Chapter XXVII.

And I have not yet spoken of the other evils which prevail amongst men, from which even those who have the appearance of philosophers are not speedily freed, for in philosophy there are many pretenders.  Nor do I say anything on the point that many such evils are found to exist among those who are neither Jews nor Christians.  Of a truth, such evil practices do not at all prevail among Christians, if you properly examine what constitutes a Christian.  Or, if any persons of that kind should be discovered, they are at least not to be found among those who frequent the assemblies, and come to the public prayers, without their being excluded from them, unless it should happen, and that rarely, that some one individual of such a character escapes notice in the crowd.  We, then, are not worms who assemble together; who take our stand against the Jews on those Scriptures which they believe to be divine, and who show that He who was spoken of in prophecy has come, and that they have been abandoned on account of the greatness of their sins, and that we who have accepted the Word have the highest hopes in God, both because of our faith in Him, and of His ability to receive us into His communion pure from all evil and wickedness of life.  If a man, then, should call himself a Jew or a Christian, he would not say without qualification that God had made the whole world, and the vault of heaven716    την οὐράνιον φοράν. for us in particular.  But if a man is, as Jesus taught, pure in heart, and meek, and peaceful, and cheerfully submits to dangers for the sake of his religion, such an one might reasonably have confidence in God, and with a full apprehension of the word contained in the prophecies, might say this also:  “All these things has God shown beforehand, and announced to us who believe.”

Καὶ οὔπω λέγω τὰ λοιπὰ ἐν ἀνθρώποις κακά, ὧν οὐ ταχέως οὐδ' οἱ φιλοσοφεῖν δοκοῦντες καθαρεύουσι–πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ οἱ ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ νόθοι–οὐδέ φημι πὼ ὅτι πολλὰ μέν ἐστι τὰ τοιαῦτα παρὰ τοῖς μήτε Ἰουδαίοις μήτε Χριστιανοῖς· ἤτοι δὲ οὐδ' ὅλως ὑπάρχει ἐν Χριστιανοῖς, εἰ κυρίως ἐξετάζοις, τίς ὁ Χριστιανός, ἢ εἰ καὶ εὑρεθείη, ἀλλ' οὔτι γε ἐν τοῖς συνεδρεύουσι καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κοινὰς εὐχὰς ἐρχομένοις καὶ μὴ ἀποκλειομένοις ἀπ' αὐτῶν· εἰ μὴ ἄρα τις σπανίως λανθάνων ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς εὑρίσκοιτο τοιοῦτος. Οὐ σκώληκες οὖν ἐκκλησιάζοντές ἐσμεν οἱ πρὸς Ἰουδαίους ἱστάμενοι ἀπὸ τῶν πεπιστευμένων αὐτοῖς εἶναι γραμμάτων ἱερῶν καὶ δεικνύντες τόν τε προφητευόμενον ἐπιδεδημηκέναι καὶ διὰ τὰ μέγιστα ἁμαρτήματα ἐκείνους ἐγκαταλελεῖφθαι καὶ ἡμᾶς, τοὺς παραδεξαμένους τὸν λόγον, ἐλπίδας ἔχειν παρὰ θεῷ τὰς ἀρίστας ἔκ τε τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως καὶ τοῦ δυναμένου ἡμᾶς οἰκειῶσαι αὐτῷ καθαροὺς ἀπὸ πάσης πονηρίας καὶ κακίας βίου. Οὐχ ἁπλῶς οὖν, εἴ τις Ἰουδαῖον ἑαυτὸν ἢ Χριστιανὸν ἀναγορεύει, οὗτος λέγοι ἂν ὅτι τὸν πάντα κόσμον καὶ τὴν οὐράνιον φορὰν ἡμῖν μάλιστα πεποίηκεν ὁ θεός. Ἀλλ' εἴ τις, ὡς ὁ Ἰησοῦς ἐδίδαξε, καθαρός ἐστι "τῇ καρδίᾳ" καὶ πρᾷος καὶ εἰρηνοποιὸς καὶ προθύμως ὑπομένων τοὺς διὰ τὴν εὐσέβειαν κινδύνους, εὐλόγως ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος θαρροίη τῷ θεῷ, συνιεὶς δὲ καὶ τὸν ἐν ταῖς προφη τείαις λόγον φήσαι ἂν καὶ τό· πάντα ταῦτα ἡμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ὁ θεὸς προδεδήλωκε καὶ κατήγγειλεν.