These are the written testimony of the church fathers before or a little after the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. They teach that the healings and deliverances (exorcisms) were for their days, after the apostles died.
As noted in Part 1, these sample excerpts seem to assume ongoing manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit and represent many churches. They are not one-offs nor restricted to the elders, bishops, and other leaders recorded here.
The universality of these gifts was a blessing because people needed help in the middle of paganism and the worship of false deities. whom the church leaders understood to be demons. Possession was real. Medical treatments were primitive. And the kingdom of God advanced through the gifts. They apply to our world today, for the same reasons. They are expressions of the mercy and grace and love of God for needy, hurting people.
All bold font has been added. Links have been provided to identify who the leaders are, in more detail.
Lets begin without a longer introduction.
JUSTIN MARTYR (c. 100 to c. 165):
For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those who used incantations and drugs. Second Apology, chapter 6 (ANF, 1.190).
He said, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions.” […] And now we have all the demons and evil spirits subjected to us, when we exorcise them. (Dialogue with Trypho 76)
Every demon, when exorcised in the name of this very Son of God, […] is overcome and subdued (Dialogue with Trypho 85)
IRENAEUS (c. 130 to c. 202):
For some do certainly and truly drive out devils, so that those who have thus been cleansed from evil spirits frequently both believe [in Christ], and join themselves to the Church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come: they see visions, and utter prophetic expressions. Others still, heal the sick by laying their hands upon them, and they are made whole. Yea, moreover, as I have said, the dead even have been raised up, and remained among us for many years. And what shall I more say? It is not possible to name the number of the gifts which the Church, [scattered] throughout the whole world, has received from God, in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she exerts day by day for the benefit of the Gentiles, neither practising deception upon any, nor taking any reward from them [on account of such miraculous interpositions]. For as she has received freely from God, freely also does she minister [to others]. (Against Heresies, 2:32:4 (ANF, 1.409)
[…] And so far are they [Simon and Carpocrates, two heretics] from being able to raise the dead, as the Lord raised them, and the apostles did by means of prayer, and as has been frequently done in the brotherhood on account of some necessity—the entire Church in that particular locality entreating [the boon] with much fasting and prayer, the spirit of the dead man has returned, and he has been bestowed in answer to the prayers of the saints […] (Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 195) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.2 pg.433)
TERTULLIAN (c. 165 to c. 220):
See how many men of rank have been delivered of devils and healed of diseases! (To Scapula 1)
But we not only reject those wicked spirits: we overcome them; we daily hold them up to contempt; we exorcise them from their victims, as multitudes can testify. (To Scapula 2)
[Addressed to pagans] Why, all the authority and power we have over them is from our naming the name of Christ, and recalling to their memory the woes with which God threatens them at the hands of Christ as Judge, and which they expect one day to overtake them. Fearing Christ in God, and God in Christ, they become subject to the servants of God and Christ. So at our touch and breathing, overwhelmed by the thought and realization of those judgment fires, they leave at our command the bodies they have entered, unwilling, and distressed, and before your very eyes put to an open shame. (Apology 23)
The Lord Himself is witness the case of the woman who went to the theater and came back possessed. Accordingly, in the exorcism, when the unclean creature was rebuked for having dared to attack a believer, he firmly replied, “And in truth I did it lawfully, for I found her in my domain. (De Spectaculis, ch. xxvi)
MARK MENUCIUS FELIX (d. about 250 AD in Rome)
The demons themselves confess concerning themselves as often as they are driven by us from bodies by the torments of our words and by the fires of our prayers […] since they themselves are witnesses to the fact that they [gods] are demons, believe them when they confess the truth about themselves. For when renounced by the one and only true God, the wretched beings unwillingly shudder in their bodies and either at once leap forth–or else vanish by degrees (Octavius 27)
CYPRIAN (c. 210 – 14 September 258 AD; baptized c. 246):
