The Ruin Of The Unworthy

Οὕτως εἶπεν Kύριος ἐπὶ Αχιαδ καὶ ἐπὶ Σεδεκιαν ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ δίδωμι αὐτοὺς εἰς χεῖρας βασιλέως Βαβυλῶνος καὶ πατάξει αὐτοὺς καi ὀφθαλμοὺς ὑμῶν. Τοιαῦτα πείσεται πᾶς πράσσων πρεσδύτεέρος ὑπὸ βασιλέως Βαδυλῶνος. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ ἀναξίως τις μεταλαμθάνων Εὐχαριστίαν εἰς χρῖμα λήψεται, πόσῳ μᾶλλον ὁ χαθεζόμενος ἐν πρεσδυτερίῳ συνειδότι μεμιασμένῳ, kαὶ τὸ Χριστοῦ μολύνων συνέδριον; Τίς γὰρ αὐτῷ συγχαθήμενος εὐλαδὴς λέγειν τολμήσει τὸ, Οὐχ ἐκάθισα μετὰ συνεδρίου ματαιότητος, καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τούτοις. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν Source: Migne PG 13.580a

Thus the Lord says to Achab and Sedecias, who have prophesied falsely in my name, I shall give you into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall punish them before your eyes. 1 All who do such things will suffer by the king of Babylon, For if someone who is unworthy takes up the Eucharist and thereby takes up his condemnation, 2 how much more shall he who sits in the counsel of elders with a wicked conscience defiles the gathering of Christ? For if there is someone who is pious sitting with him, shall he dare say, 'I have not sat in the counsel of vanity,' and what follows? 3 Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jerem 29.21 2 1 Cor 11.29 3 Ps 25.4

The Limitations Of Miracles

Non fuit, inquis, ordo eiusmodi necessarius, quia statim se et Filium et Missum et Dei Christum rebus ipsis esset probaturus per documenta virtutum. At ego negabo solam hanc illi speciem ad testimonium competisse, quam et ipse postmodum exauctoravit, siquidem edicens multos venturos et signa facturos et virtutes magnas edituros, aversionem etiam electorum, nec ideo tamen admittendos, temerariam signorum et virtutum fidem ostendit, ut etiam apud pseudochristos facillimarum. Aut quale est si inde se voluit probari et intellegi et recipi, ex virtutibus dico, unde ceteros noluit aeque et ipsos tam subito venturos quam a nullo auctore praedicatos? Si quia prior eis venit et prior virtutum documenta signavit, idcirco, quasi locum in balneis, ita fidem occupavit, posteris quibusque praeripuit, vide ne et ipse in condicione posteriorum deprehendatur, posterior inventus creatore ante iam cognito, et proinde virtutes ante operato, et non aliter praefato non esse aliis credendum, post eum scilicet. Igitur si priorem venisse et priorem de posteris pronuntiasse hoc fidem excludet, praedamnatus erit et ipse iam ab eo quo posterior est agnitus, et solius erit auctoritas creatoris hoc in posteros constituendi, qui nullo posterior esse potuit. Iam nunc, cum probaturus sim creatorem easdem virtutes, quas solas ad fidem Christo tuo vindicas, interdum per famulos suos retro edidisse, interdum per Christum suum edendas destinasse, possum et ex hoc merito praescribere tanto magis Christum non ex solis virtutibus credendum fuisse quanto illum non alterius quam creatoris interpretari potuissent, ut respondentes virtutibus creatoris et editis per famulos suos et in Christum suum repromissis. Quamquam, et si alia documenta invenirentur in tuo Christo, nova scilicet, facilius crederemus etiam nova eiusdem esse cuius et vetera, quam cuius tantummodo nova, egentia experimentis fidei victricis vetustatis, ut sic quoque praedicatus venire debuerit tam praedicationibus propriis exstruentibus ei fidem quam et virtutibus, praesertim adversus Christum creatoris venturum et signis et prophetiis propriis munitum, ut aemulus Christi per omnes diversitatum species reluceret. Sed quomodo a deo nunquam praedicato Christus eius praedicaretur? Hoc est ergo quod exigit nec Deum nec Christum tuum credi, quia et Deus ignotus esse non debuit, et Christus agnosci per Deum debuit. Tertullianus, Adversus Marcionem, Liber III, Caput III Source: Migne PL 2.323c-325a

