1. Hebrew Bible, Hosea, 14.9 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE)
| 14.9. אֶפְרַיִם מַה־לִּי עוֹד לָעֲצַבִּים אֲנִי עָנִיתִי וַאֲשׁוּרֶנּוּ אֲנִי כִּבְרוֹשׁ רַעֲנָן מִמֶּנִּי פֶּרְיְךָ נִמְצָא׃ | 14.9. Ephraim [shall say]: ‘What have I to do any more with idols?’ As for Me, I respond and look on him; I am like a leafy cypress-tree; From Me is thy fruit found." |
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2. Philo of Alexandria, On The Special Laws, 1.190-1.192, 2.148 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE)
| 1.190. The sacrifices which are whole burnt offerings and are joint offerings on behalf of the nation or--to speak more accurately--on behalf of the entire race of humanity have been addressed to the best of my ability. However, a he-goat accompanies the whole burnt offerings on each day of the feast. He is called "concerning sins" and is sacrificed for the forgiveness of sins. His meat is Distributed{25}{although S. Daniel included a negative in her edition (PAPM 24 1.191. What is the reason for this? Is it because a feast is a time of good cheer, and undeceiving and true good cheer is good sense firmly established in the soul, and this unwavering good sense is impossible to receive without a cure from sins and cutting off of the passions? For it would be out of place if each of the animals of the whole burnt offerings is sacrificed only when it is found undamaged and unhurt, but the mind of the sacrificer has not been purified in every way and cleansed by making use of washings and lustrations which the right reason of nature pours into God-loving souls through healthy and uncorrupt ears. 1.192. In addition the following ought to be said. These festal and holiday rests have in the past often opened up countless avenues to sins. For unmixed beverage and luxurious diets with excessive drinking arouse the insatiable desires of the stomach and also kindle the desires of the parts beneath the stomach. As these desires both flow and stream out in every way, they produce a surge of unspeakable evils using the fearless stimulant of the feast as a refuge to avoid suffering anything. 2.148. And each house is at that time invested with the character and dignity of a temple, the victim being sacrificed so as to make a suitable feast for the man who has provided it and of those who are collected to share in the feast, being all duly purified with holy ablutions. And those who are to share in the feast come together not as they do to other entertainments, to gratify their bellies with wine and meat, but to fulfil their hereditary custom with prayer and songs of praise. |
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3. Anon., Didache, 14 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 14. But every Lord's day gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure. But let no one that is at variance with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that your sacrifice may not be profaned. For this is that which was spoken by the Lord: In every place and time offer to me a pure sacrifice; for I am a great King, says the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the nations. |
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4. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 10.16, 10.17, 10.18, 10.19, 10.20, 10.21, 11.17-14.40 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 10.16. Thecup of blessing which we bless, isn't it a communion of the blood ofChrist? The bread which we break, isn't it a communion of the body ofChrist? |
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5. New Testament, Acts, 2.42-2.47, 4.32-4.37, 12.12 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 2.42. They continued steadfastly in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer. 2.43. Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 2.44. All who believed were together, and had all things common. 2.45. They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need. 2.46. Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart 2.47. praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved. 4.32. The multitude of those who believed were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that anything of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common. 4.33. With great power, the apostles gave their testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Great grace was on them all. 4.34. For neither was there among them any who lacked, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold 4.35. and laid them at the apostles' feet, and distribution was made to each, according as anyone had need. 4.36. Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, being interpreted, Son of Exhortation), a Levite, a man of Cyprus by race 4.37. having a field, sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. 12.12. Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. |
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6. New Testament, Galatians, 6.6 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 6.6. But let him who is taught in the word share all goodthings with him who teaches. |
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7. Anon., Acts of Peter, 13 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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8. Athenagoras, Apology Or Embassy For The Christians, 31 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 31. But they have further also made up stories against us of impious feasts and forbidden intercourse between the sexes, both that they may appear to themselves to have rational grounds of hatred, and because they think either by fear to lead us away from our way of life, or to render the rulers harsh and inexorable by the magnitude of the charges they bring. But they lose their labour with those who know that from of old it has been the custom, and not in our time only, for vice to make war on virtue. Thus Pythagoras, with three hundred others, was burnt to death; Heraclitus and Democritus were banished, the one from the city of the Ephesians, the other from Abdera, because he was charged with being mad; and the Athenians condemned Socrates to