Theophany 5.41–5.52

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

Of? those therefore, who excused themselves from saying the things which would contribute to their own good fame, and who recorded against themselves accusations which can never be forgotten, charging themselves with their own foolishness, in things which none of those who came afterwards could have known, had they not been recorded by themselves; How (shall we not assert) they were free from every feeling of self-love, and lying statement? and justly confess of them, that they openly and clearly put forth the proof of an ardent love of truth? Those therefore, who evinced such a character as this,—of whom men thought that they were the authors of falsehood and of lying, and whom they endeavoured to malign as Deceivers ;—-How are these not (now) found to be a laughing-stock, lovers of hatred and envy, and enemies to the truth? For, How should not those be such, who (insisted) on the things which were guileless, and of no hateful observance; these same (I say), whose characters were true and pure, and who shewed forth their habitual dispositions by their words ?>—(not) that (men) should say of them, that they were cunning and wily Sophists, and fabricators of things that had no existence, and laid upon their Lord, by way of favour, things which He never did. It does appear to me, that we may well put the question to these, Whether it be right we should give credence to the Disciples of our Saviour, or not? And, if we are not For this, that (men) should affirm that these same persons were true; and again this, that they were false, would be nothing else but to affirm of them, that which is in itself contradictory ! Of What sort then, should the reprehension of these be? For, if this stigma is to be fixed upon them, (viz.) that they propagated falsehood, and exalted their Lord by lying statements, and adorned Him by means of (fabricated) miracles; they surely never would have committed to writing the things already mentioned, which were adverse to themselves; nor would they have made it known to those, who should come afterwards, that He, whose ambassadors they were, was ‘‘ oppressed” and “ ewceedingly sorrowful,” and was perturbed in his soul: or, that they ‘forsook Him and fled:” or, that he, who was the chosen of all the Apostles, and His Disciple, the same Simon Peter (I say),—who is preached of,—did, without either pain (inflicted), or torment threatened, deny Him three times! For these things, even if said by others, it was necessary they should deny; they (I say), who betook themselves to nothing else, except the fabrication of false statements favourable to Him, and magnifying both themselves and their Lord.

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

If! then, they appear to be lovers of truth in those grievous accounts (which they give) of Him; much more are they so in those glorious ones. For those, who chose to lie on any one occasion, would the more particularly avoid those things which brought difficulty with them, either by silence or denial of them: because, those who should come after, would not have it in their power to blame the things, which they had (so) kept silent. Why then, did they not lie and say that Judas who betrayed Him, forthwith became a stone, when he dared to give the kiss—the signal of betrayal? And, that he who dared to strike Him on the cheek, had his right hand immediately withered? And the High Priest of the Jews, because he ran along with those who criminated Him, became blind in his eyes? But, Why did not they all lie, (and say) that, in truth, no grievance (whatsoever) happened to Him? but, — that He concealed Himself from men, and laughed at their judgment-hall? and, that those who accused Him, were deceived by spectres sent from God: thinking that they were doing something adverse to one who was not near them? And, Why should not this have been (deemed) more glorious, than their falsely stating that “ He raised the dead,” and was the doer of wonderful works? This, that they should have recorded, that nothing either human or mortal happened to him; but, that He did every thing by the Divine power?—-That He made His ascension to heaven in the Divine glory? For those, who gave credence to their other accounts, could not have withholden their belief from these. How then, should those be (deemed) worthy of exemption from every suspicion of vice, who concealed nothing of the truth, as to the difficulties and calamities (so happening); and not also worthy of all credit, as to the other miraculous deeds which they attested respecting Him? The testimony therefore, of these men respecting our Saviour, is sufficient. There is nevertheless, nothing to prohibit our availing ourselves, even the more abundantly, of the Hebrew witness Josephus; who, in the Eighteenth Book of his Antiquities of the Jews, writing the things that belonged to the times of Pilate, commemorates our Saviour in these words :— (The testimony) of Josephus respecting the Christ.

