Doubt And The Resurrection

Quod resurrectionem dominicam discipuli tarde crediderunt, non tam illorum infirmitas quam nostra, ut ita dicam, futura firmitas fuit Ipsa namque resurrectio illis dubitantibus per multa argumenta monstrata est: quae dum nos legentes agnoscimus, quid aliud quam de illorum dubitatione solidamur? Minus enim mihi Maria Magdalene praestitit, quae citius credidit quam Thomas qui diu dubitavit. Ille etenim dubitando vulnerum cicatrices tetigit, et de nostro pectore dubietatis vulnus amputavit. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Homiliarum in Evangelia Liber III, Homilia XXIX Source: Migne PL 76.1213c

That the disciples were slow to believe in the Lord's resurrection 1 was not so much a matter of their weakness as, so to speak, for our future strength, for the resurrection had been shown to them through many arguments, which reading and recognising, are we anything but strengthened amid their doubts? Mary Magdalene who was quick to believe stands in less rank to me than Thomas who doubted for a long time. Indeed he was doubting even as he touched the scars of the wounds, by which he cut off the wound of doubt from our hearts. 2 Saint Gregory the Great, Homilies On The Gospels, Book 3, from Homily 29 1 Mk 16.11 2 Jn 20.24-29

Faith And Dispute

Ἔστι δὲ πίστις, ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων Τό γε μὴν πίστει παραδεχθὲν ἀπολυπραγμόνητον εἶναι χρὴ, ἀλλ' οὐ θρασυτέραις ὥσπερ ἐκβασανίζειν ἑρεύναις. Πίστις γὰρ οὐκ ἔτι τὸ ζητούμενον. Τὸ γάρ τοι βασανιζόμενον πῶς ἔτι πεπίστευται; Ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον ἐλπὶς βλεπομένη ἀζήτητον, πίστις οὐκ ἂν εἶη κατὰ τὸν ἴσον ἐλπίδι λόγον· τὸ γὰρ πίστει τετιμημένον, βασάνου πάντως ἐλεύθερον. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας,Εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολὴν, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.989c-d

And it is faith that is the foundation of what we hope for, and convinces us of things unseen... 1 Faith received must be beyond dispute, it is not something to be recklessly examined. Faith is not still questioning, since has anything been believed about which there is still dispute? Just as it is with things hoped for when they are seen, so faith is in that same state of hope. Faith's dignity is to be free from all dispute. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Letter to Hebrews, Fragment 1 Heb 11.1

Resurrection And Revelation

Qui praedestinatus est Filius Dei in virtute secundum spiritum sanctificationis ex resurrectione mortuorum Jesu Christi Domini nostri. Filium Dei dicens, Patrem signficavit Deum; addito autem spiritu sanctificaitonis, ostendit mysterium Trinitatis. Hic ergo qui incarnatus, quid esset, latebat; tunc praedestinatus est secundum spiritum sanctificationis in virtute manifestari Filius Dei, cum resurgit a mortuis, sicut scriptum est in psalmo octogesimo quarto: Veritas terra orta est. Omnis enim ambiguitas et diffidentia resurrectione ejus calcata est, et compressa; siquidem adhuc in cruce positum, centurio videns magnali, Dei Filium confitetur. Nam et discipuli in morte ejus dubitaverunt, dicente Cleopha in Emmaus: Nos putabamus quia ipse erat, qui incipiebat liberare Israel. Et ipse Dominus ait: Cum exaltaveritis Filium hominis, tunc cognoscetis quia ipse ego sum; et iterum: Cum exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me, id est, tunc cognsocar ominum esse Dominus. Ideo autem non dixit ex resurrectione Jesu Christi, sed ex resurrectione mortuorum; quia resurrectio Christi generalem tribuit resurrectionem. Haec enim major videtur virtus in Christo et victoria, ut ea potestate operaretur mortuus, qua operatus fuerat et vivus. Quo facto apparuit illusisse mortem, ut redimeret nos; unde Dominum nostrum hunc vocat. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Romanos, Caput I Source: Migne PL 17.49a-c

