves, and as
St. Chrysostom says of St. Paul, 'Even if he was Paul,
he was yet a man ' ; but, recognising their sacred dignity,
I have almost entirely confined their words to words of
revelation. Even if I had done more than this, I might
plead the grave sanction and example of Dante, and Milton,
and Browning. But the small liberty which I have dared
to use has only been in directions accorded by the cycle of
such early legends as may be considered to be both innocent
https://books.googleusercontent.com...xVS6arPZ1RJvYb98ljbTYS6xwc5iQ3qqFg3oM6niKx6Cs
The early martyrs enjoyed these gifts. Dean Ferrar, in his book "Darkness to Dawn" states:
"Even for the minutest allusions and particulars I have contemporary authority." He refers
to the persecuted Christians in Rome singing and speaking in unknown tongues.
The above is only a secondary source.
I have endeavoured to choose a title for this book which
shall truly describe its contents. The ' Darkness ' of which
I speak is the darkness of a decadent Paganism ; the
' Dawn ' is the dawn of Christianity. Although the story
is continuous, I have called it ' Scenes in the Days of Nero,'
because the outline is determined by the actual events of
Pagan and Christian history, more than by the fortunes of
the characters who are here introduced. In other words,
the fiction is throughout controlled and dominated by
historic facts. The purport of this tale is no less high
and serious than that which I have had in view in every
other book which I have written. It has been the illustra
tion of a supreme and deeply interesting problem—the
causes, namely, why a religion so humble in its origin and
so feeble in its earthly resources as Christianity, won so
majestic a victory over the power, the glory, and the intellect
of the civilised world.
The greater part of the following story has been for
some years in manuscript, and, since it was designed,
and nearly completed, several books have appeared which
deal with the same epoch. Some of these I have not
seen. From none of them have I consciously borrowed
Vlll DARKNESS AND DAWN
century will recognise that even for the minutest allusions
and particulars I have contemporary authority. Expres
sions and incidents which, to some, might seem to be
startlingly modern, are in reality suggested by passages in
the satirists, epigrammatists, and romancers 'of the Empire,
or by anecdotes preserved in the grave pages of Seneca and
the elder Pliny. I have, of course, so far assumed the
liberty accorded to writers of historic fiction as occasionally
to deviate, to a small extent, from exact chronology, but
such deviations are very trivial in comparison with those
which have been permitted to others, and especially to the
great masters of historic fiction.
All who know most thoroughly the real features of
that Pagan darkness which was deepest before the Christian
dawn will see that scarcely even by the most distant
allusion have I referred to some of the worst features in
the life of that day. While I have not extenuated the
realities of cruelty and bloodshed, I have repeatedly softened
down their more terrible incidents and details. To have
altered that aspect of monotonous misery which pained
and wearied its ancient annalist would have been to falsify
the real characteristics of the age with which I had to deal.
The book is not a novel, nor is it to be judged as a
novel. The outline has been imperatively decided for me
by the exigencies of fact, not by the rules of art. I have
been compelled to deal with an epoch which I should never
have touched if I had not seen, in the features which it
presented, one main explanation of an historical event the
most sacred and the most interesting on which the mind
can dwell.
The same object has made it inevitable that, at least
PREFACE IX
in passing glimpses, the figures of several whose names
are surrounded with hallowed associations should appear in
these pages. I could not otherwise bring out the truths
which it was my aim to set forth. But in this matter I do
not think that any serious reader will accuse me of irre
verence. Onesimus, Pudens, Claudia, and a few others,
must be regarded as imaginary persons, except in name,
but scarcely in one incident have I touched the Preachers
of early Christianity with the finger of fiction. They
were, indeed, men of like passions with ourselves, and as
St. Chrysostom says of St. Paul, 'Even if he was Paul,
he was yet a man ' ; but, recognising their sacred dignity,
I have almost entirely confined their words to words of
revelation. Even if I had done more than this, I might
plead the grave sanction and example of Dante, and Milton,
and Browning. But the small liberty which I have dared
to use has only been in directions accorded by the cycle of
such early legends as may be considered to be both innocent
https://books.googleusercontent.com...xVS6arPZ1RJvYb98ljbTYS6xwc5iQ3qqFg3oM6niKx6Cs
-
1
- Show all
A.D. 300 - The Early Martyrs:
The early martyrs enjoyed these gifts. Dean Ferrar, in his book "Darkness to Dawn" states:
"Even for the minutest allusions and particulars I have contemporary authority." He refers
to the persecuted Christians in Rome singing and speaking in unknown tongues.