death. But as they were none the worse in respect of virtue because of the opinion of the multitude, so neither does the undiscriminating calumny of some persons cast any shade upon us as regards rectitude of life, for with God we stand in good repute. Nevertheless, I will meet these charges also, although I am well assured that by what has been already said I have cleared myself to you. For as you excel all men in intelligence, you know that those whose life is directed towards God as its rule, so that each one among us may be blameless and irreproachable before Him, will not entertain even the thought of the slightest sin. For if we believed that we should live only the present life, then we might be suspected of sinning, through being enslaved to flesh and blood, or overmastered by gain or carnal desire; but since we know that God is witness to what we think and what we say both by night and by day, and that He, being Himself light, sees all things in our heart, we are persuaded that when we are removed from the present life we shall live another life, better than the present one, and heavenly, not earthly (since we shall abide near God, and with God, free from all change or suffering in the soul, not as flesh, even though we shall have flesh, but as heavenly spirit), or, falling with the rest, a worse one and in fire; for God has not made us as sheep or beasts of burden, a mere by-work, and that we should perish and be annihilated. On these grounds it is not likely that we should wish to do evil, or deliver ourselves over to the great Judge to be punished. |
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9. Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition, 21-22, 20 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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10. Irenaeus, Refutation of All Heresies, 1.13 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 1.13. One Ecphantus, a native of Syracuse, affirmed that it is not possible to attain a true knowledge of things. He defines, however, as he thinks, primary bodies to be indivisible, and that there are three variations of these, viz., bulk, figure, capacity, from which are generated the objects of sense. But that there is a determinable multitude of these, and that this is infinite. And that bodies are moved neither by weight nor by impact, but by divine power, which he calls mind and soul; and that of this the world is a representation; wherefore also it has been made in the form of a sphere by divine power. And that the earth in the middle of the cosmical system is moved round its own centre towards the east. |
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11. Justin, First Apology, 67 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
| 67. And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. |
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12. Lucian, The Passing of Peregrinus, 11 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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13. Minucius Felix, Octavius, 9.6, 31.1, 31.5 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
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14. Pliny The Younger, Letters, 10.96, 10.96.7 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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15. Pliny The Younger, Letters, 10.96, 10.96.7 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE)
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16. Tertullian, To The Heathen, 1.7 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 1.7. Whence comes it to pass, you will say to us, that such a character could have been attributed to you, as to have justified the lawmakers perhaps by its imputation? Let me ask on my side, what voucher they had then, or you now, for the truth of the imputation? (You answer,) Fame. Well, now, is not this - Fama malum, quo non aliud velocius ullum? Now, why a plague, if it be always true? It never ceases from lying; nor even at the moment when it reports the truth is it so free from the wish to lie, as not to interweave the false with the true, by processes of addition, diminution, or confusion of various facts. Indeed, such is its condition, that it can only continue to exist while it lies. For it lives only just so long as it fails to prove anything. As soon as it proves itself true, it falls; and, as if its office of reporting news were at an end, it quits its post: thenceforward the thing is held to be a fact, and it passes under that name. No one, then, says, to take an instance, The report is that this happened at Rome, or, The rumour goes that he has got a province; but, He has got a province, and, This happened at Rome. Nobody mentions a rumour except at an uncertainty, because nobody can be sure of a rumour, but only of certain knowledge; and none but a fool believes a rumour, because no wise man puts faith in an uncertainty. In however wide a circuit a report has been circulated, it must needs have originated some time or other from one mouth; afterwards it creeps on somehow to ears and tongues which pass it on and so obscures the humble error in which it began, that no one considers whether the mouth which first set it a-going disseminated a falsehood - a circumstance which often happens either from a temper of rivalry, or a suspicious turn, or even the pleasure of feigning news. It is, however, well that time reveals all things, as your own sayings and proverbs testify; yea, as nature herself attests, which has so ordered it that nothing lies hid, not even that which fame has not reported. See, now, what a witness you have suborned against us: it has not been able up to this time to prove the report it set in motion, although it has had so long a time to recommend it to our acceptance. This name of ours took its rise in the reign of Augustus; under Tiberius it was taught with all clearness and publicity; under Nero it was ruthlessly condemned, and you may weigh its worth and character even from the person of its persecutor. If that prince was a pious man, then the Christians are impious; if he was just, if he was pure, then the Christians are unjust and impure; if he was not a public