Three Books to Autolycus

[those who are] above us are the angels, or he whom they call the maker of the world, will they not know the Almighty? › Thus, however, Theophilus, book 1, no. 5: « Then indeed a terrestrial king is believed to exist, although he is not seen by all, but he is known by his laws and ordinances, and powers, and forces, and images. Do you not wish for God to be known through His works and powers? » ^A The similarity of sentiment in both writers is manifest; but that Irenaeus borrowed from Theophilus, and not Theophilus from Irenaeus, is evident from the fact that in Theophilus it is clear and splendid, while in Irenaeus it is somewhat enervated and obscure: which are faults that imitators are not accustomed to avoid. For it is much more excellent that Theophilus says the emperor is known by laws and mandates, by principalities and powers (that is, by leaders and prefects), and by images, than what Irenaeus says about being known by lordship. In this, indeed, I would believe the interpreter of Irenaeus, as often happens elsewhere, to have been deceived in this place by the error of one letter, reading *di' exousian* for *di' exousion*, and rendering it "by lordship," instead of what he ought to have rendered, "by powers," or "by leaders and prefects." Furthermore, the comparison employed by both seems more fitting against the Gentiles, who did not recognize God from the conspicuous works in this world, than against the heretics, who imagined that the supreme God was unknown to the Creator of this world and His angels. Irenaeus also imitated what is read in our Theophilus in the second book concerning the childish state of Adam: the testimonies of both can be examined and compared with one another in the Preface, part 1. It will not be ambiguous which is the imitator of the other, since Theophilus defends this sentiment with great effort, while Irenaeus proposes it as if in passing. From these things we conclude that the books to Autolycus do not stand far from the beginnings of Commodus, since Irenaeus, who was writing under Commodus, transferred some things from them into his own work.

But against the things that we have established, it may be objected that these books to Autolycus do not savor either of a man practiced in writing, nor of a bishop entangled in most grave cares; wherefore it seems better to suppose that this work was brought to light by Theophilus not yet advanced in age, and afterwards augmented by him with those things that are read concerning the death of Marcus Aurelius. Invited to write by Autolycus, Theophilus acknowledges himself unskilled in speaking, nor does he approach the burden without the greatest timidity. Would he speak thus, one might object, who already has carried off many triumphs over the heretics, and has considerable experience in writing, ^B qualities that Theophilus ought then to have possessed, if he were writing this last work shortly before his death? Perhaps also the secular erudition with which this work is filled, so many testimonies of the poets, such recondite disputes concerning the opinions of the philosophers and chronology, frequent conversations with a man of letters, might seem less fitting for a bishop of so great a see, occupied as he is with the most grave affairs.

But it is not at all strange if the bishop, feeling humbly about himself, considers himself unskilled, and if a man of great erudition discourses on many secular matters, because they contributed to his purpose; although Theophilus draws most things from the midst of the Christian religion. That frequent conversation with Autolycus was not of a man abounding in leisure, but of a bishop fervent in charity, who considered it his primary charge to lead the erring to the truth.

I would not indeed deny that the books to Autolycus, as Grabe observes in *Spicileg.* tom. II, did not appear all at once; but I contend that a very short space of time intervened. For in the beginning of the second book he commemorates a conversation held some days previously with Autolycus, which conversation was the subject matter of the first book. Toward the end of the second book, he urges Autolycus to confer with him often; and when he had conferred with Theophilus yet had not surrendered to the truth, Theophilus brought to light a third ^C book, so that he might eradicate the preconceived opinions that had settled in his mind. Such, therefore, is the series and connection of the three books, that they ought not to be torn apart and dissociated. But that they were written in the order in which they are now held, it is evident from the fact that in the third, the first is designated, no. 3; and the second is cited by name, no. 19. Nor ought the things that are read in the third book concerning the empire of M. Aurelius to be seen as superadded. For since all the calculations of numbers, which are set forth by Theophilus, end at the conclusion of this reign, as if at a common point; there is nothing in the whole book that should be less suspected.

VI. I shall not dwell on refuting Dodwell, who, seeking a knot in a bulrush, proclaims that the three books about which we are now speaking were not written by Theophilus, the bishop of Antioch, but by another Theophilus of Antioch, whom he contends wrote under Severus.

Eusebius and Jerome speak out against this fiction: Irenaeus, who used these books for his own purposes under Commodus, speaks out against it. What reasons, therefore, drove Dodwell, a man indeed most learned, to go against the consensus of antiquity? But they are so slight, or rather so much of nothing, that they stirred up the indignation of Tillemont, whose great moderation of spirit is known to all, and forced him to brand Dodwell with the mark of rashness. The first little reason is taken from the fact that the author of the books to Autolycus cites Chryseros, who could not have written before the year 180. But what forbids Theophilus, writing under Commodus, to have cited those who had written before him under the same emperor? Dodwell objects in the second place that these books [were written] while ^D

been written during a persecution. For Theophilus says that Christians are daily vexed by the heathens, and that those who hasten toward virtue and exercise themselves in a holier life ^A have in part been overwhelmed with stones, in part killed, and in part subjected to the most cruel floggings. But no persecution arose from Marcus up to Septimius Severus; nor did any other than Severus persecute the Proselytes and Ascetics, who are designated here.

Dodwell does not touch upon any part of the truth. It is denied that Severus raged only against the Ascetics and Proselytes. It is denied that the Proselytes and Ascetics are indicated by Theophilus; and finally, it is denied that a singular persecution is indicated by Theophilus; but we have observed the same thing entirely in many other authors, who, although no persecution was raging at the time they were writing, nevertheless, because of an inveterate hatred toward Christians and frequent persecutions, said that the Church did not cease to be shaken and vexed. To this, add that it could have happened that the persecution, from which there was no relaxation under Marcus, was not quieted the moment Commodus took the reins of power. That Marcia, who reconciled the mind of Commodus to the Christians, was not loved by him the moment he began his reign, but in the third year of his empire.

TO THE READER

In the year 1842, a new edition of the works of St. Justin appeared at Jena, under the editorship of the esteemed Johann Karl Theodor Otto, Doctor of Philosophy, which the illustrious D. L. F. O. Baumgarten-Crusius, professor at the Academy of Jena, commends to readers at the beginning of the work. We have collated the text of this most recent recension, not without profit, with the edition of Dom Prudence Maran. We have frequently employed the annotations of the Editor, choosing to present them sometimes in a contracted form and sometimes in their entirety, as they are worthy of high regard. However, so that the sources from which the esteemed Otto drew may be known to the reader, we have selected this part of his Prolegomena to be presented here, in which he enumerates the editions of Justin and inventories the manuscript codices existing in the various most noble libraries of Europe, with whose aid he adorned his edition. Nevertheless, we shall communicate to our readers at the end of the volume a more accurate account of all the Parisian codices from the description of Dr. Nolte. ^B EDIT. PATR.

I. ON THE PUBLISHED CODICES OF JUSTIN

(The writings of St. Justin the philosopher and martyr saw the light of day long after the revival of letters and the introduction of the printing art. For at last in the year 1539, in quarto, there was issued: *D. Justini admonitorius ad gentes liber*, in Greek, at Paris in the house of Carolus Quillard; printed by Joannes Lodoicus. It has not been our good fortune to obtain this book ourselves.

However, almost all the works of Justin (genuine and supposititious) were first edited in Greek from the Royal library and by royal printing presses by Robert Estienne, royal printer, at Paris in the year 1551, in folio: OF ST. JUSTIN THE PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR, TO ZENA AND SERENUS. EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS. DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO THE JEW. APOLOGY I FOR THE CHRISTIANS TO THE ROMAN SENATE. APOLOGY II FOR THE CHRISTIANS TO ANTONINUS THE PIOUS. ON THE MONARCHY OF GOD. EXPOSITION OF THE FAITH CONCERNING THE TRUE CONFESSION, OR CONCERNING THE HOLY AND CONSUBSTANTIAL TRINITY. REFUTATION OF CERTAIN DOCTRINES OF ARISTOTLE. CHRISTIAN QUESTIONS TO THE GREEKS, AND GREEK ANSWERS, AND REFUTATIONS OF THE SAME ANSWERS. ANSWERS TO THE ORTHODOX CONCERNING CERTAIN NECESSARY QUESTIONS. CHRISTIAN QUESTIONS TO THE GREEKS CONCERNING THE INCORPOREAL, AND CONCERNING GOD, AND CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, AND CHRISTIAN ANSWERS TO THE SAME QUESTIONS. For the works are arranged in that order in the manuscript codex of the Royal Library, now marked with the number 450, which, as Nic. le Nourry (Apparatus ad Bibliothecam maximam veterum Patrum, etc. Paris, 1703, fol., p. 1, p. 468) observed, Stephanus took care to have copied with extraordinary diligence; he printed only a few things otherwise than they existed in the manuscript codex, partly by design and partly through oversight. ^C Furthermore, at the end of the edited work he added annotations of passages which are read, or appear to be read, in other codices differently than they are printed. The *symbolum* of this first and elegant edition is: *A king both good and mighty spearman* (1).

But since that most celebrated man had omitted the *Oration to the Greeks* and the *Epistle to Diognetus*, Henri Estienne, the son of Robert, printed them at Paris in the year 1592 (2), in quarto, with a Latin version and annotations. The same man added a judgment of Johannes Jacobus Beurerus concerning the interpretation or emendation of certain passages; furthermore, he annexed the work of Tatian.

^A This Sylburgian edition was reprinted under the care of Federic Morel, royal professor, at Paris with Michael Sonnius (other copies are inscribed: with Claud Morel), on the Rue Saint-Jacques at the sign of the Basle Shield, in the year 1615, folio, and thereafter with Claud Sonnius (in other copies with Carol Morel), on the Rue Saint-Jacques, at the sign of the Basle Shield, in the year 1636, folio (three volumes in one). Added to both editions is the *Dispunctio animadversionum in Justinum* of Petrus Lansselius, a priest of the Society of Jesus from Gravelines, which Isaac Casaubon had inserted into his *Exercitationes* against Baronius. Furthermore, the treatises of Athenagoras, Theophilus, Tatian, and Hermias are added as corollaries. Prefixed is a certain likeness of Justin with this motto:

Behold the head of Justin, crowned with a twofold diadem, Of heavenly wisdom and of holy martyrdom.

The Parisian copy issued in 1636 is entirely reproduced by the edition which was published at Cologne, or rather at Wittenberg, by Jeremiah Schrey and Henry J. Meyer in 1686, folio (three volumes in one). More complete than the previous ones is the commentary of Christian Kortholt, professor at Kiel, on Justin, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, and Tatian, which was first made public separately at Kiel in 1675, folio. This very widespread Cologne edition teems with countless mistakes, lacunae, and mutilated sentences. And these are the notes regarding those editions of Justinian works which followed the Stephanus reading. ^B

The splendid Benedictine edition displays a new recension, etc. ^C

The Maranian edition, with the pages slightly altered, was repeated at Venice with Augustin Savioli, in 1747, large folio. But very many typographical errors are found in this book. The *Opera* in Greek and Latin were reprinted from that same copy in the *Opera Patrum Græcorum* (under the care of Frid. Oberthür), volumes I-III, at Würzburg from the Stabelian bookstore, 1777-1779, octavo, in such a way that volume I contains the *Oration to the Greeks*, the *Cohortatio to the Greeks*, the *Book on Monarchy*, and both *Apologies*; volume II contains the *Dialogue with Trypho*; and volume III, pages 2-23, contains the *Epistle to Diognetus*.

From that time of Maranus for one hundred years our Justin lacked a new editor. There were only those who, as was done by some before that time, also afterward published his individual books or several of them combined. ^D

selected from all of them. These editors we shall now review. ^A

The *First Apology for the Christians to Antoninus Pius* of St. Justin, philosopher and martyr, with the Latin version of Johann Lange corrected in very many places; with the appended emendations and notes of Robert and Henri Estienne, Perionius, Billius, Sylburgius, Scaliger, Halloix, Casaubon, Montagu, Grotius, Salmasius, Valesius, Cotelier, and many new additions; with the annotations of Lange and Kortholt added in addition at the end, and with Lange’s preface—in which he recounted the summary of this Apology—prefixed; edited by Johann Ernst Grabe, at Oxford, from the Sheldonian Theatre, A.D. 1700. Another title: *Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία πρώτη ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον τὸν Εὐσεβῆ*. From the Theatre at Oxford, in the year of the divine birth 1700. In the preface, that most distinguished man laments that those manuscripts were not at hand, of which very few copies survive. Wherefore he took care to have the Stephanus text reprinted; he himself contributed to the understanding of the writer to the best of his ability. — J. Alb. Fabricius provided some observations on this edition in his *Bibliotheca Graeca*, ed. Harles, vol. VII (Hamburg 1801, 4), p. 59 sqq. ^B

Conformed in all things to the Grabian edition is the following: The *Second Apology for the Christians*, the *Exhortatory Address*, the *Address to the Greeks*, and the book *On Monarchy* of St. Justin, philosopher and martyr: with the Latin version of J. Lange corrected in very many places; with the appended emendations and notes of Robert and Henri Estienne, Perionius, Billius, Sylburgius, J. Ern. Grabe, J. Potter, and many others added; with the annotations of Lange and Kortholt added at the end, and with Lange’s prefaces—in which he recounted the summary of those things contained in this volume—prefixed: edited by H. Hutchin, A.M., from Christ Church, Oxford, from the Sheldonian Theatre, 1703, 8vo. The other title: *Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία δευτέρα ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν, Λόγος παραινετικὸς πρὸς Ἕλληνας, Λόγος πρὸς Ἕλληνας, Περὶ μοναρχίας*. From the Theatre at Oxford, in the year of the divine birth 1703. At the expense of Tho. Bennet, at the sign of the Half Moon in St. Paul's Churchyard, London. Grabe contributed much to this book, the editor contributed little of his own. Regarding the *Parænesis*, as he reports in the preface, two manuscripts of the Royal Library of Paris (today, as I have discovered by careful inquiry, marked nos. 451 and 174; he calls the former ms. Reg. 1, and designates the latter with the words ms. Reg. 2) provided readings which Michael Lequien had sent to Thomas Creech, who was preparing an edition of Justin Martyr: after whose death, when they had come into the hands of Robert Bartholomew, a fellow of Lincoln College, he communicated them to Hutchin. But the latter was so far from utilizing the readings of the oldest manuscripts to correct the text that he relegated them to the annotations. ^C

To the works of Justin sent to the press at Oxford, this edition is also conformable: The *Dialogue with Trypho the Jew* of St. Justin, philosopher and martyr, with the Latin version of Johann Lange corrected in very many places; with the appended emendations and notes of Robert Estienne, Perionius, Sylburgius, Halloix, Montagu, Drusius, Colomiès, Cave, Bull, Grabe, and many new additions; with the annotations of Lange and Kortholt added in addition at the end; and with the preface of Lange, in which he recounted the summary of this Dialogue, and the *Acts* of the martyrdom of St. Justin and his companions prefixed. Edited by Samuel Jebb. London: at the expense of William and John Innys, London booksellers, 1719, 8vo. The learned man entered on the path of Grabe and Hutchin in editing this Dialogue; he differs from them only in that he added very few notes, and those almost always taken from Sylburgius. In the preface, he briefly discusses the time when the dialogue took place, and at the end of the volume (p. 405 sqq.) he translated fragments of lost works from Grabe’s *Spicilegium SS. Patrum* of the second century (Oxford 1700, 8vo), p. 171 sqq., though the fragment on the resurrection was omitted. ^D

After this, the two *Apologies* and the *Dialogue with Trypho the Jew* of Justin, philosopher and martyr, appeared in new attire. With notes and emendations by Styan Thirlby. London, at the expense of Richard Sare, near the south gate of Gray’s Inn, in the street called Holborn, 1722, large folio. That I may bring his very words here: "There are no manuscript codices of these writings of Justin in England," he says in the preface, "nor anywhere else in the world, so far as I know, except in France, where there are two, the accurate collation of both of which I had promised myself; otherwise I certainly never would have set my hand to this work. But it happened, by the untimely death of one of the two most learned men whose services I was going to use for that purpose, and by the lack of time of the other, that nothing more could be obtained than that certain select passages should be compared with one of them. In which very thing this misfortune was added in addition, that this one (whether by chance or error I do not know, unless I recognize my own fate) was the one from which Robert Estienne’s edition was expressed, so that it is no wonder if that collation did not profit us all that much (5-6). Deprived, therefore, of the hoped-for aid of manuscripts, I decided to present the edition of Stephanus with the greatest fidelity and diligence." The learned man added the version of Johann Lange, but much altered. He further expended great labor in comparing passages of Scripture with editions of the Bibles and the Fathers. Furthermore, he joined the notes of others to the text, with the annotations of Pearson and Johann Davis added in addition at the end; those of Pearson now appeared for the first time from the Royal Library of Cambridge, those (on the first Apology) had been sent by Davis of his own accord, so that they might be published at the same time. Thirlby, however, far exceeding the other Anglican editors of Justin,

(5-6) That manuscript codex which the V.D. caused to be consulted was the Claromontanus, most similar to the Regius described in type by Stephanus.

^A In his edition, he produced much that was excellent in terms of doctrine, and he brought forth documents that were of no common kind; although he approached the task unassisted by any manuscript codices, he nevertheless ingeniously corrected at times, and removed, the faults of the Stephanian exemplar: but being led by too great a desire to heal, he frequently attempted even intact passages, which, before he understood them to be sound, he dared to correct as if they were corrupt. However, he touched upon theological controversies nowhere, and with excellent reason. According to Harles in Fabricius's *Bibliotheca Graeca* (l. c., p. 58), there are those who suspect that the name "Thirlby" concealed Markland, a most celebrated philologist. Animadversions on Justin Martyr's *Apology I* and *Dialogue with Trypho*, from the Thirlbian edition, are provided by an anonymous writer in *Miscellanea observationum in auctores veteres et recentiores*, vol. I, tom. III (Amsterdam 1732, 8vo), p. 363 et seqq. Cf. T. Row, "Critique on Thirlby's Justin Martyr" in *Gentleman's Magazine for the year 1783*, month of September, p. 750 et seqq.

In Andrea Gallandi's *Bibliotheca veterum Patrum antiquorumque scriptorum ecclesiasticorum*, vol. I (Venice 1765, large fol.; from the press of J. Bapt. Albritius, son of Hieron), p. 411 et seqq., he contains Justin's *Apologies*, *Dialogue*, and *Fragments* in Greek and Latin with Maran's annotations, to which that learned priest of the Oratory congregation added a few others, especially Thirlbian ones.

The following are the convenient and compendious editions of the *Apologies*: *S. Justini mart. Apologiae e recensione Grabiana, var. lect. et conjecturas VV. DD. et suas addidit Christianus Guil. Thalemannus, A. M. et s. theol. Baccal.* Leipzig, apud J. Chr. Langenhemium, 1755, 8vo. He curated this edition for the use of lectures; wherefore he provided very few notes. The Grabian exemplar was preferred for the reason that it was divided into smaller sections and thus was more accommodated to readings. It seemed best, however, to present the bare Greek text without a version, both so that the booklet might be more accessible, and so that the diligence of those who wished to engage in its reading and explanation might be sharpened and stirred. He prefixed arguments for both *Apologies*, taken from the Benedictine monk's edition, and added a short index of words and phrases. He rarely departed from the vulgate reading.

*S. Justini phil. et mart. Apologiae duae pro Christianis. Graece et Latine*, interpretationem Lat. ad Graeca aptius accommodavit et adnotationes adjecit Carolus Ashton. Cambridge, 1768, 8vo. This edition I have not been permitted to examine at all; therefore, I have nothing to report concerning it.

*Justinus des Märtyrers zweite Apologie und Beweis der Alleinherrschaft Gottes. Griech. u. teutsch mit erläuternden Anmerkungen. Nebst einem Anhange über das Leben, die Schriften und Lehren dieses Kirchenvaters für junge Freunde der Theologie* von Joh. Adam Göz, Conrektor der Sebalder Schule zu Nürnberg. Nuremberg and Altdorf, by J. C. Monath and J. F. Kussler, 1796, 8vo. He refers (Preface, p. 1 sqq.), in writing out the text of the *Second Apology*, to having followed the Thirlbian edition and the Stephanian one in the book *De Monarchia*. Concerning the *Apology*, however, he adopted several of Thirlby's and Maran's conjectures.

*S. Justini mart. et phil. Apologiae*. Edited by J. Wil. Jos. Braun, professor publicus extraordinarius at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of the Rhine, Bonn on the Rhine, at the expense of T. Habicht, 1850, 8vo. The text of this learned edition is expressed according to Maran's exemplar; Braun's and others' animadversions are added, with a variety of readings and an index of subjects, and Prud. Maran's summaries were prefixed. This edition is especially regarded in the *Animadversions on the First Apology of S. Justin M.*, which J. Ign. Ritter, the new rector, made public at Breslau at the University press in 1836, 4to, indicating it for his solemn inauguration. ^B

^C Let these things be said concerning the editions. Let it now be permitted to add a few things concerning the *Epistle to Diognetus*, the long fragment *On the Resurrection*, and the *Martyrology* (i.e., the Acts of the Martyrdom) of Justin.

The *Epistle to Diognetus* passed from Maran's edition into the Gallandi *Bibliotheca*, tom. I, p. 320 et seqq., and it is also extant, furnished with a brief annotation, in *Opuscula Patrum selecta* [ed. Georg. Bohl], p. 124 et seqq., and also in *Patrum apostolicorum Opp.*, edited by Carolus Josephus Hefele, doctor of theology and P. P. extr. in the same academy at Tübingen (Tübingen, in the bookstore of Henr. Laupp, 1839, 8vo), p. 125 et seqq.

The fragment on the *Resurrection of the Flesh*, preserved by S. John Damascene in the *Sacra Parallela*, first saw the light in Latin in the Damascene's *Works* from the edition of Jacques Billi, Paris, 1619, fol. Not long after, Petrus Halloix, in *S. Justini phil. et mart. Vita et documentis* (Douai 1622, fol.), and included in *Illustrium Ecclesiae Orientalis scriptorum, qui sanctitate juxta et eruditione secundo Christi saeculo floruerunt, vitis et documentis* (ibid., from the printing office of Petrus Bogardus, 1636, fol.), p. 299 et seqq., took care to have that fragment printed in Greek with a Latin version from that same *Parallela* codex, which Cardinal François de La Rochefoucauld had donated to the library of the Parisian College of the Society of Jesus. Near to this time, J. Ern. Grabe repeated it in his *Spicilegium SS. Patrum saeculi II* (Oxford 1700, 8vo), p. 177 et seqq. From thence, from that Rochefoucauld codex, Michael Lequien edited it in Greek and Latin among other *Parallela* in *Joannis Damasc. Opp.*, tom. II (Paris 1712, fol.), p. 756 et seqq. Dav. Humphreys published it in Greek and English with notes (A curious Fragment of Justin Martyr on the Resurrection, not published in his Works, with the original Greek, done into English, with Notes) together with his version of Athenagoras. London, 1714, 8vo. In the Benedictine edition it is read in the Appendix, p. 588 et seqq. It was of use to Maran, as he himself says on p. 588, note b, ^D

EXCERPTA EX PRÆFATIONE EDITORIS IENENSIS.

citation, "the most ancient Coislin codex, unless I am greatly mistaken, marked 276: it is vellum, about the tenth century, 278 folios; it belonged to the Laura of St. Athanasius on Mount Athos, deposited there among the catechumens by the monk Sophronius, as is stated on folio 271 verso. Cf. Bernard de Montfaucon: *Bibliotheca Coisliniana, formerly Segueriana, or an accurate description of all the Greek manuscripts contained therein*, etc. (Paris 1715, fol.), p. 389 sq." It appeared separately with a Latin version: *Justin Martyr's Proof of the Resurrection of the Flesh. A fragment on the solemnity of Easter, published in the year of Christ 1766 with historico-critical observations by Guil. Abrah. Teller. Helmstedt at the academy press, see Schnorrie; with J. D. G. Schnorrius.* He provided the Maranian text, preserving the Grabian ^A in only three or four places. Finally, that fragment is found in Greek only in: *Patristic Chrestomathy, adorned for the use of those who wish to learn more accurately the history of Christian dogmas, by J. Christ. Guil. Augusti. Vol. 1 (Leipzig with J. Theoph. Dykium 1812, 8), p. 3 sqq.*

The Acts of the martyrdom of Justin and his companions, from the Latin interpretation of Cardinal Guilielmus Sirletus, were first published for June 12th by Aloysius Lipomanus in *Lives of the Holy Fathers, vol. VII, p. 11* (Rome 1558, 4), p. 184; the editor reports that all the Lives contained in that part of the volume were found partly described, partly collected, in the monastery of Crypta Ferrata. The Sirletian version of the Justinian Acts was subsequently reprinted in Laurentius Surius's *Lives of the Saints* for June 12th, already mentioned above, the day on which Metaphrastes has it (Cologne 1618, fol.), p. 182 sq., and in Caesar Baronius's *Ecclesiastical Annals*, for the year 165, vol. II (new ed. Cologne 1685, fol.), p. 163 sqq., and more freely in Petrus Halloixius's *Life and Documents of St. Justin, philosopher and martyr*, l. c., p. 181 sqq. But from that manuscript codex of Crypta Ferrata, through the kindness of Emmanuel Schellstratius, the librarian of that ^B collection, the Acts of the passion of Justin were first published for the Calends of June in Greek, with annotations, by Daniel Papebrochius in the *Acts of the Saints for June*, illustrated by Godofredus Henschenius, Daniel Papebrochius, Franc. Bærtius, and Conradus Janningus, vol. I (Antwerp 1695, fol.), p. 20 sq., with that Sirletian translation placed alongside. Theodoricus Ruinartus also included this, differing only in a few points, in his *Sincere and Select Acts of the First Martyrs* (Amsterdam 1713, fol.), p. 58 sqq. Samuel Jebb took it from Baronius's *Annals* and prefixed it to the *Dialogue with Trypho*, published in London in 1719. In the Benedictine edition, they exist in the Appendix, p. 11, p. 585 sqq. These Acts—Maranus says (p. 584)—do not now appear in Greek for the first time, but were nevertheless accurately copied from the Vatican codex 655 by the hand of an erudite colleague, Mr. Petrus Maloët, formerly proctor of our congregation at the Roman Curia. ^C Doubtless this is the same manuscript codex that was formerly kept in the library of Crypta Ferrata. From the Benedictine edition, the martyrdom passed into Andreas Gallandius's *Library of Ancient Fathers*, etc., vol. I, p. 624 sqq. But Alexius Symmachus Mazochius edited it best: *Commentary on the ancient marble Calendar of the Neapolitan Church* (Naples 1763), vol. II, p. 443 sqq. (reprinted in Gallandius's *Library*, l. c., p. 711 sqq.). He followed the Greek exemplar of the Bollandists, from which J. A. Göz (Justin. d. Märt. zweite Apol., etc., p. 143 sqq.) also repeated the text, adding a German version, and since the old (Sirletian) interpretation often hunts for meanings rather than words, he presented a new, purer, and simpler interpretation, which we also have translated, having changed it only in a very few places; furthermore, he endeavored to illustrate the martyrdom with lengthy notes and dissertations.

Excerpts from Justin's writings are in J. F. Burgius's *Patristic Greek Chrestomathy, fasc. 1* (Wrocław 1756, 8), p. 1 sqq.; more, but in Latin, are found in Franciscus Rous's *Mella Patrum*, etc. (London 1650, 8), p. 21 sqq.

II. — ON THE CODICES OF JUSTIN TRANSLATED INTO OTHER LANGUAGES

Shortly after the princely edition of Stephanus, since those who were ignorant of Greek were unable to approach Justin, Latin interpretations of the Justinian works appeared, by the authors Joachim Perionius, a Benedictine of Cormery, who also added observations to illustrate the text, published in Paris with Jacob Dupuys 1554, fol., vol. II in 4 volumes (reprinted in the *Great Library of the Ancient Fathers*, Cologne 1618, fol., vol. II, p. 1 sqq.); and Sigismund Gelenius, a Bohemian, in Basel with Hieronymus Froben 1555, fol., and from there in Paris with Guilielmus Julianus 1575, 8, and Joannes Langus, a Silesian, who also added commentaries and indices, in Basel by Ambrosius and Aurelius, the Froben brothers, 1565, fol., vol. III in 1 volume (reprinted without commentary in the *Max Library of the Ancient Fathers*, Lyon 1677, fol., vol. II, p. 11, p. 5 sqq.). This version, although it is far superior to both of the others, which were more elegant than accurate, nevertheless teems with errors of every kind; many of which Langus would have avoided, had he compared the elucidations of Perionius and Gelenius.

He had already finished the work before those came into his hands, as he narrates in his dedicatory epistle, p. 26.

But before those three translators, who followed the Stephanus text, Giovanni Francesco Pico della Mirandola translated the *Cohortatio ad Graecos* into Latin (from a certain ancient manuscript codex); which translation was published in the *Opera* of Pico; Strasbourg, 1507, and again at Basel, 1601, fol., in Johann Sichard’s *Antidotum contra diversas omnium fere saeculorum haereses, etc.* (Basel, 1528, fol.), p. 112 ff.; in the *Micropresbytericon* of certain theologians (Basel, 1550, fol.), p. 31 ff.; and in Johann Jakob Grynaeus’s *Monumenta SS. Patrum orthodoxographa, h. e. theologiae sacrae ac fidei doctt.* LXXXV, etc. (Basel, 1559, fol.), p. 1947 ff. Separately: *Justini phil. et mart. admonitorius gentium liber, Latine, Joann. Francisc. Pico, Mirandulae domino, interprete, nunc denuo ad exemplar Graecum collatus et qua licuit fide recognitus*. Paris, at the house of Carolus Guillard, 1538, in-4°.

These things needed to be noted concerning the Latin translations (10); furthermore there exist:

French: *Les Œuvres de saint Justin, philosophe et martyr, mises de grec en françois par Jean de Maumont, avec brièves annotations et emendations de faultes*. Paris, from the press of Michel de Vascosan, 1554, fol. This translation was reprinted, with improvements, by the same publisher in 1559. *Exhortation aux Grecs, traduite en françois par Martin Dupin*. Paris, 1580, in-8°. *Seconde Apologie de saint Justin pour les Chrétiens, traduite en françois par Pierre Fondet*. Paris, at the house of the widow of Charl. Savreux, 1670, in-12. After Chanut had hidden under his name, this translation was reprinted in 1686 under the true name of the translator. *Epistre à Diognet, attribuée à saint Justin, dans laquelle l'auteur, sur les ruines de l'idololâtrie et du judaisme, établit les fondemens de la religion chrestienne; traduite de l'original grec [par P. Le Gras]*. Paris, at the house of Nic. Pierre Armand, 1725, in-12. ^C

This work provides not so much a complete version as excerpts: *Les Pères de l'Eglise, traduits en français, ouvrage publié par M. de Genoude et dédié à Monseigneur l'archevêque de Paris*. Tom. 1. (Paris, at the house of Sapia, bookseller and publisher, rue de Sèvres, 16, and du Doyenné, 12, 1837, in-8º), p. 305 ff.

English: *The Apologies of Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Minucius Felix in defense of the christian religion, with the Commonitory of Vincentius Lirinensis, concerning the primitive rule of faith, translated from their originals with notes for the advantage chiefly of english readers and a preliminary discourse upon each author. Together with a prefatory A dissertation about the right use of the Fathers. By William Reever, M. A. Rector of Cranefort in Middlesex. London, printed for A. and J. Churchill at the Black-Swan in Pater-Noster-Row. 1710, in-8°. Voll. II. Eadem interpretatio ibid. a. 1716 recusa est.* *Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho the Jew; translated from the greek into english, with notes, chiefly for the advantage of english readers, a preliminary dissertation and a short analysis. By H. Brown, M. A. Vicar of Ther-swell in Glocestershire. Rivington, 1755, in-8°. Voll. II.* *St. Justin, the Philosopher and Martyr, his Exhortations to the gentiles; translated from the greek by the Rev. Thom. Moses. London, Hitch. 1757, in-8º.* ^B

German: *Das Buch Justini, eines Philosophi und Martyrs, an die Heiden. In welchem er erma- net, dieweil sy den waren Gotsdienst von irn Poeten und Philosophen nit lernen mögen, das sy Mosi, den Propheten und Christo glauben sollen*, in: *Chronica der alten Christlichen Kirchen auss Eusebio, Ruffino, Sozomeno, Theodoreto, Tertulliano, Justino, Cypriano und Plinio durch D. Caspar Hedio verteutscht* (Strasb. 1529, fol.), p. ccxciv b. ff. Just as he illustrated not Eusebius, but Rufinus in German, so in rendering the *Cohortatio* he undoubtedly followed the translation of Pico. *S. Justini zwey Briefe an Diognetum, Zenam una Serenum, verteutscht durch Joh. Otto Glüsing*, in his: *Briefe und Schriften der Apostol. Männer* (Hamb. 1723, in-8º), p. 425 ff. *S. Justini Brief an den Diognet, aus dem Griechischen übersetzt durch Augustin Gabriel Gehlen*, in: *Bremer und Verdensche Biblioth. Vol. 1*, p. 11 (Hamb. 1753, in-8º), p. 221 ff. The same epistle was translated by J. M. Sailer: *Briefe aus allen Jahrhunderten der christl. Zeitrechnung*, fasc. 1 (Monac. 1800, in-8º), p. 39 ff. *Justins des Märtyrers, eines christl. Philosophen aus dem Anfang des zweiten Jahrhunderts, Gespräch von der Wahrheit und Göttlichkeit der christl. Religion mit dem Juden Tryphon. Aus dem Griech. übersetzt und mit einer Vorrede nebst dem Leben Justins begleitet von N. von Brunn, Pfarrer zu St. Martin. Basel 1822, in-8º.* The book *Tryphon und Justin oder vom Judentum. Mit einer Vorrede an Herrn Moses Mendelssohn von Franz Güssmann* (Wien 1785, in-8º) provided almost nothing but the title of the Dialogues. *Des heiligen Weisen und Blutzeugen Justinus (I.) Schutzschrift für die Christen*, in: *Denkmale der christl. Glaubens-u. Sittenlehre aus allen Jahrhunderten gewählt und übersetzt von J. M. Denis. T. 1, fasc. 11* (Vindob. 1795, in-8º), p. 21 ff. *Justinus des Märtyrers zweite Apologie und Beweis* (Paris. 1661, 4), p. 1 ff., and: *S. Justini mart. Eversio falsorum Aristotelis dogmatum, Latine, Guil. Postello, in tenebrarum Babylonicarum dispulsionem interprete. Paris. apud Sebast. N vellium 1552, 16.*

217 EXCERPTA EX PRÆFATIONE EDITORIS IENENSIS 218

[...of] the sole sovereignty of God. Greek and German, by Joh. Adam Göz. See above, col. 214. — Excerpts from both Apologies, the Dialogue with Trypho, and the fragment On the Resurrection, provided in German and illustrated with notes by Christ. Frid. Rössler: *Library of the Church Fathers in translations and excerpts*, vol. I (Leipzig 1776, 8º), p. 201 ff. — Italian: *St. Justin Martyr, translated with some reflections by Giov. Bapt. Galliccioli*. Venice 1799, 8º. Volumes II.

