文集與書信 第 14 章

Cyprian to his son Quirinus, greeting. I was bound to comply, dearest son, with your spiritual desire, which by a most earnest petition sought the divine instructions whereby the Lord has deigned through the holy Scriptures to educate and instruct us, so that, led away from the darkness of error and enlightened by His pure and bright light, we might hold the way of life through the saving sacraments. And indeed, as you asked, so has a discourse been composed by us and a little book arranged in an abbreviating summary, that I might not expand what was being written with broader abundance, but might, as far as a modest memory suggested, gather together whatever was necessary in excerpted chapters and appended notes; in which we may seem not so much to have treated the subject as to have furnished material to those who treat it.

But also for readers such brevity profits greatly, since a longer book scatters the understanding and sense of the reader, whereas by a subtler abridgment a tenacious memory keeps what is read. I have embraced two little books of equal quality: one in which I have endeavored to show that the Jews, according to what had been foretold beforehand, had departed from God and lost the indulgence of the Lord, which had both been given them of old and promised for the future; but that in their place there had succeeded the Christians, deserving the Lord by faith and coming from all nations and from the whole world.

Likewise the other little book contains the sacrament of Christ: that the same one has come who was announced according to the Scriptures, and has done and accomplished all those things by which He was foretold that He could be understood and recognized; which things may meanwhile profit the reader for forming the first lineaments of faith. More strength will be given you, and the understanding of the heart will work more and more, as you search the old Scriptures and the new more fully, and read through all the volumes of the spiritual books entire. For we have now filled with a little draught from the divine fountains, that we might meanwhile send it to you. You will be able to drink more abundantly and to be filled more copiously, if you too will come with us to drink together at the same fountains of divine fullness. I wish, dearest son, that you may always be in good health.

Book One. Chapters. I. That the Jews grievously offended against God, in that they forsook the Lord and followed idols. II. That they did not believe the prophets and put them to death. III. It was foretold that they would neither know, nor understand, nor receive the Lord. IV. That the Jews would not understand the holy Scriptures, but would understand them in the last times, after Christ had come. V. That the Jews can understand nothing of the Scriptures unless they first believe in Christ. VI. That they would destroy Jerusalem and abandon the land which they had received. VII. Likewise, that they would lose the light of the Lord. VIII.

That the first carnal circumcision is made void, and the second spiritual circumcision is promised. IX. That the former law, which was given through Moses, would cease. X. That a new law would be given. XI. That another dispensation and a new testament would be given. XII. That the old baptism would cease and a new one begin. XIII. That the old yoke would be made void and a new yoke given. XIV. That the old shepherds would cease and new ones begin. XV. That Christ would be the house and temple of God, and that the old temple would cease and the new begin. XVI. That the old sacrifice would be made void and a new one celebrated. XVII. That the old priesthood would cease and a new priest would come who would be forever. XVIII.

That another prophet like Moses was promised, namely one who would give the new testament and who ought rather to be heard. XIX. That two peoples were foretold, the greater and the lesser, that is, the old people of the Jews and the new which would be from us. XX. That the Church, which had formerly been barren, would have more sons from the Gentiles than the synagogue had had before. XXI. That the Gentiles would believe in Christ more readily. XXII. That the Jews would lose the bread and cup of Christ and all His grace, but that we should receive them, and that the new name of Christians would be blessed in the earth. XXIII. That the Gentiles rather than the Jews would attain to the kingdom of heaven. XXIV.

That the Jews can obtain pardon of their sins only by this one means: if they wash away the blood of the slain Christ by His baptism, and, passing over into the Church, obey His precepts. That the Jews grievously offended against God, in that they forsook the Lord and followed idols. In Exodus the people said to Aaron: 'Arise, and make us gods who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us out of Egypt, we know not what has become of him.' Likewise there, Moses said to the Lord: 'I pray, Lord, this people has sinned a great sin. They have made themselves gods of gold and silver; and now, if you forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book which you have written.' And the Lord said to Moses:

'Whoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.' Likewise in Deuteronomy: 'They sacrificed to demons and not to God.' Likewise in the book of Judges: 'And the children of Israel did evil against the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they followed the gods of the nations which were around them, and provoked the Lord, and forsook God and served Baal.' Likewise there: 'And the children of Israel again did evil against the Lord and served Baal and the gods of strangers, and forsook the Lord and did not serve Him.' In Malachi: 'Judah has been forsaken, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem, because Judah has profaned the holy things of the Lord, in which he delighted, and has loved strange gods.

