Apologeticae sive Theologiae Fundamentalis, Tomus I: Demonstratio Christiana

The Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament are most truly said to have been given concerning Jesus Christ. For those things which are prophetically announced concerning the God-Messiah in the sacred books of the old covenant have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ alone. They therefore refer to Him, and confirm His own testimony concerning His Messiahship and divinity.

Now the Old Testament contains not merely one or another prophecy, but a continuous series of Messianic prophecies. The aim, the end, the longing of the whole Old Testament is that future God-Messiah, toward whom all the history and all the education of the Israelite people tend by an inborn force. Thus both the Jews and Christ understood the Messianic character of the old covenant.

The Jews everywhere found the promised Messiah in the sacred books. "All the prophets did not prophesy except of the days of the Messiah,"¹ we read in the Talmud. "We have heard from the law, that the Messiah abideth for ever,"² the Pharisees contend. Zacharias gives thanks to God for the Messianic prophecies: "As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, who have been since the world began."³ Philip announces: "We have found Jesus, of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write."⁴

Christ very frequently appeals to the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament given concerning Himself: "Search the scriptures, they are they that give testimony of me ... Think not that I will accuse you to the Father; there is one that accuseth you, Moses, in whom you trust. For if you did believe Moses, you would perhaps believe me also; for he wrote of me."⁵ "And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things that were concerning him... And he said to them: These are the words which I spoke to you while I was yet with you, for all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."

"Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."⁶ "Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished which were written by the prophets concerning the Son of man."⁷ "The things that are written must yet be fulfilled in me."⁸ Jesus therefore affirms that prophecies concerning Himself are found everywhere in the Old Testament, and that by these prophecies the testimony which He bears to His Messiahship and divinity is infallibly established.

The disciples themselves also everywhere preach Jesus Christ as Messiah and God, insisting vehemently on the prophecies of the Old Testament given concerning Him and fulfilled in Him. The Evangelists, among whom especially Matthew, continually testify: "This was done that the scripture might be fulfilled."⁹ Peter speaks to the people of the Jews: "But those things which God before had shewed by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled."¹⁰ Paul also "expounded, testifying the kingdom of God and persuading them concerning Jesus, out of the law of Moses and the prophets, from morning until evening".¹¹ Hence it is evident that the first preachers of the Christian religion confirmed the Messiahship and divinity of Jesus chiefly by the argument of the prophecies of the Old Testament.

Later writers also use the same irrefutable argument with the greatest freedom and readiness when they dispute with the Israelites, e. g. St. Justin in the Dialogue with Trypho the Jew; but when speaking with the gentiles they adduce the prophecies of the Old Testament more cautiously. And rightly so. For since the Jews conceded the Messianic character of nearly the whole Old Testament, one could appeal indiscriminately to all and each of the Messianic prophecies fulfilled in Jesus Christ. With the gentiles, however, the matter proves more difficult, and above all with modern rationalists. For these can scarcely, if at all, be convinced that the Messianic texts of the Old Testament contain proper and formal prophecies. They allege, namely, that most prophecies are so indeterminate that it is not clear whether they really refer to the Messiah or not, whether they could have been naturally foreseen or not, and whether they could have been fulfilled by mere chance or not. But all must concede that there are at least prophecies which depict with the greatest accuracy the personal circumstances of the Messiah, namely, the genealogy, the chronology, the biography of Christ. We grant indeed that the individual circumstances taken separately do not entirely destroy the difficulties of the adversaries. Yet all the circumstances gathered together and evidently fulfilled in the one person of Christ splendidly show the altogether supernatural character of prophecy.

1. To the first parents God promises a future liberator to be born from the human stock: "I will put enmities between thee [the serpent = the devil] and the woman, and thy seed and her seed; she [Hebr. text: it, i.e., the seed] shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait [crush] for her heel."¹ In other words: "O devil, thou hast made the sinning woman thy friend; but once friendship has been turned into enmity, I will bring it about that the woman's seed shall conquer thee, although that same seed itself shall also be wounded." It is not indeed expressly stated whether the "woman's seed" is a single person or a multitude; but since a multitude of an army cannot conquer without a leader, at least implicitly a liberator is promised, under whose leadership the devil shall be overcome.

