1. Archelaus said to Manes:
Give us a statement now of the doctrines you
promulgate.—Thereupon the man, whose mouth was like an open
sepulchre,
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began at once
with a word of blasphemy against the Maker of all things, saying:
The God of the Old Testament is the inventor of evil, who speaks thus
of Himself: “I am a consuming fire.”
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—But the
sagacious Archelaus completely undid this blasphemy. For he
said: If the God of the Old Testament, according to your
allegation, calls Himself a fire, whose son is He who says, “I am
come to send fire upon the earth?”
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If you find fault with one who says,
“The Lord killeth and maketh alive,”
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why do you honour Peter, who raised Tabitha
to life,
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but also put
Sapphira to death?
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And if again, you find fault with
the one because He has prepared a fire,
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why do you not find fault with the
other, who says, “Depart from me into everlasting
fire?”
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If you
find fault with Him who says, “I, God, make peace, and create
evil,”
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explain to us how
Jesus says, “I came not to send peace, but a
sword.”
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Since both
persons speak in the same terms, one or other of these two things must
follow: namely, either they are both good
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because they use the same language; or,
if Jesus passes without censure though He speaks in such terms, you
must tell us why you reprehend Him who employs a similar mode of
address in the Old Testament.
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Ps. v. 9
.
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Deut. iv. 24
.
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Luke xii. 49
.
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1 Sam. ii. 6
.
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Acts ix. 40
.
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Acts v. 10
.
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Deut. xxxii. 22
.
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Matt. xxv. 41
.
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Isa. xlv. 7
.
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Matt. x. 34
. Various of the
mss.
add,
ἐπὶ
τὴν γῆν
, upon the earth.
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The
text gives
καλοί
. Routh seems to
prefer
κακοί
, evil.