ANASTASII ABBATIS ADVERSUS JUDAEOS DISPUTATIO
The Christian shall first of all ask the Jew: Why are you called a Jew, a Hebrew, and an Israelite? And what is the interpretation of these three names? And when the Jew has answered: I derive the name of Hebrew from Abraham, of Jew from Judah, and I am called an Israelite from when Jacob was named Israel by God, say to him: This is not what I asked you, but rather that you should tell me what "Jew," "Hebrew," and "Israelite" mean. If he is able to explain this, say to him: For this reason you hold the name of Jew; therefore, from this point on, begin to make use of the testimonies of the prophets, which we shall mention below. But if he is not able to explain it, do not speak another word to him, but say to him: Go, learn the meaning of the name, and then return, so that we may speak about your faith. B Now the interpretation of these three names is this: Hebrew is interpreted as "transitor" or "crosser," because he crossed the Jordan and the sea. Jew is interpreted as "confession." Israelite is expounded as "mind seeing God," since they knew God before all other peoples. Abraham also is interpreted as "transitor," because he departed from Mesopotamia and crossed the Jordan. Jerusalem signifies "vision of peace," and Sabaoth is the same as "peacemaker," or "Lord of hosts." Mount Sinai is interpreted as "mount of the bush," and Sinai as "bush." Moses, however, is "Egyptian basket, water, and wood," since he was found in the water in a wooden basket. Aaron is interpreted as "mountaineer." Selem is interpreted as "place of God." Raithu is interpreted in the Saracen tongue as "I saw him." John is interpreted as "in whom is grace," and "obedient to the Lord," C since he was to go before and preach the Lord. Jesus is interpreted as "Savior." Bethlehem is "house of bread," since there was born the heavenly bread, Christ our Lord. Jordan is "his condescension," because the Lord descended, and Christ himself, the Son of the living God, was baptized
A by him for the salvation of Christians, for the destruction of Jews and pagans, and for the abolition of idols.
Disputation against the Jews
Then, after the Jew has agreed that he knows the things previously asked, begin to speak to him thus: "O Jew, the things I am about to say to you are not those which we alone assert, but your own Books also testify and say the same. To whom, then, did God say, 'Let us make man according to our image and likeness'?" And if he should say, "To the angels," tell him: "How? For I tell you that he said this to the Son; but you, since you do not wish to accept the one, you introduce ten thousand; and by rejecting the Son, you attribute the dignity of counsel to servants, and make our fellow-servants the masters of our creation. Tell me, is not a man who is perfected through a good life raised to the dignity of the angels? And what creature can be equal to the Creator? Consider also what follows: 'According to our image.' What do you say to this? Is there one image for God and for the angels? Never. For is there not of necessity one and the same image for the Father, if indeed you understand the image in a manner worthy of God, not in bodily form, but according to the nature of the divinity?" B Hear what he says, "According to our image." To whom else would he have said this than to the radiance of his glory and the character of his substance, to his Son and Word, who is the image of the invisible God? Therefore, to his own living image, which said, "I and the Father are one," and, "He who has seen me has seen the Father," to this one, I say, he said, "Let us make man according to our image." And where there is one image, where will there be dissimilarity? "And God made man," not "they made." He avoided the plurality of persons; for by saying, "Let us make man," he instructs you, the Jew; but by saying, "And God made man," he shuts out the pagan error. And thus he firmly ran back to the unity, so that you may know the Son together with the Father, and escape the danger of polytheism.
"And he breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul"; is it not manifest that he indicated the divine energy of the Holy Spirit? This was also proclaimed through the C prophets, as in: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me," and, "The Spirit of the Lord led them," and, "The Spirit of knowledge filled Beseleel, the architect of the tabernacle," and, "A Spirit provoked," and, "The Spirit who took up Elias in a chariot, and who was sought for in double measure by Elisaeus," and, "David, guided and sustained by a good and princely Spirit." It was promised beforehand by Joel, where he said, "And in the last days," he says, "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh," that is, upon those who believe, "and upon your sons and upon your daughters," and the rest.
And: A "The divine Spirit, who made me, the breath of the Almighty, who teaches me." And again: "You shall send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created, and you shall renew the face of the earth." Likewise, also, by God saying concerning Adam, "Behold, Adam has become as one of us," He indicates the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Add to this and consider what is promulgated by God in the law, saying: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one." Does it not appear by this word, repeated three times, that the Holy Trinity is one God? That the Father and Son and Holy Spirit are one God, is proven both by what has been said and by what we are about to say. Hence, also, you may understand that we call Him the Son, of whom the Prophet said: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were established." But to whom do we attribute the Holy Spirit? "And by the Spirit of his mouth all their power." For thus we worship one God in the Trinity. Now tell me, O Jew, to whom does your Scripture say: "The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you?" And if he should reply that the psalm speaks of Solomon, say to him: And what portion of the world did Solomon rule? Clearly, not the half, nor the third part of the world, but only Judea. But attend B carefully, O Jew, that you may understand that the psalm speaks not of Solomon, but of Christ. For it holds: "The Lord said to me: You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter you shall crush them." Now, tell us, O Jew, since it is surely clear and admitted, as we have said, that Solomon did not possess half the earth, nor even a third, but only the land of Judea, when, I ask, did Solomon possess the ends of the earth? When did he rule them with a rod of iron? When did he crush his enemies like potter's vessels? Never at all.
To the objection of the Jew: If He is the Son of God, as you assert, how did God speak as if to a servant: "Ask of me, and I will give to you"? And again: "Today I have begotten you"; similarly as if to a servant who asks and receives, and concerning this present day, when He says: "Today I have begotten you," for you Christians say that He was born before all the world: to this objection, I say, you shall answer him thus: Regarding the fact that the Father said to the Son: "Ask of me, and D I will give to you," do not be offended. For often a king also, led by the benevolence of his mind, says to his son: Ask of me, and I will grant you whatever you wish. But what He added, "Today I have begotten you," is to be understood regarding His generation according to the flesh, inasmuch as by the kindness of the Father He was born of the holy Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary. For to whom did He ever say among the angels,
A “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister?” And again in another place: “I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.” For He said these things according to His human nature and His fleshly dispensation, not indicating the eternal generation, but that which is joined in the course of time. For He who is by nature the Son of God became also by nature man for our salvation, not receiving this by grace (for He possesses this by nature; and He receives this again as man, which He already possessed as God. For being Most High, He became God); but as God, He was always the Lord of all; as man, however, He assumed the glory which He possessed as God; and He asked not to receive what He did not have, but that what He had might be displayed, as it is written: “You shall rule them with a rod of iron,” which is the Roman empire. For since Christ, B the Son of God, granted this to faithful and Christian emperors, He presides over and reigns with them. Through Him, the faithful nations, having been allotted for possession, are fed as they believe in Him. Whence all the nations, engaging in conflict with the kingdom of the Christians, even if they have been victorious for a time, nevertheless have not overturned it, nor will they overturn it, as it is written in the Book of Psalms regarding the kingdom of Christ: “My truth and My mercy shall be with him, and in My name his horn shall be exalted; I will place his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers. He shall call upon Me: You are my Father, my God, and the supporter of my salvation. And I will make him my firstborn, high among the kings of the earth. I will preserve my mercy for him for eternity, and my covenant shall be faithful to him. And I will place his seed for time eternal, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his C sons, that is, the Christians, forsake My law, and walk not in My judgments; if they profane My statutes, and keep not My commandments, I will visit their iniquities with a rod, and their sins with stripes; but My mercy I will not scatter away from them, nor will I deal unjustly with My covenant. Once I have sworn by My holy place: will I lie to David? His seed shall remain for eternity,” which is Christ, the seed of David according to the flesh, “and his throne as the sun before Me, and as the moon made perfect for eternity, and as a faithful witness in heaven.”
And that you, O Jew, may not suppose that these things were said on account of David and his kingdom, that is, the Jews, and not on account of Christ, He adds what has come to pass—that David D is dead, and the kingdom of the Jews has been overturned, and the old covenant has been profaned—saying thus: “But You did cast off and reject: You have put away Your Christ; You have overthrown the covenant of Your servant; You have profaned his sanctuary upon the earth; You have pulled down all his fences,” and what follows up to that which says: “You have poured out upon him…
A confusion." And indeed, the Holy Spirit has truly spoken well through the prophet. For it is impossible for God to lie, but by an oath He has guaranteed the immutability of the truth, according to that word: "Once have I sworn in My truth; if I shall lie to David." For the seed of David according to the flesh is Christ, the Son of God. For from the race of David according to the flesh came the Theotokos, the Ever-Virgin Mother of Christ our God; and the kingdom which He received as a man remains forever. For David both died and was buried, and his kingdom, the Jewish one, was taken away.
But the kingdom which God promised to give, according to the human nature, to the incarnate Christ our God, remains for eternity; which He entrusted to Christian emperors, and He reigns with them, as we have said: for there is no other kingdom or empire more splendid than this. And if you wish to see the truth, take for me the people of Moses, who escaped the Egyptians by so many miracles and the passage of the depth of the sea. Consider for me Joshua, the son of Nun, through whom the sun stood still over Gabaon and the moon over the valley, and other miracles exceeding all measure; nay, to say it in one word, weigh the dominion of the Hebrews. Have they not reigned for a full thousand years, and their kingdom was cut off? How did it fail under the Roman dominion? Did not Titus and Vespasian cut them all down? Did they not destroy the footprints of the temple with a plow? Was not the kingdom of the Babylonians, of the Medes, and of the Persians absorbed by those Barbarians, the C Turks? And they too will eventually be cut off. Did not the dominion of the Macedonians also pass away? But truly the Roman empire, or rather that of the Christians, inasmuch as it is administered together with our Lord Jesus Christ, shall not pass away until the consummation of the world: nay, truly Christ, as He is King of kings and Lord of lords, uses that empire to shepherd His people until His second coming; which empire shall not be left to another people; but then the Lord Himself, as He who is the Father of the age to come, shall hold it, when we shall all rise again, as it is written. The dead shall rise, and they who sleep in the monuments shall be awakened, and we shall stand before the tribunal of His incorrupt judgment; and His enemies, that is, those who did not wish to believe in Him nor that He should reign over them, He shall scatter, to be punished in eternal hell; but those who have believed and have rightly kept His commandments, they shall reign with Him for ages, as Solomon writes in Proverbs: D "And the Lord shall reign over them for ever." — "And behold (says Daniel) with the clouds of heaven He was coming, and He reached even to the Ancient of days; and to Him was given power, and honor, and all tribes shall serve Him: the
A kingdom of Him is an everlasting kingdom, and His power unto generations and years, which shall not pass away.