III. ON THE MANUSCRIPT CODICES OF JUSTIN

It is very much to be regretted that only a few manuscript codices of the works of Justin remain in libraries; most of these contain either the *Exhortation to the Greeks* or supposititious treatises. I shall, however, report on those manuscripts of genuine books of Justin that I have found by most diligent inquiry.

In France and Paris, indeed, many are kept in the Royal Library, as the *Catalogue of the Royal Library, the second part, comprising the Greek manuscripts* (from the Royal Press, 1740, fol.) attests, besides Maran, who expounded upon them too briefly. I shall now present what has been observed in these catalogues, but, further, I shall add here and there what Carolus Benedictus Hase, fellow of the Royal Institute of France, professor in the Royal Polytechnic School and in the special school for Oriental languages, and keeper of that part of the Royal Library containing the manuscripts, has most kindly communicated to me. I cannot but mention with gratitude the kindness of this most distinguished man in assisting me.

1. *Codex Regius CDL*, formerly numbered 1428, later noted as 2270, paper, small folio, 461 folios, in which (see the *Catalogues*, p. 63; compare Nic. le Nourry, *Apparatus*, vol. I, p. 467) are contained: 1º Saint Justin, philosopher and martyr, *Epistle to Zenas and Serenus* (it begins on fol. 6 b with the words: ‘Ἐκ παρασκευῆς ἀνδραγαθεῖν· ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ τοῦ νῦν αἰῶνος [p. 408 C. ed. Maran.], whence it appears that it is by no means complete, as the scribe himself saw, not filling out a half-page with letters; it ends, however, on fol. 16 b: Εἴη μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν). Preceding this (fol. 1-5 b) are excerpts from Photius’ *Myriobiblos* on the writings of St. Justin, and from Eusebius’ *Ecclesiastical History* on the saints Justin, Polycarp, and Irenaeus. 2º His *Parænetic Discourse to the Greeks* (fol. 17-50). 3º His *Dialogue with Trypho the Jew concerning the truth of the Christian religion* (fol. 50-193). 4º His *two Apologies for the Christians*, one briefer one to the Roman Senate (fol. 193-201), the other more prolix to Antoninus Pius (fol. 201-238 b). There follow three Epistles, the same as those published (fol. 238 b-241). 5º His book *On the Monarchy or the Unity of God* (fol. 241-247). 6º His *Exposition of the Orthodox Faith* (fol. 247-261). 7º His *Confutation of Certain Aristotelian Dogmas* (fol. 261-300 b). Explicit: Καὶ γίνονται ἐξ ἀλλήλων [p. 583 E. ed. Maran.]; but immediately there follow in the manuscript codex: β'. Ἡ φύσις ἡ ποιοῦσα ^B τὰ φυσικά, etc. [p. 533 B. ed. Maran.] up to fol. 502 b: Ἀγένητα ἐν τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ [p. 535 D. ed. Maran.]). 8º His *Questions and Answers to the Greeks* (fol. 302 b-433, where, as in Maran, p. 547 E, they end with the words: τῆς ἀλόγου αὐτῶν ἀπιστίας). This is followed by the book of Athenagoras, *On the Resurrection of the Dead*, whose beginning is: Παντὶ δόγματι καὶ λόγῳ, etc., and the end: τιμῆς ἀληθοῦς δίκης, as in Maran, ed. *Opp. Just.*, p. 315 A and 336 E. — This codex was written in the year 1364; for it closes, as also Bernard de Montfaucon observed in *Palæograph. Gr.* (Paris 1708, fol.), p. 71, with this note: Ἐτελειώθη τὸ παρὸν βιβλίον ἐπὶ ἔτους ςωοδ'. Ἰνδ. β'. ἐν μηνὶ Σεπτεβρίῳ ια', that is: This book was completed in the year 6872 (Christ 1364), second indiction, the 11th day of the month of September. This is the same codex that, with very few changes, Robert Estienne had printed in his *editio princeps* of the works of Justin ‘from the Royal Library’. In order to use brevity according to my custom, I have indicated it with Maran in the *Exhortation to the Greeks* by the abbreviated note *Cod. Reg. 3*, but in the other writings by the note *Cod. Reg.* ^C by way of excellence.

II. *Codex Regius CDLI*, formerly under numbers 1169 and 2271, parchment, in folio, consisting of 403 leaves, in which (see the *Catalogues*, l. c.) are contained: 1º Clement of Alexandria’s *Admonitory Discourse to the Greeks*. There are also marginal scholia, and these not to be despised, both on this treatise and on others that follow (fol. 1-56 b). 2º His *Pedagogue*, divided into three books. The first ten chapters and the beginning of the eleventh of the first book are wanting (fol. 57-154 b). 3º Justin’s epistle to the brothers Zenas and Serenus (fol. 154 b-163 b: Ἡ χάρις μετὰ πάντων ὑμῶν). 4º His *Parænetic Oratory to the Greeks* (fol. 163 b-187 b. The last words: Οἱ δὲ μετ᾽ αὐτόν; for there are missing in the manuscript codex four quaternions [τετράδια], that is, thirty-two folios or sixty-four pages, which were already missing in the fourteenth century, as is clear from the words written at that time: Ἐντεῦθεν ἐλλείπουσι τετράδια ^D δ'). 5º The first five books of Eusebius Pamphili’s *Evangelical Preparation* (the book is missing at the beginning: ἡμῖν [therefore three words are missing] μετὰ χεῖρας ἐκπονείται πρόθεσις, etc., see the edition of Viger. Colon. 1688, fol., p. 7 A; it ends on fol. 322, in the same way as in Viger. p. 234 C). 6º Athenagoras the Athenian’s *Legation for the Christians*, Hamburg 1801, in-4º, vol. VII, p. 68 ff.

^A (fol. 322 b – 348). 7º The same, *On the Resurrection of the Dead* (fol. 348 b – 367 b). 8º Eusebius Pamphili’s book *Against Hierocles* (fol. 368 – 401 b). 9º An anonymous fragment concerning the place from which the Savior obtained the ass (another scribe, who according to the conjecture of Hasius, a man highly skilled in ancient diplomacy, lived in the tenth century, added this fragment [fol. 402 sq.] written in smaller uncial letters (12)). This codex was written by the hand of Baanes, a notary to Arethas, Archbishop of Caesarea, in the year of Christ 914; for at the end (fol. 401 b) it has: *Written by the hand of Baanes, notary to Arethas, Archbishop of Caesarea of Cappadocia, in the year of the world 6422 (a.D. 914).* Certain learned men, such as Hutchin (in the preface to his edition of the *Apology*, etc.) and Nourry (l. c., p. 468), erroneously read *Baanes notou*, a thing which Bernard de Montfaucon (l. c., p. 275, col. p. 35 and 43) has already criticized. He also provided an example from this codex of excellent note, using the same extremely elegant character in which it was written (l. c., p. 274, n. III). It seems, as Hasius observes, that this *notarios*, i.e., calligrapher, had a good knowledge of the Greek language, so that the errors everywhere obvious are to be imputed to the codex he transcribed. However, Hutchin and Maran, whom we designate as Cod. Reg. 1, had already used this excellent manuscript book, whose authority we have decided to follow before others, as is proper, for the *Cohortatio*.

III. Codex Regius CLXXIV, formerly 1358, then 2919, parchment, square in shape, *Fonteblandensis*, i.e., originating from the Royal library formerly kept in the castle of Fontainebleau. It has 190 leaves. Included therein (see catalogs p. 27 sq.) are: 1º Olympiodorus’ *Commentary on Ecclesiastes*. 2º *Scholia on the Proverbs of Solomon*, excerpted from the writings of Basil, Diadochus, Didymus, Evagrius, Hippolytus, and Palladius. Aristotle is also cited. 3º A passage of Athanasius on the Psalms. 4º The ten commandments of the Old Law. 5º Maximus the Confessor’s *Questions, interrogations and shorter responses*; also a select explanation of various difficult chapters. 6º *Scholia on the prophet Ezekiel*, excerpted from the writings of Apollinaris, Gregory of Nyssa, Origen, Polychronius, and Theodoret. 7º *Scholia on Daniel*; here Africanus, Ammonius, Chrysostom, Cyril, Hippolytus, and Polychronius are frequently cited. 8º *Excerpts from Theodoret’s three Dialogues*, between the *Eranistes* and the Orthodox [believer]. 9º Saint Justin Martyr’s *Epistle to Zenas and Serenus* (fol. 85-92; the first and last words are read as in Maran, p. 408 A – 417 B). 10º The same’s *Exhortation/Parenetic Oration to the Greeks*. Brief scholia hitherto unpublished are set in the margin (fol. 92-112). These, in the judgment of Hasius, ^B contain nothing but headings, i.e., indexes of matters treated in the text, or contain brief grammatical-ascetic notes, and are hardly worthy of being printed in our time. To provide an example, which I do not know if it serves as a representative of them all, on fol. 108, at the words (Cohort. c. 31): *And he rode upon the Cherubim*, it is annotated: *And the text, "He rode upon the Cherubim and did fly, and he did fly upon the wings of the wind"; is it not clearer?* And shortly after: *The Lord was not in the wind.* This is written in the divine vision according to Elijah; as if He were not manifesting Himself to men in the Spirit of God, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire. For the soul of man, having begun to occupy itself with the contemplation pertaining to God, is raised towards this as if by some violent wind, away from all things that creep upon the earth. 11º Tatian’s *Oration to the Greeks*. Added are somewhat richer scholia, not at all unworthy of seeing the light of day. Various readings of that codex of the *Oration* are represented in the Oxford edition of the year 1700. 12º Athenagoras the Athenian philosopher’s *Legation for the Christians*, with similar scholia. 13º The same’s treatise *On the Resurrection of the Dead*. 14º Eusebius Pamphili’s book *Against Hierocles*. This codex, a specimen of which Bernard de Montfaucon provided (l. c., p. 279, n. I), seems to have been written in the eleventh century (13) by various hands, which nevertheless are all of roughly the same time. At the end (fol. 190 b) this note of ownership is found, betraying a later age: *This book belongs to the humble custodian, George Skleratos, deacon of Paphos.* That is indeed a sign of the cross, which, as Hasius saw in Greece four years ago, people of advanced age and pious men also place in our own times, whenever they are about to write something; they invoke *Lord, help me.* But that codex of the *Parenetic Oration*, which, as is evident from its amazing agreement, is of the same family as Reg. 1 (n. 451), we have designated as Cod. Reg. 2, of Hutchin and Maran.

IV. Codex Regius XIX, formerly Colbertinus 3581; since the year 1732, when the grandson of Colbert, the Count of Seignelay, had sold the manuscript books inherited by him to Louis XV, it was numbered Regius 2854, paper, square in shape. Contained therein (see catalogs p. 9) are: 1º Job. 2º Justin the philosopher and martyr’s *Exhortation to the Greeks*. 3º The Apocalypse. This codex, whose pages are not numbered, seems to have been written in the sixteenth century, and this, as Hasius admonishes, by some European, i.e., an inhabitant of Western land, whether Italy or France, who perhaps wished in this way to prepare for himself some exercise in the Greek letters; for it is thought that these two leaves were written by Baane as practice or for his own amusement in uncial character. He judges that this codex was written in the eleventh century (13). For, he says, "I have come across a few codices of the same form, bearing a date, which are all written in that same century." Here, the dative is ascribed, as in *epistole*, which is observed in a few exemplars; in more it is omitted. Accents are not marked with such accuracy everywhere, but they are not rarely neglected, and similarly the breathings, which are generally described in an ancient form.

^A and used a pen, not a writing-reed, which alone, or perhaps bronze pens, the Greeks used right up to the fall of the empire. I have called this manuscript, which although it has many unique readings, undoubtedly flows from the same source as Reg. 2 (no. 174), not—as Maranus did—the Colbertine, but Cod. Reg. 4.

V. Codex Regius CXC. (See *Supplément grec*, as this supplement contains those manuscripts that arrived at the Royal Library after 1740), written on ordinary paper in the seventeenth century, consisting of 340 folios. This octavo manuscript, containing excerpts from Epiphanius, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and other ecclesiastical Fathers, offers a few collections (fol. 286–304b) from St. Justin, with short Latin annotations added; however, Hasius has provided assurance that this manuscript contributes nothing of value for the emendation of the text. Let it be added immediately

VI. Codex Claromontanus, so called by Maranus because the library of the Paris College of the Society of Jesus provided it. However, when the Jesuits were expelled from France (in 1764) and the books of that library were sold publicly, that manuscript fell into the hands of Meerman. Upon his death, it passed to England (in 1824) with other writings, to be joined to the library of the most illustrious Thomas Phillipps, established at the village of Middlehill near the town of Broadway (located in the county of Worcestershire). See *Catalogus manuscriptorum codicum collegii Claromontani* (Paris, 1764, 8vo), p. 25 ff., no. LXXXII, and *Bibliotheca Meermaniana*, or the catalogue of printed books and manuscripts which Joannes Meerman left behind at his death, vol. IV (The Hague, 1824, 8vo), p. 7, no. LVII; cf. Gust. Hänel, *Catalogi librorum manuscriptorum, etc.* (Leipzig, 1830, 4to), p. 894. This paper manuscript, in folio, comprising 377 folios, was written in the sixteenth century ^B and contains: 1° The *Epistle to Zenas and Serenus* of Justin the philosopher and martyr. Preceded by some items concerning Justin from Suidas, Photius, and others. 2° *Paræneticus ad gentes*. 3° *Dialogue with Trypho*. 4° Both *Apologies* for the Christians, with the letters of Emperors Antoninus and Marcus. 5° *On the Monarchy*. 6° *Exposition of the Faith, or On the Holy Trinity*. 7° *Refutation of the Dogmas of Aristotle*. 8° *Christian Questions to the Gentiles*. 9° *Responses to the Orthodox concerning necessary questions* and a *Treatise against the Gentiles*. 10° *Greek Questions to the Christians regarding the Incorporeal, God, and the Resurrection of the dead*. 11° *Christian Responses to the aforementioned questions, from the piety of natural reasoning*. 12° Athenagoras, *On the Resurrection of the dead*. 13° Justin’s ^C *Epistle* (the same as above) *to Zenas and Serenus*. 14° *Exposition* (the same as above) *of the orthodox confession*. This manuscript is very similar to the one marked with the Royal number 450; for indeed, not only does it contain the works in the same order, but the *Epistle to Zenas and Serenus*, located in the first place, is truncated at the beginning. Added to this is the fact that its readings for the most part so agree with the Regius, that both appear to have been transcribed from the same manuscript, or one from the other. Sirmondus, according to Nourrius (*l. c.*, p. 468), examined the Claromontanus manuscript with the greatest diligence, and with his own hand supplied the mutilated beginning of the *Epistle to Zenas and Serenus*, prefacing it with a list of all the works it contains. This is the same manuscript that Thirlbius saw to it that certain selected passages were collated with. In Gaul, besides the manuscripts mentioned above, only one other is found, which I have personally used first; for it is ^D

VII. Codex Argentoratensis, written on cotton paper (*ex charta gossypina*; see Hänel, *l. c.*, p. 466), in small folio, whose folios were numbered in more recent times as 260. It once belonged to Joannes Reuchlin, as an inscription indicates, made by his hand on the inner side of the wooden cover (*Liber Græcus Johannis Reuchlin Phorcen.*); afterwards, it arrived at Maurimonasterium (Maurmünster) located in Upper Alsace (*Ex. libb. Abb. Maurimonast. 1560*), and finally, through the violent conversion of the French kingdom, arrived at the public library of Strasbourg. It was, however, considerably gnawed by mice making a nest for themselves in it, but only its other half suffered damage. This manuscript contains: 1° St. Justin the philosopher and martyr's *On the Monarchy*. 2° *Exhortatory Discourse to the Greeks*. 3° *Exposition of the Faith concerning the right confession, or concerning the Trinity*. 4° *To the Greeks*. 5° *To Diognetus*. By another and more recent hand there were added: 6° The *Erythraean Sibyl's Verses* (containing only three pages). 7° *Oracles of the Greek gods*. However, by the prior hand are: 8° Athenagoras' *Embassy* and 9° His book *On the Resurrection*. Finally, the writings of Cyril of Alexandria and the later tract against Armenians, Ishmaelites, and others which follow clearly betray a more recent hand. The part of the manuscript is written earlier than the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The most venerable man Eduard Cunitz, a doctor of theology at Strasbourg, kindly communicated those observations to me. Now, the rest of what he wrote to me about this manuscript, I shall report in his own exact words: "Die Zeilen, in dem Theile der Justin enthält, sind vorgezeichnet durch in das starke Baumwollenpapier eingeritzte Linien, unter welche die Buchstaben geschrieben sind. Die..."

Verschränkungen und Zusammenziehungen der Buchstaben sind meistens dieselben wie in den Stephanischen Drucken (und unter anderem fehlt zum Beispiel das in letzteren so häufige ^A oder ^B), aber bei Weitem nicht durchgängig angewandt; dasselbe ist der Fall mit den eigentlichen Abkürzungen, die auch ganz die bei Stephanus eingeführten sind (von einigen jedoch erinnere ich mich nicht, ob sie bei Stephanus vorkommen: ¦ = ας und Ϛ = ους; erstere wird von unserem Scriba besonders oft gebraucht. Beinahe durchweg bedient er sich auch der bekannten ἄν = ἄνθρωπος, οὐ = οὐρανός, πρᾳ, πρὸ = πνεῦμα etc., θῦ = θεοῦ; letzteres findet sich nur ausnahmsweise). Übrigens hat bei dem Allem die Schrift nichts weniger als ein currentes Aussehen wegen ihres gedehnten, ins Breite gezogenen, immer noch alterthümlichen Charakters. Was andere Merkzeichen betrifft, so wenig genau Bestimmtes sich auch daraus ziehen lässt, so mag das Hauptsächlichste Folgendes sein: Die Schrift ist durchweg ziemlich gleichförmig und sorgfältig gehalten; auffallend sind die unleserlichen Stellen, die gerade mit den in dem gedruckten Texte vorkommenden Lücken zusammenfallen, obgleich meistens sich noch erkennen lässt, dass sie ursprünglich beschrieben waren; doch sind, im Allgemeinen, besonders die ersten Blätter sehr verblichen und auch auf manchen folgenden die Schlusswörter der Zeilen und auch die oberen Ecken der Seiten oft sowohl durch Feuchtigkeit als auch durch ^C Reibung sehr verwischt. Die Randglossen, die übrigens in unseren Büchern nicht sehr häufig vorkommen, sind von der Hand des ursprünglichen Librarius, aber mit rother Tinte, wie auch die Titel. Das α, wo es nicht angehängt ist, hat gewöhnlich die Gestalt ɑ. Das β wird oft durch ϐ versetzt. Das ι subscriptum fehlt durchweg. Meistens wird die Form ς, seltener ϲ gebraucht. Für κ findet sich öfters auch k. Die sehr auffallende Übereinstimmung unseres Straßburger Codex mit den Lesarten des Beurerischen Apographon, welche in den Noten Sylburgs angegeben sind, ließen mich anfangs glauben, unsere Handschrift sei dieses Apographon selbst, da es sich leicht denken ließ, dass der Freiburger Professor von dem Codex zu Maursmünster Kenntniss hatte; aber es finden sich doch auch manche ausdrückliche Abweichungen, die wohl hinreichen, die Verschiedenheit dieser Handschriften zu beweisen. Übrigens wurde unser Codex oder wenigstens die drei ersten darin enthaltenen Bücher (De Monarchia, der Paræneticus und die Ekthesis) schon früher verglichen, wie daraus erhellt, dass bei diesen Schriften die Varianten des gedruckten Textes ziemlich sorgfältig am Rande angegeben sind (im Adv. πρὸς Ἕλληνας und im Brief an Diognet ist dies nicht der Fall). Jedoch scheint diese frühere Collation nicht zu etwas Weiterem gedient zu haben oder das Resultat davon bekannt gemacht worden zu sein. Nunc viri plurimum reverendi Cunitzius Cohortationem et Orationem ad Græcos Epistolamque ad Diognetum, Eduardus Reuss vero, theologiæ professor Argentoratensis, De monarchia tractatum summa diligentia cum illo codice msto contulerunt, omnes scripturas ab editionis Benedictinæ textu diversas quam fieri poterat accuratissime descripserunt mihique edendas concesserunt. Qua de re quid mihi jucundius esse potest, quam his viris de re litteraria optime meritis justas ac debitas agere gratias? Subjungam quæ præterea ad Galliam pertinent:

VIII. Manuscriptus Stephani a me appellatur variarum ad Cohortationem ad Græcos et librum De monarchia lectionum farrago, quam Rob. Stephanus editionis suæ (Lutet. 1551) calci adjecit. Pleræque fere omnes ex codicibus Parisinis desumptæ sunt. ^D Ad Apologias et Dialogum interdum lectiones affert Codicis Regii oræ marginali ascriptas.

IX. Manuscriptus Pici a me Cohortationis ad Græcos translatio vocatur, quam Pico Mirandulano debemus. Adhibuit procul dubio mstum quemdam codicem ad conficiendam illam, quippe quæ jam prius quam editio Stephani princeps, Argentorati (a. 1507) lucem viderit. Tales vero versiones critico respiciendas esse constat. Ac Picus quamvis interdum summo verterit arbitrio, tamen sæpe efficit, de genuina Justini lectione ut queat recte judicari. Codex autem mstus quem usurpavit ad antiquiores eosdemque meliores referendus est; pertinet nimirum ad familiam Codd. Reg. 1, 2, 4 et Argentor.

In Germania et Helvetia frustra inquisivi in permultas easque copiosissimas bibliothesas. Reperitur tantum

X. Codex Vimariensis, membranaceus, formæ quadratæ, sæculo decimo quinto sextove eleganter exaratus, cujus folia, numeris a scriba non insignita a me numerantur 50. Fuit olim cujusdam Antonii Mauclercy, posthac Cornelii a Maersche, Lugd. Bat. (a. 1673), ut cognoscitur ex nota in fronte libri collocata. Ibidem aureo charactere scriptum est: Divi Justini philosophi et martyris Oratio ad Græcos. Ejusdem de monarchia Dei liber. Atramento adjungitur: Dominicus Lampsonus vertit. Uterque enim liber, et Cohortatio ad Gr. (fol. 1-40 b) et de monarchia tractatus (fol. 41-50 a), haud dubie ex Græco quodam msto codice in linguam Latinam conversus est. Quare codicem contuli ex eoque scripturæ dedi discrepantiam, in quantum fieri poterat; nam versio ipsa, elegans et oratoria, interdum liberior est, ut, quæ exemplaris Græci verba fuerint, neutiquam possis divinare. Cæterum codex mstus, quo Lampsonus usus est, ad recentiorem videtur familiam pertinere, cujus sunt codd. Regius 3 et Claromontanus bonitate Regiis 1, 2, 4 et Argentoratensi cedentes.

X bis. Beureri apographon, Orationem ad Græcos et Epistolam ad Diognetum continens. Siquidem Beurerus, professor Friburgensis, eumdem descri-

- he examined the codex and H. Stephanus (see above), and besides that he inspected no one else, namely either the one which is preserved today at Strasbourg or one certainly very similar to it; for he very often filled in the gaps, which are obvious in Stephanus's copy, in the transcript with the same words which exist in the Strasbourg Codex from the first hand. But we do not know where this transcript, whose various readings Stephanus and more accurately Sylburgius copied out, is preserved today. Perhaps at Glasgow (see below, no. XII)? Certainly the Epistle to Diognetus was also called by the name of an oration, which appears from Stephanus's edition of this epistle, p. 104. As far as the Netherlands is concerned, it is found ^A

XI. The Leiden Codex, on paper, of square format, which was once in the possession of Isaac Vossius (in England), but later arrived in Leiden. In it, along with the witness of the Catalogs of the manuscript books of England and Ireland (Oxford 1697, fol. vol. II, p. 1, p. 60, no. 2205), to which the Catalog of books both printed and manuscript of the public library of the University of Leiden (Leiden, 1716, fol., p. 396, no. 30; cf. Bern. de Montfaucon: Bibliotheca bibliothecarum manuscriptorum nova, Paris 1739, fol. vol. I, p. 676) agrees, the Epistle to Diognetus is contained, I asked by letter the most excellent prefect of the Leiden library, Jacob Geel, to send me various readings extracted from that manuscript codex. The most learned man, whose benevolence towards me must be praised, replied among other things: "By diligently exploring, I persuaded myself that Justin Martyr's Epistle to Diognetus, ^B which the Vossian codex 30 (Catal. p. 396) contains along with many other writings, is the very copy which Henr. Stephanus described from I know not what codex, and which served the first edition (1592). It is Stephanus's hand, unless I am greatly mistaken; in the margin are written the same conjectures which later editors of Justin testify that Stephanus made (for I do not have the 1592 edition itself at hand); but what settles the matter: in the codex after the Epistle to Diognetus follows the Exhortation to the Greeks, which Stephanus published separately together with the Ep. to Diognetus. I partially compared it with the Paris 1742 edition. — There is no difference. Therefore I do not see what the inspection of the written copy could profit you."

In England also there is nothing to help Justin. Indeed, besides the Claromontanus Codex (Cf. above no. VI.) there exists ^C

XII. The Glasgow Codex, on parchment, of square format, and written in the year 1453, which according to Haenel (l. c., p. 790) contains Justin's Orations, but since I have received no news about it yet, I do not know indeed which writings of Justin are meant by the word Orations. Certainly in manuscript codices the Epistle to Zenas and Serenus is also called by the name of an Oration.

I was expecting some help from Italy. For Friedericus Blume gave me great hope, reporting (cf. Bibliotheca librorum manuscriptorum Italica; Göttingen 1834, 8, p. 137) that Justin and Athenagoras are held in Rome in the Angelica library (S. Agostino (17)): fol. B. 1, 10. Immediately, with the recommendation of Goettling, my dearest teacher, I approached Emil Braun, secretary of the Archaeological Institute which is in Rome, by letter, that he might kindly take care to have that codex diligently compared. The most learned man, whose goodwill towards me must be celebrated, writes back that he has inspected the said codex, but that it contains only the spurious Epistle to Zenas and Serenus. In the Vatican library he found indeed five handwritten codices, but they by no means pertain to the genuine works of the martyr. Only the Queen's library offers a manuscript codex (35, f. 232, a. t.), containing ᾿Αποσπάσματα ἐν τῇ δογματικῆ πανοπλίᾳ Εὐθυμίου τοῦ Ζιγαβηνοῦ; but those are of little importance. ^D

There are altogether three manuscript codices of the true Justin in Italy and they pertain only to the Exhortation, whose readings or corrections, however, it has not yet been possible to fetch from there to be collected. For they are

XIII. The Florentine Codex XXXII, no. IX, plut. X, in the Laurentian Medicean Library: Exhortatory Sermon to the Gentiles. Cf. Ang. Mar. Bandinius: Catal. Codd. mss. bibliothecæ Med. Laurent, containing various works, vol. I (Florence 1764, fol.) p. 496.

XIV. The Bologna Codex in the library of the Canons Regular of St. Augustine, in which are contained: 1° Athenagoras's Embassy. 2° The same's On the Resurrection of the Bodies. 3° Justin Martyr's moral oration: Περὶ μὲν τῆς κατὰ πρόβλημά τινων ἀλογίστου, etc. (= Epistle to Zenas and Seren.). 4° The same's Parænesis to the Greeks. 5° The same's On the Right Faith. 6° Origen's Epistle to Africanus. 7° Cleomedes's On the Circular Theory of Meteors. 8° Heron on War Machines: by the scribe Valeriano Albino. The codex seems to be of better quality. Cf. Joann. Mabillon: Museum Italicum, or collection of old writings from Italian libraries, vol. I, p. 1. (Paris 1687, 4), p. 196; add. Bern. de Montfaucon: Diarium Italicum, or notices of old monuments of libraries, museums, etc. (Paris 1702, 4), p. 407 sq.

XV. The Modena Codex in the Ducal library. 1° Clement of Alexandria's Exhortation. 2° The same's Instructor and Hymn, as in the editions. 3° Justin's to Zenas. 4° The same's Against the Greeks. 5° Athenagoras's Embassy. 6° Tatian's Oration. 7° On the Sibyls. A most elegant manuscript codex of the tenth century on parchment, to which the codex in the Royal Parisian library marked with the number 451 is very similar, according to Montfaucon, l. c., p. 31.

Finally, concerning the manuscript codices pertaining to the fragment On the Resurrection, and to the Acts of the martyrdom of Justin, you should consult what I have set forth above on p. XXIII, (col. 212.) seq.

THE WORKS OF SAINT JUSTIN PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR. ALL THAT SURVIVE.

(The works of our holy father Justin, philosopher and martyr, all that survive; along with the Oration of Tatian against the Greeks; the Embassy for the Christians by Athenagoras, the Athenian philosopher; the three books of Saint Theophilus of Antioch to Autolycus; the Derision of the Gentile Philosophers by Hermias the philosopher; also works falsely attributed to Justin in the Appendix, with the Acts of his martyrdom and excerpts of the lost works of the same Justin, Tatian, and Theophilus; collated with manuscript codices, and illustrated with new interpretations, notes, admonitions, and a preface, with copious indices; by the work and study of one of the monks of the Congregation of Saint Maur (Dom Prudentius Maranus). — Paris, at the expense of Carolus Osmont, San-Jacob Street, 1742, in-folio, with the approbation and privilege of the King.)

ANALYSIS OF THE ORATION OF SAINT JUSTIN TO THE GREEKS.

The Oration of Saint Justin to the Greeks is a brief exposition of the reasons by which, having been led, he dismissed the Gentiles and became a Christian. The institutions of the Gentiles stirred up loathing in him, possessing absolutely nothing that could please God: gods scorched with the marks of crimes in Homer and Hesiod, effeminate heroes, and solemn assemblies in which luxury, flutes, oils, and garlands flourished as the ruin of modesty and the incitements of vice. Since these assemblies were established in honor of the gods, and in them the crimes and shameful acts of the gods were either performed or recounted, Justin determined that neither fathers could rebuke and correct these things in their sons, nor husbands in their wives, because they were worshipped in the gods. Justin joined to his loathing of superstitions a love and admiration for Christian doctrine. He exhorts the Gentiles: that, since he was once what they are, they themselves might become what he now is. He declares that he was captivated by the divine power of the doctrine and the efficacy of the Word, which, once vicious passions are calmed, brings tranquility to the soul. In a similar way, in the Dialogue with Trypho, after he said that he was struck by admiration for divine Scripture and had come to the Christian religion, he adds this: “I would indeed wish that all, following a reasoning similar to mine, might not stray from the doctrine of the Savior. For it possesses in itself a certain terrible majesty, and is suited to move those who have turned aside from the right path: but to those who reflect upon it, it is a most sweet rest.” The similarity of both passages confirms the consensus of scholars that this Oration to the Greeks is to be attributed to Saint Justin.

OUR HOLY FATHER JUSTIN, PHILOSOPHER AND MARTYR, ORATION TO THE GREEKS

SANCTI PATRIS NOSTRI JUSTINI PHILOSOPHI ET MARTYRIS ORATION TO THE GREEKS

Ex Henr. Stephani interpretatione, pluribus locis emendata.

^A 1. Do not suppose, O Greeks, that my separation from your customs is senseless or without judgment. For I have found nothing in them that is holy or acceptable to God. For those very works which your poets have composed are monuments to madness and unrestrained lewdness. For if anyone, for the sake of learning, approaches one who excels among you in doctrine, he will fall into more difficulties than any other man. ^B For, in the first place, they say that Agamemnon, acting in concert with his brother’s extreme lewdness, madness, and unbridled desire, was willing to hand over his daughter for sacrifice, and threw all of Greece into confusion in order to rescue Helen, who had been snatched away by the scabrous shepherd. AND when the war had actually taken hold and they carried off captives, Agamemnon himself was led away captive by Chryseis, and because of Briseis he stirred up enmity against the son of Thetis. And the son of Peleus himself, who is grievous to others,

^A who leapt over the river, who overthrew Troy, who reduced Hector to his power—that hero of yours was a slave to Polyxena; he was conquered by a dead Amazon; and having stripped off the god-wrought arms and put on a bridal garment, he became a victim of erotic charms in the temple of Apollo. For the Ithacan, the son of Laertes, traded vice for virtue. And that he was devoid of true prudence ^B the voyage past the Sirens showed, because he was not able to be prudent and block his hearing. That Telamonian Ajax, the bearer of the seven-fold ox-hide shield, being defeated in the judgment regarding the arms of Achilles against Ulysses, was seized by madness. I do not wish to be instructed in these things. For I do not lay claim to such virtue ^C as to be persuaded by the myths of Homer. For the whole rhapsody, both of the Iliad and the Odyssey, has woman as its beginning and end.

2. But since after Homer, Hesiod wrote the *Works and Days*, who will assent to his nonsensical *Theogony*? For they say that Saturn, the son of Colus, took away the rule from his father and seized the scepter; and, fearing that he might suffer the same, he decided to devour his children; but that Jupiter, having been snatched away by the craft of the Curetes and having lain hidden, bound his father with chains—and, as the story goes, they divided [the world].

2. But since after Homer Hesiod

Jupiter obtained the heaven, ^A Neptune the deep, and Pluto the portion of the nether world. But Pluto carried off the Maiden, and Ceres, wandering through the deserts, was seeking her child. And the fire at Eleusis elevated this myth to a high status. Again, Neptune dishonored Melanippe while she was drawing water, and he abused a crowd of Nereids, not a few; were we to recount their names, we should consume a great multitude of words. As for Jupiter, he was an adulterer in many ways: to Antiope he was a satyr, to Danaë he was gold, and to Europa he was a bull; while at Leda’s side he took wings. For the love of Semele convictled ^B both his licentiousness and the jealousy of Semele. And they say he carried off the Phrygian Ganymede to serve as cupbearer. And such things the Cronidae did. For that renowned one of yours, the son of Leto, who professed the prophetic art, convicted himself that he is a liar. He pursued Daphne, whom he did not catch; and he did not prophesy his own death to his beloved Aeacides. I pass over the manliness of Athena, the womanish nature of Dionysus, and the prostitution of Aphrodite. Read, O Greeks, to Jupiter the law against those who strike a parent, and the penalty for adultery, and the baseness of pederasty. ^C Teach Athena and Artemis the works of women, and Dionysus the works of men. What respect is shown by a woman adorned in armor, or by a man who beautifies himself with cymbals and garlands and female dress, and celebrates orgies with a troop of women?

