 section 11 of Pensei. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Derek McLaughlin, London, Ontario, Canada. Latin language reading by Lenny Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Pensei by Blaise Pascal. Translated by W. F. Trotter. Section 11. The Prophecies. Part 2. 722. Daniel, Chapter 2. All thy soothsayers and wise men cannot show unto thee the secret which thou hast demanded, but there is a God in heaven who can do so, and hath revealed to thee in thy dream what shall be in the latter days. This dream must have caused him much misgiving. And it is not by my own wisdom that I have knowledge of this secret, but by the revelation of this same God that hath revealed it to me to make it manifest in thy presence. Thy dream was then of this kind, thou sawest a great image, high and terrible, which stood before thee. His head was of gold, his breast and arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thus thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet, that were of iron and of clay, and break them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken to pieces together, and the wind carried them away, but this stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. This is the dream, and now I will give thee the interpretation thereof. Thou who art the greatest of kings, and to whom God hath given a power so vast that thou art renowned among all people, art the head of gold which thou hast seen. But after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. But the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, and even as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueeth all things, so shall this empire break in pieces and bruise all. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of iron and of the weakness of clay. But as iron cannot be firmly mixed with clay, so they who are represented by the iron and by the clay shall not cleave one to another, though united by marriage. Now in the days of these kings shall God set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed nor ever be delivered up to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever according as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it fell from the mountain and break in pieces, the iron, the clay, the silver and the gold. God hath made known to thee what shall come to pass hereafter. This dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. Then Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face towards the earth, etc. Daniel chapter 8 verse 8 And at last overthrew the prince, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down. This is what Daniel saw. He sought the meaning of it, and a voice cried in this manner, Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. And in the latter time of their kingdom, when iniquities are come to the full, there shall arise a king, insolent and strong, but not by his own power, to whom all things shall succeed after his own will. And he shall destroy the holy people, and through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand, and he shall destroy many. He shall also stand up against the prince of princes, but he shall perish miserably, and nevertheless by a violent hand. Daniel chapter 9 verse 20 Therefore understand the matter and consider the vision. Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to abolish iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, to accomplish the vision and the prophecies, and to anoint the most holy. After which this people shall be no more thy people, nor this city the holy city. The times of wrath shall be past, and the years of grace shall come for ever. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and three score and two weeks. The Hebrews were accustomed to divide numbers and to place the small first, thus seven and sixty-two make sixty-nine. Of this seventy there will then remain the seventieth, that is to say the seven last years of which he will speak next. The streets shall be built again, and the wall even in troubleous times, and after three score and two weeks, which have followed the first seven, Christ will then be killed after the sixty-nine weeks, that is to say in the last week. The Christ shall be cut off, and the people of the Prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary, and overwhelm all, and the end of that war shall accomplish the desolation. Now one week, which is the seventieth, which remains, shall confirm the covenant with many, and in the midst of the week, that is to say the last three-and-a-half years, he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. Daniel chapter eleven. The angel said to Daniel, there shall stand up yet, after Cyrus under whom this still is, three kings in Persia, Campesese, Smyrdes, Darius, and the fourth who shall then come, Xerxes, shall be far richer than they all, and far stronger, and shall stir up all his people against the Greeks. But a mighty king shall stand up, Alexander, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will, and when he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken, and shall be divided in four parts toward the four winds of heaven, as he had said above, chapter six, verse six, chapter eight, verse eight. But not his posterity, and his successors shall not equal his power, for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others besides these, his four chief successors. And the king of the south, Ptolemy, son of Lagos, Egypt, shall be strong, but one of his princes shall be strong above him, and his dominion shall be a great dominion. Seleucus, king of Syria, Appian says that he was the most powerful of Alexander's successors, and in the end of years they shall join themselves together, and the king's daughter of the south, Berenice, daughter of Ptolemy Philadelphus, son of the other Ptolemy, shall come to the king of the north, to Antiochus Deus, king of Syria, and of Asia, son of Seleucus Lagodas, to make peace between these princes. But neither she nor her seed shall have a long authority, for she and they that brought her, and her children, and her friends, shall be delivered to death. Berenice and her son were killed by Seleucus Kalinicus. But out of a branch of her roots shall one stand up. Ptolemy Yurgates was the issue of the same father as Berenice, which shall come with a mighty army into the land of the king of the north, where he shall put all under subjection, and he shall also carry captive into Egypt their gods, their princes, their gold, their silver, and all their precious spoils. If he had not been called into Egypt by domestic reasons, says Justin, he would have entirely stripped Seleucus, and he shall continue several years when the king of the north can do not against him. And so he shall return into his kingdom, but his sons shall be stirred up, and shall assemble a multitude of great forces. Seleucus Caranus, Antiochus the Great. And their army shall come and overthrow all, wherefore the king of the south shall be moved with collar, and shall also form a great army and fight him. Ptolemy Philopator against Antiochus the Great at Raphia. And conquer, and his troops shall become insolent, and his heart shall be lifted up. This Ptolemy desecrated the temple, Josephus. He shall cast down many ten thousands, but he shall not be strengthened by it, for the king of the north, Antiochus the Great, shall return with a greater multitude than before, and in those times also a great number of enemies shall stand up against the king of the south, during the reign of