2. After the flood Noah is marked out as the branch of the human stock that was to beget the savior: "Cursed be Chanaan",² Noah prays, "a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. Blessed be Iahve, the God of Sem; let Chanaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and let Chanaan be his servant." Chanaan receives the curse, Sem and Japheth the blessing. The blessing of Sem consists in this, that Iahve will be with Sem in a peculiar manner: God will manifest himself as Iahve in the stock of Sem, or will enter into a covenant with the stock of Sem. The blessing of Japheth consists in natural enlargement, and also in this, that he will have a share in the goods promised to Sem, i.e., in the divine covenant made with Sem. That this is the genuine meaning of Noah's prophecy is clearly shown by the following prophecies. For of all the descendants of Sem, Abraham is chosen as the heir of the messianic promise.

3. To Abraham the people is designated from which the Messiah was to proceed: "And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed. I will bless them that bless thee, and in thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed."³ The blessing that shall descend from Abraham upon all nations cannot be understood as temporal. For not only could all nations obtain a temporal blessing in the seed of Abraham, but in fact Abraham himself had heard from God that other nations were to be afflicted temporally by his seed.⁴ Hence all peoples will have a spiritual blessing in the seed of Abraham. From Abraham the blessing shall descend to Isaac,⁵ and from Isaac to Jacob.

4. Jacob designates the people that was to bring the messianic blessing: "I am the Lord Iahve of Abraham thy father and the Iahve of Isaac... In thee and in thy seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou shalt go."⁶ Thence, after Jacob's name was changed⁷ to Israel (i.e., wrestler of God), the Lord, through the prophet Balaam, foretells even more expressly that from the Israelite people there would arise after a long time a leader and king who was to fulfil the promises made to the patriarchs and most powerfully increase the glory of the house of Jacob.⁸ Balaam describes this greatest king under the image of a star and a sceptre: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh. A star shall rise out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from Israel."⁹ When the people of Jacob, or Israel, was divided into twelve tribes:

5. To Judah the tribe is determined from which the messianic leader was to proceed. For while Jacob, at the point of death, discloses to each of his sons his future lot, he prophesies to Judah a singular power, victory over his enemies, and kingship among his brethren.¹⁰ Then Jacob adds with weight: "The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations."¹¹¹²

"The sceptre (schebet) shall not be taken away from Juda",¹³ i.e., the royal symbol shall not fail Juda. With this hemistich the other is wholly in accord: "And the ruler (mechokek) from his thigh", or, as it seems it should be read from the Hebrew, "and the staff from between his feet", i.e., the insignia of government, which oriental princes used to have placed between their feet on the occasion of an audience. "Till he come that is to be sent (shilo)";¹⁴ or "till peace come" or "the prince of peace", or "till he come to whom it [the sceptre] belongs"¹⁵ or simply "till the Messiah come".¹⁶ "And he shall be the expectation (jikehat) of the nations" or "to him shall be the obedience of the nations".

However the text be read, Jacob certainly foretold that the hegemony of government over the people of Israel would remain with the tribe of Judah, until there come the king of Israel κατ' ἐξοχήν, who will subject all nations to his kingdom. No one fails to see that here it is a question of the Messiah born of the tribe of Judah.

6. At last the family of David is chosen, which was to beget the Messiah. The tribe of Judah already enjoyed a certain pre-eminence¹⁷ in the desert, inasmuch as it surpassed the other tribes in number¹⁸ and held the first place on the march.¹⁹ Judah was twice leader in war.²⁰ But the tribe of Judah obtained royal power through David.²¹ That the Messiah would be the offspring of this royal stock God promises to David himself already clearly enough²² and afterwards repeatedly declares through the prophets. Scarcely had Jeremiah announced the extinction of the political dynasty of the house of David when he says of the future Messiah: "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, and I will raise up to David a just branch: and a king shall reign, and shall be wise, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In those days shall Juda be saved, and Israel shall dwell confidently: and this is the name that they shall call him: The Lord our Just One."²³ Isaiah prefixes to his magnificent description of the messianic age these words concerning the origin of the Messiah: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse (the father of David), and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him."²⁴²⁵

