Spiritual gifts and visions in the early church

Prophecy, tongues, healing, and other gifts in the church, and visions and dreams. Part of The Holy Spirit.

Ascension of Isaiah 6.5Anonymous · late 1st–2nd century
Ascension of Isaiah 6.10Anonymous · late 1st–2nd century
Epistle of Barnabas 1.2Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · The author rejoices in the spiritual gifts of his readers.
Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 11.1 (43.1)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · A false prophet sits before the believers.
Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 11.5 (43.5)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · A true spirit is not consulted like an oracle; it speaks of itself.
Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 11.8 (43.8)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The true prophet is humble, answers no private questions, and speaks when God wills.
Shepherd of Hermas, Mandate 11.12 (43.12)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The false prophet seeks honor, lives in luxury, and prophesies for pay.
Acts of John 106Anonymous · ca. 150–200 · On his last Lord's day John reminds the brothers of all the Lord has given them and urges them not to grieve him.
Dialogue with Trypho 39.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · God delays judgment because people are still becoming disciples, receiving spiritual gifts.
Dialogue with Trypho 39.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Psalm 68 foretells the gifts of the ascended Christ.
Dialogue with Trypho 82.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Prophetic gifts continue in the church, as do false teachers, as Christ foretold.
Dialogue with Trypho 87.5Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · The gifts, having ceased in Israel, are now given by Christ to believers.
Dialogue with Trypho 87.6Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Psalm 68 and Joel 2 foretold the outpouring of gifts.
Dialogue with Trypho 88.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Women and men in the church have spiritual gifts; Christ did not lack power, as the Magi's worship shows.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 5.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · In a vision Polycarp saw his pillow on fire and knew he would be burned alive.
Against Heresies 4.20.6Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The prophets saw God in figures, through the Spirit’s gifts, the Lord’s coming, and the Father’s glories; God is invisible in his nature but known through his Word.
Against Heresies 5.6.1Irenaeus of Lyons · ca. 180–190 · The perfect man is body and soul receiving the Spirit of God; Paul prays that spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless, because all three are to be saved together.
Excerpts from Theodotus 24.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · The Valentinians say the prophetic Spirit is now poured out on the whole church, which performs healings and prophecies.
Miscellanies 4.21.132Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · God gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers to build up the church toward the perfect man, Christ's fullness; we must strive for perfection in the flesh; the one Spirit distributes varied gifts to each.
Apostolic Tradition 14Hippolytus of Rome · early third century
Letters to Virgins 1.11.10Anonymous · 3rd century · Use spiritual gifts humbly to build up the church.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 1Anonymous · 203 · The editor explains why new acts of the Spirit, such as recent martyrdoms and visions, should be written down and read like the ancient examples.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 2Anonymous · 203 · Perpetua, arrested as a catechumen, resists her father, is baptized and imprisoned, and in a vision climbs a ladder to heaven past a dragon.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 3Anonymous · 203 · Perpetua resists her father's pleading, confesses before Hilarianus and is condemned to the beasts, and in two visions sees her dead brother Dinocrates relieved through her prayer.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 4Anonymous · 203 · In her last vision Perpetua, made a man, wrestles and defeats an Egyptian in the arena and understands that her fight is against the devil.
The Passion of Perpetua and Felicity 5Anonymous · 203 · Saturus's own record of his vision: carried by angels to a heavenly garden and to the throne of God, the martyrs are asked by their quarreling bishop and presbyter to reconcile them.
Against Marcion 4.22Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The Transfiguration, where Christ appears in glory with Moses and Elijah and the Father's voice commands “hear him,” shows that Christ is the one foretold by the Creator's law and prophets, not their destroyer.
Against Marcion 5.8Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · Paul's teaching on headship, the veil, the Lord's Supper, and above all the spiritual gifts matches Isaiah's prophecy of the Spirit resting on Christ and Joel's promise, so the gifts belong to the Creator; Marcion's church cannot produce them.
Against Marcion 5.15Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · In 1 Thessalonians the Jews' guilt for killing both the prophets and the Lord, the call to holiness in marriage, the rapture to meet the Lord, the command not to quench the Spirit, and the prayer for spirit, soul, and body all fit only the Creator.
On the Soul 9Tertullian · ca. 210 · The soul has dimensions, colour, and human shape, as a Christian prophetess saw in a vision; God's breath took on the form of Adam's body when it filled him.
On the Soul 45Tertullian · ca. 210 · In dreams the soul, restless while the body sleeps, is in a natural “ecstasy” like Adam's; dream deeds carry neither guilt nor merit.
