Here is a quote from Augustine’s Tractates on John where he clearly affirmed that Jesus is the Angel of God who appeared throughout the Hebrew Bible as both God and God’s Angel/Messenger:

7. Lastly, what did those men who saw this miracle think? The men, says he, when they had seen the sign which He had done, said, This is indeed a prophet. Perhaps they still thought Christ to be a prophet for this reason, namely, that they were sitting on the grass. But He was the Lord of the prophets, the fulfiller of the prophets, the sanctifier of the prophets, but yet a prophet also: for it was said to Moses, I will raise up for them a prophet like you. Like, according to the flesh, but not according to the majesty. And that this promise of the Lord is to be understood concerning Christ Himself, is clearly expounded and read in the Acts of the Apostles. Acts 7:37 And the Lord says of Himself, A prophet is not without honor, except in his own country. John 4:44 The Lord is a prophet, and the Lord is God’s Word, and no prophet prophesies without the Word of God: the Word of God is with the prophets, and the Word of God is a prophet. The former times obtained prophets inspired and filled by the Word of God: we have obtained the very Word of God for our prophet. But Christ is in such manner a prophet, the Lord of prophets, as Christ IS AN ANGEL, the Lord of angels. For He is also called the Angel of great counsel. Nevertheless, what says the prophet elsewhere that not an ambassador, nor an angel, but Himself coming will save them; Isaiah 35:4 that is, He will not send an ambassador to save them, nor an angel, but Himself will come. Who will come? The Angel himself? Certainly not by an angel will He save them, except that He is so an angel, as also Lord of angels. For angels signify messengers. If Christ brought no message, He would not be called an angel: if Christ prophesied nothing, He would not be called a prophet. He has exhorted us to faith and to laying hold of eternal life; He has proclaimed something present, foretold something future because He proclaimed the present, thence He was an angel or messenger; because He foretold the future, thence He was a prophet; and that, as the Word of God He was made flesh, thence He was Lord of angels and of prophets. (Tractate 24 John 6:1-14; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Augustine not only affirmed that Christ appeared as the divine Angel of God in his prehuman existence, he also quoted the Greek version (commonly referred to as the Septuagint [LXX]) of Isaiah 9:6 to prove it:

“For a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder, and his name is called the Angel of great counsel (megales boules Angelos): for I will bring peace upon the princes, and health to him.”

Compare:

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” New International Version (NIV)

FURTHER READING

Ignatius of Antioch’s Proclamation of the Essential Deity of Christ

Justin Martyr’s Witness to Christ’s essential and eternal Deity

Revisiting Shabir Ally’s Distortion of Justin Martyr Pt. 1, Pt. 2

IRENAEUS AND THE DEITY OF CHRIST

Tertullian and the Doctrine of the Trinity

Origen’s Christology

Origen – Dialog with Heracleides

HILARY’S TRINITARIAN BELIEFS

In this post I will quote a few of the many early Christian witnesses that testify to the Church’s worship of both the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Some of these very citations also mention the explicit condemnation and prohibition against the worship of any and all created beings, such as the angels who are depicted as ministers appointed to serve believers, not the other way around. For the early Christians to, therefore, worship the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit along with the Father highlights the fact that the early Church did not view the Son and Spirit as creatures of God. All emphasis shall be mine  

ASCENSION OF ISAIAH

Isaiah said to Hezekiah the king, but not in the presence of Manasseh only did he say unto him: `As the Lord liveth, and the Spirit which speaketh in me liveth, all these commands and these words will be made of none effect by Manasseh thy son, and through the agency of his hands I shall depart mid the torture of my body. 1:7

And (the angels on the left were) not like unto the angels who stood on the right, but those who stood on the right had the greater glory, and they all praised with one voice, and there was a throne in the midst, and those who were out he left gave praise after them; but their voice was not such as the voice of those on the right, nor their praise like the praise of those. And I asked the angel who conducted me, and I said unto him: “To whom is this praise sent?” And he said unto me: “(it is sent) to the praise of (Him who sitteth in) the seventh heaven: to Him who rests in the holy world, and to His Beloved, whence I have been sent to thee. [Thither is it sent.]” And again, he made me to ascend to the second heaven. now the height of that heaven is the same as from the haven to the earth [and to the firmament]. And (I saw there, as) in the first heaven, angels on the right and on the left, and a throne in the midst, and the praise of the angels in the second heaven; and he who sat on the throne in the second heaven was more glorious than all (the rest). And there was great glory in the second heaven, and the praise also was not like the praise of those who were in the first heaven. And I fell on my face to worship him, but he angel who conducted me did not permit me, but said unto me: “Worship neither throne nor angel which belongs to the six heavens – for this cause I was sent to conduct thee – until I tell thee in the seventh heaven. For above all the heavens and their angels has thy throne been placed, and thy garments and thy crown which thou shalt see.” And I rejoiced with great joy, that those who love the Most High and His Beloved will afterwards ascend thither by the angel of the Holy Spirit. 7:15-23

And I said to the angel who conducted me: “What is this which I see, my Lord?” And he said: “I am not thy lord, but thy fellow servant.” 8:4-5

And he raised me up into the sixth heaven, and there were no (angels) on the left, nor a throne in the midst, but all had one appearance and their (power of) praise was equal. And (power) was given to me also, and I also praised along with them and that angel also, and our praise was like theirs. And there they all named the primal Father and His Beloved, the Christ, and the Holy Spirit, all with one voice. 8:16-18

And I saw a certain One standing, whose glory surpassed that of all, and His glory was great and wonderful. And after I had seen Him, all the righteous whom I had seen and also the angels whom I had seen came to Him. And Adam and Abel and Seth and all the righteous first drew near and worshipped Him, and they all praised Him with one voice, and I myself also gave praise with them, and my giving of praise was as theirs. And then all the angels drew nigh and worshipped and gave praise. And I was (again) transformed and became like an angel. And thereupon the angel who conducted me said to me: “Worship this One,” and I worshipped and praised. And the angel said unto me: “This is the Lord of all the praise-givings which thou hast seen.” And whilst he was still speaking, I saw another Glorious One who was like Him, and the righteous drew nigh and worshipped and praised, and I praised together with them. But my glory was not transformed into accordance with their form. And thereupon the angels drew near and worshipped Him. And I saw the Lord and the second angel, and they were standing. And the second whom I saw was on the left of my Lord. And I asked: “Who is this?” and he said unto me: “Worship Him, for He is the angel of the Holy Spirit, who speaketh in thee and the rest of the righteous.” And I saw the great glory, the eyes of my spirit being open, and I could not thereupon see, nor yet could the angel who was with me, nor all the angels whom I had seen worshipping my Lord. But I saw the righteous beholding with great power the glory of that One. And my Lord drew nigh to me and the angel of the Spirit and He said: “See how it is given to thee to see God, and on thy account power is given to the angel who is with thee.” And I saw how my Lord and the angel of the Spirit worshipped, and they both together praised God. And thereupon all the righteous drew near and worshipped. And the angels drew near and worshipped and all the angels praised. 9:27-42

AND thereupon I heard the voices and the giving of praise, which I had heard in each of the six heavens, ascending and being heard there: And all were being sent up to that Glorious One whose glory I could not behold. And I myself was hearing and beholding the praise (which was given) to Him. And the Lord and the angel of the Spirit were beholding all and hearing all. And all the praises which are sent up from the six heavens are not only heard, but seen. And I heard the angel who conducted me and he said: “This is the Most High of the high ones, dwelling in the holy world, and resting in His holy ones, who will be called by the Holy Spirit through the lips of the righteous the Father of the Lord.” And I heard the voice of the Most High, the Father of my Lord, saying to my Lord Christ who will be called Jesus: “Go forth and descent through all the heavens, and thou wilt descent to the firmament and that world: to the angel in Sheol thou wilt descend, but to Haguel thou wilt not go. And thou wilt become like unto the likeness of all who are in the five heavens. And thou wilt be careful to become like the form of the angels of the firmament [and the angels also who are in Sheol]. And none of the angels of that world shall know that Thou art with Me of the seven heavens and of their angels. And they shall not know that Thou art with Me, till with a loud voice I have called (to) the heavens, and their angels and their lights, (even) unto the sixth heaven, in order that you mayest judge and destroy the princes and angels and gods of that world, and the world that is dominated by them: For they have denied Me and said: “We alone are and there is none beside us.” And afterwards from the angels of death Thou wilt ascend to Thy place. And Thou wilt not be transformed in each heaven, but in glory wilt Thou ascend and sit on My right hand. And thereupon the princes and powers of that world will worship Thee.” These commands I heard the Great Glory giving to my Lord. And so I saw my Lord go forth from the seventh heaven into the sixth heaven. And the angel who conducted me [from this world was with me and] said unto me: “Understand, Isaiah, and see the transformation and descent of the Lord will appear.” And I saw, and when the angels saw Him, thereupon those in the sixth heaven praised and lauded Him; for He had not been transformed after the shape of the angels there, and they praised Him and I also praised with them. 10:1-19

AFTER this I saw, and the angel who spoke with me, who conducted me, said unto me: “Understand, Isaiah son of Amoz; for this purpose have I been sent from God.” And I indeed saw a woman of the family of David the prophet, named Mary, and Virgin, and she was espoused to a man named Joseph, a carpenter, and he also was of the seed and family of the righteous David of Bethlehem Judah. And he came into his lot. And when she was espoused, she was found with child, and Joseph the carpenter was desirous to put her away. But the angel of the Spirit appeared in this world, and after that Joseph did not put her away, but kept Mary and did not reveal this matter to any one. And he did not approach May, but kept her as a holy virgin, though with child. And he did not live with her for two months. And after two months of days while Joseph was in his house, and Mary his wife, but both alone. It came to pass that when they were alone that Mary straight-way looked with her eyes and saw a small babe, and she was astonished. And after she had been astonished, her womb was found as formerly before she had conceived. And when her husband Joseph said unto her: “What has astonished thee?” his eyes were opened and he saw the infant and praised God, because into his portion God had come. And a voice came to them: “Tell this vision to no one.” And the story regarding the infant was noised broad in Bethlehem. Some said: “The Virgin Mary hath borne a child, before she was married two months.” And many said: “She has not borne a child, nor has a midwife gone up (to her), nor have we heard the cries of (labour) pains.” And they were all blinded respecting Him and they all knew regarding Him, though they knew not whence He was. And they took Him, and went to Nazareth in Galilee. And I saw, O Hezekiah and Josab my son, and I declare to the other prophets also who are standing by, that (this) hath escaped all the heavens and all the princes and all the gods of this world. And I saw: In Nazareth He sucked the breast as a babe and as is customary in order that He might not be recognized. And when He had grown up he worked great signs and wonders in the land of Israel and of Jerusalem. And after this the adversary envied Him and roused the children of Israel against Him, not knowing who He was, and they delivered Him to the king, and crucified Him, and He descended to the angel (of Sheol). In Jerusalem indeed I saw Him being crucified on a tree: And likewise after the third day rise again and remain days. And the angel who conducted me said: “Understand, Isaiah”: and I saw when He sent out the Twelve Apostles and ascended. And I saw Him, and He was in the firmament, but He had not changed Himself into their form, and all the angels of the firmament and the Satans saw Him and they worshipped. And there was much sorrow there, while they said: “How did our Lord descend in our midst, and we perceived not the glory [which has been upon Him], which we see has been upon Him from the sixth heaven?” And He ascended into the second heaven, and He did not transform Himself, but all the angels who were on the right and on the left and the throne in the midst. Both worshipped Him and praised Him and said: “How did our Lord escape us whilst descending, and we perceived not?” And in like manner He ascended into the third heaven, and they praised and said in like manner. And in the fourth heaven and in the fifth also they said precisely after the same manner. But there was one glory, and from it He did not change Himself. And I saw when He ascended into the sixth heaven, and they worshipped and glorified Him. But in all the heavens the praise increased (in volume). And I saw how He ascended into the seventh heaven, and all the righteous and all the angels praised Him. And then I saw Him sit down on the right hand of that Great Glory whose glory I told you that I could not behold. And also the angel of the Holy Spirit I saw sitting on the left hand. 11:1-33 (The Ascension of Isaiah http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/ascension.html)

