Towards the Original Third Chapter of Clement of Alexandria's First Letter to the Corinthians (= the Letter to the Alexandrians)

1 Corinthians Chapter 3

Clement's Explicit References in Bold Red


Clement's Loose Reference in Red


Neo-Marcionite References in Bold Black


Common Citations in Bold Red Italics


Clementine Omissions in Strikethrough

1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ

2 Wherefore also I have given you milk to drink not with meat: for ye were not able. Neither yet are ye now able.

3 For ye are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you envy and strife, are you not carnal, and walk as men?

4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

7 And he that plants and he that waters being ministers of Him that gives the increase, are one in the ministry

8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, But every one shall receive his own reward, according to his own work

9 For we are God's husbandmen, God's husbandry. Ye are God's building

10 According to the grace, given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation and another is building on it.  But each one should build with care.


11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 And another buildeth on it gold and silver, precious stones, stubble, wood, hay.  But the fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is

13 their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.

14 If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward.

15 If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

16 Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

17 But anyone that destroys the temple of God shall be destroyed.  for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.

18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise.

19 For the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God As it is written: who takes the wise in their own craftiness.

20 and again, For the Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

21 Let no man therefore glory on account of pre-eminence in human thought. All things are yours,

22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours,

23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.

Relevant Patristic References

1 Cor 3.1 - Clement of Alexandria, Instructor 1 34 § 3 (p.110, l.27) BP1; 1 35 § 2 (p.111, l.2) BP1; 1 36 § 2 (p.111, l.17) BP1


1 Cor 3.1 - Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 5 26 § 1 (p.342, l.4) BP1; 5 66 § 1 (p.370, l.10) BP1


1 cor 3,1 - 3 - But the childhood which is in Christ is maturity, as compared with the law. Having reached this point, we must defend our childhood. And we have still to explain what is said by the apostle: I have fed you with milk (as children in Christ), not with meat; for you were not able, neither yet are you now able. 1 Corinthians 3:2 For it does not appear to me that the expression is to be taken in a Jewish sense; for I shall oppose to it also that Scripture, I will bring you into that good land which flows with milk and honey. Exodus 3:8 A very great difficulty arises in reference to the comparison of these Scriptures, when we consider. For if the infancy which is characterized by the milk is the beginning of faith in Christ, then it is disparaged as childish and imperfect. How is the rest that comes after the meat, the rest of the man who is perfect and endowed with knowledge, again distinguished by infant milk? Does not this, as explaining a parable, mean something like this, and is not the expression to be read somewhat to the following effect:  I have fed you with milk in Christ; and after a slight stop, let us add, as children, that by separating the words in reading we may make out some such sense as this: I have instructed you in Christ with simple, true, and natural nourishment—namely, that which is spiritual: for such is the nourishingsubstance of milk swelling out from breasts of love. So that the whole matter may be conceived thus: As nurses nourish new-born children on milk, so do I also by the Word, the milk of Christ, instilling into you spiritual nutriment.
Thus, then, the milk which is perfect is perfect nourishment, and brings to that consummation which cannot cease. Wherefore also the same milk and honey were promised in the rest. Rightly, therefore, the Lord again promises milk to the righteous, that the Word may be clearly shown to be both, theAlpha and Omega, beginning and end; Revelation 1:8 the Word being figuratively represented as milk. Something like this Homer oracularly declares against his will, when he calls righteous men milk-fed (γαλακτοφάγοι). So also may we take the Scripture: And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ; 1 Corinthians 3:1 so that the carnal may be understood as those recently instructed, and still babes in Christ. For he called those who had already believed on the Holy Spirit spiritual, and those newly instructed and not yet purified carnal; whom with justice he calls still carnal, as minding equally with the heathen the things of the flesh:For whereas there is among you envy and strife, are you not carnal, and walk as men?1 Corinthians 3:3 Wherefore also I have given you milk to drink, he says; meaning, I have instilled into you the knowledge which, from instruction, nourishes up to life eternal. But the expression, I have given you to drink (ἐπότισα), is the symbol of perfect appropriation. For those who are full-grown are said to drink, babes to suck.  [Clement of Alexandria, Instructor 1.6]

1 cor 3.1 - The philosophers did not exert themselves in contemning the appearance of the Lord. It therefore follows that it is the opinion of the wise among the Jews which the apostle inveighs against it. Wherefore he adds, “But we preach, as it is written, what eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and hath not entered into the heart of man, what God hath prepared for them that love Him. For God hath revealed it to us by the Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things, even the deep things of God.” For he recognises the spiritual man and the Gnostic as the disciple of the Holy Spirit dispensed by God, which is the mind of Christ. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him.” Now the apostle, in contradistinction to gnostic perfection, calls the common faith the foundation, and sometimes milk, writing on this wise: “Brethren, I could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, to babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, not with meat: for ye were not able. Neither yet are ye now able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envy and strife, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” Which things are the choice of those men who are sinners. But those who abstain from these things give their thoughts to divine things, and partake of gnostic food. “According to the grace,” it is said, “given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. And another buildeth on it gold and silver, precious stones.” Such is the gnostic superstructure on the foundation of faith in Christ Jesus. But “the stubble, and the wood, and the hay,” are the additions of heresies. “But the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is.” In allusion to the gnostic edifice also in the Epistle to the Romans, he says, “For I desire to see you, that I may impart unto you a spiritual gift, that ye may be established.” It was impossible that gifts of this sort could be written without disguise. [Clement Stromata 5.4]

1 cor 3.1 - Rightly then, Plato, in the Epistles, treating of God, says: “We must speak in enigmas that should the tablet come by any mischance on its leaves either by sea or land, he who reads may remain ignorant.” For the God of the universe, who is above all speech, all conception, all thought, can never be committed to writing, being inexpressible even by His own power. And this too Plato showed, by saying: “Considering, then, these things, take care lest some time or other you repent on account of the present things, departing in a manner unworthy. The greatest safeguard is not to write, but learn; for it is utterly impossible that what is written will not vanish.”
Akin to this is what the holy Apostle Paul says, preserving the prophetic and truly ancient secret from which the teachings that were good were derived by the Greeks: “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them who are perfect; but not the wisdom of this world, or of the princes of this world, that come to nought; but we speak the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery.” Then proceeding, he thus inculcates the caution against the divulging of his words to the multitude in the following terms: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual, but as to carnal, even to babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, not with meat: for ye were not yet able; neither are ye now able. For ye are yet carnal.”
If, then, “the milk” is said by the apostle to belong to the babes, and “meat” to be the food of the full-grown, milk will be understood to be catechetical instruction—the first food, as it were, of the soul. And meat is the mystic contemplation; for this is the flesh and the blood of the Word, that is, the comprehension of the divine power and essence. “Taste and see that the Lord is Christ,” it is said. For so He imparts of Himself to those who partake of such food in a more spiritual manner; when now the soul nourishes itself, according to the truth-loving Plato. For the knowledge of the divine essence is the meat and drink of the divine Word. Wherefore also Plato says, in the second book of the Republic, “It is those that sacrifice not a sow, but some great and difficult sacrifice,” who ought to inquire respecting God. And the apostle writes, “Christ our passover was sacrificed for us”;—a sacrifice hard to procure, in truth, the Son of God consecrated for us. [Clement Stromata 5.10]

