Early Church Fathers on the Trinity and Jesus being God

The Early Church Fathers on various topics: This was a 3700 hour project which included going through 22896 pages of the 38 volume set called Ante Nicene, Nicene, Post Nicene Fathers. I compiled 255 pages of quotes showing that the Early Church was always and completely Catholic. All of these quotes can be verified and found from the source which is free online.

Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians preface (50-117 ad)
Ignatius, who is also called Theophorus, to the Church which is at Ephesus, in Asia, deservedly most happy, being blessed in the greatness and fulness of God the Father, and predestinated before the beginning of time, that it should be always for an enduring and unchangeable glory, being united and elected through the true passion by the will of the Father, and Jesus Christ, our God: Abundant happiness through Jesus Christ, and His undefiled grace.
Ignatius of Antioch to the Ephesians ch 9 (50-117 ad)
as being stones of the temple of the Father, prepared for the building of God the Father, and drawn up on high by the instrument of Jesus Christ, which is the cross, making use of the Holy Spirit as a rope, while your faith was the means by which you ascended, and your love the way which led up to God

Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho ch 68 (100-165 ad)

And since they are compelled, they agree that some Scriptures which we mention to them, and which expressly prove that Christ was to suffer, to be worshipped, and [to be called] God,

Justin Martyr Dialogue with Trypho ch 71 (100-165 ad)

And I wish you to observe, that they have altogether taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy elders who were with Ptolemy, and by which this very man who was crucified is proved to have been set forth expressly as God,
Irenaeus of Lyons Book 1 ch 8.5 (120-180 ad)
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; the same was in the beginning with God." Having first of all distinguished these three -- God, the Beginning, and the Word -- he again unites them, that he may exhibit the production of each of them, that is, of the Son and of the Word, and may at the same time show their union with one another, and with the Father. For "the beginning" is in the Father, and of the Father, while "the Word" is in the beginning, and of the beginning.
Irenaeus of Lyon Book 3 ch 19 preface (120-180 ad)
Jesus Christ was not a mere man, begotten from Joseph in the ordinary course of nature, but was true God, begotten of the Father Most High, and true man, born of the Virgin
Odes of Solomon Ode 23 (100-200 ad)
And the name of the Father was upon it; and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, to rule for ever and ever.
Hallelujah.
Tatian the Syrian Diatessaron section 4 (120-180 ad)
And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said unto them, Go and search about the child diligently; and when ye have found him, come and 9 make known to me, that I also may go and worship him
Tatian the Syrian Diatessaron section 13 (120-180 ad)
And that woman, when she saw that she was not hid from him, came fearing and agitated (for she knew what had happened to her), and fell down and worshipped him, and told, in the presence of all the people, for what reason she touched him, and how she was healed immediately
Athenagoras A Plea for the Christians ch 10 (150-200 ad)
Who, then, would not be astonished to hear men who speak of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and who declare both their power in union and their distinction in order, called atheists?
Julius Africanus Extant Writings ON THE INCARNATION OF OUR LORD AND GOD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST (160-240 ad)
Behold, then, the great things that we have told you regarding Christ; and we saw Christ our Saviour, who was made known as both God and man.
Tertullian on the Flesh of Christ ch 5 (160-240 ad)
But answer me at once, you that murder truth: Was not God really crucified? And, having been really crucified, did He not really die? And, having indeed really died, did He not really rise again?
Tertullian on the Flesh of Christ ch 24 (160-240 ad)
Those who assail the true doctrine of the one Lord Jesus Christ, both God and man, thus condemned.
Tertullian against Praxeas Ch2 (160-240 ad)
As if in this way also one were not All, in that All are of One, by unity (that is) of substance; while the mystery of the dispensation is still guarded, which distributes the Unity into a Trinity, placing in their order the three Persons -- the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost: three, however, not in condition, but in degree; not in substance, but in form; not in power, but in aspect; yet of one substance, and of one condition, and of one power, inasmuch as He is one God, from whom these degrees and forms and aspects are reckoned, under the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
Tertullian against Praxeas Ch 2 (160-240 ad)
The Catholic doctrine of the Trinity and unity, sometimes called the Divine Economy, or dispensation of the personal relations of the Godhead
Tertullian against Praxeas ch 29 (160-240 ad)
Now, although when two substances are alleged to be in Christ -- namely, the divine and the human -- it plainly follows that the divine nature is immortal, and that which is human is mortal,
Hippolytus Against the Heresy of Noetus par 14 (170-236 ad)
For it is through this Trinity that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth.
