ECF were on the whole YEC

[DignifiedResponse]

16 hours ago, OneLight said:

Sure is a lot of extra biblical reading ...

The Bible was cited first, the others are for those who didn't know their history, and assumed something about those persons mentioned.  For instance:

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200 – September 14, 258 AD) -

"... [page 52] It is an ancient adversary and an old enemy with whom we wage our battle: six thousand years are now nearly completed since the devil first attacked man. [page 52,69] ... the first seven days in the divine arrangement containing seven thousand of years ..." - The Writings of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage. Volume II. Containing the remainder of the treatises., together with The Writings of Novatian, Minucius Felix, etc. Translated by Rev. Robert Ernest Wallis, PH.D., Senior Priest Vicar of Wells Cathedral, and Incumbent of Christ Church, Coxley, Somerest. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. London: Hamilton, Adams, & Co. Dublin: J. Robertson & Co. MDCCCLXIX. (1869); The Treatises of Cyprian. Treatise XI., Exhortation to Martyrdom, Addressed to Fortunatus., page 52,69. - https://books.google.com/books?id=EcA7AAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[DignifiedResponse]

16 hours ago, OneLight said:

... have you seen the movie End of the Harvest yet?

No, I have not seen it, nor at this time have any intention to seeing it.

However, for furtherance of this thread and the older citations:

Commodianus (AD 250) -

 

"... [page 451] We shall be immortal when six thousand years are accomplished. ... [page 451]

... [page 474] when six thousand years are completed, and the world has come to an end. ... [page 474] " - The Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D., Volume XVIII. The writings of Tertullian, Volume III. with the extant works of Victorinus and Commodianus.; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXX. (1870); printed by Murray and Gibb, for T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.; Dublin: John Robertson and Co.; New York: C. Scribner and Co.; The instructions of Commodianus in favour of Christian Discipline, against the gods of the heathens. (expressed in acrostics); section 35. Of the tree of life and death. & section 80. The name of the man of Gaza; pages 451,474 (respectively) - https://books.google.com/books?id=xN8IAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[OneLight]

5 hours ago, DignifiedResponse said:

No, I have not seen it, nor at this time have any intention to seeing it.

However, for furtherance of this thread and the older citations:

Commodianus (AD 250) -

 

"... [page 451] We shall be immortal when six thousand years are accomplished. ... [page 451]

... [page 474] when six thousand years are completed, and the world has come to an end. ... [page 474] " - The Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D., Volume XVIII. The writings of Tertullian, Volume III. with the extant works of Victorinus and Commodianus.; Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXX. (1870); printed by Murray and Gibb, for T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. London: Hamilton, Adams, and Co.; Dublin: John Robertson and Co.; New York: C. Scribner and Co.; The instructions of Commodianus in favour of Christian Discipline, against the gods of the heathens. (expressed in acrostics); section 35. Of the tree of life and death. & section 80. The name of the man of Gaza; pages 451,474 (respectively) - https://books.google.com/books?id=xN8IAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Your choice - its theology is what you are talking about.  I'll let you get back to your thoughts - sorry for the disruption.

[DignifiedResponse]

16 hours ago, OneLight said:

Your choice ...

Thank you for understanding.

Lactantius (c. 250 – c. 325) -

 

"... [page 460] Plato and many others of the philosophers, since they were ignorant of the origin of all things, and of that primal period at which the world was made, said that many thousands of ages had passed since this beautiful arrangement of the world was completed; and in this they perhaps followed the Chaldeans [Babylonians], who, as Cicero has related in his first book respecting divination, [1] foolishly say [2] that they possess comprised in their memorials 470,000 years; in which matter, because they thought that they could not be convicted, they believed that they were at liberty [3] to speak falsely. But we, whom the holy Scriptures instruct to the knowledge of the truth, know the beginning and the end of the world, respecting which we will now speak in the end of our work, since we have explained respecting the beginning in the second book. Therefore let the philosophers, who enumerate thousands of ages from the beginning of the world, know that the six thousandth year is not yet completed, [page 460-461] and that when this number is completed the consumation must take place, and the condition of human affairs be remodelled for the better, the proof of which must first be related, that the matter itself may be plain. God completed the world and this admirable work of nature in the space of six days (as is contained in the secrets of holy Scripture), and consecrated the seventh day, on which He had rested for His works. But this is the Sabbath-day, which in the language of the Hebrews received its name from the number, [1] whence the seventh is the legitimate and complete number. For there are seven days, by the revolutions of which in order the circles of years are made up; and there are seven stars which do not set, and seven luminaries which are called planets, [2] whose differing and unequal movements are believed to cause the varieties of circumstances and times.

