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we are lacking in help, to that extent we are supported by the power of God." To this, Abiathar the Jew said, "Our prophet said this saying." And Saint Sylvester said, "Today we are able to bring forward everything here from your own books against you yourselves; for a victory becomes glorious then, when the opposing side is defeated by the authority of its own teachings." The emperor said, "This is a just judgment, in which each one is compelled to be defeated by the authority of his own religion." Abiathar said, "When the almighty God, ours I mean, says with his own mouth, ‘See, see, that I am God, and there is none besides me,’ how do they themselves say that three ought to be worshipped: the Father, in whom we also have believed; the Son, whom our fathers crucified; and third, the Holy Spirit? Therefore, by worshipping three, they necessarily offend him who said that God is one only." Saint Sylvester said, "We worship and confess one God. But we do not say his divinity is so desolate as not to have the exultation of a Son. And we say this is his Son, about whom your prophet said, ‘By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the spirit of his mouth all their host.’ And we say he is that Son to whom the Father cries out through your prophet, saying, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’ But God is yesterday and today, he has no end, since he is beyond time. He is, therefore, without beginning; without beginning 1.480 therefore also the Father. For to whom did he say, ‘Let us make man in our image and likeness?’ For if he had said, ‘I will make man in my image and likeness,’ it would have seemed to signify his oneness. But ‘in our image and likeness’ clearly signified both the Son and the equality. For he cannot receive anything greater, since he knows no increase in age; again, he does not admit of decrease." Jonas the rabbi said, "This faith is not acceptable to human reasoning. For what sort of God does he advise to be believed in, whom he confesses as Father and Son and Holy Spirit?" Saint Sylvester said, "When you read in the books concerning the Father, when he says about his own son ‘You are my son,’ and likewise in another place ‘He will call upon me, You are my Father,’ then you will know clearly what is said, and you will not suppose that we say anything strange concerning the Holy Trinity. And concerning the Holy Spirit, hear your prophet again speaking and praying, ‘Take not your Holy Spirit from me.’ And again the same one, ‘and by the spirit of his mouth all their host,’ that is, of the heavenly hosts." Constantine Augustus said, "I marvel at the shamelessness of the Jews; for though defeated in many ways from all their own scriptures, they still want to seek something against the truth. Wherefore, since enough has been said concerning the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, if there are any other things to be shown, let them be brought forward." Godolias the Jew said, "We speak about that one who was born, who in his gospels 1.481 is written to have increased in age and wisdom, and to have been tempted by the devil, and after these things to have been sold by his own disciple, to have been handed over, seized, mocked, scourged, given gall with vinegar to drink, crowned with thorns and stripped naked, and whose garment was given by lot, to have been fixed on a cross, to have died and been buried." Saint Sylvester said, "All these things, as they were foretold, were written about Christ by the prophets; today we will demonstrate. For Isaiah foretold concerning the birth of Christ thus: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel.’ And that he would associate with men, hear the prophet Jeremiah: ‘This is our God; no other shall be accounted of in comparison with him. He found out all the way of knowledge, and gave it to Jacob his servant and to Israel his beloved. After this he was seen upon earth and