The book is below, I could not find any "speaking in unknown tongues" by Christians. Maybe, you can find it.
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qacj-9naZ42P_9emPt0LN1jpuQ7iMLe7taxBTyAFn
The early martyrs enjoyed these gifts. Dean Ferrar, in his book "Darkness to Dawn" states:
"Even for the minutest allusions and particulars I have contemporary authority." He refers
to the persecuted Christians in Rome singing and speaking in unknown tongues.
The book is below, I could not find any "speaking in unknown tongues" by Christians. Maybe, you can find it.
https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5Qacj-9naZ42P_9emPt0LN1jpuQ7iMLe7taxBTyAFn
-
1
- Show all
Homily 29 on First Corinthians
Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...
1 Corinthians 12:1-2
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.
This whole place is very obscure: but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now? Why look now, the cause too of the obscurity has produced us again another question: namely, why did they then happen, and now do so no more?
This however let us defer to another time, but for the present let us state what things were occurring then. Well: what did happen then? Whoever was baptized he straightway spoke with tongues and not with tongues only, but many also prophesied, and some also performed many other wonderful works. For since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once on their baptism received the Spirit, yet the Spirit they saw not, for It is invisible; therefore God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of that energy. And one straightway spoke in the Persian, another in the Roman, another in the Indian, another in some other such tongue: and this made manifest to them that were without that it is the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore also he so calls it, saying, But to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withal; 1 Corinthians 12:7 calling the gifts a manifestation of the Spirit. For as the Apostles themselves had received this sign first, so also the faithful went on receiving it, I mean, the gift of tongues; yet not this only but also many others: inasmuch as many used even to raise the dead and to cast out devils and to perform many other such wonders: and they had gifts too, some less, and some more. But more abundant than all was the gift of tongues among them: and this became to them a cause of division; not from its own nature but from the perverseness of them that had received it: in that on the one hand the possessors of the greater gifts were lifted up against them that had the lesser: and these again were grieved, and envied the owners of the greater. And Paul himself as he proceeds intimates this.
Since then herefrom they were receiving a fatal blow in the dissolution of their charity, he takes great care to correct it. For this happened indeed in Rome also, but not in the same way. And this is why in the Epistle to the Romans he moots it indeed, but obscurely and briefly, saying thus: For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office; so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another. And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teaches to his teaching. Romans 12:4-8 And that the Romans also were falling into wilfulness hereby, this he intimates in the beginning of that discourse, thus saying: For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, according as God has dealt to each man a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 With these, however, (for the disease of division and pride had not proceeded to any length,) he thus discoursed: but here with great anxiety; for the distemper had greatly spread.
And this was not the only thing to disturb them, but there were also in the place many soothsayers, inasmuch as the city was more than usually addicted to Grecian customs, and this with the rest was tending to offense and disturbance among them. This is the reason why he begins by first stating the difference between soothsaying and prophecy. For this cause also they received discerning of spirits, so as to discern and know which is he that speaks by a pure spirit, and which by an impure.