In fact Jesus traced his origin from the family of David, as the gospels again testify,²⁶ and St. Paul likewise confirms: "Be mindful that the Lord Jesus Christ is risen again from the dead, of the seed of David."²⁷ In him, therefore, all the prophecies concerning the genealogy of the Messiah were fulfilled. There follow the prophecies bearing on the chronology of the Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

1. Jacob prophesies that the Messiah will come when the earthly dominion of Judah is turned into a spiritual dominion over the nations: "The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a ruler from his thigh, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." By the word "until" is meant either that all dominion is to be taken away from Judah when Shiloh comes, or that the dominion of Judah is never to be taken away, but rather, when Shiloh comes, is to be extended to the nations. This latter meaning seems altogether to be preferred, in view of all the later prophecies about the Son of David (of the tribe of Judah) who is to reign over Israel forever.¹ Or rather, both meanings are to be joined in such a way that we understand that at the coming of Shiloh the earthly dominion of Judah was to be converted into the spiritual dominion of the Messiah over the nations. For no earthly or political kingdom can embrace all peoples. Therefore the words of Jacob indicate precisely this: that the political rule of Judah over Israel was to be succeeded, at the time of Shiloh, by that messianic kingdom, spiritual or religious, of which the whole Old Testament prophesies.

When, therefore, someone born of Judah obtains the spiritual obedience of the nations, with the earthly rule wholly removed from Judah, then the Messiah has certainly already come. But since in the year A.D. 70 the Jewish commonwealth was utterly abolished, all earthly dominion was taken away from Judah, and at the same time the spiritual kingdom of Christ, who was born of the tribe of Judah,² began to be spread abroad to all nations. It is established, therefore, that the Messiah had already come at that time, and that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Messiah himself.

2. Haggai and Malachi prophesy more precisely that the Messiah is to come while the second temple of Jerusalem is still standing. When the Jews returning from captivity grieved exceedingly over the meanness of the temple restored by Zorobabel, the prophet Haggai consoled them, foretelling that the glory of the second temple would be greater than the glory of the first, because this second temple was to be glorified by the Messiah, the Prince of Peace desired by all nations: "For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Yet one little while, and I will move the heaven and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will move all nations, and the desired of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts ... Great shall be the glory of this last house, more than of the first, saith the Lord of hosts, and in this place I will give peace, saith the Lord of hosts."³

What Haggai had signified, Malachi expressly declares, namely that the Messiah is to enter the Zorobabelian temple: "Behold I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face: and presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the Angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts."⁴ The Lord whom the Jews sought, the founder of the new testament, is plainly the Messiah, who is God.⁵ But the Messiah, who is God, will come to his temple, i.e. the temple of Jerusalem, after another divine legate has prepared his way.

That both prophecies are fulfilled in Jesus Christ we see from the Gospels. He himself came while the second temple was still standing, announced beforehand by John the Baptist, and he entered the temple again. Both prophecies therefore fit him, and indeed him alone, since no one else came to the temple of Jerusalem to whom the cited prophecies could apply, and to whom a divine legate was sent ahead as forerunner.

3. Daniel prophesies with the greatest exactness the years of the public manifestation and of the death of the Messiah. When Daniel, praying to God in the Babylonian captivity, asked on behalf of the people of Israel and the city of Jerusalem that the messianic time might be hastened, the archangel Gabriel appeared to him, announcing when the Messiah was to come:

"Seventy weeks are shortened upon thy people and upon thy holy city, that transgression may be finished and sin may have an end and iniquity may be blotted out, and everlasting justice may be brought in, and vision and prophecy may be fulfilled, and the holy of holies may be anointed."

"Know thou therefore and take notice: From the going forth of the word, that Jerusalem is to be built again, unto Christ the prince there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. And again the street and the walls shall be built in the straitness of the times. And after sixty-two weeks Christ shall be slain, and his people shall not be his that shall deny him. And the people with the prince that is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be desolation, and after the end of the war the appointed desolation."

