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PARALLEL HISTORY BIBLE - Isaiah 41:26
CHAPTERS: Isaiah 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66 
VERSES: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29
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LXX- Greek Septuagint - Isaiah 41:26 τις 5100 5101 γαρ 1063 αναγγελει 312 5692 τα 3588 εξ 1537 1803 αρχης 746 ινα 2443 γνωμεν και 2532 τα 3588 εμπροσθεν 1715 και 2532 ερουμεν 2046 5692 οτι 3754 αληθη 227 εστιν 2076 5748 ουκ 3756 εστιν 2076 5748 ο 3588 3739 προλεγων ουδε 3761 ο 3588 3739 ακουων 191 5723 υμων 5216 τους 3588 λογους 3056
Douay Rheims Bible Who bath declared from the beginning, that we may know: and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words.
King James Bible - Isaiah 41:26 Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is righteous? yea, there is none that sheweth, yea, there is none that declareth, yea, there is none that heareth your words.
World English Bible Who has declared it from the beginning, that we may know? And before, that we may say, 'He is right?' Surely, there is no one who declares. Surely, there is no one who shows. Surely, there is no one who hears your words.
World Wide Bible Resources
Isaiah 41:26
Early Christian Commentary - (A.D. 100 - A.D. 325) Anf-03 v.ix.xi Pg 12
Ps. lxxi. 18. Also to the same purport in another Psalm: “O Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!”7885 7885
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiii Pg 0
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiv Pg 0
Anf-03 iv.ix.x Pg 40
A ligno. Oehler refers us to Ps. xcvi. 10 (xcv. 10 in LXX.); but the special words “a ligno” are wanting there, though the text is often quoted by the Fathers. I wait to hear what you understand thereby; for fear you may perhaps think some carpenter-king1345 1345
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.xix Pg 3
Ps. xcvi. 10, with a ligno added. I want to know what you understand by it. Perhaps you think some wooden3357 3357 Lignarium aliquem regem. king of the Jews is meant!—and not Christ, who overcame death by His suffering on the cross, and thence reigned! Now, although death reigned from Adam even to Christ, why may not Christ be said to have reigned from the tree, from His having shut up the kingdom of death by dying upon the tree of His cross? Likewise Isaiah also says: “For unto us a child is born.”3358 3358
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxxvii Pg 9
Jer. vi. 17, 18. It is therefore one and the same Father who planted the vineyard, who led forth the people, who sent the prophets, who sent His own Son, and who gave the vineyard to those other husbandmen that render the fruits in their season.
Anf-01 ix.vii.xxxv Pg 16
Jer. xxxi. 10, etc. Now, in the preceding book4760 4760 See. iv. 8, 3. I have shown that all the disciples of the Lord are Levites and priests, they who used in the temple to profane the Sabbath, but are blameless.4761 4761
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiii Pg 0
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiv Pg 0
Anf-01 ix.vi.vi Pg 4
Isa. xii. 4. For neither in an ambiguous, nor arrogant, nor boastful manner, does He say these things; but since it was impossible, without God, to come to a knowledge of God, He teaches men, through His Word, to know God. To those, therefore, who are ignorant of these matters, and on this account imagine that they have discovered another Father, justly does one say, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.”3846 3846
Anf-03 v.viii.xxii Pg 6
Joel iii. 9–15; Dan. vii. 13, 14. ), that “there should be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”7416 7416
Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 15.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.xxi Pg 58.1
Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 16.1
Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.iv Pg 19.1
Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.iv Pg 19.1
Anf-01 ix.iv.vii Pg 6
Ps. l. 1. Who is meant by God? He of whom He has said, “God shall come openly, our God, and shall not keep silence;”3334 3334
Anf-01 viii.iv.xxii Pg 4
Ps. l. (in E. V.). Accordingly He neither takes sacrifices from you nor commanded them at first to be offered because they are needful to Him, but because of your sins. For indeed the temple, which is called the temple in Jerusalem, He admitted to be His house or court, not as though He needed it, but in order that you, in this view of it, giving yourselves to Him, might not worship idols. And that this is so, Isaiah says: ‘What house have ye built Me? saith the Lord. Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.’2004 2004
Anf-03 v.ix.xi Pg 12
Ps. lxxi. 18. Also to the same purport in another Psalm: “O Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!”7885 7885
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiii Pg 0
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiv Pg 0
Anf-03 iv.ix.x Pg 40
A ligno. Oehler refers us to Ps. xcvi. 10 (xcv. 10 in LXX.); but the special words “a ligno” are wanting there, though the text is often quoted by the Fathers. I wait to hear what you understand thereby; for fear you may perhaps think some carpenter-king1345 1345
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.xix Pg 3
Ps. xcvi. 10, with a ligno added. I want to know what you understand by it. Perhaps you think some wooden3357 3357 Lignarium aliquem regem. king of the Jews is meant!—and not Christ, who overcame death by His suffering on the cross, and thence reigned! Now, although death reigned from Adam even to Christ, why may not Christ be said to have reigned from the tree, from His having shut up the kingdom of death by dying upon the tree of His cross? Likewise Isaiah also says: “For unto us a child is born.”3358 3358
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxxvii Pg 9
Jer. vi. 17, 18. It is therefore one and the same Father who planted the vineyard, who led forth the people, who sent the prophets, who sent His own Son, and who gave the vineyard to those other husbandmen that render the fruits in their season.
