Texts in Conversation
The Christian theologian Methodius uses Sirach as an authoritative source to teach self-control, repeating its warning that indulgence in pleasure leads to ruin, and demonstrating how Sirach influenced Christian tradition and practice.
Share:
2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Sirach 19:2
Ben Sira, Ecclesiasticus
Deuterocanon
1 A worker who is a drunkard will not become rich. He who despises small things will fall little by little. 2 Wine and women will make men of understanding go astray. He who joins with prostitutes is reckless. 3 Decay and worms will have him as their heritage. A reckless soul will be taken away. 4 He who is hasty to trust is shallow-hearted. He who sins offends against his own soul. 5 He who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned. 6 He who hates gossip has less wickedness.
Date: 195–180 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Methodius, Banquet of the Ten Virgins 1.3
Early Christian
“But if anyone dares to accuse this account of lacking support from the Scriptures, come, let us set out the words of the prophets as well and show what has been said to be even more true. Abraham, at any rate, who first received circumcision as a covenant, seems to signify nothing else, by being circumcised in a member of his flesh, than this: that one should no longer [go] to flesh formed from the same blood, teaching each person to cut off the pleasure of intercourse with his own sister, as with his own flesh. So lying with one's own sisters and having them as bedfellows ceased from the times of Abraham; and being joined in unions with several wives is abolished from the times of the prophets. For it says, ‘Do not go after your desires, and restrain yourself from your appetites,’ for ‘wine and women will lead astray men of understanding.’ And in another place: ‘Let your fountain of water be your own, and rejoice with the wife of your youth,’ clearly now forbidding many wives. And Jeremiah openly calls those who rage after various women ‘stallions mad for mares’; for ‘the prolific multitude of the ungodly,’ it says, ‘will be of no use, and from bastard slips it will not strike deep root.’ But, so as not to speak at length gathering the prophetic sayings, come, let us show again how continence succeeds the union with one wife, until it wholly loosens the inclination toward intercourse that comes from habit, taking away little by little the pleasures of the flesh. Immediately, indeed, someone is introduced who already plainly renounces this distraction, saying: ‘Lord, Father and Master of my life, do not abandon me to their counsel; take from me the haughtiness of the eyes; do not let the appetite for food and sexual intercourse take hold of me.’ And in the all-virtuous Wisdom, the Holy Spirit, now openly drawing the listeners to self-control and continence, sings thus, crying out, ‘Better is childlessness with virtue; for immortality is in its memory, because it is known both with God and with men; they honor it when present and long for it when it has departed; and in eternity it marches crowned, having won the contest for undefiled prizes.’
Date: 270–310 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
Search:
Notes and References
"... Turning to the Western Church, the earliest evidence comes from Irenaeus (died 202), who, although he never quotes from the Book of Sirach, includes quotations from Baruch and the Additions to Daniel in his Against Heresies. He cites these as the works of 'Jeremiah the prophet' and 'Daniel the prophet,' respectively, and also quotes from the Wisdom of Solomon. This suggests that he likely considered the books of the Apocrypha as canonical. Tertullian (died 220) also quotes from our book in works such as Against the Gnostics and On the Exhortation of Chastity, using the same formula, "as it is written," that he employs for the Hebrew Canon. Cyprian (died 258), in his Testimonies and letters, frequently quotes from the Book of Sirach and introduces them with phrases like "as it is written" or "Divine Scripture says." Methodius (circa 311), bishop of Lycia and later Tyre, freely quotes from the Book of Sirach, the Wisdom of Solomon, and Baruch, treating them as 'Scripture.' Hilary of Poitiers (died 368) lists the books of the Old Testament in his Prologue to the Book of Psalms, including only the Epistle of Jeremiah from the Apocrypha but adds that some also count the Book of Tobit and the Book of Judith, totaling 24 books to align with the number of Greek letters. Nonetheless, he cites Ecclesiasticus and the Wisdom of Solomon as 'prophets,' implying his belief in their canonicity ..."
R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament (Oxford University Press, 1913), 302.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.
User Comments
,