For because it was not possible to supply the evidence of the things uttered from within themselves at the moment; (for prophecy supplies the proof of its own truth not at the time when it is spoken, but at the time of the event
and it was not easy to distinguish the true prophesier from the pretender; (for the devil himself, accursed as he is, had entered into them that prophesied, [See 1 Kings 22:23.] bringing in false prophets, as if forsooth they also could foretell things to come) and further, men were easily deceived, because the things spoken could not for the present be brought to trial, ere yet the events had come to pass concerning which the prophecy was; (for it was the end that proved the false prophet and the true— in order that the hearers might not be deceived before the end, he gives them a sign which even before the event served to indicate the one and the other. And hence taking his order and beginning, he thus goes on also to the discourse concerning the gifts and corrects the contentiousness that arose from hence likewise. For the present however he begins the discourse concerning the soothsayers, thus saying,
2. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant; calling the signs spiritual, because they are the works of the Spirit alone, human effort contributing nothing to the working such wonders. And intending to discourse concerning them, first, as I said, he lays down the difference between soothsaying and prophecy, thus saying,
You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led. Now what he means is this: In the idol-temples, says he, if any were at any time possessed by an unclean spirit and began to divine, even as one dragged away, so was he drawn by that spirit in chains: knowing nothing of the things which he utters. For this is peculiar to the soothsayer, to be beside himself, to be under compulsion, to be pushed, to be dragged, to be haled as a madman. But the prophet not so, but with sober mind and composed temper and knowing what he is saying, he utters all things. Therefore even before the event do thou from this distinguish the soothsayer and the prophet. And consider how he frees his discourse of all suspicion; calling themselves to witness who had made trial of the matter. As if he had said, that I lie not nor rashly traduce the religion of the Gentiles, feigning like an enemy, do ye yourselves bear me witness: knowing as you do, when you were Gentiles, how you were pulled and dragged away then.
Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...
1 Corinthians 12:1-2
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.
This whole place is very obscure: but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now? Why look now, the cause too of the obscurity has produced us again another question: namely, why did they then happen, and now do so no more?
This however let us defer to another time, but for the present let us state what things were occurring then. Well: what did happen then? Whoever was baptized he straightway spoke with tongues and not with tongues only, but many also prophesied, and some also performed many other wonderful works. For since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once on their baptism received the Spirit, yet the Spirit they saw not, for It is invisible; therefore God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of that energy. And one straightway spoke in the Persian, another in the Roman, another in the Indian, another in some other such tongue: and this made manifest to them that were without that it is the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore also he so calls it, saying, But to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withal; 1 Corinthians 12:7 calling the gifts a manifestation of the Spirit. For as the Apostles themselves had received this sign first, so also the faithful went on receiving it, I mean, the gift of tongues; yet not this only but also many others: inasmuch as many used even to raise the dead and to cast out devils and to perform many other such wonders: and they had gifts too, some less, and some more. But more abundant than all was the gift of tongues among them: and this became to them a cause of division; not from its own nature but from the perverseness of them that had received it: in that on the one hand the possessors of the greater gifts were lifted up against them that had the lesser: and these again were grieved, and envied the owners of the greater. And Paul himself as he proceeds intimates this.
Since then herefrom they were receiving a fatal blow in the dissolution of their charity, he takes great care to correct it. For this happened indeed in Rome also, but not in the same way. And this is why in the Epistle to the Romans he moots it indeed, but obscurely and briefly, saying thus: For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members have not the same office; so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and severally members one of another. And having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or ministry, let us give ourselves to our ministry; or he that teaches to his teaching. Romans 12:4-8 And that the Romans also were falling into wilfulness hereby, this he intimates in the beginning of that discourse, thus saying: For I say through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but so to think as to think soberly, according as God has dealt to each man a measure of faith. Romans 12:3 With these, however, (for the disease of division and pride had not proceeded to any length,) he thus discoursed: but here with great anxiety; for the distemper had greatly spread.
And this was not the only thing to disturb them, but there were also in the place many soothsayers, inasmuch as the city was more than usually addicted to Grecian customs, and this with the rest was tending to offense and disturbance among them. This is the reason why he begins by first stating the difference between soothsaying and prophecy. For this cause also they received discerning of spirits, so as to discern and know which is he that speaks by a pure spirit, and which by an impure.
For because it was not possible to supply the evidence of the things uttered from within themselves at the moment; (for prophecy supplies the proof of its own truth not at the time when it is spoken, but at the time of the event
and it was not easy to distinguish the true prophesier from the pretender; (for the devil himself, accursed as he is, had entered into them that prophesied, [See 1 Kings 22:23.] bringing in false prophets, as if forsooth they also could foretell things to come) and further, men were easily deceived, because the things spoken could not for the present be brought to trial, ere yet the events had come to pass concerning which the prophecy was; (for it was the end that proved the false prophet and the true— in order that the hearers might not be deceived before the end, he gives them a sign which even before the event served to indicate the one and the other. And hence taking his order and beginning, he thus goes on also to the discourse concerning the gifts and corrects the contentiousness that arose from hence likewise. For the present however he begins the discourse concerning the soothsayers, thus saying,2. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant; calling the signs spiritual, because they are the works of the Spirit alone, human effort contributing nothing to the working such wonders. And intending to discourse concerning them, first, as I said, he lays down the difference between soothsaying and prophecy, thus saying,
You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led. Now what he means is this: In the idol-temples, says he, if any were at any time possessed by an unclean spirit and began to divine, even as one dragged away, so was he drawn by that spirit in chains: knowing nothing of the things which he utters. For this is peculiar to the soothsayer, to be beside himself, to be under compulsion, to be pushed, to be dragged, to be haled as a madman. But the prophet not so, but with sober mind and composed temper and knowing what he is saying, he utters all things. Therefore even before the event do thou from this distinguish the soothsayer and the prophet. And consider how he frees his discourse of all suspicion; calling themselves to witness who had made trial of the matter. As if he had said, that I lie not nor rashly traduce the religion of the Gentiles, feigning like an enemy, do ye yourselves bear me witness: knowing as you do, when you were Gentiles, how you were pulled and dragged away then.
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But if any should say that these too are suspected as believers, come, even from them that are without will I make this manifest to you. Hear, for example, Plato saying thus: (Apol. Soc. c. 7.) Even as they who deliver oracles and the soothsayers say many and excellent things, but know nothing of what they utter. Hear again another, a poet, giving the same intimation. For whereas by certain mystical rites and witchcrafts a certain person had imprisoned a demon in a man, and the man divined, and in his divination was thrown down and torn, and was unable to endure the violence of the demon, but was on the point of perishing in that convulsion; he says to the persons who were practicing such mystical arts,
Loose me, I pray you:
The mighty God no longer mortal flesh
Can hold.
And again,
Unbind my wreaths, and bathe my feet in drops
From the pure stream; erase these mystic lines,
And let me go.
For these and such like things, (for one might mention many more,) point out to us both of these facts which follow; the compulsion which holds down the demons and makes them slaves; and the violence to which they submit who have once given themselves up to them, so as to swerve even from their natural reason. And the Pythoness too : (for I am compelled now to bring forward and expose another disgraceful custom of theirs, which it were well to pass by, because it is unseemly for us to mention such things; but that you may more clearly know their shame it is necessary to mention it, that hence at least ye may come to know the madness and exceeding mockery of those that make use of the soothsayers): this same Pythoness then is said, being a female, to sit at times upon the tripod of Apollo astride, and thus the evil spirit ascending from beneath and entering the lower part of her body, fills the woman with madness, and she with dishevelled hair begins to play the bacchanal and to foam at the mouth, and thus being in a frenzy to utter the words of her madness. I know that you are ashamed and blush when you hear these things: but they glory both in the disgrace and in the madness which I have described. These then and all such things. Paul was bringing forward when he said, You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.
And because he was discoursing with those who knew well, he states not all things with exact care, not wishing to be troublesome to them, but having reminded them only and brought all into their recollection, he soon quits the point, hastening to the subject before him.
But what is, unto those dumb idols? These soothsayers used to be led and dragged unto them.
But if they be themselves dumb, how did they give responses to others? And wherefore did the demon lead them to the images? As men taken in war, and in chains, and rendering at the same time his deceit plausible. Thus, to keep men from the notion that it was just a dumb stone, they were earnest to rivet the people to the idols that their own style and title might be inscribed upon them. But our rites are not such. He did not however state ours, I mean the prophesyings. For it was well known to them all, and prophecy was exercised among them, as was meet for their condition, with understanding and with entire freedom. Therefore, you see, they had power either to speak or to refrain from speaking. For they were not bound by necessity, but were honored with a privilege. For this cause Jonah fled; Jonah 1:3 for this cause Ezekiel delayed; Ezekiel 3:15 for this cause Jeremiah excused himself. Jeremiah 1:6 And God thrusts them not on by compulsion, but advising, exhorting, threatening; not darkening their mind; for to cause distraction and madness and great darkness, is the proper work of a demon: but it is God's work to illuminate and with consideration to teach things needful.
