Moses and the Law in Early Christianity

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching

Moses. therefore, received it from the eternal Lord, and was the first to whom it was entrusted, and who obeyed its rules and ordinances.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Direct teaching

for one teacher was given unto them by God, namely Moses, and one law by this same Moses.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

Now the law is ancient grace given through Moses by the Word.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

Now Moses, to speak comprehensively, was a living law, governed by the benign Word.

Exodus 24:12 Background

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

Deuteronomy 31:9 Background

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel.

Deuteronomy 5:1 Background

And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.

Exodus 35:1 Background

And Moses gathered all the congregation of the children of Israel together, and said unto them, These are the words which the LORD hath commanded, that ye should do them.

Deuteronomy 32:44 Background

And Moses wrote this song in that day, and taught it to the children of Israel; and Moses went in and spoke all the words of this law in the ears of the people, he and Joshua the son of Nun.

Leviticus 26:46 Background

These are the statutes and rules and laws that the LORD made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus 27:34 Background

These are the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai.

Deuteronomy 31:24 Background

And when Moses finished writing all the words of this law in a book, even to the end,

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

Whence the law was rightly said to have been given by Moses, being a rule of right and wrong;

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

Moses, too, was a prophet. For the law is the training of refractory children.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

For what in the law of Moses is naturally good, and pious, and righteous, and has been prescribed to be done by those who obey it;

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

...other God, speaking to the multitude and His disciples like this: “The scribes and Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. Therefore, whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do; but do not follow their works, for they say and do not do. They bind heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not lift them with a finger.” He did not blame the law given by Moses when He encouraged it to be followed, as Jerusalem was still safe. Instead, He blamed those people because they repeated the words of the law but were without love. For this reason, they were considered unrighteous before God and their neighbors. As Isaiah also says: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching the doctrines and commandments of men.” He does not refer to the law given by Moses as commandments of men but rather the traditions of the elders that they invented, which made the law of God ineffective, and for this reason, they were not subject to His Word. This is what Paul says about these men: “For they, being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselv

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Supporting witness

Nearer our own day was there established a law, full of gravity and justice, by Moses, to whom allusion has been already made, a devout man, and one beloved of God.

Joshua 22:5 Background

But take great heed to do the commands and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you to do; to love the Lord our God, to walk in all his ways, to keep his commands, and to cleave to him, and serve him with all your mind, and with all your soul.

Deuteronomy 33:4 Background

Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.

Nehemiah 9:14 Background

and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant.

Wisdom of Sirach 24:23 Background

All these things are the book of the covenant of the most high God, Even the law which Moses commanded For a heritage unto the congregations of Jacob.

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching

...oes not become too long, I return directly to the matter before us. This man taught that the law of Moses, to speak briefly, does not come from the good God, but from the prince of evil. He said that it has no kinship with the new law of Christ, but is opposite and hostile to it, the one being the direct enemy of the other. When I heard such an opinion being taught, I repeated to the people that saying from the Gospel in which our Lord Jesus Christ said about Himself, "I have not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it." But the man insisted that He did not say this at all. He argued that when we see that Christ actually set aside that same law, we must pay attention above all else to what He actually did. Then he began to quote many passages from the law, and also many from the Gospel and from the Apostle Paul, which seem to contradict one another. He said all this with complete confidence, and without any hesitation or fear. So I truly believe that he has that serpent as his helper, the one who is always our enemy. He said that in the law God says, "I make the rich man and the poor man," while here in the Gospel Jesus called the poor blessed and added that no one could be H

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...Hebrews forgot it, He reminded them of it through the prophet Malachi, saying, "Remember the law of Moses, the man of God, who gave you commandments and ordinances to keep." This law is so holy and righteous that even our Savior, when He healed one leper at one time and later nine, said to the first, "Go, show yourself to the high priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them." And later He said to the nine, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." Luke 17:14. For He nowhere has abolished the law, as Simon claims, but fulfilled it. For He says, "One iota, or one tittle, shall not pass from the law until all is fulfilled." For He says, "I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it." Moses himself, who was at once the lawgiver, the high priest, the prophet, and the king, and Elijah, the zealous follower of the prophets, were present at our Lord's transfiguration on the mountain. They were witnesses of His incarnation and of His sufferings, as close friends of Christ, and not as enemies and strangers. From this it is shown that the law is good and holy, and so are the prophets.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

For where it is said, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect,’ you do not understand it of the law which was to be after Moses, but of the law which was given by Moses, although God declared that He would establish a new law and a new covenant.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

And for this reason he was also successor to Moses, to show that the new law given by Christ Jesus was about to succeed to the old law which was given by Moses.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

