2

he might say; And why indeed did he not write everything, being with him until the end? We would say this, that even these things were sufficient for those willing to pay attention, and that they always addressed the most pressing matters, and that their zeal was not in prose writing; for they have given many things also by unwritten tradition. And so all the things that lie in this book are worthy of wonder, but especially the condescension of the apostles, which the Spirit also suggested to them, preparing them to dwell on the word of the dispensation. For this reason indeed, having discoursed so much about Christ, they have said few things about his divinity, but they discoursed more about his humanity, and of the passion, and of the resurrection, and of the ascension. For the thing sought for the time being was this, that it be believed that he rose and ascended into the heavens. Therefore, just as Christ himself was most zealous of all to show that he came from the Father, so also this point, that he was raised and was taken up, and went to him, and has come from him. For if this was not believed first, much more with the addition made of the resurrection and the ascension, the entire doctrine would have seemed unbelievable to the Jews. Therefore he gently and little by little leads them up to the higher things. And in Athens Paul calls him simply a man, saying nothing more; reasonably so. For if they often attempted to stone Christ himself when he spoke about his equality with the Father, and for this reason called him a blasphemer, they would scarcely have accepted this word from the fishermen, and this after the cross had taken place. 2. And what need is there to speak of the Jews, when even the disciples themselves at that time were often disturbed and scandalized 60.16 when hearing the higher doctrines? For this reason he also said: I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But if they could not, who had been with him for so long a time, and shared in so many secrets, and witnessed so many wonders, how could men from altars and idols and sacrifices, and cats, and crocodiles (for such were the objects of worship of the Greeks), and having been torn away from the other evils for the first time then, have at once received the lofty words of the doctrines? And how could the Jews, who were learning every day, and being instructed by the law: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, and besides him there is no other; having seen him nailed to the wood of a cross; or rather, having both crucified and buried him, and not even having seen him risen; on hearing that this very one is God, and equal to the Father, would they not most of all have jumped away and broken off? For this very reason they gently and little by little bring them forward, and they use the economy of condescension much, and they enjoy the more abundant grace of the Spirit, and they work greater things than he himself did in his name, so that from both sides they might raise them up as they lie on the ground, and might confirm the word concerning the resurrection. For this is what this book is most of all, a proof of the resurrection. And when this was believed, the other things also proceeded in their course. So then, the hypothesis and the whole purpose of the book, as one might say, grasping it in a rough way, is this most of all. But let us now hear the prefaces themselves. The first account I made, O Theophilus, about all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. For what reason does he remind him of the Gospel? So as to demonstrate his own accuracy. For beginning that treatise he says: It seemed good to me also, having followed all things accurately from the very first, to write to you in order. And he is not content with his own testimony alone, but also traces the whole thing back to the apostles, saying: Just as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. Therefore, having made the account trustworthy there, he does not need other confirmation here, once it has been believed, and having through that one instructed him in the accuracy of the truth. For he who became trustworthy to write what he heard, and

