Small fragments

Fragmenta minora · Μικρὰ ἀποσπάσματα

1.1Four sayings on righteousness: it fulfils all the commandments, human reason sees it only dimly, it is equal on every side, and God judges each according to his own disposition.
1.2Evil knows neither the good nor its own nature.
1.3A later writer, following Methodius, sees Adam, his son and Eve as an image of the Trinity: Adam unbegotten like the Father, the son begotten like the Son, and Eve proceeding like the Spirit.
1.4A quotation of Job 13:5: silence would be wisdom for Job's friends.

About this work

Author: Methodius of Olympus
Attribution: disputed · Four short Greek pieces printed by Bonwetsch among the 'fragments without closer identification' after the fragments on Job; they come from catenae and florilegia (Sacra Parallela, Anastasius Sinaita) and their attribution to Methodius is uncertain (no. 3 names Methodius in the third person). The two fragments headed 'From the discourse on martyrs' on the same pages are already published as On Martyrs 1-2.
Standing: Honoured by the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Honoured as a saint or in a church calendar by: Catholic, Orthodox.
Date: late 3rd cent. (disputed) (approximate) · Methodius died about 311.
Written at: Lycia (traditional) (disputed)
Language: Greek
Genre: commentary
Reference system: 1.N = Bonwetsch's unassigned fragments I-IV (GCS 27, pp. 520-521)
SBL abbreviation: Frag. min.Not yet checked
Clavis: CPG number not yet checked
Text from: G. Nathanael Bonwetsch, ed., Methodius, GCS 27 (Leipzig: Hinrichs, 1917), pp. 520-521 (Printed edition in the public domain; Tesseract OCR of a public-domain scan (Internet Archive))