1. Septuagint, Tobit, 4.6-4.9 (10th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 91, 370 | 4.6. For if you do what is true, your ways will prosper through your deeds. 4.7. Give alms from your possessions to all who live uprightly, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. 4.8. If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. 4.9. So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Proverbs, 3.27, 19.17, 28.27, 31.24 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94; Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 91, 369, 370 3.27. אַל־תִּמְנַע־טוֹב מִבְּעָלָיו בִּהְיוֹת לְאֵל ידיך [יָדְךָ] לַעֲשׂוֹת׃" 19.17. מַלְוֵה יְהוָה חוֹנֵן דָּל וּגְמֻלוֹ יְשַׁלֶּם־לוֹ׃ 31.24. סָדִין עָשְׂתָה וַתִּמְכֹּר וַחֲגוֹר נָתְנָה לַכְּנַעֲנִי׃ | 3.27. Withhold not good from him to whom it is due, When it is in the power of thy hand to do it." 19.17. He that is gracious unto the poor lendeth unto the LORD; And his good deed will He repay unto him. 31.24. She maketh linen garments and selleth them; And delivereth girdles unto the merchant. |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Hosea, 12.7 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 12.7. וְאַתָּה בֵּאלֹהֶיךָ תָשׁוּב חֶסֶד וּמִשְׁפָּט שְׁמֹר וְקַוֵּה אֶל־אֱלֹהֶיךָ תָּמִיד׃ | 12.7. Therefore turn thou to thy God; Keep mercy and justice, And wait for thy God continually. |
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4. Hebrew Bible, Zephaniah, 1.11 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 |
5. Hebrew Bible, Job, 31.18, 40.30 (9th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94; Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 338 | 40.30. Will the bands of fishermen make a banquet of him? Will they part him among the merchants? |
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6. Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel, 17.4 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 17.4. אֵת רֹאשׁ יְנִיקוֹתָיו קָטָף וַיְבִיאֵהוּ אֶל־אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן בְּעִיר רֹכְלִים שָׂמוֹ׃ | 17.4. He cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, And carried it into a land of traffic; He set it in a city of merchants. |
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7. Xenophon, The Education of Cyrus, 1.2.7 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 239 1.2.7. οὓς δʼ ἂν γνῶσι τούτων τι ἀδικοῦντας, τιμωροῦνται. κολάζουσι δὲ καὶ ὃν ἂν ἀδίκως ἐγκαλοῦντα εὑρίσκωσι. δικάζουσι δὲ καὶ ἐγκλήματος οὗ ἕνεκα ἄνθρωποι μισοῦσι μὲν ἀλλήλους μάλιστα, δικάζονται δὲ ἥκιστα, ἀχαριστίας, καὶ ὃν ἂν γνῶσι δυνάμενον μὲν χάριν ἀποδιδόναι, μὴ ἀποδιδόντα δέ, κολάζουσι καὶ τοῦτον ἰσχυρῶς. οἴονται γὰρ τοὺς ἀχαρίστους καὶ περὶ θεοὺς ἂν μάλιστα ἀμελῶς ἔχειν καὶ περὶ γονέας καὶ πατρίδα καὶ φίλους. ἕπεσθαι δὲ δοκεῖ μάλιστα τῇ ἀχαριστίᾳ ἡ ἀναισχυντία· καὶ γὰρ αὕτη μεγίστη δοκεῖ εἶναι ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ αἰσχρὰ ἡγεμών. | 1.2.7. |
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8. Plato, Laws, 730e (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 299 730e. τὸν αὐτὸν δὴ τοῦτον ἔπαινον καὶ περὶ σωφροσύνης χρὴ λέγειν καὶ περὶ φρονήσεως, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα ἀγαθά τις κέκτηται δυνατὰ μὴ μόνον αὐτὸν ἔχειν ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄλλοις μεταδιδόναι· ΑΘ. καὶ τὸν μὲν μεταδιδόντα ὡς ἀκρότατον χρὴ τιμᾶν, τὸν δʼ αὖ μὴ δυνάμενον, ἐθέλοντα δέ, ἐᾶν δεύτερον, τὸν δὲ φθονοῦντα καὶ ἑκόντα μηδενὶ κοινωνὸν διὰ φιλίας γιγνόμενον ἀγαθῶν | 730e. Upon temperance and upon wisdom one should bestow the same praise, and upon all the other goods which he who possesses them can not only keep himself but can share also with others. Ath. He that thus shares these should be honored as highest in merit; and he that would fain share them but cannot, as second in merit; while if a man is jealous and unwilling to share any good things with anyone in a friendly spirit, |
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9. Hebrew Bible, Zechariah, 11.4-11.5 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 11.4. כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהָי רְעֵה אֶת־צֹאן הַהֲרֵגָה׃ 11.5. אֲשֶׁר קֹנֵיהֶן יַהֲרְגֻן וְלֹא יֶאְשָׁמוּ וּמֹכְרֵיהֶן יֹאמַר בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה וַאעְשִׁר וְרֹעֵיהֶם לֹא יַחְמוֹל עֲלֵיהֶן׃ | 11.4. Thus said the LORD my God: ‘Feed the flock of slaughter; 11.5. whose buyers slay them, and hold themselves not guilty; and they that sell them say: Blessed be the LORD, for I am rich; and their own shepherds pity them not. |
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10. Theophrastus, Characters, 5.1 (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 152 |
11. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, 4.3.18, 9.1.9 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 158, 329 |
12. Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon, 249 (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 201 |
13. Menander, Monostichoi, 198, 478 (4th cent. BCE - 3rd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 369 |
14. Septuagint, Tobit, 4.6-4.9 (4th cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 91, 370 | 4.6. For if you do what is true, your ways will prosper through your deeds. 4.7. Give alms from your possessions to all who live uprightly, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. 4.8. If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. 4.9. So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. |
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15. Plautus, Curculio, 11-12, 8 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 201 |
16. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 4.1, 12.3, 17.22, 18.15, 20.14-20.15, 31.23, 41.25 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 91, 273, 338, 370 | 4.1. My son, deprive not the poor of his living,and do not keep needy eyes waiting. 4.1. Be like a father to orphans,and instead of a husband to their mother;you will then be like a son of the Most High,and he will love you more than does your mother. 12.3. No good will come to the man who persists in evil or to him who does not give alms. 17.22. A mans almsgiving is like a signet with the Lord and he will keep a persons kindness like the apple of his eye. 18.15. My son, do not mix reproach with your good deeds,nor cause grief by your words when you present a gift. 20.14. A fools gift will profit you nothing,for he has many eyes instead of one. 31.23. Men will praise the one who is liberal with food,and their testimony to his excellence is trustworthy. |
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17. Dead Sea Scrolls, Db (Olim Dd), 9 iii.4 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 |
18. Dead Sea Scrolls, (Cairo Damascus Covenant) Cd-A, 4.12-4.19, 6.14-6.17, 6.21, 12.8-12.10, 14.14, 14.20 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 |
19. Dead Sea Scrolls, Damascus Covenant, 4.12-4.19, 6.14-6.17, 6.21, 12.8-12.10, 14.14, 14.20 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 |
20. Dead Sea Scrolls, 4Q271, 5 ii.2-4 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •needy, the Found in books: Mathews, Riches, Poverty, and the Faithful: Perspectives on Wealth in the Second Temple Period and the Apocalypse of John (2013) 94 |
21. Philo of Alexandria, On The Life of Abraham, 208 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 364 | 208. This is enough to say about the piety of the man, though there is a vast abundance of other things which might be brought forward in praise of it. We must also investigate his skill and wisdom as displayed towards his fellow men; for it belongs to the same character to be pious towards God and affectionate towards man; and both these qualities, of holiness towards God and justice towards man, are commonly seen in the same individual. Now it would take a long time to go through all the instances and actions which form this; but it is not out of place to record two or three. |
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22. Philo of Alexandria, On The Creation of The World, 144 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 86 | 144. And who could these have been but rational divine natures, some of them incorporeal and perceptible only by intellect, and others not destitute of bodily substance, such in fact as the stars? And he who associated with and lived among them was naturally living in a state of unmixed happiness. And being akin and nearly related to the ruler of all, inasmuch as a great deal of the divine spirit had flowed into him, he was eager both to say and to do everything which might please his father and his king, following him step by step in the paths which the virtues prepare and make plain, as those in which those souls alone are permitted to proceed who consider the attaining a likeness to God who made them as the proper end of their existence. LI. |