If you say, O Jew: "Christ has not yet arrived, but is about to come at the end of time," why then should He come when the ages are already being brought to an end? But perhaps you will respond that He is to come in order to restore what has been abolished, that is, the nation of the Jews. But what logic is there in restoring things that were abolished by His own command and counsel? Such an explanation has no foundation. For it is by no means said that after the dissolution of this world, such an establishment of the Jews will rise again. Instead, the prophet says to you: "I will send you Elias the Thesbite, before the great day of the Lord comes, lest I come and strike the earth utterly." B If this person whom you expect Christ to be is Elias—Elias, I say, who will not come to restore, but to strike—then consider that he is called, not Christ, but Elias; and he is not born in Bethlehem, as the prophet signaled to you concerning Christ, but is born in Thesbis. For He who said, "I will send you Elias," is another than the one being sent; and because He added, "lest I come and strike the earth utterly," through that one—namely, Elias—He first bears witness, and only then dissolves the whole structure of this world, that is, He brings about the consummation. To what purpose then would he have been born at that time? To whose benefit or favor, once the consummation has been accomplished? For Christ is one thing, and Elias is another. For the prophet Daniel saw Him as a stone C to the king of the Babylonians, which also became a great mountain. He says indeed as follows: "And in the days of those kings, God shall raise up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed forever; and this, he says, shall stand forever. And that the king saw that a stone was cut from the mountain without hands, and it struck the statue; and the stone became a great mountain, and filled all the earth." He speaks of four kings as the glorious and famous kingdoms of the Babylonians, the Medes, and the third, predatory and difficult to manage, the Macedonian of Alexander, that is, of the Greeks. These are the three powerful ones; and this fourth one is the bold one, numbered with the three. For after these kingdoms, this one sprang up, that is, the kingdom of Christ, which Daniel declared to be incorruptible and without successor. D But if you say it was the iron one of Augustus Caesar, what did the kingdom of Augustus and the rest of the kings—who both conquered and were conquered—crush or tame? For if they conquered you Jews and many other nations, they were again conquered in turn; and the rule of Augustus Caesar passed away. But the kingdom of Christ shall have no end forever. For that which crushes remains unconquered, indomitable, and without successor, which is the name and the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our faith in Him. How many Greeks and heterodox kings and nations have warred against the faith of our
A Christians, and were unable to extinguish it? But while they perished and passed away, this faith shines and expands day by day. And if you wish to understand the precise time, take that which was said: "In those days the Lord shall raise up a kingdom," concerning the kingdom shown among those four, for it will not be found afterward. For just as your fathers, clinging to a past expectation, fell away from this opportunity, so too do you. If, therefore, you believe that He is the Christ, seek Him from now on; for afterward He will not be found.
I have already shown, O Jew, from the Scriptures and from the evidence of the facts themselves, that these words, "The Lord said to me: Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee," and, "Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance," and the rest, were spoken concerning the economy of the Incarnation of the Son of God, which things have come to pass and are B attested by the truth itself and by your own prophets. But if you wish, I will show you that He was also begotten before the foundation of the world, and that Christ is God. But first I would ask you: David, being a king and a prophet, what Lord and Master did he have? It is entirely manifest and confessed that he had no Lord except the One who created heaven and earth. Behold, then, David himself says concerning Christ that He is his Lord, and that He was begotten before the ages. And David did not ascend into heaven; yet this same David says in the Book of Psalms, specifically the 109th, thus: "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand." Behold, therefore, he calls the Son of God his Lord; for the Father spoke to Him after His holy birth from the Virgin according to the flesh, and His saving Passion, and His resurrection from the dead, and His ascension: "Sit on my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool."
But perhaps you will say, O Jew, that Christ is sitting at the right hand of God until He makes that C final and principal coming which He promised through the prophets, as though He had not yet come. And how does this stand to reason, tell me? Why does He say again to Him who is already sitting, "Sit"? And against whom are the enemies hostile if He has not yet come? For in saying, "Sit," He is telling Christ, who has returned from earth to the heavens, to sit again, just as He was previously sitting over His enemies. You, therefore, O Jews, are His enemies, trodden under the feet of the Christian race until the final hour. Whence you are also deservedly trodden down, and it is just what you are about to suffer: for that time which you boast of and await will come upon you swifter than the blink of an eye, in which you, along with that deceiver in whom you believe, shall receive the punishment of eternal fire for which you are reserved.
Rursus D idem rex et propheta, in eodem psalmo, quasi Dei et Patris personam accipiens, de Filio
and the Word of God speaks thus: "From the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten thee." A For the morning star was created on the fourth day, but Adam was formed on the sixth day. Come now, O Jew, tell me, whom did God beget before the foundations of creation? Does He speak of Adam? By no means; for he was formed after the second day on which the morning star and the stars were created. But does He speak to you of the Anointed One? But you do not say that He is the son of David; yet David was born a long time after Adam; for Adam, as it has been said, was formed on the sixth day, and the stars were created on the fourth day. But God says of His own Son: "Before the morning star I have begotten thee; thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," that is to say, a priest of the nations. For Melchizedek offered wine and bread to God, just as Christ, our high priest, gave us the command that we ourselves should offer bloodless sacrifices according to the order of Melchizedek. B Hear also Solomon speaking of the generation of the only-begotten Son of God before the ages: "Before the mountains were settled, before the fountains came forth, and before all the hills, He begets me." Show me, therefore, whom God begat before all creation. Likewise, again, David also in the book of Psalms, [Psalm] 71, says: "O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and Thy justice to the son of the king." And do not say that He is speaking of Solomon; for he said, after a few verses, that "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and His name abides before the sun, and before the moon, for generations of generations." C Behold, I have shown you clearly, both through David and through Solomon, that before all creation the Son was begotten of the Father, in the way which He alone knows.
Answer me this question again, and the truth will immediately appear: this Anointed One whom you expect, who do you say He is? Is He God or merely a man, as David was and the rest of mankind? The Jew will answer: "We say that he is a man, and not God, but as one from the number of the prophets; for there is not except one only God, and not two, as you Christians say." But since you say that the Christ of yours who is to come is a mere man, let us now bring forward the utterances of the prophets; and if they proclaimed as God the one who was to come, then obviously He who has come, and who is worshipped and believed in by us Christians, is truly the true Christ; D but the one whom you Jews expect is an impostor and antichrist. But if we do not show that the prophets call Him God, then we are in error, and the Jews speak the truth. Tell me, of whom does the prophet speak: "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; God is the Lord, and He hath manifested Himself unto us." Attend with care; he declares Him to be God and Lord absolutely, saying: "God is the Lord, and He hath manifested Himself unto us." Whether, therefore, He has manifested Himself unto us, or is about to appear, your Christ of the Jews is not He, but
He is the Christ of the Christians; since, while you assert that the one you await will be a mere man, David proclaimed Him God and Lord, who was to come and has come. Likewise, Isaiah says, not an angel, not a messenger, but "He Himself, the Lord, will come and save us." And that "a child is born to us, and a son is given to us, and he shall be called the Angel of the great counsel, Wonderful, Counselor, God the mighty, Potentate, Prince of peace, Father of the world to come." B What man, as you say, can be the mighty God, the Potentate, the Prince of peace, the Father of the world to come?
Likewise, Habakkuk says: "God will come from Theman." Listen also to Jeremiah crying out with a loud voice: "This is our God; no other shall be accounted in comparison of Him. He has discovered all the way of knowledge, and He has given it to Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved; after this He was seen on earth, and conversed with men." Do you see that the prophets proclaimed that the true God was seen on earth and conversed with men? And David also says about Him: "God has reigned over the nations," that is, by drawing them to Himself through faith in His Son. Why did he not say, "God has reigned over the Jews"? And again: "All the nations have seen the salvation of our God." And, "Say among the nations: The Lord has reigned," namely, by faith. C Isaiah truly [or rather, Malachi]: "From the rising of the sun even to the going down, My name is glorified among the nations." And again, Hosea: "God says: I will call that which was not my people, my people," that is, the nations, "and her who had not obtained mercy, as having obtained mercy," that is, the synagogue of the Jews. Likewise, the patriarch Jacob, blessing his sons and establishing a testament, speaks thus of Christ: "A prince shall not depart from Juda, nor a leader from his thighs, until He comes for whom it is reserved," that is, Christ, "and He Himself shall be the expectation of the nations," for he foresaw in his mind the blindness of the Jews. In vain, therefore, do the Jews await Him whom they await; for Christ, whom the nations await, has already come, and therefore the prince and leader have departed from Juda.