3. The thrice-evening Alcides, the leader of the contests, the son of Jupiter, who killed the lion, and that response given to Pyrrhus by Apollo:

I say that you, descendant of Aeacus, the Romans can defeat.

But the affairs of Pyrrhus do not seem to fit this passage of Justin. ^D

^A And he slew the raging, tireless hydra; he who was able to strike down the man-eating birds in flight; he who brought up the three-headed dog from Hades; he who was able to clear out the strongly-walled stable of Augeas; he who slew bulls and a deer whose nostrils breathed fire, and who took the golden fruit from the trunk; he who slew the poisonous serpent (and why he killed Achelous, it is not fitting to say, nor the guest-slayer Busiris); and he who leaped over the mountains, as the story goes, to obtain water that gave back an articulate voice—the one who was able to do such, so many, and so great things, was content, like a helpless child, to have his ears filled with the din of cymbals being struck by satyrs, and, conquered by a woman's love, took pleasure in being struck upon his buttocks by the laughing Lyde. And finally, being unable to remove the Nessian tunic, he was the one who built his own ^B funeral pyre and thus put an end to his life. Let Vulcan lay aside his jealousy, and let him not begrudge that, being an old man and lame, he was hated, while Mars, who was young and handsome, was beloved.

Since, therefore, O Greeks, your gods have been convicted by their lack of self-restraint, and your heroes are proved unmanly—as your own tragic histories have revealed, with their accounts of the pollutions of Atreus, the beds of Thyestes, and the abominable crimes of the Pelopid families, and Danaus killing out of envy, and the drunkard who was childless; and the Thyestean banquets, which the Erinnyes seasoned. And Procne, even to this day, pines away feathered, and her sister, the Cecropian with her tongue cut out, has chirped. For why is it necessary to speak of the prickings of Oedipus, and the murder of Laius, and the marriage to his mother, and the mutual slaughter of his brothers and his children at the same time?

4. I also view your public festivals with hatred. For there, indulgence is carried to an excessive degree, and far beyond the point of satisfaction; there are flutes of exquisite workmanship, which excite ^C people toward frenzied movements; there are elaborate anointings with perfumes, and the laying on of garlands. And...

with such a heap of evils, you restrict ^A modesty; your mind is filled, while you break out into a Bacchic fury through intemperance and wantonness; hence you are even accustomed to rabid acts of sexual intercourse. I would say this to you as well: Why are you indignant, being a Greek, toward your son, if, imitating Zeus, he plots against you and has stolen your marriage? Why do you consider him an enemy, while you worship the one who commits similar acts? And why do you complain about your wife living wantonly and lewdly, but have honored Aphrodite with temples? And if, indeed, these things had been said by others, they would have seemed to be mere accusation and not the truth; but, on the contrary, your poets sing these things, and the histories that are among you proclaim them.

5. Come then, Greeks, and partake of incomparable ^B wisdom; and be instructed by the divine Word, and learn to know the incorruptible King; and acknowledge these heroes, not those who work slaughter among the peoples. For our King ^C himself does not desire the strength of bodies, or the beauty of features, or the pride of noble birth, but a soul pure, guarded by holiness; and the signs of our King are divine actions, since a certain power, through the [divine] Word, penetrates into the soul, (O peaceful flute for the soul attacked by war! O instrument for putting to flight heavy passions! O teaching that extinguishes the fire innate to the soul!) which does not make us poets, nor does it create philosophers, nor eloquent orators; but, ^D by instructing, it makes mortals immortal, transforms mortals into gods, and translates them from earth to the regions that are beyond Olympus. Come, be instructed; become as I am, for I also was as you are. These things took hold of me: the heaven-sent power of the instruction and the efficacy of the Word; for just as a skilled enchanter makes a formidable serpent crawl out of its lair and then puts it to flight, so does the Word drive the terrible passions of the sensations out from the very recesses of the soul; first desire, through which every evil [is born].

enmities, strifes, jealousy, contentions, angers, and like things. Desire having been driven away, the soul attains tranquility and serenity. Being released from the evils which flow around its neck, it departs to the One who created it. For it is necessary that it be restored from whence it departed, whence it came to exist.

ANALYSIS OF THE COHORTATION TO THE GREEKS

This Cohortation to the Greeks, since it is contained in a milder discourse and not in vehement complaints, does not seem to have been written during the heat of persecutions—which would have stirred up greater force and anguish of spirit in the holy martyr—but rather during those intervals of sorts which the Church enjoyed at the time when Justin was converted to the faith. And I believe that this is the reason why the style of this oration, while it perfectly breathes the spirit of Justin, is nevertheless more polished and somewhat more refined than in his other works. There is hardly any doubt that it was written in Rome. For Justin had already traveled through Italy, as is evident from the things he narrates as having heard and seen at Cumae. But we deal more fully with these matters in the Preface, where we also refute the opinions of those who think this work was either falsely attributed to Justin’s name or has come down to us mutilated. The intention of the holy martyr is to demonstrate that the knowledge of the truth is to be sought not from Greek writers, but from the prophets. For he endeavored to bring others to the faith by the same path by which he himself had been brought to it; and since he had received the beginning of the knowledge of Christ from the discourse of a certain old man, who had argued excellently how far philosophers differ from prophets, it seemed to him that it would be a worthwhile effort if he were to occupy himself with the same subject.

The oration consists primarily of two parts, in the first of which the holy martyr demonstrates that nothing concerning the true religion can be known from Greek writers; in the second, however, that if they have said anything true, it serves to commend the Christian religion, inasmuch as it was drawn from the fountains of the Hebrews.

In the first part, the holy martyr inquires who and what kind were the teachers of their religion for the heathens and the Christians, and at what times they appeared. He proves (n. 2) that truth cannot be learned from the poets, whose even more absurd opinions he recounts (n. 3, 4). Plato and Aristotle (n. 5, 6) not only contradict each other but are even at variance with themselves (n. 7). The prophets are far different (n. 8), who perceived the truth by a gift received from God. The first of these is Moses, whose antiquity is proven by many testimonies, and the others in succession received that heavenly gift (n. 9, 10). But if the Greeks flee to their oracles (n. 11), leaving behind the philosophers, these favor the Christians. To this is added (n. 12) the fact that the teachers of the Greeks are very recent. Nothing was recorded accurately before the Olympiads. The letters of the Greeks had not yet been invented when Moses wrote. But if (n. 13) the books of Moses and the other prophets exist in Greek, that origin stems from Ptolemy, King of Egypt, at whose request they were translated into the Greek language.

In the second part (n. 14), he urges the heathens, out of fear of future judgment, to add to their own uses whatever truth their teachers may have spoken. For it was done by divine providence that they, even against their will, said many things that accord with the Christians, especially those who had spent time in Egypt and there collected the fragments of the doctrine of Moses that had been preserved. For this purpose are cited (n. 15) the testimonies of Orpheus regarding the one God and his Word; also those of the Sibyl, Homer, and Sophocles regarding one and singular God (n. 16, 17, 18). Pythagoras also admits one God (n. 19). Plato’s opinion is varied (n. 20). He admits gods out of fear of the Athenians, but he seems to have learned in Egypt that dictum of God: "I am he who is." From which words it is clear (n. 21) that there is no name for God, and the error which the serpent insinuated to the first humans is refuted. Not unlike this is that saying of Plato (n. 22): "That which is always, but is not truly begotten." Concerning the gods, however, he introduces one who holds the contrary, namely, God the creator. Whence he undeservedly criticizes Homer (n. 24), who also himself learned in Egypt about the singular God. This variety of Plato’s opinion is attributed to his fear of the Athenians (n. 25). Plato borrowed many other things from Moses, concerning prophets inspired by God (n. 26), concerning judgment and resurrection (n. 27). So also Homer (n. 28), whose testimonies are reported concerning the soul in the lower world tormented with the body, concerning creation, paradise, the tower, and the devil cast down from the heavens. The Ideas of Plato (n. 29, 30) have their origin in Moses, though less well understood. Add to these (n. 31) the chariot of Jupiter and the fiery essence in which he says God resides. It seems also (n. 32) that he knew something concerning the gift descending from heaven upon holy men. Derived from Moses is what he says (n. 33) about the time when the world was created. Even the authors of idols themselves seem to have heard something of divine history (n. 34), namely this: "Let us make man in our image," etc. Justin therefore urges (n. 34) that the heathens should take refuge in the sacred books of the Christians, since the philosophers themselves confess that they know nothing (n. 35): or at least that they listen to Orpheus, and in part learn the true religion from the Sibyl (n. 36, 37), and consult the ancient philosophers, Mercury and Acmon.

THE SAME JUSTIN'S HORTATORY ADDRESS TO THE GREEKS

^A Beginning, O men of Greece, this hortatory address to you, I pray to God that it may be granted to me to speak the things that are necessary to you; and that you, laying aside your former contentiousness and having been delivered from the error of your ancestors, may choose the things that are profitable now.^B Think not that any wrong is being done by you to your ancestors if those things which are now found to be useful to you appear to be contrary to what they formerly and not-so-well opined. For the accurate examination of matters often shows that things which seemed to be right are otherwise, after it has weighed the truth with a more accurate scale. Since, therefore, the argument before us concerns true religion (than which, I believe, nothing is considered more important by those who desire to live without danger, on account of the judgment that is to come after the end of this life—a judgment which not only our progenitors in the worship of God, namely the prophets and legislators, proclaim, but also those among you who were thought to be wise, not only poets, but also philosophers, who professed among you to possess the true and divine knowledge), it seemed good to me to first inquire regarding the teachers of our religion and yours, who they are and how many, and in what times they lived; so that those who have previously received the misnamed religion from their ancestors may now, at least, being made aware, be delivered from that ancient error; and that we ourselves may clearly and openly demonstrate that we follow the religion of those whom we have had as our progenitors in the worship of God.

2. Whom, then, O men of Greece, do you say are the teachers of your religion? The poets?^C But to say this concerning you is not...

advantageous before men who are versed in your poets. For they know the most ridiculous theology concerning the gods ^A which is taught by them, as we can learn from the most celebrated and primary of your poets, Homer. For he says that the generation of the gods had its beginning from water; for thus he has written: "Ocean [is] the origin of the gods, and mother Tethys." Then, too, it is necessary to set forth what he says regarding the first god among them, whom he frequently calls the father of both men and gods; for he says: "Zeus, who is the dispenser of war to men." He says, therefore, that he was the author of the war not only by military forces, but also of perjury for the Trojans through his own daughter; and Homer introduces this same one as loving, and lamenting, and grieving, and plotted against by the other gods, and now speaking ^B concerning his own son: "Woe is me, that it is fated for Sarpedon, dearest of men to me, to be subdued by Patroclus, son of Menoetius," and at another time concerning Hector: "Alas, I see with my eyes a dear man being chased around the wall; and my heart grieves for him." But those who read these verses understand what he narrates concerning the plots of the other gods against Zeus: "At the time when the other Olympians wished to bind him, Hera and Poseidon and Pallas Athena." And had the blessed gods not feared the one whom the gods call Briareus, Zeus would have been bound by them. Moreover, it is necessary for us to remind you, in his very words, of what Homer sings ^C concerning the uncontrolled amours of Zeus. For he represents him speaking thus to Hera: "For never has the love of a goddess or of a woman, poured around my heart, so mastered me; Not when I was smitten with love for the wife of Ixion, Nor when for Danaë of the fair ankles, daughter of Acrisius, Nor when I was smitten with love for the daughter of glorious Phoenix, Nor when for Semele, nor for Alcmene in Thebes, Nor when for Demeter the fair-tressed queen, Nor when for glorious Leto, nor for yourself." And regarding what other things it is possible to learn from the poetry of Homer about the other gods, and how much and what great things they have suffered at the hands of men, it is fitting ^D to remind you now. Ares

^A also, he says, was wounded by Diomedes, and he recounts the sufferings of many other gods. For thus it is possible for us to learn from the daughter of Dione as she consoles [the goddess]: for she said to her:

"Endure, my child, and suffer it, though you be grieved. For many of us who possess Olympian dwellings Have suffered from men, inflicting grievous pains upon one another. Mars suffered, when Otus and the strong Ephialtes, The sons of Aloeus, bound him in a strong fetter, And in a brazen jar he was bound for thirteen months; Juno also suffered, when the strong son of Amphitryon Wounded her in the right breast with a three-barbed arrow; Then an unmanageable pain seized her. Pluto, too, among them, suffered a swift arrow, When the same man, the son of the aegis-bearing Jove, Struck him at the gate of the underworld among the dead and gave him pain. But he went to the house of Jove and high Olympus, Grieving in heart, pierced with pains; but the arrow Had been driven into his strong shoulder, and it tormented his soul."

If it is fitting to remind you also of the battle of the rest of the gods against one another, your own poet will remind you, saying:

"So great a din arose from the contention of the gods as they joined battle. For against King Neptune Stood Apollo Phoebus, having winged arrows: Against Mars stood the grey-eyed goddess Athena. And against Juno stood the golden-throned; [against] the clamorous Diana, shooter of arrows, sister of the far-shooter Apollo; Against Latona stood the useful helper, Mercury." ^C

These and such things Homer has taught you, and not Homer alone, but Hesiod also. So if you believe your most distinguished poets who have written the genealogies of your gods, you are under the necessity of either believing that they are such as described, or of believing that they are not gods at all.

3. But if you say that you disregard the poets because you claim that it is permitted for them to invent myths, and to narrate many things about the gods that are far removed from the truth in a fabulous manner; whom then do you consider to have as other teachers of your religion, or how do you say that they learned it? For it is impossible for those who have not first learned from those who know to understand such great and divine matters. ^D You will surely call them wise men and philosophers: for it is to these, as to a fortified wall, that you are accustomed to flee when anyone objects to you the opinions of the poets concerning the gods.

^A Since it is fitting to begin from the ancients and the first, starting from there, I shall set forth the opinion of each, being far more ridiculous than the theology of the poets. For Thales the Milesian, who was the first to initiate natural philosophy, declared that water is the principle of all things that exist; for he says that all things come from water, and into water all things are resolved. After him, Anaximander, likewise hailing from Miletus, declared the infinite to be the principle of all things; for from this all things are generated, and into this all things perish. A third, Anaximenes, also from Miletus, says that air is the principle of the whole; for he says that from this all things are generated, and into this all things are resolved. Heraclitus and Hippasus of Metapontum say that fire is the principle of all things; for from fire, they say, all things are generated, and into fire all things conclude. Anaxagoras of Clazomenae said that the homoeomeries (similarities of parts) are the principles of all things. Archelaus, the son of Apollodorus, ^B saying that density and rarity are the principles of all things, became the successor to the philosophy called natural by them.

4.

Pythagoras and Epicurus

^A [The son of Neoclus] Athenian, says that the principles of existing things are bodies perceived by reason, devoid of void, unbegotten, incorruptible, neither able to be broken nor to receive formation from parts, nor to be altered; on this account, they are perceived by reason. Empedocles the Agrigentine, son of Meton, [says] there are four elements: fire, air, water, earth; and two presiding powers, friendship and strife, of which the one is unitive, and the latter divisive. See, therefore, the confusion of those considered wise among you, whom you say have been your teachers of piety, some of whom have declared water to be the principle of all things, others air, others fire, and others something else of those things we have mentioned; and all of these use persuasive arguments of some kind to confirm what they have not correctly judged, and strive to show their own dogma as preferable. These things have been said by them. How, then, is it safe, O men of Greece, for those who wish to be saved to think that they can learn true piety from these men, who were not even able to persuade themselves not to quarrel with one another, nor to appear opposed to each other's opinion?

5. But perhaps those who do not wish to depart from that ancient error say that they have not received the doctrine of religion from those whom we have recounted, but from the philosophers most esteemed and considered perfect in virtue among them, namely, Plato and Aristotle. For they say that these have learned the perfect and true religion. ^B I, for my part, would first gladly ask those who say these things, from what teachers they say they learned to know these things; for it is impossible that those who have not learned such great and divine things from those who were skilled, should either know them themselves, or be able to teach others correctly. In the second place, I think it is necessary that their opinions also should be examined; for we shall see whether or not one of these [philosophers] appears to speak things contrary to the other. And if we find that even these do not agree among themselves, I think it will be easy to recognize their ignorance clearly. For Plato, as if he had come down from above, and had accurately learned and seen everything that is in the heavens ^C and evil, around which is the material multitude, and there is also the visible world. Pythagoras calls one of the principles unity, God; the other, however, the indefinite binary, both demon and evil, to which the material multitude and the visible world are referred. Origen, in *Against Celsus*, p. 205, calls that dogma most excellent, whereby evil is posited as being indefinite. ^D

^A He says that the most high God is seen in the fiery substance. But Aristotle, in the discourse which he wrote to Alexander of Macedon, setting forth a certain brief summary of his own philosophy, clearly and openly overturns the opinion of Plato, and denies that God exists in a fiery substance; but, fashioning a certain fifth and immutable ethereal body, he pronounces that He exists in it. For he writes thus: "Not as some, who err concerning divine things, say that God exists in a fiery substance." Then, as if he were not content with this reproach against Plato, he even calls as a witness to demonstrate those things which he says about the ethereal body, Homer—the one who was cast out by him from the city as a liar and, as he himself said, a imitator of the third degree from the truth (for so he calls him 9). For he writes: "Thus, therefore, also Homer said: 'Jupiter allotted the broad heaven in ether and in clouds.'" ^B In which, indeed, by the testimony of Homer he endeavors to draw authority to his own opinion; but he does not see that if he uses Homer as a witness to prove that what he says is true, it will happen that many of his own opinions will appear not to be true. For Thales the Milesian, who was the first among them to begin to philosophize, having received the opening from him, will overturn his primary opinions about principles. For when Aristotle says that God and matter are the principles of all things, Thales, the eldest of all among them, posits water as the principle of beings; for he says that all things are from water, and into water all things are resolved. He is led by a double conjecture: first, that the seed of all animals, being their principle, is moist; second, that all plants are nourished and bear fruit by moisture, and destitute of the ^C same...

^A they wither. Then, as if he were not content with these conjectures, he furthermore cites Homer as a reliable witness, saying: Oceanus, who is the origin of all. How, therefore, does Thales not address him in this way by right? For what reason, O Aristotle, while you wish to overturn the opinions of Plato, do you defer to Homer as though he speaks the truth; yet when you hold the contrary opinion to ours, do you consider that Homer does not speak the truth?

6. That these philosophers, who are so greatly admired by you, are not seen to agree even in other matters, is easy to know from these things as well. For while Plato says there are three principles of all things—God, matter, and form; God as the creator of all things, matter as that which is subject to the first generation of things that come into being and which provided God with the opportunity for creation, and form as the pattern of each of the things that come to be—Aristotle does not mention form as a principle at all, ^B but says there are two principles, God and matter. And again, while Plato teaches that the first God and the ideas are in the first, highest sphere of the immovable heaven, Aristotle, after the first God, does not say there are ideas, but rather certain intelligible gods. Thus, indeed, they disagree with one another concerning things in the heavens. Consequently, it ought to be known that those who could not even understand the things here among us, but even concerning these disagreed with one another, will not appear reliable in discoursing upon the things in the heavens. That the argument concerning the human soul here likewise will not agree for them is clear from what has been said by each of them concerning it. For Plato states ^C that it is tripartite, saying that one part of it is rational, another irascible, and another concupiscible. But Aristotle does not say that the soul is more general, in which both parts subject to corruption and the rational are contained, but only that it is the rational part alone. And while Plato cries out, saying, "Every soul is immortal," Aristotle, calling it an "entelechy," does not wish it to be immortal, but mortal. And the former says that it is always moving, but Aristotle says that it is unmoved, as it is prior to all motion.

7. But they are proven to be in opposition to one another in these matters. If anyone wishes to examine ^D their doctrines accurately, they do not even persist in their own opinions.

EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS

Thus, Plato sometimes says that there are three principles of the universe—God, matter, and form—and at other times four, for he adds the soul that permeates all things. Furthermore, having previously stated that matter is unbegotten, he later says that it is begotten; and having previously assigned form as a unique principle ^B and declared it to be a substance in itself, he later speaks of it as existing within the notions of the mind. Moreover, although he previously declared that all created things are perishable, he later says that some created things are immune to dissolution and corruption. What, then, is the cause for those who were esteemed as wise among you not only to be at variance with one another, but also to be at war with themselves? It is clearly because they were unwilling to learn from those who knew, but supposed that they could clearly know heavenly things by their own human sagacity, when they were not even able to know the things on earth. For some of your philosophers say that the human soul ^C is within us, while others say it is around us. They were not even willing to agree with one another on this, but as if they had divided ignorance among themselves in various ways, they even determined to wrangle and contend with one another concerning the soul. For some of them say the soul is fire, others air, others mind, others motion, others an exhalation; some say it is a power flowing from the stars, some a number endowed with a faculty of movement, and others, finally, generate water. ^D Altogether, a disordered and discordant doctrine has prevailed among them, which in this one respect may appear praiseworthy to those capable of judging correctly: that they have endeavored to press one another with the charge of error and ignorance of the truth.

8. Since, therefore, nothing true concerning religion can be learned from your teachers, inasmuch as they have provided you with sufficient evidence of their own ignorance through their mutual dissensions, I think it follows that we should return to our own ancestors, who were much older than your teachers, and who taught us nothing devised by their own ingenuity, nor did they contend among themselves or attempt to overturn one another's opinions, but without any spirit of contention or partisanship they received knowledge from God, and taught it to us. For it is not possible for men to know such great and divine things by nature or by human intellect, but by the gift that then descended from above upon the holy men, who had no need of the art of words, nor of speaking anything contentiously and in a spirit of wrangling, but who offered themselves pure to the operation of the divine Spirit, in order that that divine plectrum, having descended from heaven, might use these just men as a sort of instrument of a cithara or lyre, so that...

^A it might reveal to us the knowledge of divine and heavenly things. Therefore, just as with one mouth and one tongue they taught us concerning God, the origin of the world, the creation of man, the immortality of the human soul, and the judgment that is to come after this life, as well as concerning all things that it is necessary for us to know, they have done so with the utmost consistency and agreement among themselves, and this even though they have provided the divine teaching to us at different places and times.

9. I shall begin, then, with our prophet and lawgiver Moses, and first I shall set forth, with all the testimony among you that is worthy of belief, the times in which he lived. ^B For I am not setting out to prove these things merely from the divine histories among us—to which, on account of the ancient error of your ancestors, you are not yet willing to assent—but also from your own histories, which have nothing to do with our religion; so that you may know that of all your sages, poets, historians, philosophers, or lawgivers, our first teacher of godliness, Moses, was by far the oldest, as the histories of the Greeks declare to us. For in the times of Ogyges and Inachus, whom some of you have even supposed to be earth-born, they make mention of Moses as a leader and prince of the race of the Jews. For thus Polemon ^C in the first book of the Greek histories, and also Appion the son of Posidonius in his book against the Jews, and in the fourth book of his histories, says that when Inachus was king of Argos, the Jews revolted from Amasis, king of the Egyptians, and that Moses was their leader. Ptolemy of Mendes, in writing the history of the Egyptians, agrees with all of these. And those who recorded the history of the Athenians—Hellanicus and the author of the Atthis, Philochorus, as well as Castor and Thallus and Alexander Polyhistor—and further, the most wise writers of Jewish affairs, Philo and Josephus, make mention of Moses as an extremely ancient and old leader of the Jews. ^D Josephus, indeed, wishing to manifest the antiquity of his history through the very inscription of his books, writes as follows at the beginning of his history: "Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews," designating the age of his history by the name "Antiquities." To this is added the most celebrated among your historians, Diodorus, who summarized the libraries during thirty full years, and, as he himself writes, having traveled through Asia and Europe owing to his extreme diligence in investigating matters, and having seen many things with his own eyes,

^A he has written whole forty books of his own history. He, in the first book, after saying that he had learned from the priests in Egypt that Moses was an ancient and the first legislator, has written ^B of him in these very words: "For after the ancient state of life in Egypt, which they fable to have taken place under the gods and heroes, they say that the multitudes were first persuaded to use written laws, and Moses, ^B a man great in soul and most capable of being mentioned for his life, persuaded them." Then, going on a little further and wishing to make mention of ancient legislators, he mentions Moses first. For he says ^C in these very words: "For among the Jews, they say that Moses ^D (the one called Iao) 97, either judging him to have been a wonderful 98 and altogether divine entity 99 that would benefit the multitude of men, or looking toward the preeminence and power of those who are said to have invented the laws, the crowd was more inclined to obey." But as a second legislator...

^A they say that Saouchris, a man excelling in wisdom, was an Egyptian. Third, they speak of King Sesonchosis, who not only performed most illustrious warlike deeds against the Egyptians, but also established the warlike nation with laws. Fourth, they say that King Bocchoris became a lawgiver, a man wise and excelling in craftiness. After him, they say that King Amasis approached the laws, whom they record as having arranged matters concerning the prefects of the provinces, and things concerning the entire administration of Egypt. Finally, it is said that Darius, the father of Xerxes, presided over the laws of the Egyptians.

10. These things, O Greeks, those outside our religion have recorded regarding the antiquity of Moses, ^B claiming to have learned all these things from the Egyptian priests, among whom Moses was not only born, but also deemed worthy to partake of all the education of the Egyptians, because he was adopted as a son by the king's daughter, and for that aforementioned reason was thought worthy of great solicitude, just as the wisest of history writers, who also chose to record his life and deeds and the dignity of his lineage, Philo and Josephus, have recorded. For these men, while writing about the deeds of the Jews, say that Moses was born of the race of the Chaldeans; but when his ancestors, urged by famine, had migrated from Phoenicia into Egypt, that there the man was born, whom for his surpassing virtue God deemed it fit ^C to honor, and deemed worthy to become ruler and lawgiver of his own race, when He judged it right that the multitude of the Hebrews should return from Egypt to their own land. God first bestowed upon him that divine and prophetic gift—which at that time used to descend upon holy men—from above, and caused him to be the first teacher of our piety; then after him the remaining prophets, who also themselves obtained the same gift as he, and taught us the same things concerning the same matters. These we declare to have been the teachers of our religion, who taught us nothing from human thought, but from the gift ^D given to them from above by God.

11. But you, since you do not think it right to abandon your error because of the former error of your fathers, whom do you say have been trustworthy teachers of your piety? For it is impossible, as I have often said, that those who have not first learned such great and divine things from those who know them, should either know them themselves or be able to teach others correctly. Therefore, since it has been sufficiently demonstrated from the aforesaid that the opinions of your philosophers are full of all ignorance and deception, having from now on completely abandoned the philosophers, just as you did the poets before, you will turn to the deceptions of the oracles; for I have heard those who say so.

^A I deem it appropriate now, therefore, to tell you the things which I have previously heard among you concerning these matters. For when, as you yourselves say, someone inquired of your oracle as to whom it had fallen to be pious and religious, you say that the oracle replied thus:

Only the Chaldeans obtained wisdom, and the Hebrews, Worshiping for themselves the Self-begotten King, God.

Since, therefore, you seem to think that you can learn the truth from your oracles, when you read histories and what men alien to our religion have written concerning the life of Moses, and perceive that Moses—and the rest of the prophets—originated from the race of the Chaldeans and Hebrews, do not consider it strange or incredible if God chose to honor a man born of a pious race, and one who lived worthily of the piety of his ancestors, with that great gift, and appointed him the first of all the prophets.

^B 12. I also consider it necessary to inquire at what times your philosophers lived, that you may recognize that the period which brought them forth for you is very recent and short. Thus, indeed, you will also be able to perceive the antiquity of Moses more easily. But lest, by describing the times at length, I should seem to delay matters by using too many proofs, I think it sufficient to demonstrate this from these ^C facts alone. For Socrates was the teacher of Plato, and Plato of Aristotle. These flourished in the times of Philip and Alexander of Macedon, during which the Athenian orators also flourished, as the speeches written by Demosthenes against Philip clearly show us. And that Aristotle was with Alexander during the time of his reign, the writers of the achievements of Alexander sufficiently declare. Therefore, it is easy to know from every side that the history of Moses happens to be far more ancient than any external history. Moreover, it does not befit you to be ignorant of the fact that nothing accurate was written by the Greeks before the Olympiads, ^D nor is there any ancient monument which records any deed performed by Greeks or barbarians. Before that time, only the history of the prophet Moses existed, which he commended to the Hebrew letters by divine inspiration. For the letters of the Greeks did not yet exist, as even their own teachers of letters declare, saying that Cadmus first brought them from Phoenicia and communicated them to the Greeks. And the leader of your philosophers, Plato, also testifies that letters were invented late. For he wrote in his *Timaeus* that Solon, the wisest of the wise, when [index: entries preserved]

he had returned from Egypt, told Critias these things which he had heard from a certain very old Egyptian priest who spoke to him thus: ^A “O Solon, Solon, you Greeks are always children, and no Greek is an old man.” And again: “You are all young in your souls,” he said. “For you possess no ancient opinion derived from old renown, nor any learning gray with time. But it escapes you, because those who survived for many generations died without letters.” Therefore, it behooves one to know that it is the case that all history has been written in the letters which were discovered by the Greeks at a later time; and if anyone wishes to give an account of any of the ancient poets, or legislators, or historians, or philosophers, or rhetoricians, they will find that these have recorded the monuments of their own genius in the letters of the Greeks.

^B 15. But if anyone says that the books of Moses and the other prophets were also written in Greek letters, let him learn—by reading the histories from outside—that Ptolemy, king of Egypt, having built a library in Alexandria and having gathered books from everywhere and filled it, afterward learned that ancient histories were being kept accurately written in the letters of the Hebrews. Being desirous of knowing what was written, he summoned seventy wise men who knew both the Greek and Hebrew languages and ordered them to translate the books for him, having sent for them from Jerusalem. And in order that they might be free from all annoyance and translate more quickly, he ordered them to stay, not in the city itself, but at a distance of seven stadia, where the Pharos ^C had been built; ^D and he ordered that small chambers equal in number to the translators should be made, so that each one might fulfill the translation separately for himself. He ordered the servants placed over this matter to show them every kindness, but to prevent them from speaking to one another, so that the accuracy of the translation might be known by their agreement. But when he discovered that the seventy men had used not only the same thought, but also the same words, and had not erred in respect to their agreement with one another even by as much as a single word, but had written the same things about the same subjects, he was struck with amazement; and believing that the translation had been written by divine power, he judged them all worthy of every honor as men beloved of God, and ordered them to return to their own homeland with many gifts. But the books, as was proper, he admired and—considering them divine—consecrated there. These things to you, O Greeks, should not seem a fable, nor should they seem to you to be [alt-version omitted]

^B fabricated stories; but we ourselves, having been in Alexandria and having seen the remains of the cells in the Pharos still preserved, and having heard from the locals, who had received this knowledge from their ancestors as a matter of local history, we report these things—things which it is permitted for you to learn from others, and especially from those wise and reputable men who have written histories on these matters, namely Philo and Josephus, and very many others. But if any of those who are accustomed to gainsay things lightly should say that these books do not belong to us, but that they are the property of the Jews, because they are still preserved in their synagogues, and should say that we are in error when we claim to have learned our religion from them, let him know from the things written in the books themselves that the teaching contained in them does not belong to the Jews, but to us. Furthermore, that these books, which are the very own of our religion, are still preserved among the Jews, is a work of divine providence acting on our behalf. For so that we might not provide an occasion for slander to those who desire to malign us by producing them from the Church, we demand that they be produced from the synagogues of the Jews, so that from the very books still preserved among them, it may clearly and openly appear that our laws, which were written by holy men for instruction, are just.

14. It is necessary, therefore, O Greeks, that you, looking to the future and regarding the judgment proclaimed not only by the pious but also by those on the outside, should no longer cling unexamined to the error of your ancestors, nor, if they have handed down to you any hallucinations, should you believe these to be true. ^C Rather, looking toward the danger of missing the mark in such a weighty matter, you should search and investigate accurately even the things that have been said by your own teachers, as you yourselves call them. For they themselves, compelled by the divine providence over human affairs, were forced to say many things that support us, even against their will, especially those who stayed in Egypt and received benefit from the religion of Moses and his ancestors. Nor do I think it escapes any of you, provided you have surely read the history of Diodorus and those of the rest who have written on these matters, that Orpheus, and Homer, and Solon, and he who wrote the laws for the Athenians, and Pythagoras, and Plato, and others…

^A when they had come into Egypt and had joined the history of Moses to their own uses, subsequently determined the contrary of those things which they had previously thought amiss concerning the gods.

15. Orpheus, therefore, who was the first teacher of your polytheism, as one might say, what he preached afterwards to his son Musaeus and his other genuine hearers concerning the one and only God, it is necessary for me to remind you. And he spoke thus:

[27']"I shall speak to those to whom it is lawful: close the doors, O profane ones All together. But do thou listen, offspring of the light-bearing Moon, Musaeus; for I shall tell of true things; and let not the things before In your breast, seen in the dear span of time, rob you of the blessed life. But look to the divine Word, and attend to it, Directing the intellectual vessel of your heart; and walk well On the path, and look only to the King of the universe. He is one, self-generated; to him alone all things are offspring, And in them he himself turns; nor does any Of mortals see him, but he himself sees all."^B

(27) That they thought amiss previously. Legitur in Colb. et Reg. 2, *tōn proterōn mē doxantōn kalōs autois apephēnantο*. "Fleeing the laws of the righteous, when the law of God was set for all." Those who fled the laws of the righteous, when the divine law was established for all. From these last words arose that which is read in Justin and Clement, *pasi homōs*, which Hoeschelius testifies exists in some of Clement's manuscripts. The same verses occur again in the book *De Monarchia*. They read *bebēloi*. Porphyry in Eusebius, *Præp.* iii, c. 7; Cyril against Julian, p. 26.

