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a shining forth, and how the disciples of Christ will fill the whole world with his teaching, and how their gospel will be preached to all men, containing a certain new and strange manner of piety, and how churches of Christ will be established by them among all the nations, and how the people of the Christians will be called by one name throughout the whole inhabited world, and how the rebellions of rulers and kings of various times against the church of Christ will have no strength to destroy it, as it is strengthened by God. 1.1.9 With so many things having been proclaimed by the Hebrew theologians and showing their outcomes clearly to all up to this point, who would not marvel at the divine inspiration of the men? And who would not confess that the lessons and doctrines of their piety and philosophy are authoritative and true, providing proof not in elegant phrases, nor in cleverness of words or the malicious deceits of syllogisms, but in a simple and guileless teaching, of which the genuine and sincere quality of the truth is represented by the virtue and divine knowledge of those very inspired men? 1.1.10 For those who from afar, countless ages before, were able to behold by a divine, not human, spirit the things that came to light many ages later, how would they not be worthy to be believed also concerning the doctrines in which they educated their students? Now I know well and precisely that it is ready for all who have genuinely accepted our Savior and Lord Jesus as being truly the Christ of God, first to seem to persuade them that they have believed in him in no other way than in accordance with the prophetic testimonies about him, then to put this very thing forward to all with whom they might enter into discussion; yet not be able to easily confirm the profession with proofs. 1.1.11 Wherefore, having necessarily come to this point myself, with God as my helper, according to what has been promised, I shall try to present the complete treatise of the whole Evangelical Demonstration from those very theologians among the Hebrews. But this writing is not earnestly composed by me, as one might say, against the Jews. Far from it, not in the least. Indeed, it is for them, if they would judge rightly; for it establishes the claims of the Christians through the testimony of prophecy from the beginning, and those of the Jews through the effectual fulfillment of the prophecies among them. 1.1.12 And it would also be fitting for the children of the Greeks, if they would judge rightly, through the paradoxical foreknowledge of future events and the outcome of things according to the prophecies, on the one hand demonstrating the divine inspiration and truthfulness of our faith, and on the other hand silencing the tongues of liars through more logical proof, of which the slanderers maintain we have no share, being thoroughly worn down daily by their slanders against us with all their might. For they say that we can offer nothing by way of proof, but demand that those who approach us attend to faith alone. 1.1.13 Therefore, against such slander this present treatise would not be unreasonable for us; yes, and it will also refute the false opinions and blasphemies of the godless heresies against the divine prophets through the harmony of the old with the new. 1.1.14 For now, therefore, the argument will postpone the longer and more detailed interpretation of the prophetic utterances, leaving for those who wish to examine these things what sort of way they might be able to speak, but using as a teacher the divine command which says, “Sum up many things in few words,” it will be ambitious to emulate this, setting forth only starting-points for the consideration of the passages and the clear interpretation of what is urgent for the matter at hand. 1.1.15 Enough indeed of prefaces; now I shall also begin the proofs. Since the crowd of slanderers streaming against us was large, asserting that we could offer nothing by way of clear proofs of the truth