That our Christ is truly the truth and not a deceiver, as you Jews say and think, D this also is obvious for us to prove to you, not only by words, but by the very things themselves, which even to this day cry out and bear witness that all things whatsoever He said have been fulfilled throughout the universe, according to this declaration of His: "For heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away." What sort of words His are, listen carefully. For concerning this temple of yours, that is, of the Jews, He said: "There shall not be left here a stone upon a stone." Has this prediction been fulfilled, or has it not been fulfilled? He said that
A *The Romans shall come and take away both your nation and your city and your kingdom.* Has this not come to pass under Vespasian and Titus? He said: *The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist,* and they shall cease. Has this not come to pass? What prophet is among you after John the Baptist? Show me then, since you crucified Christ, what prophet has been found among you? What kingdom do you have today? Where are your judges? Where are your rulers? All have vanished. Where is your temple? Behold, it lies desolate. Where are the tablets that you received? Behold, they do not exist. Where are your sacrifices? Behold, they have ceased. Where is the ark of the covenant? Behold, it is not to be seen. Where is the altar which Moses made? Where is the rod that blossomed? Where is the jar and the manna? Where is the overshadowing in the temple and the purification of the sanctuary? Where is the fire descending from heaven? Where do you have even one prophet today? You truly have none, according to the voice of the three youths, which speaks on your behalf, saying that "There is not in this time prince, prophet, and leader," and what follows, "before God, and to find mercy." For what place of those which God gave you do you have today? But He has taken them all from you, and has given them to us. If you say Sinai, where you received the law and did not accept it, but there Christ is glorified today; if you say the Jordan, where your people of old once passed over, but Christ having been baptized there, He is glorified there by us; if you say Jerusalem and Sion, but C Christ having been crucified there, His very sufferings are worshipped there today; or if you say the Mount of Olives, but Christ having been taken up from there, He is glorified there; or if you say Bethlehem, the city of David, but Christ having been born there, He is always glorified there just as in heaven. And why do I speak of Bethlehem, and Sion, and the Jordan? Traverse the West, consider the East, search out the entire world under heaven, the British islands themselves, those western and extreme ends of the world; the things of the Jews and the Greeks grown old and vanished, but all things of Christ believed, honored, and confirmed. D And do not say that we Christians are today worn down and taken captive; for this is the great thing, that even while our faith is pursued and warred upon by so many, it stands and does not cease; our kingdom is not abolished, nor are our churches closed; but in the midst of the nations who rule and persecute us, we have churches, we plant crosses, we build churches, we perform sacrifices. He said that "The Gospel shall be preached in the whole world." Has this come to pass, or not? He said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church," that is, against our faith. Did He lie? Have there not been many Greeks and heresiarchs, and powerful tyrants, and impious kings who have made war upon our faith, and were unable
A they had attempted to extinguish it? He said to us who believe in Him: "You shall be hated by all for my name's sake." Tell me, Jews, is it not for the name of Christ that all the nations hate and abhor us? And even if you were to keep silent about all these things, the stones themselves would cry out. Indeed, we see that from the beginning of the age there has never existed a nation attacked by everyone for such a long time without being wiped out, except only the nation of the Christians; which would not have remained indelible, although attacked by all nations, had not the hand of the Lord preserved it, and does it not even now preserve it as indelible? It is also known to us that no emperor of the Christians has ever been delivered to the Barbarians for death, although this empire has been attacked by so many nations; and not only that, but they have not even been able to abolish his image impressed upon the coinage along with the sign of the cross, although many tyrants have attempted this. Nor should this be thought a contemptible or trivial matter—namely, that our faith is always being B attacked, and yet always perseveres firm and indelible; for if God had not chosen and approved our faith above all others, He would never have preserved it invincible among the nations as if among wolves.
Furthermore, God would not have permitted a false faith to hold sway to the ends of the earth, had there not been the economy of the advent in the flesh of Christ, His Son, our God and Savior: whence this very fact, namely that the Gospel of Christ is believed everywhere among the nations, most certainly proves that there is no faith under heaven more religious than our own. What then? Is God so unjust? Far be it! I say, He is not so unjust as to knowingly consign us to error, knowing that we Christians are astray. For how many years have now passed since Christ, during which such a great multitude of men would have perished in this error! For it is not permitted one to observe or answer this by saying that for such a long span of years we are being instructed C by the Israelite nations. Rather, answer me: how did God entrust to us—to us, I say, who have embraced error, as you claim—the empire of the whole earth? How is it that no one has been able to abolish the sign upon the coinage? Clearly, God wished to show that, even if we Christians suffer persecution, we nevertheless obtain the empire of all; insofar as the sign of the coinage of our empire is the very sign of Christ. Tell me, therefore, unless it is proven thereby that the faith and empire of the Christians are eternal, invincible, and indelible, how is it that you all, who hate and blaspheme the cross of Christ, have fallen? How is it that you cannot abolish the cross from the gold, but even receive it willingly; nay, even if you see a coin lacking the cross, you disapprove and reject it? So true it is, as David said of you: "They have eyes and shall not see." D
A How is it that what you fight against, you desire, and what you abominate, you willingly receive, being miraculously overcome by your own selves? Indeed, had not mind and understanding failed you, this sign alone would be sufficient for you and for all others to be persuaded and to know for certain that the faith and cross of Christ reign forever. How many have attempted to destroy our faith and the Church, yet did not prevail? Nay, they themselves passed away, but the foundation of the Church and the faith stands unshaken through Christ, who thus ordained it, saying: "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." B Where is Diocletian? Where is Nero? Where is Vespasian? Where is Herod? Where is Maximian, and all who killed the martyrs of Christ, yet could not extinguish or shut off our faith? They perished and were dissolved; but Christ did not lie to us when He said: "You will be hated by all for my name's sake." And again: "You will be brought before kings and governors for my sake." Choose, therefore, one of two things: either if you hate us, you truly demonstrate that Christ spoke the truth when He said to us: "You will be hated by all for my name's sake." And not only this, but He also said many other things which we see coming to pass day by day, and because of this we worship Him even more as God. He said His Gospel would be preached in the whole world; He said: "There shall not be left one stone upon another in your temple"; He said: "He who does not leave father and brothers and sisters cannot follow me." He spoke to us about giving alms in secret; He said to us: "Be baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit"; and He said to us: "I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age." Who, then, is able to convict C Him of lying, that Christ said these things falsely? No one, certainly; but all things have happened as we foretold, and are happening. Has not your temple fallen and been destroyed? Has not His Gospel been preached in the whole world? Are we Christians not hated by all nations for His name's sake? Do we not see countless people leaving fathers and mothers and following Christ? Do we not see or understand that Christ is with us all the days until the consummation of the age, not allowing our faith to be brought to nothing? Who, then, seeing such and so many of His words and deeds, which He predicted eight hundred years or even more ago, *coming to pass even today* and shining forth, can disbelieve or be scandalized in Him? God forbid! So that, for anyone who wishes to learn from this, it is possible to know that there exists no other faith on earth more pious D than the one faith in Christ. To Him be the glory and the power. Amen.
SECOND INTERROGATION OF THE SAME
A For the prophets indeed proclaimed everything concerning Him; but you do not attend. If you say, "Why, if the prophets spoke about Christ, did they not tell us openly and explicitly?" I say to you: So that you might know, O Jews, that Christ was about to come and put an end to the law and the sacrifices of the law. I tell you that if they had spoken of the matter so plainly, you would have immediately stoned them and burned their books. We, therefore, look to this; for we are now confounding you out of your own prophets, refuting you and setting before you all that they said regarding Christ. For David says: "He bowed the heavens and came down." Isaiah says: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel"; behold, His birth. Again, the same prophet says: "This is our God, no other shall be reckoned in comparison with Him; and after this, He was seen upon earth and conversed with men." Behold, His conversation with men. Nor was it possible for Him to be seen by men in any other way, or to converse in His naked divinity, unless He had taken and put on human nature and flesh. Moses also, after he had seen the glory of God, such that the children of Israel could not look upon his face uncovered unless he put on a veil, said to them these things: B "The Lord our God will raise up for you a prophet from among your brethren, like unto me." What is that, "like unto me"? For just as the face of Moses was illumined by glory, and because the children of Israel could not gaze upon his glory, he would put a veil upon his face, and then speak to them; so also Christ, the Son of God, had the temple of the body as a covering, concealing His divinity, and became a mediator between God and men; mediating in a better way than in Moses—men towards God, and God towards men. For the Lord is better and greater than the servant. For Moses was a servant, but Christ, as God, is Lord. Why, therefore, "like unto me"? Because of the covering and the mediation; and because whoever does not listen to that prophet, his soul shall be cut off from his people; and because He is the one who delivers Israel, the Lord who became man and conversed with us men, and no other. C D Jeremiah spoke from above, saying: "This is our God, no other shall be reckoned in comparison with Him," and what follows. The prophet Isaiah also says: "Not an angel, nor an ambassador, but the Lord Himself shall come and save us."
And that the nations were destined to believe, and you Jews were to be removed because of your unbelief. The prophet Hosea says: "I will call them my people, which were not my people," that is, the nations that believed in Him. And David, showing that God was to be incarnate for the sake of the nations, said: "God hath reigned over the nations." Why did He not say: "He hath reigned over the Jews"? That God is A king over all was evident; but He was not known among the nations before they believed, because they were held captive by idolatry and were tyrannically mastered by demons. But through His incarnate economy He delivered us from idols through His own blood, which He shed on the cross, and He reigned over us because we believed in Him. Wherefore he says again: "All nations whom Thou hast made shall come and shall worship before Thee, O Lord," as many as in this present age come to Him through holy baptism; just as the same prophet exhorted us, saying: "Draw near to Him, and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed." And another prophet says: "Be washed, be clean, take away the iniquities from your hearts." And if they thus approach Him, they shall receive the reward of faith, to be saved by faith without the ministry of the law. But as many as now do not wish to approach Him, in the world to come, even if they do not wish it, they shall worship Him with great shame and fear and much trembling; as the prophet said: "O Lord, Thy arm is high, and they knew not," that is, they did not believe B now. "But those who have known" shall be ashamed, that is, in the future they will see Him whom they did not believe is Christ now, then they shall know and shall be ashamed, and they shall be sent away by Him into unquenchable fire to be punished eternally. Because from Sion Christ was to be manifested, and because He is the Most High, and He Himself founded Sion. David said: "A man shall say, Mother Sion, and a man was born in her, and the Most High Himself founded her." That He was to be baptized in the Jordan, and be witnessed from above by God and Father, he said: "The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of glory thundered; the Lord is upon many waters." That through holy baptism He crushed the devil and his powers, he says: "There Thou didst crush the heads of the dragons upon C the water," that is, of the demons; crushing the head of the dragon, that is, of the devil. And that, "the Creator of heaven and of earth and of the sea," is He who is Christ, and that He walked upon the sea as upon pavement, and that He worked many healings among the people, and that He was to suffer for the world, the book of Job speaks thus: "Who alone spread out the heaven, and walked upon the sea as upon pavement." And the prophet says: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear; then the D
lame shall leap as a hart." A That our Lord Jesus Christ was to come to suffer in Jerusalem, sitting upon a foal of an ass as a king present, the prophet Zacharias says: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee, just and saving; He is meek and riding upon a beast of burden and a foal." And that the exclamation "Hosanna" was raised by your children, the Jews, being taught this by God, David foretold: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast Thou perfected praise." And Isaias [says]: "He hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows, and is afflicted for our sakes."
