this wonder? For there are two things which teachers should possess—the being worthy of confidence and the love of their disciples; and over and above these, that what they say should be well received, and the time in which they say it free from agitation and fear. But then everything was just the reverse. For neither did they appear to be worthy of confidence, and yet they were to detach those whom men, apparently thus worthy, had deceived. They were not loved, but even hated, and they drew men off from those things which they clung to, from habits of life, and from country, and from laws. Moreover, their injunctions were exceedingly hard, but those from which they took men were most pleasant. Many were the dangers and the deaths to be encountered both by them themselves and by those who listened to them; and with all this, the time itself was a time of great trouble, fruitful in wars, tumults, and agitation, so that if there had been no one of the things which we have enumerated, it alone might have upset everything. We may say, pertinently: _Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? who shall set forth all His praises?_ For if the friends of Moses did not listen to him when he spoke with miraculous signs simply because of bricks and clay, who was able to withdraw from an idle life men who day after day are killed and slaughtered, and are suffering intolerable evils? Who was able to make them prefer this insecure life of blood-shedding and death even to the other, the heralds of these tidings being of another race, and on all accounts most hostile? Let a man bring in, not to a race, or city, or people, but into one small household, one who is hated by everybody in it, and let him try hard through that person to withdraw men from those he loves, from father and wife and children, will he not be seen torn to pieces before he opens his mouth? And if he bring to the house contention and strife between husband and wife, will they not take and stone him before he again crosses the threshold? If besides he is contemptible, and yet enjoins disagreeable things, ordering luxurious men to practise an ascetic life; and with all this, if the combat be against men much more numerous and powerful than himself, is it not evident that he is wholly undone? And yet this very thing which it was impossible to do in one household is what Christ has done in the whole world, through precipice and fire, and chasm and rock, with earth and sea fighting against Him, by introducing the healers of the world. And if you wish to learn these things more accurately,—I mean famines, and plagues, and earthquakes, and other visitations,—go over the history of these things as it is contained in Josephus, and you will see it all most clearly. This is why He Himself said: _Be not disturbed, for all things must come about_; and _He who perseveres unto the end shall be saved_; and again, _This Gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world_.