the young Ptolemy epiphanies. Also the apostates and robbers of thy people shall exalt themselves to establish the vision, but they shall fall. Those who abandon their religion to please Yurgates, when he will send his troops to Scopus, for Antiochus will again take Scopus and conquer them. And the king of the north shall destroy the fenced cities, and the arms of the south shall not withstand, and all shall yield to his will. He shall stand in the land of Israel, and it shall yield to him. And thus he shall think to make himself master of all the empire of Egypt, despising the youth of epiphanies, says Justin, and for that he shall make alliance with him and give his daughter, Cleopatra, in order that she may betray her husband, on which Appian says, the doubting his ability to make himself master of Egypt by force, because of the protection of the Romans, he wished to attempt it by cunning. He shall wish to corrupt her, but she shall not stand on his side, neither be for him. Then he shall turn his face to other designs, and shall think to make himself master of some aisles, that is to say seaports, and shall take many, as Appian says. But a prince shall oppose his conquests, Scipio Africanus, who stopped the progress of Antiochus the Great, because he offended the Romans and the person of their allies. And shall cause the reproach offered by him to cease. He shall then return into his kingdom, and there perish, and be no more. He was slain by his soldiers. And he who shall stand up in his estate, Silucus Philopator, or Sotir, the son of Antiochus the Great, shall be a tyrant, a razor of taxes, in the glory of the kingdom, which means the people. But within a few days he shall be destroyed, neither in anger nor in battle, and in his place shall stand up a vile person, unworthy of the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in cleverly by flatteries. All armies shall bend before him, he shall conquer them, and even the prince with whom he has made a covenant. For having renewed the league with him he shall work deceitfully, and enter with a small people into his province, peaceably and without fear. He shall take the fattest places, and shall do that which his fathers have not done, and ravage on all sides. He shall forecast great devices during his time. 723. Prophecies. The seventy weeks of Daniel are ambiguous as regards the term of commencement because of the terms of the prophecy, and as regards the term of conclusion because of the differences among chronologists. But all this difference extends only to two hundred years. 724. Predictions. That in the fourth monarchy before the destruction of the second temple, before the dominion of the Jews was taken away in the seventieth week of Daniel, during the continuance of the second temple, the heathen should be instructed and brought to the knowledge of the God worshiped by the Jews, that those who loved him should be delivered from their enemies and filled with his fear and love. And it happened that in the fourth monarchy before the destruction of the second temple, etc., the heathen in great number worshiped God and led an angelic life. Maidens dedicated their virginity and their life to God. Men renounced their pleasures. What Plato could only make acceptable to a few men, specially chosen and instructed, a secret influence imparted by the power of a few words to a hundred million ignorant men. The rich left their wealth. Children left the dainty homes of their parents to go into the rough desert, see Philo the Jew. All this was foretold a great while ago. For two thousand years no heathen had worshiped the God of the Jew and at the time foretold a great number of the heathen worshiped this only God. The temples were destroyed. The very kings made submission to the cross. All this was due to the spirit of God which was spread abroad upon the earth. No heathen since Moses until Jesus Christ believed according to the very rabbis. A great number of the heathen after Jesus Christ believed in the books of Moses, kept them in substance and spirit and only rejected what was useless. 725. Prophecies. The conversion of the Egyptians, Isaiah chapter 19 verse 19, and alter in Egypt to the true God. 726. Prophecies. In Egypt. Pugio Fide. Page 659. Talmud. It is a tradition among us that when the Messiah shall come, the house of God, destined for the dispensation of his word, shall be full of filth and impurity, and that the wisdom of the scribes shall be corrupt and rotten. Those who shall be afraid to sin shall be rejected by the people and treated as senseless fools. Isaiah chapter 49. Listen, O Isles, unto me, and hearken ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me by my name from the womb of my mother. In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and hath made my words like a sharp sword, and said unto me, Thou art my servant in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, Lord, have I labored in vain? Have I spent my strength for naught? Yet surely my judgment is with thee, O Lord, and my work with thee. And now, sayeth the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob and Israel again to him, thou shalt be glorious in my sight, and I will be thy strength. It is a light thing that thou shouldst convert the tribes of Jacob. I have raised thee up for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. Thus sayeth the Lord, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhoreth, to a servant of rulers. Princes and kings shall worship thee, because the Lord is faithful that hath chosen thee. Again sayeth the Lord unto me, I have heard thee in the days of salvation and of mercy, and I will preserve thee for a covenant of the people, to cause to inherit the desolate nations, that thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth, to them that are in darkness, show yourselves, and possess these abundant and fertile lands. They shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them, for he that hath mercy upon them shall lead them, even by the springs of waters shall he guide them, and make the mountains away before them. Behold, the peoples shall come from all parts, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Let the heavens give glory to God, let the earth be joyful, for it hath pleased the Lord to comfort his people, and he will have mercy upon the poor who hope in him. Yet Zion dare to say, the Lord hath forsaken me and hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? But if she forget, yet will not I forget thee, O Zion. I will bear thee always between my hands, and thy walls are continually before me. They that shall build thee are come, and thy destroyers shall go forth of thee. Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold, all these gathered themselves together, and come to thee. As I live, say, at the Lord, thou shalt surely clothe thee with them all, as with an ornament. Thy waste in thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction, shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants. And the children thou shalt have after thy barrenness shall say again in thy ears. The place is too straight for me, give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thy heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro. And who brought up these? Behold, I was left alone. There, where had they been? And the Lord shall say to thee, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set up my standard to the people, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms and in their bosoms. And kings shall be their nursing fathers, and queens their nursing mothers. They shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty? But even if the captives be taken away from the strong, nothing shall hinder me from saving thy children, and from destroying thy enemies. And all flesh shall know that I am the Lord, thy Savior, and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. Thus saith the Lord, What is the bill of this divorcement, wherewith I have put away the synagogue, and why have I delivered it into the hands of your enemies? Is it not for your iniquities and for your transgressions that I have put it away? For I came, and no man received me. I called, and there was none to hear. Is my arm shortened that I cannot redeem? Therefore I will show the tokens of mine anger, I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and make sackcloth their covering. The Lord hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary. He hath opened by an ear, and I have listened to him as a master. The Lord hath revealed his will, and I was not rebellious. I gave my body to the smithers, and my cheeks to outrage. I hid not my face from shame and spitting. But the Lord hath helped me, therefore I have not been confounded. He is near that justifies me, who will contend with me, who will be mine adversary, and accuse me of sin, God himself being my protector. All men shall pass away, and be consumed by time. Let those that fear God hearken to the voice of his servant. Let him that languisheth in darkness put his trust in the Lord. But as for you, ye do but kindle the wrath of God upon you. Ye walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand. Ye shall lie down in sorrow. Harken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord. Look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham, your father, and unto Sarah that bear you, for I called him alone when childless and increased him. Behold, I have comforted Zion, and heaped upon her blessings and consolations. Harken unto me, my people, and give ear unto me, for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the Gentiles. Amos chapter 8 The prophet, having enumerated the sins of Israel, said that God had sworn to take vengeance on them. He says this, and it shall come to pass in that day, sayeth the Lord, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day, and I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation. You all shall have sorrow and suffering, and I will make this nation mourn as for an only sun, and the end therefore as a bitter day. Behold, the days come, sayeth the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord, and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north, even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. They that have followed the idols of Samaria, and sworn by the God of Dan, and followed the manner of Beersheba shall fall, and never rise up again. Amos Chapter 3 Verse 2 Ye only have I known of all the families of the earth for my people. Daniel Chapter 12 Verse 7 Having described all the extent of the reign of the Messiah, he says, All these things shall be finished when the scattering of the people of Israel shall be accomplished. Haggai Chapter 2 Verse 4 Ye who, comparing this second house with the glory of the first, despise it, Be strong, sayeth the Lord, be strong, O Zerobabel, and O Jesus, the high priest, Be strong, all ye people of the land and work. For I am with you, sayeth the Lord of hosts, According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, So my spirit remaineth among you. Fear ye not, for thus sayeth the Lord of hosts, Yet one little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. A way of speaking to indicate a great and an extraordinary change. And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all the Gentiles shall come, And I will fill this house with glory, sayeth the Lord. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, sayeth the Lord. That is to say it is not by that that I wish to be honoured, as it is said elsewhere. All the beasts of the field are mine, what advantages me that they are offered to me in sacrifice. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, sayeth the Lord of hosts, And in this place will I establish my house, sayeth the Lord. According to all that thou desirest in whoreb, in the day of the assembly, Saying, Let us not hear again the voice of the Lord, Neither let us see this fire any more, that we die not. And the Lord said unto me their prayer is just, I will raise them up a profit from among their brethren, Like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth, And he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words, Which he will speak in my name, I will require it of him. Genesis chapter 49 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, And thou shalt conquer thine enemies, Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's welp, from the prey my son, Thou art gone up, and art couched as a lion, And as a lioness that shall be roused up. Deceptor shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 727 During the life of the Messiah Enigmatus Ezekiel chapter 17 His forerunner, Malachi chapter 3 He will be born an infant, Isaiah chapter 9 He will be born in the village of Bethlehem, Micah chapter 5 He will appear chiefly in Jerusalem and will be a descendant of the family of Judah and of David He is to blind the learned and the wise, Isaiah chapter 6, 8, 29, etc. And to preach the gospel to the lowly, Isaiah chapter 29 To open the eyes of the blind, give health to the sick, And to bring light to those that languish in darkness, Isaiah chapter 61 He is to show the perfect way and be the teacher of the Gentiles, Isaiah chapter 55, chapter 42, verses 1-7 The prophecies are to be unintelligible to the wicked, Daniel chapter 12, Hosea chapter 14, verse 10 But they are to be intelligible to those who are well informed The prophecies which represent him as poor represent him as master of the nations Isaiah chapter 52, verse 14, etc. Chapter 53, Zechariah chapter 9, verse 9 The prophecies which foretell the time foretell him only as master of the nations and suffering And not as in the clouds nor as judge And those which represent him thus as judge and in glory do not mention the time When the Messiah is spoken of as great and glorious, it is as the judge of the world and not its redeemer He is to be the victim for the sins of the world, Isaiah chapter 39, 53, etc. He is to be the precious cornerstone, Isaiah chapter 28, verse 16 He is to be a stone of stumbling and offense, Isaiah chapter 8 Jerusalem is to dash against this stone The builders are to reject this stone, Psalm 117, verse 22 God is to make this stone the chief cornerstone And this stone is to grow into a huge mountain and fill the whole earth, Daniel chapter 2 So he is to be rejected, despised, betrayed, Psalm 107, verse 8 Sold, Zechariah chapter 11, verse 12 Spit upon, buffeted, mocked, afflicted in innumerable ways Given gall to drink, Psalm 68 Pierced, Zechariah chapter 12 His feet and his hands pierced, slain, and lots cast for his raiment He will rise again, Psalm 15, the third day, Hosea chapter 6, verse 3 He will ascend to heaven to sit on the right hand, Psalm 110 The kings will arm themselves against him, Psalm 2 Being on the right hand of the Father, he will be victorious over his enemies The kings of the earth and all nations will worship him, Isaiah chapter 60 The Jews will continue as a nation, Jeremiah They will wander without