Ammonius's The "Agreement of Moses and Jesus" in the 'Demonstratio Evangelica' of Eusebius J. Edgar Bruns

Discussion about the New Testament, apocrypha, gnostics, church fathers, Christian origins, historical Jesus or otherwise, etc.
Post Reply
Secret Alias
Posts: 18362
Joined: Sun Apr 19, 2015 8:47 am

Ammonius's The "Agreement of Moses and Jesus" in the 'Demonstratio Evangelica' of Eusebius J. Edgar Bruns

Post by Secret Alias »

The "Agreement of Moses and Jesus" in the 'Demonstratio Evangelica' of Eusebius
J. Edgar Bruns Vigiliae Christianae
Vol. 31, No. 2 (Jun., 1977), pp. 117-125 (9 pages)

The author argues that Eusebius is borrowing from Ammonius's lost work "Agreement of Moses and Jesus." I think he is correct.

In the third book of Eusebius of Caesarea's Demonstratio Evangelica
there is an extended comparison drawn between Moses and Jesus which,
as Danieloul and Glasson2 have both noted, differs from most other
patristic typological treatments of these two figures. The comparison
given by Eusebius fits well into what has been termed "similar situation
typology" in which there is a pattern of the recurrence in the future of
an event connected with a crisis of redemption in the past.3 At this point
in the Demonstratio Eusebius wishes to show how God's prophecy to
Moses in Dt, 1 8, 1 8 ("A prophet will I raise up to them from their brethren
like unto thee") was completely fulfilled in Jesus. To this end he lists
sixteen instances in which the career of Jesus corresponded to that of
Moses :4
1. Moses was a great lawgiver and the first to publish the theology of
one God to the Israelites. Jesus too was a great lawgiver and he
published the truths taught by Moses to all the nations through his
disciples.
2. Moses authenticated the religion he preached through miracles; so
did Jesus.
3. Moses brought the Jewish race from slavery to freedom while Jesus
summoned the whole human race from slavery to idolatry.
1 From Shadows to Reality (London 1960) 197: "The atmosphere of this passage"
he says, "will be quite different" from that underlying the others on the same theme
which he presents. 2 Moses in the Fourth Gospel (London 1963) 23.70.85. Glasson contrasts this
passage with the many other treatments of Moses and Jesus which became "interlocked with too much allegory" (23). 3 Cf. R. P. C. Hanson, Allegory and Event (London 1959) 14.
4 The Greek text, of which this is only a summary, is to be found in G.C.S.,
Eusebius, VI, 96-101.
118
4. Moses promised a holy land while Jesus offers a heavenly country,
the kingdom of heaven.
5. Moses fasted forty days and nights; so did Jesus.
6. Moses fed the people in the wilderness with manna; so Jesus fed
five thousand with five loaves and four thousand with seven loaves.
7. Moses went through the sea; Jesus walked on the sea, and as Moses
led his people through the sea, Jesus caused Peter to walk on it.
8. Moses dried up the sea with a strong wind; Jesus calmed the sea.
9. Moses descended from Sinai with his face "full of glory" and when
Jesus was transfigured his face shone like the sun.
10. Moses cleansed a leper (Miriam); so did Jesus.
11. The magicians of Pharaoh said that Moses worked by the finger of
God; Jesus said that he cast out devils by the finger of God.
12. Moses changed the name of Nave to Jesus; Jesus changed the name
of Simon to Peter.
13. Moses set up seventy men as leaders of the people; Jesus chose
seventy disciples.
14. Moses sent out twelve men to spy out the land; Jesus sent out twelve
apostles to visit all the gentiles.
15. Moses legislated against adultery, theft, and swearing. Jesus too
forbade these but extended the laws touching them by forbidding
the very thought of adultery and urging all to give to the needy.
16. As mystery surrounded the death and sepulchre of Moses, so did it
in the case of Jesus.
These straightforward comparisons are quite unlike the allegorical
typology employed by the author of Barnabas or by Justin Martyr,
Cyprian, Tertullian and a number of later writers in whose works something Moses does prefigures what Jesus will do but is not, in itself, the
same thing. Thus Moses is frequently described as prefiguring the crucifixion by placing one shield upon another in the midst of the battle
with the Amalekites and stretching out his arms to achieve victory but
in the passage from the Demonstratio no parallel between the crucifixion
of Jesus and an incident in the life of Moses is given because no real
parallel exists; only the "mystery of the tomb" provides a comparison.5 5
The kind of comparison drawn by Eusebius, however, is not without
parallel in the Jewish and Christian literature of his time.
CHAPTER 2

That the Hebrew Prophets prophesied of Christ.