1 Cor 3.1 - Dialogues of Adamantius (p.20, l.6) BP2

1 Cor 3.1 - Tertullian Prescription 27 § 4 (p.208, l.11) BP1

1 Cor 3.1 - Epiphanius Panarion 73 32 § 2 (p.307, l.15 - *<) BP4

1 Cor 3.1 - Ignatius Trallians 5 § 1 (p.94, l.10) BP1

1 Cor 3.2 - Clement Instructor 1 34 § 3 (p.110, l.27) BP1; 1 35 § 2 (p.111, l.2) BP1; 1 36 § 4 (p.111, l.25) BP1; 1 36 § 6 (p.112, l.2) BP1; 1 37 § 3 (p.112, l.21) BP1; 1 39 § 1 (p.113, l.10) BP1; 1 45 § 2 (p.117, l.6) BP1; 1 49 § 2 (p.119, l.17) BP1

1 Cor 3.2 - Clement Stromata 1 179 § 2 (p.110, l.3) BP1

1 Cor 3.2 - Adamantius Dialogues (p.20, l.3 - <) BP2; (p.220, l.14 - <) BP2

1 Cor 3.2 - Tertullian Against Marcion 4 5 § 1 (p.550, l.14) BP1

1 Cor 3.2 - Tertullian Monogamy 11 § 6 (p.1245, l.41) BP1

1 Cor 3.2 - Epiphanius Panarion 33 11 § 5 (p.462, l.20 - <) BP4

1 cor 3.2 - Since, therefore, it is incredible that the apostles were either ignorant of the whole scope of the message which they had to declare,21392139    Plenitudinem prædicationis. or failed to make known to all men the entire rule of faith, let us see whether, while the apostles proclaimed it, perhaps, simply and fully, the churches, through their own fault, set it forth otherwise than the apostles had done. All these suggestions of distrust21402140    Scrupulositatis.you may find put forward by the heretics.  They bear in mind how the churches were rebuked by the apostle: “O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?”21412141    Gal. iii. 1. and, “Ye did run so well; who hath hindered you?”21422142    Gal. v. 7. and how the epistle actually begins: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him, who hath called you as His own in grace, to another gospel.”21432143    Gal. i. 6. That they likewise (remember), what was written to the Corinthians, that they “were yet carnal,” who “required to be fed with milk,” being as yet “unable to bear strong meat;”21442144    1 Cor. iii. 1, and following verses. who also “thought that they knew somewhat, whereas they knew not yet anything, as they ought to know.”21452145    1 Cor. viii. 2.When they raise the objection that the churches were rebuked, let them suppose that they were also corrected; let them also remember those (churches), concerning whose faith and knowledge and conversation the apostle “rejoices and gives thanks to God,” which nevertheless even at this day, unite with those which were rebuked in the privileges of one and the same institution.  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,21462146    John xiv. 26. and for this asked of the Father that He might be the teacher of truth;21472147    John xv. 26. grant, also, that He, the Steward of God, the Vicar of Christ,21482148    [Tertullian knows no other Vicar of Christ than the Holy Spirit.  They who attribute infallibility to any mortal man become Montanists; they attribute the Paraclete’s voice to their oracle.] 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 reckless21492149    Audeat. enough to say that they were in error who handed on the tradition?   In whatever manner error came, it reigned of course21502150    Utique, ironical. only as long as there was an absence of heresies? Truth had to wait for certain Marcionites and Valentinians to set it free. During the interval the gospel was wrongly21512151    Perperam. preached; men wrongly believed; so many thousands were wrongly baptized; so many works of faith were wrongly wrought; so many miraculous gifts,21522152    Virtutes, “potestatem edendi miracula” (Oehler). so many spiritual endowments,21532153    Charismata. were wrongly set in operation; so many priestly functions, so many ministries,21542154    Ministeria. Another reading hasmysteria, “mysteries” or “sacraments.” were wrongly executed; and, to sum up the whole, so many martyrs wrongly received their crowns! Else, if not wrongly done, and to no purpose, how comes it to pass that the things of God were on their course before it was known to what God they belonged? that there were Christians before Christ was found? that there were heresies before true doctrine? Not so; for in all cases truth precedes its copy, the likeness succeeds the reality. Absurd enough, however, is it, that heresy should be deemed to have preceded its own prior doctrine, even on this account, because it is that (doctrine) itself which foretold that there should be heresies against which men would have to guard! To a church which possessed this doctrine, it was written—yea, the doctrine itself writes to its own church—“Though an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that which we have preached, let him be accursed.”  [Tertullian Prescription 28 - 30]

1 cor 3.2, 3 - And for this cause our Lord in these last times, when He had summed up all things into Himself, came to us, not as He might have come, but as we were capable of beholding Him. He might easily have come to us in His immortal glory, but in that case we could never have endured the greatness of the glory; and therefore it was that He, who was the perfect bread of the Father, offered Himself to us as milk, [because we were] as infants. He did this when He appeared as a man, that we, being nourished, as it were, from the breast of His flesh, and having, by such a course of milk nourishment, become accustomed to eat and drink the Word of God, may be able also to contain in ourselves the Bread of immortality, which is the Spirit of the Father.  And on this account does Paul declare to the Corinthians, “I have fed you with milk, not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it.” 4417 That is, ye have indeed learned the advent of our Lord as a man; nevertheless, because of your infirmity, the Spirit of the Father has not as yet rested upon you. “For when envying and strife,” he says, “and dissensions are among you, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?” 4418 That is, that the Spirit of the Father was not yet with them, on account of their imperfection and shortcomings of their walk in life. As, therefore, the apostle had the power to give them strong meat—for those upon whom the apostles laid hands received the Holy Spirit, who is the food of life [eternal] —but they were not capable of receiving it, because they had the sentient faculties of the soul still feeble and undisciplined in the practice of things pertaining to God; so, in like manner, God had power at the beginning to grant perfection to man; but as the latter was only recently created, he could not possibly have received it, or even if he had received it, could he have contained it, or containing it, could he have retained it. It was for this reason that the Son of God, although He was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common with the rest of mankind, partaking of it thus not for His own benefit, but for that of the infantile stage of man’s existence, in order that man might be able to receive Him. There was nothing, therefore, impossible to and deficient in God, [implied in the fact] that man was not an uncreated being; but this merely applied to him who was lately created, [namely] man. [Irenaeus AH 3.38.1,2]