kings, etc. Hosea chapter 3 Without prophets, Amos, looking for salvation and finding it not Isaiah Calling of the Gentiles by Jesus Christ, Isaiah chapter 52, verse 15 Chapter 55, verse 5 Chapter 60, etc. Psalm 81 Hosea chapter 1, verse 9 Ye are not my people, and I will not be your God, when ye are multiplied after the dispersion In the places where it was said ye are not my people, I will call them my people 728 It was not lawful to sacrifice outside of Jerusalem, which was the place that the Lord has chosen Nor even to eat the tithes elsewhere Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 5, etc. Chapter 14, verse 23, etc. Chapter 15, verse 20 Chapter 16, verses 2, 7, 11, and 15 Hosea foretold that they should be without a king, without a prince, without a sacrifice, and without an idol And this prophecy is now fulfilled, as they cannot make a lawful sacrifice out of Jerusalem 729 Predictions It was foretold that, in the time of the Messiah, he should come to establish a new covenant Which should make them forget the escape from Egypt Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 5, Isaiah chapter 43, verse 16 That he should place his law not in externals but in the heart That he should put his fear, which had only been from without, in the midst of the heart Who does not see the Christian law in all this? 730 That then idolatry would be overthrown, that this Messiah would cast down all idols, and bring men into the worship of the true God That the temples of the idols would be cast down, and that among all nations, and in all places of the earth, he would be offered a pure sacrifice, not of beasts That he would be king of the Jews and Gentiles And we see this king of the Jews and Gentiles oppressed by both, who conspire his death, and ruler of both, destroying the worship of Moses in Jerusalem Which was its center, where he made his first church, and also the worship of idols in Rome, the center of it, where he made his chief church 731 Prophecies that Jesus Christ will sit on the right hand, till God has subdued his enemies, therefore he will not subdue them himself 732 Then they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, saying, Here is the Lord, for God shall make himself known to all Your sons shall prophesy, I will put my spirit and my fear in your heart All that is the same thing, to prophesy is to speak of God, not from outward proofs, but from an inward and immediate feeling 733 That he would teach men the perfect way, and there has never come before him, nor after him, any man who has taught anything divine approaching to this 734 That Jesus Christ would be small in his beginning, and would then increase, the little stone of Daniel If I had in no wise heard of the Messiah, nevertheless after such wonderful predictions of the course of the world which I see fulfilled, I see that he is divine And if I knew that these same books foretold a Messiah, I should be sure that he would come, and seeing that they place his time before the destruction of the second temple, I should say that he had come 735 Prophecies That the Jews would reject Jesus Christ, and would be rejected of God for this reason, that the chosen vine brought forth only wild grapes That the chosen people would be faithless, ungrateful, and unbelieving Populum non credentem e contradicentem Footnote Isaiah 65 verse 2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, that walk in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts Romans 10 verse 21 But as to Israel he saith, all the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people End of footnote That God would strike them with blindness, and in full noon they would grope like the blind, and that a forerunner would go before him 736 Zechariah chapter 12 verse 10 That a deliverer should come who would crush the demon's head and free his people from their sins That there should be a new covenant which would be eternal That there should be another priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and that it should be eternal That the Christ should be glorious, mighty, strong, and yet so poor that he would not be recognized, nor taken for what he is, but rejected and slain That his people who denied him should no longer be his people That the idolaters should receive him, and take refuge in him That he should leave Zion to reign in the center of idolatry That nevertheless the Jews should continue forever That he should be of Judah, and when there should be no longer a king End of section 11 Section 12 of Pensez This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Derek McLaughlin, London, Ontario, Canada Latin language reading by Lenny, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Pensez by Blaise Pascal Translated by W. F. Trotter Section 12 Proofs of Jesus Christ 737 Therefore I reject all other religions. In that way I find an answer to all objections. It is right that a God so pure should only reveal himself to those whose hearts are purified. Hence this religion is lovable to me, and I find it now sufficiently justified by so divine a morality. But I find more in it. I find it convincing that, since the memory of man has lasted, it was constantly announced to men that they were universally corrupt, but that a redeemer should come. That it was not one man who said it, but innumerable men, and the whole nation expressly made for the purpose, and prophesying for 4,000 years. This is a nation which is more ancient than every other nation. Their books scattered abroad are 4,000 years old. The more I examine them the more truths I find in them. An entire nation foretell him before his advent, and an entire nation worship him after his advent. What has preceded and what has followed. In short, people without idols and kings, this synagogue which was foretold, and these wretches who frequented, and who, being our enemies, are admirable witnesses of the truth of these prophecies wherein their wretchedness and even their blindness are foretold. I find this succession, this religion, wholly divine in its authority, in its duration, in its perpetuity, in its morality, in its conduct, in its doctrine, in its effects. The frightful darkness of the Jews was foretold. Addis Falcans in Meridie. Davitur Libersky anti-literas, etiquette. Non possum legere. And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee, and he sayeth, I am not learned. End of footnote. While the scepter was still in the hands of the first foreign usurper, there is the report of the coming of Jesus Christ. So I hold out my arms to my redeemer, who, having been foretold for 4,000 years, has come to suffer and to die for me on earth, at the time and under all the circumstances foretold. By his grace I await death in peace, in the hope of being eternally united to him. Yet I live with joy, whether in the prosperity which pleases him to bestow upon me, or in the adversity which he sends for my good, and which he has taught me to bear by his example. 738. The prophecies having given different signs which should all happen at the advent of the Messiah, it was necessary that all these signs should occur at the same time. So it was necessary that the fourth monarchy should have come, when the seventy weeks of Daniel were ended, and that the scepter should have then departed from Judah. And all this happened without any difficulty. Then it was necessary that the Messiah should come, and Jesus Christ then came, who was called the Messiah. And all this again was without difficulty. This indeed shows the truth of the prophecies. 