Do you not see, O Jew, how it was necessary that the writings of the prophets should be fulfilled in Him? For regarding His betrayal, of which the author was Judas, one of His twelve disciples, the psalm says: "Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood round about, and the rulers were gathered together against the same." B For they were gathered together in truth against the holy Child of God, Jesus, who is the Christ, namely Herod and Pontius Pilate with the nations and the peoples of Israel. And David says concerning Him: "They dug my hands and my feet, and they divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots; they told all my bones." Behold also the crucifixion, and that they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink. The same David said again: "They gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink." Therefore, did the prophets and our Christian evangelists lie, saying similar things, that Christ suffered these things? And if our evangelists lied, then the prophets also lied in saying things similar to them. Do you wish to hear also about His burial? The Prophet says in the book of Psalms: "They have laid me in a lower pit, in darkness and in the shadow of death, and I have become as a man without help, free among the dead," that is, without sin. C And in Job it says: "The gates of death are opened to Thee for fear, and the porters of hell, seeing Thee, were terrified," clearly designating the powers of the opposing demons that dwell in hell. And that Christ, while hanging upon the cross, raised many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep from ages past from the dead, the Psalmist said: "Who bringeth out the prisoners in strength; likewise those who provoke, who dwell in the tombs." But also concerning His three-day burial and His resurrection, the prophet Osee speaks thus: "Let us seek the Lord, and He will make us alive after two days, and on the third day I shall rise again." And that His soul was not left in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption, David says: "Thou shalt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt Thou give Thy holy one to see corruption." D Do not think, however, that David spoke of himself and not of Christ; for David, having served in his own generation the counsel of God, fell asleep and was laid unto his fathers,
and saw corruption; for God Himself raised up the human nature which He had assumed. And it is written elsewhere: “And his rest shall be glory,” A that is, the rest indicates the sepulcher, and the glory indicates the resurrection.
Who, then, hearing these things from the prophets about Christ, does not confess that He is the true God who became man for the salvation of the world, and that He destroyed idols and abolished the sacrifices of demons? Where now are the sacrifices of Egypt? Where are the oracles of Memphis? Where is Sebennytos that worships Simon? Where is Nuphis that worships wine? Where are the sun-worshippers of today? Where is the temple of Diana? Where are the oracles of the temple of Apollo at Cyzicus and of all the demons? For when Christ appeared and was nailed to the cross, God began to be worshipped and glorified everywhere. And are you not ashamed, O Jews, to call us idolaters and those who offer sacrifice to idols? Yet this is nothing strange; for every prostitute puts her own name upon a free woman, calling her a prostitute. For you did not spare Isaiah, nor Jeremiah, nor the rest of the prophets, and indeed not even Christ Himself; and how can you spare us Christians? If you had the power that we have today, you would not allow one of us to live among you, even as we tolerate you.
Since you say: “Why did the prophets not speak openly and plainly about Christ?” I ask you this in turn: Why did the prophets not say to you, the Jews, concerning Christ: “Behold, a man called Jesus is about to come; do not believe in him, for he is an impostor”? But since you are unwilling to believe that He is the true Christ and God whom the prophets proclaimed, you accept Him as an impostor and not as Christ. B
But if the Jew should say: “How can you Christians, when God has commanded not to worship wood or stone or the works of men's hands, worship and serve these things, making crosses and images from them?” say to him: “Tell me, O Jew, why do you worship the book of the Law, since it is made of skins and tanned in impurity? And why did the patriarch Jacob worship at the top of Joseph’s staff?” And if he is able to say: “Even if I worship the book of the Law, I do not worship the nature of the skins, but the power of the words; and Jacob, in worshipping the staff, did not worship the wood, but Joseph who held it”; say to him: “In the same way, we Christians, in worshipping the cross of Christ, do not worship the nature of the wood—heaven forbid!—but Christ who was crucified upon it. And just as you, if you were to find today the two tablets and the two golden Cherubim which Moses made, and the ark, would C worship them, honoring Him who commanded these things to be made, in the same way we, in worshipping images, do not worship the wood—heaven forbid!—but we worship Christ and His saints. We worship neither the wood nor the painting, since we often wipe off and renew old images, or burn those that are rotting, and make new ones, solely for the purpose of preserving a good memory. But you, tell me, why did you in Babylon worship the image of Nebuchadnezzar? D
and there, indeed, having Daniel and other prophets who would teach you? But I, a Christian, when I adore the image of Christ, say: "Glory be to the God of the saints"; I do not say: "Glory be to the wood or to the painting." But you, in truth, while worshipping the image of Nebuchadnezzar, said: "Glory be to Nebuchadnezzar." I adore the Cross, and I do not say: "Glory be to the wood"—God forbid! But you adore the calf and say: "These are thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt." And we Christians, although taken captive for many B years and suffering many trials, do not deny God.
If any Christians did deny [Him], they were not as many as you were in Babylon; you were not beaten nor flayed, but by a mere word you all denied [God] and worshipped the image of a man. And if the three youths had not kept their faith in God, where, tell me, would you have kept your faith in God? And yet you had seen such great wonders in every place: in Egypt under Moses, in the Red Sea, in the desert, in the pillar of fire, in the cloud of light, and on Mount Sinai. Did God bestow such benefits upon anyone else? Did God ever speak to anyone else in such a way, through laws and angelic trumpets, bringing the Law to you with such miracles, raining down manna, sending prophets among you, subduing nations, destroying aliens, presenting the tablets, designing your Tabernacle, and appointing Moses for you as a second God to act in His stead? O the blindness of you people! O the evil will! O the ungrateful mind and voluntary darkness! C While Moses was struggling on your behalf up on the mountain, you were forging the calf down below. Up there he was beseeching God, and down below you were provoking God to anger and worshipping the calf; you were eating the manna and insulting God. For David says: "While the food was yet in their mouth, the wrath of God ascended upon them." And what can you say about us Christians, namely, that we adore the Son of God? Rather, answer me this: Why did you, as David says, sacrifice your own sons and daughters to the demons, to Belphegor? What? Do you always possess faith? God forbid! Hear Moses saying to the people (and the Jewish people were indeed pious toward God at that time), but hear what Moses says: "For they are a perverse generation, and there is no faith in them." And again: "O generation D crooked and perverse, do you thus requite the Lord?" And many other evil testimonies about you occur in your own prophecies, spoken by God, saying: "For I have brought up and exalted children, and they have despised me; the ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of sins!" And again, the same prophet Isaiah says to you: "Hear the word of the Lord, you house of Sodom; attend to the law of God, you people of Gomorrah." See how God calls the Jews Sodomites, infidels, a demented people, idolaters, ungrateful, and a crooked and perverse generation, and children who must be chastised. And they sacrificed to demons and...
A not to God, and they abandoned the God who created them, and they turned away from God their Savior."
Let us therefore search the Scriptures, to see if God has proclaimed such things against any other nation whatever. For in Jerusalem you sacrificed for fifty-two years in the temple of God to idols under Manasseh your king, profaning the city and the temple of God. For this reason, God handed you over to the Chaldeans into captivity in Babylon, once and again; then, after seventy years, He called you back again.
Now, therefore, I wish to learn this from you: After your return from Babylon, and the rebuilding of your temple in Jerusalem, and while you were worshipping God in it and no longer sacrificing to idols, what sin did you commit before God? Behold, for eight hundred years and more, God has scattered you over the whole earth, and led Titus and Vespasian from Rome, B and they slaughtered a hundred myriads of you in Jerusalem, as Josephus, the writer of your own race, says—the only one to have set these things forth. They burned your temple, destroyed the altar and the holy place, and the whole city, and Zion, and led you into slavery; and you are scattered throughout the whole earth and are without a law even until today. And see, for eight hundred years and more, as we have said, you have preserved neither altar, nor ark, nor a place for the Passover. For God said to you: "You shall by no means perform the Passover, except in Jerusalem," nor are you to return to Egypt. Behold, your fathers, when they had sinned and were taken captive to Babylon a second time, and the temple was laid waste a second time, obtained C the grace to return a second time, and for the temple to be rebuilt. What sin did you commit—and such a great one—that God no longer raised up the temple for you, and no longer brought you back from your enemies? Did you sacrifice to idols, as your fathers did, your sons and your daughters? Did you worship an image, as they did? Not at all. Therefore, did you set up an idol in the temple, as Manasseh did? Did you kill the prophets? Not at all. For what reason were you thus abandoned by God? Truly, even if you do not say it, the stones will cry out, because from the time you crucified Christ, you were abandoned. For this reason, even until now and forever, you will remain abandoned, scattered, stripped, and cast out from the D temple and Zion. For your fathers who made the calf, who transgressed in many things, who worshipped the golden image, and who sacrificed their sons and daughters to the devil, were called back after being instructed for one hundred and seventy years in Babylon of Persia. But you, who have sinned against Christ, have been cast out, not only for one hundred and seventy years, but until the consummation of the age. We, however, the nations, have been called the children of Christ, and we serve Him, and we glorify Him together with the Father and His Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.
THE THIRD INTERROGATION OF THE SAME.
Tell me: the Messiah whom you Jews expect, who must He be? A Jew following the law of Moses, or a Christian scorning and transgressing the law and abolishing the sacrifices? For I know that you must say: He is a Jew from the Jews, the son of David our father, keeping the law, restoring the sacrifices, and [restoring] our race. A Tell me: how many years are there since the first captivity of the Jews under Nebuchadnezzar the Persian? They can say: A thousand years and more; and so it is. And I say to them: See what you have said, that your Christ who is to come is a Jew, and that He renovates and offers the Mosaic sacrifices, and that He has not yet come, and that from Nebuchadnezzar, when Daniel was in Babylon, a thousand and more years have elapsed; and you have spoken truly. B Hear therefore attentively; and if, as you say, the Christ who is to come is a Jew, and He must institute the legal sacrifices, and He has not yet come, how does the prophet Daniel say in his visions, as if learning from the archangel Gabriel: "Seventy weeks of years are shortened upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the sin"? And a little later: "To seal up the vision and the prophets, and to anoint the holy of holies, and to do away with the sacrifice and the legal observance." Show us therefore now, what Christ has come, anointed as the holy of holies after the seventy weeks—that is, after four hundred and ninety years from Daniel—who has abolished the sacrifice and the legal observance? And when were the sacrifice and the observance of the law taken away? C If therefore you are not lying when you say that Christ has not yet come, but is to come, show us what Christ came after four hundred and ninety years from Daniel, as the holy of holies? But you have no one else to show who has done this, except Jesus Christ the Son of God. And again, if, speaking the truth, you say that the coming Christ, our God, must perform legal sacrifices, then Daniel is lying when he says that, "at the coming of Christ, sacrifice and observance shall be taken away." And if, therefore, we are transgressing by holding the new testament of Christ, D and your Christ who is to come renovates the old one and the law of Moses, as you say: where then shall we seek that covenant of which God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah: "Behold, the days are coming, and I will establish with the house of Israel a new covenant, not according to the covenant which I established with their fathers, when I led them out from the land of Egypt"?
"? For after the Law was given to them, God said through the prophets Isaiah and Micah: "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem," so that when Christ came, He brought the new law and fulfilled the old.
Jew: You hope in a man who was crucified and condemned, O Christians.