1 Cor 3.2 - But again in summer, the body, having its pores more open, affords greater facility for diaphoretic action in the case of the food, and the milk is least abundant, since neither is the blood full, nor is the whole nutriment retained. If, then, the digestion of the food results in the production of blood, and the blood becomes milk, then blood is a preparation for milk, as blood is for a human beings, and the grape for the vine. With milk, then, the Lord's nutriment, we are nursed directly we are born; and as soon as we are regenerated, we are honoured by receiving thegood news of the hope of rest, even the Jerusalem above, in which it is written that milk and honey fall in showers, receiving through what is material the pledge of the sacred food. For meats are done away with, 1 Corinthians 6:13 as the apostle himself says; but this nourishment on milk leads to the heavens, rearing up citizens of heaven, and members of the angelic choirs. And since the Word is the gushing fountain of life, and has been called a river of olive oil, Paul, using appropriate figurative language, and calling Him milk, adds: I have given you to drink; 1 Corinthians 3:2 for we drink in the word, the nutriment of the truth. In truth, also liquid food is called drink; and the same thing may somehow be both meat and drink, according to the different aspects in which it is considered, just as cheese is the solidification of milk or milk solidified; for I am not concerned here to make a nice selection of an expression, only to say that one substance supplies both articles of food. Besides, for children at the breast, milk alone suffices; it serves both for meat and drink. I, says the Lord, have meat to eat that you know not of. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me. John 4:32-34 You see another kind of food which, similarly with milk, represents figuratively the will of God. Besides, also, the completion of His own passion He called catachrestically a cup, when He alone had to drink and drain it. Thus to Christ the fulfilling of His Father's will was food; and to us infants, who drink the milk of the word of the heavens, Christ Himself is food. Hence seeking is called sucking; for to those babes that seek the Word, the Father's breasts of love supply milk. [Clement Instructor 1.6]

1 Cor 3.2 - From all this it is therefore evident, that the essential principle of the human body is blood. The contents of the stomach, too, at first are milky, a coagulation of fluid; then the same coagulatedsubstance is changed into blood; but when it is formed into a compact consistency in the womb, by the natural and warm spirit by which the embryo is fashioned, it becomes a living creature. Further also, the child after birth is nourished by the same blood. For the flow of milk is the product of the blood; and the source of nourishment is the milk; by which a woman is shown to have brought forth a child, and to be truly a mother, by which also she receives a potent charm of affection. Wherefore theHoly Spirit in the apostle, using the voice of the Lord, says mystically, I have given you milk to drink. 1 Corinthians 3:2 For if we have been regenerated unto Christ, He who has regenerated us nourishes us with His own milk, the Word; for it is proper that what has procreated should immediately supply nourishment to that which has been procreated. And as the regeneration was conformablyspiritual, so also was the nutriment of man spiritual. In all respects, therefore, and in all things, we are brought into union with Christ, into relationship through His blood, by which we are redeemed; and into sympathy, in consequence of the nourishment which flows from the Word; and into immortality, through His guidance:— Among men the bringing up of children Often produces stronger impulses to love than the procreating of them. The same blood and milk of the Lord is therefore the symbol of the Lord's passion and teaching. Wherefore each of us babes is permitted to make our boast in the Lord, while we proclaim:— Yet of a noble sire and noble blood I boast me sprung. And that milk is produced from blood by a change, is already clear; yet we may learn it from the flocks and herds. For these animals, in the time of the year which we call spring, when the air has more humidity, and the grass and meadows are juicy and moist, are first filled with blood, as is shown by the distension of the veins of the swollen vessels; and from the blood the milk flows more copiously. But in summer again, the blood being burnt and dried up by the heat, prevents the change, and so they have less milk. [Clement Stromata 1.6]

1 Cor 3.2 - How does he call away from the enjoyment of marriage such as are still in the marriedposition, saying that the time is wound up, if he calls back again into marriage such as through death had escaped from marriage? If these (passages) are diverse from that one about which the present question is, it will be agreed (as we have said) that he did not write in that sense of which the Psychics avail themselves; inasmuch as it is easier (of belief) that that one passage should have some explanation agreeable with the others, than that an apostle should seem to have taught (principles) mutually diverse. That explanation we shall be able to discover in the subject-matter itself. What was the subject-matter which led the apostle to write such (words)? The inexperience of a new and just rising Church, which he was rearing, to wit, with milk, not yet with the solid foodof stronger doctrine; inexperience so great, that that infancy of faith prevented them from yetknowing what they were to do in regard of carnal and sexual necessity. [Tertullian Monogamy 11]

1 Cor 3.3 - Instructor - 1 36 § 3 (p.111, l.22) BP1; 1 36 § 6 (p.112, l.2) BP1


1 Cor 3.3 - Stromata 4 164 § 2 (p.321, l.15) BP1; 5 26 § 1 (p.342, l.4) BP1; 5 66 § 1 (p.370, l.10) BP1

1 Cor 3.3 - Adamantius Dialogues (p.20, l.3 -) BP2

1 Cor 3.3 - Clement Second Letter On Virginity 1 8 § 4 (p.14, l.20) BP2

1 Cor 3.3 - Epiphanius Panarion 64 50 § 10 (p.479, l.17 - * P) BP4

1 Cor 3.4 Adamantius Dialogues (p.220, l.14 -) BP2 (p.222, l.1) BP2

1 Cor 3.5 - Clement Stromata "But it is God who, ministering the growth and perfection of all things, brings the things produced to what is in accordance with their nature." 6 147 § 4 (p.507, l.28) BP1 

1 Cor 3.6 - Odes of Solomon 38 § 16 (p.392, l.7) BP1

1 Cor 3.6 - Dionysius of Corinth Ad Soterem (p.178, l.11) BP1

1 Cor 3.6 - Monarchian Prologues (p.48, l.28) BP2

1 Cor 3.7,8 - For each soul has its own proper nutriment; some growing by knowledge and science, and others feeding on the Hellenic philosophy, the whole of which, like nuts, is not eatable. "And he that planteth and he that watereth," "being ministers" of Him "that gives the increase, are one" in the ministry. "But every one shall receive his own reward, according to his own work. For we are God's husbandmen, God's husbandry. Ye are God's building," according to the apostle. Wherefore the hearers are not permitted to apply the test of comparison. [Clement Stromata 1.1] 1 7 § 4 (p.6, l.24) BP1

