Church fathers on predestination

Church fathers on predestination

Shepherd of Hermas (early 2nd century) - Irenaeus quotes it as scripture in 180.
They indeed have repentance in their power, if they repent quickly, but if they are slow in doing so, they shall die along with the former.

Justin Martyr (c. AD 160):
In the beginning, He made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing right, so that all men are without excuse before God.

It was God's desire for both angels and men, who were endowed with free will . . . that if they chose the things acceptable to Him, He would keep them free from death and from punishment. However, if they did evil, He would punish each as He sees fit.

Tatian (c. 160):
We were not created to die. Rather, we die by our own fault. Our free will has destroyed us. We who were free have become slaves. We have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God. We ourselves have manifested wickedness. But we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it.

Theophilus (c. 180):
If, on the other hand, he would turn to the things of death, disobeying God, he would himself be the cause of death to himself. For God made man free, and with power of himself.

Irenaeus (c. 180):
Those who believe, do His will agreeably to their own choice. Likewise, agreeably to their own choice, the disobedient do not consent to His doctrine. It is clear that His Father has made everyone in a like condition, each person having a choice of his own and a free understanding.

Clement of Alexandria (c. 195):
Each one of us who sins with his own free will, chooses punishment. So the blame lies with him who chooses. God is without blame.

Tertullian (c. 207):
I find, then, that man was constituted free by God. He was master of his own will and power. . . . For a law would not be imposed upon one who did not have it in his power to render that obedience which is due to law. Nor again, would the penalty of death be threatened against sin, if a contempt of the law were impossible to man in the liberty of his will. . . . Man is free, with a will either for obedience or resistance.

Origen (c. 225):
A soul is always in possession of free will--both when it is in the body and when it is outside of it.

Cyprian (c. 250):
The liberty of believing or of not believing is placed in free choice.

Methodius (c. 290):
Some persons decide that man is not possessed of free will. Rather, they assert that he is governed by the unavoidable necessities of fate and her unwritten commands. Such persons are guilty of impiety towards God Himself. For they make Him out to be the cause and author of human evils.