Four Apologies by John Cantacuzenus for the Christian Religion against the Mohammedan Sect

FOUR APOLOGIES OF JOHN CANTACUZENUS FOR THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AGAINST THE MAHOMETAN SECT.

THIS PRESENT WORK WAS COMPOSED BY OUR MOST PIOUS AND CHRIST-LOVING EMPEROR, LORD JOANNES CANTACUZENUS, WHO AFTER ASSUMING THE MONASTIC HABIT WAS NAMED JOASAPH THE MONK.

Argument of the book

^A A certain Achaemenides, having already reached the age of manhood, a person not ignoble and of splendid fortune, was administering the office of teaching. For he himself was a lover of his ancestral law and all things pertaining to it, and he seemed to persuade all who came under his influence that Muhammad and his law were of great account. This man, however, having received the ray of piety and having condemned his ancestral superstition, recognizes the true God. For this reason, despoiled of all his goods, he flees to the most pious Emperor of the Romans, who at that time was Joannes Cantacuzenus, and by him he was treated as a friend. When God called the Emperor to a life more devoted to Christian philosophy, he himself was also taken among his companions and, having been initiated into the monastic life with him, he was called Meletius upon changing his name. He was helped not a little by familiar conversation with the Emperor, for the latter was verily informing his mind and instructing him in the Christian religion. But the enemy of the human race could not easily bear these things. Therefore, he arms a certain Persian against Meletius, and persuades him to attack him with deceitful and crafty letters, so as to impel him, by exchanging the truth for a lie, to return to his former religion. Meletius, however, although he was most desirous of ^B

^A opposing them in writing, was destitute of the faculty of speech; he flees to the Emperor, offers him the letters, and asks for his aid in the imminent struggle. The Emperor, therefore, having approved the man's purpose, takes up the contest, and lends his tongue, as it were, to Meletius and to the truth in common. The discourse, moreover, the argument of which was to refute the epistle we mentioned above, proceeds against the heresy of the Saracens, defending indeed the dogmas of the Christians, but incidentally running through the individual parts of the Saracen heresy; then, in four discourses, he shows that this is consistent neither with truth nor with itself, inasmuch as in many places it does not sufficiently agree with itself. But that he should demonstrate the mystery of the Christian religion by the testimonies of Moses, the prophets, and the Gospel, let no one wonder, for those things which have been said by Moses, the prophets, and the Gospel are held by the Saracens themselves as sacred and divine. ^B Yet, one might also aptly say that these same things stand against the Jews. For there are not a few things in common between the Saracens and the Jews: for in both there is a monarchical polity, the same zeal for polygamy, the same abstinence from swine's flesh, and also the same sign of circumcision. By the same law, moreover, it is permitted among both to give a bill of divorce to one's own wives; and should any of either side pass away, the brother is wont to take his wife. But, to speak summarily, it will not seem to me that anyone has erred who declared the law of Mahomet to be a confused and corrupted Judaism. Wherefore also the divine John in the Apocalypse, discussing this law and people, where he touches upon those things which are common to both as if by riddles, says: *They say they are Jews, and are not.* ^C So that it would be nothing absurd if the conflict with them—who observe so many things in common—were common and the same as with the Jews; for there is nothing absurd if, there being many things common to them, one’s struggle against them should also be in part common.

The Musulman Sampsates of Isfahan the Persian, to the monk Meletius.

In the name of God, the Merciful and Compassionate.

Beloved brother, receive health, praise, and intercession from us, your most humble brethren; yet you may discern the benevolence of our mind, with which we are affected towards you, even without letters. Know, however, that I, your humble and lowly brother, at an opportune time was brought into the region of the great Amura (whose justice I pray that God may increase), whom you yourself also know to regard nothing so much as your praises. Indeed, I have learned the manner and sentiment of your life from the friends and brothers whom you have here, who are held by such love for you that, although they have never seen us, they never meet me without demanding in your name that I pray to the Amura to restore you. Seeing them therefore so moved, I myself also, although you are unknown to me, grieve with them, and I pray to God, though I am a sinner, that He may [deliver] you from darkness and

the destruction which you have wrought. And I beseech you, repent, weep, groan, for God is merciful. You must know that you are not the only one who has suffered this evil; for saints, prophets, and other great men have also offended God. And yet He forgave them again, just as God Himself says with His holy mouth: "I am ready to receive the one who repents." The prophet also equates himself with God and says: "If anyone repents for what he has done to offend God, he is as one without sin." If, therefore, you have stumbled, as a man, it is nothing strange. But repent again, and wash your heart, so that God may receive you as one who is compassionate. For if man had not sinned, how would we have been able to know that God is sympathetic? Truly, the writings which you wrote and sent were not at all in keeping with your former learning and honor. Nevertheless, you did this under the impulse of emotion, and by accusing the prophet, you slandered him, as you yourself also know. Do you not know the Scripture that was spoken by God through the prophet: "All things I made for you, and you for me"? But I pray to God that death does not overtake you in destruction. Tell me, however, I adjure you by God, what good thing were you able to see among the Christians? For they imagine to themselves under a false appearance that they are exalting Christ in glory, when they are insulting Him, saying that He is both God and the Son of God. They have confounded the true way, and neglecting it, they have fallen into an incurable malady. Yet it is not fitting that an orthodox Muslim should curse them, but rather that he should pray for them, according to the opinion of God and the prophet. But again I ask you: What, I pray, did you see, that you were led astray and consented to their faith? They say that they worship three persons: Father, Mother, and Son. Who has ever seen this? Who has heard it? What prophet taught this? Or to whom of the saints has it ever been revealed in a vision? And as we have heard, they have been divided into many parts. Some say there are many gods, while others say fewer. And because of this, they are accustomed to argue and contend daily. Could you never, even from this, condemn them? Woe to their impudence, woe to their folly. Having deserted and abandoned God the creator of all, they worship many gods, and they slander Christ, who is the Word of God, saying that He claimed to be the Son of God. Did not the Jews interrogate Him, saying: "Are You the Son of God?" And He denied it, and said: "You say it." ^C But from that time to this, what shall I write to you? What shall I refute? What shall I teach you? Namely, that there is one God, the creator of heaven and earth. Just as He Himself said: "I am God, and I have no partner in divinity." We clearly perceive this; for as far as I hear, you are not uneducated and ignorant, except that the desire of your body has overcome you. Do you surely know whether the world lacks a beginning and substance? And let these things suffice. A single statement will save a prudent man. And this, indeed, by writing, ^D

well, that none of these things are unknown and ignored by you, as I hear. But the desire of your body has overcome you. You know well that the world is insubstantial, and it suffices for you until now. One word saves the prudent man. These are the things in writing; but these are those things ^A spoken orally: How is it possible for God to have a Son without a woman? And if God has a Son, it is possible for a schism to arise between the two. And how is it possible for God to become man, and in what manner did He become man? And further, if Christ was God and the Son of God, why did He not save man by word alone, but rather, as if hindered by inability, became man and died, so that He might save man, as the Christians say? And since He was God, how did He suffer? For God does not suffer. And that the Christians, having transgressed the Mosaic law, and being for this reason worthy of accusation, rather accuse the Muslims, who were more worthy of acceptance. And that the name of Muhammad had been written in the Old Testament and in the Gospel, with Christ having praised this, but the Christians cast it out. ^B Not only in these, but also from the ages, it is found written on the right side of the throne of God. And that the faith of the Muslims is found to be from Abraham.

Let no one think that the freedom and the simple, as it were, composition of the arguments against Mahomet is due to a weakness or lack of culture on the part of the most divine Emperor in setting forth the argument more logically. ^C For the scope of such arguments of piety is the refutation of Mahomet and his fellow tribesmen and comrades and servants, who, being barbarian men and ignorant of the wisdom of the Greeks, and indeed of their language, were handled in a simpler style, a fact which they who are conversant in such things understand, and it will seem strange to no one if the diction of these discourses differs from the diction of the other works of the same author.

FIRST APOLOGY

Having received the letters sent to me by you, I understood how many things you desire to discuss with me, if it were permitted to enjoy our conversation together. But as the opportunity of time does not allow this, it was necessary to carry out what you desired in writing. But I also have already written back previously, and I defended myself as best I could regarding all the things you accuse us of, and I have until now awaited an Apology written by you; but in vain. Not long after, however, my Apology, which I had written to you, returned to me without any word or response. I marveled greatly at this, considering within myself many and various things regarding what had happened.

^A Some of those arriving here from among you reported to me that you desire this response or apology, not having been sent hither, because you had repented of the deed. Furthermore, they also added this, that you say, “How is it possible for God to have a Son without a woman? For if God has a Son, behold, there is division and faction among them. And how is it possible for God to be made man? And in what way, being God, did He become man? And also, if Christ were God and the Son of God, why did He not save man by a mere word, but, as if hindered by impotence, became man and underwent death in order to save man? Moreover, if He were God, how did He suffer? For God does not suffer.” And that we, who profess Christ, have transgressed and made void the Mosaic law, and that we accuse and condemn you as those who observe it wrongly and in error; and so we, who are worthy of accusation, condemn you who are worthy of praise. And that Christ prophesied concerning Mahomet and commended him, and that his name was found written in the ancient law of Moses and in the Gospel, but that Christians, along with many other things, have cast it out. They also said this, those who arrived, that you desire that my apology to you be found more extensive and more pure. ^B Having learned this, I approved of your manner. For whoever seeks the truth finds it; for the Muslims are accustomed to forbid some of their own from disputing with Christians, clearly for this reason, as it seems, lest, exercised by mutual debate, they might recognize the pure truth. Christians, on the other hand, relying with confidence of soul on their pure faith, and on the right, approved, and true dogmas which they observe, do not obstruct any of their own at all, but each of them is accustomed to dispute confidently and freely with all whomsoever he pleases. Behold, therefore, according to your desire, I shall construct my defense to the best of my ability, concerning those things about which you were in doubt and questioned when writing to us. ^C Yet these are your words, O good Sampsates. But as for me, what I might wish to say or speak, and from where I should take the beginning of my speech, I do not see, fearing lest something similar to that which happens to those who labour with their eyes might befall you. For these, since their sight is weak, turn away from the sun’s rays and light, and prefer to delight in dwelling in darkness. So it also happens to you while hearing the words of truth and justice. For you are likely to turn away from the truth and hold it in hatred, much preferring to desire to remain in these vain shadows in which you are now immersed, just like those of whom we have just spoken. ^D Yet, I pray that this may not happen. Nevertheless, relying upon that innate knowledge of judgment which God has granted you, and also upon the discipline and honest instruction in which you have been trained, and, moreover, upon the honest and upright conscience which many attribute to you (all of which things can lead you into the way of truth), we have undertaken this labor. For this is not the knowledge of many and sundry. Now, however, as you yourself see, I am writing to you, and, as if forgetting the narrowness of my own mind and the weakness of my ignorance and rusticity, I willed to construct an apology and to show to you concerning those things which you inquired and asked, from which I have both heard and been taught, the eyes of my mind having been opened by the cooperation of God, to…

^A have turned from a vain and traditionally-inherited religion to the pure and blameless faith of Christ, and to the way of truth. I exhort you, therefore, to hear with understanding. For I am not about to speak to you from myself, nor from things which you do not accept, but from the books which all Muslims confess to be true and holy Scriptures, and given by God. Consider, then, lest you suffer something similar to those who stand upon hidden treasures, and do not know where they stand, or what is near them. For they have the great wealth almost in their own hands, but because of ignorance of these things, they depart with empty hands, and they depart thirsting, though standing in the midst of drinkable and most clear water. But be like those who labor and sweat, so that they may unearth and gain the hidden and invisible treasure; and since the words of God, which are known to the impious and the unlearned, are now for the present being placed in your hands, take heed that you go through them with a careful purpose and accurate investigation, and be filled with divine knowledge and truth. For great is the faith of the Christians, and the subject of the incarnation of the Son of God is a great mystery.

1. You said: "How is it possible for God to have a Son without a woman? And how is it possible for God to become a man? And who of the saints taught this impiety? Or which of the prophets beheld this in a vision?" And these are your words; to which we respond as follows. That God is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible, we have been taught, and we know, and believe, and confess; but what God is, we have neither been taught, nor do we know, nor indeed has the investigation of such an impiety even entered into our hearts. And that Christ is the Son and Word of God, and is God, this we have been taught, and we know, and believe, and confess. But how His generation is, we do not know, nor have we been taught, nor are we ever going to investigate it in the age to come, as it is impious and alien to the faith and state of the Christians. But we judge that such a mystery, which is above nature, is equally unknown to angels and men. And in the same way, we have the same view regarding His incarnation. For that He became man, we have been taught, and we know, and we believe; but how it happened, we do not know, but just as we are ignorant of His generation from God the Father, so we also confess that that which is from His holy mother Mary the Virgin is unknown to us. But you, who understand what is impossible for God—for you say, "How is it possible for God to have a Son?"—by the very same reason by which you say this, you must also know what is possible for God. You, therefore, being endowed with knowledge of many things, teach us, the unlearned and rude, what is the nature of God, and what is possible for Him, and what is impossible for Him, so that...

you may deliver us, who according to your view are living in destruction, from perdition. Explain therefore to us what God is and what the nature of God is; then I, too, will explain what the generation of the Son and ^B Word of God is. And although perhaps some bold and brazen men might say regarding this matter whatever comes into their mind, I will nevertheless myself confess our ignorance in this business. Yet, set me free from the doubt by which I am held. For you, who are accustomed to say, "By what reason is it possible for God to have a son without a woman?" seem to understand, or to be such as intend to understand exactly, how Christ was born of a woman without male intercourse; and, what is more manifest than that, how Adam was made a man without man or woman; but also how Eve was created from a man indeed, but without a woman, and that not according to the law and order of nature which they received after the transgression, but in another way, which among us Christians is unknown, but known to God alone. But if this cannot be comprehended by any human reason, why, I ask, do the Muslims labor in vain, accusing us of the same things, which neither they understand nor know, but seem to be as far from the truth as heaven is from earth? For it is from their ignorance of the Scriptures that they have fallen into such errors. For the books of Moses and the Psalter of David, and furthermore the writings of the prophets, but also the Gospel of Christ itself—everything, I say—these things they say and confess to be holy, just, true, and good (as indeed they truly are), but they confess them only in words; what is said in them, they do not understand. And as is wont to happen when you hear the angels ^C celebrate God excellently and with the most sweet sounds, you follow with love and praise the things which are said by them, yet you do not understand the sense of what is said. Thus in all these books you are accustomed to do, so that you extol with praise the things contained in these writings, but ignore what is truly being said. Why? Because you have never been solidly instructed about them. But Christians, partly gathered in churches, partly each one at home, read the holy books daily, and so at length the length of time, assiduous reading, and diligent investigation has revealed and taught them every truth. Since, therefore, you consider those who are ignorant of the things of Christ to be such that no one of the saints has spoken concerning Him, and neither has any prophet prophesied, and you seek to hear these things from us as if we were supposedly devoid of a defense, hear concerning what you seek, and consider accurately what is said.

§ 2. That great Moses in the book of Genesis has said word for word thus: "The Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is multiplied before Me. I will go down, therefore, and I will see." But Abraham was standing before the Lord, and approaching, Abraham said, "Wilt Thou destroy the just with the impious, and shall the just be as the impious? If there are fifty just in the city, wilt Thou not spare it for the sake of the fifty just? Far be it from Thee to do this, ^D who judgest the whole earth." The Lord said

"If I find fifty just in Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake." Abraham answering said: "Now I have begun to speak to my Lord; but I am earth and ashes: what if there be found forty-five?" And the Lord said: "If there be found forty-five, I will spare the city." And in this way, conversing with the Lord, Abraham descended even unto ten. Then Moses subjoins: "And the Lord departed, after He ceased speaking to Abraham." ^B Do you see whence those things which pertain to Christ began little by little to be manifested? For the eyes of the just man were able to recognize God, even though He existed in the form of a servant. Attend, therefore, to the fact that God the Father never appeared in the visions of the prophets as a man, because He was not made man. But at one time He appeared in one way, and at another time in another. Angels, however, appear from time to time in the form of men. It must be examined, therefore, regarding such a vision: who was He that was seen? Behold, it was not God the Father, because He was seen in human form. But will you say that He was an angel? But how, I pray, would it be proper if Moses or any other of the saints, having made mention of an angel, should call him Lord or Judge? For who is He who judges the whole earth, if not God? Since, therefore, it is manifest that He who appeared in human form was neither God the Father, nor an angel, for the reasons which we have just reviewed, it is altogether evident, and that necessarily, that He Himself was the Word and Son of God, who is both God and man. ^C For by the fact that He appeared to Abraham in human form, He showed His future incarnation. But because He is called Lord by Abraham himself, and by Moses, and as one who judges the whole earth, and who has mercy on whom He wills, and corrects whom He sees fit to correct, He demonstrated His divinity in this. For to judge, and to have mercy, and to be angry, belongs to God alone, and by no means to an angel or a man; for this is not of their power and authority. For by saying, "If I find fifty, or even fewer, I will spare the city," He showed the greatness of His power. But you, take care, lest when you hear the Lord saying, "I will go down and see," you imagine something humble regarding God, and unworthy of His divinity. For on account of the weakness of human nature, such things are often said concerning God. Moreover, this was said on account of His future conversation with men.

3. Furthermore, the Lord God having shown to Abraham the four quarters of the earth, said: "To thee will I give this land, and to thy seed; and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is by the sea shore, because I have made thee the father of many nations, and in thee shall all the nations be blessed." These are the words of God to Abraham himself. Now, what is the meaning of these things must be inquired into. Consider, therefore, how Moses says that God ^D

^A promised and pledged that He would give all the land to Abraham and to his seed, and that He would multiply his seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand beside the shore of the sea, and that "in his seed all nations shall be blessed." And since the words of God are true and never prove false, come, let us examine where and in what manner the oracles of God were fulfilled. For Abraham had two sons, one indeed from the handmaid Hagar, namely Ishmael, and one from the free wife Sarah, namely Isaac. ^B Did the Lord therefore declare concerning Ishmael, born of the handmaid, that he was the seed of Abraham in whom all nations would be blessed? But when the Lord said to Abraham, "Cast out the handmaid with her son; for the son of the handmaid shall by no means be an heir with the son of the free woman," Abraham, according to the command of God, cast out Ishmael with his mother Hagar and drove them from the house of Abraham. Furthermore, the righteous Abraham, when he heard from God, "I have set you as a father of many nations, and I will give the land to you and to your seed, and in your seed all nations shall be blessed," responded thus, saying, "What will You give me, Lord, seeing that I go on childless?" From this you see that before Abraham was admonished to cast Ishmael out of his house, he did not regard him as his son in any sense. For if he had regarded him as his true son, he would certainly never have asked for another offspring. For, in saying, "I go on childless," he seeks an offspring who might be considered his son and his seed. For Isaac was born later. After all these things, however, the word of the Lord, saying, "Cast out the handmaid with her son," clearly showed that God did not consider Ishmael to be the son and seed of Abraham. And behold, as it appears, Ishmael is excluded from the paternal inheritance of Abraham according to the command of God. ^C Shall we say, therefore, that this is Isaac? That he is the son of the free wife Sarah is manifest; and it is established that the race of the Hebrews is descended from him; but the blessing of the nations can in no way be referred to him. For only the Hebrews are of his seed, as the descendants of Jacob and his twelve sons. And even when they were established in the prosperity and peak of their kingdom, they were found to be very few and easily numbered if compared with the inhabitants of the whole world. For they scarcely maintained the quantity of even a single nation; yet, aided by divine help, they were considered distinguished and terrible. For the Lord called them His own peculiar people, and named them His inheritance and private possession; and by His power ^D they were victorious together and gained the towns of their adversaries, and through the power of God, Moses began to perform miracles in Egypt, and after him Joshua the son of Nun, and many others, up to the birth of Christ. But after His generation, the Jews began to rush toward destruction, and the prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled, saying, "A prince shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his

loins, until the one for whom it is reserved comes, and he is the expectation of the nations." ^A And indeed that of Isaiah, too, which says, "The root of Jesse shall sprout, and he who arises to rule the nations, in him shall the nations hope." For until the birth of Christ, the Jews had kings and high priests from their own race. But when Christ was born, both high priests and kings failed. And as these things happened, at times God was angry with them because of their sins, and especially because of their idolatry—for they were devoted to idols—but at other times He would again sympathize with them. From the time, however, that they dared that great and fearful crime, they were henceforth abandoned by God and delivered into an implacable wrath, and they were scattered among the nations. ^B Yet God had nevertheless waited for a time, being philanthropic, expecting their conversion and repentance; but because they were suffering from an incurable disease, He cut them off from Himself, as the prophets say concerning them. For since they were idolaters and were provoking God, He would deliver them into captivity and chastisements because of their evils. Yet He did not completely abandon them, but God’s wrath against them was extended only until a certain numbered time. And then they would again receive sympathy, as has been said, and their former happiness. But even during their time of captivity, prophets never failed to be with them, providing them with consolation and spiritual benefit. For they would foretell the coming wrath of God against them, but also the times of that wrath, the sympathy that would occur after these things, and the return to Jerusalem. For they spent four hundred years in Egypt, but there they were born and reared. And after they came to Jerusalem and built the temple, the king of the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar, took them into captivity for seventy years; and after this, Antiochus Epiphanes for two years and a half, and God’s wrath against them was not extended any further than that. ^C And yet, in the time of Moses, being in the desert, they sacrificed to the calf, and after this they offered sacrifices to idols; and they did not only offer sacrifices of animals, but they also sacrificed their own children to demons, and were defiled by the slaughter of the prophets, and yet they did not experience an implacable wrath. But from the crucifixion of the Lord, thirteen hundred and sixty years have now elapsed. And yet, as they themselves claim, they keep the Law and have practiced no idolatry at all; but only because of this one most impious crime which they committed against Christ, they have been abandoned and have become an example to the whole world. For that they have been scattered for this reason—so that they might be exposed as a mockery and a laughingstock to the whole world—is most clearly evident even from this, that they have received no consolation from any of the prophets during this interval of time, nor has any prophet spoken among them

^A after John, the son of Zacharias, this is clear. For when the One foretold by the prophets, who is Christ, had come, of necessity prophecy ceased—partly because Christ had come, as has been said, and partly because the Jews were unworthy and had been abandoned. Therefore, they rejected Christ, and did to Him all that they did, and on account of this they suffered incurable evils. For they did not crucify a mere man, but God and man; yet it was not the divinity that suffered, but the human nature. Behold, then, even that posterity which was begotten of the free woman Sarah—Isaac, surely—so far as the Jews are concerned, was left behind, abandoned, and the seed of Isaac was left in destruction. For how was God to reckon the race of the Hebrews as the seed of Isaac, since it was decreed against them that the implacable wrath of God ^B should overtake them? And how were they to be reckoned as children of Abraham, whom David, foreseeing and prophesying against them, said to God: “Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow Thou down their back always” (Ps. LXVIII, 24)—that is to say, let the yoke of perpetual servitude not depart from them. For this is what “bow down always” signifies. This is not a formula of cursing, but a prediction of prophecy. For how was God to reckon them the seed of Isaac and children of Abraham, concerning whom the prophet Daniel foretold their subversion and destruction, but never mentioned their return and recall (as he is accustomed to do with others), but signifies the very opposite? For after he had set forth in a tragic and magnificent style of speech the evils that were to befall them, he finally adds: “This servitude shall hold them until the consummation of the ages” (Dan. IX, 27). ^C But it is also written in the Gospels that when the Jews were magnificently extolling themselves toward Christ, saying, “We have Abraham as our father,” Jesus said to them: “Do not say within yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as a father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham” (Matth. III, 9). What else did these words mean for them, than if He had said: Since there is nothing good in you, but you boast and speak grandiloquently in this alone—that you can call yourselves children of Abraham—I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. Now, that God can form men from inanimate stones is manifest; for He who created man from nothing is able to create him from inanimate matter. However, He did not speak these things concerning stones, but concerning ^D the Gentiles, who had hearts more hardened than stones—those who later worshipped Christ, believed in Him, and were reckoned as children of Abraham according to the promise. For Christ not only deprived the Jews and cast them out from being reckoned as children of Abraham, but He even named them children of the devil, saying thus: “You do the works of your father, the devil. He was a murderer from the beginning and has not stood in the truth, because there is no truth in him.” And since Christ named them children of the devil, how can

God be considered the father of Abraham and the seed of Isaac? For what fellowship has the devil with the servants of God, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? Or rather, what communion has God with the devil? ^B

4. Therefore, if we judge according to the opinion and faith of the Jews and the Muslims, the word of God would be found to be vain and false. For from Ishmael, the nations did not come to God at all, and similarly from Isaac. But this is not so; it is not so, I say. For the word of God has not failed, but in Christ, who appeared according to the flesh from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all visions, all prophecies, and all revelations were manifested, revealed, and fulfilled—those which show Him to be God, and those which show Him to be man, just as this our discourse has already demonstrated and explained, and will explain yet more clearly. Furthermore, all the nations in Christ have received the blessing by believing in Him. For all the nations that previously worshipped idols are now all faithful and orthodox, except for a few individuals—I speak of Muslims, Hebrews, and others—who, when all taken together, appear as nothing compared to the multitude of Christians, not more than a handful of water compared to the open sea. But what does this matter to the truth, if some, disregarding it, have remained incorrigible and unbelieving? The sun illuminates all the air and the whole world, yet while the blind remain in darkness, the blame for this is not cast upon the sun, but upon those who are blind. ^C Think of it this way regarding Christ also: that the Gospel and teaching of Christ, or rather Christ Himself, has shown Himself to be brighter and more luminous than ten thousand suns. For into all the earth the word of the Gospel has gone out; and those who believe are saved, while those who do not believe perish. But the blame does not lie with Christ, but with the unbelievers who betray their own salvation. Yet not even thus is salvation simply for everyone who believes, but for those who, along with faith, perform works worthy of salvation. But let our discourse return to the testimonies and proofs concerning Christ, though not all of them. For if we were to attempt to develop all the revelations, visions, and prophecies concerning Christ, many scribes, having labored greatly, would have processed only a small part of them. Nevertheless, let us speak a little from the many for the illumination of the truth. ^D

5. Moses said to the people of the Hebrews: “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet from your brethren, like me; and every soul, whoever does not listen to that prophet, shall be cut off.” And consider the precision of the prophet; for by saying, “The Lord God will raise up a prophet,” He showed that the one being prophesied about is to be a man, and that

he is from God, and not numbered among the false prophets. ^A And in saying, “from among our brethren,” he showed that he is from the Hebrews, and from nowhere else; so that if any other person should say of a foreign race that he is a prophet and prophesies from God, they would not accept him, but would regard him as a deceiver and an impostor. But also the great Moses himself first received testimonies from God, in part from the miracles performed in Egypt, and from the crossing of the Red Sea, and in part from the descent and the manifestation of God through fire on Mount Sinai, in the presence of the entire camp of the Jewish people; and only then did he publish the law given by God. For which reason, as we said above, the great Moses has spoken concerning Christ: “The Lord God will raise up a prophet from among our brethren.” But the phrase, “as me,” he said for this reason: that just as I liberated you from the bitter slavery of Pharaoh, and from the clay and brick-making, and gave you a law for salvation, so also the prophet now announced by me is about to liberate the entire world from the tyranny and power of the devil and from idolatry, and to give the law of liberty. ^B Having heard this, the Jews long expected the one who was prophesied, and seeing John, the son of Zacharias, coming from the desert and baptizing the people, and thinking that he was the very one predicted by Moses, they asked him, “Art thou the prophet?” What, then, did he reply? “I am not, but I am the one sent before him; but he comes after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose.” John was certainly a prophet, and a great prophet indeed; but because the Jews were asking about the prophet whom Moses had predicted would come, for this reason John said, “I am not.” And observe the ignorance and stupidity of the Jews, that before the Messiah, that is, Christ, came, they expected and asked about him, but when he came, they rejected him.

6. After these things, the same great Moses said again, “Rejoice, O heavens, with him, and let all the angels of God worship him.” Tell me, whom else do the angels of God worship, if not God Himself? Therefore, this one whom Moses demonstrated to be a man, a prophet, and a lawgiver, ^C whom he also said should be worshipped by the angels, is himself God and man, the Son and Word of God, to be worshipped and honored by us and by the angels together. And these are the words of Moses.

