Early Christian Beliefs About Monasticism and Ascetic Life

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

While I was fasting and sitting on a certain mountain, and giving thanks to the Lord for all His dealings with me, I saw the Shepherd sitting beside me. He said, "Why have you come here so early in the morning?" I answered, "Because, sir, I have a station." He asked, "What is a station?" I replied, "I am fasting, sir." He continued, "What is this fasting that you are observing?" I answered, "As I have been accustomed, sir, so I fast." He says, "You do not know how to fast to the Lord. This useless fasting that you observe to Him is of no value." I answered, "Why, sir, do you say this?" He continued, "I say to you that the fasting which you think you observe is not a fasting. But I will teach you what is a full and acceptable fasting to the Lord. Listen. God does not desire such an empty fasting. For by fasting to God in this way, you will do nothing for a righteous life. But offer to God a fasting of the following kind: Do no evil in your life, and serve the Lord with a pure heart. Keep His commandments, walking in His precepts, and let no evil desire arise in your heart. And believe in God. If you do these things, and fear Him, and abstain from every evil thing, you will live to G

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Supporting witness

...mmands." "And if you do any good beyond what God has commanded, you will gain greater glory for yourself and will be more honored by God than you would otherwise be. Therefore, if in keeping the commandments of God you also do these acts of service, you will have joy if you keep them according to my command." I said to him, "Sir, whatever you command me, I will keep, for I know that you are with me." He replied, "I will be with you, because you have such a desire to do good. And I will be with all those," he added, "who have such a desire." He continued, "This fasting is very good, provided that the commandments of the Lord are kept. Then this is how you must keep the fast you intend to keep. First of all, be on guard against every evil word and every evil desire, and purify your heart from all the vanities of this world. If you guard against these things, your fasting will be complete. And you must also do the following. After you have done what is written, on the day when you fast you must eat nothing except bread and water. Then calculate the cost of the food for that day which you intended to eat, and give that amount to a widow, or an orphan, or to some person in need. In t

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

Discipline is the safeguard of hope, the bond of faith, the guide on the way of salvation, the encouragement and nourishment of good dispositions, and the teacher of virtue. It causes us to remain always in Christ, to live continually for God, and to attain the heavenly promises and the divine rewards. To follow it is wholesome, and to turn away from it and neglect it is deadly. The Holy Spirit says in the Psalms, "Keep discipline, lest perhaps the Lord be angry, and you perish from the right way, when His wrath is quickly kindled against you." And again: "But to the ungodly God says, 'Why do you preach my laws, and take my covenant into your mouth? Since you hate discipline, and have cast my words behind you.'" And again we read: "He that casts away discipline is miserable." Wisdom 3:11. And from Solomon we have received the commands of wisdom, warning us: "My son, do not despise the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He corrects." Proverbs 3:11. But if God rebukes those whom He loves, and rebukes them for the very purpose of correcting them, then brothers also, and especially priests, should not hate but love those whom they reb

Tertullian, On Fasting Supporting witness

enjoining every species of ταπεινοφρόνησις, since the prison must be familiarized to us, and hunger and thirst practised, and capacity of enduring as well the absence of food as anxiety about it acquired: in order that the Christian may enter into prison in like condition as if he had (just) come forth of it — to suffer there not penalty, but discipline, and not the world's tortures, but his own habitual observances;

Victorinus, On the Creation of the World Supporting witness

But even though we are allowed freedom in foods, there is no permission for luxury, and continence and fasting are not taken away. For these things are very fitting for the faithful: that they should pray to God and give Him thanks, not only by day, but also by night.

Matthew 6:16 Background

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

Isaiah 58:5 Background

Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?

Mark 9:29 Background

And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.

