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Passages from our Early Church Fathers

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Ranya+++

posted on Aug 27, 2010 - 06:42 AM

I’ve found that a lot of the passages from our Early Church Fathers are very helpful. I’ll try to post what I can in this thread, but if any of you have passages or excerpts from our Early Church Fathers that you would like to share, please post them in this thread. Also, please include the source where you got the passages or excerpts from, so if any of us are interested in reading more from that particular source, we’ll know what to look for.

What does it mean to be as wise as a serpent? When a serpent is attacked, it is willing to have much of its body severed, as long as it saves its head. So to be as wise as a serpent means to be willing to lose everything – your wealth, your reputation, your friends – as long as you save your faith. Your faith is your head, by which you learn all truth; and by that truth your soul is set free. We should, however, recognize that the wisdom of the serpent is not enough; we must be as honest and innocent as doves. Indeed it is the combination of wisdom and innocence that creates virtue. The person who is wise as a serpent can sustain the most terrible attacks and still continue to flourish as a disciple of Christ. The person who is innocent refuses to retaliate against those who make the attacks. To be as innocent as a dove means never to take revenge on those who wrong you or undermine you. Unless wisdom is tempered by innocence, one attack provokes another, and conflict continues without end. Unless innocence is tempered by wisdom, a person is so vulnerable that he will not even survive a single attack. Rest assured that no one can ever take away your faith; your wisdom guards against that. But be careful never to bear a grudge against anyone who does you wrong.

On Living Simply, The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom
Complied by Robert Van de Weyer
p.57

Joined: Jul 30, 2005 | Posts: 88

Truth.Seeker

posted on Aug 27, 2010 - 04:21 PM

From St. Augustine:No doubt the two are generated simultaneously—both nature and nature’s corruption; one of which is good, the other evil. The one comes to us from the bounty of the Creator, the other is contracted from the condemnation of our origin; the one has its cause in the good-will of the Supreme God, the other in the depraved will of the first man; the one exhibits God as the maker of the creature, the other exhibits God as the punisher of disobedience: in short, the very same Christ was the maker of man for the creation of the one, and was made man for the healing of the other… Where God did nothing else than by a just sentence to condemn the man who willfully sins, together with his stock; there also, as a matter of course, whatsoever was even not yet born is justly condemned in its sinful root.
St. Augustine. On Original Sin.

Joined: Feb 25, 2008 | Posts: 967

Ranya+++

posted on Aug 31, 2010 - 05:27 AM

Who is fit to be a leader in the Church? What gifts and qualities should we look for in those who take charge of our spiritual affairs? Should we assess potential leaders by their abilities, such as the ability to preach well, to find the right words to say to the sick and the dying, to interpret with expertise the words of Scripture, and so on? Certainly all these things are important; and without some natural capacities of this kind, a person clearly is not called to be a spiritual leader. But these abilities count for nothing – indeed they are likely to do harm – unless they are firmly based on spiritual and moral qualities. Imagine a person with exceptional rhetorical skills who could inspire any congregation to share his vision. If that vision were rooted in an evil heart, such a person could do terrible damage to the congregation, turning their hearts toward evil also. Imagine a person of great intellectual ability, who twisted the words of Scripture to suit his own wicked purposes. That person could make a congregation believe that good was evil, and evil good. Imagine a person whose voice could bring comfort to every kind of distress, but who was the agent of the devil, not of God, when he visited the dying. Even to mention that such a person may exist is to induce fear in the hearts of every believer.

On Living Simply, The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom
Complied by Robert Van de Weyer
P.45

We often speak of human emotions as having dimensions. One person is said to have deep feelings, while another is said to be shallow in their emotions. One person is said to have a wide and open heart, while another is said to have a heart which is narrow and closed. Of course, these are simple images; yet what do these images truly convey? When our emotions are deep toward a person or an event, it means that we cannot ignore that person or event, but must remain closely involved. When our emotions are wide and open, it means that we can respond to many people and events, not just a few. Jesus had deep emotions of love toward people, and he prayed deeply about every event in their lives; and he also had wide emotions, loving everyone he encountered with equal depth. This is how we must aspire to become. Shallow emotions lead to apathy and complaining; so they make us indifferent toward other people and toward the events which shape their lives. And narrow emotions enable us to ignore the cries of pain and suffering that we hear all around us. To be a Christian means to extend one’s heart both downward and outward.

