On the Incarnation of the Word.

 On the Incarnation of the Word.

 §2. Erroneous views of Creation rejected. (1) Epicurean (fortuitous generation). But diversity of bodies and parts argues a creating intellect. (2.) P

 §3. The true doctrine. Creation out of nothing, of God’s lavish bounty of being. Man created above the rest, but incapable of independent perseverance

 §4. Our creation and God’s Incarnation most intimately connected. As by the Word man was called from non-existence into being, and further received th

 §5. For God has not only made us out of nothing but He gave us freely, by the Grace of the Word, a life in correspondence with God. But men, having r

 §6. The human race then was wasting, God’s image was being effaced, and His work ruined. Either, then, God must forego His spoken word by which man ha

 §7. On the other hand there was the consistency of God’s nature, not to be sacrificed for our profit. Were men, then, to be called upon to repent? But

 §8. The Word, then, visited that earth in which He was yet always present and saw all these evils. He takes a body of our Nature, and that of a spot

 §9. The Word, since death alone could stay the plague, took a mortal body which, united with Him, should avail for all, and by partaking of His immort

 § 10. By a like simile, the reasonableness of the work of redemption is shewn. How Christ wiped away our ruin, and provided its antidote by His own te

 §11. Second reason for the Incarnation. God, knowing that man was not by nature sufficient to know Him, gave him, in order that he might have some pro

 §12. For though man was created in grace, God, foreseeing his forgetfulness, provided also the works of creation to remind man of him. Yet further, He

 § 13. Here again, was God to keep silence? to allow to false gods the worship He made us to render to Himself? A king whose subjects had revolted woul

 §14. A portrait once effaced must be restored from the original. Thus the Son of the Father came to seek, save, and regenerate. No other way was possi

 §15. Thus the Word condescended to man’s engrossment in corporeal things, by even taking a body. All man’s superstitions He met halfway whether men w

 §16. He came then to attract man’s sense-bound attention to Himself as man, and so to lead him on to know Him as God.

 §17. How the Incarnation did not limit the ubiquity of the Word, nor diminish His Purity. (Simile of the Sun.)

 § 18. How the Word and Power of God works in His human actions: by casting out devils, by Miracles, by His Birth of the Virgin.

 §19. Man, unmoved by nature, was to be taught to know God by that sacred Manhood, Whose deity all nature confessed, especially in His Death.

 §20. None, then, could bestow incorruption, but He Who had made, none restore the likeness of God, save His Own Image, none quicken, but the Life, non

 §21. Death brought to nought by the death of Christ. Why then did not Christ die privately, or in a more honourable way? He was not subject to natural

 §22. But why did He not withdraw His body from the Jews, and so guard its immortality? (1) It became Him not to inflict death on Himself, and yet not

 §23. Necessity of a public death for the doctrine of the Resurrection.

 §24. Further objections anticipated. He did not choose His manner of death for He was to prove Conqueror of death in all or any of its forms: (simile

 §25. Why the Cross, of all deaths? (1) He had to bear the curse for us. (2) On it He held out His hands to unite all, Jews and Gentiles, in Himself. (

 §26. Reasons for His rising on the Third Day. (1) Not sooner for else His real death would be denied, nor (2) later to (a) guard the identity of His

 §27. The change wrought by the Cross in the relation of Death to Man.

 §28. This exceptional fact must be tested by experience. Let those who doubt it become Christians.

 §29. Here then are wonderful effects, and a sufficient cause, the Cross, to account for them, as sunrise accounts for daylight.

 §30. The reality of the resurrection proved by facts: (1) the victory over death described above: (2) the Wonders of Grace are the work of One Living,

 §31. If Power is the sign of life, what do we learn from the impotence of idols, for good or evil, and the constraining power of Christ and of the Sig

 §32. But who is to see Him risen, so as to believe? Nay, God is ever invisible and known by His works only: and here the works cry out in proof. If yo

 §33. Unbelief of Jews and scoffing of Greeks. The former confounded by their own Scriptures. Prophecies of His coming as God and as Man.

 §34. Prophecies of His passion and death in all its circumstances.

 §35. Prophecies of the Cross. How these prophecies are satisfied in Christ alone.

 §36. Prophecies of Christ’s sovereignty, flight into Egypt, &c.

 §37. Psalm xxii. 16 , &c. Majesty of His birth and death. Confusion of oracles and demons in Egypt.

 §38. Other clear prophecies of the coming of God in the flesh. Christ’s miracles unprecedented.

 §39. Do you look for another? But Daniel foretells the exact time. Objections to this removed.

 §40. Argument (1) from the withdrawal of prophecy and destruction of Jerusalem, (2) from the conversion of the Gentiles, and that to the God of Moses.