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23. Anon., Sibylline Oracles, 2.272-2.273 (1st cent. BCE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 338 | 2.272. Who shall be judge of mortals; and to them 2.273. That dwell beneath will then the heavenly One |
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24. Publilius Syrus, Sententiae, 274 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 329 |
25. New Testament, Luke, 6.3 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 329 6.3. καὶ ἀποκριθεὶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἶπεν [ὁ] Ἰησοῦς Οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀνέγνωτε ὃ ἐποίησεν Δαυεὶδ ὅτε ἐπείνασεν αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ μετʼ αὐτοῦ; | 6.3. Jesus, answering them, said, "Haven't you read what David did when he was hungry, he, and those who were with him; |
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26. Plutarch, Themistocles, 7.3 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 332 |
27. Plutarch, How To Tell A Flatterer From A Friend, 64a (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 338 |
28. Plutarch, On Love of Wealth, 523d-e (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 158 |
29. Plutarch, Sayings of The Spartans, 208d (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 252 |
30. New Testament, Matthew, 7.2, 10.8 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 206, 252 7.2. ἐν ᾧ γὰρ κρίματι κρίνετε κριθήσεσθε, καὶ ἐν ᾧ μέτρῳ μετρεῖτε μετρηθήσεται ὑμῖν. 10.8. ἀσθενοῦντας θεραπεύετε, νεκροὺς ἐγείρετε, λεπροὺς καθαρίζετε, δαιμόνια ἐκβάλλετε· δωρεὰν ἐλάβετε, δωρεὰν δότε. | 7.2. For with whatever judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 10.8. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. |
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31. New Testament, James, 1.5 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 338 1.5. Εἰ δέ τις ὑμῶν λείπεται σοφίας, αἰτείτω παρὰ τοῦ διδόντος θεοῦ πᾶσιν ἁπλῶς καὶ μὴ ὀνειδίζοντος, καὶ δοθήσεται αὐτῷ· | 1.5. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him. |
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32. New Testament, Acts, 2.44-2.47, 10.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 91, 239 2.44. πάντες δὲ οἱ πιστεύσαντες ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ εἶχον ἅπαντα κοινά, 2.45. καὶ τὰ κτήματα καὶ τὰς ὑπάρξεις ἐπίπρασκον καὶ διεμέριζον αὐτὰ πᾶσιν καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν· 2.46. καθʼ ἡμέραν τε προσκαρτεροῦντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ, κλῶντές τε κατʼ οἶκον ἄρτον, μετελάμβανον τροφῆς ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει καὶ ἀφελότητι καρδίας, 2.47. αἰνοῦντες τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἔχοντες χάριν πρὸς ὅλον τὸν λαόν. ὁ δὲ κύριος προσετίθει τοὺς σωζομένους καθʼ ἡμέραν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό. 10.4. ὁ δὲ ἀτενίσας αὐτῷ καὶ ἔμφοβος γενόμενος εἶπεν Τί ἐστιν, κύριε; εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ Αἱ προσευχαί σου καὶ αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι σου ἀνέβησαν εἰς μνημόσυνον ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ θεοῦ· | 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. 10.4. He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, "What is it, Lord?"He said to him, "Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God. |
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33. New Testament, 1 Timothy, 2.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 364 2.1. Παρακαλῶ οὖν πρῶτον πάντων ποιεῖσθαι δεήσεις, προσευχάς, ἐντεύξεις, εὐχαριστίας, ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων, | 2.1. I exhort therefore, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and givings of thanks, be made for all men: |
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34. New Testament, 1 Corinthians, 3.18, 13.12 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 332, 400 3.18. Μηδεὶς ἑαυτὸν ἐξαπατάτω· εἴ τις δοκεῖ σοφὸς εἶναι ἐν ὑμῖν ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τούτῳ, μωρὸς γενέσθω, ἵνα γένηται σοφός, 13.12. βλέπομεν γὰρ ἄρτι διʼ ἐσόπτρου ἐν αἰνίγματι, τότε δὲ πρόσωπον πρὸς πρόσωπον· ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, τότε δὲ ἐπιγνώσομαι καθὼς καὶ ἐπεγνώσθην. | 3.18. Letno one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you inthis world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. 13.12. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, butthen face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, evenas I was also fully known. |