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βοηθείας ὑστερούμεθα, τοσοῦτον τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ δυνάμει στηριζόμεθα." πρὸς ταῦτα Ἀβιάθαρ Ἰουδαῖος ἔφη "τοῦτο τὸ ῥητὸν ὁ ἡμέτερος ἔφη προφήτης." καὶ ὁ ἅγιος Σίλβεστρος "πάντα σήμερον ἐνταῦθα ἐκ τῶν ὑμετέρων βίβλων προσενεγκεῖν ἔχομεν καθ' ὑμῶν αὐτῶν· τότε γὰρ λαμπρὰ γίνεται νίκη, ὅταν τὸ ἐξ ἐναντίας μέρος τῇ τῶν οἰκείων διδασκαλιῶν αὐ θεντίᾳ ἡττηθῇ." ὁ βασιλεὺς ἔφη "αὕτη δικαία ἡ κρίσις, ἐν ᾗ καταναγκάζεται ἕκαστος τῇ τῆς ἰδίας θρησκείας αὐθεντίᾳ ἡττᾶ σθαι." Ἀβιάθαρ εἶπε "τοῦ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ, τοῦ ἡμετέρου λέγω, ἰδίῳ στόματι λέγοντος «ἴδετε, ἴδετε, ὅτι ἐγὼ εἰμὶ θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν ἐμοῦ,» πῶς αὐτοὶ λέγουσι τρεῖς ὀφείλειν προσ κυνεῖσθαι, πατέρα, ὅντινα καὶ ἡμεῖς πεπιστεύκαμεν, υἱόν, ὃν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἐσταύρωσαν, τρίτον πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον; τρεῖς οὖν προσκυνοῦντες τούτῳ τῷ εἰρηκότι ἕνα μόνον εἶναι θεὸν ἐξ ἀνάγκης προσκρούουσιν." ὁ ἅγιος Σίλβεστρος ἔφη "ἡμεῖς ἕνα θεὸν σέ βομεν καὶ ὁμολογοῦμεν. ἀλλ' οὐχ οὕτως ἔρημον αὐτοῦ τὴν θεό τητά φαμεν ὥστε μὴ ἔχειν ἀγαλλίασιν υἱοῦ. υἱὸν δὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ τον λέγομεν περὶ οὗ ὁ ὑμέτερος προφήτης εἶπε «τῷ λόγῳ κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν.» υἱὸν δὲ ἐκεῖνον λέγομεν πρὸς ὃν διὰ τοῦ ὑμετέρου προφήτου ὁ πατὴρ βοᾷ λέγων «υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε.» θεὸς δὲ χθὲς καὶ σήμερον, οὐκ ἔχει τέλος, ἐπειδὴ ὑπέρχρονός ἐστιν. ἄναρχος οὖν ὑπάρχει· ἄναρχος 1.480 ἄρα καὶ ὁ πατήρ. ἐπεὶ τίνι εἶπε «ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰ κόνα καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἡμετέραν;» εἰ γὰρ εἴρηκε «ποιήσω ἄν θρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν ἐμήν,» ἐδόκει ἂν τὸ τῆς μονότητος αὐτοῦ σημαίνειν. τὸ δὲ κατ' εἰκόνα καὶ ὁμοίωσιν ἡμε τέραν σαφῶς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν καὶ τὴν ἰσότητα ἐσήμανεν. οὐ γὰρ μεῖζόν τι προσλαβεῖν δύναται, ἐπειδὴ ἡλικίας αὔξησιν οὐκ οἶδεν· ἐλάττωσιν πάλιν οὐ δέχεται." Ἰωνᾶς ῥαβὶς εἶπεν "ἀνθρωπίνῳ λογισμῷ οὐκ ἔστι δεκτέα ἡ πίστις. ποῖον γὰρ θεὸν συμβουλεύει οὗτος πιστευθῆναι, ὃν καὶ πατέρα καὶ υἱὸν καὶ πνεῦμα ἅγιον ὁμολογεῖ;" ὁ ἅγιος Σίλβεστρος ἔφη "ὅταν ἀναγνῷς ἐν ταῖς βίβλοις περὶ μὲν τοῦ πατρός, ἡνίκα λέγει περὶ τοῦ ἰδίου υἱοῦ «υἱός μου εἶ σύ,» ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐν ἑτέρῳ τόπῳ «αὐτὸς ἐπικαλέσεταί με, πα τήρ μου εἶ σύ,» τότε εἴσῃ σαφῶς τὸ λεγόμενον, καὶ οὐδὲν ξένον περὶ τῆς ἁγίας τριάδος ὑπολάβῃς λέξειν ἡμᾶς. περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἄκουε πάλιν τοῦ προφήτου σου λέγοντος καὶ εὐχομένου «τὸ πνεῦμά σου τὸ ἅγιον μὴ ἀντανέλῃς ἀπ' ἐμοῦ.» καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτός «καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐ τῶν,» τουτέστι τῶν οὐρανίων δυνάμεων." Κωνσταντῖνος Αὔγουστος εἶπε "θαυμάζω τῶν Ἰουδαίων τὸ ἀναίσχυντον· ἀπὸ πασῶν γὰρ τῶν οἰκείων γραφῶν πολυτρόπως ἡττώμενοι ἀκμὴν θέλουσί τινα κατὰ τῆς ἀληθείας ἐπιζητεῖν. ὅθεν ἐπεὶ περὶ τοῦ πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος τὸ ἱκανὸν γέγονεν, εἴ τι ἕτερα εἰσὶ δεικτέα, προσφερέσθωσαν." Γοδολίας Ἰουδαῖος εἶπεν "ἡμεῖς περὶ ἐκείνου λέγομεν τοῦ τεχθέντος, τοῦ ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις αὐτοῦ 1.481 ἀναγεγραμμένου ηὐξηκέναι τε ἡλικίᾳ καὶ σοφίᾳ, καὶ πειρασθέντος παρὰ τοῦ διαβόλου, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πραθέντος παρὰ τοῦ οἰκείου μαθητοῦ, παραδοθέντος, κρατηθέντος, ἐμπαιχθέντος, φραγε λωθέντος, χολὴν σὺν ὄξει ποτισθέντος, ἀκάνθαις στεφανωθέν τος καὶ γυμνωθέντος, καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐσθῆτος ἐν κλήρῳ δοθείσης ἐπὶ σταυροῦ παγέντος, ἀποθανόντος καὶ ταφέντος." ὁ ἅγιος Σίλβεστρος ἔφη "ταῦτα πάντα ὡς προκηρυχθέντα ἐγράφη περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ παρὰ τῶν προφητῶν, σήμερον ἐπιδείξομεν. Ἠσαΐας γὰρ περὶ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ γεννήσεως προείρηκεν οὕτως «ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ καλέσουσι τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἐμμανουήλ.» ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώποις συναναστραφήσεται, ἄκουε τοῦ προφήτου Ἱερεμίου «οὗτος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν· οὐ λογισθή σεται ἕτερος πρὸς αὐτόν. ἐξεῦρε πᾶσαν ὁδὸν ἐπιστήμης, καὶ ἔδωκεν αὐτὴν Ἰακὼβ τῷ παιδὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ Ἰσραὴλ τῷ ἠγαπημένῳ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὤφθη καὶ