1 Cor 3.8 - Dionysius Corinth Ad Soterem (p.178, l.11) BP1

1 Cor 3.8 - Monarchian Prologues (p.48, l.28) BP2

1 Cor 3.8 - Acts of Thomas (p.275, l.27) BP2; § 141 (p.248, l.5) BP2

1 Cor 3.8 - Epiphanius Panarion 23 § 4 (p.524, l.18 - <) BP4; 69 58 § 3 (p.206, l.13) BP4

1 cor 3.8 - Else how shall we sing thanks to God to eternity, if there shall remain in us no sense and memory of this debt; if we shall be re-formed in substance, not in consciousness? Consequently, we who shall be with God shall be together; since we shall all be with the one God— albeit the wages be various, albeit there be many mansions, in the house of the same Father having laboured for the one penny of the self-same hire, that is, of eternal life [Tertullian Monogamy 10] 10 § 6 (p.1243, l.42) BP1

1 Cor 3.9 - Odes Solomon 38 § 16 (p.392, l.6) BP1; 38 § 19 (p.392, l.14) BP1

1 Cor 3.9 - 6 147 § 4 (p.507, l.28) BP1

1 Cor 3.9 - Acts of Thomas § 39 (p.156, l.15) BP2

1 Cor 3.9 - Euangelium Philippi copticum § 115 (p.103, l.22) BP2

1 Cor 3.9 - Passio Sereni Sirmiensis § 3 (p.518, l.10) BP2

1 Cor 3.10 - Clement Stromata 5 26 § 1 (p.342, l.3) BP1; 5 26 § 3 (p.342, l.10) BP1

1 Cor 3.10 - Bardesanes Liber legum regionum NAU F., Patrologia syriaca 1,2 (1907), 536-611. § 7 (p.542, l.11) BP2

1 cor 3.10 - 13  “According to the grace,” it is said, “given to me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation. And another buildeth on it gold and silver, precious stones.”30063006    1 Cor. iii. 10–13. Such is the gnostic superstructure on the foundation of faith in Christ Jesus. But “the stubble, and the wood, and the hay,” are the additions of heresies. “But the fire shall try every man’s work, of what sort it is.” In allusion to the gnostic edifice also in the Epistle to the Romans, he says, “For I desire to see you, that I may impart unto you a spiritual gift, that ye may be established.”    Rom. i. 11. It was impossible that gifts of this sort could be written without disguise. [Clement Stromata 5.4]

1 cor 3.10 - 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. For thenceforth God’s grace desisted (from working) among them. And “the clouds were commanded not to rain a shower upon the vineyard of Sorek,”14341434    Comp. Isa. v. 2 in LXX. and Lowth.—the clouds being celestial benefits, which were commanded not to be forthcoming to the house of Israel; for it “had borne thorns”—whereof that house of Israel had wrought a crown for Christ—and not “righteousness, but aclamour,”—the clamour whereby it had extorted His surrender to the cross.14351435    Comp. Isa. v. 6, 7, with Matt. xxvii. 20–25, Mark xv. 8–15, Luke xxiii. 13–25, John xix. 12–16. And thus, the former gifts of grace being withdrawn, “the law and the prophets were until John,”14361436    Matt. xi. 13; Luke xvi. 16. and the fishpool of Bethsaida14371437    See John v. 1–9; and comp. de Bapt. c. v., and the note there. until the advent of Christ [Tertullian Against the Jews 13]

1 Cor 3.10,11 - But you still maintain that our glory comes from your god, with whom it also lay in secret. Then why does your god employ the self-same Scripture261 which the apostle also relies on? What has your god to do at all with the sayings of the prophets? "Who hath discovered the mind of the Lord, or who hath been His counsellor? "262 So says Isaiah. What has he also to do with illustrations from our God? [10] For when (the apostle) calls himself "a wise master-builder,"263 we find that the Creator by Isaiah designates the teacher who sketches264 out the divine discipline by the same title, "I will take away from Judah the cunning artificer,"265 etc. And was it not Paul himself who was there foretold, destined "to be taken away from Judah"----that is, from Judaism----for the erection of Christianity, in order "to lay that only foundation, which is Christ? "266 Of this work the Creator also by the same prophet says, "Behold, I lay in Sion for a foundation a precious stone and honourable; and he that resteth thereon shall not be confounded."267 [11] Unless it be, that God professed Himself to be the builder up of an earthly work, that so He might not give any sign of His Christ, as destined to be the foundation of such as believe in Him, upon which every man should build at will the superstructure of either sound or worthless doctrine; forasmuch as it is the Creator's function, when a man's work shall be tried by fire, (or) when a reward shall be recompensed to him by fire; because it is by fire that the test is applied to the building which you erect upon the foundation which is laid by Him, that is, the foundation of His Christ.268  [Tertullian Against Marcion 5.6] 5 6 § 10 (p.680, l.2) BP1

1 Cor 3.11 - Clement Stromata 5 61 § 1 (p.367, l.19) BP1; 7 55 § 5 (p.41, l.1) BP1

1 Cor 3.11 - Bardesanes Liber legum regionum § 7 (p.542, l.11) BP2

1 Cor 3.11 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 10 (p.681, l.8) BP1

1 Cor 3.12 - Clement Stromata 5 26 § 1 (p.342, l.3) BP1; 6 152 § 1 (p.510, l.11) BP1

1 Cor 3.12 - Acts of Paul A SCHMIDT C., Praxeis Paulou, Acta Pauli nach dem Papyrus der Hamburger Staats- und Universitäts-Bibliothek, Glückstadt - Hamburg 1936, 22-60. (p.22, l.11) BP1

1 Cor 3.12 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 11 (p.681, l.12) BP1

1 Cor 3.13 - Acts of Paul B VOUAUX L., Les Actes de Paul et ses lettres apocryphes, Paris 1913, 143-247 ; 253 ; 278-314. 10 § 3 (p.292, l.9) BP1

1 Cor 3.13 - Clement Stromata 5 26 § 5 (p.342, l.15) BP1

1 Cor 3.13 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 11 (p.681, l.14) BP1

1 Cor 3.13 - Acts of Thomas § 12 (p.117, l.17 - >) BP2

1 Cor 3.13 - Epiphanius Panarion 59 5 § 7 (p.370, l.8 - < /) BP4

1 Cor 3.14 - Acts of Paul C TESTUZ M., Papyrus Bodmer 10-12..., Correspondance apocryphe des Corinthiens et de l'Apôtre Paul (Bibliotheca Bodmeriana), Cologny - Genève 1959, 30-44. (p.42, l.20) BP1

