§586Far from having been hostile to the Temple, where he gave the essential part of his teaching, Jesus was willing to pay the Temple-tax, associating with him Peter, whom he had just made the foundation of his future Church.359 He even identified himself with the Temple by presenting himself as God's definitive dwelling-place among men.360 Therefore his being put to bodily death36…

§728Jesus does not reveal the Holy Spirit fully, until he himself has been glorified through his Death and Resurrection. Nevertheless, little by little he alludes to him even in his teaching of the multitudes, as when he reveals that his own flesh will be food for the life of the world.110 He also alludes to the Spirit in speaking to Nicodemus,111 to the Samaritan woman,112 and to …

§1179The worship "in Spirit and in truth"53 of the New Covenant is not tied exclusively to any one place. the whole earth is sacred and entrusted to the children of men. What matters above all is that, when the faithful assemble in the same place, they are the "living stones," gathered to be "built into a spiritual house."54 For the Body of the risen Christ is the spiritual temple f…

1. When children are just brought to their learning, their teachers do not give them many tasks in succession, nor do they set them once for all, but they often repeat to them the same short ones, so that what is said may be easily implanted in their minds, and they may not be vexed at the first onset with the quantity, and with finding it hard to remember, and become less acti…

1. God will not have us listen to the words and sentences contained in the Scriptures carelessly, but with much attention. This is why the blessed David has prefixed in many places to his Psalms the title for understanding, and has said, Open Thou my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law. Psalm 32:42, etc.; Psalm 119:18 And after him his son again shows that w…

Source. Translated by J. Walker, J. Sheppard and H. Browne, and revised by George B. Stevens. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 11. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1889.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/210202.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Adven…

1. Having boldly reflected on the faults of the Hebrews, and sufficiently alarmed them, he consoles them, first, by praises, and secondly (which also is the stronger ground), by the [thought] that they would certainly attain the object of their hope. Moreover he draws his consolation, not from things future, but again from the past, which indeed would the rather persuade them. …

Chapter 24.—How We Must Understand that Breathing of God by Which “The First Man Was Made a Living Soul,” And that Also by Which the Lord Conveyed His Spirit to His Disciples When He Said, “Receive Ye the Holy Ghost.” Some have hastily supposed from the words, “God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul,624624 Gen. ii. 7.” that a soul was…

The light of nature showeth that there is a God who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good and doeth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served with all the heart and with all the soul and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own reve…

God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.

If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink. In his conversation with the Samaritan woman, Christ reveals himself as the giver of living water — the grace of the Spirit which springs up unto everlasting life. The discussion about worshipping in Jerusalem or Samaria leads to the great principle: God is a Spirit, and they that worship him m…

Chapter 1. On God. 1. I know that some will attempt to say that, even according to the declarations of our own Scriptures, God is a body, because in the writings of Moses they find it said, that our God is a consuming fire; and in the Gospel according to John, that God is a Spirit, and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Fire and spirit, according to t…

Chapter 1 In the first book of our answer to the work of Celsus, who had boastfully entitled the treatise which he had composed against us A True Discourse, we have gone through, as you enjoined, my faithful Ambrosius, to the best of our ability, his preface, and the parts immediately following it, testing each one of his assertions as we went along, until we finished with the …

Of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth years of his age, passed at Carthage, when, having completed his course of studies, he is caught in the snares of a licentious passion, and falls into the errors of the Manichæans. Chapter 1. Deluded by an Insane Love, He, Though Foul and Dishonourable, Desires to Be Thought Elegant and Urbane. 1. To Carthage I came, where a cauldr…

Is God a body? Is He composed of matter and form? Is there composition of quiddity, essence or nature, and subject in Him? Is He composed of essence and existence? Is He composed of genus and difference? Is He composed of subject and accident? Is He in any way composite, or wholly simple? Does He enter into composition with other things? Article 1. Whether God is a body? Object…

Does religion regard only our relation to God? Is religion a virtue? Is religion one virtue? Is religion a special virtue? Is religion a theological virtue? Should religion be preferred to the other moral virtues? Does religion have any external actions? Is religion the same as holiness? Article 1. Whether religion directs man to God alone? Objection 1. It would seem that relig…

Is prayer an act of the appetitive or of the cognitive power? Is it fitting to pray to God? Is prayer an act of religion? Should we pray to God alone? Should we ask for something definite when we pray? Should we ask for temporal things when we pray? Should we pray for others? Should we pray for our enemies? The seven petitions of the Lord's Prayer Is prayer proper to the ration…

Q. What is God's will for us in the second commandment? A. That we in no way make any image of God nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded in his Word.

Q. What belongs to a prayer that pleases God and is heard by him? A. First, we must pray from the heart to no other than the one true God, who has revealed himself in his Word, asking for everything he has commanded us to ask for. Second, we must acknowledge our need and misery, hiding nothing, and humble ourselves in his majestic presence. Third, we must rest on this unshakabl…

We teach that the true God alone is to be adored and worshipped. This honor we impart to none other, according to the commandment of God: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve." Indeed, all the prophets severely censured the people of Israel whenever they worshipped strange gods. And the apostles taught that gold and silver images are not gods, that…

We believe that there is one, and only one, living and true God, an infinite, intelligent Spirit, whose name is Jehovah, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence, and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, equal in every divi…

Ambrose argues against those who deny the divinity of the Holy Spirit by reducing Him to a creature. The Spirit is worshipped and glorified together with the Father and the Son in the baptismal formula — "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." If the Spirit were a creature, the Church would be commanding worship of a created being alongside the Crea…