An arrangement of prior prophecy, you say, was not necessary, because He was instantly able to prove Himself the Son, and He Who Was Sent, and the Christ of God, with His deeds, by means of the witness of His miracles. But I shall deny that evidence of this sort alone was sufficient testimony of Him when He Himself later dismissed its authority, since He, declaring that many would come and show great signs and wonders, so as to turn aside the very elect, and yet were not to be received, 1 showed the rashness of belief in signs and wonders, which were so easy to perform even by false christs. Else how is it, if He wished to be approved and understood and received on account of such wonders, that He forbade the recognition of others like that, whose coming was to be quite sudden and unannounced by any authority? If, because He came before them, and was before them in displaying signs, and therefore, just as the firstcomers have the first place in the baths, He had first right to faith, and so seized it from all who came after, be careful lest even He be caught in the condition of the latecomer, being found to be after the Creator, who had already been made known, and who had already worked miracles like Him, and just like Him had forewarned that others not be believed, who should come after Him. If, therefore, to have come first and to have first uttered this warning is the limit of faith, He will Himself have to be condemned, because He was later in being acknowledged, and authority to prescribe such a rule about latecomers will belong to the Creator alone, who could have been after none. And now, when I am about to prove that the Creator displayed the same miracles, which you claim as solely enough for faith in your Christ, sometimes by His servants before, and in other cases reserved for His Christ to show, I may from this with merit maintain that there was so much the greater reason why Christ should not be believed in simply on account of His miracles, inasmuch as these would have shown Him to belong to none other than the Creator, because they answer to the miracles of the Creator, both as performed by His servants and reserved for His Christ. And, then, even if some other proofs should be found in your Christ, that is, novelties, we would be more readily inclinced to believe that even they belong to the same one as the old ones, rather than to him who has nothing but new proofs which have not the witness of antiquity which wins faith, so that even here he should have come announced as much by prophecies of his own for the building up of faith in him, as by miracles, especially against the Creator's Christ who was to come fortified by signs and prophets of His own, that he might shine forth as a rival of Christ in every way. But how was his Christ to be foretold by a God who never predicted? This, therefore, must obtain: that neither your God nor your Christ are to be believed, because God should not have been unknown and Christ should have been made known through God. Tertullian, Against Marcion Book 3, Chapter 3 1 Mk 13.21-22

Ecstacies And Judgements

εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν, θεῷ: εἴτε σωφρονοῦμεν, ὑμῖν.  Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐλεγχέσθωσαν παρ' ὑμῶν, λέγει δὲ περὶ τῶν ψευδαποστόλων, ἡμεῖς δὲ ὑμῶν χάριν καὶ δι' ὑμᾶς ταῦτα πράττομεν· κἄν τε γὰρ ἔξω τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων γενόμενοι τῷ θεῷ ἐκστῶμεν, ἀλλ' οὖν σωφρονοῦμεν ὑμῖν, τῆς θείας ἐκστάσεως οὐ μανίαν ἀλλὰ νηφαλιότητα ἐχούσης. Οὐ προσεκτέον γὰρ τοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν Φρυγῶν λέγουσι τοὺς ἀποστόλους καὶ προφήτας ἐξίστασθαι ὥστε παραπαίειν· παρηκολούθουν γὰρ οἷς ἔλεγον καὶ ἔπραττον, εἰ καί τινες ἄλλοι. Ἠπατήθησαν δὲ οἱ ἠλίθιοι ἐκ τῆς ὁμωνυμίας· οὐ γὰρ μόνον τὸ παραπαίειν καὶ παρακόπτειν σημαίνει ἡ ἐξέστη φωνή, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἐκπλαγῆναι ἐπὶ θαυμασμῷ. Οὕτω γὰρ ἐξέστη Ἰσαὰκ ἔκστασιν μεγάλην, καὶ ἐκστήσονταί τινες ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὸν προφήτην. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα τινα δηλοῦται ὑπὸ τῆς φωνῆς, ἐπιστήτω ὁ ἐντυγχάνων ταῖς γραφαῖς.  Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Την Δευτεραν Ἐπιστολήν Προς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογή, Κεφ Ε' Migne PG 39.1702d-1703a