On Living Simply, The Golden Voice of John Chrysostom
Complied by Robert Van de Weyer
P.79

Joined: Jul 30, 2005 | Posts: 88

Ranya+++

posted on Sep 10, 2010 - 05:13 AM

Let me describe to you five ways of repentance; each is different, but all point toward heaven. The first road is the acknowledgement of sins. If you acknowledge your sins to God, he will forgive you; and this act of acknowledgment will help you stop sinning. Let your conscience be your accuser, so that you will not have to face a far different accuser at the Lord’s tribunal. The second road of repentance is the forgetting of the wrongs of others. This requires you to control your temper and to forgive the sins that others have committed against you. If you forgive others, the Lord will forgive you. The third road is prayer: not perfunctory routine prayer, but fervent, passionate prayer in which you lay yourself wholly before God. The fourth road is generosity, in which by acts of thoughtful love you make amends for the sins you have committed. And the fifth road is humility, whereby you regard yourself as having no virtue, but only sins to offer to God; he will then take the burden of sin from your back. At times it will be right to travel on one of these roads, at other times to travel on another. But ensure that every day you walk along at least one of them.

On Living Simply, The Golden Voice of John
Chrysostom
Complied by Robert Van de Weyer
P.62

Joined: Jul 30, 2005 | Posts: 88

Ranya+++

posted on Oct 07, 2010 - 01:38 PM

Quote:
The New Pharisees

Christ himself accuses us of hypocrisy: 'This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. In vain do they worship me.' [Matt. 15:8-9]

Precisely these words that the Lord was speaking to reprove the Pharisees I feel he is speaking to us, the hypocrites of today who have been enriched with so much grace and yet have remained in a worse state than the hypocrites of yesterday.

Do not we also require others to carry crushing weights while we do not touch them even with a finger? Is it not possibly true that we too look for the best seats at banquets, the front places in meetings and like to be called experts? And do we not have a mortal hatred for anyone who does not offer us these honours?

Have not we too, perhaps, thrown away the key of true knowledge and shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in the face of other people, so that we neither enter it ourselves nor allow others to enter?
[Luke 11:46, Matt. 23:6-7, 13]

Maximus the Confessor
Ascetics, 35 (PG90, 940)

Drinking from the Hidden Fountain: A Patristic Breviary, Ancient Wisdom for Today's World
By Thomas Spidlik
P.135-136

Joined: Jul 30, 2005 | Posts: 88

Jon

posted on Jan 12, 2012 - 07:15 AM

What well-dressed person has ever been granted even one additional day of life? Has death ever spared anyone on account of wealth? Has sickness departed from anyone on account of possessions? How long shall gold be the oppression of souls, the hook of death, the lure of sin? How long shall wealth be the cause of war, for which purpose weapons are forged and sword blades whetted? Because of wealth, kinsfolk disregard the bond of nature, and sibling contemplates murder against sibling. Because of wealth, the desert teems with murderers, the sea with pirates, and the cities with extortionists. Who is the father of lies? Who is the author of forgery? Who gave birth to perjury? Is it not wealth? Is it not the pursuit of wealth? What ails you, people? Who twisted the things that are yours into a plot against you? Material things exist to assist with life; surely they were not given as a provision for wickedness? They constitute a ransom for the soul; surely they were not provided as an occasion for your own destruction?

“But wealth is necessary for rearing children,” someone will say. This is a specious excuse for greed; although you speak as though children were your concern, you betray the inclinations of your own heart. Do not impute guilt to the guiltless! They have their own Master who cares for their needs. They received their being from God, and God will provide what they need to live. Was the command found in the Gospel, “If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor,” not written for the married? After seeking the blessing of children from the Lord, and being found worthy to become parents, did you at once add the following, “Give me children, that I might disobey your commandments; give me children, that I might not attain the Kingdom of Heaven”?

St. Basil the Great, Homily 7, "To The Rich", from On Social Justice pg 53

Joined: Jun 10, 2005 | Posts: 12

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