Chapter 1 |
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The Plan of the Work |
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1-1 It is my purpose to write an account of the successions of the holy apostles
as well as of the times which have elapsed from the days of our Saviour to our
own; and to relate the many important events which are said to have occurred in
the history of the Church; and to mention those who have governed and presided
over the Church in the most prominent parishes, and those who in each generation
have proclaimed the divine word either orally or in writing.
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It might be first noted that this translation of
Eusebius' writings is performed from the slanted perspective and background
of one who is of a certain religious faith and perspective. As such a number
of selected words of translation will understandably reflect that skewed view
which such a single translator bring to such a single translation,
such as the use of such term as 'parishes' might indicate rather than
perhaps a more generic term such as 'churches'.
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1-2 It is my purpose also to give the names and number and times of
those who through love of innovation have run
into the greatest errors, and, proclaiming themselves discoverers of
knowledge falsely so-called have like fierce wolves [grievous wolves]
(~ Acts 20:29 & 2 Thes. 2:3) unmercifully devastated the flock of
Christ.
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In this second paragraph, Eusebius lays out the circumstance of the state
of Christianity in his day that the 'fierce wolves', the 'grievous
wolves' have enter in as prophesied by the apostles among the the
flock of Christ, which would not spare the flock from apostasy (~ Acts 20:29;
2 Thes. 2:3). This they have done by promoting their own philosophies of men
in the pride of the 'love of innovation' and the self promoting 'proclaiming
themselves discoverers of knowledge falsely' running into and creating 'the
greatest errors'. This was the environment surrounding the Nicene or Nicean
Counsel which created the Nicean Creed and basis of the beliefs of the
compromised Universal Church.
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1-3 It is my intention, moreover, to recount the misfortunes which immediately
came upon the whole Jewish nation in consequence of their plots against our
Saviour, and to record the ways and the times in which the divine word has been
attacked by the Gentiles, and to describe the character of those who at various
periods have contended for it in the face of blood and of tortures, as well as
the confessions which have been made in our own days, and finally the gracious
and kindly succor which our Saviour has afforded them all. Since I propose to
write of all these things I shall commence my work with the beginning
of the dispensation (oikonomia) of our Saviour and Lord Jesus
Christ.
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It is of interest here to note that Eusebius does speak in terms that the time of Christ marks the beginning of that 'dispensation' of our Saviour which is under the direct ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ as the proper dispensation head. |
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1-4 But at the outset I must crave for my work the indulgence of the wise, for I
confess that it is beyond my power to produce a perfect and complete history,
and since I am the first to enter upon the subject, I am attempting to traverse
as it were a lonely and untrodden path. I pray that I may have God as my guide
and the power of the Lord as my aid, since I am unable to find even the bare
footsteps of those who have traveled the way before me, except in brief
fragments, in which some in one way, others in another, have transmitted to us
particular accounts of the times in which they lived. From afar they raise their
voices like torches, and they cry out, as from some lofty and conspicuous
watch-tower, admonishing us where to walk and how to direct the course of our
work steadily and safely. Having gathered therefore from the matters mentioned
here and there by them whatever we consider important for the present work, and
having plucked like flowers from a meadow the appropriate passages from ancient
writers, we shall endeavor to embody the whole in an historical narrative,
content if we preserve the memory of the successions of the apostles of our
Saviour; if not indeed of all, yet of the most renowned of them in those
churches which are the most noted, and which even to the present time are held
in honor.
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1-5 This work seems to me of especial importance because I know of no
ecclesiastical writer who has devoted himself to this subject; and I hope that
it will appear most useful to those who are fond of historical research. I have
already given an epitome of these things in the Chronological Canons which I
have composed, but notwithstanding that, I have undertaken in the present work
to write as full an account of them as I am able. My work will begin, as I have
said, with the dispensation (oikonomia) of the Saviour
Christ—which is
loftier and greater than human conception—and with a discussion of his divinity
(theologia); for it is necessary, inasmuch as we derive even our name
from Christ, for one who proposes to write a history of the Church to begin with
the very origin of Christ's dispensation, a dispensation more divine
t`han many think.
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Chapter 2 |
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Summary View of the Pre-existence and Divinity of Our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ |
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2-1 Since in Christ there is a twofold nature, and the one—in so far as he is
thought of as God—resembles the head of the body, while the other may be
compared with the feet—in so far as he, for the sake of our salvation, put on
human nature with the same passions as our own—the following work will be
complete only if we begin with the chief and lordliest events of all his
history. In this way will the antiquity and divinity of Christianity be shown to
those who suppose it of recent and foreign origin, and imagine that it appeared
only yesterday. No language is sufficient to express the origin and the worth,
the being and the nature of Christ. Wherefore also the divine Spirit says in the
prophecies, "Who shall declare his generation?" For none knoweth the Father
except the Son, neither can any one know the Son adequately except the Father
alone who hath begotten him.
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Bishop Eusebius begins with his perspective and testimony of Jesus Christ with the powerful declaration of inquiry of Isaiah chapter 53, which is echoed in the New Testament in the book of Acts chapter 8 and by the Prophet Abinidi in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah chapters 14 and 15. Others, such as Bruce R. McConkie have also addressed this question. It is a question for the ages. And Bishop Eusebius does it much justice in proclaiming Jesus Christ, his generation, his dispensation, from all eternity to all eternity beginning in the opening of the ages of time of the preexistent realm. |
The Glory of God Is IntelligenceWhile man is not given to know the details concerning that eternal essence from which all life begins, Bishop Eusebius does touch upon it. Through modern revelation and the voice of the prophet Joseph Smith, we are aquinted with the concept of 'intelligence' and 'intelligences', and that this is that essence of substance which makes us all co-eternal with God the Father, even as Jehovah, who is the same as Jesus Christ, is co-eternal with and in God. For a further in depth discussion concerning the matter of 'intelligence', what it is, what we are given to know about it, and how it is quite misunderstood the the early Bishops of the church who formed the Nicene Creed of today, one is refered to an 'An Expose Upon Intelligence'. | |
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2-2 For who beside the Father could
clearly understand the Light which was before the world,
the intellectual and essential Wisdom which
existed before the ages, the living
Word [Jehovah/Jesus Christ the Son]
which was in the beginning with the Father
[Elohim]
and which
[Jehovah/Jesus Christ the Son]
was God, the first [born] and only begotten of God which was
before every creature* and creation visible
[temporal] and invisible
[spiritual], the commander-in-chief of the rational and immortal host
of heaven, the messenger of the great counsel, the executor of the
Father's unspoken will, the creator, with the Father, of all things, the
second cause [Second Temporal Estate]
of the universe after the Father, the true and
only-begotten Son of God, the Lord and God and King of all created things,
the one who has received dominion and power, with divinity itself, and with
might and honor from the Father
[DIVINE INVESTITURE]; as it is
said in regard to him in the mystical passages of Scripture which speak of
his divinity: "In the beginning was the Word
[Jehovah/Jesus Christ the Son],
and the Word was with
God [Father Elohim], and the Word was
God [Jehovah/Jesus Christ the Son was Empowered by Elohim]."
(~ John 1:1)
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As best Eusebius could, he explains from the openning verses of
John chapter 1, that the Son was with Father from the beginning before the
foundation of the world and of all things were created in the 'second course'
or Second Estate. This precludes a preexistence, which Eusebius
readily accepts. He sets out that the Son received from the Father dominion
and power including divinity itself, having a fulness of Godly might and
honor from the Father. And the true and the only begotten Son to be, even
the Lord and God and King of all created things of this 'second cause' or
'Second Estate' of the universe, was this Son of God
from the beginning. From modern revealed scriptures we understand that
the Father selected and anointed his first-born Son of the
pre-existence, giving him all power to act for and in behalf of the Father in
all things, in the 'stead of the father' as the one and only true ministering
God of this Second Estate. This had to be, for the Father was advanced beyond
this fallen estate and only those who pertain to it can minister
herein (D&C 130:5). * 'firstborn of every creature' (Col.1:15 (4-20)) - The first born spirit son of the Father [Elohim] was his son [Jehovah], the rightful heir of the Father. He was 'the word' who was with the Father whom the Father anointed to stand in the stead of the Father as our 'ministering God'. |
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2-3 "All things were made by him; and without him was not
anything made." (~ John 1:3) This,
too, the great Moses teaches, when, as the most ancient of all
the prophets [He being the writer of the first five books of the Old
Testament], he describes under the influence of
the divine Spirit [actually personal visitation and vision] the creation and
arrangement of the universe. He declares
that the maker of the world and the creator of all things yielded to
Christ himself, and to none other than his own clearly divine and first-born
[Son in the spirit] Word, the making of inferior things [Second Estate], and
communed with him respecting the creation of man.
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Further Quoting from John 1:3, Eusebius presents that case that it was Christ who was given the divine investiture of creation, the Father's own first-born Word. By 'inferior things' it is to be understood to be but reference to the things of temporal nature of this second estate. Eusebius clearly presents that Moses, 'the most ancient of all the prophets' of the Old Testament which began with the five books of Moses, 'declared that the maker of the world and the creator of all things 'yielded' to Christ and none other than his own clearly divine and first-born Word. |
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2-4 "For," says he," God [the Father] said, Let
us [the Father and the Son] make man in our image and in our
likeness." (~ Genesis 1:26) And another of the prophets
confirms this, speaking of God in his hymns as follows:
"He spake and they were made; he commanded and
they were created." (Psalms 33:9 & Psalms 148:5) He here introduces the
Father and Maker as Ruler of all, commanding with a kingly nod
(~ Psalms 33:9), and second (Psalms 148:5) to him the
divine Word, none other than the one who is proclaimed by us, as carrying out
the Father's commands. All that are said to have
excelled in righteousness and piety since the creation of man, the great
servant Moses and before him in the first place Abraham and his children, and
as many righteous men and prophets as afterward appeared, have contemplated
him [Christ] with the pure eyes of the mind, and have recognized him and
offered to him the worship which is due him as Son of God.
