Two Ways

BARNABAS: But let us now pass to another sort of knowledge and doctrine. There are two ways of doctrine and authority, the one of light, and the other of darkness. But there is a great difference between these two ways. For over one are stationed the light-bringing angels of God, but over the other the angels of Satan. And He indeed, that is, God, is Lord forever and ever, but he, that is, Satan, is prince of the time of iniquity. The way of light, then, is as follows. If any one desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge, therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way, is the following. You shall love Him that created you: you shall glorify Him that redeemed you from death. You shall be simple in heart, and rich in spirit. You shall not join yourself to those who walk in the way of death. You shall hate doing what is unpleasing to God: you shall hate all hypocrisy. You shall not forsake the commandments of the Lord. You shall not exalt yourself, but shall be of a lowly mind. You shall not take glory to yourself. You shall not take evil counsel against your neighbor. You shall not allow over-boldness to enter into your soul. You shall not commit fornication: you shall not commit adultery: you shall not be a corrupter of youth. You shall not let the word of God issue from your lips with any kind of impurity. You shall not accept persons when you reprove any one for transgression. You shall be meek: you shall be peaceable. You shall tremble at the words which you hear. You shall not be mindful of evil against your brother. You shall not be of doubtful mind as to whether a thing shall be or not. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain. You shall love your neighbor more than your own soul. You shall not slay the child by procuring abortion; nor, again, shall you destroy it after it is born. You shall not withdraw your hand from your son, or from your daughter, but from their infancy you shall teach them the fear of the Lord. You shall not covet what is your neighbor’s, nor shall you be materialistic. You shall not be joined in soul with the haughty, but you shall be reckoned with the righteous and lowly. Receive as good things the trials which come upon you. You shall not be of double mind or of double tongue, for a double tongue is a snare of death. You shall be subject to the Lord, and to other masters as the image of God, with modesty and fear. You shall not issue orders with bitterness to your maidservant or your man-servant, who trust in the same God, lest you should not reverence that God who is above both; for He came to call men not according to their outward appearance, but according as the Spirit had prepared them. You shall share in all things with your neighbor; you shall not call things your own; for if you are partakers in common of things which are incorruptible, how much more should you be of those things which are corruptible! You shall not be hasty with your tongue, for the mouth is a snare of death. As far as possible, you shall be pure in your soul. Do not be ready to stretch forth your hands to take, while you contract them to give. You shall love, as the apple of your eye, every one that speaks to you the word of the Lord. You shall remember the day of judgment, night and day. You shall seek out every day the faces of the saints, either by word examining them, and going to exhort them, and meditating how to save a soul by the word, or by your hands you shall labor for the redemption of your sins. You shall not hesitate to give, nor murmur when you give. “Give to every one that asks you,” and you shall know who is the good Recompenser of the reward. You shall preserve what you have received in charge, neither adding to it nor taking from it. To the last you shall hate the wicked one. You shall judge righteously. You shall not make a schism, but you shall pacify those that contend by bringing them together. You shall confess your sins. You shall not go to prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of light. But the way of darkness is crooked, and full of cursing; for it is the way of eternal death with punishment, in which way are the things that destroy the soul, namely, idolatry, over-confidence, the arrogance of power, hypocrisy, double-heartedness, adultery, murder, plunder, haughtiness, transgression, deceit, malice, self-sufficiency, poisoning, magic, avarice, lack of the fear of God. In this way, too, are those who persecute the good, those who hate truth, those who love falsehood, those who do not know the reward of righteousness, those who do not cleave to that which is good, those who do not attend with just judgment to the widow and orphan, those who do not watch to the fear of God, but incline to wickedness, from whom meekness and patience are far off; persons who love vanity, follow after a reward, do not pity the needy, do not labor in aid of him who is overcome with toil; who are prone to evil-speaking, who do not know Him that made them, who are murderers of children, destroyers of the workmanship of God; who turn away him that is in want, who oppress the afflicted, who are advocates of the rich, who are unjust judges of the poor, and who are in every respect transgressors. It is well, therefore, that he who has learned the judgments of the Lord, as many as have been written, should walk in them. For he who keeps these shall be glorified in the kingdom of God; but he who chooses other things shall be destroyed with his works.

