Fathers

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What the Fathers say

1 Corinthians 5:7

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

"Purge out the old leaven," that is, this evil one. Not that he speaketh concerning this one only; rather he glances at others with him. For, "the old leaven" is not fornication only, but also sin of every kind. And he said not, "purge," but "purge out;" "cleanse with accuracy so that there be not so much as a remnant nor a shadow of that sort." In saying then, "purge out," he signifies that there was still iniquity among them. …

Homily on 1 Corinthians 15 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Purge out therefore this fornicator, or rather, drive out all other wicked persons as well (for by "old leaven" he means every kind of evil). In the Greek text it does not simply say "cleanse" (καθάρατε), but "purge out" (ἐκκαθάρατε), that is, cleanse completely, that you may be a new lump, having no admixture of evil. "Since you are unleavened," instead of: as you ought to be unleavened, that is, free from the old evil, which upon repentance proves to be both sour and bitter.

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗

Ignatius of Antioch

Let us not, therefore, be insensible to His kindness. For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be. For "if Thou, Lord, shalt mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" Let us therefore prove ourselves worthy of that name which we have received. …

Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians ↗

Western Saints

Gregory the Dialogist

Let its name be inquired into more carefully. Let the excellent preacher be consulted. Let us see what he declares concerning the estimation of Him. For he says: "For Christ our Passover has been sacrificed." If therefore Christ is the Passover, we must consider what the law says about the Passover, so that we may investigate more carefully whether these things seem to have been said about Christ.

Forty Gospel Homilies, Homily 22 ↗

Thomas Aquinas

Then when he says, Cleanse out the old leaven, he shows what should be done in the future: first he presents the teaching; secondly, he assigns reason (v.7). He says, therefore: Because a little leaven corrupts the whole lump, cleanse out the old leaven, i.e., cleanse yourselves by casting out from your midst the old leaven, i.e., the fornicator who returned to the old state of former corruption by sinning: "You are growing old in a foreign country, you are defiled with the dead" (Bar 3:10). …

Commentary on 1 Corinthians ↗

Hippolytus of Rome

And for this reason three seasons of the year prefigured the Saviour Himself, so that He should fulfil the mysteries prophesied of Him. In the Passover season, so as to exhibit Himself as one destined to be sacrificed like a sheep, and to prove Himself the true Paschal-lamb, even as the apostle says, "Even Christ," who is God, "our passover was sacrificed for us." And at Pentecost so as to presignify the kingdom of heaven as He Himself first ascended to heaven and brought man as a gift to God.

Fragments - Dogmatical and Historical ↗