Hippolytus Extant Works and Fragments On Psalm 2 (170-236 ad)
When he came into the world, He was manifested as God and man. And it is easy to perceive the man in Him, when He hungers and shows exhaustion
Hippolytus Extant Works and Fragments Preface (170-236 ad)
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God.
Hippolytus Refutation of All Heresies book 9 ch 6 (170-236 ad)
Now Callistus brought forward Zephyrinus himself, and induced him publicly to avow the following sentiments: "I know that there is one God, Jesus Christ
Caius Fragment 2 (180-240 ad)
I mean Justin and Miltiades, and Tatian and Clement, and many others, in all which divinity is ascribed to Christ. For who is ignorant of the books of Irenaeus and Melito, and the rest, which declare Christ to be God and man?
Origen Against Celsus book 1 ch 51 (185-254)
And this sight is greatly talked of in surrounding places, even among the enemies of the faith, it being said that in this cave was born that Jesus who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians
Origen de Principiis book 1 ch3.5 (185- 254ad)
Nevertheless it seems proper to inquire what is the reason why he who is regenerated by God unto salvation has to do both with Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and does not obtain salvation unless with the co-operation of the entire Trinity; and why it is impossible to become partaker of the Father or the Son without the Holy Spirit.
Liturgy of the Blessed Apostles par 3
We shall repeat the hymn to Thy glorious Trinity, O Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Acts of Peter and Paul letter from Pontius Pilot to Claudius read by Nero (200 ad)
Pontius Pilate to Claudius, greeting. There has lately happened an event which I myself was concerned in. For the Jews through envy have inflicted on themselves, and those coming after them, dreadful judgments. Their fathers had promises that their God would send them his holy one from heaven, who according to reason should be called their king, and he had promised to send him to the earth by means of a virgin. He, then, when I was procurator, came into Judaea. And they saw him enlightening the blind, cleansing lepers, healing paralytics, expelling demons from men, raising the dead, subduing the winds, walking upon the waves of the sea, and doing many other wonders, and all the people of the Jews calling him Son of God. Then the chief priests, moved with envy against him, seized him, and delivered him to me; and telling one lie after another, they said that he was a wizard, and did contrary to their law. And I, having believed that these things were so, gave him up, after scourging him, to their will; and they crucified him, and after he was buried set guards over him. But he, while my soldiers were guarding him, rose on the third day. And to such a degree was the wickedness of the Jews inflamed against him, that they gave money to the soldiers, saying, Say his disciples have stolen his body. But they, having taken the money, were not able to keep silence as to what had happened; for they have testified that they have seen him (after he was) risen, and that they have received money from the Jews. These things, therefore, have I reported, that no one should falsely speak otherwise, and that thou shouldest not suppose that the falsehoods of the Jews are to be believed.
Cyprian of Carthage Treatise 12 par 10 (200-270 ad)
That Christ is man and God, compounded of either nature, that He might be a mediator between us and the Father.
Gregory Thaumaturgus A Sectional Confession of Faith par 8 (213-275ad) (trinity used 18 times)
But divinity is the property of the Father; and whenever the divinity of these three is spoken of as one, testimony is borne that the property of the Father belongs also to the Son and the Spirit: wherefore, if the divinity may be spoken of as one in three persons, the trinity is established, and the unity is not dissevered; and the oneness Which is naturally the Father's is also acknowledged to be the Son's and the Spirit's
Gregory Thaumaturgus Four Homilies 2nd homily (213-275ad)
Through thee, O thou that art highly favoured, is the holy and consubstantial Trinity known in the world.
Gregory Thaumaturgus A Sectional Confession of Faith par 4 (213-275ad)
One therefore is God the Father, one the Word, one the Spirit, the life, the sanctification of all.... Further, although the saints are called both gods, and sons, and spirits, they are neither filled with the Spirit, nor are made like the Son and God
Novatian Treatise Concerning the Trinity ch 9 (220- 270ad)
For this Jesus Christ, I will once more say, the Son of this God, we read of as having been promised in the Old Testament, and we observe to be manifested in the New, fulfilling the shadows and figures of all the sacraments, with the presence of the truth embodied.