Anf-01 ix.vii.xxxv Pg 16
Jer. xxxi. 10, etc. Now, in the preceding book4760 4760 See. iv. 8, 3. I have shown that all the disciples of the Lord are Levites and priests, they who used in the temple to profane the Sabbath, but are blameless.4761 4761
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiii Pg 0
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiv Pg 0
Anf-01 ix.vi.vi Pg 4
Isa. xii. 4. For neither in an ambiguous, nor arrogant, nor boastful manner, does He say these things; but since it was impossible, without God, to come to a knowledge of God, He teaches men, through His Word, to know God. To those, therefore, who are ignorant of these matters, and on this account imagine that they have discovered another Father, justly does one say, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.”3846 3846
Anf-03 v.viii.xxii Pg 6
Joel iii. 9–15; Dan. vii. 13, 14. ), that “there should be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”7416 7416
Npnf-201 iii.xii.xxiv Pg 7
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxxi Pg 6
Isa. lxv. 17 to end. Now we have understood that the expression used among these words, ‘According to the days of the tree [of life2270 2270 These words are not found in the mss. ] shall be the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound’ obscurely predicts a thousand years. For as Adam was told that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have perceived, moreover, that the expression, ‘The day of the Lord is as a thousand years,’2271 2271
Anf-01 ix.vii.xxxvi Pg 17
Isa. lxv. 17, 18. Now this is what has been said by the apostle: “For the fashion of this world passeth away.”4780 4780
Anf-03 v.iv.vi.ii Pg 5
Comp. Isa. xliii. 18, 19, and lxv. 17, with 2 Cor. v. 17. to be superseded by a new course of things which should arise, whilst Christ marks the period of the separation when He says, “The law and the prophets were until John”5239 5239
Anf-03 v.iv.vi.xix Pg 40
Isa. xliii. 18, 19, and lxv. 17; 2 Cor. v. 17. commanded men “to break up fresh ground for themselves,”6095 6095
Anf-01 viii.iv.cxxxi Pg 2
Deut. xxxii. 7 ff. And having said this, I added: “The Seventy have translated it, ‘He set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.’ But because my argument is again in nowise weakened by this, I have adopted your exposition. And you yourselves, if you will confess the truth, must acknowledge that we, who have been called by God through the despised and shameful mystery of the cross (for the confession of which, and obedience to which, and for our piety, punishments even to death have been inflicted on us by demons, and by the host of the devil, through the aid ministered to them by you), and endure all torments rather than deny Christ even by word, through whom we are called to the salvation prepared beforehand by the Father, are more faithful to God than you, who were redeemed from Egypt with a high hand and a visitation of great glory, when the sea was parted for you, and a passage left dry, in which [God] slew those who pursued you with a very great equipment, and splendid chariots, bringing back upon them the sea which had been made a way for your sakes; on whom also a pillar of light shone, in order that you, more than any other nation in the world, might possess a peculiar light, never-failing and never-setting; for whom He rained manna as nourishment, fit for the heavenly angels, in order that you might have no need to prepare your food; and the water at Marah was made sweet; and a sign of Him that was to be crucified was made, both in the matter of the serpents which bit you, as I already mentioned (God anticipating before the proper times these mysteries, in order to confer grace upon you, to whom you are always convicted of being thankless), as well as in the type of the extending of the hands of Moses, and of Oshea being named Jesus (Joshua); when you fought against Amalek: concerning which God enjoined that the incident be recorded, and the name of Jesus laid up in your understandings; saying that this is He who would blot out the memorial of Amalek from under heaven. Now it is clear that the memorial of Amalek remained after the son of Nave (Nun): but He makes it manifest through Jesus, who was crucified, of whom also those symbols were fore-announcements of all that would happen to Him, the demons would be destroyed, and would dread His name, and that all principalities and kingdoms would fear Him; and that they who believe in Him out of all nations would be shown as God-fearing and peaceful men; and the facts already quoted by me, Trypho, indicate this. Again, when you desired flesh, so vast a quantity of quails was given you, that they could not be told; for whom also water gushed from the rock; and a cloud followed you for a shade from heat, and covering from cold, declaring the manner and signification of another and new heaven; the latchets of your shoes did not break, and your shoes waxed not old, and your garments wore not away, but even those of the children grew along with them.
Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.xxi Pg 58.1
Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 16.1
Anf-01 viii.iv.cii Pg 2
Gen. iii. 15. Could He not have at once created a multitude of men? But yet, since He knew that it would be good, He created both angels and men free to do that which is righteous, and He appointed periods of time during which He knew it would be good for them to have the exercise of free-will; and because He likewise knew it would be good, He made general and particular judgments; each one’s freedom of will, however, being guarded. Hence Scripture says the following, at the destruction of the tower, and division and alteration of tongues: ‘And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they have begun to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them of all which they have attempted to do.’2338 2338
Anf-01 ix.vi.xli Pg 14
Gen. iii. 15. And the Lord summed up in Himself this enmity, when He was made man from a woman, and trod upon his [the serpent’s] head, as I have pointed out in the preceding book.
Anf-01 ix.vii.xxii Pg 3
Gen. iii. 15. For from that time, He who should be born of a woman, [namely] from the Virgin, after the likeness of Adam, was preached as keeping watch for the head of the serpent. This is the seed of which the apostle says in the Epistle to the Galatians, “that the law of works was established until the seed should come to whom the promise was made.”4629 4629
Anf-03 iv.ix.iii Pg 3
See Gen. xii.–xv. compared with xvii. and Rom. iv. nor yet did he observe the Sabbath. For he had “accepted”1163 1163
Anf-01 ii.ii.x Pg 3
Gen. xii. 1–3. And again, on his departing from Lot, God said to him. “Lift up thine eyes, and look from the place where thou now art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, [so that] if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.”47 47
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxii Pg 2
Gal. iii. 5–9; Gen. xii. 3. For which [reasons the apostle] declared that this man was not only the prophet of faith, but also the father of those who from among the Gentiles believe in Jesus Christ, because his faith and ours are one and the same: for he believed in things future, as if they were already accomplished, because of the promise of God; and in like manner do we also, because of the promise of God, behold through faith that inheritance [laid up for us] in the [future] kingdom.
