Chapter XI: Part 11

“Moreover, which of you knoweth not that the Lord Jesus is the Bread of Life? Therefore when the Bread of Life was to descend and to find a house and home among men, what city in Israel was more fit for him than that one which is called Bethlehem, which being interpreted, is ‘the House of Bread?’ Lastly, it is known to all of you that Mary, the mother of Jesus, being of a royal race, was descended from David the king, who was of the city of Bethlehem; wherefore it was the more fitting that the Son of David should be born at the same place. Also I have heard some say that there is a certain cave in Bethlehem wherein he was born; and to this day the cave is shown; and they affirm that it must needs have been so, because it is written, ‘he shall dwell in a high cave of the strong rock;’ but because it is commonly reported that he was born in a manger, and because I purpose to speak of none but such things as are certainly believed among us, for this reason I affirm nothing on this matter.

“But (that he might not be inferior to his servant Moses) as Moses was persecuted by the Egyptian king Pharaoh, so was Jesus by Herod, the King of the Jews; and, even as Israel sojourned for a time in Egypt, so must the Redeemer of Israel sojourn in the same country, that it might be fulfilled as it is written, ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son.’ His mighty works also, which he wrought on those that believed in him, are they not written in the books of the Prophets? namely, that in that day the ears of the deaf should be unstopped, and the eyes of the blind opened, and the dead should be raised up, and the poor should have the gospel preached unto them: which all are recounted in our tradition, even to the raising of the dead. For as Elisha the prophet raised up the son of the Shunamite, even so did the Son of God raise up the daughter of Jairus; and, whereas our adversaries say that this was but a small matter, doubtless this is but one among a multitude of like marvels. Again, whereas they assert that Moses was superior to Jesus in that he gave unto the people manna in the wilderness, to this I reply that even so did the Lord Jesus prepare a table for his people in the wilderness; yea, and as Moses gave water from the rock, even so did our living Rock grant unto us living water from his own side, yea, wine instead of water, pouring forth his blood to be the drink of many, and affording his body to be the Bread of Life unto all mankind.

“When thou wast born, O mighty One—before the Morning Star wast thou begotten—and when the Star of thine uprising was seen, then all the host of heaven worshipped thee and the sun and the moon did thee homage, and the Sons of the Morning sang for joy together at the brightness of thy glory; for thy Star did far outshine all earthly light, appearing as a token of the destruction of the kingdom of Satan, according as it is written, ‘A star shall shine out of Jacob, and a sceptre from Israel, and shall destroy the corners of Edom.’ Then did Edom tremble, but the poor and simple rejoiced. To thee also the Wisdom of the East did obeisance, the kings of Arabia and Saba brought gifts. Thou also didst feed the hungry, and heal the sick, Satan fled from before thee and thou didst cast his demons into the abyss; thou didst guide thy disciples through the paths of great waters; when they cry unto thee, thou hearest them; thy voice stilleth the wind, and thy path is on the deep. To thee the Law and Prophet do bear witness that thou art the very Christ. Yea, Moses and Elias stand at thy right hand and at thy left, to bear witness unto thee, that in thee must needs be accomplished all things that are written in the Law and the Prophets.

“But concerning the manner of the death of the Lord Jesus, that it is prophesied a hundred times both in the Psalms and in the Prophets, what need is there that I should speak unto you? For ye yourselves know these Scriptures. But as concerning his rising again on the third day, it is written, ‘I will lay me down and rest, for thou wilt raise me up;’ and again, ‘Let us go unto the Lord; he hath smitten and he shall revive us; on the third day he shall raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.’ Moreover, brethren, let me also declare unto you, as many as have fathers or mothers according to the flesh who have fallen asleep not having known the Lord Jesus, that ye sorrow not for them as if they were lost; for it is written, ‘The Lord God remembered his dead people of Israel who lay in the graves; and he descended to preach unto them his own salvation.’ And this saying, ‘he descended,’ what meaneth it except that he went down, even into Hades to break the bonds of Satan, and to preach his Gospel unto the fathers who lived in times past, even unto all the righteous, that they also might have hope of salvation? Wherefore also, when he arose from the dead, a multitude of the saints arose from their graves with him, being delivered from the captivity of death, according to the saying, ‘He led captivity captive, and gave gifts for men.’ But last of all, after he had risen from the dead, having manifested himself during many days to his disciples, it was necessary that he should ascend into heaven, according as it is written, ‘Lift up yourselves, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in.’

