|
|
THREE BOOKS OF TESTIMONIES
AGAINST THE JEWS Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus
(c. 200-258)
FIRST BOOK. HEADS.
1. That the Jews have fallen under the heavy wrath of God, because they have departed from the Lord, and have followed idols.
2. Also because they did not believe the prophets, and put them to death.
3. That it was previously foretold that they would neither know the Lord, nor understand nor receive Him.
4. That the Jews would not understand the Holy Scriptures, but that they would be intelligible in the last times, after Christ had come.
5. That the Jews could understand nothing of the Scriptures unless they first believed on Christ.
6. That they would lose Jerusalem, and leave the land which they had received.
7. That they would also lose the Light of the Lord.
8. That the first circumcision of the flesh was made void, and a second circumcision of the spirit was promised instead.
9. That the former law, which was given by Moses, was about to cease.
10. That a new law was to be given.
11. That another dispensation and a new covenant was to be given.
12. That the old baptism was to cease, and a new one was to begin.
13. That the old yoke was to be made void, and a new yoke was to be given.
14. That the old pastors were to cease, and new ones to begin.
15. That Christ should be God's house and temple, and that the old temple should pass away, and a new one should begin.
16. That the old sacrifice should be made void, and a new one should be celebrated.
17. That the old priesthood should cease, and a new priest should come who should be for ever.
18. That another prophet, such as Moses, was promised, to wit, who should give a new testament, and who was rather to be listened to.
19. That two peoples were foretold, the elder and the younger; that is, the ancient people of the Jews, and the new one which should be of us.
20. That the Church, which had previously been barren, should have more sons from among the Gentiles than the synagogue had had before.
21. That the Gentiles should rather believe in Christ.
22. That the Jews should lose the bread and the cup of Christ, and all His grace; while we should receive them, and that the new name of Christians should be blessed in the earth.
23. That rather the Gentiles than the Jews should attain to the kingdom of heaven.
24. That by this alone the Jews could obtain pardon of their sins, if they wash away the blood of Christ slain in His baptism, and, passing over into the Church, should obey His precepts.
Testimonies.
Second Book.
Heads.
Testimonies.
Third Book.
Heads.331
Testimonies.
Treatise XII.1 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews.
Cyprian to his son Quirinus, greeting. It was necessary, my beloved son,
that I should obey your spiritual desire, which asked with most urgent
petition for those divine teachings wherewith the Lord has condescended to
teach and instruct us by the Holy Scriptures, that, being led away from the
darkness of error, and enlightened by His pure and shining light, we may
keep the way of life through the saving sacraments. And indeed, as you have
asked, so has this discourse been arranged by me; and this treatise has been
ordered in an abridged compendium, so that I should not scatter what was
written in too diffuse an abundance, but, as far as my poor memory
suggested, might collect all that was necessary in selected and connected
heads, under which I may seem, not so much to have treated the subject, as
to have afforded material for others to treat it. Moreover, to readers also,
brevity of the same kind is of very great advantage, in that a treatise of
too great length dissipates the understanding and perception of the reader,
while a tenacious memory keeps that which is read in a more exact
compendium. But I have comprised in my undertaking two books of equally
moderate length: one wherein I have endeavoured to show that the Jews,
according to what had before been foretold, had departed from God, and had
lost God's favour, which had been given them in past time, and had been
promised them for the future; while the Christians had succeeded to their
place, deserving well of the Lord by faith, and coming out of all nations
and from the whole world. The second book likewise contains the sacrament of
Christ, that He has come who was announced according to the Scriptures, and
has done and perfected all those things whereby He was foretold as being
able to be perceived and known.2 And these things may be of advantage to you
meanwhile, as you read, for forming the first lineaments of your faith. More
strength will be given you, and the intelligence of the heart will be
effected more and more, as you examine more fully the Scriptures, old and
new, and read through the complete volumes of the spiritual books.3 For now
we have filled a small measure from the divine fountains, which in the
meantime we would send to you. You will be able to drink more plentifully,
and to be more abundantly satisfied, if you also will approach to drink
together with us at the same springs of the divine fulness.4 I bid you,
beloved son, always heartily farewell.
First Book.
Heads.
1. That the Jews have fallen under the heavy wrath of God, because they have
departed from the Lord, and have followed idols.
2. Also because they did not believe the prophets, and put them to death.
3. That it was previously foretold that they would neither know the Lord,
nor understand nor receive Him.
4. That the Jews would not understand the Holy Scriptures, but that they
would be intelligible in the last times, after Christ had come.
5. That the Jews could understand nothing of the Scriptures unless they
first believed on Christ.
6. That they would lose Jerusalem, and leave the land which they had
received.
7. That they would also lose the Light of the Lord.
8. That the first circumcision of the flesh was made void, and a second
circumcision of the spirit was promised instead.
9. That the former law, which was given by Moses, was about to cease.
10. That a new law was to be given.
11. That another dispensation and a new covenant was to be given.
12. That the old baptism was to cease, and a new one was to begin.
13. That the old yoke was to be made void, and a new yoke was to be given.
14. That the old pastors were to cease, and new ones to begin.
15. That Christ should be God's house and temple, and that the old temple
should pass away, and a new one should begin.
16. That the old sacrifice should be made void, and a new one should be
celebrated.
17. That the old priesthood should cease, and a new priest should come who
should be for ever.
18. That another prophet, such as Moses, was promised, to wit, who should
give a new testament, and who was rather to be listened to.
19. That two peoples were foretold, the elder and the younger; that is, the
ancient people of the Jews, and the new one which should be of us.
20. That the Church, which had previously been barren, should have more sons
from among the Gentiles than the synagogue had had before.
21. That the Gentiles should rather believe in Christ.
22. That the Jews should lose the bread and the cup of Christ, and all His
grace; while we should receive them, and that the new name of Christians
should be blessed in the earth.
23. That rather the Gentiles than the Jews should attain to the kingdom of
heaven.
24. That by this alone the Jews could obtain pardon of their sins, if they
wash away the blood of Christ slain in His baptism, and, passing over into
the Church, should obey His precepts.5
Testimonies.
1. That the Jews have fallen under the heavy wrath of God because they have
forsaken the Lord, and have followed idols.
In Exodus the people said to Aaron: "Arise and make us gods which shall go
before us: because as for this man Moses, who brought us out of Egypt, we
know not what has become of him."6 In the same place also Moses says to the
Lord: "O Lord, I pray thee, this people have sinned! a great sin. They have
made to themselves gods of gold and silver. And now, if thou wilt forgive
them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book which Thou hast
written. And the Lord said unto Moses, If any one hath sinned against me,
him will I blot out of my book."7 Likewise in Deuteronomy: They sacrificed
unto demons, and not unto God."8 In the book of Judges too: "And the
children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord God of their fathers,
who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed the gods of the
peoples that were round about them, and offended the Lord, and forsook God,
and served Baal."9 Also in the same place: "And the children of Israel added
again to do evil10 in the sight of the Lord, and served Baal and the gods of
the strangers, and forsook the Lord, and served Him not."11 In Malachi:
"Judah is forsaken, and has become an abomination in Israel and in
Jerusalem, because Judah has profaned the holiness of the Lord in those
things wherein He hath loved, and courted strange gods. The Lord will cut
off the man who doeth this, and he shall be made base in the tabernacles of
Jacob."12
2. Also because they did not believe the prophets, and put them to death.
In Jeremiah the Lord says: "I have sent unto I you my servants the prophets.
Before the daylight I sent them (and ye heard me not, and did not listen
with your ears), saying, Let every one of you be converted from his evil
way, and from your most wicked desires; and ye shall dwell in that land
which I have given you and your fathers for ever and ever."13 And again:14
"Go not after other gods, to serve them, and do not worship them; and
provoke me not to anger in the works of your hands to scatter you abroad;
and ye have not hearkened unto me."15 Also in the third book of the Kings,
Elias saith unto the Lord: "In being jealous I have been jealous for the
Lord God Almighty; because the children of Israel have forsaken Thee, have
demolished Thine altars, and have slain Thy prophets with the sword; and I
have remained solitary, and they seek my life, to take it away from me."16
In Ezra also: "They have fallen away from Thee, and have cast Thy law behind
their backs, and have killed Thy prophets which testified against them that
they should return to Thee."17
3. That it was previously foretold that they would neither know the Lord,
nor understand, nor receive Him.
