Early Christianity. Philip Schaff - History of the Christian Church - Volume I - Apostolic Christianity - Preface

The significance of the Medina image for the era of the high caliphate All religious communities are accused of a certain separation of the fundamental arguments of their doctrine and the analyzable historical reality. Thus, the main provisions of late Roman law, which did not claim

The constant demand which the History of the Christian Church enjoys places upon me the grateful duty of not allowing it to fall behind the times. Thus, I have subjected this and other volumes (especially the second) to another revision and updated the list of references as much as possible, as the reader can verify by glancing at pages 2, 35, 45, 51–53, 193, 411, 484, 569, 570, etc. of this publication. All changes were made by shortening and compressing the text so as not to increase the volume of the book. The second volume is currently in its fifth edition, with other volumes soon to follow.

This text revision will be the last. If any further amendments need to be made during my lifetime, I will add them as a separate appendix.

I feel greatly indebted to the reading public, and this gives me the strength to improve my book. Interest in church history in our theological educational institutions and among the new generation of scientists is steadily growing and promises to bear good fruit in the field of our common Christian faith.

New York, January 1890

As I present to the public the new edition of my “Ecclesiastical History,” I feel more than ever the difficulty and responsibility of a task that is well worthy of devoting the time and energy of a lifetime to it, and which in itself is a great reward. A true historian of Christianity has not yet been born. But no matter how far I was from my own ideal, I did my best, and I will be glad if my efforts inspire others to create better and more durable work.

History should be written from the original sources, created by both friends and enemies, in a spirit of truth and love, sine ira et studio,“without malice towards anyone and with love for everyone,” in a clear, fresh, energetic style, guided by the twin parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, as a book of life for instruction, correction, encouragement, as the best exposition and defense of the Christian faith . For the great and amiable Neander, “the father of church history,” - first a simple-minded Israelite who hoped in the Messiah, then a Platonist who longed for the embodiment of his ideal of righteousness, and finally a Christian in mind and heart - such history became the work of life, but before he managed to get to the Reformation, his work was interrupted by illness, and he said to his devoted sister: “Hannchen, I’m tired; go home; Good night!" And with these words I fell asleep calmly, like a child, in order to wake up in a country where all historical problems have already been resolved.

Having returned to the favorite studies of my youth, after a long interval caused by changes of professional duties and literary works, before continuing the history to more recent times, I have found it necessary to carefully revise the first volume in order to bring it into accordance with the present state of scientific research. We live in a restless, eventful era of discovery, criticism and reconstruction. During the thirty years that have passed since my History of the Apostolic Church appeared as a separate book, there has been incessant activity in this field - and not only in Germany, that great laboratory of critical research, but also in all other Protestant countries . Almost every inch of land was attacked and defended with such erudition, insight and such skill as had never before been used to solve historical problems.

During the process of processing, the first volume more than doubled in volume and resulted in two volumes. The first covers apostolic, and the second - post-apostolic, or pre-Nicene Christianity. The first volume is larger in length than my separate History of the Apostolic Church and, unlike it, is devoted to theology and literature, while the History of the Apostolic Church deals with missionary activity and the spiritual life of that period. I carefully avoided repetition and rarely looked at the first edition. On two points I have changed my mind - on the Roman imprisonment of Paul (the fact of which I am inclined to admit for the sake of the pastoral letters) and on the dating of Revelation (which I now place - like most modern critics - at 68 or 69, and not at 95, as before).

I wish to express my deep gratitude to my friend, Dr. Ezra Abbott, a scholar of rare erudition and meticulousness in the smallest matters, for his kind and valuable assistance in proofreading and making corrections.

The second volume, equally thoroughly revised and partly rewritten, lies in the publishing house; the third one needs a few changes. Two new volumes, one on the history of medieval Christianity and the other on the Reformation (before the Treaty of Westphalia and the Westminster Assembly of 1648), have been in the works for a long time.

May my work, in its present revised form, find as sympathetic and forgiving a reader as its first edition. In this age of skepticism, I strive above all else to establish the unshakable historical foundation of Christianity and its victory over the world.