3. This then is the first difference between a soothsayer and a prophet; but a second and a different one is that which he next states, saying,http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/220129.htm
Loose me, I pray you:
The mighty God no longer mortal flesh
Can hold.
And again,
Unbind my wreaths, and bathe my feet in drops
From the pure stream; erase these mystic lines,
And let me go.
For these and such like things, (for one might mention many more,) point out to us both of these facts which follow; the compulsion which holds down the demons and makes them slaves; and the violence to which they submit who have once given themselves up to them, so as to swerve even from their natural reason. And the Pythoness too : (for I am compelled now to bring forward and expose another disgraceful custom of theirs, which it were well to pass by, because it is unseemly for us to mention such things; but that you may more clearly know their shame it is necessary to mention it, that hence at least ye may come to know the madness and exceeding mockery of those that make use of the soothsayers): this same Pythoness then is said, being a female, to sit at times upon the tripod of Apollo astride, and thus the evil spirit ascending from beneath and entering the lower part of her body, fills the woman with madness, and she with dishevelled hair begins to play the bacchanal and to foam at the mouth, and thus being in a frenzy to utter the words of her madness. I know that you are ashamed and blush when you hear these things: but they glory both in the disgrace and in the madness which I have described. These then and all such things. Paul was bringing forward when he said, You know that when you were Gentiles, you were led away unto those dumb idols, howsoever ye might be led.
And because he was discoursing with those who knew well, he states not all things with exact care, not wishing to be troublesome to them, but having reminded them only and brought all into their recollection, he soon quits the point, hastening to the subject before him.
But what is, unto those dumb idols? These soothsayers used to be led and dragged unto them.
But if they be themselves dumb, how did they give responses to others? And wherefore did the demon lead them to the images? As men taken in war, and in chains, and rendering at the same time his deceit plausible. Thus, to keep men from the notion that it was just a dumb stone, they were earnest to rivet the people to the idols that their own style and title might be inscribed upon them. But our rites are not such. He did not however state ours, I mean the prophesyings. For it was well known to them all, and prophecy was exercised among them, as was meet for their condition, with understanding and with entire freedom. Therefore, you see, they had power either to speak or to refrain from speaking. For they were not bound by necessity, but were honored with a privilege. For this cause Jonah fled; Jonah 1:3 for this cause Ezekiel delayed; Ezekiel 3:15 for this cause Jeremiah excused himself. Jeremiah 1:6 And God thrusts them not on by compulsion, but advising, exhorting, threatening; not darkening their mind; for to cause distraction and madness and great darkness, is the proper work of a demon: but it is God's work to illuminate and with consideration to teach things needful.
3. This then is the first difference between a soothsayer and a prophet; but a second and a different one is that which he next states, saying,http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/220129.htm
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This whole place is very obscure: but the obscurity is produced by our ignorance of the facts referred to and by their cessation, being such as then used to occur but now no longer take place. And why do they not happen now? Why look now, the cause too of the obscurity has produced us again another question: namely, why did they then happen, and now do so no more?
This however let us defer to another time, but for the present let us state what things were occurring then. Well: what did happen then? Whoever was baptized he straightway spoke with tongues and not with tongues only, but many also prophesied, and some also performed many other wonderful works. For since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once on their baptism received the Spirit, yet the Spirit they saw not, for It is invisible; therefore God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of that energy. And one straightway spoke in the Persian, another in the Roman, another in the Indian, another in some other such tongue: and this made manifest to them that were without that it is the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore also he so calls it, saying, But to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withal; 1 Corinthians 12:7 calling the gifts a manifestation of the Spirit. For as the Apostles themselves had received this sign first, so also the faithful went on receiving it, I mean, the gift of tongues; yet not this only but also many others: inasmuch as many used even to raise the dead and to cast out devils and to perform many other such wonders: and they had gifts too, some less, and some more. But more abundant than all was the gift of tongues among them: and this became to them a cause of division; not from its own nature but from the perverseness of them that had received it: in that on the one hand the possessors of the greater gifts were lifted up against them that had the lesser: and these again were grieved, and envied the owners of the greater. And Paul himself as he proceeds intimates this.
