Other Quotes From the Fathers on the Visible, Unified Church
Anonymous, Letter to Diognetus, 6,1 (ANF, Vol. I)
To sum up all in one word—what the soul is in the body, that
are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all
the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all
the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not
of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of
the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and
Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their
godliness remains invisible.
Tertullian, Prescription
Against the Heretics, XX, 4 (ANF, Vol. III)
Immediately, therefore, so did the apostles, whom this
designation indicates as "the sent." Having, on the
authority of a prophecy, which occurs in a psalm of David, chosen
Matthias by lot as the twelfth, into the place of Judas, they
obtained the promised power of the Holy Ghost for the gift of
miracles and of utterance; and after first bearing witness to the
faith in Jesus Christ throughout Judea, and rounding churches
(there), they next went forth into the world and preached the
same doctrine of the same faith to the nations. They then in like
manner rounded churches in every city, from which all the other
churches, one after another, derived the tradition of the faith,
and the seeds of doctrine, and are every day deriving them, that
they may become churches. Indeed, it is on this account only that
they will be able to deem themselves apostolic, as being the
offspring of apostolic churches. Every sort of thing must
necessarily revert to its original for its classification.
Therefore the churches, although they are so many and so great,
comprise but the one primitive Church, (rounded) by the apostles,
from which they all (spring). In this way all are primitive, and
all are apostolic, whilst they are all proved to be one, in
(unbroken) unity, by their peaceful communion, and title of
brotherhood, and bond of hospitality,—privileges which no other
rule directs than the one tradition of the selfsame mystery.
Tertullian then argues rhetorically
in Ch, XVIII:
Grant, then, that all have erred; that the apostle was
mistaken in giving his testimony; that the Holy Ghost had no such
respect to any one (church) as to lead it into truth, although
sent with this view by Christ (John 14.26) and for this asked of
the Father that He might be the teacher of truth (John 15.26);
grant, also, that He, the Steward of God, the Vicar of Christ
[that is, the Holy Spirit], neglected His office, permitting the
churches for a time to understand differently, (and) to believe
differently, what He Himself was preaching by the apostles,—is
it likely that so many churches, and they so great, should have
gone astray into one and the same faith? No casualty distributed
among many men issues in one and the same result. Error of
doctrine in the churches must necessarily have produced various
issues. When, however, that which is deposited among many is
found to be one and the same, it is not the result of error, but
of tradition. Can any one, then, be reckless enough to say that
they were in error who handed on the tradition?
He continues in Ch. XXXII:
But if there be any (heresies) which are bold enough to plant
themselves in the midst of the apostolic age, that they may
thereby seem to have been handed down by the apostles, because
they existed in the time of the apostles, we can say: Let them
produce the original records of their churches; let them unfold
the roll of their bishops, running down in due succession from
the beginning in such a manner that [that first bishop of theirs]
bishop shall be able to show for his ordainer and predecessor
some one of the apostles or of apostolic men,—a man, moreover,
who continued steadfast with the apostles. For this is the manner
in which the apostolic churches transmit their registers: as the
church of Smyrna, which records that Polycarp was placed therein
by John; as also the church of Rome, which makes Clement to have
been ordained in like manner by Peter. In exactly the same way
the other churches likewise exhibit (their several worthies),
whom, as having been appointed to their episcopal places by
apostles, they regard as transmitters of the apostolic seed. Let
the heretics contrive something of the same kind. For after their
blasphemy, what is there that is unlawful for them (to attempt)?
But should they even effect the contrivance, they will not
advance a step. For their very doctrine, after comparison with
that of the apostles, will declare, by its own diversity and
contrariety, that it had for its author neither an apostle nor an
apostolic man; because, as the apostles would never have taught
things which were self-contradictory, so the apostolic men would
not have inculcated teaching different from the apostles, unless
they who received their instruction from the apostles went and
preached in a contrary manner. To this test, therefore will they
be submitted for proof by those churches, who, although they
derive not their founder from apostles or apostolic men (as being
of much later date, for they are in fact being founded daily),
yet, since they agree in the same faith, they are accounted as
not less apostolic because they are akin in doctrine. Then let
all the heresies, when challenged to these two tests by our
apostolic church, offer their proof of how they deem themselves
to be apostolic. But in truth they neither are so, nor are they
able to prove themselves to be what they are not. Nor are they
admitted to peaceful relations and communion by such churches as
are in any way connected with apostles, inasmuch as they are in
no sense themselves apostolic because of their diversity as to
the mysteries of the faith.
