i. the exordium.

Having now for a very long and surely a very sufficient period had the charge pressed upon me by thee, my dear Avircius ¹ Marcellus, to write some sort of treatise against the heresy that bears the name of Miltiades, ² I have somehow been very doubtfully disposed toward the task up till now; not that I felt any difficulty in refuting the falsehood, and in bearing my testimony to the truth, but that I was apprehensive and fearful lest I should appear to any to be adding some new word or precept ³ to the doctrine of the Gospel of the New Testament, with respect to which indeed it is not possible for one who has chosen to have his manner of life in accordance with the Gospel itself, either to add anything to it or to take away anything from it. Being recently, however, at Ancyra, a town of Galatia, and finding the church in Pontus ⁴ greatly agitated ⁵ by this new prophecy, as they call it, but which should rather be called this false prophecy, as shall be shown presently, I discoursed to the best of my ability, with the help of God, for many days in the church, both on these subjects and on various others ⁶ which were brought under my notice by them. And this I did in such manner that the church rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, while the adversaries ⁷ were forthwith routed, and the opponents put to grief. And the presbyters of the place accordingly requested us to leave behind us some memorandum of the things which we alleged in opposition to the adversaries of the truth, there being present also our fellow-presbyter Zoticus Otrenus. ⁸ This, however, we did not; but we promised, if the Lord gave us opportunity, to write down the matters here, and send them to them with all speed.