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35. Seneca The Younger, Letters, 81.1, 81.10-81.13 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 329 |
36. Anon., Didache, 1.5, 4.8 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 239, 252 |
37. Epictetus, Discourses, 3.26.20, 4.1.130-4.1.131 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 116, 152 |
38. Epictetus, Gnomologium Epicteteum (E Stobaei Libris 12), 55 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 206 |
39. New Testament, 1 John, 3.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 400 3.2. Ἀγαπητοί, νῦν τέκνα θεοῦ ἐσμέν, καὶ οὔπω ἐφανερώθη τί ἐσόμεθα. οἴδαμεν ὅτι ἐὰν φανερωθῇ ὅμοιοι αὐτῷ ἐσόμεθα, ὅτι ὀψόμεθα αὐτὸν καθώς ἐστιν. | 3.2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. |
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40. Anon., Epistle of Barnabas, 19.11 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 329, 338 |
41. Aelian, Varia Historia, 14.24 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 158 |
42. Clement of Alexandria, Miscellanies, (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 108, 118, 201, 206, 273 |
43. Hermas, Visions, 3.9.2-3.9.3 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 273 |
44. Hermas, Similitudes, 2.5, 5.3.7, 9.24.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 233, 273, 338 |
45. Pseudo Clementine Literature, Homilies, 18.1 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 152 |
46. Origen, Against Celsus, 1.62, 7.48 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 108, 152 | 1.62. And after such statements, showing his ignorance even of the number of the apostles, he proceeds thus: Jesus having gathered around him ten or eleven persons of notorious character, the very wickedest of tax-gatherers and sailors, fled in company with them from place to place, and obtained his living in a shameful and importunate manner. Let us to the best of our power see what truth there is in such a statement. It is manifest to us all who possess the Gospel narratives, which Celsus does not appear even to have read, that Jesus selected twelve apostles, and that of these Matthew alone was a tax-gatherer; that when he calls them indiscriminately sailors, he probably means James and John, because they left their ship and their father Zebedee, and followed Jesus; for Peter and his brother Andrew, who employed a net to gain their necessary subsistence, must be classed not as sailors, but as the Scripture describes them, as fishermen. The Lebes also, who was a follower of Jesus, may have been a tax-gatherer; but he was not of the number of the apostles, except according to a statement in one of the copies of Mark's Gospel. And we have not ascertained the employments of the remaining disciples, by which they earned their livelihood before becoming disciples of Jesus. I assert, therefore, in answer to such statements as the above, that it is clear to all who are able to institute an intelligent and candid examination into the history of the apostles of Jesus, that it was by help of a divine power that these men taught Christianity, and succeeded in leading others to embrace the word of God. For it was not any power of speaking, or any orderly arrangement of their message, according to the arts of Grecian dialectics or rhetoric, which was in them the effective cause of converting their hearers. Nay, I am of opinion that if Jesus had selected some individuals who were wise according to the apprehension of the multitude, and who were fitted both to think and speak so as to please them, and had used such as the ministers of His doctrine, He would most justly have been suspected of employing artifices, like those philosophers who are the leaders of certain sects, and consequently the promise respecting the divinity of His doctrine would not have manifested itself; for had the doctrine and the preaching consisted in the persuasive utterance and arrangement of words, then faith also, like that of the philosophers of the world in their opinions, would have been through the wisdom of men, and not through the power of God. Now, who is there on seeing fishermen and tax-gatherers, who had not acquired even the merest elements of learning (as the Gospel relates of them, and in respect to which Celsus believes that they speak the truth, inasmuch as it is their own ignorance which they record), discoursing boldly not only among the Jews of faith in