In Isaiah: "Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken;
I have begotten and brought up children, but they have rejected me. The ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known
me, and my people hath not perceived me. Ah sinful nation, a people filled
with sins, a wicked seed, corrupting children: ye have forsaken the Lord,
and have sent that Holy One of Israel into anger."18 In the same also the
Lord says: "Go and tell this people, Ye shall hear with the ear, and shall
not understand; and seeing, ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For the
heart of this people hath waxed gross, and they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have shut up their eyes, lest haply they should see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should
return, and I should heal them."19 Also in Jeremiah the Lord says: "They
have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug for themselves
worn-out cisterns, which could not hold water."20 Moreover, in the same:
"Behold, the word of the Lord has become unto them a reproach, and they do
not wish for it."21 Again in the same the Lord says: "The kite knoweth his
time, the turtle, and the swallow;22 the sparrows of the field keep the time
of their coining in; but my people doth not know the judgment of the Lord.
How say ye, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? The false
measurement23 has been made vain; the scribes are confounded the wise men
have trembled, and been taken, because they have rejected the word of the
Lord."24 In Solomon also: "Evil men seek me, and shall not find me; for they
held wisdom in hatred and did not receive the word of the Lord."25 Also in
the twenty-seventh Psalm: "Render to them their deserving, because they have
not perceived in the works of the Lord."26 Also in the eighty-first Psalm:
"They have not known, neither have they understood; they shall walk on in
darkness."27 In the Gospel, too, according to John: "He came unto His own,
and His own received Him not. As many as received Him, to them gave He power
to become the sons of God who believe on His name."28
4. That the Jews would not understand the Holy Scriptures, but that they
would be intelligible in the last times, after that Christ had come.
In Isaiah: "And all these words shall be unto you as the words of a book
that is sealed, which, if you shall give to a man that knoweth letters to
read, he shall say, I cannot read, for it is sealed. But in that day the
deaf shall hear the words of the book, and they who are in darkness and in a
cloud; the eyes of the blind shall see."29 Also in Jeremiah: "In the last of
the days ye shall know those things."30 In Daniel, moreover: "Secure the
words, and seal the book until the time of consummation, until many learn,
and knowledge is fulfilled, because when there shall be a dispersion they
shall know all these things."31 Likewise in the first Epistle of Paul to the
Corinthians: "Brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, that all our
fathers were under the cloud."32 Also in the second Epistle to the
Corinthians: "Their minds are blinded even unto this day, by this same veil
which is taken away in Christ, while this same veil remains in the reading
of the Old Testament, which is not unveiled, because it is made void in
Christ; and even to this day, if at any time Moses is read, the veil is upon
their heart. But by and by, when they shall be turned unto the Lord, the
veil shall be taken away."33 In the Gospel, the Lord after His resurrection
says: "These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and
in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened He their
understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures; and said unto
them, That thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to
rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in His name even among all nations."34
5. That the Jews could understand nothing of the Scriptures unless they
first believed in Christ.
In Isaiah: "And if ye will not believe, neither will ye understand."35 Also
the Lord in the Gospel: "For if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in
your sins."36 Moreover, that righteousness should subsist by faith, and that
in it was life, was predicted in Habakkuk: "Now the just shall live by faith
of me."37 Hence Abraham, the father of the nations, believed; in Genesis:
"Abraham believed in God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."38
In like manner, Paul to the Galatians: "Abraham believed in God, and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. Ye know, therefore, that they which are
of faith, the same are children of Abraham. But the Scripture, foreseeing
that God justifieth the heathens by faith, foretold to Abraham that all
nations should be blessed in him. Therefore they who are of faith are
blessed39 with faithful Abraham."40
6. That the Jews should lose Jerusalem, and should leave the land which they
had received.
In Isaiah: "Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your
land, strangers shall devour it in your sight; and the daughter of Zion
shall be left deserted, and overthrown by foreign peoples, as a cottage in a
vineyard, and as a keeper's lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a city which
is besieged. And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we should
have been as Sodoma, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah."41 Also in
the Gospel the Lord says: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets,
and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered
thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and thou
wouldst not! Behold, your house shall be left unto you desolate."42
7. Also that they should lose the Light of the Lord.
In Isaiah: "Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. For He hath
sent away His people, the house of Israel."43 In His Gospel also, according
to John: "That was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into
this world. He was in this world, and the world was made by Him, and the
world knew Him not."44 Moreover, in the same place: "He that believeth not
is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light."45
8. That the first circumcision of the flesh is made void, and the second
circumcision of the spirit is promised instead.
In Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah, and to them who
inhabit Jerusalem, Renew newness among you, and do not sow among thorns:
circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise the foreskin of your
heart; lest my anger go forth like fire, and burn you up, and there be none
to extinguish it."46 Also Moses says: "In the last days God will circumcise
thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God."47 Also in
Jesus the son of Nave: "And the Lord said unto Jesus, Make thee small knives
of stone, very sharp, and set about to circumcise the children of Israel for
the second time."48 Paul also, to the Colossians: "Ye are circumcised with
the circumcision not made with hands in the putting off of the flesh, but
with the circumcision of Christ."49 Also, because Adam was first made by God
uncircumcised, and righteous Abel, and Enoch, who pleased God and was
translated; and Noah, who, when the world and men were perishing on account
of transgressions, was chosen alone, that in him the human race might be
preserved; and Melchizedek, the priest according to whose order Christ was
promised. Then, because that sign did not avail women,50 but all are sealed
by the sign of the Lord.
9. That the former law which was given by Moses was to cease.
In Isaiah: "Then shall they be manifest who seal the law, that they may not
learn; and he shall say, I wait upon the Lord, who turneth away His face
from the house of Jacob, and I shall trust in Him."51 In the Gospel also:
"All the prophets and the law prophesied until John."52
10. That a new law was to be given.
In Micah: "For the law shall go forth out of Sion, and the word of the Lord
from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many peoples, and He shall subdue
and uncover strong nations."53 Also in Isaiah: "For from Sion shall go forth
the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall judge among
the nations."54 Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: "And behold a
voice out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased; hear ye Him."55
11. That another dispensation and a new covenant was to be given.
In Jeremiah: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will complete for
the house of Israel, and for the house of Judah, a new testament, not
according to the testament which I ordered with their fathers in that day in
which I took hold of their hands to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
because they remained not in my testament, and I disregarded them, saith the
Lord: Because this is the testament which will establish with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the Lord: I will give them my laws, and into
their minds I will write them; and I will be to them for a God, and they
shall be to me for a people; and they shall not teach every man his brother,
saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least even to the
greatest of them: for I will be merciful to their iniquities, and will no
more be mindful of their sins."56
12. That the old baptism should cease, and a new one should begin.
In Isaiah: "Therefore remember ye not the former things, neither reconsider
the ancient things. Behold, I make new the things which shall now arise, and
ye shall know it; and I will make in the desert a way, and rivers in a dry
place, to give drink to my chosen race, my people whom I acquired, that they
should show forth my praises."57 In the same also: "If they thirst, He will
lead them through the deserts; He will bring forth water from the rock; the
rock shall be cloven, and the water shall flow: and my people shall
drink."58 Moreover, in the Gospel according to Matthew, John says: "I indeed
baptize you with water unto repentance: but He that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; He shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost, and with fire."59 Also according to John: "Except a man
be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God. For that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit."60
13. That the old yoke should be made void, and a new yoke should be given.
In the second Psalm: "For what purpose have the heathen raged, and the
people imagined vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers
have gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. Let us
break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us."61 Likewise in
the Gospel according to Matthew, the Lord says: "Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are burdened, and I will cause you to rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find
rest unto your souls. For my yoke is excellent, and my burden is light."62
In Jeremiah: "In that day I will shatter the yoke from their neck, and will
burst their fetters; and they shall not labour for others, but they shall
labour for the Lord God; and I will raise up David a king unto them."63
14. That the old pastors should cease and new ones begin.
In Ezekiel: "Wherefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am above the
shepherds; and I will require my sheep from their hands, and I will turn
them away from feeding my sheep; and they shall feed them no more, and I
will deliver my sheep from their mouth, and I will feed them with
judgment."64 In Jeremiah the Lord says: "And I will give you shepherds
according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with the food of
discipline."65 In Jeremiah, moreover: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye
nations, and tell it to the islands which are afar off. Say, He that
scattereth Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd his
flock: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and taken him out from the hand of
him that was stronger than he."66
15. That Christ should be the house and temple of God, and that the old
temple should cease, and the new one should begin.
In the second book of Kings: "And the word of the Lord came to Nathan,
saying, Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shall not
build me an house to dwell in; but it shall be, when thy days shall be
fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed
after thee, which shall come from thy bowels, and I will make ready his
kingdom. He shall build me an house in my name, and I will raise up his
throne for ever; and I will be to him for a father, and he shall be to me
for a son: and his house shall obtain confidence, and his kingdom for
evermore in my sight."67 Also in the Gospel the Lord says: "There shall not
be left in the temple one stone upon another that shall not be thrown
down."68 And "After three days another shall be raised up without hands."69
16. That the ancient sacrifice should be made void, and a new one should be
celebrated.