1 Cor 3.15 - Acts of Paul C (p.42, l.20) BP1

1 Cor 3.15 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 11 (p.681, l.14) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - Acts of Paul B 2 § 5 (p.154, l.5) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - 2 Clement ARCHAMBAULT G., Justin, Dialogue avec Tryphon, 2 t. (Textes et documents pour l'étude historique du christianisme), Paris 1909. 9 § 3 (p.75, l.8) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - Justin Dialogue FUNK F.X., BIHLMEYER K., Die apostolischen Väter, Neubearbeitung der Funkschen Ausgabe, 2e éd., Tübingen 1956, 71-81. 40 § 1 (p.178, l.16) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - Irenaeus Demanstratio FROIDEVAUX L.M., SC 62 (1959). 96 (p.164, l.19 - P) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - Valentinus in his letter to Agathopus - says, "Jesus showed his self-control in all that he endured. He lived in the practice of godhead. He ate and drank in a way individual to himself without excreting his food. Such was his power of self-control that the food was not corrupted within him, since he was not subject to corruption." 226 (4) So we embrace self-control out of the love we bear the Lord and out of its honorable status, consecrating the temple of the Spirit. 227 It is honorable "to emasculate oneself" of all desire "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" and "to purify the conscience from works of death to the service of the living God." There are some who in their hatred of the flesh ungratefully yearn to be free from marital agreement and participation in decent food. They are ignorant and irreligious. Their self-control is irrational. It is so with most of the other peoples of the world [Clement Stromata 3 59 § 4 (p.223, l.18) BP1].

1 Cor 3.16 - In addition to all this, he makes what he has already said even clearer by asserting at the top of his voice, "The body is a dead thing because of sin," 295 showing that if it is not the soul’s temple it remains the soul’s tomb. 296 When it is consecrated to God, he is going to continue, "the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead lodges in you, and he will give life even to your mortal bodies through his indwelling Spirit." Clement Stromata 3.77 - 1 Cor 3.16 Clement Stromata 6 60 § 2 (p.462, l.8) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 Clement Stromata 7 82 § 2 (p.58, l.24) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - Acts of Thomas WRIGHT W., Apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, 2, London 1871, 146-298. (p.155, l.25 - >) BP2; (p.221, l.22 - >) BP2; (p.222, l.17 - >) BP2; (p.226, l.23 - >) BP2; (p.226, l.30 - >) BP2; (p.289, l.6 - >) BP2

1 Cor 3.16 - Acts of Thomas § 12 (p.117, l.1 - >) BP2; § 86 (p.202, l.8 - /) BP2; § 87 (p.203, l.3 - >) BP2; § 94 (p.207, l.10 - >) BP2; § 144 (p.251, l.18 - >) BP2; § 156 (p.266, l.5 - >) BP2

1 Cor 3.16 - Papyrus Berlin 9794 WESSELY Ch., PO 18,3 (1924), 429-433 (p.430, l.34) BP2

1 Cor 3.16 - Tertullian Resurrection 10 § 4 (p.933, l.17) BP1; 26 § 11 (p.955, l.47) BP1; 44 § 4 (p.980, l.16) BP1

1 Cor 3.16 - Yea, further, that best master-builder of His, Paul himself [to him the best architect and foundation], [Reading “sed et optimus architectus ejus, fundamentum,” etc. The Codex Casinensis has the corrupt lection, “sed et optimos architectos ei fundamentum,” etc.] has laid our foundation [Had this been said of Peter, what then?] that is, the foundation of the Church and has put us in trust of the law, ordaining ministers, and presbyters, and bishops in the same, and describing in the places severally assigned to that purpose, in what manner and with what character the ministers of God ought to conduct themselves, of what repute the presbyters ought to be possessed, and how they should be constituted, and what manner of persons those also ought to be who desire the office of bishop. [Cf. 1 Tim. iii. 1. Clement cap. xliv., vol. i. p. 17, this series.] And all these institutions, which were once settled well and rightly for us, preserve their proper standing and order with us to this day, and the regular administration of these rules abides amongst us still. [Acts Archelaus 51]

1 cor 3.16 - But the Spirit proclaimed these words: Do nothing without the bishop; keep your bodies as the temples of God; love unity; avoid divisions; be the followers of Jesus Christ, even as He is of His Father. [Ignatius Philadelphians 7]

1 cor 3.16 - Whence also he says, that this handiwork is “the temple of God,” thus declaring: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man, therefore, will defile the temple of God, him will God destroy: for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.” 4479 Here he manifestly declares the body to be the temple in which the Spirit dwells. As also the Lord speaks in reference to Himself, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. He spake this, however,” it is said, “of the temple of His body.” 4480 And not only does he (the apostle) acknowledge our bodies to be a temple, but even the temple of Christ, saying thus to the Corinthians, “Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot?” 4481 He speaks these things, not in reference to some other spiritual man; for a being of such a nature could have nothing to do with an harlot: but he declares “our body,” that is, the flesh which continues in sanctity and purity, to be “the members of Christ;” but that when it becomes one with an harlot, it becomes the members of an harlot. And for this reason he said, “If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy.” How then is it not the utmost blasphemy to allege, that the temple of God, in which the Spirit of the Father dwells, and the members of Christ, do not partake of salvation, but are reduced to perdition? Also, that our bodies are raised not from their own substance, but by the power of God, he says to the Corinthians, “Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. But God hath both raised up the Lord, and shall raise us up by His own power.” [Irenaeus AH 5.6.2]

1 cor 3.16 - “And 4880 he found the jaw-bone of an ass.” 4881 It is to be observed that, after [Samson had committed] fornication, the holy Scripture no longer speaks of the things happily accomplished by him in connection with the formula, “The Spirit of the Lord came upon him.” 4882 For thus, according to the holy apostle, the sin of fornication is perpetrated against the body, as involving also sin against the temple of God. [Irenaeus Fragment 40]

1 cor 3.16 - They say in the traditions 3640 that Matthew the apostle constantly said, that “if the neighbour of an elect man sin, the elect man has sinned. For had he conducted himself as the Word prescribes, his neighbour also would have been filled with such reverence for the life he led as not to sin.”
What, then, shall we say of the Gnostic himself? “Know ye not,” says the apostle, “that ye are the temple of God?” 3641 The Gnostic is consequently divine, and already holy, God-bearing, and God-borne. Now the Scripture, showing that sinning is foreign to him, sells those who have fallen away to strangers, saying, “Look not on a strange woman, to lust,” 3642 plainly pronounces sin foreign and contrary to the nature of the temple of God. Now the temple is great, as the Church, and it is small, as the man who preserves the seed of Abraham.  [Clement Stromata 7.13]