Christian: Who is more honorable in the sight of God, a man or the bronze serpent which you yourselves worshiped as it hung? A Nevertheless, listen with understanding. But tell me: did your fathers crucify a certain man called Jesus Christ? Yes or no? And for what reason did you crucify Him? Because He was a lawbreaker, and He was abolishing the law and the Sabbath. And concerning whom did the prophets proclaim that He would come in the last days, that He would be sold, and for how much He would be sold, and that He would be led to death, and that His hands and feet would be pierced with nails, and He would taste vinegar and gall, and that He would be pierced with a spear, and the heaven would be darkened? And it was impossible for the words of the prophets not to be fulfilled. What do all these things mean? Did they happen to our Christ, or are they going to happen to the one you are waiting for? And if they are going to happen to the one you are waiting for, lo, you too hope in a man who is condemned. But if all things were fulfilled in our Christ, submit yourselves and confess the truth. But if they were fulfilled in neither our Christ nor in the one you are waiting for, then all the prophets are liars. But if you are constrained, and unwillingly confess that your fathers put our Christ to a cruel death as a malefactor and a breaker of the law, let us bring forward the prophets and see if they call the one whom you crucified B a malefactor.
Tell me, who is on earth without sin? And, as the Scripture says, "There is no one pure of stain, even if his life be but one day," and it is clear that no one is, save God alone. And let us hear what Isaiah says concerning our Christ who suffered: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb; for the iniquities of my people He was led to death; and I will give the wicked in return for His burial, and the rich in return for His death; because He did no iniquity, nor was guile found in His mouth." Are you not, therefore, ashamed? Lo, you have been clearly put to shame; for you said that you crucified Him because He was a lawbreaker, but the prophet says that He committed no iniquity. And since no one is without sin save God alone, it is clear that He who was crucified by you is true God; for He did not commit iniquity, C nor was guile found in His mouth. But let us see what the rest of the prophets say concerning our Christ who suffered, whether they testify of Him as a malefactor or as Lord; for perhaps you will be moved by the multitude of the prophets, and you will henceforth be ashamed to speak against Christ and Christi D
A Behold, for likewise concerning the sale of Christ and the thirty pieces of silver for His price, the prophets Zechariah and Jeremiah say: "And 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 for the burial of strangers." And that the Jews falsely testified against Him at the time of the passion, the psalm says: "Unjust witnesses rose up against me; what I did not know, they asked me; they rendered to me evil for good."
B And that He willingly endured to suffer these things, and not against His will, the prophet says: "I gave my back to scourges, and my cheeks to blows; and my face I did not turn away from the shame of spittings, and with their unclean spittings they spat upon me." And concerning the putting on of the crown of thorns, Jeremiah says: "With the thorns of their iniquities they crowned me." C And that the beginning of our salvation, that is, the cross, He who was raised upon it carried on His own shoulders, Isaiah says, that "A child is born to us, a son is given to us, whose government is upon his shoulder," that is, the cross. That Christ was God and King before the ages, and was to be crucified in the midst of the earth for the salvation of this world, David says: "But God, our King before the ages, has worked salvation in the midst of the earth." And that they pierced His hands and feet, Zechariah likewise says: "These are their wounds in the midst of my hands; and he shall say, with which I was wounded in the house of my beloved." See how, even after these tortures, He calls you beloved, and you do not turn to Him! Truly you are ungrateful. Concerning the lance by which His holy side was pierced after He died, and from which blood and water flowed, the prophet Zechariah said: "They shall look upon me whom they pierced." D And Moses clearly signifies this same thing through the sheer rock, from which, when he struck it with his rod, water flowed for the salvation of the people then existing; but the rock was figuratively Christ. For as the sheer rock, inanimate and senseless, when struck by the rod of Moses, immediately poured forth water for a temporary life to the people of that time, so too the immaculate body of Christ the God, having died, immediately poured forth from His holy side blood and water for the salvation of those who believe, unto life eternal in Him, and not temporary.
And again, the same prophet Moses says concerning the crucifixion of Christ and your unbelief: "You shall see your life hanging, and you shall not believe." Behold, here He calls Him who hangs upon the wood "eternal life." And do not say that He spoke this concerning the bronze serpent; for they believed in the serpent, but concerning the Life, which is Christ, He said that you would not believe. For He took upon Himself our curse into which we had fallen through transgression and disobedience, as it is written: "Cursed is everyone who hangs on wood"; and He became a curse for us.
And He became the sinless One, that He might deliver us from the curse and grant eternal life to those who believe in Him. A For just as you, O Jews, believed in the bronze serpent hanging upon the wood—which, being accursed above all other beasts, provided a sign for your forefathers; and even as the serpent that did not bite brought life in place of the biting serpents—so also Christ, being sinless, having been suspended for the sake of sinners, bestowed life upon the world. And concerning the darkening of that day when Christ was crucified, and the voice He uttered when He gave up the spirit, and the shaking of heaven and all the earth because of this audacity of the Jews, the prophet Joel says: "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall not give their light; but the Lord shall cry out from Sion, and heaven and earth shall be shaken." B And David also says: "The Most High gave His voice, and the earth was shaken." Behold, they themselves also call this Crucified One the Lord Most High. And the prophet Zechariah says: "And the Lord God shall come, and all the holy ones with Him; and in that day there shall be no light, and it shall not be day nor night, and at evening there shall be light, and that day shall be known to the Lord." For from the sixth hour to the ninth hour darkness came upon all the earth. Behold, Zechariah also named the Crucified One Lord and God. And if you say that these things are spoken concerning your Messiah, see then that you also hope for a man to be crucified as a criminal; but there is none other who has been prophesied, except our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who descended from the heavens and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of the ever-virgin Mary, and suffered these things for the salvation of the world, just as the prophets foretold concerning Him, as we have set forth by discussing the testimonies and prophecies concerning Christ. C And concerning His being taken up into the heavens and sitting at the right hand of God, it is said by Zechariah: "In that day the feet of the Lord shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem toward the East." And the Psalmist says: "He ascended upon the Cherubim, and flew upon the wings of the winds," and "God ascended in the sound of a trumpet," and "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand," and the rest. And what is this "He ascended," if not that He first descended?
Nevertheless, along with all these things which have been said, we propose to you not just prophets, but other witnesses who followed Christ's advent in the flesh. For indeed you have in your commentaries the very things that we are about to say; for your fathers, being then utterly defeated, and desiring to change defeat into an invincible victory, D ordered that no Jew should keep in writing the deeds of Christ, or even seek or read them, lest such diligence provide knowledge to the many. But we say these things to you who are aware of them, although you are accustomed to concealing the truth.
A Did you not hear of the Magi who crossed from Persia into Palestine, led by the divine oracle of the star, who worshipped Christ and brought Him gifts? With them your own chief priests of that time, having met with Herod the then-king, were asked: "Where is Christ to be born?" And they said to him: "In Bethlehem, the city of Judea, as the prophets say," such that Herod, out of envy of the newborn king, ordered the slaughter of so many children. Does not John the Baptist originate from the Jews? To whom your fathers then sent, asking whether he was the Christ. And he said: "I am not," but pointing out Christ to them, he said: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."
Furthermore, Nicodemus, your ruler, and Nathanael, B and Joseph of Arimathea, and Bizes and Alexander, who also ate with Him at the wedding of Simon the Galilean, where He changed the water into wine; the elders who were sent as ambassadors by the centurion for his son to implore Him for his recovery—"For he is worthy," they said, "who will provide this, for he loves the nation, and he himself built the synagogue for us"; that royal proconsul, the brother of Jairus the archisynagogue, whose son He made whole, and whose brother Jairus implored Him, and He raised the daughter from the dead; Caiaphas, your high priest of that time, who advised that one man should die so that the whole nation might not perish; your children who then cried out: "Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, the King of Israel." The disciple Judas, to whom thirty pieces of silver were appointed so that he might hand Him over to you; the soldiers to whom you gave money, that they might say that His disciples came by night and stole Him while we were sleeping; Josephus, your writer, who spoke of Christ, saying He was a just and good man, shown to be so by divine grace, benefiting many with signs and wonders. Whose garments did they divide, according to the prophet, and cast C lots? Whose hands and feet did they pierce? Whom did they give vinegar and gall to drink for His thirst while He hung upon the cross?
Regarding whom did Moses say: "You shall see your life hanging before your eyes, and you will not believe?" For if you believed Moses, you would also believe in Christ. But just as your fathers did not want to become obedient to him, but rejected him and turned in their hearts to Egypt, saying to Aaron: "Make us gods who will go before us; for as for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him," and they made a calf in those days, and brought sacrifices to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands—God turned away and delivered them to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book D of the prophets: "Did you offer me immolations and sacrifices for forty years in the desert,
A O house of Israel, and have you received the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Rephan, the figures which you made to worship them? And I will carry you away beyond Babylon into the tabernacle of the testimony," B which was with your fathers in the desert, as He who spoke to Moses commanded him to make it according to the pattern which he had seen; which also our fathers, having received it, brought in with Jesus into the possession of the nations which God cast out from before the face of our fathers, until the days of David, who found grace before God, and requested to find a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. But Solomon built Him a house; yet the Most High does not dwell in temples made by hands, as the prophet says: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet. What house will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my rest? Has not my hand made all these things?" C O Jews, stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, as your fathers did; and they killed those who foretold of the coming of the Just One. Were your fathers in Jerusalem not murderers and traitors? So too you, their children, imitating them, remain disbelievers of the voices of the prophets, hating Christ, you who received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
The Holy Spirit says further through the mouth of the prophet David: D "Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the desert, where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works. Forty years was I offended with this generation, and I said: These always err in heart; they themselves have not known my ways; as I swore in my wrath: If they shall enter into my rest." But not all who came out of Egypt entered; for they provoked him by not hearing and not believing. But with whom was he offended forty years, if not with them who sinned and did not hear, whose limbs fell in the desert? And to whom did he swear that they should not enter into his rest, if not to them who did not believe? And we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief, except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. Six hundred thousand perished; for such is how many thousands the Scripture says went out of Egypt. For when God granted that they should go into the promised land, they contradicted him, putting forward their fear and the strength of the enemies. For which cause the God of all destroyed them all, man by man, in the desert, and brought their children in for them—namely, through Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun he gave them rest. And of that land the prophet David spoke of as rest; for into that land Jesus brought them, and in it was also the divine interpreter David, when he spoke these things...