Therefore, since all the works of God were completed in six days, the world must continue in its present state through six ages, that is, six thousand years. For the great day of God is limited by a circle of a thousand years, as the prophet shows, who says, [3] "In Thy sight, O Lord, a thousand years are as one day." And as God laboured during those six days in creating such great works, so His religion and truth must labour during these six thousand years, while wickedness prevails and bears rule. And again, since God, having finished His works, rested the seventh day and blessed it, at the end of the six thousandth year all wickedness must be abolished from the earth, and righteousness reign for a thousand years; and there must be tranquility and rest from the labours which the world now has long endured. We have often said that lesser things and things of small importance are figures and previous shadowings forth of great things; as this day of ours, which is bounded by the rising and the setting of the sun, is a representation [4] of that great day to which the circuit of a thousand years affixes it limits. [5] [page 461] ..." - Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325.; Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D., Volume XXI., The Works of Lactantius., Volume I. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street., MDCCCLXXI. (1871); Printed by Murray and Gibb, For T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh.; London: Hamilton, Adams and Co.; Dublin: John Robertson and Co.; New York: C. Scribner and Co. - Lactantius; Chap. XIV. - Of the first and last times of the world.; pages 460-461. - https://books.google.com/books?id=GIJPAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[DignifiedResponse]

Victorinus of Pettau (died 303 or 304) -

 

"... [page 342] that that true and just Sabbath should be observed in the seventh millenary of years. Wherefore to those seven days the Lord attributed to each a thousand years; for thus went the warning: "In Thine eyes, O lord, a thousand years are as one day." [9] Therefore in the eyes of the Lord each thousand of years is ordained, for I find that the Lord's eyes are seven. [10] Wherefore, as I have narrated, that true Sabbath will be in the seventh millenary of years, when Christ with His elect shall reign. [page 342] ...

... [page 343] The day, as I have above related, is divided into two parts by the number twelve -- by the twelve hours of day and night; and by these hours too, months, and years, and seasons, and ages are computed. Therefore, doubtless, there are appointed twelve angels of the day and twelve angels of the night, in accordance, to wit, with the number of hours. For these are the twenty-four witnesses of the days and nights [9] [9. Rev. iv. 4.] which sits before the throne of God, having golden crowns on their heads, whom the Apocalypse of John the apostle and evangelist calls elders, for the reason that they are older both than the other angels and than men. [page 343] ..." - The Ante-Nicene Fathers.; Translations of The Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325.; The Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D., Editors.; American Reprint of the Edinburgh Edition.; Revised and Chronologically Arranged, with Brief Prefaces and Occasional Notes, by A. Cleveland Coxe, D.D., Volume VII.; Lactanius, Venantius, Asterius, Victorinus, Dionysius, Apostolic Teaching and Constitutions, Homily, and Liturgies. Authorized Edition., New York: The Christian Literature Company. 1896. - Victorinus, On the creation of the world. [1]; pages 342,343 (respectively) - https://books.google.com/books?id=h3PYAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[OneLight]

There is no need to continue sending me these private messages as I follow scripture and pay very little attention to mans theologies. 

God Bless,

Alan

[DignifiedResponse]

1 hour ago, OneLight said:

There is no need to continue sending me these private messages as I follow scripture and pay very little attention to mans theologies. 

God Bless,

Alan

I have not sent any private messages to you.  You may be referring to alerts.  Simply turn off alerts in your preferences.