enemy, we are enemies of our country: what sort of men we are, our persecutor himself shows, since he of course punished what produced hostility to himself. Now, although every other institution which existed under Nero has been destroyed, yet this of ours has firmly remained - righteous, it would seem, as being unlike the author (of its persecution). Two hundred and fifty years, then, have not yet passed since our life began. During the interval there have been so many criminals; so many crosses have obtained immortality; so many infants have been slain; so many loaves steeped in blood; so many extinctions of candles; so many dissolute marriages. And up to the present time it is mere report which fights against the Christians. No doubt it has a strong support in the wickedness of the human mind, and utters its falsehoods with more success among cruel and savage men. For the more inclined you are to maliciousness, the more ready are you to believe evil; in short, men more easily believe the evil that is false, than the good which is true. Now, if injustice has left any place within you for the exercise of prudence in investigating the truth of reports, justice of course demanded that you should examine by whom the report could have been spread among the multitude, and thus circulated through the world. For it could not have been by the Christians themselves, I suppose, since by the very constitution and law of all mysteries the obligation of silence is imposed. How much more would this be the case in such (mysteries as are ascribed to us), which, if divulged, could not fail to bring down instant punishment from the prompt resentment of men! Since, therefore, the Christians are not their own betrayers, it follows that it must be strangers. Now I ask, how could strangers obtain knowledge of us, when even true and lawful mysteries exclude every stranger from witnessing them, unless illicit ones are less exclusive? Well, then, it is more in keeping with the character of strangers both to be ignorant (of the true state of a case), and to invent (a false account). Our domestic servants (perhaps) listened, and peeped through crevices and holes, and stealthily got information of our ways. What, then, shall we say when our servants betray them to you? It is better, (to be sure,) for us all not to be betrayed by any; but still, if our practices be so atrocious, how much more proper is it when a righteous indignation bursts asunder even all ties of domestic fidelity? How was it possible for it to endure what horrified the mind and affrighted the eye? This is also a wonderful thing, both that he who was so overcome with impatient excitement as to turn informer, did not likewise desire to prove (what he reported), and that he who heard the informer's story did not care to see for himself, since no doubt the reward is equal both for the informer who proves what he reports, and for the hearer who convinces himself of the credibility of what he hears. But then you say that (this is precisely what has taken place): first came the rumour, then the exhibition of the proof; first the hearsay, then the inspection; and after this, fame received its commission. Now this, I must say, surpasses all admiration, that that was once for all detected and divulged which is being for ever repeated, unless, forsooth, we have by this time ceased from the reiteration of such things (as are alleged of us). But we are called still by the same (offensive) name, and we are supposed to be still engaged in the same practices, and we multiply from day to day; the more we are, to the more become we objects of hatred. Hatred increases as the material for it increases. Now, seeing that the multitude of offenders is ever advancing, how is it that the crowd of informers does not keep equal pace therewith? To the best of my belief, even our manner of life has become better known; you know the very days of our assemblies; therefore we are both besieged, and attacked, and kept prisoners actually in our secret congregations. Yet who ever came upon a half-consumed corpse (among us)? Who has detected the traces of a bite in our blood-steeped loaf? Who has discovered, by a sudden light invading our darkness, any marks of impurity, I will not say of incest, (in our feasts)? If we save ourselves by a bribe from being dragged out before the public gaze with such a character, how is it that we are still oppressed? We have it indeed in our own power not to be thus apprehended at all; for who either sells or buys information about a crime, if the crime itself has no existence? But why need I disparagingly refer to strange spies and informers, when you allege against us such charges as we certainly do not ourselves divulge with very much noise - either as soon as you hear of them, if we previously show them to you, or after you have yourselves discovered them, if they are for the time concealed from you? For no doubt, when any desire initiation in the mysteries, their custom is first to go to the master or father of the sacred rites. Then he will say (to the applicant), You must bring an infant, as a guarantee for our rites, to be sacrificed, as well as some bread to be broken and dipped in his blood; you also want candles, and dogs tied together to upset them, and bits of meat to rouse the dogs. Moreover, a mother too, or a sister, is necessary for you. What, however, is to be said if you have neither? I suppose in that case you could not be a genuine Christian. Now, do let me ask you, Will such things, when reported by strangers, bear to be spread about (as charges against us)? It is impossible for such persons to understand proceedings in which they take no part. The first step of the process is perpetrated with artifice; our feasts and our marriages are invented and detailed by ignorant persons, who had never before heard about Christian mysteries. And though they afterwards cannot help acquiring some knowledge of them, it is even then as having to be administered by others whom they bring on the scene. Besides, how absurd is it that the profane know mysteries which the priest knows not! They keep them all to themselves, then, and take them for granted; and so these