Who was predestined the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of sanctification by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord. 1 Saying 'the Son of God,' he signified God the Father and adding 'the Spirit of sanctification,' he revealed the mystery of the Trinity. Thus, He who was incarnated, hid what He was, and then predestined according to the Spirit of sanctification, He is revealed in power as the Son of God, when He rose from the dead, as it is written in the eighty fourth Psalm: 'Truth has risen from the earth,' 2 All uncertainty and hestitation by His resurrection was crushed and suppressed, even if while yet on the cross the centurion, seeing great deeds, confesses Him to be the son of God. 3 For even the disciples doubted because of His death, with Cleopas on the way to Emmaus saying: 'We thought that He was the one who was to begin the liberation of Israel.' 4 But the Lord Himself says, 'When you shall lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He.' 5 And again: 'When I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all things to me.' 6 That is, then I will be recognised to be the Lord of all. Therefore the Apostle does not say, 'by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,' but, 'by the resurrection from the dead' because the resurrection of Christ sets forth the general resurrection, since in Christ appears this greater power and victory, that when He was dead He worked that same power He had worked when He was alive. From which is it made apparent that He made a fool of death to redeem us, whence the Apostle calls him our Lord. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Letter of Saint Paul To The Romans, Chapter 1 1 Rom 1.4 2 Ps 84.12 3 Mt 27.54 4 Lk 24.21 5 Jn 8.28 6 Jn 12.32

Doubt And Error

Dominus dixit: in quacumque die comederis ex eo morte morieris. Mulier dixit: Ne forte moriamur. Diabolus dixit: Nequaquam moriemini. Dominus affirmavit, mulier dubitavit diabolus negavit. Qui ergo dubitavit, ab affirmante recessit, et neganti appropinquavit. Si mulier non dubitasset, forte diabolus non negasset. Sed dedit audaciam, quae incohavit malitiam. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit LXXXIX, De Dei, mulieris, et diaboli, de mortis incurrenda assertione Source: Migne PL 177.520a-b

The Lord said, 'On whatever day you shall eat of it, you shall die the death.' The woman said, 'Lest perhaps we shall die.' The devil said, 'You shall not die.' 1 The Lord asserted, the woman doubted, the devil denied. Therefore he who has doubted has withdraw from assertion and come near denial. If the woman had not doubted, perhaps the devil would not have denied. But he became bold when the woman began to err. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chap 89, On God, the Woman, and the Devil, and the Assertion of Impending Death 1 Gen 2.17, 3.3-4

Doubt And Temptation

Qui enim haesitat, similis est fluctui maris qui a vento movetur et circumfertur Qui mordente se conscientia peccati haesitat de perceptione praemiorum coelestium, facile ad impulsum tentationum statum fidei deserit, qua in tranquillitate Deo servire videbatur, et ad libitum hostis invisibilis, quasi ad flatum venti, per diversos vitiorum raptatur errores. Sanctus Beda, Super Divi Jacobi Epistolam, Caput I Source: Migne PL 93.12b

He who doubts is like a wave of the sea which is driven and tossed around by the wind... 1 He who is bitten by consciousness of sin so that he doubts that he shall obtain heavenly rewards, he easily forsakes the state of faith by any blow of temptation, which state in peace he seemed to guard for God, and then at the pleasure of the invisible enemy, as a wave by the wind, he is driven through the various errors of the vices. Saint Bede, Commentary on the Letter of Saint James, Chapter 1 1 James 1.6

Little Faith

Nolite ergo solliciti esse, dicentes: Quid manducabimus, aut quid bibemus, aut quo operiemur? Haec omina, inquit, gentes inquirunt... Ac per hoc quid amplius habet a gentili, cujus adhuc infidelitas dum sollicitat animum, hujus vitae curis fatigat. Qui ergo de istis tantum confisus est a Domino, saltem modicam habet fidem: qui autem adhuc de his sollicitus est, infidelis censetur. Unde rara et paucorum est perfecta fides. Et ideo dubitanti adhuc Petro, post Domini jussionem, recte dicitur: Modicae fidei quare dubitasti? Quicunque ergo dubitat in aliquo praeceptorum Dei, vel minus ex eo confidit, quam promisit potens Deus, modicus est fide. Hinc quoque Jacobus: Qui indiget sapientia, postulet eam ex fide, nihil haesitans; quia qui haesitat similis est fluctui maris, qui a vento movetur. Quod si in divinis haesitare Christiano non convenit, in humanis et caducis post promissa quomodo fidelis dubitare poterit? Quid igitur fugis, Christiane? Quanto magis in promissis Dei haesitaveris, tanto minus invenies pro quibus sollicitus desudas. Et si, bonitate Dei etiam dubius acceperis quod sollicite quaesisti, non tua sollicitudo id fecit inefficax, sed Dei largitas, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos. Sanctus Paschasius Radbertus Corbeiensis, Expositio In Evangelium Matthaei, Lib IV Cap VI Source: Migne PL 120.311d-312b

