OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 27

Chapter 27 [XV.]—Grace, Concealed in the Old Testament, is Revealed in the New.
This grace hid itself under a veil in the Old Testament, but it has been revealed in the New Testament according to the most perfectly ordered dispensation of the ages, forasmuch as God knew how to dispose all things. And perhaps it is a part of this hiding of grace, that in the Decalogue, which was given on Mount Sinai, only the portion which relates to the Sabbath was hidden under a prefiguring precept. The Sabbath is a day of sanctification; and it is not without significance that, among all the works which God accomplished, the first sound of sanctification was heard on the day when He rested from all His labours. On this, indeed, we must not now enlarge. But at the same time I deem it to be enough for the point now in question, that it was not for nothing that the nation was commanded on that day to abstain from all servile work, by which sin is signified; but because not to commit sin belongs to sanctification, that is, to God’s gift through the Holy Spirit. And this precept alone among the others, was placed in the law, which was written on the two tables of stone, in a prefiguring shadow, under which the Jews observe the Sabbath, that by this very circumstance it might be signified that it was then the time for concealing the grace, which had to be revealed in the New Testament by the death of Christ,—the rending, as it were, of the veil. “For when,” says the apostle, “it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.”

## Footnotes

* ↑ Matt. xxvii. 51.
* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 16.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 28

Chapter 28 [XVI]—Why the Holy Ghost is Called the Finger of God.
“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Now this Spirit of God, by whose gift we are justified, whence it comes to pass that we delight not to sin,—in which is liberty; even as, when we are without this Spirit, we delight to sin,—in which is slavery, from the works of which we must abstain;—this Holy Spirit, through whom love is shed abroad in our hearts, which is the fulfilment of the law, is designated in the gospel as “the finger of God.” Is it not because those very tables of the law were written by the finger of God, that the Spirit of God by whom we are sanctified is also the finger of God, in order that, living by faith, we may do good works through love? Who is not touched by this congruity, and at the same time diversity? For as fifty days are reckoned from the celebration of the Passover (which was ordered by Moses to be offered by slaying the typical lamb, to signify, indeed, the future death of the Lord) to the day when Moses received the law written on the tables of stone by the finger of God, so, in like manner, from the death and resurrection of Him who was led as a lamb to the slaughter, there were fifty complete days up to the time when the finger of God—that is, the Holy Spirit—gathered together in one perfect company those who believed.

## Footnotes

* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 17.
* ↑ Luke xi. 20.
* ↑ Ex. xii. 3.
* ↑ Ex. xxxi. 18.
* ↑ Isa. liii. 7.
* ↑ Acts ii. 2.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 29

Chapter 29 [XVII.]—A Comparison of the Law of Moses and of the New Law.
Now, amidst this admirable correspondence, there is at least this very considerable diversity in the cases, in that the people in the earlier instance were deterred by a horrible dread from approaching the place where the law was given; whereas in the other case the Holy Ghost came upon them who were gathered together in expectation of His promised gift. There it was on tables of stone that the finger of God operated; here it was on the hearts of men. There the law was given outwardly, so that the unrighteous might be terrified; here it was given inwardly, so that they might be justified. For this, “Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment,”—such, of course, as was written on those tables,—“it is briefly comprehended,” says he, “in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” Now this was not written on the tables of stone, but “is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us.” God’s law, therefore, is love. “To it the carnal mind is not subject, neither indeed can be;” but when the works of love are written on tables to alarm the carnal mind, there arises the law of works and “the letter which killeth” the transgressor; but when love itself is shed abroad in the hearts of believers, then we have the law of faith, and the spirit which gives life to him that loves.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Ex. xix. 12, 16.
* ↑ Acts ii. 1–47.
* ↑ Rom. xiii. 9, 10.
* ↑ Rom. v. 5.
* ↑ Rom. viii. 7.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 30

Chapter 30.—The New Law Written Within.
Now, observe how consonant this diversity is with those words of the apostle which I quoted not long ago in another connection, and which I postponed for a more careful consideration afterwards: “Forasmuch,” says he, “as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.” See how he shows that the one is written without man, that it may alarm him from without; the other within man himself, that it may justify him from within. He speaks of the “fleshy tables of the heart,” not of the carnal mind, but of a living agent possessing sensation, in comparison with a stone, which is senseless. The assertion which he subsequently makes,—that “the children of Israel could not look stedfastly on the end of the face of Moses,” and that he accordingly spoke to them through a veil,—signifies that the letter of the law justifies no man, but that rather a veil is placed on the reading of the Old Testament, until it shall be turned to Christ, and the veil be removed;—in other words, until it shall be turned to grace, and be understood that from Him accrues to us the justification, whereby we do what He commands. And He commands, in order that, because we lack in ourselves, we may flee to Him for refuge. Accordingly, after most guardedly saying, “Such trust have we through Christ to God-ward,” the apostle immediately goes on to add the statement which underlies our subject, to prevent our confidence being attributed to any strength of our own. He says: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us fit to be ministers of the New Testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.”