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It is significant that Bishop Eusebius demonstrates that
understanding which will become lost in the Nicene Creed, that there was a
plurality of Gods so stated even in the very beginning of the account of the
creation where is states 'Let US make man in OUR image and in
OUR likeness.' Bishop Eusebius knew and understood the relationship
between the Father and the Son as two distinct persons from the beginning and
in the creation process, even as the Apostle John so declared it to be so.
It is precisely that image of relationship presented in the Holy Convocation of the temple ceremony of how the Father and the Son worked in concert, the Father directing and the Son, Jehovah, who is the same as Jesus Christ, carrying forth the acts of the will of the Father in his performance of the creation of this second course or second natural estate and realm in which man does so dwell in during his mortality. |
Abraham Sees and Speaks with the Lord |
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2-5 But he, by no means neglectful of the reverence due to the Father, was
appointed to teach the knowledge of the Father to them all. For instance,
the Lord God, it is said, appeared as a common man to
Abraham while he was sitting at the oak of Mambre [Mamre]
(~ Genesis 18:1). And
he, immediately falling down, although he saw a man with his eyes,
nevertheless worshiped him as God (~ Genesis 18:2), and sacrificed to him as
Lord, and confessed that he was not ignorant of his identity when he uttered the
words, "Lord, the judge of all the earth, wilt thou not execute righteous
judgment?" (~ Genesis 18:25)
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Now it seems to be of some significance that the record and translation which Eusebius did have access to in his day was much more complete than that which has survived in our day. For while our record of the 'Lord's appearance unto Abraham states that the Lord, in the company of three others did come to and meet with Abraham, such details as the oak tree, that the Lord did appear as a 'common man' without his glory, and that not only did Abraham bow himself down but he did offer sacrifice to him in addition to providing a meal with the calf. And it also is more complete and proper in its translation that Abraham did state, "Lord, the judge of all the earth, wilt thou not execute righteous judgement?" rather than how it is translated to say "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" And here in is evidence that the records have been tampered with since the days of Eusebius to conseal the fact that the Lord God did appear to men fact to face and speak to them as one man speaketh to another. For Eusebius does confirm that at his day the scriptures were more pure and did so state plainly that the Lord God did walk and talk with the men of the earth, even as he did with Abraham at this recorded time upon the plain of Mamre or Mambre. |
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2-6 For if it is unreasonable to suppose that the unbegotten and
immutable essence of the almighty God was changed into the form of
man or that it deceived the eyes of the beholders with the
appearance of some created thing, and if
it is unreasonable to suppose, on the other hand, that the Scripture
should falsely invent such things, when the God and Lord who
judgeth all the earth and executeth judgment is seen in the form of a
man, who else can be called, if
it be not lawful to call him the first cause [First Estate] of all
things, than his only pre-existent Word? Concerning whom it is said
in the Psalms, "He sent his Word and healed them, and
delivered them from their destructions."
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After clearly stating that the Lord God did appear unto Abraham as a 'common man' without glory in the previous paragraph, Bishop Eusebius now perplexes over questions of 'if' concerning the nature of God. Yet then in the next verse, Bishop Eusebius further states that God appears to Jacob in the form of a man also. Certainly the Scriptures do not 'falsely invent' such things. This is what the scriptures truely state. Eusebius seems to leave the logic of that to the reader, perhaps not able to more forwardly state that God is in the form of a man and that men are created in His image, in the image of God, which is the form and image of a man. But Bishop Eusebius is attempting to exist in a world which has proclaimed God and His Son to be of the same 'immutable essence', without such a form as a man. The scriptures of themselves certainly sets forth one thing and those with whom Bishop Eusebius has to deal with are those that through their 'love of innovation do run to the greatest errors and proclaim themselves discoverers of knowledge falsely'. So what is he to write and still maintain the peace? |
Jacob Sees and Speaks with the Lord |
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2-7 Moses most clearly proclaims him second Lord after the Father,
when he says, "The Lord rained upon Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord."
(Genesis 19:24) The divine Scripture also calls
him God, when he appeared again to Jacob in the form of a man (Genesis
32:24-30), and said to Jacob, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob,
but Israel shall be thy name, because thou hast prevailed with God."
Wherefore also Jacob called the name of that place "Vision of
God," saying, "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is
preserved."
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Eusebius teaches clearly here that there is the Father and the Son and that the Son does appear to man in the form of a man. As taught by Book of Mormon when Mahorni Moriancumr, the brother of Jared, did likewise see the Lord in the form of a man, and as Joseph Smith the prophet of the latter-days has taught, the Lord was but Spirit then, but the Spirit is in the same image, form and shape as the physical body in which it is housed. |
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2-8 Nor is it admissible to suppose that the theophanies recorded were
appearances of subordinate angels and ministers of God, for whenever any of
these appeared to men, the Scripture does not conceal the fact, but calls them
by name not God nor Lord, but angels, as it is easy to prove by numberless
testimonies.
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Joshua Sees and Speaks with the Lord |
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2-9 Joshua, also, the successor of Moses, calls
him, as leader of the heavenly angels and archangels and of the supramundane
powers, and as lieutenant of the Father, entrusted with the second
rank of sovereignty and rule over all, "captain of the host of the
Lords" although he saw him not otherwise than
again in the form and appearance of a man. For it is written:
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2-10 "And it came to pass when Joshua was at Jericho that he looked and saw a man
standing over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto
him and said, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said unto him, As
captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth and said unto him, Lord, what dost thou command thy servant? and the
captain of the Lord said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy feet, for the
place whereon thou standest is holy." (Joshua 5:13-15)
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2-11 You will perceive also from the same words that this was no other than he who
talked with Moses. For the Scripture says in the same words and with reference
to the same one, "When the Lord saw that he drew near to see, the Lord called to
him out of the bush and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, What is it? And he
said, Draw not nigh hither; loose thy shoe from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground. And he said unto him, I am the God of thy
fathers, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob."
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2-12 And that there is a certain substance which lived and subsisted before the
world, and which ministered unto the Father and God of the universe for the
formation of all created things, and which, is called the Word of God and
Wisdom, we may learn, to quote other proofs in addition to those already cited,
from the mouth of Wisdom herself, who reveals most clearly through Solomon the
following mysteries concerning herself: "I, Wisdom, have dwelt with prudence and
knowledge, and I have invoked understanding. Through me kings reign, and princes
ordain righteousness.
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2-13 Through me the great are magnified, and through me sovereigns rule the
earth." To which she adds: "The Lord created me in the beginning of his ways,
for his works; before the world he established me, in the beginning, before he
made the earth, before he made the depths, before the mountains were settled,
before all hills he begat me. When he prepared the heavens I was present with
him, and when he established the fountains of the region under heaven I was with
him, disposing.
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2-14 I was the one in whom he delighted; daily I rejoiced before him
at all times when he was rejoicing at having completed the world."
That the divine Word [JESUS CHRIST], therefore, pre-existed and
appeared to some, if not to all, has thus been briefly shown by us.
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2-15 But why the Gospel was not preached in ancient times to all men and to all
nations, as it is now, will appear from the following considerations. The life
of the ancients was not of such a kind as to permit them to receive the all-wise
and all-virtuous teaching of Christ.
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2-16 For immediately in the beginning, after his original life of blessedness, the
first man despised the command of God, and fell into this mortal and perishable
state, and exchanged his former divinely inspired luxury for this curse-laden
earth. His descendants having filled our earth, showed themselves much worse,
with the exception of one here and there, and entered upon a certain brutal and
insupportable mode of life.
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2-17 They thought neither of city nor state, neither of arts nor sciences. They
were ignorant even of the name of laws and of justice, of virtue and of
philosophy. As nomads, they passed their lives in deserts, like wild and fierce
beasts, destroying, by an excess of voluntary wickedness, the natural reason of
man, and the seeds of thought and of culture implanted in the human soul. They
gave themselves wholly over to all kinds of profanity, now seducing one another,
now slaying one another, now eating human flesh, and now daring to wage war with
the Gods and to undertake those battles of the giants celebrated by all; now
planning to fortify earth against heaven, and in the madness of ungoverned pride
to prepare an attack upon the very God of all.
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2-18 On account of these things, when they conducted themselves thus, the
all-seeing God sent down upon them floods and conflagrations as upon a wild
forest spread over the whole earth. He cut them down with continuous famines and
plagues, with wars, and with thunderbolts from heaven, as if to check some
terrible and obstinate disease of souls with more severe punishments.
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2-19 Then, when the excess of wickedness had overwhelmed nearly all the race, like
a deep fit of drunkenness, beclouding and darkening the minds of men, the
first-born and first-created wisdom of God, the pre-existent Word himself,
induced by his exceeding love for man, appeared to his servants, now in the form
of angels, and again to one and another of those ancients who enjoyed the favor
of God, in his own person as the saving power of God, not otherwise, however,
than in the shape of man, because it was impossible to appear in any other way.
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2-20 And as by them the seeds of piety were sown among a multitude of men and the
whole nation, descended from the Hebrews, devoted themselves persistently to the
worship of God, he imparted to them through the prophet Moses, as to multitudes
still corrupted by their ancient practices, images and symbols of a certain
mystic Sabbath and of circumcision, and elements of other spiritual principles,
but he did not grant them a complete knowledge of the mysteries themselves.