Do not therefore be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat, or drink, or wear?' All these things, He said, the Gentiles seek... 1 And because of this the more a man is as the Gentiles, while unfaithfulness yet troubles the soul, he shall be wearied with the cares of life. Therefore he who has confidence in the Lord concerning these things alone, he has little faith, and he who yet is anxious for these things, he is reckoned faithless. Whence perfect faith is rare and of few. And therefore to the yet doubtful Peter, after the exhortation of the Lord, rightly it was said, 'Man of little faith, why did you doubt?' 2 Whoever, then, doubts some commandment of God, or lacks confidence in Him, what Almighty God promises, he is of little faith. Whence James also says: 'He who lacks wisdom, let him ask from faith, doubting in nothing, because he who hesitates is like a wave of the sea tossed about by the wind.' 3 If it is not fitting for a Christian to doubt in Divine things, how after the promises shall it be possible for the faithful man to doubt in human and fallen things? Why, then, do you flee, O Christian? The more you doubt the promises of God, the more you shall find yourself trembling over what you fret over. And if from the goodness of God, you, who are a doubter, receive what you have anxiously sought, it was not your worry that did this, but it was from the largess of God, who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked. 4 Saint Paschasius Radbertus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 4, Chap 6 1 Mt 6.32 2 Mt 14.31 3 James 1.5 4 Mt 5.45

Mary And Zechariah

Dixit autem Maria ad angelum, Quomodo fiet istud? Ecce Maria interrogat: et si qui interrogat, dubitat, cur solus Zacharias velut querulus percuntator incurrit? Quia pectorum cognitor non verba, sed corda pervidit; non quid dixerint, sed quid senserint, judicavit; erat enim interrogantium causa dissimilis, species perdivisa. Haec contra naturam credidit, ille dubitat pro natura; haec integrae rei ordinem quaerit, ille quae Deus jubet fieri non posse perscribit; ille impellentibus exemplis non accedit ad fidem, haec sine exemplo percurrit fidem; haec miratur de partu virginis, ille de conceptu disputat conjugali. Merito ergo haec loquitur, haec Deum suo cognoscit et confitetur in corpore; ille tacet, donec Joannem quem negabat, convictus proprio redderet ex corpore. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CXLII Source: Migne PL 52.581

But Mary said to the angel 'How will this be?' 1 Behold, Mary questions, and if the one who questions doubts, why is Zechariah alone the one to err as a doubtful enquirer? 2 Because He who knows the soul examined not words but hearts; He judged not what they said but what they intended; for what caused the questions were different and separate was their presentation. She believed against nature, he doubted on account of nature; she asks how the whole affair will be arranged, he insists that what God ordains cannot come to be. He by compelling examples does not come to belief, she without example is quick to believe. She is amazed at a virgin giving birth, he disputes about conception in marriage. And so with merit she speaks, acknowledging her God and confessing Him in the body, he is silent until the John whom he denied refutes him in being born from his own body. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 142 1 Lk 1.34 2 Lk 1.18-22

Considering The Correction Of Others

Cum qualicumque cordis compunctione attonita mente saepius volvens, si, inquam, peculiari ex omnibus nationibus populo, semini regali gentique sanctae, ad quam dixerat: primogenitus meus Israel, eiusque sacerdotibus, prophetis, regibus, per tot saecula, Apostolo ministro membrisque illius primitivae ecclesiae dominus non pepercit, cum a recto tramite deviarint, quid tali huius atramento aetatis facturus est? Cui praeter illa nefanda immaniaque peccata quae communiter cum omnibus mundi sceleratis agit, accedit etiam illud veluti ingentium quid et indelebile insipientiae pondus et levitatis ineluctabile. Quid? Mihimet aio, tibine, miser, veluti conspicuo ac summo doctori talis cura committitur ut obstes ictibus tam violenti torrentis, et contra hunc inolitorum scelerum funem per tot annorum spatia interrupte latetque protractum serves depositum tibi creditum et taceas? Alioquin hoc est dixisse pedi: speculare et manui: fare. Habet britanni rectores, habet speculatores. Quid tu nugando mutire disponis? habet, inquam, habet, si non ultra, non citra numerum. Sed quia inclinati tanto pondere sunt pressi, idcirco spatium respirandi non habent. Praeoccupabant igitur se multo talibus obiectionibus vel multo his mordacioribus veluti condebitores sensus mei. Hi non parvo, ut dixi, tempore, cum legerim, Tempus esse loquendi et tacendi, et in quadam ac si angusta timoris porticu luctabantur. Obtinuit vicitque tandem aliquando creditor, si non es, inquiens, talis audaciae ut inter veridicas rationalis secundae a nuntiis derivationis creaturas non pertimescas libertatis aureae decenti nota inuri, affectum saltem intellegibilis asinae eatenus elinguis non refugito spiritu Dei afflatae, nolentis se vehiculum fore tiarati magi devoturi populum Dei, quae in anguesto maceriae vinearum resolutum eius attriuit pedem, ob id licet verbera hostiliter senserit, cuique angelum caelestem ensem vacuum vagina habentem atque contrarium, quem ille cruda stoliditate caecatus non viderat, digito quodammodo, quamquam ingrato ac furibundo et innoxia eius latera contra ius fasque caedenti, demonstravit. In zelo igitur domus Domini sacrae legis seu cogitatuum rationibus vel fratrum religiosis precibus coactus sum persolvo debitum multo tempore antea exactum, vile quidem, sed fidele, ut puto, et amicale quibusque egregiis Christi tironibus, grave uero et importabile apostatis insipientibus. Quorum priores, ni fallor, cum lacrimis forte quae ex Dei caritate profluunt, alii autem cum trisitia, sed quae de indignatione et pusillanimitate deprehensae conscientiae extorquetur, illud excipient. Sanctus Gildas Sapiens, De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae Migne PL 69 332