The Lord will utterly destroy the man who does these things, and he will be brought low in the tents of Jacob.' That they did not believe the prophets and put them to death. In Jeremiah the Lord says: 'I sent to you my servants the prophets. Before the light I sent them, and you did not hear me nor incline your ears, saying: Let each one turn from his evil way and from your most wicked affections, and you shall dwell in this land which I gave to you and to your fathers from age to age. Do not walk after strange gods, to serve them, and do not worship them, and do not provoke me by the works of your hands to your own destruction: and you did not hear me.' Likewise in the third book of Kingdoms, Elijah said to the Lord:

'I have been very jealous for the Lord God Almighty, because the children of Israel have forsaken you, they have torn down your altars and slain your prophets with the sword; and I am left alone, and they seek my life to take it away from me.' Likewise in Ezra: 'They have revolted from you, and have cast your law behind their backs, and have slain your prophets, who testified against them, that they might turn back to you.' It was foretold that they would neither know, nor understand, nor receive the Lord. In Isaiah the prophet: 'Hear, O heaven, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken: I have begotten sons and exalted them, but they have spurned me. The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib:

'But Israel has not known me, and my people has not understood me. Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of sins, a wicked seed, lawless sons: you have forsaken the Lord and have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel.' Likewise in the same prophet the Lord says: 'Go and say to this people: With your ear you shall hear and shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. For the heart of this people has grown gross, and with their ears they have heard heavily, and they have closed their eyes, lest perhaps they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be converted, and I should heal them.' Likewise in Jeremiah the Lord says: 'They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have dug out for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water.' Likewise in the same prophet:

'Behold, the word of the Lord has become to them a reproach; they have no will for it.' Likewise in the same prophet the Lord says: 'The turtledove has known her season, and the swallow; the sparrows of the field have kept the times of their coming in; but my people has not known the judgment of the Lord. How do you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? In vain has the false measure been made; the scribes have been confounded, the wise have trembled and have been taken, because they have rejected the word of the Lord.' Likewise in Solomon: 'The wicked shall seek me and shall not find me; for they hated wisdom, and they did not receive the word of the Lord.' Likewise in Psalm 27: 'Render to them their recompense, because they have not understood in the works of the Lord.' Likewise in Psalm 81:

'They have not known nor understood; they walk in darkness.' Likewise in the Gospel according to John: 'He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become sons of God, even to those who believe in his name.' THAT THE JEWS WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, BUT WOULD COME TO UNDERSTAND THEM IN THE LAST TIMES, AFTER CHRIST HAD COME. In Isaiah the prophet: 'And all these words shall be to you as the words of a sealed book, which if you give to a man who knows letters to read, he will say: I cannot read, for it is sealed. But in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind, both those who are in darkness and those who are in mist, shall see.'

Likewise in Jeremiah: 'In the last of days you shall understand these things.' Likewise in Daniel: 'Fortify the words and seal the book until the time of consummation, until many learn and knowledge be fulfilled: for when the dispersion shall come, they shall know all these things.' Likewise in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: 'For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud.' Likewise to the Corinthians, second epistle: 'Their senses were dulled until this very day, the same veil remaining in the reading of the old testament, which is not unveiled because in Christ it is done away; and even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil is over their heart.'

'But when one is converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.' Likewise in the Gospel the Lord after the resurrection: 'These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written concerning me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms. Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and he said to them: Thus it is written that Christ should suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name unto all nations.' THAT THE JEWS CAN UNDERSTAND NOTHING OF THE SCRIPTURES UNLESS THEY FIRST BELIEVE IN CHRIST. In Isaiah the prophet: 'And unless you believe, neither shall you understand.' Likewise the Lord in the Gospel:

'For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.' And that righteousness stands by faith, and that life is there, was foretold in Habakkuk: 'But the just man shall live by my faith.' Hence Abraham, the father of the nations, believed. In Genesis: 'And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.' Likewise the apostle to the Galatians: 'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness. Know therefore that they who are of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God justifies the nations by faith, foretold to Abraham: In you shall all nations be blessed. Therefore they who are of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.' THAT THEY WOULD LOSE JERUSALEM AND WOULD FORSAKE THE LAND WHICH THEY HAD RECEIVED.

In Isaiah the prophet: 'Your land is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; strangers shall devour your region in your sight; and the daughter of Sion shall be left forsaken and overthrown by foreign peoples, like a hut in a vineyard and like a watch-shed in a cucumber-field, like a city that is besieged. And unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom and we should have been made like Gomorrah.' Likewise in the Gospel the Lord says: 'Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who killest the prophets and stonest those who are sent to thee, how often have I willed to gather thy children as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and thou wouldest not? Behold, your house shall be left to you desolate.' LIKEWISE THAT THEY WOULD LOSE THE LIGHT OF THE LORD. In Isaiah the prophet:

'Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord. For he has dismissed his people, the house of Israel.' Likewise in his Gospel: 'There was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world. He was in this world, and the world was made through him, and the world knew him not.' Likewise there: 'He who has not believed is already judged, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment, that light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light.' THAT THE FIRST CIRCUMCISION, THE CARNAL, WAS DONE AWAY, AND A SECOND, THE SPIRITUAL, WAS PROMISED. In Jeremiah the prophet: 'Thus says the Lord to the men of Judah and to those who inhabit Jerusalem: Renew among yourselves newness, and sow not among thorns:

circumcise yourselves to your God, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart, lest my anger go forth like fire and burn, and there be none to quench it.' Likewise Moses says: 'In the last days God shall circumcise thy heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God.' Likewise in Jesus son of Nun: 'And the Lord said to Jesus: Make thee knives of stone, very sharp, and sit down and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.' Likewise Paul to the Colossians: 'You were circumcised with a circumcision not made by hand, in the putting off of the flesh, but in the circumcision of Christ.'