MOSES was the first of the prophets to tell the good news (90) that another prophet like unto himself would arise. For since his legislation was only applicable to the Jewish race, and only to that part of it resident in the land of Judaea or its neighbourhood, and not to those living far away abroad |104 (as has been seen in my previous book); and as it was surely necessary that He Who was not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, should provide helpful means for all the Gentiles to know Him and to become holy in their lives, He makes known by the oracle accordingly (b) that another prophet will arise from the Jewish race, no whit inferior to His own dispensation. And God Himself names him in this manner:

"A prophet will I raise up to them from their brethren like unto thee, and I will put my word in his mouth, and he shall speak to them according to what I command him. And whatsoever man shall not hear that prophet['s words], whatsoever he shall speak in [[Deut.xviii.18]] my name, I will take vengeance on him."

And Moses speaks similar words when interpreting the oracle of God to the people:

(c) "A prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up of your brethren like unto me. Him shall ye hear according to all things that ye asked of the Lord God in Horeb [[Deut.xviii.15]] in the day of the assembly."

Was then any of the prophets after Moses, Isaiah, say, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Daniel, or any of the twelve, like Moses in being a lawgiver? Not one. Did any of them behave like Moses? One cannot affirm it. For each of (d) them from the first to the last referred their hearers to Moses, and based their rebukes of the people on their breaches of the Mosaic law, and did nothing but exhort them to hold fast to the Mosaic enactments. You could not say that any of them was like him: and yet Moses speaks definitely of one who should be. Whom then does the oracle prophesy will be a prophet like unto Moses, but our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and none other?

We must consider thoroughly why this was said. Moses was the first leader of the Jewish race. He found them attached to the deceitful polytheism of Egypt, and was the first to turn them from it, by enacting the severest punishment (91) for idolatry. He was the first also to publish the theology of the one God, bidding them worship only the Creator and Maker of all things. He was the first to draw up for the same hearers a scheme of religious life, and is acknowledged to have been the first and only lawgiver of their religious polity. But Jesus Christ too, like Moses, |105 only on a grander stage, was the first to originate the teaching according to holiness for the other nations, and first accomplished the rout of the idolatry that embraced (b) the whole world. He was the first to introduce to all men the knowledge and religion of the one Almighty God. And He is proved to be the first Author and Lawgiver of a new life and of a system adapted to the holy.

And with regard to the other teaching on the genesis of the world, and the immortality of the soul, and other doctrines of philosophy which Moses was the first to teach (c) the Jewish race, Jesus Christ has been the first to publish them to the other nations by His disciples in a far diviner form. So that Moses may properly be called the first and only lawgiver of religion to the Jews, and Jesus Christ the same to all nations, according to the prophecy which says of Him:

"Set, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men." 5 [[Ps. ix. 20.]]

Moses again by wonderful works and miracles authenticated (d) the religion that he proclaimed: Christ likewise, using His recorded miracles to inspire faith in those who saw them, established the new discipline of the Gospel teaching. Moses again transferred the Jewish race from the bitterness of Egyptian slavery to freedom: while Jesus Christ summoned the whole human race to freedom from their impious Egyptian idolatry under evil daemons. Moses, too, promised a holy land and a holy life therein under a blessing to those who kept his laws: while Jesus Christ says likewise: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth," promising a far better land in truth, and a holy and godly, not the land of Judaea, which in no way excels the rest (of the earth), but the heavenly country which suits souls that (92) love God, to those who follow out the life proclaimed by Him. And that He might make it plainer still, He proclaimed the kingdom of heaven to those blessed by Him. And you will find other works done by our Saviour with greater power than those of Moses, and yet resembling the works which Moses did. As, for example, Moses fasted forty days continuously, as Scripture witnesses, saying: "And (Moses) was there with the Lord forty days and (b) |106 [[Exod. xxxiv. 28.]] forty nights; he did neither eat bread nor drink water." And Christ likewise: For it is written: "And he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil; and in those days he did eat nothing." [[Luke iv. 1.]]

