Tree of Life and Eternal Life in Early Christianity

Mathetes, Epistle to Diognetus Direct teaching

...hose who rightly love Him. You are made to be a paradise of delight, presenting within yourselves a tree bearing all kinds of produce and flourishing well, adorned with various fruits. For in this place, the tree of knowledge and the tree of life have been planted; but it is not the tree of knowledge that destroys—it is disobedience that is destructive. Furthermore, the words written about how God from the beginning planted the tree of life in the midst of paradise are not without significance, revealing through knowledge the way to life. When those who were first formed did not use this knowledge properly, they were stripped naked through the fraud of the Serpent. For neither can life exist without knowledge, nor is knowledge secure without life. Therefore, both were planted close together. The Apostle, understanding the significance of this connection and criticizing that knowledge which, without true doctrine, is allowed to influence life, declares, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” For anyone who thinks they know anything without true knowledge, and such knowledge that is supported by life, knows nothing but is deceived by the Serpent, as they do not love life. But w

Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching

not understanding, I think, the symbolic expression, that through the tree came death, and through the tree comes life, because death was in Adam, and life in Christ.

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching

Christ is the fruit of righteousness and the tree of life. He alone, as a man, fulfilled all righteousness. And by His own life, which is not derived from another, He has produced the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree. Those who eat of it will receive eternal life, and they will enjoy the tree of life in paradise with Adam and all the righteous. But the souls of the unrighteous meet an untimely casting out from the presence of God, by whom they will be left to remain in the flame of torment.

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching

He alone, as man, fulfilled all righteousness. And with His own underived life He has brought forth the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree, whereof they that eat shall receive eternal life, and shall enjoy the tree of life in paradise, with Adam and all the righteous.

Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews Direct teaching

...fied. Moreover, hands and feet are not exterminated except in the case of Him who is suspended on a tree. Therefore David also said that the Lord would reign from the tree. For elsewhere too, the prophet foretells the fruit of this tree, saying, "The earth has given her blessings"—meaning, of course, that virgin earth, not yet watered by rains nor made fruitful by showers, out of which man was first formed long ago, out of which now Christ according to the flesh has been born of a virgin. And he says, "The tree has brought his fruit"—not that tree in paradise which brought death to the first-formed, but the tree of the passion of Christ, from which life hung before you, though you did not believe. For this tree, in a mystery, was long ago what Moses used to sweeten the bitter water. From there the People, who were perishing from thirst in the desert, drank and revived, just as we do. We were drawn out from the calamities of heathendom, in which we were remaining, perishing with thirst, that is, deprived of the divine word. By drinking, through the faith which is on Him, the baptismal water of the tree of the passion of Christ, we have revived. It is from this faith that Israel h

Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews Direct teaching

and the tree, he says, has brought his fruit, — not that tree in paradise which yielded death to the protoplasts, but the tree of the passion of Christ, whence life, hanging, was by you not believed!

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

And in all their writings (is mention made) of the tree of life, and a resurrection of the flesh by means of the 'tree,' because, I imagine, their teacher was nailed to a cross, and was a carpenter by craft;

Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness

Celsus, moreover, thinks that we have invented this tree of life to give an allegorical meaning to the cross;

Hippolytus, Exegetical Fragments Direct teaching

The fruit of righteousness and the tree of life is Christ.

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness

And that tree in paradise, by which men know the good, is Jesus Himself, or the knowledge of Him in the world.

Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies Background

And, he says, the tree of life is guarded, as we have stated, by the brandished flaming sword.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Background

He planted the tree of life, and similarly placed near it another tree of the knowledge of good and evil, gave a command, and decreed a judgment against sin;

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Background

And God having placed man in Paradise, as has been said, to till and keep it, commanded him to eat of all the trees — manifestly of the tree of life also;

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

Immortality is given to the persevering, eternal life is set before them; the Lord promises a kingdom.

Ignatius, Epistle to Polycarp (Long Version) Supporting witness

Be sober as an athlete of God, whose will is immortality and eternal life;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...eath are completed, death itself will come to an end. And because temporary death follows temporary life, it follows that souls rise again to everlasting life, because temporary death has come to an end. Again, since the life of the soul is everlasting, and in it the soul receives the divine and unspeakable fruits of its immortality, its death also must be eternal. In that death, it suffers unending punishments and endless torments for its faults. Therefore, things stand in this way: those who are happy in this life, in things belonging to the body and the earth, are going to be miserable forever, because they have already enjoyed the good things they preferred. This happens to those who worship false gods and neglect the true God. Next, those who, by following righteousness, have been miserable, despised, and poor in this life, and have often been troubled with insults and injuries for the sake of righteousness itself, because virtue cannot be gained in any other way, are going to be happy forever. Since they have already endured evils, they may also enjoy good things. This plainly happens to those who, having despised the gods of the earth and fragile goods, follow the heavenl

Lactantius, The Epitome of the Divine Institutes Supporting witness

What advantage, then, will justice and virtue have if they receive nothing but evil in this life? But if virtue, which looks down on all earthly goods, wisely endures all evils, and even endures death itself in doing its duty, cannot be without a reward, what remains except that immortality alone is its reward? For if a happy life belongs to man, as the philosophers claim, and this is the one point on which they do not disagree, then immortality also belongs to him. For only what is incorruptible is happy, and only what is eternal is incorruptible. Therefore, immortality is the highest good, because it belongs to man, to the soul, and to virtue. We are directed only to this. We are born to gain this. Therefore God sets virtue and justice before us, so that we may obtain that eternal reward for our labors. But we will speak about that immortality itself in its proper place. There remains the philosophy of logic, which contributes nothing to a happy life. For wisdom does not consist in the arrangement of speech, but in the heart and in feeling. But if natural philosophy is unnecessary, and this philosophy of logic is also unnecessary, and the philosophers have gone wrong in moral phi

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

nor can eternal life follow, unless it should befall us to depart from this life.