739. The prophets foretold, and were not foretold. The saints again were foretold, but did not foretell. Jesus Christ both foretold, and was foretold. 740. Jesus Christ, whom the two Testaments regard, the old as its hope, the new as its model, and both as their center. 741. The two oldest books in the world are those of Moses and Job, the one, a Jew, and the other a Gentile. Both of them look upon Jesus Christ as their common center and object, Moses in relating the promises of God to Abraham, Jacob, etc., and his prophecies, and Job, 742. etc., 743. Footnote, Job chapter 19 verses 23 to 25, O that my words were now written, O that they were inscribed in a book, that with an iron pen and lead they were graven in the rock for ever. But as for me I know that my Redeemer liveth, and at last he will stand up upon the earth. End of footnote. 742. The Gospel only speaks of the virginity of the Virgin up to the time of the birth of Jesus Christ. All with reference to Jesus Christ. 743. Proofs of Jesus Christ. Why was the book of Ruth preserved? Why the story of Tamar? 744. Pray that ye enter not into temptation. It is dangerous to be tempted, and people are tempted because they do not pray. Et tu conversus confirma fratres tuos? Footnote, Luke chapter 22 verse 32, but I made supplication for thee that thy faith fail not, and do thou when once thou hast turned to gain establish thy brethren. End of footnote. But before, Conversus yesus respexit petrum. Footnote, Luke chapter 22 verse 61, and the Lord turned and looked upon Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how that he said unto him, Before the cock crow this day thou shalt deny me thrice. End of footnote. St. Peter asks permission to strike Malchus, and strikes before hearing the answer. Jesus Christ replies afterwards. The word Galilee, which the Jewish mob pronounced as if by chance in accusing Jesus Christ before Pilate, afforded Pilate a reason for sending Jesus Christ to Herod, and thereby the mystery was accomplished, that he should be judged by Jews and Gentiles. Chance was apparently the cause of the accomplishment of the mystery. 745 Those who have a difficulty in believing seek a reason in the fact that the Jews do not believe. Were this so clear, say they, why did the Jews not believe? And they almost wished that they had believed, so as not to be kept back by the example of their refusal. But it is their very refusal that is the foundation of our faith. We should be much less disposed to the faith if they were on our side. We should then have a more ample pretext. The wonderful thing is to have made the Jews great lovers of the things foretold, and great enemies of their fulfillment. 746 The Jews were accustomed to great and striking miracles, and so having had the great miracles of the Red Sea and the land of Canaan as an epitome of the great deeds of their Messiah, they therefore looked for more striking miracles, of which those of Moses were only the patterns. 747 The carnal Jews and the heathen have their calamities, and Christians also. There is no redeemer for the heathen, for they do not so much as hope for one. There is no redeemer for the Jews, they hope for Him in vain. There is a redeemer only for Christians. 748 In the time of the Messiah the people divided themselves. The spiritual embraced the Messiah, and the Corsair-minded remained to serve as witnesses of Him. 749 If this was clearly foretold to the Jews, how did they not believe it, or why were they not destroyed for resisting a fact so clear? I reply, in the first place it was foretold both that they would not believe a thing so clear, and that they would not be destroyed. And nothing is more to the glory of the Messiah, for it was not enough that there should be prophets, their prophets must be kept above suspicion. Now, etc. 750 If the Jews had all been converted by Jesus Christ, we should have none but questionable witnesses. And if they had been entirely destroyed, we should have no witnesses at all. 751 What do the prophets say of Jesus Christ, that He will be clearly God? No, but that He is a God truly hidden, that He will be slighted, that none will think that it is He, that He will be a stone of stumbling upon which many will stumble, etc. Let people then reproach us no longer for want of clearness, since we make a profession of it. But it is said there are obscurities, and without that no one would have stumbled over Jesus Christ, and this is one of the formal pronouncements of the prophets. Exkaika Merciful, a beautiful soul, a sound mind, powerful. He prophesies and His wonder comes to pass. This is infinite. He had only to say that He was the Messiah, if He had been vain, for the prophecies are clearer about Him than about Jesus Christ. And the same with St. John. 753 Herod was believed to be the Messiah. He had taken away the scepter from Judah, but he was not of Judah. He was surprised to a considerable sect. Curse of the Greeks upon those who count three periods of time. In what way should the Messiah come, seeing that through Him the scepter was to be eternally in Judah, and at His coming the scepter was to be taken away from Judah? In order to effect that seeing they should not see, and hearing they should not understand, nothing could be better done. 754 Homo existens te deum facit Footnote, man existing makes thee God. End of footnote. Scriptum est, thee estis, et non portes solvis scriptura. Footnote, it is written, you are gods, and the scripture cannot be overthrown. End of footnote. Haik infirmitas non est ad witem, et est ad mortem. Footnote, this sickness is not unto life, and is unto death. End of footnote. Lazarus dormit, et de inde dixit. Lazarus mortus est. Footnote, John chapter 11, verses 11 and 14. These things spake he, and after this he sayeth unto them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go that I may awake him out of sleep. Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. End of footnote. 755 The apparent discrepancy of the gospels. 756 What can we have but reverence for a man who foretells plainly things which come to pass, and who declares his intention both to blind and to enlighten, and who intersperses obscurities among the clear things which come to pass? 757 The time of the first advent was foretold, the time of the second is not so, because the first was to be obscure and the second is to be brilliant, and so manifest that even his enemies will recognize it. But as he was first to come only in obscurity, and to be known only of those who search the scriptures, note in the text the thought is incomplete. End of note. 758 God, in order to cause the Messiah to be known by the good and not to be known by the wicked, made him to be foretold in this manner. If the manner of the Messiah had been clearly foretold, there would have been no obscurity, even for the wicked. If the time had been obscurely foretold, there would have been obscurity even for the good. For their goodness of heart would not have made them understand, for instance, that the closed mem signifies 600 years. But the time has been clearly foretold, and the manner in types. By this means the wicked, taking the promised blessings for material blessings, have fallen into error, in spite of the clear prediction of the time, and the good have not fallen into error. For the understanding of the promised blessings depends on the heart, which calls good, that which it loves, but the understanding of the promised time does not depend on the heart, and thus the clear prediction of the time and the obscure prediction of the blessings deceive the wicked alone. 