7. But David the prophet spoke thus: “O God, give thy judgment to the king, and thy justice to the king’s son. He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the needy, and shall humble the slanderer. He shall endure with the sun, and before the moon, for generations of generations. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, and as drops distilling upon the earth. He shall cause justice to rise in his days, and abundance of peace, until

^A the moon is taken away, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him; all nations shall serve him, and his name shall be blessed unto the ages. Before the sun his name shall abide, and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doeth marvelous things, and blessed be his name unto the age, and unto the age of the age.” ^B By introducing two persons, the Prophet signifies nothing other than God and the King, and His Son, Christ, who judgeth the poor of the people, and saveth the needy, and humbleth the slanderer. Do not understand this to be some strong and just man, a prince or a king; for it is of the same one that he says he shall continue with the sun, and of the same one he says that he is before the moon, for generations of generations. And upon which of men can this fit—that he was before the moon for generations of generations, and shall continue with the sun? The prophecy squares with no one else but Christ Himself alone. For in saying that he shall judge the poor of the people, and save the sons of the needy, and humble the slanderers, he showed His justice and power and care toward men. But in saying that His name abides before the sun and before the moon for generations of generations, he showed His lack of beginning. And in the phrase, “He shall continue with the sun,” he showed His lack of end. “He shall come down as rain upon the fleece, and as the drop that drippeth upon the earth. He shall cause to rise in His days justice and abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away.” Who again is it who descended like rain upon the fleece—that is, quietly and undisturbed, and without His own dignity and majesty—if not Christ, who descended from heaven into the holy Virgin, and she, having conceived, bore Him in a poor manger and a humble cave? For He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. But when He shall come to judge the inhabited world, then He is to appear in the glory of His Father with all the angels, just as Christ Himself testified in the Gospel, saying: “I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.” “He shall cause to rise in His days justice, and abundance of peace, until the moon is taken away.” What is meant by, “He shall cause to rise in His days justice, and abundance of peace”? Nothing else but that it is the worst and most evil of all such injustice, that men should abandon God, their creator and maker, who brought them from not-being into being, and should worship the devil, and creatures, and the works of their own hands. And just as one who, overcome by drunkenness and deep darkness, ignores his own father—who takes care in every way, and is concerned for, and seeks his provision and benefit and salvation—and follows an enemy who desires his slaughter and destruction, ^C bound and fettered by him hand and foot […].

^A brought into a prison most secure and dark, he neither knows nor is able to distinguish father and friend from enemy and foe, on account of his drunkenness and surfeit, nor does he even wish to. And if he should ever come to a trace of perception, he cannot [act upon it], being held fast, as it were, in bonds: thus man, also, straying at the beginning and turned aside from the straight and level path, fell into the hands of the devil. And what place is more obscure or more hideous than this? For this [devil], having intoxicated man with a multitude of pleasures, has made him utterly devoid of sense; and then, as those who are drunk with wine, or rather as those driven by disordered and superfluous humors and madness, or driven by a demon, they hear but do not understand, and see but do not perceive, ^B because the governing mind has been perverted. Indeed, they imagine that things which stand still are moving, and that things which move are standing still; and they recoil from what is useful to them, while embracing what is harmful, nor can they distinguish the good from the evil, or the friend from the enemy. This very thing, as we have said, happened to man. For he rejected God, and bound by the demon in the deepest darkness of ignorance, he endured his tyranny. But David, filled with divine grace, understood into what a pit and destruction man had fallen, and what a surge and tempest, and how great an injury he had caused God by rejecting Him (for a twofold injury is detected here: the devil caused injury to man, because he led him so far away from God; and, if it be lawful to say so, he causes injury to God Himself, by leading astray His creature. Similarly, man also caused injury to God, because by rejecting Him, he followed the rule of the devil), and who finally would redeem him from the densest darkness and iniquity. Since, therefore, the prophet says, “He will cause righteousness to spring up,” ^C he implies that, just as the sick who lie bedridden in darkness do not themselves go out into the light, but the light penetrates to them, so also to man lying in diabolic darkness, He who was to assume the bowels of mercy arises. And upon His arising and illuminating the world, all darkness departed and vanished. Man, therefore, having been illuminated, and having perceived in what bonds he lay, and being unable to help himself, looked toward Him who is able. ^D And He, not willing that man should be any longer oppressed by the tyranny of the devil, freed him and healed him. Having been freed then and healed, he no longer attached himself to the devil, but this redemption having been accomplished, through the faith of man the injury which God had suffered vanished, and His righteousness appeared, now that the intelligible sun of righteousness, that is to say Christ, had arisen. Man, therefore, having received faith, and having entered the harbor of faith, free from storm and tossing, received a multitude of peace, never to be stirred or troubled by storms. Then was fulfilled the oracle of David, which says, “Blessed are they whose iniquities have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

^A In saying that “in his days,” he points out that he who is to perform such wonders is a man. For it is forbidden to inquire into or measure days in God. But Christ began as a man, and his days are measured. And as for the words, “until the moon be taken away,” this hints that he, the very man who did these things, is himself also God. For it is not possible for a mere man to be preserved until the moon shall stand. For in saying “until the moon be taken away,” the Prophet signifies nothing else but that just as the moon will not be destroyed, but will endure, so neither will that man. Since, therefore, it belongs to God alone to be strictly endless, he showed that he is himself both God and man. ^B And in saying that “all the kings of the earth shall worship him,” and “all the nations shall serve him,” he showed the conversion of the nations to Christ, and the worship of the kings. But lest those who wish to adulterate the truth should say that this is about some powerful king, such as Julius, Augustus, or Tiberius, who were indeed worshipped by the kings of the earth and the nations and praised by them, while they were nevertheless men just like all of us, after saying that “his name is blessed,” he adds “for ever.” For the praise of every man in this life is laid aside with him. But after the completion of the present world, neither his praise remains, nor his infamy. For only his works go away with him, and he awaits the rewards from them from Him who is to judge the world, whether they be good or otherwise. But the phrase, “His name shall be blessed for ever,” is by no means that of a man, but of God. Likewise, “Before the sun his name abides.” ^C Who, I ask, of men is found before the sun was created? Certainly no one, not even Christ himself, insofar as he is man, but insofar as he is God. But insofar as he is man, he both had a beginning and has measured days; and all the nations and all the kings of the earth have worshipped him as God and man, and in him all the nations were blessed.

8. Furthermore, the prophecy of David agrees with Isaiah and Jacob, who say concerning Christ that he is the expectation of the nations, as has been shown in the preceding sections. But the Prophet, gathering everything together and looking upon the conversation of the Word of God for the sake of human salvation, and that, being God, he was to become man, and seeing the formerly ^D savage and relentless tyrant, the devil, now mocked and trampled underfoot by the very man who had previously been oppressed by his tyranny, as if carried away by joy, he cried out that blessed voice, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who alone does wonders, and blessed be his name for ever, and to the age of the age.” Does the present passage truly require explanation, or is it, as the truth is, purer and clearer than any sun and every human truth? For whom David

^A a little before named man, and whom he had declared to have existed before the sun and the moon, this same one he has now called God freely and simply. But who is so wretched as to doubt concerning him, and to inquire more curiously, whom David has named God, and not to adore him whom David proclaims to be God?

9. Nevertheless, the same great David once again speaks thus: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your power out of Sion; and rule you in the midst of your enemies. With you is the principality in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints: from the womb before the day-star have I begotten you” (Ps. CIX, 1-3). ^B Observe now another prophecy of his: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand.” Who is this Lord of the prophet and of the king? Is it some king among those illustrious ones, endowed with great power upon the earth? By no means. Why? Because the Jews at that time possessed freedom from God, by whom alone they were governed. They had had, of old, Moses as their prince and leader, and after him Joshua the son of Nun, then the judges. But when they themselves, by their own will and desire, asked a king from God, he gave them a king from their own race, Saul the son of Cis, and after him David the son of Jesse. Concerning whom God, bearing witness to Samuel, had said: “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man according to my heart, who will do all my [will]” (I Kings XIII, 14; Ps. LXXXVIII, 21; cf. Acts XIII, 22). And the Jews were indeed governed by kings of their own race, but their ^C kings, until the times of the birth of Christ, were found to be free and subject to no human or earthly king. And in truth it is so, since no other of the prophets, such as Isaiah, I mean, or Jeremiah or Daniel, could have attempted to calumniate this oracular utterance of the prophet, or could have been able to say that these words were spoken by one mortal and perishing king to another similar to the prophet: “The Lord said to my Lord.” But to whom did God say, “Sit at my right hand”? To the man, certainly, whom the Word and his Son assumed. For the Son had been a partaker of the principality with God before all ages; but God the Father said this to the man whom his Word and Son assumed, sanctified, glorified, and who took a temporal beginning from the moment he had assumed this man. Therefore, the prophetic discourse, wishing to show that God the Father, who exists ^D from eternity, lacks a beginning, and that the man whom the Word and his Son assumed took a beginning, said: “Sit,” etc. Furthermore, the very seat denotes the stability and perpetuity, and the magnificence of the honor. And just as fire united to iron does not accept the coldness of the iron, but the iron passes into the nature of fire, and conversely the fire is not stained by the blackness of the iron, but the iron, having received the radiance and brightness of this fire, itself becomes entirely luminous: so also understand concerning the only-begotten Son of God and

the man whom He assumed. The Son of God, since He was God, did not receive change or commixture or alteration at all, but remained God ^A unalterable as before; but the man whom He assumed, Him, I say, He sanctified, and glorified, and illuminated, and honored with a seat at the right hand of God the Father—not as if God has a right side or a left (for these are bodily things), but just as He designated the greatness of the honor by the seat, so also He spoke of the "right hand" in the same sense. For God neither stands, nor sits, nor has a right side, nor a left, but is He who fills all things. ^B "Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet." Who are His enemies? The idolaters who do not worship Christ, and the devil himself. The Father said this not as if the Son were too weak to effect this, but so that He might show that the power of the Father and of the Son is one and the same; that is why He said this. For just as the Son says in the Gospels, "No one comes to the Father except through me," so also the Father says, "By my power your enemies will fall under your feet." ^C "The Lord will send the rod of your power out of Zion, and rule in the midst of your enemies." What is this rod sent from God out of Zion, and to whom was it sent? It was sent, of course, to the man whom the Son and Word of God assumed. For the rod is the very Cross, which was fixed in Zion. For just as a rod possesses the pastoral power from the shepherd, and also possesses the power by which wild beasts are driven away, so understand for me also regarding the Cross and the preaching of the Gospel. "For out of Zion shall go forth the law (says Isaiah), and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." All, therefore, who have heard the word of the Gospel and have been baptized were shepherded by that pastoral rod—the Cross, clearly. But those who were stiff-necked and did not obey the preaching of the Gospel and the apostolic commandments succumbed even against their will to the power of the Cross. For by the Cross the devil was defeated and trampled underfoot; by the Cross and the name of Christ were the secret and marvelous miracles performed. And what need is there of many words? Through the Cross and the Gospel the whole world believed, and they became servants of Christ, and children of Abraham according to the promise through Christ, since Christ was born of the very seed of Abraham. ^D And then Christ ruled in the midst of His enemies. Attend, therefore, to the prophetic precision. He did not say, "Conquer your enemies," for one often conquers his enemy, yet a portion of hostile power still remains in him. But He said, "Rule," teaching from this the inestimable power of the Cross and the consummate impotence of His enemies. Then also the expression, "in the midst of your enemies," signifies the infinite power of the Cross. For in the midst of the whole world, and in the midst of the idolaters, the apostles and their successors preached, and in their midst built up...

^A the altars. And this, indeed, is a thing worthy of wonder: that although the impious, with all care and zeal, threw down the churches, and with dire scourges punished and tortured those who called upon the name of Christ, yet the power of the Cross and the preaching shone out like the sun, or rather, more brightly than the sun itself.

But lest any man, out of ignorance or malice, should think or say that the rod of power was sent by God to the Son and Word of God because it was impossible for Him to do by Himself whatever He willed and desired, David adds: “With thee is the principate in the day of thy power, in the splendors of thy saints.” ^B Therefore, for the principate to be with Him is not of man, but of God. For all men possess authority bestowed upon them from without; for both a prince and a king is born stripped of authority, just like the many. And either he acquires a fatherly authority, and even if he did not have it before, it subsequently comes to him like an ancestral inheritance; or by his own virtue and outstanding deeds he acquires an authority he did not possess; or alternatively, being unjust, he violently seizes the authority of another, and in this way he too occupies another’s sovereignty which he formerly lacked. But there is no other way for these to acquire sovereignty.

However, man does not possess a power that is innate and inseparable from himself, except for this one alone, which he exercises in his own inclinations and in the children born of him, which alone can be seen in man; but this which has just been mentioned does not apply to God. ^C For this reason, Isaiah, prophesying about Christ, says: “Whose principate is upon his shoulder,” that is to say, it is natural and inseparable. And David speaks thus in another psalm: “Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages, and thy dominion is in every generation and generation.” He says the same thing in the present passage: “With thee is the principate in the day of thy power.”

What is the “day of power”? It is that day in which the Cross is freely proclaimed, in which all nations know Thy ineffable condescension and unspeakable power in the splendors of Thy saints. Whose saints? The apostles, the teachers, the martyrs, the holy ones, who seemed to the eyes of fools to have died. But they are in the hand of God, and rest in peace, according to the oracle of Solomon; and they, according to the promise of the Gospel, shall shine more brightly than the sun.

Again, just as in the prophecy mentioned a little before, so also in this present one. ^D For having spoken about the man whom the Son of God assumed, and wishing to demonstrate that He is both God and man, He adds: “With thee is the principate,” which alone would suffice for the present state and demonstration. Nevertheless, He says it more clearly and plainly in this manner: “From the womb before the day-star I have begotten thee.” Who among men was born before the day-star? Surely, no one at all. But lest anyone should slander even this, and say that the discourse is about the angels...

saying, as if he were created before the sun, he said, "From the womb before the morning star." ^A For in mentioning "the womb," it is not to be understood in the sense that God has a womb, but in the way that David elsewhere says, "Thy hands have made me and fashioned me," showing the working power of God, etc., "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous," signifying the provident power of God, and that the righteous perform works worthy to enter before God. So also is the present passage to be understood. For in saying "from the womb," he shows the one and same substance and nature of the Son and of the Father. For just as inanimate trees generate things of the same kind like themselves—for the fig tree generates a fig, and the olive an olive—similarly, brute animals also each generate offspring of their own nature, like itself; and a rational human being generates a rational human being, and a mortal [generates] a mortal, and the son is of the same substance and nature as the father. Much more, therefore, shall we think this about God without any doubt, that His Son and Word is of the same nature and substance as the Father, as indeed He is. And look at the precision of the prophecies. For the prophet, by saying "The Lord said," showed that he is speaking about God, ^B as has already been demonstrated. But by adding, "to my Lord," and "Sit Thou on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet," etc., and "A rod of power the Lord will send out from Zion," and "Rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies," all these, I say, designate a human being who is beyond nature and ineffable. But to show that He is both God and man, he says, "With Thee is the beginning in the day of Thy power, in the splendors of Thy saints." But to show once again and reveal Him as God and the genuine Son of God Himself, and as having one substance and nature with God and the Father, he added, "From the womb before the morning star I have begotten Thee." The same one also says elsewhere again, "And Thou, Lord, my hope, hast set ^C the Most High as Thy refuge." Observe what is said. In saying "And Thou, Lord, my hope," the Prophet signifies the Son of God. By "the Most High," however, he indicates His Father, God. And again, by the words "hast set Thy refuge," he denotes the man whom the Son of God assumed, who had need of a refuge. For that pure Son of God had no need of a refuge or sanctuary.

10. But also his son, the wonderful Solomon, says thus: "And now, O Lord God of Israel, let Thy word be confirmed which Thou didst speak to Thy servant David my father, for will God truly dwell with men upon the earth?" And as Jeremiah said, "This is our God, no other shall be reckoned against Him, for He was seen upon the earth and walked with men," ^D so also the wise Solomon says, "O Lord God of Israel, let Thy word be confirmed which Thou didst speak to Thy servant David." What signifies the "let it be confirmed"?

"? ^A Be it brought into being, be it manifested, be it demonstrated, specifically that Thou, O God, shouldst dwell with men, which also has come to pass. For the Son of God was seen upon the earth and conversed with men. What, then, does it seem to you? Are the revelations concerning Christ from the saints, and the prophecies of the prophets, and the testimonies from God sufficient for the demonstration that Christ is the Son of God, and true God, and the same one both God and man, or is there still need for other proofs and testimonies? As it seems to me, they are sufficient even for the entirely ignorant. Nevertheless, I shall still attempt to demonstrate to you, our friend, the truth concerning this, just as has been done heretofore.

11. That great Moses, when he was by Mount Sinai, ^B beheld a burning bush. And when he had watched it burning for many days, yet not consumed by the fire, he began to ponder within himself: "What does this mean, that the bush burns for so many days, yet is not consumed? I will draw near and see this strange and wondrous prodigy." And having come near to the bush, he heard a voice brought to him from heaven, and saying: "Moses, Moses, loose the sandal from off thy feet; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." [*] What then does the burning bush, which is not consumed, signify, and the voice calling out, "Loose the sandal from off thy feet," but that the burning bush shadowed forth and presented a type of the holy Virgin Mary, who brought forth the Son and Word of God according to the flesh? For just as the bush truly burned and was not consumed, ^C so also the holy Virgin, having conceived the Son and Word of God, was not consumed by the fire of the divinity, being guarded by God, since this was not at all of human strength. And the words, "Loose the sandal from off thy feet," signify that those who wish to be instructed about the mystery of the Virgin and the incarnation of Christ ought not to have any dead part within themselves, which separates them from God, that is, a corrupted mind and one dead to the knowledge of the truth, but rather one living and sound, just as that of Moses was. For the sandal of Moses was of the hide of a dead animal, and therefore it was said, "Loose it."

12. Furthermore, the king of the Persians, Nebuchadnezzar, ^D having been warned by a dream of a vision that he had seen, forgot the dream, and having gathered together all the magi of the Chaldeans, and all the Gazarene enchanters, he asked them what the dream was that he had seen, and what was its interpretation. But they, being ignorant of the dream and its interpretation, were at a loss. The king, however, was kindled with fierce wrath against them. Nevertheless, he allowed them a period of some days in which they might search together and explain the vision that he saw in his sleep, and its interpretation; and if they should perform this according to his command, they would be honored and enriched by the king with many and splendid gifts; but if not, the penalty of death...

not only for them but also for their children, friends, and kin, would be to undergo the same punishment. But since they could not do this, but rather lamented and bewailed their own lives—for how was it possible for the king to have the dream and its interpretation explained to him, when the dream had not yet been revealed?—Daniel the prophet, having been led captive into the land of the Babylonians from Jerusalem along with other Jews who were with him at that time, when he had learned of the king’s orders, approached Arioch, the prince of the Persians, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men because they could not discover his dream; and he said to him, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon, but rather bring me in before the king, and I will declare to the king the vision and its interpretation.” Then ^B Arioch brought the prophet in haste before the king. He said to him, “Are you able, Daniel, to declare to me the dream which I saw in my sleep, and its interpretation?” Daniel answered, “The mystery, O king, about which you ask, wise men, magicians, and sorcerers cannot announce, but it is the work of God alone in heaven, who reveals mysteries. God, he says, has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what must come to pass in the end of days. Your thoughts arose upon your bed, what must come to pass after these things. You, O king, ^C were looking, and behold, one great image, and its appearance was excellent, standing before you, and its countenance was terrible; an image, I say, whose head was of pure gold, but its hands and breast along with its arms were of silver; its belly and thighs of bronze; its shins of iron; and its feet were part iron, part clay. You were looking, O king, until a stone was cut from a mountain without hands, and it struck the image upon its feet of iron and clay, and completely ground them to pieces. Then also the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces together, and became as the dust of the summer threshing-floor, and a violent wind took them away, and no place was found for them. But the stone that struck the image grew into a great mountain, and filled all the earth. This is the dream, and we will relate its interpretation before the king.” And after the prophet had enumerated the kingdoms that were destined to come, which were shadowed forth by the gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay, he says thus to the king: “The ^D Lord of heaven will raise up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed for the ages, and his kingdom shall not be left to another people; it shall break in pieces and winnow all kingdoms, but it shall stand for the ages. Just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain without hands, and it broke in pieces the clay and the iron, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what must come to pass after these things; and the dream is true, and the interpretation of it is faithful.” Then the king, prostrating himself on his face, worshipped Daniel and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you were able to reveal this secret to me.”

^A 13. What, then, is the kingdom of man, which shall not be corrupted unto the ages? None at all; for indeed this is not granted to human nature. What, then, is it? Look, I will tell you. This mountain is the holy Virgin, who gave birth to the Son and Word of God according to the flesh. The stone, however, cut from the mountain without hands is Christ, who was indeed born of her, but not of a man; this is what the phrase "without hands" signifies. Finally, the stone that struck the image, crushed the gold and the rest, and became a great mountain and filled the earth, is the same Christ, and his is the kingdom that remains unto the ages, which crushed the power of the devil and destroyed the worship of idols.

^B 14. The prophet Isaiah speaks thus: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and they shall call his name, God with us." And again the same prophet says: "A child is born to us, and a son is given to us, whose rule came upon his shoulder, and his name is called Messenger of great counsel, wonderful counselor, God mighty, potentate, prince of peace, father of the age to come. For I will bring peace upon the rulers, peace and their health. Great is his rule, and of his peace there is no end." Do you see how he named him a child, and a messenger of great counsel, together with the other things just enumerated, all of which pertain to the man whom the Son of God took from the Virgin? Then he calls the same one God mighty, potentate, father of the age to come (meaning, of course, the Creator), and says that of his peace there is no limit—that is, no end. Regarding the peace and the other things that Isaiah here enumerates part by part, we have spoken with sufficient precision in the prophecy of David expounded a little earlier, which says: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand," etc. Nevertheless, one should not tire of inspecting the coherence of this prophecy as well. For when the prophet says: "Behold, the virgin shall be born a son," etc., he signifies that man born in a supernatural way from the same holy Virgin. ^C But when he calls him "wonderful counselor," he signifies two persons, namely the Father and his Son and Word; and that there is one counsel, one will, one power, and one and the same knowledge for the Father and the Son. For God does not need counsel. He calls that same Son of the Virgin "God mighty, potentate, father of the age to come," whose peace has no end. And what else did this same prophecy signify, other than that the same God and man is of one and the same counsel and participates in knowledge with God the Father?

^D 15. The prophet Zechariah, when John his son was born, spoke thus: "And you, child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High..."

for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the remission of their sins, through the bowels of the mercy of our God.” That John, the son of Zechariah, is a great prophet is certain, and this all Muslims also confess. But what did he prophesy? Nothing else but [that he] pointed toward Christ, just as we have explained above. And whom does Zechariah call the "Most High"? Christ, to be sure. For it was of Him that he said, “You shall be called the prophet of the Most High.” ^B

16. Moreover, we read the prophet Jeremiah saying: “This is our God, and no other shall be reckoned alongside Him. He found every way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved. After these things, however, He was seen upon the earth, and associated with men.” This is the book of the commandments of God. Behold for you, oracles more splendid than the sun. For although the individual prophets use different forms of speech, yet all agree as to the same thing, since it is God who has spoken these and similar things through their mouths. Nevertheless, as though by a certain common contemplation, both Isaiah and Jeremiah have prophesied. Isaiah indeed in this manner: “A child is born to us, and a son is given to us,” to which he adds, “God strong,” etc. But Jeremiah says thus: “This is our God, no other shall be reckoned alongside Him. He was seen upon the earth, and associated with men.” For the prophets prophesied not only about Christ, but also about His ^C all-holy Mother and Virgin, which things we omit now on account of excessive length. And these things indeed we have sufficiently stated regarding the revelations of the saints and the oracles of the prophets; now, however, let us consider what the end of all these things is.

17. That the archangel Gabriel was sent from heaven to announce to the holy Virgin Mary the conception, and that she herself conceived the Word of God, you yourselves also confess in your statements: even though you are not of a right mind concerning this, when you say, of course, that the Virgin gave birth to a mere man, and not to God (following no doubt the dogma of Nestorius), and that Christ was man only—a man, however, great, holy, and august, than whom no one holier was born before him, nor is to be born hereafter, but that he is the holiest of all men. We, however, believe, feel, and confess ^D that Christ himself—the very same, I say—is the Son of the living God, the true God, who was born of the ever-virgin Mary without congress with a man, the Son of God, I say, and God from eternity, who assumed flesh from her and became man, and whom we believe to be both God and man. We have derived these things and have been taught them from the prophet Moses, David, and all the others who flourished after Moses up to the coming of Christ, who was predicted by them; indeed even from those very saints who before the times of Moses had seen visions; furthermore, from Christ Himself, and His

disciples and teachers, and from the miracles and deeds that shone forth more brightly than the sun, as we have said before, and will speak of further. ^A When, then, the Virgin had conceived, as we have said above, the time of her delivery approached; and having arrived in Bethlehem, the Virgin gave birth to Christ and laid Him in the manger of irrational beasts. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet Isaiah, saying: “Thus says the Lord: The ox recognizes its owner, and the donkey the manger of its Lord, but Israel did not recognize me.” ^B At the very hour of Christ’s birth, a multitude of angels descended from the heavens, praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.” The shepherds, meanwhile, who were then in the fields pasturing their flocks, having witnessed the apparition of the angels and heard their hymns, were seized with great fear. But the angel said to them: “Do not fear. Behold, I bring you news of great joy, which will be for all the people, because a Savior has been born to us, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a sign for you: You will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And, having departed into their own region, they made known all that they had heard and seen from the angels. ^C Consider, then, what is intended by the hymn and speech sung by the angels, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men.” Nothing else, surely, than this: that after Adam had transgressed the commandment of God, there occurred a separation from God for him. And from that point, all creation fell away from his friendship, inasmuch as the posterity of Adam began to do and to devise things contrary to divine laws. For his son, Cain, slaughtered his own brother, Abel. As time went on, men became not only murderers, but also filled with every malice and wantonness, as is testified by the deluge sent in the days of Noah, and, while Abraham was living, by the subversion of the Sodomites and the conflagration sent from heaven; ^D and furthermore, having utterly neglected God, their Creator and Maker, they worshipped the devil and idols. For this reason, all creation turned away from man, as they judged him to be an enemy of God: first of all the angels, then the brute animals themselves, and even the inanimate matter of things, which can be clearly deduced. For before the transgression, all animals, both winged creatures and quadrupeds, and fishes, were obedient to the will and desire of Adam himself; but after the transgression, not only did the angels inhabiting the heavens turn away from him as an enemy, but the animals also, which previously were subject to the will of Adam, hereafter not only fled from him and from the men born of him, but the wild beasts viewed man as an enemy and an adversary; and the one whom previously they stood in awe of, him they began to waylay for his life. But what need is there to discourse at length about the angels, the sky and earth, and the animals and wild beasts, when even the heart of man

^A stands in opposition to his soul? Just as when two enemies and foes are found in one house, and they fight against each other, the stronger one is victorious; so was the soul fighting against the bodily passions and desires. But the soul, being deserted by the help of God, was subject to the body, and the order was inverted, and she who was created to be the mistress first, afterwards appears as a slave and handmaid to the pleasures. But the birth of Christ, that is, the incarnation of the Son of God, united things in heaven and things on earth.

And the angels, seeing the ineffable condescension of God, that He who was God took on flesh for the sake of His own goodness, and took up the hostile nature within man that was lying prostrate, and united it to His own divinity, and sanctified and exalted it—seeing this, the angels were astonished and amazed at this great and wondrous miracle, and a thing beyond nature; they cried out, glorifying God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest." And seeing the concord of men with the angels ^B now confirmed, and that long-standing enmity removed, they said, "On earth peace, good will among men." And the prophecy of David was fulfilled, which says, "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult. The heavens declared His righteousness, and all peoples saw His glory. Worship Him, all you His angels. The mountains shall exult before the face of the Lord, because He comes, because He comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in equity."

Observe the harmony of the prophets and the angels. Like a harmonious musical melody, the Prophet said, "Let the heavens rejoice," and the angels said, "Glory to God in the highest." The Prophet said, "And let the earth exult," and the angels said, "And on earth peace, good will among men." Similar to this is, "The heavens declared His righteousness, and all peoples saw His glory." Indeed, Moses also said, "Rejoice with Him, O heavens, worship Him, all you His angels." But David speaks thus: "Worship Him, all you His angels," who indeed, worshipping, said, "Glory to God in the highest." But for what cause, do you think, was this repetition added, "Because He comes, because He comes to judge the earth"? For no other cause than that the first part, in which it is said simply, "Because He comes," denotes the first coming of the Savior into the world, in which He did not come in His own majesty, but in a lowly and humble form. ^C It agrees with the words of the Lord who says, "I did not come that I might judge the world, but that I might save the world." But by saying, "Because He comes to judge the earth," He indicated the second presence of Christ in the world. For then He is about to judge the earth. This indeed agrees with the Lord's words, saying, "When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him..." ^D

then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory, and all the nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left; and He shall render to all according to their deeds"—that is, to those who acted contrary to the Gospel and did evil, an unending punishment; but to those who have lived rightly according to the evangelical law, eternal life, and Paradise, and goods that have no end. Do you see how much depth of meaning lies hidden in a few words, which are linked together like some golden chain, the head of which reached to heaven, and one ring was held by the other? ^A Thus consider for me all the Holy Scripture. For all the prophets from the times of Abraham and Moses even to Christ looked upon the same things, said the same things, wrote the same things, and all with one mouth prophesied the same things concerning Christ. And these things are thus.