When with compunction of heart turning over the mind I said, if the Lord did not spare a people, peculiar out of all the nations, the royal seed and holy nation, to whom He had said: Israel is my first born, 1 nor its priests, prophets, kings for so many centuries, nor the Apostle his servant and the members of that early Church, when they swerved from the right path, what will he do on account of such blackness as this age has? An age to which, besides those impious and monstrous sins which it practices in common with all the criminals of the world, has been added that which is as if inborn with it, an irremovable unwisdom and an inextricable fickleness. What then? Do I say to myself, O wretch, as if you were a distinguished and great teacher, is such a care comitted to you, that you would stand against the blows of so violent a torrent, and against this array of growing crimes extending over so many years and so widely, keep the deposit committed to you, and be silent? Otherwise this means, to say to the foot, watch, and to the hand, speak. Britain has teachers, it has watchers. Are you disposed to mumble some paltry things? Yes, it has, it has, if not too many, not too few. But, because they are pressed down by so great a weight, so they have no time to breathe. Thus my thoughts as fellow debtors were preoccupied with many such objections, and by many that were more biting than these. Such was my state, for no short time, as I said, when I read: 'There is a time to speak and a time to keep silent,' 2 and wrestled, as it were, in the narrow gate of fear. At length the creditor prevailed and conquered, saying, 'If you have not such courage as to feel no fear of being branded with the mark that befits golden liberty among truth telling creatures of a rational origin second to the angels, at least imitate that intelligent donkey, inspired, though mute, by the Spirit of God; unwilling it was to be the carrier of the crowned magician about to curse the people of God, it bruised his feeble foot in the narrow path near the wall of the vineyards, though it was thus was obliged to suffer hostile blows, and it pointed out to him the angel from heaven, as if with the finger, who with sword drawn from scabbard opposed them, whom he in the blindness of cruel stupidity had not seen, he who, ungrateful and furious, was unrighteously beating its innocent sides. 3 In my zeal, therefore, for the holy law of the Lord's house, or by the reasons of my own meditations, or driven by the pious entreaties of brethren, I am now paying the debt exacted long ago. The work certainly is poor, but faithful, I think, and friendly to all noble young soldiers of Christ, but harsh and insupportable to foolish apostates. The former of these, if I am not deceived, will perhaps receive it with the tears that flow from the love of God; the others however with receive it with sorrow, but a sorrow that is given by the indignation and weakness of an awakened conscience.  Saint Gildas the Wise, from On The Destruction and Ruin of Britain 1 Exodus 4.2 2 Eccl 3.7  3 Numb 22.28-31