On the Soul 46Tertullian · ca. 210 · Many true dreams are recorded in history, against Epicurus; but dreams at pagan oracles, like the oracles themselves, are the work of demons.
On the Soul 47Tertullian · ca. 210 · Dreams come from demons, from God (as he promised through the Spirit), from the soul itself, or from the nature of ecstasy.
On the Soul 48Tertullian · ca. 210 · Theories linking dreams to time, season, posture, or diet are unproven; but fasting, like Daniel's, commends the soul's ecstasy to God.
On the Soul 49Tertullian · ca. 210 · Infants dream too, and no nation is naturally without dreams; reports otherwise are false or the work of demons.
On First Principles 2.7.3Origen · ca. 220–230 (Rufinus's translation 398) · The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to each; some who misunderstood his title Paraclete compared him to base spirits and forbade marriage.
Eclogae on Exodus-Judges, column 573Origen · ca. 220-254 · Notes on Numbers 11–14: the name of the manna; the elders prophesied only once; the camp waited for Miriam; Joshua as a type of Christ; only the adults who sinned died in the desert.
Refutation of All Heresies 6.41.1Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Marcus was thought to prophesy and taught his disciples that, belonging to the perfect power, they could sin without danger.
Homilies on Exodus 3.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · God opens the mouths, ears, and eyes of the saints, as the devil opens the mouths of liars and heretics; only one who meets Moses on the mountain, in the law's spiritual sense, has his mouth opened by God.
Homilies on Exodus 13.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The materials are to be offered “from yourselves”: the gold of a believing heart, the silver of confession, and the bronze of voice, the gift of tongues and interpretation.
Homilies on Joshua 26.2Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · The stone knives are the word of God, which circumcises vices after baptism and is laid up in souls given wisdom and knowledge; its stone, not iron, shows it comes from Christ, not from rhetoric; the dismissal of the two and a half tribes figures the fathers’ final reward when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.
Homilies on Numbers 27.11Origen · ca. 238–250 (Rufinus's translation ca. 400–410) · Elim, with its twelve springs and seventy-two palms (the twelve and the seventy-two apostles), is the refreshment God gives after trials; Sin, “bush” and “temptation,” teaches the discernment of visions, a gift of the Holy Spirit.
On the Trinity 29Novatian · ca. 240–250 · The rule of faith next requires belief in the Holy Spirit, promised by the prophets and given by Christ, who adorns the church with gifts, gives the new birth in baptism, sanctifies believers, and guards the church's truth.
Letter to Africanus 12Origen · ca. 240–245 · Origen answers that prophets received revelation in several ways, as Jacob did by dreams, visions, and inspiration.
Against Celsus 1.48Origen · ca. 248 · The prophets' visions and Jesus' opened heavens are perceived by a spiritual "divine sense," not the bodily senses; and Jesus did not boast of his own baptismal vision, which John witnessed.
Against Celsus 6.13Origen · ca. 248 · Origen distinguishes human wisdom, a training for the soul, from divine wisdom, a gift of God given only to the mature, and ranks wisdom, knowledge, and faith as gifts of the Spirit.
Commentary on Matthew, Latin Series 122Origen · ca. 244–249 (Latin translation, 4th–5th century) · God turned Pilate's wife through a dream, so that she suffered in a dream rather than in life; whether she was converted God knows, though non-public writings say so; she may figure the Church of the Gentiles, freed from Pilate's rule by faith.
Commentary on Romans 1.12Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Visiting the brethren is apostolic only to give or receive spiritual gifts; marriage, wealth and power are gifts of God but not spiritual ones.
Commentary on Romans 1.13Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Origen resolves the hyperbaton and ellipsis of Rom 1:13–15; Paul's hindrance came from God's dispensation or from Satan; Paul gathers fruit from all as a branch of the true vine, and is debtor to all by the gifts of tongues, wisdom and patience.
Commentary on Romans 6.13Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Origen identifies the Spirit of God with the Spirit of Christ, explains what it is to have the Spirit of Christ, how the Spirit is received in various ways and increased by merit, and how the virtues that Christ is show his Spirit in us.
Commentary on Romans 9.2Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Speaking through grace converts hearers as eloquence does not; virtue is a measure that can be exceeded or fallen short of, as in false asceticism or heresy about Christ; each member of Christ's body has its own gift according to the measure of faith, and providence dispenses all according to merits gathered by free choice.