The phrase “the angel of the Holy Spirit” in certain instances seems to refer to the angel commissioned by the Spirit, whereas in other places it refers to the Holy Spirit himself. In those instances, the expression “the  angel OF the Spirit” should be understand as the Angel WHO IS the Spirit, i.e., the Holy Spirit is the Father’s Angel. And since an angel is a messenger, this means that the Spirit is being portrayed as God’s Messenger sent to relay God’s messages to his servants on earth.

JUSTIN MARTYR

In these next quotations, second century Christian apologist Justin Martyr sets out to prove to his Jewish interlocutors that Jesus Christ is none than the human enfleshment/incarnation of Jehovah God of Hosts who appeared all throughout the OT period.

Chapter 31. If Christ’s power be now so great, how much greater at the second advent!

Justin: But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be still following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be which shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the Son of man, so Daniel foretold, and His angels shall come with Him. These are the words:

‘I beheld till the thrones were set; and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool. His throne was like a fiery flame, His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The books were opened, and the judgment was set. I beheld then the voice of the great words which the horn speaks: and the beast was beat down, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. And the rest of the beasts were taken away from their dominion, and a period of life was given to the beasts until a season and time. I saw in the vision of the night, and, behold, one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven; and He came to the Ancient of days, and stood before Him. And they who stood by brought Him near; and there were given Him power and kingly honour, and all nations of the earth by their families, and all glory, serve Him. And His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not be taken away; and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. And my spirit was chilled within my frame, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and inquired the precise meaning of all these things. In answer he speaks to me, and showed me the judgment of the matters: These great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and shall not receive dominion for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I wished to know exactly about the fourth beast, which destroyed all [the others] and was very terrible, its teeth of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, made waste, and stamped the residue with its feet: also about the ten horns upon its head, and of the one which came up, by means of which three of the former fell. And that horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things; and its countenance excelled the rest. And I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and He gave judgment for the saints of the Most High. And the time came, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: There shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall prevail over all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall destroy and make it thoroughly waste. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them; and he shall surpass the first in evil deeds, and he shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall overthrow the rest of the saints of the Most High, and shall expect to change the seasons and the times. And it shall be delivered into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the great places of the kingdoms under the heavens, were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom: and all powers shall be subject to Him, and shall obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was possessed with a very great astonishment, and my speech was changed in me; yet I kept the matter in my heart.’ Daniel 7:9-28

Chapter 32. Trypho objecting that Christ is described as glorious by Daniel, Justin distinguishes two advents

Trypho: These and such like Scriptures, sir, compel us to wait for Him who, as Son of man, receives from the Ancient of days the everlasting kingdom. But this so-called Christ of yours was dishonourable and inglorious, so much so that the last curse contained in the law of God fell on him, for he was crucified.

Justin: If, sirs, it were not said by the Scriptures which I have already quoted, that His form was inglorious, and His generation not declared, and that for His death the rich would suffer death, and with His stripes we should be healed, and that He would be led away like a sheep; and if I had not explained that there would be two advents of His — one in which He was pierced by you; a second, when you shall know Him whom you have pierced, and your tribes shall mourn, each tribe by itself, the women apart, and the men apart — then I must have been speaking dubious and obscure things. But now, by means of the contents of those Scriptures esteemed holy and prophetic among you, I attempt to prove all [that I have adduced], in the hope that some one of you may be found to be of that remnant which has been left by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth for the eternal salvation. In order, therefore, that the matter inquired into may be plainer to you, I will mention to you other words also spoken by the blessed David, from which you will perceive that the Lord is called the Christ by the Holy Spirit of prophecy; and that the Lord, the Father of all, has brought Him again from the earth, setting Him at His own right hand, until He makes His enemies His footstool; which indeed happens from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, after He rose again from the dead, the times now running on to their consummation; and he whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time, and times, and an half, is even already at the door, about to speak blasphemous and daring things against the Most High. But you, being ignorant of how long he will have dominion, hold another opinion. For you interpret the ‘time’ as being a hundred years. But if this is so, the man of sin must, at the shortest, reign three hundred and fifty years, in order that we may compute that which is said by the holy Daniel —’and times’— to be two times only. All this I have said to you in digression, in order that you at length may be persuaded of what has been declared against you by God, that you are foolish sons; and of this, ‘Therefore, behold, I will proceed to take away this people, and shall take them away; and I will strip the wise of their wisdom, and will hide the understanding of their prudent men.’ Isaiah 29:14 and may cease to deceive yourselves and those who hear you, and may learn of us, who have been taught wisdom by the grace of Christ. The words, then, which were spoken by David, are these:

The Lord said to My Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Sion: rule also in the midst of Your enemies. With You shall be, in the day, the chief of Your power, in the beauties of Your saints. From the womb, before the morning star, have I begotten You. The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at Your right hand: He has crushed kings in the day of His wrath: He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill [with] the dead bodies. He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up the head.’

Chapter 33. Psalm 110 is not spoken of Hezekiah. He proves that Christ was first humble, then shall be glorious

Justin: And I am not ignorant that you venture to expound this psalm as if it referred to king Hezekiah; but that you are mistaken, I shall prove to you from these very words immediately. ‘The Lord has sworn, and will not repent,’ it is said; and, ‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek,’ with what follows and precedes. Not even you will venture to object that Hezekiah was either a priest, or is the everlasting priest of God; but that this is spoken of our Jesus, these expressions show. But your ears are shut up, and your hearts are made dull. For by this statement, ‘The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek,’ with an oath God has shown Him (on account of your unbelief) to be the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek; i.e., as Melchizedek was described by Moses as the priest of the Most High, and he was a priest of those who were in uncircumcision, and blessed the circumcised Abraham who brought him tithes, so God has shown that His everlasting Priest, called also by the Holy Spirit Lord, would be Priest of those in uncircumcision. Those too in circumcision who approach Him, that is, believing Him and seeking blessings from Him, He will both receive and bless. And that He shall be first humble as a man, and then exalted, these words at the end of the Psalm show: ‘He shall drink of the brook in the way,’ and then, ‘Therefore shall He lift up the head.’

Chapter 34. Nor does Psalm 72 apply to Solomon, whose faults Christians shudder at

Justin: Further, to persuade you that you have not understood anything of the Scriptures, I will remind you of another psalm, dictated to David by the Holy Spirit, which you say refers to Solomon, who was also your king. But it refers also to our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by the ambiguous forms of speech. For where it is said, ‘The law of the Lord is perfect,’ you do not understand it of the law which was to be after Moses, but of the law which was given by Moses, although God declared that He would establish a new law and a new covenant. And where it has been said, ‘O God, give Your judgment to the king,’ since Solomon was king, you say that the Psalm refers to him, although the words of the Psalm expressly proclaim that reference is made to the everlasting King, i.e., to Christ. For Christ is King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and captain, and stone, and a Son born, and first made subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and He is preached as having the everlasting kingdom: so I prove from all the Scriptures. But that you may perceive what I have said, I quote the words of the Psalm; they are these:

O God, give Your judgment to the king, and Your righteousness unto the king’s son, to judge Your people with righteousness, and Your poor with judgment. The mountains shall take up peace to the people, and the little hills righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the children of the needy, and shall abase the slanderer. He shall co-endure with the sun, and before the moon unto all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, as drops falling on the earth. In His days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace until the moon be taken away. And He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth. Ethiopians shall fall down before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall offer gifts; and all the kings of the earth shall worship Him, and all the nations shall serve Him: for He has delivered the poor from the man of power, and the needy that has no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy: He shall redeem their souls from usury and injustice, and His name shall be honourable before them. And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray continually for Him: they shall bless Him all the day. And there shall be a foundation on the earth, it shall be exalted on the tops of the mountains: His fruit shall be on Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shall be blessed forever. His name shall endure before the sun; and all tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him, all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things; and blessed be His glorious name for ever, and for ever and ever; and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, amen.

And at the close of this Psalm which I have quoted, it is written, ‘The hymns of David the son of Jesse are ended.’

Moreover, that Solomon was a renowned and great king, by whom the temple called that at Jerusalem was built, I know; but that none of those things mentioned in the Psalm happened to him, is evident. For neither did all kings worship him; nor did he reign to the ends of the earth; nor did his enemies, falling before him, lick the dust. Nay, also, I venture to repeat what is written in the book of Kings as committed by him, how through a woman’s influence he worshipped the idols of Sidon, which those of the Gentiles who know God, the Maker of all things through Jesus the crucified, do not venture to do, but abide every torture and vengeance even to the extremity of death, rather than worship idols, or eat meat offered to idols…

Chapter 36. He proves that Christ is called Lord of Hosts

Trypho: Let these things be so as you say— namely, that it was foretold Christ would suffer, and be called a stone; and after His first appearance, in which it had been announced He would suffer, would come in glory, and be Judge finally of all, and eternal King and Priest. Now show if this man be He of whom these prophecies were made.

Justin: As you wish, Trypho, I shall come to these proofs which you seek in the fitting place; but now you will permit me first to recount the prophecies, which I wish to do in order to prove that Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts, and Jacob, in parable by the Holy Spirit; and your interpreters, as God says, are foolish, since they say that reference is made to Solomon and not to Christ, when he bore the ark of testimony into the temple which he built. The Psalm of David is this:

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and all that dwell therein. He has founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who shall stand in His holy place? He that is clean of hands and pure of heart: who has not received his soul in vain, and has not sworn guilefully to his neighbour: he shall receive blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour. This is the generation of them that seek the Lord, that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, you rulers; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, you rulers; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.