tragedies, (worse than those) of Thyestes or Œdipus, do not at all come forth to light, nor find their way to the public. Even more voracious bites take nothing away from the credit of such as are initiated, whether servants or masters. If, however, none of these allegations can be proved to be true, how incalculable must be esteemed the grandeur (of that religion) which is manifestly not overbalanced even by the burden of these vast atrocities! O you heathen; who have and deserve our pity, behold, we set before you the promise which our sacred system offers. It guarantees eternal life to such as follow and observe it; on the other hand, it threatens with the eternal punishment of an unending fire those who are profane and hostile; while to both classes alike is preached a resurrection from the dead. We are not now concerned about the doctrine of these (verities), which are discussed in their proper place. Meanwhile, however, believe them, even as we do ourselves, for I want to know whether you are ready to reach them, as we do, through such crimes. Come, whosoever you are, plunge your sword into an infant; or if that is another's office, then simply gaze at the breathing creature dying before it has lived; at any rate, catch its fresh blood in which to steep your bread; then feed yourself without stint; and while this is going on, recline. Carefully distinguish the places where your mother or your sister may have made their bed; mark them well, in order that, when the shades of night have fallen upon them, putting of course to the test the care of every one of you, you may not make the awkward mistake of alighting on somebody else: you would have to make an atonement, if you failed of the incest. When you have effected all this, eternal life will be in store for you. I want you to tell me whether you think eternal life worth such a price. No, indeed, you do not believe it: even if you did believe it, I maintain that you would be unwilling to give (the fee); or if willing, would be unable. But why should others be able if you are unable? Why should you be able if others are unable? What would you wish impunity (and) eternity to stand you in? Do you suppose that these (blessings) can be bought by us at any price? Have Christians teeth of a different sort from others? Have they more ample jaws? Are they of different nerve for incestuous lust? I think not. It is enough for us to differ from you in condition by truth alone. |
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17. Tertullian, Against Marcion, 1.14.3, 4.4 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 4.4. We must follow, then, the clue of our discussion, meeting every effort of our opponents with reciprocal vigor. I say that my Gospel is the true one; Marcion, that his is. I affirm that Marcion's Gospel is adulterated; Marcion, that mine is. Now what is to settle the point for us, except it be that principle of time, which rules that the authority lies with that which shall be found to be more ancient; and assumes as an elemental truth, that corruption (of doctrine) belongs to the side which shall be convicted of comparative lateness in its origin. For, inasmuch as error is falsification of truth, it must needs be that truth therefore precede error. A thing must exist prior to its suffering any casualty; and an object must precede all rivalry to itself. Else how absurd it would be, that, when we have proved our position to be the older one, and Marcion's the later, ours should yet appear to be the false one, before it had even received from truth its objective existence; and Marcion's should also be supposed to have experienced rivalry at our hands, even before its publication; and, in fine, that that should be thought to be the truer position which is the later one - a century later than the publication of all the many and great facts and records of the Christian religion, which certainly could not have been published without, that is to say, before, the truth of the gospel. With regard, then, to the pending question, of Luke's Gospel (so far as its being the common property of ourselves and Marcion enables it to be decisive of the truth, ) that portion of it which we alone receive is so much older than Marcion, that Marcion himself once believed it, when in the first warmth of faith he contributed money to the Catholic church, which along with himself was afterwards rejected, when he fell away from our truth into his own heresy. What if the Marcionites have denied that he held the primitive faith among ourselves, in the face even of his own letter? What, if they do not acknowledge the letter? They, at any rate, receive his Antitheses; and more than that, they make ostentatious use of them. Proof out of these is enough for me. For if the Gospel, said to be Luke's which is current among us (we shall see whether it be also current with Marcion), is the very one which, as Marcion argues in his Antitheses, was interpolated by the defenders of Judaism, for the purpose of such a conglomeration with it of the law and the prophets as should enable them out of it to fashion their Christ, surely he could not have so argued about it, unless he had found it (in such a form). No one censures things before they exist, when he knows not whether they will come to pass. Emendation never precedes the fault. To be sure, an amender of that Gospel, which had been all topsy-turvy from the days of Tiberius to those of Antoninus, first presented himself in Marcion alone - so long looked for by Christ, who was all along regretting that he had been in so great a hurry to send out his apostles without the support of Marcion! But for all that, heresy, which is for ever mending the Gospels, and corrupting them in the act, is an affair of man's audacity, not of God's authority; and if Marcion be even a disciple, he is yet not above his master; Matthew 10:24 if Marcion be an apostle, still as Paul says, Whether it be I or they, so we preach; 1 Corinthians 15:11 if Marcion be a prophet, even the spirits of the prophets will be subject to the prophets, 1 Corinthians 14:32 for they are not the authors of confusion, but of peace; or if Marcion be actually an angel, he must rather be designated as anathema than as a preacher of the gospel, Galatians 1:8 because it is a strange gospel which he has preached. So that, while he amends, he only confirms both positions: both that our Gospel is the prior one, for he amends that which he has previously fallen in with; and that that is the later one, which, by putting it together out of the emendations of ours, he has made his own Gospel, and a novel one too. |