HERMAS: “Hear now,” he said, “in regard to faith. There are two angels with a man—one of righteousness, and the other of iniquity.” And I said to him, “How, sir, am I to know the powers of these, for both angels dwell with me?” “Hear,” he said, “and understand them. The angel of righteousness is gentle and modest, meek and peaceful. When, therefore, he ascends into your heart, immediately he talks to you of righteousness, purity, chastity, contentment, and of every righteous deed and glorious virtue. When all these ascend into your heart, know that the angel of righteousness is with you. These are the deeds of the angel of righteousness. Trust him, then, and his works. Look now at the works of the angel of iniquity. First, he is wrathful, and bitter, and foolish, and his works are evil, and ruin the servants of God. When, then, he ascends into your heart, know him by his works.” And I said to him, “How, sir, I shall perceive him, I do not know.” “Hear and understand,” he said. “When anger comes upon you, or harshness, know that he is in you; and you will know this to be the case also, when you are attacked by a longing after many transactions, and the richest delicacies, and drunken revels, and various luxuries, and things improper, and by a hankering after women, and by overreaching, and pride, and by whatever is like to these. When these ascend into your heart, know that the angel of iniquity is in you. Now that you know his works, depart from him, and in no respect trust him, because his deeds are evil, and unprofitable to the servants of God. These, then, are the actions of both angels. Understand them, and trust the angel of righteousness; but depart from the angel of iniquity, because his instruction is bad in every deed. For though a man be most faithful, and the thought of this angel ascend into his heart, that man or woman must sin. On the other hand, be a man or woman ever so bad, yet, if the works of the angel of righteousness ascend into his or her heart, he or she must do something good. You see, therefore, that it is good to follow the angel of righteousness, but to bid farewell to the angel of iniquity. “This commandment exhibits the deeds of faith, that you may trust the works of the angel of righteousness, and doing them you may live to God. But believe the works of the angel of iniquity are hard. If you refuse to do them, you will live to God.”

