Archives by: Gary Hoag

Eusebius, an ecclesiastical historian of the fourth century, gives a striking proof of love of the brethren, in his time, when speaking of the plague which ravaged Egypt, he says:

“Many of our brethren, neglecting their own heath, through an excess of charity, have brought upon themselves the misfortunes and maladies of others. After they held in their arms the dying saints, after they had had closed their mouths and their eyes, after they had embraced, kissed, washed, and adorned them with their best habits, and carried them on their shoulders to the grave, they have been glad themselves to receive the same kind of offices from others, who have imitated their zeal and charity.”

Eusebius adds: “O, the power of love which induced those acts!” Love and charity for the sick contributed to the explosive growth of the Early Church.

Eusebius (263-339) Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and author of Ecclesiastical History quoted here in Lectures on the Nature and Dangerous Tendency of Modern Infidelity by Rev. Levi Tucker (Cleveland: Francis B. Penniman, 1837) 155.

The Romans had taken seven thousand prisoners; many of whom perished with hunger. Acacius, a Christian bishop, called the church together and thus addressed them: “God needeth not either dishes or cups, as he neither eats nor drinks. I think it right, therefore, to make a sale of the greatest part of the church’s plate, and apply money to the support of the redemption of the captives.”

Acacius (died 366) contemporary of Basil the Great and Julian the Apostate, bishop in Palenstine, successor to Eusebius, and actually known as one of the tongues of the Arian controversy, though his radical generosity mirrored Basil the Great. Lectures on the Nature and Dangerous Tendency of Modern Infidelity by Rev. Levi Tucker (Cleveland: Francis B. Penniman, 1837) 142.

“Let us consider that nothing has so much contributed to the progress of the superstition of Christians, as their charity to strangers. I think we ought to discharge this obligation ourselves, establish hospitals in every place—for it would be a shame for us to abandon our poor, while the impious Gallileans [meaning Christians,] provide not only for their own, but also for ours; welcoming them into their agape [love], they attract them, as children are attracted, with cakes.”

Julian the Apostate (331-363) contemporary of Basil the Great, Last Roman Emperor in Constantinian Dynasty, who renounced his faith and yet admired the charity and love of the Christians in Lectures on the Nature and Dangerous Tendency of Modern Infidelity by Rev. Levi Tucker (Cleveland: Francis B. Penniman, 1837) 141; cf. Schmidt, Alvin J. Social Results of Early Christianity, 1907.

“When someone steals a person’s clothes, we call him a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to those who need it; the shoes rotting in your closet to the one who has no shoes. The money which you hoard belongs to the poor.”

Basil the Great (330-379) Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca, in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 92.

“Christ loved us and laid himself out to relieve us, though we were his enemies, and had treated him ill; so we, as we would love one another as Christ hath loved us, should relieve those who are our enemies, hate us and have an ill spirit toward, and treated us ill.”

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) preacher, theologian, missionary to the Native Americans. Taken from Objections to Charity Answered in The Works of Jonathan Edwards volume II (London: William Ball, 1839) 171.

“The disposition of one’s possessions signifies the disposition of one’s heart.”

Joel Green in The Gospel of Luke (NICNT; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997) 471.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. Colossians 3:2

“Having raised the eyes of your soul, seek, in a manner worthy of things above, what pertains to the city of God.”

Basil the Great (330-379) One of the Four Doctors of the Western Church, Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor. Homilies on the Psalms 18.4 (Psalm 45). FC 46:302-3. ACCS.H.225.

“Only from them [the apostles] and those who have faithfully taught their doctrine do we get, as Paul writes, “faithful words, worthy of full acceptance (1 Timothy 1:15a).”

Athanasius (c.293-373) was one of the Four Doctors of the Eastern Church and Bishop of Alexandria. He was known for battling against heresies. This quote comes from Festal Letters 2.7. ARL 65. ACCS.1T.143.

On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. Matthew 2:11

“There is something more that must be understood about the gold, incense and myrrh. Solomon testifies that gold symbolizes wisdom when he says, “A pleasing treasure lies in the mouth of the wise” (Proverbs 21:20). The psalmist bears witness to that incense which prayer offers to God when he says, “Let my prayer ascend as incense in your sight” (Psalm 141:2). The myrrh indicates the mortification of our bodies, of which the holy church speaks of its workmen who strive even unto death on behalf of God” (Song 5:5).

And so do we too offer gold to the newborn king if we shine in his sight with the brightness of the wisdom from on high. We too offer him incense if we enkindle on the altar of our hearts the thoughts of our human minds by our holy pursuit of prayer, so as to give forth a sweet smell to God by our heavenly desire. And we offer myrrh if we mortify the vices of our bodies by our self-denial. Myrrh brings it about, as I have said, that dead bodies do not decompose. For a dead body to decompose is the same as for the human body of ours to become a slave to the decay of dissoluteness, as is said by the prophet: “The pack animals have decomposed in their own dung” (Joel 1:17). This indicates fleshly-minded persons who end their lives in the stench of dissoluteness. Therefore we are offering myrrh to God when we employ the self-restraint to keep this earthly body of ours from decomposing through decadence.”

Gregory the Great (540-604) was Pope and one of the Four Doctors of the Western Church. Forty Gospel Homilies 10.6. PL 76:1113; CS 123:58-59.

“The Lord Jesus Christ came in flesh and, having “accepted the form of a slave, became obedient even to death on the cross” (Philippians 2:8). He has no other purpose than that by this dispensation of his most merciful grace he might give life to those who have become, as it were, members of his body. He is their head in order to obtain for them the kingdom of heaven. This he did to save and set free. He redeemed and enlightened those who had formerly been consigned to death of sin. They had been languishing in slavery, captivity and darkness under the power of the devil, the prince of sinners.”

Augustine (354-430) One of the Four Doctors of the Western Church, Bishop of Hippo. On What is Due to Sinners 1.39. PL 44:131. ACCS.P.234.