§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. What more remains for the Messiah to do, that Christ has not done?

So the Jews are trifling, and the time in question, which they refer to the future, is actually come. For when did prophet and vision cease from Israel, save when Christ came, the Holy of Holies? For it is a sign, and an important proof, of the coming of the Word of God, that Jerusalem no longer stands, nor is any prophet raised up nor vision revealed to them,—and that very naturally. 2. For when He that was signified was come, what need was there any longer of any to signify Him? When the truth was there, what need any more of the shadow? For this was the reason of their prophesying at all,—namely, till the true Righteousness should come, and He that was to ransom the sins of all. And this was why Jerusalem stood till then—namely, that there they might be exercised in the types as a preparation for the reality. 3. So when the Holy of Holies was come, naturally vision and prophecy were sealed and the kingdom of Jerusalem ceased. For kings were to be anointed among them only until the Holy of Holies should have been anointed; and Jacob prophesies that the kingdom of the Jews should be established until Him, as follows:—“The ruler114    Gen. xlix. 10. shall not fail from Juda, nor the Prince from his loins, until that which is laid up for him shall come; and he is the expectation of the nations.” 4. Whence the Saviour also Himself cried aloud and said: “The115    Matt. xi. 13. cf. Luc. xvi. 16. law and the prophets prophesied until John.” If then there is now among the Jews king or prophet or vision, they do well to deny the Christ that is come. But if there is neither king nor vision, but from that time forth all prophecy is sealed and the city and temple taken, why are they so irreligious and so perverse as to see what has happened, and yet to deny Christ, Who has brought it all to pass? Or why, when they see even heathens deserting their idols, and placing their hope, through Christ, on the God of Israel, do they deny Christ, Who was born of the root of Jesse after the flesh and henceforth is King? For if the nations were worshipping some other God, and not confessing the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Moses, then, once more, they would be doing well in alleging that God had not come. 5. But if the Gentiles are honouring the same God that gave the law to Moses and made the promise to Abraham, and Whose word the Jews dishonoured,—why are they ignorant, or rather why do they choose to ignore, that the Lord foretold by the Scriptures has shone forth upon the world, and appeared to it in bodily form, as the Scripture said: “The116    Cf. Ps. cxviii. 27, and for the literal sense, Num. vi. 25 Lord God hath shined upon us;” and again: “He117    Ps. cvii. 20. sent His Word and healed them;” and again: “Not118    Isa. lxiii. 9 (LXX.), and the note in the (Queen’s Printers’) ‘Variorum’ Bible. a messenger, not an angel, but the Lord Himself saved them?” 6. Their state may be compared to that of one out of his right mind, who sees the earth illumined by the sun, but denies the sun that illumines it. For what more is there for him whom they expect to do, when he is come? To call the heathen? But they are called already. To make prophecy, and king, and vision to cease? This too has already come to pass. To expose the godlessness of idolatry? It is already exposed and condemned. Or to destroy death? He is already destroyed. 7. What then has not come to pass, that the Christ must do? What is left unfulfilled, that the Jews should now disbelieve with impunity? For if, I say,—which is just what we actually see,—there is no longer king nor prophet nor Jerusalem nor sacrifice nor vision among them, but even the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of God, and Gentiles, leaving their godlessness, are now taking refuge with the God of Abraham, through the Word, even our Lord Jesus Christ, then it must be plain, even to those who are exceedingly obstinate, that the Christ is come, and that He has illumined absolutely all with His light, and given them the true and divine teaching concerning His Father. 8. So one can fairly refute the Jews by these and by other arguments from the Divine Scriptures.