1 Cor 3.16 - "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? "269 Now, since man is the property, and the work, and the image and likeness of the Creator, having his flesh, formed by Him of the ground, and his soul of His afflatus, it follows that Marcion's god wholly dwells in a temple which belongs to another, if so be we are not the Creator's temple. [12] But "if any man defile the temple of God, he shall be himself destroyed"270 ----of course, by the God of the temple.271 If you threaten an avenger, you threaten us with the Creator.   "Ye must become fools, that ye may be wise."272 Wherefore? "Because the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."273 With what God? Even if the ancient Scriptures have contributed nothing in support of our view thus far,274 an excellent testimony turns up in what (the apostle) here adjoins: "For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain."275 [13] For in general we may conclude for certain that he could not possibly have cited the authority of that God whom he was bound to destroy, since he would not teach for Him.276"Therefore," says he, "let no man glory in man; "277 an injunction which is in accordance with the teaching of the Creator, "wretched is the man that trusteth in man; "278 again, "It is better to trust in the Lord than to confide in man; "279 and the same thing is said about glorying (in princes). [Tertullian Against Marcion 5.6] 5 6 § 11 (p.681, l.18) BP1

1 cor 3.16 - In Platonic phrase, indeed, the body is a prison, 1795 but in the apostle’s it is “the temple of God,” 1796 because it is in Christ. Still, (as must be admitted,) by reason of its enclosure it obstructs and obscures the soul, and sullies it by the concretion of the flesh; whence it happens that the light which illumines objects comes in upon the soul in a more confused manner, as if through a window of horn. Undoubtedly, when the soul, by the power of death, is released from its concretion with the flesh, it is by the very release cleansed and purified: it is, moreover, certain that it escapes from the veil of the flesh into open space, to its clear, and pure, and intrinsic light; and then finds itself enjoying its enfranchisement from matter, and by virtue of its liberty it recovers its divinity, as one who awakes out of sleep passes from images to verities. Then it tells out what it sees; then it exults or it fears, according as it finds what lodging is prepared for it, as soon as it sees the very angel’s face, that arraigner of souls, the Mercury of the poets. [Tertullian Treatise on the Soul 53]

1 cor 3.16 - 18 - Necessary it is, therefore, that the (character of the) apostle should be continuously pointed out to them; whom I will maintain to be such in the second of Corinthians withal, as I know (him to be) in all his letters.  (He it is) who even in the first (Epistle) was the first of all (the apostles) to dedicate the temple of God:  “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that in you the Lord dwells?”862862    1 Cor. iii. 16, inexactly.—who likewise, for the consecrating and purifying (of) that temple, wrote the law pertaining to the temple-keepers:  “If any shall have marred the temple of God, him shall God mar; for the temple of God is holy, which (temple) are ye.”863863    Ver. 17, not quite correctly.  Come, now; who in the world has (ever) redintegrated one who has been “marred” by God (that is, delivered to Satan with a view to destruction of the flesh), after subjoining for that reason, “Let none seduce himself;”864864    Ver. 18. that is, let none presume that one “marred” by God can possibly be redintegrated anew?  Just as, again, among all other crimes—nay, even before all others—when affirming that “adulterers, and fornicators, and effeminates, and co-habitors with males, will not attain the kingdom of God,” he premised, “Do not err”865865    1 Cor. vi. 9, 10.—to wit, if you think they will attain it.  But to them from whom “the kingdom” is taken away, of course the life which exists in the kingdom is not permitted either.  Moreover, by superadding, “But such indeed ye have been; but ye have received ablution, but ye have been sanctified, in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God;”866866    Ver. 11, inexactly. in as far as he puts on the paid side of the account such sins before baptism, in so far after baptism he determines them irremissible, if it is true, (as it is), that they are not allowed to “receive ablution” anew.  Recognise, too, in what follows, Paul (in the character of) an immoveable column of discipline and its rules:  “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats:  God maketh a full end both of the one and of the others; but the body (is) not for fornication, but for God:”867867    Ver. 13.  [Tertullian on Modesty 16]

1 cor 3.16 - And again he says: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy." [Gregory Sectional Faith]

1 Cor 3.16 - Epiphanius Panarion 69 27 § 7 (p.177, l.23 - <) BP4; 74 5 § 18 (p.321, l.6 - <) BP4; 74 13 § 6 (p.331, l.14 - <) BP4; 77 27 § 7 (p.440, l.20) BP4

1 Cor 3.17 - 2 Clement 9 § 3 (p.75, l.8) BP1

1 Cor 3.17 - ὁ δὲ φθείρων τὸν ναὸν θεοῦ φθαρήσεται Clement QDS 18 § 2 (p.171, l.13) BP1


1 Cor 3.17 - Stromata 3 59 § 4 (p.223, l.18) BP1; 4 137 § 3 (p.309, l.10) BP1; 4 161 § 2 (p.319, l.20) BP1; 6 60 § 2 (p.462, l.8) BP1

1 Cor 3.17 - Acts of Thomas (p.155, l.25 - >) BP2; (p.221, l.22 - >) BP2; (p.222, l.17 - >) BP2; (p.226, l.23 - >) BP2; (p.226, l.30 - >) BP2; (p.289, l.6 - >) BP2

1 Cor 3.17 - Acts of Thomas § 12 (p.117, l.1 - >) BP2; § 86 (p.202, l.8 - /) BP2; § 87 (p.203, l.3 - >) BP2; § 94 (p.207, l.10 - >) BP2; § 144 (p.251, l.18 - >) BP2; § 156 (p.266, l.5 - >) BP2

1 Cor 3.17 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 12 (p.681, l.23) BP1

1 Cor 3.17 - Tertullian Resurrection 10 § 4 (p.933, l.17) BP1; 26 § 11 (p.955, l.47) BP1

1 Cor 3.17 - Peter of Alexandria De Resurrectione PITRA J.B., Analecta sacra, 4, Parisiis 1883, 426-429. (p.428, l.4 - <) BP2

1 Cor 3.17 - Epiphanius Panarion 77 27 § 7 (p.440, l.20) BP4

1 cor 3.17 - Wherefore, then, were they blameless? Because when in the temple they were not engaged in secular affairs, but in the service of the Lord, fulfilling the law, but not going beyond it, as that man did, who of his own accord carried dry wood into the camp of God, and was justly stoned to death. Numbers 15:32, etc. For every tree that brings not forth good fruit shall be hewn down, and cast into the fire; Matthew 3:10 and whosoever shall defile the temple of God, him shall God defile. 1 Corinthians 3:17 [Irenaeus AH 4.8.3]

1 cor 3.17 - And not only does he (the apostle) acknowledge our bodies to be a temple, but even the temple of Christ, saying thus to the Corinthians, "Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? " [Irenaeus AH 5]