Accordingly, it is shown that Solomon is not the Lord of hosts; but when our Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the rulers in heaven, under appointment of God, are commanded to open the gates of heaven, that He who is King of glory may enter in, and having ascended, may sit on the right hand of the Father until He make the enemies His footstool, as has been made manifest by another Psalm. For when the rulers of heaven saw Him of uncomely and dishonoured appearance, and inglorious, not recognising Him, they inquired, ‘Who is this King of glory?’ And the Holy Spirit, either from the person of His Father, or from His own person, answers them, ‘The Lord of hosts, He is this King of glory.’ For every one will confess that not one of those who presided over the gates of the temple at Jerusalem would venture to say concerning Solomon, though he was so glorious a king, or concerning the ark of testimony, ‘Who is this King of glory?’

Chapter 37. The same is proved from other Psalms

Justin: Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus made to Christ: ‘God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing to our God, sing: sing to our King, sing; for God is King of all the earth: sing with understanding. God has ruled over the nations. God sits upon His holy throne. The rulers of the nations were assembled along with the God of Abraham, for the strong ones of God are greatly exalted on the earth.’ And in the ninety-eighth Psalm, the Holy Spirit reproaches you, and predicts Him whom you do not wish to be king to be King and Lord, both of Samuel, and of Aaron, and of Moses, and, in short, of all the others. And the words of the Psalm are these:

The Lord has reigned, let the nations be angry: [it is] He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the nations. Let them confess Your great name, for it is fearful and holy, and the honour of the King loves judgment. You have prepared equity; judgment and righteousness have You performed in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship the footstool of His feet; for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They called (says the Scripture) on the Lord, and He heard them. In the pillar of the cloud He spoke to them; for they kept His testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them. O Lord our God, You heard them: O God, You were propitious to them, and [yet] taking vengeance on all their inventions. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.

Chapter 38. It is an annoyance to the Jew that Christ is said to be adored. Justin confirms it, however, from Psalm 45

Trypho: Sir, it were good for us if we obeyed our teachers, who laid down a law that we should have no intercourse with any of you, and that we should not have even any communication with you on these questions. For you utter many blasphemies, in that you seek to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, and ascended up to heaven, and comes again to earth, and ought to be worshipped.

Justin: I know that, as the word of God says, this great wisdom of God, the Maker of all things, and the Almighty, is hid from you. Wherefore, in sympathy with you, I am striving to the utmost that you may understand these matters which to you are paradoxical; but if not, that I myself may be innocent in the day of judgment. For you shall hear other words which appear still more paradoxical; but be not confounded, nay, rather remain still more zealous hearers and investigators, despising the tradition of your teachers, since they are convicted by the Holy Spirit of inability to perceive the truths taught by God, and of preferring to teach their own doctrines. Accordingly, in the forty-fourth [forty-fifth] Psalm, these words are in like manner referred to Christ:

My heart has brought forth a good matter; I tell my works to the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Fairer in beauty than the sons of men: grace is poured forth into Your lips: therefore has God blessed You forever. Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O mighty One. Press on in Your fairness and in Your beauty, and prosper and reign, because of truth, and of meekness, and of righteousness: and Your right hand shall instruct You marvellously. Your arrows are sharpened, O mighty One; the people shall fall under You; in the heart of the enemies of the King [the arrows are fixed]. Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness, and have hated iniquity; therefore your God has anointed You with the oil of gladness above Your fellows. [He has anointed You] with myrrh, and oil, and cassia, from Your garments; from the ivory palaces, whereby they made You glad. King’s daughters are in Your honour. The queen stood at Your right hand, clad in garments embroidered with gold. Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline your ear, and forget your people and the house of your father: and the King shall desire your beauty; because He is your Lord, they shall worship Him also. And the daughter of Tyre [shall be there] with gifts. The rich of the people shall entreat Your face. All the glory of the King’s daughter [is] within, clad in embroidered garments of needlework. The virgins that follow her shall be brought to the King; her neighbours shall be brought unto You: they shall be brought with joy and gladness: they shall be led into the King’s shrine. Instead of your fathers, your sons have been born: You shall appoint them rulers over all the earth. I shall remember Your name in every generation: therefore the people shall confess You for ever, and for ever and ever.’ (Dialogue With Trypho the Jew http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/01283.htm)

Remarkably, Justin cites Psalms 24, 45, 47, 72, 110, Isaiah 53 and Daniel 7 to prove the two natures of Christ, e.g., that Jesus is both Deity and Humanity, his two advents/comings, as well as his vicarious death, resurrection and ascension into heavenly glory!

ORIGEN

I conclude with the words of Origen.

Chapter 4

But since he says, in the next place, as if the Jews or Christians had answered regarding those who come down to visit the human race, that they were angels: But if you say that they are angels, what do you call them? he continues, Are they gods, or some other race of beings? and then again introduces us as if answering, Some other race of beings, and probably demons,— let us proceed to notice these remarks. For we indeed acknowledge that angels are ministering spirits, and we say that they are sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation; and that they ascend, bearing the supplications of men, to the purest of the heavenly places in the universe, or even to supercelestial regions purer still; and that they come down from these, conveying to each one, according to his deserts, something enjoined by God to be conferred by them upon those who are to be the recipients of His benefits. Having thus learned to call these beings angels from their employments, we find that because they are divine they are sometimes termed god in the sacred Scriptures, but not so that we are commanded to honour and worship in place of God those who minister to us, and bear to us His blessings. For every prayer, and supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving, is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living Word and God. And to the Word Himself shall we also pray and make intercessions, and offer thanksgivings and supplications to Him, if we have the capacity of distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of prayer.

Chapter 5

For to invoke angels without having obtained a knowledge of their nature greater than is possessed by men, would be contrary to reason. But, conformably to our hypothesis, let this knowledge of them, which is something wonderful and mysterious, be obtained. Then this knowledge, making known to us their nature, and the offices to which they are severally appointed, will not permit us to pray with confidence to any other than to the Supreme God, who is sufficient for all things, and that through our Saviour the Son, who is the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and everything else which the writings of God’s prophets and the apostles of Jesus entitle Him. And it is enough to secure that the holy angels of God be propitious to us, and that they do all things on our behalf, that our disposition of mind towards God should imitate as far as it is within the power of human nature the example of these holy angels, who again follow the example of their God; and that the conceptions which we entertain of His Son, the Word, so far as attainable by us, should not be opposed to the clearer conceptions of Him which the holy angels possess, but should daily approach these in clearness and distinctness. But because Celsus has not read our holy Scriptures he gives himself an answer as if it came from us, saying that we assert that the angels who come down from heaven to confer benefits on mankind are a different race from the gods, and adds that in all probability they would be called demons by us: not observing that the name demons is not a term of indifferent meaning like that of men, among whom some are good and some bad, nor yet a term of excellence like that of the gods, which is applied not to wicked demons, or to statutes, or to animals, but (by those who know divine things) to what is truly divine and blessed; whereas the term demons is always applied to those wicked powers, freed from the encumbrance of a grosser body, who lead men astray, and fill them with distractions and drag them down from God and supercelestial thoughts to things here below.

Chapter 11

But even this rational light itself ought not to be worshipped by him who beholds and understands the true light, by sharing in which these also are enlightened; nor by him who beholds God, the Father of the true light—of whom it has been said, God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. Those, indeed, who worship sun, moon, and stars because their light is visible and celestial, would not bow down to a spark of fire or a lamp upon earth, because they see the incomparable superiority of those objects which are deemed worthy of homage to the light of sparks and lamps. So those who understand that God is light, and who have apprehended that the Son of God is the true light which lights every man that comes into the world, and who comprehend also how He says, I am the light of the world, would not rationally offer worship to that which is, as it were, a spark in sun, moon, and stars, in comparison with God, who is light of the true light. Nor is it with a view to depreciate these great works of God’s creative power, or to call them, after the fashion of Anaxagoras, fiery masses, that we thus speak of sun, and moon, and stars; but because we perceive the inexpressible superiority of the divinity of God, and that of His only-begotten Son, which surpasses all other things. And being persuaded that the sun himself, and moon, and stars pray to the Supreme God through His only-begotten Son, we judge it improper to pray to those beings who themselves offer up prayers (to God), seeing even they themselves would prefer that we should send up our requests to the God to whom they pray, rather than send them downwards to themselves, or apportion our power of prayer between God and them. And here I may employ this illustration, as bearing upon this point: Our Lord and Saviour, hearing Himself on one occasion addressed as Good Master, referring him who used it to His own Father, said, Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God the Father. And since it was in accordance with sound reason that this should be said by the Son of His Father’s love, as being the image of the goodness of God, why should not the sun say with greater reason to those that bow down to him, Why do you worship me? for you will worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve; for it is He whom I and all who are with me serve and worship. And although one may not be so exalted (as the sun), nevertheless let such an one pray to the Word of God (who is able to heal him), and still more to His Father, who also to the righteous of former times sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Chapter 12

God accordingly, in His kindness, condescends to mankind, not in any local sense, but through His providence; while the Son of God, not only (when on earth), but at all times, is with His own disciples, fulfilling the promise, Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. And if a branch cannot bear fruit except it abide in the vine, it is evident that the disciples also of the Word, who are the rational branches of the Word’s true vine, cannot produce the fruits of virtue unless they abide in the true vine, the Christ of God, who is with us locally here below upon the earth, and who is with those who cleave to Him in all parts of the world, and is also in all places with those who do not know Him. Another is made manifest by that John who wrote the Gospel, when, speaking in the person of John the Baptist, he said, There stands one among you whom you know not; He it is who comes after me. And it is absurd, when He who fills heaven and earth, and who said, Do I not fill heaven and earth? Says the Lord, is with us, and near us (for I believe Him when He says, I am a God near at hand, and not afar off, says the Lord ) to seek to pray to sun or moon, or one of the stars, whose influence does not reach the whole of the world. But, to use the very words of Celsus, let it be granted that the sun, moon, and stars do foretell rain, and heat, and clouds, and thunders, why, then, if they really do foretell such great things, ought we not rather to do homage to God, whose servant they are in uttering these predictions, and show reverence to Him rather than His prophets? Let them predict, then, the approach of lightnings, and fruits, and all manner of productions, and let all such things be under their administration; yet we shall not on that account worship those who themselves offer worship, as we do not worship even Moses, and those prophets who came from God after him, and who predicted better things than rain, and heat, and clouds, and thunders, and lightnings, and fruits, and all sorts of productions visible to the senses. Nay, even if sun, and moon, and stars were able to prophesy better things than rain, not even then shall we worship them, but the Father of the prophecies which are in them, and the Word of God, their minister. But grant that they are His heralds, and truly messengers of heaven, why, even then ought we not to worship the God whom they only proclaim and announce, rather than those who are the heralds and messengers? (Against Celsus, Book V http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04165.htm)

Chapter 12

In what follows, some may imagine that he says something plausible against us. If, says he, these people worshipped one God alone, and no other, they would perhaps have some valid argument against the worship of others. But they pay excessive reverence to one who has but lately appeared among men, and they think it no offense against God if they worship also His servant. To this we reply, that if Celsus had known that saying, I and My Father are one, and the words used in prayer by the Son of God, As You and I are one, he would not have supposed that we worship any other besides Him who is the Supreme God. For, says He, My Father is in Me, and I in Him. And if any should from these words be afraid of our going over to the side of those who deny that the Father and the Son are two persons, let him weigh that passage, And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul, that he may understand the meaning of the saying, I and My Father are one. We worship one God, the Father and the Son, therefore, as we have explained; and our argument against the worship of other gods still continues valid. And we do not reverence beyond measure one who has but lately appeared, as though He did not exist before; for we believe Himself when He says, Before Abraham was, I am. Again He says, I am the truth; and surely none of us is so simple as to suppose that truth did not exist before the time when Christ appeared. We worship, therefore, the Father of truth, and the Son, who is the truth; and these, while they are two, considered as persons or subsistences, are one in unity of thought, in harmony and in identity of will. So entirely are they one, that he who has seen the Son, who is the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of His person, has seen in Him who is the image of God, God Himself.