Philip Schaff

Union Theological Seminary,

New York, October 1882

Inspired by the favorable reception given to my History of the Apostolic Church, I now offer to the attention of the public the history of the first church from the birth of Christ to the reign of Constantine as an independent and complete work and at the same time as the first volume of a general history of Christianity, which I hope with God's help bring it to this day.

The church of the first three centuries, that is, the ante-Nicene era, is of particular interest to Christians of all denominations, and it has very often been considered separately - by Eusebius, Mosheim, Milman, Kay, Baur, Hagenbach and other prominent historians. The Church of that time was the daughter of Apostolic Christianity, which represented the first and undoubtedly the most important chapter in the history of the Church, and was the common mother of Catholicism and Protestantism, although differing essentially from both. In the church of the first three centuries we see pristine simplicity and purity, it is not tainted by connections with secular authorities, but, at the same time, it already contains fundamental forms of heresy and corruption, which from time to time are rediscovered under new names and from new sides, however, in accordance with the prevailing providence of God, they serve for the benefit of truth and righteousness. This is a heroic era in the history of the church; it reveals to us the magnificent spectacle of our holy religion, waging an intellectual and moral battle with the alloy of prejudices, politics and the wisdom of ancient Judaism and paganism, growing in spite of persecution, conquering in death and giving birth in the midst of severe trials those principles and institutions that to this day, already in a more developed form, they control the main part of the Christian world.

I do not in any way seek to diminish the merits of my many predecessors and consider myself deeply indebted to some of them, but I have reason to hope that this new attempt at the historical reconstruction of ancient Christianity will fill the gaps in our theological literature and will prove itself well - both thanks to its spirit and methodology, and due to the fact that, along with the author’s own works, it presents to the venerable attention of scientists the latest achievements of German and English researchers. Without serving the interests of any sects, I strictly adhered to the duties of a witness: to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth; but always remember that history has not only a body, but also a soul, and that the ruling ideas and fundamental principles must be represented no less than external facts and dates. Church history, through whose pages the life of Christ does not shine, can at best show us only a temple - majestic and impressive on the outside, but empty and frightening on the inside; a mummy - perhaps frozen in a prayerful pose and hung with regalia, but dilapidated and unkempt: such a story is not worth writing or reading. Let the dead bury their dead; we prefer to live among the living and record the immortal deeds of Christ, performed in His people and by the hands of His people, but not to linger on the outer husks, trivial incidents and temporary stage of history, and not to attach too much importance to Satan and his devilish brood, whose works Christ came to destroy.

1167. De Wette was the first to call the Epistle to the Ephesians a more detailed exposition (wortreiche Erweiterung) of the original Epistle to the Colossians, written by a certain disciple of Paul. See DeWette, Introd. to the New Test., 1826 (6th ed. by Messner and Lunemann), 1860, pp. 313 sqq., and especially his interpretation of the Epistle to the Ephesians (1843 and 1847). He based his doubts mainly on the obvious dependence of Ephesians on Colossians and failed to appreciate its originality and depth. Mayerhof was the first (1838) to declare the Epistle to the Colossians to be a later abbreviation of the Epistle to the Ephesians, which he considered to be authentic. Baur (1845), like his student Schwegler (1846), rejected both messages and attributed them to the pen of a certain representative of the late Pauline school, who fought against Gnosticism. His example was followed by Hilgenfeld (1870, 1873, 1875). Hitzig proposed a compromise solution (1870), arguing that Paul's Epistle to the Colossians was expanded and edited by the same author who wrote Ephesians. Holtzmann assiduously developed this theory in an attempt to reconstruct Paul's original text (Holtzmann, Kritik der Epheser–und Kolosserbriefe, Leipzig, 1872). However, the hypothesis about the existence of another letter of Paul to the Colossians is pure fiction. History knows only one such message. Pfleiderer (1873, Paulinismus, pp. 370 sq., 434) generally agrees with Holzmann, but believes that the two epistles were written by two different authors. In his view, Ephesians marks a transition from the old theology of Paul to the new theology of John. Renan and Ewald acknowledge the authenticity of the Epistle to the Colossians, but deny this to the Epistle to the Ephesians, although they attribute the latter to an earlier period than the Tübingen critics (Ewald names the period from 75 to 80). On the other hand, the authenticity of both messages was successfully defended by Blick, Mayer, Waldemar Schmidt, Brown, Weisse, Alford, Farrar. Bishop Lightfoot, in his interpretation of the Epistle to the Colossians, promises to consider the question of its authenticity in the interpretation of the Epistle to the Ephesians, which, however, has not yet been published. Dr. Samuel Davidson, in the revised edition of his Introduction to the Study of the New Test., 1882, vol. II, pp. 176 sqq., 205 sqq., reproduces the objections of the Tubingen critics and adds a few new ones that do not do much credit to his judgment - for example, he argues that Paul could not write to the Ephesians so that they would not steal (Eph. 4:28) and did not get drunk on wine (Eph. 5:18), since “the Christians of Asia Minor were inclined not to abuse alcohol, but rather to ascetic abstinence from wine, and the advice given to Timothy would probably have been more appropriate : “Drink a little wine”” (p. 213). But what then to do with the Epistle to the Corinthians, who tolerated among themselves a man guilty of incest and dishonored the suppers of love with their intemperance? What about the book of Romans, which contains a similar warning against the abuse of wine (Rom. 13:13)? And what could prompt pseudo-Paul to lay false accusations against the church in Ephesus, if it was exceptionally pure?

