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he does here, writing thus: I say then, has God cast away His people whom He foreknew? By no means! And he introduces the figure of one perplexed, as taking his beginning from what has been said, and having put this dreadful thing, by its refutation he makes what follows after that easy to accept, which through all the preceding things he was eager to show, establishing this here also. What is this? That even if those who are saved are few, the things of the promise stand. For this reason he did not simply say, His people, but added: Whom He foreknew. Then bringing forward a proof that the people were not cast away, he says: For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. I, he says, the teacher, the preacher. Since, then, this seemed to be contrary to what was said before, which says: Who has believed our report? and, All day long I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people; and, I will provoke you to jealousy by those who are not a nation; he was not satisfied with the denial, nor with saying, By no means, but he establishes 60.577 it again, taking it up and saying: God has not cast away His people. But this is not an establishment, one might say, but a declaration. See then the establishment, both the first one and the one after it. For the first is to show that he himself was from there; for He would not, if He were going to cast them away, have chosen this man from there, to whom He entrusted the whole proclamation and the affairs of the world, and all the mysteries, and the whole economy. This then is one establishment; and a second after it, to say: The people whom He foreknew; that is, whom He knew clearly to be suitable and would receive the faith; for three thousand and five thousand and myriads from them had believed. 4. For lest anyone say, "Are you then the people? and because you were called, was the nation called?" he added: He has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. As if he were saying: I have with me three thousand, I have five thousand, I have myriads. What then? Has the people been reduced to three thousand and five thousand and myriads, that seed which imitates the stars of heaven in multitude, and the sand of the sea? and do you thus deceive and mislead us, putting yourself as the whole people, and the few who are with you? and have you puffed us up with empty hopes, saying that the promise has been fulfilled, when all are perishing, and salvation is reduced to a few? This is boasting and pride, and we would not tolerate these sophisms. Therefore, so that they might not say these things, see how through what follows he brings on the solution, not putting forth the objection, but before the objection its solution, establishing it from ancient history. What then is the solution? Do you not know, he says, what the Scripture says in the case of Elijah? how he pleads with God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; and I alone am left, and they seek my life. But what does the divine response say to him? I have left for myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal. So then also at the present time there has been a remnant according to the election of grace. What he says is something like this: God has not cast away the people; for if He had cast them away, He would have received no one; but if He received some, He has not cast them away. And yet, one might say, if He did not cast them away, He would have received all. By no means. For even in the time of Elijah the matter of salvation was confined to seven thousand, and now also it is likely that there are many who have believed. But if you are ignorant, it is not at all surprising, since even that prophet, a man so great and of such stature, was ignorant; but God was ordering His own affairs, even while the prophet was ignorant. But observe his understanding, how in establishing the matter at hand, he secretly increases the accusation against them. For on this account he also mentioned the whole testimony, in order to expose their ingratitude, and to show that they were such from the beginning. For if he did not wish this, but was eager to show one thing only, that the people consists in the few, he would have said that in the time of Elijah also seven thousand were left; but as it is, he reads the whole testimony from the beginning. For everywhere he has been eager to show that they did nothing strange in the case of Christ and the apostles, but the things