Οὐκοῦν μυθολογοῦσιν Ἰουδαῖοι, καὶ παρόντα τὸν νῦν καιρὸν ὑπερτίθενται. Πότε γὰρ ἐπαύσατο προφήτης ἢ ὅρασις ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ, εἰ μὴ νῦν ὅτε ὁ Ἅγιος τῶν ἁγίων Χριστὸς παρεγένετο; σημεῖον γὰρ καὶ μέγα γνώρισμα τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγου παρουσίας, τὸ μηκέτι μήτε τὴν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἑστάναι, μήτε προφήτην ἐγερθῆναι, μήτε ὅρασιν ἀποκαλύπτεσθαι τούτοις, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως. Ἐλθόντος γὰρ τοῦ σημαινομένου, τίς ἔτι χρεία τῶν σημαινόντων ἦν; Καὶ παρούσης τῆς Ἀληθείας, τίς ἔτι χρεία τῆς σκιᾶς ἦν; ∆ιὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ προεφήτευον ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ἡ Αὐτοδικαιοσύνη καὶ ὁ λυτρούμενος τὰς πάντων ἁμαρτίας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο καὶ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον συνειστήκει, ἵν' ἐκεῖ προμελετῶσι τῆς ἀληθείας τοὺς τύπους. Παρόντος τοίνυν τοῦ Ἁγίου τῶν ἁγίων, εἰκότως ἐσφραγίσθη καὶ ὅρασις καὶ προφητεία, καὶ ἡ τῆς Ἰερου σαλὴμ βασιλεία πέπαυται. Ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον γὰρ ἐχρίοντο παρ' αὐτοῖς βασιλεῖς, ἕως ἂν ἐχρίσθη ὁ Ἅγιος τῶν ἁγίων· καὶ Μωϋσῆς δὲ ἕως αὐτοῦ τὴν Ἰουδαίων ἵστασθαι βασιλείαν προφητεύει λέγων· “Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα, καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ, καὶ αὐτὸς προσδοκία ἐθνῶν.” Ὅθεν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Σωτὴρ ἐβόα λέγων· “Ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται ἕως Ἰωάννου προεφήτευσαν.” Εἰ μὲν οὖν ἐστὶ παρὰ Ἰουδαίοις νῦν βασιλεὺς ἢ προφήτης ἢ ὅρασις, καλῶς ἀρνοῦνται τὸν ἐλθόντα Χριστόν. Εἰ δὲ μήτε βασιλεὺς μήτε ὅρασις, ἀλλ' ἐσφράγισται λοιπὸν καὶ πᾶσα προφητεία, καὶ ἡ πόλις καὶ ὁ ναὸς ἑάλω, τί τοσοῦτον ἀσεβοῦσι καὶ παραβαίνουσιν, ὡς τὰ μὲν γενόμενα ὁρᾶν, τὸν δὲ ταῦτα πεποιηκότα Χριστὸν ἀρνεῖσθαι; τί δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν θεωροῦντες καταλιμπάνοντας τὰ εἴδωλα, καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν Ἰσραὴλ διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔχοντας τὴν ἐλπίδα, ἀρνοῦνται τὸν ἐκ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαὶ κατὰ σάρκα γενόμενον Χριστὸν καὶ βασιλεύοντα λοιπόν; εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλον ἐθρήσκευον τὰ ἔθνη θεόν, ἀλλὰ μὴ τὸν Θεὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Μωϋσέως ὡμολόγουν,καλῶς ἂν πάλιν προεφασίζοντο μὴ ἐληλυθέναι τὸν Θεόν. Εἰ δὲ τὸν Μωϋσῇ δεδωκότα τὸν νόμον καὶ τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενον Θεόν, καὶ οὗ τὸν λόγον ἠτίμασαν Ἰουδαῖοι, τοῦτον τὰ ἔθνη σέβουσι, διὰ τί μὴ γινώσκουσι, μᾶλλον δὲ διὰ τί ἑκόντες παρορῶσιν, ὅτι ὁ προφητευόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν γραφῶν Κύριος ἐπέλαμψε τῇ οἰκουμένῃ καὶ ἐπεφάνη σωματικῶς αὐτῇ, καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή· “Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἐπέφανεν ἡμῖν”, καὶ πάλιν· “Ἐξαπέστειλε τὸν Λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἰάσατο αὐτούς”, καὶ πάλιν· “Οὐ πρέσβυς, οὐκ ἄγγελος, ἀλλ' αὐτὸς ὁ Κύριος ἔσωσεν αὐτούς.” Ὅμοιον δὲ πάσχουσιν, ὡς εἴ τις παραπεπληγὼς τὴν διάνοιαν, τὴν μὲν γῆν φωτιζομένην ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου βλέποι, τὸν δὲ ταύτην φωτίζοντα ἥλιον ἀρνεῖται. Τί γὰρ καὶ πλεῖον ἐλθὼν ὁ προσδοκώμενος παρ' αὐτοῖς ἔχει ποιῆσαι; Καλέσαι τὰ ἔθνη; Ἀλλ' ἔφθασαν κληθῆναι. Ἀλλὰπαῦσαι προφήτην, καὶ βασιλέα, καὶ ὅρασιν; Γέγονεν ἤδη καὶ τοῦτο. Τὴν εἰδώλων ἀθεότητα διελέγξαι; ∆ιη λέγχθη ἤδη καὶ κατεγνώσθη. Ἀλλὰ τὸν θάνατον καταργῆσαι; Κατήργηται ἤδη. Τί τοίνυν οὐ γέγονεν, ὃ δεῖ τὸν Χριστὸν ποιῆσαι; ἢ τί περιλείπεται, ὃ μὴ πεπλήρωται, ἵνα νῦν χαίρωσιν Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ ἀπιστῶσιν; Εἰ γὰρ δή, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ ὁρῶμεν, οὔτε βασιλεύς, οὔτε προφήτης, οὔτε Ἰερουσαλήμ, οὔτε θυσία, οὔτε ὅρασίς ἐστι παρ' αὐτοῖς· ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσα πεπλήρωται ἡ γῆ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν καταλιμπάνοντες τὴν ἀθεότητα, λοιπὸν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν Ἀβραὰμ καταφεύ γουσι διὰ τοῦ Λόγου, τοῦ Κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ· δῆλον ἂν εἴη καὶ τοῖς λίαν ἀναισχυντοῦσιν ἐληλυθέναι τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ αὐτὸν πάντας ἁπλῶς τῷ ἑαυτοῦ φωτὶ καταλάμψαντα, καὶ διδάξαντα περὶ τοῦ ἑαυτοῦ Πατρὸς τὴν ἀληθῆ καὶ θείαν διδασκαλίαν. Ἰουδαίους μὲν οὖν ἄν τις ἐκ τούτων καὶ τῶν πλειόνων παρὰ τῶν θείων γραφῶν εἰκότως ἐλέγξειεν.