Anf-03 iv.ix.iii Pg 3
See Gen. xii.–xv. compared with xvii. and Rom. iv. nor yet did he observe the Sabbath. For he had “accepted”1163 1163
Npnf-201 iii.vi.iv Pg 20
Anf-01 viii.iv.cxx Pg 4
Gen. xlix. 10. And it is plain that this was spoken not of Judah, but of Christ. For all we out of all nations do expect not Judah, but Jesus, who led your fathers out of Egypt. For the prophecy referred even to the advent of Christ: ‘Till He come for whom this is laid up, and He shall be the expectation of nations.’ Jesus came, therefore, as we have shown at length, and is expected again to appear above the clouds; whose name you profane, and labour hard to get it profaned over all the earth. It were possible for me, sirs,” I continued, “to contend against you about the reading which you so interpret, saying it is written, ‘Till the things laid up for Him come;’ though the Seventy have not so explained it, but thus, ‘Till He comes for whom this is laid up.’ But since what follows indicates that the reference is to Christ (for it is, ‘and He shall be the expectation of nations’), I do not proceed to have a mere verbal controversy with you, as I have not attempted to establish proof about Christ from the passages of Scripture which are not admitted by you2409 2409 [Note this important point. He forbears to cite the New Testament.] which I quoted from the words of Jeremiah the prophet, and Esdras, and David; but from those which are even now admitted by you, which had your teachers comprehended, be well assured they would have deleted them, as they did those about the death of Isaiah, whom you sawed asunder with a wooden saw. And this was a mysterious type of Christ being about to cut your nation in two, and to raise those worthy of the honour to the everlasting kingdom along with the holy patriarchs and prophets; but He has said that He will send others to the condemnation of the unquenchable fire along with similar disobedient and impenitent men from all the nations. ‘For they shall come,’ He said, ‘from the west and from the east, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness.’2410 2410
Anf-01 viii.ii.xxxii Pg 2
Gen. xlix. 10. It is yours to make accurate inquiry, and ascertain up to whose time the Jews had a lawgiver and king of their own. Up to the time of Jesus Christ, who taught us, and interpreted the prophecies which were not yet understood, [they had a lawgiver] as was foretold by the holy and divine Spirit of prophecy through Moses, “that a ruler would not fail the Jews until He should come for whom the kingdom was reserved” (for Judah was the forefather of the Jews, from whom also they have their name of Jews); and after He (i.e., Christ) appeared, you began to rule the Jews, and gained possession of all their territory. And the prophecy, “He shall be the expectation of the nations,” signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact. For of all races of men there are some who look for Him who was crucified in Judæa, and after whose crucifixion the land was straightway surrendered to you as spoil of war. And the prophecy, “binding His foal to the vine, and washing His robe in the blood of the grape,” was a significant symbol of the things that were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem, where was the vast temple of the Jews which was afterwards destroyed by you. And after this He was crucified, that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For this “washing His robe in the blood of the grape” was predictive of the passion He was to endure, cleansing by His blood those who believe on Him. For what is called by the Divine Spirit through the prophet “His robe,” are those men who believe in Him in whom abideth the seed1828 1828 Grabe would here read, not σπέρμα, but πνεῦμα, the spirit; but the Benedictine, Otto, and Trollope all think that no change should be made. of God, the Word. And what is spoken of as “the blood of the grape,” signifies that He who should appear would have blood, though not of the seed of man, but of the power of God. And the first power after God the Father and Lord of all is the Word, who is also the Son; and of Him we will, in what follows, relate how He took flesh and became man. For as man did not make the blood of the vine, but God, so it was hereby intimated that the blood should not be of human seed, but of divine power, as we have said above. And Isaiah, another prophet, foretelling the same things in other words, spoke thus: “A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a flower shall spring from the root of Jesse; and His arm shall the nations trust.1829 1829
Anf-01 v.vi.ix Pg 12
Gen. xlix. 10. have been fulfilled in the Gospel, [our Lord saying,] “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”964 964
Anf-01 viii.ii.liv Pg 2
Gen. xlix. 10. The devils, accordingly, when they heard these prophetic words, said that Bacchus was the son of Jupiter, and gave out that he was the discoverer of the vine, and they number wine1883 1883 In the ms. the reading is οἶνον (wine); but as Justin’s argument seems to require ὄνον (an ass), Sylburg inserted this latter word in his edition; and this reading is approved by Grabe and Thirlby, and adopted by Otto and Trollope. It may be added, that ἀναγράφουσι is much more suitable to ὄνον than to οἶνον. [or, the ass] among his mysteries; and they taught that, having been torn in pieces, he ascended into heaven. And because in the prophecy of Moses it had not been expressly intimated whether He who was to come was the Son of God, and whether He would, riding on the foal, remain on earth or ascend into heaven, and because the name of “foal” could mean either the foal of an ass or the foal of a horse, they, not knowing whether He who was foretold would bring the foal of an ass or of a horse as the sign of His coming, nor whether He was the Son of God, as we said above, or of man, gave out that Bellerophon, a man born of man, himself ascended to heaven on his horse Pegasus. And when they heard it said by the other prophet Isaiah, that He should be born of a virgin, and by His own means ascend into heaven, they pretended that Perseus was spoken of. And when they knew what was said, as has been cited above, in the prophecies written aforetime, “Strong as a giant to run his course,”1884 1884
Anf-01 viii.iv.lii Pg 2
[Bible:Gen.49.11 Bible:Gen.49.18 Bible:Gen.49.24">Gen. xlix. 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 18, 24. These texts are frequently referred to by Justin.] that there would be two advents of Christ, and that in the first He would suffer, and that after He came there would be neither prophet nor king in your nation (I proceeded), and that the nations who believed in the suffering Christ would look for His future appearance. And for this reason the Holy Spirit had uttered these truths in a parable, and obscurely: for,” I added, “it is said, ‘Judah, thy brethren have praised thee: thy hands [shall be] on the neck of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the germ, my son, thou art sprung up. Reclining, he lay down like a lion, and like [a lion’s] whelp: who shall raise him up? A ruler shall not depart from Judah, or a leader from his thighs, until that which is laid up in store for him shall come; and he shall be the desire of nations, binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the tendril of the vine. He shall wash his garments in wine, and his vesture in the blood of the grape. His eyes shall be bright with2113 2113 Or, “in comparison of.” wine, and his teeth white like milk.’2114 2114