... law given on stone tablets was still observed), no new covenant was established. They followed the Mosaic law until the Lord's coming. But from the Lord's arrival, the new covenant bringing peace and the law bringing life spread across the earth, as the prophets said: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall rebuke many people; and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and they shall learn war no more.” If another law and word from Jerusalem brought such peace among the Gentiles who accepted it, and convinced many nations of their folly, then it seems the prophets spoke of someone else. But if the law of liberty, meaning the word of God, preached by the apostles from Jerusalem across the world, brought such change that these nations transformed swords and war lances into ploughshares and converted them into tools for peaceful purposes and now no longer engage in fighting, but when struck, also offer the other cheek, then the prophets spoke not of anyone else but of Him who made these changes. This person is our Lord, and in Him, this declaration is confirmed; since He Himself ha

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Supporting witness

but from the Lord’s advent, the new covenant which brings back peace, and the law which gives life, has gone forth over the whole earth, as the prophets said: “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

But even Moses himself, by whom the law was given which they so tenaciously maintain, though they have fallen away from God, and have not acknowledged God, had foretold that it would come to pass that a very great prophet would be sent by God, who should be above the law, and be a bearer of the will of God to men.

Origen, Against Celsus Background

For the beginning of the legislation was in the time of Moses, in whose work are recorded the sins of the unbelievers and wicked among you, while the commencement of our legislation and second covenant is admitted to have been in the time of Jesus.

Romans 10:5 Background

For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.”

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching

...refore necessarily draw them away from the begetting of children. He also gathered many baptisms of Moses into one baptism. Therefore the law, in order to foretell our regeneration through bodily generation, formerly applied baptism to the generative power of seed, not because it shrank from human generation. For what appears in a generated human being is what the emission of seed accomplishes. Therefore, many sexual unions are not many generations. Rather, the receiving womb shows generation, when in the workshop of nature the seed is formed into a child. How then can marriage be only old and an invention of the law, while the marriage that is from the Lord is something foreign, when the same God is honored by us? For “what God has joined together, let not man rightly separate,” Matthew 19:6. And much more, what the Father commanded, the Son also will keep. But if He is at once lawgiver and evangelist, He never fights against Himself. For the law lives, since it is spiritual and understood in a spiritual way. But we have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that we may belong to another, to Him who rose from the dead, who was foretold by the law, so that we might bear

Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching

...mcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart," Jeremiah 4:4, and also by Moses: "Circumcise, therefore, the hardness of your heart." The Spirit that circumcises the heart will come from Him who also prescribed the letter that cuts the flesh. And the Jew who is one inwardly will be a subject of the very same God as he also is who is a Jew outwardly. Romans 2:28 For the apostle would have preferred not to mention a Jew at all, unless he were a servant of the God of the Jews. It was once the law; now it is the righteousness of God which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. Romans 3:21-22 What does this distinction mean? Has your god been serving the interests of the Creator's divine arrangement by giving time to Him and to His law? Is the Now in the hands of Him to whom the Then belonged? Surely, then, the law was His, whose now is the righteousness of God. It is a distinction of divine arrangements, not of gods. He commands those who are justified by faith in Christ and not by the law to have peace with God. With what God? With Him whose enemies we have never been, in any divine arrangement? Or with Him against whom we have rebelled, both in relation to His

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching

...consisted of dead bodies. For truly the house of the living God ought to be pure from idols. Again, Moses also forbids eating the hare. For the hare mates at all times, and leaps, with the female sitting there, attacking her from behind. For it is one of the animals that leap on from behind. It conceives every month, and it conceives again while already pregnant. It mates and gives birth. And after it has given birth, it is at once mounted by any hare whatever, for it is not content with one mating, and it conceives again while still nursing. For it has a womb with two chambers, and not only one empty chamber of the womb. It has enough room to receive intercourse, for whatever is empty desires to be filled. But it happens that while they are carrying young, one part of the womb is seized by desire and rages with lust. Therefore they have repeated conceptions. So this prohibition urges us to abstain from violent desires, and mutual sexual encounters, and intercourse with pregnant women, and relations in turn one after another, and the corruption of boys, and adultery, and lust. For this reason Moses also openly, and not through riddles, forbade these things, saying, "You shall no

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

...d in the womb, and after they had weaned the child from milk. You will also find that the father of Moses kept this aim and practice, since after Aaron was born he paused for three years and then begot Moses. And again, the tribe of Levi, keeping this law of nature handed down by God, entered the promised land fewer in number than the others. For a race does not multiply quickly when men, though joined in lawful marriage, sow seed with restraint, and wait not only through the time of pregnancy but also until the child is weaned. So Moses also, rightly leading the Jews little by little toward self-control, commanded them to hear the words of God after they had abstained from sexual pleasure for the next three days, Exodus 19:20. Therefore we are temples of God, as the prophet said: "I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people," if we order our life by the commandments, whether each one of us individually or the whole Church together. "Therefore come out from among them, and be separate, says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean; and I will receive you, and I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me,

