1

First of all, he was chosen by lot as an apostle, instead of the traitor Judas, Matter, who, as it is said, was a disciple of the Lord. Through prayer and with the laying on of hands, seven tried men were ordained by the Apostles to serve the community, among them Stephen; he was the first after the Lord, immediately after his consecration - as if he had been chosen for this - to be stoned by the murderers of the Lord. He was the first of the victorious martyrs of Christ to receive a crown – his name has precisely this meaning. (2) At the same time James, who is called the brother of the Lord (for he was called the son of Joseph; the father of Christ was the same Joseph to whom the Virgin was betrothed, and before they were united, she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit, as the holy Gospel teaches us), this same James, who in ancient times was given the nickname "The Righteous" because of his exceptional virtue, the first, as they say, received the episcopal throne in the Church of Jerusalem. Clement, in the sixth book of his Essays, asserts this, and writes thus: "Peter, James, and John, though they were especially honoured by the Saviour, yet after the Ascension of the Saviour, did not dispute this honour with one another, but chose James the Righteous bishop of Jerusalem." (4) In the 7th book of the same work he says of him the following: "To James the Righteous, to John and Peter, after the Resurrection, the Lord imparted knowledge, and they handed it down to the rest of the apostles, and the rest of the apostles of the seventy, one of whom was Barnabas." (5) And there were two Jacobs: one, the "Righteous One," was thrown from the roof and beaten to death with a felter's rolling pin, and the other was beheaded." This "Righteous One" is also mentioned by Paul: "Of the apostles I saw none but James, the brother of the Lord."

6 At the same time the promise of our Saviour, which he had made to the king of Osroene, was fulfilled. Thomas, by the inspiration of God, sent Thaddeus to Edessa to preach and proclaim the Gospel of Christ, as I said a little above on the basis of the manuscript found there. 7 Thaddeus, having arrived at the place, healed Abgarus with the word of Christ, and struck all the people there with amazing miracles. Having sufficiently prepared them by his works, and having brought them to reverence for the power of Christ, he began to teach them the saving faith. And to this day, since then, the whole of Edessa has been sanctified in the name of Christ; it convincingly testifies to the mercies of our Saviour to her.

8 This is borrowed from ancient legends. Let us now turn to the Holy Scriptures. After the martyrdom of Stephen, the Jews raised the first great persecution against the Church of Jerusalem, and all the disciples, except the twelve, scattered throughout Judea and Samaria; some, as the Holy Scriptures say, reached as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but were not able to dare to preach the Word to the Gentiles, and proclaimed it only to the Jews.

(9) At the same time Paul was ravaging the Church; broke into the homes of the faithful and dragged men and women to prison. 10 Philip, one of those who had been ordained deacon with Stephen, left Jerusalem with the others and came to Samaria. being filled with the power of God, he was the first to preach the Word to the inhabitants there. He was assisted by such a great grace of God that he carried away with his words even Simon the Sorcerer and many with him. 11 Simon at this time had become so famous, and had so taken possession of the people who had been deceived by his charms, that he was considered a great power of God. At the same time, struck by the miracles that Philip performed by the power of God, he gained his trust and pretended that he believed in Christ so much that he was ready to be baptized. 12 The conduct of the present followers of his most abominable heresy is also surprising; following the example of their ancestor, they invade the Church and, like the plague and scabies, inflict grave harm on people if they succeed in unleashing their secret, destructive poison into them. However, many of them, convicted of their abomination, were expelled, just as Simon, caught by Peter in deed, suffered the punishment he deserved.

(13) The preaching of salvation increased day by day. Divine Providence brought from Ethiopia a courtier of the local queen - according to the custom of their ancestors, this people are still ruled by women; he, the first of the Gentiles, was joined by Philip by revelation to the mysteries of the Word; and he became the first believer (Ethiopian) in the universe. There is a legend that, having returned to his homeland, he taught in the gospel the knowledge of God Almighty and told about the life-giving sojourn of our Savior on earth. In fact, the prophecy was fulfilled: "Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God."

(14) At the same time, Paul, the chosen vessel, was declared an apostle, not by men or by men, but by revelation of Jesus Christ Himself and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. He was honored with this title because of a vision and a voice from heaven that accompanied the revelation.

2

The wondrous Resurrection of our Savior and His Ascension were already known to many. According to an ancient custom,

The regional governors had to inform the person vested with supreme power about all local news, so that nothing escaped the imperial eye. Pilate reported to the emperor Tiberius that throughout all Palestine there was a rumor about the Resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus, that he knew of His other miracles, and that in Him, Who had risen from the dead, many had already believed as God. 2 Tiberius, it is said, reported this to the senate, but the senate rejected the news, on the pretext that it had not previously examined it: according to an ancient law, no one could be recognized as a god among the Romans except by vote and decree of the senate. In reality, however, the salvific teaching of Divine preaching did not need human approval and protection. Although the Roman senate rejected the news of our Saviour, 3 Tiberius retained his former opinion and did not plot anything incongruous against Christ's teaching.

4 Tertullian, an excellent scholar of Roman law, and a man of renown in general, and one of the most illustrious, in his Apology of the Christians, written in Latin and translated into Greek, says verbatim thus:

5 "Let us speak of the origin of such laws. According to an ancient decree, the emperor could not recognize any god as such without prior consideration by the Senate. Marcus Aemilius did this with a certain idol Alvurnus. That your divine dignity is granted by human decision is in our favor. If a man does not like a god, he will not become a god; It turns out that a person should be merciful to God. 6 When news of this doctrine came to Tiberius, under whom the name of the Christians had entered the world, came to him from Palestine (Palestine was his birthplace), he communicated it to the senate, making it clear that he liked it. The Senate, however, rejected it as not having been considered beforehand. Tiberius remained unconvinced and threatened with death those who denounced Christians."

Heavenly Providence planted this thought in him with a special purpose, so that the word of the Gospel would first pass unhindered throughout the whole earth.

3