“Trust in Him, all ye assembled people; pour out all your hearts before Him.” He says to those that have newly abandoned wickedness, “He pities them, and fills them with righteousness.” Believe Him who is man and God; believe, O man. Believe, O man, the living God, who suffered and is adored. Believe, ye slaves, Him who died; believe, all ye of human kind, Him who alone is God of all men. Believe, and receive salvation as your reward. Seek God, and your soul shall live. He who seeks God is busying himself about his own salvation. Hast thou found … Continue reading Be about your own salvation

A fluent tongue and an elegant style afford pleasure and such praise as vainglory delights in, to wretched men who have been corrupted in mind; the lover of truth does not give heed to ornamented speeches, but examines the real matter of the speech, what it is, and what kind it is. Theophilus of Antioch. 1885. “Theophilus to Autolycus.” In Fathers of the Second Century. Continue reading Examine

Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own  fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we Ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it. Tatian, “Address of Tatian to the Greeks,” in Fathers of the Second Century Jesus is the way to reject it! Believe in … Continue reading We done it

Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own  fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we Ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it. Tatian, “Address of Tatian to the Greeks,” in Fathers of the Second Century “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes … Continue reading It’s our own fault

Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own  fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we Ourselves have manifested wickedness… Tatian, “Address of Tatian to the Greeks,” in Fathers of the Second Century “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from … Continue reading Our free-will

🕊️ Modern Paraphrase of Chrysostom’s Message: Let’s stay mindful of the incredible spiritual rebirth we’ve received from the beginning of our faith. Each day, we should set our sights more firmly on the heavenly realm, treating everything in this world as fleeting—like shadows or dreams. Imagine a king finding you poor and destitute, then suddenly adopting you as his child. You wouldn’t keep longing for your old, shabby cottage, right? But even that transformation—from poverty to royalty—is small compared to what God offers. So don’t cling to your former life or earthly attachments. You’ve been invited to something far greater. … Continue reading Don’t cling

On this account, therefore, the Lord Himself, who is Emmanuel from the Virgin, is the sign of our salvation, since it was the Lord Himself who saved them, because they could not be saved by their own instrumentality; and, therefore, when Paul sets forth human infirmity, he says: “For I know that there dwelleth in my flesh no good thing,” showing that the “good thing” of our salvation is not from us, but from God. And again: “Wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Then he introduces the Deliverer, [saying,] “The grace … Continue reading Not by ourselves

1. It is therefore better and more profitable to belong to the simple and unlettered class, and by means of love to attain to nearness to God, than, by imagining ourselves learned and skilful, to be found [among those who are] blasphemous against their own God, inasmuch as they conjure up another God as the Father. And for this reason Paul exclaimed, “Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth:”2 not that he meant to inveigh against a true knowledge of God, for in that case he would have accused himself; but, because he knew that some, puffed up by the pretence … Continue reading Which he imagines himself to have