"Every Jew acknowledges as truth that there will be a new law," said the Jews, "but the time has not yet come for the Anointed One to appear.

"What are you waiting for?" answered Constantine. - Has not the power of your kingdom and principality, which, according to the prophecy of the forefather Jacob, should exist only until the coming of Christ the Messiah, ceased, has not Jerusalem been destroyed, have not the sacrifices been rejected, has not the glory of the Lord been transferred from you to the Gentiles, as the prophet Malachi clearly prophesied, saying: "I have no favor with you, saith the Lord Almighty, neither will I accept sacrifices from your hands? For in the east of the sun and unto the west my name shall be great, and in every place they shall offer incense to my name, a pure sacrifice; great shall be my name among the nations, saith the Lord Almighty" (Mal. 1:1011).

"We understand this passage," the Jews answered, "that the Gentiles will be blessed through us, as we, the seed of Abraham, are blessed, will be circumcised in the city of Jerusalem.

"Through Whom the seed of Abraham is blessed," answered Constantine, "through Him also we, namely through the Messiah, who came from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesse, and David. For God said to Abraham: "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 12:3), and to Isaac: "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed" (Gen. 26:4), and the same to Jacob (Gen. 28:14); And David says, "In him the nations shall be blessed; all nations delight him" (Psalm 71:17). And that the Messiah had to come both for the sake of the tribe of Abraham and for the salvation of the Gentiles, Jacob, blessing Judah, once said thus: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the lawgiver from his loins, until the Mediator comes, and to him the obedience of the nations" (Gen. 49:10). And the prophet Zechariah, announcing to the daughter of Zion, Jerusalem, the coming of the meek King, sitting on the donkey and the colt, says: "Then will I destroy the chariots of Ephraim, and the horses of Jerusalem, and the bow of war shall be broken, and he shall proclaim peace to the nations" (Zech. 9:10). You see, not only for the sake of you, Jews, but also for the sake of the Gentiles, the Messiah had to come. It seems to me that He came more for the sake of the Gentiles than for your sake, for you did not receive Him, but the Gentiles received Him, you killed Him, but the Gentiles believed in Him, you rejected Him, and the Gentiles loved Him; therefore he also rejected you, but called the Gentiles, and is glorified in them. And that the truly awaited Messiah has already come, you can be convinced of this through the holy prophet Daniel [39]. To this prophet in Babylon, in the first year of the reign of Darius, the angel of the Lord Gabriel appeared and from that time until the coming of the Messiah into the world appointed 7 weeks. Each week contains 70 years, and all 490 years. So does your Talmud. How long have these years passed? If you look at it, you will find that more than 800 years have passed since the weeks spoken to Daniel were fulfilled (Dan. 2).

"I will ask you also," said Constantine, "what do you think was the kingdom of iron, of which Daniel spoke to Nebuchadnezzar when he explained to him the dream of the great image?"

"The iron kingdom meant the Roman kingdom," the Jews answered.

"And who," the philosopher asked, "does the stone mean that was torn from the mountain without human hands and crushed this image?"

"The stone signifies the Messiah," replied the Jews, and added, "if according to the prophets and other events, as you say, the Messiah has already come, then why does the Roman kingdom still have power?"

"No," answered the philosopher, "he no longer holds power, but has passed by, like other kingdoms. Our kingdom is not Roman, but Christ's, as the prophet said: "God will build a kingdom of heaven, which will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be handed over to another people; it shall crush and destroy all kingdoms, and shall stand for ever" (Dan. 2:44). Is this not a Christian kingdom, so called after the name of Christ? The Romans served idols, but these Christians, consisting partly of this people, partly of other tribes and peoples, reign in the name of Christ, as the prophet Isaiah describes it, saying: "Leave your name to My chosen ones to be cursed; but the Lord will kill you, and He will call His servants by another name, with which whoever blesses himself on earth will swear by the true God" (Isaiah 65:1516). Have not all the prophecies spoken about Christ been fulfilled? Isaiah foretold His birth from a Virgin, saying: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14). And the holy prophet Micah says about his birth in Bethlehem: "And you, Bethlehem, the house of Ephrathah, are you small among the thousands of Judah? From thee shall come forth unto me One who is to be ruler in Israel, and whose origin is from the beginning, from everlasting days. Therefore He will leave them until the time when she who has to give birth shall give birth" (Micah 5:23).

"We," said the Jews, "are the blessed descendants of Shem, who received a blessing from his father, Noah. You have not received a blessing.

"Noah's blessing of Shem has nothing to do with you," said Constantine, "but is only the glorification of God, for Noah said: 'Blessed be the Lord God of Shem' (Gen. 9:26). Here the Lord God is blessed by the mouth of Noah for the sake of the virtuous Shem and nothing more. And to Japheth, from whom we are descended, Noah said, Let God spread Japheth; and let him dwell in the dwellings of Shem" (Gen. 9:27). You yourselves can see how Christianity is spread by the grace of God, and how you are losing more and more significance. Even where you once dwelt, there the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is now blessed and glorified by Christians.

"Behold, you," said the Jews, "trusting in man, think to be blessed, while the books curse such people."

To this, the philosopher asked the Jews the following question:

"Cursed or blessed is David?"