Commentary on Romans 9.3Origen · ca. 244–246 (Rufinus's translation ca. 405–406) · Gifts such as prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, presiding and mercy are given by grace according to the measure of faith, which is partly our work; prophecy in Paul's sense is edifying speech that we can strive for, and each gift must be exercised without exceeding its measure.
Letter 11.3Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · In a vision God rebuked the discordant prayers of the people; if the brothers prayed with one mind, the persecution would have ended.
Letter 11.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · Another vision, seen before the persecution, showed Christ grieving over neglected commands and the devil receiving power to catch the careless in his net.
Letter 16.4Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · God warns the church through visions and through boys who prophesy in ecstasy; if the presbyters persist, Cyprian will suspend them from offering the Eucharist.
Letter 66.9Cyprian of Carthage · 249/250–258 · If Puppianus repents, Cyprian will consult the Lord about receiving him; he cites a vision warning that those who disbelieve Christ in making a priest will believe him in avenging one, and leaves both letters to Christ's judgment.
Martyrdom of Pionius and Companions 2Anonymous · 250 (the text may be later) · Forewarned in a vision, Pionius and his companions put on chains and are arrested on Polycarp's day.
On Mortality 19Cyprian of Carthage · 252–253 · Cyprian tells of a dying fellow bishop who prayed for more time and was rebuked in a vision by a radiant young man: “You fear to suffer, you do not want to go out.”
Life of Cyprian 12Anonymous · ca. 258–265 · In exile at Curubis Cyprian had a vision in which a young man showed him, by gestures, that he would be sentenced to death and granted a delay of one day.
Passion of Marian and James 6Anonymous · 259 · Marian's vision: Cyprian seats him beside the heavenly judge and gives him water from a spring.
Passion of Marian and James 7Anonymous · 259 · James's earlier vision on the road: a radiant youth gives them purple belts.
Passion of Marian and James 8Anonymous · 259 · Aemilian's vision: his pagan brother questions him about the martyrs' rewards.
Passion of Marian and James 12Anonymous · 259 · The executions by the river; the martyrs see white horsemen and Marian prophesies vengeance.
5Anonymous · 259 · Renus's vision of the lamps.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 7Anonymous · 259 · Victor's vision of the shining boy who promises a glorious crown.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 8Anonymous · 259 · Quartillosia's vision of the cups of milk.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 11Anonymous · 259 · Montanus's vision of the stains of unreconciled discord; closing exhortation of the letter.
Passion of Montanus and Lucius 21Anonymous · 259 · Flavian's visions of Cyprian, of a heavenly messenger, and of Bishop Successus foretelling his martyrdom.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 8Anonymous · 4th century · A man who claims a gift of healing is not to be ordained until it is shown that his healings truly come from God.
Church History 2.3.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Agabus foretold a famine, and Paul and Barnabas were sent with relief.
Church History 3.31.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Acts mentions Philip the evangelist's four prophesying daughters at Caesarea.
Church History 4.15.10Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Three days before his arrest Polycarp dreamed his pillow burned and foretold that he would die by fire.
Church History 4.18.8Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Justin says prophetic gifts still flourished, ascribes Revelation to the apostle John, and accuses the Jews of cutting passages from Scripture.
Church History 5.7.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus lists exorcisms, prophecy, healings, and even resurrections in the church of his day.
Church History 5.7.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus: the church's gifts are countless and are used freely for the good of all.
Church History 5.7.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Irenaeus also reports prophecy, tongues, and other spiritual gifts in his day.
Church History 7.7.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · When a presbyter warned him against reading heresy, a vision from God encouraged him.
Church History 7.7.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · A voice told Dionysius to read everything and test it, as the saying “Be approved money-changers” urges.
Acta Archelai (Latin) 41Hegemonius · early to mid 4th century (Greek original) · Archelaus argues that the "perfect" Paul awaited is Christ at his coming in glory, when prophecy, tongues, and knowledge will be done away, and that Manes has done away nothing.
Martyrdom of Ignatius 7.2Anonymous · 4th–5th century (disputed) · The writers keep a night vigil and pray for assurance; in a short sleep they see Ignatius embracing them, praying for them, and standing beside the Lord.
Homilies 17.14Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Peter answers that a known prophet can be questioned, while apparitions and dreams may come from deceiving demons.
Homilies 17.15Anonymous · 4th century (reworking earlier material) · Simon claims only the righteous receive true dreams; Peter undertakes to prove that the ungodly also do.
Testament of Our Lord 1.47Anonymous · ca. 350–500
On the Workmanship of God 18.9Lactantius · ca. 303–305 · God gave dreaming for the sake of rest, but kept the power to teach man the future through dreams.