Likewise, that Adam was first made by God uncircumcised, and Abel the just, and Enoch who pleased God and was translated, and Noah who, when all on earth were perishing for their offenses, alone was chosen, in whom the human race might be preserved, and Melchisedech the priest, according to whose order Christ was promised: then, that that seal does not avail for women, whereas all are sealed with the sign of the Lord. THAT THE EARLIER LAW WHICH WAS GIVEN THROUGH MOSES WAS TO CEASE. In Isaiah the prophet: 'Then shall they be made manifest who seal the law, that men learn it not. And thou shalt say: I wait for God, who turns away his face from the house of Jacob, and I will trust in him.' Likewise in the Gospel: 'All the prophets and the law prophesied until John.' THAT A NEW LAW WAS TO BE GIVEN.

In Micah the prophet: 'For the law shall go forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and he shall judge among many peoples and shall rebuke and shall lay bare mighty nations.' Likewise in Isaiah the prophet: 'For from Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge among the nations.' Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: 'And behold a voice from the cloud saying: This is my most beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear him.' THAT ANOTHER DISPENSATION AND A NEW TESTAMENT WAS TO BE GIVEN. In Jeremiah the prophet:

'Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will accomplish for the house of Israel and the house of Judah a new testament, not according to the testament which I disposed for their fathers in the day when I took hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my testament, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the testament which I will dispose for the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will give my laws into their mind and will write them, and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people; and they shall not teach every one 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 their sins I will remember no more.'

THAT THE OLD BAPTISM SHOULD CEASE AND A NEW ONE BEGIN. In Isaiah the prophet: 'Remember not the former things, and consider not the things of old. Behold, I make new things, which now shall spring up, and you shall know them; and I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in a waterless place, to give drink to my chosen race, my people whom I have acquired, that they might set forth my praises.' Likewise in the same prophet: 'If they shall thirst through the deserts, he will bring them water; out of the rock he will produce it for them; the rock shall be cleft and water shall flow, and my people shall drink.' Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew John says: 'I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.'

Likewise according to John: 'Unless one be born again of water and 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.' THAT THE OLD YOKE SHOULD BE DONE AWAY AND A NEW YOKE GIVEN. In the second Psalm: 'Why have the nations raged, and the peoples imagined vain things? The kings of the earth have stood up and the princes have come together as one against the Lord and against his Christ. Let us burst their bonds and cast their yoke from us.' Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew the Lord says: 'Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and humble in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is good and my burden is light.' In Jeremiah: 'In that day I will crush the yoke from their neck and will burst their bonds; and they shall not serve others, but they shall serve the Lord God, and I will raise up for them David their king.' THAT THE OLD SHEPHERDS SHOULD CEASE AND NEW ONES BEGIN. In Ezekiel: 'Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hands and will turn them away, so that they shall not feed my sheep; and they shall no longer feed them, and I will draw my sheep out of their mouth and will feed them with judgment.' In Jeremiah the prophet the Lord says:

'And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they shall feed you, feeding you with discipline.' Likewise in Jeremiah: 'Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the islands that are far off. Say: He who scatters Israel will gather him and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock: for the Lord has rescued Jacob and has rescued him out of the hand of one stronger than he.' THAT CHRIST WAS TO BE THE HOUSE AND TEMPLE OF GOD, AND THAT THE OLD TEMPLE SHOULD CEASE AND A NEW ONE BEGIN. In the second book of Kingdoms: 'And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: Go and say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord:

Not thou shalt build me a house to dwell in; but it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy womb, and I will prepare his kingdom. He shall build me a house for my name, and I will set up his throne forever, and I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son; and his house shall obtain faithfulness, and his kingdom forever in my sight.' Likewise in the Gospel the Lord says: 'There shall not be left in the temple one stone upon another that shall not be dissolved.' And: 'After three days another shall be raised up without hands.' THAT THE OLD SACRIFICE SHOULD BE DONE AWAY AND A NEW ONE CELEBRATED. In Isaiah the prophet: 'What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord.

I am full; I do not want the holocausts of rams, and the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and of goats. For who has required these things at your hands?' Likewise in Psalm 49: 'Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay to the Most High your vows. Call upon me in the day of your tribulation, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.' Likewise there: 'The sacrifice of praise shall honor me; there is the way by which I will show him my salvation.' Likewise in Psalm 4: 'Sacrifice the sacrifice of righteousness, and hope in the Lord.' Likewise in Malachi: 'I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands.