Novatian Treatise Concerning the Trinity ch 23 (220- 270ad)
This most profound and recondite mystery, destined before the worlds for the salvation of the human race, is found to be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ, both God and man, that the human race might be placed within the reach of the enjoyment of eternal salvation
Novatian Treatise Concerning the Trinity ch 17 (220- 270ad)
And this Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us: therefore Christ is God
Novatian Treatise Concerning the Trinity ch 30 (220- 270ad)
But because heretics, ever struggling against the truth, are accustomed to prolong the controversy of pure tradition and Catholic faith, being offended against Christ; because He is, moreover, asserted to be God by the Scriptures also, and this is believed to be so by us; we must rightly--that every heretical calumny may be removed from our faith--contend, concerning the fact that Christ is God also,
Peter of Alexandria Genuine Acts of Peter (260-311ad)
This is that Arius the heresiarch, the divider of the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity.
Peter of Alexandria Genuine Acts of Peter (260-311ad)
This is that Arius the heresiarch, the divider of the consubstantial and indivisible Trinity. This is he who with rash and wicked mouth, was not afraid to blaspheme the Lord and Saviour, beyond all other heretics
Peter of Alexandria Fragments 5 par 7 (260-311ad)
the only-begotten Son, and the Word co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and of the same substance with them, according to His divine nature, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, being in the end of the world born according to the flesh of our holy and glorious lady, Mother of God, and Ever-Virgin, and, of a truth, of Mary the Mother of God; and being seen upon earth, and having true and real converse as man with men, who were of the same substance with Him
Alexander of Alexandria Epistle on the Arian Heresy ch 4.7 (266-326 ad)
Then the Lord, the third day after His death, rose again, thus bringing man to a knowledge of the Trinity.
Eusebius of Caesarea Church History book 3 ch 28 (265-340ad)
At the same time, he informed him in his communication that he had not heard of their doing anything profane or contrary to the laws -- except that they arose at dawn and sang hymns to Christ as a God
Eusebius of Caesarea Church History book 1 ch2 (265-340ad)
Summary view of the pre-existence and divinity of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. Since in Christ there is a twofold nature, and the one-in so far as he is thought of as God-resembles the head of the body, while the other may be compared with the feet,-in so far as he, for the sake of our salvation, put on human nature with the same passions as our own,-the following work will be complete only if we begin with the chief and lordliest events of all his history.
Arnobius Against the Heathen book 1 par 38 (265-315ad)
But in the meantime let us grant, in sub-mission to your ideas, that Christ was one of us--similar in mind, soul, body, weakness, and condition; is He not worthy to be called and to be esteemed God by us,
Methodius Oration concerning Simeon and Anna par 2 (300 ad)
Whence also in this place they are not only said to hymn with their praises the divine substance of the divine unity, but also the glory to be adored by all of that one of the sacred Trinity, which now, by the appearance of God in the flesh, hath even lighted upon earth.
Remains of the Second and Third Centuries
For the deeds done by Christ after His baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. For, being at once both God and perfect man likewise, He gave us sure indications of His two natures: of His Deity, by His miracles during the three years that elapsed after His baptism;
Remains from the second and third century VII. [+] ON THE NATURE OF CHRIST. [+] For there is no need, to persons of intelligence, to attempt to prove, from the deeds of Christ subsequent to His baptism, that His soul and His body, His human nature like ours, were real, and no phantom of the imagination. For the deeds done by Christ after His baptism, and especially His miracles, gave indication and assurance to the world of the Deity hidden in His flesh. For, being at once both God and perfect man likewise, He gave us sure indications of His two natures: of His Deity, by His miracles during the three years that elapsed after His baptism; of His humanity, during the thirty similar periods which preceded His baptism, in which, by reason of His low estate as regards the flesh, He concealed the signs of His Deity, although He was the true God existing before all ages.
Hilary of Poitiers On the Councils or Faith of the Easterns par 84 (300-367 ad)
Born not made, of one substance with the Father (which in Greek they call omoousion).
Cyril of Jerusalem Catechetical Lecture 13 par 3 (315-386)
For it was not a mere man who died for us, as I said before, but the Son of God, God made man.