On the Workmanship of God 18.10Lactantius · ca. 303–305 · Histories record fulfilled dreams, and the prophets received revelations in dreams.
On the Workmanship of God 18.11Lactantius · ca. 303–305 · Some dreams are false and serve sleep; true ones are sent by God to warn of coming good or evil.
Preparation for the Gospel 9.29.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Ezekiel: Moses' dream of the throne on Sinai.
Preparation for the Gospel 9.29.6Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 313–324 · Raguel interprets the dream: Moses will lead and judge, and foresee.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 18.1Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · Eusebius turns to Constantine, who knows Christ's power by experience, through many visions and dreams.
Life of Constantine 1.29.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · That night Christ appeared to Constantine in a dream and told him to make a copy of the sign for battle.
Life of Constantine 1.47.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Other relatives' plots were also revealed to Constantine through visions.
Life of Constantine 1.47.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine often received divine visions foretelling the future.
Life of Constantine 2.6.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · A vision of Constantine's victorious troops appeared in Licinius's cities; in battle the standard of the cross brought victory wherever it was carried.
Letter 4Ammonas · ca. 340-360 · Ammonas prays that his sons may receive the discernment that Paul sought for his churches, and warns them against companions whose talk quenches the Spirit.
Catechetical Lecture 16.12Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The Spirit is called water because, like rain, he is one yet works in many ways in different people; but “spirit” in Scripture can also mean angels, the soul, wind, virtue or demons.
Catechetical Lecture 16.25Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · The gifts of Father, Son and Spirit are one; the Spirit who came on the seventy elders and on the absent Eldad and Medad shows that the gift is his, not Moses'.
Catechetical Lecture 17.16Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · At Pentecost the Spirit taught the apostles at once languages that scholars learn with difficulty over years.
Catechetical Lecture 17.17Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Pentecost reverses Babel: the confusion of tongues becomes a union of minds; the Spirit's nature is beyond explanation.
Catechetical Lecture 17.19Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Peter explains the apostles' "drunkenness" as the sober drunkenness of the Spirit foretold by Joel, poured out at the third hour by the crucified Christ.
Life of Antony 65Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357–360 · In a vision Antony was led up through the air, where hostile powers demanded an account of his life since he became a monk, but could prove nothing against him.
Life of Antony 82Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357–360 · Antony saw distant events in visions, including mules kicking at the Lord’s table, which foretold the Arian seizure of the churches; he promised that the church would be restored.
On the Trinity 8.29Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · Hilary quotes 1 Cor 12:4–10 and distinguishes four elements: Spirit, Lord, God, and the manifestation of the Spirit.
On the Trinity 8.30Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · The manifestation of the Spirit promised in Acts 1 is seen in the profitable gifts of 1 Cor 12.
On the Trinity 8.32Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · 1 Cor 12:12 shows that the varied gifts come from the one Lord Christ, whose body all believers form, and one Spirit divides them.
On the Trinity 8.34Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 356–360 · Paul's "one God the Father … and one Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor 8:6) states the church's faith in Father and Son without denying the Son's birth.
Letters to Serapion 1.30Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 357–360 · Baptism and faith are one because the Triad is one; calling the Spirit a creature would make two baptisms, while Paul shows that every gift comes from the Father through the Son in the Spirit.
Letters 210, 211Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil answers the leading men of Neocaesarea, who had been told he came to intrigue there: he came to rest at his childhood retreat, and the real issue is the revived Sabellianism of their leaders; then (Letter 211) he thanks Olympius for a cheering letter.
Letter 283Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil tells a woman that he can meet her only at the coming synod, interprets her dream as a call to care for the contemplation of the soul, and points her to the Scriptures and the Spirit's guidance.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 58Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's fifty-eighth rule: God's gifts cannot be bought; they are given by measure of faith for the common good, must be given freely, and grow or are lost according to how they are used.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 60Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's sixtieth rule: since the Spirit's gifts differ, each must be content with his gift and all must agree in Christ's love like members of one body.
On the Holy Spirit 9Didymus the Blind · Greek ca. 360-390; Latin 387-391 · The one Holy Spirit is called by the names of many gifts according to his workings, as Stephen, full of the Spirit, had faith, wisdom, grace and power.
On the Holy Spirit 10Didymus the Blind · Greek ca. 360-390; Latin 387-391 · Christ's promise that the Spirit will give the disciples words shows that wisdom and every spiritual blessing are contained in the Holy Spirit.