2

λέγοι· Καὶ τί δήποτε οὐχὶ πάντα συνέγραψε, μέχρι τέλους ὢν μετ' αὐτοῦ; ἐκεῖνο ἂν εἴποιμεν, ὅτι καὶ ταῦτα ἀρκοῦντα ἦν τοῖς βουλομένοις προσέχειν, καὶ ὅτι πρὸς τὰ κατεπείγοντα ἀεὶ ἵσταντο, καὶ ὅτι οὐκ ἐν τῷ λογογραφεῖν ἦν αὐτοῖς ἡ σπουδή· πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ ἀγράφῳ παραδόσει δεδώκασι. Καὶ πάντα μὲν οὖν ἄξια θαύματος τὰ ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ κείμενα, μάλιστα δὲ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἡ συγκατάβασις, ἣν καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα αὐτοῖς ὑπέβαλλε, παρασκευάζον αὐτοὺς τῷ τῆς οἰκονομίας ἐνδιατρίβειν λόγῳ. ∆ιὰ δὴ τοῦτο τοσαῦτα περὶ Χριστοῦ διαλεχθέντες, ὀλίγα μὲν περὶ τῆς θεότητος αὐτοῦ εἰρήκασι, τὰ δὲ πλείονα περὶ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος διελέγοντο, καὶ τοῦ πάθους, καὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως, καὶ τῆς ἀναβάσεως. Τὸ γὰρ ζητούμενον τέως τοῦτο ἦν, τὸ πιστευθῆναι, ὅτι ἀνέστη καὶ ἀνέβη εἰς οὐρανούς. Ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς μάλιστα πάντων ἐσπούδαζε δεῖξαι, ὅτι παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς ἥκει· οὕτω καὶ οὗτος, ὅτι ἀνέστη καὶ ἀνελήφθη, καὶ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπῆλθε, καὶ παρ' αὐτοῦ ἀφῖκτο. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο ἐπιστεύθη πρότερον, πολλῷ μᾶλλον τῆς προσθήκης γενομένης τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν καὶ τὴν ἀνάληψιν, ἄπιστον ἅπαν τὸ δόγμα τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ἔδοξεν εἶναι. ∆ιὸ ἠρέμα καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰ ὑψηλότερα ἀνάγει. Ἐν δὲ Ἀθήναις καὶ ἄνθρωπον αὐτὸν ἁπλῶς καλεῖ ὁ Παῦλος, οὐδὲν πλέον εἰπών· εἰκότως. Εἰ γὰρ αὐτὸν τὸν Χριστὸν διαλεγόμενον περὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν Πατέρα ἰσότητος λιθάσαι πολλάκις ἐπεχείρησαν, καὶ βλάσφημον διὰ τοῦτο ἐκάλουν, σχολῇ γ' ἂν παρὰ τῶν ἁλιέων τοῦτον τὸν λόγον ἐδέξαντο, καὶ ταῦτα τοῦ σταυροῦ προχωρήσαντος. βʹ. Καὶ τί δεῖ λέγειν τοὺς Ἰουδαίους, ὅπου γε καὶ αὐτοὶ τότε πολλάκις οἱ μαθηταὶ τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων ἀκούοντες δογμάτων, ἐθορυβοῦντο καὶ ἐσκανδαλίζον 60.16 το; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ ἔλεγε· Πολλὰ ἔχω λέγειν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ' οὐ δύνασθε βαστάζειν ἄρτι. Εἰ δὲ ἐκεῖνοι οὐκ ἐδύναντο, οἱ συγγενόμενοι χρόνον τοσοῦτον αὐτῷ, καὶ τοσούτων κοινωνήσαντες ἀποῤῥήτων, καὶ τοσαῦτα θεασάμενοι θαύματα, πῶς ἄνθρωποι ἀπὸ βωμῶν καὶ εἰδώλων καὶ θυσιῶν, καὶ αἰλούρων, καὶ κροκοδείλων (τοιαῦτα γὰρ ἦν τῶν Ἑλλήνων τὰ σεβάσματα), καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν κακῶν τότε πρῶτον ἀποσπασθέντες, ἀθρόον τοὺς ὑψηλοὺς τῶν δογμάτων ἐδέξαντο λόγους; πῶς δὲ ἂν καὶ Ἰουδαῖοι, οἱ καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν μανθάνοντες, καὶ ἐνηχούμενοι ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου· Ἄκουε Ἰσραὴλ, Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, Κύριος εἷς ἐστιν, καὶ πλὴν αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος· ἐπὶ ξύλου σταυροῦ ἰδόντες προσηλωμένον αὐτόν· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ σταυρώσαντες καὶ θάψαντες, καὶ οὐδὲ ἀναστάντα θεασάμενοι· ἀκούοντες, ὅτι Θεός ἐστιν αὐτὸς οὗτος, καὶ τῷ Πατρὶ ἴσος, οὐκ ἂν μάλιστα πάντων ἀπεπήδησάν τε καὶ ἀπεῤῥάγησαν; ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο ἠρέμα καὶ κατὰ μικρὸν αὐτοὺς προσβιβάζουσι, καὶ πολλῇ μὲν κέχρηνται τῇ τῆς συγκαταβάσεως οἰκονομίᾳ, δαψιλεστέρας δὲ ἀπολαύουσι τῆς τοῦ Πνεύματος χάριτος, καὶ μείζονα ὧν αὐτὸς πεποίηκεν ἐργάζονται τῷ αὐτοῦ ὀνόματι, ἵνα ἑκατέρωθεν αὐτοὺς χαμαὶ κειμένους ἀναστήσωσι, καὶ τὸν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως πιστώσωνται λόγον. Καὶ γὰρ τοῦτο μάλιστά ἐστι τουτὶ τὸ βιβλίον, ἀπόδειξις ἀναστάσεως. Τούτου δὲ πιστευθέντος, ὁδῷ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα προὔβαινεν. Ἡ μὲν οὖν ὑπόθεσις καὶ ὁ τοῦ βιβλίου σκοπὸς ἅπας, ὡς ἄν τις παχυμερῶς συλλαβὼν εἴποι, οὗτος μάλιστά ἐστιν. Ἀκούσωμεν δὲ λοιπὸν αὐτῶν τῶν προοιμίων. Τὸν μὲν πρῶτον λόγον ἐποιησάμην περὶ πάντων, ὦ Θεόφιλε, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν. Τίνος ἕνεκεν αὐτὸν ἀναμιμνήσκει τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου; Ὥστε τὴν οἰκείαν ἀκρίβειαν ἐνδείξασθαι. Καὶ γὰρ ἀρχόμενος τῆς πραγματείας ἐκείνης φησίν· Ἔδοξε κἀμοὶ παρηκολουθηκότι ἄνωθεν πᾶσιν ἀκριβῶς, καθεξῆς σοι γράψαι. Καὶ οὔτε τῇ οἰκείᾳ ἀρκεῖται μαρτυρίᾳ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνάγει ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους τὸ πᾶν, λέγων· Καθὼς παρέδοσαν ἡμῖν οἱ ἀπαρχῆς αὐτόπται καὶ ὑπηρέται γενόμενοι τοῦ λόγου. ∆ιὸ τὸν λόγον ἀξιόπιστον ἐκεῖ ποιήσας, οὐδὲ δεῖται ἐνταῦθα ἑτέρας βεβαιώσεως, ἅπαξ αὐτοῦ πιστευθέντος, καὶ δι' ἐκείνου τὸ ἀκριβὲς αὐτὸν τῆς ἀληθείας κατηχήσας. Ὁ γὰρ ἅπερ ἤκουσεν ἀξιόπιστος γενόμενος γράψαι, καὶ