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2-21 But when their law became celebrated, and, like a sweet odor, was diffused
among all men, as a result of their influence the dispositions of the majority
of the heathen were softened by the lawgivers and philosophers who arose on
every side, and their wild and savage brutality was changed into mildness, so
that they enjoyed deep peace, friendship, and social intercourse. Then, finally,
at the time of the origin of the Roman Empire, there appeared again to all men
and nations throughout the world, who had been, as it were, previously assisted,
and were now fitted to receive the knowledge of the Father, that same teacher of
virtue, the minister of the Father in all good things, the divine and heavenly
Word of God, in a human body not at all differing in substance from our own. He
did and suffered the things which had been prophesied. For it had been foretold
that one who was at the same time man and God should come and dwell in the
world, should perform wonderful works, and should show himself a teacher to all
nations of the piety of the Father. The marvelous nature of his birth, and his
new teaching, and his wonderful works had also been foretold; so likewise the
manner of his death, his resurrection from the dead, and,finally, his divine
ascension into heaven.
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2-22 For instance, Daniel the prophet, under the influence of the divine Spirit,
seeing his kingdom at the end of time, was inspired thus to describe the divine
vision in language fitted to human comprehension: "For I beheld," he says,
"until thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was
white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was a flame of
fire and his wheels burning fire. A river of fire flowed before him. Thousand
thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before
him.
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2-23 He appointed judgment, and the books were opened." And again, "I saw," says
he, "and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and he
hastened unto the Ancient of Days and was brought into his presence, and there
was given him the dominion and the glory and the kingdom; and all peoples,
tribes, and tongues serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14)
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2-24 It is clear that these words can refer to no one else than to our Saviour,
the God Word who was in the beginning with God, and who was called the Son of
man because of his final appearance in the flesh. But since we have collected in
separate books as the selections from the prophets which relate to our Saviour
Jesus Christ, and have arranged in a more logical form those things which have
been revealed concerning him, what has been said will suffice for the present.
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Chapter 3 |
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The Name Jesus and also the Name Christ were known from the Beginning, and were honored by the Inspired Prophets
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3-1 It is now the proper place to show that the very name Jesus and also the name
Christ were honored by the ancient prophets beloved of God.
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3-2 Moses was the first to make known the name of Christ as a name especially
august and glorious. When he delivered types and symbols of heavenly things, and
mysterious images, in accordance with the oracle which said to him, "Look that
thou make all things according to the pattern which was shown thee in the
mount," he consecrated a man [Aaron] high priest of God, in so
far as that was possible, and him [Aaron] he called Christ ['The
Anointed One']. And thus to this dignity of the high priesthood, which
in his opinion surpassed the most honorable position among men, he attached for
the sake of honor and glory the name of Christ.
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Moses did 'anoint' Aaron and those after Aaron, to act in the office of the 'Anointed' and in the Day of Atonement, this 'Anointed One' or this 'Christ' would enter the Holy of Holies and in similitude of the 'Anointed' Son of God, perform according to the 'Day of Atonement' that ceremony which did represent the Son of God, That Christ, that Holy and Anointed One who would take the sins of the world upon himself. And this is what Eusebius references when he states that Moses anointed one, namely Aaron first of all, to be the 'Anointed' or the 'Christ' in similitude to act as 'Christ', that is the 'anointed one' and perform that ceremony of the 'Day of Atonement' as prescribed in the instructions of Moses in the Old Testament and spoken of and explained by the Apostle Paul in the New Testament. (See Leviticus 16 and Hebrews 9 & 10) |
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3-3 He knew so well that in Christ was something divine. And the same one
foreseeing, under the influence of the divine Spirit, the name Jesus, dignified
it also with a certain distinguished privilege. For the name of Jesus, which had
never been uttered among men before the time of Moses, he applied first and only
to the one who he knew would receive after his death, again as a type and
symbol, the supreme command.
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3-4 His successor [Joshua/Jehoshua], therefore, who had not hitherto
borne the name Jesus [Jehoshua], but had been called by another name, Auses
[Oshea], which had been given him by his parents, he now called Jesus
[Jehoshua/Joshua], bestowing the name upon him as a gift of honor, far
greater than any kingly diadem. For Jesus [Johsua] himself, the son of Nave
[Nun], bore a resemblance to our Saviour in the fact that he alone, after
Moses and after the completion of the symbolical worship which had been
transmitted by him, succeeded to the government of the true and pure
religion.
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Joshua was the successor of Moses. As recorded in Numbers 13:16, 'Moses called Oshea the son of Nun Jehoshua'. As varified by Joseph Smith's inspired 'translation' of the book of Moses, not only Moses but even Enoch and Adam knew the name by which the Savior would be called, 'Jesus Christ', 'Jehoshua Messiah'. Eusebius confirms that even in his day this was a well known fact from the scriptures, which we must presume that since his date such scriptural references have been altered and removed as they are no longer a part of our KJV Bible. |
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3-5 Thus Moses bestowed the name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
as a mark of the highest honor, upon the two men who in his time surpassed
all the rest of the people in virtue and glory; namely, upon the high priest
[Aaron] and upon his own successor [Jehoshua/Joshua] in the government.
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3-6 And the prophets that came after also clearly foretold
Christ by name,
predicting at the same time the plots which the Jewish people would form against
him, and the calling of the nations through him. Jeremiah, for instance, speaks
as follows: "The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord, was taken in their
destructions; of whom we said, under his shadow we shall live among the
nations." And David, in perplexity, says, "Why did the nations rage and the
people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and
the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ"; to
which he adds, in the person of Christ himself, "The Lord said unto me, Thou art
my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will give thee the
nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession."
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3-7 And not only those who were honored with the high priesthood, and who for the
sake of the symbol were anointed with especially prepared oil, were adorned with
the name of Christ among the Hebrews, but also the kings whom the prophets
anointed under the influence of the divine Spirit, and thus constituted, as it
were, typical Christs. For they also bore in their own persons types of the
royal and sovereign power of the true and only Christ, the divine Word who
ruleth over all.
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3-8 And we have been told also that certain of the prophets themselves became, by
the act of anointing, Christs in type, so that all these have reference to the
true Christ, the divinely inspired and heavenly Word, who is the only high
priest of all, and the only King of every creature, and the Father's only
supreme prophet of prophets.
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One among many so named is he who was 'renamed' Melchizedek. For indeed the name Melchizedek, meaning Prince of Righteousness or Prince of Peace, is assuredly one of the names of Jehovah from before the foundation of the world. And the man Melchizedek, perhaps Shem, and his people were so raised to such a state of righteousness that they did follow after the city of Enoch and 'Shem' being so named a new 'Melchizedek' after the Son of God. |
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3-9 And a proof of this is that no one of those who were of old symbolically
anointed, whether priests, or kings, or prophets, possessed so great a power of
inspired virtue as was exhibited by our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the true and
only Christ.
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3-10 None of them at least, however superior in dignity and honor they may have
been for many generations among their own people, ever gave to their followers
the name of Christians from their own typical name of Christ. Neither was divine
honor ever rendered to any one of them by their subjects; nor after their death
was the disposition of their followers such that they were ready to die for the
one whom they honored. And never did so great a commotion arise among all the
nations of the earth in respect to any one of that age; for the mere symbol
could not act with such power among them as the truth itself which was exhibited
by our Saviour.
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3-11 He, although he received no symbols and types of high priesthood from any
one, although he was not born of a race of priests, although he was not elevated
to a kingdom by military guards, although he was not a prophet like those of
old, although he obtained no honor nor pre-eminence among the Jews, nevertheless
was adorned by the Father with all, if not with the symbols, yet with the truth
itself.
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3-12 And therefore, although he did not possess like honors with those whom we
have mentioned, he is called Christ more than all of them. And as himself the
true and only Christ of God, he has filled the whole earth with the truly august
and sacred name of Christians, committing to his followers no longer types and
images, but the uncovered virtues themselves, and a heavenly life in the very
doctrines of truth.
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3-13 And he was not anointed with oil prepared from material substances, but, as
befits divinity, with the divine Spirit himself, by participation in the
unbegotten deity of the Father. And this is taught also again by Isaiah, who
exclaims, as if in the person of Christ himself, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me; therefore hath he anointed me. He hath sent me to preach the Gospel to the
poor, to proclaim deliverance to captives, and recovery of sight to the blind."
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3-14 And not only Isaiah, but also David addresses him, saying, "Thy throne, O
God, is forever and ever. A scepter of equity is the scepter of thy kingdom.
Thou hast loved righteousness and hast hated iniquity. Therefore God, thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Here the
Scripture calls him God in the first verse, in the second it honors him with a
royal scepter.
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3-15 Then a little farther on, after the divine and royal power, it represents him
in the third place as having become Christ, being anointed not with oil made of
material substances, but with the divine oil of gladness. It thus indicates his
especial honor, far superior to and different from that of those who, as types,
were of old anointed in a more material way.
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3-16 And elsewhere the same writer speaks of him as follows: "The Lord said unto
my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool";
and, "Out of the womb, before the morning star, have I begotten thee. The Lord
hath sworn and he will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedec."
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3-17 But this Melchizedec is introduced in the Holy Scriptures as a priest of the
most high God, not consecrated by any anointing oil, especially prepared, and
not even belonging by descent to the priesthood of the Jews. Wherefore after his
order, but not after the order of the others, who received symbols and types,
was our Saviour proclaimed, with an appeal to an oath, Christ and priest.
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3-18 History, therefore, does not relate that he was anointed corporeally by the
Jews, nor that he belonged to the lineage of priests, but that he came into
existence from God himself before the morning star, that is before the
organization of the world, and that he obtained an immortal and undecaying
priesthood for eternal ages.
