The transforming power of Christian faith.
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
The source closes its doctrinal discussion by praising Christianity’s call to truth, mercy, brotherly love, chastity, freedom from tyranny, and care for family and society. It cites Origen’s appeal to compare converts’ former lives with the temperance, justice, and steadfastness produced by Christ’s teaching, and Lactantius’s claim that the word of God can turn the angry toward gentleness, the greedy toward generosity, and the cruel toward mercy. Their polemical contrasts with pagan society belong to their historical apologetic setting; the enduring Christian claim is that grace renews sinners, not that every baptized society or individual already embodies the Gospel perfectly.