In Isaiah: "For what purpose to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
saith the Lord: I am full; I will not have the burnt sacrifices of rams, and
fat of lambs, and blood of bulls and goats. For who hath required these
things from your hands? "70 Also in the forty-ninth Psalm: "I will not eat
the flesh of bulls, nor drink the blood of goats. Offer to God the sacrifice
of praise, and pay your vows to the Most High. Call upon me in the day of
trouble, and I will deliver thee: and thou shall glorify me."71 In the same
Psalm, moreover: "The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: therein is the
way in which I will show him the salvation of God."72 In the fourth Psalm
too: "Sacrifice the sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord."73
Likewise in Malachi: "I have no pleasure concerning you, saith the Lord, and
I will not have an accepted offering from your hands. Because from the
rising of the sun, even unto the going down of the same, my name is
glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place odours of incense are
offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice, because great is my name among the
nations, saith the Lord."74
17. That the old priesthood should cease, and a new priest should come, who
should be for ever.
In the cixth Psalm: "Before the morning star I begat thee. The Lord hath
sworn, and He will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchizedek."75 Also in the first book of Kings, God says to the priest
Eli: "And I will raise up to me a faithful priest, who shall do all things
which are in my heart: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall pass
in the presence of my anointed ones for all days. And it shall be, whosoever
shall remain in thine house, shall come to worship for an obolus of money,
and for one loaf of bread."76
18. That another Prophet such as Moses was promised, to wit, one who should
give a new testament, and who rather ought to be heard.
In Deuteronomy God said to Moses: "And the Lord said to me, A Prophet will I
raise up to them from among their brethren, such as thee, and I will give my
word in His mouth; and He shall speak unto them that which I shall command
Him. And whosoever shall not hear whatsoever things that Prophet shall speak
in my name, I will avenge it."77 Concerning whom also Christ says in the
Gospel according to John: "Search the Scriptures, in which ye think ye have
eternal life. These are they which set forth testimony concerning me; and ye
will not come to me, that ye might have life. Do not think that I accuse you
to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, on whom ye hope.
For if ye had believed Moses, ye would also believe me: for he wrote of me.
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? "78
19. That two peoples were foretold, the eider and the younger; that is, the
old people of the Jews, and the new one which should consist of us.
In Genesis: "And the Lord said unto Rebekah, Two nations are in thy womb,
and two peoples shall be separated from thy belly; and the one people shall
overcome the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger."79 Also in
Hosea: "I will call them my people that are not my people, and her beloved
that was not beloved. For it shall be, in that place in which it shall be
called not my people, they shall be called the sons of the living God."80
20. That the Church which before had been barren should have more children
from among the Gentiles than what the synagogue had had before.
In Isaiah: "Rejoice, thou barren, that bar-est not; and break forth and cry,
thou that travailest not: because many more are the children of the desolate
one than of her who hath an husband. For the Lord hath said, Enlarge the
place of thy tabernacle, and of thy curtains, and fasten them: spare not,
make long thy measures, and strengthen thy stakes: stretch forth yet to thy
right hand and to thy left hand; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and
shall inhabit the deserted cities. Fear not; because thou shalt overcome:
nor be afraid because thou art cursed; for thou shalt forget thy eternal
confusion."81 Thus also to Abraham, when his former son was born of a
bond-woman, Sarah remained long barren; and late in old age bare her son
Isaac, of promise, who was the type of Christ. Thus also Jacob received two
wives: the eider Leah, with weak eyes, a type of the synagogue; the younger
the beautiful Rachel, a type of the Church, who also remained long barren,
and afterwards brought forth Joseph, who also was himself a type of Christ.
And in the first of Kings it is said that Elkanah had two wives: Peninnah,
with her sons; and Hannah, barren, from whom is born Samuel, not according
to the order of generation, but according to the mercy and promise of God,
when she had prayed in the temple; and Samuel being born, was a type of
Christ. Also in the first book of Kings: "The barren hath borne seven and
she that had many children has grown weak."82 But the seven children are the
seven churches. Whence also Paul wrote to seven churches; and the Apocalypse
sets forth seven churches, that the number seven may be preserved; as the
seven days in which God made the world; as the seven angels who stand and go
in and out before the face of God, as Raphael the angel says in Tobit; and
the sevenfold lamp in the tabernacle of witness; and the seven eyes of God,
which keep watch over the world; and the stone with seven eyes, as Zechariah
says; and the seven spirits; and the seven candlesticks in the Apocalypse;
and the seven pillars upon which Wisdom hath builded her house in Solomon.
21. That the Gentiles should rather believe in Christ.
In Genesis: "And the Lord God said unto Abraham, Go out from thy country,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, and go into that land
which I shall show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will
bless thee, and I will magnify thy name; and thou shalt be blessed: and I
will bless him that blesseth thee, and I will curse him that curseth thee.
and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed."83 On this same
point in Genesis: "And Isaac blessed Jacob.84 Behold, the smell of my son is
as the smell of a plentiful field which the Lord hath blessed: and God give
thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fertility of the earth, abundance of
corn, and wine, and oil: and peoples shall obey thee, and princes shall
worship thee: and thou shalt be lord over thy brother, and the sons of thy
father shall worship thee; and he that curseth thee shall be cursed, and he
that blesseth thee shall be blessed."85 On this matter too in Genesis: "But
when Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on the head of
Ephraim, it seemed displeasing to him: and Joseph laid hold of his father's
hand, to lift it from the head of Ephraim on to the head of Manasseh.
Moreover, Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: this is my
first-born; place thy right hand upon his head. But he would not, and said,
I know it, my son, I know it: and he also shall be a people, and he shall be
exalted; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed
shall become a multitude of nations."86 Moreover in Genesis: "Judah, thy
brethren shall praise thee: thine hand shall be upon the back of thine
enemies; the sons of thy father shall worship thee. Judah is a lion's whelp:
from the slender twig,87 my son, thou hast ascended: thou layedst down and
sleepedst as a lion, and as a lion's whelp. Who shall stir him up? There
shalt not fail a prince from Judah, and a leader from his loins, until those
things entrusted to him shall come; and he is the hope of the nations:
binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the branch of the
vine;88 he shall wash his garments in wine, and his clothing in the blood of
the grape: terrible are his eyes with wine, and his teeth are whiter than
milky,"89 Hence in Numbers it is written concerning our people: "Behold, the
people shall rise up as a lion-like people."90 In Deuteronomy: "Ye Gentiles
shall be for the head; but this unbelieving people shall be for the tail."91
Also in Jeremiah: "Hear the sound of the trumpet. And they said, We will not
hear: for this cause the nations shall hear, and they who shall feed their
cattle among them."92 In the seventeenth Psalm: "Thou shalt establish me the
head of the nations: a people whom I have not known have served me: at the
hearing of the ear they have obeyed me."93 Concerning this very thing the
Lord says in Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and
before thou wentest forth from the womb, I sanctified thee, and established
thee as a prophet among the nations."94 Also in Isaiah: "Behold, I have
manifested him for a witness to the nations, a prince and a commander to the
peoples."95 Also in the same: "Nations which have not known Thee shall call
upon Thee; and peoples which were ignorant of Thee shall flee to Thee."96 In
the same, moreover: "And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which
shall rise to rule in all the nations; in Him shall the Gentiles hope: and
His rest shall be honour."97 In the same again: "The land of Zebulon, and
the land of Nephtalim, by the way of the sea, and ye others who inhabit the
maritime places, and beyond Jordan98 of the nations. People that walk in
darkness, behold yea great light; ye who dwell in the region of the shadow
of death, the light shall shine upon you."99 Also in the same: "Thus saith
the Lord God to Christ my Lord, whose right hand I hold, that the nations
may hear Him; and I will break asunder the strength of kings, I will open
before Him gates; and cities shall not be shut."100 Also in the same: "I
come to gather together all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and
see my glory. And I will send out over them a standard, and I will send
those that are preserved among them to the nations which are afar off, which
have not heard my name nor seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory to
the nations."101 Also in the same: "And in all these things they are not
converted; therefore He shall lift up a standard to the nations which are
afar, and He will draw them from the end of the earth."102 Also in the same:
"Those who had not been told of Him shall see, and they who have not heard
shall understand."103 Also in the same: "I have been made manifest to those
who seek me not: I have been formal of those who asked not after me. I said,
Lo, here am I, to a nation that has not called upon my! name."104 Of this
same thing, in the Acts of the Apostles, Paul says: "It was necessary that
the word of God should first be shown to you; but since ye put it from you,
and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles:
for thus said the Lord by the Scriptures, Behold, I have set Thee a light
among the nations, that Thou shouldest be for salvation even to the ends of
the earth."105
22. That the Jews would lose while we should receive the bread and the cup
of Christ and all His grace, and that the new name of Christians should be
blessed in the earth.
In Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, they who serve me shall eat, but ye
shall be hungry: behold, they who serve me shall drink, but ye shall be
thirsty:106 behold, they who serve me shall rejoice, but ye shall be
confounded; the Lord shall slay you. But to those who serve me a new name
shall be named, which shall be blessed in the earth."107 Also in the same
place: "Therefore shall He lift up an ensign to the nations which are afar
off, and He will draw them from the end of the earth; and, behold, they
shall come swiftly with lightness; they shall not hunger nor thirst."108
Also in the same place: "Behold, therefore, the Ruler, the Lord of Sabaoth,
shall take away from Judah and from Jerusalem the healthy man and the strong
man, the strength of bread and the strength of water."109 Likewise in the
thirty-third Psalm: "O taste and see how sweet is the Lord. Blessed is the
man that hopeth in Him. Fear the Lord God, all ye His saints: for there is
no want to them that fear Him. Rich men have wanted and have hungered; but
they who seek the Lord shall never want any good thing."110 Moreover, in the
Gospel according to John, the Lord says: "I am the bread of life: he that
cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that trusteth in me shall never
thirst."111 Likewise He saith in that place: "If any one thirst, let him
come and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture saith, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water."112 Moreover, He says in the same
place: "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye
shall have no life in you."113
23. That the Gentiles rather than the Jews attain to the kingdom of heaven.
In the Gospel the Lord says: "Many shall come from the east and from the
west, and shall lie down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall go out into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."114
24. That by this alone the Jews can receive pardon of their sins, if they
wash away the blood of Christ slain, in His baptism, and, passing over into
His Church, obey His precepts.
In Isaiah the Lord says: "Now I will not release your sins. When ye stretch
forth your hands, I will turn away my face from you; and if ye multiply
prayers, I will not hear you: for your hands are full of blood. Wash you,
make you clean; take away the wickedness from your souls from the sight of
mine eyes; cease from your wickedness; learn to do good; seek judgment; keep
him who suffers wrong; judge for the orphan, and justify the widow. And
come, let us reason together, saith the Lord: and although your sins be as
scarlet, I will whiten115 them as snow; and although they were as crimson, I
will whiten116 them as wool. And if ye be willing and listen to me, ye shall
eat of the good of the land; but if ye be unwilling, and will not hear me,
the sword shall consume you; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken these
things."117
Second Book.
Heads.
1. That Christ is the First-born, and that He is the Wisdom of God, by whom
all things were made.
2. That Christ is the Wisdom of God; and about the sacrament of His
incarnation, and passion, and cup, and altar, and the apostles who were sent
and preached.
3. That Christ also is Himself the Word of God.
4. That the same Christ is God's hand and arm.
5. That the same is Angel and God.
6. That Christ is God.
7. That Christ our God should come as the Illuminator and Saviour of the
human race.
8. That although from the beginning He had been Son of God, He had yet to be
begotten again according to the flesh.
9. That this should be the sign of His nativity, that He should be born of a
virgin-man and God-Son of man and of God.
10. That Christ is man and God, compounded of either nature, that He might
be a mediator between us and the Father.
11. That He was to be born of the seed of David after the flesh.
12. That He should be born in Bethlehem.
13. That He should come in lowly condition on His first advent.
14. That He was the righteous One whom the Jews should put to death.
15. That He was called a Sheep and a Lamb who would have to be slain, and
concerning the sacrament of the passion.
16. That He is also called a Stone.
17. That subsequently that stone should become a mountain, and should fill
the whole earth.
18. That in the last times the same mountain t should be manifested, upon
which the Gentiles t should come, and on which the righteous should go up.
19. That He is the Bridegroom, having the Church as His bride, from whom
children should be spiritually born.
20. That the Jews should fasten Him to the Cross.
21. That in the passion and the sign of the cross is all virtue and power.
22. That in this sign of the cross is salvation for all who are marked on
their foreheads.
23. That at mid-day, during His passion, there should be darkness.
24. That He should not be overcome of death, nor should remain in hell.
25. That He should rise again from hell on the third day.
26. That when He had risen, He should receive from His Father all power, and
His power should be eternal.
27. That it is impossible to attain to God the Father, except through the
Son Jesus Christ.
28. That He is to come as a Judge.
29. That He is to reign as a King for ever.
30. That He is both Judge and King.
Testimonies.
1. That Christ is the First-born, and that He is the Wisdom of God, by whom
all things were made.
In Solomon in the Proverbs: "The Lord established118 me in the beginning of
His ways, into His works: before the world He rounded me. In the beginning,
before He made the earth, and before He appointed the abysses, before the
fountains of waters gushed forth, before the mountains were settled, before
all the hills, the Lord begot me. He made the countries, and the
uninhabitable places, and the uninhabitable bounds under heaven. When He
prepared the heaven, I was present with Him; and when He set apart His seat.
When He made the strong clouds above the winds, and when He placed the
strengthened fountains under heaven, when He made the mighty foundations of
the earth, I was by His side, ordering them: I was He in whom He delighted:
moreover, I daily rejoiced before His face in all time, when He rejoiced in
the perfected earth."119 Also in the same in Ecclesiasticus: "I went forth
out of the mouth of the Most High, first-born before every creature: I made
the unwearying light to rise in the heavens, and I covered the whole earth
with a cloud: I dwelt in the high places, and my throne in the pillar of the
cloud: I compassed the circle of heaven, and I penetrated into the depth of
the abyss, and I walked on the waves of the sea, and I stood in all the
earth; and in every people and in every nation I had the pre-eminence, and
by my own strength I have trodden the hearts of all the excellent and the
humble: in me is all hope of life and virtue: pass over to me, all ye who
desire me."120 Also in the eighty-eighth Psalm: "And I will establish Him as
my first-born, the highest among the kings of the earth. I will keep my
mercy for Him for ever, and my faithful covenant for Him; and I will
establish his seed for ever and ever. If his children forsake my law, and
walk not in my judgments; if they profane my judgments, and do not observe
my precepts, I will visit their wickednesses with a rod, and their sins with
scourges; but my mercy will I not scatter away from them."121 Also in the
Gospel according to John, the Lord says: "And this is life eternal, that
they should know Thee, the only and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast sent. I have glorified Thee on the earth: I have finished the work
which Thou gavest me to do. And now, do Thou glorify me with Thyself, with
the glory which I had with Thee before the world was made."122 Also Paul to
the Colossians: "Who is the image of the invisible God, and the first-born
of every creature."123 Also in the same place: "The first-born from the
dead, that He might in all things become the holder of the pre-eminence."124
In the Apocalypse too: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I
will give unto Him that is thirsting from the fountain of the water of life
freely."125 That He also is both the wisdom and the power of God, Paul
proves in his first Epistle to the Corinthians. "Because the Jews require a
sign, and the Creeks seek after wisdom: but we preach Christ crucified, to
the Jews indeed a stumbling-block, and to the Gentiles foolishness; but to
them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God."126
2. That Christ is the Wisdom of God; and concerning the sacrament of His
incarnation and of His passion, and cup and altar; and of the apostles who
were sent, and preached.
In Solomon in the Proverbs: "Wisdom hath builded herself an house, and she
has placed under it seven pillars; she has slain her victims; she hath
mingled her wine in the goblet, and hath made ready her table,127 and hath
sent her servants, calling with a loud announcement to the cup, saying, Let
him who is foolish turn to me: and to them that want understanding she has
said, Come, eat of my loaves, and drink the wine which I have mingled for
you. Forsake foolishness, and seek wisdom, and correct knowledge by
understanding."128
3. That the same Christ is the Word of God.
In the forty-fourth Psalm: "My heart hath breathed out a good Word. I tell
my works to the King."129 Also in the thirty-second Psalm: "By the Word of
God were the heavens made fast; and all their strength by the breath of His
mouth."130 Also in Isaiah: "A Word completing and shortening in
righteousness, because a shortened word will God make in the whole
earth."131 Also in the cvith Psalm: "He sent His Word, and healed them."132
Moreover, in the Gospel according to John: "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was nothing
made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And
the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."133
Also in the Apocalypse: "And I saw the heaven opened, and lo, a white horse;
and he who sate upon him was called Faithful and True, judging rightly and
justly; and He made war. And He was covered with a garment sprinkled with
blood; and His name is called the Word of God."134
4. That Christ is the Hand and Arm of God.135
In Isaiah: "Is God's Hand not strong to save? or has He made His ear heavy,
that He cannot hear? But your sins separate between you and God; anti on
account of your sins He turns His face away from you, that He may not pity.
