Note 148 — Chapter II

Footnote 148:

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Tertullian called the Church mother (in Gal. IV. 26 the heavenly Jerusalem is called "mother"); see de oral. 2: "ne mater quidem ecclesia pixeterhur," de monog. 7; adv. Marc. V. 4 (the author of the letter in Euseb., H. E. V. 2. 7, 1. 45, had already done this before him). In the African Church the symbol was thus worded soon after Tertullian's time: "credis in remissionem peccatorum et vitam æsternam per sanctam ecclesiam" (see Hahn, Bibliothek der Symbole, 2nd ed. p. 29 ff.) On the other hand Clement of Alexandria (Strom. VI. 16. 146) rejected the designation of the Church, as "mother": μητηρ δε ουχ, 'ως τινες εκδεδωκασιν, 'η εκκλησια, αλλ' 'η θεια γνωσις και 'η σοφια (there is a different idea in Pæd. I. 5. 21. and 6. 42: μητηρ παρθενος; εκκλησιαν εμοι φιλον αυτην καλειν). In the Acta Justini c. 4 the faith is named "mother."