To Quirinus: 3 books of evidence against the Jews

The treatise “To Quirinus: 3 books of evidence against the Jews” was written by Sschmch. Cyprian of Carthage presumably in 248-249. The work is a collection of quotations from the Holy Scriptures and is the most important source of information on the history of the text of the Latin Bible. The 1st book (24 chapters) contains quotes related to the anti-Jewish polemic: the Jews retreated from God and lost the Lord's grace, which was bestowed upon them before, and their place was taken by Christians who sincerely believed in the Lord and came from all nations and from all over the world. This book also proves that the Old Testament had a temporary meaning. The 2nd book (30 chapters) contains quotes proving the “sacrament of Christ” - proof that the messianic prophecies were fulfilled precisely in Christ as God, as the Redeemer and the future Judge. The 3rd book (120 chapters) is a collection of quotes on moral, ascetic and church-disciplinary topics. *The title of the work in Latin is Ad Quirinum: Testimoniorum adversus Judaeos libri tres. Contents Cyprian to son Quirinus Cyprian wishes his son Quirinus good health. It was necessary, dear son, to satisfy your spiritual desire, with which you ask to be taught the Divine instructions with which the Lord has been pleased, through the Holy Scriptures, to enlighten and teach us, so that, driven out of the darkness of error and illuminated by His pure and clear light, we adhere to the path of life with the help of saving sacraments. That’s why I compiled the essay, as you asked: without going too far in the presentation, I collected, in the passages selected and added here, the most necessary things, as much as my mediocre memory helped, not only to write a treatise, but to present the material for the treatise, and thus the essay came out in the shortest possible form. Such brevity is very useful for readers: with it, the mind and concept of the reader are not entertained, as when reading a very lengthy book; on the contrary, with compressed brevity, a solid memory retains what is read. I compiled two equally small books. In one, he tried to show that the Jews, according to predictions, retreated from God and lost the Lord's grace, which was given to them before and was promised for the future, and that in their place were Christians who pleased the Lord by faith and came from all nations and from all over the world. Another book contains a mystery about Christ - that it was He who was foretold who came, and that from all the actions and deeds He performed, one can understand and know that it was He who was predicted. Let this serve for now, for those reading, as a guide in drawing up the first outlines of faith. Strength will increase, heart understanding will act more and more in those who more fully experience the old and new scriptures - who read all the scrolls of spiritual books. For we have now drawn a little from Divine sources in order to forward it to you. You can drink more abundantly and be satisfied more fully if you, too, come to drink, together with us, to the same sources of the fullness of the Divine. I wish you, dear son, always good health. 1 We present passages from the Holy Scriptures according to our Slavic Bible, since the reading of St. Cyprian only in a few places differs from our Slavic text, and at that it is insignificant. – Transl. You might be interested in: