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The Pagan
Historian Ammianus Marcellinus
(A.D. c.330 - 395)
"Res Gestae," Book XXIII
He [Julian the
Apostate] planned at vast cost to restore the once splendid Temple at
Jerusalem, which after many mortal combats during the siege by
Vespasian and later by Titus had barely been stormed. He had entrusted
the speedy performance of this work to Alypius of Antioch... But though
this Alypius pushed the work on with vigor, aided by the governor of
the province, terrible balls of fire kept bursting forth near the
foundations of the Temple and made the place inaccessible to the
workmen, some of whom were burned to death; and since in this way the
element persistently repelled them, the enterprise halted.
Socrates
Scholasticus (ca. A.D. 379-450)
"Ecclesiastical History"
Book III, Chapter XX
The emperor
[Julian the Apostate] in another attempt to molest the Christians
exposed his superstition. Being fond of sacrificing, he not only
himself delighted in the blood of victims, but considered it an
indignity offered to him, if others did not do likewise. And as he
found but few persons of this stamp, he sent for the Jews and enquired
of them why they abstained from sacrificing, since the law of Moses
enjoined it? On their replying that it was not permitted them to do
this in any other place than Jerusalem, he immediately ordered them to
rebuild Solomon's temple. Meanwhile he himself proceeded on his
expedition against the Persians. The Jews who had been long desirous of
obtaining a favorable opportunity for rearing their temple afresh in
order that they might therein offer sacrifice, applied themselves very
vigorously to the work. Moreover, they conducted themselves with great
insolence toward the Christians, and threatened to do them as much
mischief, as they had themselves suffered from the Romans. The emperor
having ordered that the expenses of this structure should be defrayed
out of the public treasury, all things were soon provided, such as
timber and stone, burnt brick, clay, lime, and all other materials.
necessary for building. On this occasion Cyril bishop of Jerusalem,
called to mind the prophecy of Daniel, which Christ also in the holy
gospels has confirmed, and predicted in the presence of many persons,
that the time had indeed come 'in which one stone should not be left
upon another in that temple,' but that the Saviour's prophetic
declaration should have its full accomplishment. Such were the bishop's
words: and on the night following, a mighty earthquake tore up the
stones of the old foundations of the temple and dispersed them all
together with the adjacent edifices. Terror consequently possessed the
Jews on account of the event; and the report of it brought many to the
spot who resided at a great distance: when therefore a vast multitude
was assembled, another prodigy took place. Fire came down from heaven
and consumed all the builders' tools: so that the flames were seen
preying upon mallets, irons to smooth and polish stones, saws,
hatchets, adzes, in short all the various implements which the workmen
had procured as necessary for the undertaking; and the fire continued
burning among these for a whole day. The Jews indeed were in the
greatest possible alarm, and unwillingly confessed Christ, calling him
God: yet they did not do his will; but influenced by inveterate
prepossessions they still clung to Judaism. Even a third miracle which
afterwards happened failed to lead them to a belief of the truth. For
the next night luminous impressions of a cross appeared imprinted on
their garments, which at daybreak they in vain attempted to rub or wash
out. They were therefore 'blinded' as the apostle says, and cast away
the good which they had in their hands: and thus was the temple,
instead of being rebuilt, at that time wholly overthrown.
Sozomen (ca.
A.D.375-447)
"Ecclesiastical History"
Book V, Chapter XXII
Though the
emperor [Julian the Apostate] hated and opressed the Christians, he
manifested benevolence and humanity towards the Jews. He wrote to the
Jewish patriarchs and leaders, as well as to the people, requesting
them to pray for him, and for the prosperity of the empire. In taking
this step he was not actuated, I am convinced, by any respect for their
religion; for he was aware that it is, so to speak, the mother of the
Christian religion, and he knew that both religions rest upon the
authority of the patriarchs and the prophets; but he thought to grieve
the Christians by favoring the Jews, who are their most inveterate
enemies. But perhaps he also calculated upon persuading the Jews to
embrace paganism and sacrifices; for they were only acquainted with the
mere letter of Scripture, and could not, like the Christians and a few
of the wisest among the Hebrews, discern the hidden meaning.