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many, one week: and in the half of the week the victim and the sacrifice shall fail, and there shall be in the temple the abomination of desolation, and the desolation shall persevere even to the consummation and the end."⁶

For this prophecy of the seventy weeks three terms are to be sought: the term "what" (terminus quid), the term "from which" (terminus a quo), and the term "to which" (terminus ad quem)?

a) The term "what" (terminus quid). It is resolved by two questions: what is to be understood by the 70 weeks, and what is accomplished in the 70 weeks?

What is to be understood by the 70 weeks? That the seventy weeks are to be understood as a definite period of time is evident. For the angel says that these weeks are "abbreviated", or rather, according to the Hebrew, "cut off" from the course of time; indeed he divides the weeks into 7 + 62 + 1 weeks, and this last week is in turn subdivided into two parts. By the word "weeks" the Hebrews commonly designated a heptad of days as well as of years. That in this passage the weeks are to be understood not of days but of years is easily shown. For Daniel had been meditating on the 70 years of the captivity; hence, if the angel suggests to him 70 weeks within which the messianic deliverance was to be accomplished, it is clear that the discourse is of weeks of years. This follows a fortiori from the fact that within 70 weeks of days (= 490 days) those things could not be done which are said to be done within those 70 weeks. Therefore the 70 weeks of Daniel are 7 × 70 = 490 years.

What is accomplished in the 70 weeks? The prophecy is threefold. The first part contains a prospect of the messianic goods, which are partly negative, namely "that transgression (apostasy) may be finished, that sin may have an end, and that iniquity may be blotted out"; and partly positive, namely "that everlasting justice may be brought in, that vision and prophecy may be fulfilled, and that the holy of holies may be anointed" (Hebr. the holy of holies, i.e. the new temple of God = the Church of the Messiah). In the second part of the prophecy the weeks are divided into 7 + 62 + 1, and to each space of time its own events are assigned, in such a way that in 7 weeks the city of Jerusalem is built again, then, as the 62 weeks draw to their end, the Messiah the prince appears, and finally in 1 week, i.e. the seventieth, the Messiah is slain, whose slaying will visit the Jews with the greatest punishments (the people being rejected, and the city and the temple destroyed forever). The third part of the prophecy, completing the second, adds what will happen in the seventieth week besides the death of the Messiah and what will follow from it: the new messianic covenant will be confirmed in the last week; consequently, in the middle of the week the old sacrifices will cease; finally, at an indefinite time, the temple will be desolated forever.

b) The term "from which" (terminus a quo) from which the 70 weeks are to be computed is indicated by the words: "From the going forth of the word, that Jerusalem is to be built again", i.e. from the time at which the decree is promulgated that the city of Jerusalem, destroyed by the Chaldeans in the year 586 B.C., may be rebuilt. Now the first decree of this kind was issued by Artaxerxes Longimanus in the seventh year of his reign.⁷ By the use of this decree the Jews restored the city in great part.⁸ But since they were hindered by enemies from completing what they had begun,⁹ the same Artaxerxes, in the twentieth year of his reign, granted a second and most ample decree for the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem.¹⁰ Now some compute the 70 weeks from this twentieth year, while others, more correctly, compute them from the seventh year of the reign of Artaxerxes. The seventh year of Artaxerxes, however, is probably the year 454 B.C., although others hold it to be rather the year 457 or 458.

c) The term "to which" (terminus ad quem). "From the going forth of the word, that Jerusalem is to be built again", i.e. from the year 454 B.C. unto "Christ the prince", 69 weeks = 483 years are to be computed; unto the death of the Messiah, however (with which the abrogation of the old sacrifice announced by Daniel coincides), 69 weeks and a half = 486½ years. If then to the year 454 B.C. you add the 483 years, you arrive at the year A.D. 29, at which time the Messiah was to begin his public life; if, however, to the year 454 you add the 486½ years, you arrive at the year 32/33, to which the death of the Messiah is to be assigned. Moreover, since we cannot establish with full certainty the term "from which" of the weeks, neither can we exactly define the term "to which" of the prophecy. And since, furthermore, neither the year in which Jesus Christ was born¹¹ nor the year in which he began and ended his public life is certainly known, the fulfillment of the prophecy cannot be sought with mathematical precision. That Jesus Christ, however, appeared and died at the end of the weeks of Daniel, no one will call into doubt.¹²

