The Shepherd of Hermas

Hermas

Hermas. The Apostolic Fathers with an English translation by Kirsopp Lake. In Two Volumes. Vol. II. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1913

Do you not think, said he, that these things are good? Yes, sir, said I, for what is better than these things? Walk then, said he, in them, and do not refrain from them, and you shall live to God.

Keep therefore this commandment. If you do good, and do not refrain from it, you shall live to God, and all who act so shall live to God. And again, if you do not do that which is wicked, and refrain from it, you shall live to God, and all shall live to God who keep these commandments and walk in them.

And he said to me: Remove from yourself[*](Against double-mindedness) double-mindedness, and be not at all double-minded about asking anything from God, saying in yourself. How can I ask anything from the Lord and receive it after having sinned so greatly against him?

Do not have these thoughts but turn to the Lord with all your heart, and ask from him without doubting, and you shall know his great mercifulness, that he will not desert you, but will fulfil the petition of your soul.

For God is not as men who

bear malice, but is himself without malice, and has mercy on that which he made.