How was Abraham, the father of the fathers, armed?

St. Cyril of Jerusalem says, “though [Abraham] did many things well, yet he was never called the friend of God, except when he believed … In like manner, therefore, as he was justified, you also shall be justified. In his body he was already dead in regard to offspring,

32 St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 5.3 (NPNF II/7:29).

33 St. Athanasius, Paschal Letters 1.6 (NPNF II/4:508), amended. 34

St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 5.4 (NPNF II/7:29–30), amended.

and Sarah his wife was now old, and there was no hope left of having children … [Abraham] heeded not the weakness of his body, but the power of Him who promised, because he counted Him faithful who had promised (Heb. 11:11–12), and so beyond all expectation received the child from bodies that were, as it were, already dead. And when, after he had gained his son, he was commanded to offer him up, although he had heard the word, in Isaac your seed shall be called (Gen. 21:12; 22:2), he proceeded to offer up his son, his only son, to God, believing that God is able to raise up even from the dead (Heb. 11:19). And having bound his son, and laid him on the wood, he intended to offer him, but by the goodness of God in delivering to him a lamb instead of his child, he received his son alive.”³⁵