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 38 par 13 (325-389 ad)
Conceived by the Virgin,(g) who first in body and soul was purified by the Holy Ghost(d) (for it was needful both that Childbearing should be honoured, and that Virginity should receive a higher honour), He came forth then as God with that which He had assumed, One Person in two Natures, Flesh and Spirit, of which the latter deified the former
Basil Hexaemeron Homily 2 par 6 (329-379 ad)
by the Spirit of God, he means the Holy Spirit.... and always by the spirit of God the Holy Spirit is meant, the Spirit which completes the divine and blessed Trinity
Basil Letter 262 par 1 (329-379 ad)
I mean that God Himself was turned into flesh; that He did not assume, through the Holy Mary, the nature of Adam, but, in His own proper Godhead, was changed into a material nature.
Ambrose Concerning Virgins book 1 ch 5 (340-397 ad)
This is the Trinity which waters their Church, the Father, Christ, and the Spirit.
Ambrose of Milan On the Holy Spirit book 1 par 48 (340-397 ad)
The Spirit, then, is a witness of the Son. He who is a witness knows all things, as God the Father is a witness. For so you read in later passages, for our salvation was confirmed to us by God bearing witness by signs and wonders and by manifold powers and by distributions of the Holy Spirit.
John Chrysostom Homily 3 on John (347-407 ad)
That this first "was," applied to "the Word," is only indicative of His eternal Being, (for" In the beginning," he saith, "was the Word,") and that the second "was," ("and the Word was with God,") denotes His relative Being. For since to be eternal and without beginning is most peculiar to God, this he puts first; and then, lest any one hearing that He was "in the beginning," should assert, that He was "unbegotten" also, he immediately remedies this by saying, before he declares what He was, that He was the addition, as I before said, of the article, as well as by this second expression. For he does not say, was "in God," but was "with God": declaring to us His eternity as to person? Then, as he advances, he has more clearly revealed it, by adding, that this
John Chrysostom On the passage (Father if it be possible) pa 3 (347-407 ad)
Attend carefully, The doctrine of the incarnation was very hard to receive. (first time seeing incarnation used?)
John Chrysostom Homily 46 on John’s gospel (347-407 ad)
He continually told them, "I came down from heaven." And if any one enquire why He introduced the discourse on the Mysteries, We will reply, that this was a very fitting time for such discourses; for indistinctness in what is said always rouses the bearer, and renders him more attentive. They ought not then to have been offended, but rather to have asked and enquired
Augustine of Hippo Enchiridion ch 9 (354-430 ad)
It is enough for the Christian to believe that the only cause of all created things, whether heavenly or earthly, whether visible or invisible, is the goodness of the Creator the one true God; and that nothing exists but Himself that does not derive its existence from Him; and that He is the Trinity--to wit, the Father, and the Son begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the same Father, but one and the same Spirit of Father and Son
Augustine of Hippo Enchiridion ch 38 (354-430 ad)
Nevertheless, are we on this account to say that the Holy Ghost is the father of the man Christ, and that as God the Father begat the Word, so God the Holy Spirit begat the man, and that these two natures constitute the one Christ
Augustine of Hippo Enchiridion ch 35 (354-430 ad)
Wherefore Christ Jesus, the Son of God, is both God and man
Augustine of Hippo Catechising the uninstructed par 47 (354-430 ad)
to the intent that these mysteries of the equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the unity of this same Trinity, and the manner in which these three subsistences are one God, need no more be uttered by us in words of faith and sounding syllables, but may be drunk in in purest and most burning contemplation in that silence
Augustine on the Harmony of the gospel ch 10.19 (354-430 ad)
It is here, too, that He imparts the Holy Spirit to the disciples by breathing on them giving us thereby to understand that this Spirit who is consubstantial and co-eternal with the Trinity, should not be considered to be simply the Spirit of the Father, but should also be held to be the Spirit of the Son.
Augustine On Baptism Against the Donatists book 7 ch 37 par 72 (354-430 ad)
Likewise another Lucius of Ausafa said: there is one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one Christ, and one hope, one Spirit, one Church, there ought also to be only one baptism.