HERMAS: He says to me, “Put away from you all wicked desire, and clothe yourself with good and chaste desire; for clothed with this desire you will hate wicked desire, and will restrain yourself in even as you wish. For wicked desire is wild, and is with difficulty tamed. For it is terrible, and consumes men exceedingly by its wildness. Especially is the servant of God terribly consumed by it, if he falls into it and is devoid of understanding. Moreover, it consumes all such as have not on them the garment of good desire, but are entangled and mixed up with this world. These it delivers up to death.” “What then, sir,” I say, “are the deeds of wicked desire which deliver men over to death? Make them known to me, and I will refrain from them.” “Listen, then, to the works in which evil desire slays the servants of God. Foremost of all is the desire after another’s wife or husband, and after extravagance, and many useless dainties and drinks, and many other foolish luxuries; for all luxury is foolish and empty in the servants of God. These, then, are the evil desires which slay the servants of God. For this evil desire is the daughter of the devil. You must refrain from evil desires, that by refraining you may live to God. But as many as are mastered by them, and do not resist them, will perish at last, for these desires are fatal. Put on, then, the desire of righteousness; and arming yourself with the fear of the Lord, resist them. For the fear of the Lord dwells in good desire. But if evil desire see you armed with the fear of God, and resisting it, it will flee far from you, and it will no longer appear to you, for it fears your armor. Go, then, garlanded with the crown which you have gained for victory over it, to the desire of righteousness, and, delivering up to it the prize which you have received, serve it even as it wishes. If you serve good desire, and be subject to it, you will gain the mastery over evil desire, and make it subject to you even as you wish.” “I should like to know,” I say, “in what way I ought to serve good desire.” “Hear,” he says: “You will practice righteousness and virtue, truth and the fear of the Lord, faith and meekness, and whatsoever excellences are like to these. Practicing these, you will be a well-pleasing servant of God, and you will live to Him; and every one who shall serve good desire, shall live to God. . . . You have now these commandments. Walk in them, and exhort your hearers that their repentance may be pure during the remainder of their life. Fulfill carefully this ministry which I now entrust to you, and you will accomplish much. For you will find favor among those who are to repent, and they will give heed to your words; for I will be with you, and will compel them to obey you.” I say to him, “Sir, these commandments are great, and good, and glorious, and fitted to gladden the heart of the man who can perform them. But I do not know if these commandments can be kept by man, because they are exceeding hard.” He answered and said to me, “If you lay it down as certain that they can be kept, then you will easily keep them, and they will not be hard. But if you come to imagine that they cannot be kept by man, then you will not keep them. Now I say to you, If you do not keep them, but neglect them, you will not be saved, nor your children, nor your house, since you have already determined for yourself that these commandments cannot be kept by man.” These things he said to me in tones of the deepest anger, so that I was confounded and exceedingly afraid of him, for his figure was altered so that a man could not endure his anger. But seeing me altogether agitated and confused, he began to speak to me in more gentle tones; and he said: “O fool, senseless and doubting, do you not perceive how great is the glory of God, and how strong and marvelous, in that He created the world for the sake of man, and subjected all creation to him, and gave him power to rule over everything under heaven? If, then, man is lord of the creatures of God, and rules over all, is he not able to be lord also of these commandments? For,” he says, “the man who has the Lord in his heart can also be lord of all, and of every one of these commandments. But to those who have the Lord only on their lips, but their hearts hardened, and who are far from the Lord, the commandments are hard and difficult. Therefore, you who are empty and fickle in your faith, put the Lord in your heart, and you will know that there is nothing easier or sweeter, or more manageable, than these commandments. Return, you who walk in the commandments of the devil, in hard, and bitter, and wild licentiousness, and do not fear the devil; for there is no power in him against you, for I will be with you, the angel of repentance, who am lord over him. The devil has fear only, but his fear has no strength. Do not fear him, then, and he will flee from you.” I say to him, “Sir, listen to me for a moment.” “Say what you wish,” he says. “Sir,” I say, “man is eager to keep the commandments of God, and there is no one who does not ask of the Lord that strength may be given him for these commandments, and that he may be subject to them; but the devil is hard, and holds sway over them.” “He cannot,” he says, “hold sway over the servants of God, who with all their heart place their hopes in Him. The devil can wrestle against these, but he cannot overthrow them. If, then, you resist him, he will be conquered, and flee in disgrace from you. Therefore, as many as are empty, fear the devil, as possessing power. When a man has filled very suitable jars with good wine, and a few among those jars are left empty, then he comes to the jars, and does not look at the full jars, for he knows that they are full; but he looks at the empty, being afraid lest they have become sour. For empty jars quickly become sour, and the goodness of the wine is gone. So also the devil goes to all the servants of God to try them. As many, then, as are full in the faith, resist him strongly, and he withdraws from them, having no way by which he might enter them. He goes, then, to the empty, and finding a way of entrance, into them, he produces in them whatever he wishes, and they become his servants. “But I, the angel of repentance, say to you: Do not fear the devil; for I was sent,” he says, “to be with you who repent with all your heart, and to make you strong in faith. Trust God, then, you who on account of your sins have despaired of life, and who add to your sins and weigh down your life; for if you return to the Lord with all your heart, and practice righteousness the rest of your days, and serve Him according to His will, He will heal your former sins, and you will have power to hold sway over the works of the devil. But as to the threats of the devil, do not fear them at all, for he is powerless as the sinews of a dead man. Give ear to me, then, and fear Him who has all power, both to save and destroy, and keep His commandments, and you will live to God.” I say to him, “Sir, I am now made strong in all the ordinances of the Lord, because you are with me; and I know that you will crush all the power of the devil, and we shall have rule over him, and shall prevail against all his works. And I hope, sir, to be able to keep all these commandments which you have enjoined upon me, the Lord strengthening me.” “You will keep them,” he says, “if your heart is pure towards the Lord; and all will keep them who cleanse their hearts from the vain desires of this world, and they will live to God.”