St. Clement, Letter
to the Corinthians, 42, 1 (ANF, Vol. I)
The apostles have preached the Gospel to us from the Lord
Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ [has done so from God. Christ
therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. Both
these appointments, then, were made in an orderly way, according
to the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and
being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and established in the word of God, with full assurance of the
Holy Ghost, they went forth proclaiming that the kingdom of God
was at hand. And thus preaching through countries and cities,
they appointed the first-fruits [of their labors], having first
proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who
should afterwards believe. Nor was this any new thing, since
indeed many ages before it was written concerning bishops and
deacons. For thus saith the Scripture a certain place, "I
will appoint their bishops s in righteousness, and their deacons
in faith."
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter
to the Magnesians, 6-7 (ANF, Vol., I)
Since therefore I have, in the persons before mentioned,
beheld the whole multitude of you in faith and love, I exhort you
to study to do all things with a divine harmony, while your
bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the
place of the assembly of the apostles, along with your deacons,
who are most dear to me, and are entrusted with the ministry of
Jesus Christ. He, being begotten by the Father before the
beginning of time, was God the Word, the only-begotten Son, and
remains the same for ever; for "of His kingdom there shall
be no end," says Daniel the prophet. Let us all therefore
love one another in harmony, and let no one look upon his
neighbor according to the flesh, but in Christ Jesus. Let nothing
exist among you which may divide you; but be united with your
bishop, being through him subject to God in Christ.
As therefore the Lord does nothing without the Father, for
says He, "I can of mine own self do nothing," so do
you, neither presbyter, nor deacon, nor layman, do anything
without the bishop. Nor let anything appear commendable to you
which is destitute of his approval. For every such thing is
sinful, and opposed[to the will of] God. Come together into the
same place for prayer. Let there be one common supplication, one
mind, one hope, with faith unblameable in Christ Jesus, than
which nothing is more excellent. Do you all, as one man, run
together into the temple of God, as unto one altar, to one Jesus
Christ, the High Priest of the unbegotten God.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter
to the Trallians, 2-3 (ANF, Vol. I)
Be subject to the bishop as to the Lord, for "he watches
for your souls, as one that shall give account to God."
Wherefore also, you appear to me to live not after the manner of
men, but according to Jesus Christ, who died for us, in order
that, by believing in His death, you may by baptism be made
partakers of His resurrection. It is therefore necessary,
whatsoever things you do, to do nothing without the bishop. And
be subject also to the presbytery, as to the apostles of Jesus
Christ, in whom, if we live, we shall [at last] be found.
In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an
appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who
is the Son of the Father, and the presbyters as the Sanhedrin of
God, and assembly of the apostles. Apart from these, there is no
Church. Concerning all this, I am persuaded that you are of the
same opinion. For I have received the manifestations of your
love, and still have it with me, in your bishop, whose very
appearance is highly instructive, and his meekness of itself a
power; whom I imagine even the ungodly must reverence.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter
to the Philadelphians, 4,1 (ANF, Vol. I)
Wherefore I write boldly to your love, which is worthy of God,
and exhort you to have but one faith, and one [kind of]
preaching, and one Eucharist. For there is one flesh of the Lord
Jesus Christ; and His blood which was shed for us is one; one
loaf also is broken to all [the communicants], and one cup is
distributed among them all: there is but one altar for the whole
Church, and one bishop, with the presbytery and deacons, my
fellow-servants. Since, also, there is but one unbegotten Being,
God, even the Father; and one only-begotten Son, God, the Word
and man; and one Comforter, the Spirit of truth; and also one
preaching, and one faith, and one baptism; and one Church which
the holy apostles established from one end of the earth to the
other by the blood of Christ, and by their own sweat and toil; it
behooves you also, therefore, as "a peculiar people, and a
holy nation," to perform all things with harmony in Christ.
St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter
to the Smyrnaeans, 8-9 (ANF, Vol. I)
See that you all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does
the Father, and the presbytery as you would the apostles; and
reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no
man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let
that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is[administered] either
by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever
the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude[of the people]
also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic
Church. It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or
to celebrate a love-feast; but whatsoever he shall approve of,
that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may
be secure and valid... It is not lawful without the bishop
either to baptize, or to offer, or to present sacrifice, or to
celebrate a love-feast. But that which seems good to him, is also
well-pleasing to God, that everything you do may be secure and
valid.