For from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place odors of incense are offered to my name, and a pure sacrifice, for great is my name among the nations, says the Lord.' THAT THE OLD PRIESTHOOD SHOULD CEASE AND A NEW PRIEST COME, WHO WOULD BE FOREVER. In Psalm 109: 'Before the morning star I begot thee. The Lord has sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedech.' Likewise in the first book of Kingdoms God says to Eli the priest: 'And I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do all things that are in my heart, and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall pass before my anointed ones all his days:

and it shall come to pass that he who remains in thy house shall come to worship for a small piece of money and for a single loaf of bread.' THAT ANOTHER PROPHET LIKE MOSES WAS PROMISED, NAMELY ONE WHO WOULD GIVE A NEW TESTAMENT AND WHO OUGHT MORE TO BE HEARD. In Deuteronomy God to Moses: 'And the Lord said to me: I will raise up for them a prophet from among their brethren like thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them the things which I command him. And whoever shall not hear what that prophet shall speak in my name, I will take vengeance.' Concerning whom Christ also in the Gospel according to John: 'Search the scriptures, in which you think you have eternal life. These are they which give testimony of me; and you will not come to me, that you may have life.

Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, in whom you hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would also have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?' THAT TWO PEOPLES WERE FORETOLD, A GREATER AND A LESSER, THAT IS, THE OLD ONE OF THE JEWS AND THE NEW ONE WHICH WAS TO COME FROM US. In Genesis: 'And the Lord said to Rebecca: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided from thy belly, and people shall overcome people, and the greater shall serve the lesser.' Likewise in Hosea the prophet: 'I will call not-my-people my people, and not-beloved beloved. For it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said: You are not my people, there they shall be called sons of the living God.'

THAT THE CHURCH, WHICH HAD FORMERLY BEEN BARREN, WAS TO HAVE MORE SONS FROM THE NATIONS THAN THE SYNAGOGUE HAD HAD BEFORE. In Isaiah the prophet: 'Rejoice, O barren one, who dost not bear; break forth and cry out, thou who dost not travail, for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her who has a husband. For the Lord has said: Enlarge thy tabernacle and fix the stakes of thy curtains; spare not, lengthen thy cords and make firm thy stakes. Stretch out yet to thy right hand and to thy left, and thy seed shall possess the nations, and thou shalt inhabit the cities which were desolate. Fear not, for thou shalt prevail, neither be afraid that thou wast detestable, for thou shalt forget the eternal confusion.'

So too with Abraham: when his first son had been born of the handmaid, Sarah remained barren a long time, and late in old age, by promise, she bore a son, Isaac, who was a type of Christ. So too Jacob took two wives: the elder Leah, with weaker eyes, a type of the synagogue; the younger, beautiful Rachel, a type of the Church, who also remained barren a long time and afterward bore Joseph, who himself too was a type of Christ. And in the first book of Kingdoms Elkanah has two wives, Peninnah with children and Hannah the barren, of whom Samuel is born, not according to the order of generation, but according to God's compassion and promise, after she had prayed in the temple; and Samuel when born was a type of Christ. Likewise in the first book of Kingdoms:

'The barren has borne seven, and she who had many has become weak.' Now the sons of the Church are seven. Hence Paul too writes to seven churches, and the Apocalypse sets forth seven churches, that the sevenfold number be preserved: as the seven days in which God made the world, and the seven angels who stand and dwell before the face of God, as the angel Raphael says in Tobit; and the sevenfold lamp in the tabernacle of testimony, and the seven eyes of the Lord which behold 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 builds her house in Solomon. THAT THE NATIONS SHOULD BELIEVE IN CHRIST RATHER. In Genesis:

'And the Lord God said to Abraham: Go out from thy land and from thy kindred and from thy father's house, and go into that land which I will show thee. And I will make thee into a great nation and will bless thee and will magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless those who bless thee, and I will curse those who curse thee, and in thee shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed.' Likewise there: 'And Isaac blessed Jacob: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a full field which the Lord has blessed. And may God give thee of the dew of heaven and of the fruitfulness of the earth, abundance of grain and wine and oil. And let the nations serve thee, and let princes adore thee, and be thou lord of thy brother, and let the sons of thy father adore thee;'

'and let him who curses thee be cursed, and let him who blesses thee be blessed.' Likewise there: 'But when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it seemed grievous to him; and Joseph took hold of his father's hand to remove it from the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh. And Joseph said to his father: Not so, father; this is my firstborn, lay thy right hand upon his head. But he would not, and said: I know, my son, I know. He too shall become a people, and he shall be exalted; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall be a multitude of nations.' Likewise in Genesis: 'Judah, thy brothers shall praise thee, thy hands shall be upon the back of thy enemies.