All the chronological prophecies, therefore, which concern the coming of the Messiah demonstrate the time of Jesus Christ. Hence the Jews at that time were expecting the Messiah. The Gospels expressly relate that they "were waiting for the consolation of Israel" or "the redemption of Israel".¹³ Josephus Flavius likewise narrates that nothing stimulated the Jews more to revolt from the Romans and to defend the city of Jerusalem most fiercely against the Romans than the hope of the Messiah who was to come at that time.¹⁴ The rumor of this expectation had also spread among the Gentiles. "Many were possessed by the persuasion that it was contained in the ancient books of the priests that at that time the East would grow strong, and that men proceeding from Judea would obtain possession of affairs",¹⁵ writes Tacitus. Therefore the later rabbis, knowing that the time of the Messiah's coming foretold by the prophets had long since elapsed, forbade the computation of the times: "The sages",¹⁶ says Maimonides (12th century), "whose memory be for a blessing, forbade us to compute the terms of the Messiah's coming, because the people are scandalized that the times are fulfilled and he nevertheless has not appeared. Wherefore the sages said: may the bones burst of those who compute the periods of the times, because they scandalize the people."

In fact, however, Jesus Christ had come at the time appointed by the prophets, showing himself to be the Messiah and fulfilling as well all the biographical prophecies that pertain to the Messiah.

Many clearly defined circumstances of the life, passion, and glorification of the coming Messiah were foretold. All of them, moreover, have been so evidently fulfilled in Jesus Christ of Nazareth that it is at once apparent that they were spoken of Him. For this reason we cite only the prophetic texts, indicating the comparable or related Gospel passages merely in the notes.

1. Prophecies of the prophets concerning the life of Christ.

He will have a forerunner: "Behold, I send my angel, and he shall prepare the way before my face. And presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the Angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple."¹

He will be born in Bethlehem: "And you, Bethlehem Ephrata,² are a little one among the thousands [chiliarchies] of Judah;³ out of you shall he come forth to me who is to be the ruler in Israel, and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity."⁴

He will be born of a virgin mother: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel."⁵

He will be exceedingly meek and merciful: "He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. The bruised reed he shall not break, and the smoking flax he shall not quench: he shall bring forth judgment in truth. He shall not be sad nor troublesome."⁶

He will be a prophet and teacher: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your nation and from your brethren, like me [Moses]; you shall hear him."⁷ "Behold, I have given him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and a commander to the nations."⁸

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to proclaim release to the captives."⁹

He will work miracles: "God himself will come and will save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a stag, and the tongue of the mute shall be loosed."¹⁰

He will illumine Galilee above all: "At the first time the land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthali was lightly touched [despised], and at the last the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles was heavily laden [honored];¹¹ the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; to those dwelling in the region of the shadow of death, light has risen."¹²

Humble, he will enter Jerusalem riding upon the foal of an ass: "Daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king will come to you, the just one and the savior: he is poor and riding upon an ass and upon a colt, the foal of an ass."¹³

2. Prophecies of the prophets concerning the passion of Christ.

He will be valued at thirty pieces of silver: "And they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me: cast it to the statuary, the handsome price that I was priced at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I cast them into the house of the Lord, to the statuary."¹⁴

He will be scourged and spit upon: "I have given my body to the strikers and my cheeks to those who plucked them; I have not turned away my face from those who rebuked me and spit upon me."¹⁵

He will be led to death with the wicked: "Like a sheep he shall be led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before his shearer he shall be mute. He delivered his soul to death, and he was counted with the wicked."¹⁶

His hands and feet will be pierced: "They have dug my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones."¹⁷

