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having fabricated and conspired with one another, common men and uneducated persons went forth against the Roman empire, or how human nature, possessing as its own the love of life, could ever for the sake of nothing endure a voluntary death, or how the disciples of our Savior were driven to such an excess of madness as to have seen nothing extraordinary done by him, but that they themselves by agreement all together fabricated all such things, and then, having composed false sayings about him, were ready to endure death for the sake of these? But what do you say? That they did not expect nor hope to suffer anything terrible from the testimony about Jesus, and for that reason fearlessly went forth to the preaching about him? But it was not reasonable for those who introduced to Romans and Greeks and barbarians alike the overthrow of gods to not expect to suffer all things for his sake. 3.5.61 And the history concerning them clearly shows that after the death of the teacher, certain plotters seized them and first handed them over to prison, and then released them, commanding them to speak to no one in the name of Jesus; but when they learned that after this they were publicly discoursing to the crowd about him, they seized and flogged them, rebuking them for the teaching, 3.5.62 at which time Peter answered them again and said: "We must obey God rather than men." And after these things Stephen is killed, having been struck with stones, after speaking boldly before the crowd of the Jews, and no ordinary persecution arises against those who proclaimed the name of Jesus. 3.5.63 And again at another time Herod the king of the Jews "killed James the brother of John with the sword," and the same man put Peter in chains, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles. And when these had suffered these things, the remaining disciples, holding fast to Jesus, remained, proclaiming even more to all both him and his miraculous deeds. 3.5.64 In addition to these, James the brother of the Lord, whom the ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem called the Just on account of the excellences of his virtue, when asked by the chief priests and teachers of the Jewish nation what opinion he held concerning the Christ, and then answered that he was the son of God, was himself also stoned by them. 3.5.65 And Peter in Rome is crucified head downwards, and Paul is beheaded, and John is delivered to an island. And when these had suffered these things, none of the rest departed from their purpose, but considering it a prayer that they themselves also might meet with the same things as those before mentioned for the sake of piety towards the divine, they bore witness with even more boldness to Jesus and his extraordinary works. 3.5.66 And indeed, if it were falsehoods fabricated by them according to an agreement, it is worthy of wonder how such a great multitude preserved their agreement in the fabrications even unto death, and that none of them ever, fearing what had happened to those previously killed, departed from the fellowship, nor preached against the others bringing to light the things that were conspired, but even the one who dared to betray him while he was alive immediately brought the penalty upon himself by his own hand. 3.5.67 And how is that not full of amazement, the fact that deceptive men and uneducated persons, who knew how neither to speak nor understand more than their native tongue, not only dared to conceive of going forth to the circuit of all the nations, but also having gone forth, succeeded in the undertaking? And consider what a thing it is also that no one anywhere uttered a discordant account concerning the deeds of Jesus. 3.5.68 For if in all disputed matters both in the law courts and in common disputes the agreement of the witnesses confirms what is disputed—and "at the mouth of two and three witnesses every word is established"—how would the truth not also be established in these matters, there being twelve apostles, and seventy disciples, and a countless multitude besides these, all of them having displayed a wondrous harmony and having indeed testified to the things done by Jesus, not without sweat, but through endurance of tortures and every outrage and