and promised the rest: "Today if you will hear his voice," and the rest. A Therefore, there remains another sabbath-keeping and another rest, which is faith in Christ, as the Lord says through Jeremiah the prophet: "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will establish with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant. In that he says 'new,' he has made the first old. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not abide in my covenant, and I neglected them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: I will put my laws into their mind, and I will write them upon their hearts; and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." B Therefore, "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," for it is necessary first to hear, and then to receive the words of God in the mind and in the heart and to believe; just as "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." "Because by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified." For "as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written: Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." But Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. C The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham. Know therefore that those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. But to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "and to your seed." For this is the covenant confirmed before by God in Christ; the law that came four hundred and thirty years later does not void it so as to annul the promise. And the old Scripture calls the promise made to Abraham "the covenant of God"; and the God of all promised to bless the nations through the seed of Abraham. D This seed is the Lord Christ himself; for through him the promise attained its end. For if the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. What then? The law was added because of transgressions, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made; the law was established for the preservation of that race from whom that seed was destined to come forth according to the flesh; and it was established by the ministry of angels, and with Moses serving in its institution. But if you call yourself a Jew and persist in the law, as if boasting in the law, by transgression of the law you dishonor God; for circumcision indeed profits, if
you observe the law; but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision, as Jeremiah says, that “All the nations are uncircumcised in flesh, but the house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart.” A “Be circumcised to God, and be circumcised in the uncircumcision of your hearts.” For through the law comes knowledge of sin; but now the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all and upon all who believe; we are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
We conclude, B therefore, that a man is justified by faith apart from deeds of the law. What then? “Is God the God of Jews only, and not also of the nations? Yes, and of the nations also; since there is one God who will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith. Do we then nullify the law through faith? God forbid! Rather, we establish the law.”
What then does the Scripture say? “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” For David says: “Blessed are those whose iniquities were forgiven, and whose sins were covered; C blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not reckon sin.” The law, he says, brings punishment upon those who sin; but the prophet calls those blessed who have received the forgiveness of their sins. Is this blessing, then, upon the circumcision or upon the uncircumcision? We say that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness; how then was it reckoned, while he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? It is evident, not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision; and he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness of the faith that was in uncircumcision, so that he might be the father of all those who believe through uncircumcision, so that righteousness might be reckoned to them also; and D the father of circumcision, not to those who are of circumcision only, but also to those who follow the footprints of faith, which is in the uncircumcision of our father Abraham. For the promise to Abraham, or to his seed, was not through the law, that he should be the heir of the world, but through the righteousness of faith; for the law works wrath; for it is customary for the law to punish transgressors; for where there is no law, neither is there transgression; therefore it is of faith, that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be firm to all the seed, not only to that which is of the law, but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all of us, as it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations”; in the presence of Him in whom he believed, the God who makes alive the dead and calls those things which are not as though they were; who against hope believed in hope, so that he might become the father of many nations, according to what was said: “So shall your seed be”; and being not weak in faith, he did not consider his own body already dead, being then about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; but he did not doubt the promise of God...
A but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform; therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And it was not written for his sake alone that it was accounted to him for righteousness, but also for us, to whom it shall be accounted, who believe in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. For not all who are from Israel are the seed of Abraham, but He seeks after a kinship of virtue; neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children of God, but “in Isaac shall your seed be called,” that is, it is not the children of the flesh who are these children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. He calls the children of Sarah those born according to the order of nature, but [those of] the promise, [are those] given according to the grace of faith. For this is the word of promise: B “I will certainly return to you according to the time of life, and behold, Sarah shall have a son.” When nature refused, through divine privilege he was shown to be a father. Why therefore do you boast, O Jew, as if you alone are called the seed of Abraham? For Ishmael was also a son and firstborn of Abraham. But if you think that he was cast out of the kinship as a half-slave, yet the custom of the Scriptures is to weave the genealogy from the fathers and not from the mothers; and those who were born from Keturah—although she was a free woman—are not called the seed of Abraham. And the twelve sons of Jacob, born of different mothers, from whom four were half-slaves, and yet all obtained the name of Israel, suffered no loss from the servitude of their mothers. Not only they, C but also Rebecca, having from one union of Isaac our father: for when they were not yet born, nor had done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls, it was said to her: “The older shall serve the younger.” Do you think, O Jew, that it was on account of Sarah that Isaac was preferred over Ishmael and those born to Abraham from Keturah? What will you say about Rebecca? For here there is one mother, one conception; the children are twins. For this is what it indicates: having from one union, she conceived both at the same time. Yet one was beloved of God, the other unworthy of divine care. And God did not wait for the trial of their actions, D but foretold their difference. He foretold it, looking forward to the disposition of each; for the election is not unjust, but accompanies the disposition of every man, as it is written: “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” For what was said by God to Abraham, that “In Isaac shall your seed be called,” shows that not even all the race partakes of the blessing; for God does not look to nature, but seeks faith and virtue, as He also says in Hosea: “I will call those who were not My people, My people, and her who was not beloved, beloved; and it shall be in the place where it was
A said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.” For those nations who did not know righteousness have attained righteousness; he means the righteousness that is from faith. But Israel, pursuing a law of its own righteousness, did not attain to righteousness. Why? Because it was not from faith, but as if from works of the law; for they supposed that the manner of life according to the law sufficed them for the acquisition of righteousness, and they despised faith. On account of this, they did not partake of the gifts of faith. “For they stumbled at the stone of stumbling, as it is written: ‘Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, and everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.’” Those who have the inclination of their minds directed elsewhere regarding the prophecies of the Scriptures, and who do not desire to advance on the Way, are accustomed to stumble; this is what has happened to the Jews. For being occupied with the superfluous things of the law, they did not wish to see the stone foretold by the prophets, even though the prophets clearly predicted that he who believes in these things would obtain the greatest goods. “For they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge; for being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they do not submit to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” For the law has led us all—that is, the whole human nature—to the Master Christ.
He, therefore, who believes in the Savior Christ fulfills the goal of the law; for it is contained in the Scripture: “Behold, I place in Zion a cornerstone, elect, honorable, and whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” To us, therefore, who believe, there is honor; but to those who do not believe, “the stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense,” to those who stumble at the Word, being disobedient, in which they were also placed. But we who B believe and have been baptized are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that we may proclaim the virtues of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people, but are now the people of God; who had not received mercy, but have now received mercy.” He called us not only from the Jews, but also from the nations, as he also says in Hosea: “I will call those who were not My people, My people; and her who was not beloved, beloved; and it shall be in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.” “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.” “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” For Moses writes of the righteousness that is from the law, that “the man who has done these things shall live by them.” But the righteousness that is from faith says thus: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down); or, ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth, C in your heart,” that is, the word of faith which we preach; for if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” D
A For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. And “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But indeed, “their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.” B
But Israel did not understand. Isaiah says: “Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” But Moses is the first to say: “I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to anger by a foolish nation.” He called us foolish nations; for before the faith we were showing foolishness; for we were once, that is, before we believed, foolish, disobedient, erring. God greatly afflicted the Jews, that is, filled them with sorrow; for the dispersion and the desolation of the temple are not so painful to them as the piety and splendor of the nations. And Isaiah dares to say: “I was found by those who did not seek Me, I was made manifest to those who did not ask after Me.” C In this same passage he pointed to the prediction of the knowledge of God for the nations, and the cruelty of the Jews; for the word “dares” signifies that he did not fear the Jews as they were slaughtering and raging, but with great boldness proclaimed the salvation of the nations, while announcing the unbelief of the Jews; which the following verses show. Moses speaks to Israel: “All day long I have stretched out My hands to a disobedient and contrary people.” Thus, indeed, the wondrous prophets both rebuke the Jews and proclaim the faith of the nations—I mean that our Lord Jesus Christ has become a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God to confirm the promises made to the fathers, but the nations shall glorify God for His mercy; D for to Abraham the God of all promised that in his seed the nations would be blessed; and the patriarch himself and his whole race received the sign of circumcision. It was necessary, therefore, that his seed according to the flesh, and the source of blessing to the nations, should have the sign of kinship, so that the truth of the divine promise might be clearly shown; and the nations, having received the grace, shall praise this Author of love toward mankind who, through His divine prophets, foretold the faith and salvation of the nations, as it is written: “Therefore I will confess to You among the nations, O Lord, and I will sing to Your name.” And again: “Praise the Lord, all
A nations, and praise Him, all you peoples.” And again Isaiah says: “And there shall be a root of Jesse, and He who arises to rule over the nations, in Him shall the nations hope,” as it is written: “They to whom it was not told concerning Him shall see, and they who have not heard shall understand.”
When, however, He brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “And let all the angels of God worship Him.” Thus also God, through the mouth of the blessed David, says: “Once I have sworn by My holy one, if I should lie to David; his seed shall remain for ever, and his throne as the sun before Me, and as the moon established for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven.” And again: “I will set his hand in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers; he shall call upon Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the supporter of my salvation.’ And I will set him as the firstborn, high above the kings of the earth.” This is the Word of God and the only-begotten Son, and the Maker of the ages and Creator of all things. Whence, then, does He enter into the world? How is He both firstborn and only-begotten? How? Is it through His incarnation? But if the angels worshipped Him after the incarnation, did they not offer Him the same honor before the incarnation? He was everywhere as God, and He entered into the world as man: “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world knew Him not. He came to His own, and His own received Him not.” For if He was in the world, how did He come? And if He came, how was He in the world? Verily, He was in the world as God, and came as man. Thus He is the Only-begotten as God, and the firstborn as man among many brethren. This One was always receiving worship B from the angels; for He was always God; but they worshipped Him also as man. And toward the angels He says: “Who makes His angels spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire”; but toward the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a rod of uprightness is the rod of Your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness beyond Your fellows.” Through this He clearly showed that the angels indeed have a created nature, but the only-begotten Son has an uncreated and eternal one; for as God He has an eternal throne and a kingdom lacking beginning and end; but these words, “You have loved righteousness and hated iniquity,” and what follows, are said according to His humanity. For indeed the prophet Isaiah, in prophesying the things concerning Immanuel, has added these things: “Before the child knows good or evil, he will refuse evil to choose the good.” And the anointing is not of His divinity, C but of His humanity; “For the oil of gladness,” he says, “is beyond Your fellows.” Now, we are fellows and participants not of His divinity, but of His humanity, as it is written: “For He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one”; and this is humanity. D
For the nature taken up is created, yet the Creator both of us and of it is one. A Nevertheless, through that nature He calls us brethren, saying: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.” And again: “I will be confident in him.” And again: “Behold I and the children which God hath given me.”