For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with sins. Moreover,
your lips have spoken wickedness, and your tongue meditates unrighteousness.
No one speaketh truth, nor is there true judgment: they trust in vanity, and
speak emptiness, who conceive sorrow, and bring forth wickedness."136 Also
in the same place: "Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the
Arm of God revealed? "137 Also in the same: "Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is
my throne, and the earth is the support of my feet. What house will ye build
unto me? or what is the place for my rest? For all these things hath mine
hand made."138 Also in the same: "O Lord God, Thine Arm is high, and they
knew it not; but when they know it, they shall be confounded."139 Also in
the same: "The Lord hath revealed His Arab that holy Arm, in the sight of
all nations; all nations, even the ends of the earth, shall see salvation
from God."140 Also in the same place: "Behold, I have made thee as the
wheels of a thrashing chariot, new and turned back upon themselves; "141 and
thou shalt thrash the mountains, and shalt beat the bills small, and shalt
make them as chaff, and shall winnow them; and the wind shall seize them,
and the whirlwind shall scatter them: but thou shall rejoice in the saints
of Israel; and the poor and needy shall exult. For they shall seek water,
and there shall be none. For their tongue shall be dry for thirst. I the
Lord God, I the God of Israel, will hear them, and will not forsake them;
but I will open rivers in the mountains, and fountains in the midst of the
fields. I will make the wildernesses watery groves, and a thirsty land into
watercourses. I will establish in the land of drought the cedar-tree and the
box-tree, and the myrtle and the cypress, and the elm142 and the poplar,
that they may see and acknowledge, and know and believe together, that the
Hand of the Lord hath done these things, and the Holy One of Israel hath
shown them."143
5. That Christ is at once Angel and God.144
In Genesis, to Abraham: "And the Angel of the Lord called him from heaven,
and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham! And he said, Here am I. And He said,
Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him. For now
I know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not spared thy son, thy beloved
son, for my sake."145 Also in the same place, to Jacob: "And the Angel of
the Lord spake unto me in dreams, I am God, whom thou sawest in the place of
God146 where thou anointedst me a pillar of stone, and vowedst to me a
vow."147 Also in Exodus: "But God went before them by day indeed in a pillar
of cloud, to show them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire."148 And
afterwards, in the same place: "And the Angel of God moved forward, which
went before the army of the children of Israel."149 Also in the same place:
"Lo, I send my Angel before thy face, to keep thee in the way, that He may
lead thee into the land which I have prepared for thee. Observe Him, and
obey Him, and be not disobedient to Him, and He will not be wanting to thee.
For my Name is in Him."150 Whence He Himself says in the Gospel: "I came in
the name of my Father, and ye received me not. When another shall come in
his own name, him ye will receive."151 And again in the cxviith Psalm:
"Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the Lord."152 Also in Malachi: "My
covenant of life and peace was with Levi;153 and I gave him fear, that he
should fear me, that he should go from the face of my name. The law of truth
was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. In the
peace of the tongue correcting, he walked with us, and turned many away from
unrighteousness. Because the lips of the priests shall keep knowledge, and
they shall seek the law at His mouth; for He is the Angel of the
Almighty."154
6. That Christ is God.
In Genesis: "And God said unto Jacob, Arise, and go up to the place of
Bethel, and dwell there; and make there an altar to that God who appeared
unto thee when thou reddest from the face of thy brother Esau."155 Also in
Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Sabaoth, Egypt is wearied; and the
merchandise of the Ethiopians, and the tall men of the Sabeans, shall pass
over unto Thee, and shall be Thy servants; and shall walk after Thee bound
with chains; and shall worship Thee, and shall pray to Thee, because God is
in Thee, and there is no other God beside Thee. For Thou art God, and we
knew it not, O God of Israel, our Saviour. They shall all be confounded and
fear who oppose Thee, and shall fall into confusion."156 Likewise in the
same: "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight the paths of our God. Every channel shall be filled up,
and every mountain and bill shall be made low, and all crooked places shall
be made straight, and rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be
seen, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, because the Lord hath
spoken it."157 Moreover, in Jeremiah: This is our God, and no other shall be
esteemed beside Him, who hath found all the way of knowledge, and hath given
it to Jacob His son, and to Israel His beloved. After this He was seen upon
earth, and He conversed with men."158 Also in Zechariah God says: "And they
shall cross over through the narrow sea, and they shall smite the waves in
the sea, and they shall dry up all the depths of the rivers; and all the
haughtiness of the Assyrians shall be confounded, and the sceptre of Egypt
shall be taken away. And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and
in His name shall they glory, saith the Lord."159 Moreover, in Hosea the
Lord saith: "I will not do according to the anger of mine indignation, I
will not allow Ephraim to be destroyed: for I am God, and there is not a
holy man in thee: and I will not enter into the city; I will go after
God."160 Also in the forty-fourth Psalm: "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever: the sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast
loved righteousness, and hated iniquity: wherefore God, Thy God, hath
anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows."161 So, too, in
the forty-fifth Psalm: "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted
among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth."162 Also in the
eighty-first Psalm: "They have not known, neither have they understood: they
will walk on in darkness."163 Also in the sixty-seventh Psalm: "Sing unto
God, sing praises unto His name: make a way for Him who goeth up into the
west: God is His name."164 Also in the Gospel according to John: "In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word."165
Also in the same: "The Lord said to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and
behold my hands: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and
said unto Him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they who have not seen, and yet
have believed."166 Also Paul to the Romans: "I could wish that I myself were
accursed from Christ for my brethren and my kindred according to the flesh:
who are Israel-ires: whose are the adoption, and the glory, and the
covenant, and the appointment of the law, and the service (of God), and the
promises; whose are the fathers, of whom, according to the flesh, Christ
came, who is God over all, blessed for evermore."167 Also in the Apocalypse:
"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end I will give to him that is
athirst, of the fountain of living water freely. He that overcometh shall
possess these things, and their inheritance; and I will be his God, and he
shall be my son."168 Also in the eighty-first Psalm: "God stood in the
congregation of gods, and judging gods in the midst."169 And again in the
same place: "I have said, Ye are gods; and ye are all the children of the
Highest: but ye shall die like men."170 But if they who have been righteous,
and have obeyed the divine precepts, may be called gods, how much more is
Christ, the Son of God, God! Thus He Himself says in the Gospel according to
John: "Is it not written in the law, that I said, Ye are gods? If He called
them gods to whom the word of God was given, and the Scripture cannot be
relaxed, do ye say to Him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the
world, that thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? But if I
do not the works of my Father, believe me not; but if I do, and ye will not
believe me, believe the works, and know that the Father is in me, and I in
Him."171 Also in the Gospel according to Matthew: "And ye shall call His
name Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, God with us."172
7. That Christ our God should come, the En-lightener and Saviour of the
human race.
In Isaiah: "Be comforted, ye weakened hands; and ye weak knees, be
strengthened. Ye who are of a timorous heart, fear not. Our God will
recompense judgment, He Himself will come, and will save us. Then shall be
opened the eves of the blind, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the
lame man shall leap as a stag, and the tongue of the dumb shall be
intelligible; because in the wilderness the water is broken forth, and the
stream in the thirsty land."173 Also in that place: "Not an elder nor an
angel, but the Lord Himself shall deliver them; because He shall love them,
and shall spare them, and He Himself shall redeem them.174 Also in the same
place: "I the Lord God have called Thee in righteousness, that I may hold
Thine hand, and I will comfort Thee; and I have given Thee for a covenant of
my people, for a light of the nations; to open the eyes of the blind, to
bring forth them that are bound from chains, and those who sit in darkness
from the prison-house. I am the Lord God, that is my name. I will not: give
any glory to another, nor my powers to given images."175 Also in the
twenty-fourth Psalm: "Show me Thy ways, 0 Lord, and teach me Thy paths, and
lead me unto Thy truth, and teach me; for Thou art the God of my
salvation."176 Whence, in the Gospel according to John, the Lord says: "I am
the light of the world. He that will follow me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life."177 Moreover, in that according to
Matthew, the angel Gabriel says to Joseph: "Joseph, thou son of David, fear
not to take unto thee Mary thy wife. For that which shall be born to her is
of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His
name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins."178 Also in that
according to Luke: "And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and
prophesied, saying, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath foreseen
redemption for His people, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in
the house of His servant David."179 Also in the same. place, the angel said
to the shepherds: "Fear not; for, behold, I bring you tidings that unto you
is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ Jesus."180
8. That although from the beginning He had been the Son of God, yet He had
to be begotten again according to the flesh.
