of Christ,
and therefore the period between the first and second advent of Christ
belongs to [Greek: houtos ho aion] (see Barn. 2. 4; Herm. Sim 1; 2 Clem.
6. 3: [Greek: estin de houtos ho aion kai ho mellon duo echthroi; houtos
legei moicheian kai phthoran kai philargourian kai apaten, ekeinos de
toutois apostassetai], Ignat. Magn. 5. 2). For that very reason, the
second coming of Christ must, as a matter of course, be at hand, for
only through it could the first advent get its full value. The painful
impression that nothing had been outwardly changed by Christ's first
advent (the heathen, moreover, pointed this out in mockery to the
suffering Christians), must be destroyed by the hope of his speedy
coming again. But the first advent had its independent significance in
the series of ideas which regarded Christ as redeeming man from
ignorance and mortality; for the knowledge was already given, and the
gift of immortality could only of course be dispensed after this life
was ended, but then immediately. The hope of Christ's return was
therefore a superfluity, but was not felt or set aside as such, because
there was still a lively expectation of Christ's earthly Kingdom.]

[Footnote 233: No other name adhered to Christ so firmly as that of
[Greek: kurios]; see a specially clear evidence of this, Novatian de
trinit. 30, who argues against the Adoptian and Modalistic heretics
thus: "Et in primis illud retorquendum in istos, qui duorum nobis deorum
controversiam facere praesumunt. Scriptum est, quod negare non possunt:
'Quoniam unus est dominus.' De Christo ergo quid sentiunt? Dominum esse,
aut illum omnino non esse? Sed dominum illum omnino non dubitant. Ergo
si vera est illorum ratiocinatio, jam duo sunt domini." On [Greek:
kurios--despotes], see above, p. 119, note.]

[Footnote 234: Specially instructive examples of this are found in the
Epistle of Barnabas and the second Epistle of Clement. Clement (Ep. 1)
speaks only of faith in God.]

[Footnote 235: See 1 Clem. 59-61. [Greek: Didache], c. 9. 10. Yet
Novatian (de trinit. 14) exactly reproduces the old idea, "Si homo
tantummodo Christus, cur homo in orationibus mediator invocatur, cum
invocatio hominis ad praestandam salutem inefficax judicetur." As the
Mediator, High Priest, etc., Christ is of course always and everywhere
invoked by the Christians, but such invocations are one thing and formal
prayer another. The idea of the congruence of God's will of salvation
with