759 The Jews or the Christians must be wicked. 760 The Jews reject him, but not all. The saints receive him, and not the carnal-minded. And so far as this from being against his glory, that it is the last touch which crowns it. For their argument, the only one found in all their writings, in the Talmud and in the rabbinical writings, amounts only to this, that Jesus Christ has not subdued the nations with sword in hand. 759 Footnote, Psalm 45, verse 3, gird thy sword upon thy thigh, Almighty One, thy glory and thy majesty, and a footnote. Is this all they have to say? Jesus Christ has been slain, say they. He has failed. He has not subdued the heathen with his might. He has not bestowed upon us their spoil. He does not give riches. Is this all they have to say? It is in this respect that he is lovable to me. I would not desire him whom they fancy. It is evident that it is only his life which has prevented them from accepting him. And through this rejection they are irreproachable witnesses. And what is more, they thereby accomplish the prophecies. By means of the fact that this people have not accepted him, this miracle here has happened. The prophecies were the only lasting miracles which could be wrought, but they were liable to be denied. 761 The Jews, in slaying him in order not to receive him as the Messiah, have given him the final proof of being the Messiah. And in continuing not to recognize him, they made themselves irreproachable witnesses. Both in slaying him and in continuing to deny him, they have fulfilled the prophecies. Isaiah 60 Psalm 71 762 What could the Jews, his enemies, do? If they receive him, they give proof of him by their reception, for then the guardians of the expectation of the Messiah receive him. If they reject him, they give proof of him by their rejection. 763 The Jews, in testing if he were God, have shown that he was man. 764 The Church has had as much difficulty in showing that Jesus Christ was man against those who denied it, as in showing that he was God, and the probabilities were equally great. 765 Source of contradictions A God humiliated even to the death on the cross, a Messiah triumphing over death by his own death. Two natures in Jesus Christ, two advance, two states of man's nature. 766 Types Savior Father Sacrificer Offering Food King Wise Lawgiver Afflicted Poor Having to create a people whom he must lead and nourish and bring into his land. Jesus Christ Offices He alone had to create a great people, elect, holy, and chosen, to lead, nourish, and bring it into the place of rest and holiness, to make it holy to God, to make it the temple of God, to reconcile it to and save it from the wrath of God, to free it from the slavery of sin which visibly reigns in man, to give laws to this people and engrave these laws on their heart, to offer himself to God for them, and sacrifice himself for them, to be a victim without blemish and himself the Sacrificer, having to offer himself, his body, and his blood, and yet to offer bread and wine to God. Ingredients Footnote Hebrews chapter 10 verse 5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world he saith Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not But a body didst thou prepare for me End of footnote Stone upon stone What preceded and what followed All the Jews exist still and are wanderers 767 Of all that is on earth he partakes only of the sorrows, not of the joys. He loves his neighbors, but his love does not confine itself within these bounds and overflows to his own enemies, and then to those of God. 768 Jesus Christ, typified by Joseph, the beloved of his father, sent by his father to see his brethren, etc., innocent, sold by his brethren for twenty pieces of silver, and thereby becoming their lord, their saviour, the saviour of strangers, and the saviour of the world, which had not been but for their plot to destroy him, their sale, and their rejection of him. In prison Joseph innocent between two criminals, Jesus Christ on the cross between two thieves. Joseph foretells freedom to the one and death to the other, from the same omens. Jesus Christ saves the elect and condemns the outcast for the same sins. Joseph foretells only. Jesus Christ acts. Joseph asks him who will be saved to remember him when he comes into his glory, and he whom Jesus Christ saves asks that he will remember him when he comes into his kingdom. 769 The conversion of the heathen was only reserved for the grace of the Messiah. The Jews have been so long in opposition to them that all that Solomon and the prophets said has been useless. Sages like Plato and Socrates have been able to persuade them. 770 After many persons had gone before, Jesus Christ at last came to say, Here am I, and this is the time. That which the prophets have said was to come in the fullness of time, I tell you my apostles will do. The Jews shall be cast out, Jerusalem shall be soon destroyed, and the heathen shall enter into the knowledge of God. My apostles shall do this after you have slain the heir of the vineyard. Then the apostles said to the Jews, You shall be accursed. Celsus laughed at it. And to the heathen, you shall enter into the knowledge of God. And this then came to pass. 771 Jesus Christ came to blind those who saw clearly, and to give sight to the blind, to heal the sick, and leave the healthy to die, to call to repentance, and to justify sinners, and to leave the righteous in their sins, to fill the needy, and leave the rich empty. 772 Holiness Ephundum spiritum meum Footnote, Joel 2 verse 28 And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. End of footnote. All nations were in unbelief and lust. The whole world now became fervent with love. Princes abandoned their pomp, maidens suffered martyrdom. Whence came this influence? The Messiah was calm. These were the effect and signs of His coming. 773 Destruction of the Jews and heathen by Jesus Christ. Omnes gentes venient et adorabunt eum. Footnote, Psalm 22 verse 2 Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but Thou answerest not, and in the night season, and am not silent. End of footnote. Parum est ut. Etc. Footnote, Isaiah chapter 49 verse 6 He says it is too small a thing for you to be my servant and the tribes of Jacob and to bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. End of footnote. Póstola ame. Footnote, Psalm 2 verse 8 Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. End of footnote. Adorabunt eum. Omnes reges. Footnote, Psalm 72 verse 11 Kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. End of footnote. Testes iniqui. Footnote, Psalm 35 verse 11 Ruthless witnesses come forward they question me on things I know nothing about. End of footnote. David maxillum per cutienti. Footnote, Lamentations chapter 3 verse 30 Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him and let him be filled with disgrace. End of footnote. The derunt fell in Escam. Footnote, Psalm 69 verse 21 They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. End of footnote. 