What the Emperor Himself Could Tell

These words of ours, however, gracious Sovereign, may well seem unnecessary to your ears, since frequent personal experience has convinced you of our Savior’s divinity. You yourself, in deeds even more than in words, are a herald of the truth to all humankind. Perhaps you yourself will be pleased, at a time of leisure, to tell us of the many ways your Savior has shown you his presence, and of the visions of himself that have come to you again and again in the hours of sleep. I do not speak of those secret suggestions that are not revealed to us, but of the principles he has planted in your own mind, which are full of general interest and benefit to the human race. You will yourself tell, in fitting words, of the visible protection your divine shield and guardian has given you in the hour of battle, of the ruin of your open and secret enemies, and of his ready help in time of danger. To him you will credit relief in the midst of perplexity; defense when you stood alone; a way out when you were at the end of your resources; foreknowledge of events still to come; your forethought for the common good; your power to look into uncertain questions; your conduct of the greatest undertakings; your management of civil affairs; your military arrangements and your correction of abuses in every department; your ordinances concerning public law; and, last of all, your laws for the benefit of all. Perhaps you will also tell us in detail those instances of his favor which are hidden from us but known to you alone, and stored in your royal memory as in secret storehouses. [a]

Such, no doubt, are the reasons, and such the convincing proofs of your Savior’s power, that led you to raise that sacred building which stands before all, believers and unbelievers alike, as a monument of his victory over death, a holy temple of the holy God. They led you to consecrate those noble and splendid monuments of immortal life and of his heavenly kingdom, and to offer memorials of our Almighty Savior’s conquest that well befit the imperial dignity of the one who gives them. With such memorials you have adorned that building which bears witness to eternal life. In this way, as if in imperial lettering, you ascribe victory and triumph to the heavenly Word of God. In this way you proclaim to all nations, with a clear and unmistakable voice, in deed and in word, your own devout and godly confession of his name.