1 cor 3.17 - But if it seems difficult for you to understand this, and if you do not acquiesce in these statements, I may at all events try to make them good by adducing illustrations. Contemplate man as a kind of temple, according to the similitude of Scripture:1610 the spirit that is in man may thus be likened to the image that dwells in the temple. Well, then, a temple cannot be constituted unless first an occupant is acknowledged for the temple; and, on the other hand, an occupant cannot be settled in the temple unless the structure has been erected. Now, since these two objects, the occupant and the structure, are both consecrated together, how can any antagonism or contrariety be found between them, and how should it not rather appear that they have both been the products of subjects that are in amity and of one mind? And that you may know that this is the case, and that these subjects are truly at one both in fellowship and in lineage, He who knows and hears1611all has made this response, “Let us make man,” and so forth. For he who constructs1612 the temple interrogates him who fashions the image, and inquires carefully about the measurements of magnitude, and breadth, and bulk, in order that he may mark off the space for the foundations in accordance with these dimensions; and no one sets about the vain task of building a temple without first making himself acquainted with the measurement needed for the placing of the image. In like manner, therefore, the mode and the measure of the body are made the subject of inquiry, in order that the soul may be appropriately lodged in it by God, the Artificer of all things. But if any one say that he who has moulded the body is an enemy to the God who is the Creator of my soul,1613 then how is it that, while regarding each other with a hostile eye, these two parties have not brought disrepute upon the work, by bringing it about either that he who constructs the temple should make it of such narrow dimensions as to render it incapable of accommodating what is placed within it, or that he who fashions the image should come with something so massive and ponderous, that, on its introduction into the temple, the edifice would at once collapse? If such is not the case, then, with these things, let us contemplate them in the light of what we know to be the objects and intents of antagonists. But if it is right for all to be disposed with the same measures and the same equity, and to be displayed with like glory, what doubt should we still entertain on this subject? We add, if it please you, this one illustration more. Man appears to resemble a ship which has been constructed by the builder and launched into the deep, which, however, it is impossible to navigate without the rudder, by which it can be kept under command, and turned in whatsoever direction its steersman may wish to sail. Also, that the rudder and the whole body of the ship require the same artificer, is a matter admitting no doubt; for without the rudder the whole structure of the ship, that huge body, will be an inert mass. And thus, then, we say that the soul is the rudder of the body; that both these, moreover, are ruled by that liberty of judgment and sentiment which we possess, and which corresponds to the steersman; and that when these two are made one by union,1614 and thus possess a unison of function applicable to all kinds of work, whatever may be the products of their own operation, they bear a testimony to the fact that they have both one and the same author and maker. [Acts of Archelaus 19]

1 cor 3.17 - These are “the doctrines” of men and “of demons”1911 produced for itching ears of the spirit of this world’s wisdom: this the Lord called “foolishness,”1912 and “chose the foolish things of the world” to confound even philosophy itself. For (philosophy) it is which is the material of the world’s wisdom, the rash interpreter of the nature and the dispensation of God. Indeed1913 heresies are themselves instigated1914 by philosophy. From this source came the Æons, and I known not what infinite forms,1915 and the trinity of man1916 in the system of Valentinus, who was of Plato’s school. From the same source came Marcion’s better god, with all his tranquillity; he came of the Stoics. [Tertullian prescript 7]

1 Cor 3.18 - Commodianus Carmen apologeticum uel Carmen de duobus populis MARTIN I., CCL 128 (1960), 73-113. (p.95, l.614) BP2

1 Cor 3.18 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 12 (p.681, l.25) BP1

1 Cor 3.18 - Hermias Philosophus Irrisio gentilium philosophorum DIELS H., Doxographi graeci, Berlin 1879, 651-656. § 1 (p.651, l.4) BP1

1 cor 3.18 - But since Celsus has declared it to be a saying of many Christians, that "the wisdom of this life is a bad thing, but that foolishness is good," we have to answer that he slanders the Gospel, not giving the words as they actually occur in the writings of Paul, where they run as follow: "If any one among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God." [Origen Celsus 1]

1 Cor 3.19 - Clement Stromata STAEHLIN O., FRUECHTEL L., 3e éd., GCS 52 (1960) pour les livres 1-6 ; STAEHLIN O., FRUECHTEL L., TREU U., 2e éd., GCS 17 (1970), 3-102 pour les livres 7-8. 1 23 § 3 (p.15, l.17) BP1; 1 50 § 1 (p.32, l.22) BP1

1 Cor 3.19 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 12 (p.681, l.2) BP1; 5 6 § 12 (p.681, l.25) BP1

1 Cor 3.19 - Epiphanius Panarion 42 11 § 8 (p.121, l.9 - *<) BP4; 42 12 § 3 (p.161, l.5 - *<) BP4; 42 12 § 3 (p.161, l.8 - <) BP4;

1 cor 3.19 - This, I think, is signified by the utterance of the Saviour, “The foxes have holes, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.” 1840 For on the believer alone, who is separated entirely from the rest, who by the Scripture are called wild beasts, rests the head of the universe, the kind and gentle Word, “who taketh the wise in their own craftiness. For the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain;” 1841 the Scripture calling those the wise (σοφούς) who are skilled in words and arts, sophists (σοφιστάς). Whence the Greeks also applied the denominative appellation of wise and sophists (σοφοί, σοφισταί) to those who were versed in anything Cratinus accordingly, having in the Archilochii enumerated the poets, said: “Such a hive of sophists have ye examined.” And similarly Iophon, the comic poet, in Flute-playing Satyrs, says:—"For there entered A band of sophists, all equipped.” Of these and the like, who devote their attention to empty words, the divine Scripture most excellently says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” [Clement Stromata 1.3]

1 cor 3.19 - This, then, “the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God,” and of those who are “the wise the Lord knoweth their thoughts that they are vain.”1915 Let no man therefore glory on account of pre-eminence in human thought. For it is written well in Jeremiah, “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the mighty man glory in his might, and let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth that I am the Lord, that executeth mercy and judgment and righteousness upon the earth: for in these things is my delight, saith the Lord.”1916“That we should trust not in ourselves, but in God who raiseth the dead,” says the apostle, “who delivered us from so great a death, that our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” “For the spiritual man judgeth all things, but he himself is judged of no man.”1917 I hear also those words of his, “And these things I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words, or one should enter in to spoil you.”1918 And again, “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ;”1919 branding not all philosophy, but the Epicurean, which Paul mentions in the Acts of the Apostles,1920 which abolishes providence and deifies pleasure, and whatever other philosophy honours the elements, but places not over them the efficient cause, nor apprehends the Creator. [Clement Stromata 1.11]

