Friday, August 5, 2011

Christ Crucified: Stumbling Block and Folly to Man

But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  1 Cor 1:23-24

Therefore, O men, refrain from obstructing what you hope for by vain questions; nor should you, if anything is otherwise than you think, trust your own opinions rather than that which should be reverenced.  The times, full of dangers, urge us, and fatal penalties threaten us; let us flee for safety to God our savior, without demanding the reason of the offered gift.  When at stake is our souls’ salvation and our own interests, something must be done even without reason…We doubt, we hesitate, and question the credibility of what is said.  Let us commit ourselves to God, and let not our incredulity prevail more with us than the greatness of his name and power, lest, while we are seeking out arguments for ourselves—through which that may seem false which we do not wish and deny to be true—the last day steal upon us, and we be found in the jaws of our enemy, death.

Arnobius of Sicca, The Case against the Pagans, Book II, cap. 78

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