In the mean time:

Julius Firmicus Maternus (lived in 306 to 337 AD) - Some have said that Julius Firmicus Maternus said something similar. He was once an astrologer, supposedly turned 'Christian'. I cite this, only for those that look for this more difficult to find, or obscure, reference, and not that I would include it in the same category or listing as those previous. I personally would not include this reference, as it is rather vague, but here it is:

"... For after a long time, in the most recent space of time, that is like the last week of the ages, the Word of the Lord united itself with a human body, in order to redeem men, to conquer death, and to unite the fraility of the human body with divine immortality. ..." - Julius Firmicus Maternus: De Errore Profanarum Religionum (The Error of the Pagan Religions). Introduction, Translation and Commentary by Richard E. Oster, Jr., A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Arts, Thesis Director's Signature: William R. Murdock, Houston, Texas, May, 1971; Rice University, page 109 [PDF 133] - https://scholarship.rice.edu/bitstream/handle/1911/89943/RICE0978.pdf

Latin:

"... Nam post multa tempora novissimis temporum spatiis, id est novissima paena saeculorm ebdomade, verbum dei humano se miscuit corpori, ut hominem liberaret, ut mortem vinceret, ut fragilitatem humani corporis cum divina inmortalitate coniungeret. ..." - Iuli Firmici Maternia V.C., De Errore Profanarum Religionum, Edidit Konrat Ziegler, Adiectae Sunt Duae Tabulae Phototypicae - Lipsiae in Aedibus B.G. Teubneri, MCMVII (1907), Chapter XXV, paragraph 3, lines 7-11, page 66 - https://archive.org/stream/deerroreprofanar00firm#page/66/mode/1up

[DignifiedResponse]

Methodius (died c. 311) -

"... This 'father' wrote about A. D. 308, and suffered martyrdom in A. D. 312. A considerable portion of his writings have come down to our time, but in them all I find not one mention of the first day of the week. He held to the perpetuity of the ten commandments, for he says of the beast with ten horns:- {1873 JNA, TFTC 105.2}

"Moreover, the ten horns and stings which he is said to have upon his heads are the ten opposites, O virgins, to the decalogue, by which he was accustomed to gore and cast down the souls of many, imagining and contriving things in opposition to the law, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,' and to the other precepts which follow." - Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse viii. chap. xiii. {1873 JNA, TFTC 105.3}

In commenting on the feast of tabernacles (Lev.23:39-42) he says:- {1873 JNA, TFTC 105.4}

"These things being like air and phantom shadows, foretell the resurrection and the putting up of our tabernacle that had fallen upon the earth, which at length, in the seventh thousand of years, resuming again immortal, we shall celebrate the great feast of true tabernacles in the new and indissoluble creation, the fruits of the earth having been gathered in, and men no longer begetting and begotten, but God resting from the works of creation." Discourse ix. chap.1. {1873 JNA, TFTC 105.5}

Methodius understood the six days of creation, [106] and the seventh day sanctified by the Creator, to teach that at the end of 6000 years the great day of joy shall come to the saints of God:- {1873 JNA, TFTC 105.6}

"For since in six days God made the heaven and the earth, and finished the whole world, and rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made, and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, so by a figure in the seventh month, when the fruits of the earth have been gathered in, we are commanded to keep the feast to the Lord, which signifies that, when this world shall be terminated at the seventh thousand years, when God shall have completed the world, he shall rejoice in us." Discourse ix. chap. i. sect. 4. {1873 JNA, TFTC 106.1}

In the fifth chapter of this discourse he speaks of the day of Judgment as "the millennium of rest, which is called the seventh day, even the true Sabbath." He believed that each day of the first seven represented one thousand years, and so the true Sabbath of the Lord sets forth the final triumph of the saints in the seventh period of a thousand years. And in his work "On Things Created," section 9, he refers to this representation of one day as a thousand years, and quotes in proof of it Ps.90:2,4. Then he says:- {1873 JNA, TFTC 106.2}

"For when a thousand years are reckoned as one day in the sight of God, and from the creation of the world to his rest is six days, so also to our time, six days are defined, as those say who are clever arithmeticians. Therefore, they say that an age of six thousand years extends from Adam to our time. For they say that the Judgment will come on the seventh day, that is, in the seventh thousand years." {1873 JNA, TFTC 106.3}

