OECUMENIUS). He is the beginning and completion of our faith (AUGUSTINE). It is his death and resurrection that give us faith and endurance to reach the glory of the eternal life (CHRYSOSTOM, GREGORY OF NYSSA). The life of faith and virtue is not unlike the contest in the arena in which we are to demonstrate strength, endurance (CHRYSOSTOM, JEROME, SEVERIAN), and discipline (CHRYSOSTOM, OECUMENIUS). The early writers were conscious not only of the first coming of Christ but a second as well, far
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