[To Those that Speak Evil of the Law.]

XIX. For since ye have known God through Jesus Christ, and all His dispensation, as it has been from the beginning, that He gave a plain law to assist the law of nature,  102  Isa. viii. 20, LXX. Isa. viii. 20, LXX. such a one as is pure, saving, and holy, in which His own name was inscribed,  103  Deut. xii. 5 Deut. xii. 5 perfect, which is never to fail, being complete in ten commands, unspotted, converting souls;  104  Ps. xix. 7 Ps. xix. 7 which, when the Hebrews forgot, He put them in mind of it by the prophet Malachi, saying, “Remember ye the law of Moses, the man of God, who gave you in charge commandments and ordinances.”  105  Mal. iv. 4 Mal. iv. 4 Which law is so very holy and righteous, that even our Saviour, when on a certain time He healed one leper, and afterwards nine, said to the first, “Go, show thyself to the high priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them;”  106  Matt. viii. 4; Mark i. 44. Matt. viii. 4; Mark i. 44. and afterwards to the nine, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”  107  Luke xvii. 14. Luke xvii. 14. For He nowhere has dissolved the law, as Simon pretends, but fulfilled it; for He says: “One iota, or one tittle, shall not pass from the law until all be fulfilled.” For says He, “I come not to dissolve the law, but to fulfil it.”  108  Matt. v. 18, 17. For Moses himself, who was at once the lawgiver, and the high priest, and the prophet, and the king, and Elijah, the zealous follower of the prophets, were present at our Lord’s transfiguration in the mountain,  109  Luke ix. 30 and witnesses of His incarnation and of His sufferings, as the intimate friends of Christ, but not as enemies and strangers. Whence it is demonstrated that the law is good and holy, as also the prophets.

[19] Δι' ὧν καὶ παρακαλοῦμεν ὑμᾶς ἐν Κυρίῳ, ἀπέχεσθαι παλαιᾶς συνηθείας καὶ δεσμῶν ματαίων, ἀφορισμῶν, παρατηρήσεων, βρωμάτων διορισμοῦ, βαπτισμάτων καθημερινῶν: «Τὰ ἀρχαῖα γὰρ παρῆλθεν, ἰδοὺ γέγονεν καινὰ τὰ πάντα.» Γνόντες γὰρ Θεὸν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τὴν σύμπασαν αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίαν ἀρχῆθεν γεγενημένην, ὅτι δέδωκεν νόμον ἁπλοῦν εἰς βοήθειαν τοῦ φυσικοῦ, καθαρόν, σωτήριον, ἅγιον, ἐν ᾧ καὶ τὸ ἴδιον ὄνομα ἐγκατέθετο, τέλειον, ἀνελλειπῆ, δέκα λογίων πλήρη, ἄμωμον, ἐπιστρέφοντα ψυχάς, οὗπερ καὶ ἐπιλαθομένους Ἑβραίους ὑπομιμνήσκει διὰ Μαλαχίου τοῦ προφήτου λέγων: «Μνήσθητε νόμου Μωϋσῆ, ἀνθρώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὃς ἐνετείλατο ὑμῖν προστάγματα καὶ δικαιώματα.» Ὃς τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἅγιος καὶ δίκαιος, ὡς καὶ τὸν Σωτῆρά ποτε, θεραπεύσαντα λεπρὸν ἕνα καὶ πάλιν ἐννέα, εἰπεῖν τῷ πρώτῳ: «Πορευθεὶς δεῖξον σεαυτὸν τῷ ἀρχιερεῖ, καὶ προσένεγκε τὸ δῶρον, ὃ προσέταξεν Μωϋσῆς εἰς μαρτύριον αὐτοῖς.» Τοῖς δὲ ἐννέα πάλιν: «Πορευθέντες ἐπιδείξατε ἑαυτοὺς τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν.» Οὐ γάρ που κατέλυσεν τὸν νόμον, ὡς Σίμων δοξάζει, ἀλλ' ἐπλήρωσεν: λέγει γάρ: «Ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται: οὐ γὰρ ἦλθον, φησίν, καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας, ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι.» Καὶ γὰρ καὶ Μωϋσῆς, νομοθέτης ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀρχιερεὺς καὶ προφήτης καὶ βασιλεύς, καὶ Ἠλίας ὁ ζηλωτὴς τῶν προφητῶν συνῆσαν ἐν τῇ μεταμορφώσει τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν τῷ ὄρει μάρτυρες αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐνανθρωπήσεως καὶ τῶν παθημάτων, ὡς φίλοι Χριστοῦ καὶ οἰκεῖοι, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς ἐχθροὶ ἢ ἀλλότριοι: ἐξ ὧν δείκνυται, ὅτι καὶ ὁ νόμος καλὸς καὶ ἅγιος καὶ οἱ προφῆται.