One may no doubt be wise in the things of God, even from one's natural powers, but only in witness to the truth, not in maintenance of error; (only) when one acts in accordance with, not in opposition to, the divine dispensation. For some things are known even by nature: the immortality of the soul, for instance, is held by many; the knowledge of our God is possessed by all. I may use, therefore, the opinion of a Plato, when he declares, "Every soul is immortal." I may use also the conscience of a nation, when it attests the God of gods. I may, in like manner, use all the other intelligences of our common nature, when they pronounce God to be a judge. "God sees," (say they) (say they); and, "I commend you to God." But when they say, What has undergone death is dead," and, "Enjoy life whilst you live," and, "After death all things come to an end, even death itself;" then I must remember both that "the heart of man is ashes," according to the estimate of God, and that the very "Wisdom of the world is foolishness," (as the inspired word) pronounces it to be. Then, if even the heretic seek refuge in the depraved thoughts of the vulgar, or the imaginations of the world, I must say to him: Part company with the heathen, O heretic! for although you are all agreed in imagining a God, yet while you do so in the name of Christ, so long as you deem yourself a Christian, you are a different man from a heathen: give him back his own views of things, since he does not himself learn from yours. Why lean upon a blind guide, if you have eyes of your own? Why be clothed by one who is naked, if you have put on Christ? Why use the shield of another, when the apostle gives you armour of your own? It would be better for him to learn from you to acknowledge the resurrection of the flesh, than for you from him to deny it; because if Christians must needs deny it, it would be sufficient if they did so from their own knowledge, without any instruction from the ignorant multitude. He, therefore, will not be a Christian who shall deny this doctrine which is confessed by Christians; denying it, moreover, on grounds which are adopted by a man who is not a Christian. Take away, indeed, from the heretics the wisdom which they share with the heathen, and let them support their inquiries from the Scriptures alone: they will then be unable to keep their ground. For that which commends men's common sense is its very simplicity, and its participation in the same feelings, and its community of opinions; and it is deemed to be all the more trustworthy, inasmuch as its definitive statements are naked and open, and known to all. Divine reason, on the contrary, lies in the very pith and marrow of things, not on the surface, and very often is at variance with appearances. [Tertullian On the Resurrection of the Flesh 3]

1 Cor 3.20 - Passio Apollonii Romani VAN DEN GHEYN I., Sancti Apollonii Romani acta graeca ex codice Parisino graeco 1219, Analecta Bollandiana 14 (1895), 286-294 § 5 (p.287, l.15) BP1

1 Cor 3.20 Clement Stromata 1 23 § 3 (p.15, l.17) BP1; 1 50 § 1 (p.32, l.22) BP1

1 Cor 3.20 Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 12 (p.681, l.4) BP1

1 Cor 3.20 Epiphanius Panarion 42 11 § 8 (p.121, l.9 - *<) BP4; 42 12 § 3 (p.161, l.5 - *<) BP4; 42 12 § 3 (p.161, l.9 - <) BP4; 76 20 § 14 (p.367, l.23 - < >) BP4

1 Cor 3.21 μηδεὶς τοίνυν καυχάσθω ἐν ἀνθρωπίνῃ προανέχων διανοίᾳ Clement Stromata 1 50 § 1 (p.32, l.24) BP1

1 Cor 3.21 Adamantius Dialogue (p.106, l.1 - <) BP2

1 Cor 3.21 -  Tertullian Against Marcion 5 6 § 13 (p.681, l.7) BP1

1 Cor 3.21 - He introduces his discussion about meats offered to idols with a statement concerning idols (themselves): “We know that an idol is nothing in the world.”5507 Marcion, however, does not say that the Creator is not God; so that the apostle can hardly be thought to have ranked the Creator amongst those who are called gods, without being so; since, even if they had been gods, “to us there is but one God, the Father.”5508 Now, from whom do all things come to us, but from Him to whom all things belong? And pray, what things are these? You have them in a preceding part of the epistle:  “All things are yours; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come.”5509 He makes the Creator, then the God of all things, from whom proceed both the world and life and death, which cannot possibly belong to the other god. From Him, therefore, amongst the “all things” comes also Christ.5510 When he teaches that every man ought to live of his own industry,5511 he begins with a copious induction of examples—of soldiers, and shepherds, and husbandmen. [Tertullian Against Marcion 5.7] 5 7 § 9 (p.684, l.7) BP1  BOTH THESE REFERENCES HAPPEN OUTSIDE OF THE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER DISCOUNT BECAUSE IT BREAKS THE FLOW

1 Cor 3.22 - Against Marcion 5 7 § 9 (p.684, l.7) BP1

1 Cor 3.22 - But, you object, the world to come bears the character of a different dispensation, even an eternal one; and therefore, you maintain, that the non-eternal substance of this life is incapable of possessing a state of such different features. This would be true enough, if man were made for the future dispensation, and not the dispensation for man. The apostle, however, in his epistle says, "Whether it be the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours: "(456) and he here constitutes us heirs even of the future world. Isaiah gives you no help when he says, "All flesh is grass; "(457) and in another passage, "All flesh shall see the salvation of God."(458) It is the issues of men, not their substances, which he distinguishes. But who does not hold that the judgment of God consists in the twofold sentence, of salvation and of punishment? Therefore it is that "all flesh is grass," which is destined to the fire; and "all flesh shall see the salvation of God," which is ordained to eternal life. For myself, I am quite sure that it is in no other flesh than my own that I have committed adultery, nor in any other flesh am I striving after continence. If there be any one who bears about in his person two instruments of lasciviousness, he has it in his power, to be sure, to mow down(459) "the grass" of the unclean flesh, and to reserve for himself only that which shall see the salvation of God. But when the same prophet represents to us even nations sometimes estimated as "the small dust of the balance,"(460) and as "less than nothing, and vanity,"(461) and sometimes as about to hope and "trust in the name"(462) and arm of the Lord, are we at all misled respecting the Gentile nations by the diversity of statement? Are some of them to turn believers, and are others accounted dust, from any difference of nature? Nay, rather Christ has shone as the true light on the nations within the ocean's limits, and from the heaven which is over us all.(463) Why, it is even on this earth that the Valentinians have gone to school for their errors; and there will be no difference of condition, as respects their body and soul, between the nations which believe and those which do not believe. Precisely, then, as He has put a distinction of state, not of nature, amongst the same nations, so also has He discriminated their flesh, which is one and the same substance in those nations, not according to their material structure, but according to the recompense of their merit. [Tertullian Resurrection of the Flesh 59] 59 § 2 (p.1007, l.5) BP1

1 Cor 3.23 - Tertullian Against Marcion 5 7 § 10 (p.684, l.11) BP1

1 Cor 3.23 - Adamantius Dialogue (p.106, l.1 - <) BP2