18. Now at the birth of Christ, the Magi from the region of Persia, by divine knowledge and revelation, knew that God was being born, and man beyond nature. But the Magi were not ordinary men, but lords and governors of regions. Having learned, therefore, what they learned, they deliberated among themselves how, having come, they might worship the King and offer gifts to Him. As they were reflecting and doubting at the same time how they might attain their wish—for they happened to be from a foreign land and were inhabitants of another region, and did not have a guide for the road—a star appeared before them, and began to lead them by night and by day. They followed, therefore, the star from Persia as far as Palestine. ^B And when they had come to Jerusalem, the star hid itself from them. What does this fact signify? That, not having their guide, they might speak of Christ, and His birth might become manifest to all. When, therefore, the star had departed from the Magi, as it is said, they asked, "Where is He who is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and have come to worship Him." Hearing this, the king who then reigned, Herod, was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And having gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired where Christ is born. ^C But they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it is written by the prophet Micah: 'And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the princes of Judah; for out of you shall come forth a ruler, who will shepherd My people Israel, and His departures are from days of old.'" Do you see now how those things which pertain to Christ are found written in the prophets? For they did not only foretell those things which applied to Christ Himself, but they also made mention of the place in which He was to be born. For this is what is signified by what is said: "And you, ^D Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least," because you, who were formerly least and lowly and of no account...

(for such was that place found to be), since the One who was about to be born in you would no longer be, as before, lowly and small, but glorious and conspicuous, and honored by many. And what follows, "Out of you shall come forth a ruler, who will shepherd my people Israel," is not recounted by the prophet for the sake of the Jewish people (for it has already been demonstrated that the Jews, because they were unworthy, were rejected and excluded by God, and were named children of the devil); truly, in this place he named the Gentiles as the people of God and Israel, of whom the prophet spoke throughout. ^B There shall come forth from Bethlehem a ruler, who is obviously Christ, who will shepherd my people Israel, that is to say, the Gentiles. For who else is the ruler who has come forth from Bethlehem if not Christ? And whom did he shepherd if not the Gentiles, and all those who believe in him? And the words, "And his goings forth are from of old, from the days of eternity," signify his divinity. For upon which of men can that time be found that is "from the days of eternity"? Surely upon no one except God alone. For this reason David also prophesied, saying, "I will not give sleep to my eyes, nor slumber to my eyelids, and rest to my temples, until I find a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. Behold, we heard of it in Ephratha, we found it in the fields of the wood. We will enter into his tabernacles, we will worship in the place where his feet have stood" (Ps. CXXXI, 4-5). Mark the prophet. It was revealed to him by God that the Son of God was about to be born from the Virgin, and that, being true God, he was to assume manhood, as we have proved in part by many of his oracles until now. And what need is there of others? Concerning the Virgin herself, he thus sang: "Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people and your father's house" (Ps. XLIV, 11). For the holy Mary was the daughter of David. And because she was to hear the word of the archangel Gabriel, he says, "Incline your ear," namely, to that ineffable joy of which she was about to be a partaker. ^C And because from that time all things instituted of old were about to be abrogated and discarded as cheap and contemptible, and the new law of Christ and the Testament were about to shine forth throughout the whole world, he said, "And forget your people and your father's house, and attend to the new things now coming." And these things indeed concern the Virgin. But since, as it has been said, he had seen the Son of God becoming man, and the daughter from him about to bring him forth, he sought that God might also show him the place where Christ was to be born. And he sought this with such great fervor and zeal of soul, that he neither ate, nor slept, nor rested, until it was revealed to him by God and the place of the birth [was made known]. Then, therefore, being moved by the prophetic spirit, he said, "Behold, we heard of it in Ephratha," that is to say, in Bethlehem; "we found it in the fields of the wood," indicating one and the same place twice. Then he subjoins: "We will enter into his tabernacles, ^D we will worship in the place where his feet have stood."

^A These words, "Let us enter into his tabernacles," he said as if referring to things despised and held of no value. For a scene or tabernacle is called a dwelling recently constructed and one which is immediately broken down. "Let us worship in the place where his feet have stood." What need is there for me to say much about these things? Nay, rather, I call upon the prophet himself regarding them. For that great prophet and king, who was also worthy to be commended by the testimony of God (for thus does God speak of him, "I have found David," etc.), whom are we to say he worshipped? Was it only him who was to be born? But [did he also worship] the place in which his feet had stood, as if he were a man just like the rest of us? Who, indeed, is so stupid, or rather, so forsaken by God, as to admit this even into his mind? But just as in the preceding parts he proved him to be this same man, so now too we see him doing this in the contemplation of the place, in which he altogether concurred with the prophet John; for indeed David says, "Worship the place where his feet have stood," while the latter says, "I am not worthy to bear the sandals of him who comes after me." ^B Do you see how, whether in great matters or in small, all the prophets agree, and worship, and magnify Him? And there is no prophet who, after having prophesied and spoken about Christ, does not show himself to be small and contemptible and worthy of no account, just as we also read of Abraham, who called himself earth and ashes. Yet it is not only Micah and David [who] have spoken of Bethlehem, but many others as well, whom we willingly omit, as in many other cases, because of the excessive abundance of Scripture.

But we must return to the history of the Magi, from which we digressed above. Then Herod, after he knew that Christ would be born in Bethlehem (for the chief priests and the scribes had learned this from the prophets), having privately summoned the Magi, commands them: "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word, that I also may come and worship him." ^C He said this, however, with a lying and deceitful mind. For when he heard that a king was to be born who would govern Israel, he thought Christ would be such a king as many are, whose kingdom would be temporal and earthly. And since he understood that the birth of Christ would be in Bethlehem, but was ignorant of the certain and determined place of it, moved by envy, and having already premeditated the murder of the infant, he says these things deceptively and feignedly to the Magi: "Bring me word, that I also may come and worship him." They, however, having heard the king, departed. "And behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, until it came and stood over where the young child was." But as for you, when you hear the Magi saying, "We have seen his star in the East," do not think that Christ for this reason is like all the rest and a mere man. For those who are astrologers concerning such matters ^D do not say thus, that every man possesses a star signifying to him all that is to happen to him throughout his whole life. Especially of those

matters, that every king claims for himself a star of his own. ^A That this is a manifest falsehood, is evident. But since it is not our present scope to refute the vanity of the astrologers, we must set that aside. Let us now examine the star that appeared then: what it was, and of what nature it was. That it was one of the heavenly stars does not seem probable. First, because all the stars, together with the sun and the moon, move from east to west; but this one inclined its motion from the north to the south. For the region of the Persians is situated toward the east, while Palestine is to the south, where Bethlehem also is. Furthermore, if it were a star, it would certainly not have been seen moving with the Magi as they traveled, and standing still when they rested. Then, if we were to say it was a star, its brilliance ought to have disappeared and been obscured due to the solar rays. But since it retained its splendor at midday even along with the sun (for it could not be obscured by it), it is manifest that it was not a star. Finally, if it were a heavenly star, by what means could the Magi, through its indication, recognize that small and humble hut in which Christ was, at such an immense height from the orbits of the heavenly bodies? ^B From what has been said, therefore, it is clear that it was not a star. It was rather a certain divine power which they had as the leader of their journey, which also appeared closer to the earth. Just as in the desert a pillar of fire led the Hebrews, so also this, which seemed to them to be a star, pointed out the way to the Magi of the Persians. But even the miracles and prodigies which God exhibited to the Hebrew people at that time became much more numerous among the Gentiles. For the Magi were the first of the Gentiles to be worshippers of Christ. For the star, as has just been said, remaining motionless above the place where the child was, the Magi entered and, finding Christ with his holy mother, worshipped him, offering gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Consider now what community there is between these gifts; one which, as far as the outward appearance is concerned, is none at all, but which, as far as the meaning is concerned, is great and profound. ^C For they offered gold as to a king; and myrrh as to a mortal, since he was a man, for it was the custom among the Jews to use this in the burial of the dead. And they offered frankincense as to God, for it was established and customary to sacrifice to God with incense. Do you see how the Magi themselves confessed Christ to be both God and man? But after the adoration of the Magi, an angel sent from God appeared to them and commanded them not to return again to Herod, wherefore they departed for their own country by another way. And the angel, coming, said to Joseph: "Take the child and his mother, and go into Egypt; for Herod is going to seek the soul of the child." And he went away there. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet: ^D "Out of Egypt have I called my son." Then Herod, seeing that he had been mocked by the Magi, was angered, and sending forth, he slew all the children who were in Bethlehem, from two years old and under, even to many. Why this? First, indeed, so that it might be manifest...

^A that He who was born is God, as the prophets proclaimed, and is also truly man, and not according to phantasy, as some have dogmatized. Second, that the prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah also appeared, which says: "A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and weeping and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Third, that the prophets predicted not only concerning the birth of Christ, but also concerning many places and other proofs, partly on account of the weakness of the many, that by these guides they might be led into the truth; and partly that the mouths of the wicked might be stopped, and they might have no room to speak against the truth. For whatever was said concerning Christ, and whatever came to pass—to whom among men does it belong? Observe, and you are about ^B to find that from Adam until today, whatever was said and whatever was done, all appeared in Christ, which it was impossible to be accomplished in any other; and that "Out of Egypt I called my son." And the child having grown, and having come to the perfect age, he comes to John, the son of Zacharias. He, seeing Christ coming toward him, says to the Jews: "Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Why then did John call Him a Lamb? We shall say shortly. But to take away the sin of the world—what other can do this if not God? And whom he had previously said he was not worthy to bear the sandals of, this one he confessed at that moment to be God. But Christ says to him: "Prophet, come, baptize me." What then ^C of John? "I have need to be baptized of thee, and thou comest to me?" Observe this also. The great prophet, who was born from a promise, as even you say, who was sent by God to baptize—would he have sought baptism from a mere man in a servile manner? Certainly no one who is truly wise would affirm this. But he seeks baptism from Him whom he had confessed to be God. But perhaps someone will say that Christ Himself also sought baptism from John. True, but He does not do this in the same manner; wherefore the middle path, which is between the two, must be considered. John indeed had previously confessed Him to be both God and man. For when he had said that he was not worthy to bear His sandals, and "Behold who takes away the sin of the world," and having shown Him by these words to be God, he adds also this: "I have need to be baptized ^D of thee, and thou comest to me?" But Christ not so, but despotically and at the same time with authority, said to him: "Prophet, come, baptize me." But he showed his own unworthiness, and yet he obeyed the commandment of the Lord. He comes therefore to the Jordan, and when Christ was baptized, the heavens were opened, and a voice came from the heavens, saying: "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." You have seen a thing fearful, and full of astonishment; until now the holy ones spoke, prophets

prophesied, angels ministered; but now neither angels, nor men, but God Himself is the One who says, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." ^A

19. From what we have written, you can judge, both you and any other sensible Muslim, that if holy men are found who have had visions concerning Christ, and there are prophets who have prophesied about Him, then notwithstanding that so many and such great arguments have been cited and demonstrated, those who still consider and judge us Christians to be in error, while regarding themselves as orthodox, ought—from what they hear—to learn that we think rightly; even if they judge that we have need of the intercession of Muslims, as you say, because we confess and believe that Christ is the Son of God and is God, just as you write in the letter sent to me. ^B Therefore, the Greeks strayed from this, the Hebrews strayed from this, and on account of this, the Muslims strayed. For they did not receive these things by faith, as worthy of faith, but sought them with demonstration. And perhaps the Greeks, who lack books and prophets, are not as worthy of such accusation as are the Jews and the Muslims. For is it not a ridiculous thing to honor the books, yet reject what is written within them; and to call the prophets blessed, yet turn away from the One who was prophesied by them? But the Muslims are worthy of even greater accusation. For although they accept, along with other books, that the Gospel of Christ is holy, perfect, and from God, in word alone they honor it, but in deed they depart from it as far as the earth is from the heavens. And leaving the way of truth, they follow the vain and wandering opinions of the Greeks, and whatever their mind is unable to grasp, they do not accept at all; but seeking after things above nature, and being unable to understand them, they wander from the truth, and bring forward the figments of their own imagination, saying: "How is it possible that God should have a Son without a woman?" And who are these who inquire into the generation of God? They are those who do not know how many stars the sky contains, how many measures of water the sea holds, how vast the sand is on the seashore, and ten thousand other things like these. ^C And though they are ignorant of the understanding of these things, they nevertheless believe that they are the works of God, and live in peace concerning them; yet they treat the generation of the Son of God with precise scrutiny, though they are the very people who do not know their own generation! Let them tell us: how was their father’s seed made into a body in the womb of their mother, and when did their soul arrive in their body, and when did it come, and whether it is united with the seed, or not? And if it is united, ^D

when is it united, and whence does it come, and where does it exist before it comes, and in what place does it dwell? If these things are impossible to know, how do they search into the generation of God? And those who do not know their own life, nor do they even understand whether they are going to be found alive tomorrow, do they inquire how Christ is the Son of God? And they who do not know of what father they were born, but each is convinced by the words of his mother ^A (and it happens that they hear one thing instead of another, and they believe, and they accept things that do not exist as though they existed), yet they write off the words of the prophets, and they reject the words of Christ, and they do not believe. Therefore, they are in no way capable of understanding things that are above nature, which not even the angels themselves are able to understand, and which these senseless men could not even bring to their own minds—namely that Christ, whom the Muslims call the Word of God, and the Soul of God, and the Spirit of God, said a thousand times that He is the Son of God. And since it is impossible for a lie to proceed from the Word of God, they do not believe this, acting irrationally and without examination. And who is so foolish and senseless, and even shameless, that he would dare to say that a lie could proceed from the Word of God? ^B The Muslims, however, since they cannot openly gainsay it, slander the truth by saying that Christ did not say this, but the Christians. And nothing of this sort is well-wrought on their part, but we Christians, who possess the Gospel, acknowledge the words of Christ. But the Muslims commit a double sin: partly in that they do not believe that Christ is the Son of God, and partly in that they accuse the Christians regarding matters of which the Muslims themselves are ignorant, saying: "How is it possible for God to have a Son without a woman?" And what foolish and senseless person is there who would be willing to admit such a great evil and impiety? It would have been better for them to receive this without examination, as the very words of Christ. But since they inquire and investigate too curiously, it is ^C manifest that they do not believe that He whom they confess to be the Word of God is true, nor do they have faith in Abraham, nor in David, nor in the prophets. For ignorance follows upon unbelief. For Isaiah says: "Unless you believe, you shall not understand." Do you see how knowledge follows faith, but ignorance follows unbelief? For faith is not of things seen: for things that are seen have no need of faith, for they are manifest in themselves. But faith is of things that are not seen, nor even known by the intellect. It was not right, therefore, for you to investigate these things too curiously, nor to contend against the truth, but to follow and obey Abraham and the prophets, and above all Christ Himself, and not, by consenting to your own private will and opinion, to say that it is impossible for God to have a Son, so that ^D there may not be schisms among you. For having wandered from the true and straight way,

^A you never cease to speak vain and empty things. Faith surely comes by hearing: and what, I ask, is as worthy of faith as the Word of God, whom you call the Soul of God and the Spirit of God? And what scripture is more holy and more worthy of faith than the Gospel? For Mohammed himself confesses that the Gospel is holy and perfect. It would therefore have been necessary, as has been said, for you to believe the sayings of God and the prophets without prying into them. But since you find yourselves in such absurdities, behold, compelled by necessity, we are about to say something by way of example, even though examples cannot demonstrate the truth accurately, especially in matters relating to God. For it is impossible for the human mind to find any thing that exactly and absolutely represents the generation of God. Nevertheless, compelled by necessity, as we have just said, we confess that the Son of God is generated from God just as reason is generated from the mind or intellect, and as rays are generated from the sun. What then does it seem to you? Does the intellect generate reason from a woman, or the sun its rays? ^B Or is there, because of this, recognized any separation and division and schism between them? And if such generation does not have what you say, how can the simple and passionless generation of God be subject to such and so many absurdities? We have said all these things out of necessity, on account of your unbelief and weakness. For the things of God exceed all human and angelic understanding. For it is easier for a man to swallow heaven and earth together with all the creatures than to comprehend the nature of God. But if this is impossible, it is not necessary to try to know His generation either. Nevertheless, both Mohammed and all the Muslims confess and say that Christ was born of the holy Virgin Mary without a man, and that a virgin gave birth to Him, and after the birth she remained a virgin, and is found to be ever-virgin. Since therefore they confess this, as it is indeed the truth, let them tell you the reason for such a generation. But if this is impossible, why do they labor in vain, beating the air and saying that it is impossible for God to have a Son without a woman? And who are these that say this? Those who do not know the most lowly and insignificant things. For let them tell us, where does a gnat have its entrails, or whence does its voice proceed? What is the brain of an ant, what is its heart? Or how does it have such knowledge, so as to perform amazing things, a bee and things similar to them? ^C If therefore they are ignorant of these lowly and insignificant things, let them acknowledge their own weakness and keep silent, and not, by prying, detract from the faith of things that exceed the understanding of angels and men; but rather let them believe the oracles of Abraham and the prophets, who knew, through visions and revelations and prophecies, that Christ Himself is truly the Son of God, and true God, and perfect man. ^D

SECOND APOLOGY.

^A That the Son and Word of God, being God, in the last times, for the salvation of men, became man, suffered death having been crucified, and was buried, and rose again, and was taken up into the heavens. Yet it was not the divinity, but the man that suffered, who is the same [Being] who shall judge the whole world.

1. Seeing that we have sufficiently demonstrated to you regarding Christ—from Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, from Moses, and David, and the prophets, and—to speak the truth—from God the Father himself, that He is truly God and the Son of God, come now, let us bring into the midst and examine the remaining points about which you are dubious, or rather, for which you accuse us Christians. These are: How is it possible for God to become man? And in what manner did He become man? And, if Christ was God ^B and the Son of God, why did He not save man by a mere word, but, as though laboring under a deficiency of power, took on a man and died, so that He might save man, according to the opinion of the Christians? Furthermore, if He was God, how did He suffer? For God does not suffer anything. And while you, in accusing us, speak these things, we respond to them thus: Concerning the possibility and impossibility of God, we have spoken in what went before, and that suffices; for we have confessed our own infirmity, that we do not know how to distinguish between what is possible and impossible for God, but we think ^C and believe in this way, that all things are possible with God, and nothing at all is impossible for Him. And furthermore, that He became true man while being God, we have been taught, and so we believe, and such is the truth. But how He became so, I do not know. For how could those things, which are unknown to the angels, be known to human reason? But what the purpose of the Lord's incarnation is, and what the cause of His becoming man, we shall explain to the extent that it is possible. Do you, however, listen to these words of ours attentively.

2. God, having no need of anything, out of pure goodness constructed and founded the whole universe, visible and invisible alike; He created the angels, He created the heaven and the earth, and all things that are contained within them. He also made and fashioned man, ^D taking dust from the earth and breathing into him a rational soul. He made him according to the image of God, and from his rib He fashioned woman. And having placed them in paradise, He commanded them to eat of every tree in paradise, but not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for on whatever day they should eat of it, they would be subject to death, as that great Moses wrote down in the Old Testament. Now, one of the angelic orders, a prince, having looked upon himself as being so bright and wondrously beautiful, did not understand that he was a servant and a creature, and that the Lord had created him from non-existence into being, and that he ought to worship the Master like a servant; but, like a fool

and arrogant, he said: “I will set my throne above the clouds and I will be like the Most High.” On his harbouring these thoughts, his host followed him in this impiety; and he was cast down from heaven immediately with all his army, and they became demons. Then the devil, seeing man in Paradise and envying him, went and found the woman, and, as a more easily deceived part, said to her: “Why has God commanded you that you should eat from every tree in Paradise, but that you should not eat from the tree which is in the midst of the Paradise; and in whatever day you eat from it, you shall die the death?” “You shall not die the death, but lest if you eat from it, your eyes should be opened and you shall be like gods, knowing good and evil.” Hearing this, the woman, having been deceived, ate from the tree and gave to her husband Adam, and he also ate, desiring to become God. And when Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree, they fell from grace. Then God, walking in the Paradise at evening, says to him: “Adam, where are you?” And he says: “I heard your voice walking in the Paradise, that I am naked, and I hid myself.” And God to him: “And who told you that you are naked, unless you have eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?” And God, being angry at him, cast him out of the Paradise with a curse. ^B Consider, then, what happened. The devil, brazen and wishing, like one bereft of his senses, to become God and like the Most High, fell from heaven with all his host, and instead of light he became darkness and a devil. For because of his pride and haughtiness he was cast out by God, and not as you say, that he was ordered to worship Adam and did not want to, like the other angels. For the other angels, having worshipped Adam, were saved, and remaining in their order, are found to be angels until now. But the devil, not wishing to worship Adam, having been angered by God, being an angel, became a devil. And of what understanding are these words? Primarily, no Scripture says this, neither Moses, nor the prophets, nor Christ. ^C Since, therefore, it has no testimony from those, it is false and inadmissible. Elsewhere, because the nature of the angels is simple and incorporeal, and above the heavens, whereas that of Adam is earthy from the ground. Who, then, having even a modicum of reason, is going to accept such an absurdity? But someone will say that even Christ, being man, how (as the Christians say) is He worshipped by the angels? And to that one it must be answered thus: that the Son and Word of God, being God before the ages, was worshipped with His Father, who is God, by the angels, and now having become man, He is again worshipped by the same angels, even with the body. Thus, the man is worshipped along ^D with Him, whom the Son and Word of God assumed with His substance, in the way that initially...

^A he was worshipped by the angels. But in the case of Adam, this is impossible; for consider the difference between a master and a servant. But in the case of the man whom the Son and Word of God assumed, it is both fitting, and just, and holy; and it is such that, if we may speak by way of an example, the body of the king is worshipped by the servants together with the soul of the king, or rather, the king is worshipped by means of the soul, but by no means by the body. And who is so foolish as to doubt this? But why is it necessary to speak of the soul and body of a king? For if some garment is bought at a market, and the king is clothed in it, from that very hour no one will dare to touch it even with his hand, but all gaze upon it with fear and reverence, even though, as far as its substance is concerned, it is similar to other garments; yet because of the king, it has attained such great honor. ^B The same seems to me to be the case with Christ. For He really assumed man, and not a man of a different nature, but the very nature of men, which is from Adam, even if He was born of a Virgin and above the laws of nature; but through His divinity He sanctified, exalted, and honored that same man, and seated him at the right hand of God and His Father, as was demonstrated previously. And it happened entirely in this way, as we have already said, namely, that just as iron, although it is cold and black by its own nature, when it is united with fire, the fire does not receive the coldness or blackness of the iron, but the iron, through its union with the fire, does not cast off its own nature, but rather it becomes entirely fire, receiving the heat and brightness of the fire; ^C so also we think regarding Christ. Being God before the ages, He afterward became man, and was not diminished, but rather, by His divinity, glorified the man, and raised him to the place which the Son and Word of God held: and for this reason, He is now worshipped at the same time by the angels and by men, that is, He who is man and God beyond nature. But Adam, not remaining in the ordinance and commandment of God, but eating from the tree with his wife Eve, and both desiring to become gods, lost the paradise they possessed, and obtained a curse instead of a blessing, and death instead of eternal life. But God, seeing that the devil was incorrigible and led by no repentance, rejected him as a useless vessel. ^D And no memory or consideration of him was held. But seeing that Adam and Eve had fallen in a far different manner, not, indeed, through such vain ambition and pride, as through the envy and deceit of the devil, and because man would finally receive correction, although God had previously cursed them, and that for the sake of correction: nevertheless, walking in paradise toward the afternoon (as Moses testifies), He questioned him, saying, "Adam, where art thou?" Was it because He did not know where he was that He questioned him? Far be such blasphemy! For what can be hidden from God, when He knows all things before they are generated? But these words signify this: O Adam, to what dignity were you raised? Where do you now abide? What manner of

^A abyss is this into which you have fallen? And what, in truth, did Adam reply to these things? "I heard the sound of you walking in the garden, and I hid myself." Now "the afternoon time" here signifies nothing other than this: that just as the hour following midday is so called, which follows after the greater part of the day has already been spent, so too, after many ages had passed, God was to walk upon the earth. For Paradise is found upon the earth, as Moses teaches; for it is one and the same to say "in Paradise" as it is to say "in the earth." And what these long periods of time are, I shall explain to you.

3. From the foundation of the world unto the consummation ^B of the present age, seven thousand years are said to be, or even more, after which years the resurrection of the dead is to take place. Now from Adam down to the birth of Christ, three thousand nine hundred and seventy-four years have passed. Others therefore remain for the completion of the seven thousand. For this cause the saints and the prophets said that in the latter times Christ would assume flesh. Do you see, then, how from the very times of Adam the mystery of the Son of God began to be manifested, or rather, even before his times? For to whom did God say, "Let us make man"? For God, being one and existing as one person only, to whom could He say this: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness"? It is manifest ^C that He spoke these words to His Son. For the Father and the Son are one, as Christ Himself says in the Gospels: "I and the Father are one," and "He who sees me, sees the Father." We Christians, moreover, declare him to be anathema who confesses two gods, but we believe in one God, the Creator of heaven and earth. And God, being angered at Adam, as the narrative has already revealed, cast him out of Paradise and appointed him to till the earth, and at that time he sowed and began to produce wheat and other fruits. Do you see how he who taught you that the tree of which Adam ate was a stalk of wheat, knew not what he was teaching, but said whatever he wished according to his own heart? Just as it is frequently manifest in many other things, he taught according to his own mind and his own inventions. For the stalk of wheat appeared only after the exile ^D from Paradise and the curse. For "In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread," God said to Adam, and it was with much toil and sweat that wheat was sown and cultivated. Yet Adam knew the tree of which he ate to be knowledge of good and evil. But what Paradise was, or what the tree was, neither Moses, nor any other of the prophets, nor even Christ Himself taught; but it remains even now a mystery, as it was before. Whence then did Mahomet discover this, that it was a stalk of wheat? I do not know; rather, these are the fabrications of his own mind.

For having found men who were ignorant and boorish, and who differed in no way from irrational animals—since the Arabs were found to be herdsmen—he taught them the fabrications of his own mind, which we pass over in silence, for the purpose here is not to refute the iniquitous and erroneous opinions of the Mussulmans, but only to demonstrate that the worship of the Christians is holy, just, and good. But we must return to where we digressed. ^A

4. When Adam had begotten sons and daughters, and those in turn had likewise begotten sons and daughters, the human race was multiplied upon the earth. And although Adam and Eve, seduced by the devil while aspiring to divinity, had lost the paradise they possessed, nevertheless they adored God, their creator and maker. But their descendants, having turned away from the truth, fell into unspeakable crimes, works horrible to relate, and sins exceeding the very laws of nature; which it is not even fitting for a good man to name. And they did not sin only in these many depraved ways, as we have said; but, having abandoned God the creator of heaven and earth, they adored creatures, and the creature ^B more than the Creator. For they adored the sun, others the stars, and they called and named them all by the name of God. And just as those walking in deep darkness do not see the things that are near them, but imagine that things which have no existence do exist, so it happened to them. For having wandered far from the true light, and walking in the darkness of ignorance, they turned away from the true God and worshipped idols, and in these they took delight. And the Egyptians indeed worshipped the ox and water; the Libyans the sheep, ^C others wine, others rivers and springs, others erected statues, and the foolish worshipped the works of their own hands as gods. I refrain from enumerating the errors of individual regions, on account of their infinite number. For from these particulars, everyone can know the rest. But their madness did not stop there, but among the Scythians it was the custom to sacrifice to their god those who were saved from shipwrecks. Even if it chanced that some were found, and whom Providence had saved, their cruelty slaughtered them. Others, again, counting men taken in war, would sacrifice one out of every hundred. Behold for yourself the slaughter and cruelty, ^D more ferocious than any brutes or wild beasts! No animal fights with one of its own kind, nor does it destroy it; but these men are proven to be far more inhuman than the wild beasts themselves. For they slaughtered not only strangers and foreigners, but even brothers and those joined by blood. For the Cretans and Phoenicians, having hearts harder than bronze, sacrificed their own sons and daughters to demons. But before these things happened, the flood inundated the world in the days of Noah, and every living soul, both of man and of all other animals, swimming

and four-footed, ^A because of the sins of the men who were found at that time. But only eight souls were saved in the ark: namely, Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their three wives. And Noah brought in from every animal into the ark because of their species. Again, the all-good God commanded the human race: “Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth,” and similarly to the animals. But again, men fell into impiety, which we have already partially described. Melchizedek, however, and Abraham, and Lot his brother’s son, showed themselves to be servants of the Most High God. But the whole world worshipped the devil and idols. Therefore, the all-good God, having seen ^B His precious creature—that is to say, the race of men—oppressed by the tyranny of the devil, who was deceiving and tricking the living so that they would worship him as God, while he held the souls of the dead in the bitter and darkened Hades, was moved by compassion and saved it. But hear carefully how the race of men was saved.