IRENAEUS: For one is the way leading upwards for all who see, lightened with heavenly light: but many and dark and contrary are the ways of them that do not see. This way leads to the kingdom of heaven, uniting man to God: but those ways bring down to death, separating man from God. Therefore it is needful for you and for all who care for their own salvation to make your course unswerving, firm and sure by means of faith, that you do not falter, nor be retarded and detained in material desires, nor turn aside and wander from the right.

Clement of Alexandria: David, too, and Moses before David, show the knowledge of the three precepts in the following words: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly;” as the fishes go down to the depths in darkness; for those which do not have scales, which Moses prohibits touching, feed at the bottom of the sea. “Nor stands in the way of sinners,” as those who, while appearing to fear the Lord, commit sin, like the sow, for when hungry it cries, and when full does not know its owner. “Nor sits in the chair of pestilences,” as birds ready for prey. And Moses enjoined not to eat the sow, nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven, nor any fish without scales. So far Barnabas. And I heard one skilled in such matters say that “the counsel of the ungodly” was the heathen, and “the way of sinners” the Jewish persuasion, and explain “the chair of pestilence” of heresies. And another said, with more propriety, that the first blessing was assigned to those who had not followed wicked sentiments which revolt from God; the second to those who do not remain in the wide and broad road, whether they be those who have been brought up in the law, or Gentiles who have repented.

Clement of Alexandria: They have heard in the commandment that “the broad and wide way leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.”

Clement of Alexandria: We ought not to gnaw and consume the soul by idleness and by vexation, on account of things which happen against our wishes. Wretched, accordingly, was the man whom Homer also says, wandering alone, “ate his own heart.” But again, seeing the Gospel supposes two ways—the apostles, too, similarly with all the prophets—and seeing they call that one “narrow and confined” which is circumscribed according to the commandments and prohibitions, and the opposite one, which leads to perdition, “broad and roomy,” open to pleasures and wrath, and say, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, and does not stand in the way of sinners.”

TERTULLIAN: Who, when so many incentives to evil were assailing him, would desire that good, which he could despise with impunity? Who, again, would take care of what he could lose without danger? You read how broad is the road to evil, how crowded it is in comparison with the opposite: would not all glide down that road if there were nothing in it to fear? We dread the Creator’s tremendous threats, and yet scarcely turn away from evil. What then, if He did not threaten? Will you call God's justice an evil, when it is all unfavorable to evil? Will you deny it to be a good, when it has its eye towards good? What sort of being ought you to wish God to be? Would it be right to prefer that He should be such, that sins might flourish under Him, and the devil make mock at Him? Would you suppose Him to be a good God, who should be able to make a man worse by security in sin? Who is the author of good, but He who also requires it? In like manner who is a stranger to evil, except Him who is its enemy? Who its enemy, besides Him who is its conqueror? Who else its conqueror, than He who is its punisher? Thus God is wholly good, because in all things He is on the side of good.

HIPPOLYTUS: For this, he says, is the gate of heaven; and this a house of God, where the Good Deity dwells alone. And into this gate, he says, no unclean person shall enter, nor one that is natural or carnal; but it is reserved for the spiritual only. And those who come near ought to receive their garments, and become all of them bridegrooms, emasculated through the virginal spirit. For this is the virgin who carries in her womb and conceives and brings forth a son, not animal, not corporeal, but blessed forevermore. Concerning these, it is said, the Savior has expressly declared that “straight and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are that enter upon it; whereas broad and spacious is the way that leads to destruction, and many there are that pass through it.”

HIPPOLYTUS: He who desires to partake of the water in the garden must renounce the broad gate, and enter by the strait and narrow.

ORIGEN: The book of the Shepherd declares . . . that each individual is attended by two angels; that whenever good thoughts arise in our hearts, they are suggested by the good angel; but when of a contrary kind, they are the instigation of the evil angel. The same is declared by Barnabas in his Epistle, where he says there are two ways, one of light and one of darkness, over which he asserts that certain angels are placed;—the angels of God over the way of light, the angels of Satan over the way of darkness.