For if we are in an ecstasy, it is for God. If we are sober, it is for you. 1 So let them be proved by you concerning these things, and he speaks here of false apostles, but we for your sake do these things, and even if our mind leaps beyond human things to God, nevertheless we are sober when we turn to you, because Divine ecstasy is not madness but the possession of sobriety. Do not attend to those from Phrygia who call themselves apostles and prophets and when in ecstasy lose their minds, for even what they speak and do they know beforehand. And this sham for the simple he makes a homonym. For the word ecstasy not only signifies delirium or loss of control, but even an astonishment from admiration. For so Issac was shaken with a great ecstasy, 2 and not a few have experience of ecstasy in the Lord and His good things, 3 as the Prophet says. But even if there are other meanings to this word, let it be known what occurs in the Scriptures. Didymus the Blind, Fragment from a Commentary On The Second Letter of St Paul to the Corinthians, Chap 5 1 2 Cor 5.13 2 Gen 27.33 3 Hosea 3.5

Against The Montanists

Τῆς δὲ κατὰ Φρύγας καλουμένης αἱρέσεως καὶ Ἀπολλώνιος, ἐκκλησιαστικὸς συγγραφεύς, ἀκμαζούσης εἰς ἔτι τότε κατὰ τὴν Φρυγίαν ἔλεγχον ἐνστησάμενος, ἴδιον κατ’ αὐτῶν πεποίηται σύγγραμμα, τὰς μὲν φερομένας αὐτῶν προφητείας ψευδεῖς οὔσας κατὰ λέξιν εὐθύνων, τὸν δὲ βίον τῶν τῆς αἱρέσεως ἀρχηγῶν ὁποῖός τις γέγονεν, διελέγχων· αὐτοῖς δὲ ῥήμασιν περὶ τοῦ Μοντανοῦ ταῦτα λέγοντος ἄκουε· ἀλλὰ τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ πρόα· φατὸς διδάσκαλος , τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἡ διδασκαλία δείκνυσιν. οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ διδάξας λύαεις γάμων, ὁ νηστείας νομοθετήσας, ὁ Πέπουζαν καὶ Τύμιον Ἱερουσαλὴμ ὀνομάσας πόλεις δ’ εἰσὶν αὗται μικραὶ τῆς Φρυγίας, τοὺς πανταχόθεν ἐκεῖ συναγαγεῖν ἐθέλων ὁπρακτῆρας χρημάτων καταστήσας, ὁ ἐπ’ ὀνόματι προσφορῶν τὴν δωροληψίαν ἐπιτεχνώμενος, ὁ σαλάρια χορηγῶν τοῖς κηρύσσουσιν αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἵνα διὰ τῆς γαατριμαργίας ἡ διδασκαλία τοῦ λόγου κρατύνηται.” Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τοῦ Μοντανοῦ· καὶ περὶ τῶν προφητίδων δὲ αὐτοῦ ὑποκαταβὰς οὕτω γράφει· δείκνυμεν οὖν αὐτὰς πρώτας τὰς προφήτιδας ταύτας, ἀφ’ οὗ τοῦ πνεύματος ἐπληρώθησαν, τοὺς ἄνδρας καταλιπούσας . πῶς οὖν ἐψεύδοντο Πρίσκιλλαν παρθένον ἀποκαλοῦντες;  Εἶτ’ ἐπιφέρει λέγων·  δοκεῖ σοῖ πᾶσα γραφὴ κωλύειν προφήτην λαμβάνειν δῶρα καὶ χρήματα; ὅταν οὖν ἴδω τὴν προφῆτιν εἰληφυῖαν καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ ἄργυρον καὶ πολυτελεῖς ἐσθῆτας, πῶς αὐτὴν μὴ παραιτήαωμαι. Αὖθις δ᾿ ὑποκαταβὰς περί τινος τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς ὁμολογητῶν ταῦτά φησιν·  ἔτι δὲ καὶ Θεμίσων, ὁ τὴν ἀξιόπιστον πλεονεξίαν ἠμφιεσμένος, ὁ μὴ βαστάσας τῆς ὁμολογίας τὸ σημεῖον, ἀλλὰ πλήθει χρημάτων