Hippolytus of Rome

The leaders of the Jews want to eliminate this episode from the Scriptures, insinuating that none of this happened in Babylon, because they are ashamed of what the elders did then. The economy of the Father does not acknowledge this line of argument since the sacred Scriptures, without qualification and with all frankness, tell us everything, not only the just actions of the people who were saved by what they accomplished but also the scandalous lives of some whose conduct led to their own perdition. In such a way, fortified by the fear of God, we will hurry to imitate the righteous in order to be saved like they were, but those who have done the opposite will have under their eyes the sentence that will be sent from God.