Other First Millennium Documents - Eternal Christendom

(Updated July 18, 2025)

This Document Quote Archive collects pertinent quotes from Other First Millennium Documents.

Next to each quote are the Topic Quote Archives in which they are included.

This Quote Archive is being continuously updated as research continues. Quotes marked with “***” have not yet been organized into their respective Topic Quote Archives.

Apostolic Era Documents

The Shepherd of Hermas (c. 80)

(Book 1, Part 2, Ch. 4)

You will write therefore two books, and you will send the one to Clemens [Clement of Rome] and the other to Grapte. And Clemens will send his to foreign countries, for permission has been granted to him to do so. And Grapte will admonish the widows and the orphans. But you will read the words in this city, along with the presbyters who preside over the Church.

(Book 2, Commandment 4, Ch. 1)

I said to him, “Sir, permit me to ask you a few questions.” “Say on,” said he. And I said to him, “Sir, if anyone has a wife who trusts in the Lord, and if he detect her in adultery, does the man sin if he continue to live with her?” And he said to me, “As long as he remains ignorant of her sin, the husband commits no transgression in living with her. But if the husband know that his wife has gone astray, and if the woman does not repent, but persists in her fornication, and yet the husband continues to live with her, he also is guilty of her crime, and a sharer in her adultery.”

And I said to him, “What then, sir, is the husband to do, if his wife continue in her vicious practices?” And he said, “The husband should put her away, and remain by himself. But if he put his wife away and marry another, he also commits adultery” (Matt. 5:32; 19:9).

And I said to him, “What if the woman put away should repent, and wish to return to her husband: shall she not be taken back by her husband?” And he said to me, “Assuredly. If the husband do not take her back, he sins, and brings a great sin upon himself; for he ought to take back the sinner who has repented. But not frequently. For there is but one repentance to the servants of God. In case, therefore, that the divorced wife may repent, the husband ought not to marry another, when his wife has been put away. In this matter man and woman are to be treated exactly in the same way.

(Book 2, Commandment 4, Ch. 3)

And I said, “I heard, sir, some teachers maintain that there is no other repentance than that which takes place, when we descended into the water and received remission of our former sins.” He said to me, “That was sound doctrine which you heard; for that is really the case. For he who has received remission of his sins ought not to sin anymore, but to live in purity.”

(Book 3, Similitude 5, Ch. 4)

[The Shepherd said] “But those who are weak and slothful in prayer, hesitate to ask anything from the Lord; but the Lord is full of compassion, and gives without fail to all who ask Him. But you, having been strengthened by the holy Angel, and having obtained from Him such intercession, and not being slothful, why do not you ask of the Lord understanding, and receive it from Him?”…

(Book 3, Similitude 8, Ch. 7)

“And as many as have in the branches half-withered and cracked, hear also about them. They whose branches were half-withered to the same extent are the wavering; for they neither live, nor are they dead. And they who have them half-withered and cracked are both waverers and slanderers, [railing against the absent] and never at peace with one another, but always at variance. And yet to these also,” he continued, “repentance is possible. You see,” he said, “that some of them have repented, and there is still remaining in them,” he continued, “a hope of repentance. And as many of them,” he added, “as have repented, shall have their dwelling in the tower. And those of them who have been slower in repenting shall dwell within the walls. And as many as do not repent at all, but abide in their deeds, shall utterly perish. And they who gave in their branches green and cracked were always faithful and good, though emulous of each other about the foremost places, and about fame: now all these are foolish, in indulging in such a rivalry. Yet they also, being naturally good, on hearing my commandments, purified themselves, and soon repented. Their dwelling, accordingly, was in the tower. But if any one relapse into strife, he will be east out of the tower, and will lose his life. Life is the possession of all who keep the commandments of the Lord; but in the commandments there is no rivalry in regard to the first places, or glory of any kind, but in regard to patience and personal humility. Among such persons, then, is the life of the Lord, but among the quarrelsome and transgressors, death.”

Ancient Christian Inscriptions

Various Epitaphs: Agape (c. 150)¹

Purgatory

My mother is Eucharis and my father is Pius. I pray you, O brethren, to pray when you come here, 17 | 18 and to ask in your common prayers the Father and the Son. May it be in your minds to remember dear Agape that the omnipotent God may keep Agape safe forever.

Epitaph of Abercius (c. 190)²

Purgatory

I, the citizen of a chosen city, erected this in my lifetime that I may have in time to come a place wherein to lay my body. My name is Abercius, the disciple of the Holy Shepherd, who feeds the flocks of His sheep on the hills and plains, and who has great eyes that look into every place…These things I, Abercius, commanded thus to be written when I was on earth; and truly I was seventy and two years old. Let him who understands this, and everyone who agrees therewith, pray for Abercius…

Various Epitaphs: Sozon (c. 250)³

Communion of Saints: Intercession and Relics

Blessed Sozon gave back (his soul) aged nine years; may the true Christ (receive) your spirit in peace, and pray for us.

