Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume IV/Origen/Origen Against Celsus/Book VIII/Chapter LXX

Chapter LXX.

But if all the Romans, according to the supposition of Celsus, embrace the Christian faith, they will, when they pray, overcome their enemies; or rather, they will not war at all, being guarded by that divine power which promised to save five entire cities for the sake of fifty just persons.&#160; For men of God are assuredly the salt of the earth:&#160; they preserve the order of the world; and society is held together as long as the salt is uncorrupted:&#160; for &#8220;if the salt have lost its savour, it is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill; but it shall be cast out, and trodden under foot of men.&#160; He that hath ears, let him hear&#8221; the meaning of these words.&#160; When God gives to the tempter permission to persecute us, then we suffer persecution; and when God wishes us to be free from suffering, even in the midst of a world that hates us, we enjoy a wonderful peace, trusting in the protection of Him who said, &#8220;Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.&#8221; &#160; And truly He has overcome the world.&#160; Wherefore the world prevails only so long as it is the pleasure of Him who received from the Father power to overcome the world; and from His victory we take courage.&#160; Should He even wish us again to contend and struggle for our religion, let the enemy come against us, and we will say to them, &#8220;I can do all things, through Christ Jesus our Lord, which strengtheneth me.&#8221; &#160; For of &#8220;two sparrows which are sold for a farthing,&#8221; as the Scripture says, &#8220;not one of them falls on the ground without our Father in heaven.&#8221; &#160; And so completely does the Divine Providence embrace all things, that not even the hairs of our head fail to be numbered by Him.