Hebrews 12:11 Background

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

1 Timothy 4:7 Background

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

But marriage, when by agreement it gives time to prayer, is a teaching of self-control. For he added the words “by agreement,” so that no one might dissolve a marriage. And he added “for a time,” in 1 Corinthians 7:5, so that a man who has taken a wife, if he practices self-control by necessity, may not slip into sin, and while sparing his own marriage, may desire another’s. For this reason, in the case of the man who thinks he is behaving improperly because he keeps his virgin unmarried, he rightly says that if she marries, he does not sin. But each person, whether he has chosen chastity, or whether he has joined himself in marriage for the begetting of children, must firmly remain in his own purpose and not turn aside to what is worse. For if he is able to increase and intensify the pattern of life he has chosen, he gains greater honor with God because of pure self-control that comes from reason. But if he goes beyond the rule he chose, he will then fall back into a lesser hope of glory. For just as chastity has its own duties and ministries, marriage also has its own duties and ministries that belong to the Lord. I mean the care of children and of a wife. For what properly occup

Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity Supporting witness

which (second virginity) either in the marriage state keeps (its subject) pure by mutual compact, or else perseveres in widowhood from choice: a third grade remains, monogamy, when, after the interception of a marriage once contracted, there is thereafter a renunciation of sexual connection.

Tertullian, On Exhortation to Chastity Supporting witness

... divide into several species, so that we may be found in one of those species. The first species is virginity from birth. The second is virginity from one's second birth, that is, from the font. This second virginity either keeps its subject pure in marriage by mutual agreement, or else continues in widowhood by choice. A third grade remains, monogamy, when, after a marriage once contracted has been interrupted, there is afterward a renunciation of sexual connection. The first virginity is the virginity of happiness, and consists in complete ignorance of that from which you will afterward wish to be freed. The second is of virtue, and consists in contemning that whose power you know full well. The remaining species, that of not marrying again after the disjunction of matrimony by death, besides being the glory of virtue, is also the glory of moderation. For moderation is not regretting a thing that has been taken away, and taken away by the Lord God, without whose will neither does a leaf glide down from a tree, nor does a sparrow worth one farthing fall to the earth.

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

...d women, growing old unmarried, in hope of living in closer communion with God. But if remaining in virginity and in the state of a eunuch brings a person nearer to God, while the indulgence of carnal thought and desire leads away from Him, then in the cases where we shun the thoughts, much more do we reject the deeds. For we give our attention, not to the study of words, but to the showing and teaching of actions: that a person should either remain as he was born, or be content with one marriage. For a second marriage is only a specious adultery. For He says, "Whoever puts away his wife and marries another commits adultery," Matthew 19:9. He does not permit a man to send away her whose virginity he has brought to an end, nor to marry again. For he who deprives himself of his first wife, even though she is dead, is a cloaked adulterer. He resists the hand of God, because in the beginning God made one man and one woman, and he dissolves the strictest union of flesh with flesh, formed for the intercourse of the race.

Tertullian, To His Wife Supporting witness

...ven greater difficulties. How many are there who, from the time of their baptism, place the seal of virginity on their flesh? How many, again, by equal mutual consent, cancel the debt of matrimony, becoming voluntary eunuchs for the sake of their desire after the celestial kingdom? But if abstinence is endured while the marriage bond is still intact, how much more when it has been undone. For I believe it is harder to completely forsake what is still intact than not to yearn after what has been lost. Surely it is a hard and difficult thing for a holy woman, for God's sake, to remain continent after her husband's death, when Gentiles, in honor of their own Satan, endure sacerdotal offices that involve both virginity and widowhood. At Rome, for example, those who attend the image of that inextinguishable fire, keeping watch over the omens of their own future punishment in company with the old dragon himself, are appointed on the ground of virginity. To Achaean Juno, in the town of Aegium, a virgin is allotted. And the priestesses who rave at Delphi do not know marriage. Moreover, we know that widows minister to the African Ceres, enticed away indeed from matrimony by a very stern

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...ven to them. Yet virginity is not therefore lacking in the Church, nor does the glorious purpose of continence grow weak through the sins of others. The Church, crowned with so many virgins, flourishes, and chastity and modesty keep the course of their glory. Nor is the strength of continence broken down because repentance and pardon are made easier for the adulterer. It is one thing to wait for pardon, and another thing to attain glory. It is one thing, when thrown into prison, not to go out from there until one has paid the very last penny; another thing to receive at once the reward of faith and courage. It is one thing, when cleansed by long suffering for sins, to be purified and for a long time purged by fire; another thing to have purged all sins by suffering. It is one thing, finally, to remain in uncertainty until the judgment of God on the day of judgment; another thing to be crowned at once by the Lord.