(27") *Phthéxomai... thalassēs*. This passage, which is variously changed as is wont to happen in the different recensions of the same book, is also shown by Clement of Alexandria, *Protrept.* c. 7, § 74 (Opp. ed. Klotz, tom. I), p. 63, coll. *Strom.* v, c. 12, § 79 (tom. III), p. 56, etc., and c. 14, § 125, etc., p. 85, etc.; Eusebius from Aristobulus, *Præparat. evang.* xiii, c. 12, p. 664, coll. 3, c. 7, p. 97 and c. 13, p. 685, ed. Viger. Colon.; Cyril of Alexandria against Julian (Opp. ed. Aubert, tom. VI), p. 26; Theodoret, *De curandis Græcis affectionibus*, serm. 1 (Opp. ed. Sirmond, tom. IV), p. 478 and 483; coll. Tatian, *Orat. adv. Græc.* c. 8, p. 11 A. ed. Colon. and *Sibylline Oracles*, proœm. v. 55. (Galland. *Bibl. vett. PP.* tom. I, p. 537 A). Concerning the diverse writing of these pseudo-Orphic verses, Lobeck has disputed well in his book: *Aglaophamus, sive de theologiæ mysticæ Græcorum causis* (Regiom. 1829, 8) tom. 1, p. 438 sqq. (comp. *Orphica recens.* Hermannus, p. 447, sqq.), we shall bring forward only those things which pertain to Justin himself. See besides what we have annotated on the book *De Monarchia*, c. 2, A. B., where most of the verses of the same fragment are repeated. In Lobeck’s judgment, the Justinian fragment represents the shortest, most primitive form of this poem; the example of Clement provides a specimen of new interpolation, which is more copious than the Justinian, and more constrained than the Aristobulean; the author of the newest is that Aristobulus whom Eusebius introduced, a man whether Jew or Christian, certainly posterior to the times of Clement. OTTO.

(28) *Bebēloi*. Grotius in the first book *De Veritate* reads *bebēloi*. It is read in Colb. *bebēlois pasin homōs*. Fronto Ducæus in his notes on Tatian thinks it ought to be read in the same way. Most manuscripts of Tatian have *bebēlois*. So also have Clement of Alexandria, *Cohort.* p. 48, and Theodoret, *serm. de curandis Græc. affect.* p. 478 and 483. The learned men Hoeschelius and Potter defend the reading of Clement. *Topōtēn* (Is. *typotēn*).

(29) *Mēnēs*. Cyril reads *mnēmēs*, memory.

(30) *Araxta*. Aristobulus in Eusebius reads *anakta* (King).

(31) *Autogenēs*. Others, Aristobulus and Theodorus: "He is one, self-perfect, from whom all things are perfected." Clement, *Strom.* v, p. 585, also has *autotelēs*, and observes that *tetyktai* is sometimes written for *pephyken*.

(32) *Perigignetai*. Thus Cyril, which Justin is accustomed to imitate; *perinissetai* Clem. p. 48, and Eusebius and Theodoret, which I prefer.

(33) *Autos de*. "Nothing of mortal souls sees him, but he is seen by the mind."

(34) *Outos d' ex*. The contrary opinion is in Eusebius, where it is read thus: "He does not let forth evil to mortals from good... but to him grace and hatred follow, and war and plague and tearful sorrows." *Pseud. Orph. ap. Euseb.* *Præp. Evang.* xiii, 12, p. 664. *Ipse ex bonis mala mortalibus non infligit.* Clement, p. 609, reads as Justin, except that he has *phyteuei min didōsi*. God is not conveniently called the author of such evils, war, and plague. Because, however, at first glance it seems to conflict, that evils should proceed from God, perhaps someone, moved by the fear of this inconvenience, was induced to introduce a correction into Eusebius, not necessary or rather quite absurd. For then, when God is said not to inflict evils, his companions are said to be hatred, war, plague, and sorrows.

^A And war that brings cold, and sorrows that bring tears. Neither is there any other, apart from the great king. But I do not see him; for a cloud is set about him. For to all mortals, mortal are the pupils in their eyes, And they are too weak (36) to behold Zeus, who rules over all. For he is set upon the brazen heaven, On a golden throne, and he has stepped with his feet upon the earth, And he has stretched out his right hand to the ends of the Ocean On all sides; for the long mountains tremble about him ^B And the rivers, and the depth of the hoary sea. And elsewhere he says somewhere: One Zeus, one Pluto, one Sun, one Bacchus, One God in all things: why do I tell you these things separately? And in their oaths, also, it is thus: I adjure you by heaven, the work of the great and wise God, I adjure you by the voice of the Father, which he uttered first, When he established the whole world by his own counsels. What does he mean when he says: "I adjure you by the voice of the Father, which he uttered first"? In this place he calls the Word of God "the voice," through which the heaven and the earth and every creature were made, as the divine oracles of the holy men teach us, by which he himself also was partly instructed while in Egypt, and knew that by the Word of God every creature was made. Wherefore, after he had said, "I adjure you by the voice of the Father, which he uttered first," he immediately subjoins: "When he established the whole world by his own counsels." Here he calls the Word "voice" on account of the poetic ^C meter; and that it is so, is evident from the fact that a little before, the meter permitting him, he calls it the Word. For he said, "Looking to the divine Word, sit by him." 16. But it is necessary to recall what that ancient and most venerable Sibyl—whom Plato and Aristophanes and many others mention as an inspired prophetess—teaches you through her oracles concerning the one and only God. She speaks as follows: One God, who (41) alone is exceeding great, unbegotten, Almighty, invisible, himself beholding all things, But he is not seen by any mortal flesh. ^D

^A Then elsewhere it says: We, however, have wandered from the paths of the immortal, And we were worshipping works made by hand with foolish mind, Idols and statues of dead men. And again elsewhere thus: Happy shall those men be upon the earth, Whoever shall love the great God, blessing him Before they eat and drink, trusting in piety: Who will renounce all temples upon seeing them, And altars, the empty seats of deaf stones, Defiled by blood of living creatures and sacrifices Of four-footed beasts, and they shall look to the great glory of the one God. These things, then, are the Sibyl’s.

17. The poet Homer, using his poetic license and emulating Orpheus' opinion of a multitude of gods, mentions several gods in a fabulous way, lest he seem to disagree with the poetry of Orpheus, which he had proposed to himself to imitate so thoroughly that he even declared his zeal for him in the very first verse of his poem. For when Orpheus had said in the beginning of his poem, Sing, goddess, of the wrath of the fruit-bearing Demeter, ^B he himself wrote, Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Peleus' son Achilles; choosing, as it seems to me, to depart from the legitimate meter of the poem at its very beginning, so that he might not appear not to have remembered the name of the gods first. But a little later he clearly and openly sets forth his own opinion concerning the one and only God, at one time speaking through Phoenix to Achilles: Not even if God himself, having wiped away my age, Should promise to make me a flourishing youth again; indicating by the pronoun Him who truly is God; and at another time, speaking through Ulysses to the multitude of the Greeks as follows: A multitude of rulers is not good; let there be one ruler. That a multitude of rulers is not good, but on the contrary an evil, he proposed to demonstrate in action, by narrating their wars arising from the multitude of chiefs, and battles, and seditions, and mutual plots. For monarchy happens to be invulnerable to such things. These things, then, are the poet Homer’s.

18. If it is necessary for us to add testimonies ^C concerning the one God, hear also Sophocles, who speaks thus: There is, in truth, one, there is only one God, Who created the machine of heaven and far-flung earth, And the blue swell of the sea, and the might of the winds. ^D

^A Thus far Sophocles.

19. But Pythagoras, son of Mnesarchus, who set forth the decrees of his own philosophy mystically by means of symbols, as those who have written his life demonstrate, seems himself also, as is worthy of his journey to Egypt, to have held thoughts concerning one God. For by calling the Monad the principle of all things, and the cause of all good things, he teaches by allegory that there is one and only one God. And that this is so is evident from the fact that he said the Monad and the One differ much from one another. For he determined that the Monad is among the intelligible things, but the One among numbers. And if you desire to know a clearer proof concerning the teaching of Pythagoras about one God, listen also to his own teaching; for he spoke thus: ^B "God is one; but He is not, as some suspect, outside the world, but in it: whole in the whole circle, beholding all generations; being the mixing of all the ages, and the worker of his own powers and works; the principle of all things, the light in heaven, and the Father of all; the mind and soul of all things, the movement of all the circles." Thus, therefore, Pythagoras.

20. But Plato, when he had embraced, as is likely, the teaching of Moses and the other prophets concerning the one and only God, which he had come to know while he was in Egypt, yet fearing on account of what had happened to Socrates, lest he might himself rouse some Anytus or Melitus against him, who might accuse him before the Athenians and say: ^C "Plato acts unjustly and is over-curious, not acknowledging the gods whom the city acknowledges"; for fear of the hemlock, he instituted a certain varied and masked discussion concerning the gods, saying that they are gods to those who wish them to be, and not gods to those who hold the contrary opinion, fashioning it by his discourse so that it will be easy to discern from his very own words. For having previously pronounced that everything that has been made is mortal, he says later that the gods have been made. If, therefore, he wishes to claim that God and matter are the principle of all things, it is manifest that

^A he is under the necessity of saying that the gods were brought into being from matter. But if they are from matter, from which—as he said—evil also originated, he leaves it to those who are of sound mind to consider what kind of gods those must be who are brought into being from matter. For this reason he even claimed that matter was unbegotten, so that he might not appear to be saying that God is the author of evil. And it is manifest that he has said these things concerning the gods who were created by God: "Gods of gods, of whom I am the creator." But regarding him who truly is God, he seems to have the correct opinion. For having heard in Egypt that God said to Moses, when he was about to send him to the Hebrews, "I am the One Who Is," he knew that God did not declare to him a proper name of His own.

21. For it is impossible for God to be called by a proper name; for names are established for the indication and distinction of the subjects—which are many ^B and various—but for God, neither was there someone who pre-existed to impose a name, nor did He Himself think it necessary to name Himself, being one and alone, just as He also testifies through His own prophets, saying: "I am God the first, and after these ^C there is no other God besides me." Therefore, for this reason, as I said also before, God, when sending Moses to the Hebrews, mentions no name of any kind, but through a certain participle ^D He mystically teaches that He is one and only God. "For I am," He says, "the One Who Is," contrasting Himself—that is, the One Who Is—with those who are not, so that those who were previously deceived might know that they had given their attention not to those who are, but to those who are not. Since, therefore, God knew that the first men remembered the ancient deceit of their ancestors, which he who hates the human race—the genius—had used to deceive them, 22 intending to give his followers hope that they might become as gods if they were to deflect from the divine prohibition, he invented the empty and false name of gods, so that miserable mortals, thinking there were other gods also besides that one and only One, might believe that they too could become such.

For this reason, He said to Moses, "I AM THAT I AM," so that by the participation in [the term] "Being," He might teach the difference between the One who is God and those who are not. Convinced, therefore, by the deceiving demon, and having dared to disobey God, mankind departed from Paradise, mindful of the name of the gods ^A but no longer taught by God that there are no other gods. For it was not just that they who had not kept the first commandment, which was easy to keep, should be taught further, but rather that they should pay the just penalty. ^B Being cast out of Paradise, and thinking that they were cast out only for the reason that they had not obeyed God, but not knowing that they had also been persuaded that there were gods who are not gods at all, they handed down the name of gods to the men born of them in later times. This, therefore, was the first false notion concerning gods, having its origin from the father of lies. Seeing then that the false opinion regarding gods was spreading through the souls of men like some disease, and wishing to remove and root it out, God, when He first appeared to Moses, said to him: "I AM THAT I AM." For it was necessary, I think, that he who was to be the leader and commander of the Hebrew race should first of all know the God who is. Wherefore, ^C appearing to him as first, as it was possible for God to appear to a man, He said to him, "I AM THAT I AM"; and then, meaning to send him to the Hebrews, He commanded him to say to them the same: "He Who Is has sent me to you."

22. This Plato, then, having learned in Egypt and being vehemently pleased with these things said about one God, did not think it safe to mention the name of Moses among the Athenians, fearing the Areopagus, because he taught that there is but one and only God; but he took what had been excellently said by him, not as if he had learned it from him, but setting it forth as his own opinion in that carefully elaborated work of his, the *Timaeus*, in which he set out to dispute about divine matters, ^D and wrote the same thing about God as Moses had. For he said: “In my judgment, then, we must first make a distinction: what is that which always is, and has no beginning of birth; and what is that which is always coming into being, but never is.” This, O men,

to those who are able to understand, does it not seem to be one and the same, differing only by the article? For Moses said, “He who is,” and Plato said, “That which is.” And it appears that both of these phrases belong to the God who is always. ^A For He alone is who is always, and has no beginning of birth. Therefore, what that other thing is, which is contrasted with that which always is—that concerning which he himself said, “And what is that which is always coming into being, but never is?”—it is necessary to consider precisely. For we shall find him clearly and explicitly stating that the unbegotten is eternal, but that the begotten or created ones—as he expressed it regarding them, “Gods of gods, of whom I am the maker” ^B—are coming into being and perishing. For thus he himself says: “It is, therefore, in my opinion, first to be divided, what that is which is always, and has no beginning of birth; and what that is which is coming into being, but never is. The one, therefore, is grasped by intellect with reason, being always the same; the other, however, is an object of opinion with irrational sense, coming into being and perishing, but never existing.” These words ^C preach the destruction and perishability of the begotten gods to those who are able to understand aright. And I think it is also necessary to pay attention to this: that Plato does not even name him a "creator" (poieten), but the "artificer" (demiourgon) of the gods, even though there is a great difference in these terms according to the opinion of Plato himself. For the creator, needing nothing else, makes that which is created out of his own power and authority; but the artificer, having received the power of creating from matter, fashions that which is coming into being.

23. But perhaps some, not wishing to depart from the doctrines of polytheism, will object that the artificer himself said these things to the gods who were created: ^D “Since you have come into being, you are not immortal, nor wholly indissoluble; yet you shall not be dissolved, nor shall you meet with the fate of death, having obtained my will, a still greater and stronger bond.” In this passage, Plato, fearing those who embrace polytheism, introduces the artificer, according to him, speaking in a way contrary to himself. For having previously asserted that every thing which is begotten is corruptible, he now...

^A introduces the contrary, unaware that in such a mode of argument he can in no way escape the crime of falsehood. For he either lied before, when he said that everything which has been made is subject to corruption, or he now asserts things contrary to what he previously said about the gods. For if it is absolutely necessary that everything which is begotten be corruptible according to his former definition, how does he grant that what is of necessity impossible to occur, can occur? So that it seems ^B Plato in vain bestows impossibilities upon the artificer according to him, by declaring that those who, having once been brought into existence from matter and thus being corruptible, will again by his favor be immune from corruption and dissolution. For it is natural for the power of matter—being, according to his own opinion, unborn and coeval and equal in age to the artificer—to resist his will. For he who has not created something has no power over that which is uncreated; whence no force can be brought against it, since it is free from all external necessity. Looking to these things, Plato wrote thus: ^C «It is necessary that not even God be capable of being forced.»

24. How then does Plato eject Homer from his state, because in the embassy to Achilles he made Phoenix say to Achilles: *Turning are even the gods themselves*, although Homer has not said this concerning the King and—according to Plato—the artificer of the gods, but concerning certain of the gods who are thought by the Greeks to be many, as it is permitted us to learn also from Plato himself, when he says, «Gods of gods»? For Homer assigns the power and authority ^D of all things to the one and first God by that golden chain. But he thinks the other gods are so far removed from that divinity of his, that he does not hesitate to name them together with the humans themselves. At any rate, he introduces Odysseus speaking about Hector to Achilles: *He rages terribly, trusting in Zeus, nor does he revere/ Any laws of men or of gods.* It seems to me that here Homer himself too, just as Plato, having learned in Egypt about the one God, clearly and openly signifies that one who has truly trusted in God has no account for those who are not. For thus the poet and elsewhere, by another word of the same weight—that is, by the pronoun—uses that participle brought forward by Plato designating him who is God, of whom Plato said: «What is that which is...»

^A that which is, and has not come into being.» For the statement made by the Phoenician does not seem to me to have been said vaguely: «Not even if God himself should pledge to me, Cleansing me of old age, to make me a flourishing youth.» For the pronoun, «himself,» signifies Him who is truly God. For thus also does that oracle declared to you concerning the Chaldeans and Hebrews signify. For when someone inquired what men had ever chanced to be pious, you say that it answered the oracle thus: «Only the Chaldeans attained wisdom, and indeed the ^B Hebrews, Revering as God Him who is the self-begotten King.»

25. How then does Plato reproach Homer for saying that the gods are changeable, even though Homer said this for a useful purpose, as is evident from the very words spoken? For it is natural for those who wish to obtain mercy through prayers and sacrifices to cease from and repent of the things in which they have sinned. For those who think that the Divine is not moved have no intention of departing from sins, supposing that they will have no benefit from repentance. How then, having condemned the poet Homer ^C for saying, «Changeable indeed are even the gods themselves,» does the philosopher Plato himself introduce the Maker of the gods as being so easily changed, as to say at one time that the gods are mortal, and at another time that the same gods are immortal? And not only concerning them, but also concerning the matter from which, as he himself says, it is necessary that the gods who were crafted have come into being, he says at one time that it is unbegotten, and at another that it is begotten, not noticing that he is caught falling into those very things which he blames in Homer, by saying that the Creator of the gods is so easily changed, even though Homer ^D has said the contrary concerning Him. For he represents Him as saying this about Himself: «For not mine is it to be recalled, nor false, Nor unaccomplished, whatever I may nod my head to.»

But Plato says these things reluctantly, as it seems, fearing those who cherish polytheism, and so he appears to speak absurdly concerning the gods. But whatever he has learned from Moses and the prophets concerning the one God, he thinks he must speak of in such a way that he might express these things mysteriously, indicating his own opinion to those who desire to worship God. For, being pleased by what was said by God to Moses, «I am that I am,»

^A he understood that God, wishing to signify His eternity to Moses, said, "I am the Being"; for by the syllable "Being," He signifies not only the present, but also the past and the future. Thus, also, Plato makes mention of that "being" in the context of infinite time, when he says, "but never." For the expression, "never," is spoken not of the past, as some suppose, but of future time. This, indeed, has been accurately weighed even by those writers outside our faith. Therefore, Plato, wishing to interpret to the ignorant that which was expressed mysteriously concerning the eternity of God through the [grammatical] participle, has written in the very same words: «God indeed, as the ancient account is, holds the beginning, the end, and the middle of all things.» ^B Here Plato clearly and openly calls the ancient discourse of Moses "law"; for he feared to mention the name of Moses for fear of the hemlock, since he knew that the doctrine of that man was hateful to the Greeks; but by the antiquity of the discourse, he openly designates Moses. Furthermore, that the law of Moses is the most ancient and the first has been sufficiently demonstrated by us above from the history of Diodorus and other monuments of that kind. For Diodorus says that he was the first of all the lawgivers, when the letters of the Greeks, by which they wrote their own histories, had not yet been invented.

26. But let no one wonder if Plato believed Moses concerning the eternity of God. ^C For you will find that he attributes the knowledge of things, after the truly existing God, to the prophets who were after Him. For thus, in his *Timaeus*, discoursing about certain principles, he wrote: «The beginning of fire and of the other bodies we posit, proceeding according to a probable account with necessity. But the principles of these, God alone knows from above, and those men who are dear to Him.» But whom does he consider to be other men dear to God, if not Moses and the remaining prophets? Having encountered their prophecies, and having learned from them the doctrine concerning judgment, in the first book of his *Republic* he declares this—

^A “When one is near to the belief that he is about to die, there enter into him fear and distress regarding things that did not enter into him before. For the fables that are told about the affairs in Hades, that he who has acted unjustly here must render payment there, while previously laughed at, then indeed turn his soul, lest they be true. And he himself, either because of the infirmity of old age, or as being nearer to the things there, looks upon them more. He becomes full of suspicion and dread, and he already considers and examines whether he has wronged anyone. He, therefore, who finds in his life ^B many unjust deeds, even starting up from sleep as children do, is often afraid, and lives with a bad hope. But to him who is conscious of no injustice in himself, a sweet hope is always present, and a good nurse of old age, just as Pindar also says. For gracefully, O Socrates, that man said that whoever leads his life holily and justly,

‘A sweet hope, nourishing the heart, accompanies him on his way, the nurse of old age, which most of all rules the changeable mind of mortals.’”

And these things, indeed, he wrote in the first book of the *Republic*.

27. But in the tenth book, clearly and openly, regarding what he had learned concerning judgment from the prophets, he writes this, not as having learned it from them, on account of his fear of the Greeks, but as from a certain man, as it pleased him to fashion it, who had been killed in war and was about to be buried on the twelfth day, and while lying on the pyre had come to life again and related things seen there, in these very words he has written: ^C “For he said that he chanced to be present when one was asked by another where the great Aridaeus was. Now this Aridaeus had been a tyrant in a certain city of Pamphylia, having killed his aged father and his elder brother, and having committed many other wicked deeds, as it was said. So he said that the one questioned answered: ‘He does not come, nor will he come here. For we saw this too among the terrible sights: when we were near to the opening, intending to ascend, and had suffered all the other things, we suddenly caught sight of him and almost all the rest ^D of the tyrants, and some private individuals also, who had committed great sins. When these hoped now to ascend, the opening did not receive them, but bellowed whenever any one of those whose wickedness was incurable attempted to ascend before he had paid an adequate penalty. There, wild men, fiery in appearance, stood by and, having heard the roar, seized Aridaeus and others, and having bound them hand and foot, and throwing down their heads and flaying them, they dragged them outside along the way,

^A bending them upon prickly shrubs, and pointing out to those present the reasons why they were suffering these things, and that they were being led off to be cast into Tartarus. There, he said, of the many and various terrors that occurred to them there, this one was the greatest: if the mouth were to growl when they were ascending, at which silence every one went up most gladly. And that such, then, are the punishments and torments, and again, the benefits contrary to these. ^B Here it seems to me that Plato not only learned the doctrine concerning judgment from the prophets, but also that concerning the resurrection, which the Greeks do not believe. For by saying that the soul is judged with the body, he signifies nothing else than that he believes in the doctrine of the resurrection. For how could Aridaeus and the others, who had left behind on earth a body provided with head and hands and feet and skin, pay such penalties in Hades? For they will not say that the soul has a head and hands and feet and skin. But having encountered in Egypt the testimonies of the prophets, and having received the teaching concerning the resurrection of the body, he teaches that the soul is judged with the body.

28. ^B And not Plato only; but Homer also, having himself likewise learned in Egypt, said that Tityus was punished in like manner. For thus in the necromancy ^C Odysseus relates to Alcinous, saying: And I saw Tityus, glorious son of the earth, Lying on the ground; he lay upon nine jugera. And vultures on either side standing by tore his liver. For it is clear that the liver is not of the soul, but of the body. In the same way he wrote that Sisyphus and Tantalus also pay penalties with the body. That Homer was in Egypt, and that he transferred to his own poetry many things which he had learned there, Diodorus, the most celebrated of historians, teaches us sufficiently. For he says that he, having been in Egypt, learned that Helen, having received from the wife of Theon, Polydamna, the ^D Nepenthes, a medicinal drug, sweet and bringing oblivion of all evils, brought it to Sparta. And Homer says that Helen, having used this medicine, stayed the lamentation arising in the presence of Telemachus at the house of Menelaus. And he also called Venus "golden" from those things which he had seen in Egypt. For he knew that a temple of the golden Venus was called by that name in Egypt and...

and a field of the golden Venus named. And wherefore has mention been made of this now? In order that we may show that the poet [Homer] transferred many things from the divine history of the prophets into his own poetry. And first, the account by Moses concerning the creation of the world: for thus Moses wrote: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth; then the sun, and the moon, and the stars." For having learned these things in Egypt, and being pleased with what was written by him [Moses] concerning the generation of the world, he [Homer] caused Vulcan, upon the shield of Achilles, to fashion as it were an image of the creation of the world. For thus he wrote:

In it he fashioned the earth, and the heaven, and the sea, ^B The sun never-tiring, and the moon at its full; And in it all the signs with which the heaven is crowned.

And he has caused the garden of Alcinous to preserve an image of Paradise, showing it by means of this image to be ever-blooming and full of fruits; for thus it is written:

There tall trees were growing, flourishing, Pears, and pomegranates, and apple-trees with bright fruit, Sweet figs, and flourishing olives. Their fruit never perishes nor fails ^C In winter nor in summer, being perennial; but always The breath of Zephyr, blowing, makes some things grow, and ripens others. Pear upon pear grows old, apple upon apple, Yea, grape upon grape, and fig upon fig. And therein a fruitful vineyard is planted: One portion of it, on level ground, ^D Is dried by the sun, others they are gathering, And others they are treading, but in front are some Casting their flower, and others are blushing to ripeness.

Do not these words signify a clear and manifest imitation of those things which were spoken by the first prophet, Moses, concerning Paradise? And if anyone should wish to look also at the construction of the tower, by which the men of that time thought they could prepare for themselves an ascent into heaven, he will find this also to be an adequate imitation by the poet, through allegory, rendered by means of Otus and Ephialtes; for thus the poet spoke concerning them:

Who indeed threatened to the immortals in Olympus To set a tumult of boisterous war. Ossa upon Olympus they strove to set, and upon Ossa ^D Pelion shaking with leaves, that heaven might be accessible.

^A Likewise, concerning the enemy of the human race cast down from heaven, whom the divine Scriptures call the devil, because that name was imposed upon him from his first calumny against man, if anyone wishes to consider it more accurately, he will find that the poet does not use the appellation of "devil," but derives the name from his worst action. For he calls him Ate, and says that he was cast down from heaven by the God who is esteemed by them, as if he accurately remembered the things said about him by the prophet Isaiah. Thus, therefore, he writes in his poetry:

126 He seized Ate straightway by her glossy-tressed head, In his anger, and swore a mighty oath, That never again to Olympus and the starry heaven Should Ate return, who deludes all men. So saying, he cast her from the starry heaven, Whirling her by her hand; and soon she came to the works of men.

^B 29. Furthermore, that Plato, when he pronounces that form is the third principle after God and matter, clearly received the cue from nowhere else but from Moses, it is manifest; for he learned the name of "form" from the utterances of Moses, but did not learn at that time from those who are knowledgeable that it is impossible to understand clearly any of the things said by Moses without mystical contemplation. For Moses wrote that God commanded him concerning the tabernacle in this way: "And thou shalt make for me according to all that I show thee upon the mountain, the pattern of the tabernacle." And again: "And thou shalt set up the tabernacle according to the pattern of all its vessels, and so shalt thou make [it]." And again a little later: "Just so shalt thou make according to the type and figure which was shown to thee on the mountain." ^C When Plato had read these things, and had not received those written words with the contemplation that was fitting, he thought that the form existed separately from that which is subject to the senses, which indeed he often calls the pattern of the things that were made, because Moses wrote thus about the tabernacle: "According to the form shown to thee on the mountain, so shalt thou make it."

30. It is manifest that he was also mistaken concerning the creation of the earth and the heaven and of man; for he imagines that there are ideas of these things also. Since Moses wrote thus: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth"; ^D and on the creation of man he also appears to have fallen into error; for of these too he thinks there are ideas.

^A And immediately after these words he subjoins: "And the earth was invisible and unorganized." He thought that by these words, "And the earth was," reference was made to the pre-existing earth, because Moses said: "And the earth was invisible and unorganized"; but that by the words, "God created the heaven and the earth," he meant that which is sensible, created by God according to the pre-existing exemplar. Similarly, concerning the heaven that was created—the heaven which he also called the firmament—he thought this was the sensible creature that had come into being, but that there is another, the intelligible one, concerning which the Prophet says: "The heaven of heaven is the Lord's, but the earth He hath given to the children of men." ^B And similarly concerning man: Moses mentions the name of man first, and then, after many created things, he makes mention of the formation of man, saying thus: "And God made man, having taken dust from the earth." He thought, therefore, that the man mentioned first existed prior to the one created; and that the one formed later from the earth was made according to the pre-existing form. That man was formed from the earth is something Homer also learned from the ancient and divine history, which says: "Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return," ^C and he calls the lifeless body of Hector "deaf earth." For somewhere, speaking of Achilles dragging the dead body of Hector, he says:

"For he is mad with rage to insult the senseless earth."

And elsewhere, where Menelaus speaks to those who did not readily accept Hector's challenge to single combat:

"But may you all become water and earth," ^D

resolving them in his exceeding wrath into their ancient and former origin from the earth. These things Homer and Plato learned from the ancient histories in Egypt and wrote in their own books.

For from what other source could Plato have learned to say that Zeus drives his winged chariot in heaven, if he had not encountered the histories of the prophets? For he knew from the words of the prophet concerning the cherubim, which were stated thus: "And the glory of the Lord went out from the house, and ascended upon the cherubim; and

the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them from above." ^A From this, that loud-voiced Plato, emboldened, cries out: "The great Jupiter in heaven, driving a winged chariot." For from whence else did he learn to write these things, if not from Moses and the prophets? And from whence did he derive the suggestion to say that God is in a fiery substance? Was it not from the history in the third book of Kings, where it is written: "The Lord is not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake: the Lord is not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake fire: the Lord is not in the fire, and after the fire a voice of a gentle breeze"? But these things must be recalled to the minds of pious men for their sublime significance through much study. Plato, however, not directing his mind with the contemplation that was required, said that God exists in a fiery substance.

32. But if anyone wishes to examine accurately the gift descending from God to holy men, which the sacred prophets call the Holy Spirit, he will find that this also was described by Plato in the *Meno* under a different name. For, fearing to call the gift of God the Holy Spirit, lest, by following the doctrine of the prophets, he might appear hostile to the Greeks, he confesses indeed that it descends from above from God, but he did not see fit to call it the Holy Spirit, but rather "virtue." For in that dialogue on recollection, the *Meno*, after he has searched much concerning virtue—whether virtue can be taught, or cannot be taught, but is acquired by practice, or is neither acquired by practice nor learned, but comes to men by nature, or in some other way—he finally declares it in these very words: ^B "But now, if in this whole discourse we have inquired and argued correctly, virtue would seem to be neither by nature nor by teaching, but to come to men by divine lot, without understanding, to those to whom it comes." This, I think, Plato clearly learned from the prophets concerning the Holy Spirit, and appears to have transferred it to the name of virtue. For just as the holy prophets say that the one and same Spirit is divided into seven spirits, so he too, calling it one and the same virtue, says that it is divided into four virtues; being unwilling to make any mention of the Holy Spirit, but preaching clearly through a certain allegory the things that had been said by the prophets concerning the Holy Spirit. ^C For thus, near the end of the discourse with Meno, he says: "From this reasoning, therefore, O Meno, virtue seems to us to come by divine lot"

to whomever it may come. But we shall know the truth of this clearly, in what way virtue comes to men, when we first attempt to seek it in and of itself, what virtue ever is." ^A Observe how he calls the gift descending from above merely "virtue," and yet deems it worthy of inquiry whether it is fitting that it be called "virtue" or something else, fearing to call it plainly the Holy Spirit, lest he seem to be following the teaching of the prophets.

33. Whence did Plato learn that time was created with heaven? For he has written thus: "Time, therefore, was created with heaven, so that, having been created together, they might also be dissolved together, if a dissolution of them should ever occur." Did he not learn this from the divine history of Moses? For he knew that the creation of time received the beginning of its constitution from days, months, and years. Now, since that first day, ^B having come into being with heaven, provided the beginning of all time (for so Moses has written: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth," and then he joins to them, saying, "And there was one day"), Plato, as though indicating all time by a part, calls the day "time," lest, by making mention of the day, he should seem altogether a follower of the words of Moses, and for this reason be accused among the Athenians. And whence did he conceive of the dissolution of heaven, and write in such a way? Did he not also learn this from the holy prophets, and consider that it had been spoken thus by them?

34. If anyone should also examine the argument concerning statues, whence the first men who fashioned your gods were moved to recognize them as having human forms, he will find that they also learned this from the divine history. ^C For since the history of Moses says, in the person of God, "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," as if it were said that men are like God in form, they began in this way to fashion their gods, having judged to create the like from the like. But for what reason have I now been moved to mention these things, O Greeks? In order that you may know that it is not possible to learn true piety from these men, who—even in those matters for which they have stirred up admiration for themselves among men alienated from our religion—have not been able to write anything of their own, ^D but have preached in their own writings that which they drew from Moses and the remaining prophets by way of a certain allegory.

35 ^A It is time now, Greeks, since you have been persuaded by histories from outside sources that Moses and the other prophets lived long before all those among you who are considered wise, that you should depart from the ancient error of your forefathers and encounter the divine histories of the prophets. You should acknowledge from them the true religion, not from those whose business it is to lecture you on the art of words, nor from those who speak persuasively and convincingly—for this is the peculiar mark of those who wish to steal the truth—but rather from those who simply use the words and names as they present themselves, and who announce to you those things which the Holy Spirit, descended upon them, desired to teach through them to those who wish to learn the true religion.

Having therefore cast aside all shame, the ancient error of men, and the vain clamor of empty display ^B in which you suppose your whole way of living happily consists, pursue those things which are profitable to you. For you will commit no offense against your ancestors if you are now willing to be carried to the side contrary to their error; it is likely that they, in Hades, are even now lamenting and repenting with a belated repentance. If it were possible for them to announce to you from there what has befallen them after the end of this life, you would surely know from what great evils they would wish to see you delivered.

But since in the present it is not possible to learn either from them or from those who here claim to profess this falsely-named philosophy, it remains for you henceforth, having cast aside the error of your ancestors ^C and having given your attention to the prophecies of the holy men—not seeking from them elegance of speech (for our religion is not established in words, but in deeds), but learning from them those things that will bring you eternal life—to understand. For those who vainly abuse the name of philosophy are convicted of knowing nothing, just as they are compelled to admit, even against their will; for they are not only at odds with one another, but they also explain their own opinions in one way at one time and in another way at another; and they themselves are compelled to admit, even against their will, that they set forth their own opinions differently at different times.

