We ought to remain in that Church which was founded by the Apostles and continues to this day. If ever you hear of any that are called Christians taking their name not from the Lord Jesus Christ, but from some other, for instance, Marcionites, Valentinians, Men of the mountain or the plain,[1] you may be sure that you have there not the Church of Christ, but the synagogue of Antichrist. For the fact that they took their rise after the foundation of the Church is proof that they are those whose coming the Apostle foretold. And let them not flatter themselves if they think they have Scripture authority for their assertions, since the devil himself quoted Scripture, and the essence of the Scriptures is not the letter, but the meaning. Otherwise, if we follow the letter, we too can concoct a new dogma and assert that such persons as wear shoes and have two coats must not be received into the Church.
And let them not flatter themselves if they think they have Scripture authority for their assertions, since the devil himself quoted Scripture, and the essence of the Scriptures is not the letter, but the meaning.
Hmmm, I don’t know. A lot of his works are online on New Advent’s “Fathers” section if worst comes to worst. Of course, book form is better. I just kind of picked something at random (I’m trying to read at least one work by every Doctor of the Church) and I stumbled across that gem
That’s from his Dialogue Against the Luciferians from about 379. And no, Luciferians were not Satanists, Lucifer was actually the name of a certain bishop :eek:
Like those early heretics, known as Donatists, who followed the African bishop Donatus, or the Persians and Arabs who followed the Archbishop of Constantinople Nestorius, who were known as Nestorians.
Thinking this out… we see how the evil one had conceived a new major strategy by later seducing Catholics into following an heretical priest, then theologian, and later the heresy of private/isolationist ideology (such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, then personal interpretation), hence these became known as Lutherans, Calvinists, and Protestants/Evangelicals.
Yes definitely. Pretty much all heresies originate from within. The only exception was Islam. And then it depends if one treats it as a heresy. Hillaire Belloc analyzes it as a heresy in his book “Great Heresies” and I tend to agree with his analysis.
Ah, St. Jerome, the unofficial patron saint of crotchity, irritable old men like myself. LOL My wife asks for his intercession on my behalf daily. I love him too. We all owe him our gratitude for his biblical studies and translations. What a truly wonderful saint he is!
Ahh, so I take from this that the Disciples of Christ are the true church and that the Catholic Church, which taketh not its name from Christ, is not the true church. :eek:
Doesn’t that work against the Roman Catholics who do not take their name from Christ but from a city (Rome) and a word (Catholic) which was not known in the earliest Church?
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