This is also done in the present day. For the devil is scourged, burned, and tortured by exorcists–by the human voice and by divine power. Although he often promises that he is going out and will leave the […] men of God, yet he lies in what he says. He repeats the same thing that was done before Pharaoh, with the same obstinate and fraudulent deceit. However, when they come to the water of salvation […] we can know and trust that there the devil is beaten down and the man who is dedicated to God is set free by the divine mercy. (To Magnus 15)
Oh, if you could only hear and see them when they are adjured by us. For they are tortured with spiritual scourges and are cast out of the possessed bodies with tortures of words. Howling and groaning at the voice of man and the power of God, they feel the stripes and blows and confess the judgment to come. Come and acknowledge that what we say is true. And since you say that you worship these ones as gods, believe even those whom you worship! (An Address to Demetrianus 15)
ORIGEN (c. 185 to c. 253):
As holy and immaculate souls, after devoting themselves to God with all affection and purity, and after preserving themselves free from all contagion of evil spirits, and after being purified by lengthened abstinence, and imbued with holy and religious training, assume by this means a portion of divinity, and earn the grace of prophecy, and other divine gifts; so also are we to suppose that those who place themselves in the way of the opposing powers, i.e., who purposely admire and adopt their manner of life and habits, receive their inspiration, and become partakers of their wisdom and doctrine. And the result of this is, that they are filled with the working of those spirits to whose service they have subjected themselves. De Principiis, 3:3:3 (ANF, 4.336)
After this, through the influence of some motive which is unknown to me, Celsus [a pagan] asserts that it is by the names of certain demons, and by the use of incantations, that the Christians appear to be possessed of (miraculous) power; hinting, I suppose, at the practices of those who expel evil spirits by incantations. And here he manifestly appears to malign the Gospel. For it is not by incantations that Christians seem to prevail (over evil spirits), but by the name of Jesus, accompanied by the announcement of the narratives which relate to Him; for the repetition of these has frequently been the means of driving demons out of men, especially when those who repeated them did so in a sound and genuinely believing spirit. Such power, indeed, does the name of Jesus possess over evil spirits, that there have been instances where it was effectual, when it was pronounced even by bad men, which Jesus Himself taught (would be the case) […] (Against Celsus 6)
A similar philosophy of names applies also to our Jesus. His name has already been seen in an unmistakable manner to have expelled myriads of evil spirits from souls and bodies. This demonstrates how great the power was that was exerted upon those from whom the spirits were driven out. (Ante-Nicene Fathers 4. 406)
And there are still preserved among Christians traces of that Holy Spirit which appeared in the form of a dove. They expel evil spirits, and perform many cures, and foresee certain events, according to the will of the Logos. Against Celsus, 1:46 (ANF, 4.415).
[…] And again, when it is said of Æsculapius that a great multitude both of Greeks and Barbarians acknowledge that they have frequently seen, and still see, no mere phantom, but Æsculapius himself, healing and doing good, and foretelling the future; Celsus requires us to believe this, and finds no fault with the believers in Jesus, when we express our belief in such stories, but when we give our assent to the disciples, and eye-witnesses of the miracles of Jesus, who clearly manifest the honesty of their convictions (because we see their guilelessness, as far as it is possible to see the conscience revealed in writing), we are called by him a set of silly individuals, although he cannot demonstrate that an incalculable number, as he asserts, of Greeks and Barbarians acknowledge the existence of Æsculapius; while we, if we deem this a matter of importance, can clearly show a countless multitude of Greeks and Barbarians who acknowledge the existence of Jesus. And some give evidence of their having received through this faith a marvelous power by the cures which they perform, revoking no other name over those who need their help than that of the God of all things, and of Jesus, along with a mention of His history. For by these means we too have seen many persons freed from grievous calamities, and from distractions of mind, and madness, and countless other ills, which could be cured neither by men nor devils. Against Celsus, 3:24 (ANF, 4.473).
It is not the part of a divine spirit to drive the prophetess into such a state of ecstasy and madness that she loses control of herself. For he who is under the influence of the Divine Spirit ought to be the first to receive the beneficial effects; and these ought not to be first enjoyed by the persons who consult the oracle about the concerns of natural or civil life, or for purposes of temporal gain or interest; and, moreover, that should be the time of clearest perception, when a person is in close intercourse with the Deity.
