First Christian Voices: Practices of the Apostolic Fathers

Chapter 4: The Defense of the Faith

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itself and despise death while they neither recognize the gods who are numbered as such by the Greeks, nor hold to the superstition of the Jews, not to mention the friendliness which they treasure among themselves and why possibly this new race or practice has only appeared into life now and not before—I warmly welcome your desire and I ask God who empowers us both to speak and to hear, to grant to me to speak so that, above all, I may hear that you have been edified and that you might hear the one who speaks and may have no cause of regret for having done so. The Jewish Law B arnabas 4 a : It is therefore incumbent upon us who inquire much concerning events at hand to search diligently into those things which are able to save us. Let us then flee from all the works of iniquity in case these should take hold of us. Let us hate the error of the present time so that we may set our love on the world to come. Let us not give loose reins to our soul so that it would have power to run with sinners and the wicked in case we become like them. The final stumbling block is approaching concerning which Enoch says, “For the Lord has cut short the times and the days that His Beloved may hasten to come and take His inheritance.” 1 And so the Prophet also speaks: “Ten kingdoms will reign upon the earth and a little king will rise up after them who will subdue three of the kings by one” (Dan 7:24). Similarly, Daniel says concerning the same, D efense A gainst the J ews and G reeks

1 Source unknown.