Before setting out the contents of the paragraph, it is necessary to say something about the very meaning of the word “apostle.” This is relevant both because I will constantly use this cultural term in my work and because of the specific meaning that the Christian tradition has invested in this word. We are talking about the ideological, cultural and, in fact, historical content of the word.

It is necessary to immediately make a reservation that the first, Aramaic-speaking group that gathered around Christ did not use this word. The word “apostle” itself is of Greek origin and originally meant “messenger, messenger.” Apparently, at first this was the name given to people who served as liaison between the first communities Sventsitskaya I.S. From community to church. M., 1985. pp. 128-129.. However, it is more likely that the meaning of “messenger” began to mean the messenger of Jesus to a certain group of people, no matter how small or extensive it was. After all, the first disciples, in essence, began by telling people about the joyful news about the life, death, resurrection and teaching of the God-man. And the Greek word “apostle” was perfectly suited for this role.

How can we today accurately formulate the content of this specific Christian term? First of all, we must admit that the word is not identical in meaning to the word “student”. It is known that Christ was surrounded by disciples or associates, some of them were not apostles, if only because they were women. In this regard, it is interesting to recall saying 114 from the Gospel of Thomas about Mary.. There were also people who did not see Christ during his lifetime or were not initially included in the circle of the chosen ones and became apostles. Suffice it to recall the Apostle Paul and Matthias Eusebius, chosen to replace Judas the Traitor. History... Book. 2, ch. 1. P. 45.. Thus. apostolate is associated with the special role of the messenger, with the broad, initial preaching of the Christian religion. Let us turn to modern encyclopedias to discuss this topic. In total, I know four aspects of the meaning of this word, gleaned from publications of this kind. I used the Catholic Encyclopedia Catholic Encyclopedia. I vol. M., 2002. and the encyclopedic publication “Christianity” Christianity (encyclopedic dictionary). M., 1993..

1) Messenger of God; Moses, the Jewish prophets, and Christ himself fall under this definition.

2) 12 first disciples of Christ, the circle of the chosen ones - the basis of the Church, plus Paul, recognized by the majority of Christians.

3) Preachers among pagans from the first Christian communities are, in fact, “messengers” themselves - apostles in the simplest sense of the Greek word.

4) The first, especially revered preachers of Christianity in countries - the so-called. apostles of countries. For example, Boniface is the Apostle of Germany, Patrick is the Apostle of Ireland and others.

It must be said right away that I will limit myself only to the second understanding of the word “apostolate, apostle.” That. we are talking about understanding the apostleship as a special ministry of the closest disciples of Christ after his departure from the world. The ministry combined preaching, organizational activities to establish new communities, a special way of life designed to serve as a model for others, and, in some cases, recording evangelical events.