And say I, Honor God indeed, as the Author and Lord of all
things, but the bishop as the high-priest, who bears the image of
God—of God. inasmuch as he is a ruler, and of Christ, in his
capacity of a priest. After Him, we must also honor the king. For
there is no one superior to God, or even like to Him, among all
the beings that exist. Nor is there any one in the Church greater
than the bishop, who ministers as a priest to God for the
salvation of the whole world. Nor, again, is there any one among
rulers to be compared with the king, who secures peace and good
order to those over whom he rules. He who honors the bishop shall
be honored by God, even as he that dishonors him shall be
punished by God. For if he that rises up against kings is justly
held worthy of punishment, inasmuch as he dissolves public order,
of how much sorer punishment, do you suppose, shall he be thought
worthy, who presumes to do anything without the bishop, thus both
destroying the[Church's] unity, and throwing its order into
confusion? For the priesthood is the very highest point of all
good things among men, against which whosoever is mad enough to
strive, dishonors not man, but God, and Christ Jesus, the
First-born, and the only High Priest, by nature, of the Father.
Let all things therefore be done by you with good order in
Christ. Let the laity be subject to the deacons; the deacons to
the presbyters; the presbyters to the bishop; the bishop to
Christ, even as He is to the Father.
St. Cyprian of Carthage, Letter
without heading to the Lapsed (ANF, Vol, V)
Our Lord, whose precepts and admonitions we ought to observe,
describing the honor of a bishop and the order of His Church,
speaks in the Gospel, and says to Peter: "I say unto you,
That you are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church;
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16.18).
And I will give unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and
whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven." Thence, through the changes of times and
successions, the ordering of bishops and the plan of the Church
flow onwards; so that the Church is founded upon the bishops, and
every act of the Church is controlled by these same rulers.
St. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle
XXXIX, Letter to the People (ANF, Vol, V)
There is one God, and Christ is one, and there is one Church,
and one chair founded upon the rock by the word of the Lord.
Another altar cannot be constituted nor a new priesthood be made,
except the one altar and the one priesthood. Whosoever gathers
elsewhere, scatters.
St. Irenaeus, Against
All Heresies, IV, 26, 2 (ANF, Vol. I)
Wherefore it is incumbent to obey the presbyters who are in
the Church,—those who, as I have shown, possess the succession
from the apostles; those who, together with the succession of the
episcopate, have received the certain gift of truth, according to
the good pleasure of the Father. But [it is also incumbent] to
hold in suspicion others who depart from the primitive
succession, and assemble themselves together in any place
whatsoever, [looking upon them] either as heretics of perverse
minds, or as schismatics puffed up and self-pleasing, or again as
hypocrites, acting thus for the sake of lucre and vainglory. For
all these have fallen from the truth.
St. Irenaeus, Against
All Heresies, V, 20 (ANF, Vol. I)
It behooves us, therefore, to avoid their doctrines, and to
take careful heed lest we suffer any injury from them; but to
flee to the Church, and be brought up in her bosom, and be
nourished with the Lord's Scriptures. For the Church has been
planted as a garden (paradise) in this world; therefore says the
Spirit of God, "You may freely eat from every tree of the
garden," that is, Eat from every Scripture of the Lord; but
you shall not eat with an uplifted mind, nor touch any heretical
discord. For these men do profess that they have themselves the
knowledge of good and evil; and they set their own impious minds
above the God who made them. They therefore form opinions on what
is beyond the limits of the understanding. For this cause also
the apostle says, "Be not wise beyond what it is fitting to
be wise, but be wise prudently," that we be not east forth
by eating of the "knowledge" of these men (that
knowledge which knows more than it should do) from the paradise
of life.
St. Firmilian, Letter
to Cyprian (ANF, Vol, V, Epistle 74)
But what is the greatness of his error, and what the depth of
his blindness, who says that remission of sins can be granted in
the synagogues of heretics, and does not abide on the foundation
of the one Church which was once based by Christ upon the rock,
may be perceived from this, that Christ said to Peter alone,
"Whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in
heaven, and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed
in heaven." And again, in the Gospel, when Christ breathed
on the apostles alone, saying, "Receive the Holy Ghost:
whose soever sins you remit they are remitted unto them, and
whose soever sins you retain they are retained." Therefore
the power of remitting sins was given to the apostles, and to the
churches which they, sent by Christ, established, and to the
bishops who succeeded to them by vicarious ordination... .
And in this respect I am justly indignant at this so open and
manifest folly of Stephen, that he who so boasts of the place of
his episcopate, and contends that he holds the succession from
Peter, on whom the foundations of the Church were laid, should
introduce many other rocks and establish new buildings of many
churches; maintaining that there is baptism in them by his
authority. For they who are baptized, doubtless, fill up the
number of the Church. But he who approves their baptism
maintains, of those baptized, that the Church is also with them.