Various Epitaphs: Gentianus (c. 250)⁴

Communion of Saints: Intercession and Relics

Gentianus, a believer, in peace, who lived twenty-one years eight months sixteen days, and in thy prayers ask for us, because we know that thou art in Christ.

Various Epitaphs: Matronata Matrona (c. 250)⁵

The Communion of Saints: Intercession and Relics

Pray for your parents, Matronata Matrona. She lived one year, fifty-two days.

Rylands Papyrus 470 (c. 300)

The Communion of Saints: Intercession and Relics

Mother of God (hear) my supplications: suffer us not (to be) in adversity, but deliver us from danger. Thou alone.

Various Epitaphs: Atticus (c. 350)⁶

The Communion of Saints: Intercession and Relics

Atticus, sleep in peace secure in thy safety, and pray anxiously for our sins.

Epitaph of Pectorius (c. 375)⁷

The Communion of Saints: Intercession and Relics

Aschandius, my father, beloved of my heart, with my sweet mother and my brothers, be mindful of your Pectorius abiding in the peace of the Fish [Christ]…

Acts and Apocrypha

Ascension of Isaiah (c. 90)

Holy Mary, Mother of God | Ch. 11, §§12-14

(Ch. 11, §§12-14)⁸

(§12) And the story regarding the infant was spread abroad in Bethlehem. (§13) Some said: “The Virgin Mary has borne a child, before she was married 76 | 77 two months.” (§14) And many said, “She has not borne a child, nor has a midwife gone up (to her), nor have we heard the cries of (labor) pains.”

Odes of Solomon (c. 125)

Holy Mary, Mother of God | No. 19, §§7-9

(No. 19, §§7-9)⁹

So the Virgin became a Mother with great mercies. And she labored and bore the Son, but without pain, because it did not occur without purpose. And she did not seek a midwife, because he caused her to give life.

Apocalypse of Peter (c. 130)

Abortion | §25

(§25)

And near that place I saw another strait place into which the gore and the filth of those who were being punished ran down and became there as it were a lake; and there sat women having the gore up to their necks, and over against them sat many children who were born to them out of due time, crying; and there came forth from them sparks of fire and smote the women in the eyes; and these were the accursed who conceived and caused abortion.

Protoevangelium of James (c. 150)

Holy Mary, Mother of God | §§4, 8-9, 15

(§§4, 8-9, 15)

(§4) And, behold, an angel of the Lord stood by, saying: “Anna, Anna, the Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive, and shall bring forth; and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.” And Anna said: “As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God; and it shall minister to Him in holy things all the days of its life” (1 Sam. 1:11)…

(§8) And her parents went down marveling, and praising the Lord God, because the child had not turned back. And Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there, and she received food from the hand of an angel. And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of the priests, saying: “Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, lest perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord?” And they said to the high priest: “You stand by the altar of the Lord; go in, and pray concerning her; and whatever the Lord shall manifest unto you, that also will we do.” And the high priest went in, taking the robe with the twelve bells into the holy of holies; and he prayed concerning her. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him, saying unto him: “Zacharias, Zacharias, go out and assemble the widowers of the people, and let them bring each his rod; and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be…”

(§9) …And the priest said to Joseph, “You have been chosen by lot to take into your keeping the virgin of the Lord.” But Joseph refused, saying: “I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl…”…

(§15) And Annas the scribe came to him, and said: “Why have you not appeared in our assembly?” And Joseph said to him: “Because I was weary from my journey, and rested the first day.” And he turned, and saw that Mary was with child. And he ran away to the priest, and said to him: “Joseph, whom you vouched for, has committed a grievous crime.” And the priest said: “How so?” And he said: “He has defiled the virgin whom he received out of the temple of the Lord, and has married her by stealth, and has not revealed it to the sons of Israel…”…And the priest said: “Mary, why have you done this? And why have you brought your soul low, and forgotten the Lord your God? You that wast reared in the holy of holies, and that received food from the hand of an angel, and heard the hymns, and danced before Him, why have you done this?” And she wept bitterly, saying: “As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before Him, and know not a man.”…

The Acts of Paul and Thecla (c. 160)

Purgatory

And after the exhibition, Tryphena again receives her. For her daughter Falconilla had died, and said to her in a dream: “Mother, you shall have this stranger Thecla in my place, in order that she may pray concerning me, and that I may be transferred to the place of the just.”

Acts of Peter and Andrew (c. 260)

The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church

And while he was thus speaking, the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to them in the form of a child, and said to them: Hail, Peter, bishop of the whole of my Church!

Poem Against the Marcionites (c. 285)

The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church | Lines 276-84

(Lines 276-84)¹⁰

In this chair in which he himself had sat, Peter in mighty Rome commanded Linus, the first elected, to sit down. After him, Cletus too accepted the flock of the fold. As his successor, Anacletus was elected by lot. Clement follows him, well-known to apostolic men. After him Evaristus ruled the flock without crime. Alexander, sixth in succession, commends the fold to Sixtus. After his illustrious times were completed, he passed it on to Telesphorus. He was excellent, a faithful martyr.