## Footnotes

* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 3.
* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 13.
* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 4.
* ↑ 2 Cor. iii. 5, 6.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 32

Chapter 32 [XIX.]—The Christian Faith Touching the Assistance of Grace.
Let no Christian then stray from this faith, which alone is the Christian one; nor let any one, when he has been made to feel ashamed to say that we become righteous through our own selves, without the grace of God working this in us,—because he sees, when such an allegation is made, how unable pious believers are to endure it,—resort to any subterfuge on this point, by affirming that the reason why we cannot become righteous without the operation of God’s grace is this, that He gave the law, He instituted its teaching, He commanded its precepts of good. For there is no doubt that, without His assisting grace, the law is “the letter which killeth;” but when the life-giving spirit is present, the law causes that to be loved as written within, which it once caused to be feared as written without.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 33

Chapter 33.—The Prophecy of Jeremiah Concerning the New Testament.
Observe this also in that testimony which was given by the prophet on this subject in the clearest way: “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will consummate a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt. Because they continued not in my covenant, I also have rejected them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” What say we to this? One nowhere, or hardly anywhere, except in this passage of the prophet, finds in the Old Testament Scriptures any mention so made of the New Testament as to indicate it by its very name. It is no doubt often referred to and foretold as about to be given, but not so plainly as to have its very name mentioned. Consider then carefully, what difference God has testified as existing between the two testaments—the old covenant and the new.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Jer. xxxi. 31–34.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 25

Chapter 25.—The Passage in Romans.
Now carefully consider this entire passage, and see whether it says anything about circumcision, or the Sabbath, or anything else pertaining to a foreshadowing sacrament. Does not its whole scope amount to this, that the letter which forbids sin fails to give man life, but rather “killeth,” by increasing concupiscence, and aggravating sinfulness by transgression, unless indeed grace liberates us by the law of faith, which is in Christ Jesus, when His love is “shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given to us?” The apostle having used these words: “That we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter,” goes on to inquire, “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay; I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, worked death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual; whereas I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that I do not; but what I hate, that I do. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. But then it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing. To will, indeed, is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now, if I do that which I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, through Jesus Christ out Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

## Footnotes

* ↑ Rom. v. 5.
* ↑ Rom. vii. 6.
* ↑ Rom. vii. 7–25.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume V/On the Spirit and the Letter/Chapter 3

Chapter 3.—Theirs is Comparatively a Harmless Error, Who Say that a Man Lives Here Without Sin.
They therefore are not a very dangerous set of persons and they ought to be urged to show, if they are able, that they are themselves such, who hold that man lives or has lived here without any sin whatever. There are indeed passages of Scripture, in which I apprehend it is definitely stated that no man who lives on earth, although enjoying freedom of will, can be found without sin; as, for instance, the place where it is written, “Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified.” If, however, anybody shall have succeeded in showing that this text and the other similar ones ought to be taken in a different sense from their obvious one, and shall have proved that some man or men have spent a sinless life on earth,—whoever does not, not merely refrain from much opposing him, but also does not rejoice with him to the full, is afflicted by extraordinary goads of envy. Moreover, if there neither is, has been, nor will be any man endowed with such perfection of purity (which I am more inclined to believe), and yet it is firmly set forth and thought there is or has been, or is to be,—so far as I can judge, no great error is made, and certainly not a dangerous one, when a man is thus carried away by a certain benevolent feeling; provided that he who thinks so much of another, does not think himself to be such a being, unless he has ascertained that he really and clearly is such.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Ps. cxliii. 2.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume X/The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom/Title Page

the homilies
of
St. john Chrysostom,
archbishop of constantinople,
on the
gospel of st. matthew.
translated by
rev. sir george prevost, baronet, m.a.,
of oriel college, oxford.
revised, with notes, by
rev. m. b. riddle, d.d.,
professor of new testament exegesis in the western theological seminary at allegheny, pa.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume XI/On the Acts of the Apostles

a commentary
on
the acts of the apostles,
By St. John Chrysostom,
Archbishop of constantinople.