Moses again fed the people in the wilderness: for Scripture says: Behold, I give 6 you bread from heaven." [[Exod. xvi.4.]] And after a little:

"It came to pass as the dew ceased round about the camp, and behold on the face of the wilderness a small (c) thing, like white coriander seed, as frost upon the ground." [[Exod. xvi.14.]]

And our Lord and Saviour likewise says to.His disciples:

" 8. O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? 9. Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? 10. Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up?" [[Matt. xvi.8.]]

Moses again went through the midst of the sea, and led the people; for Scripture says:

(d) "And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the Lord carried back the sea with a strong south wind all the night, and the water was divided. And the children of Israel passed through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the water was a wall to them on the right and a wall on the left." [[Exod.xiv.21-22]]

In the same way, only more divinely, Jesus the Christ of God walked on the sea, and caused Peter to walk on it. For it is written:

"25. And in the fourth watch of the night he went unto them, walking on the sea. 26. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled." [[Matt. xiv. 25.]]

And shortly after:

"28. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water."

Moses again made the sea dry with a strong south wind. (93) For Scripture says: "Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the Lord drave back the sea with a strong |107 south wind," and he adds: "The waves were congealed in the midst of the sea." In like manner, only much more grandly, our Saviour "rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm." Again when Moses descended from the Mount, his face was seen full of glory: for it is written:

"And Moses descending from the Mount did not know that the appearance of the skin of his face was (b) glorified while He spake to him. And Aaron and all the elders [of the children] of Israel saw Moses, and the appearance of the skin of his face was glorified." [[Exod. xxxiv. 29.]]

In the same way only more grandly our Saviour led His disciples "to a very high mountain,7 and he was transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his garments were white like the light." [[Matt. xvii.2.]]

Again Moses cleansed a leper: for it is written: " And behold Miriam (was) leprous (as white) as snow." [[Num. xii.10.]]

And a little further on: "And Moses cried to the Lord: O God, I pray thee to heal her."

And in the same way, but with more superb power, the (c) Christ of God, when a leper came to him, saying: "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean; answered: I will; be thou clean. And his leprosy was cleansed." [[Matt. viii.2.]]

Moses, again, said that the law was written with the finger of God: for it is written:

"And he gave to Moses, when he ceased speaking to him in Mount Sinai, the two tables of witness, stone tables written with the finger of God." [[Exod.xxxi.18.]]

And in Exodus: "The magicians therefore said to Pharaoh, (d) It is the finger of God." [[Exod. viii.19.]]

In like manner Jesus, the Christ of God, said to the Pharisees: "If I by the finger of God 8 cast out devils." [[Matt. xii.27]] Moreover, Moses changed the name of Nave to Jesus, and likewise the Saviour changed that of Simon to Peter. And Moses set up seventy men as leaders to the people. For Scripture says:

"16. Bring together to me seventy men of the elders of Israel, 9 17. and I will take of the spirit that is upon |108 thee, and I will put it upon them. ... 24. And he brought together seventy men." 10 [[Num. xi.16]]

Likewise our Saviour "chose out His seventy disciples,11 and sent them 12 two and two before his face." [[Luke x.1.]] Moses (94) again sent out twelve men to spy out the land, and likewise, only with far higher aims, our Saviour sent out twelve Apostles to visit all the Gentiles. Moses again legislates saying:

[[Deut. v. 17]] "Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not forswear thyself." 13