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

...ons did believe in Him, and they themselves were deprived by the Romans of their power and of their lawful worship. They have also been forbidden to kill whomever they wish and to offer sacrifices whenever they wish. Therefore they are under a curse, since they are not able to do the things they are commanded to do. For He says, "Cursed is he who does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the law, to do them." Now in their dispersion, while they are among the heathen, it is impossible for them to do all the things in their law. For the divine Moses forbids both raising an altar outside Jerusalem and reading the law outside the borders of Judea. Therefore let us follow Christ, so that we may inherit His blessings. Let us walk according to the law and the prophets through the Gospel. Let us avoid the worshippers of many gods, and the murderers of Christ, and the murderers of the prophets, and the wicked and atheistical heretics. Let us obey Christ as our King, since He has authority to change various ordinances and, as a lawgiver, has wisdom to make new ordinances in different circumstances; yet in such a way that the laws of nature are everywhere kept unchang

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

...asier through the richness and arrangement of the Scriptures. We have the Ten Commandments given by Moses. By a basic principle, simple and of one kind, they identify sins in a way that leads to salvation: "You shall not commit adultery. You shall not worship idols. You shall not corrupt boys. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. Honor your father and your mother." Exodus 20; Deuteronomy 5. And so on. These things must be kept, along with whatever else is commanded in reading the Bible. And by Isaiah He commands us: "Wash yourselves, and make yourselves clean. Put away wickedness from your souls before my eyes. Learn to do good. Seek judgment. Rescue the wronged. Judge for the orphan, and justify the widow. And come, and let us reason together," says the Lord. And we will find many examples in other places also. For example, about prayer, Scripture says, "Good works are an acceptable prayer to the Lord." And the manner of prayer is described: "If you see the naked, cover him, and do not overlook those who belong to your own seed. Then your light shall break forth early, and your healing shall spring up quickly; and your righteousness shall go before you, and th

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

For He says in the Gospel, recapitulating, and confirming, and fulfilling the ten commandments of the law: It is written in the law, You shall not commit adultery: but I say unto you, that is, I said in the law, by Moses.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Supporting witness

but I do not agree with them. But if some, through weak-mindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given by Moses, from which they expect some virtue, but which we believe were appointed by reason of the hardness of the people’s hearts, along with their hope in this Christ, and [wish to perform] the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and piety, yet choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not inducing them either to be circumcised like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such ceremonies, then I hold that we ought to join ourselves to such, and associate with them in all things as kinsmen and brethren.

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Supporting witness

...e I was sitting in my house and praising the Lord for all that I had seen, I was thinking about the commandments: that they are excellent, powerful, glorious, and able to save a person's soul. I said to myself, "I will be blessed if I walk in these commandments, and everyone who walks in them will be blessed." While I was saying these things to myself, I suddenly saw him sitting beside me, and I heard him say this: "Why are you doubtful about the commandments that I gave you? They are excellent. Do not doubt them at all. Instead, put on faith in the Lord, and you will walk in them, for I will strengthen you in them. These commandments are useful for those who intend to repent. For if they do not walk in them, their repentance is in vain. Therefore, you who repent, throw away the wickedness of this world that wears you out. And by putting on all the virtues of a holy life, you will be able to keep these commandments, and you will no longer add to the number of your sins. Walk, therefore, in these commandments of mine, and you will live to God. All these things have been spoken to you by me." After he had said these words, he said to me, "Let us go into the fields, and I will show

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

...at, probably because the apostles were Jews, and had been brought up according to the letter of the Mosaic law, He was unable to tell them what was the true law, and how the Jewish worship consisted in the pattern and shadow of certain heavenly things, and how future blessings were foreshadowed by the injunctions regarding meats and drinks, and festivals, and new moons, and sabbaths. These were many of the subjects which He had to explain to them. But as He saw that it was a work of exceeding difficulty to root out of the mind opinions that had almost been born with a man, and among which he had been brought up until he reached maturity, and which had produced in those who had adopted them the belief that they were divine, and that it was an act of impiety to overthrow them, and to demonstrate by the superiority of Christian doctrine, that is, by the truth, in a manner that would convince the hearers, that such opinions were but loss and dung, He postponed such a task to a future season, namely, that which followed His passion and resurrection. For bringing aid unseasonably to those who were not yet capable of receiving it might have overturned the idea which they had already fo

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness

for the law contains those precepts which were spoken by the Lord God before the people fell into idolatry, and made a calf like the Egyptian Apis — that is, the ten commandments.

Novatian, On the Jewish Meats Supporting witness

1 Corinthians 10:25 From these things it is plain that all those things are returned to their original blessedness now that the law is finished, and that we must not revert to the special observances of meats, which observances were ordained for a certain reason, but which evangelical liberty has now taken away, their discharge being given.