Early Christian Views on Incense

Tertullian, On Idolatry Direct teaching

...under the charge of idolatry. Rather, is it not the principal idolatry? If those same goods, I mean frankincense and all other foreign products used as sacrifice to idols, are also useful to men for medicinal ointments, and to us Christians besides, for burial uses, let them see to it. At all events, while the ceremonial displays, while the priesthoods, while the sacrifices of idols, are supplied by dangers, by losses, by inconveniences, by thoughts, by runnings to and fro, or by trades, what else are you shown to be but an agent of idols? Let no one argue that in this way an objection may be raised against all trades. The graver faults extend the need for careful watchfulness in proportion to the greatness of the danger. This is so that we may withdraw not only from the faults, but from the means through which they exist. For although the fault is done by others, it makes no difference if it is done by my means. In no case ought I to be necessary to another while he is doing what is unlawful for me. Therefore I ought to understand that I must take care lest what I am forbidden to do be done by my means. In short, in another matter of no lighter guilt, I observe this principle a

Tertullian, On Idolatry Supporting witness

the frankincense-seller is a something even more serviceable even toward demons, for idolatry is more easily carried on without the idol, than without the ware of the frankincense-seller.

Tertullian, Apology Supporting witness

We certainly buy no frankincense. If the Arabias complain of this, let the Sabæans be well assured that their more precious and costly merchandise is expended as largely in the burying of Christians as in the fumigating of the gods.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...elf that must be honored, and not an image of virtue. And it is to be honored, not by sacrifice, or incense, or solemn prayer, but only by the will and purpose. For what else is it to honor virtue, except to grasp it with the mind and hold it firmly? And as soon as anyone begins to desire this, he attains it. This is the only honor of virtue. For no religion or worship is to be held except that of the one God. What purpose is there, then, O wisest man, in filling with useless buildings places that could be put to the service of men? What purpose is there in appointing priests for the worship of empty and senseless things? What purpose is there in sacrificing victims? What purpose is there in spending so much on making or worshiping images? The human breast is a stronger and purer temple. Let this instead be adorned. Let this be filled with the true deities. For those who worship the virtues in this way—that is, who chase the shadows and images of virtues—cannot hold on to the things that are truly real. Therefore, there is no virtue in anyone when vices rule. There is no faith when each person seizes everything for himself. There is no piety when greed spares neither relatives n

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

Will anyone say that incense is offered to the heavenly beings for this reason: that it has a sweet smell and gives a pleasant sensation to the nose, while other things are unpleasant and have been rejected because they offend? Do the gods, then, have nostrils to breathe with? Do they inhale and exhale streams of air, so that the qualities of different smells can enter into them? But if we admit that this is so, we make them subject to human conditions and shut them out from the bounds of deity. For whatever breathes and draws in drafts of air, only to send them back out the same way, must be mortal, because it is kept alive by feeding on the atmosphere. But whatever is kept alive by feeding on the atmosphere, if you take away the means by which that exchange is kept up, its life must be crushed out, and its living principle must be destroyed and lost. So then, if the gods also breathe and inhale odors wrapped in the air that carries them, it is not false to say that they live on what they receive from others, and that they might perish if their air passages were blocked up. And finally, how do you know whether, if they are delighted by sweet smells, the same things are pleasant to

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

For if without incense the performance of a religious service is imperfect, and if a quantity of it is necessary to make the celestials gentle and propitious to men, the ancients fell into sin, nay rather, their whole life was full of guilt, for they carelessly neglected to offer that which was most fitted to give pleasure to the gods.

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

And, first, with respect to that very incense which you use, we ask this of you particularly, whence or at what you you have been able to become acquainted with it, and to know it, so that you have just reason to think that it is either worthy to be given to the gods, or most agreeable to their desires.

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

28. Will any one say that incense is given to the celestials, for this reason, that it has a sweet smell, and imparts a pleasant sensation to the nose, while the rest are disagreeable, and have been set aside because of their offensiveness?

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

For they worship with incense and the tips of their fingers those things which they ought to have shrunk from with their inmost feelings;

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

Or because God ordained incense, and wine, and fire, are we thence to sacrifice to idols?

Tertullian, Apology Supporting witness

...have answered well enough the charges of the many crimes on which these fierce demands are made for Christian blood. We have fully presented our case. We have shown how we can prove that what we say is true, from the trustworthiness and antiquity of our sacred writings, and also from the confession of the powers of spiritual wickedness themselves. Who will dare to refute us, not with skill in words, but, as we have made our demonstration, on the basis of reality? But while the truth we hold is made clear to all, unbelief meanwhile, even at the very time when it is convinced of the worth of Christianity, now well known both for its benefits and from the intercourse of life, takes up the idea that it is not really something divine, but rather a kind of philosophy. "These are the very things," it says, "that the philosophers advise and profess: innocence, justice, patience, sobriety, and chastity." Why then are we not allowed the same freedom and immunity for our teachings that they have, when we are compared with them in what we teach? Or why are they not also forced to the same acts, by refusing which our lives are put in danger, if they are so much like us? For who forces a phil

Tertullian, De Corona Supporting witness

and if the smell of some place or other offends me, I burn the Arabian product myself, but not with the same ceremony, nor in the same dress, nor with the same pomp, with which it is done to idols.

Revelation 8:3 Direct teaching

Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.

Revelation 8:4 Direct teaching

and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel.