Anf-01 ix.vi.xi Pg 11
Gen. xlix. 10–12, LXX. For, let those who have the reputation of investigating everything, inquire at what time a prince and leader failed out of Judah, and who is the hope of the nations, who also is the vine, what was the ass’s colt [referred to as] His, what the clothing, and what the eyes, what the teeth, and what the wine, and thus let them investigate every one of the points mentioned; and they shall find that there was none other announced than our Lord, Christ Jesus. Wherefore Moses, when chiding the ingratitude of the people, said, “Ye infatuated people, and unwise, do ye thus requite the Lord?”3925 3925
Anf-01 viii.iv.cvi Pg 2
Num. xxiv. 17. and another Scripture says, ‘Behold a man; the East is His name.’2358 2358
Anf-01 ix.iv.x Pg 12
Num. xxiv. 17. But Matthew says that the Magi, coming from the east, exclaimed “For we have seen His star in the east, and are come to worship Him;”3383 3383
Npnf-201 iii.ix.vi Pg 5
Npnf-201 iii.xii.xxiv Pg 7
Anf-03 iv.iv.iv Pg 7
Isa. xliv. 8 et seqq. says, “Ye are witnesses whether there is a God except Me.” “And they who mould and carve out at that time were not: all vain! who do that which liketh them, which shall not profit them!” And that whole ensuing discourse sets a ban as well on the artificers as the worshippers: the close of which is, “Learn that their heart is ashes and earth, and that none can free his own soul.” In which sentence David equally includes the makers too. “Such,” says he, “let them become who make them.”184 184
Anf-03 v.iv.iii.xxvi Pg 4
Isa. xliv. 8. of no other God; especially when He was swearing to this very point, that besides himself there was absolutely no God? Is it then of swearing falsely that you convict3037 3037 Deprehendis. Him, or of swearing a vain oath? But it is not possible for him to appear to have sworn falsely, when he was ignorant, as you say he was, that there was another God. For when he swore by that which he knew, he really committed no perjury. But it was not a vain oath for him to swear that there was no other God. It would indeed be a vain oath, if there had been no persons who believed that there were other Gods, like the worshippers of idols then, and the heretics of the present day. Therefore He swears by Himself, in order that you may believe God, even when He swears that there is besides Himself no other God at all. But you have yourself, O Marcion, compelled God to do this. For even so early as then were you foreseen. Hence, if He swears both in His promises and His threatenings, and thus extorts3038 3038 Extorquens. faith which at first was difficult, nothing is unworthy of God which causes men to believe in God. But (you say) God was even then mean3039 3039 Pusillus. enough in His very fierceness, when, in His wrath against the people for their consecration of the calf, He makes this request of His servant Moses: “Let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of thee a great nation.”3040 3040
Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.xxi Pg 58.1
Anf-02 vi.ii.viii Pg 16.1
Anf-01 ix.iii.x Pg 8
Isa. xlvi. 9. Affirming that He lies, they are themselves liars, attributing all sorts of wickedness to Him; and conceiving of one who is not above this Being as really having an existence, they are thus convicted by their own views of blasphemy against that God who really exists, while they conjure into existence a god who has no existence, to their own condemnation. And thus those who declare themselves “perfect,” and as being possessed of the knowledge of all things, are found to be worse than the heathen, and to entertain more blasphemous opinions even against their own Creator.
Anf-01 ix.ii.vi Pg 11
Isa. xlv. 5, 6, Isa. xlvi. 9. They further teach that the spirits of wickedness derived their origin from grief. Hence the devil, whom they also call Cosmocrator (the ruler of the world), and the demons, and the angels, and every wicked spiritual being that exists, found the source of their existence. They represent the Demiurge as being the son of that mother of theirs (Achamoth), and Cosmocrator as the creature of the Demiurge. Cosmocrator has knowledge of what is above himself, because he is a spirit of wickedness; but the Demiurge is ignorant of such things, inasmuch as he is merely animal. Their mother dwells in that place which is above the heavens, that is, in the intermediate abode; the Demiurge in the heavenly place, that is, in the hebdomad; but the Cosmocrator in this our world. The corporeal elements of the world, again, sprang, as we before remarked, from bewilderment and perplexity, as from a more ignoble source. Thus the earth arose from her state of stupor; water from the agitation caused by her fear; air from the consolidation of her grief; while fire, producing death and corruption, was inherent in all these elements, even as they teach that ignorance also lay concealed in these three passions.
Anf-03 v.vi.xxi Pg 8
Isa. xlv. 5; xlvi. 9. But for all that, he at least was aware that he had not himself existed before. He understood, therefore, that he had been created, and that there must be a creator of a creature of some sort or other. How happens it, then, that he seemed to himself to be the only being, notwithstanding his uncertainty, and although he had, at any rate, some suspicion of the existence of some creator?
Anf-03 v.vii.xxiv Pg 7
Isa. xlvi. 9. he strikes at those inexplicable genealogies of the Valentinian Æons. Again, there is an answer to Ebion in the Scripture: “Born,7274 7274
Anf-03 v.iv.v.xix Pg 7
Isa. vi. 9. —which now claims notice as having furnished to Christ that frequent form of His earnest instruction: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”4189 4189
Anf-03 v.viii.xxxiii Pg 5
Matt. xiii. 13; comp. Isa. vi. 9. But since it was to the Jews that He spoke in parables, it was not then to all men; and if not to all, it follows that it was not always and in all things parables with Him, but only in certain things, and when addressing a particular class. But He addressed a particular class when He spoke to the Jews. It is true that He spoke sometimes even to the disciples in parables. But observe how the Scripture relates such a fact: “And He spake a parable unto them.”7499 7499
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.vi Pg 11
Isa. vi. 9, 10. Quoted with some verbal differences. Now this blunting of their sound senses they had brought on themselves, loving God with their lips, but keeping far away from Him in their heart. Since, then, Christ was announced by the Creator, “who formeth the lightning, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man His Christ,” as the prophet Joel says,3166 3166
Npnf-201 iii.vi.xiii Pg 22
Npnf-201 iii.vi.xiii Pg 22
Anf-01 viii.iv.xii Pg 3
Not in Jeremiah; some would insert, in place of Jeremiah, Isaiah or John. [St. John xii. 40; Isa. vi. 10; where see full references in the English margin. But comp. Jer. vii. 24; 26, Jer. xi. 8, and Jer. xvii. 23.] has cried; yet not even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure.