The Passing of the Virgin, Second Latin Form (c. 300)

Holy Mary, Mother of God | §§15-16

(§§15-16)

(§15) …If, therefore, it were possible to be done in the presence of the power of Thy grace, it had seemed to us Thy servants to be right that, just as You, having vanquished death, reign in glory, so, raising up again the body of Thy mother, You should take her with You in joy into heaven.

(§16) Then the Savior said: “Let it be according to your opinion.” And He ordered the archangel Michael to bring the soul of St. Mary. And, behold, the archangel Michael [other manuscripts have Gabriel] rolled back the stone from the door of the tomb; and the Lord said: “Arise, my beloved and my nearest relation; thou who hast not put on corruption by intercourse with man, suffer not destruction of the body in the sepulcher.” And immediately Mary rose from the tomb, and blessed the Lord, and falling forward at the feet of the Lord, adored Him, saying: “I cannot render sufficient thanks to Thee, O Lord, for Thy boundless benefits which Thou hast deigned to bestow upon me Thine handmaiden. May Thy name, O Redeemer of the world, God of Israel, be blessed forever.”

Acts of Philip (c. 350)

Purgatory

And the Savior said to Philip: “But since you have disobeyed me, and have requited evil for evil, and have not kept my commandment, on this account you shall finish your course gloriously indeed, and shall be led by the hand by my holy angels, and shall come with them even to the paradise of delight; and they indeed shall come beside me into paradise, but you will I order to be shut outside of paradise for forty days, in terror under the flaming and turning sword, and you shall groan because you have done evil to those who have done evil to you.”

The Book of John Concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary (400s?)

The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church

And the Holy Spirit said to the apostles: Let all of you together, having come by the clouds from the ends of the world, be assembled to holy Bethlehem by a whirlwind, on account of the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; Peter from Rome, Paul from Tiberia, Thomas from Hither India, James from Jerusalem.

**Pseudo-John, Falling Asleep of Mary (c. 550)¹¹**

Holy Mary, Mother of God

[T]he Lord said to his Mother, “Let your heart rejoice and be glad, for every favor and every gift has been given to you from my Father in heaven and from me and from the Holy Spirit. Every soul that calls upon your name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy and comfort and support and confidence, both in the world that now is and in what is to come, in the presence of my Father in the heavens”…And from that time forth all knew that the spotless and precious body had been transferred to paradise.

Pseudo-Clement

**“St. Clement,” Second Letter (c. 120-40)**

The Sacrament of Baptism | §6

(§6)

For if we do the will of Christ, we shall find rest; otherwise, nothing shall deliver us from eternal punishment, if we disobey His commandments. For thus also says the Scripture in Ezekiel, If Noah, Job, and Daniel should rise up, they should not deliver their children in captivity. Now, if men so eminently righteous are not able by their righteousness to deliver their children, how can we hope to enter into the royal residence of God unless we keep our baptism holy and undefiled? Or who shall be our advocate, unless we be found possessed of works of holiness and righteousness?

**Clementine Homilies, Introductory Letters, “St. Pope Clement of Rome,” Letter to James (221)**

The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church | §1

(§1)

Be it known to you, my lord, that Simon, who, for the sake of the true faith, and the most sure foundation of his doctrine, was set apart to be the foundation of the Church, and for this end was by Jesus Himself, with His truthful mouth, named Peter, the first-fruits of our Lord, the first of the apostles; to whom first the Father revealed the Son; whom the Christ, with good reason, blessed; the called, and elect, and associate at table and in the journeyings of Christ; the excellent and approved disciple, who, as being fittest of all, was commanded to enlighten the darker part of the world, namely the West, and was enabled to accomplish it—and to what extent do I lengthen my discourse, not wishing to indicate what is sad, which yet of necessity, though reluctantly, I must tell you—he himself, by reason of his immense love towards men, having come as far as Rome, clearly and publicly testifying, in opposition to the wicked one who withstood him, that there is to be a good King over all the world, while saving men by his God-inspired doctrine, himself, by violence, exchanged this present existence for life.

Clementine Homily 11 (300s)

The Sacrament of Baptism | §26

(§26)

But perhaps some one will say, “What does it contribute to piety to be baptized with water?” In the first place, because you do that which is pleasing to God; and in the second place, being born again to God of water, by reason of fear you change your first generation, which is of lust, and thus you are able to obtain salvation. But otherwise it is impossible. For thus the prophet has sworn to us, saying, “Verily I say to you, Unless you be regenerated by living water into the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven” (cf. John 3:5). Wherefore approach. For there is there something that is merciful from the beginning, borne upon the water, and rescues from the future punishment those who are baptized with the thrice blessed invocation, offering as gifts to God the good deeds of the baptized whenever they are done after their baptism. Wherefore flee to the waters, for this alone can quench the violence of fires. He who will not now come to it still bears the spirit of strife, on account of which he will not approach the living water for his own salvation.