ORIGEN: He who considers what great evils men on earth are committing daily, and, with nearly all turning aside and having together become useless; how they are walking down the broad and spacious road which leads to destruction, having disregarded the narrow road which leads to life, despite the fact that God lets his sun rise daily on all of them and serves them with rain; and if one considers how much blasphemy against God they speak every day and how they stretch out their tongues against heaven; this person is able to understand the riches of God's goodness.

ORIGEN: But when our Lord and Savior came, he began to condemn their ways and to say, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees!” and again, “Woe to you who are rich” and again, “Woe to you, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you.” Moreover, by saying many things like this in his charges against them, he began to block the roads of their destruction and for them he became a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal by not allowing them to travel the broad road that leads to death.

CYPRIAN: According to Matthew: “How broad and spacious is the way which leads to death, and many there are who go in thereby: how straight and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there are that find it!”

LACTANTIUS: There are two ways, O Emperor Constantine, by which human life must proceed—the one which leads to heaven, the other which sinks to hell. . . . We therefore speak better and more truly, who say that the two ways belong to heaven and hell, because immortality is promised to the righteous, and everlasting punishment is threatened to the unrighteous.

LACTANTIUS: There are two ways; but the one on the right hand, in which the just walk which leads to heaven, for they become immortal; the other on the left leads to Tartarus, for the unjust are sentenced to eternal tortures. Therefore the way of justice, which leads to life, is to be held by us. The Epitome of the Divine

ORIGEN: Now the way of the Lord is made straight in two fashions. First, in the way of contemplation, when thought is made clear in truth without any mixture of falsehood; and then in the way of conduct, after the sound contemplation of what ought to be done, when action is produced which harmonizes with sound theory of conduct. And that we may the more clearly understand the text, “Make straight the way of the Lord,” it will be well to compare with it what is said in the Proverbs, “Do not depart, either to the right hand or to the left.” For he who deviates in either direction has given up keeping his path straight, and is no longer worthy of regard, since he has gone apart from the straightness of the journey, for “the Lord is righteous, and loves righteousness, and His face beholds straightness.” Hence he who is the object of regard, and receives the benefit that comes from this oversight, says, “The light of Your countenance was shown upon us, O Lord.” Let us stand, then, as Jeremiah exhorts, upon the ways, and let us see and ask after the ancient ways of the Lord, and let us see which is the good way, and walk in it. Thus did the Apostles stand and ask for the ancient ways of the Lord; they asked the Patriarchs and the Prophets, enquiring into their writings, and when they came to understand these writings they saw the good way, namely, Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way,” and they walked in it. For it is a good way that leads the good man to the good father, the man who, from the good treasure of his heart, brings forth good things, and who is a good and faithful servant. This way is narrow, indeed, for the many cannot bear to walk in it and are lovers of their flesh; but it is also hard-pressed by those who use violence to walk in it, for it is not called afflicting, but afflicted.

ORIGEN: Now, those who believe in Him are those who walk in the straight and narrow way, which leads to life, and which is found by few.

ORIGEN: “Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I say to you, shall seek to enter in through the narrow door and shall not be able;” and also that which is written in the Gospel of Matthew thus, “For narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leads to life, and few be they that find it.” Now, if you attend to the saying, “Many, I say to you, shall seek to enter in and shall not be able,” you will understand that this refers to those who boast that they are of the church, but live weakly and contrary to the word.

ORIGEN: The Word says that the agreeing of two on the earth is the same thing as the agreeing with Christ. “For where two or three are gathered together in My name.” Therefore the two or three who are gathered together in the name of Christ are those who are in agreement on earth, not two only but sometimes also three. But he who has the power will consider whether this agreement and a congregation of this sort in the midst of which Christ is, can be found in more, since “narrow and straightened is the way that leads to life, and few be they that find it.”

ORIGEN: “In afflictions” let us unfailingly walk upon the strait and narrow way that we may attain to life. If it is needful, let us also commend ourselves “by scourgings, by imprisonments, by riots, by labors, by watchings, and by fastings.” For behold the Lord is here with his reward in his hand to render to each man according to his works.”