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxx Pg 3
Matt. xiii. 11–16; Isa. vi. 10. For one and the same God [that blesses others] inflicts blindness upon those who do not believe, but who set Him at naught; just as the sun, which is a creature of His, [acts with regard] to those who, by reason of any weakness of the eyes cannot behold his light; but to those who believe in Him and follow Him, He grants a fuller and greater illumination of mind. In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: “In whom the this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine [unto them].”4210 4210
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.vi Pg 11
Isa. vi. 9, 10. Quoted with some verbal differences. Now this blunting of their sound senses they had brought on themselves, loving God with their lips, but keeping far away from Him in their heart. Since, then, Christ was announced by the Creator, “who formeth the lightning, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man His Christ,” as the prophet Joel says,3166 3166
Anf-03 iv.iii.xxi Pg 5
Isa. vi. 10. As, then, under the force of their pre-judgment, they had convinced themselves from His lowly guise that Christ was no more than man, it followed from that, as a necessary consequence, that they should hold Him a magician from the powers which He displayed,—expelling devils from men by a word, restoring vision to the blind, cleansing the leprous, reinvigorating the paralytic, summoning the dead to life again, making the very elements of nature obey Him, stilling the storms and walking on the sea; proving that He was the Logos of God, that primordial first-begotten Word, accompanied by power and reason, and based on Spirit,—that He who was now doing all things by His word, and He who had done that of old, were one and the same. But the Jews were so exasperated by His teaching, by which their rulers and chiefs were convicted of the truth, chiefly because so many turned aside to Him, that at last they brought Him before Pontius Pilate, at that time Roman governor of Syria; and, by the violence of their outcries against Him, extorted a sentence giving Him up to them to be crucified. He Himself had predicted this; which, however, would have signified little had not the prophets of old done it as well. And yet, nailed upon the cross, He exhibited many notable signs, by which His death was distinguished from all others. At His own free-will, He with a word dismissed from Him His spirit, anticipating the executioner’s work. In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn, when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives.107 107 Elucidation V. Then, when His body was taken down from the cross and placed in a sepulchre, the Jews in their eager watchfulness surrounded it with a large military guard, lest, as He had predicted His resurrection from the dead on the third day, His disciples might remove by stealth His body, and deceive even the incredulous. But, lo, on the third day there a was a sudden shock of earthquake, and the stone which sealed the sepulchre was rolled away, and the guard fled off in terror: without a single disciple near, the grave was found empty of all but the clothes of the buried One. But nevertheless, the leaders of the Jews, whom it nearly concerned both to spread abroad a lie, and keep back a people tributary and submissive to them from the faith, gave it out that the body of Christ had been stolen by His followers. For the Lord, you see, did not go forth into the public gaze, lest the wicked should be delivered from their error; that faith also, destined to a great reward, might hold its ground in difficulty. But He spent forty days with some of His disciples down in Galilee, a region of Judea, instructing them in the doctrines they were to teach to others. Thereafter, having given them commission to preach the gospel through the world, He was encompassed with a cloud and taken up to heaven,—a fact more certain far than the assertions of your Proculi concerning Romulus.108 108 Proculus was a Roman senator who affirmed that Romulus had appeared to him after his death. All these things Pilate did to Christ; and now in fact a Christian in his own convictions, he sent word of Him to the reigning Cæsar, who was at the time Tiberius. Yes, and the Cæsars too would have believed on Christ, if either the Cæsars had not been necessary for the world, or if Christians could have been Cæsars. His disciples also, spreading over the world, did as their Divine Master bade them; and after suffering greatly themselves from the persecutions of the Jews, and with no unwilling heart, as having faith undoubting in the truth, at last by Nero’s cruel sword sowed the seed of Christian blood at Rome.109 109 [Chapter l. at close. “The blood of Christians is the seed of the Church.”] Yes, and we shall prove that even your own gods are effective witnesses for Christ. It is a great matter if, to give you faith in Christians, I can bring forward the authority of the very beings on account of whom you refuse them credit. Thus far we have carried out the plan we laid down. We have set forth this origin of our sect and name, with this account of the Founder of Christianity. Let no one henceforth charge us with infamous wickedness; let no one think that it is otherwise than we have represented, for none may give a false account of his religion. For in the very fact that he says he worships another god than he really does, he is guilty of denying the object of his worship, and transferring his worship and homage to another; and, in the transference, he ceases to worship the god he has repudiated. We say, and before all men we say, and torn and bleeding under your tortures, we cry out, “We worship God through Christ.” Count Christ a man, if you please; by Him and in Him God would be known and be adored. If the Jews object, we answer that Moses, who was but a man, taught them their religion; against the Greeks we urge that Orpheus at Pieria, Musæus at Athens, Melampus at Argos, Trophonius in Bœotia, imposed religious rites; turning to yourselves, who exercise sway over the nations, it was the man Numa Pompilius who laid on the Romans a heavy load of costly superstitions. Surely Christ, then, had a right to reveal Deity, which was in fact His own essential possession, not with the object of bringing boors and savages by the dread of multitudinous gods, whose favour must be won into some civilization, as was the case with Numa; but as one who aimed to enlighten men already civilized, and under illusions from their very culture, that they might come to the knowledge of the truth. Search, then, and see if that divinity of Christ be true. If it be of such a nature that the acceptance of it transforms a man, and makes him truly good, there is implied in that the duty of renouncing what is opposed to it as false; especially and on every ground that which, hiding itself under the names and images of dead, the labours to convince men of its divinity by certain signs, and miracles, and oracles.
