Holy Kiss Quotes - my research gem

  I am super grateful to God for the quotes on this blog, which are the result of serious research!
   One of my big papers at Colorado Christian University was on the subject of the "holy kiss."  One of my points was that when churches engage in a time of "greeting" or "the Peace" during worship, they are carrying out a practice of early Christians who gave the "holy kiss" during worship gatherings there in a culture where kissing on checks was the cultural norm.  I also gave the reason why it would not be appropriate to do the holy kiss now, but that having a greeting time in church is appropriate.  I acknowledge some people think a greeting distracts from the focus on God, and I respect their opinion.  (In my opinion announcements distract from worship and I have disliked them for 24 years of being a Christian.)  Following are direct quotes which support the history of the "holy kiss."  Hunter Irvine

* Justin Martyr:   "Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss." (1)

* Athenagoras:    "If any one kiss a second time because it has given him pleasure, [he sins];..." (2)

* Clement of Alexandria:    "The apostle calls the kiss holy." (3)

* Tertullian:    "What prayer is complete if divorced from the 'holy kiss?'" (4)

* Cyprian:    "We look with glad countenances upon confessors illustrious with the heraldry of a good name, and glorious with the praises of virtue and faith; clinging to them with holy kisses..." (5)

* Athanasius:    "Salute one another with a holy kiss.  All the brothers and sisters who are with me salute you." (6)

* Cyril of Jerusalem:    "Then the Deacon cries aloud, 'Receive ye one another; and let us kiss one another.'  Think not that this kiss is of the same character with those given in public by common friends.  It is not such: but this kiss blends souls one with another, and courts entire forgiveness for them.  The kiss therefore is the sign that our souls are mingled together, and banish all rememberance of wrongs." (7)

* John Chrysostom:    "Having then knit them together by his exhortation, he naturally bids them use the holy kiss also as a means of union : for this unites, and produces one body.  This is holy, when free from deceit and hypocrisy." (8)

* John Wesley:    "The faithful afterwards spend a quarter of an hour in prayer, and conclude with the kiss of peace." (9) {He is talking about folks at Hernhut!}


(1) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (1867; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 1:185.

(2) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (1867; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 2:146.

(3) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (1867; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 2:291.

(4) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (1867; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 3:686.

(5) Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, eds., The Ante-Nicene Fathers; Translations of the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325 (1867; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1979), 5:437.

(6) Jack Sparks, ed., The Resurrection Letters; St. Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria from A.D. 328-373 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1979), 56.

(7) Philip Schaff and Henry Wace, eds., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church; Second Series (1893; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1955), 7:153.

(8) Philip Schaff, ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church; First Series (1889; repr., Grand Rapids: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1956), 12:265.

(9) John Wesley, The Works of the Reverend John Wesley, A.M. (London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1872), 1:142.