5. For man himself could not help himself. Firstly, because he did not want to, as he considered pleasures to be the highest good (for, blinded by the evil one, they had fallen into such great error); and secondly, because he did not know the true God, but worshipped idols—that is, demons—and, abiding in the darkness of ignorance, he did not know God, and remained in the captivity of the enemy. ^C But let us also assume this: that even if they had realized into what a pit of evils they had fallen, how were they to help themselves, since they held the ancestral curse of Adam, and how were they to become immortal, since they had inherited death? For all who are born from Adam became mortal because of the sin of their father Adam. Since, therefore, man neither realized from what height and greatness he had fallen, and into what a pit of dishonor he had plunged, or even if he perhaps did realize it, he could not help himself, it followed that he was in danger of having sin remain forever, and death reigning over every man. Seeing this, David the prophet said: “Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; ^D he was compared to the senseless beasts, and was made like them.” But the humane God, moved by compassion, did not allow His image to be any longer tyrannized by the devil. Therefore, He began from the time of Abraham to recall and restore man. For when Abraham had begotten Isaac, and Isaac had begotten Jacob, and Jacob had begotten his twelve sons, the eleven sons of Jacob, moved by envy against their brother Joseph, bound him and threw him into the pit, and finding some Egyptians, they sold him. And they, having taken Joseph away to Egypt, gave him to Pharaoh. And Pharaoh appointed him lord over all the land of Egypt. And when a famine arose, the brothers of Joseph went down to Egypt to find grain. And Joseph, having recognized

^A his brothers, sustained them, not remembering the evil deed done against him by them, and called his father Jacob to himself. This was a type of Christ, for just as Joseph, having encountered evil from his own brothers and being unmindful of it, repaid good instead of evil to the brothers who had wronged him, so also Christ, envied by his own kin the Jews, was destined to be bound and to enter into the tomb as into a cistern, and to be delivered to death. But as Joseph, having attained the lordship of all Egypt, delivered his father and his brothers from death by famine, so also Christ, having shattered the gates of death and dissolved the power of the devil, saved those who believed in him, both Jews and Gentiles, and indeed even our forefather Adam. And Jacob, having come into Egypt, as it is said, with seventy-five souls, remained there until the time of his death. And all his lineage remained there also for about four hundred and thirty years, serving Pharaoh and the Egyptians in a bitter and painful servitude. After these things, however, God, having sent Moses, led them out and delivered them from the bitter servitude of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, having performed through him great miracles and wonders in Egypt, and having led them across the Red Sea, dividing it, and drowning Pharaoh with all his army. And when the Hebrews were dwelling in the wilderness, ^B God gave them manna instead of any other food. But they murmured and expressed their ingratitude in words. Yet Moses did not cease to admonish them. Now when Moses ascended the mountain of Sinai to receive the law from God, those who were previously ungrateful and murmur-bearers became impious. For they say to Aaron, the brother of Moses: “Make us gods, ^C who will go before us; for as for this Moses, who led us out of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” And having gathered sufficient gold, they fashioned an image of a calf, and having taken it, they sacrificed to it as to a God, and rejoiced in such an absurd crime. And Moses, having returned and finding such a great evil, in his anger threw down the tablets of the law which he had received from God. And God said, “I shall blot out their race, and I will make you a king over a great and numerous nation.” But he would not, but having besought God much, and having pleaded much, he interceded for them, and they were not destroyed. Therefore, observe now how it is shown that it was not of them that God spoke to Abraham when He said, “In your seed all the nations shall be blessed,” ^D but of Christ. And through the intercession of Moses for the Hebrew people, the law was again given to them. Then God said to the Hebrews through Moses, “I am God first, and I am God hereafter, and there is no other God after me.” Thus, these things are as God spoke and commanded. In your letters, however, this is contained as something worthy of great accusation against those of us who are called Christians, that God

^A saying, "I am God alone, and I have no partner in my divinity," we nevertheless say that Christ is God and the Son of God; and from this you conclude that we worship many gods. But let him be under anathema, whoever worships two, or three, or more gods; for we worship one true God, the creator of heaven and earth. For God, instructing the Hebrews ^B so that they might no longer practice idolatry, said to them, "Those who believe in idols believe in many gods." Christians, however, holding what is right, believe in one God, and not in many, according to the teaching of Christ which He delivered in the Gospel, saying, "I and the Father are one," and, "He who sees me, sees my Father." But you, being ignorant of the Scriptures, fall away from the truth. And because this has happened, hearing one thing, you understand another and different thing. The Hebrews, though they experienced the mercy of God, did not by any means perish, yet they did not see the land of promise; but being condemned, they were found wandering in the desert for about forty years, until all those had died, so that they would not see the land which God had promised to give to the sons of Abraham. ^C After the death of those people, their children entered into the land of promise, in which they simultaneously obtained very many good things. And God sent prophets and teachers to those who dwelt there, but some of them they killed, others they stoned, and they showed themselves ungrateful and unmindful of the benefits of God. But they were not only ungrateful, but they were also almost perpetually addicted to the worship of idols, and for this reason God delivered them into captivity. But again, God being merciful, called them back; and for this same reason, in the last times now approaching, it was His pleasure and He decreed that His Son and Word, coming into the world, should save the man whom the devil, having deceived, had led away from God, so that he might serve the creature and the devil. ^D Therefore, the Son and Word of God, descending from the heavens, and having taken flesh from the holy Virgin Mary, became man, just as we have demonstrated above through the testimonies of the saints and prophets. And having become man, and having endured for thirty years, He began to teach the people, and to show them the way of truth and righteousness; and He taught while performing works, and performed works while teaching, and He performed great and stupendous miracles. Not as some of the saints at times did in the name of God, as servants, but He performed and wrought all that He did with mastery and authority. For the leper said to Him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Christ said to him, "I will, be clean." And the paralytic said, "Lord, I have been lying here for thirty-eight years, and I have no one who, when the water has been troubled, might cast me into it (for an angel of the Lord used to descend at a certain time, and would trouble the water, and whoever descended first after the troubling of the water was made whole, whatever disease he had been suffering from)." Since, therefore, the paralytic...

was infirm and destitute of human help, and had lain there for thirty-eight years near the pool, ^A Christ, seeing him and having compassion on him, said to him, "Do you want to be made whole?" And when he had worshipped and believed in Christ, Christ said to him, "Take up your bed, and go into your house." He did the same thing everywhere, wherever he happened to be walking. He healed the blind, and made them see; he gave hearing to the deaf, and made the lame walk; he strengthened the sinews of the paralytics, restored the dead to life, and delivered the demon-possessed with supreme authority. To sum it all up, he did everything like God, according to his own will and pleasure.

There came one who had been blind from birth, and he entreated him. And though he had healed other blind men with a word only, he did not do so with this one; but spitting on the ground, and making clay from the spittle, he anointed his eyes, saying to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam," and having washed, he received his sight. What are we to think this act signified, that he healed all the others with a word only, but fashioned clay for this one? Nothing other than this: that while the other blind men had had healthy eyes from their very birth and were blinded later, in the case of this one—who had no eyes at all from his mother’s womb—Christ made clay, showing that He is the One who fashioned man from clay, and that He now filled the deficiency of his body with clay again. ^B Then he says to the blind man, "Do you believe in the Son of God?" The blind man answers him, "And who is he, Lord, that I may believe in him?" For being blind, he did not know Christ. And Christ said to him, "I am he who is speaking to you." Then the blind man said, "I believe, Lord," and worshipped him.

Similarly, many thousands of people once followed Christ on a certain day, listening to his word and teaching. And they hungered, and there were found in that place no more than five loaves and two fish. Christ therefore blessed them and ordered his disciples, who set the loaves before them all, and they all ate and were filled, and there remained twelve baskets full of the fragments of the bread and the fish. What does this signify? First, that they might eat as the hungry; and second, that they might understand and ponder in their heart that this is He who fed their fathers with manna in the wilderness.

Furthermore, a certain man died and was buried, and having spent four days in the tomb, the sisters of the deceased called for Christ. But the latter says to him, "Lazarus, come forth." And immediately he who had been dead came out of the tomb, ^C and walked, though bound in his hands and feet (for such was the custom of the Jews for burying the dead). And thus, another miracle of his walking followed the miracle of his resurrection. And why were these things done? So that when men saw him raising not only the recently dead, but even this one who had been four days in the tomb, they might understand that this One is the Master of life and death, and when they see Him, Christ, indeed, in the tomb, ^D

^A believers might be convinced that He, who by His own authority restores the dead to life, will all the more surely by His own authority as God raise up His own body. For He used to say to His disciples, the apostles: "No one takes my life from me, but I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again." And although immense multitudes of people believed in Christ each day and confessed Him to be God and the Son of God, the high priests and scribes and their rulers, being instructed to oppose the doctrine of God, were going to contradict Him, as it was predicted by the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: "Having eyes they shall not see, and having ears they shall not hear; for the heart of this people has waxed gross, and they have closed their eyes, and with their ears they have heard heavily." And the prophecy was fulfilled, for while Christ was performing miracles, they appeared as if blind, and while He was teaching, they were found to be deaf, like a deaf adder stopping its ears. And Christ once said to them: "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see'; therefore your sin remains." And elsewhere Christ again says of them: "If you were of God, you would surely love me." ^B Such is the case. Nevertheless, though Christ was doing these things, those men did not come to their senses in the least, but sought a pretext by which they might put Him to death. But what need is there to speak of the miracles which He performed among the race of the Hebrews, since they are infinite and numberless? Yet even when these were produced, those vain and misguided men did not come to their senses at all, but, overcome by envy and wickedness, they sought by every means and every contrivance to stir up an accusation against Christ and to put their own benefactor to death; and they found none other [charge] than that He was a blasphemer, saying that He was the Son of God, and that, being a man, He made Himself God. And when they heard Christ saying to those who believed in Him, "Your sins are forgiven," they said: ^C "Who do you make yourself, and who can forgive sins except God alone?" And the Jews truly said this, that it is the prerogative of God alone to forgive sins. But since those wretches were ignorant that He is the Son of God, Christ, they said what they said: "And their foolish heart was darkened, and their eyes were blinded, and they did not see that He was doing all that He did by His own authority." For one of the disciples of Christ, Peter, while in a boat, having seen Christ, said to Him: "Command me to come to You upon the waters." And Christ said to him, "Come." And having stepped out of the boat, he walked upon the waters and came to Him. Now that this had taken place, what else ought they to have thought, but that He is the same One who had divided the Red Sea and had led their fathers over ^D on dry land, the same who now, by His word and His command, had made the liquid nature of the waters like dry ground? But the more

^A they saw such miracles before them, the more they were troubled with anger and rage. Then, a great and violent storm having arisen on the sea, such that the ship in which the disciples of Christ were was covered by the waves, they cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Jesus, save us, we perish." And Christ, in a sovereign and authoritative manner, commanded the sea itself: "Be silent, be muzzled," and immediately there was a great calm. The Jews, therefore, having seen this wondrous miracle, were astonished and cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Who is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?" But although they saw infinite miracles that exceeded the nature of things, they remained utterly incorrigible. For this reason, Christ also said to them: "I am the door," and elsewhere: "I am the way," and again elsewhere: "I am the truth," and: "If you do not believe Me, believe the works." Christ said these things so that the blinded ^B Jews might know that none of the prophets or saints ever uttered his words with such authority as the Lord, but rather showed themselves to be His servants and ministers. Christ, however, did not act so, but as the Lord and Prince of creation He spoke and did all things like God. And indeed, from among the people and the crowds, a great and infinite multitude of men believed in Him, but from among the scribes, the Pharisees, and the rulers, few and easy to count.

These things, therefore, having been accomplished in this way, and such infinite miracles having been performed, and true doctrine having been announced by Christ every single day for three continuous years, while He also sometimes brought forward testimonies of the prophets—not because He had need of the testimonies of others concerning Himself, for He is God, but because of the unbelief and hardness of heart of the Jews, and also because of the weakness of men—and sometimes even citing Abraham or Moses, but primarily God His Father Himself; yet since the Jews were ^C nevertheless laboring under an incurable disease regarding these things, and were unwilling to admit their own salvation, Christ left them and began to do and to say things that pertain to the universal salvation of the whole world, and to tell His disciples what events were to befall Him: "Behold, for," He says, "we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall deliver Him to the Gentiles, and they shall scourge Him, and mock Him, and spit upon Him, and kill Him, and on the third day He shall rise." And having heard this, His disciples were greatly grieved and troubled. Then Christ took His disciples up and ascended Mount Tabor, and His face—that is, Christ's—shone brighter than the sun, and His garments became white as snow. ^D The disciples, indeed, seeing the splendor of His face, fell to the ground; for they could not endure it. They saw also Moses and Elijah the prophet talking with Christ in a servile form. Now therefore consider this event: first, indeed, so that the apostles, having seen the splendor of the divinity, might certainly understand that of His own will and by His own

volition He was delivered to the slaughter, not by the power of others; second, that they might receive comfort and a reprieve from the grief they had felt upon hearing of the Passion of Christ; and third, that having seen Moses and Elias, the prophets, standing with reverence before Christ, they might be fully assured that He is the Master and Lord of all the prophets and of all creation. And a truly marvelous and great thing it is, that just as it occurred ^B when Christ was being baptized in the Jordan, so also a voice from heaven, which had been rent asunder, came forth saying: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; hear Him." The Word signifies by this that, on the one hand, they might be fully verified and assured that He is the Son and Word of God; and on the other, that since the time of Christ’s burial was approaching, and after the burial and the resurrection the apostles were to be sent out for preaching—and though these men were few, unlearned, and infirm—they might not look toward their own weakness, but toward the power of God. And [it was so] that, having seen the glory and splendor of God, and having heard the voice and testimony of God and the Father, they might understand that the Father and the Son are one God, and that there is one divinity, nature, and power of the Father and of the Son, and, taking heart in the power of God, they might go forth with eagerness to the work of preaching, and that from this the prophecy of David might be fulfilled, which says: ^C "Tabor and Hermon shall exult in Thy name." That prophet Moses also said, as has been noted before: "The Lord thy God will raise up a Prophet from among your brethren, like unto me. Every soul which shall not hear that prophet shall be cut off." That he said here that every soul which does not hear that prophet is to be cut off, and that all things which are spoken by Moses and the prophets are the words of God, is manifest and stands as truth. Nevertheless, both at the baptism and at the transformation, a voice was sent down from heaven, not through man, but immediately by God the Father Himself. Do you see how the things of Christ appeared ^D gradually from above and from the beginning? And just as after the darkness of night the sun is not seen immediately, but first the dawn begins, then light, and after these the sun, so it is also with Christ. He began little by little, then Christ also shone forth into the world, and into the souls of those who believe in Him, as the intelligible Sun. Then Christ comes to Jerusalem, so that the Passion might be completed in Him, just as He had told the apostles. And upon His entering the city, the multitude began to cry out and say, and especially the children of the Hebrews: "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest, King of Israel; peace in heaven and glory in the highest." But filled with rage, the scribes and the Pharisees said to Jesus: "Rebuke them that they may hold their peace." Christ answered them: "Have you never read what the prophet says: 'Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings I have perfected praise'? For if these should hold their peace,

the stones will cry out." ^B Observe also the present instance. The angels at the celebration of Christ's birth sang, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men," and now the children said, "Hosanna in the highest, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, King of Israel; peace in heaven, and glory in the highest." Who, then, is called Lord upon earth? Certainly no one except God. Many men are indeed called lords, but only when their name is added, as we read of Joshua the son of Nun, who said, "My lord Moses," and of many others who said, "My lord David." We see that this habit of speaking is preserved among men even today. But the name of Lord, used indefinitely, is attributed to no one other than God alone. For this reason, Christ—being God—not only did not rebuke those who cried, "Hosanna in the highest," etc., but even cited the testimony of David, saying, "Have you never read the Prophet who says: 'Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings I have perfected praise'?" And who are the stones that Christ said would cry out? The nations, which at that time had hearts hardened against the reception of the faith, but which, a little later, cried out more clearly and sublimely than even the thunder; and indeed, the stones of the sepulcher also proclaimed, clearly and openly, as hardly ever before, the resurrection of the Lord, accomplished with divine power and authority.

After this, Christ says to his disciples: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, he will be insulted, and he will be spat upon; they will scourge him and kill him, and on the third day he will rise again." And when supper was finished, he said to his disciples, "One of you will betray me." And they asked him one by one, "Is it I?"—and he did not answer any of them. Then Judas, who was one of the number of the disciples, also says, "Is it I?" Jesus says to him, "You have said it." And a little later he says to him, "What you do, do quickly." For neither Judas nor anyone else could do anything against Christ unless he consented to it. Soon after, Christ says to his disciples again: "From now on the time which I foretold to you has drawn near. But let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." And after he had sufficiently instructed and encouraged them, he said to them: "Now indeed you will be sorrowful, but shortly you will rejoice, and your joy no one shall take from you." ^D "Rise, let us go from here." And he went to the habitual place. The chief priests, however, having gathered with the scribes, the Pharisees, and their entire council, said, "What shall we do, for this man performs many signs? If we allow him thus, the Romans will certainly come and take away both our place and our nation; it is expedient that he should die." Judas Iscariot, having gone to the chief priests and scribes, said to them, "What

will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. ^A And after a little, Judas, having taken a sufficient number of people, comes to where Christ was found. And as they were coming, Christ says to his disciples, "Arise, let us go; behold, he who betrays me is at hand." And when Judas had come with the crowd of the Jews, Christ says to them, "Whom do you seek?" They say to him, "Jesus the Nazarene." Christ says, "I am he." And having heard this, they all fell to the ground. What then? He who had performed so many and such great miracles, he who by his voice alone had cast down those seeking him, could he not have acted so that they would not be able to seize him? It is entirely manifest that he was delivered up by his own will. Then Christ says to them, "If, therefore, you seek me, let these go their way." And having released his disciples, they seized Christ. Do you see how, first, they fell by his voice alone, and then, in saying to them, "Let these go their way, if you seek me," he was delivered ^B by his own will alone? He showed at once his power and his will. For this reason also David said, "I was delivered up, and I did not flee away." For if Christ, when he could have escaped, was delivered up, it was of his own will that he surrendered himself. They led Christ away, therefore, to the chief priests. But the disciples, overtaken by fear, fled. The chief priests, then, having taken Jesus, rejoiced; and having called two false witnesses, they said whatever they pleased against him falsely. Jesus, however, kept silent. The chief priest then says to him, "I adjure you by God that you tell us if you are the Son of the Blessed, if you are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus says to him, "I am. Nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you shall see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming upon the clouds of heaven." Then the chief priest tore his garments, saying, "He has blasphemed! What further need have we of witnesses? Behold, you now have heard his blasphemy. What do you think?" And they said, "He is guilty of death." ^C One of those standing by then gave him a blow. And having mocked him, they led him away and delivered him to Pilate. Judas, however, having gone away, says to the chief priests, "I have sinned, in that I have betrayed innocent blood." And having cast the pieces of silver into the temple, he went away and hanged himself. But the chief priests, having taken the silver, said, "It is not lawful for us to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood." They bought with them the potter's field, for the burial of strangers. But the soldiers of the governor, having taken Jesus, stripped him of his own garments, and clothed him in a shameful cloak, and led him away to king Herod. And when Herod had seen him, he sent him back to Pilate. This man, however, questioned them, saying, "What do you say about this man?" They said, "Crucify him." But Pilate says, "And what evil has he done?" But they say, "He speaks against Caesar, and calls himself the Son of God." Thus they troubled Pilate. ^D This man, however, [as to the] will

wishing to do their will, having taken water, washed his hands before everyone, saying: "I am innocent of the blood of this righteous man; you shall see to it." But they said: "His blood be upon us and upon our children." Then he delivered Jesus to the soldiers, that he might be crucified. And those who had taken him mocked him, and spat in his face, and scourged him; they also divided his garments. He wore also a seamless tunic, woven from the top throughout, and for it they cast lots, who would get it. And when they had done these things, they led Jesus away to crucify him. They also gave him drink, vinegar mixed with gall, and crucified him. And the sun was darkened from the third hour unto the ninth hour; and at the ninth hour he yielded up his spirit, there standing by the cross both his holy mother and one of his disciples, John. The other disciples all fled, and hid themselves for fear of them. And one of the soldiers came with a sword and pierced his side. But one of the rulers, named Joseph, came and begged the body of Christ from Pilate; and taking it down from the cross together with another one—Nicodemus by name—he wrapped it with a linen cloth and myrrh, about a hundred pounds, as is the custom for the Jews to bury. And finding a tomb hewn out of a rock, he buried the body of Jesus, and placed a very great stone upon it. ^B On the morrow, however, the scribes and Pharisees came to Pilate and said to him: "Lord, we remember that that impostor said while he was still alive: 'After three days I will rise again.' Command therefore that the tomb be secured until the third day, lest his disciples come and steal him away, and say to the people that he has risen from the dead, and the last error shall be worse than the first." Pilate said: "You have a guard; go, secure it as you know how." They went and secured the tomb, sealing the stone with the guard (and understand by the guard in this place a troop of soldiers). ^C And on the third day there was a great earthquake, and the stone was rolled away from the tomb, and for fear of them the soldiers became as dead men. But Christ rose from the tomb. The soldiers, however, went and announced to the chief priests and scribes all that had taken place. And the chief priests gave them sufficient money, saying to them: "Say that while you were asleep his disciples came and stole him. ^D And if this be heard before the governor, we will persuade him and relieve you of all trouble." They, having received the money, did as they had been instructed. But Jesus, departing, found his disciples, and said to them: "Peace be with you." And seeing him they rejoiced. And having remained with them forty days, teaching and confirming them, on the fortieth day he said to them: "Go into all the world, preach to all nations. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. But he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on

the sick, and they shall be well. But you, sit in the city of Jerusalem, until you are clothed with power from on high. And He blessed them, and while He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into the heavens, and sits at the right hand of God. The Apostles, however, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, awaiting the power promised from on high. ^A What, then, is the meaning of all these things? If we were to attempt to examine each point with all diligence, and to describe all that has been done, we would need much leisure. Since, however, the meaning of these things is varied and difficult to explain because of your ignorance, come let us conclude the remainder in the briefest words, as far as it is possible. Let us look, therefore, at the prophecies which are held regarding the passion of Christ in the greatest abundance, as a mountain torrent swollen by melted snows.

^A Congregated were the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, but indeed also King Herod and Pilate against Christ. And David says: “Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate vain things? The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ” (Ps. II, 1-2). ^B

7. Judas the disciple betrayed Christ to the Jews for death. And again the same David says concerning him: “My enemies spoke evil to me: When will he die, and his name perish? And he entered in to see, he spoke vain things; his heart gathered iniquity to itself. He went out, and spoke to the same effect. For the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. Set a sinner over him, and let the false accuser stand at his right hand. When he is tried, let him depart condemned, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few, and let another take his office. Let his name be blotted out in one generation. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord, and let the sin of his mother not be blotted out. Let his memory perish from the earth. He loved cursing, and it shall come to him, and he did not desire blessing, and it shall be far from him” (Ps. CVIII, 7-18). ^{C D}

8. The Jews took Christ, and led Him to the chief priests. And Isaiah says concerning Him: “But I was as an innocent lamb led to be slaughtered” (Jerem. XI, 19).

9. Judas took thirty pieces of silver, and again he threw them down, and they bought with them the field of the potter. And Jeremiah says: “They bought for them the field of the potter. Jeremiah says: St[and]”

[...of the potter. And Jeremiah says, "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the valued one, whom they valued from the sons of Israel, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me." ^A

10. False witnesses came and spoke lies against Christ. And David again says, "Unjust witnesses rose up against me; they asked me things I did not know. They repaid me evil for good."

11. They gathered against the high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, mocking Christ. Concerning this David says, "Many dogs have surrounded me, fat bulls have beset me round about. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen upon me. They have been multiplied more than the hairs of my head, those who hate me without cause. My enemies have been strengthened, and those who persecute me unjustly. The things I did not steal, I then restored." That is to say, Adam indeed, having eaten from the prohibited tree, died justly, but Christ, knowing no sin, nevertheless underwent death unjustly. ^B

12. They delivered Christ to Pilate, and Pilate to the soldiers. They stripped him and divided his garments, but regarding his seamless tunic they cast lots, that they might not tear it. And the same David speaks of this: "They divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots."

13. They clothed him in a garment of insult. Concerning which David again says, "As for me, when they troubled me, I put on sackcloth."

14. They scourged Christ, gave him a blow, and spat upon his face. And concerning this Isaiah says, "I am not disobedient, nor do I gainsay; I gave my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows. My face I did not turn away from the shame of spittings, and the Lord became my helper. Therefore I was not put to shame, but I set my face as a solid rock, and I knew that I would not be ashamed." ^C

15. They gave him gall mixed with vinegar. And David says, "They gave gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."

16. They led Christ away to be crucified. And Isaiah says, "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away; and who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth."

17. Pilate asked him, "Are you the Son of God?" And Christ said to him, "You say it." Pilate delivered Jesus to be crucified; and David, calling out to you, says, "They pierced my hands and my feet." ^D

^A 18. They pierced his side with a lance. And Zacharias says: "They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced."

19. The sun was darkened while Christ was suspended on the cross from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. And Zacharias says: "And that day shall be known to the Lord, and it shall be not day, and not night; and towards evening there shall be light, and the Lord shall be king over all the earth. In that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one." Attend, therefore. Since the creation of the world, night follows day, and day follows night. But at the passion of Christ it was not so; rather, the sun was darkened. If it had happened according to the common darkening of the sun which is wont to occur frequently at the time of its eclipse, the prophet would not have spoken of it as he did, nor elsewhere. Since naturally an eclipse and darkening of the sun occurs at the time of the conjunction with the moon, and never on the fourteenth day of its cycle—nor will it ever—the prophetic word designates it as a stupendous, admirable, and supernatural event, so that the imprudent might understand, and those who lack sense might receive sense, that at the passion of Christ the sun was darkened, yet the vainest of men did not believe. The rocks split, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose (as the holy Gospel testifies) and entered into Jerusalem, and appeared to many; and the vainest of men did not believe, but their unknowing heart was hardened, and ^C they walk about in darkness.

20. He died. And Isaiah says: "There is no form to him, nor beauty. And we saw him, and he had no form, nor beauty, but his form was dishonored, failing in form compared to the sons of men." Let our discourse concerning the cross rest for now, and we shall speak of it at the proper time.

21. Beside the cross of Jesus stood his mother, and John, one of his disciples. Hear what is said concerning this: "There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was holy and righteous; and he had received a response from God that he would not see death before he saw the Christ. And when they brought into the temple the child, to fulfill the things written in the law concerning him, this same Simeon received him, the Christ, into his arms—for he was a priest—and said: 'Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord, according to your word in peace, because my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.'" And turning to the Virgin, he said: "Behold, this one is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against. And your own soul..."

^A furthermore, shall a sword pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." And consider what he means by these things. It was ordained by God that Simeon should not see death before he had seen Christ, and he had already reached extreme old age. But seeing Christ, he said, "Now you dismiss your servant, Master, according to your word." By this word he showed entirely that He is the God who had promised him that he would not see death, and as the Master of life and death, he asks of Him the release from things here below. And that which he says, "in ruin and resurrection of many in Israel," is manifest, namely that those who did not believe in Him fell in their souls, while those who believed rose up from the fall of sin. And that which he says, "for a sign that is spoken against," is because everyone argued about Christ. For some said that He is good, while others said that He is evil. Indeed, even on the very cross, two thieves argued between themselves (for they crucified two thieves with Christ, one on His right and one on His left). And the one, seeing Christ suspended on the cross, cast reproaches upon Him; but the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are in the same judgment? And we indeed justly, for we suffer things worthy of what we have done; but this one has done nothing amiss." And he says to Jesus, "Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he was saved, but the other perished.

And that which is said, "And your own soul a sword shall pierce, so that ^B the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed," is to be understood thus. Certain heretics thought that Christ is indeed the Son of God and true God, but they denied that He is a true man, claiming that He became man in an imaginary way. And this seemed to many—that He is admittedly a man, but not in truth a man. Simeon, therefore, foreseeing this as a prophet, said to the Theotokos, "And your own soul a sword shall pierce, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed," the phrase signifying that when people see you, ^C His mother, grieving and lamenting and weeping, beholding Him on the cross, those who have doubtful thoughts concerning Him will be fully persuaded and assured that He is admittedly a human being, and that He exists as your son. For His holy mother did indeed grieve, beholding her son on the cross, but she nevertheless expected His resurrection on the third day, and she rejoiced, which is exactly what came to pass.

