ACC ~ 1 Timothy 6 v20a

THE PUBLIC TEACHING. TERTULLIAN: Nothing that was proclaimed before many witnesses could be kept secret. Nor can they [the Gnostic heretics] interpret as evidence of some hidden gospel Paul’s desire that Timothy should entrust “these things to faithful men, fit to teach others.” “These things” meant the things of which he was then writing. To refer to things hidden in their minds he would have said “those,” as of something absent, not “these.” PRESCRIPTIONS AGAINST HERETICS 25.

THE DEPOSIT OF THE DIVINE IMAGE IN THE SOUL. ORIGEN: What is “the deposit” that each one of the faithful receives? For my part I think that we receive our soul itself and the body as a deposit from God. And do you want to see another greater “deposit” that you received from God? God entrusted “his own image and likeness” to your own soul. That deposit, therefore, must be restored by you just as intact as it was received by you. For if you are merciful, “as your Father in heaven is merciful,” the image of God is in you and you preserve the “deposit” intact. If you are perfect, “as your Father in heaven is perfect,” the deposit of God’s image remains in you. In like manner, in all other things, if you are pious, if you are just, if you are holy, if you are “pure in heart,”and if all things which are present in God through nature remain in you by imitation, “the deposit” of the divine image is safe within you. HOMILIES ON LEVITICUS 4.3.

CORRECT BELIEF ABOUT CHRIST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: I have many other testimonies from holy Scripture to the fact that the kingdom of Christ endures throughout all ages. But I will content myself with what I have said, because the day wears on. And do you, my hearers, worship him alone as king, and flee every misguided heresy. … Flee the false Christ, and look for the true. You have been taught the way to be among those on his right hand at the judgment. Retain “that which is committed to you” concerning Christ, and be adorned with good works. So you will stand with a good courage before the Judge and thereafter inherit the kingdom of heaven. CATECHETICAL LECTURES 15.33.

FAITH IN THE TRINITY. NICETAS OF REMESIANA: Make strong in your hearts, my brothers, this faith in the Trinity, believing in one God the Father Almighty and in his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit, the true light and sanctifier of souls, who is the pledge of our inheritance, who will lead us, if we will but follow, into all truth and will make us one with the citizens of heaven. This rule of faith the apostles received from the Lord. … May this faith remain in you. O beloved, “keep that which is committed to your trust, avoiding profane novelties of words and oppositions of knowledge falsely so called.” EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 8.

THE MESSAGE OF GRACE. JEROME: The apostle labors, and, although he has lived blameless, according to the justice that is from the law, he counts everything as worthless for Christ, that he may be found in Christ, not having his own justice which is from the law but that which is from the faith of Christ, from God. … Therefore, we are saved, not by the power of the free will but by the mercy of God. And, lest you think that the truth of faith can be subverted by vain argumentations which raise questions in the minds of the hearers, the same apostle writes to Timothy, “O Timothy, guard the trust and keep free from profane novelties in speech and the contradictions of so-called knowledge, which some have promised and have fallen away from the faith.” For the goodness and mercy of our Savior have saved us, not by reason of good works that we did ourselves but according to his mercy, in order that, justified by his grace, we may be heirs in the hope of life everlasting.AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2.10.

THE PUBLIC LEGACY. LEO THE GREAT: What is meant by “the deposit”? That which is committed to you, not that which is invented by you. That which you have received, not that which you have devised. A thing not of wit but of learning; not of private assumption but of public tradition; a thing brought to you, not brought forth by you; wherein you must not be an author but a keeper; not a leader but a follower. Keep the deposit. SERMONS 85.3.

THE HEAVENLY HIERARCHY. PSEUDO-DIONYSIUS: And you, my child, must follow the recommendations of our hierarchic tradition. Listen carefully to the things sacredly said and be inspired by them in an initiation into inspired things. Keep these holy truths a secret in your hidden mind. Guard their unity safe from the multiplicity of what is profane, for, as Scripture says, you must not throw before swine that pure, shining and splendid harmony of the conceptual pearls. THE CELESTIAL HIERARCHY 2.5.

1 Tim