Anti-Jewish Polemic: Julian of Toledo's 'Concerning the Proof of the Sixth Age' (II)

Whereas the first book of Julian of Toledo’s ‘Concerning the Proof of the Sixth Age’ primarily focused on the supposed prophecies of Christ’s birth and coming contained in the books of the Old Testament, the second book focuses on the evidence contained in the New Testament, primarily highlighting the point that in nowhere in the New Testament is there a discussion of the number of years that have passed since the beginning of the world in order to assert or deny that Jesus is the Messiah. That is, those who bore witness to Jesus or advocated for him- such as John the Baptist, Paul and Peter- did not raise the issue of the number of years since the beginning of the world, nor was it invoked by the Jews denying Jesus’ status as the Messiah. Nor did the priests consulted by Herod raise the matter when he inquired about the reported birth of the Messiah. In the end, Julian underlines that true faith requires believing in what one has not seen: while Christians alive today did not see Jesus in the latter’s life on Earth, they believe that he was born as the Messiah, died and rose again from the dead, and they believe that he will come again to judge the world. This faith, in some instances, requires believing what cannot be comprehended by reason.

I would like to dedicate this translation and overview to my friend Nathaniel Rabkin, at whose house I had my practice viva voce for my PhD prior to the actual exam earlier this week. Nathaniel, an expert on Iraqi politics, is an excellent Arabic linguist and has always been very supportive of me and my work. I would of course be keen to know whether he finds Julian of Toledo’s arguments here convincing.

Below is the text translated with annotations for Biblical references and other references, taken from the critical Latin edition of the text.

Here begins the second book

We have presented and expounded on the patriarchs and prophets, through whose preaching we have learned that Christ was born at the time in which he would be born (as they stated) and is now believed by us to have been born. Now I will follow up on the times of the New Testament, and I will inquire with a good deal of curiosity as to which angel declared their beginning. Certainly through the angel Daniel learnt about the mystery of the 70 weeks regarding Christ’s birth. Similarly also, when the angel appeared to Zachariah, the latter heard that his son John would be born to him. Through the angel’s preaching to her, Mary both believed and had a presentiment that Christ would be born to her. We see that these three things were said by the angel and fulfilled. So now one must carefully see whether this angel that appeared to Zachariah and Mary is also the one that preached these things to Daniel. Indeed in his book of prophecy, Daniel plainly expressed the angel’s name when, through the angel, he came to know of the mysteries of the weeks to come regarding Christ’s birth. For he says: “Behold the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the beginning, touched me as he flew quickly, and said: Daniel, heed my words…” etc.[i] In these times also, according to the Gospel, the wondrous name of the same angel is found to have been thus expressed. For the same angel said to Zachariah: “I am Gabriel- I who stand before God, and I have been sent to speak to you and announce this good news to you.”[ii] One also reads this in the same Gospel regarding the blessed Virgin Mary’s giving birth: “The angel Gabriel was sent by God to the city of Galilee, called Nazareth: to the virgin betrothed to the man called Joseph. The virgin’s name was Mary.”[iii]

So now it is clear that it was the one and the same angel Gabriel who both revealed the predetermined times to Daniel regarding Christ’s birth, and showed that the Virgin’s giving birth was at hand. And so the birth occurred at the predetermined time, and Gabriel shows that the words once spoken by him were brought to fulfilment through actually being brought about: with regards to the former, trustworthy in his prophecy of the weeks, and with regards to the latter, trustworthy through the revealed mystery. Surely Gabriel did not preach one thing in the counting of the years, and exhibit another in the manifestation of those times? Since he had previously outlined the prophecy, he wanted to prove it in Mary. And so he wanted to leave no room for doubt and no room for error, for he both predicted the things to come when they had still not taken place, and he later manifestly showed these things lest they should be disbelieved.

