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Nor Mark, just as he is not the only apostle, but they were also, even if one is said to be this in a special way, and others that. He calls it the Gospel not only because of the good things that have happened, but also because of those to come. But how does he say that God preaches the good news through him? For he says, 'Set apart for the Gospel of God'; for the Father was known even before the Gospels. But even if he was known, it was to the Jews only, and not even to all of them as was necessary; for they did not know him as Father, and they imagined many things unworthy of him at that time; therefore Christ also said, that 'The true worshipers will come'; and, that 'The Father seeks such to worship him.' But later He Himself, with the Son, was revealed to the whole world; which Christ, proclaiming beforehand, said: 'That they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.' He calls it the Gospel of God, raising up the hearer from the very beginning. For he did not come announcing anything gloomy, like the prophets with their accusations and charges and rebukes, but Gospels, and Gospels of God, countless treasures of good things that are abiding and immovable. Which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures. For, he says, 'The Lord shall give the word to them that preach the gospel with great power'; and again, 'How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace!' 2. Do you see both the name and the character of the Gospel explicitly lying in the Old Testament? For we proclaim it not only through words, he says, but also through deeds; for it was not human, but divine and ineffable and surpassing all nature. And since they accused the matter of being an innovation, he shows that it is older than the Greeks, and was prefigured in the prophets. And if He did not give it from the beginning, it was because of those who were unwilling to receive it; at any rate, those who were willing, heard. 'Abraham your father,' he says, 'rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it and was glad.' How then does He say, that 'Many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it'? In the same way, he says, as you see and hear, the very flesh, and the very signs before your eyes. But consider 60.397 for how many ages these things were proclaimed beforehand; for whenever God is about to prepare something great, He proclaims it many ages beforehand, training the ear for the reception of their coming. In holy Scriptures. For the prophets not only spoke, but also wrote what they spoke; and not only did they write, but they also prefigured through deeds, as Abraham leading Isaac, and Moses lifting up the serpent, and stretching out his hands against Amalek, and sacrificing the paschal lamb. Concerning His Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh. What are you doing, O Paul? Having raised up and lifted up our souls, and made us imagine great and ineffable things, and having said Gospel, and Gospel of God, and having brought in a chorus of prophets, and shown them all proclaiming beforehand for many years the things that were to come, where are you bringing us down again to David? Of what man are you speaking, tell me, and you give him the son of Jesse as a father? And how are these things worthy of what was said? Indeed most worthy; for our discourse, he says, is not about a mere man. For this reason I added, 'According to the flesh,' hinting that there is also a birth of the same according to the spirit. And for what reason did he begin from here, and not from there, from the higher things? Because Matthew also began from here, and Luke, and Mark. For it is necessary to lead the one who is to be led to heaven from below upwards; for so also was the matter arranged. At any rate, they first saw Him as a man upon the earth, and then they understood Him to be God. Therefore, in the way that He Himself taught, in this way also His disciple cuts the road that leads there. He speaks first, then, of the birth according to the flesh, not because it was first, but because from this he led the hearer up to that one. Who was declared the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ. What has been said is unclear from the wording

