Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VI/Archelaus/A Fragment of the Same Disputation/Chapter I

1. Archelaus said to Manes: Give us a statement now of the doctrines you promulgate.&#8212;Thereupon the man, whose mouth was like an open sepulchre, began at once with a word of blasphemy against the Maker of all things, saying: The God of the Old Testament is the inventor of evil, who speaks thus of Himself: &#8220;I am a consuming fire.&#8221; &#8212;But the sagacious Archelaus completely undid this blasphemy. For he said: If the God of the Old Testament, according to your allegation, calls Himself a fire, whose son is He who says, &#8220;I am come to send fire upon the earth?&#8221; If you find fault with one who says, &#8220;The Lord killeth and maketh alive,&#8221; why do you honour Peter, who raised Tabitha to life, but also put Sapphira to death? And if again, you find fault with the one because He has prepared a fire, why do you not find fault with the other, who says, &#8220;Depart from me into everlasting fire?&#8221; If you find fault with Him who says, &#8220;I, God, make peace, and create evil,&#8221; explain to us how Jesus says, &#8220;I came not to send peace, but a sword.&#8221; Since both persons speak in the same terms, one or other of these two things must follow: namely, either they are both good because they use the same language; or, if Jesus passes without censure though He speaks in such terms, you must tell us why you reprehend Him who employs a similar mode of address in the Old Testament.