Augustine On the Morals of the Catholic Church ch 14 par 24 (354-430 ad)
We ought then to love God, the Trinity in unity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; for this must be said to be God Himself, for it is said of God, truly and in the most exalted sense," Of whom are all things, by whom are all things, in whom are all things." Those are Paul's words. And what does he add? "To Him be glory." All this is exactly true. He does not say, To them; for God is one
Augustine Homily 10 on the First Epistle of John (354-430 ad)
"That we may be in His true Son Jesus Christ; He is the true God and Eternal Life." Why "true God"? because "true Son" of God. For if He has given to animals this property, that what they beget shall be none other than what they themselves are: man begets man, dog begets dog, and should God not beget God? If then He is of the same substance, why tallest thou Him less? Is it because when a human father begets a son, though human beget human, yet greater begets less?
Augustine Homily 10 on the First Epistle of John par 10 (354-430 ad)
Hence also by consequence we understand, that what the apostle Paul saith, "Who only hath immortality," he saith not merely of the Father, but of the One and Only God, which the Trinity itself is.
Sozomen Ecclesial History Book 2 Ch 1 (375-477 ad)
Josephus, the son of Matthias, also who was a priest, and was most distinguished among Jews and Romans, may be regarded as a noteworthy witness to the truth concerning Christ ; for he hesitates to call Him a man since He wrought marvelous works, and was a teacher of truthful doctrines, but openly calls him Christ; that He was condemned to the death of the cross, and appeared alive again the third day.
Socrates Ecclesial History book 7 ch 32 (379-450 ad)
Nestorius had an associate whom he had brought from Antioch, a presbyter named Anastasius; for this man he had the highest esteem, and consulted him in the management of his most important affairs. This Anastasius preaching one day in the church said, 'Let no one call Mary Theotocos: for Mary was but a woman; and it is impossible that God should be born of a woman.' These words created a great sensation, and troubled many both of the clergy and laity; they having been heretofore taught to acknowledge Christ as God, and by no means to separate his humanity from his divinity on account of the economy of incarnation, heeding the voice of the apostle when he said, 'Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh; yet now henceforth know we him no more.
Theodoret of Cyrus Dialogue 1 (393-457 ad)
I also follow this divine teaching, but I understand it in a pious sense, as meaning that He was made Flesh by taking flesh and a reasonable soul. But if the divine Word took nothing of our nature, then the covenants made with the patriarchs by the God of all with oaths were not true, and the blessing of Judah was vain, and the promise to David was false, and the Virgin was superfluous, because she did not contribute anything of our nature to the Incarnate God. Then the predictions of the prophets have no fulfillment.
Theodoret Letter 151 (393-457 ad)
Wherefore also we call tile holy Virgin both Mother of God and Mother of man, since the Lord Christ Himself is called God and man in the divine Scripture. The name Emmanuel proclaims the union of the two natures. If we acknowledge the Christ to be both God and Man and so call Him, who is so insensate as to shrink from using the term "Mother of man" with that of " Mother of God"? For we use both terms of the Lord Christ. For this reason the Virgin is honoured and called accordance with the titles of the Saviour, when on His account she is honoured by the faithful? For He who was born of her is not worshipped on her account, but she is honoured with the highest titles on account of Him Who was born from her.
Theodoret Ecclesial History book 2 ch 6 (393-457 ad)
We have been taught, and we hold the catholic and apostolic tradition and faith and confession which teach, that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost have one essence, which is termed substance(19) by the heretics.
Leo the Great Sermon 23 (395-461 ad)
For this wondrous child-bearing of the holy Virgin produced in her offspring one person which was truly human and truly Divine
Council of Constantinople 2 (533-534 ad)
If anyone shall not confess that the nature or essence of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost is one, as also the force and the power; [if anyone does not confess] a consubstantial Trinity, one Godhead to be worshipped in three subsistences or Persons: let him be anathema. For there is but one God even the Father of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom are all things, and one Holy Spirit in whom are all things. II. If anyone shall not confess that the Word of God has two nativities, the one from all eternity of the Father, without time and without body; the other in these last days, coming down from heaven and being made flesh of the holy and glorious Mary, Mother of God and always a virgin, and born of her: let him be anathema.
John of Damascus Sermon 2 (676-749 ad)
From her we have received the seed of immortality. She is the channel of all our goods. In her God was man and man was God.