1) XV: But the Christians, O King, while they went about
and made search, have found the truth; and as we learned from their writings,
they have come nearer to truth and genuine knowledge than the rest of the
nations. For they know and trust in God, the Creator of heaven and of earth, in
whom and from whom are all things, to whom there is no other god as companion,
from whom they received commandments which they engraved upon their minds and
observe in hope and expectation of the world which is to come. Wherefore they
do not commit adultery nor fornication, nor bear false witness, nor embezzle
what is held in pledge, nor covet what is not theirs. They honour father and
mother, and show kindness to those near to them; and whenever they are judges,
they judge uprightly. They do not worship idols (made) in the image of man; and
whatsoever they would not that others should do unto them, they do not to
others; and of the food which is consecrated to idols they do not eat, for they
are pure. And their oppressors they appease (lit: comfort) and make them their
friends; they do good to their enemies; and their women, O King, are pure as
virgins, and their daughters are modest; and their men keep themselves from
every unlawful union and from all uncleanness, in the hope of a recompense to
come in the other world. Further, if one or other of them have bondmen and
bondwomen or children, through love towards them they persuade them to become
Christians, and when they have done so, they call them brethren without
distinction. They do not worship strange gods, and they go their way in all
modesty and cheerfulness. Falsehood is not found among them; and they love one
another, and from widows they do not turn away their esteem; and they deliver
the orphan from him who treats him harshly. And he, who has, gives to him who
has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him in to
their homes and rejoice over him as a very brother; for they do not call them
brethren after the flesh, but brethren after the spirit and in God. And
whenever one of their poor passes from the world, each one of them according to
his ability gives heed to him and carefully sees to his burial. And if they
hear that one of their number is imprisoned or afflicted on account of the name
of their Messiah, all of them anxiously minister to his necessity, and if it is
possible to redeem him they set him free. And if there is among them any that
is poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in
order to supply to the needy their lack of food. They observe the precepts of
their Messiah with much care, living justly and soberly as the Lord their God
commanded them. Every morning and every hour they give thanks and praise to God
for His loving-kindnesses toward them; and for their food and their drink they
offer thanksgiving to Him. And if any righteous man among them passes from the
world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God; and they escort his body as if he
were setting out from one place to another near. And when a child has been born
to one of them, they give thanks to God; and if moreover it happen to die in
childhood, they give thanks to God the more, as for one who has passed through
the world without sins. And further if they see that any one of them dies in
his ungodliness or in his sins, for him they grieve bitterly, and sorrow as for
one who goes to meet his doom.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
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