Clementine Homily 17 (300s)

The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church | §19

(§19)

[St. Peter to the heretic Simon Magus, in Rome] For in direct opposition to me, who am a firm rock, the foundation of the Church, you now stand. If you were not opposed to me, you would not accuse me, and revile the truth proclaimed by me, in order that I may not be believed when I state what I myself have heard with my own ears from the Lord, as if I were evidently a person that was condemned and in bad repute.

Clementine Recognitions (c. 320)

(Preface)

The epistle in which the same Clement, writing to James the Lord’s brother, informs him of the death of Peter, and that he had left him his successor in his chair and teaching, and in which also the whole subject of church order is treated, I have not prefixed to this work, both because it is of later date, and because I have already translated and published it. But I do not think it out of place to explain here what in that letter will perhaps seem to some to be inconsistent. For some ask, Since Linus and Cletus were bishops in the city of Rome before this Clement, how could Clement himself, writing to James, say that the chair of teaching was handed over to him by Peter? Now of this we have heard this explanation, that Linus and Cletus were indeed bishops in the city of Rome before Clement, but during the lifetime of Peter: that is, that they undertook the care of the episcopate, and that he fulfilled the office of apostleship; as is found also to have been the case at Caesarea, where, when he himself was present, he yet had Zacchaeus, ordained by himself, as bishop. And in this way both statements will appear to be true, both that these bishops are reckoned before Clement, and yet that Clement received the teacher’s seat on the death of Peter.

(Book 1, §63) ***

At last, however, I warned them, that before we should go forth to the Gentiles, to preach to them the knowledge of God the Father, they should themselves be reconciled to God, receiving His Son; for I showed them that in no way else could they be saved, unless through the grace of the Holy Spirit they hasted to be washed with the baptism of threefold invocation, and received the Eucharist of Christ the Lord, whom alone they ought to believe concerning those things which He taught, that so they might merit to attain eternal salvation; but that otherwise it was utterly impossible for them to be reconciled to God, even if they should kindle a thousand altars and a thousand high altars to Him.

(Book 6, §9)

But you will perhaps say, “What does the baptism of water contribute towards the worship of God?” In the first place, because that which has pleased God is fulfilled. In the second place, because, when you are regenerated and born again of water and of God, the frailty of your former birth, which you have through men, is cut off, and so at length you shall be able to attain salvation; but otherwise it is impossible. For thus has the true prophet testified to us with an oath: “Verily I say to you, That unless a man is born again of water, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (John 3:5). Therefore make haste; for there is in these waters a certain power of mercy which was borne upon them at the beginning, and acknowledges those who are baptized under the name of the threefold sacrament, and rescues them from future punishments, presenting as a gift to God the souls that are consecrated by baptism. Betake yourselves therefore to these waters, for they alone can quench the violence of the future fire; and he who delays to approach to them, it is evident that the idol of unbelief remains in him, and by it he is prevented from hastening to the waters which confer salvation. For whether you be righteous or unrighteous, baptism is necessary for you in every respect: for the righteous, that perfection may be accomplished in him, and he may be born again to God; for the unrighteous, that pardon may be vouchsafed him of the sins which he has committed in ignorance. Therefore all should hasten to be born again to God without delay, because the end of every one’s life is uncertain.

(Book 6, §15) ***

And when, for the grace of regeneration divinely conferred upon me, we had joyfully kept holiday with our brethren, Peter ordered those who had been appointed to go before him, to proceed to Antioch, and there to wait three months more. And they having gone, he himself led down to the fountains, which, I have said, are near the sea, those who had fully received the faith of the Lord, and baptized them; and celebrating the Eucharist [lit. “breaking the Eucharist”] with them, he appointed, as bishop over them, Maro, who had entertained him in his house, and who was now perfect in all things; and with him he ordained twelve presbyters and deacons at the same time. He also instituted the order of widows, and arranged all the services of the Church; and charged them all to obey Maro their bishop in all things that he should command them. And thus all things being suitably arranged, when the three months were fulfilled, we bade farewell to those who were at Tripolis, and set out for Antioch.

(Book 10, §68) ***

These things being known at Laodicea, Peter ordered the people to meet on the following day; and having ordained one of those who followed him as bishop over them, and others as presbyters, and having baptized multitudes, and restored to health all who were troubled with sicknesses or demons, he stayed there three days longer; and all things being properly arranged, he bade them farewell, and set out from Laodicea, being much longed for by the people of Antioch.