So let us follow the voice of this angel revealing the news, and just as we have proven that when this voice was truthful when it proclaimed prophecy, so let us discover here that the voice’s words were brought to fulfilment when it spoke in the Gospels. For this angel says to Mary: “Behold, you will conceive in the womb and you will give birth to a son and you will call him Jesus. He will be great and called the Son of the Most-High. The Lord God will give him the seat of his father David, and he will rule in Jacob’s house forever and his kingdom will have no end.”[iv] Here, the text continues after some words: “It came to pass that when the days for her to give birth were completed, she gave birth to her first-born son, wrapped him in clothes and laid him down in a manger, for there was no place for him in the inn. The shepherds were in the area, and behold the angel of the Lord stood next to them and said to them: Behold, I reveal news of great joy to you that will be for the whole people: for today in David’s city the Saviour has been born to you, and he is Christ the Lord. This is the sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in cloths and placed in a manger.”[v] Here, some words later, the text says: “The shepherds came in a hurry and found Mary, Joseph and the infant placed in a manger.”[vi] Hence also, once Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judaea, the Gospel reports: “Behold, the Magi came to Jerusalem from the East, saying, ‘Where is the king of the Jews who has been born?’ For we have seen his star in the East and we have come to adore him. But when King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, as was all of Jerusalem with him. Herod brought together the leaders of the priests and the people’s scribes, and he asked them where Christ would be born. They said: in Bethlehem of Judaea. For thus it has been written by the prophet: And you, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, by no means are you the smallest among Judah’s princes: for from you will come out the leader who is to rule my people Israel.”[vii]

Here I want these people who are so ungrateful for the sacrament of such great dispensation to give a response to me: when it came to the such diligent inquiry whereby Herod asked the leaders of the priests about Christ’s birth, how was it that amid the king’s such great fear and the responding scribes’ such great concern, this issue regarding the contradiction in the number of years could not either be brought forth and shown through the Hebrews’ codices or brought forth as an objection through the demonstration of the evidence so that they could console themselves with their terrified king? For thus it has been written: “Herod was disturbed, as was all Jerusalem with him.”

Certainly, this king, although profane, had heard of the Christ who was promised in the books of the Hebrews, and feared that he would lose his rule with Christ’s coming. For if he had not heard of the Christ prophesised in their books, he would not have asked the leading priests and scribes where he should be born. Not only was the king disturbed, but also all Jerusalem with him: that is, all the gathering of the teachers, all the court of the Jews. So those who were carefully interrogated by the king brought forth the prophecy indicating that Christ the Son of God would be born in Bethlehem. They could have shown to the disturbed and terrified king something from their codices regarding this counting of years, so that they should show through a clear counting of years that Christ was still not supposed to have been born at that time, if they had read that notion for certain in the divine pages. But this had not been inserted into the words of the Law and the Prophets, nor was this proclaimed by them: for those who showed the place where Christ should be born per the evidence of scripture, could also similarly have shown, through a legitimate counting of years, when he should be born, and thus show that he should still be expected in the future. Behold, the truth of their answer is not trusted on a personal basis but rather is legally proven. For they truthfully brought forth what they knew had been written: knowing that there is nothing about applying this counting of years, which could be brought forth from their books and said to contrary to the birth of Christ.

Indeed, in the rest of this period, when the Jews wanted to know whether Christ was indeed Christ, nowhere was this objection brought forth by them or refuted by the Lord in all their questions and Christ’s responses. In short, one reads about these matters in the Gospel: “Jesus was walking in Solomon’s porch at the temple. Therefore, the Jews surrounded him and said to him: How far will you keep our minds in doubt? If you are the Christ, tell us openly.”[viii] Similarly one reads that the leader of the priests said to the Lord: “I implore you by the living God, that you should tell us whether you are Christ the Son of God.”[ix] This is so even though they also asked John whether the latter was the Christ, and the Gospel says about them that “others would say: This man is the Christ. But some would say: Does Christ come from Galilee? Surely the Scripture says that the Christ comes from the line of David and the fort of Bethlehem, where David was? And so dissension arose among the crowd because of him.”[x] Amid this such great dissension among the Jews, if the counting of years in accordance with their codices had provided them some help, surely they would have responded with considerable audacity on this basis, and brought forth a refutation on the basis of the evident counting of the years, asserting that according to certain places in the Scriptures, Christ was still not yet to be born, but rather one still had to wait for him? But behold, neither the dispute nor dissension of the Jews is bound by some opinion about the number of years, nor is the manifestation of Christ declared through these sorts of calculations.