In the second Psalm: "The Lord said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have
I begotten Thee. Ask of me, and I will give Thee the nations for Thine
inheritance, and the bounds of the earth for Thy possession."181 Also in the
Gospel according to Luke: "And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the
salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and she was filled with the
Holy Ghost, and she cried out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence does this
happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? "182 Also Paul
to the Galatians: "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent His
Son, horn of a woman."183 Also in the Epistle of John: "Every spirit which
confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. But whosoever
denies that He is come in the flesh is not of God, but is of the spirit of
Antichrist."184
9. That this should be the sign of His nativity, that He should be born of a
virgin-man and God-a son of man and a Son of God.
In Isaiah: "And the Lord went on to speak to Ahaz, saying, Ask thee a sign
from the Lord thy God, in the height above and in the depth below. And Ahaz
said, I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord my God. And He said,
Hear ye, therefore, O house of David: it is no trifling contest unto you
with men, since God supplies the struggle. On this account God Himself will
give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son, and
ye shall call His name Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat; before that
He knows to prefer the evil, He shall exchange the good."185 This seed God
had foretold would proceed from the woman that should trample on the head of
the devil. In Genesis: "Then God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast
done this, cursed art thou from every kind of the beasts of the earth. Upon
thy breast and thy belly shalt thou crawl, and earth shall be thy food all
the days of thy life. And I will place enmity between thee and the woman and
her seed. He shall regard thy head, and thou shalt watch his heel."186
10. That Christ is both man and God, compounded of both natures, that He
might be a Mediator between us and the Father.
In Jeremiah: "And He is man, and who shall know Him?187 Also in Numbers: "A
Star shall arise out of Jacob, and a man shall rise up from Israel."188 Also
in the same place: "A Man shall go forth out of his seed,189 and shall rule
over many nations; and His kingdom shall be exalted as Gog,190 and His
kingdom shall be increased; and God brought Him forth out of Egypt. His
glory is as of the unicorn, and He shall eat the nations of His enemies, and
shall take out the marrow of their fatnesses, and will pierce His enemy with
His arrows. He couched and lay down as a lion, and as a lion's whelp. Who
shall raise Him up? Blessed are they who bless Thee, and cursed are they who
curse Thee."191 Also in Isaiah: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; on
account whereof He hath anointed me: He hath sent me to tell good tidings to
the poor; to heal the bruised in heart, to preach deliverance to the
captives, and sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the
Lord, and the day of retribution."192 Whence, in the Gospel according to
Luke, Gabriel says to Mary: "And the angel, answering, said to her, The Holy
Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
thee. Wherefore that holy thing which is born of thee shall be called the
Son of God."193 Also in the first Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: "The
first man is of the mud194 of the earth; the second man is from heaven. As
was he from the soil, such are they also that are of the earth; and as is
the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of him
who is of the earth, let us also bear the image of Him who is from
heaven."195
11. That Christ was to be born of the seed of David, according to the flesh.
In the second of Kings: "And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, Go
and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shall not build me an
house to dwell in; but it shall come to pass, when thy days shall be
fulfilled, and thou shall sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed
after thee who shall come from thy loins, and I will establish His kingdom.
He shall build me a house in my name, and I will set up His throne for ever;
and I will be to; Him a Father, and He shall be to me a Son; and His house
shall obtain confidence, and His kingdom for ever in my sight."196 Also in
Isaiah: "And a rod shall go forth of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall
go up from his root; and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the
spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall
fill Him."197 Also in the cxxxist Psalm: "God hath sworn the truth unto
David himself, and He has not repudiated it; of the fruit of thy belly will
I set upon my throne."198 Also in the Gospel according to Luke: "And the
angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary. For thou hast found favour before God.
Behold, thou shall conceive, and shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call His
name Jesus. The same shall be great, and He shall be called the Son of the
Highest; and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David, and
He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of His kingdom there
shall be no end."199 Also in the Apocalypse: "And I saw in the right hand of
God, who sate on the throne, a book written within, and on the back sealed
with seven seals; and I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice,
Who is worthy to receive the book, and to open its seals? Nor was there any
one either in heaven or upon the earth, or under the earth, who was able to
open the book, nor even to look into it. And I wept much because nobody was
found worthy to open the book, nor to look into it. And one of the elders
said unto me, Weep not; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of
David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose its seven seals."200
12. That Christ should be born in Bethlehem.
In Micah: "And thou, Bethlehem, house of Ephrata, art not little, that thou
shouldst be appointed among the thousands of Judah. Out of thee shall He
come forth to me, that He may be a prince in Israel, and His goings forth
from the beginning from the days of old."201 Also in the Gospel: "And when
Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah, in the days of Herod the king, behold,
Magi came from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King
of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and we have come with
gifts to worship Him."202
13. That Christ was to come in low estate in His first advent.
In Isaiah: "Lord, who hath believed our report, and to whom is the Arm of
the Lord revealed? We have declared in His presence as children, as a root
in a thirsty ground. There is no form nor glory in Him; and we saw Him, and
He had no form nor beauty; but His form was without honour, and lacking
beyond other men. He was a man set in a plague, and knowing how to bear
weakness; because His face was turned away, He was dishonoured, and was not
accounted of. He bears our sins, and grieves for us; and we thought that He
was in grief, and in wounding, and in affliction; but He was wounded for our
transgressions, and He was weakened203 for our sins. The discipline of our
peace was upon Him, and with His bruise we are healed. We all like sheep
have gone astray; than has gone out of his way. And God has delivered Him
for our sins; and He, because He was afflicted, opened not His mouth."204
Also in the same: "I am not rebellious, nor do I contradict. I gave my back
to the stripes, and my cheeks to the palms of the hands. Moreover, I did not
turn away my Gee from the foulness of spitting, and God was my helper."205
Also in the same: "He shall not cry, nor will any one hear His voice in the
streets. He shall not break a bruised reed, and a smoking flax He shall not
extinguish; but He shall bring forth judgment in truth. He shall shine
forth, and shall not be shaken, until He set judgment in the earth, and in
His name shall the nations trust."206 Also in the twenty-first Psalm: "But I
am a worm, and no man; the accursed of man, and the casting away of the
people. All they who saw me despised me, and spoke within their lips, and
moved their head. He hoped in the Lord, let Him deliver him; let Him save
him, since he will have Him."207 Also in that place: "My strength is dried
up like a potsherd, and my tongue is glued to my jaws."208 Also in
Zechariah: "And the Lord showed me Jesus, that great priest, standing before
the face of the Angel of the Lord, and the devil was standing at his right
hand to oppose him. And Jesus was clothed in filthy garments, and he stood
before the face of the Angel Himself; and He answered and said to them who
were standing before His face, saying, Take away his filthy garments from
him. And he said to him, Behold, I have taken away thine iniquities. And put
upon him a priestly garment,209 and set a fair mitre210 upon his head."211
Also Paul to the Philippians: "Who, being established in the form of God,
thought it not robbery that He was equal with God, but emptied Himself,
taking the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being
found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, becoming obedient even unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore also God exalted Him, and gave
Him a name which is above every name, that in the name212 of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven, of things in earth, and of infernal
things, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord in the
glory of God the Father."213
14. That He is the righteous One whom the Jews should put to death.
In the Wisdom of Solomon: "Let us lay hold of the righteous, because He is
disagreeable to us, and is contrary to our works, and reproacheth us with
our transgressions of the law.214 He professeth that He has the knowledge of
God, and calls Himself the Son of God; He has become to us an exposure of
our thoughts; He is grievous unto us even to look upon, because His life is
unlike to others, and His ways are changed. We are esteemed by Him as
frivolous, and He restraineth Himself from our ways, as if from uncleanness;
and He extols the last end of the righteous, and boasts that He has God for
His Father. Let us see, then, if His words are true, and let us try what
will come to Him. Let us interrogate Him with reproach and torture, that we
may know His reverence and prove His patience. Let us condemn Him with a
most shameful death. These things they considered, and erred. For their
maliciousness hath blinded them, and they knew not the sacraments of
God."215 Also in Isaiah: "See ye how the righteous perisheth, and no man
understandeth; and righteous men are taken away, and no man regardeth. For
the righteous man is taken away froth the face of unrighteousness, and his
burial shall be in peace."216 Concerning this very thing it was before
foretold in Exodus: "Thou shalt not slay the innocent and the righteous."217
Also in the Gospel: "Judas, led by penitence, said to the priests and
elders, I have sinned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood."218
15. That Christ is called a sheep and a lamb who was to be slain, and
concerning the sacrament (mystery) of the passion.
In Isaiah: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his
shearer is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment
was taken away: who shall relate His nativity? Because His life shall be
taken away from the earth. By the transgressions of my people He was led to
death; and I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich themselves
for His death; because He did no wickedness, nor deceits with His mouth.