Apostolic Teachings and Constitutions

Didache (c. 50)

The Canon of Scripture | Ch. 4, §5
Mortal Sin: Christians Can Lose Their Salvation | Ch. 16, §§1-2
Abortion | Ch. 2, §§1-2
Homosexual and Gender-Confusing Behavior | Ch. 2, §§1-2
The Sacrament of Confession | Ch. 4, §14; Ch. 14, §§1-3
The Lord’s Day: Sunday, the New Sabbath | Ch. 14, §1
Malachi’s Prophecy of the Eucharist in the Church Fathers | Ch. 14, §§1-3

(Ch. 2, §§1-2)¹²

(§1) The second commandment of the Teaching is (§2) You shall not commit murder. You shall not commit adultery [Ex. 20:13-14]. You shall not corrupt boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal [Ex. 20:15]. You shall not practice magic. You shall not practice sorcery. You shall not kill an unborn child or murder a newborn infant. And you shall not desire the goods 172 | 173 of your neighbor.

(Ch. 4, §5)¹³

Do not hold your hands open for receiving and closed for giving [Sir. 4:31]…Do not turn away from the needy [Sir. 4:5], but share all with your brother and do not claim that it is your own [Acts 4:32]

(Ch. 4, §14)¹⁴

You shall confess your offenses in church, and shall not come forward to your prayer with a bad conscience. This is the way of life.

(Ch. 14, §§1-3)¹⁵

(§1) And on the Lord’s Day, after you have come together, break bread and offer the Eucharist, having first confessed your offenses, so that your sacrifice may be pure. (§2) But let no one who has a quarrel with his neighbor join you until he is reconciled, lest your sacrifice be defiled [Matt. 5:23-24]. (§3) For it was 182 | 183 said by the Lord: “In every place and time let there be offered to me a clean sacrifice, because I am the great king”; and also: “and my name is wonderful among the Gentiles” (Mal. 1:11, 14).

(Ch. 16, §§1-2)¹⁶

(§1) “Be vigilant” over your life; “let your lamps” not be extinguished, or your loins be ungirded, but be prepared, for you know not the hour in which the Lord will come [Matt. 24:42, 44; Luke 12:35]. (§2) Come together frequently, and seek what pertains to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, unless in the last hour you shall be found perfect [2 Pet. 3:3; Matt. 24:10; 7:15].

Didascalia Apostolorum (c. 225)

The Sacrament of Holy Orders, and the Authority of the Priesthood | Ch. 15

(Ch. 15)¹⁷

It is neither right nor necessary therefore that women should be teachers, and especially concerning the name of Christ and the redemption of His passion. For you have not been appointed to this, O women, and especially widows, that you should teach, but that you should pray and entreat the Lord God. For He the Lord God, Jesus Christ our Teacher, sent us the Twelve to instruct the People and the Gentiles; and there were with us women disciples, Mary Magdalene and Mary the daughter of James and the other Mary; but He did not send them to instruct the people with us. For if it were required that women should teach, our Master Himself would have commanded these to give instruction with us. But let a widow know that she is the altar of God; and let her sit ever at home, and not stray or run about among the houses of the faithful to receive. For the altar of God never strays or runs about anywhere, but is fixed in one place.

Apostolic Constitutions (c. 400)

(Book 1, Part 3, §8)

