Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume III/Ethical/On Prayer/We Must Be Free

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Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. III, Ethical, On Prayer
by Tertullian, translated by Sydney Thelwall
We Must Be Free
155659Ante-Nicene Fathers Vol. III, Ethical, On Prayer — We Must Be FreeSydney ThelwallTertullian

Chapter XII.—We Must Be Free Likewise from All Mental Perturbation.

Nor merely from anger, but altogether from all perturbation of mind, ought the exercise of prayer to be free, uttered from a spirit such as the Spirit unto whom it is sent. For a defiled spirit cannot be acknowledged by a holy Spirit,[1] nor a sad by a joyful,[2] nor a fettered by a free.[3] No one grants reception to his adversary: no one grants admittance except to his compeer.


Footnotes[edit]

  1. Eph. iv. 30.
  2. John xvii. 14; Rom. xiv. 17.
  3. Ps. li. 12.