Wherefore He shall gain many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong;
because His soul was delivered up to death, and He was counted among
transgressors. And He bare the sins of many, and was delivered for their
offences."219 Also in Jeremiah: "Lord, give me knowledge, and I shall know
it: then I saw their meditations. I was led like a lamb without malice to
the slaughter; against me they devised a device, saying, Come, let us cast
the tree into His bread,220 and let us erase His life from the earth, and
His name shall no more be a remembrance."221 Also in Exodus God said to
Moses: "Let them take to themselves each man a sheep, through the houses of
the tribes, a sheep without blemish, perfect, male, of a year old it shall
be to you. Ye shall take it from the lambs and from the goats, and all the
congregation of the synagogue of the children of Israel shall kill it in the
evening; and they shall take of its blood, and shall place it upon the two
posts,222 and upon the threshold in the houses, in the very houses in which
they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh on the same night, roasted
with fire; and they shall eat unleavened bread with bitter herbs.223 Ye
shall not eat of them raw nor dressed in water, but roasted with fire; the
head with the feet and the inward parts. Ye shall leave nothing of them to
the morning; and ye shall not break a bone of it. But what of it shall be
left to the morning shall be burnt with fire. But thus ye shall eat it; your
loins girt, and your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hands; and
ye shall eat it in haste: for it is the Lord's passover."224 Also in the
Apocalypse: "And I saw in the midst of the throne, and of the four living
creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as if slain,
having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent
forth throughout all the earth. And He came and took the book from the
right. hand of God, who sate on the throne. And when He had taken the book,
the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders cast themselves
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden cups225 full of
odours of supplications, which are the prayers of the saints; and they sang
a new song, saying, Worthy art Thou, O Lord, to take the book, and to open
its seals: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us with Thy blood from
every tribe, anti and people, and nation; and Thou hast made us a kingdom
unto our God, and hast made us priests, and they shall reign upon the
earth."226 Also in the Gospel: "On the next day John saw Jesus coming to
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, and behold Him that taketh away the
sins of the world!"227
16. That Christ also is called a Stone.
In Isaiah: "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I place on the foundations of Sion
a precious stone, elect, chief, a corner stone, honourable; and he who
trusteth in Him shall not be confounded."228 Also in the cxviith Psalm: "The
stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the
corner. This is done by the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes. This is
the day, which the Lord hath made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. O Lord,
save therefore, O Lord, direct therefore. Blessed is He who cometh in the
name of the Lord."229 Also in Zechariah: "Behold, I bring forth my servant.
The Orient is his name, because the stone which I have placed before the
face of Jesus; upon that one stone are seven eyes."230 Also in Deuteronomy:
"And thou shall write upon the stone all this law, very plainly."231 Also in
Jesus the son of Nave: "And be took a great stone, and placed it there
before the Lord; and Jesus said unto the people, Behold, this stone shall be
to you for a testimony, because it hath heard all the things which were
spoken by the Lord, which He hath spoken to you to-day; and it shall be for
a testimony to you in the last of the days, when ye shall have departed from
your God."232 Also in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter: "Ye princes of the
people, and elders of Israel, hearken: Behold, we are this day interrogated
by you about the good deed done to the impotent man, by means of which he is
made whole. Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye have crucified, whom God
hath raised up from the dead, by Him he stands whole in your presence, but
by none other. This is the stone which was despised by you builders, which
has become the head of the corner. For there is no other name given to men
under heaven in which we must be saved."233 This is the stone in Genesis,
which Jacob places at his head, because the head of the man is Christ; and
as he slept he saw a ladder reaching to heaven, on which the Lord was
placed, and angels were ascending and descending.234 And this stone he
designating Christ consecrated and anointed with the sacrament of unction.
This is the stone in Exodus upon which Moses sate on the top of a hill when
Jesus the son of Nave fought against Amalek; and by the sacrament of the
stone, and the stedfastness of his sitting, Amalek was overcome by Jesus,
that is, the devil was overcome by Christ. This is the great stone in the
first book of Kings, upon which was placed the ark of the covenant when the
oxen brought it back in the cart, sent back and returned by the strangers.
Also, this is the stone in the first book of Kings, with which David smote
the forehead of Goliath and slew him; signifying that the devil and his
servants are thereby thrown down-that part of the head, namely, being
conquered235 which they have not had sealed. And by this seal we also are
always safe and live. This is the stone which, when Israel had conquered the
aliens, Samuel set up and called its name Ebenezer; that is, the stone that
helpeth.
17. That afterwards this Stone should become a mountain, and should fill the
whole earth.
In Daniel: "And behold a very great image; and the aspect of this image was
fearful, and it stood erect before thee; whose head was of fine gold, its
breast and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were of brass, and its
feet were partly indeed of iron, and partly of clay, until that a stone was
cut236 out of the mountain, without the hands of those that should cut it,
and struck the image upon the feet of iron and clay, and brake them into
small fragments. And the iron, and the clay, and the brass, and the silver,
and the gold, was made altogether; and they became small as chaff, or dust
in the threshing-floor in summer; and the wind blew them away, so that
nothing remained of them. And the stone which struck the image became a
great mountain, and filled the whole earth."237
18. That in the last times the same mountain should be manifested, and upon
it the Gentiles should come, and on it all the righteous should go up.
In Isaiah: "In the last times the mountain of the Lord shall be revealed,
and the house of God upon the tops of the mountains; and it shall be exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall come upon it, and many shall walk and
say, Come, and let us go up into the mountain of the Lord, and into the
house of the God of Jacob; and He will tell us His way, and we will walk in
it. For from Sion shall proceed the law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem; and He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke much
people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears
into pruning-hooks, and they shall no more learn to fight."238 Also in the
twenty-third Psalm: "Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who
shall stand in His holy place? He that is innocent in his hands, and of a
clean heart; who hath not received his life in vanity, and hath not sworn
craftily to his neighbour. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and
mercy239 from the God that saveth him. This is the generation of those who
seek Him, that seek the face of the God of Jacob."240
19. That Christ is the Bridegroom, having the Church as His bride, from
which spiritual children were to be born.
In Joel: "Blow with the trumpet in Sion; sanctify a fast, and call a
healing; assemble the people, sanctify the Church, gather the elders,
collect the little ones that suck the breast; let the Bridegroom go forth of
His chamber, and the bride out of her closet."241 Also in Jeremiah: "And I
will take away from the cities of Judah, and from the streets of Jerusalem,
the voice of the joyous, and the voice of the glad; the voice of the
bridegroom, and the voice of the bride."242 Also in the eighteenth Psalm:
"And he is as a bridegroom going forth from his chamber; he exulted as a
giant to run his course. From the height of heaven is his going forth, and
his circuit even to the end of it; and there is nothing which is hid from
his heat."243 Also in the Apocalypse: "Come, I will show thee the new bride,
the Lamb's wife. And he took me in the Spirit to a great mountain, and he
showed me the holy city Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having
the glory of God."244 Also in the Gospel according to John: "Ye are my
witnesses, that I said to them who were sent from Jerusalem to me, that I am
not the Christ, but that I am sent before Him. For he who has the bride is
the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom is he who standeth and
heareth him with joy, and rejoiceth because of the voice of the
bridegroom."245 The mystery of this matter was shown in Jesus the son of
Nave, when he was bidden to put his shoes from off him, doubt less because
he himself was not the bridegroom. For it was in the law, that whoever
should refuse marriage should put off his shoe, but that he should be shod
who was to be the bridegroom: "And it happened, when Jesus was in Jericho,
he looked around with his eyes, and saw a man standing before his face, and
holding a javelin246 in his hand, and said, Art thou for us or for our
enemies? And he said, I am the leader of the host of the Lord; now draw
near. And Jesus fell on his rice to the earth, and said to him, Lord, what
dost Thou command unto Thy servant. And the leader of the Lord's host said,
Loose thy shoe from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground."247 Also, in Exodus, Moses is bidden to put off his shoe, because
he, too, was not the bridegroom: "And there appeared unto him the angel of
the Lord in a flame of fire out of a bush; and he saw that the bush burned
with fire, but the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will pass over
and see this great sight, why the bush is not consumed. But when He saw that
he drew near to see, the Lord God called him from the bush, saying, Moses,
Moses. And he said, What is it? And He said, Draw not nigh hither, unless
thou hast loosed thy shoe from off thy feet; for the place on which thou
standest is holy ground. And He said unto him, I am the God of thy father,
the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."248 This was
also made plain in the Gospel according to John: "And John answered them, I
indeed baptize with water, but there standeth One in the midst of you whom
ye know not: He it is of whom I said, The man that cometh after me is made
before me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose."249 Also
according to Luke: "Let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning, and ye
like to men that wait for their master when he shall come from the wedding,
that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him. Blessed are those
servants whom their Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching."250 Also in
the Apocalypse: "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth: let us be glad and
