(all quotations from the Apostolic Fathers is taken from the Kirsopp Lake Translation)
ἐνέργεια
in the Apostolic Fathers:
Hear now their qualities (ἐνέργεια).
The first of them, the woman with the strong hands, is called Faith; through
her are saved the elect of God. (Shepherd of Hermas 16:3)
"I would like, sir,"
said I, "to know the working (ἐνέργεια) of ill temper, that I may be
preserved from it." Indeed, "said he, "if you do not keep from
it, both you and your house, you have destroyed all your hope. But keep from
it, for I am with you. And all shall refrain from it, who repent with all their
heart; for I will be with them, and will preserve them, for all have been made
righteous by the most revered angel." (Shepherd of Hermas 33:7)
"Hear, then," said he,
"the working (ἐνέργεια) of ill temper, and how evil it is and how it
destroys the servants of God by its working (ἐνέργεια), and how it leads them
astray from righteousness. But it does not lead astray those who are filled
with faith nor can it work evil to them, because my power is with them, but it
leads astray those who are vain and are double-minded. (Shepherd of Hermas
34:1)
Mandate 6. "I command
you," said he, "in the first commandment to keep faith and fear and
continence." "Yes, sir," said I. "But now I wish,"
said he, "to explain also their qualities that you may understand what is
the quality of each and its working (ἐνέργεια), for their working (ἐνέργεια) is
two sorts. They relate, then, to the righteous and to the unrighteous.
(Shepherd of Hermas 35:1)
"How then, sir," said I,
"shall I know their workings (ἐνέργεια), because both angels dwell with
me?" (Shepherd of Hermas 36:2)
When, therefore, you know his
deeds, keep from him, and do not trust him, because his deeds are evil and
unprofitable for the servants of God. You have, therefore, the workings (ἐνέργεια)
of both the angels. Understand them and believe the angel of righteousness.
(Shepherd of Hermas 36:6)
ἐνεργέω
in the Apostolic Fathers
For thou through thy operations (ἐνεργέω)
didst make manifest the eternal fabric of the world; thou, Lord, didst create
the earth. Thou that art faithful in all generations, righteous in judgment,
wonderful in strength and majesty, wise in thy creation, and prudent in
establishing thy works, good in the things which are seen, and gracious among
those that trust in thee, O "merciful and compassionate," forgive us
our iniquities and unrighteousness, and transgressions, and short-comings. (1
Clement 60:1)
For the Lord made known to us
through the prophets things past and things present and has given us the
firstfruits of the taste of things to come; and when we see these things coming
to pass (ἐνεργέω) one by one, as he said, we ought to make a richer and deeper
offering for fear of him. (Barnabas 1:7)
Seeing then that the days are
evil, and that the worker (ἐνεργέω) of evil himself is in power, we ought to
give heed to ourselves, and seek out the ordinances of the Lord. (Barnabas 2:1)
"Hear now," saith he,
"the working of angry temper, how evil it is, and how it subverteth the
servants of God by its own working, and how it leadeth them astray from
righteousness. But it doth not lead astray them that are full in the faith, nor
can it work (ἐνεργέω) upon them, because the power of the Lord is with them;
but them that are empty and double-minded it leadeth astray. (Shepherd of
Hermas 34:1)
These two terms, according to David Bradshaw,
all
refer to the actions of God, Christ, angels, or demons. For example, in the Shepherd
of Hermas purity, holiness, and contentment are energeiai of the
angel of righteousness which accompanies every man, and anger, bitterness,
gluttony, lust, and pride are energeiai of the angel of wickedness. The Epistle
of Barnabas refers to Satan simply as ho energōn, “the active one”, and First
Clement speaks of how God makes manifest the everlasting structures of the
world by the heed He performs (tōn energoumenōn). The same
pattern holds in the Greek Apologists. In Justin Matry energein is virtually
a technical term for the activity of demons, being used thus in virtually a technical
term for the activity of demons, being used thus in nineteen of its twenty
occurrences. Justin likewise uses energeia exclusively of supernatural
agents—four times of demons, once of God, and once of Christ. Athenagoras (in
the Legatio) and Theophilus together use the two words twenty-two times,
all of them in reference to God, demons, or idols, which they regard as demons
under another name. (David Bradshaw, “The Concept of Divine Energies,” in Divine
Essence and Divine Energies: Ecumenical Reflections on the Presence of God in
Eastern Orthodoxy, ed. C. Athana Opoulos and C. Schneider [Cambridge: James
Clarke & Co., 2013], 34)