Jesus, but also preaching Him with success among other nations, would not inquire whence they derived this power of persuasion, as theirs was certainly not the common method followed by the multitude? And who would not say that the promise, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men, had been accomplished by Jesus in the history of His apostles by a sort of divine power? And to this also, Paul, referring in terms of commendation, as we have stated a little above, says: And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. For, according to the predictions in the prophets, foretelling the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord gave the word in great power to them who preached it, even the King of the powers of the Beloved, in order that the prophecy might be fulfilled which said, His words shall run very swiftly. And we see that the voice of the apostles of Jesus has gone forth into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. On this account are they who hear the word powerfully proclaimed filled with power, which they manifest both by their dispositions and their lives, and by struggling even to death on behalf of the truth; while some are altogether empty, although they profess to believe in God through Jesus, inasmuch as, not possessing any divine power, they have the appearance only of being converted to the word of God. And although I have previously mentioned a Gospel declaration uttered by the Saviour, I shall nevertheless quote it again, as appropriate to the present occasion, as it confirms both the divine manifestation of our Saviour's foreknowledge regarding the preaching of His Gospel, and the power of His word, which without the aid of teachers gains the mastery over those who yield their assent to persuasion accompanied with divine power; and the words of Jesus referred to are, The harvest is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth labourers into His harvest. 7.48. But those who are despised for their ignorance, and set down as fools and abject slaves, no sooner commit themselves to God's guidance by accepting the teaching of Jesus, than, so far from defiling themselves by licentious indulgence or the gratification of shameless passion, they in many cases, like perfect priests, for whom such pleasures have no charm, keep themselves in act and in thought in a state of virgin purity. The Athenians have one hierophant, who, not having confidence in his power to restrain his passions within the limits he prescribed for himself, determined to check them at their seat by the application of hemlock; and thus he was accounted pure, and fit for the celebration of religious worship among the Athenians. But among Christians may be found men who have no need of hemlock to fit them for the pure service of God, and for whom the Word in place of hemlock is able to drive all evil desires from their thoughts, so that they may present their prayers to the Divine Being. And attached to the other so-called gods are a select number of virgins, who are guarded by men, or it may be not guarded (for that is not the point in question at present), and who are supposed to live in purity for the honour of the god they serve. But among Christians, those who maintain a perpetual virginity do so for no human honours, for no fee or reward, from no motive of vainglory; but as they choose to retain God in their knowledge, they are preserved by God in a spirit well-pleasing to Him, and in the discharge of every duty, being filled with all righteousness and goodness. |
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47. Origen, On Prayer, 8.2, 11.4, 19.3 (3rd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 108, 118, 233 |
48. Iamblichus, Life of Pythagoras, 30.171 (3rd cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 108 |
49. Evagrius Ponticus, Chapters On Prayer, 40 (4th cent. CE - 4th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 364 |
50. Stobaeus, Anthology, 3.5.31 (5th cent. CE - 5th cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 299 |
51. Fratres Arvales, Carmen Arvale, 281 Tagged with subjects: •the needy Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 201 |
52. Pseudo-Phocylides, The Sentences of Pseudo-Phocylides, 22, 28-29, 61, 11 Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 206 |
53. Cleitarchus, Sententiae, 105, 109, 134, 137, 4, 48, 11 (missingth cent. CE - Unknownth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Wilson, The Sentences of Sextus (2012) 86 |