Peter of Alexandria, The Genuine Acts of Peter Supporting witness

...nthians 5:4, by it in the other life. For the house in heaven with which we desire to be clothed is immortality. And when we are clothed with it, every weakness and mortality will be completely swallowed up in it, being consumed by endless life. For we walk by faith, not by sight, 2 Corinthians 5:7. That is, we still go forward by faith, seeing the things beyond with an unclear understanding and not plainly, so that we may later see these things, enjoy them, and be in them. Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption, 1 Corinthians 15:50. By flesh, he did not mean flesh itself, but the irrational impulse toward the lustful pleasures of the soul. And therefore, when he says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," he adds the explanation, "Neither does corruption inherit incorruption." Now corruption is not the thing that is corrupted, but the thing that corrupts. For when death prevails, the body sinks into corruption. But when life still remains in it, it stands uncorrupted. Therefore, since the flesh is the boundary between corruption and incorruption, not being either corruption or

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

...as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life, Romans 6:4. But if anyone thinks that the earthly image is the flesh itself, while the heavenly image is some other spiritual body besides the flesh, let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours. Through this also, He who was not man became man, so that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, 1 Corinthians 15:22. For if He bore flesh for any other reason than to set the flesh free and raise it up, why did He bear flesh needlessly, since He intended neither to save it nor to raise it up? But the Son of God does nothing needlessly. He did not take the form of a servant for no purpose, but to raise it up and save it. For He truly was made man and truly died, not in mere appearance, but so that He might truly be shown to be the first begotten from the dead, changing the earthly into the heavenly, and the mortal into the immortal. Therefore, when Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 15:50, he is not speaking poorly of the reg

Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Supporting witness

...ch at some future period we shall possess in a more glorious state, shall have become a partaker of life, it will then, in addition to being immortal, become also incorruptible. For whatever is mortal is necessarily also corruptible, but whatever is corruptible cannot also be said to be mortal. We say of a stone or a piece of wood that it is corruptible, but we do not say that it follows that it is also mortal. But as the body partakes of life, then because life may be, and is, separated from it, we consequently name it mortal, and according to another sense also we speak of it as corruptible. The holy apostle therefore, with remarkable insight, referring to the general first cause of bodily matter, of which, whatever the qualities may be with which it is endowed, now indeed carnal, but by and by more refined and pure, which are termed spiritual, the soul makes constant use, says, "This corruptible must put on incorruption." And in the second place, looking to the special cause of the body, he says, "This mortal must put on immortality." Now, what else will incorruption and immortality be, save the wisdom, and the word, and the righteousness of God, which mold, and clothe, and a

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

...hians 5:4, by it in the other life. For the house in heaven, with which we desire to be clothed, is immortality. When we are clothed with it, every weakness and mortality will be completely swallowed up in it, consumed by endless life. “For we walk by faith, not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7. That is, we still go forward by faith, seeing the things beyond with an unclear understanding and not plainly, so that we may one day see these things, enjoy them, and be in them. Now this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption, 1 Corinthians 15:50. By flesh, he did not mean flesh itself, but the irrational impulse toward the lustful pleasures of the soul. And therefore, when he says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,” he adds the explanation, “Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.” Now corruption is not the thing that is corrupted, but the thing that corrupts. For when death has power, the body sinks into corruption; but when life still remains in it, it stands uncorrupted. Therefore, since the flesh is the boundary between corruption and incorruption, being neither corruption nor incorr

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

...le flesh, which is subject to death and is oppressed by a certain dominion of death, rising up into life, will put on incorruption and immortality. For then, indeed, death will truly be vanquished when that flesh, which is held down by it, emerges from under its dominion. And again, to the Philippians he says: “But our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who will transform the body of our humiliation to be conformed to the body of His glory, just as He is able according to the working of His own power.” What, then, is this “body of humiliation” that the Lord will transform to conform to “the body of His glory?” Clearly, it is this body made of flesh, which is indeed humbled when it falls into the earth. Its transformation occurs in such a way that, while it is mortal and corruptible, it becomes immortal and incorruptible, not due to its own inherent nature but through the mighty working of the Lord, who can bestow immortality on the mortal and incorruption on the corruptible. Therefore, he says, “that mortality may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has also given us the guarantee of the S

Cyprian, Connection to Revelation 2:7 Direct teaching

Also in the same place: "He who shall overcome I will give him to eat of the tree of life, which as in the paradise of my God."

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

... any man keeps my word, he shall not see death forever"? Not to see death forever! What is this but immortality? But immortality is the companion of divinity, because divinity is immortal, and immortality is the fruit of divinity. For every man is mortal, and immortality cannot come from what is mortal. Therefore immortality cannot arise from Christ as a mortal man. But He says, "Whoever keeps my word shall not see death forever." Therefore the word of Christ gives immortality, and by immortality gives divinity. And although it cannot be maintained that one who is himself mortal can make another immortal, yet this word of Christ not only declares immortality, but gives it. Certainly He is not man only who gives immortality, which He could not give if He were only man. But by giving divinity through immortality, He proves Himself to be God by offering divinity, which He could not give if He were not God. If Christ was only man, how did He say, "Before Abraham was, I Am"? For no man can be before the one from whom he himself comes. Nor can it be that anyone should be earlier than the one from whom he has taken his origin. And yet Christ, although He is born of Abraham, says that H