Let the wife be obedient to her own proper husband, because “the husband is the head of the wife” (1 Cor. 11:3). But Christ is the head of that husband who walks in the way of righteousness; and “the head of Christ is God,” even His Father. Therefore, O wife, next after the Almighty, our God and Father, the Lord of the present world and of the world to come, the Maker of everything that breathes, and of every power; and after His beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom glory be to God, do thou fear thy husband, and reverence him, pleasing him alone, rendering thyself acceptable to him in the several affairs of life, that so on thy account thy husband may be called blessed, according to the Wisdom of Solomon, which thus speaks: “Who can find a virtuous woman? for such a one is more precious than costly stones. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that she shall have no need of spoil: for she does good to her husband all the days of her life. She buyeth wool and flax, and worketh profitable things with her hands. She is like the merchants’ ships, she bringeth her food from far. She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and food to her maidens. She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms. She tasteth that it is good to labour; her lamp goeth not out all the whole night. She stretcheth out her arms for useful work, and layeth her hands to the spindle. She openeth her hands to the needy; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the poor. Her husband takes no care of the affairs of his house; for all that are with her are clothed with double garments. She maketh coats for her husband, clothings of silk and purple. Her husband is eminent in the gates, when he sitteth with the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth it to the Phoenicians, and girdles to the Canaanites. She is clothed with glory and beauty, and she rejoices in the last days. She openeth her mouth with wisdom and discretion, and puts her words in order. The ways of her household are strict; she eateth not the bread of idleness. She will open her mouth with wisdom and caution, and upon her tongue are the laws of mercy. Her children arise up and praise her for her riches, and her husband joins in her praises. Many daughters have obtained wealth and done worthily, but thou surpassest and excellest them all. May lying flatteries and the vain beauty of a wife be far from thee. For a religious wife is blessed. Let her praise the fear of the Lord: “give her of the fruits of her lips, and let her husband be praised in the gates” (Prov. 31:10). And again: “A virtuous wife is a crown to her husband” (Prov. 12:4) And again: “Many wives have built an house” (Prov. 14:1). You have learned what great commendations a prudent and loving wife receives from the Lord God. If thou desirest to be one of the faithful, and to please the Lord, O wife, do not superadd ornaments to thy beauty, in order to please other men; neither affect to wear fine broidering, garments, or shoes, to entice those who are allured by such things. For although thou dost not these wicked things with design of sinning thyself, but only for the sake of ornament and beauty, yet wilt thou not so escape future punishment, as having compelled another to look so hard at thee as to lust after thee, and as not having taken care both to avoid sin thyself, and the affording scandal to others. But if thou yield thyself up, and commit the crime, thou art both guilty of thy own sin, and the cause of the ruin of the other’s soul also. Besides, when thou hast committed lewdness with one man, and beginnest to despair, thou wilt again turn away from thy duty, and follow others, and grow past feeling; as says the divine word: “When a wicked man comes into the depth of evil, he becomes a scorner, and then disgrace and reproach come upon him” (Prov. 18:3). For such a woman afterward being wounded, ensnares without restraint the souls of the foolish. Let us learn, therefore, how the divine word triumphs over such women, saying: “I hated a woman who is a snare and net to the heart of men worse than death; her hands are fetters” (Ecc. 7:26). And in another passage: “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is beauty in a wicked woman” (Prov. 11:22). And again: “As a worm in wood, so does a wicked woman destroy her husband” (Prov. 12:4, LXX). And again: “It is better to dwell in the corner of the house-top, than with a contentious and an angry woman” (Prov. 21:9, 19). You, therefore, who are Christian women, do not imitate such as these. But thou who designest to be faithful to thine own husband, take care to please him alone. And when thou art in the streets, cover thy head; for by such a covering thou wilt avoid being viewed of idle persons. Do not paint thy face, which is God’s workmanship; for there is no part of thee which wants ornament, inasmuch as all things which God has made are very good. But the lascivious additional adorning of what is already good is an affront to the bounty of the Creator. Look downward when thou walkest abroad, veiling thyself as becomes women.

(Book 2, Part 3, §19) ***

Hear, O ye bishops; and hear, O ye of the laity, how God speaks: “I will judge between ram and ram, and between sheep and sheep” (Ezek. 34:17). And He says to the shepherds: “You shall be judged for your skillfulness, and for destroying the sheep.” That is, I will judge between one bishop and another, and between one lay person and another, and between one ruler and another (for these sheep and these rams are not irrational, but rational creatures): lest at any time a lay person should say, I am a sheep and not a shepherd, and I am not concerned for myself; let the shepherd look to that, for he alone will be required to give an account for me. For as that sheep that will not follow its good shepherd is exposed to the wolves, to its destruction; so that which follows a bad shepherd is also exposed to unavoidable death, since his shepherd will devour him. Wherefore care must be had to avoid destructive shepherds.

(Book 2, Part 4, §32)

And again, Moses says to those who rose up against him: “Your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord our God” (Ex. 16:8). For if he that calls one of the laity Raka [Matt. 5:22], or fool, shall not be unpunished, as doing injury to the name of Christ, how dare any man speak against his bishop, by whom the Lord gave the Holy Spirit among you upon the laying on of his hands, by whom ye have learned the sacred doctrines, and have known God, and have believed in Christ, by whom you were known of God, by whom you were sealed with the oil of gladness and the ointment of understanding, by whom you were declared to be the children of light, by whom the Lord in your illumination testified by the imposition of the bishop’s hands, and sent out His sacred voice upon every one of you, saying, “You are my son, this day have I begotten thee?” (Ps. 2:7). By your bishop, O man, God adopts you for His child. Acknowledge, O son, that right hand which was a mother to you. Love him who, after God, is become a father to you, and honor him.

(Book 2, Part 4, §33) ***

For if the divine oracle says, concerning our parents according to the flesh, “Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may be well with thee” (Ex. 20:12); and, “He that curses his father or his mother, let him die the death” (Ex. 21:17); how much more should the word exhort you to honor your spiritual parents, and to love them as your benefactors and ambassadors with God, who have regenerated you by water, and endued you with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, who have fed you with the word as with milk, who have nourished you with doctrine, who have confirmed you by their admonitions, who have imparted to you the saving body and precious blood of Christ, who have loosed you from your sins, who have made you partakers of the holy and sacred eucharist, who have admitted you to be partakers and fellow-heirs of the promise of God! Reverence these, and honor them with all kinds of honor; for they have obtained from God the power of life and death, in their judging of sinners, and condemning them to the death of eternal fire, as also of loosing returning sinners from their sins, and of restoring them to a new life.