Anf-03 v.iv.v.xxxi Pg 14
Isa. vi. 10. their calling of God. In a manner most germane4738 4738 Pertinentissime. to this parable, He said by Jeremiah: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and ye shall walk in all my ways, which I have commanded you.”4739 4739
Anf-03 v.iv.vi.xi Pg 34
Isa. vi. 10 (only adapted). and, “If ye will not believe, ye shall not understand;”5711 5711
Anf-01 viii.iv.cxxiii Pg 4
Deut. xxxii. 20; Isa. xlii. 19 f. Is God’s commendation of you honourable? and is God’s testimony seemly for His servants? You are not ashamed though you often hear these words. You do not tremble at God’s threats, for you are a people foolish and hard-hearted. ‘Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people,’ saith the Lord; ‘and I will remove them, and destroy the wisdom of the wise, and hide the understanding of the prudent.’2426 2426
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.vi Pg 13
Isa. xlii. 19, altered. Also when He upbraids them by the same Isaiah: “I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel doth not know; my people doth not consider.”3168 3168
Anf-03 v.iv.vi.xvii Pg 18
Isa. xlii. 19 (Sept.). In His gift, too, are “the riches (of the glory) of His inheritance in the saints,”5964 5964
Anf-02 vi.iv.i.vi Pg 2.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.iii Pg 5.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.i.vi Pg 2.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.iv.iii Pg 5.1
Anf-01 viii.ii.lxiii Pg 2
Isa. i. 3. And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews knew not what the Father was, and what the Son, in like manner accused them; and Himself said, “No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; nor the Son, but the Father, and they to whom the Son revealeth Him.”1899 1899
Anf-01 ix.ii.xx Pg 2
Isa. i. 3. they pervert his words to mean ignorance of the invisible Bythus. And that which is spoken by Hosea, “There is no truth in them, nor the knowledge of God,”2907 2907
Anf-01 viii.ii.xxxvii Pg 2
Isa. i. 3. This quotation varies only in one word from that of the LXX. And again elsewhere, when the same prophet speaks in like manner from the person of the Father, “What is the house that ye will build for Me? saith the Lord. The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool.”1842 1842
Anf-01 viii.ii.lxiii Pg 6
Isa. i. 3. And again, Jesus, as we have already shown, while He was with them, said, “No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; nor the Son but the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him.”1903 1903
Anf-02 vi.iii.i.ix Pg 15.1
Anf-02 vi.ii.x Pg 6.1
1580
Anf-02 vi.iii.ii.viii Pg 36.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.v.viii Pg 32.1
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.vi Pg 14
Isa. i. 2, 3. We indeed, who know for certain that Christ always spoke in the prophets, as the Spirit of the Creator (for so says the prophet: “The person of our Spirit, Christ the Lord,”3169 3169 This seems to be a translation with a slight alteration of the LXX. version of Lam. iv. 20, πνεῦμα προσώπου ἡμῶν Χριστὸς Κύριος . who from the beginning was both heard and seen as the Father’s vicegerent in the name of God), are well aware that His words, when actually upbraiding Israel, were the same as those which it was foretold that He should denounce against him: “Ye have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger.”3170 3170
Anf-03 v.iv.v.xxv Pg 38
Isa. i. 3. nor to the Gentiles: “For, behold,” says He, “of the nations I have no man.”4501 4501
Anf-03 vi.vii.iv Pg 11
Obsequii. For the sentiment, compare Isa. i. 3. Finally, (the creatures) which obey, acknowledge their masters. Do we hesitate to listen diligently to Him to whom alone we are subjected—that is, the Lord? But how unjust is it, how ungrateful likewise, not to repay from yourself the same which, through the indulgence of your neighbour, you obtain from others, to him through whom you obtain it! Nor needs there more words on the exhibition of obedience9040 9040 Obsequii. due from us to the Lord God; for the acknowledgment9041 9041 See above, “the creatures…acknowledge their masters.” of God understands what is incumbent on it. Lest, however, we seem to have inserted remarks on obedience9042 9042 Obsequio. as something irrelevant, (let us remember) that obedience9043 9043 Obsequio. itself is drawn from patience. Never does an impatient man render it, or a patient fail to find pleasure9044 9044 “Oblectatur” Oehler reads with the mss. The editors, as he says, have emended “Obluctatur,” which Mr. Dodgson reads. in it. Who, then, could treat largely (enough) of the good of that patience which the Lord God, the Demonstrator and Acceptor of all good things, carried about in His own self?9045 9045 See the previous chapter. To whom, again, would it be doubtful that every good thing ought, because it pertains9046 9046 See the previous chapter. to God, to be earnestly pursued with the whole mind by such as pertain to God? By means of which (considerations) both commendation and exhortation9047 9047 See chap. i. on the subject of patience are briefly, and as it were in the compendium of a prescriptive rule, established.9048 9048 [All our author’s instances of this principle of the Præscriptio are noteworthy, as interpreting its use in the Advs. Hæreses.]
Anf-03 v.iv.vi.xiv Pg 27
Isa. i. 3. and as to their preferring the establishment of their own righteousness, (the Creator again describes them as) “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men;”5862 5862
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.xxiii Pg 9
Isa. i. 3, 4. So likewise that conditional threat of the sword, “If ye refuse and hear me not, the sword shall devour you,”3423 3423
Anf-03 v.iv.v.xxi Pg 36
Isa. lvii. i. When does this more frequently happen than in the persecution of His saints? This, indeed, is no ordinary matter,4291 4291 We have, by understanding res, treated these adjectives as nouns. Rigalt. applies them to the doctrina of the sentence just previous. Perhaps, however, “persecutione” is the noun. no common casualty of the law of nature; but it is that illustrious devotion, that fighting for the faith, wherein whosoever loses his life for God saves it, so that you may here again recognize the Judge who recompenses the evil gain of life with its destruction, and the good loss thereof with its salvation. It is, however, a jealous God whom He here presents to me; one who returns evil for evil. “For whosoever,” says He, “shall be ashamed of me, of him will I also be ashamed.”4292 4292
Anf-01 viii.viii.v Pg 3
Ps. cxv. 5. ), that they can do all things, though they be but devils, as saith the Scripture, “The gods of the nations are devils,”2621 2621
Anf-03 iv.vi.x Pg 4
Ps. cxv. 4–8. By means of these organs, indeed, we are to enjoy flowers; but if he declares that those who make idols will be like them, they already are so who use anything after the style of idol adornings. “To the pure all things are pure: so, likewise, all things to the impure are impure;”411 411
Anf-03 iv.iv.iv Pg 8
Ps. cxv. 8. In our version, “They that make them are like unto them.” Tertullian again agrees with the LXX. And why should I, a man of limited memory, suggest anything further? Why recall anything more from the Scriptures? As if either the voice of the Holy Spirit were not sufficient; or else any further deliberation were needful, whether the Lord cursed and condemned by priority the artificers of those things, of which He curses and condemns the worshippers!
Anf-01 viii.ii.ix Pg 2
[Isa. xliv. 9–20; Jer. x. 3.] carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! that dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods.
Anf-03 v.viii.iii Pg 4
Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines,1082 1082
Anf-02 vi.iv.v.xi Pg 14.1
Anf-01 viii.ii.ix Pg 2
[Isa. xliv. 9–20; Jer. x. 3.] carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! that dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods.
Anf-03 v.viii.iii Pg 4
Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines,1082 1082
Anf-01 viii.viii.v Pg 3
Ps. cxv. 5. ), that they can do all things, though they be but devils, as saith the Scripture, “The gods of the nations are devils,”2621 2621
Anf-03 iv.vi.x Pg 4
Ps. cxv. 4–8. By means of these organs, indeed, we are to enjoy flowers; but if he declares that those who make idols will be like them, they already are so who use anything after the style of idol adornings. “To the pure all things are pure: so, likewise, all things to the impure are impure;”411 411
Anf-03 iv.iv.iv Pg 8
Ps. cxv. 8. In our version, “They that make them are like unto them.” Tertullian again agrees with the LXX. And why should I, a man of limited memory, suggest anything further? Why recall anything more from the Scriptures? As if either the voice of the Holy Spirit were not sufficient; or else any further deliberation were needful, whether the Lord cursed and condemned by priority the artificers of those things, of which He curses and condemns the worshippers!