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οὐδὲ Μάρκος, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ οὗτος μόνος ἀπόστολος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκεῖνοι, εἰ καὶ κατ' ἐξαίρετον ὁ μὲν τοῦτο, οἱ δὲ ἐκεῖνο λέγονται εἶναι. Εὐαγγέλιον δὲ αὐτὸ οὐ διὰ τὰ γεγενημένα ἀγαθὰ μόνον καλεῖ, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὰ μέλλοντα. Πῶς δὲ τὸν Θεὸν εὐαγγελίζεσθαι δι' αὐτοῦ φησιν; Ἀφωρισμένος γὰρ, φησὶν, εἰς Εὐαγγέλιον Θεοῦ· ὁ γὰρ Πατὴρ καὶ πρὸ τῶν Εὐαγγελίων δῆλος ἦν. Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ δῆλος ἦν, Ἰουδαίοις μόνοις, καὶ οὐδὲ τούτοις πᾶσιν, ὡς ἔδει· οὔτε γὰρ Πατέρα αὐτὸν ὄντα ᾔδεσαν, καὶ πολλὰ ἀνάξια αὐτοῦ τότε ἐφαντάζοντο· διὸ καὶ ἔλεγεν ὁ Χριστὸς, ὅτι Ἥξουσιν οἱ ἀληθινοὶ προσκυνηταί· καὶ, ὅτι Ὁ Πατὴρ τοιούτους ζητεῖ τοὺς προσκυνοῦντας αὐτόν. Ὕστερον δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς μετὰ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἐξεφάνθη τῇ οἰκουμένῃ πάσῃ· ὅπερ οὖν καὶ προαναφωνῶν ἔλεγεν ὁ Χριστός· Ἵνα γινώσκωσί σε τὸν μόνον ἀληθινὸν Θεὸν, καὶ ὃν ἀπέστειλας Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν. Εὐαγγέλιον δὲ Θεοῦ καλεῖ, ἀπὸ τῶν προοιμίων ἀνορθῶν τὸν ἀκροατήν. Οὐ γὰρ ἦλθέ τι σκυθρωπὸν ἀπαγγέλλων, ὥσπερ οἱ προφῆται κατηγορίας καὶ ἐγκλήματα καὶ ἐπιτιμήσεις, ἀλλὰ Εὐαγγέλια, καὶ Εὐαγγέλια Θεοῦ, μενόντων καὶ ἀκινήτων ἀγαθῶν θησαυροὺς μυρίους. Ὃ προεπηγγείλατο διὰ τῶν προφητῶν αὐτοῦ ἐν Γραφαῖς ἁγίαις. Κύριος γὰρ δώσει ῥῆμα, φησὶ, τοῖς εὐαγγελιζομένοις δυνάμει πολλῇ· καὶ πάλιν, Ὡς ὡραῖοι οἱ πόδες τῶν εὐαγγελιζομένων εἰρήνην! βʹ. Ὁρᾷς καὶ ῥητῶς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου καὶ τὸ ὄνομα καὶ τὸν τρόπον ἐν τῇ Παλαιᾷ κείμενον; Οὐ γὰρ διὰ ῥημάτων αὐτὸ καταγγέλλομεν μόνον, φησὶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ πραγμάτων· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀνθρώπινον ἦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θεῖον καὶ ἀπόῤῥητον καὶ πᾶσαν ὑπερβαῖνον φύσιν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καινοτομίαν ἐνεκάλουν τῷ πράγματι, δείκνυσιν αὐτὸ πρεσβύτερον Ἑλλήνων ὂν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς προφήταις προδιαγραφόμενον. Εἰ δὲ μὴ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἔδωκε, παρὰ τοὺς μὴ βουλομένους δέξασθαι· οἱ γοῦν βουλόμενοι ἤκουσαν. Ἀβραὰμ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν, φησὶν, ἠγαλλιάσατο, ἵνα ἴδῃ τὴν ἡμέραν τὴν ἐμήν· καὶ εἶδε, καὶ ἐχάρη. Πῶς οὖν φησὶν, ὅτι Πολλοὶ προφῆται καὶ δίκαιοι ἐπεθύμησαν ἰδεῖν ἃ ὑμεῖς βλέπετε, καὶ οὐκ εἶδον; Οὕτω, φησὶν, ὡς ὑμεῖς βλέπετε καὶ ἀκούετε, αὐτὴν τὴν σάρκα, καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ σημεῖα τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν ὄψεων. Σὺ δέ μοι σκό 60.397 πει, πρὸ πόσων ταῦτα προεκηρύττετο χρόνων· καὶ γὰρ ὅταν μεγάλα τινὰ προκατασκευάζειν ὁ Θεὸς μέλλῃ, πρὸ πολλῶν αὐτὰ προαναφωνεῖ χρόνων, γυμνάζων τὴν ἀκοὴν πρὸς τὴν ὑποδοχὴν τῆς παρουσίας αὐτῶν. Ἐν Γραφαῖς ἁγίαις. Οὐ γὰρ ἔλεγον οἱ προφῆται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔγραφον ἅπερ ἔλεγον· οὐκ ἔγραφον δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ πραγμάτων ἐτύπουν, ὡς Ἀβραὰμ τὸν Ἰσαὰκ ἄγων, καὶ Μωϋσῆς τὸν ὄφιν ὑψῶν, καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἐκτείνων ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἀμαλὴκ, καὶ τὸν ἀμνὸν τοῦ πάσχα θύων. Περὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ γενομένου ἐκ σπέρματος ∆αυῒδ κατὰ σάρκα. Τί ποιεῖς, ὦ Παῦλε; μετεωρίσας ἡμῶν τὰς ψυχὰς καὶ ἀναγαγὼν, καὶ μεγάλα καὶ ἀπόῤῥητα φαντασθῆναι ποιήσας, καὶ Εὐαγγέλιον εἰπὼν, καὶ Θεοῦ Εὐαγγέλιον, καὶ χορὸν προφητῶν εἰσαγαγὼν, καὶ δείξας πάντας ἀνακηρύττοντας πρὸ πολλῶν ἐτῶν τὰ ἐσόμενα, ποῦ πάλιν ἡμᾶς κατάγεις πρὸς τὸν ∆αυΐδ; περὶ ἀνθρώπου τίνος διαλέγῃ, εἰπέ μοι, καὶ πατέρα δίδως αὐτῷ τὸν τοῦ Ἰεσσαὶ υἱόν; καὶ ποῦ ταῦτα τῶν εἰρημένων ἄξια; Σφόδρα μὲν οὖν ἄξια· οὐ γὰρ περὶ ἀνθρώπου ψιλοῦ, φησὶν, ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν. ∆ιά τοι τοῦτο προσέθηκα τὸ, Κατὰ σάρκα, αἰνιττόμενος, ὅτι καὶ κατὰ πνεῦμα γέννησίς ἐστι τοῦ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ τίνος ἕνεκεν ἐντεῦθεν ἤρξατο, καὶ οὐκ ἐκεῖθεν ἀπὸ τῶν ὑψηλοτέρων; Ὅτι καὶ Ματθαῖος ἐντεῦθεν καὶ Λουκᾶς καὶ Μάρκος. Τὸν γὰρ μέλλοντα χειραγωγεῖν πρὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν, κάτωθεν ἄνω χειραγωγεῖν ἀναγκαῖον· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ᾠκονομήθη. Πρῶτον γοῦν εἶδον αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ τότε ἐνόησαν Θεόν. Ἧ τοίνυν αὐτὸς τὴν διδασκαλίαν ἐποιήσατο, ταύτῃ καὶ ὁ μαθητὴς αὐτοῦ τέμνει τὴν ἐκεῖ φέρουσαν ὁδόν. Πρῶτον οὖν λέγει τὴν κατὰ σάρκα γέννησιν, οὐκ ἐπειδὴ πρώτη ἦν, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἀπὸ ταύτης πρὸς ἐκείνην ἀνῆγε τὸν ἀκροατήν. Τοῦ ὁρισθέντος Υἱοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν δυνάμει καὶ Πνεύματι ἁγιωσύνης ἐξ ἀναστάσεως νεκρῶν, Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ. Ἀσαφὲς τὸ εἰρημένον ἀπὸ τῆς τῶν λέξεων