The only weekly Sabbath known to Methodius was the ancient seventh day sanctified by God in Eden. He does not intimate that this divine institution has been abolished; and what he says of the ten commandments implies the reverse of that, and he certainly makes no allusion to the [107] festival of Sunday which on the authority of "custom" and "tradition" had been by so many elevated above the Sabbath of the Lord. {1873 JNA, TFTC 106.4} ..." - John Nevins Andrews, The Complete Testimony of the Fathers of the First Three Centuries Concerning the Sabbath and First Day; Chapter 10; Testimony of Methodius, Bishop of Tyre, pages 105.2-106.4 - https://archive.org/details/completetestimon00andr/page/105

"..."Moreover, the ten horns and stings which he is said to have upon his heads are the ten opposites, O virgins, to the decalogue, by which he was accustomed to gore and cast down the souls of many, imagining and contriving things in opposition to the law, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God,' and to the other precepts which follow." ..." - Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers, Down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D. Vol. XIV. The Writings of Methodius etc. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXIX. (1869), - Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse viii. chap. xiii. - page 81 - https://books.google.com/books?id=tslFAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

"... These things being like air and phantom shadows, foretell the resurrection and the putting up of our tabernacle that had fallen upon the earth, which at length, in the seventh thousand of years, resuming again immortal, we shall celebrate the great feast of true tabernacles in the new and indissoluble creation, the fruits of the earth having been gathered in, and men no longer begetting and begotten, but God resting from the works of creation." ..." - Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers, Down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D. Vol. XIV. The Writings of Methodius etc. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXIX. (1869) - Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse ix. chap.1. - page 93 - https://books.google.com/books?id=tslFAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

"... For since in six days God made the heaven and the earth, and finished the whole world, and rested on the seventh day from all his works which he had made, and blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, so by a figure in the seventh month, when the fruits of the earth have been gathered in, we are commanded to keep the feast to the Lord, which signifies that, when this world shall be terminated at the seventh thousand years, when God shall have completed the world, he shall rejoice in us." ..." - Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers, Down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D. Vol. XIV. The Writings of Methodius etc. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXIX. (1869), - Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse ix. chap. i. sect. 4. - page 93 - https://books.google.com/books?id=tslFAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

"... the millennium of rest, which is called the seventh day, even the true Sabbath. ..." - Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers, Down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D. Vol. XIV. The Writings of Methodius etc. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXIX. (1869), - Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse ix. chap. V. - The Mystery of the Tabernacles - page 100 - https://books.google.com/books?id=tslFAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

"... For when a thousand years are reckoned as one day in the sight of God, and from the creation of the world to his rest is six days, so also to our time, six days are defined, as those say who are clever arithmeticians. Therefore, they say that an age of six thousand years extends from Adam to our time. For they say that the Judgment will come on the seventh day, that is, in the seventh thousand years. ..." - Ante-Nicene Christian Library: Translations of the Writings of the Fathers, Down to A.D. 325. Edited by the Rev. Alexander Roberts, D.D., and James Donaldson, LL.D. Vol. XIV. The Writings of Methodius etc. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 38, George Street. MDCCCLXIX. (1869), - Extracts from the works of things created, section IX. - page 182 - https://books.google.com/books?id=tslFAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

[DignifiedResponse]

Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310 – c. 367) -

"... the honor of the heavenly Kingdom is prefigured in the unfolding of six thousand years. [12] [12. This is the number of the world's duration according to tradition reflected in Cyprian, Exhort. ad Mart., praef. 2; Lactantius, Inst. 7.14. See Sur Matt. II.63, n.6.] ..." - The Fathers of the Church, St. Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew; Translated by D.H. Williams; The Catholic University of America Press, Washington, D.C., copyright 2012; Chapter Seventeen, section 2, page 186 - https://books.google.com/books?id=2398ZZ9dIQoC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[DignifiedResponse]