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

“At this period then was Jesus, a wise man, if it be right to call Him a man; for He was the doer of think’, he would attempt this with the greatest impropriety. For, How could they who could scarcely open” their lips, ever be the Teachers of any one man, much less of multitudes? And, How could they,—destitute of every sort of erudition,—address whole assemblies, unless this were indeed a shewing forth of the will of God? For He called them, as we have already shewn, and said in the first place “ Follow me, and I will make you Fishers of men.” And, because He thenceforth made them His own, and they adhered to Him, He breathed into them the Divine power, and filled them both with strength and courage: and, as He was THE Word of God in truth, and the Doer of all these miracles, He made them the Fishermen of intellectual and reasonable souls; adding, at once to the word ‘ Follow me, and I will make you,” the Deed, making them both the Doers. and Teachers, of the worship of His God. And thus He sent them forth into all nations throughout the whole creation, and demonstrated that they were the Preachers of His doctrine. And, Who is not astonished, and probably incredulous, as to this miracle,— which could scarcely (indeed) have been imagined ? Since no one, of those who have been eminent, has ever been commemorated as having had recourse to any such thing as this; or has come up to any thing resembling it. For it has been the desire of each one of these, to set up something promising to himself, in his own land only; or, to be able to establish such laws as seemed to him good, among some one people of hisown. But observe of Him, who availed himself of nothing either human or mortal, how, in reality, He again put forth THE Word of God in the precept, which He gave hidden from the many, by His mame; and, (accordingly) He made the addition, ‘Jn my name.” He thus accurately foretold moreover, something which should come to pass, (when) He said, ‘Jt is expedient that this my Gospel be preached in the whole world, for the testimony of all nations.” Now, this matter was then declared in a corner of the earth, so that those only who were at hand could have heard it. But, How could they have believed Him when He said this, unless they had taken experiment as to the truth of His words, from the other Divine acts which were done by Him? For this, you are compelled to confess when it is considered, that they gave credence to what He said. For, when He gave them the command, not so much as one sought to be excused; but they confided in what He had intimated: and, just as His promises had been, so pip they make Disciples of the whole race of men! They did go forth from their own land into all nations; and, in a short time, His words were seen im effect ! His Gospel was therefore shortly preached, throughout the whole creation, for the testimony of all nations, so that the Barbarians and Greeks received the Scriptures, respecting the common Saviour of all, in the handwriting of their Progenitors, and in the words of their spiritual Fathers’. [47] A man might therefore well stand in doubt, as to what the form of the doctrine of our Saviour’s Disciples was; how they passed on into the midst of cities, and so proclaimed (it) in the middle of the streets; lifting up their voices, calling to those with whom they met, and thence conversing with the people: also, of what sort the language was in which they addressed them, so that we can imagine the hearers were persuaded thereby: and (again), how (such) men, inexperienced in words and far removed from every sort of erudition, could speak before the people ; and (this), if not in large assemblies, still with the few with deficient as these, when saying; You should despise the things of your own forefathers; charge as folly those of the wise of ancient times; suffer yourselves to be persuaded by us alone, and to be commanded by the precepts of Him who was crucified: for He only is the beloved, and only (begotten) of that God alone, who is over all ?

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

I myself however, investigating for myself with effort’, and in the love of truth, this same thing (singly), should perceive not one virtue in it (making it) credible, nor even any thing great, or worthy of faith, nor so persuasive, as adequate to the persuading of even one illiterate person, much less men wise and intellectual. Nevertheless, when again I view its power, and the result of its doings ; how the many myriads have given their assent to it, and how Churches of tens of thousands of men have been brought together, by these very deficient and rustic persons ; —nor that these were built in obscure places, nor in those which are unknown, but rather in the greatest cities, I say in the Imperial city of Rome itself, in Alexandria, in Antioch, in all Egypt, in Libya, in Europe, in Asia, both in the villages and (other) places, and among all nations ;" I am again compelled to recur to the question of (its) cause, and to confess, that they (the Disciples) could not otherwise have undertaken this enterprise, than by a Divine power which exceeds that of man, and by the assistance of Him who said to them, ‘ Go, and make Disciples of all nations in my name.” And, when He had said this to them, He attached to it the promise, by which they should be so encouraged, as readily to give themselves up to the things commanded. For He said to them, ‘‘ Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” It is stated, moreover, that He breathed into them the Holy Ghost with the Divine power; (thus) giving them the power to work miracles, saying at one time, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost';” and at another, commanding them, to ‘ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out Demons :—freely ye have received, freely give’.”