774 Jesus Christ for all Moses for a nation. The Jews blessed in Abraham I will bless those that bless thee but all nations blessed in his seed. Arm est ut. Etc. Lumen ad revelationem gentium. Footnote, Luke chapter 2 verse 32 A light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. End of footnote. Non fae che taliter omni nationi. Footnote, Psalm 147 verse 20 He has done this for no other nation they do not know his laws praise the Lord. End of footnote. End of footnote. Said David in speaking of the law but in speaking of Jesus Christ we must say Fae che taliter omni nationi. Parum est ut. Etc. So it belongs to Jesus Christ to be universal. Even the church offers sacrifice only for the faithful. Jesus Christ offered that of the cross for all. 775 Heresy in always explaining omnis by all. And Heresy in not explaining it sometimes by all. Vivite ex hoc omnis. Footnote, Matthew chapter 26 verse 27 Then he took the cup gave thanks and offered it to them saying, drink from it all of you. End of footnote. The Huguenots are heretics in explaining it by all. Incuo omnis pecauerunt. Romans chapter 5 verse 12 Therefore just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin in this way death came to all men because all sinned. End of footnote. The Huguenots are heretics in accepting the children of true believers. We must then follow the fathers and tradition in order to know when to do so since there is heresy to be feared on both sides. 776 As fusilus grex. Footnote, Luke chapter 12 verse 32 Do not be afraid little flock for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. End of footnote. Timore etremore. Quid ergo. Netimeas modotimeas. Fear not provided you fear. But if you fear not then fear. Quimerecipit non merecipit sed eum quimemisit. Footnote. Matthew chapter 10 verse 40 He who receives you receives me. And he who receives me receives the one who sent me. End of footnote. Nemoschit nequifilius. Footnote. Matthew chapter 11 verse 27 All things have been committed to me by my father. No one knows the son except the father and no one knows the father except the son and those to whom the son chooses to reveal him. End of footnote. Footnote. Matthew chapter 17 verse 5 While he was still speaking a bright cloud enveloped them and a voice from the cloud said this is my son whom I love with him I am well pleased listen to him. End of footnote. St. John was to turn hearts of the fathers to the children Jesus Christ to plant division. There is no contradiction. 777 The effects Incomuni ad in particulari. Footnote. In general, in particular. End of footnote. The semi-pallagians air in saying of Incomuni what is true only in particulari and the Calvinists in saying in particulari what is true in Comuni in communion. 778 Omnis judaia regio et ierosolomitai universi et baptis abantur. Footnote. Mark chapter 1 verse 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him confessing their sins they were baptized by him in the Jordan river. End of footnote. Because of all the conditions of men who came there. They became children unto Abraham. 779 If men knew themselves God would heal and pardon them. Nekonvertantur et sanem eos et mitantur e ispecata. Footnote. Mark chapter 4 verse 12 so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving and ever hearing but never understanding otherwise they might turn and be forgiven. 780 Jesus Christ never condemned without hearing. To Judas Footnote. Matthew chapter 26 verse 50 Jesus replied, friend do what you came for end of footnote. To him that had not on the wedding garment the same. 781 The types of the completeness of the redemption as that the sun gives light to all is only completeness. But the types of exclusions as of the Jews elected to the exclusion of the Gentiles indicate exclusion. Jesus Christ the redeemer of all. Yes, for he has offered like a man who has ransomed all those who are willing to come to him. If any die on the way it is their misfortune, but so far as he was concerned he offered them redemption. That holds good in this example not our two persons, but not of Jesus Christ who does both these things. No, for Jesus Christ in the quality of redeemer is not perhaps master of all and thus in so far as it is in him he is the redeemer of all. When it is said that Jesus Christ did not die for all you take undue advantage of a fault in men who had once applied this exception to themselves and this is to favor despair instead of turning them from it for hope, for men thus accustom themselves to inward virtues by outward customs. 782 The victory over death. What is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul whosoever will save his soul shall lose it? I am not come to destroy the law but to fulfill. Lambs took not away the sins of the world, but I am the lamb to take away the sins. Moses gave you not the bread from heaven. Moses hath not led you out of captivity and made you truly free. 783 Then Jesus Christ comes to tell men that they have no other enemies but themselves, that it is their passions which keep them apart from God that he comes to destroy these and to give them his grace so as to make of them all one holy church and back into this church the heathen and Jews that he comes to destroy the idols of the former and the superstition of the latter. To this all men are opposed not only from the natural opposition of lust, but above all the kings of the earth, as had been foretold joined together to destroy this religion at its birth. 784 Footnote, Psalm 2 verses 1 and 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed one taken as a prophecy of Christ. End of footnote All that is great on earth is united together the learned, the wise, the kings the first, right the second, condemn the last, kill and notwithstanding all these oppositions these men, simple and weak, resist all these powers sedue even these kings these learned men and these sages and remove idolatry from all the earth and all this is done by the power which had foretold it. 784 Jesus Christ would not have the testimony of devils nor of those who were not called but of God and John the Baptist. 785 I consider Jesus Christ in all persons and in ourselves Jesus Christ as a father in his father Jesus Christ as a brother in his brethren Jesus Christ as poor in the poor Jesus Christ as rich in the rich Jesus Christ as doctor and priest in priests Jesus Christ as sovereign in princes, etc. For by his glory he is all that is great, being God and by his mortal life he is all that is poor and abject. Therefore he has taken this unhappy condition so that he could be in all persons and the model of all conditions. 786 Jesus Christ is an obscurity according to what the world calls obscurity such that historians writing only of important matters of states have hardly noticed him. 787 On the fact that neither Josephus nor Tacitus nor other historians have spoken of Jesus Christ so far is this from telling against Christianity that on the contrary it tells for it. For it is certain that Jesus Christ has existed, that his religion has made a great talk and that these persons were not ignorant of it. Thus it is plain that they purposely concealed it or that if they did speak of it their account has been suppressed or changed. 788 I have reserved me 7000. I love the worshipers unknown to the world of ordinary prophets. 789 As Jesus Christ remained unknown among men so his truth remains among common opinions without external difference. Thus the Eucharist among ordinary bread. 790 Jesus would not be slain without the forms of justice for it is far more ignominious to die by justice than by an unjust sedition. 