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3-19 But it is a great and convincing proof of his incorporeal and divine unction
that he alone of all those who have ever existed is even to the present day
called Christ by all men throughout the world, and is confessed and witnessed to
under this name, and is commemorated both by Greeks and Barbarians and even to
this day is honored as a King by his followers throughout the world, and is
admired as more than a prophet, and is glorified as the true and only high
priest of God. And besides all this, as the pre-existent Word of God,
called into being before all ages, he has received august honor from the
Father, and is worshiped as God.
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Herein Eusebius sets forth well that Jesus Christ was in the pre-existence, known as refered to by John as the 'Word of God. He states that Christ was 'called into being' prior to or 'before all ages', which makes him the 'First' or the 'Alpha' or the 'Firstborn' of all the spirits children of the Father. He further points out that Christ received of the Father that honor from the Father to be Even As the Father as God, to be worshiped and to preside in the 'second course' of the creaton as the God of Creation and or Heaven and Earth. What good LDS doctrine does Bishop Eusebius teach. |
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3-20 But most wonderful of all is the fact that we who have consecrated ourselves
to him, honor him not only with our voices and with the sound of words, but also
with complete elevation of soul, so that we choose to give testimony unto him
rather than to preserve our own lives.
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3-21 I have of necessity prefaced my history with these matters in order that
no one, judging from the date of his incarnation, may
think that our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the Christ, has but recently come into
being.
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By the 'date of his incarnation' is meant his birth or birthing process. Eusebius has referenced to the birth of Christ, being 'incarnated' into human or mortal form, that is the process whereby the spirit becomes embodied in the flesh and bone of this mortal tabernacle. Whether Eusebius himself considered that Christ was a male spirit in the same form as him mortal body is not clearly understood. As a 'historian' Eusebius owed an objective responsibility to represent the 'Church's stand' regardless of his personal consideration. But we have already seen that Eusebius has referenced numerous ocassions wherein Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament, did appear as a man in the image of a man, or his spirit in the form of a man, to such as Abraham, Jacob, Joshua and others. Here Eusebius does unmistakably setforth and emphasize that Jesus Christ, our Saviour did not just first come into existance at the time of his birth. Eusebius has already clearly established that it was Christ, identified as the 'Word' by John, who was involved in the creation of all things and was very much a part of a 'preexistent' state of the 'first course' with the Father, being a God himself as so anointed and empowered by the Father. |
Chapter 4 |
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The Religion proclaimed by him to All Nations was neither New nor Strange
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4-1 But that no one may suppose that his doctrine is new and
strange, as if it were framed by a man of recent origin, differing in
no respect from other men, let us now briefly consider this point also.
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The Gospel of Jesus Christ or the Plan of Salvation has been set out from before the foundation of the world. As Bishop Eusebius points out, the Doctrine of Christ was not all of a sudden brand new upon his coming into the world in the meridian of time. It had been from the beginning having its origins in the anointing of Christ by the Father in the beginning with the position and power of God by which Christ under the direction in accordance with the mind and will of the Father did create heaven and earth. And as the anointed of the Father the the God of the Old Testament who appeared unto Abraham and Jacob and Moses and Joshua, Salvation has been then as it is now, always found in Jehovah who is the same as Jesus Christ. Thus the Gospel and Doctrine of Salvation coming by way of the Son is not new to the New Testament but has been set forth throughout the Old Testament whenever it has been state the Salvation is found in the Lord as the Lord of the Old Testament is the same being as the Son Jesus Christ in the New Testament. |
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4-2 It is admitted that when in recent times the appearance of
our Saviour Jesus Christ had become known to all men there immediately made
its appearance a new nation; a nation confessedly not small, and not dwelling in some corner of the
earth, but the most numerous and pious of all nations, indestructible and
unconquerable, because it always receives assistance from God. This nation, thus
suddenly appearing at the time appointed by the inscrutable counsel of God, is
the one which has been honored by all with the name of Christ.
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The 'New Nation' of which Bishop Eusebius speaks of is of course 'Zion' or the Kingdom of God which the Savior himself stated that his Kingdom was not of this earth when asked if he were a King by Pilate. It is the nation of true Christians who have entered in by the gate into the 'nation of God |
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4-3 One of the prophets, when he saw beforehand with the eye of the Divine Spirit
that which was to be, was so astonished at it that he cried out, "Who hath heard
of such things, and who hath spoken thus? Hath the earth brought forth in one
day, and hath a nation been born at once?" And the same prophet gives a hint
also of the name by which the nation was to be called, when he says,
"Those that serve me shall be called by a new name [JESUS CHRIST],
which shall be blessed upon the earth."
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4-4 But although it is clear that we are new and that this new
name of Christians
has really but recently been known among all nations, nevertheless our life and
our conduct, with our doctrines of religion, have not been lately invented by
us, but from the first creation of man, so to speak, have been established by
the natural understanding of divinely favored men of old. That this is so we
shall show in the following way.
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4-5 That the Hebrew nation is not new, but is universally honored on account of
its antiquity, is known to all. The books and writings of this people contain
accounts of ancient men, rare indeed and few in number, but nevertheless
distinguished for piety and righteousness and every other virtue. Of these, some
excellent men lived before the flood, others of the sons and descendants of Noah
lived after it, among them Abraham, whom the Hebrews celebrate as their own
founder and forefather.
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4-6 If any one should assert that all those who have enjoyed the
testimony of righteousness, from Abraham himself back to the first man
[Adam], were Christians in fact if not in name, he would not go beyond the
truth.
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And so it has again been revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Book of Moses, in the Book of Mormon and in the Doctrine and Covenants, that from the time of Adam they knew the name of Jesus Christ and hand his gospel among them and had taken his name upon them in the covenants of the Lord. (See Moses 6 & 7, D&C 27:10, etc.) |
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4-7 For that which the name indicates, that the Christian man, through the
knowledge and the teaching of Christ, is distinguished for temperance and
righteousness, for patience in life and manly virtue, and for a profession of
piety toward the one and only God over all—all that was zealously practiced by
them not less than by us.
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4-8 They did not care about circumcision of the body, neither do we. They did not
care about observing Sabbaths, nor do we. They did not avoid certain kinds of
food, neither did they regard the other distinctions which Moses first delivered
to their posterity to be observed as symbols; nor do Christians of the present
day do such things. But they also clearly knew the very Christ of God; for it
has already been shown that he appeared unto Abraham, that he imparted
revelations to Isaac, that he talked with Jacob, that he held converse with
Moses and with the prophets that came after.
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4-9 Hence you will find those divinely favored men honored with the name of
Christ, according to the passage which says of them, "Touch not my
Christs [My Anointed Ones], and do my prophets no harm." (1 Chronicles
16:22, Psalms 105:15)
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No we do not worship Joseph Smith to be Jesus Christ, but in that same spirit espoused by Bishop Eusebius of old, we may say he was one of God's chosen ones, one of God's Anointed Ones, one of God's 'Christs', as much as Joseph of Egypt, as Moses of Egypt, as King David of Jerusalem, or as much as any of God's Prophets and Apostles have ever been so set apart, these great and noble ones of God who were anointed and as Bishop Eusebius would indicate, they who were and did act in the sumilitude of the Christ, that is God's Anointed, in their day and in their callings. |
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4-10 So that it is clearly necessary to consider that religion, which has lately
been preached to all nations through the teaching of Christ, the first and most
ancient of all religions, and the one discovered by those divinely favored men
in the age of Abraham.
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4-11 If it is said that Abraham, a long time afterward, was given the command of
circumcision, we reply that nevertheless before this it was declared that he had
received the testimony of righteousness through faith; as the divine word says,
"Abraham believed in God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
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4-12 And indeed unto Abraham, who was thus before his circumcision a justified
man, there was given by God, who revealed himself unto him, a prophecy in regard
to those who in coming ages should be justified in the same way as he. The
prophecy was in the following words: "And in thee shall all the tribes of the
earth be blessed." And again, "He shall become a nation great and numerous; and
in him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
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4-13 It is permissible to understand this as fulfilled in us. For he, having
renounced the superstition of his fathers, and the former error of his life, and
having confessed the one God over all, and having worshiped him with deeds of
virtue, and not with the service of the law which was afterward given by Moses,
was justified by faith in Christ, the Word of God, who appeared unto him. To
him, then, who was a man of this character, it was said that all the tribes and
all the nations of the earth should be blessed in him.
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4-14 But that very religion of Abraham has reappeared at the present time,
practiced in deeds, more efficacious than words, by Christians alone throughout
the world.
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4-15 What then should prevent the confession that we who are of Christ practice
one and the same mode of life and have one and the same religion as those
divinely favored men of old? Whence it is evident that the perfect religion
committed to us by the teaching of Christ is not new and strange, but, if the
truth must be spoken, it is the first and the true religion. This may suffice
for this subject.
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Chapter 5 |
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The Time of his Appearance among Men
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5-1 And now, after this necessary introduction to our proposed history of the
Church, we can enter, so to speak, upon our journey, beginning with the
appearance of our Saviour in the flesh. And we invoke God, the Father of the
Word, and him, of whom we have been speaking, Jesus Christ himself our Saviour
and Lord, the heavenly Word of God, as our aid and fellow-laborer in the
narration of the truth.
