Discipline governs a man, power sets a seal upon him; apart from the fact that power is the Spirit, but the Spirit is God. .. Who was able to forgive sins? This is His alone prerogative: for \u201cwho remitteth sins but God alone?\u201d and, of course, (who but He can remit) mortal sins, such as have been committed against Himself, and against His temple? For, as far as you are concerned, such as are chargeable with offence against you personally, you are commanded, in the person of Peter, to forgive even seventy times sevenfold. And so, if it were agreed that even the blessed apostles had granted any such indulgence (to any crime) the pardon of which (comes) from God, not from man, it would be competent (for them) to have done so, not in the exercise of discipline, but of power. For they both raised the dead, which God alone (can do), and restored the debilitated to their integrity, which none but Christ (can do); nay, they inflicted plagues too, which Christ would not do. For it did not beseem Him to be severe who had come to suffer. Smitten were both Ananias and Elymas \u2014Ananias with death, Elymas with blindness\u2014in order that by this very fact it might be proved that Christ had had the power of doing even such (miracles). So, too, had the prophets (of old) granted to the repentant the pardon of murder, and therewith of adultery, inasmuch as they gave, at the same time, manifest proofs of severity. Exhibit therefore even now to me, apostolic sir, prophetic evidences, that I may recognise your divine virtue, and vindicate to yourself the power of remitting such sins! If, however, you have had the functions of discipline alone allotted you, and (the duty) of presiding not imperially, but ministerially; who or how great are you, that you should grant indulgence, who, by exhibiting neither the prophetic nor the apostolic character, lack that virtue whose property it is to indulge?
\n–On Modesty XXI
\nI have, even now, a test whereby to prove (the presence of) Christ (in you). If Christ is in the martyr for this reason, that the martyr may absolve adulterers and fornicators, let Him tell publicly the secrets of the heart, that He may thus concede (pardon to) sins; and He is Christ. For thus it was that the Lord Jesus Christ showed His power: \u201cWhy think ye evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say to the paralytic, Thy sins are remitted thee; or, Rise and walk? Therefore, that ye may know the Son of man to have the power upon earth of remitting sins, I say to thee, paralytic, Rise, and walk.\u201d If the Lord set so much store by the proof of His power as to reveal thoughts, and so impart health by His command, lest He should not be believed to have the power of remitting sins; it is not lawful for me to believe the same power (to reside) in any one, whoever he be, without the same proofs.
\n— On Modesty XXII<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Discipline governs a man, power sets a seal upon him; apart from the fact that power is the Spirit, but the Spirit is God. .. Who was able to forgive sins? This is His alone prerogative: for \u201cwho remitteth sins but God alone?\u201d and, of course, (who but He can remit) mortal sins, such as have been committed against Himself, and against His temple? For, as far as you are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27],"tags":[128],"class_list":["post-1027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tertullian","tag-spiritual-authority"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":827,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-freedom-of-religion\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":0},"title":"Tertullian: Freedom Of Religion","author":"Nemo","date":"February 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Let one man worship God, another Jupiter; let one lift suppliant hands to the heavens, another to the altar of Fides;\u00a0let one\u2014if you choose to take this view of it\u2014count in prayer the clouds, and another the ceiling panels; let one consecrate his own life to his God, and another\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tertullian"","block_context":{"text":"Tertullian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/tertullian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":944,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-against-marcion\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":1},"title":"Tertullian: Against Marcion","author":"Nemo","date":"January 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"You may, I assure you, more easily find a man born without a heart or without brains, like Marcion himself, than without a body, like Marcion\u2019s Christ. -- Against Marcion IV.X It would have been but right that a new god should first be expounded, and his discipline be introduced\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tertullian"","block_context":{"text":"Tertullian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/tertullian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":784,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-on-the-divinity-of-christ\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":2},"title":"Tertullian: On the Divinity of Christ","author":"Nemo","date":"January 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"God made the world, and all which it contains, by His Word, and Reason, and Power. ... The Word, and Reason, and Power, by which God made all, have spirit as their proper and essential substratum, in which the Word has in being to give forth utterances, and reason abides\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tertullian"","block_context":{"text":"Tertullian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/tertullian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":999,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-on-the-trinity\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":3},"title":"Tertullian On the Trinity","author":"Nemo","date":"January 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Word is a Substantive Being For you will say, what is a word, but a voice and sound of the mouth, and air when struck against, intelligible to the ear, but for the rest a sort of void, empty, and incorporeal thing. I, on the contrary, contend that nothing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tertullian"","block_context":{"text":"Tertullian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/tertullian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":913,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-the-prescription-against-heretics\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":4},"title":"Tertullian: The Prescription Against Heretics","author":"Nemo","date":"January 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The Rule of Faith Now, with regard to this rule of faith\u2014that we may from this point acknowledge what it is which we defend\u2014it is, you must know, that which prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Tertullian"","block_context":{"text":"Tertullian","link":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/category\/tertullian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":922,"url":"https:\/\/nemoslibrary.com\/patristics\/tertullian-divine-justice\/","url_meta":{"origin":1027,"position":5},"title":"Tertullian: Divine Goodness and Justice","author":"Nemo","date":"January 2, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"In short, from the very first the Creator was both good and also just. 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