Chapter 13

He further supposes, that because we join along with the worship of God the worship of His Son, it follows that, in our view, not only God, but also the servants of God, are to be worshipped. If he had meant this to apply to those who are truly the servants of God, after His only-begotten Son,— to Gabriel and Michael, and the other angels and archangels, and if he had said of these that they ought to be worshipped,— if also he had clearly defined the meaning of the word worship, and the duties of the worshippers,— we might perhaps have brought forward such thoughts as have occurred to us on so important a subject. But as he reckons among the servants of God the demons which are worshipped by the heathen, he cannot induce us, on the plea of consistency, to worship such as are declared by the word to be servants of the evil one, the prince of this world, who leads astray from God as many as he can. We decline, therefore, altogether to worship and serve those whom other men worship, for the reason that they are not servants of God. For if we had been taught to regard them as servants of the Most High, we would not have called them demons. Accordingly, we worship with all our power the one God, and His only Son, the Word and the Image of God, by prayers and supplications; and we offer our petitions to the God of the universe through His only-begotten Son. To the Son we first present them, and beseech Him, as the propitiation for our sins, and our High Priest, to offer our desires, and sacrifices, and prayers, to the Most High. Our faith, therefore, is directed to God through His Son, who strengthens it in us; and Celsus can never show that the Son of God is the cause of any sedition or disloyalty in the kingdom of God. We honour the Father when we admire His Son, the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and Righteousness, and all that He who is the Son of so great a Father is said in Scripture to be. So much on this point.

Chapter 26

And we are not to believe in demons, although Celsus urges us to do so; but if we are to obey God, we must die, or endure anything, sooner than obey demons. In the same way, we are not to propitiate demons; for it is impossible to propitiate beings that are wicked and that seek the injury of men. Besides, what are the laws in accordance with which Celsus would have us propitiate the demons? For if he means laws enacted in states, he must show that they are in agreement with the divine laws. But if that cannot be done, as the laws of many states are quite inconsistent with each other, these laws, therefore, must of necessity either be no laws at all in the proper sense of the word, or else the enactments of wicked men; and these we must not obey, for we must obey God rather than men. Away, then, with this counsel, which Celsus gives us, to offer prayer to demons: it is not to be listened to for a moment; for our duty is to pray to the Most High God alone, and to the Only-begotten, the First-born of the whole creation, and to ask Him as our High Priest to present the prayers which ascend to Him from us, to His God and our God, to His Father and the Father of those who direct their lives according to His word. And as we would have no desire to enjoy the favour of those men who wish us to follow their wicked lives, and who give us their favour only on condition that we choose nothing opposed to their wishes, because their favour would make us enemies of God, who cannot be pleased with those who have such men for their friends—in the same way those who are acquainted with the nature, the purposes, and the wickedness of demons, can never wish to obtain their favour. (Ibid., Book VIII http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04168.htm)

FURTHER READING

Justin Martyr’s Witness to Christ’s essential and eternal Deity

Revisiting Shabir Ally’s Distortion of Justin Martyr Pt. 1, Pt. 2

Did the Ante-Nicene Fathers Worship the Holy Spirit as God Almighty?

HOLY SPIRIT WORSHIPED AS GOD

The Quran claims that Muhammad was sent as a mercy unto mankind:

And We have sent you (O Muhammad) not but as a mercy for the ‘Alamin (mankind, jinns and all that exists). S. 21:107 Hilali-Khan

In this post I will quote the so-called authentic narratives proving the contrary. These ahadith will show how evil and merciless Muhammad was towards those who would dare oppose him. The reports are so explicit and clear that there will be no need for me to comment.

MUHAMMAD BRUTALLY TORTURES EIGHT MEN

The hadiths make it clear that Q. 5:33,

“The recompense of those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and do mischief in the land is only that they shall be killed or crucified or their hands and their feet be cut off on the opposite sides, or be exiled from the land. That is their disgrace in this world, and a great torment is theirs in the Hereafter.” Hilali-Khan

Was “revealed” to basically reprimand Muhammad for his brutality and murderous torture of eight men from the ‘Ukl/Uraina tribe:

Narrated Anas bin Malik:
A group of eight men from the tribe of ‘Ukil came to the Prophet and then they found the climate of Medina unsuitable for them. So, they said, “O Allah’s Apostle! Provide us with some milk.” Allah’s Apostle said, “I recommend that you should join the herd of camels.” So they went and drank the urine and the milk of the camels (as a medicine) till they became healthy and fat. Then they killed the shepherd and drove away the camels, and they became unbelievers after they were Muslims. When the Prophet was informed by a shouter for help, he sent some men in their pursuit, and before the sun rose high, they were brought, and he had their hands and feet cut off. Then he ordered for nails which were heated and passed over their eyes, and whey were left in the Harra (i.e. rocky land in Medina). They asked for water, and nobody provided them with water till they died (Abu Qilaba, a sub-narrator said, “They committed murder and theft and fought against Allah and His Apostle, and spread evil in the land.”) (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 52, Number 261 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=52&translator=1&start=0&number=261)

Narrated Anas bin Malik
A group of people from Ukl (or ‘Uraina) tribe–but I think he said that they were from ‘Ukl- came to Medina and (they became ill, so) the Prophet ordered them to go to the herd of (Milch) she- camels and told them to go out and drink the camels’ urine and milk (as a medicine). So they went and drank it, and when they became healthy, they killed the shepherd and drove away the camels. This news reached the Prophet early in the morning, so he sent (some) men in their pursuit and they were captured AND BROUGHT TO THE PROPHET before midday. He ordered to cut off their hands and legs and their eyes to be branded with heated iron pieces and they were thrown at Al-Harra, and when they asked for water to drink, they were not given water. (Abu Qilaba said, “Those were the people who committed theft and murder and reverted to disbelief after being believers (Muslims), and fought against Allah and His Apostle).” (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 8, Book 82, Number 797 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=82&translator=1&start=0&number=797)

Narrated Abu Qilaba:

Once ‘Umar bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz sat on his throne in the courtyard of his house so that the people might gather before him. Then he admitted them and (when they came in), he said, “What do you think of Al-Qasama?” They said, “We say that it is lawful to depend on Al-Qasama in Qisas, as the previous Muslim Caliphs carried out Qisas depending on it.” Then he said to me, “O Abu Qilaba! What do you say about it?” He let me appear before the people and I said, “O Chief of the Believers! You have the chiefs of the army staff and the nobles of the Arabs. If fifty of them testified that a married man had committed illegal sexual intercourse in Damascus but they had not seen him (doing so), would you stone him?” He said, “No.” I said, “If fifty of them testified that a man had committed theft in Hums, would you cut off his hand though they did not see him?” He replied, “No.” I said, “By Allah, Allah’s Apostle never killed anyone except in one of the following three situations: (1) A person who killed somebody unjustly, was killed (in Qisas,) (2) a married person who committed illegal sexual intercourse and (3) a man who fought against Allah and His Apostle and deserted Islam and became an apostate.” Then the people said, “Didn’t Anas bin Malik narrate that Allah’s Apostle cut off the hands of the thieves, branded their eyes and then, THREW THEM IN THE SUN?” I said, “I shall tell you the narration of Anas. Anas said: “Eight persons from the tribe of ‘Ukl came to Allah’s Apostle and gave the Pledge of allegiance for Islam (became Muslim). The climate of the place (Medina) did not suit them, so they became sick and complained about that to Allah’s Apostle. He said (to them), ‘Won’t you go out with the shepherd of our camels and drink of the camels’ milk and urine (as medicine)?’ They said, ‘Yes.’ So they went out and drank the camels’ milk and urine, and after they became healthy, they killed the shepherd of Allah’s Apostle and took away all the camels. This news reached Allah’s Apostle, so he sent (men) to follow their traces and they were captured and brought (to the Prophet). He then ordered to cut their hands and feet, and their eyes were branded with heated pieces of iron, AND THEN HE THREW THEM IN THE SUN TILL THEY DIED.” I said, “What can be worse than what those people did? They deserted Islam, committed murder and theft.”… (Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 9, Book 83, Number 37 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=83&translator=1&start=0&number=37)

Chapter 7. The Meaning Of The Saying Of Allah, The Mighty And Sublime: “The recompense Of Those Who Wage War Against Allah And His Messenger, And Do Mischief In the Land, Is Only That They Shall Be Killed, Or Crucified, Or Their Hands And Feet Be Cut Off From Opposite Sides, Or Be Exiled From The Land.” And Concerning Whom It Was Revealed, And Mentioning The Different Wordings Reported From Anas Bin Malik About That

4029. Anas bin Malik narrated that a group of eighty people from Ukl came to the Prophet, but the climate of Al-Madinah did not suit them and they fell sick. They complained about that to the Messenger of Allah and he said: “Why don’t you go out with our herdsmen and drink the milk and urine of the camels?” They said: “Yes (we will do that).” They went out and drank some of the (camels’) milk and urine, and they recovered. Then they killed the herdsmen of the Messenger of Allah, so he sent (men after them) and they caught them and brought them back. He had their hands and feet cut off and branded their eyes, and left them in the sun to die. (Sahih) (English Translation of Sunan An-Nasa’i – Compiled by Imam Hafiz Abu Abdur Rahman Ahmad bin Shu‘aib bin ‘Ali An-Nasa’i [Darussalam Publishers & Distributors, First Edition: January 2008], Ahadith edited & referenced by Hafiz Abu Tahir Zubair ‘Ali Za’i, translated by Nasiruddin al-Khattab (Canada), final review by Abu Khaliyl (USA), Volume 5, from hadith no. 3971 to 4987, 37. The Book of Fighting [The Prohibition of Bloodshed], pp. 44-45 https://sunnah.com/nasai:4024)

2578. Humaid on the authority of Anas b. Malik that people belonging to (the tribe of) Uraina came during the life-time of Allah’s Messenger. They disliked to stay at Madina due to unsuitable climate. He (the Holy Prophet) said, “If you were to go our camels (of Zakat), then drink their milk and urine.” They did that (and they recovered from their ailment). Then they deserted Allah’s Messenger and drove away his camels. Upon this, Allah’s Messenger despatched[sic] (some men) to chase them. They were brought (to the Holy Prophet) and HE cut off their hands and feet (of opposite sides) and drew out their eyes with a heated nail and deserted them in (the scorching sand of) Harra till they died. (Sunan Ibn-I-Majah, Imam Abdullah Muhammad B. Yazid Ibn-I-Maja Al-Qazwini, English version by Muhammad Tufail Ansari [Kazi Publications, 121-Zulqarnain Chambers, Gampat Road, Lahore Pakistan, first edition, 1995], Volume IV, pp. 26-27 https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:2578; bold and capital emphasis mine)

Killing Apostates and People who strive to cause Mischief.