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πλασάμενοι καὶ συνθέμενοι ἀλλήλοις εὐτελεῖς ἄνδρες καὶ ἰδιῶται παρῄεσαν ἐπὶ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχήν, ἢ ὡς ἀνθρωπεία φύσις τὸ φιλόζωον οἰκεῖον κεκτημένη δύναιτ' ἄν ποθ' ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδενὸς αὐθαίρετον ὑπομεῖναι τελευτήν, ἢ ὡς οἱ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν μαθηταὶ εἰς τοσαύτην ὑπερβολὴν ἐκπληξίας ἤλασαν, ὡς μηδὲν μὲν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ παράδοξον πραχθὲν ἑωρακέναι, αὐτοὺς δ' ἐκ συνθήματος ὁμοῦ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα πεπλάσθαι, ἔπειτα ῥημάτια περὶ αὐτοῦ ψευδῆ συνταξαμένους ὑπὲρ τούτων θνῄσκειν ὑπομένειν ἑτοίμως ἔχειν; ἀλλὰ τί φῄς; μὴ προσδοκῆσαι αὐτοὺς μηδὲ ἐλπίσαι δεινόν τι πείσεσθαι ἐκ τῆς περὶ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ μαρτυρίας, διὸ καὶ ἀδεῶς ἐπὶ τὸ περὶ αὐτοῦ κήρυγμα προελθεῖν; ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰκὸς ἦν ἀπελπίσαι τὰ πάντα ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πείσεσθαι, τοὺς Ῥωμαίοις ὁμοῦ καὶ Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις θεῶν ἀνατροπὴν εἰσηγησαμένους. 3.5.61 ἡ δέ γε περὶ αὐτῶν ἱστορία σαφῶς δείκνυσιν, ὡς μετὰ τὴν τοῦ διδασκάλου τελευτὴν ἐπίβουλοί τινες συλλαβόντες αὐτοὺς πρῶτα μὲν παρέδωκαν φυλακῇ, ἔπειτα δὲ ἀπέλυσαν παραγγείλαντες μηδενὶ λαλεῖν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ· γνόντες δὲ αὐτοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα δημοσίᾳ τῷ πλήθει τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ διαλεγομένους, ἀναρπάσαντες ἐμάστιζον, ἐπιτιμῶντες ἐπὶ τῇ διδασκαλίᾳ, 3.5.62 ὅτε ἀποκριθεὶς αὖθις αὐτοῖς ὁ Πέτρος εἶπεν· «πειθαρχεῖν δεῖ θεῷ μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνθρώποις». μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα λίθοις βληθεὶς ἀναιρεῖται Στέφανος, ἐπὶ τοῦ Ἰουδαίων πλήθους παρρησιασάμενος, καὶ διωγμὸς οὐχ ὁ τυχὼν ἐπανίσταται τοῖς πρεσβεύουσι τὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ ὄνομα. 3.5.63 καὶ πάλιν ἄλλοτε Ἡρώδης ὁ τῶν Ἰουδαίων βασιλεὺς «ἀνεῖλεν τὸν Ἰάκωβον τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωάννου μαχαίρᾳ», τόν τε Πέτρον ὁ αὐτὸς δεσμοῖς περιέβαλεν, ὡς ἐν ταῖς Πράξεσι τῶν Ἀποστόλων γέγραπται. καὶ τούτων ταῦτα πεπονθότων, οἱ λοιποὶ μαθηταί, ἀπρὶξ ἐχόμενοι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, παρέμενον ἔτι μᾶλλον εἰς πάντας αὐτόν τε καὶ τὰς παραδοξοποιίας αὐτοῦ καταγγέλλοντες. 3.5.64 ἐπὶ τούτοις Ἰάκωβος ὁ ἀδελφὸς τοῦ κυρίου, ὃν οἱ πάλαι τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα οἰκοῦντες ἐκάλουν δίκαιον διὰ τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς πλεονεκτήματα, ἐρωτηθεὶς πρὸς τῶν ἀρχιερέων καὶ διδασκάλων τοῦ Ἰουδαίων ἔθνους, τίνα περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἔχοι δόξαν, κἄπειτα ἀποκρινάμενος ὅτι υἱὸς θεοῦ εἴη, λίθοις καὶ αὐτὸς πρὸς αὐτῶν βάλλεται. 3.5.65 καὶ Πέτρος δὲ ἐπὶ Ῥώμης κατὰ κεφαλῆς σταυροῦται, Παῦλός τε ἀποτέμνεται, Ἰωάννης τε νήσῳ παραδίδοται. καὶ τούτων ταῦτα παθόντων οὐδεὶς τῶν λοιπῶν ἐξέστη τῆς προθέσεως, δι' εὐχῆς δὲ τιθέμενοι καὶ αὐτοὶ τῶν ἴσων τοῖς προειρημένοις τῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείας ἕνεκα τυχεῖν, ἔτι μᾶλλον τῷ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τοῖς παραδόξοις ἔργοις αὐτοῦ μετὰ παρρησίας ἐμαρτύρουν. 3.5.66 Καὶ μήν, εἴπερ ψεύσματα ἦν κατὰ συνθήκην αὐτοῖς πεπλασμένα, θαυμάζειν ἄξιον ὅπως τοσοῦτο πλῆθος τὴν συμφωνίαν ἐπὶ τοῖς πλάσμασιν καὶ μέχρι θανάτου διεφύλαξεν, οὐδείς τε αὐτῶν πώποτε, τὰ συμβάντα τοῖς προανῃρημένοις τρέσας, ἐξέστη τῆς ἑταιρίας, οὐδ' ἀντεκήρυξε τοῖς ἄλλοις εἰς φῶς ἀγαγὼν τὰ συντεθειμένα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ ζῶντα προδοῦναι τολμήσας αὐτὸν αὐτοχειρίᾳ καθ' ἑαυτοῦ παραχρῆμα τὴν δίκην ἐπεσπάσατο. 3.5.67 κἀκεῖνο δὲ πῶς οὐ μεστὸν ἐκπλήξεως, τὸ πλάνους ἄνδρας καὶ ἰδιώτας, μήτε λαλεῖν μήτε ἀκούειν πλέον τῆς πατρίου φωνῆς ἐπισταμένους, μὴ μόνον διανοηθῆναι τολμῆσαι προελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν ἐθνῶν ἁπάντων περίοδον, ἀλλὰ καὶ προελθόντας κατορθῶσαι τὸ ἐπιτήδευμα; σκέψαι δὲ ὁποῖόν ἐστιν καὶ τὸ μηδένα μηδαμοῦ διάφωνον ἐξενεγκεῖν περὶ τῶν πράξεων τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λόγον. 3.5.68 εἰ γὰρ ἐπὶ πάντων ἀμφιγνοουμένων πραγμάτων ἔν τε τοῖς κατὰ νόμους δικαστηρίοις καὶ ἐν ταῖς κοιναῖς ἀμφισβητήσεσιν τῶν μαρτύρων συμφωνία κυροῖ τὸ ἀμφιγνοούμενον «ἐπὶ στόματος» δ' οὖν «δύο καὶ τριῶν μαρτύρων συνίσταται πᾶν ῥῆμα», πῶς οὐκ ἂν ἡ ἀλήθεια καὶ ἐπὶ τῶνδε συσταίη, δώδεκα μὲν ὄντων ἀποστόλων, ἑβδομήκοντα δὲ μαθητῶν, μυρίου τε πλήθους τούτων ἐκτός, πάντων θαυμαστὴν συμφωνίαν ἐπιδεδειγμένων καὶ μαρτυρησάντων γε τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ πεπραγμένοις, οὐκ ἀνιδρωτί, διὰ δὲ βασάνων ὑπομονῆς καὶ πάσης αἰκίας καὶ