36 And if the discovery of truth is said to be the goal ^D of philosophy among them, how can those who have not attained the knowledge of the truth be worthy of the name of philosopher? For if Socrates, the wisest of the wise among you, to whom even your oracle, as you yourselves say, bore this testimony:

"Of all men, Socrates is the wisest,"

—and when he asked if anyone were wiser than he, the Pythia answered that no one was—Socrates, I say, admits that he knows nothing, how can those who come after him and claim to know the things in heaven...

and promise that they know them? For Socrates said that he was called wise for this reason: because while other men pretend to know what they do not know, he himself did not hesitate to admit that he knew nothing. ^A For he spoke thus: "I appear to be wisest in this very small matter, that I do not think I know what I do not know." Let no one think that Socrates was pretending ignorance out of irony, as he was often accustomed to do in his dialogues. For his final speech of his defense, which he pronounced as he was departing to prison, shows that he was admitting his ignorance with earnestness and truth. For he said thus: "But now it is time to depart, I indeed to die, and you to live, but which of us goes to the better thing is unclear to everyone except God." Socrates, having uttered this last word in the Areopagus, departed into prison, attributing to God alone the knowledge of things unknown to us. But those who arose after him, although they could not even attain knowledge of earthly things, ^B proclaimed that they knew the things in heaven as if they had seen them. Therefore Aristotle, as if he had seen the things in heaven more accurately than Plato, did not say that God was in the fiery substance as Plato thought, but he himself declared that He was in the fifth ethereal element. And he who demands that trust be placed in him regarding these matters because of his refined style of speech, being unable to investigate the nature of the Euripus in Chalcis, was struck with grief by his great disgrace and shame, and departed from this life. Therefore, let no one of sound mind value the eloquence of these men above his own salvation; but according to that ancient story, ^C blocking his ears with wax, let him flee the ruin that sweetly pursues from these Sirens. For the aforementioned writers, while holding out the sweetness of their speech as a kind of bait, attempt to lead many away from true religion, imitating him who dared to teach the first men the multitude of gods. I urge you not to be persuaded by them, but to apply yourselves to the prophecies of holy men. If, however, laziness or the ancient superstition of your ancestors prevents you from reading the prophecies of the holy men, ^D through whom it is possible for you to learn that there is one and only one God—which is the first hallmark of true religion—at least believe Orpheus, who taught you the multitude of gods first but later thought it necessary and profitable to sing a palinode, and said the things I wrote a little while ago; and believe the others who have written the same things about one God. For it has come about through God’s providence for your sake that even these men—unwillingly—testify that what has been said by the prophets about one God is true, so that the doctrine of a multitude of gods, being rejected by all, might provide you with the occasion for true knowledge.

37. It will be easy for you to learn true religion

^A in part from the ancient Sibyl, who teaches you through some powerful inspiration by means of oracles, things that seem to be close to the doctrine of the prophets. They say that she originated from Babylon, and was the daughter of Berosus, the writer of the Chaldean history. And [having come] to the regions of Campania—I know not by what means—she delivered oracles there in a city called Cumae, six miles distant from Baiae, where the warm springs of Campania happen to be.

When we were in that city, we saw a certain place where we beheld a very large shrine cut out of a single stone—a most remarkable thing and worthy of all admiration. Those who had received these accounts from their ancestors as belonging to their own country used to say that she delivered her oracles there. In the middle of the shrine, they pointed out to us three vessels carved from the same stone, which, after they were filled with water, they said she would use for bathing; and when she had put on her garment, she would withdraw into the innermost part of the shrine, which was also carved from the same stone, and sitting in the middle of it on a high seat and throne, she would thus deliver her oracles.

Many other writers, as well as Plato in the *Phaedrus*, make mention of this Sibyl as a prophetess. It seems to me that when Plato encountered her oracles, he came to regard those who foretell the future as men acting under divine influence; for he saw that the things long ago predicted by her were being ^B fulfilled in deed. And therefore, marveling at them in the dialogue *Meno*, and repeating the prophets’ words in the same terms, he writes: "Rightly, then, might we call those divine, whom we now term prophet-seers. We would not be wrong in saying that these men are divine and inspired, possessed by God, when they succeed in saying many great things without knowing anything of what they say." ^C Here he clearly and openly refers to the oracles of the Sibyl. For she, unlike poets, did not have the ability to revise or polish her verses after they were written—especially in those parts that pertain to the accurate law of meter—but she functioned in the office of a prophetess at the very moment of inspiration; and when the inspiration ceased, the memory of her utterances ceased as well.

This, then, is the reason why not all the metrical counts of the Sibyl's verses were preserved. For when we were in that city, we learned from the guides who showed us the places where she used to deliver her oracles, and also a certain bronze chest in which they claimed her relics were kept. Another thing, among others, which they related as a tradition handed down from their ancestors, was that those who used to receive the oracles at that time, being illiterate, often strayed from the accurate observation of the meters. And they said that ^D this was the reason why the number of the verses was not preserved.

^A, since she herself, after she had ceased to be possessed and inspired, did not remember the things she had said; and the scribes, through ignorance, had fallen away from the accuracy of the meters. For this reason, then, it is clear that Plato, looking toward the oracles of the Sibyl, made the same statement regarding the prophets. For he spoke thus: "When they speak with success of many and great things, they understand nothing of what they are saying."

38. But, O Greeks, since true religion does not lie in poetic meters ^B, nor in the learning which is in repute among you, henceforth setting aside the accuracy of meters and words, and giving heed without contention to what is said by the Sibyl, perceive what great benefits it shall bring to you, as she clearly and openly proclaims the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ; who, being the Word of God, inseparable from Him in power, taking upon Himself man who was fashioned according to the image and likeness of God, brought back to our memory the religion of our ancient ancestors, which their descendants, having abandoned it through the teaching of the envious demon, turned toward the worship of those who are not gods. And if any doubt troubles you regarding the creation of man, believe those whom you still think ought to be heard, and know that your oracle ^C, when asked by someone to produce a hymn to God the Almighty, spoke thus in the middle of the hymn:

Who first formed a mortal, and called him Adam.

And it happens that this hymn is preserved by many whom we know, for the refutation of those who are unwilling to assent to the truth attested by all. If therefore, O Greeks, you do not value the false fantasy regarding the non-existent gods more than your own salvation, believe, as I have said, the most ancient and very old Sibyl, whose books happen to be preserved in the whole world, who teaches us through oracles—by a certain powerful inspiration—that the so-called gods are nothings; and who clearly and openly ^D foretells 69 the future coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, and all the things that are to be done by Him. For there shall be for you a certain knowledge of these things, a necessary meditation on the prophecies of holy men. But if anyone, from the things called by them most ancient...

if he seems to have received the doctrine concerning God from the philosophers; let him hear Ammon and Mercury: Ammon, who calls God most hidden in his writings about Him; and Mercury, who says clearly and openly: "To understand God is very difficult, and for him who is able to understand Him, it is truly impossible to express Him." It must, therefore, be completely clear and established that there is no other way for God or the right religion to be known, except from the prophets alone, who teach us, being inspired by the divine spirit.

^A ...and, as he had received a book in a vision, he first believed it to be the Sibyl, unless it was because he felt honorably about the Sibyl? To omit the Sibyl’s testimony concerning the future judgment, cited by St. Clement, as the author of the *Questions to the Orthodox* (quæst. 74) testifies, the Christians were surely too attentive to the defense of their own religion to neglect the fourth Eclogue of Virgil. For although Virgil thought nothing of Christ, we can nevertheless extract this truth from his sayings: 1° That the Cumaean Sibyl predicted that the whole world would be changed, a change which is indeed depicted in the same colors as in Isaiah. 2° That such a wonderful event would lead to the author being considered God and the Son of God. 3° That He would expiate our sins. It ought not, therefore, to seem strange if, since it was agreed that the Sibyl had prophesied concerning Christ, the prophecies published under her name moved people to approve them.

ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK ON MONARCHY

Various judgments on this writing gave rise to a certain opinion, which, while not relying on the authority of Eusebius, seemed to do so. For when learned men believed that Eusebius had asserted that Justin’s book *On Monarchy* was constructed not only from sacred, but also from profane testimonies; some declared that that work, in which they saw no testimonies from Scripture, was not by Justin, while others said that this part had perished. But since Eusebius and Justin himself, as we have shown in the Preface, the former says that the book *On Monarchy* was composed solely from the books of the Gentiles, and the latter promises that he will draw arguments from no other source; there is no reason why the whole of this work should be denied to Justin, or why that part, which never existed, should be missed. The work seems to have been written, like the two preceding it, before persecution had spurred Justin with more severe incitements toward the defense of religion. After he has prefaced a few things concerning the origin of idolatry (n. 1), he proves that there is one God (n. 2) from the testimonies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and others. Then (n. 3) he demonstrates that men will be held to account by this God for all their actions, and that He is by no means appeased by drink offerings and incense (n. 4). A good deal follows regarding the false gods of the Gentiles. From these he concludes (n. 5) that one must cleave only to the true and immutable God.

OF THE SAME JUSTIN ON MONARCHY

OF THE SAME JUSTIN, A BOOK ON MONARCHY

1. Since human nature at the beginning received a conjunction of intelligence and salvation toward the knowledge of truth and the worship of the one Lord of all, ^C it signifies "monarchy" of its own accord, without the word "God" being added, not only among the Greeks, as in Justin's *Dialogue* n. 1; but also among the Latins, as is evident from these words of Tertullian, *Adv. Prax.* c. 3: "We maintain, say the heretics, a monarchy." And in this way even the Latins, including the Opici, express the sound vocally, so that you would think they understand "monarchy" as well as they pronounce it.

^A of truth, and of the religion toward the one Lord of all, envy crept in and turned the excellence of human majesty toward the fashioning of idols; and because for a long time this excessive custom remained, it handed down the error to many as if it were a native and true thing. But it is the work of a lover of humanity, or rather of a lover of God, to remind those who have neglected what they ought to have known. For the truth was in itself sufficient to show, from the things that are contained under the heavens, the order of the One who created these. But forgetfulness, having prevailed over the mind of men on account of the long-suffering of God, committed a crime, and transferred the name which is fitting only to the truly God, to mortals; and the contagion of wickedness reached from a few to the many, in whom the popular custom obscured the knowledge of the stable and immutable things. For those who, in the beginning, performing mysteries and public rites in honor of the overweening, cast into oblivion for those who came after them the catholic ^B doctrine. But I, as I proposed a little while ago, using an intent that loves God, will use a language that loves mankind, and I demonstrate to those who have intelligence that it is necessary for all who experience the governance of the things of the universe to possess an immutable religion toward the knower of all. And I will not express this by adorning it with words; but I will provide proof using the poetry from the ancient Greek history, from writings common to all. For from those very sources from which those who are most advanced handed down to the many the law of the worship of idols, having learned from them, they will be convicted of ignorance by the poets and song-writers among themselves.

2. First, indeed, Aeschylus, setting forth the composition of his own ^C discourses, announced his opinion concerning the one God, as he says: Separate God far from mortals, and do not think That he is like unto thyself, clothed in flesh. Thou dost not know him; at one time he appears as fire,

ON MONARCHY

^A - ^D [These marginal letters identify the sections corresponding to the Greek/Latin text as printed in the PG.]

^A at another as water, at another as darkness. He appears even to the wild beasts, To the wind, the cloud, and the lightning, the thunder, the rain. The sea serves him, and the rocks, And every spring, and the systems of water. The mountains tremble, and the earth, and the vast Depth of the sea, and the great heights of the peaks, When the master's fierce eye looks upon them. He can do all things; for the glory of God is most high. Not only was he initiated into the knowledge of God, but Sophocles also records the order of the one Creator of all things and of the one God, thus: He fashioned the heaven, and the far-stretching earth, And the blue swell of the sea, and the might of the winds. But we mortals, many in number, wandering in heart, Have set up, as solace for our sufferings, Statues of gods from stone, or from bronze, Or molded from gold, or ivory forms; And rendering sacrifices to these, and fair festivals, We think we are being pious. But Philemon, too, who is eloquent in explaining ancient matters, does not appear estranged from the knowledge of true being; for he writes: Tell me, what kind of God should one deem him to be? He who sees all things, but is himself unseen. Orpheus, too, who had introduced three hundred and sixty gods, will testify for my argument in the book which he entitled *Precepts*, where it is evident that he repented of this error from what he writes: I shall speak to those for whom it is lawful; but close the doors, O ye profane, ^B All together. But do thou listen, offspring of the light-bearing Moon, Musaeus; for I shall tell the truth; and let not the things formerly Appearing in thy heart deprive thee of a blessed life; But looking to the divine word, sit by it, Guiding the intelligent depth of thy heart, and tread the straight Path, and look only to the King of the world. He is one, self-begotten; from one all things have been generated. He moves within them, nor does any of mortals See him, but he himself sees all. He gives to mortals evil from good, And terrible war, and tearful sorrows. Nor is there any other, apart from the great king. Him, however, I do not see. For a cloud is set about him; ^C For to all mortals the pupils of the eyes are mortal, And weak to see Zeus, who rules over all. ^D

^A For he is established in heaven upon a brazen seat, upon a golden throne, and he treads with his feet upon the earth, and he has stretched forth his right hand unto the ends of the Ocean on every side. For the great mountains tremble, and the rivers, and the depth of the hoary, sparkling sea. And he utters these things in such a way, as one who has been an eyewitness of the greatness of God. Pythagoras also agrees with him, who writes thus: If anyone shall say, I am God, besides the One, he ought after having created a world equal to this, to say, This is mine; and not only to have created it and said, Mine, but also to dwell himself in that which he has made; but he has been made by Him.

3. That he alone is powerful, and that I can demonstrate to those who are ignorant of the divine by domestic witnesses that he is able to institute a judgment concerning the deeds accomplished in this life, I have witnesses; and first of all Sophocles, who speaks thus concerning this: ^B For that day of ages shall come, shall come, when the aurated ether, full of fire, shall loose the store-house; and the flame, having feasted, shall burn all things terrestrial and high, having become mad. And when all things shall fail, the entire depth of the waves shall be gone, the earth devoid of trees, nor shall the air any longer support the winged tribes, being burned. For we know that according to Hades there are two ways, one of the just, and another path of the unjust. And then he shall save all things which he had before destroyed. But also Philemon again: ^C Do you think, Nicostratus, that those who have died, having partaken of all luxury in this life, shall be hidden by the earth, as if they had fled from the divine for all time, as having escaped notice? There is an eye of Justice, which sees all things. For if there remains one lot for the just and for the impious, go, take, and mix all things with deceits and frauds. Do not go astray, there is a judgment also in Hades, which the Lord God of all shall perform, whose name is fearful, which I would not even utter. And Euripides: He gives long length of life for the sake of judgment. But whoever of mortals thinks, while doing some evil during the day, to escape the notice of God, he thinks wickedly, and while thinking so, is caught when Justice finally has leisure. ^D See, whosoever you are that do not wish there to be a God,

^A twice offending, is showing a lack of wisdom. For He exists, He exists; and if anyone acts wickedly, being evil by nature, let him seize the time; for in time this man will later pay the penalty.

4. And it is not with libations and sacrifices of criminals that God is appeased, but He renders punishments to each one with justice, as Philemon will testify to me again:

If someone, Pamphilus, while offering a sacrifice, A multitude of bulls, or of goats, or by Zeus Others of that kind, or works of art, Having made splendid cloaks of gold, or purple, Or images of ivory or emerald, Thinks that God is made favorable, He is deceived, and has a light mind. For a man ought to be reputable, Not defiling virgins, nor committing adultery, Stealing, and slaughtering for the sake of money, Looking at the things of others, and coveting ^B Anything—a wife, or an expensive house, Or an estate, a boy, or a maidservant simply, Or horses, in sum, or oxen, or cattle. Why, then? Do not even covet a needle, Pamphilus; For God sees you, being present nearby. He who delights in just deeds, not unjust ones; And He lets the man who works his own life be exalted, Tilling the earth by night and by day. Sacrifice to God by being just always, And be more brilliant in heart than in garments. If you hear thunder, do not flee far away at all, If you are conscious of nothing against yourself, master. For God sees you, being present nearby.

And again Plato in the *Timaeus*: "But if anyone, examining these things, ^C should take up the test, he would be ignorant of the distinction between human and divine nature, in that God is able to mingle many things into one, and again from one to resolve them into many, as being both knowing and powerful; but no man is capable of either of these things, nor is he now, nor will he ever be hereafter."

5. As for those among some who are counted as participants in a holy and perfect name, which some have indeed referred to as God by vain tradition, Menander says in the *Heniochus*, or *The Charioteer*:

No god pleases me who walks about outside With an old woman, and who enters into houses With a tablet. It is necessary that a just god, Remaining at home, be salvation to those who worship him.

The same Menander in *The Priestess*:

^D No god brings salvation to a man through a man, woman, One through another; for if anyone draws some god To himself.

he who does this is greater than God. These are but tools of audacity and life, ^A devised for shameless men, Rhode, fashioned for the ridicule of our age.

Again, in *The Misumenos*, or *The Hated One*, setting forth an opinion concerning those who have been received into the ranks of the gods, or rather demonstrating that they do not exist, the same Menander says:

If I could see this, I should think my soul Had at once been returned to me; for now, where, O Geta, is it possible to find righteous gods?

And in *The Deposit*:

The judgment, it seems, is unjust even among the gods.

And Euripides the tragedian in *Orestes*:

Phoebus, by commanding me to inflict slaughter on my mother, Is himself most ignorant of what is honorable and just. We serve the gods, whatever these gods may be. Dost thou see Phoebus, he who dwelling ^B In the center of the earth, gives most clear responses to mortals, To whom we trust in all things that he says? Obeying him, I slew her who bore me. Declare him wicked, and put him to death; He committed the sin, not I. What ought I To have done, or is God not competent to save The one to whom he imputes the pollution?

The same [poet] also in *Hippolytus*:

But, as would be right, the gods do not judge these things.

And in *Ion*:

But what care have I for the daughter of Erechtheus? It touches me not at all. But with golden Ewers going to the lustral waters, I shall pour the moisture of the streams. ^C But Phoebus must be admonished. What did he do, forcing in violence the maidens, Betraying the children, begotten in secret, And neglecting them as they die? Do not thou so; but since thou hast power, Pursue virtue; for indeed, whoever among mortals Is born base, the gods punish him. How then is it just, that you who write Laws for mortals should yourselves be guilty of injustice? But if you are not present, I shall use my plea; You shall pay justice to men for violent marriages, You and Poseidon, and Zeus who rules the heaven. Filling the temples, you have emptied them of justice; ^D For by hastening the pleasures before your foresight, You act unjustly. It is no longer just to call Men wicked, if we only imitate the good Things of the gods, but [it is right] to call those wicked who teach us such things.

And in *Archelaus*:

The gods, O child, often lead men into error.

And in *Bellerophon*:

If the gods do anything shameful, they are not gods.

And again in the same:

Someone says that there are indeed gods in heaven. They are not, they are not. If any man says so, Let him not, being foolish, take up the ancient Word. Look at the matter itself, and do not trust my words.

^A Confirmed by words. I say that tyranny Kills the many, and plunders their possessions, And breaking oaths, it sacks the cities. And doing these things, they are more prosperous Than the pious who live quietly day by day. I know that small cities that honor the gods Are heard by greater, more impious ones, 15, Ruled by the number of a greater spear. I think that if any of you, being idle, Should pray to the gods, and not gather his living with his hand, You would know from the very facts Whether the gods ward off sad misfortunes.

And Menander in *Diphilus*: For the one who is always the Lord of all things, And the Father, Him alone one must honor to the end, As the inventor and creator of so many good things. The same also in *The Fishermen*: For what nourishes me, this I judge to be god. But that which is accustomed to nourish, Does not need the aid of the one who is in need. The same in *The Brothers*: God is always for the good, For the mind, as it seems, is for the most wise. 18 And in *The Flute-Players*: Everything is sacred to the noble Word. For the mind is the speaking God. In *Phrixus* the Tragic poet: But if the pious man fared the same as the most impious 19, how could these things be well, If Zeus, the best, thinks nothing just? In *Philoctetes*: See how it is good to gain even among the gods, And he is admired who has the most gold In the temples; what then prevents you from taking Gain, when it is present, and becoming like the gods?

^C In *Hecuba*: Whoever you are, Zeus—for I know not except by word Whether you are Zeus, or the necessity of nature, or the mind of mortals, I have prayed to you.

6. Here, therefore, is the proof of excellence and of a mind 42 loving prudence, to return to the communion of that unity, and to attach oneself by understanding to salvation, to choose…

the selection of things that are better, according to the free will placed in man, not thinking those subject to human passions to be masters of all, since they will not be found to be even equal to men. For among Homer, Demodocus says that he is self-taught,

God gave me songs, though he is a mortal. Asclepius and Apollo are taught to heal by Chiron the centaur—the most novel thing: gods taught by a man. For why should ^B I recount Dionysus, whom the poet says is mad; or Heracles, whom he also calls a sufferer? Why is it any concern of mine to proclaim Ares and Aphrodite, those leaders of adultery, and from all these things to bring a judgment against those who are being displayed? For if anyone, without having learned it, should imitate the deeds said of the so-called gods, even in the case of those who are counterfeit he would be considered alien to life and humanity; but if one has learned it, he will have a reasonable excuse for the avoidance of punishments, demonstrating that the imitation of divine outrages is not a transgression. But if anyone were to find fault with the deeds, he will also take away the names known from them, and will not even cover them with persuasive and glib ^C speeches. But it is necessary to embrace the true and unchangeable name, not only preached through my voice, but also through those who introduce us into the beginning of the discipline, so that having not idly finished the time of living here, we may not provide an accounting not only as those ignorant of heavenly glory, but also as ungrateful to the judge.

ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST APOLOGY

43 This first Apology, which in previous editions was incorrectly placed as the second, Justin ^D offered around the year 150 to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, and to his adopted sons M. Aurelius and L. Verus, and also to the Senate and the Roman people. In this work, there shines an extraordinary freedom of speech without rashness, and the greatest reverence for the emperors without sycophancy. In this way, the holy martyr defends the common cause, so that those who willingly investigate the truth among the ancients may be able to see and discern in this excellent monument the doctrine, customs, and institutions of the ancient Christians placed before their own eyes.

We can divide the whole oration into three parts, in the first of which Justin demonstrates that Christians ought not to be condemned without a trial, and sets forth their innocence. In the second, he proves that the Christian religion rests upon the most certain arguments. In the third, finally, he discusses what is performed in the mysteries of the Christians.

He declares at the beginning (n. 1) that the holy martyr is one of the Christians; with absolute freedom he requests from the emperors that they maintain equity (n. 2), and order Christians to be judged after the manner of other accused persons (n. 3). For he asserts that it is unjust that the name alone be condemned without a trial (n. 4): he attributes the cause of this thing to demons (n. 5). If it is a question of these demons, he confesses (n. 6) that Christians are atheists; but he denies that this can be used as a reproach, since they worship God the Father, and His Son, and the Holy Spirit. If by chance any among men who so believe have been convicted of a crime, that ought not to harm others (n. 7), whose innocence is the more illustrious because they could deny it if they wished, but they confess willingly, that they might avoid falsehood and arrive the sooner to their God. Nor, furthermore, ought Christians to be reproached (n. 9) because they do not worship idols, since nothing could be more absurd than this worship; nor because they do not think that God has need of material gifts, from whom all things were created, and to whom an eternal kingdom is promised to those living rightly. For Christians do not expect a human kingdom (n. 11); nothing of such a kind is to be feared from them; indeed, their principles contribute most to peace and the tranquility of the state (n. 12). If anyone should persecute those who hold these views, he would not only act against reason, but would also waste his effort and confirm them all the more in the doctrine of Christ.

Although Justin could have finished, the matter having been sufficiently proven, he approaches again to defend the innocence of the Christians, and demonstrates that they are not atheists (n. 13) from the most pure worship which they offer to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, and from the wonderful change which they showed in themselves (n. 14), after they departed from the demons. And so that the matter may be certainly established, in the middle

[...he] sets forth the excellent precepts of Christ, and declares how they are observed by Christians (n. 15), namely, concerning chastity, love towards all, and liberality to the poor, concerning patience (n. 16), the avoiding of oaths, the obedience to be rendered to kings (n. 17), and the paying of taxes. If the emperors despise citizens so well-disposed, Justin threatens them with a future judgment after death (n. 18), which the Gentile writers themselves acknowledge, but Christians much more so, who also hope for the resurrection, and think it no more difficult for God (n. 19) than creation itself. Some things akin to this dogma have been stated by the Gentiles (n. 20); wherefore it is not just that Christians alone should burn with envy. So also what they teach concerning the Son of God and His ascension into heaven (n. 21), concerning the generation of the Word, and His incarnation and death, ought not to appear absurd, since the poets have trifled much about the sons of Jove.

In the second part, he promises (n. 23) that he will prove three things: 1. That the truth is taught by Christians alone. 2. That the Son of God was truly incarnate. 3. That the fables were invented by the works of demons, so that the advent of Christ might seem a fable. That the truth is taught by Christians, and that they are afflicted for no other cause, he proves: 1. Because (n. 24) that which is permitted to all others is not allowed to them alone. 2. Because (n. 25) only the love of truth could have led them to embrace the worship of God with death set before them. 3. Because (n. 26) if anyone pollutes the truth of the Christian religion with errors, persecution will not touch him, at least on account of heresy. Justin does not dare to assert that heretics commit those unspeakable crimes; but he declares that Christians so abhor them that they do not even think it lawful to expose children (n. 27). Those who slander Christians injure themselves (n. 28), and will be sent with the devil into the fire. How great the chastity of morals is among Christians, he demonstrates (n. 29) from the act of a certain youth, to whom he opposes Antinous.

He demonstrates (n. 29, 31) that the Son of God was truly incarnate from many oracles of the prophets, in recounting which he lays down rules (n. 36, 39) for distinguishing who is speaking in the Scriptures: he had declared that fate does not at all follow from these predictions (n. 33, 31); and he warns (n. 46) that those who lived before the incarnation of Christ are by no means guiltless. But from these prophecies he proves that the resurrection of the dead, which has not yet happened, is confirmed (n. 52): then he concludes (n. 53) that the faith of Christians rests on most certain arguments, seeing with their own eyes the fulfillment of what was long ago predicted concerning the conversion of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews.

Finally, he proves (n. 54) that the fables about the sons of Jove (for he thought that this concerned the truth and antiquity of religion) were invented by the inspiration of demons, so that the advent of the Son of God might seem a fable. Yet the poets suspected nothing about the cross (n. 55), the power and utility of which Justin commends from things falling under common observation and of great importance among the heathens. With the same design (n. 56, 58) the demons led on Simon and Marcion. But they could accomplish nothing else (n. 57) but that the wicked should hate Christians. Even Plato himself, in what he said concerning the creation of the world (n. 59) and the decussation of the Son (n. 60) in the *Timaeus*, derived it from Moses.

In the third part (n. 61), Justin explains how Christians consecrate themselves to God in baptism, about which when the demons had heard something (n. 62), they introduced sprinklings and washings. So also, from those things which Christ said to Moses, they instituted that those who were to enter temples should take off their shoes. For not God the Father appeared to Moses (n. 63), but the Son; and the Jews, who wish it to have been the Father, know neither the Father nor the Son. To this same artifice of the demons are attributed (n. 64) the fables about Proserpina and Minerva. Justin returns to his purpose: he explains how the Eucharist is consecrated (n. 65), and what it is (n. 66), and the whole sequence of those things which were done in the Synaxes: and in conclusion he admonishes the emperors that if what he has hitherto said seems like trifles, at least they should not appear worthy of capital punishment. He subjoins to the Apology the epistle of Hadrian given in favor of the Christians.

OF THE SAME JUSTIN FIRST APOLOGY IN BEHALF OF THE CHRISTIANS TO ANTONINUS PIUS

THE SAME JUSTIN'S FIRST APOLOGY FOR THE CHRISTIANS TO ANTONINUS PIUS

To the Emperor Titus Ælius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, and to Verissimus his son the philosopher, and to Lucius the philosopher, son of Caesar by nature and of Pius by adoption, a lover of learning ^A, and to the sacred senate, and to the whole people of the Romans, on behalf of those men of every race who are unjustly hated...

and abused, I, Justin, son of Priscus, son of Bacchius 27, one of those from Flavia Neapolis 28 in Syria of Palestine, as one of them, have composed this address and petition.

2. Reason ^A dictates that those who are truly pious and lovers of wisdom should alone honor and cherish the truth, refusing to follow the opinions of the ancients if these be worthless. For sound reason dictates that we should not only not follow those who do wrong or have taught anything wrong, but also that in every way, even if death be threatened, the lover of truth must choose to say and do only what is just. You, indeed, are heard everywhere as being called pious and philosophers, and guardians of justice, and lovers of learning, but whether you are such in reality shall be demonstrated 50. For we have come, not to flatter you through this letter 51, nor to speak for your favor, but to demand that you make judgment according to the exact and searching standard of reason, and not to hold yourselves captured by prejudice, or by the human favor ^B of those who are held by superstition, or by irrational impulse, or by an old, prevailing evil rumor, to cast a vote against yourselves. For we consider that we can suffer no evil from anyone, unless we be convicted as evildoers, or proven to be wicked; you, however, have the power to kill, but to injure us you cannot.

5. But ^C that no one may think this a senseless and bold claim, we ask that the charges against these men be examined, and if they be proven to exist, let them be punished 35 as is proper, or rather let them be punished. But if no one has anything to convict us of, sound reason does not demand

that, because of an evil rumor, you should do injury to innocent people, or rather to yourselves, you who choose to conduct affairs not by judgment but by passion. Every reasonable person will declare this to be a noble and only just challenge: that the subjects provide an account of their own life and doctrine that is beyond reproach; and similarly, that those who rule also pass sentence, not by force or tyranny, but by following piety and philosophy. For in this way, both rulers and subjects might enjoy good things. For someone of the ancients said somewhere: «Unless both those who rule and those who are ruled pursue philosophy, it is impossible for cities to be happy.» It is our task, therefore, to provide everyone with an inspection of our life and teachings, so that for the sake of those who are thought to be ignorant of our affairs, we do not pay the penalty for the things they sin regarding, while ^B they act blindly. And it is your task, as reason chooses, to hear us and be found good judges. For once you have learned the truth, if you do not do what is just, it will be inexcusable before God.

4. The attribution of a name is not judged as good or bad without the actions that fall under the name; for, as far as the name by which we are called is concerned, we are most excellent. But since we do not consider it just, because of the name, if we are convicted of being evil, to ask for release; again, if we are found doing no wrong, neither because of the appellation of the name nor because of our conduct, it is your duty to take pains, lest by unjustly punishing those who are not convicted ^C you incur the penalty of justice. For neither praise nor punishment can justly come from the name alone, unless one can prove by deeds what is virtuous or base. For whoever are accused before you, they must be punished, as it is fitting, or rather, it is fitting to punish someone; but if no one has anything to convict us of, sound reason does not demand that, because of an evil rumor, you should do injury to innocent people, or rather to yourselves, you who choose to conduct affairs not by judgment but by passion. Every reasonable person will declare this to be a noble and only just challenge: that the subjects provide an account of their own life and doctrine that is beyond reproach; and similarly, that those who rule also pass sentence, not by force or tyranny, but by following piety and philosophy. For in this way, both rulers and subjects might enjoy good things. For someone of the ancients said somewhere: «Unless both those who rule and those who are ruled pursue philosophy, it is impossible for cities to be happy.» It is our task, therefore, to provide everyone with an inspection of our life and teachings, so that for the sake of those who are thought to be ignorant of our affairs, we do not pay the penalty for the things they sin regarding, while they act blindly. And it is your task, as reason chooses, to hear us and be found good judges. For once you have learned the truth, if you do not do what is just, it will be inexcusable before God.

4. The attribution of a name is not judged as good or bad without the actions that fall under the name; for, as far as the name by which we are called ^D is concerned, we are most excellent. But since we do not consider it just, because of the name, if we are convicted of being evil, to ask for release; again, if we are found doing no wrong, neither because of the appellation of the name nor because of our conduct, it is your duty to take pains, lest by unjustly punishing those who are not convicted, you incur the penalty of justice. For neither praise nor punishment can justly come from the name alone, unless one can prove by deeds what is virtuous or base.

^A For we are accused of being Christians, and it is not right that what is good should be hated. Again, if any of those who are accused deny it, claiming by their voice that they are not, you release them, as having nothing to convict them of having done wrong. But if someone confesses ^B that he is one, you punish him on account of the confession; whereas it is necessary to examine the life of both the one who confesses and the one who denies, so that each may be shown by his actions as to what kind of person he is. For in the same way that certain people, having learned from their teacher Christ not to deny him when they are examined, ^C are encouraged to do so, in the same way those who live wickedly perhaps provide an opportunity to those who, from other sources, are prepared to attribute impiety and injustice to all Christians. Neither is this done correctly; for indeed, certain people assume the name and the guise of philosophy ^D who do nothing worthy of such a profession. You know that even those among the ancients who held and taught opposing views are all called by the one name of philosophers.

^A And some of them have taught atheism. And the poets who have followed them declare that Zeus, together with his children, was licentious; and those who emulate their teachings are not prohibited by you, but you set up prizes and honors for those who insult them with sweet-sounding voices.

5. What then is this? Since we promise that we will do no evil, nor will we hold these impious opinions, you do not examine the judgments ^B but, driven by irrational passion and the scourging of wicked demons, you judge without trial, not caring. For the truth shall be told: since in olden times wicked demons, having made appearances, both committed adultery with women and corrupted boys, and showed terrifying sights to men, so that those who did not judge these happenings by reason, but were seized by fear, and—not knowing that they were wicked demons—called them gods and gave each one the name which each of the demons had applied to himself. But when Socrates, by true reason and by examination, attempted to bring these things to light and to lead men away from the demons, the demons themselves, through men who take pleasure in wickedness, brought it about that he was put to death as an atheist and an impious person, saying that he was introducing new demons. And they are working the same thing toward us. For not only have these things been refuted by the Word through Socrates among the Greeks, ^C but also among the barbarians by the Word Himself, who in His own form became man and was called Jesus Christ. And we, having been persuaded, say that the demons who performed these things are not only not good, but are wicked and unholy demons, who do not have actions similar even to men who desire virtue.

6. Hence we are called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists as concerns the ones who are thought to be such gods, but not as concerns the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, in whom there is no mixture of evil. But we worship Him, and the Son who came from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are made like Him, as well as the ^D prophetic Spirit.

^A

7. But someone might say: Indeed, some have been apprehended and convicted as evildoers. And in truth, you often, when you examine the life of each of those accused, condemn them, but not because of those who were previously convicted. We confess this generally, that just as among the Greeks, those who taught opinions agreeable to them are all called by the one name of philosophy, although their doctrines are contrary, so too among the barbarians, to those who have existed or have been considered wise, a common name has been imposed. For all are called Christians. We ask, therefore, that the actions of all who are accused before you be judged, so that he who is convicted may be punished as an evildoer, but not as a Christian. But if anyone is found to be unconvicted, he should be released as a Christian who has committed no wrong. For we will not ask you to punish the accusers; they are sufficiently punished by their own indwelling wickedness and ignorance of good things.

8. And consider that we say these things for your sake, ^B from the fact that it is within our power to deny when questioned. But we do not wish to live by clinging to a lie. For desiring an eternal and pure life, we strive for the residence promised by God, the Father and Creator of all, and we hasten to confess, since we are persuaded and believe, that those who have convinced God by their deeds that they followed Him and longed for the residence with Him, where no wickedness resists, can reach these things. As, therefore, to speak briefly, these are the things that we expect, and which we have learned from Christ and do teach. ^C Plato, ^D likewise, said that Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the unjust who came to them. We, however, say that the same thing will happen, but by Christ, and with them being in the same bodies together with their souls, and they will be punished with eternal punishment, and not a thousand-year period alone, as he said. If, then, anyone says to us that this is unbelievable or impossible, this error is for another to investigate.

so long as we are not convicted of doing any wrong in action.

