Ignatius of Antioch — Epistle to the Trallians 11

Ignatius of Antioch · Epistle to the Trallians · c. 110

Flee, then, the evil offshoots that bear deadly fruit — if anyone tastes it, he dies at once. For these are not the Father’s planting. If they were, they would appear as branches of the cross, and their fruit would be incorruptible — the cross by which he calls you in his passion, as members of himself.

Greek

Φεύγετε οὖν τὰς κακὰς παραφυάδας τὰς γεννώσας καρπὸν θανατηφόρον, οὗ ἐὰν γεύσηταί Mt 15, 16 τις, παῤ αὐτὰ ἀποθνήσκει. οὗτοι γὰρ οὔκ εἰσιν φυτεία πατρός, 2, εἰ γὰρ ἦσαν, ἐφαίνοντο ἂν κλάδοι τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ ἦν ἂν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῶν ἄφθαρτος: δἰ οὗ ἐν τῷ πάθει αὐτοῦ προσκαλεῖταν ὑμᾶς ὄντας μέλη αὐτοῦ. οὐ δύναται οὖν κεφαλὴ χωρὶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνευ μελῶν, τοῦ θεοῦ ἕνωσιν ἐπαγγελλομένου, ὅ ἐστιν αὐτός.

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