Anas told that some people of ‘Ukl who had come to the Prophet and accepted Islam found Medina unhealthy, so he ordered them to go to the camels of the sadaqa and drink some of their urine and their milk. They did so and became well, after which they apostatised, killed the herdsmen and rove off the camels. So he sent people in pursuit of them, and when they were brought he had their hands and feet cut off and their eyes put out and left them to die without cauterizing them to stop the flow of blood. A version says nails were driven into their eyes. Another says he ordered nails to be heated and after having them blinded with them he had them thrown out on the harra, and although they begged for water they were left to die without being given any.

(Bukhari and Muslim) (Mishkat Al Masabih – English translation with explanatory notes, by Dr. James Robson, [Sh. Muhammad Ahsraf Publishers, Booksellers & Exporters, Lahore-Pakistan, Reprinted 1990], Volume I, Chapter V, Book XV.- Retaliation, pp. 752, 753 https://sunnah.com/mishkat:3539; bold emphasis mine)

1. Cf. Qur’an, v. 33, 64 (Ibid., p. 752; bold emphasis mine)

Narrated Abdullah ibn Umar:
Some people raided the camels of the Prophet, drove them off, and apostatised. They killed the herdsman of the Apostle of Allah who was a believer. He (the Prophet) sent (people) in pursuit of them and they were caught. He had their hands and feet cut off, and their eyes put out. The verse regarding fighting against Allah and His Prophet was then revealed. These were the people about whom Anas ibn Malik informed al-Hajjaj when he asked him. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38, Number 4356 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=38&translator=3&start=0&number=4356)

Narrated AbuzZinad: When the Apostle of Allah cut off (the hands and feet of) those who had stolen his camels and he had their eyes put out by fire (heated nails), ALLAH REPRIMANDED HIM on that (action), and Allah, the Exalted, revealed: “The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Apostle and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is execution or crucifixion.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Book 38, Number 4357 https://www.searchtruth.com/book_display.php?book=38&translator=3&start=0&number=4357)

MUHAMMAD EMPLOYS CATAPULTS AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Ibn Humayd–Salamah–Ibn Ishaq: When the defeated men of Thaqif came to al-Ta’if, they shut the gates of the city and made preparations for war. Neither ‘Urwah b. Mas’ud nor Ghaylan b. Salamah witnessed Hunayn or the siege of al-Ta’if [because] they were in Jurash learning the use of the testudo (al-dabbab and al-dubur) and the catapult (al-majaniq). (The History of al-Tabari:The Last Years of the Prophet, translated and annotated by Ismail K. Poonawala [State University of New York Press (SUNY), Albany, NY 1990], Volume IX (9), p. 20; bold emphasis mine)

… The Messenger of God besieged Thaqif and fought them bitterly. Both sides shot arrows at each other¹⁷⁰ until the day when the wall of al-Ta’if was stormed (shadkhah).¹⁷¹ [That day] a number of the Messenger of God’s companions went under a testudo and advanced up to the wall [to make a breach in it].¹⁷² Thaqif showered them with scraps of hot iron, so they came out from under [the testudo], and Thaqif shot them with arrows, killing some of them. The Messenger of God then ordered that the vineyards of Thaqif be cut down, and the men fell upon them, cutting them down.

170. Ibn Hisham (Sirah IV, 126) adds: The Messenger of God shot at them with catapults. A person whom I trust related to me that the Messenger of God was the first to use the catapult in Islam, as he employed it against the people of al-Ta’if…

172. Addition from Hisch, Ibn Ishaq, and Waqidi. The testudo and the catapult were brought by the Muslims, cf. Waqidi, Maghazi, III, 923, 927; Baladhuri, Ansab, I, 366, 367. (Ibid., 23; bold emphasis mine)

Al-Waqidi stated, “The Messenger of God then turned his attention to the inhabitants of al-Akhbiyya, and of al-Watih and al-Sulalim two forts of Abu al-Huqayq. These they defended strenuously, having been joined by all those who had been defeated from al-Natat to al-Shiqq. These joined with the rest in defending al-Qamus and al-Katiba – a very strong fortress – and in al-Watih and al-Sulalim. Ultimately they stopped looking down and the Messenger of God erected a catapult to use against them. (Ibn Kathir, The Life of the Prophet Muhammad: Al-Sira Al-Nabawiyya, translated by Professor Trevor Le Gassick, reviewed by Muneer Fareed [Garnet Publishing, 2000], Volume 3, pp. 269; bold emphasis mine)

Ibn Hisham stated that he also shot at them using catapults.

A trustworthy source related to me that the Prophet was the first in Islam to fire a catapult, using them against the people of al-Ta’if. (Ibid., pp. 472; bold emphasis mine)

Al-Waqidi quoted his elders similarly. It was his view that it was Salman al-Farsi who suggested using the catapult and that he himself operated it. It is said that he brought it forward, along with the two testudos. But God knows best. (Ibid., p. 473; bold emphasis mine)

An-Nizar was the most powerful fort, and the Jews came to the established conviction that it was too immune to be stormed, so they deemed it a safe place for their children and women. The Muslims, however, were not dismayed but dragged on the siege, but because standing at a commanding top, the fort was impregnable. The Jews inside were too cowardly to meet the Muslims in open fight but rather hurled a shower of arrows and stones on the attackers. Considering this situation, the Prophet ordered that catapults be used and these proved effective and caused cracks in the ramparts providing an easy access into the heart of the fort, where the Jews were put to rout and fled in all directions leaving behind their women and children…. When the Prophet, along with his army, moved to this part of Khaibar, Al-Katiba, he laid a heavy siege to it for fourteen days with the Jews barricading themselves inside their forts. When he was about to use the catapults, the Jews realized that they would perish, therefore, they asked for a negotiable peace treaty.” (Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri, Ar-Raheeq Al-Makhtum (The Sealed Nectar): Biography of the Noble Prophet Revised Edition [Darussalam Publications, January 2002], The Conquest of Khaibar, p. 438; bold emphasis mine)

“To be far from the arrow-range, the Muslims had to ascend to a higher location and camped on — i.e. to what is now called At-Ta’if Mosque.

“The Prophet set up a catapult and shelled the castle. Eventually a gap was made in the castle wall, through which a number of Muslims managed to pass into the castle, sheltered by a wooden tank, with the purpose of setting fire into it. Anyway, the enemy poured down molten hot iron on them. Affected by this the Muslims stepped out of the tank and were again exposed to arrow shooting and consequently some of them were killed.” (Ibid., The Third Stage, The Tai’f Campaign, p. 482; bold emphasis mine)

“The sixth rule of this command has to do with the procedure to be followed in charging and fighting with the enemy. During a siege of the enemy, the army commander may set up large and small catapults, for the Messenger of God attacked the Ta’if population with the ram. He may also demolish their houses over their heads, and set them on fire. If he deems it better to cut down their date palms and other trees to weaken them and make it easier to vanquish them by force, or to seek a truce, he should do so, but he may not cut them down if there is nothing to be gained by such an action. When God’s Messenger had the vineyards of the people of Ta’if cut down, he prompted their conversion to Islam. In his war with the Banu al-Nadir, he ordered a certain kind of palm tree known as the ‘yellow’, the pit of which could be seen through the bark, to be cut down. As it was dearer to them than a slave, they were heartbroken and grief-stricken and said to them, ‘You have cut down some palm trees, and burnt others.’ … When the Messenger of God did that to them, Muslims found it hard to accept this action, and said to him: ‘O, Messenger of God, are we going to be rewarded for the trees we have cut down?’ Then God, Most High is He, revealed the verse: ‘Whatever tender tress (lina) you cut down or left standing upon their roots, that was by God’s leave, that He might confound the transgressors’ (Qur’an 59:5). … He [the commander] has the right to dam their water and cut it off from them, EVEN IF THERE WERE WOMEN AND CHILDREN AMONG THEM, because that is one of the most effective means of defeating them both by force and by truce. If one of them, suffering from thirst, asks for water, the commander has the option to give him or not to, just as he has the choice of killing him or letting him be. Those of them he kills, he should only hide from view, but does not have to shroud them, for the Messenger of God ordered the dead of Badr to be thrown into a dump site, and their shrouding was not necessary. None of them however may be burned alive or dead; said the Messenger of God, ‘Do not torture God’s creatures with God’s torture.’ Abu Bakr burned some apostates, probably because he had not yet learned of this ordinance.” (Al-Mawardi, The Ordinances of Government (al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya w’al-Wilayat al-Diniyya), translated by Wafaa H. Wahba [Garnet Publishing Limited, 8 Southern Court, South Street Reading, RGI 4QS, UK: Paperback Edition, reprinted 2006], IV. On Appointing War Commanders, pp. 56-58: http://books.google.com/books?id=QbS28B08KcsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false; bold and capital emphasis mine)    

MURDERING PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO CONVERT

“The second category of rules of this command has to do with war management. The idolators in enemy territory are of two classes. One, those who have received the call to Islam but rejected it and turned way from it. The commander is faced in regard to them with two options from which to choose the one that is better for Muslims and more painful to the heathens; either to harass them day and night with killing and burning of their property, or to threaten them with war and array his troops against them. The other are those whom the call to Islam has not reached, who would be very few today on account of the victory the Almighty has accorded His Prophet’s mission, unless there be nations unknown to us beyond the Turks and Greeks we meet in eastern deserts and remote western areas. We are forbidden to launch surprise attacks on such people and kill them or burn their property, for we may not initiate action against them BEFORE INVITING THEM TO ISLAM, making the Prophet’s miracles known to them, and informing them of such arguments as would make them to respond favourably. Should they persist in their unbelief AFTER such evidence is shown them, HE SHOULD FIGHT THEM, for they are then from his standpoint in the same class as those who have received the call. As God, most Elevated is He, said: ‘Call unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and fair admonition, and reason with them in the best manner’ (Qur’an 16:125). ‘Call unto they Lord’s faith with wisdom’ may be interpreted either as ‘prophecy’ or ‘the Qur’an’.