Jerome (Hieronymus) (27 March 347 – 30 September 420) -

"... I think it is on the basis of this passage [Ps. 89:4 (LXX) (Psalms 90:4 HOT)] and ... Peter's epistle that it has become customary for 1000 years to be called a day ... so that since the world was created in six days, it is thought that it will last 6000 years, after which will come the number 7 and the ogdoad where the celebration of the true sabbath will take place and the true circumcision. [64] [64. 'Ego arbitror ex hoc [Ps. 89:4] et ex Epistola ... Petri, mille annos pro una die solitos appellari: ut scilicet quia mundus in sex diebus fabricatus est, sex millibus annorum tantum credatur subsistere et postea venire ...': Jerome, Ep. 140, 8 (PL 22, c.1172 [Patrologia Latina 22, column 1172, Epistola CXL]) ... ] ..." - The Use and Abuse of Escatology in the Middle Ages, editorial board: Prof. Dr. W. Lourdaux, Prof. Dr. Daniel Verhelst, Prof. Dr. Andries Welkenhuysen, Dr. Werner Verbeke, Series I/Studia XV; (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Instituut Voor Middeleeuwse Studies Leuven (Belgium)) Leuven University Press 1988, ISBN 90-6186-259-0; page 153 - https://books.google.com/books?id=89frds8lRqkC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

"... St. Jerome, in the fifth century, commenting on those words of holy David, "A thousand years in Thy sight are as yesterday which is past," writes thus, "I think that a thousand years are here said to be but one day, to signify that as the world was created in six days, so it will last six thousand years, after which will follow the seventh and eighth number, in which a true sabbatism will take place." [2] [2. Ego arbitror ex hoc loco mille annos pro una die solitos appellari, ut scilicet quia mundus in sex diebus fabricatus, sex milibus tantum annorum credatur subsistere; et postea venire septenarium wt octonarium numerum, in quo verus exerceatur sabbatismus. (In Epistolari Explicat. Psalmi 89, ad Cyprian.)] ..." - The End of the World; or, The Second Coming of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.; by the very Rev. John Baptist Pagani. London: Charles Dolman, 61, New Bond Street; and 22, Paternoster Row. 1855., page 202. - https://books.google.com/books?id=-pYCAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Latin: (J.P. Migne, PL 22, c. 1172 (Patrologia Latina 22; column 1172)):

"Epistola CXL (i) AD CYPRIANUM PRESBYTERUM ... [right column, 1172] ... 8. ... 1056 ... Ergo arbitror ex hoc loco, et ex Epistola quae (e) nomine Petri Apostoli inscribitur, mille annos pro una die solitos appellari: ut scilicet quia mundus in sex diebus fabricatus est, sex milibus annorum tantum credatur subsistereL et postea venire septenarium numerum, et octonarium, in quo veus exercetur sabbatismus, et circumcisionis puritas redditur. ..."

"... (e) Alteram Petri epistolam innuit, quae primis Ecclesiae saeculis non ab omnibus Ecclesiis pro Canonica exceipiebatur: ut in Catalogo, << secunda, inquit, a plerisque ejus esse negatur propter styli cum priore dissonantiam.>> Ex ejus autem epistolae loco indicato baud pauci ex antiquis omenm praesentis saeculi durationem sex mille annorum apatio concluserunt. Videndus Irenaeus lib. 5. cap. 28. et Origenes I. 2. contra Celsum, Lactantius 1. 7. c. 14., et Augustinus de Civit. Dei, I. 20. c. 7. quanquam in enarratione in hunc Psalmi locum, eam opinionem, quam antea probabilem dixerat, omnino non probet, Gregor. Nissenus exposit. in Psal. VI. aliique." - PL 22, c. 1172, aka: Patrologiae Cursus Completus, sive Bibliotheca Universalis, Integra, Uniformis, Commoda, Oeconomica, Omnium SS. Patrum, Doctorum Scriptorumque Ecclesiasticorum, qui Ab Aevo Apostolico Ad Innocentii III Tempora florurunt; Recusio Chronologica Omnium quae Exstitere Monumentorum Catholicae Traditionis per duodecim priora Ecclesiae Saeculi ... Series Prima in qua proderunt Patres, Doctores Scriptoresque Ecclesiae Latinae A Tertulliano Ad Gregorium Magnum. Accurante J. P. Migne ... Patrologiae Tomus XXII. S. Hieronymi Tomus Primus., Excudebatur et venit apud editorum, in via dicta D'Amboise, prope portam lutetiae Parisiorum Vulgo D'Enfer nominatum, sue petit-montrouge. 1845., column 1172 [PDF 648] -

https://archive.org/stream/patrologiaecurs165unkngoog#page/n648/mode/1up/