The sons of thy father shall adore thee, Judah a lion's whelp. From the shoot, my son, thou hast gone up; couching, thou hast slept like a lion, and like a lion's whelp; who shall rouse him? The prince shall not fail from Judah, nor the leader from his loins, until there come the things laid up for him, and he himself is the hope of the nations. Binding his colt to the vine and the foal of his ass to the choice vine, he shall wash his robe in wine and his garment in the blood of the grape. His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.' Hence in Numbers it is said of our people: 'Behold, a people shall rise up like a lion's people.' Likewise in Deuteronomy: 'You shall be the nations at the head, but the unbelieving people at the tail.' Likewise in Ezekiel: 'Hear the sound of the trumpet. And they said:

We will not hear. Therefore the nations shall hear, and those who feed their flocks among them.' Likewise in Psalm 17: 'Thou shalt set me at the head of the nations. A people whom I knew not has served me; at the hearing of the ear it obeyed me.' Likewise in Jeremiah the prophet the Lord says: 'Before I formed thee in the womb I knew thee, and before thou camest forth from the womb I sanctified thee and set thee a prophet among the nations.' Likewise in Isaiah the prophet: 'Behold, I have made him a witness to the nations, a prince and one commanding the nations.' Likewise there: 'Nations that knew thee not shall call upon thee, and peoples that were ignorant of thee shall flee to thee.' Likewise there: 'And it shall come to pass in that day, the root of Jesse, who shall rise to command the nations: in him the nations shall hope, and his rest shall be honor.'

Likewise there: 'The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea and the rest who dwell by the sea, and beyond the Jordan, the people of the nations walking in darkness, see a great light: you who dwell in the region of the shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you.' Likewise there: 'Thus says the Lord God to my Christ, my Lord, whose right hand I have held, that the nations may hear him: I will break the strength of kings, I will open the gates before him, and the cities shall not be shut.' Likewise there: 'I come to gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and shall see my glory; and I will set a sign upon them and will send some of them preserved into the nations that are far off, which have not heard my name nor seen my glory, and they shall declare my glory among the nations.'

Likewise there: 'And in all these things they were not converted. Therefore he shall lift up a sign to the nations that are far off and shall draw them from the ends of the earth.' Likewise there: 'They to whom it was not announced concerning him shall see, and those who have not heard shall understand.' Likewise there: 'I became manifest to those who sought me not; I was found by those who did not inquire after me. I said: Behold, I am, to a nation that did not call upon my name.' Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles Paul: 'To you first it was necessary that the word of the Lord be declared; but because you have rejected it and have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn ourselves to the nations. For thus has the Lord said through the scripture: Behold, I have set thee as a light among the nations, that thou mayest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.'

THAT THE JEWS WOULD LOSE THE BREAD AND THE CUP OF CHRIST AND ALL HIS GRACE, BUT THAT WE WOULD RECEIVE THEM, AND THAT THE NEW NAME OF THE CHRISTIANS WOULD BE BLESSED ON THE EARTH. In Isaiah the Lord thus says: 'Behold, those who serve me shall eat, but you shall hunger. Behold, those who serve me shall drink, but you shall thirst. Behold, those who serve me shall rejoice, but you shall be confounded: the Lord shall slay you. But to those who serve me a new name shall be named, which shall be blessed on the earth.' Likewise there: 'Therefore he shall lift up a sign among the nations that are far off and shall draw them from the ends of the earth. And behold, swiftly and lightly they shall come; they shall not hunger nor thirst.' Likewise there:

'Behold therefore the Lord, the Ruler, the Lord of hosts, shall take away from Judaea and from Jerusalem the mighty and the strong, the might of bread and the might of water.' Likewise in Psalm 33: 'Taste and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man who hopes in him. Fear the Lord, you his saints, for there is no want to those who fear him. The rich have been in need and have hungered, but those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.' Likewise in the Gospel according to John the Lord says: 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.' Likewise there: 'If anyone thirsts, let him come and drink, he who believes in me, as the scripture says: rivers of living water shall flow from his belly.' Likewise there:

'Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you.' THAT THE NATIONS SHOULD ATTAIN TO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN RATHER THAN THE JEWS. In the Gospel the Lord says: 'Many shall come from the east and the west and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall go out into the outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' THAT THE JEWS CAN RECEIVE PARDON FOR THEIR SINS ONLY BY THIS, IF THEY WASH AWAY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST WHOM THEY SLEW IN HIS BAPTISM, AND, PASSING OVER INTO THE CHURCH, OBEY HIS PRECEPTS. In Isaiah the prophet the Lord says: 'I will no longer relax your sins. When you stretch out your hands, I will turn my face from you:

and though you multiply prayers, I will not hear you. For your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves, be clean, take away your wickednesses from your souls before my eyes, cease from your wickednesses. Learn to do good, seek judgment, preserve him who suffers injury, do justice to the orphan and justify the widow. And come, let us reason together, says the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will whiten them as snow; and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as wool. And if you are willing and hear me, you shall eat the good things of the earth; but if you are unwilling and do not hear me, the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.' THE SECOND BOOK. THE CHAPTERS.

That Christ is the firstborn and is himself the Wisdom of God, through whom all things were made. II. That Christ is the Wisdom of God, and concerning the sacrament of his incarnation and his passion and the cup and the altar and the apostles who were sent and preached. III. That Christ is also the same Word of God. IV. That Christ is the same the hand and arm of God. V. That he is the same the angel and God. VI. That Christ is God. VII. That Christ, God, was to come as the enlightener and savior of the human race. VIII. That, although he had been the Son of God from the beginning, he was to be born again according to the flesh. IX. That this should be the sign of his nativity, that of a virgin should be born a man and God, the son of man and of God. X.