On the Holy Spirit 11Didymus the Blind · Greek ca. 360-390; Latin 387-391 · The Spirit is the source of righteousness, peace and joy, is given and poured out by God on all flesh, and the language of pouring out fits only what is shared, not a creature.
On the Holy Spirit 22Didymus the Blind · Greek ca. 360-390; Latin 387-391 · The Spirit is wisdom and truth by nature, one in substance with the Son and the Father; as the Son is God's image, the Spirit is God's seal and distributes his gifts.
Tractates on the Psalms 64.6Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The good things of God's house are the church's gifts and the unseen glory to come; the holy temple is the believer's body and also Christ's humanity, in which the fullness of the divinity dwells.
Tractates on the Psalms 64.13Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · God visited the earth, that is, humanity, and made it drunk and rich with spiritual gifts.
Tractates on the Psalms 64.15Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · The prophet prays that the streams of grace in the baptized be made to overflow; the first drops of the Spirit's gifts grow into streams and rivers.
Tractates on the Psalms 118.14.11Hilary of Poitiers · ca. 360–367 · Spiritual gifts must be used humbly: Paul was given a thorn lest he be proud, and Hezekiah lost his praise through pride.
Commentary on Ephesians 3.1Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Paul presents his authority as prisoner of Christ for the Gentiles, entrusted with the gospel by revelation, and Victorinus reflects that God may still make a Christian by revelation, though the lawful way is rebirth by water and the Spirit.
Commentary on Ephesians 3.3Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · The mystery was made known to Paul by revelation, which God may still grant to others, and Paul’s “prudence” is the knowledge that followed the revelation rather than the means of obtaining it.
Commentary on Ephesians 4.8Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · The quotation from Psalm 68 shows that the gifts are Christ’s, given after he led captivity captive, so believers should not envy one another’s gifts; the question of his descent and ascent is reserved for a separate book.
Commentary on Ephesians 4.11Marius Victorinus · ca. 360–363 · Among Christ’s gifts are prophets after Christ, who are not foretellers of his coming but those who, full of the Spirit, expound the divine teaching.
Oration 32.11Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory applies the principle of order to the Church: like the members of a body, its members have different ranks and gifts, shepherds and flock, by the one Spirit.
Oration 41.13Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · The Spirit worked in the angels, the patriarchs and prophets, and in the disciples in three stages, culminating at Pentecost, when he came essentially; Gregory explains “another Paraclete” and the tongues of fire, their division and sitting, and the upper room.
Oration 41.15Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory discusses whether the miracle of Pentecost was in the hearing or in the speaking, and prefers to read Acts 2:6 as the apostles themselves speaking in foreign languages.
Homilies 15.2Basil of Caesarea · ca. 363-378 · Father, Son and Spirit share one uncreated nature: the Son is the perfect image, having by nature all the Father has; the Spirit is holy by nature, one and undivided, and works every gift in the Church.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:3Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Confessing Jesus as Lord is the Spirit's gift, not a human favour; charisms belong to church offices by God's grace, not human merit.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The grace of a church office belongs to the order through the Spirit, not to the officeholder's merit.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:5–6Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · The same Spirit, Lord and God give the varied gifts, showing the one undivided work and nature of the Trinity.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Wisdom, knowledge and healing are gifts of the one Spirit.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:9–10Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Faith, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretation all come from one Spirit, whose work is the work of the one triune God.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:28Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Apostles, who are the bishops, head the church; prophets interpret Scripture or foretell; teachers instruct as in the synagogue; other gifts are distributed so that none has all.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:30Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · No one has every gift; God, the giver, is to be praised, just as baser metals are more useful than precious ones.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 12:31Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Spiritual gifts serve God's honour, not personal merit, as Christ's warning to wonder-workers shows; love is the better way, and miracles have ceased because good works now draw people to faith.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Speaking in tongues, even angelic ones, is God's work through a person, like a sounding instrument, and gives no merit without love.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 13:4–8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Love, which is God, surpasses every gift and lasts forever; partial gifts will end when perfection fills up what is lacking.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:1Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · After love, prophecy, which builds up the church, is preferred to tongues, which no one understands.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:4Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Prophesying, which means interpreting Scripture, builds up the church; tongues help others only when interpreted.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:7–8Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Like instruments with indistinct notes, uninterpreted tongues are useless in church.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:9Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Speech that conveys no meaning is speaking into the air; every language has its own meaning.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:22Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Tongues veil God's word from unbelievers, while prophecy serves believers.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:23Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Everyone speaking in tongues at once looks like madness to outsiders.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:26Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Each contributes songs, teaching, revelation, or interpreted tongues, all for building up the church.