ἀποθέμενος τὰ δεσμά, δέον ἐπὶ τούτῳ ταπεινοφρονεῖν, ὡς μάρτυς καυχώμενος, ἐτόλμησεν, μιμούμενος τὸν ἀπόστολον, καθολικήν τινα συνταξάμενος ἐπιστολῄν, κατηχεῖν μὲν τοὺς ἄμεινον αὐτοῦ πεπιστευκότας , συναγωνίζεσθαι δὲ τοῖς τῆς κενοφωνίας λόγοις, βλασφημῆσαι δὲ εἰς τὸν Κύριον καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους καὶ τὴν ἁγίαν ἐκκληαίαν. Καὶ περὶ ἑτέρου δὲ αὖθις τῶν κατ᾿ αὐτοὺς τετιμημένων ὡς δὴ μαρτύρων οὕτω γράφει· ἵνα δὲ μὴ περὶ πλειόνων λέγωμεν, ἡ προφῆτις ἡμῖν εἰπάτω τὰ κατὰ Ἀλέξανδρον, τὸν λέγοντα ἑαυτὸν μάρτυρα, ᾧ συνεστιᾶται, ᾧ προσκυνοῦσιν καὶ αὐτῷ πολλοί· οὗ τὰς λῃστείας καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τολμήματα ἐφ᾿ οἷς κεκόλασται, οὐχ ἡμᾶς δεῖ λέγειν, ἀλλὰ ὁ ὀπισθόδομος ἔχει. τίς οὖν τίνι χαρίζεται τὰ ἁμαρτήματα; πότερον ὁ προφήτης τὰς λῃστείας τῷ μάρτυρι ἢ ὁ μάρτυς τῷ προφήτη τὰς πλεονεξίας; εἰρηκότος γὰρ τοῦ Κυρίου μὴ κτήσησθε χρυσὸν μήτε ἄργυρον μηδὲ δύο χιτῶνας, οὗτοι πᾶν τοὐναντίον πεπλημμελήκασιν περὶ τὰς τούτων τῶν ἀπηγορευμένων κτήσεις. δείξομεν γὰρ τοὺς λεγομένους παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς προφήτας καὶ μάρτυρας μὴ μόνον παρὰ πλουσίων, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ πτωχῶν καὶ ὀρφανῶν καὶ χηρῶν κερματιζομένους. Καὶ εἰ πεποίθησιν ἔχουσιν, στήτωσαν ἐν τούτῳ καὶ διορισάσθωσαν ἐπὶ τούτοις, ἵνα ἐὰν ἐλεγχθῶσιν, κἂν τοῦ λοιποῦ παύσωνται πλημμελοῦντες. δεῖ γὰρ τοὺς καρποὺς δοκιμάζεσθαι τοῦ προφήτου· ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ καρποῦ τὸ ξύλον γινώσκεται. Ἵνα δὲ τοῖς βουλομένοις τὰ κατὰ Ἀλέξανδρον ἦ γνώριμα, κέκριται ὑπὸ Αἰμιλίου Φροντίνου ἀνθυπάτου ἐν Ἐφέσῳ, οὐ διὰ τὸ ὄνομα, ἀλλὰ δι’ ἃς ἐτόλμησεν λῃστείας, ὢν ἤδη παραβάτης· εἶτ’ ἐπιψευσάμενος τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Κυρίου, ἀπολέλυται, πλανήσας τοὺς ἐκεῖ πιστούς, καὶ ἡ ἰδία παροικία αὐτόν, ὅθεν ἢν, οὐκ ἐδέξατο διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὸν λῃστήν, καὶ οἱ θέλοντες μαθεῖν τὰ κατ’ αὐτὸν ἔχουσιν τὸ τῆς Ἀσίας δημόσιον ἀρχεῖον· ὅν ὁ προφήτης συνόντα πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ἀγνοεῖ. Τοῦτον ἐλέγχοντες ἡμεῖς, δι’ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν ὑπόστασιν ἐξελέγχομεν τοῦ προφήτου. Τὸ ὅμοιον ἐπὶ πολλῶν δυνάμεθα ἀποδεῖξαι, καὶ εἰ θαρροῦσιν, ὑπομεινάτωσαν τὸν ἔλεγχον. Πάλιν τε αὗ ἐν ἑτέρῳ τόπῳ τοῦ συγγράμματος περὶ ὧν αὐχοῦσι προφητῶν ἐπιλέγει ταῦτα·  ἐὰν ἀρνῶνται δῶρα τοὺς προφήτας αὐτῶν εἰληφέναι, τοῦθ’ ὁμολογησάτωσαν ὅτι ἐὰν ἐλεγχθῶσιν εἰλγφότες, οὐκ εἰσὶ προφῆται, καὶ μυρίας ἀποδείξεις τούτων παραστήσομεν. ἀναγκαῖον δέ ἐστιν πάντας καρποὺς δοκιμάζεσθαι προφήτου. προφήτης, εἰπέ μοι, βάπτεται; προφήτης στιβίζεται; προφήτης Φιλοκοσμεῖ; προφήτης τάβλαις καὶ κύβοις παίζει; προφήτης δανείζει; ταῦτα ὁμολογησάτωσαν πότερον ἔξεστιν ἢ μή, ἐγὼ δ’ ὅτι γέγονεν παρ’ αὐτοῖς, δείξω. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ϟΗ' Source:  Migne PG 20.476a-480b