So now one should see what was Christ’s response to such things. He said: “I speak to you and you do not believe. The works I do in the name of my Father provide this testimony about me.”[xi] In another place he thus replied to them: “You sent a message to John and he provided this testimony for the truth. You scrutinise the Scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them, and those Scriptures are the ones that provide testimony about me, and you do not want to come to me in order to have life. I have come in the name of my Father, and you have not accepted me. If another comes in His name, you will accept him. Do not think that I am going to accuse you in the presence of the Father: Moses, in whom you place hope, is there to accuse you. But if you believe Moses, you will perhaps also believe me. For he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his letters, how will you believe my words?”[xii] Regarding these matters he says in another place: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin.”[xiii] These are the words of the Lord. Following this and his resurrection, two of his disciples were going to the town called Emaus, and since he saw them having doubts and chatting about his resurrection, so let us hear how he instructed them and how he strengthened them in their faith. For thus he spoke to them: “Oh you foolish people, slow at heart to believe in everything the prophets said. Surely it was necessary for Christ to suffer these things and thus enter into his own glory? Beginning from Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was contained about him in all those Scriptures.”[xiv]

Behold how Christ manifested himself to the ignorant: not through counting years from the beginning of the world, but through the conspicuous truth of the testimonies. Indeed, both the many legions of the demons professed him to be truly the Son of God, and the testifying elements revealed him to be so, and the bodies of people raised from the dead affirmed him to be so. So if, oh Jew, you do not want to believe the angels about Christ, believe the demons, believe the declaring clouds, the opened tombs, the dead ones who rose up. Indeed, the angel taught he was the Son of God, the star showed him to be so, the adoration of the Magi revealed him to be so, the voice intoning from the cloud revealed him to be so, the dove showed him to be so, and John recognised him to be so.

Now listen carefully to what sort of testimony John provided for Christ, and henceforth see the such great cloud of witnesses and the such large number of faithful: did they establish that the advent of the birth of Christ that has already happened should be learned about through calculations of the age of the universe, or did they recognise it through true faith and report it to others to be recognised as such? So firstly, this John, who was born from the womb of his barren mother and was the outstanding preacher of the new life, believed that Christ was recognised through faith, and did not try to discover him by counting years. For he recognised Christ both through prophetic manifestation and the demonstration of the truth in bodily form. Indeed, he recognised Christ by the very signs by which he learned that he had been prophesied in Isaiah’s prophecies. Thus does Isaiah say, speaking in the person of God the Father: “Behold My servant, I will receive him. My elect, in whom My mind has been well pleased. I have bestowed My Spirit upon him. He brings forth My judgement to the Gentiles.”[xv] In these two pronouncements of Isaiah, in which the Father calls His Son the elect and the one who is pleasing to Him and also declares that He will give His Spirit to His Son, this John thus recounts that those things were fulfilled in the Lord whom he had now baptised. For he said: “I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained over him. He who sent me to baptise in water, said to me: The one over whom you will see the Spirit descending and remaining, is the one who baptises in the Holy Spirit. I both saw and provided testimony that this man is the Son of God.”[xvi] In addition, a voice from heaven spoke to the now baptised Lord, saying: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I have been well pleased.”[xvii] Indeed, Isaiah said this speaking in the Father’s voice: “I have bestowed My Spirit upon him.” What is written in Isaiah- “My elect, in whom My mind has been well pleased”- is repeated by the evangelist, who reports that the Father’s voice proclaimed from Heaven: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I have been well pleased.” Thus, the prophet Isaiah provided a special prophecy about the Lord, but this John, more so than the prophet, pointed out the Lord with his finger, for John proved that these prophetic words had been fulfilled in the Lord in particular.

Behold by what signs and indications John learned of Christ the Son of God. Hence, when the Jews asked him whether he was the Christ, he provided the perfect testimony to them about Christ and said: “I am not the Christ. He stands in your midst, but you do not know him. He is the one who is to come after me, and he came into existence before me.”[xviii] The text continues: “On the next day, John saw Jesus coming to him and said: ‘This is the one about whom I have spoken. A man who came into existence before me (since he existed before I did) comes after me.’”[xix] Indeed when this John was held in chains, he sent two of his disciples to the Lord, saying: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”[xx] He greatly desired to know whether the Son of God who by now seemed to have come in the flesh to this world, would himself descend to hell. In this inquiry it is sufficiently apparent that if he could have learned of the advent of the Redeemer of this world by counting the years from Adam, he would not have sought to consult the Lord, for only calculating the years would have been sufficient for him to know these things.