Do you see how all things pertaining to Christ were predicted by the prophets and the saints, as even in this case of ours? And you, indeed, do not say, as they did, that He became man in an imaginary way, but you confess that Christ is a true man; nevertheless, you say something similar to those heretics. For you do not believe ^D that Christ Himself was crucified, but, as the Muslims—who honor Him, as they pretend—say, that another

^A was crucified by the Jews in place of Christ, being deceived by a false imagination that this person was Christ. For although you do not generally allow for a phantasm concerning Christ, yet, since you say in any way at all about Him that He became something other than the truth, you necessarily fall into the same error yourselves. However, if you were to come together with them in discussion, and they were to say that Christ became a man entirely by phantasm, and you, contradicting them, were to say that it is not so, but that He truly became a man, and only in His suffering did the phantasm occur, and that another was crucified in His place: then they, in turn, would object: "If you say that the phantasm occurred in part, and we say it occurred in the whole, why are we blamed by you, if we call it a phantasm in the whole? For the part is never contrary to the whole." I ask you, what necessary and generally accepted answer are you going to give them? You certainly have none to give. Do you see how the Teacher who taught such a dogma to the Muslims taught it amiss? For either, being ignorant, he taught what he did not know, or, knowing, he hid the truth. ^B But we Christians act not so, but, having been taught the truth by the prophets, by the Gospel, and by the disciples of Christ who were taught by Him, we think thus, and we believe thus: that the Son of God, having taken flesh from the holy Virgin and Theotokos, became true man, and He Himself died truly, and no other. And in His cross, and in His passion, and in His death, we glory. And if you wish, hear the words of Isaiah: "He has no form nor glory; and we beheld Him, and He had no form nor beauty, but His form was dishonored, failing in beauty beyond the sons of men. Man in a stroke, and one knowing how to bear infirmity, because His face was turned away, He was dishonored and not esteemed. This one bears our sins and suffers for us, and we accounted Him to be in pain and in a stroke from God, and in affliction. But He was wounded for our lawlessness, and was weakened for our sins. The discipline of our peace was upon Him; by His stripes we were healed. All we as sheep have gone astray; man has gone astray in his way, and the Lord delivered Him for our sins. And He, because of His being afflicted, opens not His mouth." ^C Do you see how the Christians are not ashamed of the passion of Christ, but even glory in it, and clearly proclaim it? For what kind of interpretation does this present prophecy require, which shines more brightly than the sun? For who among men suffers for the sins of another by [the appointment of] God? Certainly no one. And whose death among men has become the resurrection of another? And whose sickness has ever become the health of another? You certainly must say: no one else’s except Christ’s. For He alone suffered for us, and He Himself was despised, but con-

considered His own dishonor as nothing. ^A He took away sin from the midst, and He Himself suffered for us, and He Himself was wounded for our iniquities, that He might wipe them out, and by His stripe we were all healed. Moses indeed said: “You shall see your life hanging before your eyes.” Whose life can hang before anyone’s eyes? Certainly no one’s at all. But Christ alone was hung upon the cross, He who is the life of the world. For He Himself said concerning Himself: “I am the life, I am the way, I am the truth.” Now you surely understand that the prophets foretold even concerning the death of Christ, just as they did concerning all other things. Acknowledge, therefore, that Christ Himself undoubtedly died. For He Himself was crucified and died, and no other, as you are accustomed to say. And by His stripe we are all healed, and by His death we are all made alive, and by His resurrection we have all overcome, and by His cross the tyranny of the devil and the power of death were abolished. ^B If, however, anyone now objects: "How then does it happen that men even now die, and the devil is still free?" For he does not cease in any way to tempt men, but with the greatest zeal incites everyone to sin; to this we shall reply as follows: This which we suppose to be death is not death, but sleep. For formerly death was such that it lacked resurrection, but souls were detained in Hades; now, however, since the resurrection has been granted to us by God, as if from sleep, all men—both the pious and the impious—are to rise again. And consider, I beseech you, a matter fearful and full of horror. Death reigned over man, endowed with reason and sense, from Adam, over every man; nor was there resurrection in men without Christ, just as the prophets have testified. But through the death of Christ that death was cast down and overcome, and the resurrection came: ^C and by His death the whole world was broken free from the power of Satan, and all, I say, both those who believe in Christ and those who do not, were freed from the tyranny of the devil. And indeed, if the Muslims did not believe that there is a resurrection, we would bring forward certain arguments by which we might prove it; but since they themselves embrace and expect the same, it seems superfluous to me to discourse at length about it. Furthermore, we say this alone, just as we have received and have been taught from the sacred Scripture, which even the Muslims acknowledge to be sacred: the resurrection of Christ was a benefit to the whole world. But concerning the devil, we say this: although he has not yet been condemned to his own proper place of punishment, because the judgment which Christ is about to judge has not yet passed, ^D nevertheless, when that comes, the devil is to inherit the unquenchable fire which awaits him. For although he appears to live, he is yet to be regarded as dead, just as if some murderer, or thief, or any other person, who has committed some capital crime, had been adjudged to capital punishment by a king, even if after this sentence from the king

he survives for some days ^Ain prison, he is nevertheless reckoned among the dead, even though he is still among the living. Understand this same thing, therefore, regarding the devil. For since Christ rose again, he is lost. And that he plots against men and performs whatever he does, he does not do as having any authority or power, but as a wicked and deceitful one he feigns friendship, and counsels things that are forbidden and harmful to men. And if he finds someone who obeys him, he considers that he has been able to do harm; but if he finds no welcome, but is dismissed empty and void, he departs ashamed, and possessing no strength. For man is often forced by man, and does unwillingly that which he neither wishes nor even intends. Not so, however, with the devil; but he who wishes obeys his vain counsel, while he who does not wish considers him as nothing. Every man suffers this same thing also in regard to his own reason, which happens also in regard to the devil. For a suggestion of some matter ^Bcomes to mind, I mean[a matter] both evil and base; and if he has his ruling mind healthy and prudent, he judges his suggestions and thoughts, and distinguishes the better from the worse; but if his ruling mind is weak, he performs harmful things as if they were beneficial. You see how, even if it seems that the devil still has power, it is not so, but his tyranny was destroyed and vanished completely, once Christ rose from the tomb. For after the second coming of Christ, he is destined to be sent into the outer darkness, and into the unquenchable fire, as he is worthy of this. Behold, therefore, as it was said before, thus it appears that matters concerning Christ were appearing from the beginning and from the very outset. And the more the time of His birth drew near, the more clearly and plainly did the prophets speak about Him. But from the time that Christ came, He gave men the key of knowledge, so that they might understand the truth clearly and without falsehood. Or rather, if one must tell the truth, Christ Himself ^Copened the hidden treasures, and placed them in the midst, like an infinite sea, so that anyone who wishes may draw from it without hindrance his own heart's desires, and that which is beneficial. But these things are so. Let us return to that from which we have digressed.

22. Christ hanging upon the cross, one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear. Zechariah speaks therefore about this, as we have also mentioned before, saying: "And they shall look upon me whom they pierced."

23. He died, and Isaiah says all that which we have also previously explained above. And the admirable Solomon also speaks concerning the righteous and great Job as if under the person of God: "Gird up thy loins like a man. I will question thee, and do thou answer me. Where wast thou when I founded the earth? Tell me, if ^Dthou hast understanding, when the stars were born, all my angels praised me with a loud voice…"

and celebrated me with hymns. I shut the sea with gates, and I set boundaries for it, and said to it: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt not pass beyond, but in thyself thy waves shall be broken. Tell me: if thou didst take clay and fashion a living creature, and place it, endowed with speech, upon the earth, or hast thou walked the footprints of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to thee for fear, and have the janitors of hell trembled when they saw thee? Job, answering the Lord, said: “I know that thou canst do all things, and nothing is impossible for thee. By the hearing of the ear I heard of thee before, but now my eye hath seen thee.” ^B Hast thou heard this most clear and most splendid prophecy concerning the death of the Lord? For God himself, speaking of himself—that he founded the earth, that he set boundaries for the sea, that his angels praised him—the same one says to Job: “If thou didst take clay and fashion a living creature, and place it, endowed with speech, upon the earth, or hast thou walked the footprints of the abyss? Do the gates of death open to thee for fear, and have the janitors of hell trembled when they saw thee?” What does this signify, I pray, other than: I am God who made these things; I opened the gates of death; for at my fear they were opened, and at the sight of me in hell, its janitors trembled. Yet what need is there to interpret this prophecy, since we see it to be of such a kind that even one completely dull and unlearned may understand it? For the phrase, “When they saw me, the janitors of hell trembled,” signifies the resurrection of Christ, which came to pass with divine authority and powerful strength, and, furthermore, that overall destruction of hell and death. Moreover, David also clearly says thus: “Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption.” For on the third day the Lord rose again, and his most holy body did not experience corruption. For when he was dead, Joseph and Nicodemus, as we said above, wrapped his most holy body with a linen cloth, and myrrh, and spices. And the Magi, coming to Bethlehem, also prophesied of his burial at the time of his birth, offering him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ^C 24. The Jews said to Pilate: “Order the sepulchre to be made secure.” And if the sepulchre had not been made secure, they would perhaps have had a pretext to cavil at the resurrection, saying that proper and sufficient custody had not been present. But since every kind of watchfulness and security was entrusted to them, they have no pretext whatsoever to say anything against his resurrection. For they managed to have the sepulchre guarded just as they desired and wished. For a very large stone was set upon the sepulchre, and they sealed it with a seal; furthermore, they stationed a company of soldiers for the watch and security of it. But so that the unbridled lips of the ungrateful Jews might be stopped, what happens, and what kind of miracle is brought forth at the time of the resurrection of Christ? The earth

^A quakes greatly, and the soldiers guarding the tomb, out of fear of them, became as dead men. But Christ, leaving behind the linen shroud wrapped together with the spices, rose from the tomb. And David says this: "Evening shall bring weeping, and morning shall bring gladness"; weeping, indeed, because of the burial, but gladness because of the resurrection. Have you seen—or rather, have you heard—of such an authoritative, divine, and lordly power and dominion? Are you not astonished and amazed at these things? You must by all means say that it is so, and not otherwise. For how was it possible for a body anointed with myrrh to be separated from the linen shroud, and for the shroud to be found wrapped together, whole and intact, along with such sticky spices? This is certainly one of the great and stupendous miracles of Christ. Furthermore, the stone was rolled away, not so that the Jews might think that Christ was still found in the tomb, since He had risen; but so that, through the earthquake and the stone, and moreover by the evidence of the face-cloth and the shroud lying there with their spices as we have said, they might come to their senses and remember that the Lord had said: "No one takes my soul from me. I have the power to lay it down, and I have the power to take it up again." But not even then did the wretched men understand; rather, they gave money to the soldiers so that they might conceal the resurrection of Christ.

Truly, Christ, having risen and come to the apostles, says to them, "Peace be unto you." And they rejoiced when they saw Him. But Thomas, one of them, happened to be away at that hour. When he heard about the resurrection of Christ, he said, "Unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and unless I put my hand into His side, I will not believe." ^C And Thomas, having touched, found what he sought, and cried out in a loud voice, "My Lord and my God!" For the apostles did not call and confess Christ to be God simply and by chance, nor as if they were doing Him a favor, but with great reverence and diligence. And Christ says to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

After the resurrection, then, Christ remained for forty days with the apostles, and having taught them, He gave them authority over demons and the power to perform miracles, which Christ Himself performed, and [said] that whatever sins they might forgive on earth, they should be forgiven also in heaven, and whatever they might bind on earth, they should be bound also in heaven. And not only the apostles, but also all those who have believed in Christ and who have walked according to the word and teaching of the Gospel, received the same authority and power from Christ as did the apostles, and the holy ones performed the same miracles as did the ^D apostles.

26. On the fortieth day, Christ departed with His disciples to the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem, and says to them, "Going, teach all the nations..."

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick, and they shall recover. But stay you in the city of Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high." And He blessed them, and it came to pass, while He blessed them, He departed from them, and was carried up to heaven. And having ascended, He sat at the right hand of God. ^B Although the Muslims also say that Christ is in the heavens, they do not attain to the truth itself. For they say that Christ is a man in heaven, holy and great, and holier than any other man; such, I say, do they confess Christ to be in heaven, but nothing more. But just as they err in all things pertaining to Christ, so do they err in this also. If, however, you wish to learn the truth, hear David saying: "I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: for thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth." Attend diligently. Of whom does David say that His mercy is great above the heavens, and His truth unto the clouds, and that God is exalted above the heavens, and His glory above all the earth? God is everywhere, and there is no place where God is not. ^C This, therefore, without any doubt or controversy, he says of the man whom the Son and Word of God assumed; who before was not in heaven, but on earth, but now has been caught up and exalted, and has sat down at the right hand of God the Father, who is indeed in heaven, but His glory is upon all the earth. But the same David says still more plainly and clearly: "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory." ^D What seems to you of this prophecy? I say indeed that if no other prophet had spoken of Christ, this prophecy alone would suffice in the place of many other great prophecies. For the prophet demonstrated, in saying, "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in," that he speaks of Him who had never before been in the heavens, but only at that very moment in time when the celestial gates, that is, the angelic powers, were commanded to be opened. For at that time the King of glory ascended, whom seeing, they were astonished and asked, "Who is this King of glory?" To whom those who had carried up the Lord of glory answered (whom the prophet Ezekiel saw, as will be declared hereafter): "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." But who is it that is mighty in battle

The man superior to nature, whom the Son and Word of God assumed from the holy Virgin. For He Himself overcame the devil, and He Himself destroyed the kingdom of the devil, which had reigned from the times of Adam until Christ; or rather, to speak the truth, His tyranny, which had tyrannized over the human race. For what is strange in God conquering the devil? Nothing at all. But this is the great and marvelous thing to ^A angels and men, and beyond the power of human nature, that man should conquer the devil. For in that He was man, Christ conquered the devil, not in that He was God; for what war is there against God? And Christ said on account of this, that "The ruler of this world is coming"—that is, the devil—"and has nothing in me." That is to say, although all men are sinners, in Christ, however, no trace or sign of sin could be found; and although we are all found conquered by sin, and as it were bound, by which it [the devil] grew strong among all and tyrannized, that supernatural and stupendous man whom the Son of God assumed was not subject to sin, but overcame it and destroyed the kingdoms of Hades. For this reason the prophetic ^B word saying, "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle," showed Him to be man. But in saying, "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory," it showed Him to be God. For the hosts are the ranks of the angels. Who, then, is the Lord of the angels? God, of course. Do you see how the angels and all the prophets declared Him—before His birth, and after the birth, in His death, and after the resurrection—to be both God and man? Ezekiel, moreover, says thus: "I was in the midst of the captivity by the river Chobar, and the heavens were opened, and I saw a vision of God, and the hand of the Lord came upon me, and I saw a great cloud, and brightness round about it, and fire flashing, and in the midst as the likeness of four living creatures, and four wings to the one, and sparks like flashing bronze, and their wings were swift, ^C and the likeness above the head of the animals, as it were a firmament, as the vision of the terrible crystal; and above the firmament that was over their head as the likeness of a throne upon it, and upon the likeness of the throne a likeness as the aspect of a man from above. And I saw as the vision of fire within it." And that the present prophecy is long and great and marvelous—which I have passed by because of the multitude of Scripture and the length of the interpretation—this is such. But consider only this, that the four living creatures, which the prophet calls winged (and adds afterwards: "And the other two were joined to one another"), is that great host of angels which throughout all Holy Scripture is called the Seraphim. Over the head of these, the prophet saw the likeness of a throne, and upon the likeness of the throne, ^D that of a man. But this certainly stands in need of interpretation. For who is that man, whom the greatest

of angels bear above their heads while he sits upon the throne? It is certainly none other than the Son of God, whom all the prophets have proclaimed as both God and man. And so much for that. ^B But you, together with others, say: Since Christians claim that Christ is God, how did He suffer? For God cannot suffer. And further: Since He is God, why did He not save man by a mere word, but, as if hindered by impotence, became man and died in order to save man? That God does not suffer, I have you yourself as a witness, for you confess that God does not suffer. Nevertheless, if a man dies—whether a natural death from sickness, or an unnatural one by the sword, or some other accidental cause—his body suffers and dies, but his soul remains impassible and immortal. Who, then, is so foolish as to think that divinity could be passible? Yet not even so did the devil leave man untempted. For the Armenians confess that Christ is the Son of God and is God, but they add that just as His body suffered, so also His divinity suffered. And for this reason we judge them to be heretics, and they are held under anathema. As for your question, "Why did Christ not save man by a mere word?" I cannot explain this, and I confess our weakness. But I give you this same counsel: believe those things that deserve faith, and do not inquire into things greater than your strength. For who has known the mind of the Lord? ^C If men, having observed the works of some earthly king, love and embrace those deeds but do not inquire further, nor curiously and laboriously investigate them, how much more absurd is it to inquire into and curiously investigate every detail concerning the King of kings and Lord of lords, nay rather, the eternal King of the heavens? Since the question is one—that Christ appears to be the Son of God—and this has been demonstrated without any controversy and proven by the sacred Scriptures, embrace these things and store them in your mind: that since God is omnipotent, and since He saves the world—whether by an angel, or by a word, or by any other way whatever that He knows and recognizes—He could do this, and He can. But God does not do all that is possible for Him, but all that He wills. For whatever He wills, that He can do; but not whatever He can do, that does He will. It was possible for Him to create infinite worlds, but since He did not will it, He created only one. It was likewise possible for Him to create other myriads of angels, but He did not will it. Therefore, do not seek to proceed further; for if such an absurdity finds room, many other absurdities will follow from it. And consider how this happens. For he who dares to inquire into these things can ask as follows: Since God knows all things even before their generation, and He foresaw that the devil was about to fall, why, I ask, did He create him? And when, from being an angel and light, he was lifted up against God and became darkness and the devil, why did God not destroy him completely, but rather allowed him to lead man, once deceived, so far away from God? Nay, even now he incites all men to sin.

and by sinning they are deprived of the glory of God and of Paradise? And ten thousand other absurd and evil things are about to arise once one absurdity is conceded. It is therefore just that we receive by faith the things done by God, and do not subject them to investigation and prying. Yet, because of your excessive curiosity, we shall offer some reasoning regarding this; and if it is agreeable to the truth, glory and praise be to the most holy God; for it must be referred to Him alone, who has known all truth. Moses writes, or rather God says through Moses: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” Christ says in the Gospel: “He who loves me will be loved by my Father.” Isaiah says: “Thus says the Lord: Can a woman forget her children? Even if a woman should forget, yet I will not forget, says the Lord.” And such is the truth. God loves man ten thousand times more than mother and father, and beyond that. For this reason, every man is obligated to love God more than his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and even his own soul. For every virtue of man, and every action, tends toward this and has this as its proposed end, that he may love God; and however much he has pursued Him with love, to that extent—and in infinite ways more—will he be loved by the Lord. ^B

^C 27. By what manner, then, and by what action, can a man arrive at the realization that he should love God, if not by contemplating and reasoning in his mind that for me, a sinner, the transgressor of God’s law and commandment, whom the devil had deceived and, having led me far from God, had put to death, God clothed Himself in our flesh, and became man, and died for me; and His death became our life, and His resurrection gave me Paradise and the kingdom which I had lost? And he begins to reflect upon the infinite philanthropy and love of God. And reflecting, he comes into the love of God, and he fulfills the commandments of God and the words of the Gospel. And by fulfilling these, the man is himself loved by God, as a fulfiller of His commandments. And then is fulfilled the word of God spoken through Moses: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your soul, and with all your heart, and with all your strength.” And there is fulfilled also the word of Christ, who says that “He who loves me will be loved by my Father,” and he who is loved by the Father is also loved by the Son. For there is one God—the Father and the Son. And for this cause God became man. Furthermore, of old God spoke to the prophets, and ^D

^A visions appeared to them; sometimes in a cloud, as to Job; at other times in fire and darkness, as to Moses; and at other times in a gentle breeze, as to Elijah. Just as the prophet Hosea says: "I have multiplied visions, and I was likened in the hands of the prophets." "I was likened," he says, not "I was seen," as he wishes to characterize the visions. Now, however, as the lover of mankind and the merciful One, having loved man as much as no tongue can tell nor mind conceive, just as formerly He conversed with His holy servants through successive visions, so did He converse with us through the medium of flesh, as it were a veil. And He is yet to converse with His servants and friends, just as He demonstrated this before His resurrection from the dead, and after that resurrection. And we, all who profess Christ, still hope that since He was the Son of God and the Word of God, He became man and, coming into the world, did not come to judge the world, but to teach the world that He Himself is the Son of God—God, namely, the One who was predicted by the prophets—and that those who believe in Him and are baptized might be saved, ^B but those who do not believe might be condemned. Furthermore, it is certainly to come to pass that He will return again, not as before in a base form and humble state—as a man, so far as appearance is concerned, under which God was to be understood—but as God manifest, and as the only-begotten Son of God the Father, in His glory, with all the angels and all the orders of the heavenly hosts. Just as David said above, that He comes to judge the earth, to judge the world. Indeed, it is also written in the Gospels that Christ Himself said: "When the Son of Man shall come in the clouds of heaven in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory; and all nations shall be gathered before Him, and He shall separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He shall set the sheep on His right hand"—that is, the righteous—"but the goats, that is, the sinners, on the left." ^C And He shall give the sinners eternal punishment, but the righteous eternal life, and paradise, and all good things. Nevertheless, Daniel also says thus: "I watched until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat. His throne was like a flame of fire, and His wheels as burning fire; a river of fire was drawn along, proceeding before Him. Thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. A judgment sat, and the books were opened. I was looking in the vision, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like the Son of Man was coming, and He reached the Ancient of Days, and they were brought before Him; and to Him was given the authority and the honor and the kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and languages shall serve Him; and His authority is an eternal authority, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. My spirit shuddered, I, Daniel, in my vision, and the visions of my head disturbed me." But behold ^D

observe diligently what has been said here by the prophet: ^A "I watched," he says, "until thrones were set, and the Ancient of Days sat." Who is this Ancient of Days? God. Who are those that ministered or served Him, and who are they that stood before Him—thousands of thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand? All are angels. What is this judgment? It is none other than what David predicted concerning Christ, that He comes to judge the earth, to judge the world; and Christ Himself says of Himself that at that judgment all the earth is to be judged. For the judgment of the Father and the Son is one and the same. But who is that river of fire which the prophet saw flowing before the Ancient of Days? It is, of course, that which is to receive the devil and all sinners. What are the books which we read as being opened? They are none other than the deeds of men, all of which will be revealed on that day. But who is the Son of Man, whom Daniel saw in his vision coming with the clouds of heaven and reaching to the Ancient of Days, to whom also were given authority, honor, and a kingdom, and all peoples, tribes, and languages worship Him and serve Him; and whose power is a sempiternal power, which shall not pass away, and whose kingdom shall not be destroyed? ^B This prophecy is certainly sufficient to be able to lead even an utterly stupid person to a better understanding, so that he might understand that Christ is the Son and Word of God, who, bearing aloft the man whom He assumed, brought him up into the clouds to God and His Father; and to Him was given honor, authority, and the kingdom; and Him all the angels of God worship, and Him also all tribes and languages worship, just as the prophets in earlier times preached. And He is the one who sat at the right hand of God, as David says. And His is the eternal kingdom, which shall not pass away. And His is the authority, which shall not be destroyed; for another man, it is not his at all. For no man was born before the sun, but the Son and Word of God was, as God, not as man; for neither can a man possess eternal authority, nor an unshakable kingdom—none other than only that man whom the Son and Word of God assumed, and is inseparable from Him. ^C Seeing all these things, Daniel, while marveling as was fitting, but not being able to comprehend this great and paradoxical miracle and mystery, said, "My spirit shuddered, I, Daniel, in my vision, and the visions of my head disturbed me." But the One whom Daniel the Great saw, and at the sight of whom his spirit shuddered and his head’s visions disturbed him—this One the Muslims do not confess to be God. And who is so stupid as not to condemn them most severely? ^D

APOLOGIA TERTIA.

1. That Christ is the Son of God, and God and man, having been preached by the saints and prophets, and indeed by God the Father Himself, has been sufficiently demonstrated in the preceding sections. Now, therefore, let us proceed to examine the remaining matters and look into those events which followed. For when Christ had foretold that He would ascend to His Father, at the very hour of His assumption He said to His holy disciples and apostles: "Go into the whole world ^B and preach the Gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned. But you tarry in the city of Jerusalem, until you are endued with power from on high." And having worshipped, they departed. And after a few days, when the apostles were gathered together in the same house, there came a sound as of a rushing mighty wind: and they were all filled with divine grace. Not that it was impossible for Christ, while still active on earth, to give them grace, but so that all might understand that the Father and the Son are one God, and that the nature and power of the Father and the Son are one and the same. For Christ, while He was still on earth, gave the apostles power and authority ^C to "tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy," that is, the devil; but now God the Father also sent His grace upon them. And being filled with divine grace, as it is said, the apostles, each of them, came to know things that transcend nature, namely, all the languages of all the nations under heaven with complete accuracy. And observe the reason why: because they were entrusted with the teaching and oversight of the whole world, the knowledge of all tongues was given to them, so that they might not need an interpreter, but that they themselves might be both interpreters and teachers. And they began to teach, making a beginning from Jerusalem. For so it was written by Isaiah: "Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But the Jews, still possessed of a hardened ^D heart, did not understand. And that which is written in the law was fulfilled in them: "With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people, and yet for all that they will not hear me, saith the Lord." And the apostles, while teaching the people, exhorted them to believe in Christ, and to confess that He is the Son of the living God. And miracles and many signs were wrought by them, yet not as Christ performed them, by His own authority and power, but as from servants and ministers. For they performed miracles in the name of Christ, saying thus: "In the name of Jesus Christ receive your sight," and the blind man received his sight; "In the name of Jesus Christ the Son of God, let the dead arise," and he arose. And this

^A they said, and the paralytic was healed. And in the name of Christ they were healing every disease, and countless multitudes were believing in Christ day by day. Then the twelve apostles, having divided themselves, ran throughout the whole earth, and the impious did many evils and opposed them, and those who believed in Christ, and they were killing countless multitudes of Christians day by day in various places. For the whole world was given over to idolatry. One Christian was killed, and ten would appear before the tyrants. Ten would die, and a hundred would come, a thousand, three thousand, ten thousand, twenty thousand would come to martyrdom. But that my words might not be thought by the many to be false, I say less than the truth of the matter demands. For often fifty thousand people and more believed in a single day. And just as from the works of creation the righteous Abraham came to the true knowledge, and worshipped, and served the only God who is by nature, so too through the miracles of Christ and the apostles did the nations likewise come to the grasp of the truth, and they worshipped and confessed rightly that he is truly the Savior of the world, Christ, he is the Son of the living God, the true God. Whence, then, did this come to pass? By what power and strength? By what wealth and magnificence? By what philosophers and orators? ^B By none at all, but by the power of God alone, with which the twelve apostles, previously unlearned, rustic, and weak, were clothed. For thus had Christ said to them: "Behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; do not be anxious, therefore, as to what you should say, or what you should speak before them. For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all those who oppose you will not be able to resist or contradict." And so it came to pass. All the philosophers, all the orators, all the magicians thus appeared before the apostles as silent fish. Then was fulfilled the prophecy of David, which says, "And I was speaking in thy testimonies before kings, and I was not ashamed." And also that of Isaiah, saying likewise, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace, who preach glad tidings of good things." For the apostles were divided and scattered throughout the whole earth, and each one of them taught the Gospel in the place to which he went, and the prophecy of David was fulfilled, saying, "Into all the earth went forth their sound, and into the ends of the world their words." Consider, therefore, and observe precisely, that all that has been written here—not even one solitary word has been written from elsewhere, ^C but from Moses, from the prophets, from David, and from the Gospel—which every Muslim also is bound to revere as holy, and just, and good.

For Muhammad himself, whom all Muslims hold as a teacher, could not hide the truth entirely, and he bears witness to the holy books. If, therefore, Muslims call the books holy and good, yet reject what is said within them, it is absolutely necessary that every person should condemn them, or rather, if one must speak plainly, pity them as madmen; for we, having so many and such great occasions to find the truth, and to know that Christ is the Son and Word of God, have forsaken the path of truth and have wandered off after missing the mark. But we must return to where we set out. ^B

2. They who persecuted and tyrannized the apostles eventually believed in Christ themselves, and confessed that He is the Son of the living God, and instead of the apostles, they themselves became preachers of the name of Christ. And that all the apostles died by a death of martyrdom, this is true. Yet the impious did not tyrannize over them as much as over those who had converted from idol-worship to Christ. For they inflicted atrocious punishments upon them; they would cut them into pieces, and as in a moment they were found safe and intact. They cast them into furnaces, and they were kept as if they were stepping into water. They forced them to drink molten lead, and they were not harmed. They submerged them in the deep of the sea, and they escaped to the shore. And who, as the saying goes, could recount the torments and trials of the martyrs? Finally they died, and they reckoned the torments as pleasures, and death as life. And Christ displayed through the martyrs His own divinity and power, but also the faith and the longing which they held for Him. For in the fact that the martyrs of Christ were kept safe and unharmed, His power and divinity appeared; but through the death which they endured, their faith and love toward Christ shone forth, as will be demonstrated more clearly later. For significant was the fortitude of those who struggled, and their faith shone like a torch. For He who kept them unharmed from such and so great torments was surely able to ensure that they did not die. But just as Christ did in His own body, when at the mere question with which He addressed the Hebrews, "Whom do you seek?" ^C all fell down; and when He said to them, "Let these go," they let the disciples go, and seized Christ Himself—just as, I say, His power and will appeared in this, so also it happened with the martyrs. For they were kept unharmed by divine virtue and power in the midst of great pains and torments; yet nonetheless they died, that their faith in Christ might be manifest, and they might live for infinite ages in the life which is truly blessed and immortal. Having seen all these things, those who served idols, and understanding at the same time that the things taking place were not works of natural consequence, but were beyond nature, and that it is God who is working these things, all the kings, all the governors, all the tyrants were converted; and finally the universal multitude inhabiting land and sea worshipped Christ, acknowledged and believed Him to be the Son of God and the true God: and the oracle of David and the other prophets was fulfilled, saying: ^D

^A “All the kings of the earth shall worship Him, all nations shall serve Him, all nations shall call Him blessed.” If, however, some are found who do not believe that Christ is the Son of God, the prophets are not on that account to be accused of falsehood; but just as the sun is said to illuminate the whole world (as indeed it does), yet the blind neither see the sun nor are illuminated by it, so too with Christ: all the kings of the earth and the whole world have worshipped Him and acknowledged Him to be God. But those who do not worship Him, or who first worshipped Him but later, being led astray, formed opinions of impiety, do not then truly benefit from the knowledge of the truth. Why so? Because every man, while he lives, performs actions according to his own will and choice, whether those deeds tend toward his salvation, or toward condemnation and punishment. But there is no place for repentance after death. If, therefore, those who do not believe in Christ come ^B to a perception of the good, and believe in Him, behold, they have found the way of truth and have inherited their salvation. But if they still persist in their impiety, let him who understands, understand what follows.

But David also says again thus: “All nations, clap your hands; shout to God with a voice of exultation, for the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth. Sing to our God, sing. Sing to our king, sing, for God is king of all the earth. Sing with understanding; God has reigned over the nations. God sits upon His holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham. For the strong ones of the earth of God have been greatly exalted.” And observe accurately what is said: “All nations, clap your hands, shout to God in a voice of exultation.” He does not call only the Jews, ^C nor the Ishmaelites, nor those living in one part of the world, but he calls everyone under the sun to this spiritual exultation. For in saying “all nations,” he left no man outside the whole. Why? “For the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth.” But someone will say, “And when was God not most high, O blessed David, and when was He not terrible and great? Sing to our God, sing. Sing to our king, sing.” Behold, the puzzle remains a puzzle. Being asked ^D when God was not most high and great and terrible, he replies: “Sing to our God, sing, sing to our king, sing.” And again David says: “For God is king of all the earth.” Sing with understanding. God has reigned over the nations. God sits upon His holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham. For the strong ones of the earth of God have been greatly exalted. But now let us carefully examine what the prophetic oracle intends.

^B The psalmody is a hymn melodiously consecrated to God. And just as someone returning from a trophy and from victory, out of great joy says nothing else than, "We have conquered the enemies," and if asked again, "How and in what manner the victory came about," he answers the same thing again, "We have conquered, we have conquered"—in the same way also the prophet, seeing with intellectual eyes the conversion of the nations, cried out: "All nations, clap your hands, shout to God with a voice of exultation." That is to say, both you who were formerly faithful and those who believed after these things, all of you together clap your hands. Do not clap your hands simply without reason and without order, but with a voice of exultation and gladness. For this reason, the prophet also, being filled with divine inspiration and pleasure, said: "Sing praises to our God, sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For the Lord is most high, terrible, a great king over all the earth." And as if explaining his own words, he adds: "God has reigned over the nations"—that is, the nations previously oppressed by the tyranny of the devil, now having abandoned their ancestral gods, those inanimate and mute idols, have inclined and worshipped and believed in the only true and living God, and have come under his kingdom. For they were not previously found worthy of the kingdom of God. "God sits upon his holy throne." Every throne signifies glory and rest. And since formerly God was not glorified by the nations, but only by the angels and the saints, the nations were destitute of the glory of God; but now, having approached, all enjoy the glory of God, and God has rested in the nations. But since the throne of men also has glory and honor, and indeed rest, but cannot possess sinlessness, he added: "upon his holy throne." For all human things, together with a changeable nature prone to sin, possess also that which is extraneous, uncertain, or separable, as we said in the first Apologia. But the throne of God is different, and sublime and holy, and he possesses his magnificence and glory naturally and inseparably. "The princes of the peoples were gathered together with the God of Abraham." Who are these princes who have been gathered? The kings of the earth, the toparchs, those small and great. And who is the God of Abraham? Is he someone else ^C besides the God of the universe, who created heaven and earth, and for this reason is he called the God of Abraham particularly? Far be this blasphemy! Not so, but rather, on the one hand, he called the Lord and Judge of all the earth, who both has mercy and is angry, the God of Abraham—he who appeared to him at the destruction of the Sodomites, before whom he judged himself to be earth and ashes, who was indeed the Son and Word of God, as was demonstrated in the preceding, and will still be shown; and on the other hand, so that just as Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, so also for all the nations, if they abandon the ancestral cult—or rather, to tell the truth, the vain and false cult—

and turn to the true God, and confess Christ as the Son of God and true God, their faith also is reckoned to them as righteousness, just as it was to Abraham, and all their iniquities, all their impieties, all their sins are forgiven. ^A

δ. Moreover, when God said to Abraham at that time, "I have made you a father of many nations," and "In your seed shall all the nations be blessed," the prophet, foreseeing that the word of God made to Abraham was not yet fulfilled—for not all the nations had yet been converted and become children of Abraham, and that the nations were to be saved through faith in Christ, who is the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, and also the son of David the king—said: ^B "The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham," bringing to the remembrance of all men the worship formerly offered by Abraham before God, and the promise made to him by God. And filled with ineffable joy, the prophet said, "Sing to our God, sing. Sing to our King, sing. All you nations, clap your hands." And again, teaching, he said, "Sing prudently." What is "Sing prudently"? It means intelligently, wisely. Know with understanding what is being said, know what is being done. Do not clap your hands unlawfully and disorderly, as the foolish are wont to clap their hands in banquets, but having learned whence the victory, whence the freedom, whence the salvation [comes], show forth magnificence, show forth thanksgiving to the victory-making God. "Clap your hands," utter a voice of praise and rejoicing to the God of Abraham; that is, to Him who was born from the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, whom all the prophets proclaimed, whom they demonstrated, whom they confessed as God and man; who sat upon His holy throne, that is, the man whom He took on from the holy Virgin in a manner surpassing nature. "Sing prudently." That is, look into the depth of the mysteries, see the heavenly pearl hidden in the prophetic words, just as it is honored by many in shells ^C as something precious. "Sing prudently." For the inexhaustible treasure is in your hands. Having unfolded the utterances of the fathers, you will find Him, who is Christ the Son and Word of God, the creator of every creature: "For by the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their host by the Spirit of His mouth." Do you see how at one time David calls Him God, at another God and man, at another the Word of God, and at another the creator of every creature? For by calling Him the creator of the heaven, he declared Him to be the creator of every creature. For He who made the heavens is the same who created the angels and men.

ε. And Moses indeed says, "In the beginning ^D God created the heaven and the earth," but David says, "By the Word of the Lord the heavens were...

^A established." Surely, the One whom Mahomet calls the Word of God, and whom all the Muslims, and whom all Christians worship as the Word of God and God, is the same One concerning whom David says that He established the heavens—that is, He created them. Moses says concerning this same One that "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." And who is so foolish as to doubt, and not to worship, Him whom David proclaims to be God and whom Moses confesses to be God?

But when you hear of "heavens," do not imagine that there are many heavens, but one, and not many. The interpreter, following the Hebrew phrase, translated it in the plural according to the laws and custom of that language.

But let us see of whom David speaks: "Whose strong ones of the earth have been greatly exalted." Who are they? His disciples—the few, who lately were humble, unlearned, and rustic, but now are teachers of the world; those who endured persecution from all, who were oppressed by insults, who were buffeted, who had nowhere to lay their head, now appear visible as high and great, as the strong ones of God, and elevated to the pinnacle of honor. For all princes, all satraps, all the kings of the earth, after God, have the apostles as their advocates and confess them to be the teachers and guides of their own salvation. For the apostles taught the Gospel to every creature, at the same time confirming it with miracles, as we have said.

And those who before were persecutors of the name of Christ now die for Him. And those who before practiced calumny and tyranny against Him, now, through Christ and the apostles, have become pastors, teachers, and luminaries of the world, shining more brightly than the sun itself. And those who were lately worshipers of idols are now martyrs of Christ and, having received grace from God (as has been said), are seen to perform miracles. For the martyrs not only performed miracles and wonders while they were living—at the sight of which the idolaters were stunned—but even after death they performed great and extraordinary miracles. For while still living, in the sight of the tyrants, they would ask the idols, saying, "In the name of Christ, tell the truth." And the idols answered that Christ is the true God. When the infidels heard these things, they would shout with a loud voice, "Great is the God of the Christians, great also is their faith," and they believed in Christ.

And it is agreed that all the martyrs of Christ performed miracles, which, on account of their great number, ^D are now left out. Nevertheless, of the many, not a few have been collected by the writers of that age, of which this is one. Christ’s martyr George, who is honored by us Christians (and whom the Muslims themselves hold in honor, and by whom he is called Cheter Elias), was tormented and questioned by the impious and idolaters so that he might deny Christ and worship and adore their gods. But he preferred to endure infinite deaths and infinite tortures for the name of Christ rather than reject his faith in Christ. Therefore, with many torments and punishments exc->

- ^A -eedingly tried, the martyr says to the tyrant: "Let us go and behold your gods." And he, having heard this, rejoiced exceedingly, assuming that he was going to sacrifice to his gods. Therefore, when all had gone together, both the tyrant with his whole crowd, and the martyr George had entered into the temple, he said with a loud voice: "In the name of Jesus Christ, you mute idols, tell the truth: who is the true God?" And immediately the idols, having been given the faculty of speech, said: "Christ is the Son of God, and his Father is God." And again the martyr said: "In the name of Christ, fall to the earth and be shattered." And following the word and working, all the idols fell to the earth and were shattered. But the multitude, seeing the miracle, cried out with a loud and brilliant voice, "Great is the faith of the Christians, great is the God of George."

6. Let those who do not believe in Christ hear and be confounded, because the father of lies, the devil, could not hide the truth; but being rebuked by the saint, and scourged as it were by the truth, he confessed Christ to be the true God. But those who do not yet believe walk as if wandering in deepest darkness. Moreover, while Christ was still on earth, his parents brought to him a man who was possessed by demons, and they besought him to heal him. But the demon who was in the man, having seen Jesus, cried out saying: "What have I to do with thee, Son of God? Hast thou come before the time to torment us?" For there was not just one devil in the man, but many. But when Jesus rebuked him, they departed from the man, and he became healthy. If, then, God himself bore witness, and the prophets preached, and the whole world has believed in him, and if the demons themselves, though unwilling, confessed him ^C to be God, and shudder and tremble at his name—are not those who do not confess him to be God foolish and deluded? It is surely evident to everyone. And then will be fulfilled upon them that prophetic oracle of David: "Man, being in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like unto them." And truly they would be happy if they were counted as irrational animals. For these, since they do not sin, are not about to be punished either. But woe to those who have not believed in Christ; would that those men had not been born!

7. But after the death of the martyrs, ^D people used to run to their tombs and monuments, and they were healed of their diseases. But even until this day, infinite miracles are being performed at the tombs of the martyrs and of the other saints, who lived according to the precepts of the Gospel, where they were found lying. Yet even according to

^B those who concern themselves with salvation, some are found in the mountains, others in caves, and others still living among men, while they possess the power and strength to perform miracles, and do perform them. What, then, does it seem to you? Did God cooperate with the twelve apostles—those unlearned and rustic men—on account of a false, fictitious, and impious name, by means of infinite miracles, and [thereby] convert the whole world to the faith of Christ and the knowledge of God, and silence the rhetoricians and philosophers? Who is so miserable as to say this? For the most noble of all creatures are the angel and man. But even the angel, when he aspired in his own mind to divinity, fell from his proper glory, and instead of an angel became a devil, and instead of light became darkness. The same happened to man, who was holy and found within Paradise. He desired to become God, and immediately, instead of being holy, he was found to be a sinner. And, having been cast out of Paradise, he was condemned to till the earth. And what is more wretched, though he was created immortal, he was surrendered to death, and heard: ^C "In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread," and, "For you are earth, and to earth you shall return." But why speak of the angel and Adam, that they suffered what we said because of their aspiration to divinity, when even those who dared to oppose Moses, and to offer incense to God for the sake of religion—which was not permitted to them, but only to the priests—were swallowed up by the earth opening its mouth: namely Dathan, Abiron, and Core? Fire also burst forth from the earth and consumed Ophni and Phinees. Ozias, the king of the Jews, offered sacrifice, and was suddenly struck with leprosy. Do you see, therefore, how God is accustomed to bear with every sin for a time, and to await the repentance of the sinner, yet He does not bear with this audacity alone, but at that very moment the indignation and wrath of God arise against one who dares such things?

8. Since, therefore, as has been demonstrated, God was the one cooperating with the apostles and martyrs for the validation of the Christian faith, he who does not believe in Christ does not believe in God. For thus also Christ himself said in the Gospels: "He who does not believe the Son, does not believe the Father," and, "He ^D who does not have the Son, neither has the Father." If, therefore, Christ was not God and the Son of God, but dared to say these things with a certain temerity, was he not bound to suffer the same things that both the devil and Adam suffered? But since He was the true God, He taught all clearly, so that they might know the truth clearly, or rather, His divinity. Since, therefore, He spoke plainly and boldly, saying, "I am God and the Son of the most high God," and did not say this in a corner or a hidden place, but in the midst of all; and since Mahomet himself and all the Mussulmans confess that Christ is the Word of God, and the Spirit of God, and the Soul of God, all the Mussulmans are also bound by this religion, so that without any doubt

and curious inquiry they may believe, just as Christ bore witness of himself. ^A Furthermore, regarding the miracle which annually occurs at Jerusalem by the sepulcher of Christ at the time of His Resurrection, as you have known, can you contradict it? You are not ignorant, for, by the permissive judgment of God, the Mussulmans dominate that holy place, and around the time of Christ’s Resurrection they apply great and diligent care that no burning light be seen. This is therefore done most diligently without any doubt. Yet at that moment in time, when the Christians who are there sing the hymn composed concerning Christ’s resurrection, a light descends from heaven—seen by the Mussulman ruler who happens to be dwelling there—lighting those three lamps which stand at Christ’s sepulcher. What, therefore, does it seem to you? Did Christ say falsely that He is God and the Son of God? Do the Christians believe this falsely? And how is it that at that very hour when they, as we have said, chant that Christ is God and the Son of God, and the creator of every creature, for the sake of a more abundant affirmation ^B and exposition of the miracle, with God Himself testifying that this is true, a light descends from heaven [and] lights the lamps, as has been said, standing near the sepulcher of Christ? For just as in the Jordan, at the hour of Christ’s baptism, a voice descended from heaven saying: "This is my beloved Son," designating Christ; so at the above-mentioned time the light descends from heaven, asserting and testifying to all, both the faithful and the infidel, that He Himself, Christ, is the Son and Word of God, true God and man. Who, therefore, is so wretched as not to adore Him, and confess Him to be God and the Son and Word of God? But if perhaps by much searching they contradict these things (as it is indeed their custom to do), [asserting] that Christ spoke these things falsely, what other accusation is needed? For they accuse themselves, if they say that He—whom they confess to be the Word of God, and the Spirit, and the Soul of God—lies. ^C But how is it possible that the Word of God should lie? Recognizing therefore their own weakness, they take refuge in this, saying that the Christians, in order to honor Christ, say that Christ said of Himself that He is the Son of God; yet this is not consistent with the truth, but is a calumny. For not only did Christ not say this, nor teach it, but even when questioned by the Jews, He denied it, saying: "I am not, but you say this." This, then, is their pretext and evasion. For those who wished to insult Christ could not do so openly, fearing to undergo the public condemnation of men; wherefore they invented one thing after another. But let those who wish to learn the truth know that Christ Himself said [this] with His own lips not once, and not twice or thrice, but very often, and the whole Gospel almost says and teaches this very thing, so that indeed men might know the one and true God and the Son, whom before all ages He begat as true God. For the whole of the Gospel

^A aim and purpose is this, namely, that every man might turn from impiety to the fear of God, as has been said, and that men might perform works worthy of salvation; and for this reason Christ spoke and taught this daily. Which things the apostles, having received from Christ, wrote down in the Gospel and taught throughout the whole world, and for the sake of this faith and the Gospel and these doctrines, both they and the martyrs died. Nevertheless, some of the heretics used to say concerning Christ that while it is true that Christ is indeed before all creation, and that He Himself is the creator of the angels and of Adam and of the heavens, of the earth, and of all creation—which is indeed the truth, and not otherwise—yet they denied that He is the Son of God. These heretics truly brought much damage to the confessors of the true faith. For he who held the empire at that time favored their opinion, and took their side, and assisted them in such a doctrine. For if they, holding the Gospel in highest veneration, could have shown that Christ nowhere said of Himself that He is God and the Son of God, what other proof would have been needed than this? For this alone would have saved them ^B more than all other arguments. Moreover, they held the Gospel in high esteem and embraced it, and called it holy; and though these most miserable men were constantly reading it along with the writings of the prophets, they nonetheless put forth these ridiculous and foolish things. And some, indeed, died in this heresy, and are under anathema; others, however, are still alive and live in Egypt, and are called Arians, Jacobites, and Nestorians. Let these men, therefore, be questioned, and they will confess the whole truth, that the Gospel was written from the beginning just as it is found today.

9. You say, furthermore, that we Christians believe in three ^C persons, in the Father, the Mother, and the Son. And since you are ignorant in all things that concern the dogmas of the Christians, you err in this as in others. But listen: We Christians, indeed, worship one God, the creator of all things, visible and invisible, and His Word and Son, Christ, that is to say; this is how it is, and not otherwise. And we believe and confess Him. But we judge the ever-Virgin Mary to be a creature of God, and a handmaid of God. We believe and confess, moreover, that never has a human being been born of a man and a woman ^D like her, nor will one be so born until the consummation of the age. And as for her human nature, we judge her to be lower than the angels, as a human being; but in honor and holiness, we undoubtedly prefer her above all the angels, because she gave birth according to the flesh to the Word and Son of God, and we all recognize her as our advocate and helper, and she prays and intercedes unceasingly for sinners, and works and performs great and extraordinary miracles. And we worship her not as God, but as the Mother of the Son of God according to the flesh. Let her, therefore, be under

^A anathema, whosoever worships two, or three, or many gods. But we worship one God, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

10. You bring against us the accusation that Christ, being questioned by the Jews, "Art thou the Son of God?", denied it, saying, "You say this." And you bring this forward as testimony against us, so that you may establish the things said by you as true. You do this, however, on account of your ignorance of the Scriptures. For if you were found examining and searching the Scriptures as is altogether necessary, you would by no means be led astray. But now you accuse us of things which you yourselves do not understand. Nevertheless, I shall omit to mention at present the testimonies spoken concerning Christ from the beginning of the world, which prove Him to be both God and the Son of God and man, because they are many. Wherefore, having passed over these, we shall speak of certain particular ones. And at the same time I say this, that the Jews did not crucify Christ for any ^B other cause than that He called Himself God, and man, and Son of God. And in one place He said, "He that sees me sees my Father" (Joan. xiv, 9). In another place, "I and the Father are one" (Joan. x, 30). In another place, "If you had known me, you would have known my Father also" (Joan. viii, 19). Item: "If any man keep my saying, he shall not see death for ever" (ibid. 51). And elsewhere: "Thy sins are forgiven thee" (Matth. ix, 2). Weighing all these things, the Jews said, "Whom dost thou make thyself? Being a man, thou makest thyself God" (Joan. x, 33). But what does Christ say? "He that believeth in me, although he be dead, shall live" (Joan. xi, 25). And, "As the Father raiseth up the dead and giveth life, so the Son also giveth life ^C to whom he will" (Joan. v, 21). And, "No man hath seen the Son, but the Father; neither hath any man seen the Father, but the Son, and to whom it shall please the Son to reveal him" (Matth. xi, 27). Would Christ, therefore, speaking these things and teaching men, have hidden the truth when questioned? And what mad or foolish person would believe this? For if He were not God and the Son of God, His disciples, when asked by Him, "Whom do men say that the Son of man is?" (Matth. xvi, 13), would not have said to Him, "Some say that thou art Elias, others Jeremias, or one of the prophets" (ibid. 14). And Christ said to them, "But whom do you say that I am?" (ibid. 15). And Peter answering said to Him, "Thou art Christ, ^D the Son of the living God" (ibid. 16). Would Christ have then said to Peter, "You have erred, you have spoken impiously and perversely: for I am not the Son of God"? For since Christ was their teacher, what else was He to teach them if not the truth? What then does Christ answer Simon Peter? "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but my Father who is in heaven" (ibid. 17). Christ, however, did not ask Peter as one who was ignorant of what men said he was, but just as He said concerning Lazarus before he died, "Lazarus our friend sleepeth; but I go that I may awake him out of sleep," yet when he arrived there he asked, "Where have [you] laid him?" Then, having established his

^A authority, he spoke: "Lazarus, come forth," and the lifeless one obeyed the command of the Lord, showing both his divinity and his humanity. Thus also locally he questioned the disciples, to show himself to be God and man, and so that they might be led up by degrees to the height of true knowledge. But, furthermore, what did Thomas say after the resurrection, he who was himself one of the twelve disciples, having touched the side of Christ? Certainly he too spoke thus: "My Lord and my God." What then does Christ say to him? He did not say to him, "Cease your blasphemy," but what? "Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed." ^B But also at the beginning of his preaching, what did Nathanael say to Christ? For the same Nathanael, being a doctor of the law among the Jews, having come to Christ, asked him whatever he wished and desired; but having heard from Christ himself what he had hidden in his heart, he says to Jesus: "Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." Did Christ then rebuke him as one who had spoken wrongly? Not at all. But what? Christ says to him: "Because I told you the secrets of your heart, you believe; you shall see greater things than these." ^C And that Christ, when questioned by Pilate, spoke thus—that "You have said it," is of such a character, but it is not a formula of denial, but of assent and confession. And just as he said to Judas (for Christ was sitting at the table with his disciples, and says to them, "One of you will betray me," and each one said regarding himself, "Is it I, Lord?" and another, "Is it I?" Judas also said, "Is it I?" Christ says, "You have said it")—at that time surely the expression was not one of denial, but of assent; so too in the case of Pilate. For it was a common phrase of the place, and Christ used it as a phrase of that place. And just as even now, among the Muslims, one often says to another by way of counsel, "Let us do this or that," and instead of the other saying "Let it be done," he replies "You know," and it is not a phrase of denial, but of assent; so also in the case of Christ, Christ used such an expression, "You have said it," as a phrase of that place. ^D Nevertheless, Pilate himself asked Christ, saying, "Art thou the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly fight for me, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from hence." Pilate therefore said to him, "Art thou a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. I have been born for this, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone that is of

^A the truth hears my voice." Pilate says to him, "What is truth?" Do you see how it was shown more clearly here? By all means, Christ showed himself to be a king and claimed it, and when asked by Pilate, he answered this very thing again. Instead of saying, "Yes, I am a king," he said, "You say that I am a king." What, then, does Pilate mean, when Christ said, "I was born for this, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth," by saying to him, "What is truth?" It is as if to say: "If there were truth in the world, you would not have been delivered to death." And as if lamenting the loss of truth, he said, "What is truth?" But also, when Christ was asked by the high priest, "I adjure you by the living God, that you tell us if you are the Son of God," he answered nothing else than, "I am." Do you see how the Muslims accuse men worthy of praise regarding things unknown to them? Behold, then, if you truly seek the truth, know it; ^B if not, you know yourself. For ignorance concerning it does not arise on account of the truth, but on account of those who turn away from it.

11. Since we previously promised to speak also regarding the cross, hear now about this as well. For just as the things concerning Christ were spoken of from on high and from the beginning, both by Moses, David, and the prophets—though they were spoken of somewhat obscurely and veiled—and indeed, concerning his passion and death, just as they were revealed through so many prophecies, so it is also with the cross. And consider how this is. When Moses led the Hebrews out of Egypt, the Egyptians came out and pursued them, and caught up with them at the Red Sea. The Hebrews, therefore, being afraid, despaired of their own lives. Moses then prayed to God, and God said to him, "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the sons of Israel, that they move forward; and you, lift up your staff, and strike the sea, and the sons of Israel will pass through on dry land." Moses, therefore, taking his staff, struck the sea with a straight blow, ^C and the water of the sea was divided, and a wall stood on the right and a wall on the left, and all the people passed across on dry land. And when the Egyptians pursued them and entered onto the dry land, the Lord said to Moses, and he struck the sea again with the staff, not indeed with a straight blow as before, but crosswise. And the water came back in its place, and drowned Pharaoh the king of the Egyptians with all his chariots and his army. Then, undoubtedly, the type of the cross through the wooden staff of Moses performed the miracle; the dividing of the sea designated the type of the cross, and the staff, the nature of the wood. Furthermore, just as Moses through the type of the cross and the wood delivered the Hebrews through the sea from the bitter slavery and tyranny of Pharaoh, so also Christ, through the cross and his power, delivered man from the bitter slavery ^D and domination of the devil. Furthermore, as Moses was departing with the people in a certain place called Marah, because they could not find water to drink (for the water of that place was bitter), God showed Moses a piece of wood, which, when cast into the waters, they began to grow sweet, and thus all the people of the Jews were satisfied. By this miracle, it was certainly indicated that the bitterness which existed in the world due to the devil was to be dispelled and changed by the cross into

^A great sweetness and joy. Furthermore, as Moses was traveling through the wilderness with the people, a multitude of serpents appeared in a certain place, and the people were in danger from them. Moses, commanded by God, made a bronze serpent. He set up an upright piece of wood and placed the serpent crosswise upon it. All those who were bitten by the serpents looked at this bronze serpent and were healed, and there was no one among those bitten by those same serpents who looked upon it and was not healed. This miracle indicated that the wooden beam fixed upright, and the serpent placed crosswise upon it, signified the type of the cross. ^B Indeed, the bronze serpent openly declared Christ. For just as that serpent had the form of a serpent but not its venom, so too Christ was to be human, but without sin. And everyone who is bitten by the devil, if he looks to Christ and believes in Him, will be saved; but he who does not look to Him and does not believe, will die on account of his sin. Furthermore, when a war broke out between the Hebrews and the Amalekites, as Moses stretched out his hands to God, the soldiers of the Hebrews were superior to the Amalekites; but when he lowered his hands, the Amalekites would repel Israel. Therefore Moses commanded two men to support him in the stretching out of his hands, until Amalek was utterly defeated. Behold, this ^C also clearly declared the type and power of the cross. But also the blessed Jacob, when blessing his grandsons, placed his hands crosswise upon their heads, showing from that time the type of the cross. And still more clearly and purely than this, God says through the prophet Isaiah: “The nations and the kings, whoever shall not serve you, shall perish, and the nations shall be laid waste with desolation. With cypress, pine, and cedar together, I will glorify my holy place, and I will glorify the place of my feet.” Consider, therefore, and see a strange and extraordinary thing. For just as the prophets foretold the passion of Christ, and not only this, but also the forms of the passion—that is, “They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink, and they pierced my hands and my feet, and divided my garments, and for my vesture they cast lots,” and other things like these—so also they demonstrated the type of the cross, and that through it the tyranny of the devil was to be destroyed. But Isaiah also noted the type of the wood ^D

and the cross, saying, "In cypress, and pine, and cedar, I shall at the same time glorify my holy place, and I will glorify the place of my feet." ^A For it was from these three kinds of wood that the cross was fashioned: one upright, another transverse, and the other below, upon which the feet of Christ were nailed. And David thus cries out: "Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of his feet, for it is holy." Since, then, the things said by the prophets regarding the cross are sufficient, and Jacob also, as it is written, when blessing the sons of Joseph, placed his hands across and blessed them in the form of a cross—for the prophets, foreseeing that through the cross death was to be abolished and the devil was to be cast down, prophesied concerning it—they worshipped and kissed it from afar, just as we do at the present time.

12. ^B After other accusations with which we Christians are charged by the Muslims, we are also accused of this: that we worship the images of the saints. And what is it that we worship? Certainly nothing else but wood, colors, and stones. Now, since those who accused us did not know what they were saying, but spoke what they spoke out of the imaginations of their own hearts, the same thing holds true regarding images. But if you are held by a desire for the truth, listen, I pray. Knowing the slippery nature of the human mind, God commanded in the Old Testament ^C that the priests should record the miracles performed by Him, and that these records should always hang in the hands of the priests, so that daily, or rather continuously, both the priests and the people, looking upon the recorded miracles of God—the things that came to pass for their sake—might come to the remembrance of Him and render thanksgiving and glory to God, who had delivered them from the slavery of Pharaoh, and had defeated great and mighty kings, and strong nations, and given their cities to the people of the Jews, and also for the miracles that occurred for them in the desert. And it happened just as the Lord had commanded them. For seeing what hung in the hands of the priests, they turned to the memory of God and gave thanks to God. ^D The same is the case with images. They depict the birth of Christ, the baptism, the cross, the resurrection; and looking upon these, the multitudes of men come to the remembrance of God and begin to meditate on how Christ, being God, for the love of the human race assumed flesh and suffered in the flesh, and whatever else God did for man; and from this they give thanks and extol and glorify God. The same holds true for the image of the holy Virgin, who gave birth to the Son and Word of God according to the flesh, and likewise for the martyrs and all the other saints. And we give honor to the images because of the love and honor owed to those for whom the images are set up. And just as formerly in Rome and elsewhere they set up statues in the names of the emperors of the time, and also of the generals, and seeing the statues, they were led to the memory of the achievements of those whose statues they were, and because of the greatness, and also the honor of those men, they were led to the memory of the achievements of those who owned the statues, and they honored them, just as even now they do with the pillars of the emperors; so also with images, leading our mind to

instituted—whoever receives this immediately rises, and not only embraces it but sets it upon his head; yet he does not think he is venerating the ink and paper, but renders that honor to the king: the rationale for images is the same for us. For those that stand on columns and panels are honored by us; but those worn away by age and defaced we no longer honor, but judge to be useless. ^B It is the same, furthermore, with the cross. As long as a piece of wood bears the figure of the cross, it is adored and duly honored by us; but when the figure of the cross is destroyed, the wood is no longer adored by us. Yet from this example you, and anyone else who wishes to inquire, can understand that coins used in cities bear the image of Christ engraved and formed upon them, and indeed also those of his holy Mother and other saints. Nevertheless, they are not adored by us on that account, nor is any honor accorded to them; for they are sometimes thrown away and trampled upon, and melted down, and changed from one form into another, as the will of the magistrate may decree. But with the images which are explicitly dedicated to the memory of the saints, the same thing does not happen; rather, we approach them with honor, devotion, and reverence. It seems to me, therefore, that these demonstrations are sufficient, being such as at once to prove and clearly assert the truth. Let him who wishes, therefore, acknowledge this. But if, again, you require testimonies from the Old Testament, as in the preceding arguments, see, also accept those. God, when instructing Moses to build the tabernacle of the testimony according to the model proposed to him on the mountain, and then also the ark—which indeed bore the type of Christ and His holy Mother (which, indeed, because of the length of the scripture and its interpretation, we willingly omit, as we do in many other matters)—ordered him to make images of the Cherubim ^C to place upon the ark. Do you see how everything that belongs to the Christians is not done in a simple way or by random chance, but with a diligently considered purpose and worthy premeditation? Therefore, cease at last from your importunate and absurd cavils. For all things that concern Christians are neither done by chance nor in vain, but with diligent care and distinction, from the greatest even to the least, and were established, described, and ordered from that time, in whatever things have come to pass.