But our Saviour, extending the law, not only forbids to kill, but also to be angry: instead of "Thou shalt not commit adultery," He forbids to look on a woman with unbridled lust. Instead of "Thou shalt not steal," He enjoins that we should give what is our own to the needy. And transcending the law against false swearing, He lays down the rule of not swearing at all. But why need I seek further (b) for proof that Moses and Jesus our Lord and Saviour acted in closely similar ways, since it is possible for any one who likes to gather instances at his leisure? Even when they say that no man knew the death of Moses, or his sepulchre, so (none saw) our Saviour's change after His Resurrection into the divine. If then no one but our Saviour can be shewn to have resembled Moses in so many ways, surely it only remains for us to apply to Him, and to none other, the prophecy of Moses, in which he foretold that God (c) would raise up one like unto himself, saying:

"18. I will raise a prophet to them of their brethren like thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them, as I shall bid him. 19. And [[Deut.xviii.18]] whatever man will not hear whatsoever words that prophet saith, I will take vengeance on him."

And Moses himself, interpreting the words to the people, said:

(d) "15. A prophet shall the Lord thy God raise up to |109 thee of thy brethren, like me; him ye shall hear; 16. according to all things which you desired of the Lord your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly." [[Deut.xviii 15.]]

But the Old Testament 14 clearly teaches that, of the prophets after Moses, no one before our Saviour was raised up like unto Moses, when it says:

"And there has not arisen yet a prophet like Moses whom the Lord knew face to face in all his signs and wonders." [[Deut.xxxiv. 10.]]

I have then proved that the Divine Spirit prophesied through Moses of our Saviour, if He alone and none other has been shewn to fulfil the requirements of Moses' words. But note another recorded prophecy. We know that many (95) multitudes among all the nations call our Lord and Saviour Lord, though He was born according to the flesh of the seed of Israel, confessing Him as Lord because of His divine power. And this also Moses knew by the Divine Spirit, and proclaimed in this manner in writing:

"There shall come a man from his seed" (He means Israel's), "and he shall be Lord over the Gentiles, and his kingdom shall be exalted." [[Num.xxiv.7.]]

Now if none other of the kings and rulers of those of the Circumcision has ever at any period been Lord of many Gentiles (and no record suggests it) while truth cries and (b) shouts of our Saviour's unique rule, that many multitudes from all nations confess Him to be Lord not only with their lips but with the most genuine affection,15 what can hinder us from saying that He is.the one foretold by the prophet? That Moses' prediction was not indefinite, and that he did not see his prophecy in the shadows of illimitable and unmeasured time, but circumscribed the fulfilment of his predictions with the greatest accuracy by temporal limits, hear how he speaks prophetically about Him: (c) "There shall not fail a prince from Juda, and a leader from his loins until he come in whom it is laid up,16 and he is the expectation of the Gentiles"---- [[Gen. xlix.10.]] which means that the order and succession of rulers and leaders of the Jewish race will not fail until the coming of the Prophesied, but that when there is a failure of their |110 rulers the Prophesied will come. By Judah here he does (d) not mean the tribe of Judah, but since in later days the whole race of the Jews came to be called after the kingly tribe, as even now we call them Jews, in a very wonderful and prophetic way he named the whole Jewish race, just as we do when we call them Jews.

Next he says that the rulers and heads of their race will not fail, before the Prophesied appear: and that on his arrival the Jewish state will be at once dissolved, and that he will be no longer the expectation of the Jews, but of the Gentiles. Now you could not apply this prophecy (96) to any of the prophets, but only to our Lord and Saviour. For immediately on his appearance the kingdom of the Jews was taken away. For at once their king in the direct line failed, who ruled them according to their own laws, Augustus then being the first Roman Emperor, and Herod, who was of an alien race, becoming their king.17 And while they failed, the expectation of the Gentiles throughout the whole world appeared according to the divine prophecy, (b) so that even now all men of all nations who believe in Him place the hope of godly expectation in Him.

All these good tidings, and many others besides these, does Moses give us concerning the Christ. And Isaiah definitely foretells in words akin to his of one who shall rise from the seed and line of King David:

"A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall spring forth from his root, and the spirit of God shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding." [[Isa. xi. 1.]]