9. ^A But we do not honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers those whom men, having fashioned and placed in temples, have called gods; for we know that these are inanimate and dead, and do not possess the form of God (for we do not think that God has the form which some say is imitated for the sake of honor), but that they possess both the names and the forms of those evil demons who have appeared. For what need is there to tell you, who know it well, how craftsmen treat the material, carving and cutting, casting and striking? And often, from dishonorable vessels, having merely changed their shape by their art and given them a form, they name them gods. ^B This we consider not only irrational, but also done to the insult of God, who possesses an ineffable glory and form, for His name is imposed upon corruptible things that require care. And that the craftsmen of these things are lewd, and possess every vice—that I may not recount each one—you know accurately; and they corrupt their own maidservants while working with them. O, the stupefaction of the mind! That such things should be attributed to incontinent men, that they are said to fashion and transform gods for worship, and to appoint such men as guardians of the shrines where they are placed! They do not see that it is impious, both in thought and in speech, for men to be guardians of gods.

10. ^C Nor do we accept that God has need of material gifts from men, since we see that He provides all things. But we have been taught, and are persuaded and believe, that He accepts only those who imitate the good things that are His: temperance, justice, and philanthropy, and all that is proper to God, who is called by no imposed name. And we have been taught that He, being good, created all things in the beginning out of unformed matter for the sake of men; ^D and if they prove themselves worthy by their works to His counsel, we have received that they shall, in fellowship with Him, be thought worthy of reigning.

having become incorruptible and impassible. For as He created us when we were not, in the beginning, so we believe that in the same manner those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, by reason of this choice, accounted worthy of immortality and intimacy and fellowship with God. For to have come into being in the beginning was not in our own power, but to follow what is pleasing to Him, by choosing through the rational faculties which He has bestowed upon us, this He persuades us of and leads us to faith. And we consider that this applies to all men, since they are not hindered from learning these things, but rather are encouraged by exhortation to them. For that which human laws were unable to effect, the divine Word, being God, would have accomplished, had not the wicked demons, making a companion and helper in every man of the evil and multifaceted desire inherent in nature, scattered abroad many false and impious accusations, of which we are conscious of none. ^B

11. But you, when you hear that we look for a kingdom, rashly suspect that we speak of a human kingdom, when we speak of that which is with God; as is evident even from the fact that when we are interrogated by you, we confess ourselves to be Christians, although we know that death is the penalty provided for the confessor. For if we were looking for a human kingdom, we would certainly deny it in order not to be put to death, and we would endeavor to escape notice, so that we might obtain what we look for. But since we do not place our hopes on the present, we do not care about being put to death, since death is altogether inevitable. ^C

12. But we are your helpers and allies toward peace, we who teach these things—that it is impossible for either a wrongdoer, or a covetous man, or a conspirator, or a virtuous man to escape the notice of God, and that each man goes to eternal punishment or salvation according to the merit of his deeds. For if all men knew this, no one would choose vice even for a little while, knowing that he would go to eternal punishment by fire, but would by every means restrain himself and adorn himself with virtue, so that he might obtain the good things from God and be delivered from the punishments. For it is not because of the laws and punishments imposed by you that we endeavor ^D

to avoid wronging others; for we know that it is possible for you to be deceived by us, as you are but men. If they had learned and were persuaded that it is impossible to escape the notice of God, not only of what is done, but even of what is thought, they would at least, on account of the impending punishments, be orderly in every way, as you yourselves would agree. ^A But you seem to fear that all men might act righteously, and that you would no longer have any to punish. That would be the task of executioners, not of good rulers. We are persuaded, however, that these things are brought about by the operation of wicked demons, who demand sacrifices and services from those who live according to unreason, just as we have already said; but we do not suppose that you, who desire piety and philosophy, will do anything unreasonable. But if you also, like foolish men, prefer custom to truth, do what you can. ^B Such power do rulers have who prefer glory to truth as have robbers in the desert. But that you will not perform a successful sacrifice, the Word proves; than whom we know of no ruler more kingly and more just, after the God who begat him. For in the way that all men cast off poverty, or sufferings, or ancestral disrepute, so too the prudent man will not choose whatever the Word dictates ought not to be chosen. All these things our teacher, I say, ^C foretold would come to pass. ^D [Athenians, seeing me crowned, you yourselves should sacrifice me; for formerly you did not]

^A Hence we are all the more firmly convinced of the truth of all that He has taught us, since we see that everything He foretold before it came to pass is being fulfilled in deed; which is the work of God—to foretell things before they happen, and to show them occurring just as they were foretold. We could have stopped here, judging that what we ask for is just and true. But because we know that it is not easy for a mind ^B gripped by ignorance to change suddenly, we have determined to add a little more in order to persuade those who love the truth, knowing that it is not impossible for ignorance to be dispelled when the truth is presented.

13. Who, then, of sound mind will not confess that we are not atheists, we who worship the Maker of this whole universe? We have been taught that He has no need of blood, libations, and incense, ^C but we praise Him to the best of our ability by the word of prayer and thanksgiving for all the things we receive, having learned that this is the only honor worthy of Him: not to consume in fire what He has created for our sustenance, but to offer it to ourselves and to those in need, and as for Him, to show ourselves grateful and to send up to Him through the word—that is, through prayer and hymns ^D—our processions to honor Him for our birth, for all our health, for the qualities of all things, and for the changes of the seasons, and to offer petitions that we may come to exist again in immortality through the faith which is in Him. Who of sober mind would not agree? And as for Him who became our teacher in these things, and who was born for this purpose—Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate—when we have learned that He is the Son of the true God and hold Him in the second place, and the [Prophetic] Spirit in the third...

we shall demonstrate that we worship Him with reason. ^A For here they manifest their madness, alleging that we give a second place after the unchangeable and eternal God, the generator of all, to a man who was crucified; they are ignorant of the mystery in this, to which we exhort you to pay attention, when we have explained it. For it occurred in Judæa in the times of Tiberius Cæsar.

14. We warn you that those ^B demons who have been maligned by us may not deceive you, and turn you away from even approaching and understanding the things that are said (for they struggle to have you as slaves and ministers, and sometimes through the manifestations of dreams, and sometimes again through magical arts, they master all those who do not struggle for their own salvation); just as we, after we were persuaded by the Word, renounced them, and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son—we who formerly delighted in fornications, but now embrace only chastity; and those of us who practiced magical arts, have dedicated ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; and those who valued the seeking of money and possessions more than anything else, now even bring what we have into a common stock, and share with everyone in need; and we who hated one another and killed one another, and because of customs ^C would not share a common hearth with those who were not of the same tribe, now, after the appearance of Christ, have become companions at the same table, and pray for our enemies, and endeavor to persuade those who hate us unjustly, so that, having lived according to the excellent precepts of Christ, they may have good hope to receive the same things as we do from God, who is the master of all. But so that we may not seem to be playing sophistry upon you, [we have set out] a few of the teachings of Christ Himself.

^D They do not think or deem that there is any communion toward Dionysus for Hera: for they are cautious about mixing the sacred rites, and they say that the priestesses at Athens, when they meet one another, greet each other, but not at all to bring ivy into the temple of Hera.

^A We have judged it good, before beginning the demonstration, to recall a few of his precepts, and it is for you, as powerful kings, to examine whether we have in truth learned and taught these things. His manner of discourse was brief and concise, for he was not a sophist, but his word was the power of God.

15. Regarding chastity, he declared as much: "Whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart before God." And: "If your right eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; for it is better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven with one eye, rather than be sent with two into eternal fire." And: "Whoever marries a woman divorced from another husband commits adultery." And: "There are some who have been castrated by men; and there are some who were born eunuchs; and there are some who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven; but not all can receive this." Just as those ^B who, according to human law, contract a second marriage are sinners in the sight of our Teacher, so too are those who look upon a woman to lust after her. For not only is the one who commits adultery in act cast out by him, but also the one who desires to commit adultery, since not only facts, but also thoughts, are manifest to God. And many men and women, sixty and seventy years old, who have been instructed in Christ from childhood, remain incorrupt; and I am proud to be able to show such persons among every race of men. For why should I mention the countless multitude who have turned from lasciviousness and learned these things? For Christ did not call the just and the temperate to repentance, but the impious, the incontinent, and the unjust. For he said thus: "I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." For the heavenly Father desires the repentance of the sinner rather than his punishment. And concerning the love of all, he taught this: "If you love those who love you, what new thing do you do? For even the fornicators do this. ^C But I say to you: Pray for your enemies, and love those who hate you."

And bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. And regarding sharing with the needy and doing nothing for the sake of glory, he spoke thus: "Give to every one that asks, and those who desire to borrow, do not turn away. For if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what new thing do you do? Even the tax collectors do this. But do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and thieves break through; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes. For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what shall he give as an exchange for it?" ^B Lay up, therefore, treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes. And, "Be kind and merciful, just as your Father is kind and merciful, and makes his sun rise upon sinners, and the righteous, and the wicked. Do not be anxious about what you shall eat, or what you shall wear; are you not better than the birds and the beasts? And God feeds them. Be not anxious, therefore, as to what you shall eat, or what you shall wear; for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things. But seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added to you. For where the treasure is, there also is the mind of man." And, "Do not do these things to be seen by men; otherwise, you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven."

16. Regarding being patient and prepared to serve all, and being free from anger, the things that were said by him are as follows: "To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer also the other; and from him who takes away your tunic or your garment, do not withhold it. Whoever shall be angry is liable to the ^C fire. And to everyone who compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Let your good works shine before men, that they, seeing them, may admire your Father who is in heaven." For it is not necessary to resist; nor does God wish us to be imitators of the wicked, but he has exhorted us to lead all men away from shame and the lust for evil things through patience and gentleness. And we can demonstrate this to be true in the case of many who have lived among you, who have been changed from violent men and tyrants, having been overcome either by the persistence of the life of their neighbors, or by observing the strange patience of their companions when they were treated unjustly, or by the conduct of those who were cheated ^D in business.

^A And concerning our not swearing at all, but always speaking the truth, He commanded thus: "Do not swear at all; but let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No' be 'No'; and whatever is more than these is from the evil one." And as to the fact that we ought to worship God alone, He persuaded us thus, saying: "The greatest commandment is: 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve, with all your heart, and with all your strength, the Lord your God who made you.'" And when someone approached Him and said, "Good Teacher," He answered, saying: "No one is good except God alone, who made all things." And if any are found not living as He taught, let them be known as not being Christians, even if they profess with the tongue the teachings of Christ; for He said that not those who only speak, but those who also perform the works, will be saved. For He spoke thus: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." For "Whoever hears me and does what I say, hears Him who sent me." "And many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink in your name, and do mighty works?' And then I will say to them, 'Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.' Then there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when the righteous shall shine as the sun, but the unrighteous shall be cast into eternal fire." For many will come in my name, clothed externally in sheep's skins, but being inwardly ravenous wolves. ^B "By their works you shall know them." And "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." And we demand that those who do not live according to His teachings, but are called Christians only by name, be punished by you also.

17. We, more than all others, endeavor to pay to those appointed by you everywhere the taxes and contributions, as we have been taught by Him. For at that time some approached Him and asked Him if it were necessary to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered: "Tell me, whose image does this coin have?" And they said, "Caesar's." And He answered them again: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." ^C Whence we worship God alone; but in other respects we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that along with your royal power you may also be found to possess a sound mind. But if you disregard our prayers and our bringing of all things into the light, we shall suffer no loss, believing, or rather being fully persuaded, that every man will pay the penalty for his actions in eternal fire ^D according to the merit of his deeds, and will be required to give an account for the powers he received from God, as Christ

^A declared, saying: "To whom God has given more, of him shall more be required."

18. Look to the end of all the ^B emperors, who died the death common to all; for if this led to a state of unconsciousness, it would be a gain for all the wicked; but since perception remains with all who have existed, and eternal punishment is laid up, do not neglect to be persuaded and to believe that these things are true. For necromancy, and the inspection of the souls of incorrupt children, and the summoning of human souls, and those called by the magicians "dream-senders" and "assistants," ^C and what is done by those who know these things, let these persuade you that souls are in a state of perception even after death; and the people who are seized and cast out by the souls of the dead, whom all call demoniacs and madmen, and what are called oracles among you—that of Amphilochus, Dodona, the Pythian, and others like them—and the teachings of the writers, Empedocles, Pythagoras, Plato, and Socrates, and the pit in Homer, and the descent of Ulysses for the purpose of observing these things, and the testimonies of those who have said the same things—accept us on the same terms, ^D who believe in God no less than they, but rather more, we who expect to receive back our own bodies again, even though they are dead and thrown into the earth, affirming that nothing is impossible with God.

19. And truly it might seem incredible to one considering it, if we were not in the body, if someone were to say that from a small drop of human seed it is possible for bones and nerves and flesh, such as we see, to be fashioned. For let this be said for the sake of an hypothesis: if you were not such creatures yourselves, and had not been born from such, and if someone were to show you human seed and a painted image, and were to assert that it is possible for a human being to be generated from such a thing,

would you believe it before you saw it happen? No one would dare to gainsay it. In the same way, because you have not yet seen a dead man raised to life, you are incredulous. But just as you would never have believed in the beginning that it was possible for such beings as yourselves to come into existence from a tiny drop, and yet you see that you have come into being; in the same way, consider that it is not impossible for human bodies, though they have been dissolved and scattered like seeds into the earth, to rise again at the appointed time by the command of God and put on incorruption. For we have no way of saying what divine power those people attribute to God who say that each thing returns into that from which it originated, and that God can do nothing beyond this. But we perceive this: that they would never have believed it possible for them, or the whole universe, to come into existence such as they are, and from such things as they see they were made. But we have learned that it is better to believe in things that are beyond our own nature and human power, rather than to be incredulous like others; since we also know that our Teacher, Jesus Christ, said: ^A *The things impossible with men are possible with God.* And again, when He said: *Do not fear those who kill you, and after that can do nothing to you; but fear Him who after death has power to cast both soul and body into Gehenna.* Gehenna is a place where those who have lived unjustly, and who do not believe that these things shall come to pass which God taught through Christ, are to be punished.

20. ^B Sybil and Hystaspes said that things subject to corruption would be consumed by fire. The so-called Stoic philosophers teach that God Himself is resolved into fire, and they say that the world will rise again through change. But we believe that the Creator ^C of all things is something more excellent than these mutable things. If, therefore, we say some things that are similar to these poets and philosophers who are held in esteem among you, but other things more fully and divinely, and we alone do so with demonstration, why are we unjustly hated above all men? For in saying that all things were ordered and brought into being by God, we seem to propound the opinion of Plato; in saying that there will be a conflagration, that of the Stoics; ^D and in saying that the souls of the wicked, even after death, are punished while endowed with sensation, while those of the virtuous, freed from punishments, live in happiness, we seem to say the same things as the poets and philosophers. And in saying that one ought not to worship the works of men’s hands, we say the same as the comic poet Menander, and *that which is worse than themselves one ought not to worship.

^A For they declared the creator to be greater than the thing created.

21. But in saying that the Word, which is the first-begotten of God, was born without sexual union, Jesus Christ our Teacher, and that he was crucified and died and rose again and ascended into heaven, we bring forward nothing new beyond what you say concerning those whom you call the sons of Jupiter. For you know how many sons of Jupiter your honored writers mention: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; Æsculapius, who, after being smitten by lightning because he performed the office of a physician, ascended into heaven; Bacchus, who was torn asunder; Hercules, who gave himself to the fire to escape his labors; the Dioscuri, born of Leda; ^B Perseus, born of Danaë; and Bellerophon, born of men, who was carried up by the horse Pegasus. And what need is there to speak of Ariadne and others like her who are said to have been transformed into stars? And why do you always insist that those of your own emperors who die be made immortal, and do you produce someone who swears that he has seen the burned Caesar ascending into heaven? Moreover, there is no need to tell those who already know what the deeds of each of these so-called sons of Jupiter were; it is sufficient to say that these things were written for the corruption and depravity of those who learn them, for it seems honorable to all to imitate the gods. But far be it from a sound mind to hold such thoughts regarding the gods.

^A Such is the opinion regarding the gods, that even Zeus himself, who they say is the leader and father of all, being a parricide and born of a parricidal father, and overcome by the love of base and shameful pleasures, came to Ganymede and the many women he seduced, and admitted that his sons did the same! But, as we said before, the wicked demons did these things. We have been taught that only those who live holy and virtuous lives near to God are granted immortality, while those who act unjustly and do not repent, we believe, will be punished in eternal fire.

22. But the Son of God, who is called Jesus, even if he were only man by common generation, would still be worthy to be called the Son of God on account of his wisdom; for all writers call God the father of both men and gods. ^B And if we say that he was born in a unique way ^C apart from common generation as the Word of God from God, as we said before, let this be common to you, who call Hermes the word who is the messenger from God. But if anyone finds fault that he was crucified, this too is common to the sons of Zeus who have been enumerated before, according to your own teaching, for they did not escape sufferings. For their sufferings are not related as being similar to the death [of Jesus], but different; so that he does not seem to be inferior to them even in the specific nature of his suffering. But, as we promised, as the argument proceeds we will show him to be greater; or rather, it has already been demonstrated. For the one who is greater is evident from his deeds. And if we report that he was born through a virgin, let this also be considered common to you in relation to Perseus. And what we say about his healing the lame, ^D and those who were crippled from birth, to have been made whole by him, and…

his raising the dead, we shall appear to say things similar to what is told of Asclepius. ^A

25. ^B And that you may also know this, that whatever we say, having learned it from Christ and the prophets who preceded Him, is alone the truth, and older than all the writers who have ever existed; and we do not ask to be acknowledged because we say the same things as they do, but because we speak the truth; and that Jesus Christ alone was properly born as Son to God, being His Word, and first-born, and power; and having become man by His will, He taught us these things for the conversion and restoration of the human race. Before He was born as a man among men, some, influenced by the aforementioned ^C wicked demons, spoke through the poets of things as having happened, which they fabricated as myths: in the same way as they also wrought the calumnious and impious deeds spoken against us, of which there is neither witness nor proof, we shall provide this refutation.

24. First, that ^D because we say similar things to the Greeks, we alone are hated for the name of Christ; and although we do nothing wrong, we are put to death as sinners, while others in other places worship trees and rivers, and mice, and cats, and crocodiles, and

^A many of the irrational animals; and since the same ones are not honored by all, but different ones in different places, the result is that all are impious toward one another because they do not worship the same things—which is the only thing you have to reproach us for: that we do not worship the same gods as you, nor do we offer to the dead libations and the savor of fat, and crowns and sacrifices in the sculptures [(26)]. For that the same things are not gods among some, while among others they are wild beasts, and among others they are considered sacrificial victims [(27)], you know precisely.

25. [(28)] Second, that we who, from every race of men of old [(29)], once worshipped Dionysus the son of Semele, and Apollo the son of Leto—who, because of their love for males, committed as many deeds as are shameful even to speak of—and Persephone and Aphrodite, who were goaded by lust [(30)] because of Adonis, ^B whose mysteries you also celebrate; or Asclepius, or any other of those called gods, even though death was threatened—we have, through Jesus Christ, [(51)] despised these, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impassible God, whom we do not believe to have come down upon Antiope and the others similarly, nor upon Ganymede, out of lust; nor that He was released from bonds by the aid of that hundred-handed one, obtained through Thetis; nor that, for this reason, Achilles worried about the captive Briseis and destroyed many of the Greeks ^{C D}

We pity those who believe such things, and we recognize the demons as their authors.

26. ^B Furthermore, ^A after Christ's ascent into heaven, the demons prompted certain men to call themselves gods; and these men were not only not persecuted by you, but were deemed worthy of honors. A certain Samaritan, Simon, from the village called Gitta, ^B who in the time of Claudius Caesar, through the art of the demons operating in him, performed magical miracles in your royal city of Rome, was considered a god and has been honored by you with a statue, which statue has been erected on the Tiber River between the two bridges, bearing this Roman inscription: *Simoni Deo Sancto*—that is, "To Simon the Holy God." ^C And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even in other nations, acknowledge him as their first god and worship him. And they speak of a certain Helena, who at that time traveled about with him and had previously lived in a brothel, as the first thought generated by him. ^D We also know of a certain Menander, a Samaritan himself from the village of Capparaea, who became a disciple of Simon and was also influenced by demons; he came to Antioch and deceived many through the art of magic. He even persuaded his followers that they would never die; and even now there are some from him who profess this. And there is a certain Marcion, from Pontus, who is still today teaching those who are persuaded by him to acknowledge some other god greater than the Creator. And through the aid of demons, he has caused many in every race of men to blaspheme and deny that He is the Creator of this world...

and to confess that some other being, as being greater, has made things greater than He. All who take their origin from these men, as we have said ^A, are called Christians; in the same way as those who do not share the same dogmas with the philosophers have the common name of philosophy applied to them. But whether they actually commit those infamous and legendary crimes—the extinguishing of the lamp, promiscuous intercourse, and the eating of human flesh—we do not know. But we do know that they are not persecuted or put to death by you, at least for their opinions. We have, moreover, composed a treatise against all the heresies that have existed, which, if you wish to read it, we will deliver to you. ^B

27. But we, that we may not be persecuted or act impiously, have learned that to expose even newborn children is the act of wicked men; first, because we see that almost all, in cases of this kind, are led to prostitution, not only girls, but also boys; and in the way that the ancients are said to have kept herds of oxen, or goats, or sheep, or herds of horses, so now also boys ^C are kept for the purpose of base abuse; and in like manner there are females and catamites and those who commit unspeakable deeds, and all among you are held accountable for these practices, and you do not legally punish such practitioners. And yet, what is more, you may find that those who commit these things—these unspeakable and impious crimes—you do not pursue; but *ours*—who have not even a common way of thinking with the philosophers, as we have said, and who bear the name of "Christian" which you use to reproach us—you persecute, while you act out the [fables of] Thyestean banquets or Oedipean unions. ^D

^A And a crowd of males who abuse themselves ^B or men, and of women, and of those who perform unspeakable acts, stands on the side of this pollution in every nation. And you receive wages and tributes and taxes from these people, when you ought rather to cut such things out from your world. And whoever uses such people, in addition to the godless, impious, and unrestrained intercourse, happens, if the occasion arises, to mingle with a son, or a kinsman, or a brother. And there are those who even prostitute their own children and wives. And certain ones are openly and publicly castrated for this effeminate depravity, and they refer these mysteries back to the mother of the gods, and among every one of the [gods] thought to be gods among you, the serpent is inscribed as a great symbol and mystery. And the things openly performed and honored among you, as if the divine light were overturned and not present, you attribute to us; ^C acts which, for those of us who are far removed from doing any of these things, bring no harm, but rather bring harm to those who perform them and who bear false witness.

28. Among us, the prince of evil demons is called a serpent, and Satan, and the devil, as you may learn by searching through our writings—him whom Christ foretold would be sent into the fire along with his army and the men who follow him, to be punished for an endless age. For the patience of God, in not yet doing this, has come about for the sake of the human race. For He foreknows that some are destined to be saved through repentance, and perhaps some who are not yet even born. And from the beginning, He created the human race with intelligence and the power of choosing the truth and doing what is right, so that all men might be without excuse before God; for they have been created rational and capable of contemplation. But if anyone disbelieves that God cares for these things, or asserts that He does not exist—or, if He does exist, that He delights in wickedness, or that He remains like a stone, and that virtue and vice are nothing, but that men only think them to be good or bad by opinion—this is the greatest impiety and injustice. ^D

^A

29. Furthermore, we are careful that no one who is exposed should perish, lest we should become murderers. But we either do not marry at all, unless it be for the upbringing of children, or we refrain from marriage and remain in complete continence. And already one of our number, in order to persuade you that for us there is no mystery in promiscuous intercourse, presented a petition in Alexandria to Felix the governor, asking him to allow a physician to remove his testicles. For the physicians there said that they were forbidden to do this without the governor’s permission. Since Felix was completely unwilling to sign [the petition], the young man remained in his own resolve, ^B content with his own conscience and that of those who held the same opinion. We have thought it not out of place to make mention here also of Antinous, who has only lately appeared, and whom all were driven to worship as a god ^C out of fear, though they knew who he was and whence he came.

30. But, lest anyone should object to us: "What prevents ^D the one we call Christ, being a man born of men, from having performed the miracles we speak of by magical art, and from thus appearing to be the Son of God?"—we shall now proceed to the demonstration, not believing those who speak, but being necessarily convinced by those who prophesied before they ever came to pass, because we see things have happened and are happening just as they were predicted; and this is the strongest and most true demonstration.

^A And to you, as we think, it will appear so.

31. There have been prophets among the Jews, through whom the prophetic Spirit made known those things that were about to come to pass, before they happened. ^B And those who were kings in Judea from time to time, obtaining the prophecies—which were spoken just as they were prophesied—in their own Hebrew tongue, documented in books by the prophets themselves, kept them. When Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, was building a library [(64)], and was trying to collect the writings of all men, he was informed of these prophecies as well, and sent ^C to Herod, who was then king of the Jews, requesting that the books of the prophecies be sent to him. And King Herod did indeed send them, written in their aforementioned Hebrew tongue. But since the things written in them were not known to the Egyptians, he requested him again to send men to translate them into the Greek tongue. And upon this being done, the books remained with the Egyptians even until now, and they exist everywhere with all the Jews—who, although they read them, do not understand the things said; ^D but they consider us as enemies and foes, and, like you, they put us to death and punish us whenever they can, as you also are able to be persuaded. For indeed in the Jewish war that was finished recently, Barchochebas, the ringleader of the Jewish revolt, ordered Christians alone to terrible punishments unless they would deny Jesus Christ and utter blasphemies.

^A In these books of the prophets, we have found Jesus our Christ foretold, coming, born through a virgin, growing to manhood, healing every disease and every infirmity, and raising the dead, and being envied, and unknown, and crucified, and dying, and rising again, and ascending into heaven; and that He is and is called the Son of God, and that some are sent by Him into every race of men to preach these things, and that men from the nations believe in Him more. He was prophesied before He appeared, at times five thousand years ^B before, at times three thousand, at times two thousand, and again one thousand, and at other times eight hundred. For according to the succession of generations ^C others and others became prophets.

32. Moses indeed, who was the first of the prophets, spoke word for word as follows: *There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a leader from his loins, until He shall come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the expectation of the nations, binding to the vine his foal, washing his robe in the blood of the grape* (Gen. XLIX, 10). It is therefore your duty to investigate accurately and learn until what time there was a prince and king among the Jews of their own. [It was] until the appearance of Jesus Christ our teacher, and interpreter of the obscure prophecies, as it was foretold by the divine holy prophetic Spirit through Moses, that a prince would not fail from the Jews until He might come for whom the kingdom is reserved. For Judah was the forefather of the Jews, from whom they have also obtained the name of Jews; and you, after His manifestation, have both ruled over the Jews and taken possession of all their land. But the phrase, *He shall be the expectation of the nations*, was a sign that there would be [those] from all the nations who would expect ^D Him to come again—which is before your eyes to see and to be convinced by the deed.

^B For from every human race they look for Him who was crucified in Judæa, after whom the land of the Jews was immediately handed over to you as captives of the spear. And the words, “Binding his foal to the vine, and washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” were a symbol indicating the things that were to happen to Christ and the things {to be} performed by Him. For a certain ass’s foal was standing in a certain entrance of a village tied to a vine, which He then bade His acquaintances bring to Him; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it and entered into Jerusalem, where the greatest temple of the Jews was, which was later destroyed by you. And after this He was crucified, so that the remainder of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For the expression, “Washing his garment in the blood of the grape,” was a pre-announcing of the passion which He was to suffer, cleansing with His blood those who believe in Him. For the garment called by the divine Spirit through the prophet is the people who believe in Him, in whom dwells the seed that is from God, the Word. And what is said, “the blood of the grape,” signified that He who was to appear would indeed have blood, but not from human seed, but from divine power. And the Primary Power ^C after the Father of all and Lord God is the Son, the Word; how He, having been made flesh, became man, we shall say in the following. For just as the blood of the vine, not man, but God has made, so also this was signified, that the blood would be [made] not from human seed, but from the power of God, as we said before. And Isaiah too, another prophet, prophesying the same things through other expressions, spoke thus: “A star shall arise ^D out of Jacob, and a flower shall rise from the root of Jesse; and in his arm shall the nations hope.” And a shining star did arise, and a flower rose from the root of Jesse, [and] this is Christ. For through a virgin of the seed of Jacob, who became the father of Judah, the declared father of the Jews, He was born through the power of God; and Jesse became his forefather according to the oracle, while He was the son of Jacob and Judah according to the succession of the lineage.

35. And again, as to how it was prophesied by Isaiah that He would be born through a virgin, listen. So au-

- ^Athorities spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son; and they shall say concerning his name: God with us" (Isa. VII, 14). For those things which seemed incredible and impossible to men to happen, these God foretold by the prophetic Spirit would come to pass, so that, when they should happen, faith in them would not be diminished, but rather that from their having been predicted, they would be believed. And so that certain ones who have not understood the prophecy that was declared might not bring against us the same accusations we brought against the poets, who said that Zeus came to women for the sake of sexual pleasure, we shall endeavor to explain the words. The *Behold, a virgin shall be with child* signifies that the virgin would conceive without sexual intercourse. For if she had had intercourse with anyone, she would no longer be a virgin; but the power of God, having come upon the Virgin, overshadowed her, and caused her, being a virgin, to be with child. And the Angel of God, who was sent to that same Virgin at that time, brought her the good news by saying: ^B "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb by the Holy Spirit, and shall bring forth a son, and he shall be called the Son of the Highest; and you shall call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people from their sins" (Luc. I, 31, 32; Matth. I, 21), just as those who have recorded all things concerning our Savior Jesus Christ have instructed, whom we also believed; since also through Isaiah, who was previously mentioned, the prophetic Spirit said that he would be born in this manner, as we have foretold. It is not right, therefore, to understand the Spirit and the power which is from God as anything other than the Word, which is also the first-begotten to God, as the prophet Moses, who was previously mentioned, signified. And this power, having come upon the Virgin and overshadowed her, rendered her pregnant not by sexual intercourse, but by [divine] power. And the name Jesus in the Hebrew language signifies "Savior" in the Greek dialect. Wherefore also the angel said to the Virgin: "And you shall call his name Jesus; for he shall ^C save his people from their sins." And that those who prophesy are inspired by no other than the divine Word, you yourselves, I assume, will agree.

34. And as to where in the lands he was to be born, as another prophet, Micah, foretold, listen. He spoke thus: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means

^A are you least among the governors of Judah; for from you shall go forth a leader who will shepherd my people." Now there is a certain village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia distant from Jerusalem, in which ^B Jesus Christ was born, as you can also learn from the enrollments of the census that took place under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judea.

35. But that Christ was to live hidden from other men until he reached man's estate, which is what came to pass; hear the things predicted concerning this—for these represent it: "A child has been born to us, and a youth has been given to us; his government is upon his shoulders," an indication of the power of the cross, to which, when he was crucified, he applied his shoulders, as will be demonstrated more clearly as the discourse proceeds. Again, the same prophet Isaiah, divinely inspired by the prophetic Spirit, said: "I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. They ask of me now for judgment, and they dare to approach God." And again, in other words, he says through another prophet: "They pierced my feet and my hands, and they cast lots upon my clothing." And David, the king and prophet who said these things, did not suffer any of them. But the hands of Christ Jesus were stretched out when he was crucified by the Jews who were gainsaying him and asserting that he was not the Christ. For, as the prophet said, they mocked him, seated him upon a judgment seat, and said, "Judge for us." ^C But the phrase, "They pierced my hands and my feet," was an account of the nails that were driven into his hands and feet on the cross. And after they crucified him, those who had crucified him cast lots for his clothing and divided it among themselves. And that these things took place, you can learn from the acts recorded under Pontius Pilate. And that it was explicitly prophesied that he would sit upon the foal of an ass and enter Jerusalem, we shall provide the words of the prophecy from another prophet, Zephaniah. They are as follows: "Rejoice greatly, ^D daughter of Zion,"

preach, daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, thy King comes to thee, meek, sitting upon an ass, and a foal the son of a beast of burden." ^B

36. Whenever you hear the sayings of the prophets spoken as if from the person of the inspired authors themselves, do not believe that they are spoken by those who have been moved, but rather by the Divine Word who moves them. For sometimes He speaks in a way that predicts future events, sometimes He speaks from the person of the Lord of all and God the Father, sometimes from the person of Christ, and sometimes from the person of the peoples answering the Lord or His Father. This is similar to what can be observed in your own writers, where one person writes the whole, but introduces different persons speaking. Because the Jews, in whose hands the books of the prophets remain, did not understand this, they did not recognize Christ when He came; indeed, they even pursue us with hatred—we who say that He has come and who demonstrate that He was crucified by them, just as it had been foretold.

37. And so that you may have a clear understanding of this point: the following words were spoken from the person of the Father through the aforementioned prophet Isaiah: "The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel has not known me, and my people have not understood. Woe to a sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed! lawless children, you have forsaken the Lord." Again, elsewhere, when the same prophet speaks similarly from the person of the Father: "What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet." And again elsewhere: "Your new moons and your sabbaths my soul hates, and I cannot endure the great day of fasting and idleness; even if you come to appear before me, I will not hear you. Your hands are full of blood. Even if you offer fine flour, incense, it is an abomination to me; I do not desire the fat of rams and the blood of bulls. For who has sought these things from your hands? But loose every bond of wickedness, tear apart the knots of oppressive agreements; shelter the homeless and the naked, break your bread for the hungry." ^C You are able, therefore, to understand what sorts of things are taught through the prophets from God.

38. Furthermore, when the prophetic Spirit speaks from the person of Christ, He says thus: "I have stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to ^D

those who walk in a way that is not good." ^A And again: "I have given my back to the scourges, and my cheeks to blows, and I did not turn away my face from the shame of spitting. And the Lord became my helper; for this reason I was not confounded, but I have set my face as a hard rock, and I knew that I shall not be ashamed, because He who justifies me is near." And again when He says: "They cast lots upon my garment, and pierced my feet and hands." I for my part slept and took sleep, and arose, because the Lord took me up. And again when He says: "They spoke with their lips, they wagged their head, saying: Let Him deliver Himself." All of which things you can learn happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews. For when He was crucified, they twisted their lips and wagged their heads, saying: "He who raised the dead, let Him deliver Himself."