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5-2 It was in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus and the
twenty-eighth after the subjugation of Egypt and the death of Antony and
Cleopatra, with whom the dynasty of the Ptolemies in Egypt came to an end, that
our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ was born in
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5-3 The above-mentioned author, in the eighteenth book of his Antiquities, in
agreement with these words, adds the following, which we quote exactly:
"Cyrenius, a member of the senate, one who had held other offices and had l
passed through them all to the consulship, a man also of great dignity in other
respects, came to Syria with a small retinue, being sent by Cæsar to be a judge
of the nation and to make an assessment of their property."
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5-4 And after a little he says: "But Judas, a Gaulonite, from a city called
Gamala, taking with him Sadduchus, a Pharisee, urged the people to revolt, both
of them saying that the taxation meant nothing else than downright slavery, and
exhorting the nation to defend their liberty."
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5-5 And in the second book of his History of the Jewish War, he writes as follows
concerning the same man: "At this time a certain Galilean, whose name was Judas,
persuaded his countrymen to revolt, declaring that they were cowards if they
submitted to pay tribute to the Romans, and if they endured, besides God,
masters who were mortal." These things are recorded by Josephus.
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Chapter 6 |
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About the Time of Christ, in accordance with Prophecy, the Rulers who had governed the Jewish Nation in Regular Succession from the Days of Antiquity came to an End, and Herod, the First Foreigner, became King
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6-1 When Herod, the first ruler of foreign blood, became King, the prophecy of
Moses received its fulfillment, according to which there should "not be wanting
a prince of Judah, nor a ruler from his loins, until he come for whom it is
reserved." The latter, he also shows, was to be the expectation of the nations.
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6-2 This prediction remained unfulfilled so long as it was permitted them to live
under rulers from their own nation, that is, from the time of Moses to the reign
of Augustus. Under the latter, Herod, the first foreigner, was given the Kingdom
of the Jews by the Romans. As Josephus relates, he was an Idumean on his
father's side and an Arabian on his mother's. But Africanus, who was also no
common writer, says that they who were more accurately informed about him report
that he was a son of Antipater, and that the latter was the son of a certain
Herod of Ascalon, one of the so-called servants of the temple of Apollo.
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6-3 This Antipater, having been taken a prisoner while a boy by Idumean robbers,
lived with them, because his father, being a poor man, was unable to pay a
ransom for him. Growing up in their practices he was afterward befriended by
Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews. A son of his was that Herod who lived in
the times of our Saviour.
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6-4 When the Kingdom of the Jews had devolved upon such a man the expectation of
the nations was, according to prophecy, already at the door. For with
him [Zedekiah] their princes and governors, who had ruled in regular
succession from the time of Moses came to an
enda.
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6-4a for with him [Zedekiah] their
princces and governors, who had ruled in regular succession from the time of
Moses came to an end It would seem from this statement tha from
the knowledge and understanding of Bishop Eusebius, the standard form of
Jewish government beyond the switching of the rule of judges for the rule of
a king had gone unchanged. That is that the established government of the
people of the religion of the Jew or of Israel had maintained that system
of setting up seventy 'ecumenical' princes or rulers of the people to govern
the course of the people's lives in accordance with the Law of Moses. This
established court or senate of seventy was precided over by the leading High
Priest which was Moses in his day, Joshua in his day and so on.
This system of an Ecumenical Council with one presiding High Priest seems to have been the 'Jewish' based system adopted by the Catholic Church. Rather than maintaining the 'new' organizational structure of the church established by Jesus Christ with presideing Apostles and a First Presidency, after the deaths of the apostles the then apostate church established its system based upon that old structure of one presiding High Priest, the Pope and a council of ruling princes, the cardinals. Thus was the prevailing old Jewish influence upon the 'new Christian Church' when the apostasy and pursecution of the Christians became so prevalent that the Council of the Twelve Aposltes could no longer be maintained try as they may. That the early Christian Church did attempt to maintain the quorum of the twelve is seen by the appointment of Matthias (Acts 1_22-26) to replace Judas in the council of the special witnesses to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then later as others died and need to be replaced such as James the Lord's own brother, as well as Jude and even Saul who would become named Paul were additionally chosen to fill the vacancies in the council of the twelve special witness of the resurrection, all being men who would witnes Christ in the fless after his resurrection to testify unto the world that he was so raised from the dead. And thus the early church fell back into the old bottles of the now defunk system of government of the Jews, no longer having that special calling and witness among them of which the apostles of the Lord did bear unto the world. |
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6-5 Before their captivity and their transportation to Babylon they were ruled by
Saul first and then by David, and before the kings leaders governed them who
were called Judges, and who came after Moses and his successor Jesus.
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6-6 After their return from Babylon they continued to have without interruption
an aristocratic form of government, with an oligarchy. For the priests had the
direction of affairs until Pompey, the Roman general, took Jerusalem by force,
and defiled the holy places by entering the very innermost sanctuary of the
temple. Aristobulus, who, by the right of ancient succession, had been up to
that time both king and high priest, he sent with his children in chains to
Rome; and gave to Hyrcanus, brother of Aristobulus, the high priesthood, while
the whole nation of the Jews was made tributary to the Romans from that time.
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6-7 But Hyrcanus, who was the last of the regular line of high priests, was, very
soon afterward taken prisoner by the Parthians, and Herod, the first foreigner,
as I have already said, was made King of the Jewish nation by the Roman senate
and by Augustus.
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6-8 Under him Christ appeared in bodily shape, and the expected Salvation of the
nations and their calling followed in accordance with prophecy. From this time
the princes and rulers of Judah, I mean of the Jewish nation, came to an end,
and as a natural consequence the order of the high priesthood, which from
ancient times had proceeded regularly in closest succession from generation to
generation, was immediately thrown into confusion,
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6-9 Of these things Josephus is also a witness, who shows that when Herod was
made King by the Romans he no longer appointed the high priests from the ancient
line, but gave the honor to certain obscure persons. A course similar to that of
Herod in the appointment of the priests was pursued by his son Archelaus, and
after him by the Romans, who took the government into their own hands.
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6-10 The same writer shows that Herod was the first that locked up the sacred
garment of the high priest under his own seal and refused to permit the high
priests to keep it for themselves. The same course was followed by Archelaus
after him, and after Archelaus by the Romans.
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6-11 These things have been recorded by us in order to show that another prophecy
has been fulfilled in the appearance of our Saviour Jesus Christ. For the
Scripture, in the book of Daniel, having expressly mentioned a certain number of
weeks until the coming of Christ, of which we have treated in other books, most
clearly prophesies, that after the completion of those weeks the unction among
the Jews should totally perish. And this, it has been clearly shown, was
fulfilled at the time of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. This has been
necessarily premised by us as a proof of the correctness of the time.
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Chapter 7 |
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The Alleged Discrepancy in the Gospels in regard to the Genealogy of Christ
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7-1 Matthew and Luke in their gospels have given us the
genealogy of Christ differentlya,
and many suppose that they are at variance with one another. Since as a
consequence every believer, in ignorance of the truth, has been zealous to
invent some explanation which shall harmonize the two passages, permit us to
subjoin the account of the matter which has come down to us, and which is
given by Africanus, who was mentioned by us just above, in his epistle to
Aristides, where he discusses the harmony of the gospel genealogies. After
refuting the opinions of others as forced and deceptive, he gives the account
which he had received from tradition in these words: "For whereas the names
of the generations were reckoned in Israel either according to nature or
according to
law—according to nature by the succession of legitimate offspring, and according
to law whenever another raised up a child to the name of a brother dying
childless; for because a clear hope of resurrection was not yet given they had a
representation of the future promise by a kind of mortal resurrection, in order
that the name of the one deceased might be perpetuated—whereas then some of
those who are inserted in this genealogical table succeeded by natural descent,
the son to the father, while others, though born of one father, were ascribed by
name to another, mention was made of both of those who were progenitors in fact
and of those who were so only in name.
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7-1a Matthew and Luke in their gospels
have given us the genealogy of Christ differently Eusebius here
presumes a solution said to have been given by Africanus to Aristides as
being a 'traditional' reconcilation that the one genealogy of Matthew is that
by the Law, which presents the legal heir to the throne of Israel while the
other is the actual natural succession of father to son by birth. This is '
quite the case but not as involved as so stated by Africanus. He speaks of
the Law of raising up seed to the dead (Deuteronomy 25:5-10) thus he
prescribes that 'whereas then some of those who are
inserted in this genealogical table succedded by natural descent, the son to
the father, while others, though born of one father, ere ascribed by name to
another, mention was made of both of those who were progenitors in fact and
of those who were so only in name.' This explanation, while sound
in its initial presumption, fails in the detail in which it is supposed
because in truth that course of so reconciling according to raising up seed
to the dead and presenting that as the genealogy is NOT so followed in
reality, for Boaz was NOT the legal parent of Obed and thus the one genealogy
which was supposed to be that of 'legal' or by law was not kept according to
this explanation when Mahlon and his father Elimelech, those Ephrathites of
Bethlehem, were not given their legal right by law in the genealogy of
Matthew as the details of this explanation would propose that they must.