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18. Tertullian, On Baptism, 6-7, 4 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 4. But it will suffice to have thus called at the outset those points in which withal is recognised that primary principle of baptism - which was even then fore-noted by the very attitude assumed for a type of baptism - that the Spirit of God, who hovered over (the waters) from the beginning, would continue to linger over the waters of the baptized. But a holy thing, of course, hovered over a holy; or else, from that which hovered over that which was hovered over borrowed a holiness, since it is necessary that in every case an underlying material substance should catch the quality of that which overhangs it, most of all a corporeal of a spiritual, adapted (as the spiritual is) through the subtleness of its substance, both for penetrating and insinuating. Thus the nature of the waters, sanctified by the Holy One, itself conceived withal the power of sanctifying. Let no one say, Why then, are we, pray, baptized with the very waters which then existed in the first beginning? Not with those waters, of course, except in so far as the genus indeed is one, but the species very many. But what is an attribute to the genus reappears likewise in the species. And accordingly it makes no difference whether a man be washed in a sea or a pool, a stream or a fount, a lake or a trough; nor is there any distinction between those whom John baptized in the Jordan and those whom Peter baptized in the Tiber, unless withal the eunuch whom Philip baptized in the midst of his journeys with chance water, derived (therefrom) more or less of salvation than others. Acts 8:26-40 All waters, therefore, in virtue of the pristine privilege of their origin, do, after invocation of God, attain the sacramental power of sanctification; for the Spirit immediately supervenes from the heavens, and rests over the waters, sanctifying them from Himself; and being thus sanctified, they imbibe at the same time the power of sanctifying. Albeit the similitude may be admitted to be suitable to the simple act; that, since we are defiled by sins, as it were by dirt, we should be washed from those stains in waters. But as sins do not show themselves in our flesh (inasmuch as no one carries on his skin the spot of idolatry, or fornication, or fraud), so persons of that kind are foul in the spirit, which is the author of the sin; for the spirit is lord, the flesh servant. Yet they each mutually share the guilt: the spirit, on the ground of command; the flesh, of subservience. Therefore, after the waters have been in a manner endued with medicinal virtue through the intervention of the angel, the spirit is corporeally washed in the waters, and the flesh is in the same spiritually cleansed. |
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19. Babylonian Talmud, Horayot, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 10b. עבדות אני נותן לכם שנאמר (מלכים א יב, ז) וידברו אליו לאמר אם היום תהיה עבד לעם הזה:,ת"ר (ויקרא ד, כב) אשר נשיא יחטא אמר ריב"ז אשרי הדור שהנשיא שלו מביא קרבן על שגגתו אם נשיא שלו מביא קרבן צריך אתה לומר מהו הדיוט ואם על שגגתו מביא קרבן צריך אתה לומר מהו זדונו,מתקיף לה רבא בריה דרבה אלא מעתה דכתי' (ויקרא ה, טז) ואת אשר חטא מן הקדש ישלם ובירבעם בן נבט דכתיב ביה (מלכים א יד, טז) אשר חטא ואשר החטיא הכי נמי דאשרי הדור הוא שאני הכא דשני קרא בדבוריה,דרש רב נחמן בר רב חסדא מאי דכתיב (קהלת ח, יד) יש הבל אשר נעשה על הארץ וגו' אשריהם לצדיקים שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הרשעים של עולם הבא בעולם הזה אוי להם לרשעים שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הצדיקים של עולם הבא בעולם הזה,אמר רבא אטו צדיקי אי אכלי תרי עלמי מי סני להו אלא אמר רבא אשריהם לצדיקים שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הרשעים של עולם הזה בעולם הזה אוי להם לרשעים שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הצדיקים של עולם הזה בעולם הזה,רב פפא ורב הונא בריה דרב יהושע אתו לקמיה דרבא אמר להו אוקימתון מסכתא פלן ומסכתא פלן אמרו ליה אין איעתריתו פורתא אמרו ליה אין דזבנן קטינא דארעא קרי עלייהו אשריהם לצדיקים שמגיע אליהם כמעשה הרשעים שבעולם הזה בעולם הזה,אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן מאי דכתיב (הושע יד, י) כי ישרים דרכי ה' וצדיקים ילכו בם ופושעים יכשלו בם משל לשני בני אדם שצלו פסחיהם אחד אכלו לשום מצוה ואחד אכלו לשום אכילה גסה זה שאכלו לשום מצוה צדיקים ילכו בם זה שאכלו לשום אכילה גסה ופושעים יכשלו בם,א"ל ריש לקיש רשע קרית ליה נהי דלא עביד מצוה מן המובחר פסח מי לא קאכיל אלא משל לשני בני אדם זה אשתו ואחותו עמו בבית וזה אשתו ואחותו עמו בבית אחד נזדמנה לו אשתו ואחד נזדמנה לו אחותו זה שנזדמנה לו אשתו צדיקים ילכו בם וזה שנזדמנה לו אחותו ופושעים יכשלו בם,מי דמי אנן קאמרינן חדא דרך והכא שני דרכים אלא משל ללוט ושתי בנותיו הן שנתכוונו לשם מצוה צדיקים ילכו בם הוא שנתכוון לשם עבירה ופושעים יכשלו בם,ודלמא הוא נמי לשם מצוה הוא מכוין א"ר יוחנן כל הפסוק הזה לשם עבירה נאמר,(בראשית יג, י) וישא לוט (בראשית לט, ז) ותשא אשת אדניו את עיניה את עיניו (בראשית לד, ד) ויאמר שמשון [וגו'] אותה קח לי כי היא ישרה בעיני וירא (בראשית לד, ב) וירא אותה שכם בן חמור את כל ככר הירדן (משלי ו, כו) כי בעד אשה זונה עד ככר לחם כי כלה משקה (הושע ב, ז) אלכה אחרי מאהבי נותני לחמי ומימי צמרי ופשתי שמני ושקויי,והא מינס אניס תנא משום רבי יוסי בר רבי חוני למה נקוד על וי"ו שבקומה של בכירה לומר לך שבשכבה לא ידע אבל בקומה ידע ומאי ה"ל למעבד מאי דהוה הוה נפקא מינה דלפניא אחרינא לא איבעי ליה למישתי,דרש רבה מאי דכתיב (משלי יח, יט) אח נפשע מקרית עוז ומדינים כבריח ארמון אח נפשע מקרית עוז זה לוט שפירש מאברהם ומדינים כבריח ארמון שהטיל מדינים בין ישראל לעמון שנאמר (דברים כג, ד) לא יבא עמוני ומואבי בקהל ה',דרש רבא ואיתימא ר' יצחק מאי דכתיב (משלי יח, א) לתאוה יבקש נפרד (ובכל) [בכל] תושיה יתגלע לתאוה יבקש נפרד זה לוט שנפרד מאברהם (ובכל) [בכל] תושיה יתגלע שנתגלה קלונו בבתי כנסיות ובבתי מדרשות דתנן עמוני ומואבי אסורין