Commentary on 1 Corinthians 14:27Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Two or three at most may speak in tongues, one at a time with interpretation, leaving time for exposition of Scripture.
Commentary on 1 Thessalonians 5:18–22Ambrosiaster · ca. 366–384 · Prophetic speech should not be silenced but tested against the words of the Lord and the apostles, since the world’s spirit mixes truth with error, as with the Montanist prophets.
On the Holy Spirit 16.37Basil of Caesarea · ca. 374–375 · Scripture shows the Spirit working together with the Father and the Son; Paul names the Spirit first only because we meet the giver of gifts first.
On the Holy Spirit 26.61Basil of Caesarea · ca. 374–375 · "In the Spirit" has many senses—as form in matter, sight in the eye, an art in the craftsman, reason in the soul, and parts in a whole—each showing the Spirit's work in believers.
Ancoratus 16.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The Spirit distributes gifts as he wills, showing his authority.
Ancoratus 70.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The Spirit is Spirit from Spirit, giver of gifts.
Ancoratus 72.7Epiphanius of Salamis · 374 · The one Spirit distributes many gifts.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.2.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Marcus is said to have a familiar spirit and to make women prophesy.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.2.8Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · When a woman says she cannot prophesy, he tells her to say anything.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.2.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Excited, the woman speaks nonsense.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.2.13Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · True prophecy is given by God, not commanded by Marcus.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 34.2.14Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · A man cannot command the prophetic Spirit.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.1.4Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The Phrygians are orthodox on the Trinity but split off over prophetic gifts.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.1.5Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · The church receives the true, tested spiritual gifts.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.1.6Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · John commands believers to test the spirits.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 48.8.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Epiphanius denies that later prophetic gifts differ in kind from earlier ones.
Apostolic Constitutions 6.5.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The Spirit and its gifts passed from Israel to the Gentile church.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.1.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Christ promised his believers spiritual gifts and signs.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.1.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · Not every believer works signs; the gift is given where it serves the salvation of unbelievers.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.1.9Anonymous · ca. 380 · Every believer has some spiritual gift.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.2.1Anonymous · ca. 380 · Faith itself is a gift; wonder-workers must not despise others, as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah and Daniel did not; clergy and laity depend on one another.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.2.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · Prophecy and exorcism do not make the ungodly holy, as Balaam and Caiaphas show.
On the Making of Man 13Gregory of Nyssa · 379 · Sleep restores the body by alternating with waking; yawning and dreams have physical causes, and ordinary dreams are confused echoes of waking life and bodily states, distinct from the divine revelations given to Joseph and Daniel.
Book of Heresies 78.1Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · Some claim that prophecy continues, though the prophets ended with John.
Book of Heresies 104.5Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · At Pentecost the Lord restored the gift of tongues.
Book of Heresies 104.6Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · Faith in Christ gives the angelic knowledge of tongues.
Book of Heresies 104.7Philastrius of Brescia · ca. 380s · Gentile believers too received the gift of tongues.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 9Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Wisdom, grace, and blessing are spiritual gifts; God's invisible things are known from creation.
Canons on the Letters of Paul 44Priscillian · ca. 380–400 · Spiritual gifts are distributed by the Spirit; each should remain in his calling and honour gospel workers.
Eleven Tractates 1.40Priscillian · ca. 380–385 · Paul allows all believers to prophesy; Priscillian asks the bishops to clear him of slander.
Exposition of Psalm 118 3.21.1Ambrose · ca. 386-397 · As the one Spirit gives many gifts, so the one Word is shared among many.
Letter 8.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Nebridius asks Augustine how heavenly powers send dreams to sleepers, since he cannot send dreams to a friend and the body itself seems to cause dreams.
Letter 94.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paulinus asks Augustine how angels and the blessed speak, whether “tongues of angels” means literal organs or kinds of speech.
Letter 158.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Evodius reports having seen departed monks in dreams whose words came true, and asks whether they were the dead themselves or another spirit.
Letter 158.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Dreams foretold the young man's death and then his father's, who died seven days after him; Evodius asks Augustine to explain such things.
Letter 159.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine cannot explain how visions occur, since he cannot even explain ordinary mental images; he refers Evodius to Book 12 of The Literal Meaning of Genesis.
Letter 159.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · In a second dream the youth showed Gennadius that he was seeing without his bodily eyes, teaching him that life and perception continue after death.