59. ^B But when the prophetic Spirit speaks as predicting future events, He says thus: "For out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, and they shall not learn any more to make war." And that this has come to pass, you can be convinced. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world twelve men, and these were illiterate and not endowed with the gift of speech; but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach all men the word of God; and we, who formerly were murderous toward one another, ^C not only do not make war against our enemies, but also, in order not to lie or deceive those who examine us, we gladly die, confessing Christ. For it would have been easy to imitate that which is said: "The tongue has sworn, but the mind is unsworn." But it would be ridiculous if soldiers, constrained by an oath to you and enlisted, set your provided faith—you who have no incorruptible gift to bestow upon them—above their own lives and parents and country and all their kin; while we, who are desirous of an incorruptible life, do not endure all things, so that we may obtain from Him who is able to bestow them what we desire.

40. ^D Hear how it was also predicted concerning those who preached His doctrine and announced His advent, the aforesaid prophet and king saying thus through the prophetic Spirit: "Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night announces knowledge. There are no speeches or words whose voices are not heard."

Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun He has set His tabernacle, and He Himself as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber shall exult as a giant to run his course." ^A We have deemed it fitting and appropriate, in addition to these, to add other prophecies of this same David, from which you may learn how the prophetic Spirit exhorts men to live; how it foretells the conspiracy formed against Christ by Herod, the king of the Jews, and by the Jews themselves, and by Pilate, your procurator among them, together with his soldiers; and that He was to be believed in by men of every race; and that God calls Him Son, and has promised to subject all His enemies to Him; and how the demons, as far as lies in their power, endeavor to escape the authority of God, the Father of all ^B and Lord, and of Christ Himself; and finally how God calls all men to repentance before the day of judgment arrives. The words are thus: "Blessed is the man who has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, and has not stood in the way of sinners, and has not sat in the seat of the pestilent; but his will is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he shall meditate day and night. And he shall be like the tree planted by the streams of waters, which shall give its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall off, and all things whatsoever he does shall prosper. Not so the ungodly, not so; but rather as the chaff which the wind casts away from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not rise in judgment, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the ungodly shall perish. ^C Why did the nations rage, and the peoples meditate empty things? The kings of the earth stood, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ, saying: 'Let us tear asunder their bonds, and cast away from us their yoke.' He who dwells in the heavens shall laugh them to scorn, and the Lord shall deride them. Then shall He speak to them in His wrath, and in His fury shall He trouble them. But I have been established king by Him, upon Sion, His holy mountain, declaring the commandment of the Lord. The Lord said to me: 'You are My Son; this day I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. ^D You shall shepherd them with a rod of iron; as vessels of a potter You shall crush them.' And now, O kings, understand; be instructed, all you who judge the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice in Him with trembling. Lay hold of instruction, lest the Lord be angry, and you perish from the righteous way. When His wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all who trust in Him."

41. And again, in another prophecy, the prophetic Spirit, showing by the same David that Christ would reign after the punishment of the cross, speaks thus: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and declare His salvation from day to day. For the Lord is great and highly to be praised, and terrible above all gods; for all the gods of the nations are the idols of demons, but the Lord made the heavens. ^A Glory and praise are before His face, and strength and exultation are in the place of His sanctuary. Give to the Lord, the Father of the ages, glory; receive grace, and enter into His sight, and worship in His holy courts. Let all the earth tremble at His face, and let it be set aright, and let it not be shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations: The Lord has reigned from the tree.

42. But when the prophetic Spirit speaks of things to come as if they had already happened, as even in the passages we have adduced is to be observed, we shall explain this, that it may provide no excuse to those who read. It foretells things that are absolutely known to be coming to pass as if they had already happened. But as to why the matter should be so understood, turn your minds to what is to be said. David ^B fifteen hundred years before Christ was made man and was crucified, uttered the things aforementioned; and no one of those who lived before him, when crucified, brought joy to the nations, nor even any who lived after him. But our Jesus Christ, being crucified and having died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, and reigned; and because of those things which have been published in all nations by His apostles from Him, there is joy for those who look for the incorruptible life announced by Him.

43. But in order that no one may infer from what we have explained that we say that all things happen ^C by the necessity of fate, because we have said they were foreknown, we also dissolve this. Taught by the prophets, we know that punishments and torments...

^A and good rewards are rendered according to the merit of each person's actions, and we declare this to be true. For if this is not so, and all things happen according to fate, then nothing is at all up to us. For if it were fated for this person to be good, and that person to be evil, neither would the one be acceptable, nor the other blameworthy. Furthermore, if the human race does not have the power by free choice to flee from what is shameful and to choose what is noble, then it is not responsible for any actions whatsoever. But that it is by free choice that a man both achieves success and falls into error, we demonstrate as follows: we see the same man changing to opposite courses. ^B But if it were fated that he should be either evil or virtuous, he would never be capable of opposite courses, nor would he change so often. And, indeed, neither would some be good and others evil; for we would then be declaring fate to be the cause of evil, and that it acts in opposition to itself; or that view would seem to us true, which we have already mentioned, that there is no such thing as virtue or vice, but things are judged good or evil only by opinion, which, as true reason shows, is the greatest impiety and injustice. But we say that this fate is inevitable for those who choose what is good, namely, the worthy rewards; and for those who choose the opposite, the worthy punishments. For God did not make man like other things, such as trees and four-footed beasts, which can do nothing by free choice. ^C For he would not be worthy of reward or praise if he did not choose the good for himself, but was born as such; nor would he be justly punished if he were evil, as one who was not such of his own accord, but could not be anything else than what he had been born.

44. The Holy Spirit taught us these things, saying through Moses to the first created man as follows, as though spoken by God: “Behold, before thy face are good and evil; choose the good.” And again through Isaiah, another prophet, these things were spoken to the same effect as though from the Father of all and the Lord God: “Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evils from your souls, learn to do good, judge for the orphan, and justify the widow; and come, let us reason together, saith the Lord. ^D And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool; and if they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you will not obey me, the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.” Now, to say “The sword shall devour you” does not have this force and meaning, that the sword is to slay those who...

have disobeyed, but the sword of God is fire 12, of which those who choose to do evil things become the food. Therefore He says, “The sword shall devour you.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. If He were speaking of a sword that cuts and immediately passes away, He would not have said, “devour.” Thus, even Plato, in saying, “The blame is his who chooses; God is blameless” 13, took it from Moses the prophet. For Moses is older than all the writers among the Greeks; and all that the philosophers and poets have said, whether concerning the immortality of the soul, or the punishments after death, or the contemplation of things in heaven, or similar doctrines, they were able to discern and explain because they took their starting points from the prophets. Hence, it seems that there are seeds of truth in all men. But it is evident that they did not grasp them with complete accuracy when they speak things contrary to themselves. Therefore ^B, when we say that future events have been foretold, we do not say that they happen by the necessity of fate; but, since God foreknows the future actions of all men, and has established that each person will be rewarded according to the merit of his deeds, and because there is a decree from Him that each of the men who is about to be rewarded according to the merit of his actions, and what is to befall him according to the worth of what he has done, He foretells it through the prophetic Spirit, always calling the human race to attention and remembrance, and showing that He cares for them and provides for them. But by the operation of the evil demons, death was ordained 15 against those who read the books of Hystaspes or the Sibyl or the prophets, so that by fear they might turn men away from receiving knowledge of good things, and keep them in slavery to themselves; a thing which, in the end, they were unable to accomplish. For we not only read them fearlessly, but also, as you see, offer them for you to inspect, knowing that they will be pleasing to all. And even if we persuade but a few, we shall have gained the greatest rewards; for like good husbandmen, we shall receive our recompense from the Lord.

45. ^C That the God and Father of all was to take up Christ into heaven after He had raised Him from the dead, and to keep Him there until He should smite the demons who are His enemies, and until the number of those foreknown by Him to be good and virtuous should be completed—on account of whom even now the conflagration has not been brought ^D upon the world—is understood from what was previously said.

^A Listen to the words of the prophet David, which are of this kind: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet. The Lord will send forth the rod of your power from Jerusalem; and rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the sovereignty in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints; from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you.'" Therefore, what is said, "The rod of your power he will send forth from Jerusalem," is a prediction of that powerful word, which his apostles, having gone forth from Jerusalem, preached everywhere. And although death ^B has been decreed and appointed against those who teach or altogether confess the name of Christ, we everywhere both embrace it and teach it. But if you also, as enemies, encounter these words, you can do no more, as we have said before, than kill; which brings no harm to us, but for you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, it prepares eternal punishment through fire.

46. But that some should not, by twisting what we have taught, say that we claim Christ was born one hundred and fifty years ago under Cyrenius, and that he taught what we say he taught later, in the times of Pontius Pilate; and should they further object, as if all men who were born before that time were unaccountable, we shall settle this difficulty. We have been taught that Christ is the first-begotten of God, and we have previously announced that He is the Word, of which every race of men partook; ^C and those who lived with the Word are Christians, even if they were deemed atheists; such as among the Greeks were Socrates and Heraclitus, and those like them; and among the barbarians, Abraham, and Ananias, and Azarias, and Misael, and Elias, and many others, whose actions or names we deem it long to recount, and therefore we now pass them by. So that even those who lived before ^D without the Word were useless and enemies to Christ, and murderers of those who lived with the Word; but those who lived and live with the Word are Christians, and are fearless and undisturbed. And for what reason He, through the power of the Word, according to the will of the Father of all and of the Lord God, was born a man of a Virgin, and was named Jesus, and was crucified and died and rose again.

And that this was to happen, a prudent man can understand from what has been said, however much the truth may be obscured by those who have been named. But since a demonstration of this matter is not strictly necessary at present, let us proceed to the proofs that are more urgent.

47. That the land of the Jews was going to be laid desolate, hear what the prophetic Spirit says. The words are presented as if from the person of the peoples who were struck with wonder at what had happened. They are as follows: ^A *Zion has become a desert, as Jerusalem has become a desert; our house and our holy place has become a curse; and the glory which our fathers blessed has been burned with fire, and all its glorious things have fallen. And despite all these things, you held back, and were silent, and humiliated us exceedingly.* That Jerusalem has been brought to desolation, as it was foretold would happen, you are yourselves convinced. And that it was to be brought into desolation, and that no one of them was to be permitted to dwell there, has been foretold by the prophet Isaiah in this way: *Their land is a desert; their enemies shall devour it before them, and there shall be no one of them to dwell in it.* And you know well that it is strictly guarded by you, that no one may be in it; and that death has been decreed against any Jew who is caught entering it. ^B

48. And hear these words, that it was foretold that our Christ would cure all diseases and raise the dead: *At his coming the lame shall leap as a hart, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear; the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed, and the dead shall rise, and shall walk.* And that He did these things, you can learn from the Acts of what was done by Him under Pontius Pilate. And hear how it was foretold by the prophetic Spirit that He would be removed along with the men who put their hope in Him, from what was said through Isaiah. These are the words: *Behold how the righteous man has perished, and no one lays it to heart; and righteous men are taken away, and no one considers. From the face of unrighteousness the righteous is taken away, and his burial shall be in peace, he is taken out of the way.*

49. And again, how it was said by Isaiah that the peoples of the nations, who had not been expecting Him, would worship Him, while the Jews, who were always expecting, would not recognize Him when He came. These words are spoken as if from the person of Christ Himself. They are these: ^C *I became manifest to those who did not inquire for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. I said, Behold, I am*

^A present, to a nation that did not call upon my name. I spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, who walked in a way that was not good, but after their own sins; a people that provoketh me to anger to my face.* For the Jews, having the prophecies and always expecting the Christ to come, failed to recognize Him; and not only did they fail to recognize Him, but they even abused Him. But those from among the Gentiles, who had never heard anything about Christ until the apostles who went out from Jerusalem made known to them the things concerning Him and delivered the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, ^B and took leave of their idols, and dedicated themselves to the unbegotten God through Christ. And that it was foreknown that these blasphemies would be spoken against those who confess Christ, and how wretched those are who blaspheme Him and say that it is a good thing to observe the old customs, hear what was briefly said by Isaiah. These are the words: *Woe to those who call bitter sweet, and sweet bitter.* ^C

50. But that He also endured to become man for our sake, to suffer and be dishonored, and will come again with glory, hear the prophecies delivered on this subject. They are these: *Because they delivered His soul to death, and He was reckoned among the transgressors; He bore the sins of many, and shall make intercession for the transgressors. For lo, my servant shall understand, and shall be exalted, and shall be glorified greatly. As many were astonished at thee, so shall thy appearance be without glory from men, and thy glory from men. So shall many nations wonder, and kings shall shut their mouths. For those to whom it was not told concerning Him, shall see; and those who have not heard, shall understand. Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have announced before Him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land; He has no form or glory; and we saw Him, and He had no form or beauty, but His form was dishonored and failing more than the sons of men.* A man in a state of suffering, and knowing how to bear infirmity; for His face is turned away, He was dishonored and not esteemed. ^D He bears our sins, and suffers pain for us; and we accounted Him to be in labor, and in suffering, and in affliction. But He was wounded for our iniquities, and was sick because of our sins. The chastisement of peace was upon Him; by His stripes we were healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; every man has gone astray in his own way; and the Lord delivered Him up for our iniquities; and He, because of His affli

affliction, opens not His mouth. As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so He opens not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. When, therefore, He had been crucified, all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him; but afterwards, when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had taught them to read the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as about to happen, and they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had believed, and had received power sent from Him to them, and had gone to every race of men, they taught these things, and were called apostles.

^B But that the prophetic Spirit signified that He who suffers these things has an unenarrable generation, and reigns over His enemies, He spoke thus: "Who shall declare His generation? Because His life is taken from the earth; for the iniquities of His people He comes to death. And I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death; because He did no iniquity, neither was guile found in His mouth: and the Lord desires to cleanse Him from His stripe. If He shall be given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord desires to take away His soul from sorrow, to show Him light, and to form Him in understanding, to justify the righteous man who serves many well; and He Himself shall bear our sins; therefore He shall possess many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death; and He was numbered among the transgressors, and He Himself bore the sins of many, and for their iniquities He was delivered."

^C As to how it was also foretold that He would ascend into heaven, hear. For it is thus said: "Lift up the gates of heaven; be opened, that the King of glory may enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord is strong and mighty." And as to how He is to come from the heavens with glory, hear what things were said concerning this by Jeremiah the prophet. And they are as follows: "Behold, as a son of man He comes upon the clouds of heaven, and His angels with Him."

^D Since, therefore, we have shown that all things that have happened were foretold by the prophets before they came to pass, it is necessary to believe that those things which are similarly foretold, and are about to happen, will also infallibly occur. For in the same manner as the things which have already happened were foretold and were not known, so also the things that remain, even if they are unknown and disbelieved, will happen. For the prophets foretold two advents of His: one, which has already taken place as a man who is liable to suffering; and the second, when...

with glory from the heavens with His angelic host He is preached to be coming, when He will also raise the bodies of all men who have existed, and will clothe the bodies of the worthy with incorruption, but will send those of the unjust, in eternal sensation along with the wicked demons, into the eternal fire. And we shall demonstrate how these also were predicted to happen. For Ezekiel the prophet set it forth as follows: ^A *Joint shall be joined to joint, and bone to bone, and flesh shall grow up again, and every knee shall bow to the Lord, and every tongue shall confess to Him.* And as for the sensation and the punishment in which the unjust are to be, hear what was similarly said regarding this. It is as follows: *Their worm shall not cease, and their fire shall not be quenched.* And then they will repent, when it will be of no benefit to them. And what the peoples of the Jews are to say and do, when they see Him coming in glory, was prophesied by Zechariah the prophet thus: *I will command the four winds to gather the scattered children; I will command the North to bring, and the South not to hinder.* And then in Jerusalem there shall be a great lamentation, not a lamentation of mouths or lips, but a lamentation of the heart; and they shall not tear their garments, but their minds. *Tribe shall mourn against tribe,* and then *they shall look on Him whom they pierced,* and they shall say: "Why, O Lord, did You make us wander from Your way? The glory which our fathers blessed has become for us a reproach."

^C Having many other prophecies to mention, we stop, considering these sufficient for persuasion for those who have ears to hear and understand, and believing that they are able to perceive that we do not, in the manner and fashion of the myths that are told concerning those thought to be the sons of Zeus, merely make assertions without being able to offer proof. For by what argument would we be persuaded that a man crucified is the firstborn to the unbegotten God, and that He will execute judgment upon the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him, proclaimed before He came and became man, and saw them coming to pass in this way? We see the desolation of the land of the Jews, and those from every race of men who have been persuaded by the teaching of His apostles, and who have renounced the old things ^D in which, wandering, they were caught, seeing ourselves, and perceiving that there are more and truer Christians out of the nations than from the Jews and Samaritans. For all other races of men are called "nations" by the prophetic Spirit.

^A And the Jewish and Samaritan tribe are called Israel and the house of Jacob. But as it was prophesied that more would believe from the nations than from the Jews and Samaritans, we declare the things prophesied. It was spoken thus: "Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor, for there are many more children of the desolate one than of her who has a husband." For all the nations were desolate of the true God, serving the works of their own hands; but the Jews and Samaritans, having the Word of God delivered to them through the prophets, and having always awaited the Christ, failed to recognize Him when He appeared, except for a few whom the holy prophetic Spirit foretold through Isaiah would be saved. He spoke as if from their person: "Unless the Lord had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah." For Sodom and Gomorrah are recorded by Moses as being certain cities of impious men, which God destroyed by burning them with fire and brimstone, with none saved in them except a certain foreigner of Chaldean race, whose name was Lot; with whom also his daughters were saved. And that there is a whole region of theirs desolate, and scorched, and remaining unfruitful, those who wish to may see. But that those from the nations were also foreknown ^B as more true and more faithful, we declare the things spoken through the prophet Isaiah. He says thus: "Israel is uncircumcised in heart, but the nations in the foreskin." So then, things seen in such number are able to bring conviction and faith, along with reason, to those who embrace the truth and are not motivated by love of glory, nor governed by passions.

54. Those who relate the myths of the poets bring forward no proof at all for the young who learn them; and we demonstrate that these things were invented for the sake of deceiving and leading astray the human race, by the operation of evil demons. For having heard through the prophets that it was foretold that Christ would come, and that the impious among men would be punished by fire, they put forward many to be said ^C to be sons to Zeus, thinking they would be able to cause humans to consider the things about Christ a collection of myths, similar to those told by the poets.

^A And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all the nations, wherever they were more inclined to hear the prophets who proclaimed Christ beforehand. But that they, even when hearing the things said through the prophets, did not understand them accurately, but, as if led astray, imitated the things concerning our Christ, we shall make clear. Moses, therefore, the prophet, as we have mentioned, was older than all writers; and through him, as we have signaled beforehand, it was prophesied thus: *There shall not fail a prince from Judah, and a leader from his thighs, until He comes to Whom it is reserved; and He will be the expectation of the nations, binding to the vine His foal, washing His robe in the blood of the grape.* ^B Having heard these prophetic words, the demons caused it to be said that Dionysus was born the son of Zeus, and they handed down that he was the discoverer of the vine, and they write of wine in his mysteries, and they taught that, after having been torn into pieces, he ascended into heaven. And because through the prophecy of Moses it was not explicitly signaled whether the One who was to come was the Son of God, and whether He would remain on earth while riding on a foal, or if He would ascend into heaven; and because the name of the foal could signify both the foal of an ass and of a horse; and since they did not know whether the One being proclaimed would be a foal of an ass as a symbol of His presence, or of a horse, and whether He was the Son of God, as we have mentioned, or a man; ^C they said that Bellerophon, being a man born of men, also ascended into heaven on his horse Pegasus. But when they heard through the other prophet, Isaiah, that He would be born of a Virgin, and would ascend into heaven by His own power, they sought to have Perseus spoken of. And when they knew that it had been said, ^D as it is predicted in the aforementioned prophecies, *Strong as a giant to run His course*, they spoke of a strong Hercules.

And again, when they learned that it had been ^A predicted He would heal every disease and raise the dead, they brought forward Aesculapius.

55. But in no case, nor in any of those who are called sons of Jupiter, did they imitate the crucifixion. For it did not enter their minds, as has been shown, that it was spoken symbolically of all things said to this effect; which, as the prophet said, is the greatest symbol of His power and authority, as is shown from things that fall under our observation. For consider all things in the world, whether they can be administered or have any connection with one another ^B without this figure. The sea cannot be crossed unless that trophy which is called a sail remains intact in the ship; the earth is not plowed without it; diggers do not perform their work, nor do craftsmen work likewise, unless they use tools that have this figure. The human figure differs from that of the irrational animals in nothing else but in being upright, and in having the hands extended, and in having the so-called nose, which acts as an air passage for the animal, set out from the forehead; and it shows nothing else but the figure of the cross. And it was spoken through the prophet thus: *The Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord*. Moreover, the symbols among you show the power of this ^C figure—the [vexilla] (standards) and the trophies by which your processions everywhere take place; you show the signs of your authority and power in these, even if you do it without understanding. And you set up the images of your dead emperors in this figure, and you call them gods by inscriptions. And by word ^D

and consideration of the figure visible to all, we have exhorted you to the best of our ability, and we know that we shall henceforth be free from blame, even if you remain incredulous. For what was in our power has been completed and finished. ^A

56. But it was not enough for the wicked demons to produce, before the appearance of Christ, those who are said to have been born as sons to Zeus; but after he had appeared and lived among men, and they had learned how he had been proclaimed by the prophets, and they knew that he was believed in and expected in every race of men, again, as we have already declared, they put forward others: Simon and Menander from Samaria, who, after performing magical feats, deceived many and still keep those they have deceived. For indeed, in your royal city of Rome, as we have said before, when Simon arrived in the time of Claudius Caesar, he so astonished the sacred senate and the Roman people that he was thought to be a god, and was honored with a statue, just as the other gods you worship among you are honored. ^B Therefore, we ask that you take the sacred senate and your own people as witnesses to this petition of ours, so that if there is anyone held by his teachings, having learned the truth, he may be able to flee from error; and, if you wish, destroy the statue.

57. For the wicked demons are not able to persuade even that there is no conflagration for the punishment of the ungodly, just as they were not able to act so that the coming of Christ would be hidden, but only this: they are able to cause those who live irrationally, being brought up in wicked customs, and who are lovers of reputation (57), to kill and hate us. ^C Those whom we do not merely not hate, but, as is evident, being moved by compassion, we desire to persuade to change and convert. For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged that we must all die, and it is nothing new, but the same things occur in this administration of affairs; the satiety of which, if it takes hold of those participating in them even for a year, those men ought, so that they may always be free from passion and free from want, to pay attention to our teachings. But if they disbelieve that there is anything after death, and declare that the dying pass into insensibility, into the passions of those here and ^D the truth being known, may flee from error. Then he adds: For indeed, the wicked demons cannot persuade [that there is] no conflagration for the punishment of the ungodly; that is, since men are free, and their reward is kept for them according to their good and evil [deeds], the good can be made out of the evil, and be converted from error to the truth. Justin is accustomed to establish a close relationship, as can be seen in numbers 28 and 43, between the liberty of man and the future judgment.

^A Since they desire to benefit us, yet show themselves to be base, misanthropic, and ambitious, they do not kill us in order to deliver us, but rather execute us as though robbing us of life and pleasure.

58. The wicked demons have also sent forth Marcion, as we have said, who even now teaches to deny that God is the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth, and to deny that Christ, prophesied by the prophets, is His Son. He proclaims another god besides the Creator of all things, and likewise another son. Many have believed in him, as if he alone had knowledge of the truth, and they laugh at us, having no demonstration for what they say. Like sheep snatched away by a wolf, they are mindlessly given over as prey to impious doctrines and demons. For these ^B so-called demons contend and fight for nothing other than to lead men away from the Creator God and His firstborn, Christ. Those who are unable to raise themselves from the earth, they have attached and continue to attach to earthly and man-made things; but those who strive for the contemplation of heavenly matters, they trip up and, unless they possess a sound mind and a pure, passionless life, they cast them into impiety.

59. And that you may understand that Plato received from our teachers—that is, from the doctrine disseminated through the prophets ^C—the statement that God, having turned formless matter, made the world, listen to the words spoken word-for-word through Moses, the aforementioned first prophet, who is older than all the writers among the Greeks. Through him, the prophetic Spirit explains how God in the beginning created the world and from what materials, saying: *In the beginning God created heaven and earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss; and the Spirit of God was moving over the water. And God said, Let there be light, and it was so.* Thus, by the Word of God, the whole world was created out of the ^D subjects set forth and indicated beforehand through Moses, as Plato and those who say the same things as he does teach, and as we ourselves have learned; and it is permissible for you to perceive the same.

And we know that what the poets call Erebus was also spoken of earlier by Moses. ^A

60. ^B And regarding what is investigated in Plato’s *Timaeus* concerning the Son of God, when he says, "He decussated Him in the universe," he spoke having borrowed it in like manner from Moses. For it is written in the books of Moses that at that time, when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt and had come into the wilderness, venomous beasts, both vipers and asps and every kind of serpent, met them and were killing the people; and by an inspiration and energy coming from God, Moses took bronze and made the form of a cross, ^B and set this upon the holy tabernacle, and said to the people: "If you look ^C upon this sign and believe, you shall be saved in it." And when this was done, he records that the serpents perished, and that the people were in this way delivered from the dying of the venom, although it was not by the sign that they were healed (for it would be foolish to think so), but because it was declared that a sign was given to those who were perishing through the ^D serpents, which was a type of the mystery of Christ, by which the power of the serpent, which brought about the transgression of the first man, is destroyed, and life is offered to those who believe in Him who was manifested through this sign, that is, the power of the crucified one.

NOTES ON THE PRECEDING

(63) And those who say the same things. Thirlby has written regarding this same passage of Justin. This conjecture can be confirmed from number 62 where "the same things" is read, and from very many other places.

(64) He decussated Him in the universe. Nothing is to be observed here. 1. Plato did not say these things about the Son of God, who was not at all inspired by the knowledge of the Word, but about the world-soul. Nor did Plato derive this opinion from the sources of Moses. 2. If St. Justin expounds the opinion of Plato less accurately, he makes his own opinion sufficiently clear, namely, that the Word is extended in the world in the form of a cross. For he only censures this in Plato, whom he thought had spoken concerning the Word, that he said the Word was "decussated," but not that it was extended in the form of a cross. Justin was not the only one to think this. St. Basil says in the beginning of the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, n. 249: "That the death of the cross was especially honored, either so that the individual parts of the world might be brought to salvation through the parts of the cross; or because even before the wooden cross, a certain intelligible cross was depicted in the whole universe." Hence the Valentinians used to say that the Word in the creation of the world sustained the parts of Horos and the cross. And that they truly called the cross "insofar as it strengthens and stabilizes," but Horos "insofar as it divides and distinguishes" (Iren. lib. 1, c. 3, n. 5). Justin seems to have said that the Word was extended in the likeness of a cross for the creation of the world, because the cross is extended to all the parts of the world, as Julius Firmicus observes (lib. *De profan. relig.*) and Jerome in the Epistle to the Ephesians, p. 318. The author of the epistle which bears the name of St. Barnabas seems to feel the same as Justin, namely, that the Word of God was extended in the universe in the form of a cross. For after he narrated that the cross was erected by Moses, he adds at n. 12: "You have also in this the glory of Jesus, because in Him are all things, and for Him." For by these words the creation of the universe is signified. (From the Addenda and Corrigenda).

(65) Type of the cross. Clericus criticizes two things in this place: that Justin says the cross was made by Moses, and that he says the bronze cross. Justin seems to have thought the cross was bronze, but we must understand that, when Moses took the bronze, what he made was the figure of the cross, by melting down the serpent and placing it upon the cross, as is observed from *Dialog*. n. 94, where he clearly teaches that the bronze serpent had been placed upon a sign, or cross. As for Clericus’s assertion that Justin, while thinking that the cross was made by Moses, trusted too much to his own memory, and did not consult the context of Moses, this rests on no foundation at all. The very words of Scripture: "Moses made a bronze serpent and set it upon a sign" (Num. xxi, 9), led Justin to this opinion. For by the name of "sign" he understood the cross, as did many others. In the testimony of Ezra, which Justin complains was excised by the Jews (*Dialog*. n. 72), the cross is called a "sign," as is evident from these words of the Jews: *Melloturoi humiliaturi eum in signo* ("We are about to humble him in a sign"). St. Barnabas seems to look to this passage when he says, ch. 12: "And again Moses makes a figure of Jesus (that He who was about to suffer and was about to offer life, was the one whom they would think to have perished on the sign) while Israel was falling." Cotelerius reads erroneously *en semeio piptontos tou Israel*, and thus translates: "In the sign of the falling Israel." St. Clement (*Strom*. vi, p. 656) calls the cross a "sign." And in *Strom*. vii, p. 747: "To carry the sign is to carry about death, while still living, having renounced all things." In the same place he reports the words of Christ in Luke xiv, 17: See the book *Quis dives salvetur*, n. vii, and in *Excerpt. Theodet*. col. [original-script column: see facsimile]. "Jesus, carrying the chosen seeds upon His shoulders through the sign, brings them into the pleroma." A little later the word is used in the same sense. There is therefore no reason to wonder that Justin considered the "sign" to be the same as the cross. See *Dialog*. n. 94.

(66) In the holy tabernacle. These words are to be carefully observed, as they are necessary for understanding the opinion of Justin. For he thinks the tabernacle is a certain likeness of the world, as we have observed in *Cohort*. n. 29. And since he did not doubt that the serpent was placed upon the cross, and the cross upon the tabernacle, he thought that the species of that cross, which Plato announces to have been used in the creation of the world, arose from thence. Scripture did not say that the serpent was placed upon the tabernacle itself, but that seemed probable to Justin.

(67) If you look upon. Grabius observes that these words, but not the sense, are found in num. 21, 9, and that Moses is brought in, speaking similar things, by St. Barnabas in ch. 12. So also Irenaeus, lib. iv, c. 2: "For the law did not forbid them to believe in the Son of God, but even exhorted them, saying that men could not otherwise be saved from the ancient plague of the serpent, unless they believe in Him who, according to

^A the sign of the cross, was exalted from the earth and draws all things to Himself and gives life to the dead. Having read this, Plato, not perceiving it accurately and not understanding that it was a figure of the cross, but thinking it was a decussation, said that the power next to the first God was decussated in the universe. And that which he calls third, arose from the fact that he read, as we said above, that the Spirit of God was spoken of by Moses as being borne over the waters. For he gives the second place to the Word of God, which he said was decussated in the universe, and assigns the third to the Spirit, who is said to be borne over the ^B waters, in these words: “And the third concerns the third.” And hear how the prophetic Spirit foretold through Moses that there would be a conflagration; for He spoke thus: “Ever-living fire shall descend and shall consume even to the abyss below.” We do not, therefore, hold the same opinions as others, but all imitate and speak our things. Among us it is possible to hear and learn these things from those who do not even know the shapes of the letters, being unlearned and barbaric in speech, but wise and believing in mind, and some even are crippled and deprived of sight; so that it is manifest that these things are done not by human wisdom, but are spoken by the power of God.

61. How we dedicate ourselves to God after being made new through Christ.

61. But we will also explain how we dedicated ourselves to God, having been made new through Christ; lest, by omitting this, we seem to act unfairly in our explanation. As many as are persuaded and believe that these things taught and said by us are true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are taught to pray and to ask fasting ^C from God for the forgiveness of their former sins, while we pray and fast with them. Then they are led by us to where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner of regeneration as we ourselves were regenerated. For in the name of the Father of all and Lord God, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing in water. For Christ said: “Unless you are regenerated, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Now it is clear to all that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs. And it was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, as we wrote above, in what way those who have sinned and repent ^D shall escape their sins. And it was said thus: “Wash yourselves, become clean; remove the wicked deeds from your souls, learn to do good, judge for the orphan, and justify the widow: and come, and let us reason together, says the Lord.”

And if your sins be as crimson, I will make them white as wool; and if they be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow. But if you will not hearken to me, the sword shall devour you. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. ^A And we have learned from the apostles a reason for this. Since we were ignorant of our first birth, and were begotten by necessity through the moist seed by the union of our parents with each other, and were brought up in evil habits and wicked customs; in order that we should not remain children of necessity and of ignorance, but of choice and knowledge, and that we might obtain in the water the remission of the sins which we have previously committed, the name of the Father of all and Lord God is pronounced over him who chooses to be reborn and has repented of his sins; those who bring the one to be washed to the laver only pronounce this over him. For no one can articulate the name of the ineffable God; and if any one should dare to say that a name exists for Him, he suffers from a hopeless madness. But this washing is called illumination, because those who learn these things are enlightened in their understanding. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets preached beforehand all things concerning Jesus, he who is enlightened is washed.

62. And the demons, having heard that this washing had been announced by the prophet, ^B instigated those who enter their temples, and who intend to approach them to offer libations and burnt offerings, to sprinkle themselves with water; and they also cause them to wash themselves entirely before they come to the temples where they are ensconced. For the demons, having learned the command given to Moses by the aforementioned prophet concerning the stripping off of shoes when entering the temples, imitated this in their own worshipers. For at that time, when Moses was ordered to go down to Egypt to lead out the people of the Israelites who were dwelling there, while he was tending the sheep of his maternal uncle in the Arabian land, our Christ appeared to him in the form of fire from a bush, and said: "Take off your shoes, and come near and hear." And he, having taken them off, ^C and

^A having heard, he was told to go down into Egypt, and to bring the people of the Israelites out from there; and he received great power from Christ, who had spoken to him in the form of fire. And having gone down, he led the people out, having performed great and marvelous things; and if you wish to learn these, you will learn them precisely from the records of that man.

63. But even now the Jews teach that it was the nameless God who spoke to Moses; whence the prophetic Spirit, through the aforementioned prophet Isaiah, rebuking them as we wrote before, said: "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib: but Israel does not know me, and the people did not understand me." And Jesus Christ, because the Jews did not know what the Father is and what the Son is, similarly rebuking them, himself also said: "No one knew ^B the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son shall reveal him." The Word of God is his Son, as we have said before; and he is also called angel and apostle. For he himself announces ^C whatever it is necessary to know, and is sent to declare whatever is announced, just as our Lord himself said: "He who hears me, hears him who sent me." And this will become clear from the writings of Moses. For it is said in them thus: "And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from the bush, and said: ‘I am the Existing One, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers; go down into Egypt, and lead out my people.’" You are able to learn what follows from those books if you wish; for it is not possible to write everything here. But these words have been put forth as proof that Jesus is the Christ, being the Son of God and his apostle, who, being before the Word, and sometimes having appeared in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of incorporeal things; ^D but now, having become man by the will of God for the sake of the human race, he endured to suffer whatever the demons stirred up the senseless Jews to inflict upon him. They, having expressly stated in the writings of Moses, "And the angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from the bush, and said," [even now] continue as if it were of an incorporeal image.