איסור עולם,ואמר עולא תמר זנתה וזימרי זינה תמר זנתה יצאו ממנה מלכים ונביאים זימרי זינה נפלו כמה רבבות מישראל אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק גדולה עבירה לשמה ממצוה שלא לשמה שנאמר (שופטים ה, כד) תבורך מנשים יעל אשת חבר הקיני מנשים באהל תבורך מאן נינהו נשים באהל שרה רבקה רחל ולאה,איני והאמר רב יהודה אמר רב לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ובמצות אפילו שלא לשמה שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה אימא כמצוה שלא לשמה,אמר רבי יוחנן שבע בעילות בעל אותו רשע באותה שעה שנאמר (שופטים ה, כז) בין רגליה כרע נפל שכב וגו' והא קא מיתהניא מעבירה אמר רבי יוחנן משום רבי שמעון בן יוחאי אפילו טובתם של רשעים רעה היא אצל צדיקים,אמר רב יהודה אמר רב לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ובמצות אפילו שלא לשמה שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה שבשכר מ"ב קרבנות שהקריב בלק הרשע זכה ויצתה ממנו רות דאמר רבי יוסי ברבי חנינא רות בת בנו של עגלון בן בנו של בלק מלך מואב,א"ר חייא בר אבא א"ר יוחנן מנין שאין הקב"ה מקפח אפילו שכר שיחה נאה מהכא דאילו בכירה דקרייה מואב אמר ליה רחמנא למשה (דברים ב, ט) אל תצר את מואב ואל תתגר בם מלחמה מלחמה | 10b. bI am granting you servitude, as it is stated: “And they spoke to him saying: If you will be a servant to this people today”(I Kings 12:7). This explains the phrase “in an independent house.”,§ bThe Sages taught:The verse states concerning a king: b“When [ iasher /i] a king sins”(Leviticus 4:22). bRabbi Yoḥa ben Zakkai said: Happy [ iashrei /i] is the generation whose kingfeels the need to bbring an offering for his unwittingtransgression. bIfthe generation’s bking brings an offering, you must sayall the more so bwhat a commonerwill do to atone for his sin, i.e., he will certainly bring an offering. bAnd ifthe king bbrings an offering for his unwittingtransgression, byou must sayall the more so bwhathe will do to atone for bhis intentionaltransgression, i.e., he will certainly repent., bRava, son of Rabba, objects to this: If that is so,and the term iasheris interpreted in that manner, then concerning that bwhich is written: “And he shall pay for that which [ iasher /i] he has sinned from the sacred item”(Leviticus 5:16), band with regard to Jeroboam, son of Nevat, about whom it is written: “Who [ iasher /i] sinned and caused others to sin”(I Kings 14:16), bso toois the interpretation bthat this generation is happy?The Gemara answers: bHere,in the case of a king who brings an offering, it bis different, as the verse altered its formulation;in parallel verses, the term “if” is utilized, e.g., in the verse: “If the anointed priest shall sin” (Leviticus 4:3). In the other instances, iasheris the standard formulation.,Apropos the homiletic interpretation of the term iasher /i, bRav Naḥman bar Ḥisda interpreteda verse homiletically: bWhatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “There is a vanity that is [ iasher /i] performed upon the earth;that there are [ iasher /i] righteous men to whom it happens according to [ iasher /i] the action of the wicked, and there are wicked men to whom it happens according to the action of the righteous” (Ecclesiastes 8:14)? bHappy [ iashrei /i] are the righteous, to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the wicked in the World-to-Come,i.e., they suffer in this world. bWoe unto the wicked, to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the righteous in the World-to-Come,i.e., they enjoy this world., bRava said: Is that to say that if the righteous enjoyed two worlds it would be awful for them?Why must the righteous suffer in this world? bRather, Rava saidas follows: bHappy are the righteous to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the wicked in this world,i.e., happy are the righteous who enjoy this world as well. bWoe to the wicked, to whom it happens in this world according to the experiences of the righteous in this world,i.e., like the many righteous people who suffer in this world.,The Gemara relates: bRav Pappa and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, came before Rava.Rava bsaid to them: Have you mastered this tractate and that tractate? They said to him: Yes.Rava said to them: bHave you become somewhat wealthy? They said to him: Yes, aseach of bus bought a parcel of landfrom which we earn our livelihoods. Rava bproclaimed about them: Happy are the righteous, to whom it happens in this world according tothe goodness resulting from bthe actions of the wicked in this world. /b,§ bRabba bar bar Ḥana saidthat bRabbi Yoḥa said: Whatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them and transgressors will stumble in them”(Hosea 14:10)? It is bcomparable toan incident involving btwo people who roasted their Paschal offerings. One ate it for the sake ofthe bmitzva, andthe other bone ate itwith gusto, bfor the sake of excessive eating.With regard to bthatperson bwho ate it for the sake ofthe bmitzva,it is written: b“The righteous will walk in them.”With regard to bthatperson bwho ate it for the sake of excessive eating,it is written: b“And transgressors will stumble in them.” /b, bReish Lakish said toRabba bar bar Ḥana: bDid you callthe one who ate the Paschal offering for the sake of excessive eating bwicked? Although he did not performthe bmitzvain the bidealmanner, bdidn’t he eatthe bPaschal offering?Since he fulfilled the mitzva, how can he be characterized as a transgressor? bRather,it is banalogous toan incident involving btwo people; thisone has bhis wife and his sister with him ina dark bhouse and thatone has bhis wife and his sister with him ina dark bhouse. Oneof them, bhis wife happenedto come bto himand he engaged in intercourse with her, bandthe other bone, his sister happenedto come bto himand he engaged in intercourse with her. With regard to bthatone, bto whom his wife happenedto come, it is written: b“The righteous will walk in them.”With regard to bthatone, bto whom his sister happenedto come, it is written: b“And transgressors will stumble in them.” /b,The Gemara asks: bAre thesematters bcomparable?In the verse, bwe are speaking of one pathupon which both the righteous and the wicked walk, band here,in the incident mentioned by Reish Lakish, there are btwo paths,as the two people are not performing the same