“Now therefore, beloved brethren, called of God, heirs of everlasting life, having the Lord Jesus, in his birth and mighty works, and in his death and rising again, thus visibly set forth as it were before your eyes by the Prophets and the Psalms, what remaineth but that ye should watch, and pray, and shew forth all patience, esteeming lightly the joys and sorrows of this present world, and making little account of your worldly possessions (for great possessions are great temptations); but be ye possessed with a new Spirit, even with the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, filling your hearts with an insatiable desire of doing good, comforting the sorrowful, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and preaching the good news of Christ; and covet no man’s wealth, nor slaves, nor apparel; but covet ye every occasion of well-doing. Thus shall ye make yourselves ready for the day of the Lord when, the number of the elect having been at last completed, the Lord your Saviour shall come again from heaven in great glory, and ye shall reign with him in joy unspeakable.

“The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always. Go in peace.”

NOTES.

Many of the dialogues and some of the descriptions in the preceding pages, are borrowed from ancient authors; who however wrote in most cases after the times of Onesimus. For example, whereas Onesimus lived at Colossæ about 60 A. D.; Epictetus probably flourished a generation later; Maximus of Tyre, the defender of Polytheism from the social side, who is represented above by the fictitious Nicostratus, wrote under the Antonines; Ælius Aristides, the eulogist of Asclepius, who is represented above by Oneirocritus, was born about 117 A. D.; Apuleius from whom is borrowed (pp. 17, 18) the description of the ergastulum, and also (p. 181) the description of the dancers of Cybele, wrote in the second century after Christ; Celsus, the sceptic, who is represented (pp. 123-8) by the sceptical Artemidorus, wrote at the beginning of the second century; and lastly Justin Martyr and Irenæus, from whom are mainly borrowed the discourse of Lucius of Cyrene, wrote severally about 150 A. D. and 170 A. D.

“A confession of anachronism then?” Yes: anachronism. But if only such sayings have been selected from these authors as express thoughts that were, at least in their germs, contemporaneous with Onesimus, then the life of St. Paul’s convert is really better illustrated by this systematic anachronism than by the most felicitously invented dialogue of modern scholars. Artemidorus, Nicostratus, Philemon and Oneirocritus represent thoughts that must have been in the air throughout Asia as early as 60 A. D., though they did not find expression in extant books till some time later. So also of Justin and Irenæus; it may safely be asserted that the tendency to see in each of the acts of Jesus the exact fulfilment of some prophecy, and in each prophecy the prediction of some act of Jesus—the next step being to believe, and then to assert, that that act must consequently have occurred—permeated the early Christian church at least as early as the date of the composition of the Introduction to St. Matthew’s Gospel, and long before it found expression in the pages of Justin and Irenæus.

In the following notes on special passages, it has not been thought necessary to give a separate reference for every quotation, but only in those cases where the words of some ancient author seemed in danger of being supposed to be modern.

Book. Sect.

i. 6. This description of the slaves in the ergastulum is from
Apuleius.

i. 7. “The cross has been the tomb,” etc., a quotation from Plautus.

ii. 2. Epictetus was probably a child at this time.

ii. 2. The remarks of Nicostratus and Heracleas are taken from Maximus
of Tyre.

ii. 2. The remark of Heracleas on the ancient transformations is taken
from Pausanias.

ii. 3. The whole of this description of a festival is from Maximus of
Tyre.

ii. 4. For the story of the fighting-cock and the rest, see
Friedländer’s work on the _Religion of the Ancients_ (French
translation), vol. iv., 180.

ii. 4. Oneirocritus, describing his sickness and the favors of
Asclepius, here repeats the sentiments of P. Ælius Aristides, about
117 A. D. (see Friedlander, _ib._, 181-4).

ii. 4. Pliny esteemed it right to build temples, etc., of gods in whom
he disbelieved.

ii. 6. The account of the descent into the cave of Trophonius is
borrowed from Pausanias, who himself went down.

ii. 6. “I could not restrain myself from laughing:” this detail is
borrowed from Pausanias.

ii. 7. The whole travesty of Socrates is taken from Lucian’s _Halcyon_.

ii. 7. “Sobriety and incredulity,” etc: see note on iii. 3.

iii. 3. Philip is reported to have raised a dead man (Euseb. _H. E._,
iii. 39): but the account given in the text is borrowed from the
account of the revivification of the Archbishop of Bordeaux, written
out for the Author by one who heard it from the Archbishop himself.

iii. 3. “Sober incredulity,” etc: a translation of the proverb, Νᾶφε
καὶ μὲνασ’ ἀπιστεῖν νεῦρα ταῦτα τῶν φρενῶν.

iii. 7. “With whom I do not agree; neither would I,” etc.: this
statement about the diversity of opinions concerning the nature of
Christ, is a quotation from Justin, _Dial._, 48.

iii. 8. The “Tradition” here mentioned by Onesimus in the beginning
of this section, is the matter common to the first three Gospels.
It may be roughly represented by the Gospel of St. Mark, excluding
the verses after Mark xvi. 8, which are recognized by all scholars
to be an interpolation. For fuller information on the nature of this
“Tradition” the reader may consult the article on Gospels in the new
edition of the _Encyclopædia Britannica_.

iv. 1. The description of the voyage is from Lucian.

iv. 2. Almost the whole of this letter is borrowed from Celsus as
represented in Origen’s treatise against him.

iv. 6-9. The sayings here put into the mouth of Epictetus are, almost
without exception, extracted from his works.

iv. 10. The parable of the ant-hill is from Lucian.

iv. 10. “If you are resolved to deal in such wares,” etc. This passage
is borrowed from Lucian’s _Auction of the Gods_.

iv. 10. “Though my body dwelleth,” etc., “Enjoy the present,” etc.;
these two inscriptions are still extant on the same tomb of husband
and wife. See a paper by Mr. Newton in the _Nineteenth Century_,
August, 1878.

iv. 10. “Sleep soundly stretched at ease:” this is the advice of
Teiresias in Lucian, 484-5.

v. 1. This description of the dancing of the women of the priest of
Cybele is from Apuleius.

v. 4. “Heraclitus, the crying philosopher:” this is borrowed from
Lucian.

vi. 2. “Whether the true God had nails, and hair, and teeth, and
the like.” Such are the difficulties suggested by the Manicheans to
Augustine, _Confessions_, iii. 7.

viii. 3. The description of the High-priest is from _Ecclesiasticus_,
50.

viii. 3. The description of the miseries of Jerusalem is from 2
Esdras, iii. 28.

viii. 3. “The hand which now had power:” this quotation is from 2
Esdras, v. 3. “The spoils should be carried back to the cities of the
East:” this is from the _Fourth Sibylline Book_.

viii. 10. The whole of this narrative is borrowed from the account of
the _Martyrdom of St. Perpetua_.

THE DISCOURSE OF LUCIUS OF CYRENE.

Page.

296. For the importance attached to prophecy, see Irenæus (_Against Heresies_, ii. 4): “If, however, they maintain that the Lord performed such works simply in appearance, we shall refer them to the prophetical writings, and prove from these both that all things were thus predicted regarding Him, and did take place undoubtedly.” Justin Martyr also takes the same view, I. _Apol._, 30.

296. “Who shall declare his generation?” This passage is similarly applied by Justin Martyr, _Dialogue_, 63.

298. “_He shall take away_,” etc. So Justin (_Dial._, 77), “But now the prophecy has stated it with this addition: ‘Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and spoils of Samaria.’ And you cannot prove that such a thing ever happened to any one among the Jews. But we are able to prove that it happened in the case of Christ.” And he then proceeds to interpret Damascus as referring to the Magi, and Assyria to Herod, as in the text.

299. “Behold a Man, the East is his name,” Zech. vi. 12, according to the Septuagint quoted by Justin, _Dial._, 106.

300. “He shall dwell in a cave,” etc.: quoted by Justin Martyr from the Septuagint version of Isaiah xxxiii. 16 (_Dial._, 70).

302. “The Lord God remembered his dead people of Israel,” etc. This passage is quoted by Justin Martyr (_Dial._, 72), who accuses the Jews of cancelling this and other passages of the Scriptures. It is also quoted by Irenæus (_Against Heresies_, iii. 20) as from Isaiah, and (_ib._ iv. 22) as from Jeremiah. But it is not found in our Scriptures.

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Transcriber’s Notes

Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations in hyphenation and all other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged.

In Book 7, section § 6. the sentence “So great was my terror that my first resolve was to depart at once to Rome.” has been corrected to ...from Rome.

Italics are represented thus _italic_ and bold thus =bold=.