Anf-01 viii.ii.ix Pg 2
[Isa. xliv. 9–20; Jer. x. 3.] carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! that dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods.
Anf-03 v.viii.iii Pg 4
Let not those who seem worthy of credit, but teach strange doctrines,1082 1082
Anf-03 iv.vi.x Pg 4
Ps. cxv. 4–8. By means of these organs, indeed, we are to enjoy flowers; but if he declares that those who make idols will be like them, they already are so who use anything after the style of idol adornings. “To the pure all things are pure: so, likewise, all things to the impure are impure;”411 411
Anf-03 iv.iv.iv Pg 8
Ps. cxv. 8. In our version, “They that make them are like unto them.” Tertullian again agrees with the LXX. And why should I, a man of limited memory, suggest anything further? Why recall anything more from the Scriptures? As if either the voice of the Holy Spirit were not sufficient; or else any further deliberation were needful, whether the Lord cursed and condemned by priority the artificers of those things, of which He curses and condemns the worshippers!
Anf-02 iv.ii.ii.xxxv Pg 11.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.v.xv Pg 5.3
Anf-01 viii.iv.xx Pg 7
Deut. xxxii. 6; 20.
Anf-01 ix.vi.xi Pg 12
Deut. xxxii. 6. And again, he indicates that He who from the beginning founded and created them, the Word, who also redeems and vivifies us in the last times, is shown as hanging on the tree, and they will not believe on Him. For he says, “And thy life shall be hanging before thine eyes, and thou wilt not believe thy life.”3926 3926
Anf-01 ix.vi.xi Pg 14
Deut. xxxii. 6. “Owned thee,” i.e., following the meaning of the Hebrew, “owned thee by generation.”
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxxii Pg 8
Deut. xxxii. 6, LXX. [Let us reflect that this effort to spiritualize this awful passage in the history of Lot is an innocent but unsuccessful attempt to imitate St. Paul’s allegory, Gal. iv. 24.] At what time, then, did He pour out upon the human race the life-giving seed—that is, the Spirit of the remission of sins, through means of whom we are quickened? Was it not then, when He was eating with men, and drinking wine upon the earth? For it is said, “The Son of man came eating and drinking;”4235 4235
Anf-02 vi.iii.i.ix Pg 48.1
Anf-03 v.iv.v.xix Pg 7
Isa. vi. 9. —which now claims notice as having furnished to Christ that frequent form of His earnest instruction: “He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”4189 4189
Anf-03 v.viii.xxxiii Pg 5
Matt. xiii. 13; comp. Isa. vi. 9. But since it was to the Jews that He spoke in parables, it was not then to all men; and if not to all, it follows that it was not always and in all things parables with Him, but only in certain things, and when addressing a particular class. But He addressed a particular class when He spoke to the Jews. It is true that He spoke sometimes even to the disciples in parables. But observe how the Scripture relates such a fact: “And He spake a parable unto them.”7499 7499
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.vi Pg 11
Isa. vi. 9, 10. Quoted with some verbal differences. Now this blunting of their sound senses they had brought on themselves, loving God with their lips, but keeping far away from Him in their heart. Since, then, Christ was announced by the Creator, “who formeth the lightning, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man His Christ,” as the prophet Joel says,3166 3166
Npnf-201 iii.vi.xiii Pg 22
Npnf-201 iii.vi.xiii Pg 22
Anf-01 viii.iv.xii Pg 3
Not in Jeremiah; some would insert, in place of Jeremiah, Isaiah or John. [St. John xii. 40; Isa. vi. 10; where see full references in the English margin. But comp. Jer. vii. 24; 26, Jer. xi. 8, and Jer. xvii. 23.] has cried; yet not even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure.
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxx Pg 3
Matt. xiii. 11–16; Isa. vi. 10. For one and the same God [that blesses others] inflicts blindness upon those who do not believe, but who set Him at naught; just as the sun, which is a creature of His, [acts with regard] to those who, by reason of any weakness of the eyes cannot behold his light; but to those who believe in Him and follow Him, He grants a fuller and greater illumination of mind. In accordance with this word, therefore, does the apostle say, in the Second [Epistle] to the Corinthians: “In whom the this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ should shine [unto them].”4210 4210
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.vi Pg 11
Isa. vi. 9, 10. Quoted with some verbal differences. Now this blunting of their sound senses they had brought on themselves, loving God with their lips, but keeping far away from Him in their heart. Since, then, Christ was announced by the Creator, “who formeth the lightning, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man His Christ,” as the prophet Joel says,3166 3166
Anf-03 iv.iii.xxi Pg 5
Isa. vi. 10. As, then, under the force of their pre-judgment, they had convinced themselves from His lowly guise that Christ was no more than man, it followed from that, as a necessary consequence, that they should hold Him a magician from the powers which He displayed,—expelling devils from men by a word, restoring vision to the blind, cleansing the leprous, reinvigorating the paralytic, summoning the dead to life again, making the very elements of nature obey Him, stilling the storms and walking on the sea; proving that He was the Logos of God, that primordial first-begotten Word, accompanied by power and reason, and based on Spirit,—that He who was now doing all things by His word, and He who had done that of old, were one and the same. But the Jews were so exasperated by His teaching, by which their rulers and chiefs were convicted of the truth, chiefly because so many turned aside to Him, that at last they brought Him before Pontius Pilate, at that time Roman governor of Syria; and, by the violence of their outcries against Him, extorted a sentence giving Him up to them to be crucified. He Himself had predicted this; which, however, would have signified little had not the prophets of old done it as well. And yet, nailed upon the cross, He exhibited many notable signs, by which His death was distinguished from all others. At His own free-will, He with a word dismissed from Him His spirit, anticipating the executioner’s work. In the same hour, too, the light of day was withdrawn, when the sun at the very time was in his meridian blaze. Those who were not aware that this had been predicted about Christ, no doubt thought it an eclipse. You yourselves have the account of the world-portent still in your archives.107 107 Elucidation V. Then, when His body was taken down from the cross and placed in a sepulchre, the Jews in their eager watchfulness surrounded it with a large military guard, lest, as He had predicted His resurrection from the dead on the third day, His disciples might remove by stealth His body, and deceive even the incredulous. But, lo, on the third day there a was a sudden shock of earthquake, and the stone which sealed the sepulchre was rolled away, and the guard fled off in terror: without a single disciple near, the grave was found empty of all but the clothes of the buried One. But nevertheless, the leaders of the Jews, whom it nearly concerned both to spread abroad a lie, and keep back a people tributary and submissive to them from the faith, gave it out that the body of Christ had been stolen by His followers. For the Lord, you see, did not go forth into the public gaze, lest the wicked should be delivered from their error; that faith also, destined to a great reward, might hold its ground in difficulty. But He spent forty days with some of His disciples down in Galilee, a region of Judea, instructing them in the doctrines they were to teach to others. Thereafter, having given them commission to preach the gospel through the world, He was encompassed with a cloud and taken up to heaven,—a fact more certain far than the assertions of your Proculi concerning Romulus.108 108 Proculus was a Roman senator who affirmed that Romulus had appeared to him after his death. All these things Pilate did to Christ; and now in fact a Christian in his own convictions, he sent word of Him to the reigning Cæsar, who was at the time Tiberius. Yes, and the Cæsars too would have believed on Christ, if either the Cæsars had not been necessary for the world, or if Christians could have been Cæsars. His disciples also, spreading over the world, did as their Divine Master bade them; and after suffering greatly themselves from the persecutions of the Jews, and with no unwilling heart, as having faith undoubting in the truth, at last by Nero’s cruel sword sowed the seed of Christian blood at Rome.109 109 [Chapter l. at close. “The blood of Christians is the seed of the Church.”] Yes, and we shall prove that even your own gods are effective witnesses for Christ. It is a great matter if, to give you faith in Christians, I can bring forward the authority of the very beings on account of whom you refuse them credit. Thus far we have carried out the plan we laid down. We have set forth this origin of our sect and name, with this account of the Founder of Christianity. Let no one henceforth charge us with infamous wickedness; let no one think that it is otherwise than we have represented, for none may give a false account of his religion. For in the very fact that he says he worships another god than he really does, he is guilty of denying the object of his worship, and transferring his worship and homage to another; and, in the transference, he ceases to worship the god he has repudiated. We say, and before all men we say, and torn and bleeding under your tortures, we cry out, “We worship God through Christ.” Count Christ a man, if you please; by Him and in Him God would be known and be adored. If the Jews object, we answer that Moses, who was but a man, taught them their religion; against the Greeks we urge that Orpheus at Pieria, Musæus at Athens, Melampus at Argos, Trophonius in Bœotia, imposed religious rites; turning to yourselves, who exercise sway over the nations, it was the man Numa Pompilius who laid on the Romans a heavy load of costly superstitions. Surely Christ, then, had a right to reveal Deity, which was in fact His own essential possession, not with the object of bringing boors and savages by the dread of multitudinous gods, whose favour must be won into some civilization, as was the case with Numa; but as one who aimed to enlighten men already civilized, and under illusions from their very culture, that they might come to the knowledge of the truth. Search, then, and see if that divinity of Christ be true. If it be of such a nature that the acceptance of it transforms a man, and makes him truly good, there is implied in that the duty of renouncing what is opposed to it as false; especially and on every ground that which, hiding itself under the names and images of dead, the labours to convince men of its divinity by certain signs, and miracles, and oracles.
Anf-03 v.iv.v.xxxi Pg 14
Isa. vi. 10. their calling of God. In a manner most germane4738 4738 Pertinentissime. to this parable, He said by Jeremiah: “Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people; and ye shall walk in all my ways, which I have commanded you.”4739 4739
Anf-03 v.iv.vi.xi Pg 34
Isa. vi. 10 (only adapted). and, “If ye will not believe, ye shall not understand;”5711 5711
Anf-03 v.ix.xi Pg 12
Ps. lxxi. 18. Also to the same purport in another Psalm: “O Lord, how are they increased that trouble me!”7885 7885
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiii Pg 0
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiv Pg 0
Anf-03 iv.ix.x Pg 40
A ligno. Oehler refers us to Ps. xcvi. 10 (xcv. 10 in LXX.); but the special words “a ligno” are wanting there, though the text is often quoted by the Fathers. I wait to hear what you understand thereby; for fear you may perhaps think some carpenter-king1345 1345
Anf-03 v.iv.iv.xix Pg 3
Ps. xcvi. 10, with a ligno added. I want to know what you understand by it. Perhaps you think some wooden3357 3357 Lignarium aliquem regem. king of the Jews is meant!—and not Christ, who overcame death by His suffering on the cross, and thence reigned! Now, although death reigned from Adam even to Christ, why may not Christ be said to have reigned from the tree, from His having shut up the kingdom of death by dying upon the tree of His cross? Likewise Isaiah also says: “For unto us a child is born.”3358 3358
Anf-01 ix.vi.xxxvii Pg 9
Jer. vi. 17, 18. It is therefore one and the same Father who planted the vineyard, who led forth the people, who sent the prophets, who sent His own Son, and who gave the vineyard to those other husbandmen that render the fruits in their season.
Anf-01 ix.vii.xxxv Pg 16
Jer. xxxi. 10, etc. Now, in the preceding book4760 4760 See. iv. 8, 3. I have shown that all the disciples of the Lord are Levites and priests, they who used in the temple to profane the Sabbath, but are blameless.4761 4761
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiii Pg 0
Anf-01 viii.iv.lxxiv Pg 0
Anf-01 ix.vi.vi Pg 4
Isa. xii. 4. For neither in an ambiguous, nor arrogant, nor boastful manner, does He say these things; but since it was impossible, without God, to come to a knowledge of God, He teaches men, through His Word, to know God. To those, therefore, who are ignorant of these matters, and on this account imagine that they have discovered another Father, justly does one say, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God.”3846 3846
Anf-03 v.viii.xxii Pg 6
Joel iii. 9–15; Dan. vii. 13, 14. ), that “there should be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.”7416 7416
Anf-02 iv.ii.ii.xxxv Pg 11.1
Anf-02 vi.iv.v.xv Pg 5.3
Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge, Chapter 41VERSE (26) - :22; 43:9; 44:7; 45:21 Hab 2:18-20
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