3. And that Paul consented to the demand of those who had summoned him to the Apostles on a matter, and came to them in Jerusalem with Barnabas, not without reason, but that the freedom of the Gentiles might be confirmed by them, he himself speaks of this in his Epistle to the Galatians: Then after fourteen years I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus with me. And I walked according to the revelation and communicated to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles (Gal. 2:1-2). And again he says: "We yielded for an hour, and submitted, that the truth of the gospel might be preserved among you" (Gal. 2:5).50 Therefore, if anyone, on the basis of the Acts of the Apostles, carefully examines the time of which it is written that he came to Jerusalem on the above-mentioned matter, he will find that the years indicated by Paul coincide with it. Thus, Paul's indication agrees and seems to be identical with Luke's testimony about the Apostles.

Chapter XIV: Of Luke, Paul's Companion, and of the Peculiarities of the Gospel History, Which Are Known Only through Him

1. And that Luke was Paul's inseparable companion and co-worker in the preaching of the gospel, he himself declares this, not boasting, but being impelled by the truth itself. For, he says, when Barnabas and John, called Mark, separated from Paul and sailed to Cyprus, we came to Troas (Acts 16:8ff.); and when Paul saw in a dream a man from Macedonia, saying, "Come to Macedonia and help us," he said, "we immediately decided to go to Macedonia, understanding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them. And then he carefully shows the rest of his journey to Philippi, and how they spoke the first speech: "Sitting down," he says, "we talked with the women who were gathered together" (Acts 16:13), and who believed, and how many. And again he says, "And after the days of unleavened bread we sailed from Philippi, and arrived at Troas, where we tarried seven days" (Acts 20:5, 6). And all the rest of the particulars (of his journey) with Paul he relates in order, with all care indicating the places, cities, and the number of days before they came to Jerusalem, and what happened to Paul there, how he was bound to Rome, the name of the centurion who received him, and the names of the ships, and how they were shipwrecked, and on what island they were saved, how they were received philanthropically, and Paul helped the governor of this island, how from here they sailed to Puteoli and then arrived in Rome, and how long they stayed in Rome (Acts 21:27; 28). Being present at all this, Luke carefully described it in such a way that he could not be convicted of falsehood or arrogance, because all these (details) prove that he was older than all those who now teach otherwise, and knew the truth. That he was not only a companion, but also a co-worker of the Apostles, and especially of Paul, Paul himself declared this in the Epistles, saying: Demas left me and went to Thessalonica, Crescentius to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke alone with me (2 Tim. 4:10:11), and thus shows that he was always with him and was not separated. And again in the Epistle to the Colossians he says: "Luke, the beloved physician, greets you" (Col. 4:14). But if Luke, who always preached with Paul, was called "beloved" by him, preached the gospel with him, and was commissioned by him to deliver the gospel to us, was taught nothing else from him, as is evident from his words, how can these men, who were never with Paul, boast that they had been taught the hidden and ineffable mysteries?

2. And that Paul simply taught what he knew, not only those who were with him, but also all those who heard him, this he himself shows. For when the bishops and elders, who had come from Ephesus and other nearby cities, gathered together in Miletus, because he was hastening to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, he testified to them of many things, and spoke of what was to happen to him in Jerusalem, and added, "I know that you will see my face no more; therefore I testify to you this day that I am clean from the blood of all. For I have not failed to declare to you all the will of God. Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops to govern the church of the Lord,51 which he purchased for himself with his own blood (Acts 20:25-28). Then, pointing to the evil teachers who were to appear, he said: "I know that after my departure grievous wolves will come to you, not sparing the flock. And men will arise from among yourselves, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. "I have not failed," he said, "to declare to you all the counsel of God" (Acts 20:29, 30). In this way, the Apostles simply and without looking at anyone taught everyone what they had been taught by the Lord. In the same way, Luke, in spite of no one, handed down to us what he had learned from them, as he himself testifies, saying: "As those who were eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word from the beginning handed down to us" (Luke 1:2).

3. But if anyone removes Luke on the pretext that he did not know the truth, he will clearly reject the Gospel, of which he presents himself as a disciple. For through him we know very many things that are necessary in the Gospel, such as: the birth of John, the story of Zechariah, the coming of the angel to Mary, the proclamation of Elizabeth, the descent of the angels to the shepherds and the words they spoke, the testimony of Anna and Simeon concerning Christ, the fact that he remained in Jerusalem at the age of twelve, the baptism of John, of the number of years of the Lord when he was baptized, and that it was in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar; and in his teaching – about what was said to the rich: "Woe to you, you rich! for you have received your consolation. And, Woe to you, you who are full, for you will hunger; and those who laugh now, for ye shall weep. Woe unto you; when all men shall speak well of you, for so did your fathers also with false prophets (Luke 6:24-26). Through Luke alone we learned about all such circumstances – about many of the Lord's actions we learned from him, such as the multitude of fish caught by Peter's companions when they cast their nets at the Lord's command (Luke 5), about the woman who suffered for eighteen years and was healed on the Sabbath day (Luke 12), and about the man who was healed by the Lord's command. suffering from water sickness, whom the Lord healed on the Sabbath, and how He defended Himself about healing on that day; how He taught His disciples not to covet the first places, and that we should call the poor and weak, who cannot reward us; about a man who knocked at night to borrow loaves of bread and received them out of urgency of his need (Luke 11); about how during His reclining at the Pharisee's, the sinful woman kissed His feet and anointed Him with myrrh, and that in her favor the Lord said to Simon about the two debtors (Luke 7), also about the parable of the rich man who gathered all his harvest, and to whom it was said: "This night they will take your soul from you; but who shall receive what thou hast prepared (Luke 12:20), and of that the richer; who clothed himself in purple and feasted magnificently, and for the beggar Lazarus (Luke 16); about the answer that He gave to His disciples, when they said to Him: "Increase faith in us" (Luke 17:5); about His conversation with Zacchaeus the publican? (Luke 19), about the Pharisee and the publican, who prayed together in the temple (Luke 18), about the ten lepers whom He healed together on the way (Luke 17); about how He commanded the lame and blind to gather for marriage from the streets and alleys (Luke 18), and about the parable of the judge who did not fear God, whom the widow's persistence forced to protect her (Luke 13), and about the fig tree in the vineyard that did not bear fruit. And many other things can be found, which are said only by Luke, and which are used by both Marcion and Valentinus. And in addition to all this, he tells about what (the Lord), after the Resurrection, spoke to His disciples on the way, and how they recognized Him in the breaking of bread (Luke 24).

