[An Enumeration of the Several Instances of Divine Providence, and How in Every Age from the Beginning of the World God Has Invited All Men to Repentance. ]
LV. For God, being a God of mercy from the beginning, called every generation to repentance by righteous men and prophets. He instructed those before the flood by Abel and Sem, and Seth, also by Enos, and by Enoch that was translated; those at the flood by Noah; the inhabitants of Sodom by hospitable Lot; those after the flood by Melchizedek, and the patriarchs, and Job the beloved of God; the Egyptians by Moses; the Israelites by him, and Joshua, and Caleb, and Phineas, and the rest; those after the law by angels and prophets, and the same by His own incarnation 243 One V. ms. inserts, “of the Holy Spirit and.” of the Virgin; those a little before His bodily appearance by John His forerunner, and the same by the same person after Christ’s birth, saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand;” 244 Matt. iii. 2. those after His passion by us, the twelve apostles, and Paul the chosen vessel. We therefore, who have been vouchsafed the favour of being the witnesses of His appearance, together with James the brother of our Lord, and the other seventy-two disciples, and his seven deacons, have heard from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by exact knowledge declare “what is the will of God, that good, and acceptable, and perfect will” 245 Rom. xii. 2. which is made known to us by Jesus; that none should perish, but that all men with one accord should believe in Him, and send unanimously praise to Him, and thereby live for ever.
[55] Ὁ γὰρ Θεός, Θεὸς ὢν ἐλέους, ἀπ' ἀρχῆς ἑκάστην γενεὰν ἐπὶ μετάνοιαν καλεῖ διὰ τῶν δικαίων καὶ τῶν προφητῶν: καὶ τοὺς μὲν πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ διὰ τοῦ Ἄβελ καὶ τοῦ Σὴθ καὶ Σήμ, ἔτι δὲ Ἐνὼς καὶ τοῦ μετατεθέντος Ἐνὼχ ἐσωφρόνιζεν, τοὺς δὲ ἐν τῷ κατακλυσμῷ διὰ τοῦ Νῶε, τοὺς ἐν Σοδόμοις διὰ τοῦ φιλοξένου Λώτ, τοὺς μετὰ τὸν κατακλυσμὸν διὰ τοῦ Μελχισεδὲκ καὶ τῶν πατριαρχῶν καὶ τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς Ἰώβ, τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διὰ Μωϋσέως, τοὺς Ἰσραηλίτας δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἰησοῦ καὶ Χαλὲβ καὶ Φινεὲς καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν, τοὺς μετὰ τὸν νόμον δι' ἀγγέλων καὶ προφητῶν, τοὺς αὐτοὺς διὰ τῆς ἰδίας ἐνανθρωπήσεως τῆς ἐκ παρθένου γενομένῃς, τοὺς πρὸ μικροῦ τῆς ἀναδείξεως αὐτοῦ τῆς σωματικῆς διὰ Ἰωάννου τοῦ προδρόμου, τοὺς δ' αὐτοὺς διὰ τοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ μετὰ τὴν γένεσιν αὐτοῦ λέγων: »Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν«: τοὺς μετὰ τὸ πάθος αὐτοῦ δι' ἡμῶν τῶν δώδεκα καὶ τοῦ τῆς ἐκλογῆς σκεύους Παύλου. Ἡμεῖς οὖν οἱ καταξιωθέντες εἶναι μάρτυρες τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ σὺν Ἰακώβῳ τῷ τοῦ Κυρίου ἀδελφῷ καὶ ἑτέροις ἑβδομήκοντα δύο μαθηταῖς καὶ τοῖς ἑπτὰ διακόνοις αὐτοῦ ἐκ στόματος τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἠκούσαμεν καὶ ἀκριβῶς εἰδότες λέγομεν, τί ἐστιν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ εὐάρεστον καὶ τέλειον, τὸ διὰ Ἰησοῦ γνωρισθὲν ἡμῖν, ἵνα μηδεὶς ἀπόληται, ἀλλὰ πάντες ἄνθρωποι συμφώνως πιστεύσαντες αὐτῷ αἶνον σύμφωνον ἀναπέμψαντες αὐτῷ ζήσωσιν αἰωνίως.