And then he proceeds in prophetic style to paint the (c) change that will transform all races of men, both Greek and barbarian, from savagery and barbarism to gentleness and mildness. For he says:

"And the wolf shall feed with the lamb, and the |111 leopard shall lie down with the goat, and the calf and the bull and lion shall feed together." [[Isa. xi. 6.]]

And similar things, which he at once makes clear by interpretation, saying:

"And he that arises to rule the Gentiles, on him shall the Gentiles trust."

Thus he has made it clear that the unreasoning animals, (d) and the wild beasts mentioned in the passage, represent the Gentiles, by reason of their being by nature like wild beasts; and he says that one arising from the seed of Jesse, from whom the genealogy of our Lord and Saviour runs, will rule over the Gentiles; on Him the nations that now believe in Him fix their hope, agreeably to the prediction, "And it shall be that he who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles, in him shall the Gentiles trust." And the words "In him shall the Gentiles trust" are the same as "And he will be the expectation of the Gentiles." For there is (97) no difference between saying "In him shall the Gentiles trust" and "He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles." And the same Isaiah, continuing, prophesies these things about Christ:

"Behold my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased, he shall bring judgment to the nations." [[Isa. xlii. 1.]]

And he adds: "Till he place judgment upon the earth, and in his name shall the Gentiles trust."

Here, then, the second time the prophet states that the Gentiles will hope in Christ, having said above "In Him shall the Gentiles trust." Though here it is "In His name shall the Gentiles trust." And it was said also to David, that "of the fruit of thy body shall one be raised (b) up," about Whom God says further on: " He shall call on me, Thou art my father; and I will make him my first-born." [[Ps. cxxxii.11]] And about Him he says again, "And he shall rule from the one sea to the other, and from the rivers even unto the ends of the world." [[Ps.lxxxviii.26.]] And once more, "All the Gentiles shall serve him, and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him." [[Ps. lxxi.8.]] And moreover, the definite place of His prophesied birth is foretold by Micah, saying: [[Ps. lxxi.11 and 17.]] "And thou, Bethlehem, House of Ephratha, art the least that can be among the thousands of Judah. Out of thee shall come a leader, who shall feed my people Israel. And (c) |112 his goings forth are from the beginning from the days of eternity." [[Micah v.2; Matt.ii.6.]]

Now all agree that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem,18 and a cave 19 is shewn there by the inhabitants to those who come from abroad to see it. The place of His birth then was foretold. And the miracle of His birth Isaiah teaches sometimes mysteriously, and sometimes more plainly: mysteriously, when he says:

"Lord, who hath believed our report? And the arm of the Lord to whom hath it been revealed? we (d) proclaimed him before as a child, as a root in a thirsty soil." [[Isa. liii. 1.]]

Instead of which Aquila interpreted thus: "And he shall be proclaimed as a suckling before his face, and as a root from an untrodden ground." And Theodotion: "And he shall go up as a suckling before him, and as a root in a thirsty land."

For in this passage, the prophet having mentioned "the Arm of the Lord," which was the Word of God, says: "In his sight we have proclaimed (him) as a sucking child, and one nurtured at the breast, and as a root from untrodden ground." The child that is "a suckling and nurtured at the breast" exactly therefore shews forth the (98) birth of Christ, and "the thirsty and untrodden land" the Virgin that bare Him, whom no man had known, from whom albeit untrodden sprang up "the blessed root," and "the sucking child that was nurtured by the breast." But this prophecy was darkly and obscurely given: the same prophet explains his meaning more plainly, when he says: "Behold a Virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name God with us," [[Isa. vii. 14.]] for Emmanuel signifies this.

(b) Such were the thoughts of Hebrews long ago about the birth of Christ among men. Do they, then, describe in |113 their prophecy some famous prince or tyrant, or some one in any other class of those who have great power in earthly things? One cannot say so, for no such man appeared. But as He was in His life, so they prophesied that He would be, in no way failing in truth. For Isaiah said: "We proclaimed him before, as a child, as a root in thirsty soil.'' [[Is. liii. 2.]] And then he proceeds saying:

"2. He hath no form or glory, and we saw him, and he had no form or beauty, 3. And his form was dishonourable and slight even compared with the sons of (c) men, a man in suffering, and knowing to bear sickness 1 he was dishonoured, and not esteemed." What remains for him to say?