Against the heresy named the Phrygian which was thriving in Phrygia at that time, Apollonius also, an ecclesiastical writer, undertook to refute it, and wrote a special work against them, correcting in detail the false prophecies among them and reproving the life of the founders of the heresy. But hear his words about Montanus: But who this fellow is who is first among them let the word of his doctrine and his actions and his teaching show. He is the one who taught the dissolution of marriage, who made laws for fasting, who named Pepuza and Tymion, little towns in Phrygia, Jerusalem, wishing to gather people there from all directions, who established collectors of money; who under the name of offerings contrived the receiving of gifts, who provided salaries for those who preached his way, that through gluttony the teaching might prevail. So the things he says about Montanus. A little after he writes as follows concerning his prophetesses:  We show that these first prophetesses themselves, from the moment they were filled with the spirit, abandoned their husbands. Why, then, do they lie calling Priscilla a virgin? Afterwards he says:  Does it not appear to you that all Scripture forbids a prophet from receiving gifts and money? When, then, I see the prophetess receiving gold and silver and expensive garments, how should I not admonish her? And again a little after he says these things about one of their confessors: So also Themiso, who was clothed with plausible covetousness, could not endure the sign of confession, but for an abundance of possessions laid off his bonds, and not being humbled by it, dared to boast himself a martyr, and imitating the Apostle, he composed a certain 'catholic epistle', to catechise those whose faith was better than his own, contending with words of empty noise and blaspheming against the Lord and the Apostles and the holy Church. And again about others who receive honour among them as martyrs, he writes this: That we do not speak excessively, let the prophetess tell us of Alexander, who called himself a martyr, with whom she feasts, and who is revered by many. We need not speak about his robberies and other daring deeds for which he was punished, for the public archives contain them. Which of these overlooks the sins of the other? The prophet the robberies of the martyr, or the martyr the covetousness of the prophet? For although the Lord said, 'Provide neither gold, nor silver, neither two coats,' 1 these men are in utter opposition to the possession of the things forbidden. For we will show that those who are called prophets and martyrs among them, not only from the rich, but also from the poor and orphans and widows gather their wealth. And if they have the confidence let them stand up and debate these things, that if convicted they may then cease their errors. One must test the fruits of the prophet, 'for the tree is known by its fruit.' 2 But that those who wish may have knowledge of Alexander, he was judged by Aemilius Frontinus, proconsul at Ephesus, not because of the Name, but because of the robberies which he had committed, being then an apostate, but later, having falsely declared for the name of the Lord, he was released, having deceived the faithful there, and his own parish, from which he was, did not receive him because he was a robber, and those who wish to learn about him may consult the public records of Asia, and yet the prophet with whom he has spent many years knows nothing about him! Convicting him, through him we convict also the nature of the prophet. We could expose similar things in many others. But if they are confident, let them endure the test. Again, in another part of the work he speaks these things of the prophets of whom they boast: If they deny that their prophets have received gifts, let them confess this: that if they are convicted of receiving them, they are not prophets. And we will set forth a multitude of proofs of this. But it is necessary that all the fruits of a prophet should be tested. Tell me, does a prophet dye his hair? Does a prophet paint his eyelids? Does a prophet delight in adornment? Does a prophet play at tables and dice? Does a prophet lend on usury? Let them confess whether these things are lawful or not; I will show that they have been done by them. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastial History, from Book 5, Chap 18 1 Mt 10.9-10 2 Mt 12.33