If, however, the Lord and Creator of all, for the salvation of His servants, took on flesh and became man in all respects without sin from the holy and ever-virgin, and ate and drank and consorted with His servants, and with His own hand healed the sick among them, and endured the passion for our sake, He is not ashamed to call them brethren for whom He endured the passion—that is to say, the faithful. And not only brethren, but children as well: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” B And how was it possible for Him to manifest Himself as our brother, or to call us children in truth, if He had not clothed Himself in the same nature? For this reason, by assuming this, He destroyed the dominion of death and dissolved the fear that hung over us; for we were always living in the constant fear of death. “For verily He took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.” For if He had assumed the nature of angels, He would have been above death; but because the body He assumed was human, He paid the debt of men through His passion. Yet, by rising again in the body in which He suffered, He demonstrated His own power. “Wherefore in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” C For in like manner to us, He partook of food, and endured toil, and was sorrowful, and wept, and accepted death, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people; for in that He himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted. And these things are spoken according to human nature; for He is not our high priest as God, but as man; nor did He suffer as God, but as man; nor did He learn our circumstances through experience, but as God and Creator He knows all things most clearly.
D “But to which of the angels said He at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?” For He does not say “Sit on my right hand” to Him as God alone; for how could His throne be unto the age of the age? But it is as man, therefore, that He received this honor; as God, He has an eternal throne. And again: “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
Thou A hast made him a little lower than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and hast set him over the works of thy hands: thou hast put all things under his feet.” We see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, on account of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone, crowned with glory and honor; he was not made lower than the angels by the nature of His divinity, but by the suffering of His humanity. Just as He was therefore lower than the angels as man on account of the suffering of death—since indeed the angels possess an immortal nature, but He as man endured suffering without God for the salvation of all—for all things that possess a mortal nature needed this healing, the remedy of the incarnation; for only the divine nature is in need of nothing. Regarding this, it says: “He might taste death for all, apart from God.” And “crowned with glory and honor” as man; for after the resurrection and the ascension into the heavens, He shared in divine glory and became greater than the angels; for B He sat above principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this world but also in the coming one. For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that was not subject to Him.
Now, however, we do not yet see all things subject to Him, but in that age—that is, in the future one—He will have mastery over all; for then even those who now contradict shall be subject. For the God-Word, having become man, destroyed the power of death; and having destroyed it, He promised us the resurrection. And to the resurrection are joined immortality and incorruption, in which consists the rest promised to our fathers through faith, and life eternal, for all those who hope through a similar faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For if the perfect rest C had been in Jerusalem, Jesus the son of Nave would have allowed us to rest therein. But God did not give Abraham an inheritance in it, not even a footprint, nor did He give to his children who through faith were made like him an inheritance in it forever; but we are dwellers in it, and we depart from it in a short time. Yet there is the endless rest, which those who have heard the word today by faith will inherit, according to the divine prophet David, if they do not harden their hearts like their wicked fathers in the provocation during the day of temptation. For just as they did not enter into the present and temporary rest on account of their unbelief, but their limbs fell in the wilderness—while for them, their children entered in—so in the eternal rest promised by God through the mouth of David, those who have heard the word of faith now, having received illumination, are destined to enter at the resurrection; but they who have disbelieved and tempted God will be sent into eternal fire to be punished forever. D
Do not be ignorant of this: that all your fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea.
[...all] were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from a spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. A These things, he says, are a type of our own: for the sea symbolized the baptismal font, the cloud the grace of the Spirit, Moses the priest, the rod the cross; the Israel that entered and passed through represented those being baptized, the pursuing Egyptians fulfilled the type of the demons, and Pharaoh himself was an image of the devil. For after their passage, the Israelites were delivered from the dominion of the Egyptians; and they received manna from heaven as a type of the heavenly bread, the body of Christ. The rock also imitated the side of the Lord; for it poured forth streams beyond expectation. And that rock was to them what Christ is to us; yet it was not the rock that followed them, but the divine grace of Christ, the Son and Word of God, which caused that rock to pour forth streams of water against all expectation; for if the rock had followed them, or the streams from the rock, why would they have needed the divine grace of water again?
B "Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: The God of this people chose our fathers and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm he led them out, and for about forty years he bore with them in the wilderness, and when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. And after that, for about four hundred and fifty years, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. And afterward they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years; and having removed him, he raised up unto them David to be king, to whom also he bore witness and said: I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall fulfill all my will. From his seed, according to promise, God brought to Israel salvation, John having preached before the face of his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. C And as John was fulfilling his course, he said: Whom do you suppose that I am? I am not he; but behold, there comes after me one the latchet of whose feet I am not worthy to unloose. Men, brethren, sons of the race of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent. For those who dwelt in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him; and having found in him no cause of death, they requested of Pilate that they should kill him. And when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; who was seen for many days D of those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people and to his
A disciples and apostles, and who after his resurrection appeared for forty days, speaking to them of the things concerning the kingdom of heaven; who also proclaimed the good news to you, and similarly proclaim to us the promise which was made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this for their children, having raised up Jesus for us; as it is also written in the Psalm: "You are my Son, this day I have begotten you."
And that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he has spoken thus: "I will give to you the holy things of David, which are sure." Wherefore he also says in another place: "You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption." For David, having served his own generation by the counsel of God, fell asleep and was added to his fathers, and saw corruption; but he whom God raised up, did not see corruption. Be it known to you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is forgiveness of sins proclaimed to you, and from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses, B in him everyone who believes is justified. Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken in the prophets: "Behold, you despisers, and marvel and perish, for I work a work in your days, which you will not believe, even though one should declare it to you."
And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, saying: "If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved; for the Lord will make a finished word upon the earth." As God, the God of all, foresaw from above both those who would approach by faith and those who laboured under unbelief; for because they say that few of them received the preaching, and that all the others flee from deception, he showed that these things were foretold from above. Though they surpass in the multitude of numbers and imitate the sand of the sea, C not all shall attain salvation, but those who are adorned by faith. For the "finished word" which the Lord shall make, he termed faith; and those who have approached by faith, these are they who are called by the prophet the remnant, who shall be saved through faith.
Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the case of Elijah? Who makes intercession to God against Israel, saying: "Lord, they have killed your prophets, and torn down your altars; and I am left alone, and they are seeking my soul." But what does the divine oracle say to him? "I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." At that time, he says, there were many myriads in Israel, and all were called Israelites; but the God of all declared himself to be the God of the seven thousand, and rejected all the D others. Yet the prophet was ignorant even of this, and thought that the remnants of piety were saved only in himself. It is therefore no wonder or foreign thing if you yourselves are ignorant of those from among you who have believed in the Savior, whom the God of all calls his people. So then, also in the present time, a remnant has been made according to the election of grace, but grace is no longer from works, since if it were from works, it would not be grace.
A As it is said, then, that out of countless thousands seven thousand were left remaining free from impiety, so also now there are more who have disbelieved than those who enjoy the grace of God. For it was not the way of life according to the law that justified them (for this is what the phrase "by works of the law" means), but the grace of God that saved them. Therefore salvation is called grace, since it proceeds from the love of God for mankind, as it is written: "The deliverer will come from Sion, and will turn away impiety from Jacob; and this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins." B If the way of life according to the law bestowed the remission of their sins, the prophetic word would have foretold this. But if the law punishes those who sin, and the Jews have always been called violators of the law, it is clear that the prophetic word signifies the remission which is granted through baptism. It calls all believers "Israel," whether they are from the Gentiles or from the Jews, joined to him through the nobility of faith. What, therefore, he who is Israel according to the flesh seeks, this he has not obtained. Why has he not obtained it? Because he does not seek it by faith, but by works of the law. But the election has obtained it through faith, and the rest have been blinded—that is, they have been left in infidelity—as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, to this very day." For God did not make these men unbelievers, but He endured them, that is, He let them go. He called the hardened mind a "spirit of stupor"; for just as he who has a praiseworthy knowledge does not turn himself to the worse, so he who has given himself over entirely to malice does not choose a change for the better. C And another prophet says: "For the heart of this people has been made dull, and they heard heavily with their ears, and they closed their eyes, and they did not wish to see the light." And David says: "Let their table become a snare, and a trap, and a scandal, and a retribution to them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see, and bow down their back always."
A SMALL DIALOGUE WITH THE JEWS
D The Jew asked: "Why is swine's flesh eaten among you Christians?" The Christian said: "Why do you not eat it?" The Jew: "Because it is unclean." The Christian: "Why do you eat hens, which are—
A most unclean of all? For the Pontic hen feeds on snakes and all filth, yet you do not eat the swallow, which is cleaner than the hen; nor the cuttlefish, which is clean and bloodless and cleaner than the hen, and which eats refuse and dead carcasses, while those you do not. Do you wish to learn for what reason God said through Moses to the Jews not to eat swine's flesh? It is because when they were in Egypt with the Egyptians, they ate the pig, but the Egyptians worshipped the ox, the goat, and the dog as gods; from which came the Bosoreis, because they worshipped the ox; and the Cynitae, because they worshipped the dog. The Jews, being with them, followed their customs. Therefore, when God brought them out of Egypt, wishing to remove their hearts from those quadrupeds which the Egyptians worshipped, He commanded them to slaughter and eat here what they had there held as sacred and to be worshipped, so that by slaughtering and eating them, they might no longer honor them. But the pig, which they used to eat in Egypt, He ordered them not to taste, not because it was unclean, but B so that they might not turn their hearts back to Egypt; and so that, being compelled not to eat it, they might take the rest of the animals, slaughter them, and eat them—such as the ox, the goat, the sheep—which they had worshipped as gods while in Egypt. It was for such a reason that the law was enacted for the Jews not to eat the pig, and not because of uncleanness; for there are other things more unclean, as we have said, which even Jews eat. But God did not make these things unclean, nor did He designate them as such; rather, He bestowed them upon us even abundantly to eat, and gave them to us for other necessary uses. For apart from slaughtering and eating, the ox can provide us with other utility and service, assisting us in plowing, hauling, and other agricultural labors; the sheep provides wool for our clothing; similarly, the goat provides milk, cheese, and hair; likewise the dog is for guarding, the cat for cleaning, the hen for its egg. But the pig has no C other use, except to be eaten, since it is untimely and useless on the earth. You Jews, however, make it unclean out of your own shortsightedness, because you do not wish to buy and raise it. For if you were willing to raise it, the pig would eat the same food that the sheep and the goat eat. Hear then the Scripture saying: "And God saw all that He had made, and they were very good." D
ANOTHER INTERROGATION.