Thus the cause of 'legal' by the law of raising up seed to the dead to keep a house from failing is but one consideration and is actually only applied once, not numerous times back and forth as proposed. The Genealogy of Matthew is that of the legal discent which came of the line of Mary and when the royal linage failed in providing a male heir in Mary's day, then the son of Mary became that heir and Joseph was presumed to be the father who did provide that seed to the house of Jacob, being the 'son-in-law' of Jacob who did provide Jacob a son of the Royal Linage through Jacob's duaghter Mary. Thus as recorded in Luke, the actual blood father of Joseph was Heli and Luke does provide the natural desent of Joseph down through his natural fathers which descend through Nathan, which was the son of David. Now as to the complicated matter of reconciling the Royal Linage, therein might be the case of finding the legal heir to the crown through such providing of sons of the nearerest of kin who did survive to be such heir, but that these were always planned rather than having occurred by longivity is an other matter. For many make Heli and Jacob, the fathers of Joseph and Mary, brothers in that both were the sons of Matthat or Matthan. Why the course of the 'Legal Heir to the Throne of David' was variously derived can only be presumed to be due to that haszardous position of that of being the 'rightful heir' when there were others who did actually rule Jerusalem who would be the 'natural enemy' the the Royal Line of David as most clearly represented by King Herod the Great, who in order that none of the sons of David did step forth to claim the throne, had all the male heirs of Rama and Bethlehem and the coast thereof killed from the age of two years of age and under to prevent a king from the House of David to arise as had been so prophesied by vaious of the ancient prophets. For since the return of the 'Jews' out of their Babylonian captivity, it was not healthy to be the one proclaimed to be the rightful heir of David. This is why since the time of the return from Babylon the Royal Line presented by Matthew, though correct in its accessment, is quite choppy and so slight in number of actual progenitors. It being only those of the legal heirship who servived being so named and not as is Lukes more numerous progenitors which in general with some exception lists every known natural link of father to son in the natural course of birth all the way back to Adam. Now neither lists the legal and rightful 'heirship' according to the actual Leverite Law of marriage as set out in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, else there would be listed as the legal and rightful father of Obed the grandfather of David, to have been Mahlon, the son of Elimelech who where of the clan of Ephrathites as had been Nun and Josehua before them. Thus Matthew's account is not such, but rather is that of the Royal Linage of survival of the highest ranking rightful heir of David and not considering any such heirship prior to David from whom the Messiah was promised to be King in the line and linage of David. Thus there is a 'THIRD GENEALOGY' which is not considered in the Gospels, and that is the Genealogy of the Right of the Covenant of the Firstborn, meaning the Covenant of the earthly right of descent to the Priesthood of Melchizedek. For this Covenant did not come by way of Judah, but rather was given to come by way of Joseph of Egypt and through his son Ephraim, who under the hand of Jacob named Israel was given that right of covenant of being the Firstborn in Israel (Jeremiah 31:9). That birthright genealogy only comes to and falls to Christ by the Law of God, the Law of Moses as explained in Deuteronomy 25:5-10 wherein a brother does indeed raise up seed to the dead that the name of the dead does not cease to exist in Israel. This Boaz did do as stated by himself in Ruth 4:5 & 10. He states that he is raising up seed to the dead and the citizenry of Bethlehem so state it to be the case when they proclaim Obed to be the son of Naomi and the house of Elimelech and not of the house of Boaz, Obed being that first born son who did claim by right the 'heirship' to the house of Elimelech, Chilion, and his rightful father under the law being Mahlon NOT Boaz. Herein is the Savior's genealogy of the covenant and priesthood in order to fulfill all righteousness under hevean. And herein lies the thrid genealogy of Christ not so proclaimed in the Gospels, that Christ is by right an Ephraimite, well said to be a Samaritan and the legal and rightful seed of the house of Joseph of Egypt, that son of Joseph, even Messiah ben Joseph the true Messiah as so prophesied by Rachel in her visitation which proclaimed it unto her that from her would come the Messiah.. due credit for being the actual legal and lawfu |
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7-2 Thus neither of the gospels is in error, for one reckons by
nature, the other by law [of Royal
Descent]a. For the line of descent
from Solomon and that from Nathan were so involved, the one with the other,
by the raising up of children to the childless and by second marriages, that
the same persons are justly considered to belong at one time to one, at
another time to another; that is, at one time to the reputed fathers, at
another to the actual fathers. So that both these accounts are strictly true
and come down to Joseph with considerable intricacy indeed, yet quite
accurately.
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7-2a Thus neither of the gospels is in error, for one reckons by nature [from Nathan], the other by law [of Royal Descent] Yet neither of these two presents the linage of the Covenant of the Firstborn. And perhaps that linage will be left to the latter-days when it is Ephriam under christ who has gathered Israel and Christ is presented to the world as the reigning King David by right not only by Royal birth from David, but also by legal and rightful descent from the barers and preservers of the Covenant of God from Adam to Abraham to Jacob to Joseph to Ephraim and thence to Christ through Nun, Joshua, Elimelech and Mahlon to Obed, Jesse and David and thence down to Christ that 'Great and Good Samaritan' of the Covenant, the Prince of Righteousness, our King and God. |
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7-3 But in order that what I have said may be made clear I shall explain the
interchange of the generations. If we reckon the generations from David through
Solomon, the third from the end is found to be Matthan, who begat Jacob the
father of Joseph. But if, with Luke, we reckon them from Nathan the son of
David, in like manner the third from the end is Melchi, whose son Eli was the
father of Joseph. For Joseph was the son of Eli,the son of Melchi.
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7-4 Joseph therefore being the object proposed to us, it must be shown how it is
that each is recorded to be his father, both Jacob, who derived his descent from
Solomon, and Eli, who derived his from Nathan; first how it is that these two,
Jacob and Eli, were brothers, and then how it is that their fathers, Matthan and
Melchi, although of different families, are declared to be grandfathers of
Joseph.
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7-5 Matthan and Melchi having married in succession the same woman, begat
children who were uterine brothers, for the law did not prohibit a widow,
whether such by divorce or by the death of her husband, from marrying another.
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7-6 By Estha then Matthan, a descendant of Solomon, first begat Jacob. And when
Matthan was dead, Melchi, who traced his descent back to Nathan, being of the
same tribe but of another family, married her as before said, and begat a son
Eli.
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7-7 Thus we shall find the two, Jacob and Eli, although belonging to different
families, yet brethren by the same mother. Of these the one, Jacob, when his
brother Eli had died childless, took the latter's wife and begat by her a son to
Joseph, his own son by nature n and in accordance with reason. Wherefore also it
is written: 'Jacob begat Joseph.' But according to law he was the son of Eli,
for Jacob, being the brother of the latter, raised up seed to him.
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7-8 Hence the genealogy traced through him will not be rendered void, which the
evangelist Matthew in his enumeration gives thus: 'Jacob begat Joseph.' But
Luke, on the other hand, says: 'Who was the son, as was supposed', 'of Joseph,
the son of Eli, the son of Melchi'; for he could not more clearly express the
generation according to law. And the expression 'he begat' he has omitted in his
genealogical table up to the end, tracing the genealogy back to Adam the son of
God. This interpretation is neither incapable of proof nor is it an idle
conjecture.
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7-9 For the relatives of our Lord according to the flesh, whether with the desire
of boasting or simply wishing to state the fact, in either case truly, have
banded down the following account: Some Idumean robbers, having attacked
Ascalon, a city of Palestine, carried away from a temple of Apollo which stood
near the walls, in addition to other booty, Antipater, son of a certain temple
slave named Herod. And since the priest was not able to pay the ransom for his
son, Antipater was brought up in the customs of the Idumeans, and afterward was
befriended by Hyrcanus, the high priest of the Jews.
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7-10 And having, been sent by Hyrcanus on an embassy to Pompey, and having
restored to him the kingdom which had been invaded by his brother Aristobulus,
he had the good fortune to be named procurator of Palestine. But Antipater
having been slain by those who were envious of his great good fortune was
succeeded by his son Herod, who was afterward, by a decree of the senate, made
King of the Jews under Antony and Augustus. His sons were Herod and the other
tetrarchs. These accounts agree also with those of the Greeks.
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7-11 But as there had been kept in the archives up to that time the genealogies of
the Hebrews as well as of those who traced their lineage back to proselytes,
such as Achior the Ammonite and Ruth the Moabitess, and to those who were
mingled with the Israelites and came out of Egypt with them, Herod, inasmuch as
the lineage of the Israelites contributed nothing to his advantage, and since he
was goaded with the consciousness of his own ignoble extraction, burned all the
genealogical records, thinking that he might appear of noble origin if no one
else were able, from the public registers, to trace back his lineage to the
patriarchs or proselytes and to those mingled with them, who were called Georae.
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7-12 A few of the careful, however, having obtained private records of their own,
either by remembering the names or by getting them in some other way from the
registers, pride themselves on preserving the memory of their noble extraction.
Among these are those already mentioned, called Desposyni, on account of their
connection with the family of the Saviour. Coming from Nazara and Cochaba,
villages of Judea, into other parts of the world, they drew the aforesaid
genealogy from memory and from the book of daily records as faithfully as
possible.
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7-13 Whether then the case stand thus or not no one could find a clearer
explanation, according to my own opinion and that of every candid person. And
let this suffice us, for, although we can urge no testimony in its support, we
have nothing. better or truer to offer. In any case the Gospel states the
truth." And at the end of the same epistle he adds these words: "Matthan, who
was descended from Solomon, begat Jacob. And when Matthan was dead, Melchi, who
was descended from Nathan begat Eli by the same woman. Eli and Jacob were thus
uterine brothers. Eli having died childless, Jacob raised up seed to him,
begetting Joseph, his own son by nature, but by law the son of Eli. Thus Joseph
was the son of both."
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7-14 Thus far Africanus. And the lineage of Joseph being thus traced, Mary also is
virtually shown to be of the same tribe with him, since, according to the law of
Moses, inter-marriages between different tribes were not permitted. For the
command is to marry one of the same family and lineage, so that the inheritance
may not pass from tribe to tribe. This may suffice here.