At the same time, it is necessary to mention the changes that occurred in the Christian Church in the 4th century AD. As a result of the rapprochement of the Roman imperial power with the Christian religion, a kind of “pantheon” (as far as this word is applicable to them) of the 13 apostles was created. Each apostle was associated with a certain side of the world, and this idea of ​​​​the universality of Christianity received, among other things, its expression in the legend of the lot by which the apostles determined the country for preaching. This plot is also present in the Church History of Eusebius of Caesarea. History... Book. 3, ch. 1. P. 78. and in the apocrypha of the Acts of Thomas Meshcherskaya. Acts... P. 129.. Thus. these “messengers” became shepherds, in the long term, of all humanity. The Jewish idea of ​​a single God in its Christian interpretation seemed to overlap with the universal claims and political potential of Rome. What the apostles began should have been continued by the church together with the Empire. The idea of ​​drawing lots was precisely a projection of this universal idea-task.

Of course, a strong spirit of proselytism was already characteristic of the preaching of Christ himself; it is enough to recall his orientation; “Is a candle brought to be placed under a vessel or under a bed? Is it not for the purpose of putting it on a candlestick?” Ev. from Mark, 4, 21. or even more frank; “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you...” Ev. Matthew 28:19-20.. However, the first disciples of Jesus probably had in mind preaching primarily among the Jews; the traditions of the chosen people, within which a new direction appeared, were still very strong. One can even say that historical circumstances largely pushed Christianity to leave Palestine and spread more widely.

The persecution of Orthodox Jews and the tragic events of the first defeat of the Jews by the Romans had a primary influence on the history of Christianity. These events tore the center of the new religion away from the strong community in Jerusalem, which was closest to the traditions of Judaism, and drove many Christians into dispersion. That. the centers of Christian life left the Jewish environment and moved to new places in the Mediterranean, such as Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Rome and others. This is what Eusebius of Caesarea says about this; “After the Ascension of our Savior, the Jews, who dared to rebel against Him, began to be zealous in every possible way in their malice against His apostles: first they stoned Stephen, then they beheaded James, the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, and finally, as we have already said, they killed James, who was the first to be elected to the episcopal seat in Jerusalem after the Ascension of our Savior. Since they attempted in thousands of ways on the lives of the rest of the apostles, the apostles, expelled from the land of Judea, set out with the help of Christ to preach to all nations, for He said to them: “Go, teach all nations in My name.” Moreover, the people who belonged to the Jerusalem Church, obeying the revelation given before the war to the venerable men there, left Jerusalem and settled in Perea, in the city of Pele; those who believed in Christ moved out of Jerusalem; in general, all the saints left the capital of Judea and the entire land of Judea. God's judgment finally befell the Jews, for their iniquity was great before Christ and His apostles; The family of these wicked people was wiped out from the face of the earth." Eusebius. History... Book. 3, ch. 5. P. 82..

However, let us return to the topic of apostleship in the history of the Christian religion. This phenomenon is, in my opinion, unique and characteristic of Christian culture. What is the uniqueness of the apostolate in world history? It seems that in the special meaning that Christians themselves attached to the apostles and their preaching. After all, the apostles were not only students and followers of the founder of Christianity - Jesus. They witnessed a unique event, the memory of which has been passed down for centuries in the mainstream of this world religion - the resurrection of Christ, his short life in a changed body and ascension to heaven. They also witnessed miracles, insights and the very way of life of Christ, which forever became an example for them. It is about testimony, as a side of the apostolic ministry, that Simon Peter speaks in the Second Council Epistle; “For we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, not following cunning fables, but as eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received honor and glory from God the Father when such a voice came to Him from the magnificent glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice coming from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain. And we have a most sure prophetic word; and you do well, turn to him as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day begins to dawn and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing first of all that no prophecy in Scripture can be solved by oneself.” IInd Meeting Last Petra. 1, 16-20..

Of course, the apostolic ministry itself has several aspects, and one way or another the apostles themselves considered something more important and could disagree on this. Actually, the emphasis on the testimony of Christ and the particularly important events of his mission among humanity is a feature of Peter’s understanding.

There is not much in the canonical gospels themselves that relates to the role of the apostles, even to what the Master specifically meant by gathering and choosing his disciples. The very first event from the Gospel tradition related to this issue is the famous calling of the first apostles by Christ on the shores of Lake Galilee (Genisaret). It is found in all three synoptic gospels and in general terms is described very similarly, except for the episode with the amazing catch of fish in the Gospel of Luke Ev. Matthew 4:18-22. Ev. from Mark, 1, 16-20. Ev. Luke 5:1-11. The words of Christ about fishing for men, so characteristic of the figurative and vivid manner of speaking characteristic of Christ, are repeated in all three texts and point to one aspect of the apostolic ministry. Namely, we are talking, in my opinion, about salvation, about one of the most important issues, in general, of all Christian teaching.