## Contents

* Homily I on Acts i. 1, 2
* Homily II on Acts i. 6
* Homily III on Acts i. 12
* Homily IV on Acts ii. 1, 2
* Homily V on Acts ii. 14
* Homily VI on Acts ii. 22
* Homily VII on Acts ii. 37
* Homily VIII on Acts iii. 1
* Homily IX on Acts iii. 12
* Homily X on Acts iv. 1
* Homily XI on Acts iv. 23
* Homily XII on Acts iv. 36, 37
* Homily XIII on Acts v. 17, 18
* Homily XIV on Acts v. 34
* Homily XV on Acts vi. 8
* Homily XVI on Acts vii. 6, 7
* Homily XVII on Acts vii. 35
* Homily XVIII on Acts vii. 54
* Homily XIX on Acts viii. 26, 27
* Homily XX on Acts ix. 10, 12
* Homily XXI on Acts ix. 26, 27
* Homily XXII on Acts x. 1-4
* Homily XXIII on Acts x. 23, 24
* Homily XXIV on Acts x. 44, 46
* Homily XXV on Acts xi. 19
* Homily XXVI on Acts xii. 1, 2
* Homily XXVII on Acts xii. 18, 19
* Homily XXVIII on Acts xiii. 4, 5
* Homily XXIX on Acts xiii. 16, 17
* Homily XXX on Acts xiii. 42
* Homily XXXI on Acts xiv. 14, 15
* Homily XXXII on Acts xv. 1
* Homily XXXIII on Acts xv. 13, 15
* Homily XXXIV on Acts xv. 35
* Homily XXXV on Acts xvi. 13, 14
* Homily XXXVI on Acts xvi. 25, 26
* Homily XXXVII on Acts xvii. 1, 2, 3
* Homily XXXVIII on Acts xvii. 16, 17
* Homily XXXIX on Acts xvii. 32-34. xviii. 1
* Homily XL on Acts xviii. 18
* Homily XLI on Acts xix. 8, 9
* Homily XLII on Acts xix. 21, 23
* Homily XLIII on Acts xx. 1
* Homily XLIV on Acts xx. 17-21
* Homily XLV on Acts xx. 32
* Homily XLVI on Acts xxi. 18, 19
* Homily XLVII on Acts xxi. 39, 40
* Homily XLVIII on Acts xxii. 17-20
* Homily XLIX on Acts xxiii. 6-8
* Homily L on Acts xxiii. 31-33
* Homily LI on Acts xxiv. 22, 23
* Homily LII on Acts xxv. 23
* Homily LIII on Acts xxvi. 30-32
* Homily LIV on Acts xxviii. 1
* Homily LV on Acts xxviii. 17-20

## Footnotes

* ↑ These Sermons were preached at Constantinople, in the second or third year of St. Chrysostom’s archiepiscopate: see Hom. xliv. “Lo, by the grace of God, we also have been by the space of three years, not indeed night and day exhorting you, but often every third, or at least every seventh, day doing this.” It appears from Hom. i. that the course began during the weeks of Easter: at which season the Book of Acts was by long established practice read in other Churches (as at Antioch and in Africa), if not at Constantinople. See St. Chrys. Hom. Cur in Pentecoste Acta legantur, and St. August. Tr. in Joann. vi. 18.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume X/Title Page

A SELECT LIBRARY
OF THE
NICENE AND
POST-NICENE FATHERS
OF
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
EDITED BY
PHILIP SCHAFF, D.D., LL.D.,
PROFESSOR IN THE UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, NEW YORK.
IN CONNECTION WITH A NUMBER OF PATRISTIC SCHOLARS OF EUROPE AND AMERICA.
VOLUME X
ST. CHRYSOSTOM:
HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF SAINT MATTHEW
T&T CLARK
EDINBURGH
__________________________________________________
WM. B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY
GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series I/Volume X/The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom/Introductory Essay/Introduction

Introductory Essay.
St. Chrysostom as an Exegete.
By M. B. Riddle, D.D.
The pre-eminence of Chrysostom as a preacher remains undisputed, despite the many reversals of judgment that have resulted from modern historical investigations; no voice has been raised against the popular verdict, repeated in every age, that awards to him the first place among pulpit orators in the Eastern Church.
Nor has there been any serious difference of opinion in regard to his personal character. His intense moral earnestness has always been recognized, and the man has been honored because it was distinctly felt that the man gave power to the oration. “Golden mouth” avails little, unless it belongs to a golden man. The rhetorical training of his earlier years doubtless contributed much to his skill as a preacher, but his exegetical method was perhaps a still more important factor.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Constantine/The Life of Constantine/Book IV/Chapter 64