Thirsting, he will be given vinegar to drink: "My tongue has cleaved to my jaws."¹⁸ "And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink."¹⁹

He will be mocked by the spectators: "I am a worm and no man; the reproach of men and the outcast of the people. All who see me have derided me, they have spoken with the lips and wagged the head: He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him, let him save him, since he delights in him."²⁰

They will divide his cloak, and cast lots for his inner tunic: "They have divided my garments among themselves, and over my vesture [namely, the inner tunic] they have cast lots."²¹

He will be pierced: "They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced."²²

3. Prophecies of the prophets concerning the glorification of Christ.

Destined for the sepulchre of the wicked, he will in truth be buried gloriously: "They gave his sepulchre with the wicked, and [but] with the rich he was in his death."²³

He will not see corruption, but will rise again victorious from the dead: "My flesh shall rest in hope. For you will not leave my soul in hell, nor will you let your holy one see corruption. You have made known to me the ways of life, you will fill me with joy with your countenance: delights at your right hand even to the end."²⁴

All these prophecies — genealogical, chronological, biographical — joined and linked together into one, present an image of the Messiah described with marvelous accuracy several centuries before the archetype, Jesus, appeared.

From the beginning the figure of the future Savior appears more obscure and, as it were, sketched in its first outlines.

Then, as time advances, by the hand of the individual prophets the form and life of the Messiah are more and more brought to light, until he draws all eyes to himself and inflames all hearts with longing for him: "Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the just one; let the earth be opened and bud forth a Savior!"²⁵ "Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!"²⁶ At length Jesus Christ, awaited by all the prophets, appears and gives life to the picture painted through the ages, taking in all the prophecies and uniting them in his one person, illumining all and fulfilling them from the greatest to the least. Jesus Christ is the beginning, the center, the complement of the prophecies of the Old Testament, the end and the term of all the prophets, who prophesied before him and concerning him.²⁷

A thing truly stupendous and nowhere else heard of in the history of the human race; indeed, a fact that so indubitably savors of a preternatural character that it absolutely admits of no natural explanation.

But come, attempt the natural explanation. Perhaps you will object that not all the circumstances foretold refer to the person of the Messiah. But that they are all messianic, i. e. that they hold good of the one person of the Messiah, we infer chiefly from this, that all of them together fit perfectly upon one and the same person, Jesus Christ.

Let the objection pass. Suppose, I say, that by fair means or foul you erase now this line and now that of the messianic image. But if you retain only those lines which admit of no sense other than the messianic, the image itself is not in the least changed.

In reality, the genealogical prophecies, by which through the centuries an eternal king is promised ever more clearly, a king to whom all nations will be subject and through whom they will be saved; the chronological prophecies, by which the precise time of the coming and of the dying of the Savior is indicated; the biographical prophecies, by which the series of the deeds of his life, passion, and glory is set forth — these have either no sense at all or a messianic sense.

Press on: perhaps several of these things could have been foreseen and conjectured by natural sagacity. But is it likely — indeed, is it even possible — that so many prophets could have hit by conjecture, rightly and truly and without any error, upon so many diverse circumstances, which depended partly on the will of God and partly on the free will of men? Such a marvelous conjecture would surely be the greatest of all prophecies and would require knowledge properly divine.

Deny outright, saying that this or that circumstance was perhaps rashly foretold and fulfilled by chance. But what would these be among so many? For since it is dangerous to attribute the fulfillment of one or another circumstance to blind chance, it would be of stupid boldness to attribute several, and of shameful folly to ascribe to blind chance all the circumstances foretold and fulfilled in Jesus.²⁸

Hence, with the natural explanation of the messianic prophecies having been attempted in vain, it is necessary to return to the one and only possible explanation, the supernatural one, namely: "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets"²⁹ depicted the personal circumstances by which we might recognize the messianic-divine envoy; but those circumstances fit the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth fully; therefore Jesus Christ rightly and deservedly appeals to the prophecies of the Old Testament in order to prove the truth of the testimony which he himself bears to his messiahship and to his divinity.