Origen of Alexandria, On First Principles 4

When people discuss matters so great and of such a kind, human senses and common understanding are not enough to entrust the heart of the matter to them, nor, so to speak, to pronounce visibly on invisible things. Therefore we must also bring forward the testimonies of divine scriptures to prove what we say. So that these testimonies may carry certain and undoubted conviction—whether for what we still must say or for what has already been said—it seems necessary to show first that the scriptures themselves are divine, that is, inspired by the Spirit of God. We will therefore set this out briefly from the divine scriptures themselves, the ones that have competently moved us to speak: from Moses, the first lawgiver of the Hebrew nation, and from the words of Jesus Christ, the author and principle of the Christian religion and doctrine.

Many lawgivers arose among the Greeks and barbarians, and innumerable teachers or philosophers promised to proclaim the truth. Yet we recall no lawgiver who could instill any affection or zeal even in the minds of foreign nations, so that they would either accept his laws willingly or defend them with their whole heart. Consequently, no one managed to insinuate and settle the truth that seemed right to him into so much as a single foreign nation, let alone many, so that his knowledge or credulity would reach everyone. Indeed, it cannot be doubted that lawgivers wished their laws to be observed by all people, if that were possible, and that teachers wanted the truth as they saw it to become known to all. But knowing they could not do this at all, and that no virtue of theirs was great enough even to provoke foreign nations to observe their laws or assertions, they did not even dare to try or begin, lest they be marked as imprudent and ineffectual in the undertaking.

Yet throughout the whole world, in all Greece, and in all foreign nations, there are innumerable and immense multitudes who have abandoned the laws of their fathers and the beings they thought were gods, and have given themselves over to the observance of Moses' law and the discipleship of Christ. They have done this despite the great hatred stirred up against them by those who venerate idols, so that they are frequently afflicted with torments and sometimes even led to death. Still they embrace and guard the doctrine of Christ's word with all affection. It is evident how the religion itself has grown in a short time, advancing through the punishments and deaths of its adherents, and also through the plundering of their goods and every kind of suffering they endured. It is especially remarkable that not even the teachers themselves are sufficiently qualified or numerous; yet 'the word is preached' (Matt 24:14) 'in the whole world', so that 'Greeks and barbarians, wise and foolish' receive the religion of Christian doctrine.

From this there is no doubt that 'these things are not done by human strength or resources', so that the word of Christ Jesus may grow strong with all power and credibility in the minds and souls of all. For it is manifest that these very things were predicted by him and confirmed by divine responses. He said, 'you will be led before rulers and judges on account of me, as a testimony to them and to the nations' (Matt 10:18); and again, 'This gospel will be preached in all nations' (Matt 24:14); and again, 'Many will say to me on that day: Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink in your name, and cast out demons in your name? And I will say to them: Depart from me, workers of iniquity, for I never knew you' (Matt 7:22-23). If these things had been said by him yet had not come to pass, they would perhaps seem less true and carry no authority. But now, since the things he predicted have come to pass, and were predicted with such great power and authority, it is most clearly declared that God truly exists—the One who, having become man, handed down salutary precepts to men.