Events proved that this was his real motive; for he sent for some of
the chiefs of the race and exhorted them to return to the observance of
the laws of Moses and the customs of their fathers. On their replying
that because the temple in Jerusalem was overturned, it was neither
lawful nor ancestral to do this in another place than the metropolis
out of which they had been cast, he gave them public money, commanded
them to rebuild the temple, and to practice the cult similar to that of
their ancestors, by sacrificing after the ancient way. The Jews entered
upon the undertaking, without reflecting that, according to the
prediction of the holy prophets, it could not be accomplished. They
sought for the most skillful artisans, collected materials, cleared the
ground, and entered so earnestly upon the task, that even the women
carried heaps of earth, and brought their necklaces and other female
ornaments towards defraying the expense. The emperor, the other pagans,
and all the Jews, regarded every other undertaking as secondary in
importance to this. Although the pagans were not well-disposed towards
the Jews, yet they assisted them in this enterprise, because they
reckoned upon its ultimate success, and hoped by this means to falsify
the prophecies of Christ. Besides this motive, the Jews themselves were
impelled by the consideration that the time had arrived for rebuilding
their temple. When they had removed the ruins of the former building,
they dug up the ground and cleared away its foundation; it is said that
on the following day when they were about to lay the first foundation,
a great earthquake occurred, and by the violent agitation of the earth,
stones were thrown up from the depths, by which those of the Jews who
were engaged in the work were wounded, as likewise those who were
merely looking on. The houses and public porticos, near the site of the
temple, in which they had diverted themselves, were suddenly thrown
down; many were caught thereby, some perished immediately, others were
found half dead and mutilated of hands or legs, others were injured in
other parts of the body. When God caused the earthquake to cease, the
workmen who survived again returned to their task, partly because such
was the edict of the emperor, and partly because they were themselves
interested in the undertaking. Men often, in endeavoring to gratify
their own passions, seek what is injurious to them, reject what would
be truly advantageous, and are deluded-by the idea that nothing is
really useful except what is agreeable to them. When once led astray by
this error, they are no longer able to act in a manner conducive to
their own interests, or to take warning by the calamities which are
visited upon them.
The Jews, I believe, were just in this state; for, instead of regarding
this unexpected earthquake as a manifest indication that God was
opposed to the re-erection of their temple, they proceeded to
recommence the work. But all parties relate, that they had scarcely
returned to the undertaking, when fire burst suddenly from the
foundations of the temple, and consumed several of the workmen.
This fact is fearlessly stated, and believed by all; the only
discrepancy in the narrative is that some maintain that flame burst
from the interior of the temple, as the workmen were striving to force
an entrance, while others say that the fire proceeded directly from the
earth. In whichever way the phenomenon might have occurred, it is
equally wonderful. A more tangible and still more extraordinary prodigy
ensued; suddenly the sign of the cross appeared spontaneously on the
garments of the persons engaged in the undertaking. These crosses were
disposed like stars, and appeared the work of art. Many were hence led
to confess that Christ is God, and that the rebuilding of the temple
was not pleasing to Him; others presented themselves in the church,
were initiated, and besought Christ, with hymns and supplications, to
pardon their transgression. If any one does not feel disposed to
believe my narrative, let him go and be convinced by those who heard
the facts I have related from the eyewitnesses of them, for they are
still alive. Let him inquire, also, of the Jews and pagans who left the
work in an incomplete state, or who, to speak more accurately, were
able to commence it.
Theodoret (A.D.
397-451)
"Ecclesiastical History"
Book III, Chapter XV
Julian, who had
made his soul a home of destroying demons, went his corybantic way,
ever raging against true religion. He accordingly now armed the Jews
too against the believers in Christ. He began by enquiring of some whom
he got together why, though their law imposed on them the duty of
sacrifices, they offered none. On their reply that their worship was
limited to one particular spot, this enemy of God immediately gave
directions for the re-erection of the destroyed temple, supposing in
his vanity that he could falsify the prediction of the Lord, of which,
in reality, he exhibited the truth. The Jews heard his words with
delight and made known his orders to their countrymen throughout the
world. They came with haste from all directions, contributing alike
money and enthusiasm for the work; and the emperor made all the
provisions he could, less from the pride of munificence than from
hostility to the truth. He despatched also as governor a fit man to
carry out his impious orders. It is said that they made mattocks,
shovels, and baskets of silver. When they had begun to dig and to carry
out the earth a vast multitude of them went on with the work all day,
but by night the earth which had been carried away shifted back from
the ravine of its own accord. They destroyed moreover the remains of
the former construction, with the intention of building everything up
afresh; but when they had got together thousands of bushels of chalk
and lime, of a sudden a violent gale blew, and storms, tempests and
whirlwinds scattered everything far and wide. They still went on in
their madness, nor were they brought to their senses by the divine
longsuffering. Then first came a great earthquake, fit to strike terror
into the hearts of men quite ignorant of God's dealings; and, when
still they were not awed, fire running from the excavated foundations
burnt up most of the diggers, and put the rest to flight. Moreover when
a large number of men were sleeping at night in an adjacent building it
suddenly fell down, roof and all, and crushed the whole of them. On
that night and also on the following night the sign of the cross of
salvation was seen brightly shining in the sky, and the very garments
of the Jews were filled with crosses, not bright but black. When God's
enemies saw these things, in terror at the heaven-sent plagues they
fled, and made their way home, confessing the Godhead of Him who had
been crucified by their fathers. Julian heard of these events, for they
were repeated by every one.But like Pharaoh he hardened his heart.