Letter 159.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Since no one can explain ordinary dream images, no one should pronounce confidently on rare visions; Augustine wishes he knew how to tell true visions from false.
Letter 162.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The workings of mental images are mysterious, especially in prophecy, where an angel "spoke in" the prophet, and in angelic appearances in dreams.
Homilies on Matthew 24.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Gifts and miracles do not save without a good life, since God has given them even to the unworthy; the one who does Christ’s words stands like a house on the rock, safe from all storms, while wickedness is weak even when it holds power.
Sermon 37.30Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Church surpasses the heresies by charity, the “more excellent way” without which tongues, miracles, alms, and even martyrdom profit nothing, and from which hangs the whole cluster of the Spirit’s fruit.
Sermon 90.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The wedding garment is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and unfeigned faith, without which tongues, prophecy, alms, and even martyrdom profit nothing.
Sermon 266.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · At Pentecost the Spirit filled the hundred and twenty, and each spoke in all tongues as a sign of the Church’s unity in all nations; the scoffers who called them drunk were later cut to the heart and received the same gift.
Sermon 267.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Pentecost recalls the coming of the Spirit, whom Christ sent from heaven after his glorification on the hundred and twenty; filled like new wineskins with new wine, they spoke in the tongues of all nations.
Sermon 267.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Spirit is still given, but no one now speaks all tongues because the sign is fulfilled: the small Church of one house that spoke all languages foretold the great Church that now speaks in all nations.
Sermon 269.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The tongues at Pentecost foretold that the Church would speak in all nations; no one now speaks all tongues because the sign is fulfilled in the Church’s worldwide unity, and those who refuse that unity have no answer.
Sermon 271.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Pentecost reverses Babel: the tongues foretold the Church gathering the nations into one body, so that schismatics who hate unity hear the readings to their judgment, while Catholics, established in the Church that speaks all tongues, have the Spirit.
Against Jovinianus 2.23Jerome · 393 · Jerome argues from Paul's teaching on gifts, the ranks of the Church, and the different glories of sun, moon, and stars that there will be degrees of reward among the saved.
Against Adimantus, a Disciple of Mani 28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 394 · Augustine answers the contrast between Isaiah's vision of God and Paul's “invisible King” by distinguishing bodily, spiritual (imaginative), and intellectual vision, and notes that Adimantus cut both texts short.
Historia monachorum, chapter 33Rufinus of Aquileia · Greek original ca. 394-395; Rufinus's Latin ca. 404-406 · John, a monk near Diolcos with a gift of consoling the sorrowful and of healing.
Life of Saint Martin 23Sulpicius Severus · ca. 396–397 · The false prophet Anatolius shows a shining robe supposedly given from heaven, but it vanishes as he is being dragged before Martin.
Confessions 13.23Augustine of Hippo · ca. 397–401 · The gifts of the Spirit are like sun, moon, and stars: wisdom for the mature, knowledge and other gifts for the weaker.
Against Faustus the Manichaean 21.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 398–400 · Augustine quotes in full Paul’s image of the body and its members, in which God is said to have arranged and tempered the body.
On the Trinity 15.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 399–419 · Scripture calls the Holy Spirit the Gift of God (John 4 and 7, Eph 4, Acts); he is given yet gives himself as God, and he is properly called love as the Spirit common to Father and Son, though not the only love in the Trinity.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Images seen in sleep or ecstasy are not distinguished from bodies until one returns to the senses; Augustine gives examples from his own dreams and a countryman's ecstasy, and compares the visions of Peter, John, Ezekiel, and Isaiah.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · What Paul saw was truly the third heaven, not a bodily sign or a dream image, for he carefully distinguishes what he knows from what he does not know.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Augustine takes his term “spiritual” vision from 1 Corinthians 14, where spirit, which receives signs and images, is distinguished from mind, which understands them.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Bodily vision reports to spiritual vision and spiritual to intellectual, as shown by Belshazzar's writing on the wall, interpreted by Daniel, and Peter's vision of the sheet, understood when Cornelius's men arrived.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Spiritual vision is distinguished from bodily vision while awake, but in fever, intense thought, ecstasy, or through the influence of another spirit its images can seem like bodies; meaningful images must be shown by some spirit.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Augustine leaves open how the soul comes to see prophetic images, but holds that images shown by a good spirit are God's gift, while a deceiving spirit can be discerned only by the gift of discernment of spirits.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Bodily and spiritual vision can be deceived, but intellectual vision cannot; mistaking images for bodies, as Peter did, does no harm so long as faith and understanding are not led astray.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.17Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Augustine reports cases known to him: demons revealing thoughts and distant events, a delirious man who foretold a presbyter's coming and a woman's death, and a boy in pain who saw visions of the blessed and the damned.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Augustine confesses ignorance of the causes of visions and divinations, compares them to dreams, and notes that people marvel at rare things while ignoring equally wonderful everyday ones.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Visions, like bodily changes, may arise from the body (sleep, fever, illness) or from a spirit; an evil spirit makes demoniacs and false prophets, a good spirit true prophets.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · When visions arise from the body, the body does not form them; a hindrance in the brain turns the soul's attention inward so that it forms or beholds images it cannot distinguish from bodies, unlike a hindrance in the eyes, as the blind show.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Whether a vision arises from the body or from a spirit, its content is of the same spiritual nature; Scripture shows that God works through dreams as well as waking visions.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.29Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Whatever the number of heavens others propose, Augustine knows only three kinds of vision—bodily, spiritual, intellectual—and confesses ignorance of the degrees within each.
