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being in error. For from this it will be possible to perceive accurately, even before proof, the firm truth proclaimed by the Church, and the falsehood fabricated by these men. 1.2.1 For the Church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, having received from the Apostles and their disciples the faith in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, and earth, and the seas, and all things that are in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations, and the advents, and the birth from a Virgin, and the passion, and the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and His manifestation from heaven in the glory of the Father to sum up all things, and to raise up anew all flesh of all humanity, in order that to Christ Jesus, our Lord, and God, and Savior, and King, according to the good pleasure of the invisible Father, every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess to Him, and that He should execute just judgment towards all; the spiritual hosts of wickedness, and the angels who have transgressed and become apostates, and the impious, and unjust, and lawless, and blasphemous among men, He may send into eternal fire; but to the righteous, and holy, and those who have kept His commandments, and have persevered in His love, some from the beginning, and others from their repentance, having graciously given life, He may bestow upon them incorruption, and may surround them with eternal glory. HAVING received this preaching, and this faith, as we have said before, the Church, although dispersed throughout the whole world, yet, carefully preserves it, as if inhabiting one house; and she believes these things with one accord, as having one soul and one and the same heart, and she harmoniously preaches, and teaches, and hands them down, as if possessing one mouth. For although the dialects throughout the world are dissimilar, yet the power of the tradition is one and the same. And neither do the churches founded in the Germanies believe otherwise, or hand down otherwise, nor those in the Iberias, nor among the Celts, nor those in the East, nor in Egypt, nor in Libya, nor those established in the middle regions of the world. But as the sun, that creature of God, is one and the same in all the world, so also the preaching of the truth shines everywhere, and enlightens all men who are willing to come to a knowledge of the truth. And neither will he who is very powerful in speech among the rulers in the churches say anything different from these things; for no one is above the master; nor will he who is weak in speech diminish the tradition. For since the faith is one and the same, neither he who is able to speak much about it has added to it, nor has he who speaks little, diminished it. BUT for some to know more or less according to their understanding, does not consist in changing the hypothesis itself, and devising another God besides the Creator, and Maker, and Nourisher of this universe, as if these were not sufficient, or another Christ, or another Only-begotten; but in working out more fully the things which have been said in parables, and adapting them to the hypothesis of the faith; and in narrating the operation and dispensation of God which was accomplished for humanity; and in making clear that God was longsuffering in the apostasy of the angels who transgressed, and in the disobedience of men; and in declaring why one and the same God has made some things temporal, and others eternal, some heavenly, and others earthly; and in understanding why God, being invisible, appeared to the prophets, not in one form, but differently to different ones; and in indicating why a plurality of covenants has been made with mankind, and in teaching what is the character of each of the covenants; and in searching out why God has concluded all ita iii. 22 in disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all; and in giving thanks for why the Word of God was made flesh, and suffered; and