John Chrysostom
(A.D. 347-407)
"Homilies on Matthew"
Homily IV, Chapter II
And what may be
the reason that Matthew said not at the beginning, in the same way as
the prophet, "the vision which I saw," and "the word which came unto
me"? Because he was writing unto men well disposed, and exceedingly
attentive to him. For both the miracles that were done cried aloud, and
they who received the word were exceeding faithful. But in the case of
the prophets, there were neither so many miracles to proclaim them; and
besides, the tribe of the false prophets, no small one, was riotously
breaking in upon them: to whom the people of the Jews gave even more
heed. This kind of opening therefore was necessary in their case.
And if ever miracles were done, they were done for the aliens' sake, to
increase the number of the proselytes; and for manifestation of God's
power, if haply their enemies having taken them captives, fancied they
prevailed, because their own gods were mighty: like as in Egypt, out of
which no small "mixed multitude"went up; and, after that, in Babylon,
what befell touching the furnace and the dreams. And miracles were
wrought also, when they were by themselves in the wilderness; as also
in our case: for among us too, when we had just come out of error, many
wonderful works were shown forth; but afterwards they stayed, when in
all countries true religion had taken root.
And what took place at a later periodwere few and at intervals; for
example, when the sun stood still in its course, and started back in
the opposite direction. And this one may see to have occurred in our
case also. For so even in our generation, in the instance of him who
surpassed all in ungodliness, I mean Julian, many strange things
happened. Thus when the Jews were attempting to raise up again the
temple at Jerusalem, fire burst out from the foundations, and utterly
hindered them all; and when both his treasurer,and his uncle and
namesake, made the sacred vessels the subject of their open insolence,
the one was "eaten with worms, and gave up the ghost,"the other "burst
asunder in the midst." Moreover, the fountains failing, when sacrifices
were made there, and the entrance of the famine into the cities
together with the emperor himself, was a very great sign. For it is
usual with God to do such things; when evils are multiplied, and He
sees His own people afflicted, and their adversaries greatly
intoxicated with their dominion over them, then to display His own
power; which he did also in Persia with respect to the Jews.
Gregory
Nazianzen (A.D. ca. 325-389)
"Second Invective Against Julian"
3. He [Julian]
was daily growing more infuriated against us, as though raising up
waves by other waves, he that went mad first against himself, that
trampled upon things holy, and that did despite unto the Spirit of
Grace: is it more proper to call him Jeroboam or Ahab, those most
wicked of the Israelites; or Pharaoh the Egyptian, or Nebuchadnezzar
the Assyrian; or combining all together shall we name him one and the
same, since he shows himself to have united in himself the vices of
them all----the apostasy of Jeroboam, the bloodthirstiness of Ahab, the
hardness of heart of Pharaoh, the sacrilegious acts of Nebuchadnezzar,
the impiety of all put together! For when he had exhausted every other
resource, and despised every other form of tyranny in our regard as
trifling and unworthy of him (since there never was a character so
fertile in finding out and contriving mischief), at last he stirred up
against us the nation of the Jews, making his accomplice in his
machinations their well-known credulity, as well as that hatred for us
which has smouldered in them from the very beginning; prophesying to
them out of their own books and mysteries that now was the appointed
time come for them to return into their own land, and to rebuild the
Temple, and restore the reign of their hereditary institutions ----
thus hiding his true purpose under the mark of benevolence.