John himself was distinguished by his priestly descent, and was nourished in the law, and yet he could not have put forth these objections about the number of years at that time if he had foreseen that they would be contrary to the notion of Christ’s birth then, so as to say: “The times have still not been fulfilled. Christ who is to redeem the world is still to be expected.” Perish the thought. That good servant of Christ did not throw up any such objection, but rather he believed the responses given to him by the Lord. For he had asked the master through disciples, saying: “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?” And the Lord said to them: “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor are given the good news. Blessed is the one who is not offended in me.”[xxi] Behold, John was not offended in Christ, but rather he provided evident testimony for Christ.

After John come all of Christ’s disciples, renewed by the grace of Christ’s advent. For they learned that Christ the Son of God had come in the flesh, not through the diligence of calculation but the evidence of the divine testimonies, as they believed that the matter is not deduced by counting with fingers as the impious do, but rather it is perceived through the revelation of faith as the pious do. Thus does Andrew make his brother Simon Peter become a believer, saying: “We have found the Messiah (which is translated as the Christ).”[xxii] Thus does Philipp insinuate Christ to Nathaniel, saying: “We have found Jesus the son of Joseph from Nazareth to be the one who was written about by Moses in the law and the prophets.”[xxiii] Thus Peter, the first of all the disciples, sees that his preaching is not liable to any objections about calculations, and thus he preaches to the Gentiles, saying: “We inform you of the power and presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, not on the basis of following cunningly devised fables but rather having become witnesses to that greatness of his. For he received honour and glory from God the Father, when this sort of voice was brought to him: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I have been well pleased.’ We heard this voice brought from heaven, since we were with him on the holy mountain.”[xxiv] Some words later, he thus says: “There have been false prophets among the people just as there will be mendacious teachers among you: they will establish sects of perdition, and deny that the one who redeemed them is Lord.”[xxv] He also continues in this letter: “You, therefore, brothers, be prescient and beware, lest you should be seduced by the error of the foolish ones, and fall away from proper firmness.”[xxvi] Oh how lucidly this holy apostle long ago predicted the wickedness of this era, and provided testimony for Christ not only by believing but also by seeing!

Let us still continue with the teaching of this great apostle, and see how so many thousands of Jews turned to his preaching, and whether those Jews threw up some objection about these years to Peter’s preaching or they acquiesced after hearing his admonitions. For on the 50th day after Christ’s resurrection, the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles and in the languages of all peoples they spoke of God’s great deeds. Thus it was written: “Standing, Peter raised his voice and spoke, saying: oh Jewish men and all you who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and hear my words with your ears. For these people are not drunk, as you think, since it is the third hour of the day, but this is what was said by the prophet Joel: And it will come to pass in the last days, says the Lord: that I will pour out things from My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy.”[xxvii]  Here, some words later, while he refuted them regarding Christ’s passion and resurrection, he thus said repeating: “Let every house of Israel know with utmost certainty that God made this Jesus (whom you crucified) both Lord and Christ.”[xxviii] Immediately, it is added: “When they heard this, they were struck at heart. For those who accepted his words were baptised and around 3000 souls were added on that day. They remained adherents of the apostles’ doctrine.”[xxix] Behold, Peter’s preaching was neither liable to these countings of years nor did the multitude of so many thousands of Jews attempt to ask Peter anything about this counting, but rather they only believed in the testimonies brought forth by him and were quiet as they were struck at heart.