An analysis of the Four Gospels shows that Jesus spoke about the apostleship quite figuratively and gradually formed a circle of the elect. Apparently, these chosen students became the core of the community that accompanied their teacher. In addition to the teaching about the 12 disciples - the apostles, testimonies about the 70 disciples of Christ have also been preserved. One of these references has come down to us in the Church History of Eusebius. Here is this extremely interesting fragment of his work; “The names of the Savior’s apostles are known to everyone from the Gospels; There is no list of seventy disciples anywhere... They say that Thaddeus was one of them; I will soon tell you his story, which has come down to us. Upon reflection, you will see that Christ had more than seventy disciples. Paul testifies that after the Resurrection, Christ appeared first to Cephas, then to the twelve, and after them immediately to more than five hundred brothers, some of whom, according to him, died, but the majority were alive at the time he composed his Epistle.” Eusebius. History... Book. 1, ch. 12. pp. 40-41..

That. 12 or 13 (together with Paul) apostles is a kind of symbolic limitation on the number of disciples, a legendary simplification that followed during the construction of the Christian Church. However, we can build a line of events, especially spiritually important facts, through which all the apostles went through, except Paul. They are as follows;

1) Calling to the apostleship, the most detailed description, which refers to the first apostles in time - Andrew and Peter.

2) A series of individual appeals of Christ with deep spiritual meaning to individual disciples, about which church tradition tells. For example, to Simon Cephas (a fairly well-known episode in which Christ speaks of Simon as the “stone” of the future church and thereby gives him a new name, Matthew 16:15-19). It is curious that one saying (No. 14) from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas directly echoes this episode. In it, Jesus also asks the disciples who they can compare him to. And if in the canonical Gospel of Matthew Peter receives praise and the individual appeal of Christ, then in the apocryphal Gospel Thomas, who was unable to express in front of others who he considers the teacher to be (in accordance with the Jewish prohibition to pronounce the true name of God out loud), receives a special revelation of Jesus Apocrypha... . from Thomas, 14. P. 251..

3) The very life of the apostles next to their teacher, during which they received instructions and, according to tradition, witnessed miraculous healings and other phenomenal events. Interesting in connection with this life of the first community is the episode in which Jesus speaks of it as his true family of Eve. from Mark, 3, 31-35..

4) The Last Supper, which had a special mystical and even cult meaning, and as if forever imprinted in the history of Christianity the circle of the 12 apostles along with Judas the Traitor.

5) The stay of the risen Christ with his disciples, his last instructions, conversations with them, which should have made a special impression, if only because of the very fact of the resurrection of their mentor.

6) The descent of the Holy Spirit, in the form of fire, on the apostles and other disciples, which followed after the final departure of Christ from the world, and allegedly gave them the ability to preach in all languages ​​Acts 2, 1-21.. There is something interesting in the Gospel of Luke the promise of this mystical fact given to the apostles by Christ; “And I will send the promise of My Father upon you; But remain in the city of Jerusalem until you are endowed with power from on high.” Heb. from Luke, 24, 49. .

Thus, we can say that the apostleship is a unique spiritual and ideological phenomenon of Christianity and is based on the special role that their teacher passed on to them. The apostles were not only disciples of Christ, they were his successors to the best of their ability, witnesses and continuers of his mission.

A special place among the ancient apostles is occupied by Paul, a man who became the brightest Christian in history after his mystical insight into Acts 9, 1-9. He, who had never seen Christ in person, became the largest organizer of Christian communities. Combining the fiery faith of a Jew and almost Roman political acumen, the “thirteenth apostle” played a unique role in the history of this religion, uniting a conglomerate of essentially disparate communities. However, the Apostle Paul requires separate consideration, which is beyond the scope of this work.