That Christ is both man and God, compounded of both natures, that he might be able to be a mediator between us and the Father. XI. That according to the flesh he was to be born of the seed of David. XII. That he should be born in Bethlehem. XIII. That he should come lowly in his first advent. XIV. That he himself is the just one whom the Jews would slay. XV. That he himself was called a sheep and a lamb, who was to be slain, and concerning the sacrament of the passion. XVI. That he too was called a stone. XVII. That then the same stone should become a mountain and fill the whole earth. XVIII. That in the last times the same mountain should be made manifest, upon which the nations would come and upon which all the just would ascend. XIX.

That he himself is the bridegroom having the Church as bride, from whom sons should be born spiritually. XX. That the Jews would fix him to the cross. XXI. That in the passion of the cross and in its sign is all virtue and power. XXII. That in this sign of the cross is salvation for all who are marked on their foreheads. XXIII. That at midday in his passion there should be darkness. XXIV. That he should not be overcome by death nor remain among the dead. XXV. That he should rise from the dead on the third day. XXVI. That when he had risen he should receive from the Father all power, and that his power is eternal. XXVII. That one cannot come to God the Father except through his Son Jesus Christ. XXVIII. That he himself is to come as judge. XXIX.

That he himself is the king who shall reign forever. XXX. That he himself is both judge and king. THAT CHRIST IS THE FIRSTBORN AND IS HIMSELF THE WISDOM OF GOD, THROUGH WHOM ALL THINGS WERE MADE. In Solomon, in Proverbs: 'The Lord founded me, the beginning of his ways unto his works; before the age he established me; in the beginning, before he made the earth and before he set the depths, before the fountains of waters came forth, before the mountains were settled, before all the hills the Lord begot me. He made the regions, both the inhabitable lands and the uninhabitable bounds under heaven. When he prepared heaven, I was present with him, and when he set apart his own seat:'

'when above the winds he made strong the clouds above, and when he made firm the fountains under heaven, when he made strong the foundations of the earth, I was beside him, arranging all things. I was the one in whom he delighted. And daily I rejoiced before his face in every season, when he was glad in the perfected world.' Likewise in the same author, in Ecclesiasticus: 'I came forth from the mouth of the Most High before every creature. I made in the heavens that an unfailing light should arise, and with a cloud I covered the whole earth. I dwelt in the heights, and my throne is in a pillar of cloud. I encircled the round of heaven and penetrated into the depth of the abyss, and'

'and I walked in the waves of the sea and stood in all the earth, and among every people and every nation I had the primacy, and by my power I trod down the hearts of all the lofty and the lowly. All hope of life and of strength is in me. Pass over to me, all you who desire me.' Likewise in Psalm 88: 'And I will set him as the firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. Forever I will keep my mercy for him, and my testament faithful to him; and I will set his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his sons forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they profane my justifications and keep not my commandments, I will visit their iniquities with the rod and their sins with scourges:'

'But my mercy I will not turn away from them.' Likewise, according to John, the Lord says: 'And this is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on 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.' Likewise Paul the apostle to the Colossians: 'Who is the image of the invisible God, and the firstborn of every creature.' Likewise there: 'The firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might hold the primacy.' Likewise in the Apocalypse: 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To him that thirsts I will give of the fountain of living water freely.' That the same one is both the wisdom and the power of God.

Paul the apostle in his first to the Corinthians: 'For the Jews require signs, and the Greeks 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.' THAT CHRIST IS THE WISDOM OF GOD, AND CONCERNING THE MYSTERY OF HIS INCARNATION AND PASSION, AND OF THE CUP AND THE ALTAR, AND OF THE APOSTLES WHO, BEING SENT, PREACHED. In Solomon, in the Proverbs: 'Wisdom hath built herself a house, and hath set up seven pillars. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine in the bowl, and prepared her table, and hath sent her servants, calling together with lofty proclamation to the bowl, saying:'

'Whoso is simple, let him turn in to me.' And to them that lack understanding she said: 'Come, eat of my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you. Forsake foolishness, and seek prudence, and amend understanding by knowledge.' THAT CHRIST IS THE SAME WORD OF GOD. In Psalm 44: 'My heart hath uttered a good word; I tell my works to the king.' Likewise in Psalm 32: 'By the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and all their power by the breath of his mouth.' Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: 'Completing and shortening the word in righteousness; for God will make a shortened word in all the world.' Likewise in Psalm 106: 'He sent his word, and healed them.' Likewise in the Gospel according to John:

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was made nothing that was made. In him is life, and the life was the light of men; and the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.' Likewise in the Apocalypse: 'And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and he judgeth justly and rightly and maketh war; and he was clothed with a garment sprinkled with blood; and his name is called the Word of God.' THAT CHRIST IS THE SAME HAND AND ARM OF GOD. In Isaiah: 'Is not the hand of the Lord strong to save, or hath he made his ear heavy, that he should not hear?'

