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a nation was born at once.” The same one also somehow indicates the future name, saying: “and to those who serve me 1.4.4 a new name shall be called, which shall be blessed upon the earth.” But even if we are clearly new and this truly new name of Christians is now known among all nations, yet our life and the manner of our conduct in accord with the doctrines of piety have not been recently invented by us, but, so to speak, from the first generation of men have been rightly practiced through the natural concepts of the ancient men beloved of God, 1.4.5 as we will show in this way. The nation of the Hebrews happens to be not new, but honored by all men for its antiquity, and known to all. Indeed, their traditions and writings contain accounts of ancient men, rare and few in number, but nonetheless distinguished in piety and righteousness and every other virtue, some before the flood, and others after it, both the children and descendants of Noah and also Abraham, whom the children of the Hebrews boast of as their founder and forefather. 1.4.6 If someone were to call all those who have been testified to for righteousness, going back from Abraham himself to the first man, Christians in deed, if not in name, he would not be wide of the truth. 1.4.7 For what the name wishes to indicate, that the Christian man, through the knowledge and teaching of Christ, is distinguished by self-control and righteousness, by endurance of life and the courage of virtue, and by the confession of piety toward the one and only God over all—all this 1.4.8 was practiced by them no less than by us. Therefore, they were not concerned with the circumcision of the body, just as we are not; nor with the observance of sabbaths, just as we are not; nor with abstinence from certain foods nor with the other distinctions, which Moses, being the first of all, began and handed down to those after him to be performed as symbols, just as such things are not for Christians now. But they also clearly knew the Christ of God himself, since it has been shown that he appeared to Abraham, gave oracles to Isaac, spoke to Israel, and conversed with Moses and the prophets after him; 1.4.9 whence you might find that those God-beloved men were even deemed worthy of the name of Christ, according to the voice that says concerning them: “Touch not my Christs, and in 1.4.10 my prophets do no evil”; so that one must clearly consider the piety of those very God-beloved men around Abraham, which has recently been proclaimed to all nations through the teaching of Christ, 1.4.11 to be the first and most ancient and earliest discovery of all. And if they say that Abraham received the command of circumcision long after, yet before this he is proclaimed as having been testified to for righteousness through faith, as the divine word says: “And Abraham believed 1.4.12 God, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.” And indeed, to him, being such before circumcision, an oracle from the God who revealed himself to him—and this was Christ himself, the Word of God—was proclaimed beforehand in these very words concerning those who in later times would be justified in a similar manner to him, saying: “and in you shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed,” and also: “he shall become a great and numerous nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” And it is possible to see this 1.4.13 fulfilled in us. For he was justified by faith in the Word of God, the Christ, who appeared to him, having abandoned his ancestral superstition and the error of his former life, and having confessed the one God over all and served him by deeds of virtue, not by the religion of the law of Moses that came after, and to him, being such, it was said that all the tribes of the earth 1.4.14 and all the nations would be blessed in him. And that very same way of piety of Abraham 1.4.15 has appeared, practiced at the present time by Christians alone throughout the whole world in deeds more clear than words. What then would remain to prevent, that not one

