Hippolytus, On Christ and Antichrist

Since you, my beloved brother Theophilus, wished to learn the chapters I had already set out, I thought it right to draw abundantly from the divine Scriptures as from a holy spring and to place before your eyes what you sought, so that you might rejoice not merely in hearing the words but also, instructed by the power of the realities themselves, be able to glorify God in every way. This will be a safeguard for you in the present life, free from danger, if you bring forth from ready speech the things that are unknown and hard for many to grasp; you will sow them in the breadth of your heart as in fertile and pure soil, and through them you will despise those who contradict and speak against the saving word. But I fear lest these things be entrusted to unbelieving and blaspheming tongues, for the danger is not slight. Rather, let us entrust them to devout and faithful men who wish to live holily and righteously with fear. For the blessed apostle did not advise Timothy in vain when he wrote, "Guard the deposit, turning away from profane empty talk and the contradictions of falsely named knowledge, which some, by professing it, have missed the faith" (2 Timothy 1:13-14). And again, "You then, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also" (2 Timothy 2:1-2). So the blessed apostle handed these things over with caution, since they are not for everyone, foreseeing by the Spirit that the faith of all will be in danger; how much more shall we be in danger if we simply and randomly hand over the words of God to unholy and unworthy men? Because the blessed prophets became our eyes, foreseeing through faith the mysteries of the Word, which they also served to later generations — not only telling the past but also proclaiming the present and the future — so that not only a single prophet at a time would be shown to be a prophet, but all generations would foretell the future and the prophet would be recognized as a prophet. For all of them were equipped with the prophetic Spirit and deemed worthy by the Word itself; they became instruments, always having the word as a plectrum, not moving on their own but proclaiming what God willed. For the prophets did not speak from their own power, nor did they proclaim what they themselves wanted; rather, they were first instructed rightly through the Word, then taught beforehand through visions the future things well, and thus, being sent, they spoke what had been revealed to them alone by God. For according to what basis will a prophet be called a prophet, if not because he saw the future things through the Spirit? If a prophet spoke about something that had already happened, he would not be a prophet by saying things everyone had seen with their own eyes; but by proclaiming the future he was rightly called a prophet. Therefore it is fitting that the prophets were called "seers" from the beginning. From them we also receive the things spoken beforehand...