Speaking My Words

Et dixit ad me: Fili hominis, vade ad domum Israel, et loqueris verba mea ad eos. In eo quod Dominus prophetae dicit, Loqueris verba mea ad eos, quid aliud quam ejus ori frenum moderaminis imponit, ne quae prius intus non audierit, foris dicere praesumat? Nam prophetae falsi sua et non Dei verba loquebantur, de quibus scriptum est: Nolite audire verba prophetarum, qui prophetant vobis, et decipiunt vos; visionem cordis sui loquuntur, non de ore Domini. Et rursum: Non loquebar ad eos, et ipsi prophetabant. Qua ex re quoque colligendum est quia et quisquis expositor in explanatione sacri eloquii, ut fortasse auditoribus placeat, aliquid mentiendo componit, sua et non Domini verba loquitur, si tamen placendi vel seducendi studio mentiatur. Nam si in verbis dominicis virtutem requirens, ipse aliter quam is per quem prolata sunt senserit, etiamsi sub intellectu alio aedificationem charitatis requirat, Domini sunt verba quae narrat, quia ad hoc solum Deus per totam nobis sacram Scripturam loquitur, ut nos ad suum et proximi amorem trahat. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia X Source: Migne PL 76 891A-B

'And He said to me, 'Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak my words to them.' 1 In this which is said to the Prophet 'Speak my words to them,' is not a certain bridle of moderation placed on his mouth, lest he presume to speak outside what he had not heard before within? For it is of false prophets not to speak the word of God, concerning which it is written, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak prophecies to you and deceive you, for the vision of their own hearts they speak, not from the mouth of God.' 2 And again, 'I did not speak to them and yet they speak prophecies.' 3 From which it should be understood that even someone who is an exegete in the mysteries of Sacred Scripture, perhaps wishing to please his hearers, may present something deceitfully, speaking his own words and not the words of the Lord, whether he deceives by a zeal to please or to seduce. For if, seeking virtue in the words of the Lord, he expresses something else than what has been written down, even if with his aberrant understanding he is trying to build up love, they are the words of the Lord which he speaks on, and to this alone God through all of Sacred Scripture speaks, that we bear love both to Him and our neighbour. 4 Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 10 1 Ezek 3.4 2 Jer 23.16 3 Jer 23.21 4 Mark 12.30-31