action. bRather,it is banalogous tothe incident involving bLot and his two daughters(see Genesis 19:30–38): With regard to the daughters, bwho,when engaging in intercourse with their father, bintendedtheir action bfor the sake of a mitzva,as they believed that the world had been destroyed and that only they remained alive, it is written: b“The righteous will walk in them.”With regard to Lot, bwho intendedhis action bfor the sake of a transgression,it is written: b“And transgressors will stumble in them.” /b,The Gemara challenges: bPerhapsLot btoo intendedhis action bfor the sake of a mitzva. Rabbi Yoḥa saysthat bthis entire verse:“And Lot cast his eyes and beheld the entire plain of the Jordan that it was well watered everywhere” (Genesis 13:10), bis stated in the context of transgression. /b,He explains: b“And Lot casthis eyes” is an allusion to the verse: b“His master’s wife cast her eyesupon Joseph and said: Lie with me” (Genesis 39:7). b“His eyes”is an allusion to the verse: b“And Samson said: Get her for me, as she is pleasing to my eyes”(Judges 14:3). b“And beheld”is an allusion to the verse: b“And Shechem, son of Hamor,the prince of the land, bbeheld her;and he took her and lay with her” (Genesis 34:2). b“The entire plain [ ikikar /i] of the Jordan”is an allusion to the verse: b“For on account of a prostitute a man is brought to a loaf [ ikikar /i] of bread”(Proverbs 6:26). b“That it was well watered [ imashke /i] everywhere”is an allusion to the verse b“I will follow my lovers, givers of my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink [ iveshikkuyai /i]”(Hosea 2:7).,The Gemara asks: Why is Lot accused of wrongdoing? bWasn’t hethe victim of bcircumstances beyond his control,as he was drunk and asleep? It is btaught in the name of Rabbi Yosei bar Rabbi Ḥoni: Why is it dotted overthe letter ivavthatis in the word b“ ibekumah /i”written with regard to Lot’s belderdaughter in the verse: “And he knew not when she lay down, nor when she arose [ ibekumah /i]” (Genesis 19:33)? It is bto say to you that when she lay down he did not know; but when she arose, he knew.Therefore, his action was not completely beyond his control. The Gemara asks: bAnd what was he to do? What was, was.The Gemara answers: He should have bderived from it that on the following night he should not drink.Since he drank again, this indicates that he did so with intent to engage in intercourse with his other daughter.,Apropos Lot, bRabba taught: Whatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “A brother betrayed a strong city, and their contentions are like the bars of a castle”(Proverbs 18:19)? b“A brother betrayed a strong city”; that is Lot, who parted from Abraham. “And their contentions are like the bars of a castle”is stated bbecause he,i.e., Lot, bintroduced contention between Israel and Ammon, as it is stated: “An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord”(Deuteronomy 23:4)., bRava taught, and some sayit was bRabbi Yitzḥakwho taught: bWhatis the meaning of that bwhich is written: “He that separates himself seeks his own desire, and snarls against all sound wisdom”(Proverbs 18:1)? b“He that separates himself seeks his own desire”; that is Lot, who separated from Abrahamto pursue his lust. b“And snarls [ iyitgalla /i] against all sound wisdom”; his shame was revealed [ ishenitgalla /i] in synagogues and study halls,where the ihalakhaconcerning his offspring is taught; bas we learnedin a mishna ( iYevamot76a): bAn Ammonite and a Moabite,descendants of Lot, bare forbiddenwith ba permanent prohibition. /b,§ bAnd Ulla says: Tamar engaged in licentiousnesswith Judah (see Genesis, chapter 38), band Zimri engaged in licentiousnesswith Cozbi (see Numbers 25:6–9). bTamar engaged in licentiousness,and bkings and prophets emerged from her. Zimri engaged in licentiousness,and btens of thousands from the Jewish people fell. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says: A transgressionperformed bfor the sake ofHeaven bis greater than a mitzvaperformed bnot for its own sake, as it is stated: “Blessed above women shall be Yael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, above women in the tent shall she be blessed”(Judges 5:24). bWho arethese b“women in the tent”?They are bSarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah,and Yael is more blessed than they are. Apparently, a mitzva performed not for its own sake is a negative phenomenon.,The Gemara asks: bIs that so? But doesn’t Rav Yehuda saythat bRav says: A person should always engage in Torahstudy bandthe performance of bmitzvot, evenif he does so bnot for itsown bsake, as throughthe performance of mitzvot bnot for itsown bsake,one gains understanding and bcomesto perform them bfor itsown bsake.Apparently, even when performed not for its own sake a mitzva is still a positive phenomenon. The Gemara emends the statement: bSaythat the status of a transgression performed for the sake of Heaven is blikethat of ba mitzvaperformed bnot for itsown bsake. /b,Apropos Yael, bRabbi Yoḥa says: That wickedman Sisera bperformed sevenacts of bintercoursewith Yael bat that time, as it is stated: “Between her legs he crouched, he fell, he lay;between her legs he crouched, he fell; where he crouched, there he fell dead” (Judges 5:27). Each of the seven verbs is a euphemism for intercourse. The Gemara asks: bBut didn’t she experience pleasure fromthe btransgressionof engaging in intercourse with Sisera? Why does the verse praise her? bRabbi Yoḥa says in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yoḥai: Even the goodprovided bby the wicked is bad for the righteous,so Yael did not experience any pleasure from her intercourse with Sisera., bRav Yehuda saysthat bRav says: A person should always engage in Torahstudy bandthe performance of bmitzvot, evenif he does so bnot for its own sake, as throughthe performance of mitzvot bnot for its own sake,one gains understanding and bcomesto perform them bfor its own sake.Proof for this can be adduced from the incident involving Balak, bas in reward for the forty-two offerings that Balak the wicked sacrificedto God, despite the fact that he did this in order to curse the Jewish people (see Numbers, chapter 23), bhe merited and Ruth emerged from him, as Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, says: Ruth was the daughter of the son of Eglon, the son of the son of Balak, king of Moab. /b,§ Apropos Lot and his daughters, bRabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba saysthat bRabbi Yoḥa says: From whereis it derived bthat the Holy One, Blessed be He, does not withhold eventhe breward for euphemistic speech?It is derived bfrom here, as the elderdaughter bcalled her son Moab,an allusion to the fact that the child is from her own father [ ime’av /i], and bthe Merciful One said to Moses: “Be not at enmity with Moab, neither contend with them in battle”(Deuteronomy 2:9). From this it may be inferred: bIt isin bbattle /b |