Nor does he understand that the truth of the Christian Rock is
overshadowed, and in some measure abolished, by him when he thus
betrays and deserts unity.
St. Cyprian of Carthage, Letter
to Magnus (ANF, Vol, V, Epistle 75)
Wherefore, since the Church alone has the living water, and
the power of baptizing and cleansing man, he who says that any
one can be baptized and sanctified by Novatian must first show
and teach that Novatian is in the Church or presides over the
Church. For the Church is one, and as she is one, cannot be both
within and without. For if she is with Novatian, she was not with
Cornelius. But if she was with Cornelius, who succeeded the
bishop Fabian by lawful ordination, and whom, beside the honor of
the priesthood, the Lord glorified also with martyrdom, Novatian
is not in the Church; nor can he be reckoned as a bishop, who,
succeeding to no one, and despising the evangelical and apostolic
tradition, sprang from himself. For he who has not been ordained
in the Church can neither have nor hold to the Church in any way.
For the faith of the sacred Scripture sets forth that the
Church is not without, nor can be separated nor divided against
itself, but maintains the unity of an inseparable and undivided
house; since it is written of the sacrament of the passover, and
of the lamb, which Lamb designated Christ: "In one house
shall it be eaten: you shall not carry forth the flesh abroad out
of the house."
And therefore the Lord, suggesting to us a unity that comes
from divine authority, lays it down, saying, "I and my
Father are one." To which unity reducing His Church, He says
again, "And there shall be one flock, and one
shepherd." But if the flock is one, how can he be numbered
among the flock who is not in the number of the flock? Or how can
he be esteemed a pastor, who,—while the true shepherd remains
and presides over the Church of God by successive
ordination,—succeeding to no one, and beginning from himself,
becomes a stranger and a profane person, an enemy of the Lord's
peace and of the divine unity, not dwelling in the house of God,
that is, in the Church of God, in which none dwell except they
are of one heart and one mind, since the Holy Spirit speaks in
the Psalms, and says, "It is God who makes men to dwell of
one mind in a house."
Besides even the Lord's sacrifices themselves declare that
Christian unanimity is linked together with itself by a firm and
inseparable charity, For when the Lord calls bread, which is
combined by the union of many grains, His body, He indicates our
people whom He bore as being united; and when He calls the wine,
which is pressed from many grapes and clusters and collected
together, His blood, He also signifies our flock linked together
by the mingling of a united multitude. If Novatian is united to
this bread of the Lord, if he also is mingled with this cup of
Christ, he may also seem to be able to have the grace of the one
baptism of the Church, if it be manifest that he holds the unity
of the Church. In fine, how inseparable is the sacrament of
unity, and how hopeless are they, and what excessive ruin they
earn for themselves from the indignation of God, who make a
schism, and, forsaking their bishop, appoint another false bishop
for themselves without. . .
Lactantius, The
Divine Institutions, IV, 30, 1 (ANF, Vol. VII)
There were some of our religion whose faith was less
established, or who were less learned or less cautious, who rent
the unity and divided the Church. But they whose faith was
unsettled, when they pretended that they knew and worshipped God
aiming at the increase of their wealth and honor, aspired to the
highest sacerdotal power; and when overcome by others more
powerful, preferred to secede with their supporters, than to
endure those set over them, over whom they themselves before
desired to be set.
But some, not sufficiently instructed in heavenly learning,
when they were unable to reply to the accusers of the truth, who
objected that it was either impossible or inconsistent that God
should be shut up in the womb of a woman, and that the Majesty of
heaven could not be reduced to such weakness as to become an
object of contempt and derision, a reproach and mockery to men;
lastly, that He should even endure tortures, and be affixed to
the accursed cross; and when they could defend and refute all
these things neither by talent nor learning, for they did not
thoroughly perceive their force and meaning, they were perverted
from the right path, and corrupted the sacred writings, so that
they composed for themselves a new doctrine without any root and
stability... Therefore it is the Catholic Church alone which
retains true worship. This is the fountain of truth, this is the
abode of the faith, this is the temple of God; into which if any
one shall not enter, or from which if any shall go out, he is
estranged from the hope of life and eternal salvation. No one
ought to flatter himself with persevering strife. For the contest
is respecting life and salvation, which, unless it is carefully
and diligently kept in view, will be lost and extinguished. But,
however, because all the separate assemblies of heretics call
themselves Christians in preference to others, and think that
theirs is the Catholic Church, it must be known that the true
Catholic Church is that in which there is confession and
repentance, which treats in a wholesome manner the sins and
wounds to which the weakness of the flesh is liable.
