Epistula ad Philippenses

Polycarp

Polycarp. The Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1. Lake, Kirsopp, translator. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1912.

But the beginning of all evils is the love of[*](Exhortations to virtue) money. Knowing therefore that we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it, let us arm ourselves with the armour of righteousness, and let us first of all teach ourselves to walk in the commandment of the Lord;

next teach our wives to remain in the faith given to them, and in love and purity, tenderly loving their

husbands in all truth, and loving all others equally in all chastity, and to educate their children in the fear of God.

Let us teach the widows to be discreet in the faith of the Lord, praying ceaselessly for all men, being far from all slander, evil speaking, false witness, love of money, and all evil, knowing that they are an altar of God, and that all offerings are tested, and that nothing escapes him of reasonings or thoughts, or of the secret things of the heart.