25. But all the apparatus of war has been got ready against us; every intellectual missile is aimed at us; and now blasphemers’ tongues shoot and hit and hit again, yet harder than Stephen of old was smitten by the killers of the Christ.  6  Χριστοφόνοι. The compound occurs in Ps. Ignat. ad Philad. vi. And do not let them succeed in concealing the fact that, while an attack on us serves for a pretext for the war, the real aim of these proceedings is higher. It is against us, they say, that they are preparing their engines and their snares; against us that they are shouting to one another, according to each one’s strength or cunning, to come on. But the object of attack is faith. The one aim of the whole band of opponents and enemies of “sound doctrine”  7  1 Tim. i. 10. is to shake down the foundation of the faith of Christ by levelling apostolic tradition with the ground, and utterly destroying it. So like the debtors,—of course  bona fide debtors—they clamour for written proof, and reject as worthless the unwritten tradition of the Fathers.  8  Mr. Johnston sees here a reference to the parable of the unjust steward, and appositely quotes Greg. Naz. Orat. xxxi, § 3, on the heretics’ use of Scripture, “They find a cloak for their impiety in their affection for Scripture.” The Arians at Nicæa objected to the ὁμοόυσιον as unscriptural. But we will not slacken in our defence of the truth. We will not cowardly abandon the cause. The Lord has delivered to us as a necessary and saving doctrine that the Holy Spirit is to be ranked with the Father. Our opponents think differently, and see fit to divide and rend  9  cf. Ep. cxx. 5. asunder, and relegate Him to the nature of a ministering spirit. Is it not then indisputable that they make their own blasphemy more authoritative than the law prescribed by the Lord? Come, then, set aside mere contention. Let us consider the points before us, as follows:

[25] Ἀλλ' ἡ μὲν παρασκευὴ τοῦ καθ' ἡμῶν πολέμου ἐξήρτυται καὶ πᾶσα διάνοια πρὸς ἡμᾶς τέταται, καὶ γλῶσσαι βλασφήμων ὧδε τοξεύουσι σφοδρότερον βάλλουσαι ἢ τὸν Στέφανον τότε τοῖς λίθοις οἱ χριστοφόνοι. Μὴ λανθανέτωσαν δὲ ὅτι πρόσχημα μὲν ἡμᾶς ὁ πόλεμος ἔχει, ἡ δὲ ἀλήθεια τῶν γινομένων πρὸς τὸ ὕψος βλέπει. Ὥστε ἐφ' ἡμᾶς μὲν δῆθεν τὰς μηχανὰς καὶ τὰς ἐνέδρας διασκευάζονται, καὶ ἀλλήλοις ἐγκελεύονται ἐπιβοηθεῖν, ὡς ἕκαστος ἔχει ἐμπειρίας ἢ ῥώμης. Πίστις δέ ἐστι τὸ πολεμούμενον καὶ κοινὸς σκοπὸς ἅπασι τοῖς ἐναντίοις καὶ ἐχθροῖς τῆς ὑγιαινούσης διδασκαλίας, τὸ στερέωμα τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως κατασεῖσαι, ἐκ τοῦ τὴν ἀποστολικὴν παράδοσιν ἐδαφισθεῖσαν ἀφανισθῆναι. Διὰ τοῦτο, ὡς τῶν χρεωφειλετῶν οἱ δῆθεν εὐγνώμονες, τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἐγγράφων ἀποδείξεις ἐπιβοῶνται, τὴν ἄγραφον τῶν πατέρων μαρτυρίαν ὡς οὐδενὸς ἀξίαν ἀποπεμπόμενοι. Ἀλλ' οὐ γὰρ ὑφησόμεθα τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐδὲ δειλίᾳ τὴν συμμαχίαν προδώσομεν. Εἰ γὰρ ὁ μὲν Κύριος ὡς ἀναγκαῖον καὶ σωτήριον δόγμα τὴν μετὰ Πατρὸς σύνταξιν τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος παραδέδωκε, τοῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτω δοκεῖ, ἀλλὰ διαιρεῖν καὶ διασπᾷν καὶ ἐπὶ τὴν φύσιν τὴν λειτουργικὴν μετοικίζειν: πῶς οὐκ ἀληθὲς ὅτι τὴν ἑαυτῶν βλασφημίαν κυριωτέραν ποιοῦνται τῆς τοῦ Δεσπότου νομοθεσίας; Φέρε δὴ οὖν πᾶσαν φιλονεικίαν καταβαλόντες, οὕτω περὶ τῶν ἐν χερσὶ πρὸς ἀλλήλους διασκεψώμεθα.