4. Therefore they (heretics) must necessarily accept all the rest that is said to them (Luke), or must reject this also. For no one who makes sense will allow them to accept some of what Luke said as true, and reject something, as if he did not know the truth. And if Marcion's followers do reject it, then they will have no gospel left; but they, abridged the Gospel of Luke, as I said before,52 boast that they have the Gospel. The followers of Valentinus must cease their extreme idle talk, for they have borrowed from this (the Gospel) many reasons for their subtle speculations, daring to interpret it badly; that they were well told. And on the other hand, if they are forced to accept the rest (parts of the Gospels), then, delving into the perfect Gospel and the teaching of the Apostles, they must repent in order that they may be saved from perdition.

Chapter XV: A Refutation of Those Who Demean the Apostle Paul

1. We imagine the same against those53 who do not recognize the Apostle Paul: they must either renounce the other words of the Gospel, which have become known to us through Luke alone, and not use them; or if everyone accepts this, they must necessarily accept the testimony about Paul, when he (Luke) says that the Lord first said to him from heaven: Saul, Saul, why persecute me? I am Jesus Christ, Whom thou persecutest (Acts 22:8; 26:15)," then Ananias said of him: "Go, for he is the vessel which I have chosen, to declare my name among the nations, and kings, and the children of Israel. And I will show him from this time how much he must suffer for My name's sake (Acts 9:15:16). Wherefore those who do not acknowledge him, who was chosen by God to boldly proclaim his name, because he was sent to the aforesaid nations, despise the election of God, and excommunicate themselves from communion with the apostles. For they can neither prove that Paul is not an apostle, when he was chosen to do so, nor can they prove that Luke is a liar, whereas he thoroughly declares the truth to us. Perhaps this is why God did the fact that Luke presented very many Gospel truths, which must be used by all, so that all, following his subsequent testimony about the deeds and teachings of the apostles and having an intact rule of truth, could be saved. Therefore his testimony is true, and the teaching of the Apostles is clear and firm, and conceals nothing, because they did not teach some things in secret, and some things openly.

2. Such subterfuges are characteristic of false teachers, evil seducers, and hypocrites, as do the followers of Valentinus. These people speak to the crowd for the sake of those who belong to the Church, whom they themselves call catholics54 and ecclesiastical, and by their speeches they carry away the simpler and deceive them; imitating our way of speech, so that they may be listened to more often; and then they reproach us for the fact that, while they think like us, we withdraw from communion with them without reason, and while they say the same thing and contain the same doctrine, we call them heretics; and when, by means of their speculations, they turn someone away from the faith and make them their unquestioning listeners, they separately expound to them the ineffable mystery of their Pleroma. But all are deceived who imagine that they are able to distinguish from the truth that which is true in words. For error is alluring and believable and needs embellishment, but truth is unadorned and therefore entrusted to children. But if any of their hearers demands an explanation or contradicts them, they say that he is incapable of receiving the truth and has no seed from above from their Mother, and they say nothing to him at all, calling him belonging to the middle regions, that is, to the beings of the soul. And if someone gives himself up to them like a sheep and follows their course of action and their "redemption," then he becomes haughty and thinks that he is neither in heaven nor on earth, but has entered the Plyroma itself, and already, united with his angel, walks vaingloriously and haughtily like a rooster. Among them there are those who say that a person who comes from above should adhere to good behavior; therefore, they try to seem important in appearance. Very many, having become despised as if they were already perfect, and living without any respect and with contempt (for everything), call themselves spiritual and say that they already know the place of coolness that is inside the Plyroma.

3. But let us return to the previous reasoning. When it is clearly shown that the former preachers of the truth and the apostles of liberty called no one else God or called them Lord, except only the true God the Father and the yoke of the Word. ruling in all things, then it should be clear that they confessed to be Lord God the Creator of heaven and earth, Who spoke to Moses and gave him the code of the law, Who called the fathers, and knew no one else. Thus, the teaching of both the Apostles and their disciples55 concerning God became evident from their words.