Surely, if they predicted His tribe and race and manner of birth, and the miracle of the Virgin, and His manner of life, it was impossible for them to pass over in silence that which followed, namely His Death: and what does Isaiah prophesy about it?

"3. A man" he says "in suffering, and knowing to bear sickness,20 he was dishonoured and not esteemed. 4. This man bears our sins, and is pained for our sake. And we thought him to be in trouble, in suffering, and in evil; 5. He was wounded for our sins, and bruised (cl) for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripe we are healed. 6. All we as sheep have gone astray,21 and the Lord delivered him for our sins, and he because of his affliction opens not his mouth. He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb dumb before her shearers, so he opens not his mouth.22 8. Who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth." [[Isa. liii. 3-8.]]

In this he shews that Christ, being apart from all sin, will receive the sins of men on Himself. And therefore (99) He will suffer the penalty of sinners, and will be pained on their behalf; and not on His own. And if He shall be wounded by the strokes of blasphemous words, this also will be the result of our sins. For He is weakened through our sins, so that we, when He had taken on Him our faults and the wounds of our wickedness, might be |114 healed by His stripes. And this is the cause why the Sinless shall suffer among men: and the wonderful prophet, (b) in no way shrinking, clearly rebukes the Jews who plotted his death; and complaining bitterly of this very thing he says: "For the transgressions of my people he was led to death." And then because total destruction overtook them immediately, and not a long time after their evil deed to Christ, when they were besieged by the Romans, he does not pass this over either, but adds: "And I will give the wicked for his tomb, and the rich for his death."

It would have sufficed for him to have concluded the prophecy at this point, if he had not seen that something (c) else would happen after the death of Christ. But as He after His death and entombment is to return and rise again almost at once, he adds this also concerning Him, saying next:

"The Lord also is pleased to purify him from his stroke----if ye can give an offering for sin, your soul shall see a life-long seed. And the Lord wills to take away from the travail of his soul, to shew him light." [[Isa. liii. 10.]]

He said above: "A man stricken, and knowing to bear weakness"; and now after his death and burial, he says: "The Lord wishes to cleanse him from his strokes." And (d) how will this be done? "If ye offer," he says, "for sin, your soul shall see a seed that prolongs its days." For it is not allowed to all to see the seed of Christ that prolongs its days, but to those only who confess and bring the offerings for sins to God. For the soul of these only shall see the seed of Christ prolonging its days, be it His eternal life after death, or the word sown by Him through the whole world, which will prolong its days and endure for ever.

And as he said above: "And we reckoned him to be in trouble," so, now, after His slaughter and death, he says: "And the Lord wills to take his life away from its (100) trouble, and to give it light." Since then the Lord, the Almighty God, willed to cleanse Him from this stroke, and to show Him light, if He willed He would most certainly do what He willed; for there is nothing that He wills which is not brought to pass: but He willed to cleanse Him and to give Him light; therefore he accomplished it, He cleansed Him and gave Him light. And since He willed |115 it, and being willing took away the travail of His soul, and shewed Him light, the prophet rightly proceeds with the words: "Therefore he shall inherit from many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong." [[Isa. liii.12.]]

Here it remained for him to mention the heritage of (b) Christ, in agreement with the Second Psalm, in which the prophetic word foretells the plot that was hatched against Him, giving His name:

"2. The kings of the earth stood up,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against his Christ." [[Ps. ii. 2.]]

And it adds next:

"3. The Lord said to me, Thou art my son,
To-day I have begotten thee;
Ask of me and I shall give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance

And the bounds of the earth for thy possession." It was to these Gentiles that the Prophet darkly referred, (c) saying: "He shall inherit from many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong." [[Isa. liii. 12.]] For he rescued the subject souls from the opposing powers, which of old ruled over the Gentiles, and divided them as spoils among his disciples. Wherefore Isaiah says of them: "And they shall rejoice before thee, as they who divide the spoils."[[Isa. ix. 3.]]