Nothing in the text says they were not human languages.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/index.html
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...x0&q=spoke+with+tongues&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
This however let us defer to another time, but for the present let us state what things were occurring then. Well: what did happen then? Whoever was baptized he straightway spoke with tongues and not with tongues only, but many also prophesied, and some also performed many other wonderful works. For since on their coming over from idols, without any clear knowledge or training in the ancient Scriptures, they at once on their baptism received the Spirit, yet the Spirit they saw not, for It is invisible; therefore God's grace bestowed some sensible proof of that energy. And one straightway spoke in the Persian, another in the Roman, another in the Indian, another in some other such tongue: and this made manifest to them that were without that it is the Spirit in the very person speaking. Wherefore also he so calls it, saying, But to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given to profit withal; 1 Corinthians 12:7 calling the gifts a manifestation of the Spirit. For as the Apostles themselves had received this sign first, so also the faithful went on receiving it, I mean, the gift of tongues; yet not this only but also many others: inasmuch as many used even to raise the dead and to cast out devils and to perform many other such wonders: and they had gifts too, some less, and some more. But more abundant than all was the gift of tongues among them: and this became to them a cause of division; not from its own nature but from the perverseness of them that had received it: in that on the one hand the possessors of the greater gifts were lifted up against them that had the lesser: and these again were grieved, and envied the owners of the greater. And Paul himself as he proceeds intimates this.
Nothing in the text says they were not human languages.
http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/index.html
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...x0&q=spoke+with+tongues&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
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I could not find the following quote, maybe you can find the full context and give the link.
A.D. 400 - Augustine of Hippo:
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, one of the four great fathers of the Latin Church and
considered the greatest of them all: "We still do what the apostles did when they laid
hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them in the laying-on of hands.
It is expected that converts should speak with new tongues."
from https://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/why-is-praying-in-tongues-necessary.182766/page-11
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...d+down+the+Holy+Spirit"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
Googled, "We still do what the apostles did when they laid
hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them in the laying-on of hands.
It is expected that converts should speak with new tongues."
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...hlr-8x0&q="new+tongues"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...hlr-8x0&q="new+tongues"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...cof=FORID:9&siteurl=http://www.newadvent.org/
A.D. 400 - Augustine of Hippo:
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, one of the four great fathers of the Latin Church and
considered the greatest of them all: "We still do what the apostles did when they laid
hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them in the laying-on of hands.
It is expected that converts should speak with new tongues."
from https://christianchat.com/bible-discussion-forum/why-is-praying-in-tongues-necessary.182766/page-11
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...d+down+the+Holy+Spirit"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
Googled, "We still do what the apostles did when they laid
hands on the Samaritans and called down the Holy Spirit on them in the laying-on of hands.
It is expected that converts should speak with new tongues."
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...hlr-8x0&q="new+tongues"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...hlr-8x0&q="new+tongues"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...cof=FORID:9&siteurl=http://www.newadvent.org/
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http://www.newadvent.org/utility/search.htm?safe=active&cx=000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0&q="We+still
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...ands+on+the+Samaritans"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...he+Holy+Spirit+on+them"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...speak+with+new+tongues"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
Still can't find the quote. This is a great reason to avoid sources that do not give links to the full context.
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...ands+on+the+Samaritans"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...he+Holy+Spirit+on+them"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
http://www.newadvent.org/utility/se...speak+with+new+tongues"&sa=Search&cof=FORID:9
Still can't find the quote. This is a great reason to avoid sources that do not give links to the full context.
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The source that gives the quotes out of context and maybe made two up is https://www.cai.org/bible-studies/evidence-speaking-tongues-early-church
One being the quote that Augustine allegedly made and the other being a Secondary Source Book from 1891 or there bouts.
I gave you a pdf file link to the book and a link to new advent dot org. Maybe you can find the quote and put it in context.
One being the quote that Augustine allegedly made and the other being a Secondary Source Book from 1891 or there bouts.
I gave you a pdf file link to the book and a link to new advent dot org. Maybe you can find the quote and put it in context.