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Chapter 8 |
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The Cruelty of Herod toward the Infants, and the Manner of his Death
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8-1 When Christ was born, according to the prophecies, in Bethlehem of Judea at
the time indicated, Herod was not a little disturbed by the enquiry of the magi
who came from the east, asking where he who was born King of the Jews was to be
found—for they had seen his star, and this was their reason for taking so long a
journey; for they earnestly desired to worship the infant as God, —for he
imagined that his kingdom might be endangered; and he enquired therefore of the
doctors of the law, who belonged to the Jewish nation, where they expected
Christ to be born. When he learned that the prophecy of Micah announced that
Bethlehem was to be his birthplace he commanded, in a single edict, all the male
infants in Bethlehem, and all its borders, that were two years of age or less,
according to the time which he had accurately ascertained from the magi, to be
slain, supposing that Jesus, as was indeed likely, would share the same fate as
the others of his own age.
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8-2 But the child anticipated the snare, being carried into Egypt by his parents,
who had learned from an angel that appeared unto them what was about to happen,
These things are recorded by the Holy Scriptures in the Gospel.
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8-3 It is worth while, in addition to this, to observe the reward which Herod
received for his daring crime against Christ and those of the same age. For
immediately, without the least delay, the divine vengeance overtook him while he
was still alive, and gave him a foretaste of what he was to receive after death.
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8-4 It is not possible to relate here how he tarnished the supposed felicity of
his reign by successive calamities in his family, by the murder of wife and
children, and others of his nearest relatives and dearest friends. The account,
which casts every other tragic drama into the shade, is detailed at length in
the histories of Josephus. How, immediately after his crime against our Saviour
and the other infants, the punishment sent by God drove him on to his death, we
can best learn from the words of that historian who, in the seventeenth book of
his Antiquities of the Jews, writes as follows concerning his end: "But the
disease of Herod grew more severe, God inflicting punishment for his crimes. For
a slow fire burned in him which was not so apparent to those who touched him,
but augmented his internal distress; for he had a terrible desire for food which
it was not possible to resist. He was affected also with ulceration of the
intestines, and with especially severe pains in the colon, while a watery and
transparent humor settled about his feet.
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8-5 He suffered also from a similar trouble in his abdomen. Nay more, his privy
member was putrefied and produced worms. He found also excessive difficulty in
breathing, and it was particularly disagreeable because of the offensiveness of
the odor and the rapidity of respiration.
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8-6 He had convulsions also in every limb, which gave him uncontrollable
strength. It was said, indeed, by those who possessed the power of divination
and wisdom to explain such events, that God had inflicted this punishment upon
the King on account of his great impiety.
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8-7 The writer mentioned above recounts these things in the work referred to. And
in the second book of his History he gives a similar account of the same Herod,
which runs as follows: "The disease then seized upon his whole body and
distracted it by various torments. For he had a slow fever, and the itching of
the skin of his whole body was insupportable. He suffered also from continuous
pains in his colon, and there were swellings on his feet like those of a person
suffering from dropsy, while his abdomen was inflamed and his privy member so
putrefied as to produce worms. Besides this he could breathe only in an upright
posture, and then only with difficulty, and he had convulsions in all his limbs,
so that the diviners said that his diseases were a punishment. But he, although
wrestling with such sufferings, nevertheless clung to life and hoped for safety,
and devised methods of cure. For instance, crossing over Jordan he used the warm
baths at Callirho, which flow into the Lake Asphaltites, but are themselves
sweet enough to drink.
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8-8 His physicians here thought that they could warm his whole body again by
means of heated oil. But when they had let him down into a tub filled with oil,
his eyes became weak and turned up like the eyes of a dead person. But when his
attendants raised an outcry, he recovered at the noise; but finally, despairing
of a cure, he commanded about fifty drachms to be distributed among the
soldiers, and great sums to be given to his generals and friends.
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8-9 Then returning he came to Jericho, where, being seized with melancholy, he
planned to commit an impious deed, as if challenging death itself. For,
collecting from every town the most illustrious men of all Judea, he commanded
that they be shut up in the so-called hippodrome. And having summoned Salome,
his sister, and her husband, Alexander, he said: 'I know that the Jews will
rejoice at my death. But I may be lamented by others and have a splendid funeral
if you are willing to perform my commands. When I shall expire surround these
men, who are now under guard, as quickly as possible with soldiers, and slay
them, in order that all Judea and every house may weep for me even against their
will.'" And after a little Josephus says,
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8-10 "And again he was so tortured by want of food and by a convulsive cough that,
overcome by his pains, he planned to anticipate his fate. Taking an apple he
asked also for a knife, for he was accustomed to cut apples and eat them. Then
looking round to see that there was no one to hinder, he raised his right hand
as if to stab himself."
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8-11 In addition to these things the same writer records that he slew another of
his own sons before his death, the third one slain by his command, and that
immediately afterward he breathed his last, not without excessive pain.
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8-12 Such was the end of Herod, who suffered a just punishment for his slaughter
of the children of Bethlehem, which was the result of his plots against our
Saviour.
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8-13 After this an angel appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and commanded him
to go to Judea with the child and its mother, revealing to him that those who
had sought the life of the child were dead. To this the evangelist adds, "But
when he heard that Archelaus did reign in the room of his father Herod he was
afraid to go thither; notwithstanding being warned of God in a dream he turned
aside into the parts of Galilee."
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Chapter 9 |
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The Times of Pilate
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9-1 The historian already mentioned agrees with the evangelist in regard to the
fact that Archelaus succeeded to the government after Herod. He records the
manner in which he received the kingdom of the Jews by the will of his father
Herod and by the decree of Cæsar Augustus, and how, after he had reigned ten
years, he lost his kingdom, and his brothers Philip and Herod the younger, with
Lysanias, still ruled their own tetrarchies. The same writer, in the eighteenth
book of his Antiquities, says that about the twelfth year of the reign of
Tiberius, who had succeeded to the empire after Augustus had ruled fifty-seven
years, Pontius Pilate was entrusted with the government of Judea, and that he
remained there ten full years, almost until the death of Tiberius.
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9-2 Accordingly the forgery of those who have recently given currency to acts
against our Saviour is clearly proved. For the very date given in them shows the
falsehood of their fabricators.
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9-3 For the things which they have dared to say concerning the passion of the
Saviour are put into the fourth consulship of Tiberius, which occurred in the
seventh year of his reign; at which time it is plain that Pilate was not yet
ruling in Judea, if the testimony of Josephus is to be believed, who clearly
shows in the above-mentioned work that Pilate was made procurator of Judea by
Tiberius in the twelfth year of his reign.
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Chapter 10 |
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The High Priests of the Jews under whom Christ taught
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10-1 It was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, according to the
evangelist, and in the fourth year of the governorship of Pontius Pilate, while
Herod and Lysanias and Philip were ruling the rest of Judea, that our Saviour
and Lord, Jesus the Christ of God, being about thirty years of age, came to John
for baptism and began the promulgation of the Gospel.
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10-2 The Divine Scripture says, moreover, that he passed the entire time of his
ministry under the high priests Annas and Caiaphas, showing that in the time
which belonged to the priesthood of those two men the whole period of his
teaching was completed. Since he began his work during the high priesthood of
Annas and taught until Caiaphas held the office, the entire time does not
comprise quite four years.
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10-3 For the rites of the law having been already abolished since that time, the
customary usages in connection with the worship of God, according to which the
high priest acquired his office by hereditary descent and held it for life, were
also annulled and there were appointed to the high priesthood by the Roman
governors now one and now another person who continued in office not more than
one year.
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10-4 Josephus relates that there were four high priests in succession from Annas
to Caiaphas. Thus in the same book of the Antiquities he writes as follows:
"Valerius Graters having put an end to the priesthood of Ananus appoints
Ishmael, the son of Fabi, high priest. And having removed him after a little he
appoints Eleazer, the son of Ananus the high priest, to the same office. And
having removed him also at the end of a year he gives the high priesthood to
Simon, the son of Camithus. But he likewise held the honor no more than a year,
when Josephus, called also Caiaphas, succeeded him." Accordingly the whole time
of our Saviour's ministry is shown to have been not quite four full years, four
high priests, from Annas to the accession of Caiaphas, having held office a year
each. The Gospel therefore has rightly indicated Caiaphas as the high priest
under whom the Saviour suffered. From which also we can see that the time of our
Saviour's ministry does not disagree with the foregoing investigation.
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10-5 Our Saviour and Lord, not long after the beginning of his ministry, called
the twelve apostles, and these alone of all his disciples he named apostles, as
an especial honor. And again he appointed seventy others whom he sent out two by
two before his face into every place and city whither he himself was about to
come.
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Chapter 11 |
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Testimonies in Regard to John the Baptist and Christ
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11-1 Not long after this John the Baptist was beheaded by the younger Herod, as is
stated in the Gospels. Josephus also records the same fact, making mention of
Herodias by name, and stating that, although she was the wife of his brother,
Herod made her his own wife after divorcing his former lawful wife, who was the
daughter of Aretas, king of Petra, and separating Herodias from her husband
while he was still alive.
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11-2 It was on her account also that he slew John, and waged war with Aretas,
because of the disgrace inflicted on the daughter of the latter. Josephus
relates that in this war, when they came to battle, Herod's entire army was
destroyed, and that he suffered this calamity on account of his crime against
John.
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11-3 The same Josephus confesses in this account that John the Baptist was an
exceedingly righteous man, and thus agrees with the things written of him in the
Gospels. He records also that Herod lost his kingdom on account of the same
Herodias, and that he was driven into banishment with her, and condemned to live
at Vienne in Gaul.
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11-4 He relates these things in the eighteenth book of the Antiquities, where he
writes of John in the following words: "It seemed to some of the Jews that the
army of Herod was destroyed by God, who most justly avenged John called the
Baptist.