Estranged Sons

Υἱοὶ ἀλλότριοι ἐπαλαιώθησαν, καὶ τα ἐξῆς. Τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀρχὴ καὶ πηγὴ τυγχάνων ὁ Θεὸς, πατὴρ γίνεται τῶν ἀγαθοεργούντων· καὶ ὅσον ἐν τῷ ποιεῖν τὰ δέοντα τυγχάνουσιν οὗτοι ἴδιοι υἱοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ μετέχοντες τοὺ μονογενοῦς Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ. Εἰ δὲ ἀπροσεκτήσαντες, τῶν ἐναντίων μεθέξουσιν, ταῦτα δ' ἐστιν τὰ κακὰ, ἀλλοτριωθεῖειν Θεοῦ· οἶς ἀκολουθήσει καὶ τὸ, παλαιωθῆναι. Κοινωνοῦντες γὰρ τῇ ἀρετῇ λαμπρᾷ καὶ ἁμαράντῳ σοφιᾳ και ἀγήρῳ ἀεὶ νεάζοντες ἐτυγχανον· μεταπεσόντες δὲ εἰς τὴν κακίαν, παλαιωθεῖεν ὑπὸ τῆς φθορᾶς αὐτῶν, ἵν' οὕτως εἴπω, τριβακούμενοι. Καὶ ἔτι ἐπεὶ περὶ Ἰουδαίων ἐστὶν ὁ στίχος· οὗτοι δὲ παρακάθηνται τῇ παλαιότητι τοῦ γράμματος, οὐδὲ κατὰ ποσὸν ἔπεσθαι τῇ καινόντητι τοῦ πνεύματος ἁνεχόμενοι, Υἱοὶ ἀλλότριοι καὶ πεπελαιωμένοι γεγένηνται. Οὗτοι δὲ καὶ ἐπαμφοτερισταὶ καὶ δίψυχοι γεγένημενοι, χωλεύειν ἀπὸ τῶν σφῶν τρίβων λέγονται. Τὸ γὰρ ἐπαμφοτερίζειν, χωλεύειν Ἠλίας εἶπεν φάσκων· Ἔως πότε χωλανεῖτε ἐπ' ἀμφοτέραις ἰγνύαις; Εἰ ἔστιν Κύριος, πορεύεσθε ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τάχα πᾶς ὁ τὴν θείαν Γραφὴν προσηκάμενος, μὴ ὡς δεῖ διανοούμενος αὐτὴν, χωλεύειν ἐν αὐτῇ λέγεται· τοῦ μὴ παραδεξαμένου αὐτὴν, μήτε βαδίζοντος, μήτε χωλεύοντος ἐν αὐτῇ. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΙΖ'

'Estranged sons have withered,' 1 and what follows. God is the principle and fount of all goods, a father doing good, and whoever in deed does rightly they are like the sons of God, participants in the the only begotten Son of God. And if they decline from this, partaking of what is opposite to this, by these wicked things they are estranged from God, by which it follows that they wither. For those participant in virtue shine with unfading wisdom, and not growing old are ever young, but they who fall into wickedness, they age by their own corruption, and, so I say, perish. And then the verse is about the Jews, for these serving the old letter are not able to follow the new spirit and 'Estranged sons' and 'withered' they are.' And those who are wavering and uncertain are then referred to, when they are said to hobble from their paths. 1 And about wavering and doubt Elijah speaks, saying, 'How long shall you hesitate with your feet? If he is the Lord, follow him.' 2 And perhaps everyone who receives Divine Scripture and does not grasp it as it befits is one who hesitates in the way of the things that are said. And he who does not receive it, well, he neither walks in it, nor does he hobble in it. Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 17 1 Ps 17. 46 2 3 kings 18.21

Zachariah's Doubts

Quod ubi Zacharias, fratres, audivit, tantum se meruisse suis precibus sacramentum, rei ipsis consideratione territus, sacramenti ipsius aestimatione turbatus, nec se mereri tantum credidit, et Deum dubitatvit ad haec talia et tanta descendere. Hinc est quod dicit: 'Unde hoc sciam? Ego enim senex sum, et uxor mea processit in diebus suis.' Hoc est dicere, quomodo me habere filium ratio non permittit humana, ista nasci et mori Deum majestas non sinit sempiterna. Cui angelus veniabiliter non credenti peonam signi tantum dedit, non perfidiae: cautelae est tarde de Deo humilia credere, de Deo tardius conumeliosa sentire. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XC

But, brothers, when Zachariah heard that he had merited so great a mystery by his prayers, he was terrified when he considered the matter, he was troubled by the thought of this mystery, for he did not believe he merited something so great, and he doubted that God was coming down for such momentous things, which is why he says, ' How may I know this? I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in her days.'1 Which is to say, as human nature does not allow me to have a son, so God's eternal majesty does not allow him to be born and die. This lack of belief being a venial matter, the angel gave him a punishment that was only a sign of doubt, not of faithlessness, of the caution of being slow to believe humble things of God, and to be slower to think dishonourably of God. Saint Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 90 1 Lk 1. 18