And the Psalmist:

"12. The Lord will give a word to the preachers with much power.
13. The king of the powers of the beloved, in the beauty of his house divideth the spoils." [[Ps. lxvii.12.]]

He rightly, therefore, says this also of Christ: "Therefore (d) he shall have the inheritance of many, and divide the spoils of the strong." And shortly after he tells us why, saying:

"Because his soul was delivered to death, and he was reckoned among the transgressors, and he himself bare the sins of many, and was delivered for their iniquities."

For it was as a meet return for all this, because of His obedience and long-suffering, that the Father gave Him what we have seen, for He was obedient to the Father even unto death. Wherefore it is prophesied that He should receive the inheritance of many, and should be |116 reckoned with the transgressors not before but after His being delivered to death. For therefore He is said "to receive the inheritance of many, and to share the spoil of the strong." And I consider that it is beyond doubt that in these words the resurrection from the dead of the (101) subject of the prophecy is shewn. For how else can we regard Him as led as a sheep to the slaughter, and delivered to death for the sins of the Jewish people, numbered with transgressors, and delivered to burial, then cleansed by the Lord, and seeing light with Him, and receiving the inheritance of many, and dividing the spoils with his friends? David, too, prophesying in the Person of Christ says somewhere of His Resurrection after death:

(b) "10. Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hades,
Neither wilt thou give thine Holy one to see corruption." [[Ps.xvi. 10.]]

And also:

"4. Lord, Thou hast brought my soul out of Hades, Thou hast kept my life from them that go down into the pit." [[Ps. xxx. 4.]]

And also:

"14. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death. 15. That I may tell all thy praises." [[Ps. ix. 14.]]

I consider that not even the most obtuse can look these things in the face 23 (and disregard them). And the conclusion of the prophecy of Isaiah, tells of the soul once sterile and empty of God, or perhaps of the Church of the (c) Gentiles, agreeably to the view I have taken. For since Christ has borne all for its sake, he rightly goes on after the predictions about them, to say:

"Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not; for more are the children of the desolate, than of her that hath a husband,24 for the Lord has said, Enlarge the place of thy tent, and the skins of thy hangings 25 peg down, do not spare. Widen thy cords, and strengthen thy pins: spread out still more to the right and left, and thy seed shall inherit the heathen." [[Is. liv. 1.]] |117

This is the good news the Word gives the Church (d) gathered from the Gentiles scattered throughout the world and stretching from sunrise to sunset, shewn forth very clearly when it says: "And thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles."

And now, though this part of my subject needs more elaboration, I will conclude it, as I have said sufficient for the present. You yourself will be able at your leisure to make selections relating to the subject, and this present work on the Proof of the Gospel will adduce and interpret individual details in their place. Meantime, for the present what has been said will suffice, on the predictions (and foreknowledge) of the prophets about our Saviour, and that it was they who proclaimed the good news that the good things of the future were coming for all men. (102) They foretold the coming of a prophet and the religion of a lawgiver like Moses, his race, his tribe, and the place he should come from, and they prophesied the time of his appearance, his birth, and death, and resurrection, as well as his rule over all the Gentiles, and all those things have been accomplished, and will continue to be accomplished in the sequence of events, since they find their completion in our Lord and Saviour alone.

But such arguments from the sacred oracles are only (b) intended for the faithful. Unbelievers in the prophetic writings I must meet with special arguments. So that I must now argue about Christ as about an ordinary man and one like other men,26 in order that when He has been shewn to be far greater and more excellent in solitary preeminence than all the most lauded of all time, I may then take the opportunity to treat of His diviner nature, and shew from clear proofs, that the power in Him was not (c) of mere humanity. And after that I will deal with the theology of His Person, so far as I can envisage it.

Since then many unbelievers call Him a wizard and a deceiver, and use many other blasphemous terms, and cease not yet to do so, I will reply to them, drawing my |118 arguments, not from any source of my own, but from His own words and teaching.
“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
Post Reply