The Stromata, or Miscellanies, Book VII

Book VII

• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.1 — The Gnostic a True Worshipper of God, and Unjustly Calumniated by Unbelievers as an Atheist. It is now time to show the Greeks that the Gnostic alone is truly pious; so that the philosophers, learning of what…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.2 — The Son the Ruler and Saviour of All. To know God is, then, the first step of faith; then, through confidence in the teaching of the Saviour, to consider the doing of wrong in any way as not suitable to the knowledge…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.3 — The Gnostic Aims at the Nearest Likeness Possible to God and His Son. Now I pass over other things in silence, glorifying the Lord. But I affirm that gnostic souls, that surpass in the grandeur of contemplation the…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.4 — The Heathens Made Gods Like Themselves, Whence Springs All Superstition. Now, as the Greeks represent the gods as possessing human forms, so also do they as possessing human passions. And as each of them depict their…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.5 — The Holy Soul a More Excellent Temple Than Any Edifice Built by Man. For is it not the case that rightly and truly we do not circumscribe in any place that which cannot be circumscribed; nor do we shut up in temples…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.6 — Prayers and Praise from a Pure Mind, Ceaselessly Offered, Far Better Than Sacrifices. As, then, God is not circumscribed by place, neither is ever represented by the form of a living creature; so neither has He…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.7 — What Sort of Prayer the Gnostic Employs, and How It is Heard by God. Now we are commanded to reverence and to honour the same one, being persuaded that He is Word, Saviour, and Leader, and by Him, the Father, not on…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.8 — The Gnostic So Addicted to Truth as Not to Need to Use an Oath. The man of proved character in such piety is far from being apt to lie and to swear. For an oath is a decisive affirmation, with the taking of the…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.9 — Those Who Teach Others, Ought to Excel in Virtues. The gnostic dignity is augmented and increased by him who has undertaken the first place in the teaching of others, and received the dispensation by word and deed of…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.10 — Steps to Perfection. For knowledge (gnosis), to speak generally, a perfecting of man as man, is consummated by acquaintance with divine things, in character, life, and word, accordant and conformable to itself and to…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.11 — Description of the Gnostic’s Life. Respecting the universe, he conceives truly and grandly in virtue of his reception of divine teaching. Beginning, then, with admiration of the Creation, and affording of himself a…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.12 — The True Gnostic is Beneficent, Continent, and Despises Worldly Things. Let these things, then, be so. And such being the attitude of the Gnostic towards the body and the soul—towards his neighbours, whether it be a…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.13 — Description of the Gnostic Continued. He never remembers those who have sinned against him, but forgives them. Wherefore also he righteously prays, saying, “Forgive us; for we also forgive.” For this also is one of…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.14 — Description of the Gnostic Furnished by an Exposition of 1 Cor. vi. 1, Etc. Now, of what I may call the passionlessness which we attribute to the Gnostic (in which the perfection of the believer, “advancing by love,…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.15 — The Objection to Join the Church on Account of the Diversity of Heresies Answered. Since it comes next to reply to the objections alleged against us by Greeks and Jews; and since, in some of the questions previously…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.16 — Scripture the Criterion by Which Truth and Heresy are Distinguished. But those who are ready to toil in the most excellent pursuits, will not desist from the search after truth, till they get the demonstration from…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.17 — The Tradition of the Church Prior to that of the Heresies. Those, then, that adhere to impious words, and dictate them to others, inasmuch as they do not make a right but a perverse use of the divine words, neither…vatican.va
• The Stromata, or Miscellanies VII.18 — The Distinction Between Clean and Unclean Animals in the Law Symbolical of the Distinction Between the Church, and Jews, and Heretics. After showing a little peep-hole to those who love to contemplate the Church from…vatican.va