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20. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, 6.43, 8.12 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE)
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21. Origen, Against Celsus, 8.32 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE)
| 8.32. The Psalmist bears witness that divine justice employs certain evil angels to inflict calamities upon men: He cast upon them the fierceness of His anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, sent by evil angels. Whether demons ever go beyond this when they are suffered to do what they are ever ready, though through the restraint put upon them they are not always able to do, is a question to be solved by that man who can conceive, in so far as human nature will allow, how it accords with the divine justice, that such multitudes of human souls are separated from the body while walking in the paths which lead to certain death. For the judgments of God are so great, that a soul which is still clothed with a mortal body cannot comprehend them; and they cannot be expressed: therefore by unnurtured souls they are not in any measure to be understood. And hence, too, rash spirits, by their ignorance in these matters, and by recklessly setting themselves against the Divine Being, multiply impious objections against providence. It is not from demons, then, that men receive any of those things which meet the necessities of life, and least of all ourselves, who have been taught to make a proper use of these things. And they who partake of grain and wine, and the fruits of trees, of water and of air, do not feed with demons, but rather do they feast with divine angels, who are appointed for this purpose, and who are as it were invited to the table of the pious man, who hearkens to the precept of the word, which says, Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. And again, in another place it is written, Do all things in the name of God. When, therefore, we eat and drink and breathe to the glory of God, and act in all things according to what is right, we feast with no demons, but with divine angels: For every creature is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. But it could not be good, and it could not be sanctified, if these things were, as Celsus supposes, entrusted to the charge of demons. |
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22. Augustine, Confessions, 6.2 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
| 6.2. 2. When, therefore, my mother had at one time - as was her custom in Africa - brought to the oratories built in the memory of the saints certain cakes, and bread, and wine, and was forbidden by the doorkeeper, so soon as she learned that it was the bishop who had forbidden it, she so piously and obediently acceded to it, that I myself marvelled how readily she could bring herself to accuse her own custom, rather than question his prohibition. For wine-bibbing did not take possession of her spirit, nor did the love of wine stimulate her to hatred of the truth, as it does too many, both male and female, who nauseate at a song of sobriety, as men well drunk at a draught of water. But she, when she had brought her basket with the festive meats, of which she would taste herself first and give the rest away, would never allow herself more than one little cup of wine, diluted according to her own temperate palate, which, out of courtesy, she would taste. And if there were many oratories of departed saints that ought to be honoured in the same way, she still carried round with her the selfsame cup, to be used everywhere; and this, which was not only very much watered, but was also very tepid with carrying about, she would distribute by small sips to those around; for she sought their devotion, not pleasure. As soon, therefore, as she found this custom to be forbidden by that famous preacher and most pious prelate, even to those who would use it with moderation, lest thereby an occasion of excess might be given to such as were drunken, and because these, so to say, festivals in honour of the dead were very like the superstition of the Gentiles, she most willingly abstained from it. And in lieu of a basket filled with fruits of the earth, she had learned to bring to the oratories of the martyrs a heart full of more purified petitions, and to give all that she could to the poor; that so the communion of the Lord's body might be rightly celebrated there, where, after the example of His passion, the martyrs had been sacrificed and crowned. But yet it seems to me, O Lord my God, and thus my heart thinks of it in your sight, that my mother perhaps would not so easily have given way to the relinquishment of this custom had it been forbidden by another whom she loved not as Ambrose, whom, out of regard for my salvation, she loved most dearly; and he loved her truly, on account of her most religious conversation, whereby, in good works so fervent in spirit, Romans 12:11 she frequented the church; so that he would often, when he saw me, burst forth into her praises, congratulating me that I had such a mother - little knowing what a son she had in me, who was in doubt as to all these things, and did not imagine the way of life could be found out. |
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23. Epiphanius, Panarion, 42.3.3 (4th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
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