APOLOGIA IV

That Mahomet taught with pain and ruin, and that the Old Law and Testament were not abolished by Christ, but rather illustrated. Moreover, that the Gospel fulfilled what was weak and impossible in the law.

1. Since it has been sufficiently proved concerning the other things for which we who profess Christ are accused by you Muslims, to the extent that we are now free from all reproach, come, let us hence consider also concerning

the rest. These are they: that God said to Mahomet, "All things I made for your sake, and you for my sake." This the Christians do not admit. ^A Moreover, that the name of Mahomet was found written in the Gospel, Christ having said this to the Jews: "I bring you good news, that you may know that after me is to come the apostle and prophet." The same is written also in the old law of Moses. But the Christians, moved by envy, cast it out of the Gospel; and that not only in the Gospel and the old law was the name of Mahomet found written, but it is also found written on the right side of the throne of God. And that the faith of the Muslims is found to be from Abraham, and that the Christians, having transgressed the Mosaic law, ^B are worthy of accusation and blame. And they accuse the Muslims, who are worthy of praise and honor. These are the things for which we Christians are accused by the Muslims; but we refute them thus. A God in need and lacking something is not God. But the true God, the creator of heaven and earth, and of all things created within them, who made the angels and mankind, was in need of nothing, but out of His goodness alone and His will He made all things. Since, then, this is so, and there is no one who can argue against it, therefore Mahomet spoke wickedly, as if God had said to him, "All things I made for your sake, and you for my sake." For God is in need of nothing. That the faith of the Muslims was not from Abraham, as Mahomet says, has its own refutation in the person of Mahomet himself; for he himself is the ^C originator and legislator of such dogmas. If there is another, let him be shown. For from the time of Abraham until Mahomet, two thousand five hundred and eighty-two years have passed, and after these appeared Mahomet; therefore the faith of the Muslims does not descend from Abraham. But if perhaps you say this because of circumcision, come, I will explain to you the reason for circumcision.

2. Abraham, having looked upon the heaven, the sun, the stars, the earth, the sea, and the things that are in them, pondered within himself, and said: "Are these works, so great and extraordinary, created simply and of their own accord, or do they have some one who created them?" Contemplating, therefore, as has been said, the beauty of the creatures, he marveled and was struck with awe, and began to consider in his mind, "Perhaps ^D these have no one who created them, but rather these things are themselves gods," just as his parents and all the idolaters supposed. And that God indeed made all things very good, and worthy of His own operation, so that through the contemplation of these things all men might be led to the knowledge of God, and might magnify and glorify the maker and creator of them—this is so, and not otherwise. But men, having turned away from true and correct knowledge, and having ceased to worship and reverence the God who is the maker of all things, instead worshiped...

^A the creation, and revered it above the Creator. But Abraham was not like this; rather, being sagacious, and seeing and understanding that the heaven does not stand still, but has continuous motion, and also has need of solar light, illuminating it for the sake of contemplation, and the air beneath it; and that the sun is sometimes found above the earth, and at other times is hidden beneath the earth, and that it shines when clouds are not present, but is darkened when they return; and that the moon and the stars shine when there is no sun, but when it is present their light and the contemplation of them is darkened and disappears; and the sea being tossed by the winds, and the earth needing water for the generation of crops: he condemned them all, as being by themselves powerless, and having need of one another, and he did not consider that there was anything from God among them. For God ^B has need of nothing. Furthermore, having considered whether perhaps, since not one of these things could individually perform the duty of God, all of them joined together might possess the name of God; but seeing again that dry is opposed to wet, cold to hot, and that water is destructive to fire, he judged within himself and said that a God who is divided against himself and warring with himself is not God. From there, having beheld the order and stability of the creation, and doubting within himself that there is a certain power which contains and governs the whole, and since all men acknowledge that there is a God, but each one acknowledges whomever he wishes and chooses, he conjectured from this that all men err and lie. It remains, then, that there is no other true God than He who created all things—things which are His servants, and He leads and carries and orders them as He wills. This God, therefore, I worship. And Abraham fell down upon the earth and worshiped the one and true God. The all-good God, who says through the prophet Isaiah, "While you are still speaking, I am here," ^C that is to say: Before you have finished your right and just petition to Me, I am here; He immediately accepted the worship and faith of Abraham. This was therefore reckoned to him as righteousness instead of all virtues, and he became a friend of God. For we all need the help of the Scriptures because of our weakness; but the just Noah and Abraham, and those who flourished in their time, being endowed with a pure mind, did not need Scriptures, but these things were written and imprinted in their hearts. Then, therefore, God said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called Abram, but Abraham, because I have made you a father of many nations." Then also God gave him the promises, saying, "In your seed shall all the nations be blessed." Then God showed Abraham the whole earth, and said to him, "To you and to your seed I will give it." From there, having taken confidence, Abraham pleaded with God regarding the Sodomites, as ^D we said before. But since by judgments known to God alone (for who has known the mind of the Lord?), it was decreed that the descendants of Abraham were shortly to be sent into Egypt, so that they might live there for four hundred and thirty years, for so He said...

^A to Abraham: "Thy seed shall be in a land that is not theirs, but the nation whom they shall serve, I will judge;" which indeed came to pass in the time of Pharaoh; and because of the long-standing association of the Hebrews with the Egyptians—lest perchance by being united they might learn their customs and idolatry—circumcision was ordained as a sign and symbol, dividing and separating the Hebrews from the Egyptians, so that they might not come together in matrimonial commerce and union, partly for the reason we have already mentioned, and partly so that at the time of their liberation the Hebrews might be ready and easily identified. For if they had been united with foreigners, how could the seed and race of Abraham have been preserved? ^B For this reason, while wandering in the desert for forty years, they did not circumcise, but rather in Egypt; and after their exit from the desert, they began to be circumcised again. And this, as we have said, is one end of circumcision; but the other is this: that being circumcised in the flesh, they might come to restraint and the governing of their civic life, so that they might not be lustful and incontinent, and thus deem their fornication as a thing of no account, but rather be led little by little to a higher knowledge and way of life; since circumcision was not given by God for the sake of orthodoxy, but only for the causes we have mentioned. But that with the coming of Christ the law ceased, and circumcision no longer exists, you must attend to what you are about to hear. ^C Baptism was given by God for the sake of orthodoxy, and for this reason all men and all women are baptized; and he who has not been baptized is not orthodox. But circumcision is not so; only the men are circumcised, and the women are not. It appears, therefore, that the men, as circumcised, are considered orthodox, while the women, as uncircumcised, are considered impious. ^D Do you see how the argument for circumcision is one thing, and how the Muslims do otherwise? For they consider every uncircumcised person impious. And behold, you are fighting against yourselves, and you partly dishonor the very things you honor for the sake of orthodoxy. And not only in this do the Muslims appear to contradict themselves, but also in many other things, which there is no need to speak about at present. Let us say something, however, on one point. Christ says in the Gospel that "Unless one is baptized, he does not belong to God nor to salvation." Muhammad testifies that the Gospel is holy, and perfect, and upright. The Muslims consider the circumcised to be orthodox, but the baptized to be impious. If, therefore, you cherish Muhammad because he speaks the truth, why do you call the baptized impious, and not follow the teaching of the Gospel, and consider the circumcised as doing ill, and the baptized as pious? But you think the contrary. Is it not clear that you are contrary to yourselves?

^A And these things are so. Since, however, Ishmael, whom the Muslims boast of as an ancestor, did not go down into Egypt with the Hebrews—for there was no need for him there, as there was for the Hebrews, nor was he numbered among the heirs of Abraham—because God commanded Abraham thus, saying, "Cast out the slave woman with her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman," and Ishmael was cast out with his mother Hagar from the house of Abraham; and if perhaps he did ever return to Abraham, he came for the sake of a visit, but not as a son and seed and heir of his. Since these things are thus, I do not see from where the Muslims have derived their faith. Therefore, it can be conjectured by no evidence that the faith of the Muslims is derived from Abraham as its author before Mahomet. But he himself is the author of dogmas of this kind, and he taught whatever he taught from the nest of his own ingenuity, and not from God.

3. But that the Muslims say that the name of Mahomet was found written in the Gospel, with Christ speaking concerning him, saying, "I announce to you the good news that after me is to come the apostle and prophet, whose name is Mahomet," ^B and that the Christians, moved by envy, erased it from the Gospel; come, let us inquire also into this, and it seems to me that the truth will not be hidden. Hear, then, attentively. There are three lawgivers who have taught universal laws: Moses, whom the race of the Hebrews followed; Christ, whom all the nations followed, and the greatest multitude of the Hebrews who believed in Him (for those of them who did not believe are much fewer in number than those who believed, and are easily numbered); and Mahomet, whom the Muslims have followed. Besides these three, there is no one else who has given a law. Now that Moses was sent from God is proven from the very beginning by testimonies. For while he was still in Egypt, he performed great signs and miracles, and he scourged Egypt, bringing upon it terrible plagues; he struck and he healed, and he foretold things to come as a prophet, saying: "If you wish to let the people of God go, let them go; but if not, such and such things will happen to you and to all the people of Egypt." And when Pharaoh had promised to do the word of the Lord, he was healed by Moses, since he had received power from God. ^C After this, Moses brought the race of the Hebrews out of the land of Egypt and the servitude of Pharaoh with a mighty arm. And Pharaoh, having pursued them, was drowned in the Red Sea with all his army by Moses. After this, he wandered in the desert for forty years, performing infinite miracles. Moreover, in the presence of all the Jewish nation, Moses ascended Mount Sinai, with the Jews saying this to him: "Ascend the mountain, and learn the will of God; for we cannot hear the voice of God, lest we die." The people stood far from the mountain, worshipping with trembling God as He spoke with Moses. And Moses, having heard the words of God, set them forth to the Hebrews; and re- ^D

-^Asultantly, what had been spoken was fulfilled. Moreover, for these forty years they never once changed their position without the oracle of God. For Moses spoke, and God answered with His voice, as Scripture bears witness. Instructed, therefore, by many testimonies and miracles, he brought the Law to the Hebrews, and they received and worshipped the Law promulgated by him as the Law of God. Christ followed him, approved by the testimonies of all the prophets. Moses indeed received his testimony already as an octogenarian (for he was that many years old when he was ordered by God to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt); but Christ was approved by testimonies from the very foundation of the world, and before He was born. For immediately in Abraham's times, testimonies to Him began to appear, as has been shown in the preceding pages. Now, having been born, He was once and again granted the testimony of God the Father. Furthermore, He also performed miracles, not like Moses in Egypt and the desert, but immense ones, surpassing all nature, and greater than those, just as a master is superior to a slave. And after those many testimonies, and those infinite and supernatural miracles, the Law of the Gospel was then promulgated; and all nations and the entire world worshipped and embraced it, and they believed in Christ, who gave the Gospel.

^B 4. But as for this Mahomet, from whence did he obtain the testimonies by which he taught the dogmas he taught, and promulgated the Law to the Mussulmans? Certainly from no other source than himself; he is the one who bears testimony of himself. For nowhere in all divine Scripture does testimony to him appear; rather, the contrary. For Moses spoke thus concerning Christ to the people of the Hebrews: "The Lord God will raise up a prophet from among your brethren like unto me. Every soul that will not hear that prophet shall be rooted out." And although we have spoken of this in the preceding pages, it will not be tedious to speak of them again. For when the prophet Moses says, "The Lord God will raise up a prophet from among our brethren," he signified that this prophet was to be born from the Jews. And him they will hear, but another who comes they will not receive; nay, they will even drive him far away from them. Christ speaks concerning John the son of Zacharias, testifying that he is a prophet, and the greatest of prophets, and saying that "All the prophets until John have prophesied; but from the time of John the kingdom of God is preached." Do you see how Moses charged the race of the Hebrews to receive only the prophet who came from the race of the Hebrews, and no other? But indeed, all the prophets were born of the race of the Jews. Christ, moreover, explained this more clearly, that "All the prophets [were] until John, and no further." Therefore, the one who is wanting in the testimony of God and the prophets, and of His own sacred

Scripture, is not sent by God. ^A Mahomet, then, not having the testimony [derived] from the sacred Scripture, is not sent by God. But Christ did not say only this, that "All the prophets were until John, and no further," but He also gave to all a sign of recognition, saying thus: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. From their fruits you will know them." Let us examine, therefore, what the fruit of the law given by Mahomet is; and when this has been accurately examined, the truth will be revealed. ^B Mahomet says: "I did not come to give the law through miracles, but through sword and blade. And let those who do not submit to our law, which is from God, be put to death, or pay tribute; and when the tributes are paid, let them remain in their own faith." Now if the Gospel were not just, and holy, and right, then a lawgiver would have come deservedly and fittingly, who would teach truth and justice to men. But if it were just and holy, yet imperfect, even so it would have been just and fitting for some lawgiver to come to supply the deficiency of the Gospel. But since it is declared to be, and is, holy and just and perfect and right, and Mahomet himself confesses this of it, when he says that the Gospel is given by God, and is holy and full and right, what need have we of another lawgiver? None at all. ^C Furthermore, the promulgation of the Mahometan law is importunate and useless. For that which in all things is right has nothing more right than itself, and to that which is perfect nothing is more perfect, nor to the truth is anything truer.

5. Nevertheless, having discussed these matters one by one, let us see what the words of the lawgiver Mahomet intend. They intend nothing else, surely, than that, having realized he was far removed from the power of working miracles, wishing to hide his own imbecility, lest he one day be condemned by men, he said: "I did not come to give the law through miracles, but through sword and blade," just as he has also legislated in the expositions of his law, in order that his disciples and successors might not debate with the Christians—for no other reason, surely, than that their vanity might not be refuted. ^D Now, to give a law through sword and blade teaches nothing but slaughter and pillage. And who has ever heard of any man forced by violence to believe? Faith is a matter of the soul and the mind. And since the soul or mind is a thing subject to no one’s servitude, how, as if He had forgotten His own work, was God, who had created these things free, to send a lawgiver who would force them? For faith consists in will and choice, with the freedom of the soul and its own knowledge; and in no other way. For the body is enslaved and bound, and sometimes does even those things it does not want. But one must not think this of the soul; it is in will, and judgement, and knowledge, and choice; and God is [the judge] of those who believe in Him in judgement and truth, for He is the knower of hearts. For He does not look to the face, but to the heart. And

^A what brute animals do not do by the law of nature, these things Mahomet commands by law. For who has seen a lion devour a lion, or a bear a bear, or a leopard a leopard? But this man openly teaches a man to kill a man. And who is so foolish as to expect this to be from God? For God does not teach plunderings and murders. Furthermore, evil is exchanged for evil. For he says, "Either let them die, or let them pay tribute," and murder is exchanged for avarice. Nor did the evil stop there, but proceeded further. For what could be worse than such cruelty and misanthropy, as to kill those who have done no wrong? For whenever the Mussulmans go out to war, and one of their number falls in the battle, they do not consider themselves blameworthy as the authors of the war, but over the dead body of the fallen man, each of those who are able slaughters as many living people as he can, and for as many as he kills, he calculates so much benefit for the soul of the deceased. And if perchance the man who wishes to help the soul of the deceased does not have them under his power, he buys Christians, if he can find any, and slaughters them either over the dead body or upon his grave. And how can he who commands these things be from God? He commands that "He who has lain with a harlot for a paid wage does not sin; and he who has violated a virgin by force sins; but he who has lain with her with her consent does not sin." And if he takes female captives in war, it is permitted to him to do with them whatever he wishes, without obstacle. How then can he who legislates for fornication and the deflowering of virgins be from God? And what is the most wicked [thing of all] is that, for those who have walked in accordance with the acceptance of God in this present age, after their departure from here, he promises that baths, and beautiful houses, and many women and virgins will be given to each one by God. And what the so-called theologians of the idol-worshipping Greeks did not even say, nor thought to be, these things Mahomet openly and shamelessly confirms in his laws. ^B For they say this: that those who have lived well here, when they die and their souls depart purely from their bodies, they go to the gods and are found with the gods in the isles of the blessed, and rejoice with them; but the souls of those who have lived badly here, and who have departed impure and defiled, go into dark and gloomy places, and into the river Phlegethon, burning with eternal fires. ^C 6. And these things indeed the idol-worshipping Greeks teach. But Mahomet, how does he call himself orthodox and one who is close to God? He speaks and legislates such base absurdities. He has no thought at all that all these things are works of wrath and aversion, and are the results of sin. ^D For before the transgression and sin of Adam, where were there baths? Where were there houses? Where were there many women? But after the sin and the curse, the body rose up like a wild beast against the soul; and since this lacked absolute consideration of God, the body conquered, becoming...

^A a slave to the soul and dragging it down from its height and majesty, leading it into irrational and vain bodily desires and pleasures. And just like a slave, so was the soul enslaved to fleshly appetites. If, therefore, after the resurrection from the dead, those who lived according to the will of God are not to possess that blessed life which our forefather Adam had before the transgression and lost, but are instead to obtain the very same life he had after the curse, woe to those men! And the worst thing is that the delusion of Mahomet does not even suggest that the reward which God is supposed to give to the righteous is that miserable and accursed life, but rather one far more miserable and shameful than this life we live at present. For Adam, after the transgression, the curse, and the exile from Paradise, knew Eve; but he did this for the procreation of children, whom he also begat. Before the transgression, however, they lived an angelic life. Moreover, once Adam had known Eve, this same woman was his one and only, not several. For the Lord had not created one male and many females, nor many males and one female, but one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve.

But when the human race had multiplied and fallen into lascivious and forbidden deeds, God was burdened and grew angry against them, as the blessed Moses writes and it is found in the Old Testament, where God said: ^B "My spirit shall not remain in them, because they are flesh" (Gen. vi, 3). And the Word of God does not indicate why they are "flesh"—for how could He? For although man, after the transgression, took on corruptible and mortal flesh, he did not throw away the body fashioned by God for Adam; for all things created by God are very good. But for this reason God said, "My spirit shall not remain in them, because they are flesh," namely because they had become entirely carnal and earthly, having no proper memory of the Good, and having fallen completely into lasciviousness. Then God says to Noah: "For I have found you righteous in this generation; make an ark of wood of such and such a kind" (ibid. 13), etc. And Noah made the ark according to the word of the Lord. And Noah entered the ark, and his three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth; and the wife of Noah entered the ark, and ^C the three wives of the sons of Noah. Do you see how Noah is testified to by God as righteous, he who had one wife? Furthermore, even each of his sons, having one and only one wife each, were saved from the wrath of God, while the entire human race was destroyed by the waters of the flood. Certainly, even to one entirely foolish, this teaches that it is right for a man to have one and only one wife, and that it is just for a woman also to be joined to one and only one man. But even this, as we have said before, was done after the transgression for the sake of the procreation of children. Mahomet, however, openly teaches that the reward which is attributed to the righteous by God consists of baths, and for each ^D

^A one, many wives, and very beautiful houses. How then can he who institutes such things be from God? He is a vain man who accepts these things and believes that what has happened due to wrath for the sinner is multiplied at the time of the retribution of good and noble things for the saints and the righteous. And consider the things that have happened. Moses says: "And Noah entered into the ark, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons ^B." And then he says: "And Noah went out of the ark, and his wife, and his sons, and the wives of his sons." And at the entry he says: "Noah entered, and his sons, and his wife, and the wives of his sons." But at the exit it is not so, but rather: "Noah went out, and his wife, and his sons, and the wives of his sons with him." By this saying he surely signifies nothing other than that it is just and right for a man to have one wife. However, there is a time when it is fitting to abstain even from her. For when Moses says, "Noah entered into the ark, and his sons," he set his sons as a type of partition, separating Noah from his wife. But when he says again, "Noah went out and his wife," he indicated that from then on nothing prevents him from being joined to his wife. The same reason applies to his sons and their wives. Furthermore, even Moses himself, when about to ascend Mount Sinai, addresses the Jews thus: "Purify yourselves ^C each to the third day, washing your garments, and do not touch a woman." Moreover, even Adam himself, having seen Eve, said this: "This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be two into one flesh." And note how, besides being sinful, polygamy also possesses foolishness. For Adam did not say that "many women shall be with the man into one flesh," but two, that is, the man and his wife. Now one and many are not the same thing. But if, perhaps, the lawgiver Moses permitted each of the Jews to have many wives, he did this for the sake of ^D condescention, just as he did in the case of the sacrifice of animals, so that he might deliver them from the impious slaughter of their children. But Christ, having come, just as He forbade the sacrifice of animals, fulfilling the purpose of the law, so also He abolished polygamy. But this Mahomet, instead of temperance, has legislated intemperance, teaching that these things are not only in the present age, but also in the age to come, to be multiplied by God Himself. And it is possible to see in him that oracle of David which says: "The sinner is praised in the desires of his soul, and the unjust man is blessed," that is, he is praised and celebrated by those who flatter him and incite his wickedness, and who cannot even have a sense of the malady on account of their silence; therefore, he also remains incurable. For that which lacks a sense of its disease does not seek, nor admit of, medicine. And this is the most atrocious of all.

when wickedness is praised and is not even considered ^A wickedness. For the aforementioned Mahomet strove for and taught things that would gratify and delight men, so that by means of pleasure he might entice the multitude of the foolish.

Furthermore, is God concerned only with men, as being His creatures, but not at all with women, as if they were not the handiwork of God? And for this reason are men to enjoy such good things from God, but women not at all? Or, since there is one nature of man and woman, and every human being is one human being, and all are likewise to be judged, and all are likewise to receive—those who have lived well, good things; those who have lived badly, the wrath of God and rejection and punishment—is it not absolutely clear to everyone that all human beings, both men and women, are likewise to be judged? Since there is one and the same nature, they are likewise to receive, according to the evil and good ^B things that each of them has done.

Therefore, it is just and proper that women should also receive what men receive; and just as many women are given to each man as a reward for having lived well, as Mahomet decrees, so too should many men be given to each woman who has lived well. But if he omits this as absurd, he ought to have considered and judged in the first place with the same mind and judgment regarding men.

Furthermore, those many men who are to be given to one woman: are they to be given as worthy of acceptance because they lived well, or as a condemnation? And if they are given because they lived well, why were many women not given to them, each man receiving many, as a favor and reward, as you say, but rather one woman to many men? But if it is as to the condemned, ^C yet such benefits are indeed the gifts of praise and of a good reward, as Mahomet declares. The same must be thought regarding many women given to one man. For if they are given to men as a reward, why are these same benefits conferred upon them as a condemnation? But if they have earned praise, why should many be given to one man? And what is more absurd and more deformed than this confusion? Do you see into how many absurdities he falls, even against his will, who has wandered from the true way?

But these things are not at all so; they are not, I say. For the reward that is paid to the saints does not consist in delights, feasts, baths, and women, which are all fruits of sin and wrath, as has been said; but the reward is holiness, purity, and an angelic life, joy and gladness and exultation, which the eye has not seen, and the ear has not heard, and which have not ^D entered into the heart of man.

You see, therefore, the fruit resulting to this legislator from his law. But is the character of his works not known from their fruit? And who is so stupid and dull-witted that he does not understand these things which have been said? How, then, does he ascribe God as the author of these things, who established such things as these? And what need is there of more words regarding these matters?

^A 7. But regarding the name of Mahomet written on the right side of the throne of God, what need is there of an apology in words? Let the wise judge wisely, and let the senseless and foolish do as they will. I have not written as much as I have written about Mahomet out of forgetfulness of our own discourse. For I have said that the purpose of this present apology to you is not that I should make an accusation against the Muslims, and recount the things which they say and do that are absurd, destructive, and evil; but rather that I should show only that the Christians are accused by the Muslims unreasonably and unjustly—which I have done. But if we have said something about Mahomet, the subject matter itself compelled us to do so. For if it had been our intention to write about the absurdities of his teaching, we would have had much to say here.

That Christ did not speak any word at all about Mahomet, nor was his name written in the Gospel, has been said by us sufficiently in the preceding sections; but reason itself will demonstrate this even more clearly. Whatever the apostles and disciples of Christ saw, and whatever they heard from the mouth of Christ Himself, these things they wrote down and taught. From among those disciples of Christ, four wrote the Gospel: one, by name Matthew, who set it forth in the Hebrew language for Palestine, that is, for Jerusalem and the parts of Libya; another, ^B Mark, published it written in the Latin idiom in Achaia, Italy, and Rome, and indeed for all the Western nations; the third, Luke, who used the Greek language, and it was published for Asia, Ethiopia, Persia, India, and Arabia; and again ^C another, John, also using the Greek language, and it was given to the parts of Europe, and the islands, and where the Greeks were found. And thus the Gospel was spread into the whole world, not with violence, nor with necessity, nor with sword and blade, but with love, cheerfulness, and in humility the apostles were found teaching the word of God. And the matters were reversed. For though the apostles were beaten, buffeted, reviled, and persecuted, while they were teaching, their preaching did not fall, but day by day it was magnified and the Gospel of Christ increased. And those very people who had exerted such great zeal and labor to cover up the name of Christ, so that no man might confess Him to be God, and that he who dared to do so might suffer the punishment of death—these very people, I say, having understood the truth, fell down and worshipped; some before the apostles, others before their successors and disciples, and they believed that He Himself is the true God, He Himself is the Son of the living God. And they grieved and wept for the past days, ^D which they had spent walking in the darkness and the error of Sa-

Satan. ^A But the all-good and merciful God accepted their repentance, and He appointed those who were persecuting the name of Christ to be shepherds, teachers, and heralds of the Gospel and of His name. And all, having received the Gospel, transcribed it, and each had it, and read it, and learned and was taught by it, and worshipped what was written in it, and with great zeal taught the things of the Gospel to those who did not know the things being spoken. And thus the Gospel was spread to the whole world, and all those inhabiting the earth had it. From the time of Christ, then, until Mahomet began to teach, more than five hundred years had passed. But after the reading of the Gospel for five hundred years, who would have dared to cast out the name of Mahomet from the Gospel, if it were found written in it? ^B First, because whoever dared to add or remove even one single word could no longer be called a Christian; and second, because even if some wicked person, let us suppose, did erase some word from the Gospel, was the entire rest of the world going to follow that one person's folly? By no means. From this, therefore, it is apparent that the name of Mahomet was not written in the Gospel. Furthermore, if the name of Mahomet were in the books of the Gospel, Christ would certainly have testified Him to be either good or bad. If good, all the kings of the earth, all the rulers, and all the Christians would surely have received him, since he had been verified by the testimony of Christ, so that they might also enjoy his benefit. If, however, He said he was bad, they would certainly have retained his signs and indications, and would have guarded against him so as not to be harmed by him. Since, therefore, the entire world would not have cast out the name of Mahomet from the Gospel, whether to receive him as good or to turn away from him as bad, it also appears from this that his name was not written in the Gospel. ^C Furthermore, no one envies another before he is born. Who, then, would have envied Mahomet before his birth? Absolutely no one. And even if someone had envied him after his birth, would the whole world have stood in agreement with the envy of one man against Mahomet? And who is so imprudent as not to judge this to have been impossible? Wherefore from this also it is gathered that the name of Mahomet was not written in the Gospel. Moreover, if the Ishmaelites said that the name of Mahomet was found written only in the Gospel, and that the Christians erased it, the proofs I have given would be sufficient to prove the truth and to refute their lies. But since they add that it exists also in the Old Testament written by Moses, how did the Hebrews erase it? For there a trace of no sign concerning Mahomet is found there. Consider, then, with what effrontery the Mussulmans say that the Christians, moved by envy, erased his name from the Gospel. ^D But for what reason did the Hebrews do the same thing? In circumcision, indeed, and in certain other things, namely foods,

and other customs, the Muslims agree with the Hebrews. Behold, therefore, it is apparent from this that the name of Mahomet is found neither in the Old Mosaic Law nor in the Gospel. And so much for that. For these things are sufficient to lead even the most obtuse person to a knowledge of the truth.