(Book 3, Part 1, §§6, 9)

(§6) We do not permit our “women to teach in the Church” (1 Cor. 14:34), but only to pray and hear those that teach; for our Master and Lord, Jesus Himself, when He sent us the twelve to make disciples of the people and of the nations, did nowhere send out women to preach, although He did not want such. For there were with us the mother of our Lord and His sisters; also Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Martha and Mary the sisters of Lazarus; Salome, and certain others. For, had it been necessary for women to teach, He Himself had first commanded these also to instruct the people with us. For “if the head of the wife be the man” (1 Cor. 11:3), it is not reasonable that the rest of the body should govern the head. Let the widow therefore own herself to be the “altar of God,” and let her sit in her house, and not enter into the houses of the faithful, under any pretense, to receive anything; for the altar of God never runs about, but is fixed in one place. Let, therefore, the virgin and the widow be such as do not run about, or gad to the houses of those who are alien from the faith. For such as these are gadders and impudent: they do not make their feet to rest in one place, because they are not widows, but purses ready to receive, triflers, evil-speakers, counselors of strife, without shame, impudent, who being such, are not worthy of Him that called them. For they do not come to the common station of the congregation on the Lord’s day, as those that are watchful; but either they slumber, or trifle, or allure men, or beg, or ensnare others, bringing them to the evil one; not suffering them to be watchful in the Lord, but taking care that they go out as vain as they came in, because they do not hear the word of the Lord either taught or read. For of such as these the prophet Isaiah says: “Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: for the heart of this people is waxen gross, and they hear heavily with their ears” (Isa. 6:9-10).

(§9) Now, as to women’s baptizing, we let you know that there is no small peril to those that undertake it. Therefore we do not advise you to it; for it is dangerous, or rather wicked and impious. For if the “man be the head of the woman” (1 Cor. 11:3), and he be originally ordained for the priesthood, it is not just to abrogate the order of the creation, and leave the principal to come to the extreme part of the body. For the woman is the body of the man, taken from his side, and subject to him, from whom she was separated for the procreation of children. For says He, “He shall rule over thee” (Gen. 3:16). For the principal part of the woman is the man, as being her head. But if in the foregoing constitutions we have not permitted them to teach, how will any one allow them, contrary to nature, to perform the office of a priest? For this is one of the ignorant practices of the Gentile atheism, to ordain women priests to the female deities, not one of the constitutions of Christ. For if baptism were to be administered by women, certainly our Lord would have been baptized by His own mother, and not by John; or when He sent us to baptize, He would have sent along with us women also for this purpose. But now He has nowhere, either by constitution or by writing, delivered to us any such thing; as knowing the order of nature, and the decency of the action; as being the Creator of nature, and the Legislator of the constitution.

(Book 3, Part 2, Intro-§16)

(Intro) Ordain also a deaconess who is faithful and holy, for the ministrations towards women. For sometimes he cannot send a deacon, who is a man, to the women, on account of unbelievers. Thou shalt therefore send a woman, a deaconess, on account of the imaginations of the bad. For we stand in need of a woman, a deaconess, for many necessities; and first in the baptism of women, the deacon shall anoint only their forehead with the holy oil, and after him the deaconess shall anoint them: for there is no necessity that the women should be seen by the men; but only in the laying on of hands the bishop shall anoint her head, as the priests and kings were formerly anointed, not because those which are now baptized are ordained priests, but as being Christians, or anointed, from Christ the Anointed, “a royal priesthood, and an holy nation, the Church of God, the pillar and ground of the marriage-chamber” (1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Tim. 3:15), who formerly were not a people, but now are beloved and chosen, upon whom is called His new name as Isaiah the prophet witnesses, saying: “And they shall call the people by His new name, which the Lord shall name for them” (Isa. 62:2).

(§16) Thou therefore, O bishop, according to that type, shalt anoint the head of those that are to be baptized, whether they be men or women, with the holy oil, for a type of the spiritual baptism. After that, either thou, O bishop, or a presbyter that is under thee, shall in the solemn form name over them the Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit, and shall dip them in the water; and let a deacon receive the man, and a deaconess the woman, that so the conferring of this inviolable seal may take place with a becoming decency. And after that, let the bishop anoint those that are baptized with ointment.

(Book 6, Part 3, §11)

We abhor all unlawful mixtures, and that which is practiced by some against nature as wicked and impious.

(Book 6, Part 6, Ch. 30)

For our Savior says to the Sadducees: “But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which is written, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God, therefore, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to Him” (Ex. 3:6; Luke 20:38). Wherefore, of those that live with God, even their very relics are not without honor. For even Elisha the prophet, after he was fallen asleep, raised up a dead man who was slain by the pirates of Syria [2 Kings 13:21]. For his body touched the bones of Elisha, and he arose and revived. Now this would not have happened unless the body of Elisha were holy. And chaste Joseph embraced Jacob after he was dead upon his bed [Gen. 50:1]; and Moses and Joshua the son of Nun carried away the relics of Joseph [Ex. 13:19; Josh. 24:32], and did not esteem it a defilement. Whence you also, O bishops, and the rest, who without such observances touch the departed, ought not to think yourselves defiled. Nor abhor the relics of such persons, but avoid such observances, for they are foolish. And adorn yourselves with holiness and chastity, that you may become partakers of immortality, and partners of the kingdom of God, and may receive the promise of God, and may rest for ever, through Jesus Christ our Savior.

