Made gods

We have not been made gods from the beginning, but at first merely men, then at length gods; although God has adopted this course out of His pure benevolence. -Irenaeus, Against Heresies

The Cup

He has acknowledged the cup…as His own blood, from which He bedews our blood; and the bread…He has established as His own body, from which He gives increase to our own bodies. -Irenaeus, Against Heresies Again, as a Protestant, don’t know what to think of this.

Sons of God?

According to nature…we are all sons of God, because we have all been created by God. But with respect to obedience and doctrine we are not all the sons of God: those only are so who believe in Him and do His will. And those who do not believe, and do not obey His will,…

Patroness

If the former did disobey God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal…

The Decree

“The Son’s sponsio was not an expromissio (surety) [disagreeing with Berkhof], such that the guilt of sin was transferred without further ado from the elect to the Son and they had already become guiltfree through the pact itself. Rather it was a real fideiussio (bail), a guarantee which was already effective from the start, even…

The Unity of the Office of Elder

A quote from the Lutheran scholar, David Chytraeus, on how elders have always been elders, Now the fact that, afterward, ministers were distinguished from one another by degrees–this was a human contrivance for the sake of order. Jerome, in his letter to Evangelus, addresses this matter at length, arguing that priests and bishops are the…