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

...s of virginity, and of those who had vowed and dedicated their virginity to Christ. He teaches that continence does not consist only in bodily purity, but also in proper clothing and appearance. He also teaches that wealth did not excuse excessive concern for dress in those who had already renounced the world. Rather, since the apostle commands even married women to keep their dress within proper limits, moderation ought to be observed even more by a virgin. Therefore, even if she is wealthy, she should carefully consider how to use wealth, but for good purposes, for the things that God has commanded; that is, for spending it on the poor. Moreover, he also forbids virgins those practices that had carelessly come into use, such as being present at weddings and going to public bathing places. Finally, in a brief conclusion, he declares what benefit the virtue of continence provides, and what an evil it is to be without it, and so he ends the book.

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

Then, Describing the Glory, Honour, and Merits of Virginity, and of Those Who Had Vowed and Dedicated Their Virginity to Christ, He Teaches that Continence Not Only Consists in Fleshly Purity, But Also in Seemliness of Dress and Ornament, and that Even Wealth Did Not Excuse Superfluous Care for Dress on the Part of Those Who Had Already Renounced the World.

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

1. Discipline, the safeguard of hope, the bond of faith, the guide of the way of salvation, the stimulus and nourishment of good dispositions, the teacher of virtue, causes us to abide always in Christ, and to live continually for God, and to attain to the heavenly promises and to the divine rewards.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

for with them temperance dwells, self-restraint is practiced, monogamy is observed, chastity is guarded, iniquity exterminated, sin extirpated, righteousness exercised, law administered, worship performed, God acknowledged: truth governs, grace guards, peace screens them;

Hermas, Connection to 1 Thessalonians 4:3 Supporting witness

I charge you, guard your chastity, and let no thought enter your heart of another man's wife, or of fornication, or of similar iniquities; for by doing this you commit a great sin.

Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, Fragments Supporting witness

but those even who are not barren abstain from sexual intercourse, some being virgins from the first, and others from a certain time.

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching

... not come from ordinary human courage, and that no one can come after Jesus unless he has denied himself. A man denies himself when he wipes out, by a great change, his former life that was spent in wickedness. For example, a man who was once immoral denies that former immoral self when he becomes self-controlled in a lasting way. But someone may object and ask this: if he denied himself, does he also confess himself? That is, when he denied himself as the unrighteous man, does he confess himself as the righteous man? But if Christ is righteousness, then the man who has received righteousness confesses not himself, but Christ. In the same way, he who has found wisdom, by possessing wisdom itself, confesses Christ. Such a man believes with the heart to righteousness and makes confession with the mouth to salvation, as in Romans 10:10. And he bears witness to the works of Christ. By all these things he confesses Christ before men, and Christ will confess him before His Father in heaven, as in Matthew 10:32. In the same way, the man who has not denied himself, but has denied Christ, will experience the saying, "I also will deny him," in Matthew 10:33. For this reason, let every tho

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

except he renounce this temporary life, and train himself by the principles of righteousness for the cultivation of true religion.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