(Book 6, Part 3, §15)

Be likewise contented with one baptism alone, that which is into the death of the Lord; not that which is conferred by wicked heretics, but that which is conferred by unblameable priests, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 28:19)…Nay, he that, out of contempt, will not be baptized, shall be condemned as an unbeliever, and shall be reproached as ungrateful and foolish. For the Lord says: “Unless a man be baptized of water and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven” (John 3:5). And again: “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be damned” (Mark 16:16). But he that says, “When I am dying I will be baptized, lest I should sin and defile my baptism,” is ignorant of God, and forgetful of his own nature. For do not delay to turn unto the Lord, for you know not what the next day will bring forth. Do you also baptize your infants, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of God. For says He: “Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not” (Matt. 19:14).

(Book 7, Part 1, §3)

Thou shall not slay thy child by causing abortion, nor kill that which is begotten; for “everything that is shaped, and has received a soul from God, if it be slain, shall be avenged, as being unjustly destroyed” (Ex. 21:23, LXX).

(Book 8, Part 1, §2)

Now women prophesied also. Of old, Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron, and after her Deborah, and after these Huldah and Judith—the former under Josiah, the latter under Darius…

(Book 8, Part 3, §§24-25, 28)

(§24) I, the same, make a constitution in regard to virgins: A virgin is not ordained, for we have no such command from the Lord (1 Cor. 7:25);for this is a state of voluntary trial, not for the reproach of marriage, but on account of leisure for piety.

(§25) And I Lebbaeus, surnamed Thaddaeus, make this constitution in regard to widows: A widow is not ordained…

(§28) …A deaconess does not bless, nor perform anything belonging to the office of presbyters or deacons, but only is to keep the doors, and to minister to the presbyters in the baptizing of women, on account of decency. A deacon separates a sub-deacon, a reader, a singer, and a deaconess, if there be any occasion, in the absence of a presbyter. It is not lawful for a sub-deacon to separate either one of the clergy or laity; nor for a reader, nor for a singer, nor for a deaconess, for they are the ministers to the deacons.

(Book 8, Part 4, §§40-41)

(§40) …Concerning those that are at rest in Christ: After the bidding prayer, that we may not repeat it again, the deacon shall add as follows:

(§41) Let us pray for our brethren that are at rest in Christ, that God, the lover of mankind, who has received his soul, may forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary, and may be merciful and gracious to him, and give him his lot in the land of the pious that are sent into the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, with all those that have pleased Him and done His will from the beginning of the world, whence all sorrow, grief, and lamentation are banished. Let us arise, let us dedicate ourselves and one another to the eternal God, through that Word which was in the beginning.

And let the bishop say: O You who is by nature immortal, and has no end of Your being, from whom every creature, whether immortal or mortal, is derived; who made man a rational creature, the citizen of this world, in his constitution mortal, and added the promise of a resurrection; who did not suffer Enoch and Elijah to taste of death: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who art the God of them, not as of dead, but as of living persons: for the souls of all men live with You, and the spirits of the righteous are in Your hand, which no torment can touch [Matt. 22:32; Wis. 3:1]; for they are all sanctified under Your hand: do Thou now also look upon this Your servant, whom You have selected and received into another state, and forgive him if voluntarily or involuntarily he has sinned, and afford him merciful angels, and place him in the bosom of the patriarchs, and prophets, and apostles, and of all those that have pleased You from the beginning of the world, where there is no grief, sorrow, nor lamentation; but the peaceable region of the godly, and the undisturbed land of the upright, and of those that therein see, the glory of Your Christ; by whom glory, honor, and worship, thanksgiving, and adoration be to You, in the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen…

The Teaching of the Apostles, Syriac (400s)

The Papacy and the Invincibility of the Church

And after the death of the apostles there were Guides and Rulers in the churches; and, whatsoever the apostles had committed to them and they had received from them, they continued to teach to the multitude through the whole space of their lives. They too, again, at their deaths committed and delivered to their disciples after them whatsoever they had received from the apostles; also what James had written from Jerusalem, and Simon from the city of Rome, and John from Ephesus, and Mark from Alexandria the Great, and Andrew from Phrygia, and Luke from Macedonia, and Judas Thomas from India: that the epistles of an apostle might be received and read in the churches that were in every place, just as the achievements of their Acts, which Luke wrote, are read; that hereby the apostles might be known, and the prophets, and the Old Testament and the New; that so might be seen one truth was proclaimed in them all: that one Spirit spoke in them all, from one God whom they had all worshiped and had all preached. And the divers countries received their teaching. Everything, therefore, which had been spoken by our Lord by means of the apostles, and which the apostles had delivered to their disciples, was believed and received in every country, by the operation of our Lord, who said to them: “I am with you, even until the world shall end” (Matt. 28:20)…

Footnotes

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