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ἀνάλαμψιν, καὶ ὡς οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μαθηταὶ τὸν πάντα κόσμον τῆς αὐτοῦ διδασκαλίας ἐμπλήσουσιν, ὅπως τε εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους τὸ εὐαγγέλιον αὐτῶν κηρυχθήσεται καινόν τινα καὶ ξενίζοντα τρόπον εὐσεβείας περιέχον, καὶ ὡς ἐκκλησίαι Χριστοῦ δι' αὐτῶν ἐν ὅλοις τοῖς ἔθνεσι συστήσονται, καὶ ὡς ἑνὸς ὁ Χριστιανῶν λαὸς καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ὀνομασθήσεται, καὶ ὡς αἱ τῶν κατὰ χρόνους ἀρχόντων τε καὶ βασιλέων κατὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπαναστάσεις οὐδὲν εἰς τὸ καθελεῖν αὐτήν, ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ κραταιουμένην, ἰσχύσουσι. 1.1.9 Τοσούτων διὰ τῶν καθ' Ἑβραίους θεολόγων ἀναπεφωνημένων καὶ εἰς δεῦρο πᾶσιν εἰς φανερὸν τὰς ἐκβάσεις ἐπιδεικνυμένων, τίς οὐκ ἂν τὸ ἔνθεον ἀποθαυμάσειε τῶν ἀνδρῶν; τίς δ' οὐχὶ τῆς κατ' αὐτοὺς θεοσεβείας καὶ φιλοσοφίας τὰ μαθήματά τε καὶ τὰ δόγματα κύρια καὶ ἀληθῆ εἶναι ὁμολογήσει, τὴν ἀπόδειξιν παρεχόμενα οὐκ ἐν λέξεσι κεκομψευμέναις, οὐδ' ἐν δεινότητι λόγων ἢ κακοτέχνοις ἀπάταις συλλογισμῶν, ἐν ἁπλῇ δὲ καὶ ἀπανούργῳ διδασκαλίᾳ, ἧς τὸ γνήσιον καὶ εἰλικρινὲς τῆς ἀληθείας ἡ τῶν θεσπεσίων αὐτῶν ἐκείνων ἀνδρῶν ἀρετή τε καὶ θεογνωσία παρίστησιν; 1.1.10 οἱ γοῦν τὰ μακροῖς ὕστερον αἰῶσιν εἰς φῶς ἐλθόντα πόρρωθεν μυρίοις ἄνωθεν χρόνοις οὐκ ἀνθρωπίνῳ θείῳ δὲ πνεύματι κατοπτεῦσαι δεδυνημένοι πῶς οὐκ ἄξιοι ἂν εἶεν καὶ περὶ ὧν τοὺς φοιτητὰς ἐξεπαίδευον δογμάτων πιστεύεσθαι; Εὖ μὲν οὖν οἶδα ἀκριβῶς ὅτι πρόχειρον ἅπασι, τοῖς τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν ὡς ἂν αὐτὸν ἀληθῶς ὄντα τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ γνησίως παραδεδεγμένοις, πρῶτον μὲν πείθειν αὐτοὺς δοκεῖν, ὅτι μὴ ἄλλως εἰς αὐτὸν πεπιστεύκασιν ἢ ταῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ προφητικαῖς μαρτυρίαις ἀκολούθως, ἔπειτα τοῦτ' αὐτὸ καὶ πᾶσιν, οἷς ἂν εἰς λόγους καταβαίνοιεν, προβάλλεσθαι· μὴ μὴν ῥᾳδίως τὸ ἐπάγγελμα πιστοῦσθαι ταῖς ἀποδείξεσι δύνασθαι. 1.1.11 ὅθεν ἀναγκαίως ἐπὶ τοῦτ' αὐτὸς παρελθών, σὺν θεῷ βοηθῷ κατὰ τὰ ἐπηγγελμένα τὴν ἐντελῆ πάσης τῆς Εὐαγγελικῆς Ἀποδείξεως πραγματείαν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν παρ' Ἑβραίοις θεολόγων παραστήσασθαι πειράσομαι. Σπουδαιολογεῖται δέ μοι ἡ γραφὴ οὐχ, ὡς ἄν τις φαίη, κατὰ Ἰουδαίων. ἄπαγε, πολλοῦ γε καὶ δεῖ. πρὸς αὐτῶν μὲν οὖν, εἰ εὐ γνωμονοῖεν, τυγχάνει· συνίστησι γὰρ τὰ μὲν Χριστιανῶν διὰ τῆς ἀνέκαθεν προρρήσεως ἐπιμαρτυρίας, τὰ δ' ἐκείνων διὰ τῆς τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς προφητειῶν ἀποτελεσματικῆς συμπληρώσεως. 1.1.12 ἁρμόσειε δ' ἂν καὶ παισὶν Ἑλλήνων, εἰ εὐγνωμονοῖεν, διὰ τῆς παραδόξου τῶν μελλόντων προγνώσεως τῆς τε τῶν πραγμάτων κατὰ τὰς προρρήσεις ἐκβάσεως, ὁμοῦ μὲν τὸ ἔνθεον καὶ ἀψευδὲς τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀληθείας ἐπιδεικνυμένη, ὁμοῦ δὲ καὶ τὰς τῶν ψευδηγόρων γλώττας ἐπιστομίζουσα διὰ τῆς λογικωτέρας ἀποδείξεως, ἧς οὐδαμῶς ἡμῖν οἱ συκοφάνται μετεῖναι διατείνονται, εὖ μάλα ὁσημέραι ταῖς καθ' ἡμῶν διαβολαῖς κατὰ κράτος ἐπεντριβόμενοι. οὐδὲν γοῦν ἡμᾶς δύνασθαί φασι δι' ἀποδείξεως παρέχειν, πίστει δὲ μόνῃ προσέχειν ἀξιοῦν τοὺς ἡμῖν προσιόντας. 1.1.13 πρὸς οὖν τὴν τοιαύτην διαβολὴν οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο ἡμῖν ἄλογος ἡ παροῦσα πραγματεία, ναὶ μὴν καὶ τῶν ἀθέων αἱρέσεων τὰς κατὰ τῶν θείων προφητῶν ψευδοδοξίας τε καὶ βλασφημίας ἀπελέγξει διὰ τῆς πρὸς τὰ νέα τῶν παλαιῶν συμφωνίας. 1.1.14 τὴν μὲν οὖν μακροτέραν καὶ διεξοδικὴν τῶν προφητικῶν φωνῶν ἑρμηνείαν τὰ νῦν ὁ λόγος ὑπερθήσεται, τοῖς βουλομένοις τὰ τούτων ἐξετάζειν καταλιπών, ὃν οἷοί τ' ἂν εἶεν εἰπεῖν τὸν τρόπον, διδασκάλῳ δὲ χρώμενος παραγγέλματι θείῳ φάσκοντι «κεφαλαίωσον ἐν ὀλίγοις πολλά», τοῦτο ζηλῶσαι φιλοτιμήσεται, αὐτὸ μόνον ἀφορμὰς τῆς εἰς τοὺς τόπους θεωρίας καὶ τῶν εἰς τὸ προκείμενον κατεπειγόντων τὴν εἰς τὸ σαφὲς ἑρμηνείαν παραθησόμενος. 1.1.15 Ἅλις μὲν δὴ προοιμίων· ἤδη δὲ καὶ τῶν ἀποδείξεων ἄρξομαι. ἐπειδὴ πολὺς ἦν ἐπιρρέων καθ' ἡμῶν ὁ τῶν συκοφαντῶν ὄχλος, μηδὲν δύνασθαι φάσκων δι' ἀποδείξεων ἐναργὲς ἀληθείας