Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Ephesians 4:5

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

Ye then who in the spiritual world have so great equality of privileges, whence is it that ye are high-minded? Is it that one is wealthy and another strong? How ridiculous must this be? For tell me, if the emperor some day were to take ten persons, and to array them all in purple, and seat them on the royal throne, and to bestow upon all the same honor, would any one of these, think ye, venture to reproach another, as being more wealthy or more illustrious than he? Surely never. …

Homily on Ephesians 11 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

For it is not so that you have a higher Lord, and he a lower one; that you are saved by faith, and he by works; that baptism sets you free, but not him.

Commentary on Ephesians ↗

Ignatius of Antioch

The Evangelists, too, when they declared that the one Father was "the only true God," did not omit what concerned our Lord, but wrote: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. …

Epistle of Pseudo-Ignatius to the Antiochians ↗

Western Saints

Ambrose of Milan

There are many kinds of baptisms, but one baptism, declares the Apostle. Why? There are baptisms of the Gentiles, but they are not true baptisms. They are washings, but they cannot be baptisms. The body is washed, but the guilt is not washed away; indeed, in that washing it is contracted. However, there were baptisms of the Jews, some excessive, some symbolic. And the symbol itself benefits us, because it is a messenger of truth.

On the Sacraments 2.1.2 ↗

Jerome

There is one Lord and one God, because the dominion of Father and Son is a single Godhead. The faith is said to be one because we believe similarly in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Baptism is one. We are all baptized in the same way in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are immersed three times so that the sacrament of the Trinity may be apparent.… There is one baptism in the Spirit, in water and in fire.

Commentary on Ephesians 4:5-6 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

After he has exhorted them to secure ecclesial unity, the Apostle offers the Ephesians, in this section, a glimpse of this unity's pattern. Since the Church is likened to a city, it is one and distinct, although this unity is not uncomposed but composed of different parts. The solidarity of any city demands the presence of four common elements: one governor, one law, the same symbols, and a common goal. The Apostle affirms that these are present in the Church also. …

Commentary on Ephesians ↗