rejoice, and let us give to Him the honour of glory; for the marriage of the
Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready."251
20. That the Jews would fasten Christ to the cross.
In Isaiah: "I have spread out my hands all day to a people disobedient and
contradicting me, who walk in ways that are not good, but after their own
sins."252 Also in Jeremiah: "Come, let us cast the tree into His bread, and
let us blot out His life from the earth."253 Also in Deuteronomy: "And Thy
life shall be hanging (in doubt) before Thine eyes; and Thou shall fear day
and night, and shalt not trust to Thy life."254 Also in the twenty-first
Psalm: "They tore my hands and my feet;255 they numbered all my bones. And
they gazed upon me, and saw me, and divided my garments among them, and upon
my vesture they cast a lot. But Thou, O Lord, remove not Thy help far from
me; attend unto my help. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one
from the paw256 of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my
lowliness from the horns of the unicorns. I will declare Thy name unto my
brethren; in the midst of the Church I will praise Thee."257 Also in the
cxviiith Psalm: "Pierce my flesh with nails through fear of Thee."258 Also
in the cxlth Psalm: "The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice."259
Of which sacrifice Sophonias said: "Fear from the presence of the Lord God,
since His day is near, because the Lord hath prepared His sacrifice, He hath
sanctified His elect."260 Also in Zechariah: "And they shall look upon me,
whom they have pierced."261 Also in the eighty-seventh Psalm: "I have called
unto Thee, O Lord, the whole day; I have stretched out my hands unto
Thee."262 Also in Numbers: "Not as a man is God suspended, nor as the son of
man does He suffer threats."263 Whence in the Gospel the Lord says: "As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man
be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in the Son may have life eternal."264
21. That in the passion and the sign of the cross is all virtue and power.
In Habakkuk: "His virtue covered the heavens, and the earth is full of His
praise, and His splendour shall be as the light; there shall be horns in His
hands. And there the virtue of His glory was established, and He founded His
strong love. Before His face shall go the Word, and shall go forth unto the
plains according to His steps."265 In Isaiah also: "Behold, unto us a child
is born, and to us a Son is given, upon whose shoulders shall be government;
and His name shall be called the Messenger of a mighty thought."266 By this
sign of the cross also Amalek was conquered by Jesus through Moses. In
Exodus Moses said to Jesus: "Choose thee out men, and go forth, and order
yourselves with Amalek until the morrow. Behold, I will stand on the top of
the hill, and the rod of God in mine hand. And it came to pass, when Moses
lifted up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when Moses had let down his
hands, Amalek waxed strong. But the hands of Moses were heavy; and they took
a stone, and placed it under him, and he sat upon it and Aaron and Hur held
up his hands, on the one side and on the other side; and the hands of Moses
were made steady even to the setting of the sun. And Jesus routed Amalek and
all his people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this, that it may be a
memorial in a book, and tell it unto the ears of Jesus, that I may utterly
destroy the memory of Amalek from under heaven."267
22. That in this sign of the Cross is salvation for all people who are
marked on their foreheads.268
In Ezekiel the Lord says: "Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and thou
shalt mark the sign I upon the men's foreheads, who groan and grieve for the
iniquities which are done in the midst of them."269 Also in the same place:
"Go and smite, and do not spare your eyes. Have no pity on the old man, and
the youth, and the virgin, and slay little children and women, that they may
be utterly destroyed. But ye shall not touch any one upon whom the sign is
written, and begin with my holy places themselves."270 Also in Exodus God
says to Moses: "And there shall be blood for a sign to you upon the houses
wherein ye shall be; and I will look on the blood, and will protect you. And
there shall not be in you the plague of wasting when I shall smite the land
of Egypt."271 Also in the Apocalypse: "And I saw272 a Lamb standing on Mount
Sion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four thousand; and they had His
name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads."273 Also in the
same place: "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and
the end. Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have power
over the tree of life."274
23. That at mid-day in His passion there should be darkness.
In Amos: "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, the sun
shall set at noonday, and the day of light shall be darkened; and I will
turn your feast-days into grief, and all your songs into lamentation."275
Also in Jeremiah: "She is frightened that hath borne children, and her soul
hath grown weary. Her sun hath gone down while as vet it was mid-day; she
hath been confounded arid accursed: I will give the rest of them to the
sword in the sight of their enemies."276 Also in the Gospel: "Now from the
sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth even to the ninth hour."277
24. That He was not to be overcome of death, nor should remain in Hades.
In the twenty-ninth Psalm: "O Lord, Thou hast brought back my soul from
hell."278 Also in the fifteenth Psalm: "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt Thou suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption."279 Also in the
third Psalm: "I laid me down and slept, and rose up again, because the Lord
helped me."280 Also according to John: "No man taketh away my life from me;
but I lay it down of myself. I have the power of laying it down, and I have
the power of taking it again. For this commandment I have received from my
Father."281
25. That He should rise again from the dead on the third day.
In Hosea: "After two days He will revive us; we shall rise again on the
third day."282 Also in Exodus: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Go down and
testify to the people, and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow; and let them
wash their garments, and let them be prepared against the day after
to-morrow. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai."283
Also in the Gospel: "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a
sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it but the sign of the prophet
Jonas: for as Jonas was in the whale's belly three days and three nights, so
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the
earth."284
26. That after He had risen again He should receive from His Father all
power, and His power should be everlasting.
In Daniel: "I saw in a vision by night, and behold as it were the Son of
man, coming in the clouds of heaven, came even to the Ancient of days, and
stood in His sight. And they who stood beside Him brought Him before Him:
and to Him was given a royal power, and all the kings of the earth by their
generation, and all glory obeying Him: and His power is eternal, which shall
not be taken away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed."285 Also in
Isaiah: "Now will I arise, saith the Lord; now will I be glorified, now will
I be exalted, now ye shall see, now ye shall understand, now ye shall be
confounded. Vain will be the strength of your spirit: the fire shall consume
you."286 Also in the cixth Psalm: "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on
my fight hand, until I make Thine enemies the footstool of Thy feet. God
will send the rod of Thy power out of Sion, and Thou shalt rule in the midst
of Thine enemies."287 Also in the Apocalypse: "And I turned and looked to
see the voice which spake with me. And I saw seven golden candlesticks, and
in the midst of the candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with
a long garment,288 and He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle. And
His head and His hairs were white as wool or snow, and His eyes as a flame
of fire, and His feet like to fine brass from a furnace of fire, and His
voice like the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven
stars: and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword; and His face shone
as the sun in his might. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And
He laid His right hand upon me, and said, Fear not; I am the first and the
last, and He that liveth and was dead; and, lo, I am living for evermore289
and I have the keys of death and of hell."290 Likewise in the Gospel, the
Lord after His resurrection says to His disciples: "All power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."291
27. That it is impossible to attain to God the Father, except by His Son
Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh to
the Father but by me."292 Also in the same place: "I am the door: by me if
any man shall enter in, he shall be saved."293 Also in the same place: "Many
prophets and righteous men have desired to see the things which ye see, and
have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not
heard them."294 Also in the same place: "He that believeth on the Son hath
eternal life: he that is not obedient in word to the Son hath not life; but
the wrath of God shall abide upon him."295 Also Paul to the Ephesians: "And
when He had come, He preached peace to you, to those which are afar off, and
peace to those which are near, because through Him we both have access in
one Spirit unto the Father."296 Also to the Romans: "For all have sinned,
and fail of the glory of God; but they are justified by His gift and grace,
through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus."297 Also in the Epistle of
Peter the apostle: "Christ hath died once for our sins, the just for the
unjust, that He might present us to God."298 Also in the same place: "For in
this also was it preached to them that are dead, that they might be raised
again."299 Also in the Epistle of John: "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same
also hath not the Father. He that confesseth the Son, hath both the Son and
the Father."300
28. That Jesus Christ shall come as a Judge.
In Malachi: "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, burning as an oven; and all
the aliens and all the wicked shall be as stubble; and the day that cometh
shall burn them up, saith the Lord."301 Also in the forty-ninth (or
fiftieth) Psalm: "God the Lord of gods hath spoken, and called the earth.
From the rising of the sun even to the going down thereof, out of Sion is
the beauty of His glory. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not
keep silence. A fire shall burn before Him, and round about Him shall be a
great storm. He hath called the heaven above, and the earth, that He may
separate His people. Gather together His saints unto Him, those who arrange
His covenant with sacrifices. And the heavens shall announce His
righteousness, for God is the judge."302 Also in Isaiah: "The Lord God of
strength shall go forth, and shall break war in pieces: He shall stir up
contest, and shall cry over His enemies with strength. I have been
|
