TRV
Tertullian
Ante-Nicene · to AD 325 · 3,450 passages across 56 books
Commentary
Ephesians 2:17
· 2 passages
And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
"When, therefore, He came and preached peace to them that were near and to them which were afar off," we both obtained "access to the Father," being "now no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God" (even of Him from whom, as we have shown above, we were aliens, and placed far off), "built upon the foundation of the apostles" -(the apostle added), "and the prophets; "these words, however, the heretic erased, forgetting that the Lord had set in His Church not only apostles, but prophets also.
Therefore the Spirit and the Gospel will be found in the Christ, who was foretrusted, because foretold. Again, "the Father of glory" is He whose Christ, when ascending to heaven, is celebrated as "the King of Glory" in the Psalm: "Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.
Ephesians 2:20
· 3 passages
And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
For "the Lord of Sabaoth hath taken away, among the Jews from Jerusalem," among the other things named, "the wise architect" too, who builds the church, God's temple, and the holy city, and the house of the Lord.
He feared, no doubt, that our building was to stand in Christ upon the foundation of the ancient prophets, since the apostle himself never fails to build us up everywhere with (the words of) the prophets. For whence did he learn to call Christ "the chief corner-stone," but from the figure given him in the Psalm: "The stone which the builders rejected is become the head (stone) of the corner? "
Stones are they, even foundation stones, upon which we are ourselves edified-"built," as St. Paul says, "upon the foundation of the apostles," who, like "consecrated stones," were rolled up and down exposed to the attack of all men.
Ephesians 3:8
Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
The apostle declares that to himself, "less than the least of all saints, was the grace given" of enlightening all men as to "what was the fellowship of the mystery, which during the ages had been hid in God, who created all things." The heretic erased the preposition in, and made the clause run thus: ("what is the fellowship of the mystery) which hath for ages been hidden from the God who created all things.
Ephesians 3:10
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
For the apostle goes on to infer (from his own statement): "in order that unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might become known through the church the manifold wisdom of God." Whose principalities and powers does he mean? If the Creator's, how does it come to pass that such a God as He could have meant His wisdom to be displayed to the principalities and powers, but not to Himself? For surely no principalities could possibly have understood anything without their sovereign Lord.
Ephesians 3:14
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Why not? He had found the son whom he had lost; he had felt him to be all the dearer of whom he had made a gain. Who is that father to be understood by us to be? God, surely: no one is so truly a Father; no one so rich in paternal love.
Ephesians 3:17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Thus when, writing to the Ephesians, he spoke of "Christ dwelling in their inner man," he meant, no doubt, that the Lord ought to be admitted into their senses. He then added, "in your hearts by faith, rooted and grounded in love,"-making "faith" and "love" not substantial parts, but only conceptions of the soul.
Ephesians 4:1
· 2 passages
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
For it is our duty so to walk in the Lord's discipline as is "worthy," not according to the filthy concupiscences of the flesh.
They and we have one faith, one God, the same Christ, the same hope, the same baptismal sacraments; let me say it once for all, we are one Church. Thus, whatever belongs to our brethren is ours: only, the body divides us.
Ephesians 4:4
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
There is to us one, and but one, baptism; as well according to the Lord's gospel as according to the apostle's letters, inasmuch as he says, "One God, and one baptism, and one church in the heavens." But it must be admitted that the question, "What rules are to be observed with regard to heretics? "is worthy of being treated.
Ephesians 4:5
· 5 passages
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
To be "baptized for the dead" therefore means, in fact, to be baptized for the body; for, as we have shown, it is the body which becomes dead. What, then, shall they do who are baptized for the body, if the body rises not again? We stand, then, on firm ground (when we say) that the next question which the apostle has discussed equally relates to the body.
God wills us all to he so conditioned, as to be ready at all times and places to undertake (the duties of) His sacraments. There is "one God, one faith," one discipline too.
But the Jewish Israel bathes daily, because he is daily being defiled: and, for fear that defilement should be practised among us also, therefore was the definition touching the one bathing made.
His only aim in alluding to it was) that he might all the more firmly insist upon the resurrection of the body, in proportion as they who were vainly baptized for the dead resorted to the practice from their belief of such a resurrection. We have the apostle in another passage defining "but one baptism." To be "baptized for the dead" therefore means, in fact, to be baptized for the body; for, as we have shown, it is the body which becomes dead.
Happy is our sacrament Of water, in that, by washing away the sins of our early blindness, we are set free and admitted into eternal life! A treatise on this matter will not be superfluous; instructing not only such as are just becoming formed (in the faith), but them who, content with having simply believed, without full examination of the grounds of the traditions, carry (in mind), through ignorance, an untried though probable faith.
Ephesians 4:8
· 3 passages
Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
I, on my part, now wish to engage with you in a discussion on the allegorical expressions of the apostle. What figures of speech could the novel god have found in the prophets (fit for himself)? "He led captivity captive," [Ephesians 4:8] says the apostle. With what arms? In what conflicts? From the devastation of what country? From the overthrow of what city? What women, what children, what princes did the Conqueror throw into chains? For when by David Christ is sung as "girded with His sword upon His thigh," [Psalm 45:3] or by Isaiah as "taking away the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus," [Isaiah 8:4] you make Him out to be really and truly a warrior confest to the eye. Learn then now, that His is a spiritual armour and warfare
What figures of speech could the novel god have found in the prophets (fit for himself)? "He led captivity captive," says the apostle. With what arms? In what conflicts? From the devastation of what Country? From the overthrow of what city? What women, what children, what princes did the Conqueror throw into chains? For when by David Christ is sung as "girded with His sword upon His thigh," or by Isaiah as "taking away the spoils of Samaria and the power of Damascus," you make Him out to be really and truly a warrior confest to the eye.
But what is that which is removed to Hades after the separation of the body; which is there detained; which is reserved until the day of judgment; to which Christ also, on dying, descended? I imagine it is the souls of the patriarchs.