4. And when he had formed this plan, and made them believe it (for
whatever suits one's wishes is a ready engine for deceiving people),
they began to debate about rebuilding the Temple, and in large number
and with great zeal set about the work. For the partisans of the other
side report that not only did their women strip off all their personal
ornaments and contribute it towards the work and operations, but even
carried away the rubbish in the laps of their gowns, sparing neither
the so precious clothes nor yet the tenderness of their own limbs, for
they believed they were doing a pious action, and regarded everything
of less moment than the work in hand. But they being driven against one
another, as though by a furious blast of wind, and sudden heaving of
the earth, some rushed to one of the neighbouring sacred places to pray
for mercy; others, as is wont to happen in such cases, made use of what
came to hand to shelter themselves; others were carried away blindly by
the panic, and struck against those who were running up to see what was
the matter. There are some who say that neither did the sacred place
admit them, but that when they approached the folding doors that stood
wide open, on coming up to them they found them closed in their faces
by an unseen and invisible power which works wonders of the sort for
the confusion of the impious and the saving of the godly. But what all
people nowadays report and believe is that when they were forcing their
way and struggling about the entrance a flame issued forth from the
sacred place and stopped them, and some it burnt up and consumed so
that a fate befell them similar to the disaster of the people of Sodom,
or to the miracle about Nadab and Abiud, who offered incense and
perished so strangely: whilst others it maimed in the principal parts
of the body, and so left them for a living monument of God's
threatening and wrath against sinners. Such then was this event; and
let no one disbelieve, unless he doubts likewise the other mighty works
of God! But what is yet more strange and more conspicuous, there stood
in the heavens a light circumscribing a Cross, and that which before on
earth was contemned by the ungodly both in figure and in name is now
exhibited in heaven, and is made by God a trophy of His victory over
the impious, a trophy more lofty than any other!
5. What will those gentlemen say of these events----they who are wise,
as this world goes, and make a fine show of their own cause, smoothing
down their flowing beard and trailing before our eyes that elegant
philosophic mantle! Eeply to me for thyself, thou writer of long
discourses, that dost compose incredible stories and gapest up at the
skies, telling lies about things celestial, and weaving out of the
movements of the stars, people's nativities and predictions of the
future! Tell me of those stars of thine, the Ariadne's Crown, the
Berenice's Hair, the lascivious Swan, the violent Bull! or, if thou
pleasest, tell me of thine Ophiuchus, or of thy Capricorn, or of thy
Lion, or all the rest that thou hast discovered for a bad end and made
them into gods in constellations! Where dost thou find this cycle in
thy science, where the Star that of old moved towards Bethlehem out of
the East, that leader and introducer of thy own Wise Men! I, too, have
something to tell from the heavens: that Star declared the presence of
Christ: this Crown is that of the victory of Christ!
6. Thus much is taken from things celestial and sympathizing with our
fortunes, in accordance with the mighty harmony and disposition of the
universe. What follows let the Psalm finish for me: "Because Thou hast
cast down cities," namely, those ancient ones for the very same acts of
impiety, in the middle of the very same offences against us; some
thereof overwhelmed by the floods, others swallowed up by earthquake;
so that one is pretty nearly able to apply the remainder: "The memorial
of them hath perished with a sound and a destruction noised abroad."
For such has been their fall, and such their ruin, also of those their
neighbours who took the most delight in their impiety, so that a very
long time were necessary to them for their restoration, even if anyone
should have the boldness to undertake it.
7. Was it then only earth and heaven, and did not air likewise give a
sign on that occasion, and was hallowed with the badges of the Passion?
Let those who were spectators and partakers of that prodigy exhibit
their garments, which to the present time are stamped with the
brandmarks of the Cross! For at the very moment that anyone, either of
our own brethren or of the outsiders, was telling the event or hearing
it told by others, he beheld the miracle happening in his own case or
to his neighbour, being all spotted with stars, or beholding the other
so marked upon his clothes in a manner more variegated than could be
done by any artificial work of the loom or elaborate painting. What is
the result of this? Such great consternation at the spectacle that
nearly all, as by one signal and with one voice, invoked the God of the
Christians, and propitiated Him with many praises and supplications:
whilst many, without further delay, but at the moment of the
occurrence, ran up to our priests, and besought them earnestly that
they might be made members of the Church, being sanctified by the holy
baptism, for they had been saved by means of their fright.
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