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ἐτέχθη ἔθνος εἰς ἅπαξ». ὑποσημαίνει δέ πως καὶ τὴν μέλλουσαν ὁ αὐτὸς προσηγορίαν, λέγων· «τοῖς δὲ δουλεύουσίν μοι 1.4.4 κληθήσεται ὄνομα καινόν, ὃ εὐλογηθήσεται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς». ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ νέοι σαφῶς ἡμεῖς καὶ τοῦτο καινὸν ὄντως ὄνομα τὸ Χριστιανῶν ἀρτίως παρὰ πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν γνωρίζεται, ὁ βίος δ' οὖν ὅμως καὶ τῆς ἀγωγῆς ὁ τρόπος αὐτοῖς εὐσεβείας δόγμασιν ὅτι μὴ ἔναγχος ὑφ' ἡμῶν ἐπιπέπλασται, ἐκ πρώτης δ' ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀνθρωπογονίας φυσικαῖς ἐννοίαις τῶν πάλαι θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν 1.4.5 κατωρθοῦτο, ὧδέ πως ἐπιδείξομεν. οὐ νέον, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἀρχαιότητι τετιμημένον ἔθνος, τοῖς πᾶσι καὶ αὐτὸ γνώριμον, τὸ Ἑβραίων τυγχάνει. λόγοι δὴ παρὰ τούτῳ καὶ γράμματα παλαιοὺς ἄνδρας περιέχουσιν, σπανίους μὲν καὶ ἀριθμῷ βραχεῖς, ἀλλ' ὅμως εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ πάσῃ τῇ λοιπῇ διενεγκόντας ἀρετῇ, πρὸ μέν γε τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ διαφόρους, μετὰ δὲ καὶ τοῦτον ἑτέρους, τῶν τε τοῦ Νῶε παίδων καὶ ἀπογόνων ἀτὰρ καὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ, ὃν ἀρχηγὸν καὶ προ1.4.6 πάτορα σφῶν αὐτῶν παῖδες Ἑβραίων αὐχοῦσι. πάντας δὴ ἐκείνους ἐπὶ δικαιοσύνῃ μεμαρτυρημένους, ἐξ αὐτοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπὶ τὸν πρῶτον ἀνιοῦσιν ἄνθρωπον, ἔργῳ Χριστιανούς, εἰ καὶ μὴ ὀνόματι, προσειπών τις οὐκ ἂν ἐκτὸς βάλοι τῆς ἀληθείας. 1.4.7 ὃ γάρτοι δηλοῦν ἐθέλοι τοὔνομα, τὸν Χριστιανὸν ἄνδρα διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ γνώσεως καὶ διδασκαλίας σωφροσύνῃ καὶ δικαιοσύνῃ καρτερίᾳ τε βίου καὶ ἀρετῆς ἀνδρείᾳ εὐσεβείας τε ὁμολογίᾳ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων θεοῦ διαπρέπειν, τοῦτο πᾶν 1.4.8 ἐκείνοις οὐ χεῖρον ἡμῶν ἐσπουδάζετο. οὔτ' οὖν σώματος αὐτοῖς περιτομῆς ἔμελεν, ὅτι μηδὲ ἡμῖν, οὐ σαββάτων ἐπιτηρήσεως, ὅτι μηδὲ ἡμῖν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν τοιῶνδε τροφῶν παραφυλακῆς οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων διαστολῆς, ὅσα τοῖς μετέπειτα πρῶτος ἁπάντων Μωυσῆς ἀρξάμενος ἐν συμβόλοις τελεῖσθαι παραδέδωκεν, ὅτι μηδὲ νῦν Χριστιανῶν τὰ τοιαῦτα. ἀλλὰ καὶ σαφῶς αὐτὸν ᾔδεσαν τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ, εἴ γε ὦφθαι μὲν τῷ Ἀβραάμ, χρηματίσαι δὲ τῷ Ἰσαάκ, λελαληκέναι δὲ τῷ Ἰσραήλ, Μωυσεῖ τε καὶ τοῖς μετὰ ταῦτα προφήταις ὡμιληκέναι προδέδεικται· 1.4.9 ἔνθεν αὐτοὺς δὴ τοὺς θεοφιλεῖς ἐκείνους εὕροις ἂν καὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατηξιωμένους ἐπωνυμίας, κατὰ τὴν φάσκουσαν περὶ αὐτῶν φωνήν· «μὴ ἅψησθε τῶν Χριστῶν μου, καὶ ἐν 1.4.10 τοῖς προφήταις μου μὴ πονηρεύεσθε»· ὥστε σαφῶς πρώτην ἡγεῖσθαι δεῖν καὶ πάντων παλαιοτάτην τε καὶ ἀρχαιοτάτην θεοσεβείας εὕρεσιν αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸν Ἀβραὰμ θεοφιλῶν ἀνδρῶν τὴν ἀρτίως διὰ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδασκαλίας 1.4.11 πᾶσιν ἔθνεσιν κατηγγελμένην. εἰ δὲ δὴ μακρῷ ποθ' ὕστερον περιτομῆς φασι τὸν Ἀβραὰμ ἐντολὴν εἰληφέναι, ἀλλὰ πρό γε ταύτης δικαιοσύνην διὰ πίστεως μαρτυρηθεὶς ἀνείρηται, ὧδέ πως τοῦ θείου φάσκοντος λόγου· «ἐπίστευσεν δὲ Ἀβραὰμ τῷ 1.4.12 θεῷ, καὶ ἐλογίσθη αὐτῷ εἰς δικαιοσύνην». καὶ δὴ τοιούτῳ πρὸ τῆς περιτομῆς γεγονότι χρησμὸς ὑπὸ τοῦ φήναντος ἑαυτὸν αὐτῷ θεοῦ οὗτος δ' ἦν αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστός, ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος περὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς μετέπειτα χρόνοις τὸν ὅμοιον αὐτῷ δικαιοῦσθαι τρόπον μελλόντων ῥήμασιν αὐτοῖς προεπήγγελται λέγων· «καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν σοὶ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς», καὶ ὡς ὅτι· «ἔσται εἰς ἔθνος μέγα καὶ πολύ, καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς». τούτῳ δὲ καὶ ἐπιστῆσαι εἰς ἡμᾶς 1.4.13 ἐκπεπληρωμένῳ πάρεστιν. πίστει μὲν γὰρ ἐκεῖνος τῇ εἰς τὸν ὀφθέντα αὐτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον τὸν Χριστὸν δεδικαίωτο, πατρῴας μὲν ἀποστὰς δεισιδαιμονίας καὶ πλάνης βίου προτέρας, ἕνα δὲ τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων ὁμολογήσας θεὸν καὶ τοῦτον ἔργοις ἀρετῆς, οὐχὶ δὲ θρησκείᾳ νόμου τοῦ μετὰ ταῦτα Μωυσέως θεραπεύσας, τοιούτῳ τε ὄντι εἴρητο ὅτι δὴ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς 1.4.14 καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἐν αὐτῷ εὐλογηθήσεται· ἔργοις δὲ λόγων ἐναργεστέροις ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος παρὰ μόνοις Χριστιανοῖς καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἀσκούμενος αὐτὸς ἐκεῖνος ὁ τῆς θεοσεβείας 1.4.15 τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἀναπέφηνε τρόπος. τί δὴ οὖν λοιπὸν ἐμποδὼν ἂν εἴη, μὴ οὐχὶ ἕνα