 §41. Answer to the Greeks. Do they recognise the Logos? If He manifests Himself in the organism of the Universe, why not in one Body? for a human body

 §42. His union with the body is based upon His relation to Creation as a whole. He used a human body, since to man it was that He wished to reveal Him

 §43. He came in human rather than in any nobler form, because (I) He came to save, not to impress (2) man alone of creatures had sinned. As men woul

 §44. As God made man by a word, why not restore him by a word? But (1) creation out of nothing is different from reparation of what already exists. (2

 §45. Thus once again every part of creation manifests the glory of God. Nature, the witness to her Creator, yields (by miracles) a second testimony to

 §46. Discredit, from the date of the Incarnation, of idol-cultus, oracles, mythologies, demoniacal energy, magic, and Gentile philosophy. And whereas

 §47. The numerous oracles,—fancied apparitions in sacred places, &c., dispelled by the sign of the Cross. The old gods prove to have been mere men. Ma

 §48. Further facts. Christian continence of virgins and ascetics. Martyrs. The power of the Cross against demons and magic. Christ by His Power shews

 §49. His Birth and Miracles. You call Asclepius, Heracles, and Dionysus gods for their works. Contrast their works with His, and the wonders at His de

 §50. Impotence and rivalries of the Sophists put to shame by the Death of Christ. His Resurrection unparalleled even in Greek legend.

 §51. The new virtue of continence. Revolution of Society, purified and pacified by Christianity.

 §52. Wars, &c., roused by demons, lulled by Christianity.

 §53. The whole fabric of Gentilism levelled at a blow by Christ secretly addressing the conscience of Man.

 §54. The Word Incarnate, as is the case with the Invisible God, is known to us by His works. By them we recognise His deifying mission. Let us be cont

 §55. Summary of foregoing. Cessation of pagan oracles, &c.: propagation of the faith. The true King has come forth and silenced all usurpers.

 §56. Search then, the Scriptures, if you can, and so fill up this sketch. Learn to look for the Second Advent and Judgment.

 §57. Above all, so live that you may have the right to eat of this tree of knowledge and life, and so come to eternal joys. Doxology.

§35. Prophecies of the Cross. How these prophecies are satisfied in Christ alone.

But, perhaps, having heard the prophecy of His death, you ask to learn also what is set forth concerning the Cross. For not even this is passed over: it is displayed by the holy men with great plainness. 2. For first Moses predicts it, and that with a loud voice, when he says: “Ye shall see100    Deut. xxviii. 66, see Orat ii. 16, note 1. your Life hanging before your eyes, and shall not believe.” 3. And next, the prophets after him witness of this, saying: “But101    Jer. xi. 19. I as an innocent lamb brought to be slain, knew it not; they counselled an evil counsel against me, saying, Hither and let us cast a tree upon his102    Properly “let us destroy the tree with its bread” (i.e. fruit). The LXX, translate belahmô ‘upon his bread,’ which is possible in itself; but they either mistook the verb, or followed some wrong reading. Their rendering is followed by all the Latin versions. For a comment on the latter see Tertull. adv. Marc. iii. 19, iv. 40. bread, and efface him from the land of the living.” 4. And again: “They pierced103    Ps. xxii. 16, sqq. my hands and my feet, they numbered all my bones, they parted my garments among them, and for my vesture they cast lots.” 5. Now a death raised aloft and that takes place on a tree, could be none other than the Cross: and again, in no other death are the hands and feet pierced, save on the Cross only. 6. But since by the sojourn of the Saviour among men all nations also on every side began to know God; they did not leave this point, either, without a reference: but mention is made of this matter as well in the Holy Scriptures. For “there104    Isa. xi. 10. shall be,” he saith, “the root of Jesse, and he that riseth to rule the nations, on him shall the nations hope.” This then is a little in proof of what has happened. 7. But all Scripture teems with refutations of the disbelief of the Jews. For which of the righteous men and holy prophets, and patriarchs, recorded in the divine Scriptures, ever had his corporal birth of a virgin only? Or what woman has sufficed without man for the conception of human kind? Was not Abel born of Adam, Enoch of Jared, Noe of Lamech, and Abraham of Tharra, Isaac of Abraham, Jacob of Isaac? Was not Judas born of Jacob, and Moses and Aaron of Ameram? Was not Samuel born of Elkana, was not David of Jesse, was not Solomon of David, was not Ezechias of Achaz, was not Josias of Amos, was not Esaias of Amos, was not Jeremy of Chelchias, was not Ezechiel of Buzi? Had not each a father as author of his existence? Who then is he that is born of a virgin only? For the prophet made exceeding much of this sign. 8. Or whose birth did a star in the skies forerun, to announce to the world him that was born? For when Moses was born, he was hid by his parents: David was not heard of, even by those of his neighbourhood, inasmuch as even the great Samuel knew him not, but asked, had Jesse yet another son? Abraham again became known to his neighbours as105    Or ‘only after he had grown great,’ i.e. to man’s estate. a great man only subsequently to his birth. But of Christ’s birth the witness was not man, but a star in that heaven whence He was descending.