Distinguishing Prophets

Προφήτης, ἐν ᾦ τὸ ἐνὑπνιόν ἐστι, διηγησάσθω. Ἐπειδὴ καὶ οἱ ψευδοπροφῆται κατεχρῶντο τᾧ, Τάδε λέγει Κύριος, τοὺς ἀληθεῖς προφήτας ὑποκρινόμενοι, ἔδει δὴ σημείων διαστελλόντων ἐκατέρους. Ἤν μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὸν Ἀποστολον πνευμάτων διακρίσεως χάρισμα, καὶ ὁ τοῦτο ἔχων διέκρινε πνεύματα, τά τε θεῖα ὄντα καὶ τὰ πονηρὰ, καθάπερ ἀργυραμοιβὸς τὸ νόμισμα τὸ δόκιμόν τε καὶ κίβδηλον. Χωρὶς δὲ τῆς καθολικῆς ἐπιστήμης καὶ τὸ νῦν εἰρημένον ἀρκει πρὸς διάκρισιν. Ὁ γὰρ λόγος μου, φησὶν, οὐ διάκενος καὶ τρόφιμος ἀλόγων, ἀλλ' οἱονεὶ σϊτος καὶ λογικῶν τροφή. Ὠριγένης, Ἐκλογαι Εἰς Ἱερεμαιν

'The Prophet in whom there is a dream, let him speak.' 1 Since false prophets have deceived with their words, saying 'Thus says the Lord,' true prophets are distrusted, and they were distinguished by signs. And certainly according to the Apostle there is a gift of distinguishing the spirits, 2 and he who has it, should judge the spirits, what was good, and what was evil, as one tests a coin for authenticity or falseness. But apart from general knowledge, it suffices now to question for the purposes of distinguishing. For my word, it then says, is not empty and fodder for irrational beasts, but as wheat and sustenance for rational creatures. Origen, Commentary On Jeremiah, Fragment 1 Jer 23.28 2 1 Cor 12.4-11

Words And The Narrow Way

Et quia paucorum esset viam angustam invenire, fraudulentiam eorum qui eam se quaerere mentirentur exponit, dicens: Attendite a pseudoprophetis, qui veniunt ad vos in vestimentis ovium. Blandimenta verborum et mansuetudinis simulationem admonet fructu operationis expendi oportere: ut non qualem quis se verbis referat, sed qualem se rebus efficiat spectemus; quia in multis vestitu ovium rabies lupina contegitur. Ergo, ut spinae uvas, ut tribuli ficus non generant, et ut iniquae arbores utilia poma non afferunt: ita ne in istis quidem consistere docet boni operis effectum; et idcirco omnes cognoscendos esse de fructibus. Regnum enim coelorum sola verborum officia non obtinent: neque qui dixerit: Domine, Domine, haeres illius erit. Quid enim meriti est Domino dicere Domine, Domine? Numquid Dominus non erit, nisi fuerit dictus a nobis? Et quae officii sanctitas est nominis nuncupatio; cum coelestis regni iter obedientia potius voluntatis non Dei nuncupatio repertura sit? Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap VI

And because there are few who find the narrow way 1 the deceit of those who give a false impression of seeking it is exposed ''Be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing.' 1 He warns against flattering words and the pretense of meekness, that they should be weighed against the fruit of works, so that we are not like one who cares only for a man's words but that we look to the effect of his deeds, because there are many whose wolf like fury is covered in sheep's clothing. Therefore, as thorn bushes do not produce grapes, nor thistles figs, so bad trees do not bring forth edible fruit; 2 thus He teaches that among these the production of good works does not occur, and that because of this all should be known by their fruit. For men do not reach the kingdom of heaven only by the use of words, nor will he who has said, 'Lord, Lord,' inherit it. For what is the merit in saying 'Lord, Lord'? Will He still not be the Lord unless He is called that by us? And what sort of holy duty is given by announcing a name when the way to the kingdom of heaven is discovered rather by the obedience of the will, not by some naming of God? 3 Saint Hilary of Poitiers, from the Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 6 1 Mt 7.15 2 Mt 7.16 3 Mt 7.21