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

Even you yourself see therefore, how this their word took effect; since even the Book of their Acts attests things like to these, and which accord with them : how,— (for example,) when writing also of those by whom miraculous deeds were done in the name of Jesus,—those, who were present and saw, were astonished. They were astonished, as it should seem, at those who had formerly seen (this power) by means of deeds; and who then made them (i.e. the chief Priests, ) readily to ask, Who this was, by whose power and name the miracle had been wrought ?—And thus, as they taught, they found that these had in faith (even) run before their instruction. For, it was not by words that they were persuaded; but it was by the deeds which preceded these, that they were readily prevailed upon to accede to the things said. It is also said, that men suddenly brought to them sacrifices and libations, as if they had been Gods; thinking that one of them was Mercury, the other Jupiter’: and the whole of this astonishment was, to their minds, a demonstration that the deeds done were miraculous. And, as all those which they preached respecting our Saviour, were such as these, they were thenceforth quickly, and with propriety, received. Nor did they give their testimony of His resurrection from the dead, by mere words and without proofs; but, by their power and by deeds did they persuade, and shew forth the works of the living (God).

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

then, they preached that He was God, and the Son of God, and that He was with the Father before He came among men; Why should they not have especially added to this, that they believed what was adverse to have been impossible and incredible? For they must have justly thought it impossible, that these acts could have been those of men; but, on the contrary, those of God, even the more’ though no one would say (this).

English translation by Samuel Lee (1843); the original is not shown

And’ this, and nothing else, is indeed the thing required, (viz.) by what power the Disciples of our Saviour gained credit from those, who had from the first heard them: and how they persuaded both Greeks and Barbarians to think of Him, as of roe Word of God: and how they set up in the midst of the cities, and in all villages, Houses (appropriated to) the Doctrine of the worship of the supreme God. And, Who is not also astonished at this, when he considers with himself, and feels satisfied, that this could not have been of man; that never at any former time, were the many nations of the whole creation subject to the one sovereign rule of the Romans, except only since the time of our Saviour? For it happened, immediately upon His passing about among men, that the affairs of the Romans became […];—that, at that time, Augustus was primarily the sole Sovereign of many nations; and that in his time Cleopatra was inflamed with love; and the traditionary (kingdom) of the Ptolemies in Egypt was dissolved’. For, from that time, and until now, that kingdom which was from ancient time; and of it, as one might say, the ancient germ of men which was established in Egypt, have been rooted up. From the enemies of His word, by the greater fear of a superior kingdom. For it was His will, that (His word) should daily increase and extend itself to all mankind: and again, so, that it should not be thought, that, it was by the connivance of the Rulers, and not by the superior power of God, it took effect—When any one of the tyrants was so elated by wickedness, as to set about resisting the word of Christ, the God of all even allowed such at once to do his will ; because he would afford proof to those combatants’ for (establishing) the worship of God, and also that it might be seen clearly by all men, that it was not by the will of man that the word was established, but by the power of God himself. And, Who is not” instantly amazed at the things which usually come to pass in times such as these? For, those ancient combatants from among men for the worship of God, kept secret the nature of their superiority: at that time’ they became known and seen by all, when they were adorned with the victories which were from God: while those, who were the enemies of the worship of God, received the punishments which were justly their due: chastized (as they were) by strokes sent from God, and their entire bodies wasted by grievous and incurable diseases, so as to have been speedily driven to confess . . . their wickedness in opposing our Saviour’! But these, the rest of all those who were worthy of the Divine name (Christian), and who gloried in thinking of the things which belonged to Christ, did in a short time shew,—being brought through trials,—the purity and refining of their minds, and that they had thus also obtained freedom for their souls. And soon did God cause, that, by their means, THE Word, the Saviour, should arise (as the sun) on tens of thousands. .