'But your sins separate between you and God, and because of your sins he hath turned his face from you, that he should not have mercy. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquities; your lips have spoken wickedness, and your tongue meditateth iniquity. None speaketh truths, neither is there true judgment. They trust in vanities and speak empty things; they conceive sorrow and bring forth wickedness.' Likewise there: 'Lord, who hath believed our report, and the arm of God, to whom hath it been revealed?' Likewise there: 'Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth the footstool of my feet. What house will ye build me, or what is the place of my rest? For all these things my hand hath made.' Likewise there:

'O Lord God, exalted is thy arm, and they knew it not; but when they shall have known it, they shall be confounded.' Likewise there: 'God shall reveal his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; and all the nations, even the utmost parts of the earth, shall see the salvation that is from God.' Likewise there: 'Behold, I have made thee as the wheels of a threshing-wain, new, turned like a saw; and thou shalt thresh the mountains and grind small the hills, and thou shalt set them as dust and winnow them, and the wind shall seize them and the storm scatter them. But thou shalt rejoice in the holy ones of Israel, and the poor and needy shall exult. They shall seek water, and there shall be none, for their tongue shall be parched with thirst.'

'I the Lord God, I, the God of Israel, will hear and not forsake them; but I will open rivers among the mountains and fountains in the midst of the plains; I will make the deserts into watered groves, and the thirsty land into water-courses. I will set in the waterless land the cedar and the box and the myrtle and the cypress and the elm and the poplar, that they may see and know and understand and believe together, that the hand of the Lord hath done these things, and the Holy One of Israel hath shown them.' THAT THE SAME IS BOTH ANGEL AND GOD. In Genesis, to Abraham: 'And the angel of the Lord called him out of heaven, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou anything unto him.'

'For now I know that thou fearest thy God, and hast not spared thy most beloved son for my sake.' Likewise there, to Jacob: 'And the angel of the Lord said unto me in a dream, I am the God whom thou sawest in the place of God, where thou anointedst for me a pillar of stone, and vowedst a vow unto me.' Likewise 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.' Likewise there: 'And the angel of God removed, who went before the army of the children of Israel.' Likewise there: 'Behold, I send my angel before thy face, to keep thee in the way, that he may bring thee into the land which I have prepared for thee. Observe him, and hearken to him; be not disobedient to him, for he will not fail thee; for my name is in him.'

Whence he himself says in the Gospel: 'I am come in my Father's name, and ye received me not; when another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.' And again in Psalm 117: 'Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.' Likewise in the prophet Malachi: 'My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave him fear to fear me, to set out from before the presence of my name. The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips; in peace, setting right, he walked with us, and turned many away from iniquity. For the lips of the priest shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law from his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord Almighty.' THAT CHRIST IS GOD. In Genesis: 'And God said unto Jacob:'

'Arise and go up to the place Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to that God who appeared to thee when thou fleddest from before the face of Esau thy brother.' Likewise in the prophet Isaiah: 'Thus saith the Lord God of Sabaoth: Egypt is wearied, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians; and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee and shall be thine; and they shall walk after thee bound in fetters, and shall worship thee and make supplication unto thee: for God is in thee, and there is no other God besides thee. For thou art God, and we knew it not, the God of Israel the Saviour. They shall be confounded and ashamed, all that oppose thee, and shall fall in confusion.' Likewise there: 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God.'

'Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places into smooth ways; and the glory of the Lord shall be seen, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God, for the Lord hath spoken.' Likewise in the prophet Jeremiah: 'This is our God, and no other shall be reckoned beside him, who found out every way of prudence, and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved. Afterward he was seen on earth, and conversed with men.' Likewise in the prophet Zechariah God saith:

'And they shall pass through the narrow sea, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the depths of the rivers shall be dried up; and all the pride 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 they shall glory, saith the Lord.' Likewise in the prophet Hosea God saith: 'I will not act according to the wrath of my indignation; I will not suffer Ephraim to be destroyed, for I am God and not man; the Holy One is in thee, and I will not enter into the city; I will go after the Lord.' Likewise in Psalm 44: 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a right sceptre is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' Likewise in Psalm 45:

'Be still, and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth.' Likewise in Psalm 81: 'They knew not, neither did they understand; they walk in darkness.' Likewise in Psalm 67: 'Sing unto God, sing praises to his name; make a way for him who ascendeth toward the west; the Lord is his name.' Likewise in the Gospel according to John: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Likewise there, the Lord to Thomas: 'Put thy finger hither, and see my hands, and be not unbelieving but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen, thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen and yet believe.' Likewise Paul to the Romans:

'I myself was wishing to be accursed from Christ for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites; to whom belong the adoption and the glory and the covenant and the giving of the law and the service and the promises; whose are the fathers, and from whom is Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed for ever.' Likewise in the Apocalypse: 'I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. To him that thirsteth I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall possess these things and their inheritance; and I will be his God, and he shall be to me a son.' Likewise in Psalm 81: 'God hath stood in the assembly of gods, and in the midst he judgeth gods.' Likewise there: 'I have said, ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High; but ye shall die like men.'