If a Hebrew says to you, "How are you, Christian, a child of Abraham, being a Gentile?" you shall say to him: "It is according to the faith, as it was said to him, that 'I have made you a father of many nations'; but you, O Jew..."how are you a child of Abraham? Did not Isaiah say to your people, 'Your father is an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite'? Therefore, I according to faith am a child of Abraham, but you are an Amorite and a Hittite in your ways." B
*Question.* If a Hebrew says to you: "How do you believe in the crucified one? Hear Scripture saying: 'Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.'" Say: "How do you believe, O Jew, in the bronze serpent, since it was cursed from among all beasts, yet its image provided life to your fathers? For if the serpent that did not bite brought life in place of the biting serpents, so also Christ, being without sin, when he was hung up for sinners, granted life to the world."
*Question.* If we must answer the Jews who say to us: "Behold, according to your opinion, the one born of Mary was not God, for it is said that Moses prophesied concerning him, saying: 'The Lord God will raise up to you a prophet from among your brothers like me; him you shall heed.' Does it appear that Moses was a man and God?" *Answer.* O Jews, when did Moses say this to you? Was it before he went up into the mount, where the appearance of his countenance was changed, so that you could not gaze upon him because of the splendor of his face unless he had a veil, or was it after his face had become such? C But agree, even against your will, that he said this after his face had become resplendent with glory. So also the Son of God, dwelling in us, had the habitation of his body as a garment, hiding his divinity; just as they could not gaze upon Moses with an uncovered face because of the glory of his countenance, so also the Son of God veiled his divinity with his humanity.
God, foreseeing that your race was stiff-necked and wicked, and that the firstborn son, Israel, would be cast out and a people from the Gentiles would be substituted, spoke those things in concealment and obscurity through the mouth of the prophets. For if your race, full of envy and stuffed with sin, had known of its own ruin, it would have burned all the books, because it could not bear to have these things written against it brought forth, nor endure the envy aroused against it. This, therefore, is the reason why the prophetic books were written in concealment; if you do not believe what we say, believe the prophet who says: "Neither did you know, nor did you hear, nor from the beginning have I opened your ears; for I knew that you would surely deal treacherously." D And now, because God is born of a woman, you are scandalized and recoil. Yet in the desert, when God was associating with you invisibly and not in the flesh, and was working those wonders for your sake, why were you thinking against God? How were you raging against Moses, to the point that it nearly came to pass that you would have stoned him? How [did you do this], abandoning your benefactor, in
and contending to return to Egypt? Answer me: it is evident, then, that you are the same and have not changed, the one who was then hard-hearted and ungrateful toward your benefactor; clearly, you are the same person even now, tempting God. A Just as you then said, "Is the Lord among us, or not?", so you perform the same acts towards Him even now when, for our sake, He has become man. Yet, you ought to have been entirely thankful to Him for this reason, just as we are accustomed to act toward the physician of bodily maladies—especially when he visits the sick person frequently, and having no regard for his own dignity, inspects the sickness and endures the foul odors, so that he may grant health to the sufferer.
If these things are so, how do you still doubt concerning the Trinity in three subsistences? How is it that you do not worship the Son? How is it that you do not believe in the Spirit? But Scripture proclaims one God. And what is the use of saying much? Leave aside Isaiah, pass over David, and every other Scripture through which the life-giving Trinity is proclaimed with a loud voice. Enter into the tabernacle of Abraham and observe carefully B who those were who appeared to him, what their number was, and what and what kind of things the patriarch said to them. For just as they appeared as three to Abraham, who already had perfect knowledge, and as they spoke as one, so he too directed his discourse to them: "Decline, Lord," he said, "to me." For what is more remarkable than this? What declares the Trinity of equal honor more clearly? By saying "Decline" in the plural, he hinted at the distinction of the persons; but by saying "Lord" in the singular, he indicated their one nature and one lordship. But if you say that the one is God, and the rest are angels, you are raving foolishly, and you appear to me to be altogether ridiculous. For when were servants permitted to sit with the Master? When the Lord appeared, when have we heard that only two angels were serving as an escort? From that time, therefore, the holy Trinity, of equal honor and co-throned, was made known to Abraham. C What do you say to these things? Are you raging again like a dog against the truth? If, you say, God is worshipped in a Trinity, why were these things not clearly made known to Israel by the prophets? Hear: Israel having formerly spent a long time in Egypt, and having learned the polytheistic religion of the Egyptians, God, who administers all things for our benefit, did not clearly deliver the doctrines concerning the Trinity, lest, taking an occasion from this for polytheism, he might fall back into the error of the Egyptians. For this reason, He wisely and economically shadowed the mystery of the Trinity. For if He had brought forth the perfect words about it from the beginning, Israel would surely have rebelled and resisted, and would have returned to its former destruction. For if, hearing nothing of the sort, they were continuously forgetting the one God Himself and hung entirely upon the impiety of the Egyptians, what would they not have done had they immediately heard openly about the Trinity? They would have thought that these very ones were the many gods who were worshipped in Egypt, because of the number. D
A I have something else to tell you regarding these matters: Since Christ said he was a man, yet not God, as you testify, why did you crucify him? Was it not because of this? And for what reason, then? Because he was violating the Law and breaking the Sabbaths. And tell me, how and in what manner did he do this? By making the paralytic walk on the Sabbath? By raising up the man who was lying in bed? By resurrecting the four-day-dead man? And what kind of violation of the Law is this? He who leads an animal out of a pit on the Sabbath is not said to violate the Law, yet he who restores to life a man who is already foul-smelling is considered to violate the Law? O unjust judgment! O your madness! That a beast is judged to be worth more than a man in your eyes, you beasts! But why do you defend the honor of the Sabbath so much, O wicked and foolish one? Long ago, when God commanded that the Sabbath be honored, and that you do no work on it, he clearly showed, by permitting the infant to be circumcised freely if the eighth day happened to fall on a Sabbath, that when the day of the true eighth circumcision finally arrived—which is the holy Lord's Day—it would be a holy and B Dominical day. For this is the one after the seventh, and therefore it is called the eighth, in which the honor of the Sabbath is abolished. Circumcision, moreover, may most aptly be spoken of: for in it, when our Lord Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, sin was circumcised and the pride of the demons was cast down. But why say much? Long ago God signified the abolition of the Sabbath and its transfer, both through the circumcision of the eighth day, as we have already shown, and no less through Jeremiah later on, when he promised to establish a New Testament. Do not, therefore, be troubled, nor fight against us by arguing, if, along with the rest, the honor of the Sabbath is transferred. For as the Testament is new, all things must be new, and its dogmas likewise. But that which is now instituted is entirely new; it is not similar to that which has passed away, nor is it, nor does it appear to be so; and the Lord declared this openly: "I will establish a New Testament, not such as I established for your fathers when I led them out of Egypt."
C If, indeed, these things are so, it is fitting to see the abolition of the Sabbath, the change of circumcision, and of many other precepts of the Law. For if those Mosaic and other prescriptions were to remain forever and hold firm until the end, God would not have said through Jeremiah that the old things had passed away and that other new things were to succeed them. But what is this New Testament, and in what place is it given? Isaiah will teach you, saying: "Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." But see the wisdom of God: for, foreseeing your obstinacy and incredulity, through one prophet he declared concerning the New Testament, while through another he revealed the very place where such a condition of the Law would have its place. Finally, you defend the honor of the Sabbath in vain; you boast of circumcision in vain; for by establishing the New Testament, God D destroyed all these things. Furthermore, since circumcision was given as a sign, what
of that circumcision, why do you boast so greatly about it? And how do you rise up against us who are uncircumcised? You are commanded to be circumcised in the flesh, but I am circumcised in the heart, so that I may not think evil thoughts. But that such circumcision is most pleasing to God, hear what He says, rebuking Israel through Jeremiah: "All the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but the house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts." B For the circumcision of the foreskin cannot justify; go to the patriarch Abraham, and you will see him justified by faith alone, and not by circumcision. For it is said: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." Afterwards, circumcision was prescribed as a sign, so that the faithful might be distinguished by it when they consorted with the nations, and that they might be brought to the memory of God. Indeed, let the facts themselves attest to you the truth of what we are saying; for when Israel dwelt alone by himself in the desert for forty years, not mixing with another nation, circumcision was not necessary, and for this reason those who were born in the desert remained uncircumcised. But when Jesus, the son of Nave, led them across the Jordan, they were circumcised by divine command: "Make for yourself," God said to him, "stone knives, and sitting, circumcise the sons of Israel." For what reason and...
The rest is missing.
FRAGMENTA.
I. DE OPERATIONIBUS.
(ANG. MAI. Script. Vet. VII, 20.)
[c] Anastasius of Antioch, from the discourse *On Operations*.
The concurrence of the two natures completed one hypostasis. For the human nature—that is, the common species from which our dough was assumed—was not previously in a distinct hypostasis, but once assumed, it is signed with the same hypostasis as the One who assumed it. For just as the Word is naturally united to the Father, so also is He to us; and the Word by which He is distinguished from the Father D is not the same as that by which He is with us. For He is not consubstantial with us in the same way that He is co-hypostatic, because He is not even so with His own Father; for nature and hypostasis are not the same thing. But He is united to Himself according to hypostasis, remaining that which He was before the ages as the Son. And He has the power to have this union with Himself, both with the Father and with us. For the union of the natures is according to hypostasis, and His hypostasis is one and the same; for being the Son, He is again the Son, even having united the human nature to Himself. For He did not take another hypostasis for Himself and unite it, but He fitted the nature immutably to His own hypostasis. And this is also God and man by nature; and the same one, as regards hypostasis, is only the Son, and Christ, and Lord; thus there is no essence without a hypostasis, even if the Word of the essence is one thing, and that of the hypostasis is another. For the two natures that have been conjoined have one and the same common hypostasis in that ineffable union; hence no addition was made to the Holy Trinity; for It is incapable of addition. Furthermore, the Trinity is of hypostases; for essence is of a monadic nature. Since, then, the same hypostasis of the Son remains, how do some speak foolishly, inventing and claiming to call a quaternity instead of a Trinity those who confess the truth of the natures in Christ, or of those things in which Christ is? If we said that the ensouled flesh of the Lord ever subsisted by itself, or asserted that it operated separately and in part, they would rightly imagine us to be saying a quaternity instead of a Trinity; but if we confess that it always operates together with the Word conjoined and co-subsisting with it, inseparably, and we do not say that it existed prior to the union with Him, but know that it received its being in Him,