Aphrahat the Persian Sage : Hananiah and his brothers worshiped not the image of the king of Babylon; and Jesus restrained the nations from the worship of dead images. Because of Hananiah and his brothers, the nations and languages glorified the God who had delivered them from the fire; and because of Jesus, the nations and all languages shall glorify God who delivered his Son, so that he saw no corruption. On the garments of Hananiah and his brothers the fire had no power; and on the bodies of the righteous, who have believed in Jesus, the fire shall have no power in the end. — DEMONSTRATIONS 21:19 Augustine of Hippo : If past events in the prophetic books serve as a figure of future ones, in the king named Nebuchadnezzar two periods were foreshadowed: that during the time of the apostles and the present one in which Christ is now living. For in the times of the apostles and martyrs that part was fulfilled that was foreshadowed when the king forced devout and upright men to adore an idol and when they refused had them thrown into a fire. Now, however, that part is fulfilled that was prefigured in the same king when he was converted to the true God and decreed for his realm that whoever blasphemed the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego should suffer due penalties. Therefore, the first part of the king's reign signified the earlier periods of impious kings, when Christians suffered instead of the impious, but the latter part of that king's reign signified the period of later faithful kings under whom the impious suffered instead of the Christians. — LETTER 93 Jerome : Verse 29. "'I have therefore determined upon this decree (the Vulgate says: "have appointed this decree"): that any people, tribe or tongue which utters blasphemy against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego shall utterly perish and his house shall be laid waste. For there is no other God who can save after such a fashion.'" Some authorities very wrongly apply this to the devil himself, asserting that in the consummation at the end of the world even the devil himself will receive a knowledge of God and will exhort all men to repent. These persons would have it that this is the king of Nineveh who finally descends from his proud throne and attains to the rewards of humility. — St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, CHAPTER THREE John Chrysostom : There is none, there is no remedy better able to destroy sins than to continually recall them and to continually accuse oneself. In this way the publican could cancel his innumerable sins by saying, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." And thus also the Pharisee remained unjustified because, taking no care to think of his own sins, he condemned everyone else, saying, "I am not like other people, greedy and avaricious, or even like this publican." Thus also Paul exhorted, "Let each one examine his own conduct, and then he will find reason to boast only in himself and not in others." Did you know that even in the Old Testament the righteous accused themselves? Listen to them speak as with one voice. David said, "My iniquities have gone over my head. They oppress me like a heavy burden." And Isaiah cried out, "Woe is me, wretched man, because I am a man of unclean lips!" The three young men, while they were in the furnace and offered their bodies to death for God, counted themselves among the greatest of sinners, saying, "We have sinned, we have done every kind of evil." And yet what was more brilliant, more pure than they? And even if they had committed some sins, the nature of the flames would have cancelled all of them. They did not look at their virtues, however, but thought of their sins. - "On the Obscurity of Prophecies 2.9"