^B 8. Among other things, we are also accused by the Muslims, that by rejecting the Law given by Moses, we deserve an accusation; yet we, who are worthy of such an accusation, condemn the Muslims as being worthy of high praise. Are the Muslims, therefore, to be praised or not? This has been demonstrated separately in the preceding pages. But let us now consider this matter for ourselves. Has the Law of Moses been abolished by us, or has it rather been established by the Gospel? The Gospel has fulfilled that which was weak and impossible in the Law. For every word, every writing, and every action is stated, written, and performed with a purpose; and just as a blossom precedes every fruit, so for those who have understanding, the purpose precedes all words, actions, and writings. And consider carefully what is being said: how Adam was formed by God, placed in Paradise, and, having transgressed the commandment of God, became an exile from Paradise and from God. Having received the curse and condemnation from God, he was furthermore condemned to return to the earth from which he was formed. And so it happened; for he incurred death, and once dead, he was held in Hades. But he was also held by the devil, as was the entire human race. And how, after these things, they fell into base and illicit acts; and most ruinous of all, that having abandoned the worship of the Creator of heaven and earth, and their own maker God, they prostrated themselves before the devil and idols, we have stated and demonstrated at length in the preceding pages. But the all-good God did not wish his creature to be oppressed any further by the tyranny of the devil, and he willed that man be saved. ^C Since man was created by God as a being with free will, and the free will that was granted to him was not taken away, but he ever remained a being with free will—God willed to save man, yet by the will and choice of man himself, not by force and necessity, as Mahomet preaches. Since all men, throughout long ages, had labored under the manifest disease of licentiousness and more than natural vices and idolatry, it was from that time impossible for them to be easily liberated from such a long-standing disease. Therefore, God, like the most skilled physician, began little by little to heal the human race. He established the nation of the Hebrews as the beginning of this, and commanded one just and holy man, Moses, to begin from the oracles of God and instruct the nation of the Hebrews; which he indeed did. ^D Since it is not easy to include in this particular apology of mine all the things that are contained in the Law and the Gospel, come, let us henceforth set forth some particular things from these; and just as from one cup all the wine that is in the cask

^A is known, so also from these particulars we can know what the goal of the Law and of the Gospel is, and whether the one is contrary to the other. And observe closely the things said. Moses says: “You shall not murder.” Christ says: “He who is angry with his brother shall go away to the punishment of fire.” And Moses indeed said: “You shall not murder”; but Christ: “Neither be angry.” You know, therefore, that first there happens a boiling of the blood around the heart in men, and one becomes angry; then murder follows. But he who by reason has bridled his anger, if he is not moved to anger, how will he fall into the crime of murder? And by saying, “You shall not murder,” Moses kept man from evil and from the sin itself, but he did not make him perfect. For it is not sufficient for a man to become great merely by abstaining from evil, but rather by the practice of good. For this reason also Christ did not say, “You shall not murder,” but “Everyone who is angry ^B with his brother,” plucking the wickedness out by the root. And just as the Law removes the fruit (for the fruit of anger is murder), so Christ destroys the tree of sin, that is, anger and wrath. And Moses, having said, “You shall not murder,” stopped at that point; but Christ did not do so, but after saying that “He who is angry with his brother is liable to the hell of fire,” he added this: “If you offer your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go, first be reconciled to your brother, and then coming, offer your gift,” judging love for one’s brother to be more profitable than sacrifice. And yet he did not say, “If you have anything against your brother” (for this he had previously forbidden); but what? “If your brother has anything against you.” For he not only kept him away from evil, but he also made him heal his brother ^C.

9. Moses says in the Law: “You shall not swear falsely, but you shall render to the Lord your oaths,” forbidding perjury, but permitting the oath. But Christ in the Gospel says: “Do not swear at all. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’” What does this word signify? Nothing other than that we become truthful and worthy of belief, and so that instead of many oaths our words may be such as can merit faith. And indeed, he who swears, whether willingly or unwillingly, can sometimes fail in the oath; but he who does not swear at all escapes the danger of perjury.

10. The same Moses says: “An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,” looking to nothing else than that he might suppress mutual conflicts and strifes by fear. But Christ in the Gospel: “Whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” I ask you, which of the two commandments fulfills ^D

the lawgiver’s intention more fully—namely, that disputes, contentions, and fights should not merely be restrained, but entirely removed? The Gospel commandment, beyond a doubt. For if someone is deprived of his own eye or tooth for the sake of vengeance, does he not take revenge, and when a suitable time allows it, harm the other? If not, does he not hold a grudge and harbor malice? This is surely clear to everyone. But he who is prepared and ready, and always practicing so that, if someone strikes him, he not only endures the injury from his brother but with humility turns the other cheek—and, the deed having been done in this way, philosophizes such an excellent philosophy and bears with the one who struck him—has he not undermined, destroyed, and killed all vice, all strife, and anger? Did he not fulfill the lawgiver’s intention better than the law itself? Did he not strike a mortal blow to the devil, the father of strife and temptations? For it was pride ^B that cast the devil from heaven, though he was found to be an angel, and then envy and hatred. For there is not even a trace of charity in the devil. And the devil’s hatred is found not only in man, but even the demons themselves desire the corruption and destruction of one another. Yet because of the hostility and hatred they have toward men, they seem to have a kind of unity among themselves. And just as certain enemies harbor wrath against one another, and each seeks the other’s ruin and destruction; but if they encounter other enemies, they cease their war against each other and fight against them—those demons, meanwhile, are again found thirsting for each other’s ruin—so also their supposed unity and concord is for the destruction of men, and not according to truth. For where can there be truth in the father of lies? But the man who has endured a slap from another, has he not done the opposite of the devil? Has he not become humble before his brother? Or rather, before God? Has he not loved his brother, and through the charity and ^C humility shown to his brother, put the devil to shame? And who is so senseless as to doubt this? And the man who is found ready for these things, both saying and doing them, how could he engage in contention with another?

11. Moses says: “You shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.” What do these words of the lawgiver mean, if not to establish love? But what does Christ say? “If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you.” Which of the two established love: the old law, or the commandment of the Gospel? For the former, after the love for friends, because of the weakness of the many, concedes in some measure hatred toward enemies. But Christ, in saying “Love your enemies, and pray for them,” has entirely removed hatred from all ^D

his neighbor. For how will he who loves his enemy and prays for him who hates him, or for any other man, hate his friend or any other among men?

12. The law says: "Thou shalt not commit adultery." But Christ says not so, but: "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." And mark the precision of the commandment; it forbade not only the act, but also the lascivious eye, and the assault that enters into the heart. For he who keeps guard over himself even to the movement of his eye, how shall he fall into the transgression of adultery? For just as to irrational animals ^B there were given, to some, defensive weapons, and to others, protective ones—for instance, to the lion, anger and power; to the boar, tusks; to the ox, horns; to the hare, swiftness of foot; and the same for the roe and the deer—and to all of them together a certain sense was given, by which they might turn away from all harmful and poisonous foods and take hold of the useful ones; so also to man, instead of all these, there is given the mind, which is able to distinguish the better from the worse, and to abstain from those things that harm the soul, and to take hold of those that are useful and saving. But if perhaps, out of bodily desire or the assault of the devil, an improper thought should fall into his heart, he is able, more swiftly than a roe, to flee from the shameful thought. And if the thought of the evil one has followed him with hatred, he possesses the zeal and fervor given to him by God for his own advantage; and using this anger and strength like a lion, he defends himself and desires to trample down and destroy both that thought and the warfare of the adversary. But man, not guarding that healthy gift of divine grace, falls into illicit and absurd actions, just as we have recounted more fully in what went before. But God, wishing to save His own creature, that is, man, sent the law through Moses as a certain guide and teacher. And just as to those who are in the beginning of their age, solid food is not given, but rather something tender and easy to digest, and a little later something more solid, and again something still more solid, until at last there is a perfect meal; and as for those who are still imperfect in their knowledge, the discipline of philosophy is not yet prescribed, but first the elements of letters are handed down, and a little later the joining of them and syllables, and when the boy has grown, and has come to the perfection of his age, the mysteries of philosophy are proposed to him; so also this seems to me to be the case with the law. For the sake of the weakness of men, the law was given as a guide to what is good, not having the power to perfect the man, but just as on a high ladder the first rung removes us from the earth, but this alone does not suffice for the ascent to the top of the ladder, unless many others are also overcome together because of the height and sublimity; so also it happens in the old law, which is indeed holy and just and given by God (for the same God is He who gave both the law and the Gospel), but nevertheless, because of the weakness of men, the law was given as a pedagogue

^A leading them and drawing them away from the earth, as if onto the first step of a ladder, that is, drawing them away from many and great vices and from the earth in which they were wallowing; yet it was unable to lead them up the entire ladder. The Gospel, however, lifted man up and set him upon the pinnacle of the ladder, which reaches even unto heaven. For that which was weak in the law and impossible, the Gospel has fulfilled, as has been demonstrated. For the Lord says thus in the Gospels: "I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it." For before the Gospel, the one who was overwhelmed by a multitude of vices was known as such; but after its proclamation, the way of life of virginity presented itself freely, and countless multitudes of human beings are found to be virgins, both of the female and male sex. I cease, however, from speaking of these things because of excessive prolixity. For very many Christians lead an angelic life. Do you know now how one and the same law is that which was given by Moses of old, and that which Christ brought in the Gospel? And just as a certain king, having sent to a servant five coins, said to him, "Trade and do business with these so long as I am abroad," and he, having offered thanks and received them, did business; but when the king returned from abroad, he gave to the same servant another hundred, and not on account of this was he deprived of those five, but the name of the five coins indeed faded, ^B yet nevertheless these five are contained manifoldly within the hundred; and when the number of the one hundred is named, of necessity the number of the five is also present and perceived along with the hundred. Thus it is also with the law and the Gospel. The law indeed is said to be abrogated, yet it is acknowledged that the aim of the law is contained within the Gospel, and it works manifoldly in it, as we said a little before. And indeed it is abrogated, not as something evil, but as useless regarding the present time, and having no use at all. And just as in the deepest darkness in the middle of the night the moon appearing ^C consoles for the depth of the darkness, yet it does not make the air entirely bright; but the sun, having risen, illuminates the whole world to such an extent that even the smallest mote of dust in the air is made visible by the ray of the sun; and the moon did not lose its own proper light, yet it became invisible because of the splendor of the sun: so also it happens with the old law and the Gospel. The old law indeed drove away the darkness of idolatry, yet it was not able to illuminate and perfect the souls of men; but the Gospel illuminated, and instructed, and perfected, ^D and led men up into heaven, and granted them the paradise which the progenitor Adam had lost. And who is so miserable that, having abandoned the Gospel, he would return to the law, and just as if from another beginning, would desire to be fed with milk as an infant, and not with solid food as a man, or who as a child would seek the elements of letters, and not as one of mature mind?

^A Or who, having turned away from the light of the sun, would embrace that of the moon? To me, indeed, it seems that the things we have written are sufficient, so that every one who wishes may know the truth about this matter, and you yourself as well. But if, perhaps, your reason still doubts and falters regarding the sacrifices, the circumcision, the rest of the Sabbath, and the distinction between foods—though it was not at all appropriate for these things to take place, since we have spoken sufficiently about the greatest and most necessary things—nevertheless, we shall speak briefly about these, just as we have about the others.

13. Mankind, as we said before, sacrificed human beings to idols, and not only strangers, but their own children as well. ^B And just as a crooked piece of wood cannot undergo a sudden and complete change, but the craftsman, little by little, by skill and dexterity, rids it of its former unevenness, and subsequently makes it so straight that he even makes it a rule; so too was it with the sacrifices. God permitted the slaying of bulls, sheep, and goats at first, that He might lead them away from those unholy and inhuman sacrifices of men—for what is worse and more unjust than that? Yet God permitted this, so that He might shortly thereafter abolish it, and lead men into the knowledge of offering a sacrifice of praise.

For thus God has spoken through David: « I will take no calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocks. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? ^C Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise (that is, a hymn from the mouth with a sincere and upright heart), and pay your vows to the Lord, and call upon me in the day of your tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. » And He said this as under the person of God, turning away from the sacrifices of animals. But David himself says thus to God: « For if You had desired sacrifice, I would have given it; You do not approve of burnt offerings. A sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit; a contrite and humbled heart God will not despise. »

Do you see how, in every matter, from the greatest to the least, the prophets have spoken? Behold, then, clearly regarding sacrifice they said that it is not a thing acceptable to God, but a temporary concession; ^D and now, after the useless offering of animals, there is sacrificed and sung a sacrifice by mouth and lips, from a pure and sincere heart, which is indeed what has come to pass. For those who were formerly idolaters, tyrants, and persecutors of Christians, and who reproached Christ, having been converted, became preachers and teachers of the world, and died for the name of Christ, and set themselves up as a model and a rule for those who have believed in the Lord, as we have said.

Regarding circumcision, we have spoken more fully in what preceded. Nevertheless, we say thus also at present: that the circumcision of the heart is circumcision, and not that of the flesh. For every man ought to circumcise the superfluity of the heart, not of the flesh. For the superfluity of the heart is sin, which the devil and man brought about on account of pleasures. But that which God created in man is not superfluous; for it is whole,

and good, and is in no way superfluous. ^B If, therefore, a man circumcise the superfluities of his heart, that is to say, sin, he indeed is truly circumcised. But if he is found lingering in sin while being circumcised in the flesh, his circumcision is vain and useless. But Moses also says thus: “Therefore, circumcise the hardness of your heart this day, and do not harden your neck anymore. For the Lord your God, He is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great and strong God.” You see what kind of circumcision Moses adjudges? By all means, not that of the flesh, but that of the heart. But also the martyr of Christ, Stephen, disputing with the Hebrews, spoke to them thus: “Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, you who received the law and did not keep it.”

Now the Sabbath was not ordained thus simply and by chance, so that men might be idle on that day—since idleness in itself is considered a vice—but so that the Jews, being entirely free from those things which pertain to life, might attend to spiritual matters. And it was ordained to this end: that on the Sabbath they might be free from cares concerning life, and might go to the assembly with ardent zeal and care. And it is clear from this that the priest on the Sabbath performed double labor and offered double sacrifices. But the Jews, neglecting even this, were more eager for pleasures and luxuries. Therefore, the prophet also, rebuking them, said: “Woe to those who approach the evil day, who draw near and touch false Sabbaths.” And to the Jews, as we have said, the Sabbath was given so that, abstaining from the things pertaining to life, as was said, they might hasten to the assembly; but to the Christians, it is not so, but they are ordained to go each day to the assembly and to prayer. And thus it acts: some pray more, and some less, each day. And just as in all the commandments the Law spoke of that which is little and imperfect, while the Gospel spoke of that which is universal and perfect, so it is also with the Sabbath. The Law spoke of the Sabbath so that they might go to the assembly, but the Gospel [prescribes it] for every day, and not only once in the day, but, if one desires, a thousand times. ^C But if you wish, I will make the argument even clearer. When the Jews brought before Christ on the day of the Sabbath a multitude of the sick, the lame, the blind, the withered, the paralyzed, those possessed by demons, and others having various infirmities, He healed them all in that very hour. But the Jews, filled with envy and anger, and having nothing else to object against Christ, say to Him: “It is not lawful for you to do these things on the day of the Sabbath.” But also the disciples of Christ... ^D being seen by the Pharisees on the Sabbath plucking ears of corn and eating them, they spoke the same words. But what did Christ say to them? “Have you not read what David did when he himself was hungry, and those who were with him? How he entered into the house of God, and ate the showbread, and gave it to those who were with him on the day of the Sabbath? For the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” But also other things...

are understood concerning the Sabbath, namely, that in six days God created the creation, and on the seventh He rested from His works. And that Christ rested during the Sabbath while He was in the tomb; but on Friday He worked, ^B for He saved the thief. And on the Lord’s Day He works again, having first raised up, as God, His own body, and those of many others; then, having appeared to the apostles, He strengthened them, and with them many other apostles too. And this signifies that, the seven ages—that is, the seven thousand years from the creation of the world—having been fulfilled, the rest of men is to come. For until that time is every performance of good and noble deeds. But at that time the resurrection of the dead and the judgment of deeds is to follow, and the recompense to each one according to his works. And for those who have lived wickedly, eternal condemnation awaits, but for the pious and good, eternal life, paradise, and ^C many good things, which eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man. See, then, what the purpose of the rest of the Sabbath is, and how the miserable and foolish Jews erred, and still err, as they do in all other things.

14. Concerning foods

Regarding food, the truth is as follows: “All that God made is very good.” And since they are very good, how was the lawgiver going to judge them as evil and to be rejected? And when God says to them: “Behold, I have given you all things to eat as the green herb.” But when the disobedient and ungrateful race of the Hebrews was dwelling in the desert, they received manna sent by God each day, but they grumbled daily against Moses, or rather against God Himself, and craved the Egyptian meat which they used to eat, and infinite other things (but above all others, they were possessed by a desire for swine’s flesh). For this reason, ^D therefore, the lawgiver Moses forbade them to eat these things, so that he might draw them away from all the lusts of Egypt. But hear about these very things. That the whole world fell into the darkness and abyss of idolatry is manifest; but above all, the Egyptians worshipped almost all animals and counted them as gods. And whatever these people venerated as gods, Moses the lawgiver commanded to be sacrificed; of birds, the turtledove and the pigeon; of four-footed animals, the ox, the sheep, and the goat. But he forbade the eating of the pig, because this was of great value to the Egyptians, and likewise to the wretched Jews. Moses, therefore, wishing to change the customs of the Egyptians—which the Egyptians thought were gods—commanded them to be sacrificed, that they might know that they worship and honor them in vain. And those things which they held dear, and valued greatly for the sake of food, he inhibited the eating of,

in particular swines' flesh, on account of the insatiable nature of their desires, as it has been said. ^A But Christ has prohibited none of these foods, nor did the apostles or their successors. And if there are indeed any animals from which Christians abstain, they do this simply out of long-standing custom and their own free will, not on account of any tradition of the teachers or the Gospel. For the old law had these observances, but the Gospel does not; rather, all things are found to be left to the power and choice of each one. But from custom, as was said above, they abstain from certain animals and do not eat them; just as among us the monks abstain from all meats, not as though they are found to be unclean and to be cast away, but because, wishing to follow a more august life and ^B to live a more sublime rule of life, they abstain from meats on account of the self-control of their body. And behold, from what we have written concerning the old law, you are able to judge that the law is not contrary to the Gospel, nor the Gospel to the law, for all these things are in agreement with one another. The Gospel, indeed, fulfilled the weakness of the law. For if the law had been perfect, the Lord would by no means have spoken thus through the prophet Jeremiah: *Ecce dies veniunt, dicit Dominus, et ^C constituam super domum Israel et domum Juda foedus novum: non secundum foedus quod pepigi cum patribus ipsorum, in diebus cum apprehenderem ego manum ipsorum, ut educerem eos de terra Ægypti, quoniam ipsi non perstiterunt in foedere meo, et ego neglexi eos, dicit Dominus. Quoniam hoc est foedus quod statuam domui Israel post dies illos, dicit Dominus: Dabo leges meas in sensus illorum, et in cor ipsorum inscribam eas, et ero ipsis in Deum, et ipsi erunt mihi in populum. Nec docebit unusquisque proximum suum, et quilibet fratrem suum, dicens: Cognosce Deum; quoniam omnes cognoscent me, a minimo ipsorum usque ad maximum illorum. Quoniam propitius ero iniquitatibus illorum, et peccatorum illorum et delictorum non amplius recordabor*. ^D Attend diligently to what is being said. God says, *Ecce dies veniunt, et constituam super domum Israel et super domum Juda foedus novum*. By saying, *Constituted a new covenant*, he showed that the first one was imperfect, but that the one to come would be perfect. And by saying *new*, he showed that the other was old and no longer of any use. And he spoke even more clearly, saying: *Non secundum foedus, quod pepigi cum patribus illorum, quoniam non perstiterunt in foedere meo, et neglexi eos, dicit Dominus*. From this it is altogether evident that he abrogated the old covenant, but bestowed the new one freely. And speaking yet more clearly concerning this, he said: *Ero ipsis in Deum, et ipsi erunt mihi in populum, et omnes cognoscent me a minimo ipsorum usque ad maximum. Quoniam propi

^Atius ero iniquitatibus ipsorum, et peccatorum illorum delictorumque non amplius recordabor.*

You see how he rejected the people of Israel and drove them far away from himself, and called the Gentiles, to whom the new covenant—that is, the Gospel—was handed down, his own people? And God seems to speak of these Gentiles as the house of Israel and Judah, and in no way of the Hebrew people. For those who Christ called children of the devil, how could his Father and God call them his own people, or be called their God? ^B Likewise, God also says through Isaiah: *“Out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”* And what other law went forth from Zion and Jerusalem, except the teaching of Christ and the Gospel? For the Mosaic law was given on Mount Sinai to the Jews, to the disobedient and ungrateful people, but the teaching of Christ and the Gospel came from Jerusalem.

Yet, pay attention and see that just as a man, building a temporary booth, is not much concerned about it, but is diligent about building a house, and takes care in all things so that he might lay a firm and stable foundation, and might make a suitable partition, and fit a proper roof, and is also not a little concerned about the beauty of the house—for the father of the family dwells in his house—so also it happens concerning the Old Law and the Gospel. The Gospel, ^C indeed, because God willed to rest in it, he made in all things holy, perfect, just, and stable. In the law, it is not so; but, wishing to abolish it not as if it were useless, he handed it down as if in passing, so that the defects of the law might be filled up and repaired through the Gospel.

Moreover, just as the prophets prophesied concerning Christ—and some things were spoken through clear words, but others through enigmas, and sometimes also through examples—not only concerning Christ, but also concerning the Gospel and his disciples and apostles, so it is also concerning the law. For first, when Isaac wished to bless his firstborn son Esau, it did not please God in this, but he blessed Jacob who was born after him. And Esau indeed was a type of the law and of the Jewish people, but Jacob was a type of the Gospel and of the people collected from the Gentiles. ^D And Judah, the son of Jacob, begat Phares and Zara. But when Zara came forth to be born, his hand indeed emerged, but not his body. When the midwife had bound the hand with a dyed thread, the infant’s hand went back in again; and afterwards his brother Phares was born, and with him brought into the light, finally Zara also was born.

But upon seeing this, the midwife said: *“Why has the partition been broken through for your sake?”* A partition is indeed called by all the prophets the Mosaic law. Who, then, explained to the midwife that there were two infants? And for what purpose did she bind the thread on the infant’s hand? Then someone, indicating, said: *“Why has the partition been broken through for your sake?”*—that is, how did you become a type of the law? And just as

you appeared for a moment, then hid yourself, and the brother who was behind you was brought forth to light before you, so also the partition, that is, the law, which will appear to be in front, is found after a short time to be behind. But the law of the Gospel, which comes after, shall be before it. Whence then did the midwife, instructed, say these things? Truly ^A by divine power she prophesied these things, and the power of God which spoke through the prophets, that same power spoke also through the mouth of that woman. But God spoke even more clearly and purely through Jeremiah, saying: *“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,”* etc., as has been said above. Do you see how, through types and prophecies, God clearly and plainly showed the law to be idle and imperfect, while the Gospel is effective and perfect? Nevertheless, the miserable and darkened Jews do not even keep the imperfect and powerless law, but are daily found to be transgressors of it. I do not accuse them of sins—for who is able to avoid sinning?—but I speak regarding the law, that they are transgressors of it. But even those same men, if they even wish to do the things of the law, cannot. And observe how God ordained and appointed Jerusalem to be the metropolis of all the cities which the nation of the Hebrews possesses. And Solomon built the ^B temple inside it, and God commanded that the sacrifices and offerings for the sins of men should take place within the temple, and that no sacrifice should be offered outside of Jerusalem and that temple. Since, therefore, the city of Jerusalem has been destroyed and the temple demolished, and they have neither priesthood for their sanctification nor a place to sacrifice to God, what is left to them? Assuredly nothing. For these reasons and for many other things which there is no need to write of now regarding them, they are not found to be Christians, because they do not accept the Gospel; nor heretics, because they follow no teacher of heresies; nor Muslims, because they do not follow Muhammad; nor Jews, because they do not fulfill the things of the law. But such miserable wretches are revealed to be those who do not know what they worship or what they believe, but live in perdition. Do you see how those who have wandered from the true and straight path think they walk rightly, ^C yet are found to be in an abyss and in perdition? And these things, then, are so.

15. Since, however, concerning all the things you previously sent to us in writing, and those which your messengers who came spoke of orally, we have made a more extensive defense in accordance with your request, remember your own word. For at the end of your letter you said thus: that for a prudent man one statement is sufficient; and so the truth is. If, therefore, one statement is enough for a prudent man, as you yourself testify and the truth itself teaches, yet a prudent man hears many good and true words and does not receive them, nor gather fruit from them, is he not deservedly to be accused and rebuked? Wherefore, then, these our letters, and this our ^D apologia, I beg you, consider...

them accurately and examine them word by word, and you will eventually find the treasure lying hidden within them. For they were not written from our own mind, but were taken from the Mosaic books, from the Psalter of David, and from the prophets and the Gospel—things which Mahomet himself and all Muslims confess and declare to be holy and righteous. And these are the very things which show in plain terms that Christ is the Son of God, and the same one both God and man. ^A For He is the one preached by all the prophets as God; He is the one whom Abraham worshipped as God, and whom he called the Judge of all the earth. He is the one whom the angels celebrated with song, and whom the supernal powers bore upon their heads, and whom Daniel saw coming upon the clouds to judge the world. He is the one whom creation serves, being obedient to His command, that is to say, the winds, the sea, and the rest. He is the one by whose sight Hades lost its kingdom; but even before His death, it fulfilled His command with trembling, releasing Lazarus and the others. His infinite miracles, which He performed, bear witness to this. And what more shall I say? He is the one who ^B received testimony from God the Father very often. Concerning Him, David said: "All ye nations, clap your hands, shout unto God with a voice of exultation. For God is the King of all the earth. Sing ye wisely. God hath reigned over the nations," just as has been said more copiously above. For he did not speak of God the Father, nor of the Son of God, as if He were not king of all the earth before, but later received the kingdom over all nations and over all the earth; but the prophet spoke for the sake of the man whom the Son and Word of God assumed, who neither reigned nor was worshipped by the nations and by all the earth, for the reason that He was not yet born. But after His birth, glory, honor, and power were given to Him, as Daniel said, and the kingdom. ^C But indeed, this David also says these things for the present time; moreover, Christ Himself, after His resurrection, as if putting His seal upon such prophecies, said to the apostles: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth. Going therefore, teach all nations. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned." Do you see with how much simplicity and light it appears that it is concerning the man whom the Son and Word of God assumed from the holy Virgin that the prophets speak these things, and Christ Himself also, and that all the testimonies exist for his sake on account of the infirmity of men? For the Son of God Himself, according to His divinity, stands in no need of testimony. ^D For of what testimony would God be in need? Nevertheless, just as concerning Christ’s incarnation, cross, and passion, resurrection also and assumption, and also concerning the Law and other things, prophecies were foretold, visions were seen, and types were made: so also concerning baptism, prophecies and types have been proposed, all of which, however, on account of their excessive abundance, as with the others, we have omitted. Of these, however, a certain small part...

we shall recount. That great Moses, if he had not caused the race of the Hebrews to pass through the midst of the Red Sea, they would certainly have perished at the hands of Pharaoh. If Joshua the son of Nun had not divided the Jordan on this side and on that, the Hebrews would not have entered into the land of promise. Or rather, the ark having approached near to the river Jordan, the waters were divided, and all the people of the Hebrews passed over on dry land. And the ark was a type of the holy Virgin Mary, who gave birth to the Son and Word of God according to the flesh. But also the prophet Elijah set up an altar, and having placed the wood and burnt offering upon it, he did not bring any fire to it at all, but having filled the altar with water, he prayed, and fire descended from heaven and consumed the sacrifice. Do you see how all things which Christians profess hold their testimonies from above and from the beginning? ^A All these things and others were a type of baptism. For without this, indeed, of baptism, it is not possible for a man to be saved. For that reason also Christ has said, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he who does not believe shall be condemned.” Since all these things are so, is it not an absurd thing that you honor your books, but treat with contempt the God who is celebrated in them, saying that he is a man and not God? Therefore, although we have not written as fully as possible on account of the excessive abundance of Scripture ^B and the slow judgment of your infirmity, nevertheless we have written such great things that they suffice even for the most stupid to learn the right and the truth. And behold, the same thing occurs in you today as also among the Jews. For concerning them the Lord said, “I will give them a famine, and not a famine of bread and water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord.” And so it completely came to pass. For from that time in which Christ suffered death, and they received the implacable and everlasting wrath, from that time all sanctification and all doctrine departed from them. Therefore, the same thing happens to you. For even until this day you have neither heard the word of God nor ^C been taught, but you have walked in folly and in darkness. But now the word of God and the doctrines of the saints and prophets have been sent to you. And consider them intelligently, and with a careful purpose and accurate examination. And strive that you may no longer be found walking in darkness, lest the oracle of David be fulfilled in you, which says: “Sons of men, how long are you heavy-hearted? Why do you love vanity, and seek after falsehood? And know that the Lord has wondrously exalted his holy one,” that is, Christ. But also that of the great and admirable Solomon, which says that “Into a malicious soul wisdom of God will not enter, nor in a body ^D subject to sins.” Do not become like a desert and a wilderness producing thorns and thistles; but rather be like fruitful, which returns the seed it has received thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold. Thus, having received the word of the Gospel, may you bring forth fruit a hun-