Ambiguity and Simplicity

Nolo verborum ambiguitates: nolo mihi dici, quod et aliter possit intelligi. Revelata facie gloriam Domini contemplemur. Claudicabat quondam et Israeliticus populus in utroque pede. Sed Elias, qui interpretatur, fortis Domini: 'Usque quo ait, claudicatis in utroque vestigio? Si Dominus est Deus, ambulate post eum: si autem Baal, sequimini eum.' Et ipse Dominus de Judaeis: 'Filii alieni mentiti sunt mihi: filii alieni inveteraverunt, et claudicaverunt a semitis suis.' Certe si haereseos nulla suspicio est, ut cupio et credo, cur non verbis meis meum sensum loquitur? Quam ille simplicitatem vocat, ego malitiam interpretor. Persuadere mihi vult, quod pure credat; pure ergo et loquatur. Et si quidem unum verbum, vel unus sensus esset ambiguus, si duo, si tres, ignorantiae veniam tribuerem; nec ea quae aut obscura vel dubia sunt, de certis et perspicuius aestimarem. Nunc vero quae ista simplicitas est, quasi super ova et aristas inter theatrales praestigias pendenti gradu incedere: ubique dubium, ubique suspectum. Sanctus Hieronymous, Contra Ioannem Hierosolymitanum, ad Pammachium

I dislike ambiguity in words, I dislike to be told that something is able to  be understood in another way. With face uncovered let us contemplate the glory of the Lord. Once the people of Israel halted between two opinions. But Elijah, whose name interpreted means 'strong one of the Lord,' said, 'How long halt  between two ways? If the Lord be God, go after Him; but if it be Baal, follow him.' 1 And the Lord himself says concerning the Jews, 'The strange children lied to me; the strange children became feeble, and they limped out of their paths.' 2 Certainly if there is no suspicion of heresy, which I desire and believe, why does he not speak out my opinion with my words? He calls it simplicity, I interpret it as cunning. He wishes to persuade me that his belief is pure, let him then speak purely. And indeed if one word or meaning be ambiguous, or two or three, I could grant forgiveness on account of ignorance, nor would I judge things obscure or doubtful by the standard of what is certain and clear. But now this simplicity is like what happens with performers who walk on tiptoe over eggs or standing grain; everywhere there is doubt, everywhere suspicion. Saint Jerome, To Pammachius, Against John of Jerusalem 1 1 Ki 18.21 2 Ps 17.46

Doubts of a Martyr

Πολλὰ φρονῶ ἐν θεῷ, ἀλλ’ ἐμαυτὸν μετρῶ, ἵνα μὴ ἐν καυχήσει απόλωμαι. Νῦν γὰρ με δεῖ πλέον φοβεῖσθαι καὶ μὴ προσέχειν τοῖς φυσιοῦσίν με. οἱ γὰρ λέγοντές μοι μαστιγοῦσίν με. ἀγαπῶ μὲν γὰρ τὸ παθεῖν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ οἶδα, εἰ ἄξιός εἰμι. τὸ γὰρ ζῆλος πολλοῖς μὲν οὐ φαίνεται, ἐμὲ δὲ πλέον πολεμεῖ. χρῄζω οὖν πραότητος, ἐν ᾗ καταλύεται ὁ ἄρχων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου. Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Ἐπιστολή Προς Τραλλιανοις Source: Migne PG 5.667c

Much I have thought on account of God but I take my measure that I not be destroyed by vaunting. Now it is necessary to fear and not to turn my mind to those who flatter me, for by what they say they scourge me. I would love to suffer but I do not know if I am worthy of it. To many these things are not apparent but for me it makes the struggle greater. Thus I have need of meekness, that by it I might destroy the prince of this world. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Trallians

Disputing The Philosophers

Tibi liquebat quanto haec nostra, id est, pietatis veritatisque praecepta, illis philosophorum praecepti debeant. In illis namque eorum praeceptis, vel adumbrata virtus, vel falsa sapientia; in his vero consummata justitia, solida veritas continetur. Unde licet dicere philosophiae alios nomen usurpasse, nos vitam. Etenim qualia ab his dari possunt praecepta vivendi? Causam neciunt. Ignorantes enim Deum, et statim ab exordio justitae declinantes, consequenti in caetera feruntur errore. Sic fit postea ut studiorum talium finis sit vanitas Si qui apud illos honestiora deficiunt, huic jactantiae deserviunt, huic laborant: ita apud eos non est vacua vitiis abstinentia vitiorum. Hic itaque sunt, sicut scriptum est, qui terrena sapiunt. Unde manifeste ostenditur veram eos justitiam, veram sapientiam non videre. Anne aliquis ex illa Aristippi schola veritatem videbit, qui ingenio suo a suibus aut pecore nihil differt, cum beatitudinem in corporis volupatte constituat: cui Deus venter est, et gloria in pudendis eius? Hic honestum justumque praecipiet, apud quem prodigus, impudicus, adulter philosophatur? Sanctus Eucherius Lugdonensis, Epistola Paraenetica ad Valerianum Cognatum, de Contemptu Mundi Source: Migne PL 50.724a-c