791 The false justice of Pilate only served to make Jesus Christ suffer for he causes him to be scourged by his false justice and afterwards puts him to death. It would have been better to have put him to death at once. Thus it is with the falsely just they do good and evil works to please the world and to show that they are not altogether of Jesus Christ for they are ashamed of him and at last under great temptations and on great occasions they kill him. 792 What man ever had more renown? The whole Jewish people foretell him before his coming. The Gentile people worship him after his coming. The two people Gentile and Jewish regard him as their center. And yet what man enjoys this renown less. Of 33 years he lives 30 without appearing. For 3 years he passes as an impostor. The priests and chief people reject him. His friends and his nearest relatives despise him. Finally he dies, betrayed by one of his own disciples, denied by another and abandoned by all. What part then has he in this renown? Never had man so much renown, never had man more ignominy. All that renown has served only for us to render us capable of recognizing him, and he had none of it for himself. 793 The infinite distance between body and mind is a symbol of the infinitely more infinite distance between mind and charity, for charity is supernatural. All the glory of greatness has no luster for people who are in search of understanding. The greatness of clever men is invisible to kings, to the rich, to chiefs, and to all the worldly great. The greatness of wisdom, which is nothing if not is invisible to the carnal-minded and to the clever. These are three orders differing in kind. Great geniuses have their power, their glory, their greatness, their victory, their luster, and have no need of worldly greatness, with which they are not in keeping. They are seen not by the eye, but by the mind. This is sufficient. The saints have their power, their glory, their victory, their luster, and need no worldly or intellectual greatness with which they have no affinity, for these neither add anything to them nor take away anything from them. They are seen of God and the angels, at not of the body, nor of the curious mind. God is enough for them. Our comedies, apart from his rank, would have the same veneration. He fought no battles for the eyes to feast upon, but he has given his discoveries to all men. Oh, how brilliant he was to the mind. Jesus Christ, without riches and without any external exhibition of knowledge, is in his own order of holiness. He did not invent, he did not reign, but he was humble, patient, holy, holy to God, terrible to devils, without any sin. Oh, in what great pomp and in what wonderful splendor he has come to the eyes of the heart which perceive wisdom. It would have been useless for Archimedes to have acted the prince in his books on geometry, although he was a prince. It would have been useless for our Lord Jesus Christ to come like a king in order to shine forth in his kingdom of holiness, but he came there appropriately in the glory of his own order. It is most absurd to take offense at the lowliness of Jesus Christ, as if his lowliness were in the same order as the greatness which he came to manifest. If we consider this greatness in his life, in his passion, in his obscurity, in his death, in the choice of his disciples, in their desertion, in his secret resurrection, and the rest, we shall see it to be so immense that we shall have no reason for being offended at a lowliness which is not of that order. But there are some who can only admire worldly greatness, as though there were no intellectual greatness, and others who only admire intellectual greatness, as though there were not infinitely higher things in wisdom. All bodies, the firmament, the stars, the earth, and its kingdoms are not equal to the lowest mind, for mind knows all these and itself, and these bodies, nothing. All bodies together, and all minds together, and all their products are not equal to the least feeling of charity. This is of an order infinitely more exalted. From all bodies together we cannot obtain one little thought. This is impossible, and of another order. From all bodies and minds we cannot produce a feeling of true charity. This is impossible, and of another and supernatural order. 794 Why did Jesus Christ not come in a visible manner, instead of obtaining testimony of himself from preceding prophecies? Why did he cause himself to be foretold in types? 795 If Jesus Christ had only come to sanctify, all Scripture and all things would tend to that end, and it would be quite easy to convince unbelievers. If Jesus Christ had only come to blind, all his conduct would be confused, and we would have no means of convincing unbelievers. But, as he came in sanctificatione et in scandalum footnote Isaiah 8 verse 14, and he will be a sanctuary, but for both houses of Israel he will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare and a footnote. As Isaiah says, we cannot convince unbelievers, and they cannot convince us. But by this very fact we convince them, since we say that in his whole conduct there is no convincing proof on one side or the other. 796 Jesus Christ does not say that he is not of Nazareth in order to leave the wicked in their blindness, nor that he is not Joseph's son. 797 Proofs of Jesus Christ Jesus Christ said great things so simply that it seems as though he had not thought them great, and yet so clearly that we easily see what he thought of them. This clearness joined to this simplicity is wonderful. 798 The style of the gospel is admirable in so many ways and among the rest in hurling no invectives against the persecutors and enemies of Jesus Christ. For there is no such invective in any of the historians against Judas, Pilate or any of the Jews. If this moderation of the writers of the gospels had been assumed as well as many other traits of so beautiful a character, and they had only assumed it to attract notice, even if they had not dared to draw attention to it themselves, they would not have failed to secure friends, for who would have made such remarks to their advantage? But as they acted thus without pretense and from wholly disinterested motives, they did not point it out to anyone, and I believe that many such facts have not been noticed till now, which is evidence of the natural disinterestedness with which the thing has been done. 799 An artisan who speaks of wealth, a lawyer who speaks of war, of royalty, etc. But the rich man rightly speaks of wealth, a king speaks indifferently of a great gift he has just made, and God rightly speaks of God. 800 Who has taught the evangelists the quality of a perfectly heroic soul that they paint it so perfectly in Jesus Christ? Why do they make him weak in his agony? Do they not know how to paint a resolute death? Yes, for the same St. Luke paints the death of St. Stephen as braver than that of Jesus Christ. They make him therefore capable of fear before the necessity of dying has come, and then altogether brave. But when they make him so troubled it is when he afflicts himself, and when man afflicts him he is altogether strong. 801 Proof of Jesus Christ The supposition that the apostles is very absurd. Let us think it out. Let us imagine those twelve men assembled after the death of Jesus Christ plotting to say that he was risen. By this they attack all the powers. The heart of man is strangely inclined to fickleness, to change, to promises, to gain. However little any of them might have been led astray by all these attractions, nay more, by the fear of prisons, tortures, and death, let us follow up this thought. 802 The apostles were either deceived or deceivers. Either supposition has difficulties, for it is not possible to mistake a man raised from the dead. While Jesus Christ was with them he could sustain them. But after that, if he did not appear to them, who inspired them to act? End of section 12