Accordingly, we can show from an examination of the sacred Scriptures, that the Jewish prophets, who were enlightened as far as was necessary for their prophetic work by the Spirit of God, were the first to enjoy the benefit of the inspiration; and by the contact— if I may so say— of the Holy Spirit they became clearer in mind, and their souls were filled with a brighter light. And the body no longer served as a hindrance to a virtuous life; for to that which we call the lust of the flesh it was deadened. For we are persuaded that the Divine Spirit mortifies the deeds of the body, and destroys that enmity against God which the carnal passions serve to excite. If, then, the Pythian priestess is beside herself when she prophesies, what spirit must that be which fills her mind and clouds her judgment with darkness, unless it be of the same order with those demons which many Christians cast out of persons possessed with them? And this, we may observe, they do without the use of any curious arts of magic, or incantations, but merely by prayer and simple adjurations which the plainest person can use. Because for the most part it is unlettered persons who perform this work; thus making manifest the grace which is in the word of Christ, and the despicable weakness of demons, which, in order to be overcome and driven out of the bodies and souls of men, do not require the power and wisdom of those who are mighty in argument, and most learned in matters of faith. Against Celsus, 7:3-4 (ANF, 4.613).
[…] His next remark upon the Christians is: They will admit that these images, whether they are like or not, are made and dedicated to the honor of certain beings; but they will hold that the beings to whom they are dedicated are not gods, but demons, and that a worshipper of God ought not to worship demons. If he had been acquainted with the nature of demons, and with their several operations, whether led on to them by the conjurations of those who are skilled in the art, or urged on by their own inclination to act according to their power and inclination; if, I say, he had thoroughly understood this subject, which is both wide in extent and difficult for human comprehension, he would not have condemned us for saying that those who worship the Supreme Being should not serve demons. For ourselves, so far are we from wishing to serve demons, that by the use of prayers and other means which we learn from Scripture, we drive them out of the souls of men, out of places where they have established themselves, and even sometimes from the bodies of animals; for even these creatures often suffer from injuries inflicted upon them by demons. Against Celsus, 7:67 (ANF, 4.638-639).
LACTANTIUS (c. 250 to c. 325):
For these [demons], as long as there is peace among the people of God, flee from the righteous, and fear them; and when they seize upon the bodies of men, and harass their souls, they are adjured by them, and at the name of the true God are put to flight. For when they hear this name they tremble, cry out, and assert that they are branded and beaten; and being asked who they are, whence they are come, and how they have insinuated themselves into a man, confess it. Thus, being tortured and excruciated by the power of the divine name, they come out of the man. (The Divine Institutes Chapter 22)
Now his followers banish the same polluted spirits from men, in the name of their Master, and by the sign of his passion [sign of the cross] (The Divine Institutes Chapter 27)
The same demons, when adjured by the name of the true God, immediately flee (The Divine Institutes Chapter 27)
APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS (375-380 A. D.):
It is not therefore necessary that every one of the faithful should cast out demons, or raise the dead, or speak with tongues; but such a one only who is vouchsafed this gift, for some cause which may be advantage to the salvation of the unbelievers, who are often put to shame, not with the demonstration of the world, but by the power of the signs; that is, such as are worthy of salvation: for all the ungodly are not affected by wonders; and hereof God Himself is a witness, as when He says in the law: “With other tongues will I speak to this people, and with other lips, and yet will they by no means believe.” […] Apostolic Constitutions, 8:1 ANF, 7.479-480)
ARTICLES IN SERIES
1. Gifts of the Spirit in Early Church Fathers
2. Healings and Deliverances in Early Church Fathers
3. Prophecies, Visions, and Hearing from God in Early Church Fathers
RELATED
Systematic Theology:
Practical Ministry:
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Other Posts about Church Fathers:
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
3. Church Fathers and Luke’s Gospel
4. Church Fathers and John’s Gospel
SOURCES
A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs. Ed. David W. Bercot (Hendrickson, 2017)
Ante-Nicene Fathers
New Advent,
Early Christian Commentary: Spiritual Gifts
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 