Through this and similar conduct, James enlightened Jerusalem, Thomas India, Matthew Macedonia, and with similar teaching, the rest of the entire apostolic multitude preached that Christ the Son of God had come into the world in both word and blood. But these men did not reckon that the cycles of years from the Hebrews’ codices posed an obstacle to their preaching, since those cycles have nothing to the do with the issue of Christ’s birth. Indeed, one does not read anywhere that the Jews contended with the apostles or resisted the apostles’ words on the basis of this dispute about the number of years, particularly when at that time the Jews themselves still had a country and kingdom and were not yet dispersed, and prospered with provision of doctrine that was as great as the ample honour of rule and status that they still enjoyed. So if these people, both ignorant in knowledge of the law and also rather well informed because of the large number of scribes and princes they had, did not flatter themselves in any way at that time on the basis of this dispute about the number of years, with what impudence do they now throw up these objections, when they, handed over to be dispersed among the Gentiles, are as far removed from knowledge of the law as they are proven to be excluded from their own soil?

Let us cross over to the apostle Paul, the vessel of election, who was exceedingly nurtured in the law and taught at the feet of Gamaliel, and was so educated in knowledge of the entire Old Testament, that it would be wicked to believed that anything in that literature was unknown to him. For, as he reports to the Galatians: “You have heard of my previous adherence to Judaism, for I used to persecute God’s Church beyond measure and I used to assail it, and I was more proficient in Judaism than many contemporaries among my people, as I emulated our ancestors’ traditions in a rather excessive way. But when it was pleasing to Him who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me by His grace in order to reveal His Son in me, so that I should preach about him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately acquiesce to flesh and blood.”[xxx] Behold, I beseech, the calling of Paul, for when Christ the Son of God was revealed to him, he did not acquiesce to flesh and blood. So he who believed the Son of God who had been revealed to him, recognised that Christ had been promised to him from the law. For he who used to persecute the church with such furious zeal, could have easily acted against the church on the basis of this very vain opinion about the number of years, if he had felt that his side would be helped in some way by this notion. For if he had perceived that something about these numbers of years from the law had been handed down to him, he could have assailed God’s Church even more because of this, and on this basis he could have taken up greater material to fight back against it, as he could show that this concept was inserted into the law.

For he who said: “When the fullness of time came, God sent His Son begotten from a woman,”[xxxi] could have said: the fullness of time has not yet come, for the series of 6000 years has not run its course according to the Hebrew codices. So he said that the fullness of time had already come, because he had recognised that the mystery of the times had been revealed to him. For thus he says to the Ephesians: “God the Father made the sacrament of His will become known to us in accordance with His pleasure, which He brought forth in him: to restore all things in Christ, within the dispensation of the fullness of the times.”[xxxii] Indeed this mystery is the dispensation of the fullness of the times, whereby all things should be fulfilled at the appointed time. So when the fullness of time came, God sent His Son, who could not have come before, unless the mystery of time were fulfilled. So since, in my view, Christ was once born, suffered, and was buried, and rose again and victoriously ascended to the Father, I do not consider the number of old to be necessary, since I consider it certain that the mystery has been revealed, and it is evidently recognised in the fullness of the times. Indeed, thus did Paul recognised, through the mystery revealed to him, the fullness of time when Christ should have been born. However, he did not learn of it through the numbers of years. Hence, when the Galatians wanted to convert to Judaism, he declared Christ to them and wrote bitingly: “I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from the one who has called you to the grace of Christ, unless there are some who are disturbing you and want to subvert Christ’s Gospel. But if we or an angel from heaven should bring a Gospel to you that is different from the Gospel we have preached to you, let it be anathema.”[xxxiii]

Here I say with regards to the vessel of election and the apostle of the Gentiles: in all his disputes that he had with the Jews or the Greeks, he was never found to have either made use of these countings of years when he was still assailing the Gospel, nor did he take delight in them when he was preaching the Gospel. But rather, by bringing forth the testimonies of the law and the prophets in the open, he would refute the insanity of the Jews. But indeed it has been written about him: “Saul gained more strength and would confound the Jews who lived in Damascus, affirming that this man was Christ.”[xxxiv] Behold, Paul affirmed that Christ had come, not by applying an understanding about the numbers of years from the codices of the Hebrews, but rather by bringing forth the evidence of the testimonies from the divine books.