It should quickly become clear to you how much more our precepts are more pious and true than the precepts of philosophers. For in their precepts is but a shadow of virtue or a false wisdom, and in ours perfect righteousness and real truth. Whence it is permitted to say they but usurp the name of philosophy and ours is the life. For what sort of precepts for living are they able to give? They are ignorant of the cause, not knowing God, and instantly from the outset deviating from righteousness they consequently err in all the rest. So it turns out that the end of such studies is vanity. If any happened to attain to more noble ends in their labours, these but serviced boastfulness, and so for them a reduction of error was not an absence of vice. Thus these are, as it has been written, 'those who know the things of the earth.' 1 It is manifest that neither true righteousness nor wisdom was revealed to them. Can any one of the school of Aristippus contemplate the truth, those who differing neither in mind nor heart from one another, established happiness in corporeal pleasures, whose God is the stomach, and whose glory is shame? Can he teach justice and nobility to whom the prodigal man, the shameless man and the adulterous man are teachers of philosophy? Saint Eucherius of Lyon, Letter Of Exhortation To His Kinsman Valerian, On Contempt For the World 1 Phil 3.19

Epicurus, Faith and Understanding

Ναι μὴν και ὁ ᾽Επικουρος, ὁ μάλιστα τῆς ἀληθειας προτιμήσας τὴν ἡδονὴν, προληψιν ειναι διανοιας τὴν πιστιν ὑπολαμβανει· προληψιν δὲ ἀποδιδωσιν, επιβολὴν ἐπι τι ἐναργες, και ἐπι τὴν ἐναργῆ τοῦ πράγματος ἐπινοιαν· μὴ δύνασθαι δὲ μηδένα μήτε ζητῆσαι μήτε ἀπορῆσαι, μηδὲ μην δοξᾶσαι, ἀλλ οὐδε ἐλεγξαι χωρις προλήψεως. Πῶς ὁ ἀν, μὴ ἐχων τις πρόληψιν οὗ ἐφιεται, μάθοι περι οὗ ζητει; ῾Ο μαθὼν δὲ ἣδη καταληψιν ποιει τὴν πρόληψιν. Ει δὲ ὁ μανθάνων οὐκ ἄνευ προλήψεως μανθανει τῆς των λεγομένων παραδεκτικῆς, αὐτὸς μὲν ὦτα ἔχει τα ἀκουστικα τῆς ἀληθειας· μακάριος δὲ ὁ λέγων εiς ὦτα ἀκουότων· ὤσπερ ἀμέλει μακάριος και αὐτος ὁ τῆς ὑπακοῆς. Τὸ δὲ κατακοῦσαι συνειναι ἐστιν. Ει τοινυν ἡ πιστις οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ πρόληψις ἐστι διανοιας περι τὰ λεγόμενα, και τοῦτο ὑπακοή τε εἰρηται, σύνεσις τε πειθὼ, οὐ μὴν μαθήσεται τις ἄνευ πιστεως· ἐπει μηδὲ ἄνευ προλήψεως, ᾽Αληθὲς δ᾽ οὖν ὄν πάντως μᾶλλον ἀποδεικνυται τὸ ὐπὸ τοῦ προφήτου εἰρημενον· ᾽Εαν μὴ πιστευσητε, οὐδὲ μὴ συνῆτε.  Κλημεντος του Αλεξανδρεως, Στρωματεων.