Literal Commentary on Genesis 12.30Augustine of Hippo · ca. 401–415 · Within spiritual vision there are excellent, divine images shown by angels, compared with which ordinary dream images are as earth to heaven.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 6.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Spirit appeared as a dove and as fire to signify simplicity and fervor together, as in Stephen, who rebuked his persecutors fiercely yet prayed for them without bitterness; the divided tongues signify diversity, not schism.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 14.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · God gives the Spirit to men by measure, distributing different gifts among the members of one body, but to Christ he gives without measure.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 32.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The Spirit, though at work in the saints before, was not yet given in the new manner, with the tongues of all nations, until Christ was glorified in his resurrection.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 32.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · The baptized receive the Spirit without speaking in all tongues, because the Church spread through all nations now speaks them; those cut off from its unity lack the Spirit.
Homilies on the First Epistle of John 6.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 407 · Speaking in tongues was a sign for the first times; now the sign of having received the Spirit is love of the brothers and of the Church spread through the whole world.
Commentary on Jeremiah 4.59Jerome · ca. 414-419 · God condemns prophets who pass off their dreams as revelation; true prophetic dreams given to pagan kings served to make Joseph and Daniel known; there are such dreamers in the church today (Jer 23:25–27).
Commentary on Jeremiah 5.68Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Shemaiah, a false prophet in Babylon, writes to the priest Zephaniah demanding that Jeremiah be imprisoned like a madman for telling the exiles their stay would be long; so heretics accuse the orthodox of their own faults (Jer 29:24–29).
Apologetic Book 17.7Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Gifts are distributed by the Spirit.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.36.7Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Ambrose appears to Mascezel in a dream.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 32Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Paul did have all the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12, so the bishops rightly approved Pelagius's answer; yet not all graces are in any one member, as the image of the body shows.
On the Soul and Its Origin 3.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Augustine warns Victor against taking the name of the dead Rogatist bishop Vincentius and trusting a vision of him, which may be Satan disguised as an angel of light.
On the Soul and Its Origin 4.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Likenesses of bodies in dreams and prophetic visions, as in Revelation, are truthful signs, not bodies.
On Care for the Dead 12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–422 · Augustine explains that dead people seen in dreams asking for burial need not know of it, since such appearances may be worked by angels, and warns that some such visions deceive.
On Care for the Dead 13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–422 · Augustine gives two stories, a dead father who showed his son a receipt in a dream and his own image explaining Cicero to his former pupil Eulogius, to show that likenesses, not souls, appear in dreams.
On Care for the Dead 15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–422 · Augustine tells of Curma of Tullium, who in a deathlike trance saw the dead but also living people, including Augustine, which shows that such visions present likenesses rather than the persons themselves.
On Care for the Dead 20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–422 · Augustine does not know whether the martyrs help people by their own presence or whether God, hearing their prayers, helps through angels, and leaves the question to those with the gift of discerning spirits.
On Care for the Dead 21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 421–422 · Augustine tells how John the monk of Egypt appeared to a woman in a dream, and lists the questions he would have asked him about how martyrs and saints appear, ending content with Sirach's counsel not to seek what is too high.
The Conferences 2.1John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Moses begins his teaching on discernment, a gift of the Holy Spirit without which a monk stumbles as in the dark.
The Conferences 15.1John Cassian · ca. 426–429 · Nesteros explains three sources of healings: the holiness of saints, God’s working even through sinners for the faith of others, and demonic deception meant to discredit religion or puff up the healer.