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11-5 For Herod slew him, a good man and one who exhorted the Jews to come and
receive baptism, practicing virtue and exercising righteousness toward each
other and toward God; for baptism would appear acceptable unto Him when they
employed it, not for the remission of certain sins, but for the purification of
the body, as the soul had been already purified in righteousness.
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11-6 And when others gathered about him, Herod feared that his great influence
might lead to some sedition, for they appeared ready to do whatever he might
advise. He therefore considered it much better, before any new thing should be
done under John's influence, to anticipate it by slaying him, than to repent
after revolution had come, and when he found himself in the midst of
difficulties. On account of Herod's suspicion John was sent in bonds to the
above-mentioned citadel of Mach'ra, and there slain."
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11-7 After relating these things concerning John, he makes mention of our Saviour
in the same work, in the following words: "And there lived at that time Jesus, a
wise man, if indeed it be proper to call him a man. For he was a doer of
wonderful works, and a teacher of such men as receive the truth in gladness. And
he attached to himself many of the Jews, and many also of the Greeks. He was the
Christ.
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11-8 When Pilate, on the accusation of our principal men, condemned him to the
cross, those who had loved him in the beginning did not cease loving him. For he
appeared unto them again alive on the third day, the divine prophets having told
these and countless other wonderful things concerning him. Moreover, the race of
Christians, named after him, continues down to the present day."
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11-9 Since an historian, who is one of the Hebrews themselves, has recorded in his
work these things concerning John the Baptist and our Saviour, what excuse is
there left for not convicting them of being destitute of all shame, who have
forged the acts against them? But let this suffice here.
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Chapter 12 |
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The Disciples of our Saviour
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12-1 The names of the apostles of our Saviour are known to every one from the
Gospels. But there exists no catalogue of the seventy disciples. Barnabas,
indeed, is said to have been one of them, of whom the Acts of the apostles makes
mention in various places, and especially Paul in his Epistle to the Galatians.
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12-2 They say that Sosthenes also, who wrote to the Corinthians with Paul, was one
of them. This is the account of Clement in the fifth book of his Hypotyposes, in
which he also says that Cephas was one of the seventy disciples, a man who bore
the same name as the apostle Peter, and the one concerning whom Paul says, "When
Cephas came to Antioch I withstood him to his face."
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12-3 Matthias, also, who was numbered with the apostles in the place of Judas, and
the one who was honored by being made a candidate with him, are like-wise said
to have been deemed worthy of the same calling with the seventy. They say that
Thaddeus also was one of them, concerning whom I shall presently relate an
account which has come down to us. And upon examination you will find that our
Saviour had more than seventy disciples, according to the testimony of Paul, who
says that after his resurrection from the dead he appeared first to Cephas, then
to the twelve, and after them to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom
some had fallen asleep; but the majority were still living at the time he wrote.
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12-4 Afterwards he says he appeared unto James, who was one of the so-called
brethren of the Saviour. But, since in addition to these, there were many others
who were called apostles, in imitation of the Twelve, as was Paul himself, he
adds: "Afterward he appeared to all the apostles." So much in regard to these
persons. But the story concerning Thaddeus is as follows.
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Chapter 13 |
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Narrative concerning the Prince of the Edessences
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13-1 The divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ being noised abroad among
all men on account of his wonder-working power, he attracted countless numbers
from foreign countries lying far away from Judea, who had the opening of being
cured of their diseases and of all kinds of sufferings.
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13-2 For instance the King Abgarus who ruled with great glory the nations beyond
the Euphrates, being afflicted with a terrible disease which it was beyond the
power of human skill to cure, when he heard of the name of Jesus, and of his
miracles, which were attested by all with one accord sent a message to him by a
courier and begged him to heal his disease.
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13-3 But he did not at that time comply with his request; yet he deemed him worthy
of a personal letter in which he said that he would send one of his disciples to
cure his disease, and at the same time promised salvation to himself and all his
house.
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13-4 Not long afterward his promise was fulfilled. For after his resurrection from
the dead and his ascent into heaven, Thomas, one of the twelve apostles, under
divine impulse sent Thaddeus, who was also numbered among the seventy disciples
of Christ, to Edessa, as a preacher and evangelist of the teaching of Christ.
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13-5 And all that our Saviour had promised received through him its fulfillment.
You have written evidence of these things taken from the archives of Edessa,
which was at that time a royal city. For in the public registers there, which
contain accounts of ancient times and the acts of Abgarus, these things have
been found preserved down to the present time. But there is no better way than
to hear the epistles themselves which we have taken from the archives and have
literally translated from the Syriac language in the following manner. Copy of
an epistle written by Abgarus the ruler to Jesus, tend sent to him at Jerusalem
by Ananias the swift courier.
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13-6 "Abgarus, ruler Of Edessa, to Jesus the excellent Saviour who has appeared in
the country of Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard the reports of thee and of thy
cures as performed by thee without medicines or herbs. For it is said that thou
makest the blind to see and the lame to walk, that thou cleansest lepers and
castest out impure spirits and demons, and that thou healest those afflicted
with lingering disease, and raisest the dead.
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13-7 And having heard all these things concerning thee, I have concluded that one
of two things must be true: either thou art God, and having come down from
heaven thou doest these things, or else thou, who doest these things, art the
Son of God.
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13-8 I have therefore written to thee to ask thee that thou wouldest take the
trouble to come to me and heal the disease which I have. For I have heard that
the Jews are murmuring against thee and are plotting to injure thee. But I have
a very small yet noble city which is great enough for us both."
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13-9 The answer of Jesus to the ruler Abgarus by the courier Ananias.
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13-10 "Blessed art thou who hast believed in me without having seen me. For it is
written concerning me, that they who have seen me will not believe in me, and
that they who have not seen me will believe and be saved. But in regard to what
thou hast written me, that I should come to thee, it is necessary for me to
fulfill all things here for which I have been sent, and after I have fulfilled
them thus to be taken up again to him that sent me. But after I have been taken
up I will send to thee one of my disciples, that he may heal thy disease and
give life to thee and thine."
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13-11 To these epistles there was added the following account in the Syriac
language. "After the ascension of Jesus, Judas, who was also called Thomas, sent
to him Thaddeus, an apostle, one of the Seventy. When he was come he lodged with
Tobias, the son of Tobias. When the report of him got abroad, it was told
Abgarus that an apostle of Jesus was come, as he had written him.
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13-12 Thaddeus began then in the power of God to heal every disease and infirmity,
insomuch that all wondered. And when Abgarus heard of the great and wonderful
things which he did and of the cures which he performed, he began to suspect
that he was the one of whom Jesus had written him, saying, 'After I have been
taken up I will send to thee one of my disciples who will heal thee.'
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13-13 Therefore, summoning Tobias, with whom Thaddeus lodged, he said, I have heard
that a certain man of power has come and is lodging in thy house. Bring him to
me. And Tobias coming to Thaddeus said to him, The ruler Abgarus summoned me and
told me to bring thee to him that thou mightest heal him. And Thaddeus said, I
will go, for I have been sent to him with power.
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13-14 Tobias therefore arose early on the following day, and taking Thaddeus came
to Abgarus. And when he came, the nobles were present and stood about Abgarus.
And immediately upon his entrance a great vision appeared to Abgarus in the
countenance of the apostle Thaddeus. When Abgarus saw it he prostrated himself
before Thaddeus, while all those who stood about were astonished; for they did
not see the vision, which appeared to Abgarus alone.
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13-15 He then asked Thaddeus if he were in truth a disciple of Jesus the Son of
God, who had said to him, 'I will send thee one of my disciples, who shall heal
thee and give thee life.' And Thaddeus said, Because thou hast mightily believed
in him that sent me, therefore have I 'been sent unto thee. And still further,
if thou believest in him, the petitions of thy heart shall be granted thee as
thou believest.
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13-16 And Abgarus said to him, So much have I believed in him that I wished to take
an army and destroy those Jews who crucified him, had I not been deterred from
it by reason of the dominion of the Romans. And Thaddeus said, Our Lord has
fulfilled the will of his Father, and having fulfilled it has been taken up to
his Father. And Abgarus said to him, I too have believed in him and in his
Father.
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13-17 And Thaddeus said to him, Therefore I place my hand upon thee in his name.
And when he had done it, immediately Abgarus was cured of the disease and of the
suffering which he had.
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13-18 And Abgarus marvelled, that as he had heard concerning Jesus, so he had
received in very deed through his disciple Thaddeus, who healed him without
medicines and herbs, and not only him, but also Abdus the son of Abdus, who was
afflicted with the gout; for he too came to him and fell at his feet, and having
received a benediction by the imposition of his hands, he was healed. The same
Thaddeus cured also many other inhabitants of the city, and did wonders and
marvelous works, and preached the word of God. And afterward Abgarus said, Thou,
O Thaddeus, doest these things with the power of God, and we marvel. But, in
addition to these things, I pray thee to inform me in regard to the coming of
Jesus, how he was born; and in regard to his power, by what power he performed
those deeds of which I have heard.
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13-19 And Thaddeus said, Now indeed will I keep silence, since I have been sent to
proclaim the word publicly. But tomorrow assemble for me all thy citizens, and I
will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the
coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose
he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the
mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these
things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and
how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and
descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been
broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and
thus ascended to his Father.
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13-20 Abgarus therefore commanded the citizens to assemble early in the morning to
hear the preaching of Thaddeus, and afterward he ordered gold and silver to be
given him. But he refused to take it, saying, If we have forsaken that which was
our own, how shall we take that which is another's? These things were done in
the three hundred and fortieth year."
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| 13-21 I have inserted them here in their proper place, translated from the Syriac literally, and I hope to good purpose. | |