The history of the emergence of Christianity, its roots and history of development has interested scientists of all times. Jesus brought into the world a new teaching, the New Testament, just at a time when people needed it, for the Old Testament made with Abraham, the law given to the fathers of the nation, had already become obsolete and humanity needed to leave ceremonial service and turn to the living God in heaven.

The sacrifices made to atone for sin ceased to have any meaning after Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the entire people, offered at Calvary. And after His death, the apostles became the first messengers of the new teaching.

When the Apostle Paul visited Rome, some Jews approached him, inquiring about what he believed. “For,” they said, “we know that this doctrine (heresy) is being disputed everywhere” (Acts 28:22). Those who followed this "heresy" were the first, and perhaps their opponents, to "become called Christians" at Antioch (Acts 11:26). They were also called "disciples" (Acts 20:7), "saints" (Romans 1:7), "brothers" (Galatians 1:2), "brothers in Christ" (Colossians 1:2), "joint heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:17), "the faithful" (1 Timothy 4:12), "the seed of Abraham" (Galatians 3:29), "a chosen generation" and "a holy nation" (1 Peter 2:9), "sons of light" (1 Thessalonians 5:5), "children of God" (1 John 3:1), "God's elect" (Colossians 3:12), etc.

This “heresy” was supported by both Jews and pagans. The first ceased to live under the law of Moses, which was only a “shadow of good things to come” (Hebrews 10:1), recognizing Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited Messiah (Acts 2:36). They knew that only through Him could there be forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38) and, believing the prophecies, they looked forward to the time when He would sit on the throne of David, restoring the kingdom of Israel.

As for the Gentiles, they “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to look for His Son from heaven” (1 Thessalonians 1:9,10), who would reign in righteousness over the world (Acts 17:31). They looked forward to the time when they would reign with Him (2 Timothy 2:12) "on the earth" (Revelation 5:10) in "His kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:1), "sitting with Him on His throne." (Revelation 3:21) and sharing His authority (Revelation 2:26), according to the promises made by God. But being “heirs of the kingdom of God” (James 2:5), but not yet inheriting it, they believed that “through many tribulations they must ... enter” into it (Acts 14:22), and therefore they endured everything patiently persecution, if only he would be “worthy” of it (2 Thessalonians 1:5).

They did not believe that this Kingdom was an earthly church, a temple, because they knew not only that “the unrighteous” would not enter it, but also that “flesh and blood will not inherit” it (1 Corinthians 6:9; 15: 50). Therefore, they looked forward to their change from mortal to incorruptible (1 Corinthians 15:51-53) at the second coming of Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20,21).

Believing that “the penalty of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) and that “death has passed on to all men” (Romans 5:12), adherents of the “heresy” recognized the truth of the Apostle’s statement that immortality is “the gift of God.” ", which can be obtained exclusively through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23; 1 John 5:11). Encouraged by the Apostles, they sought immortality (Romans 2:7) and “held on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12), and therefore they did not believe that they were immortal by nature and that they could already enjoy this gift. “Dead in Christ,” they believed that their “sleeping in the dust of the earth” (Daniel 12:2) and unable to give praise to the Lord (Psalm 113:25) would be awakened at that moment, without which, believers in Christ would have perished ( 1 Corinthians 15:16-18).

Believers in this "heresy" did not seek their satisfaction in this world before the second coming of Jesus Christ, because they knew that "the mystery of lawlessness is already at work" and, when fulfilled, everything will be destroyed by the "appearing of the coming" of Christ (2 Thessalonians 2: 7,8).

And one cannot find more convincing evidence of the growth and strengthening of this “lawlessness” than what we observe in Christianity. And yet there are still people who believe the Apostolic “heresy”, “about which they argue everywhere.” They are not called by the name of Antichrist, but call themselves by one of the inspired names, namely, "brethren in Christ" (Hebrews 2:11,12), which in Greek sounds something like this - "Christadelphians." Among an indifferent and unreasonable world that says:
“Where are the promises of His coming?” they try to testify to the truth. Having themselves, they also received the responsibility of “watchmen” (Ezekiel 33:7-9) to pass on what they have to others.

And this is their only desire and desire in this world, for they are convinced that they have the greatest treasure in it, the gospel, which “is the power of God unto salvation” (Romans 1:16) and the way to eternal life, “to salvation” ( Romans 1:16) and the path to eternal life.