Christian religion alone free of falsehood; antiquity with humankind; preservation through persecutions

The major rests on two foundations: what cannot be absent from the true religion belongs to no pagan religion; those marks belong to the Christian alone. False, absurd, and shameful things can be shown of Greek, Persian, and Roman superstitions, not of the Christian. The true religion has such antiquity that it has been as long as humans have (Genesis 1; Eusebius), and pagan gods' very birthdays are known while the Hebrew-Christian religion began with humankind.

It is certain the true religion will last to the world's end. Yet pagan superstitions have perished. Ours endures through Egyptian bondage, Babylonian captivity, Alexander's wars, Antiochus Epiphanes (Josephus Ant. 12.7), Rome before Daniel's period (Daniel 9), the polity's overthrow, emperors' fury, and Julian's temple grant (Ammianus 23.17). We conclude our religion rests on God's providence from the world's founding — which can be shown of no other. Therefore the Christian religion alone is true, or there is no true religion in the world — which was to be demonstrated.