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calling both Jews and Greeks to the knowledge of the one and only true God, as he himself somewhere says, giving thanks for the salvation of those who believed: “I have manifested your name to men, the work which you gave me, I have finished,” and saying to the Father concerning us: “Holy Father, even if the world has not known you, yet I have known you, and these have known you,” it is fitting, as we have been perfected, that he says to all at once concerning the gifts given from him through the Spirit: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up snakes; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover,” these gifts were first given to us the apostles who were about to proclaim the gospel to all creation, then they were necessarily supplied to those who believed through us, not for the benefit of those who performed them, but for the assent of the unbelievers, so that those whom the word did not persuade, the power of the signs might bring to shame. For the signs are not for us who believe, but for the unbelieving Jews and Greeks; for neither is the casting out of demons our gain, but of those who are cleansed by the power of Christ, as the Lord himself, instructing us somewhere, shows, saying: “Do not rejoice that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven,” since the one thing is done by his power, but the other by our good will and zeal, it is clear that we are helped by him. Therefore it is not necessary for every believer to cast out demons or raise the dead or speak in tongues, but for the one who has been deemed worthy of a gift for some useful purpose for the salvation of the unbelievers, who are often convinced not by the proof of words, but by the power of signs, being worthy of salvation. For not all the impious are turned by miracles; and God himself is a witness of this, as when he says in the Law: “With other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, and not even so will they believe.” For neither did the Egyptians believe in God, when Moses had performed so many signs and wonders, nor the multitude of the Jews in Christ, who was like Moses, when he healed every disease and every infirmity among them; and neither did a rod turning into a snake, and a hand made white, and the Nile turned to blood convince them, nor these

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καλουμένου Ἰουδαίους τε καὶ Ἕλληνας εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν τοῦ ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου ἀληθινοῦ Θεοῦ, καθὼς αὐτός που φησὶν εὐχαριστῶν ἐπὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ τῶν πιστευσάντων· «Ἐφανέ ρωσά σου τὸ ὄνομα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, τὸ ἔργον, ὃ ἔδωκάς μοι, ἐτελείωσα», καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν λέγοντος τῷ Πατρί· «Πάτερ ἅγιε, εἰ καὶ ὁ κόσμος σε οὐκ ἔγνω, ἀλλ' ἐγώ σε ἔγνων καὶ οὗτοί σε ἔγνωσαν», εἰκότως, ὡς ἂν τετελειωμένων ἡμῶν, φησὶ πᾶσιν ἅμα περὶ τῶν ἐξ αὐτοῦ διὰ τοῦ Πνεύματος διδομένων χαρισμάτων· «Σημεῖα δὲ τοῖς πιστεύσασιν ταῦτα παρακολουθήσει· ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσιν, γλώσσαις λαλήσουσιν καιναῖς, ὄφεις ἀροῦσιν· κἂν θανάσιμόν τι πίωσιν, οὐ μὴ αὐτοὺς βλάψει· ἐπὶ ἀρρώστους χεῖρας ἐπιθήσουσιν, καὶ καλῶς ἕξουσιν», τούτων τῶν χαρισμά των πρότερον μὲν ἡμῖν δοθέντων τοῖς ἀποστόλοις μέλλουσιν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον καταγγέλλειν πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει, ἔπειτα τοῖς δι' ἡμῶν πιστεύσασιν ἀναγκαίως χορηγουμένων, οὐκ εἰς τὴν τῶν ἐνεργούντων ὠφέλειαν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὴν τῶν ἀπίστων συγκατάθεσιν, ἵνα οὓς οὐκ ἔπεισεν ὁ λόγος, τούτους ἡ τῶν σημείων δυσωπήσῃ δύναμις. Τὰ γὰρ σημεῖα οὐ τοῖς πιστοῖς ἡμῖν, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀπίστοις Ἰουδαίων τε καὶ Ἑλλήνων· οὔτε γὰρ τὸ δαί μονας ἐκβάλλειν ἡμέτερον κέρδος, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐνεργείᾳ Χριστοῦ καθαιρομένων, καθὼς αὐτός που παιδεύων ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος δείκνυσι λέγων· «Μὴ χαίρετε, ὅτι τὰ πνεύ ματα ὑμῖν ὑπακούουσιν, ἀλλὰ χαίρετε, ὅτι τὰ ὀνόματα ὑμῶν γέγραπται ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ», ἐπειδὴ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ δυνάμει γίνεται, τὸ δὲ ἡμετέρᾳ εὐνοίᾳ καὶ σπουδῇ, δῆλον ὅτι βοηθουμένοις ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. Oὐκ ἐπάναγκες οὖν πάντα πιστὸν δαίμονας ἐκβάλλειν ἢ νεκροὺς ἀνιστᾶν ἢ γλώσσαις λαλεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἀξιωθέντα χαρίσματος ἐπί τινι αἰτίᾳ χρησίμῃ εἰς σωτηρίαν τῶν ἀπίστων, δυσωπουμένων πολλάκις οὐ τὴν τῶν λόγων ἀπόδειξιν, ἀλλὰ τὴν τῶν σημείων ἐνέργειαν, ἀξίων ὄντων σωτηρίας. Oὐδὲ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἀσεβεῖς ὑπὸ τῶν θαυμάτων ἐντρέπονται· καὶ τούτου μάρτυς αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς, ὡς ὅταν λέγῃ ἐν τῷ Νόμῳ ὅτι· «Ἐν ἑτερογλώσσοις λαλήσω τῷ λαῷ τούτῳ καὶ ἐν χείλεσιν ἑτέροις, καὶ οὐ μὴ πιστεύ σωσιν.» Oὔτε γὰρ οἱ Aἰγύπτιοι ἐπίστευσαν τῷ Θεῷ, Μωϋσέως τοσαῦτα σημεῖα καὶ τέρατα πεποιηκότος, οὔτε τὸ πλῆθος τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῷ ὡς Μωϋσεῖ Χριστῷ πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν ἐν αὐτοῖς θεραπεύσαντι· καὶ οὔτε ἐκείνους ἐδυσώπησεν ῥάβδος ψυχουμένη εἰς ὄφιν καὶ χεὶρ λευκαινομένη καὶ Νεῖλος αἱματούμενος, οὔτε τού