Ἀλλ' ἴσως περὶ μὲν τῆς τοῦ θανάτου προφητείας ἀκούσας, ζητεῖς καὶ τὰ περὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ σημαινόμενα μαθεῖν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ τοῦτο σεσιώπηται· δεδήλωται δὲ καὶ λίαν τηλαυγῶς ἀπὸ τῶν ἁγίων. Μωϋσῆς γὰρ πρῶτος μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ προαπαγγέλλει λέγων· “Ὄψεσθε τὴν ζωὴν ὑμῶν κρεμαμένην ἀπέναντι τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐ μὴ πιστεύσητε.” Καὶ οἱ μετ' αὐτὸν δὲ προφῆται πάλιν περὶ τούτου μαρτυροῦσι λέγοντες· “Ἐγὼ δὲ ὡς ἀρνίον ἄκακον ἀγόμενον τοῦ θύεσθαι, οὐκ ἔγνων· ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἐλογίσαντο πονηρὸν λέγοντες· δεῦτε, καὶ ἐμβάλωμεν ξύλον εἰς τὸν ἄρτον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐκτρίψωμεν αὐτὸν ἀπὸ γῆς ζώντων.” Καὶ πάλιν· “Ὤρυξαν χεῖράς μου καὶ πόδας μου· ἐξηρίθμησαν πάντα τὰ ὀστᾶ μου, διεμερίσαντο τὰ ἱμάτιά μου ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου ἔβαλον κλῆρον.” Θάνατος δὲ μετέωρος, καὶ ἐν ξύλῳ γινόμενος, οὐκ ἄλλος ἂν εἴη, εἰ μὴ ὁ σταυρός· καὶ ἐν οὐδενὶ πάλιν θανάτῳ διορύσσονται χεῖρες καὶ πόδες, εἰ μὴ ἐν μόνῳ τῷ σταυρῷ. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ τῇ τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἐπιδημίᾳ καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη πανταχόθεν ἐπιγινώσκειν τὸν Θεὸν ἤρξαντο, οὐδὲ τοῦτο ἀπαρασήμαντον κατέλειψαν· ἀλλ' ἔστι καὶ περὶ τούτων μνήμη ἐν τοῖς ἁγίοις γράμμασιν. “Ἔσται γάρ, φησίν, ἡ ῥίζα τοῦ Ἰεσσαί, καὶ ὁ ἀνιστάμενος ἄρχειν ἐθνῶν, ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι.” Ταῦτα μὲν ὀλίγα πρὸς ἀπόδειξιν τῶν γενομένων. Πᾶσα δὲ γραφὴ πεπλήρωται διελέγχουσα τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἀπιστίαν. Τίς γὰρ πώποτε τῶν ἐν ταῖς θείαις γραφαῖς ἱστορηθέντων δικαίων, καὶ ἁγίων προφητῶν, καὶ πατριαρχῶν, ἐκ παρθένου μόνης ἔσχε τὴν τοῦ σώματος γένεσιν; ἢ τίς γυνὴ χωρὶς ἀνδρὸς αὐτάρκης γέγονε πρὸς σύστασιν ἀνθρώπων; οὐκ Ἄβελ μὲν ἐξ Ἀδὰμ γέγονεν, Ἐνὼχ δὲ ἐκτοῦ Ἰάρεδ, Νῶε ἐκ Λαμέχ, καὶ Ἀβραὰμ μὲν ἐκ Θάρρα, Ἰσαὰκ δὲ ἐξ Ἀβραάμ, καὶ Ἰακὼβ ἐξ Ἰσαάκ; οὐχὶ Ἰούδἐξ Ἰακώβ, καὶ Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐξ Ἀβραάμ; οὐ Σαμουὴλ τοῦ Ἑλκανᾶ γέγονεν, οὐ ∆αβὶδ τοῦ Ἰεσσαί, οὐ Σολομὼν τοῦ ∆αβίδ, οὐκ Ἐζεκίας τοῦ Ἄχαζ, οὐκ Ἰωσίατοῦ Ἀμώς, οὐχ Ἡσαΐας τοῦ Ἀμώς, οὐχ Ἱερεμίας του Χελκίου, οὐκ Ἰεζεκιὴλ τοῦ Βουζί; οὐχ ἕκαστος ἔσχε τὸν πατέρα τῆς γενέσεως ἀρχηγόν; τίς οὖν ὁ ἐκ παρθένου μόνης γεγονώς; ὅτι καὶ λίαν ἐμέλησε τῷ προφήτῃ περὶ τῆς τούτου σημασίας. Τίνος δὲ τῆς γενέσεως προέδραμεν ἀστὴρ ἐν οὐρανοῖς, καὶ τὸν γεννηθέντα ἐσήμανε τῇ οἰκουμένῃ; Μωϋσῆς μὲν γὰρ γεννώμενος ἐκρύπτετο ὑπὸ τῶν γονέων· ∆αβὶδ δὲ οὐδὲ τοῖς ἐκ γειτόνων ἠκούσθη, ὅπουγε οὐδὲ ὁ μέγας Σα μουὴλ αὐτὸν ἐγίνωσκεν, ἀλλ' ἐπυνθάνετο, εἰ ἔστιν ἔτι υἱὸς τῷ Ἰεσσαί· Ἀβραὰμ δὲ λοιπὸν γεγονὼς μέγας ἐγνώσθη τοῖς ἐγγύς. Τῆς δὲ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενέσεως μάρτυς οὐκ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλ' ἀστὴρ φαινόμενος ἦν ἐν οὐρανῷ, ὅθεν καὶ κατέβαινεν.