For those who strive after perfection, according to the same apostle, must "give no offence in anything, but in everything approve themselves not to men, but to God." And, as a consequence, also they ought to yield to men; for it is reasonable, on account of abusive calumnies: Here is the specification: "in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings, in pureness, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in kindness, in the Holy Ghost, in love unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God," that we may be the temples of God, purified "from all filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit." "And I," He says, "will receive you; and I will be to you for a Father, and ye shall be to Me for sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." "Let us then," he says, "perfect holiness in the fear of God."

For instance, on Abraham becoming a believer, it was reckoned to him for righteousness, he having advanced to the greater and more perfect degree of faith. For he who merely abstains from evil conduct is not just, unless he also attain besides beneficence and knowledge; and for this reason some things are to be abstained from, others are to be done. "By the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left," the apostle says, the righteous man is sent on to the inheritance above,-by some [arms] defended, by others putting forth his might. For the defence of his panoply alone, and abstinence from sins, are not sufficient for perfection, unless he assume in addition the work of righteousness-activity in doing good.

But there is that species of knowledge which is characteristic of the herald, and that which is, as it were, characteristic of a messenger, and it is serviceable in whatever way it operates, both by the hand and tongue. "For he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing." On him who by Divine Providence meets in with it, it confers the very highest advantages,-the beginning of faith, readiness for adopting a right mode of life, the impulse towards the truth, a movement of inquiry, a trace of knowledge; in a word, it gives the means of salvation. And those who have been rightly reared in the words of truth, and received provision for eternal life, wing their way to heaven. Most admirably, therefore, the apostle says, "In everything approving ourselves as the servants of God; as poor, and yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things. Our mouth is opened to you."

Along with my prayers I now add book 10 to the Church History and dedicate it to you, my most consecrated Paulinus, and blazon you as the seal of the whole work. It is appropriate that in a perfect number I shall here provide a completed account in celebration of the restoration of the churches, in obedience to the divine Spirit who urges us:

Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things;
His right and his holy arm have wrought salvation for him.
The Lord has made known his salvation:
His righteousness he has revealed in the sight of the heathen.

Accordingly, let me now sing the new song, since after those grim and horrifying scenes and narratives, I was now privileged to see and to celebrate what many righteous people and martyrs of God before me desired to see but did not see and to hear but did not hear. But they hurried on to far better things in the heavens, caught up into a paradise of divine bliss, while I, admitting that even the present circumstances are more than I deserve, have been totally astonished at the magnitude of grace he has conferred and offer him my total awe and worship, confirming the truth of the prophecies that declare:

Come and behold the works of the Lord,
What wonders he has wrought on the earth,
Making wars to cease to the ends of the world.
He will break the bow and shatter the spear,
And the shields he will burn with fire.

Rejoicing that all this has been clearly fulfilled, let me proceed with my narrative.