For according to what is written in the Acts of the Apostles: “Paul and Barnabas entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and took their seats. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent messengers to them, saying: Brothers, if you have any discourse of exhortation to say to the people, say it. Paul rose and intimated silence with his hand, and then said: Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen: the God of the people of Israel chose our forefathers, and exalted the people, when they were living in the land of Egypt etc.”[xxxv] He continued from that time until the time of David, and showed that Christ was born from David’s seed. Then he explained with manifest testimonies those things that were accomplished in Christ through his passion and resurrection. Nonetheless, he did not elicit anything about this counting of years in accordance with the Hebrews’ codices. Indeed the counting of the years from the beginning of the world was not necessary for him to prove the mystery of such a great affair. Behold, the Scripture still continues and says: “In accordance with custom, Paul entered into the Jews’ presence, and over the course of three Sabbaths, he debated them about the Scriptures, revealing and insinuating that Christ should have suffered and risen from the dead, and indeed this man is Jesus Christ, whom I announce to you.”[xxxvi] Surely, in all these disputations of his when he was showing the Scriptures to the Jews on a daily basis, if he had discovered something contrary to his preaching on the basis of this reckoning about the number of years, he would have either immediately made plain to them what was hidden, or he would have rejected what he should have rejected?

In addition, the Lord Christ’s first martyr Stephan similarly did not refute the Jews contradicting him on a very frequent basis by means of counting the times but the abundance of testimonies. For thus it has been written: “Some arose from the synagogue that is called the synagogue of the Libertines, Cyrenensians and Alexandrines, and of those who were from Cilicia and Asia; and they argued with Stephan, and they could not resist his wisdom and the Holy Spirit, which spoke from him.”[xxxvii] This is because of the fact that they were refuted by him with all confidence. Behold, we read that the Jews were refuted and overcome by Stephan, and nonetheless we do not find anything about this counting of years in their disputations. Hence also, he said to the Jews, who were not opposing him on the basis of this opinion about the number of years but rather were persisting in their usual obstinacy: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your forefathers did.”[xxxviii]

What am I now to report about the apostle James, the brother of the Lord? When he was asked by the Jews to provide testimony about Jesus to these same people who were demanding it, he taught that this Jesus was the Saviour. Nonetheless, whether they accepted his words or were cut off from them as perfidy came between him and them, they never put any such inquiry to him that would seem to pertain to this counting of years, even though this James, being a witness of the truth and preaching that Christ was this Son of God, was crowned with glorious martyrdom. In addition, James the brother of John the Apostle preached to the Jews that this Christ was the Son of God, and did not feel that his preaching was liable to any opinions about the number of years, and with a great deal of testimonies he taught all the things, which, according to his preaching, had been fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Finally, John the reputable disciple of Christ, infused with sweetness of the Lord’s spirit, very openly and lucidly commended the matter in his epistle, when he said: “Every spirit that professes that Jesus Christ came in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that denies Jesus is not from God. We are from God. He who knows God hears us. He who is not from God does not hear us. In this we have known the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.”[xxxix] Repeating and commending this matter again, he says: “We know that the Son of God came and took up flesh for our sake, and suffered and rose again from the dead. He took us up and gave us sense, so that we may know the true God and we be in His true Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”[xl] He also says here: “This is the victory that conquers the world: your faith. Who is there who has overcome the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”[xli]

Thus, therefore, accepting the definition of the Christian faith, we ought to both believe without doubt the past events narrated in the Gospels and expect the things to come without hesitation. For faith is not necessary for the present things that are seen, as they are established as being without doubt by means of the bodily senses, but robust faith should be applied for things that are not seen to be present. For thus will each Christian believe with full faith that Christ the Son of God was previously born from a Virgin, and will expect without doubt that he will come to judge, believing both in his past birth whereby he became man and deigned to be born for us, and in his future promise whereby he promised to give the kingdom to the faithful. Therefore each one lends the undoubted knowledge of faith to the past events and things to come that were said about Christ the Son of God in the Gospels and apostolic literature, and thus will deservedly obtain the kingdom with all the saints, since said person did not contravene the mystery of the holy faith.  On the basis of this faith, we all live, and we faithfully expect to be crowned through this faith: “For the just man lives on the basis of faith.”[xlii] How does the just man live on the basis of faith except by not seeing what he believes?