Four Kinds Of Apostles

Quatuor autem genera apostolorum sunt. Unum, quod neque ab hominibus est, neque per hominem, sed per Jesum Christum, et Deum Patrem; aliud, quod a Deo quidem est sed per hominem; tertium, quod ab homine, non a Deo; quartum, quod neque a Deo, neque per hominem, neque ab homine, sed a semetipso. De primo genere potest esse Isais, caeterique prophetae, et ipse apostolus Paulus, qui neque ab hominibus, neque per hominem, sed a Deo Patre et Christo missus est. De secduno, Jesus filius Nave, qui a Deo quidem est apostolus constitutus, sed per hominem, Moysen. Tertium genus est, cum hominum favore et studio aliquis ordinatur. Ut nunc videmus plurimos non Dei judicio, sed redempto favore vulgi in sacerdotium subrogari. Quartum est pseudoprophetarum et pseudoapostolorum, de quibus apostolus: 'Istiusmodi, inquit, pseudoapostolorum, operarii iniquitatis, transfigurantes se in apostolos Christi, qui dicunt: Haec dicit Dominus: et Dominus non misit eos.' Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber Primus Source: Migne PL 26.312

There are four kinds of Apostles. The first is the one who is sent not by men nor through men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father. 1 The second is from God but through man. The third is sent by man but not by God. The fourth is sent not by God, nor by man, nor from men, but from the man himself. Of the first type are Isaiah, the other Prophets, and the Apostle Paul himself, who was sent not by man nor through men but by God the Father and Christ. Of the second type are Joshua son of Nun, he who was made an apostle of God but through the man Moses. The third type is when someone is ordained because of the favour and support of the people, as now we see many appointed to the priesthood not because God has deemed them worthy but because they have gained the favour of a mob. The fourth type is of false Prophets and false Apostles, about whom the Apostle says, 'False prophets like these are workers of iniquity, transforming themselves into Apostles of Christ, those who say that the Lord said these things, and the Lord has not sent them.' 2 Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on the Letter of St Paul To The Galatians, Book 1 1 Galat 1.1  2 2 Cor 10.13

The End Times

ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις πληθυνθήσονται οἱ ψευδοπροφῆται καὶ οἱ φθορεῖς, καὶ στραφήσονται τὰ πρόβατα εἰς λύκους, και ἡ ἀγάπη στραφήσεται εἰς μῖσος. αὐξανούσης γὰρ τῆς ἀνομίας μισήσουσιν ἀλλήλους καὶ διώξουσι καὶ παραδώσουσι, καὶ τότε φανήσεται ὁ κοσμοπλανὴς ὡς υἱὸσ θεοῦ, καὶ ποιήσει σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα, καὶ ἡ γῆ παραδοθήσεται εἰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ποιήσει ἀθέμιτα, ἃ οὐδέποτε γέγονεν ἐξ αἰῶνος. τότε ἥξει ἡ κτίσις τῶν ἀντρώπων εἰς τὴν πύρωσιν τῆς δοκιμασίας, καὶ σκανδαλισθήσονται πολλοὶ καὶ ἀπολοῦνται, οἱ δὲ ὑπομείναντες ἐν τῇ πίστει αὐτῶν σωθήσονται ὑπ’ αὐτου τοῦ καταθέματος.  Ἡ Διδαχή

For in the last days false prophets and the corrupt will abound, and the sheep will turn into wolves, and love will be turned into hate. As lawlessness increases, they will hate and persecute and betray one another. And then will appear the deceiver of the world like a son of God, and he will perform signs and wonders, and the earth will be delivered into his hands, and he will do abominations, things never done in all the ages. Then the world of men will be judged by fire, and many will be scandalized  and perish. But those enduring in the faith will be saved by the one who was cursed. The Didache