“And ‘fair admonition’ may be understood in one of two ways: ‘gently’ through the Qur’an, according to al-Kalbi, or ‘by the commands and prohibitions contained in it’. ‘And reason with them in the best manner’ means that he must show them the truth and offer them proofs. Should he start by fighting them before calling them to believe in Islam or giving them warning by argument, thus killing them premeditatedly and without warning, he will owe them blood-money, which, according to the more correct view in the Shafi‘i school, is equal to that due to Muslims, although it has been suggested that it should be the same as the various amounts of compensation paid to the heathens according to their different beliefs. Abu Hanifa has, on the other hand, said: ‘There is no compensation for killing them, and their lives ARE TO BE TAKEN FREELY.’” (Al-Mawardi, The Ordinances of Government (al-Ahkam al-Sultaniyya w’al-Wilayat al-Diniyya), pp. 40-41; bold and capital emphasis mine)        

“A Muslim may kill all idolators in the enemy camp he can lay his hands on, whether they are actively engaged in fighting OR NOT. There is some disagreement, however, concerning the killing of their elderly and monks who dwell in convents and retreats. One of the two views held with regard to them states that they should not be killed unless they fight, for, like children, they are to be left in peace. The second states that they must be killed even if they do not take part in military action because they may offer counsel that is worse for Muslims than fighting itself. After all, Durayd ibn al-Simma was killed in the battle of Hawazin at Hunayn, ALTHOUGH HE WAS OVER A HUNDRED YEARS OLD; and the Prophet watched without objecting to his killing. He was killed while extemporizing (in the tawil metre)…

“Killing women and children is not permitted in war or otherwise so long as they do not fight, owing to the Prophet’s injunction against killing them. God’s Prophet has also forbidden the killing of servants and slaves. If women or children fight, they should be fought and killed, but face to face, never from behind. If enemy troops shield themselves behind their women and children as they are getting killed, killing the women and children should be avoided, UNLESS KILLING THEM IS NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT KILLING THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN. If, on the other hand, they shield themselves with Muslim captives, and they could not be killed without killing the captives, they should not be killed. If leaving them alone leads to their surrounding the Muslims, the latter should try their best to get rid of them, taking car not to kill intentionally a Muslim who is in their hands…” (Ibid., pp. 44-45; bold and capital emphasis mine)

“And most of the scholars of Medina allow burning of castles and vehicles (ships, carriages…) and their residents. Al-Thawri and Al-Awdha’ee have mentioned it. (Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari bi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 7, p. 271)

BURNING HOMOSEXUALS AND APOSTATES ALIVE

“The Salaf were divided in regards to burning: Umar, Ibn Abbas, and others opposed it completely, neither due to apostasy, while fighting, nor as a punishment (qasas). It was, however, allowed by Ali and Khalid ibn Walid.” (Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari bi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 13, p. 150)

“And what also indicates the permissibility of burning is the action of the Sahabah (Muhammad’s Companions). And indeed, the Prophet blinded the eyes of the Arniyeen with hot metal. And indeed Abu Bakr burned the aggressors with fire in the presence of the Sahabah. And Khalid ibn Walid burned also some apostates.

Homosexual men were burnt with fire by Caliphs: Abu Bakr, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abdullah ibn Zubair, and Hisham ibn Abdul-Malik. (SOURCE: Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyah, Rawdat al-Muhibbin, p. 506)

This prohibition on punishing anyone by burning with fire is general in application, but THE MAJORITY OF SCHOLARS made an exception in the case of burning with fire by way of retaliatory punishment (qisaas) and making the punishment fit the crime. If someone burns another person then it is permissible, according to this view, to punish him by burning him, by way of retaliatory punishment. 

They quoted as evidence for that the verses in which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):

“Then whoever transgresses the prohibition against you, you transgress likewise against him. And fear Allah, and know that Allah is with Al-Muttaqoon (the pious)”

[al-Baqarah 2:194]

“And if you punish (your enemy, O you believers in the Oneness of Allah), then punish them with the like of that with which you were afflicted. But if you endure patiently, verily, it is better for As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.)”

[an-Nahl 16:126]. 

The basic principle says that acting upon two sound texts that have not been abrogated is better than overlooking one of them. 

For more information, please see fatwa no. 147416 

Therefore THE MAJORITY OF FUQAHA’ think that it is permissible to burn with fire by way of retaliatory punishment. 

Ibn Mulaqqin said: 

One group of scholars said: Whoever burns is to be burnt. This is also the view OF MAALIK, THE SCHOLARS OF MADINAH, ASH-SHAAFA‘I and his companions, AHMAD and Ishaaq. 

End quote from at-Tawdeeh li Sharh al-Jaami‘ as-Saheeh (18/61) (Islam Question & Answer, No. 227776: Why did the Sahaabah use burning with fire as a punishment for some crimes? https://islamqa.info/en/answers/227776/why-did-the-sahaabah-use-burning-with-fire-as-a-punishment-for-some-crimes; bold and capital emphasis mine)

FURTHER READING

Muhammad and the Murder of Abu Afak

Muhammad and the Murder of Asma bint Marwan

The Deception and Murder of Kab al-Ashraf

Muhammad and the Death of Kinana

Muhammad and the Death of the Uraynians

Muhammad and the Killing of Apostates

“Kill those who Associate Partners (Mushrikun) Wherever You Find Them!”

Should Muslims Accept Peace or Not?

Fighting All People Until They Do What?

Compel them or Not?

Can They Disbelieve in the Last Day and be Safe?

In this post I will cite from some of the church fathers and apologists of the first four hundred years in relation to their view of Torah keeping, especially in regards to Jewish Christians who continued to observe the Mosaic Law. All emphasis mine.

IGNATIUS

Chapter 8. Caution against false doctrines

Be not deceived with strange doctrines, nor with old fables, which are unprofitable. For if we still live according to the Jewish law, we acknowledge that we have not received grace. For the divinest prophets lived according to Christ Jesus. On this account also they were persecuted, being inspired by His grace to fully convince the unbelieving that there is one God, who has manifested Himself by Jesus Christ His Son, who is His eternal Word, not proceeding forth from silence, and who in all things pleased Him that sent Him.

Chapter 9. Let us live with Christ

If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death — whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master — how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, having come, raised them from the dead. Matthew 27:52

Chapter 10. Beware of Judaizing

Let us not, therefore, be insensible to His kindness. For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be. Therefore, having become His disciples, let us learn to live according to the principles of Christianity. For whosoever is called by any other name besides this, is not of God. Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven, and be changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savour you shall be convicted. It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believes might be gathered together to God.

Chapter 11. I write these things to warn you

These things [I address to you], my beloved, not that I know any of you to be in such a state; [addicted to the error of Judaizing] but, as less than any of you, I desire to guard you beforehand, that you fall not upon the hooks of vain doctrine, but that you attain to full assurance in regard to the birth, and passion, and resurrection which took place in the time of the government of Pontius Pilate, being truly and certainly accomplished by Jesus Christ, who is our hope, 1 Timothy 1:1 from which may no one of you ever be turned aside. (Epistle to the Magnesians)

Chapter 5. Pray for me

My brethren, I am greatly enlarged in loving you; and rejoicing exceedingly [over you], I seek to secure your safety. Yet it is not I, but Jesus Christ, for whose sake being bound I fear the more, inasmuch as I am not yet perfect. But your prayer to God shall make me perfect, that I may attain to that portion which through mercy has been allotted me, while I flee to the Gospel as to the flesh of Jesus, and to the apostles as to the presbytery of the Church. And let us also love the prophets, because they too have proclaimed the Gospel, and placed their hope in Him, and waited for Him; in whom also believing, they were saved, through union to Jesus Christ, being holy men, worthy of love and admiration, having had witness borne to them by Jesus Christ, and being reckoned along with [us] in the Gospel of the common hope.

Chapter 6. Do not accept Judaism

But if any one preach the Jewish law unto you, listen not to him. For it is better to hearken to Christian doctrine from a man who has been circumcised, than to Judaism from one uncircumcised. But if either of such persons do not speak concerning Jesus Christ, they are in my judgment but as monuments and sepulchres of the dead, upon which are written only the names of men. Flee therefore the wicked devices and snares of the prince of this world, lest at any time being conquered by his artifices, grow weak in your love. But be all joined together with an undivided heart. And I thank my God that I have a good conscience in respect to you, and that no one has it in his power to boast, either privately or publicly, that I have burdened any one either in much or in little. And I wish for all among whom I have spoken, that they may not possess that for a testimony against them. (Epistle to the Philadelphians)

JUSTIN MARTYR

Chapter 45. Those who were righteous before and under the law shall be saved by Christ

Trypho: If I seem to interrupt these matters, which you say must be investigated, yet the question which I mean to put is urgent. Allow me first.

Justin: Ask whatever you please, as it occurs to you; and I shall endeavour, after questions and answers, to resume and complete the discourse.

Trypho: Tell me, then, shall those who lived according to the law given by Moses, live in the same manner with Jacob, Enoch, and Noah, in the resurrection of the dead, or not?

Justin: When I quoted, sir, the words spoken by Ezekiel, that ‘even if Noah and Daniel and Jacob were to beg sons and daughters, the request would not be granted them,’ but that each one, that is to say, shall be saved by his own righteousness, I said also, that those who regulated their lives by the law of Moses would in like manner be saved. For what in the law of Moses is naturally good, and pious, and righteous, and has been prescribed to be done by those who obey it; and what was appointed to be performed by reason of the hardness of the people’s hearts; was similarly recorded, and done also by those who were under the law. Since those who did that which is universally, naturally, and eternally good are pleasing to God, they shall be saved through this Christ in the resurrection equally with those righteous men who were before them, namely Noah, and Enoch, and Jacob, and whoever else there be, along with those who have known this Christ, Son of God, who was before the morning star and the moon, and submitted to become incarnate, and be born of this virgin of the family of David, in order that, by this dispensation, the serpent that sinned from the beginning, and the angels like him, may be destroyed, and that death may be contemned, and for ever quit, at the second coming of the Christ Himself, those who believe in Him and live acceptably — and be no more: when some are sent to be punished unceasingly into judgment and condemnation of fire; but others shall exist in freedom from suffering, from corruption, and from grief, and in immortality.

Chapter 46. Trypho asks whether a man who keeps the law even now will be saved. Justin proves that it contributes nothing to righteousness

Trypho: But if some, even now, wish to live in the observance of the institutions given by Moses, and yet believe in this Jesus who was crucified, recognising Him to be the Christ of God, and that it is given to Him to be absolute Judge of all, and that His is the everlasting kingdom, can they also be saved?