Chapter LXIV.—Constantine’s Death at Noon on the Feast of Pentecost.
All these events occurred during a most important festival, I mean the august and holy solemnity of Pentecost, which is distinguished by a period of seven weeks, and sealed with that one day on which the holy Scriptures attest, the ascension of our common Saviour into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Spirit among men. In the course of this feast the emperor received the privileges I have described; and on the last day of all, which one might justly call the feast of feasts, he was removed about mid-day to the presence of his God, leaving his mortal remains to his fellow mortals, and carrying into fellowship with God that part of his being which was capable of understanding and loving him. Such was the close of Constantine’s mortal life. Let us now attend to the circumstances which followed this event.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Compare Prolegomena, Life, Last Years; also for age at time of death, Prolegomena, p. 411, note.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Constantine/The Life of Constantine/Book IV/Chapter 57

Chapter LVII.—How he received an Embassy from the Persians and kept the Night Vigil with others at the Feast of Easter.
In the meanwhile the Persians, hearing of the emperor’s warlike preparations, and not a little terrified at the prospect of an engagement with his forces, dispatched an embassy to pray for conditions of peace. These overtures the emperor, himself a sincere lover of peace, at once accepted, and readily entered on friendly relations with that people. At this time, the great festival of Easter was at hand; on which occasion he rendered the tribute of his prayers to God, and passed the night in watching with the rest.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Constantine/The Life of Constantine/Book IV/Chapter 59

Chapter LIX.—Farther Description of the same Church.
Such was the magnificence with which the emperor was pleased to beautify this church. The building was surrounded by an open area of great extent, the four sides of which were terminated by porticos which enclosed the area and the church itself. Adjoining these porticos were ranges of stately chambers, with baths and promenades, and besides many apartments adapted to the use of those who had charge of the place.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Constantine/The Life of Constantine/Book IV/Chapter 6

Chapter VI.—Conquest of the Sarmatians, consequent on the Rebellion of their Slaves.
With respect to the Sarmatians, God himself brought them beneath the rule of Constantine, and subdued a nation swelling with barbaric pride in the following manner. Being attacked by the Scythians, they had entrusted their slaves with arms, in order to repel the enemy. These slaves first overcame the invaders and then, turning their weapons against their masters, drove them all from their native land. The expelled Sarmatians found that their only hope of safety was in Constantine’s protection: and he, whose familiar habit it was to save men’s lives, received them all within the confines of the Roman empire. Those who were capable of serving he incorporated with his own troops: to the rest he allotted lands to cultivate for their own support: so that they themselves acknowledged that their past misfortune had produced a happy result, in that they now enjoyed Roman liberty in place of savage barbarism. In this manner God added to his dominions many and various barbaric tribes.

## Footnotes

* ↑ To the number of 300,000, according to Anonymus Valesianus. This was in the year 334.
# Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume I/Constantine/The Life of Constantine/Book IV/Chapter 60

Chapter LX.—He also erected his own Sepulchral Monument in this Church.
All these edifices the emperor consecrated with the desire of perpetuating the memory of the apostles of our Saviour. He had, however, another object in erecting this building: an object at first unknown, but which afterwards became evident to all. He had in fact made choice of this spot in the prospect of his own death, anticipating with extraordinary fervor of faith that his body would share their title with the apostles themselves, and that he should thus even after death become the subject, with them, of the devotions which should be performed to their honor in this place. He accordingly caused twelve coffins to be set up in this church, like sacred pillars in honor and memory of the apostolic number, in the center of which his own was placed, having six of theirs on either side of it. Thus, as I said, he had provided with prudent foresight an honorable resting-place for his body after death, and, having long before secretly formed this resolution, he now consecrated this church to the apostles, believing that this tribute to their memory would be of no small advantage to his own soul. Nor did God disappoint him of that which he so ardently expected and desired. For after he had completed the first services of the feast of Easter, and had passed this sacred day of our Lord in a manner which made it an occasion of joy and gladness to himself and to all; the God through whose aid he performed all these acts, and whose zealous servant he continued to be even to the end of life, was pleased at a happy time to translate him to a better life.