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πλάνης ὄντες. Καὶ ἐκ τούτου γὰρ ἀκριβῶς συνιδεῖν ἔσται ἐστι, καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἀποδείξεως, βεβαίαν τὴν ὑπὸ τῆς Ἐκκλησίας κηρυσσομένην ἀλήθειαν, καὶ τὴν ὑπὸ τούτων παραπεποιημένην ψευδηγορίαν. 1.2.1 Ἡ μὲν γὰρ Ἐκκλησία, καίπερ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἕως περάτων τῆς γῆς διεσπαρμένη, παρὰ δὲ τῶν Ἀποστόλων, καὶ τῶν ἐκείνων μαθητῶν παραλαβοῦσα τὴν εἰς ἕνα Θεὸν Πατέρα παντοκράτορα, τὸν πεποιηκότα τὸν οὐρανὸν, καὶ τὴν γῆν, καὶ τὰς θαλάσσας, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, πίστιν· καὶ εἰς ἕνα Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, τὸν υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸν σαρκωθέντα ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡμετέρας σωτηρίας· καὶ εἰς Πνεῦμα ἅγιον, τὸ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν κεκηρυχὸς τὰς οἰκονομίας, καὶ τὰς ἐλεύσεις, καὶ τὴν ἐκ Παρθένου γέννησιν, καὶ τὸ πάθος, καὶ τὴν ἔγερσιν ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ τὴν ἔνσαρκον εἰς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἀνάληψιν τοῦ ἠγαπημένου Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν, καὶ τὴν ἐκ τῶν οὐρανῶν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ τοῦ Πατρὸς παρουσίαν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι τὰ πάντα, καὶ ἀναστῆσαι πᾶσαν σάρκα πάσης ἀνθρωπότητος, ἵνα Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ Κυρίῳ ἡμῶν, καὶ Θεῷ, καὶ Σωτῆρι, καὶ Βασιλεῖ, κατὰ τὴν εὐδοκίαν τοῦ Πατρὸς τοῦ ἀοράτου, πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσηται αὐτῷ, καὶ κρίσιν δικαίαν ἐν τοῖς πᾶσι ποιήσηται· τὰ μὲν πνευματικὰ τῆς πονηρίας, καὶ ἀγγέλους τοὺς παραβεβηκότας, καὶ ἐν ἀποστασίᾳ γεγονότας, καὶ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς, καὶ ἀδίκους, καὶ ἀνόμους, καὶ βλασφήμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ πέμψῃ· τοῖς δὲ δικαίοις, καὶ ὁσίοις, καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τετηρηκόσι, καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγάπῃ αὐτοῦ διαμεμενηκόσι τοῖς μὲν ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, τοῖς δὲ ἐκ μετανοίας, ζωὴν χαρισάμενος ἀφθαρσίαν δωρήσηται, καὶ δόξαν αἰωνίαν περιποιήσῃ. ΤΟΥΤΟ τὸ κήρυγμα παρειληφυῖα, καὶ ταύτην τὴν πίστιν, ὡς προέφαμεν, ἡ Ἐκκλησία, καίπερ ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ διεσπαρμένη, ἐπιμελῶς φυλάσσει, ὡς ἕνα οἶκον οἰκοῦσα· καὶ ὁμοίως πιστεύει τούτοις, ὡς μίαν ψυχὴν καὶ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχουσα καρδίαν, καὶ συμφώνως ταῦτα κηρύσσει, καὶ διδάσκει, καὶ παραδίδωσιν, ὡς ἓν στόμα κεκτημένη. Καὶ γὰρ αἱ κατὰ τὸν κόσμον διάλεκτοι ἀνόμοιαι, ἀλλ' ἡ δύναμις τῆς παραδόσεως μία καὶ ἡ αὐτή. Καὶ οὔτε αἱ ἐν Γερμανίαις ἱδρυμέναι ἐκκλησίαι ἄλλως πεπιστεύκασιν, ἢ ἄλλως παραδιδόασιν, οὔτε ἐν ταῖς Ἰβηρίαις, οὔτε ἐν Κελτοῖς, οὔτε κατὰ τὰς ἀνατολὰς, οὔτε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, οὔτε ἐν Λιβύῃ, οὔτε αἱ κατὰ μέσα τοῦ κόσμου ἱδρυμέναι· ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ὁ ἥλιος, τὸ κτίσμα τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐν ὅλῳ τῷ κόσμῳ εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς, οὕτω καὶ τὸ κήρυγμα τῆς ἀληθείας πανταχῇ φαίνει, καὶ φωτίζει πάντας ἀνθρώπους τοὺς βουλομένους εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας ἐλθεῖν. Καὶ οὔτε ὁ πάνυ δυνατὸς ἐν λόγῳ τῶν ἐν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις προεστώτων, ἕτερα τούτων ἐρεῖ· οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὑπὲρ τὸν διδάσκαλον· οὔτε ὁ ἀσθενὴς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ ἐλαττώσει τὴν παράδοσιν. Μιᾶς γὰρ καὶ τῆς αὐτῆς πίστεως οὔσης, οὔτε ὁ πολὺ περὶ αὐτῆς δυνάμενος εἰπεῖν ἐπλεόνασεν, οὔτε ὁ τὸ ὀλίγον, ἠλαττόνησε. ΤΟ δὲ πλεῖον ἢ ἔλαττον κατὰ σύνεσιν εἰδέναι τινὰς, οὐκ ἐν τῷ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν αὐτὴν ἀλλάσσειν γίνεται, καὶ ἄλλον Θεὸν παρεπινοεῖν παρὰ τὸν δημιουργὸν, καὶ ποιητὴν, καὶ τροφέα τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς, ὡς μὴ ἀρκουμένους τούτους, ἢ ἄλλον Χριστὸν, ἢ ἄλλον Μονογενῆ· ἀλλὰ ἐν τῷ τὰ ὅσα ἐν παραβολαῖς εἴρηται προσεπεργάζεσθαι, καὶ οἰκειοῦν τῇ τῆς πίστεως ὑποθέσει· καὶ ἐν τῷ τήν τε πραγματείαν καὶ οἰκονομίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὴν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι γενομένην, ἐκδιηγεῖσθαι· καὶ ὅτι ἐμακροθύμησεν ὁ Θεὸς ἐπί τε τῇ τῶν παραβεβηκότων ἀγγέλων ἀποστασίᾳ, καὶ ἐπὶ τῇ παρακοῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, σαφηνίζειν· καὶ διὰ τί τὰ μὲν πρόσκαιρα, τὰ δὲ αἰώνια, καὶ τὰ μὲν οὐράνια, τὰ δὲ ἐπίγεια εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς Θεὸς πεποίηκεν, ἀπαγγέλλειν· καὶ διὰ τί ἀόρατος ὢν ἐφάνη τοῖς προφήταις ὁ Θεὸς, οὐκ ἐν μιᾷ ἰδέᾳ, ἀλλὰ ἄλλως ἄλλοις, συνιεῖν· καὶ διὰ τί διαθῆκαι πλείους γεγόνασι τῇ ἀνθρωπότητι μηνύειν, καὶ τίς ἑκάστης τῶν διαθηκῶν ὁ χαρακτὴρ, διδάσκειν· καὶ διὰ τί συνέκλεισε πάντα ita iii. 22 εἰς ἀπείθειαν ὁ Θεὸς, ἵνα τοὺς πάντας ἐλεήσῃ, ἐξερευνᾷν· καὶ διὰ τί ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ σὰρξ ἐγένετο, καὶ ἔπαθεν, εὐχαριστεῖν· καὶ