Therefore, human self-control, that is, the kind taught according to the judgment of the Greek philosophers, claims to fight against desire and not to serve it in actions. But the self-control according to our teaching is not to desire at all. It is not merely that a person, while desiring, should act bravely, but that he should hold himself back even from desiring. This self-control cannot be gained in any other way except by the grace of God. And therefore He said, "Ask, and it will be given to you," Matthew 7:7. Moses also received this grace. Though he was clothed with a body that needed food, for forty days he neither hungered nor thirsted. And just as it is better to be healthy than, while sick, to talk about health, so also it is better to be light than to speak about light, and better to have the self-control that comes from truth than the kind taught by philosophers. For where light is, there darkness is not. But where desire alone has settled, even if it rests from bodily action, still in memory it struggles over what is not present. In general, my discussion will proceed about marriage, food, and other matters, so that we may do nothing from desire, but may want only the

Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Supporting witness

...Rather, because we are convinced that we will give an account to God for everything in this present life—to God who made us and the world—we choose a self-controlled, kind, and generally despised way of life. We believe that here we will suffer no evil so great, even if we are killed, compared with what we will receive there from the great Judge for our gentle, kind, and moderate life. Plato, indeed, said that Minos and Rhadamanthus will judge and punish the wicked. But we say that even if a man were Minos or Rhadamanthus himself, or even their father, he still would not escape the judgment of God. Then should those who think life is summed up in this saying, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die," and who view death as a deep sleep and forgetfulness—"sleep and death, twin brothers"—be considered pious? While should not those be considered pious who count this present life as of very little value, and who are led to the future life by this one thing alone: that they know God and His Word, what the oneness of the Son with the Father is, what the fellowship of the Father with the Son is, what the Spirit is, what the unity of these three is—the Spirit, the Son, and the Father—

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

It was not unknown to philosophers or poets that there are two ways of human life, but they presented them in different ways. The philosophers wanted one to be the way of industry, and the other the way of idleness. But they were less correct in this, because they referred them only to the advantages of this life. The poets spoke better when they said that one is the way of the just, and the other the way of the unjust. But they are mistaken in this, because they say that these ways are not in this life, but among the shades below. We speak more clearly and correctly when we say that one is the way of life, and the other is the way of death. Here also we say that there are two ways. But the one on the right hand, in which the just walk, does not lead to Elysium, but to heaven, because they become immortal. The other, on the left, leads to Tartarus, because the unjust are sentenced to eternal tortures. Therefore we must hold to the way of justice, which leads to life. Now the first duty of justice is to acknowledge God as a parent, to fear Him as a master, and to love Him as a father. For the same Being who begot us, who gave us life with vital breath, who nourishes and preserves us

1 Timothy 4:8 Background

for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Titus 2:12 Background

training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

1 Corinthians 9:25 Background

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

1 Corinthians 9:27 Background

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

2 Peter 1:6 Background

and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,

1 Thessalonians 4:11 Background

and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you,

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

...emselves Encratites, agree with the Church on some things about God and Christ. But in their way of life, they spend their days swollen with pride. They think they exalt themselves by foods, while they abstain from animal food, drink water, forbid marriage, and devote the rest of their lives to ascetic habits. But people of this kind are regarded as Cynics rather than Christians, since they do not pay attention to the words spoken against them through the Apostle Paul. For he, predicting the new teachings that certain heretics would later try to introduce without success, said this: "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will depart from sound doctrine, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding marriage, and commanding people to abstain from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by the faithful and by those who know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." 1 Timothy 4:1-5. So then, this statement of the blessed Paul is e

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

They suppose, that by meats they magnify themselves, while abstaining from animal food, (and) being water-drinkers, and forbidding to marry, and devoting themselves during the remainder of life to habits of asceticism.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

...of those who belong to this heretic's school also keep away from animal food, and by this pretended asceticism they deceive many. And they say that the prophecies were spoken partly by the angels who made the world, and partly by Satan, who is also the very angel whom they think acts against the cosmic angels, and especially against the God of the Jews. These, then, are truly the teachings of Saturnilus.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

The majority, however, of those who belong to this (heretic's school) abstain from animal food likewise, (and) by this affectation of asceticism (make many their dupes).

Colossians 2:23 Background

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

Colossians 2:18 Background

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,

1 Timothy 4:3 Background

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.