1 Timothy 3:15

But if I tarry long, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Verse 14 Read Chapter 3 Verse 16

Ambrose of Milan

AD 397

Accordingly, as Scripture says, Jacob became rich by such means and reared a very good flock for Christ. He improved it with the title of faith and a diversity of virtues, the marks of a glorious name. And so he did not consider himself poor, for he was rich with the wealth of faith…. And it is no wonder that Jacob possessed peace, for he had set up a pillar and anointed it to God, and that pillar is the church. Paul calls that pillar “the bulwark of the truth.” That man anoints it who pours the ointment of faith upon Christ and of compassion upon the poor. .

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Therefore, beloved, with assured mind and steadfast heart, let us continue to live under so lofty a Head in so glorious a body, in which we are mutually members. Thus, even if my absence were as far as the most distant lands, we should be together in him, and we should never withdraw from the unity of his body. If we lived in one house, we should certainly be said to be together; how much more are we together when we are together in one body! Letters.

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Augustine of Hippo

AD 430

Honor the holy church as your mother. Love her, proclaim her the Jerusalem which is above, the holy city of God. She it is who, in this faith which you have heard, bears fruit and grows in the whole world, the church of the living God, the pillar and buttress of the truth. She tolerates the wicked in the communion of the sacraments, knowing that they are due to be separated from her at the end and withdrawing from them meanwhile in the dissimilarity of their morals.

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Basil the Great

AD 379

Every one of us, indeed, who is instructed in the Holy Scripture is the administrator of some one of those gifts which, according to the gospel, have been apportioned to us. In this great household of the church not only are there vessels of every kind—gold, silver, wooden and earthen—but also a great variety of vocational pursuits. The house of God, which is the church of the living God, has hunters, travelers, architects, builders, farmers, shepherds, athletes, soldiers.

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Cyril of Jerusalem

AD 386

“For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, my name is great among the nations.” It is of this holy Catholic church that Paul writes to Timothy…. He calls the church “the pillar and mainstay of the truth.”

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Fulgentius of Ruspe

AD 533

We know through the grace of God that the holy church is called a virgin, as the apostle says, “I betrothed you to one husband to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,” but in that one virgin herself, virgins in the plural are also named. For we read, “Virgins will be brought to the king after her.” Nor is there any doubt that there is one church which is spread throughout the whole world which is called by the apostle “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth.” Still this is one church in such a way that in it many are called churches.

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George Leo Haydock

AD 1849

The pillar and ground of the truth. By the promises of Christ to direct his Church by the infallible spirit of truth; (see John xvi. 7; Matthew xxviii. 20; (Witham)) and therefore, the Church of the living God can never uphold error, nor bring in corruptions, superstition, or idolatry. (Challoner) That the Church, the pillar and ground of truth, is to be conducted by the constant superintendence and guidance of the Holy Spirit into all truth to the consummation of days, every one whose mind is not strangely prejudiced may easily discover in various places of the inspired writings.

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Irenaeus of Lyons

AD 202

WE have learned from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. while the Church is scattered throughout all the world, and the "pillar and ground"

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Irenaeus of Lyons

AD 202

Such, then, are the first principles of the gospel. There is one God, the Maker of this universe; he who was also announced by the prophets and who by Moses set forth the dispensation of the law—principles which proclaim the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and ignore any other God or Father except him. So firm is the ground upon which these Gospels rest that the very heretics themselves bear witness to them, and, starting from these documents, each one of them endeavors to establish his own peculiar doctrine…. It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the church is scattered throughout all the world, and the “pillar and ground” of the church is the gospel and the spirit of life. Therefore, it is fitting that it should have four pillars, breathing out immortality on every side and vivifying all humanity afresh.

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John Chrysostom

AD 407

That you may know, he says, how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Not like that Jewish house. For it is this that maintains the faith and the preaching of the Word. For the truth is the pillar and the ground of the Church.

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The Apostolic Constitutions

AD 375

For there is no necessity that the women should be seen by the men; but only in the laying on of hands the bishop shall anoint her head, as the priests and kings were formerly anointed, not because those which are now baptized are ordained priests, but as being Christians, or anointed, from Christ the Anointed, "a royal priesthood, and an holy nation, the Church of God, the pillar and ground of the marriage-chamber"

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Victorinus of Pettau

AD 303

And abridging in a short space his announcement, he thus says to Timothy: "That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the Church of the living God."

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