But if those who have been righteous and have obeyed the divine precepts can be called gods, how much more Christ, God the Son of God! As he himself says in the Gospel according to John: 'Is it not written in your law, I said, ye are gods? If he called them gods—and the scripture cannot be broken—say ye of him whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son of God? 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.' Likewise in the Gospel according to Matthew: 'And ye shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, God with us.'

THAT CHRIST GOD WAS TO COME AS THE ENLIGHTENER AND SAVIOUR OF THE HUMAN RACE. In the prophet Isaiah: 'Be strengthened, ye slack hands, and ye feeble knees, take courage. Ye that are faint-hearted, fear not. Our God will render judgment; he himself will come and save us. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then shall the lame leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be made plain; for water hath broken forth in the desert, and a stream in the thirsty land.' Likewise there: 'No elder nor angel, but the Lord himself shall deliver them, because he loveth them and will spare them; he himself shall redeem them.' Likewise there: 'I the Lord God have called thee in righteousness, that I may hold thy hand, and I will strengthen 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 out the prisoners from their bonds, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house. I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory I will not give to another, neither my virtues to graven images.' Likewise in Psalm 24: 'Show me thy ways, O Lord, and teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me, for thou art God my Saviour.' Whence in the Gospel according to John the Lord says: 'I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.' Likewise according to Matthew, the angel Gabriel to Joseph: 'Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife.'

'For that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save the people from their sins.' Likewise according to Luke: 'And Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying: Blessed be the God of Israel, who hath wrought redemption for his people and hath raised up for us a horn of salvation in the house of David his servant.' Likewise there, the angel to the shepherds: 'Fear not; for behold, I bring you tidings, that there is born to you this day a Saviour, who is Christ Jesus, in the city of David.' THAT THOUGH HE HAD BEEN THE SON OF GOD FROM THE BEGINNING, HE WAS TO BE BEGOTTEN ANEW 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 ends of the earth for thy possession.' Likewise in the Gospel: 'And it came to pass, as Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and she was filled with the Holy Spirit, and cried with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' Likewise Paul, second to the Thessalonians: 'But when the fulfillment of time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman.' Likewise in the epistle of John: 'Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; but he that denieth that he is come in the flesh is not of God, but is of the spirit of antichrist.'

THAT THIS WAS TO BE THE SIGN OF HIS NATIVITY, THAT FROM A VIRGIN SHOULD BE BORN MAN AND GOD, THE SON OF MAN AND OF GOD. In the prophet Isaiah: 'And the Lord spoke again unto Ahaz, saying: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, in the height above or in the depth below. And Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord my God. And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David. It is not a small struggle for you with men, since God offereth a contest. Therefore God himself shall give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat; before he knoweth or brings forth evil, he chooseth the good.'

This seed God had foretold would come forth from a woman, which should crush the head of the devil. In Genesis: 'Then God said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle and above every kind of beast of the earth. Upon thy breast and belly shalt thou creep, and earth shall be thy food all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he shall crush thy head, and thou shalt watch his heel.' THAT CHRIST IS BOTH MAN AND GOD, COMPOUNDED OF BOTH NATURES, THAT HE MIGHT BE A MEDIATOR BETWEEN US AND THE FATHER. In the prophet Jeremiah: 'And he is man, and who shall know him?' Likewise in Numbers: 'There shall arise a star out of Jacob, and a man shall rise up out of Israel.' Likewise there:

'A man shall come forth of his seed, and shall have dominion over many nations; and his kingdom shall be exalted higher than Gog, and his kingdom shall be increased. And God brought him out of Egypt: his glory is as that of the unicorn; and he shall devour the nations of his enemies, and shall consume the marrow of their fatness, and with his arrows shall transfix the enemy. Reclining, he rested like a lion, and like a lion's whelp; who shall rouse him up? They that bless thee are blessed, and they that curse thee are cursed.' Likewise in Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; because of which he hath anointed me to bring good tidings to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach release to the captives and sight to the blind, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of recompense.'

Whence in the Gospel, Gabriel to Mary: 'And the angel answering said unto her: The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; wherefore also that holy thing which shall be born shall be called the Son of God.' Likewise in the first epistle of Paul to the Corinthians: 'The first man was of the clay of the earth, the second man of heaven. As is the one of clay, such also are they that are of clay; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of him who is of clay, let us bear also the image of him who is of heaven.' THAT HE WAS TO BE BORN OF THE SEED OF DAVID ACCORDING TO THE FLESH. In the second of Kingdoms: 'And the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: Go and say to my servant David, Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in:'

'but it shall be, when thy days are fulfilled and thou sleepest with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy womb, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for 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 faith, and his kingdom for ever in my sight.' Likewise in Isaiah: 'And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall ascend from the root; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and godliness; the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him.' Likewise in Psalm 131: 'The Lord hath sworn truth unto David, and will not make it void:'