Preface.
Heads of the Following Book.
That idols are not gods, and that the elements are not to be worshipped in the place of gods.
That God alone must be worshipped.
What is God's threatening against those who sacrifice to idols?
That God does not easily pardon idolaters.
That God is so angry against idolatry, that He has even enjoined those to be slain who persuade others to sacrifice and serve idols.
That, being redeemed and quickened by the blood of Christ, we ought to prefer nothing to Christ.
That those who are snatched from the jaws of the devil, and delivered from the snares of this world, ought not again to return to the world, lest they should lose the advantage of their withdrawal therefrom.
That we must press on and persevere in faith and virtue, and in completion of heavenly and spiritual grace, that we may attain to the palm and the crown.
That afflictions and persecutions arise for the sake of our being proved.
That injuries and penalties of persecutions are not to be feared by us, because greater is the Lord to protect than the devil to assault.
That it was before predicted that the world would hold us in abhorrence, and that it would stir up persecutions against us, and that no new thing is happening to the Christians, since from the beginning of the world the good have suffered, and the righteous have been oppressed and slain by the unrighteous.
What hope and reward remains for the righteous and for martyrs after the conflicts and sufferings of this present time.
That we receive more as the reward of our suffering than what we endure here in the suffering itself.