Why even Epicurus, who greatly preferred pleasure to truth, supposes faith to be a preconception of the mind; and defines preconception to be a grasping at something evident, at the clear understanding of the thing; and that no one can either inquire, or doubt, or judge, or even argue in the absence of preconception, for how, without a preconceived idea of what he is aiming at, does he learn about that which he inquiries? He who has learned has already turned his preconception into comprehension. And if he who learns is learning with a preconception which takes in what is expressed, that man has ears for the hearing of truth; and happy the man who is speaking to the ears of those who hear, as happy certainly also is he who listens. Now to hear plainly is to understand. If, then, faith is nothing else than a preconception of the mind in regard to things said, and this is called attention, understanding and persuasion, no one shall learn anything without faith, since it cannot be without preconception. Truly then here is a more ample demonstration of what was spoken by the prophet, 'Unless you believe, nor will you understand.' 1 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 2, Ch 4.  1 Is 7.9

Enquiring Into Divine Things

Nam interim deos credere, interim se deliberare variavit, ut, propositionis incerto, incertior responsionis nostrae intentio fundaretur. Sed in Natale meo verutiam nolo, non credo: procul est ab eius simplicitate subtilis urbanitas. Quid igitiur? Ut qui rectam viam nescit, ubi, ut fit, in plures una diffunditur, quia viam nescit, haeret anxius, nec singulas audet eligere, nec universas probare; sic cui non est veri stabile iudicium prout infida suspicio spargitur, ita eius dubio opinio dissipatur. Nullum itaque miraculum est, si Caecilius identidem incontrariis ac repugnantibus iactetur aestu et fluctuentur: quod ne fiat ulterius, convincam, et regarduam, quamvis diversa sint, quae dicta sunt; una veritate confirmata probataque, nec dubitandum ei de caetero est, nec vagandam. Et quoniam meus frater erupit aegre se fere, stomachari, indignari, dolere, illiteratos, pauperes, imperitos, de rebus caelestibus disputare; sciat omnes homines sine delectu aetatis, sexus, dignitatis, rationis et sensus capaces et habiles procreatos: nec fortuna nactos, sed natura insitos esse sapientiam: quin ipsos etiam philosophus, vel si qui alii artium repertores in memorias exierunt, prius quam solertia mentis parerent nominis claritatem, habitos esse plebeios, indoctos, seminudos; adeo divites facultatibus suis illigatos, magis aurum suspicere consuesse, quam caelum: nostrates pauperes, et commentos esse prudentiam, et tradidisse caeteris disciplinam. Unde apparet ingenium non dari facultatibus, nec studio parari, sed cum ipsa mentis formatione generari. Nihil itaque indignandum, vel dolendum, si quicumque de divinis quaerat, sentiat, proferat; quum non disputantis auctoritas, sed disputationis ipsius veritas requiatur: atque etiam quo imperitior sermo, hoc illustrior ratio est, quoniam non fucatur pompa facundiae et gratiae, sed, ut est, recti regula sustinetur. Minucius Felix, Octavius, Caput XVI Source: Migne PL 3.280a-283b

For he shifted between believing the gods and deliberating about them, so that the direct purpose of my reply was established with greater uncertainty by the uncertainty of his proposition. But in my friend Natalis I will not allow, nor do I believe in, any chicanery: his honesty is far from cunning trickery. What then? Like a man who is ignorant of the right way, when, as it happens, the one road divides into many, because he knows not the way, he becomes anxious and neither dares choose one nor tries all; so, if a man has no steadfast judgment of truth, even as his untrusting suspicion is scattered, so his doubting opinion is destroyed. Thus it is no wonder if Caecilius is in the same way unsettled, and tossed toward things repugnant and swept away by the swell; but that this may no longer continue, I will convict and refute all said, however diverse, confirming and approving the truth alone; and for the future he must neither doubt nor waver. And since my brother broke out in such difficulty, that he was grieved, vexed, and indignant, that illiterate, poor and unskilled people should dispute about heavenly things; let it be known that all men without preference of age, sex, or dignity are created with a capacity and ability of reasoning and feeling. Nor do they gain wisdom by fortune, but have it implanted by nature; moreover, even the philosopher, or others who have gone forth unto celebrity as discoverers of arts, before they attained an illustrious name by their mental skill, were thought plebeian, untaught, half-naked. Thus it is, that rich men, bound to their means, have been more inclined to gaze upon gold than upon heaven, while our poor folk have pondered wisdom and have handed over the teaching to others; whence it appears that intelligence is not given to wealth, nor is prepared by study, but is generated with the very formation of the mind. Therefore one must not be indignant nor aggrieved if any one should inquire, should think or should utter his thoughts about Divine things; since what is required is not arguments about authority but the truth of the argument itself: and even the more unskilled the speech, the more clear the reasoning, since it is not obscured by the pomp of eloquence and grace; but, as it is, it is sustained by the rule of right. Minucius Felix, Octavius, Chapter 16