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ἐνταῦθα ποιεῖ, οὕτω γράφων· Λέγω οὖν, Μὴ ἀπώσατο ὁ Θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, ὃν προέγνω; Μὴ γένοιτο. Καὶ σχῆμα διαποροῦντος εἰσάγει, ὡς ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων λαβὼν τὴν ἀρχὴν, καὶ τὸ φοβερὸν τοῦτο θεὶς, τῇ ἀναιρέσει αὐτοῦ τὸ μετ' ἐκεῖνο λοιπὸν εὐπαράδεκτον ποιεῖ, ὃ διὰ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν ἁπάντων ἐσπούδασε δεῖξαι, τοῦτο καὶ ἐνταῦθα κατασκευάζων. Ποῖον δὴ τοῦτο; Ὅτι κἂν ὀλίγοι ὦσιν οἱ διασεσωσμένοι, τὰ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἕστηκε. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς εἶπε, Τὸν λαὸν, ἀλλὰ προσέθηκεν· Ὃν προέγνω. Εἶτα ἐπάγων ἀπόδειξιν τοῦ μὴ ἀπῶσθαι τὸν λαὸν, φησί· Καὶ γὰρ ἐγὼ Ἰσραηλίτης εἰμὶ, ἐκ σπέρματος Ἀβραὰμ, φυλῆς Βενιαμίν. Ἐγὼ, φησὶν, ὁ διδάσκαλος, ὁ κήρυξ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν ἐδόκει τοῦτο ἐναντίον εἶναι τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν εἰρημένοις τοῖς λέγουσι· Τίς ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ, Ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖρας πρὸς λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα· καὶ, Παραζηλώσω ὑμᾶς ἐπ' οὐκ ἔθνει· οὐκ ἠρκέσθη τῇ ἀπαγορεύσει, οὐδὲ τῷ εἰπεῖν, Μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ κατα 60.577 σκευάζει αὐτὸ πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνων καὶ λέγων· Οὐκ ἀπώσατο ὁ Θεὸς τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. Ἀλλὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔστι κατασκευὴ, φησὶν, ἀλλ' ἀπόφασις. Ὅρα οὖν τὴν κατασκευὴν τήν τε προτέραν καὶ τὴν μετ' ἐκείνην. Προτέρα μὲν γάρ ἐστι τὸ δεῖξαι, ὅτι αὐτὸς ἐκεῖθεν ἦν· οὐκ ἂν δὲ, εἰ ἀπωθεῖσθαι αὐτοὺς ἔμελλεν, ᾧ τὸ κήρυγμα πᾶν καὶ τὰ πράγματα τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐνεπίστευσε, καὶ τὰ μυστήρια πάντα, καὶ τὴν οἰκονομίαν ὅλην, τοῦτον ἂν ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελέξατο. Αὕτη μὲν οὖν μία κατασκευή· δευτέρα δὲ μετ' ἐκείνην, τὸ εἰπεῖν· Τὸν λαὸν, ὃν προέγνω· τουτέστιν, ὃν ᾔδει σαφῶς ἐπιτήδειον ὄντα καὶ τὴν πίστιν δεξόμενον· καὶ γὰρ τρισχίλιοι καὶ πεντακισχίλιοι καὶ μυρίοι ἐξ ἐκείνων ἦσαν πιστεύσαντες. δʹ. Ἵνα γὰρ μὴ λέγῃ τις, Σὺ οὖν ὁ λαὸς εἶ; καὶ ἐπειδὴ σὺ ἐκλήθης, τὸ ἔθνος ἐκλήθη; ἐπήγαγεν· Οὐκ ἀπώσατο τὸν λαὸν αὑτοῦ, ὃν προέγνω. Ὡσανεὶ ἔλεγεν· Ἔχω μετ' ἐμοῦ τρισχιλίους, ἔχω πεντακισχιλίους, ἔχω μυρίους. Τί οὖν; ὁ λαὸς εἰς τρισχιλίους καὶ πεντακισχιλίους καὶ μυρίους περιέστη τὸ σπέρμα ἐκεῖνο τὸ μιμούμενον τὰ ἄστρα τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τῷ πλήθει, καὶ τὴν ἄμμον τὴν θαλαττίαν; καὶ οὕτως ἡμᾶς ἀπατᾷς καὶ παραλογίζῃ, τὸν λαὸν ἅπαντα σαυτὸν τιθεὶς, καὶ τοὺς ὀλίγους τοὺς μετὰ σοῦ; καὶ κεναῖς ἡμᾶς ἐφύσησας ἐλπίσι τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν πεπληρῶσθαι λέγων, πάντων ἀπολλυμένων, καὶ εἰς ὀλίγους τῆς σωτηρίας περιστάσης; Κόμπος ταῦτα καὶ τῦφος, καὶ οὐκ ἀνασχοίμεθα τῶν σοφισμάτων τούτων. Ἵν' οὖν μὴ ταῦτα λέγωσιν, ὅρα πῶς διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς τὴν λύσιν ἐπάγει, τὴν μὲν ἀντίθεσιν οὐ θεὶς, πρὸ δὲ τῆς ἀντιθέσεως τὴν λύσιν αὐτῆς ἀπὸ παλαιᾶς ἱστορίας κατασκευάζων. Τίς οὖν ἡ λύσις; Οὐκ οἴδατε ἐν Ἠλίᾳ, φησὶ, τί λέγει ἡ Γραφή; ὡς ἐντυγχάνει τῷ Θεῷ κατὰ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ; Κύριε, τοὺς προφήτας σου ἀπέκτειναν, τὰ θυσιαστήριά σου κατέσκαψαν· κἀγὼ ὑπελείφθην μόνος, καὶ ζητοῦσι τὴν ψυχήν μου. Ἀλλὰ τί λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ χρηματισμός; Κατέλιπον ἐμαυτῷ ἑπτακισχιλίους ἄνδρας, οἵτινες οὐκ ἔκαμψαν γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ. Οὕτως οὖν καὶ ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ λεῖμμα κατ' ἐκλογὴν χάριτος γέγονεν. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Οὐκ ἀπώσατο ὁ Θεὸς τὸν λαόν· εἰ γὰρ ἀπώσατο, οὐδένα ἂν ἐδέξατο· εἰ δὲ ἐδέξατό τινας, οὐκ ἀπώσατο. Καὶ μὴν, φησὶν, εἰ μὴ ἀπώσατο, πάντας ἂν ἐδέξατο. Οὐδαμῶς. Καὶ γὰρ ἐπὶ Ἠλίᾳ ἐν ἑπτακισχιλίοις περιέστη τὰ τῆς σωτηρίας, καὶ νῦν δὲ εἰκὸς πολλοὺς εἶναι τοὺς πεπιστευκότας. Εἰ δὲ ἀγνοεῖτε ὑμεῖς, θαυμαστὸν οὐδὲν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὁ προφήτης ἐκεῖνος, ὁ τοσοῦτος καὶ τηλικοῦτος ἀνὴρ, ἠγνόει· ἀλλ' ὁ Θεὸς ᾠκονόμει τὰ ἑαυτοῦ, καὶ τοῦ προφήτου ἀγνοοῦντος. Σκόπει δὲ αὐτοῦ σύνεσιν, πῶς ἐν τῷ κατασκευάζειν τὸ προκείμενον, λανθανόντως τὴν κατηγορίαν αὐτῶν αὔξει. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο καὶ πάσης ἐμνήσθη τῆς μαρτυρίας, ἵνα αὐτῶν ἐκπομπεύσῃ τὴν ἀγνωμοσύνην, καὶ δείξῃ τοιούτους ἄνωθεν ὄντας. Εἰ γὰρ μὴ τοῦτο ἤθελεν, ἀλλ' ἓν μόνον δεῖξαι ἐσπούδαζεν, ὅτι ἐν τοῖς ὀλίγοις ὁ λαὸς, εἶπεν ἂν, ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ Ἠλία ἑπτακισχίλιοι ὑπελείφθησαν· νυνὶ δὲ ἄνωθεν ἀναγινώσκει τὴν μαρτυρίαν ἅπασαν. Πανταχοῦ γὰρ ἐσπούδακε δεῖξαι οὐδὲν ξένον ποιήσαντας ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν ἀποστόλων, ἀλλὰ τὰ