Ignatius of Antioch — Epistle to the Ephesians 18
My spirit is a lowly offering laid down for the cross. To those who do not believe, the cross is a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1:23); to us it is salvation and eternal life (1 Corinthians 1:18). Where is the wise man? Where is the debater (1 Corinthians 1:20)? Where is the boasting of the so-called clever?
For our God, Jesus the Christ, was carried in the womb by Mary, as God had planned: of David's seed (Romans 1:3), yet of the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:18, 20). He was born, and he was baptized, so that by his suffering he might make the water clean.
Greek
Περίψημα τὸ ἐμὸν πνεῦμα τοῦ σταυροῦ, ὅ ἐστιν σκάνδαλον τοῖς ἀπιστοῦσιν, ἡμῖν δὲ σωτηρία καὶ ζωὴ αἰώνιος, ποῦ σοφός; ποῦ συζητητής; ποῦ καύχησις τῶν λεγομένων συνετῶν;
ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστὸς ἐκυοφορήθη ὑπὸ Μαρίας κατ’ οἰκονομίαν θεοῦ ἐκ σπέρματος μὲν Δαυείδ, πνεύματος δὲ ἁγίου: ὃς ἐγεννήθη καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη, ἵνα τῷ πάθει τὸ ὕδωρ καθαρίσῃ.