St. Augustine: The
Holy Spirit the Soul of the Church (PL 38, Sermo 267; Sunday
Sermons, Vol. III, 27-28)
... What the soul is to the body of man, the Holy Ghost is
to the Body of Christ: which the Church is. What the soul does in
all the members of one body, this the Holy Spirit does throughout
the Church ...
Do you think the soul follows the part cut thus off? While it
belonged to the body it lived. Cut off it loses life. So likewise
the Christian Catholic man; while in the Body he lives, becoming
heretic he is cut off, for the Spirit follows no amputated
member. If therefore you wish to live in the Holy Ghost, hold
fast to the bond of charity, love the Truth, long for Unity, that
you may attain to eternity.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical
Lectures, XVIII (NPNF-II, Vol. VII)
The Faith which we rehearse contains in order the following,
"AND IN ONE BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE FOR THE REMISSION OF SINS;
AND IN ONE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH; AND IN THE RESURRECTION OF THE
FLESH; AND IN ETERNAL LIFE"... It is called Catholic then
because it extends over all the world, from one end of the earth
to the other; and because it teaches universally and completely
one and all the doctrines which ought to come to men's knowledge,
concerning things both visible and invisible, heavenly and
earthly; and because it brings into subjection to godliness the
whole race of mankind, governors and governed, learned and
unlearned; and because it universally treats and heals the whole
class of sins, which are committed by soul or body, and possesses
in itself every form of virtue which is named, both in deeds and
words, and in every kind of spiritual gifts.
And it is rightly named (Ecclesia) because it calls
forth and assembles together all men; according as the Lord says
in Leviticus, And make an assembly for all the congregation at
the door of the tabernacle of witness. And it is to be noted,
that the word assemble, is used for the first time in the
Scriptures here, at the time when the Lord puts Aaron into the
High-priesthood. And in Deuteronomy also the Lord says to Moses,
Assemble the people unto Me, and let them hear My words, that
they may learn to fear Me. And he again mentions the name of the
Church, when he says concerning the Tables, And an them were
written all the wards which the Lord spoke with you in the mount
out of the midst of the fire in the day of the Assembly; as if he
had said more plainly, in the day in which you were called and
gathered together by God. The Psalmist also says, I will give
thanks unto You, O Lord, in the great Congregation; I will praise
You among much people.
Of old the Psalmist sang, Bless God in the congregations, even
the Lord, (you that are) from the fountains of Israel. But after
the Jews for the plots which they made against the Savior were
cast away from His grace, the Savior built out of the Gentiles a
second Holy Church, the Church of us Christians, concerning which
he said to Peter, And upon this rock I will build My Church, and
the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16.18). And
David prophesying of both these, said plainly of the first which
was rejected, l have hated the Congregation of evil doers; but of
the second which is built up he says in the same Psalm, Lord, I
have loved the beauty of Your hour; and immediately afterwards.
In the Congregations will I bless You, O Lord. For now that the
one Church in Judea is cast off, the Churches of Christ are
increased over all the world; and of them it is said in the
Psalms, Sing unto the Lord a new song, His praise in the
Congregation of Saints. Agreeably to which the prophet also said
to the Jews, I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord Almighty;
and immediately afterwards, For from the rising of the sun even
unto the going down of the same, My name is glorified among the
Gentiles. Concerning this Holy Catholic Church Paul writes to
Timothy, That you may know how you ought to behave thyself in the
House of God, which is the Church of the Living God, the pillar
and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3.15).
But since the word Ecclesia is applied to different
things (as also it is written of the multitude in the theater of
the Ephesians, And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the
Assembly), and since one might properly and truly say that there
is a Church of evil doers, I mean the meetings of the heretics,
the Marcionists and Manichees, and the rest, for this cause the
Faith has securely delivered to you now the Article, "And in
one Holy Catholic Church;" that you may avoid their wretched
meetings, and ever abide with the Holy Church Catholic in which
you were regenerated. And if ever you are sojourning in cities,
inquire not simply where the Lord's House is (for the other sects
of the profane also attempt to call their own dens houses of the
Lord), nor merely where the church is, but where is the Catholic
Church. For this is the peculiar name of this Holy Church, the
mother of us all, which is the spouse of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only-begotten Son of God (for it is written, As Christ also
loved the Church and gave Himself for it, and all the rest,) and
is a figure and copy of Jerusalem which is above, which is free,
and the mother of us all; which before was barren, but now has
many children.
...In this Holy Catholic Church receiving instruction and
behaving ourselves virtuously, we shall attain the kingdom of
heaven, and inherit ETERNAL LIFE.
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