Irenaeus, Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus Direct teaching

... the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place, incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice;” as John also states in Revelation: “The incense is the prayers of the saints.” Furthermore, Paul urges us “to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” And again, “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of our lips.” These offerings are not according to the law, which the Lord removed by canceling it, but are according to the Spirit, for we must worship God “in spirit and in truth.” Therefore, the offering of the Eucharist is not physical but spiritual, and in this respect, it is pure. For we offer to God the bread and the cup of blessing, thanking Him for commanding the earth to produce these fruits for our nourishment. Then, after perfecting the offering, we invoke the Holy Spirit, so that He may make this sacrifice—both the bread as the body of Christ and the cup as the blood of Christ—so that those who receive these symbols may obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Those who perform these offerings in remembrance of the Lord do not align

Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching

He does not perceive that we regard the spirit of every good man as an altar from which arises an incense which is truly and spiritually sweet-smelling, namely, the prayers ascending from a pure conscience.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

Since, therefore, the name of the Son belongs to the Father, and since in the omnipotent God the Church makes offerings through Jesus Christ, He says well on both these grounds, “And in every place incense is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice.” Now John, in the Apocalypse, declares that the “incense” is “the prayers of the saints.”

Irenaeus, Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus Direct teaching

For, “from the rising of the sun even to the setting my name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice;” as John also declares in the Apocalypse: “The incense is the prayers of the saints.” Then again, Paul exhorts us “to present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” And again, “Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of the lips.” Now those oblations are not according to the law, the handwriting of which the Lord took away from the midst by cancelling it;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Direct teaching

The incense is offered to Your name. Let it ascend, we implore You, from the hands of Your poor and sinful servants to Your heavenly altar for a sweet-smelling savour, and the propitiation of all Your people.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Supporting witness

The incense is offered to Your name. We implore You, let it rise from the hands of Your poor and sinful servants to Your heavenly altar as a sweet-smelling aroma, and for the propitiation of all Your people. For all glory, honor, worship, and thanks are due to You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now, from now on, and forevermore. Amen.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Direct teaching

... and all wickedness, so that with a pure heart and conscience we may offer this incense to You as a sweet-smelling fragrance, for the forgiveness of our sins and the sins of all Your people, through the grace, mercy, and love of Your only begotten Son:

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching

...d the incense of Aaron and of Zacharias, also accept from the hands of us sinners this incense as a sweet-smelling fragrance, for the remission of our sins and of the sins of all Your people; for You are blessed, and glory is fitting for You, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and always.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Supporting witness

Purify our lives and cleanse our hearts from all pollution and from all wickedness, that with pure heart and conscience we may offer to You this incense for a sweet-smelling savour, and for the remission of our sins and the sins of all Your people, through the grace, mercy, and love of Your only-begotten Son:

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Supporting witness

Accept at Your holy, heavenly, and reasonable altar, O Lord, the incense we offer in presence of Your sacred glory.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

and by Your knowledge You search the thoughts of every one, and in every region of the whole earth the incense of prayer and supplication is sent up to You.

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. Mark Background

The Priest offers up the prayer of entrance, and for incense.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...d, that the good God will accept it through the mediation of His Christ on His heavenly altar, as a sweet-smelling fragrance. Let us pray for this church and people. Let us pray for every bishopric, every presbytery, all the deacons and ministers in Christ, and for the whole congregation, that the Lord will keep and preserve them all. Let us pray for kings and those in authority, that they may be peaceable toward us, so that we may have and live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty, 1 Timothy 2:2. Let us remember the holy martyrs, that we may be considered worthy to share in their trial. Let us pray for those who have departed in the faith. Let us pray for the good tempering of the air and the full ripening of the fruits. Let us pray for those who are newly enlightened, that they may be strengthened in the faith, and that all may be comforted by one another. Raise us up, O God, by Your grace. Let us stand up and dedicate ourselves to God through His Christ. And let the bishop say: O God, who are great, and whose name is great, who are great in counsel and mighty in works, the God and Father of Your holy child Jesus our Savior, look down on us and on this Your

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Background

...at His holy altar above the heavens, an altar that is rational and spiritual, as the fragrance of a sweet spiritual aroma, send down on us in answer the divine grace and the gift of the all-holy Spirit.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

4. For it is not lawful to offer anything besides these at the altar, and oil for the holy lamp, and incense in the time of the divine oblation.

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Background

...ver I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19 Let the widows and orphans be esteemed as representing the altar of burnt offering. Let the virgins be honored as representing the altar of incense, and the incense itself.

Exodus 30:34 Direct teaching

And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight:

Leviticus 16:12 Direct teaching

And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:

Exodus 30:35 Direct teaching

and make an incense blended as by the perfumer, seasoned with salt, pure and holy.

Exodus 37:25 Background

He made the incense altar of acacia wood. Its length was a cubit and its width a cubit—it was square—and two cubits was its height. Its horns were of one piece with it.

Exodus 30:9 Direct teaching

You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.

Exodus 30:1 Background

And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.

Exodus 30:7 Supporting witness

And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

Exodus 30:8 Supporting witness

and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations.

Exodus 30:37 Supporting witness

And the incense that you shall make according to its composition, you shall not make for yourselves. It shall be for you holy to the LORD.

Exodus 37:29 Supporting witness

He also made the holy anointing oil and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the perfumer.

Leviticus 24:7 Supporting witness

And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

Luke 1:10 Supporting witness

And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.