Justin: Let us consider that also together, whether one may now observe all the Mosaic institutions.

Trypho: No. For we know that, as you said, it is not possible either anywhere to sacrifice the lamb of the passover, or to offer the goats ordered for the fast; or, in short, [to present] all the other offerings.

Justin: Tell [me] then yourself, I pray, some things which can be observed; for you will be persuaded that, though a man does not keep or has not performed the eternal decrees, he may assuredly be saved.

Trypho: To keep the Sabbath, to be circumcised, to observe months, and to be washed if you touch anything prohibited by Moses, or after sexual intercourse.

Justin: Do you think that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, and Job, and all the rest before or after them equally righteous, also Sarah the wife of Abraham, Rebekah the wife of Isaac, Rachel the wife of Jacob, and Leah, and all the rest of them, until the mother of Moses the faithful servant, who observed none of these [statutes], will be saved?

Trypho: Were not Abraham and his descendants circumcised?

Justin: I know that Abraham and his descendants were circumcised. The reason why circumcision was given to them I stated at length in what has gone before; and if what has been said does not convince you, let us again search into the matter. But you are aware that, up to Moses, no one in fact who was righteous observed any of these rites at all of which we are talking, or received one commandment to observe, except that of circumcision, which began from Abraham.

Trypho: We know it, and admit that they are saved.

Justin: You perceive that God by Moses laid all such ordinances upon you on account of the hardness of your people’s hearts, in order that, by the large number of them, you might keep God continually, and in every action, before your eyes, and never begin to act unjustly or impiously. For He enjoined you to place around you [a fringe] of purple dye, Numbers 15:38 in order that you might not forget God; and He commanded you to wear a phylactery, Deuteronomy 6:6 certain characters, which indeed we consider holy, being engraved on very thin parchment; and by these means stirring you up to retain a constant remembrance of God: at the same time, however, convincing you, that in your hearts you have not even a faint remembrance of God’s worship. Yet not even so were you dissuaded from idolatry: for in the times of Elijah, when [God] recounted the number of those who had not bowed the knee to Baal, He said the number was seven thousand; and in Isaiah He rebukes you for having sacrificed your children to idols. But we, because we refuse to sacrifice to those to whom we were of old accustomed to sacrifice, undergo extreme penalties, and rejoice in death — believing that God will raise us up by His Christ, and will make us incorruptible, and undisturbed, and immortal; and we know that the ordinances imposed by reason of the hardness of your people’s hearts, contribute nothing to the performance of righteousness and of piety.

Chapter 47. Justin communicates with Christians who observe the law. Not a few Catholics do otherwise

Trypho: But if some one, knowing that this is so, after he recognises that this man is Christ, and has believed in and obeys Him, wishes, however, to observe these [institutions], will he be saved?

Justin: In my opinion, Trypho, such an one will be saved, if he does not strive in every way to persuade other men — I mean those Gentiles who have been circumcised from error by Christ, to observe the same things as himself, telling them that they will not be saved unless they do so. This you did yourself at the commencement of the discourse, when you declared that I would not be saved unless I observe these institutions.

Trypho: Why then have you said, ‘In my opinion, such an one will be saved,’ unless there are some who affirm that such will not be saved?

Justin: There are such people, Trypho, and these do not venture to have any intercourse with or to extend hospitality to such persons; but I do not agree with them. But if some, through weak-mindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given by Moses, from which they expect some virtue, but which we believe were appointed by reason of the hardness of the people’s hearts, along with their hope in this Christ, and [wish to perform] the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and piety, yet choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not inducing them either to be circumcised like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such ceremonies, then I hold that we ought to join ourselves to such, and associate with them in all things as kinsmen and brethren. But if, Trypho, some of your race, who say they believe in this Christ, compel those Gentiles who believe in this Christ to live in all respects according to the law given by Moses, or choose not to associate so intimately with them, I in like manner do not approve of them. But I believe that even those, who have been persuaded by them to observe the legal dispensation along with their confession of God in Christ, shall probably be saved. And I hold, further, that such as have confessed and known this man to be Christ, yet who have gone back from some cause to the legal dispensation, and have denied that this man is Christ, and have repented not before death, shall by no means be saved. Further, I hold that those of the seed of Abraham who live according to the law, and do not believe in this Christ before death, shall likewise not be saved, and especially those who have anathematized and do anathematize this very Christ in the synagogues, and everything by which they might obtain salvation and escape the vengeance of fire. For the goodness and the loving-kindness of God, and His boundless riches, hold righteous and sinless the man who, as Ezekiel tells, repents of sins; and reckons sinful, unrighteous, and impious the man who fails away from piety and righteousness to unrighteousness and ungodliness. Wherefore also our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘In whatsoever things I shall take you, in these I shall judge you.’” (Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, Chapters 31-47)

Chapter 48. Before the divinity of Christ is proved, he [Trypho] demands that it be settled that He is Christ

Trypho: We have heard what you think of these matters. Resume the discourse where you left off, and bring it to an end. For some of it appears to me to be paradoxical, and wholly incapable of proof. For when you say that this Christ existed as God before the ages, then that He submitted to be born and become man, yet that He is not man of man, this [assertion] appears to me to be not merely paradoxical, but also foolish.

Justin: I know that the statement does appear to be paradoxical, especially to those of your race, who are ever unwilling to understand or to perform the [requirements] of God, but [ready to perform] those of your teachers, as God Himself declares. Isaiah 29:13 Now assuredly, Trypho, [the proof] that this man is the Christ of God does not fail, though I be unable to prove that He existed formerly as Son of the Maker of all things, being God, and was born a man by the Virgin. But since I have certainly proved that this man is the Christ of God, whoever He be, even if I do not prove that He pre-existed, and submitted to be born a man of like passions with us, having a body, according to the Father’s will; in this last matter alone is it just to say that I have erred, and not to deny that He is the Christ, though it should appear that He was born man of men, and [nothing more] is proved [than this], that He has become Christ by election. For there are some, my friends, of our race, who admit that He is Christ, while holding Him to be man of men; with whom I do not agree, nor would I, even though most of those who have [now] the same opinions as myself should say so; since we were enjoined by Christ Himself to put no faith in human doctrines, but in those proclaimed by the blessed prophets and taught by Himself. (Ibid., Chapters 48-54)

ORIGEN

Chapter 60

If, however, it be necessary to express ourselves with precision in our answer to Celsus, who thinks that we hold the same opinions on the matters in question as do the Jews, we would say that we both agree that the books (of Scripture) were written by the Spirit of God, but that we do not agree about the meaning of their contents; for we do not regulate our lives like the Jews, because we are of opinion that the literal acceptation of the laws is not that which conveys the meaning of the legislation. And we maintain, that when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart, because the meaning of the law of Moses has been concealed from those who have not welcomed the way which is by Jesus Christ. But we know that if one turn to the Lord (for the Lord is that Spirit), the veil being taken away, he beholds, as in a mirror with unveiled face, the glory of the Lord in those thoughts which are concealed in their literal expression, and to his own glory becomes a participator of the divine glory; the term face being used figuratively for the understanding, as one would call it without a figure, in which is the face of the inner man, filled with light and glory, flowing from the true comprehension of the contents of the law.

Chapter 61

After the above remarks he proceeds as follows: Let no one suppose that I am ignorant that some of them will concede that their God is the same as that of the Jews, while others will maintain that he is a different one, to whom the latter is in opposition, and that it was from the former that the Son came. Now, if he imagine that the existence of numerous heresies among the Christians is a ground of accusation against Christianity, why, in a similar way, should it not be a ground of accusation against philosophy, that the various sects of philosophers differ from each other, not on small and indifferent points, but upon those of the highest importance? Nay, medicine also ought to be a subject of attack, on account of its many conflicting schools. Let it be admitted, then, that there are among us some who deny that our God is the same as that of the Jews: nevertheless, on that account those are not to be blamed who prove from the same Scriptures that one and the same Deity is the God of the Jews and of the Gentiles alike, as Paul, too, distinctly says, who was a convert from Judaism to Christianity, I thank my God, whom I serve from my forefathers with a pure conscience. And let it be admitted also, that there is a third class who call certain persons carnal, and others spiritual,— I think he here means the followers of Valentinus — yet what does this avail against us, who belong to the Church, and who make it an accusation against such as hold that certain natures are saved, and that others perish in consequence of their natural constitution? And let it be admitted further, that there are some who give themselves out as Gnostics, in the same way as those Epicureans who call themselves philosophers: yet neither will they who annihilate the doctrine of providence be deemed true philosophers, nor those true Christians who introduce monstrous inventions, which are disapproved of by those who are the disciples of Jesus. Let it be admitted, moreover, that there are some who accept Jesus, and who boast on that account of being Christians, and yet would regulate their lives, like the Jewish multitude, in accordance with the Jewish law — and these are the twofold sect of Ebionites, who either acknowledge with us that Jesus was born of a virgin, or deny this, and maintain that He was begotten like other human beings — what does that avail by way of charge against such as belong to the Church, and whom Celsus has styled those of the multitude? He adds, also, that certain of the Christians are believers in the Sibyl, having probably misunderstood some who blamed such as believed in the existence of a prophetic Sibyl, and termed those who held this belief Sibyllists. (Contra Celsus, BOOK V)

EUSEBIUS

Chapter 27. The Heresy of the Ebionites.

1. The evil demon, however, being unable to tear certain others from their allegiance to the Christ of God, yet found them susceptible in a different direction, and so brought them over to his own purposes. The ancients quite properly called these men Ebionites, because they held poor and mean opinions concerning Christ.

2. For they considered him a plain and common man, who was justified only because of his superior virtue, and who was the fruit of the intercourse of a man with Mary. In their opinion the observance of the ceremonial law was altogether necessary, on the ground that they could not be saved by faith in Christ alone and by a corresponding life.

3. There were others, however, besides them, that were of the same name, but avoided the strange and absurd beliefs of the former, and did not deny that the Lord was born of a virgin and of the Holy Spirit. But nevertheless, inasmuch as they also refused to acknowledge that he pre-existed, being God, Word, and Wisdom, they turned aside into the impiety of the former, especially when they, like them, endeavored to observe strictly the bodily worship of the law.

4. These men, moreover, thought that it was necessary to reject all the epistles of the apostle, whom they called an apostate from the law; and they used only the so-called Gospel according to the Hebrews and made small account of the rest.

5. The Sabbath and the rest of the discipline of the Jews they observed just like them, but at the same time, like us, they celebrated the Lord’s days as a memorial of the resurrection of the Saviour.

6. Wherefore, in consequence of such a course they received the name of Ebionites, which signified the poverty of their understanding. For this is the name by which a poor man is called among the Hebrews. (Ecclesiastical History, Book III)

The next set of citations are taken from Christian apologist Glenn Miller’s excellent article on the issue of the identity of the Ebionites/Nazarenes: Nazarenes/Ebionites the only true Christians?.

