On the Christian Religion

...in Christ, we are more miserable than all men.” They often preached that they would die for the faith, and afterward that all who had followed their discipline would suffer bitter and unspeakable things. To omit that they cast away whatever goods are held by mortals and commanded them to be cast away. Nor did they whisper in corners, but boldly disseminated their doctrine publicly to the crowds. Indeed, Paul, bound by a chain, preached publicly, whence he writes to the Philippians: “The things which are around me have come rather to the progress of the Gospel, so that my bonds might be manifest in Christ in all the praetorium and in all other places,” and elsewhere he says that the Gospel had already been preached to every creature which is under heaven. Again: “None of these things was done in corners.” They believed, therefore, that they were preaching the truth to men; nay, they certainly understood what they were preaching. Hence that saying of Peter: “Always be ready for satisfaction to everyone who asks you for a reason for the hope and faith that is in you.” Hence that saying of Paul to the Corinthians: “I so run, not as if into uncertainty; I so fight, not as if beating the air; but I chastise my body and bring it into servitude, lest perhaps when I have preached to others, I myself should become a reprobate.” Hence Paul and Apollo, everywhere disputing with the learned concerning the mysteries of Christ, brought the volumes of the prophets into the middle. Paul often orders his disciples, especially the priests, to occupy themselves diligently in the deep understanding of the prophets. They believed, therefore, and understood, as I said, what they were preaching. Otherwise, for the assertion of that discipline, they would by no means have subjected themselves so intrepidly and so willingly to constant labors, dangers, beatings, and, certainly, to death. For the glory of Christ, Paul labored for thirty-seven years, beyond what can be believed, until his final breath, in every kind of affliction. Peter labored for the same time, and John the Evangelist labored for sixty-eight years...