2.prologue.1
Οσα μὲν τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας ἐχρῆν ὡς ἐν προοιμίῳ διαστείλασθαι τῆς τε θεολογίας πέρι τοῦ σωτηρίου λόγου καὶ τῆς ἀρχαιολογίας τῶν τῆς ἡμετέρας διδασκαλίας δογμάτων ἀρχαιότητός τῆς κατὰ χριστιανοὺς εὐαγγελικῆς πολιτείας, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσα περὶ τῆς γενομένης ἔναγχος ἐπιφανείας αὐτοῦ, τά τε πρὸ τοῦ πάθους καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐκλογῆς, ἐν τῷ πρὸ τούτου, αυντεμόντες τὰς ἀποδείξεις, διειλήφαμεν· φέρε δ’, ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἤδη καὶ τὰ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάληψιν αὐτοῦ διασκεψώμεθα, τὰ μὲν ἐκ τῶν θείων παρασημαινόμενοι γραμμάτων, τὰ δ’ ἔξωθεν προσιστοροῦντες ἐξ ὧν κατὰ καιρὸν μνημονεύσομεν ὑπομνημάτων.
All that needed stating by way of preface in the history of the Church—the proof of the divinity of the saving Logos, the ancient history of our teaching, and the antiquity of the dogmas of the Christian life according to the Gospel, particularly all the points concerning his recently fulfilled advent, the events before his Passion, and the story of the choice of the Apostles—all this we traced in the preceding book, summarizing the demonstration. Let us now consider in the present book what followed his Ascension, noting some things from the divine writings, and adding what is taken from other sources, from treatises which we will quote from time to time.