This therefore is the justice of the faith by which we are justified, so that we should believe in him whom we do not see, and purified by faith we should later see him in whom we now believe. Certainly Christ was once born, died and resurrected from the dead: even though we in our bodily form did not see him being born and dying, and even though we similarly did not see him rise again, nonetheless we truly believe and profess these things about him, doing so with undoubted faith. This is also the justice of faith by which we are justified and cleansed, when we behold and believe with the eye of our heart what we have not seen with the eyes of our flesh. Indeed it was granted for the apostles to see these things and behold the Word incarnate in flesh. But he ordered us to believe what he allowed them to see. So the faith, as has been said, is in those things that are not seen and are nonetheless believed without doubt: i.e., if you believe, without hesitation, those things that you cannot see in the present time. So long ago at his own time Christ came into the world in order to save the world, and again he will come at his own time to judge the world. So the events that one reads as having taken place with regards to him must only be believed, whereas the future promises must be believed and expected. So he who truly believes that he came long ago to save the world will not perish at the Judgement when he comes. If anyone therefore has doubts about this faith, what more can he expect except eternal punishments? So we must act on the basis that it should be sufficient to believe in some causes of faith without rational perception: i.e. it should not occur to us to have to give a reason for some matters, but rather only faith should suffice, and one should not allow for an objection of reasoning where the deepness of faith is commended. So all diligence of human disputation should be laid aside where faith alone suffices.

Behold, so that I should be silent about other matters, I will set out two wondrous miracles regarding Christ the Son of God: his birth from a virgin mother without a father, and his entry into his disciples’ presence while the doors were shut, following his resurrection. These two things will not wondrous if they are comprehended through reason, “nor will faith have merit when human reason provides it proof.”[xliii] Indeed, as the blessed Hilary says: “Being ignorant of what you believe does not have as much grace as reward, but the greatest grace of faith is expecting what you do not know.”[xliv] Therefore one must lean upon faith, and one must embrace faith, which is brought to perfection through hope and kindness, not rational perception. I ask that it should suffice for every Christian to believe what he cannot feel with his sense. Since it has been granted for every Christian to sublimely understand and strong believe, let every Christian give thanks to God. As for the one to whom understanding has not been granted, let that person believe in order to understand, so that once that person believes and understands what he has heard, he may understand and thus fully enjoy what he has believed. And thus it will be the case that both said person’s credulity will open up understand and the person’s intellect, nurtured by faith, will attain the crown.

Here ends the second book.

Notes

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[i] Daniel 9:21 ff.

[ii] Luke 1:19.

[iii] Luke 1:26 ff.

[iv] Luke 1:31-33.

[v] Luke 2:6-12.

[vi] Luke 2:16.

[vii] Matthew 2:1-6.

[viii] John 10:23-24.

[ix] Matthew 26:63.

[x] John 7:41-43.

[xi] John 5:36.

[xii] Joh 5:33, 39-40, and 43-47.

[xiii] John 15:22.

[xiv] Luke 24:25-27.

[xv] Isaiah 42:1.

[xvi] John 1:32-34.

[xvii] Matthew 3:17.

[xviii] John 1:20/26 ff.

[xix] John 1:29-30.

[xx] Matthew 11:3.

[xxi] Matthew 11:4-6.

[xxii] John 1:41.

[xxiii] John 1:45.

[xxiv] 2 Peter 1:16-18.

[xxv] 2 Peter 2:1.

[xxvi] 2 Peter 3:17.

[xxvii] Acts 2:14-17.

[xxviii] Acts 2:36.

[xxix] Acts 2:37 and 41-42.

[xxx] Galatians 1:13-16.

[xxxi] Galatians 4:4.

[xxxii] Ephesians 1:9-10.

[xxxiii] Galatians 1:6-8.

[xxxiv] Acts 9:22.

[xxxv] Acts 13:14-17.

[xxxvi] Acts 17:2-3.

[xxxvii] Acts 6:9-10.

[xxxviii] Acts 7:51.

[xxxix] 1 John 4:2-3 and 6.

[xl] 1 John 5:20.

[xli] 1 John 5:4-5.

[xlii] Romans 1:17.

[xliii] Cf. Gregory, Homilarium in Evangelia 2:26:1.

[xliv] Hilary, De Trinitate, 8.10.