4. Epiphanius.

When we come to Epiphanius (born and raised in Palestine), we finally get a by-name mention of the Nazarenes. His Panarion (generally known as the Refutation of All Heresies) was written during the period 374-376. Panarion 29 is a rather extensive treatment of his sources and data on the Nazarenes, and the salient facts about them are listed below:

a. The use both the Old and New Testaments, without excluding any books known to Epiphanius (7,2):

“For they use not only the New Testament but also the Old, like the Jews. For the Legislation and the Prophets and the Scriptures, which are called the Bible by the Jews, are not rejected by them as they are by those mentioned above [Manicheans, Marcionites, Gnostics]. “

b. They have a good knowledge of Hebrew and read the OT and at least one gospel in that language (7,4; 9,4):

“They a good mastery of the Hebrew language. For the entire Law and the Prophets and what is called the Scriptures, I mention the poetical books, Kings, Chronicles and Ester and all the others, are read by them in Hebrew as in the case with the Jews, of course.”

“They have the entire Gospel of Matthew in Hebrew. It is carefully preserved by them in Hebrew letters.”

c. They believe in the resurrection of the dead (7,3):

“For they also accept the resurrection of the dead “

d. They believe that God is the creator of all things (7,3):

“…and that everything has its origin in God”

e. They believe in One God and His Son Jesus Christ (remember the patristic defn. of divine Son!) (7,3; 7,5):

“They proclaim one God and his Son Jesus Christ.”

“Only in this respect they differ from the Jews and Christians: with the Jews they do not agree because of their belief in Christ, with the Christians because they are trained in the Law, in circumcision, the Sabbath, and the other things.” (Note how significant this is–they did NOT differ from Christians in Christology! This demonstrates a High Christology on their part!).

f. They observe the Law of Moses (7,5; 5,4; 8,1ff)

“Only in this respect they differ from the Jews and Christians: with the Jews they do not agree because of their belief in Christ, with the Christians because they are trained in the Law, in circumcision, the Sabbath, and the other things.”

“By birth they are Jews and they dedicate themselves to the Law and submit to circumcision.”

g. They are hated by the Jews and are officially ostracized in the synagogue prayer–probably the birkat ha-minim (9,2-3):

“However, they are very much hated by the Jews. For not only the Jewish children cherish hate against them but the people also stand up in the morning, at noon, and in the evening, three times a day and they pronounce curses and maledictions over them when they say their prayers in the synagogues. Three times a day they say: ‘May God curse the Nazarenes.’ For they are more hostile against them because they proclaim as Jews that Jesus is the Christ.”

[Ray] Pritz summarizes the data from the most important section of Epiphanius (Panarion 29,7) [NT:NJC:44]:

“The data in this section present us with a body in every way ‘orthodox’ except for its adherence to the Law of Moses. If we remember that the Jewish Church of Jerusalem also kept the Law through the period covered by the books of Acts, then we have a picture of the earliest Jewish Christian community…The picture is not full, certainly, but what we are given in very way confirms the identity of the Nazarenes as the heirs of the earliest Jerusalem congregation.”

Thus, Epiphanius is our first source on the Nazarenes, and he describes them as decidedly orthodox in all matters (including the deity of Christ), except that of observance of Jewish customs.

5. Jerome

Jerome is one of our more important sources, especially since he quotes from Nazarene written works. Let’s look at his testimony about them first.

“They believe in Christ, the Son of God, born of Mary the Virgin, and they say about him that he suffered under Pontius Pilate and rose again” (Epis. To Augustine, 112,13)

From their commentary on Isaiah at 29.17-21, the Nazarenes accuse the Scribes and Pharisees that they ‘made men sin against the Word of God in order that they should deny that Christ was the Son of God’

Also from the commentary, at 31.6-9: “The Nazarenes understand this passage in this way: O sons of Israel, who deny the Son of God with such hurtful resolution'”

Pritz summarizes [NT:NJC:55]:

“According to Jerome, then, Nazarene Christology is basically what we have noted previously, a belief in the divine origins and virgin birth of Jesus in accordance with accepted doctrines of the great Church. Here we also see an express avowal of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

In Jerome’s commentary on Isaiah, he gives 5 citations or comments from a Nazarene commentary on the book. These five selections preserve some interesting data about the group:

1. (on Isaiah 8.14): “The Nazarenes, who accept Christ in such a way that they do not cease to observe the old law, explain the two houses as the two families, viz. Of Shammai and Hillel, from whom originated the Scribes and the Pharisees.” [In this passage, Jerome does not even hint at censure of the Nazarenes, but rather uses them as a source. The data in the subsequent Nazarene discussion of the Shammai and Hillel show that they had significant antipathy toward the rabbis.]

2. (on Isaiah 8.20-21). “For the rest the Nazarenes explain the passage in this way: when the Scribes and Pharisees tell you to listen to them, men who do everything for the love of the belly and who hiss during their incantations in the way of magicians in order to deceive you, you must answer them like this…” [Note again the strong anti-rabbinical polemic, and the appeal to scripture–not halakah–for proof.]

3. (on Isaiah 9.1-4). “The Nazarenes, whose opinion I have set forth above, try to explain this passage in the following way: When Christ came and this preaching shone out, the land of Zebulon and Naphtali first of all were freed from the errors of the Scribes and Pharisees and he shook off their shoulders the very heavy yoke of the Jewish traditions. Later, however, the preaching became more dominant, that means the preaching was multiplied, through the Gospel of the apostle Paul who was the last of all the apostles. And the Gospel of Christ shone to the most distant tribes and the way of the whole sea. Finally the whole world, which earlier walked or sat in darkness and was imprisoned in the bonds of idolatry and death, has seen the clear light of the Gospel.”

This is a crucial passage and Pritz’ careful statement brings out the import and implications [NT:NJC:64-65]:

“Let us note once again the polemic against Scribes and Pharisees and the Jewish traditions. The two most significant things about this excerpt from the Nazarene work are its positive view of Paul, and the refusal to bind Gentile Christians to keeping the Law. We see here that the Nazarene view of Paul’s mission corresponded very closely to that of Paul himself (Gal 2.2-9). In none of the remains of Nazarene doctrine can one find a clear rejection of Paul or his mission or his message. This, of course, is quite the opposite of what we usually hear described as ‘Jewish Christian,’ which almost by definition opposes itself to Paul. What we have here, then, is an endorsement of Paul’s mission to the Gentiles. This spreading of the Gospel to the Gentiles was, according to the Nazarenes, a natural, even a glorious development. One is often led to expect a sort of bitterness on the part of the Jewish Christians that they were swamped, their position usurped by the Gentile Church. But here we find only a positive reaction to the flow events.”

Needless to say, this data about the pro-Pauline and high-Christology Nazarenes would not sit well with Jochen’s disputant!

4. (on Isaiah 29.20-21): “What we have understood to have been written about the devil and his angels, the Nazarenes believe to have been said against the Scribes and the Pharisees…who made men sin against the Word of God in order that they should deny that Christ was the Son of God” [We have referred to this passage earlier, in pointing out that the Nazarx held to a divine Sonship, of patristic content.]

5. (on Isaiah 31.6-9): “The Nazarenes understand this passage in this way: O Sons of Israel, who deny the Son of God with a most vicious opinion, turn to him and his apostles…” [Note the ‘Sonship’ Christology and the evangelistic appeal to their people.]

The data from Jerome is significant for many reasons, but not the least of which is that it contains the self-testimony of the Nazarenes. The excerpts from their Commentary on Isaiah show an incredibly ‘orthodox’, evangelistic, and universal outlook on God’s actions in the world. As such, the best data we have indicates that the Nazarene ‘sect’ was unquestionably mainstream ‘Christian’ and exalted Jesus as the pre-existent and absolutely unique Son of God (in the Patristic understanding).

6. Filaster

Filaster was a bishop who wrote his work (Book of Diverse Heresies) roughly at the same time of Epiphanius. He discusses 156 heresies or heretical teachers (some very borderline heresies, to be sure!), but omits the Nazarenes! Pritz points out this amazing fact, before analysing Filaster sources [NT:NJC:71]:

“His diversarum haereseon liber was written in 385…and covered 156 heresies or heretical teachings. The Jewish Christian Nazarene sect is not mentioned by Filaster. This fact naturally causes one to wonder why the Nazarenes were omitted from so extensive a work when Filaster went so far as to condemn even those who differed from the Church only in their belief that the stars occupied fixed positions in the heavens (as against the then-current teaching that God set them in place every evening).”

After analyzing Filaster’s sources [Hippolytus, drawing from Ireneaus, drawing from Justin and/or Theophilus of Antioch], Pritz comes to the following position [NT:NJC:75]:

“Where does all this leave us? In tracing Filaster’s literary heritage back to near its beginnings, we may at least hazard the suggestion that the earliest hersiographers did not include the Nazarenes for the simple reason that they did not consider them heretics. This, of course, was not true of the offshoot Ebionites, who even by the time of Irenaeus (and earlier Justin, who, however, does not mention them by name) had been recognized as heretics. If we extend this logic into the late fourth century, we arrive at this important conclusion: the lack of polemic against the Nazarenes until the fourth century does not show that they were a later phenomenon; rather, it shows that no one until Epiphanius considered them heretical enough to add them to older catalogues. The very existence of Filaster’s contemporary anti-heretical work with its omission of the Nazarenes in accord with his inherited tradition lends weight to the suggestion that Epiphanius is solely responsible for their inclusion in his own heresiography, and this despite the fact that he could not deny their ancient beginnings. While each author used the lists of his predecessors and added to them where he saw fit, no one until Epiphanius felt it necessary to include the Nazarenes, even though they had existed from the earliest times and their gospel was known.”

Unfortunately, this scenario changed with Augustine. He accepted the verdict of Epiphanius, and his authority swayed the rest of the church after that. The confusion of Nazarene and Ebionite in Epiphanius is still operative. So Pritz (NT:NJC:82]:

“The most important conclusion of this chapter is that the Nazarenes were not mentioned by earlier fathers not because they did not exist by rather because they were still generally considered to be acceptably orthodox. The history of the Nazarene sect must be clearly distinguished from that of the Ebionites. Once Epiphanius failed to do so, he introduced a confusion which continues to the present day.”

Summary of the data from the Church Fathers:

The Nazarene sect is a very orthodox group of believers. They hold to a very high Christology (i.e. virgin birth, pre-existence, more-than-man, divine sonship, deity of Christ). They have a high regard of Paul and the ministry to the Gentiles. They are both in polemic with and witnessing to, the Jewish people in mainline Palestine. They accept the Tanakh/OT and New Testament. They were not considered heretical until the mistake of Epiphanius (who confused them with the Ebionites).

FURTHER READING

EARLY CHURCH’S VIEW OF THE SABBATH DAY