19.  Many, my beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ.  The Father bears witness from heaven of His Son:  the Holy Ghost bears witness, descending bodily in likeness of a dove:  the Archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing good tidings to Mary:  the Virgin Mother of God ἡ θεοτόκος— Deipara.  Gibbon (Chap. xlvii. 34) says, “It is not easy to fix the invention of this word, which La Croze (Christianisme des Indes, tom. i. p. 16) ascribes to Eusebius of Cæsarea and the Arians.  The orthodox testimonies are produced by Cyril (of Alexandria) and Petavius (Dogmat. Theolog. tom. v. L. v. cap. 15, p. 254, &c.), but the veracity of the Saint is questionable, and the epithet of θεοτόκος so easily slides from the margin to the text of a Catholic ms.”  This passage is justly described as “Gibbon’s calumny” by Dr. Newman:  see his notes on the title θεοτόκος (Athan. c. Arian. Or. ii. cap. 12, n.; Or. iii. capp. 14, 29, 33).  The word is certainly used by Origen (Deut. xxii. 13, Lommatzch. Tom. x. p. 378):  “She that is already betrothed is called a wife, as also in the case of Joseph and the Theotokos.”  Cf. Archelaus (Disput. cum Mane, cap. xxxiv. “qui de Maria Dei Genetrice natus est”); Eusebius (de Vita Constantini, III. cap. 43:  “The pious Empress adorned with rare memorials the place of the travail of the Theotokos”).  For other examples see Suicer’s Thesaurus, θεοτόκος, Pearson, Creed, Art. iii. notes l, m, n, o, and Routh, Reliq. Sacr. ii. p. 332. bears witness:  the blessed place of the manger bears witness.  Egypt bears witness, which received the Lord while yet young in the body “Chrysostom describing the flourishing state of the Church in Egypt in those times, says:  ‘Egypt welcomes and saves Him when a fugitive and plotted against, and receives a beginning as it were of its appropriation to Him, in order that when it shall hear Him proclaimed by the Apostles, it may in their day also be honoured as having been first to welcome Him’” (Cleopas).:  Symeon bears witness, who received Him in his arms, and said, Now, Lord, lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people Luke ii. 29, 30..  Anna also, the prophetess, a most devout widow, of austere life, bears witness of Him.  John the Baptist bears witness, the greatest among the Prophets, and leader of the New Covenant, who in a manner united both Covenants in Himself, the Old and the New.  Jordan is His witness among rivers; the sea of Tiberias among seas:  blind and lame bear witness, and dead men raised to life, and devils saying, What have we to do with Thee, Jesus? we know Thee, who Thou art, the Holy One of God Mark i. 24..  Winds bear witness, silenced at His bidding:  five loaves multiplied into five thousand bear Him witness.  The holy wood of the Cross bears witness, seen among us to this day, and from this place now almost filling the whole world, by means of those who in faith take portions from it See Cat. iv. 10, note 7..  The palm-tree The Bordeaux Pilgrim, who visited the Holy Places of Jerusalem, a.d. 333, c. speaks of this palm-tree as still existing.  The longevity of the palm was proverbial:  cf. Aristot. (De Longitudine Vitæ, c. iv. 2). on the ravine bears witness, having supplied the palm-branches to the children who then hailed Him.  Gethsemane The same Pilgrim (as quoted by the Benedictine Editor) says, “There is also the rock where Judas Iscariot betrayed Christ.”  Compare Cat. xiii. 38. bears witness, still to the thoughtful almost shewing Judas.  Golgotha See Index, Golgotha., the holy hill standing above us here, bears witness to our sight:  the Holy Sepulchre bears witness, and the stone which lies there See the passage of the Introduction referred to in Index, Sepulchre. to this day.  The sun now shining is His witness, which then at the time of His saving Passion was eclipsed See Cat. ii. 15, note 8, and xiii. 25, 34, 38.  On the supernatural character of the darkness mentioned in the Gospels see Meyer, Commentary, Matt. xxvii. 45.  An eclipse of the sun was of course impossible, as the moon was full.  Mr. J. R. Hind (Historical Eclipses, “Times,” 19th July, 1872) states that the solar eclipse, mentioned by Phlegon the freedman of Hadrian, which occurred on Nov. 24, a.d. 29, and was partial at Jerusalem, is “the only solar eclipse that could have been visible at Jerusalem during the period usually fixed for the ministry of Christ.”  He adds, “The Moon was eclipsed on the generally received date of the Crucifixion, 3 April, a.d. 33.  I find she had emerged from the earth’s dark shadow a quarter of an hour before she rose at Jerusalem (6:36 p.m.), but the penumbra continued upon her disc for an hour afterwards.”  Thus the “darkness from the sixth hour unto the ninth” cannot be explained as the natural effect of an eclipse either solar or lunar.:  the darkness is His witness, which was then from the sixth hour to the ninth:  the light bears witness, which shone forth from the ninth hour until evening.  The Mount of Olives bears witness, that holy mount from which He ascended to the Father:  the rain-bearing clouds are His witnesses, having received their Lord:  yea, and the gates of heaven bear witness [having received their Lord This clause is omitted in Codd. Mon. 1, 2, Roe, Casaub., and is probably repeated from the preceding line:  such repetitions, however, are not uncommon in Cyril’s style.], concerning which the Psalmist said, Lift up your doors, O ye Princes, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in Ps. xxiv. 7.  The first clause is mistranslated by the LXX. from whom Cyril quotes..  His former enemies bear witness, of whom the blessed Paul is one, having been a little while His enemy, but for a long time His servant:  the Twelve Apostles are His witnesses, having preached the truth not only in words, but also by their own torments and deaths:  the shadow of Peter Acts v. 15. bears witness, having healed the sick in the name of Christ.  The handkerchiefs and aprons bear witness, as in like manner by Christ’s power they wrought cures of old through Paul Ib. xix. 12..  Persians The persecution of the Christians in Persia by Sapor II. is described at length by Sozomen (E.H. II. cc. ix.–xv., in this Series).  It commenced in a.d. 343, and was going on at the date of these Lectures and long after.  “During fifty years the Cross lay prostrate in blood and ashes” (Dict. Bib. ‘Sassanidæ’).  Compare Neander, Church History, Tom. III. p 148, Bohn.) and Goths The Goths here mentioned are the Gothi minores dwelling on the north of the Danube, where Ulfilas, “the Apostle of the Goths” (311–381), converted many of his countrymen to Christianity.  After suffering severe persecution, he was allowed by the Constantius to take refuge with his Arian converts in Mœsia and Thrace.  This migration took place in 348 a.d., the same year in which Cyril’s Lectures were delivered., and all the Gentile converts bear witness, by dying for His sake, whom they never saw with eyes of flesh:  the devils, who to this day See Index, Exorcism. are driven out by the faithful, bear witness to Him.