^A Hence also the prophetic Spirit, rebuking them, said: "Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me." And again Jesus, as we have shown, when He was among them, said: "No one has known the Father except the Son, nor the Son except the Father, and those to whom the Son shall reveal him." The Jews, therefore, always assuming that it was the Father of all who had spoken to Moses, while the One who spoke to him was the Son of God, who also is called Angel and Apostle, are rightly refuted both by the prophetic Spirit and by Christ Himself, as having known neither the Father nor the Son. For those who claim that the Son is the Father are refuted because they know neither the Father nor recognize that the Son is [known] to the Father of all; seeing that He, being the first-begotten Word of God, is also God. ^B And before, indeed, in the form and incorporeal image of fire, He appeared to Moses and the other prophets; but now, in the times of your empire, as we have said before, having become man through a virgin according to the will of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe in Him, He endured both to be despised and to suffer, that by dying and rising again He might conquer death. But what was said from the bush to Moses, "I am He who is, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of thy fathers," is an indication that they even remain after death, and are men of Christ Himself. For they were the first of all men to be occupied with the search for God; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also recorded.

64. ^C That the demons, in having an image of the so-called Maiden [Kore/Persephone] set up at the springs of water, did this also through the craft of demons—who said she was the daughter of Zeus, having imitated what was said through Moses—you may perceive from what we have already said. For Moses, as we wrote before, says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unformed, and the Spirit of God was borne above the waters." In imitation, therefore, of what was said about the Spirit of God being borne above the water, they called the Maiden [Kore] the daughter of Zeus. And in like manner, acting wickedly, they said that Athena was the daughter of Zeus, not from sexual union; but because, when they learned ^D that God created the world by thinking and considering through the Word, they called the first thought "Athena." Which we consider most ridiculous: to bring forward a female form to represent an image of a thought. And in like manner the others...

^A similarly, the actions of those who are called sons of Zeus refute them.

65. But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has given his assent, bring him to those who are called brothers, where they are gathered, to offer common prayers with great earnestness, both for ourselves and for him who has been illuminated, and for all others everywhere, that we may be accounted worthy, having learned the truth, to be found observers of the commandments in our deeds and good citizens, so that we may attain eternal salvation. We greet one another with a kiss ^B when we have ceased our prayers. Then is brought to the president of the brothers bread, and a cup of water and of mixed wine; and he, having taken them, sends up praise and glory to the Father of all through the name of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and performs at length the eucharist, or thanksgiving, for our being accounted worthy of these gifts from Him. When he has concluded the prayers and the thanksgiving, all the people present express their assent by saying, Amen. Now "amen," in the Hebrew language, signifies "so be it." When the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present a portion of the eucharistized bread and wine and water, and they carry it away to those who are not present.

66. And this food is called by us eucharistia, of which it is not lawful for any man to partake but for him who believes our teachings to be true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins and unto regeneration, and who so lives as Christ has delivered. For we do not receive these as common bread or common drink; ^C but in the same manner as Jesus Christ our Savior, having been made flesh through the word of God, both had flesh and blood for our salvation, so too we have been taught that the food which has been eucharistized through the prayer of the word which is from Him, from which our blood and flesh are fed by transformation, is both the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh.

For the apostles, in the ^A memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, ^A have thus delivered that it was commanded to them: Jesus took bread, and having given thanks, said, "Do this in remembrance of me; [*] this is my body." And in like manner he took the cup, and having given thanks, said, "This is my blood," and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked demons have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For you know, or can learn, that bread and a cup of water are set in the rites of one who is being initiated, with certain formularies.

67. We, however, after these things, continually remind one another of them; and those who have the means aid all who are in need, and we are always together. And in all the offerings which we make, we bless the Creator of all things through his Son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And on the day called Sunday, there is an assembly ^B of all who live in cities or in the country, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally imparts instruction and exhortation for the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and send up prayers; and, as we have already said, when we have ceased from prayer, bread is offered and wine and water; and the president likewise sends up prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people acclaim, saying, "Amen." And ^C there is a distribution and participation of the eucharistic elements to each, and to those who are absent it is sent by the deacons. Those who are prosperous and willing contribute, each according to his own preference, what he chooses; and what is collected is deposited with the president, and he provides aid to orphans and widows, and to those who, through sickness or any other cause, are suffering want, and to those who are in bonds, and to those who are pilgrims from abroad, and in a word, he becomes a caregiver to all who are in need. We all hold this common meeting on the day of the sun, ^D because it is the first day on which God, having transformed the darkness and matter, created the world, and because Jesus Christ our Savior rose on the same day from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn; and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun...

having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted also for your consideration.

68. ^A And if these things seem to you agreeable to reason and truth, pay them respect; but if they seem to you trifling, treat them as you would trifling matters, and do not decree death against those who have done no wrong, as you would against enemies. For we warn you that you will not escape the coming judgment of God, if you persist in injustice; and we shall shout aloud: “What is pleasing to God, let this come to pass.” ^B And while we could demand of you, from the letter of the greatest and most illustrious Caesar, Hadrian, your father, that you order the trials to be held as we have requested, yet we have made this appeal and explanation not because it was ordered by Hadrian, but because we know we are requesting justice. We have also attached a copy of the letter of Hadrian, so that you may know that we are speaking the truth in this also; and this is that copy:

Hadrian’s Letter for the Christians

69. ^C Minucius Fundanus. I have received the letter written to me by Serenius Granianus, a most excellent man, whom you have succeeded. It does not seem right to me, therefore, that the matter should be left unexamined, so that men may not be harassed, and the informers be provided with the opportunity to do evil. If, therefore, the provincials can clearly make their appeal against the Christians so as to answer before the tribunal, let them turn to this course alone, and not by petitions or mere outcries. For it is much more fitting, if anyone wishes to accuse them, ^D that you should investigate the matters.

^A If anyone, therefore, accuses them and shows that they are acting in any way contrary to the laws, decide the case according to the magnitude of the offense. But, by Hercules, if anyone should bring forward an accusation for the sake of calumny, examine the wickedness of the matter and take care to punish it.

Antoninus' Epistle to the Common Assembly of Asia

^B [70.] Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Pontifex Maximus, in the fifteenth year of his tribunician power, thrice consul, father of his country, to the Common Assembly of Asia, greetings. I thought indeed that the gods would take care that such persons should not escape notice. For if they were able, they would much rather punish those who do not wish to worship them than you. You cause them trouble, and you accuse their opinion, as if they were atheists, and you bring against them other things which we are ^C unable to prove. But it would be advantageous to them, for the sake of Him whom they are accused of serving, to appear to perish at the accusation; and they vanquish you, by surrendering their own souls rather than yield to the things which you demand that they do. As for the earthquakes which have occurred and are still occurring, it is not fitting that you should admonish them, you who become despondent when they happen, if you compare your conduct with theirs. For they are more confident in relation to God ^D than you are. And you, indeed, through

^A that period seem to be ignorant of the gods, and you neglect the sacred rites, and you do not understand the worship regarding God. Whence you have even envied those who worship [Him], and you persecute [them] even unto death. Regarding such matters, certain others also of the governors of the provinces wrote to my most divine father; to whom he also wrote back that no trouble should be caused to such people, unless they should be found attempting anything against the Roman government. And to me, too, many have reported concerning such people, to whom I also have replied, following the opinion of my father. But if anyone has a matter to bring against any of such people as being such, let that person who is accused be acquitted of the charge, even if he should appear to be such a one; but that accuser shall be liable to the judgment. ^B

Letter of the Emperor Marcus to the Senate, in which he testifies that the Christians were the cause of their victory.

71. Emperor Caesar M. Aurelius Antoninus, Germanicus, Parthicus, Sarmaticus, to the Roman people and the holy senate, greeting. I have made known to you the greatness of my purpose, and what outcomes I brought about near the border of Germany, having labored and suffered through the encirclement due to the emergency in which I had been hemmed in by the enemies, when I was being caught by seventy-four dragons, nine thousand...

^A nine hundred and seventy-seven, by an immense and orderly multitude of a mixed crowd. Having examined myself and my own forces in relation to the magnitude of the barbarians and the enemy, I betook myself to pray to the ancestral gods. Being neglected by them, and having observed the straits to which my forces were reduced, I called those who are named Christians among us; and upon questioning them, I discovered both a multitude and their vast numbers, and I was indignant toward them, which I ought not to have been, because I later recognized their power. Since they began, not with the preparation of missiles, nor with arms, nor with trumpets (for such things are hateful to them on account of the God whom they carry in their conscience) ^B—it is likely, therefore, that those whom we assume to be atheists have God [standing] within them. ^{C D}

for when they cast themselves upon the ground, they prayed not for me alone, but also for the standing army, that they might be consoled ^B regarding the thirst and famine then present. For we had not received water for five days because it was not to be found; for we were in the heart of Germany, and in their borders. But as soon as they cast themselves upon the ground and prayed to God, whom I did not know, immediately water followed from heaven—most cooling upon us, but upon the Roman enemies ^C, a fiery hail. And straightway the presence of God manifested itself in the prayer, as one insuperable and indissoluble. Starting then from this point, let us permit such people to be Christians, lest they invoke such a weapon against us and obtain it. I further advise that no one be harassed because he is a Christian. But if any one be found accusing a Christian because he is a Christian, I wish that the Christian who is brought forward be made manifest, ^D having confessed this, and being accused of nothing else save that he is a Christian; but let the man who brings him forward be burned alive. But as for him who has confessed and substantiated that he is a Christian, and has secured himself regarding such a matter, I do not wish for the one entrusted with the administration of the province to transfer such a one to repentance or into unfreedom. I wish also for these things to be confirmed by a decree of the Senate, and I order my edict to be posted in the Forum of Trajan, so that it may be possible to read it. The prefect Verasius Pollio will take care to see it sent to the surrounding provinces; and let no one who wishes to avail himself of it and to have a copy be prevented from obtaining it from what has been set forth by us.

ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND APOLOGY

Since Justin remembered that the desired outcomes of his first Apology had been granted by God, he wished to devote the same effort to the Church during the persecution of M. Aurelius. He knew indeed that plans for his own destruction had been initiated by the philosophers, but he deemed that in the common danger his own [life] was to be neglected; and he audaciously threw himself into the midst of the danger for the sake of his brethren. His purpose was to demonstrate that Christians are not killed for any other reason than that they teach the truth and cultivate virtue.

Justin therefore declares in the very beginning (n. 1) that wicked men and demons join efforts to kill Christians; and he offers a manifest argument for this (n. 2) from the history of three martyrs who had suffered a few days before. He testifies that he himself is also expecting to be called into judgment by Crescens, whom he marks as wicked, despising his threats, and unlearned. But lest anyone should say to Christians, "Why do you not yourselves seek death so as to depart to God?" Justin renders the reason (n. 4) for why they do nothing of the sort, yet do not deny it when questioned.

There was another thing which the heathens were accustomed to object, namely, that God, if he were the helper of the Christians, would not allow them to be killed by the wicked. Justin explains this also (n. 5) in such a way that he defends the justice of God and the innocence of the Christians. He proves the justice of God thus (n. 6): God had entrusted the care of men to angels. But these, having fallen into the vices of crimes and every kind of wickedness, scattered them upon the human race. To the evils flowing from their wickedness, God opposed a most powerful remedy, the incarnation of the Word; which Justin proves with an argument (n. 7) both regarding the matter at hand, and regarding the whole of religion.

most worthy to be defended, namely by the authority and command of Christians over the demons, whom they expel from the bodies of men everywhere in the world by the name of Jesus. The justice of God in punishing demons will one day shine forth; but since the benefits of Christ's incarnation are so great, it is right that the world should be preserved for the sake of the Christians (n. 8). Wherefore God does not yet exact punishment from the demons, the authors of so many evils; but they shall be cast into eternal fire when the conflagration takes place, which however will not happen because of fate, for fate allows no place for either liberty or virtue. He proves that the virtue and innocence of Christians are commended by the very persecutions themselves (n. 9). 1° If the works of demons have always been mocked by those who have attained some spark of truth (n. 10), how much greater must be the hatred of the demons toward Christians, who embrace the whole truth and the whole incarnate Word, and by expelling the demons, denounce against them the eternal punishments which truly (n. 11) cannot be denied, unless God or providence be denied. Not only for this are Christians hated by the demons (n. 12), that they have known the truth, of which merely sparks had shone before the eyes of the philosophers, and the whole Word, but also in this, that Christ by His own power has brought it about that even unlearned men and workmen should despise glory and fear and death. 2. The constancy of Christians in persecutions declares (n. 13) that they pursue true and eternal goods and have attained a solid and manifest image of virtue. 3° Nothing is more suitable than persecutions for repelling the suspicion of crimes (n. 14). For how would Christians so willingly embrace death, if they lived as the heathens claimed they lived? Justin perceived their innocence from this strength of spirit, and passed from the doctrine of Plato to the far more excellent Christian one (n. 15). Finally (n. 16) he asks the emperors to approve this booklet with their authority.

OF THE SAME JUSTIN APOLOGY II IN BEHALF OF CHRISTIANS TO THE ROMAN SENATE.

OF THE SAME JUSTIN APOLOGY II IN BEHALF OF CHRISTIANS TO THE ROMAN SENATE.

^A 1. Even the events that took place in your city, Romans, only yesterday and the day before under Urbicus, and those which in like manner are being done everywhere by governors without reason, have compelled me, for your sake—since you are of the same nature as we are, and even if you are ignorant of it and unwilling because of the splendor of your supposed dignities, you are our brothers—to compose this discourse. For everywhere, except among those who are persuaded that the wicked and profligate will be punished in eternal fire, but that the virtuous and those who have lived like Christ will dwell in a state of freedom from suffering with God (we mean those who have become Christians),—except for these, I say, if anyone is punished by a father, or a neighbor, or a son, or a friend, or a brother, or a husband, or a wife for some failure, ^B they are enemies to us and to all our friends.

^A And if evil demons, who are hostile to us, also have such judges under their control and serving them, they then incite them, as magistrates possessed by demons, to put us to death. But that the cause of everything that happened under Urbicus may become clear to you, I shall recount what was done.

2. The Story of the Woman and her Husband

2. A certain woman lived with a husband who was intemperate, and she herself had been so before. But when she learned the teachings of Christ, she became sober-minded, and she tried to persuade her husband likewise to be sober-minded, explaining the teachings to him and announcing the punishment in eternal fire that awaits those who live intemperately and without right reason. But he, persevering in the same acts of lewdness, alienated his wife’s heart through his conduct. For the woman, considering it impious thenceforth to be bedfellows with a husband who, contrary to the law of nature and right, sought pleasure in every way possible, desired to be separated from the marriage. And since she was importuned by her own people, who advised her to remain, saying that perhaps the husband might yet show some hope of change, she forced herself to stay. But when her husband traveled to Alexandria and was reported to be doing even worse things, so as not to become a partner in his injustices and impieties by remaining in the marriage and becoming a participant in his meals and his bed, she gave what you call a divorce ^B and separated from him.

But this noble and good husband of hers—when he ought to have rejoiced that she, who formerly used to carry on licentiously with servants and hirelings, getting drunk and giving herself over to every kind of wickedness, had now ceased these actions and wished him also to cease doing the same things—since he was unwilling, she departed and he brought an accusation against her, saying that she was a Christian. ^C

And she presented a petition to you, the Emperor, requesting ^A that she be permitted first to manage her own affairs; after that, to defend herself regarding the accusation following the settlement of her affairs. And you granted this. But her former husband, being unable to speak against her any further, turned his assault—in this manner—to a certain Ptolemy, whom Urbicus ^B punished, who had become her teacher in Christian instruction. He persuaded a certain centurion, who was his friend, to arrest Ptolemy, and to seize him and to ask him this alone, whether he was a Christian. And the centurion caused Ptolemy, who was a lover of truth and not a man of deceitful or false character, after he had confessed himself to be a Christian, to be put in bonds; and for a long time he was afflicted in the prison. Finally, when the man came before Urbicus, ^C he was examined in the same way, as to this alone: whether he were a Christian. And again, being conscious of the good things in himself because of the teaching from Christ, he confessed the school of divine virtue. For he who denies anything ^D either does so because he condemns the thing itself, or because he knows himself to be unworthy and alien to the matter, and thus avoids the confession; and neither of these is present in a true Christian. And when Urbicus gave the order for him to be led off to punishment, a certain Lucius, who was himself also a Christian, seeing a judgment so unreasonably rendered, said to Urbicus: “What is the cause? Why have you punished this person, who has been convicted of neither adultery nor fornication, nor of being a murderer, nor a thief, nor a robber, nor of having committed any crime at all, but who only confesses the name of Christian?”

^A

“Are you judging not by the pious emperor, nor by the emperor’s son, nor by the sacred senate, O Urbicus?” He, answering nothing else, said to Lucius: “You, also, seem to me to be such a one.” And when Lucius said, “Most certainly,” he ordered him also to be led away. He, however, confessed that he gave thanks, knowing that he was being delivered from such wicked masters, and was going to the Father and King of the heavens. A third, also, came up and was sentenced to be punished. ^B

3. I, too, expect to be waylaid by some one of those named, and to be fixed to the stake, or at least by that Crescens, who is a lover of noise and vain-glory; for it is not fitting to call him a philosopher, a man who publicly testifies against us ^C of things he does not understand.

For if he attacks us without having read the teachings of Christ, he is thoroughly wicked, and much worse than the ^A uneducated, who often take care not to speak or bear false witness about things they do not understand. Or if he has read them and did not understand their majesty, or, having understood, does things to avoid being suspected of being such an one, he is much more base and wicked, being a slave to popular, irrational opinion and fear. For I am anxious for you to know that, when I proposed to him and asked him a few such questions, I learned and proved that he truly knows nothing. And to show you that I speak the truth, if these dialogues have not been reported to you, I am ready to conduct the questioning again in your presence. That would indeed be a task worthy of a king. But if my questions and his answers have been ^B made known to you, it is clear to you that he knows nothing of our affairs; or if he does know, he does not dare to speak out for fear of his hearers, as I have said before; and thus he is shown not to be a philosopher, but a lover of glory, seeing that he does not respect that notable Socratic saying: "But a man must not be honored in preference to the truth." But it is impossible for a Cynic, who proposes indifference as his end, to know any good other than indifference.

4. ^C But that no one may say, "Depart now to God, and kill yourselves, if you wish to die!": ^D

": I shall state the reason why we do not do this, and why we confess [our faith] fearlessly when interrogated. We have been taught that God did not make the world without purpose, but for the sake of the human race; and we have already stated ^A that He finds pleasure in those who imitate the attributes that are His own, and is displeased with those who choose what is base in either word or deed. If, therefore, we were all to kill ourselves, we would become the cause, so far as it lies with us, that no one is born, or instructed in the divine teachings, or even that the human race does not exist—thereby acting against the will of God, if we were to do this. When examined, however, we do not deny [our faith], both because we are conscious of no evil, and because we hold it to be impious not to speak the truth in all things—which we know is pleasing to God; and we are now zealous to free you from an unjust prejudice. ^B

5. But if any thought should occur to you, that if we profess that God is our helper, we would not, as we contend, be overcome by the unjust and afflicted with punishments, I shall resolve this objection too. God, having created the whole world, and having subjected the things of earth to men, and having adorned the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and for the changes of the seasons, and having ordained this divine law—things which it is evident He appears to have made for the sake of men—entrusted the care of men and of the things under heaven to the angels whom He had set over this task. The angels, however, having ^C transgressed this order, succumbed to unions with women, and begat children, who are those called demons; and furthermore, they thereafter subdued the human race to themselves—partly by means of magical writings, partly by inflicting fears and punishments, and partly by teaching the use of sacrifices, incense, and drink-offerings, which they came to crave once they were enslaved by the passions of their desires; and they sowed among men murders, wars, adulteries, intemperance, and every type of wickedness. Hence, poets and writers of myths, not knowing that it was the angels and the demons begotten by them who had perpetrated upon males and females, and upon cities and nations, what they recorded in their writings, attributed these deeds to God Himself, and to those whom they supposed to be His own offspring, and ^D to the brothers of those mentioned, and to the children in like manner of...

^A those—Neptune and Pluto—and to those born of them, and this they transferred to them. For whatever name each of the angels had imposed upon himself and his children, by that name they called them.

6. But for the Parent of all, who is unbegotten, there is no name at all. For if one were to be called by a name, he would have as his elder the one who imposed the name. But "Father," and "God," and "Creator," and "Lord," and "Master," are not names, but appellations derived from benefits and works. But His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, who existed before the works, and is both with Him and begotten, ^B when in the beginning He created and ordered all things through Him—this One, I say, because He was anointed, and because God ordered all things through Him, is called Christ; which name also contains in itself an unknown meaning—in the same way as the appellation of "God" is not a name, but an opinion of an inexpressible reality innate in the nature of men. And "Jesus" also has both a man’s name and a meaning. For He both became man, as we have said before, having been born according to the will of God the Father for the sake of believing men, and for the destruction of the demons. And now from the things occurring before your eyes you can learn. For many ^C who were possessed by demons throughout the whole world, and in your own city, many of our people, the Christians, adjuring them by the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed them, and still do heal them, after they had not been healed by all the other adjurators and incantators and sorcerers.

7. ^B Wherefore God also maintains the confusion and dissolution of the whole world not to take place, so that evil angels, and demons, and men may no longer exist, because of the seed of the Christians, which He knows is the cause in nature. For if this were not so, it would not be possible for you still to do these things and to be acted upon by wicked demons, but the fire of judgment having descended, would indiscriminately dissolve all things, just as the flood formerly left no one ^B except the one, along with his own, called among us Noah, and among you Deucalion, from whom again such a multitude of men have come, of whom some are wicked, and some are good. For thus we say that the conflagration will come to pass, but not as the Stoics, according to the doctrine of the mutual transformation of all things into one another; which seems most base. Nor do we say that men act or suffer what happens by fate, but that each one acts well or sins by free choice; and that because of the operation of the wicked demons, the good—such as Socrates and those like him—are persecuted and kept in bonds, while Sardanapalus, Epicurus, and others of that kind appear to be blessed in the abundance and splendor of all things. Not understanding this, the Stoics have declared that all things happen by the necessity of fate. But because God from the beginning created the race of angels and men as possessing free will, they will justly deserve punishment in eternal fire for whatever ^C they may do wrong. For this is the nature of every creature created, to be capable of virtue and vice. For it would not be praiseworthy if it did not have the faculty to turn in either direction. And those who everywhere have legislated according to right reason and have philosophized show this, by prescribing that this should be done, and that should be avoided. The Stoic philosophers, in their discourse on ethics, confirm the same thing consistently; so that it is easily seen that they do not follow the right path in discussing principles and incorporeal things. For whether they say that things happening to men come to pass by fate, or that there is no God who turns— ^D that God is, and then after Him we have been created by Him altogether similar to God; and all things have been subjected to us, earth, and water, and air, and stars, and all things for our sake, and as ordered to serve us.

^A And if they are things that change and are resolved back into the same things always, they will appear to have attained a grasp only of things that are corruptible, and to make God Himself, through his parts and through the whole, become immersed in every wickedness; or else that there is no wickedness, nor virtue; which is contrary to every sound conception, and reason, and mind.

8. For although the Stoics, in their moral teaching, have fared well—as is sometimes the case with the poets, owing to the seed of the Word implanted in the whole race of mankind—we know that those who have proceeded from this discipline have been hated and put to death. We know this of Heraclitus, as we said before, and of Musonius in our own times, and others. For, as we have indicated, the demons have always effectively brought it about that all who strive to live in any way according to reason and to flee wickedness are always hated. ^B And it is no wonder if the demons, when they are refuted, act so as to cause those who strive to live not according to a part of the disseminated reason, but according to the knowledge and contemplation of the whole Word, which is Christ, to be hated much more; they who shall receive their due punishment and torment, having been shut up in eternal fire. For if they are already being overcome by men through the name of Jesus Christ, it is a teaching of the punishment which hereafter awaits both them and those who worship them in eternal fire. For this is what all the prophets foretold would come to pass, and Jesus our teacher taught.

^C True truth is shown to be among us alone; for the Person of the truth that is revealed is the Son of God, while the reality is the power of the faith, which also prevails over everything that opposes it, and the whole world itself that stands against it.

^A But for fear that some person might say—as those who are called philosophers do—that the things we claim are empty threats and bugbears, and that we say that the unjust are punished in eternal fire because we wish men to live virtuously for fear, and not because it is good and agreeable; I shall answer briefly to this: if this is not so, then either there is no God, or if there is, he has no concern for men, and there is no such thing as virtue or wickedness, and as we said before, the lawgivers act unjustly when they punish those who transgress the good things that have been prescribed. But since those lawgivers are not unjust, and their own Father [(11)] teaches [the lawgivers] to do the same things by the Word, those who agree with them are not unjust [(12)].

But if someone should bring forward the different laws of men, saying that among some peoples these things are considered good and those base, while among others the things base to the former are considered good, and the good base; let him hear what we also say concerning this. We know that the wicked angels ordained laws similar to their own wickedness, in which men who have become like them take pleasure. But correct reason, coming into being [(13)], does not demonstrate that all opinions and all doctrines are good, but rather that some are base and some are good; so that the same things and similar things will be said by me to such people, and will be said at greater length, if there be need. For the present, however, I return to my proposed subject.

^B 10. Our doctrine appears more sublime than any human teaching, because the whole of Christ, who appeared for us—namely, body, and Word, and soul—has become manifest for our sake [(14)]. For whatever things philosophers or lawgivers at any time spoke or discovered well, they elaborated through the discovery and contemplation of a part of the Word. Because they did not know everything that pertains to the Word—which Christ is—they often spoke things that were contradictory to themselves. ^C And those who, before Christ, attempted to investigate and test things by human [(15)] reason according to the human nature [(16)] of Christ—as if they were impious and meddlesome—were brought into the courts. Socrates, who was the most vigorous of them all in this regard, was accused of the same crimes as we are. For they said that he introduced new [(17)] daimonia, and that he did not regard those whom the city considered gods as gods. But he indeed drove out the wicked daimonia [(18)] and [(19)] the…

^A those who did as the poets said, and taught men to abandon Homer and the other poets; and he urged them to attain knowledge of God, who was unknown to them, through a process of reasoning, saying: "But it is not easy to find the Father and Maker of all, nor, having found him, is it safe to declare him to everyone." This our Christ did through His own power. For no one was ever so convinced by Socrates as to die for this doctrine; but for Christ, who was known in part by Socrates (for He was and is the Word who is in all, and who foretold what was to come through the prophets, and who became like us and taught us these things), not only philosophers and scholars believed, ^B but also craftsmen and people altogether uneducated, and they despised glory, and fear, and death; since this is the power of the ineffable Father, and not the instrument of human reason.

11. Neither would the wicked men and daimonia be able to slay us, if it were not appointed for every man that is born to die. Wherefore, in paying the debt, we give thanks. But now, it seems to us a fine and opportune thing to mention to Crescens and to those who like him are acting insanely, that account of Xenophon. For Xenophon wrote that Hercules, while walking in a certain place where three roads met, found Virtue and Vice, appearing to him in the form of women; and Vice, ^C indeed, in a soft garment, and with an alluring and flourishing appearance from such artifices—she was immediately attractive to the eyes—said to Hercules that, if he would follow her, she would cause him to live always in pleasure and adorned with the most brilliant and similar finery that she wore; and Virtue, in a squalid face and garment, said: "But if you obey me, you will not adorn yourself with fleeting and perishing finery and decoration, but with eternal and beautiful ornaments." And we are persuaded that anyone who flees what seem to be good things, and pursues what are deemed hard and unreasonable, will attain the blessed life. ^D For Vice, through the imitation of corruptible things, clothes herself with those qualities that belong to Virtue and are truly good (for she has nothing incorruptible, nor can she create it), and she enslaves the humble…

among men, things that are hers. Those, however, who have understood what is truly good and incorruptible by virtue—both regarding Christians and regarding those coming from the struggle of men, and those who have done such things as the poets related concerning the gods who are supposed to exist—ought to perceive that everything has ^B a reason, which also 28 compels us to despise the death that is to be avoided.

12. For I myself, when I was delighted by the teachings of Plato and heard the Christians being accused, yet saw them fearless 29 in the face of death and all the other things that are considered terrifying, understood that it was impossible that they should be living in wickedness and love of pleasure. For who that is a lover of pleasure or incontinent, and considers the eating of human flesh to be a good thing, could be able to embrace death 30 so as to be deprived of his own goods? Rather, would he not try to live his life here in every way possible, and to remain hidden from the rulers, not to mention that he himself would inform 31 that he would be executed?

Indeed, the evil demons have now brought it about that this is done through certain wicked men. For they themselves, by killing some on account of the false accusations against us, dragged our servants, or children, or wives into tortures, and by horrible torments forced them to speak of those mythical crimes which they themselves openly perpetrate. Since none of these things apply to us, we do not care, having ^C God, the unbegotten and ineffable, as witness of our thoughts and actions. For what reason should we not also publicly acknowledge these things as good, and demonstrate them to be a divine philosophy, saying that we celebrate the mysteries of Saturn [C, 32] in murdering men and in filling ourselves with blood, as it is said, things equal to the idol honored among you 33, to which not only

the blood of irrational animals is sprinkled, but that of human beings as well; for the most illustrious and noble man among you performs the libation of his blood from those who have been slaughtered. And since they are imitators of Jupiter and the other gods in their being able to consort shamelessly with men and women, they bring forward the writings of Epicurus and the poets as a defense. ^B But since we persuade men to flee from these teachings, and from those who practice and imitate them, as we have also struggled to do now through these words, we are attacked in various ways. But we do not care, since we know that God is the just overseer of all things. And if even now someone were standing by, he would cry out with a tragic voice, having ascended some high platform: "Be ashamed, be ashamed for publicly attributing to innocent people the things that reflect your own character and that of your gods, things in which they have no part, not even in the smallest degree. Change your ways; come to your senses."

13. For as for me, having learned that a base covering ^C had been cast over the divine teachings of the Christians by evil demons to deter other men, and that these things were being lied about, I both laughed at the covering and at the opinion held by the many, and I confess that I pray and battle with all my strength to be found a Christian: not because the teachings of Plato are alien to Christ, but because they are not altogether the same, just as are not those of others, such as the Stoics, and the poets, and the historians. For each one, seeing some part of the divine Word [sπερματικοῦ θεοῦ λόγου] that is akin [to him], spoke well. But those who have said things contradictory to these in more important matters clearly do not possess the non-refutable knowledge ^D nor sure understanding. Therefore, whatever has been well spoken by all men belongs to us Christians. For we worship the Word, who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, after God

who became man for our sake, that becoming a partaker of our sufferings he might also provide a remedy. For all writers, through the seed of the Word implanted in them, were able to see the truth dimly. For it is one thing to possess a seed and likeness of something given according to capacity, and another thing to be that very thing, of which the participation and likeness occur according to his grace ^A.

14. We entreat you, therefore, through this petition, that you—giving your approval to what we suggest—may promulgate this little book, so that our teachings may become known to others, and they may be able to be freed from false opinion and ignorance of good things, since they are liable to punishment through their own fault. For it is given for men to know what is good and what is disgraceful; and because they condemn us—whom they do not know—on charges of the base crimes they keep mentioning, while yet delighting in gods who have perpetrated such things and even now demand the like from men, they pass judgment upon themselves, since they act like those who do such things, by inflicting death or chains or some other such penalty upon us, so that there is no need for other judges.

15. I have also despised that impious and error-filled doctrine of Simon among my own people, the Samaritans ^B. But if you would give this your authority, we would make it clear to all, so that they might be able to change. This alone was the purpose for which we drew up this appeal. Our teachings are not, to a sound judgment, disgraceful, but are more sublime than all human philosophy. But if not, we are compared even to Sotadean ^C and Philaenidean ^D writings.

Scripture Testimonies and Observations

Scripture testimonies in which He is called God-with-us, etc. ... whatever I have discussed in the Preface, Part II, Ch. 7, no. 6, concerning the doctrine of Justin. He sets this distinction between the Gentiles and the Christians. The most excellent of the Gentiles, such as Socrates and Heraclitus, knew a particle of the truth, the Word illuminating their minds, and imitated it through some semblance of virtue. And that was indeed granted to them by God, before the strength of their free will was healed. But Christians not only know the incarnate Word, but it was also communicated to them, by inhabiting them through the Holy Spirit and imprinting His own image in them, which is indeed a completely gratuitous gift of God.

Regarding the phrase "Nimis sua ipsorum culpa" (too much by their own fault): these words, although poorly understood, have filled the whole passage with darkness. Clericus himself translated, as others did, "apart from their own fault," and refers this to the Christians, translating: "So that our affairs may be known to others, and they may be able to be freed from false opinion, and to know the good men (the Christians) who are subject to punishments apart from their own fault." Thirlby thinks it should be rendered, "by your own fault." Perionius alone says, "their own fault." It could be proven by several examples that the word "per" (by/through) is used in these places. Irenaeus in the Prologue says: "So that, therefore, they might not be snatched away through our own fault." Those, therefore, who departed from the paternal light and transgressed the law of liberty, departed through their own fault, having become free and masters of their own choice.

Moreover, the phrase "In the nature of men" is found. "It is taught, according to the nature, that there is for men a power of knowing good and evil." That phrase, "for the knowledge of these things to men," occurs a little earlier and seems to be placed quite unsuitably in this spot. Wherefore, for the sake of clarity, it ought to have been omitted in translating, or, as I have decided to do, placed more appropriately. As many have already observed.

ANALYSIS OF THE DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO THE JEW

99 Justin was drawn to Ephesus by a desire to propagate the faith, which seems to have been his sole occupation. A few days before he left, as he was walking in the morning in the walks of the xystus (n. 1), a certain Jew named Trypho met him, accompanied by six others of the same sect. He indicated that he was a student of philosophy and, invited by Justin’s attire, sought his acquaintance. When Justin recognized him as a Jew, he expressed surprise that a man addicted to Moses and the prophets should not practice philosophy, and he narrated (n. 2) how he himself, after tasting many philosophies, had become enamored of the Platonists; but later (n. 3-8), having learned the truth from the words of a certain old man, he had embraced the Christian religion. Trypho’s companions laughed (n. 9). Trypho himself deplored Justin’s lot, whereupon Justin promised to demonstrate that the Christian religion rests upon the most certain arguments, though this only led to further laughter and indecorous shouting. Justin sought to leave, but was restrained by Trypho’s cloak, on the condition that his companions either depart or listen in silence. Having accepted this condition, they went into the middle of the stadium of the xystus, where there were stone seats on both sides. Justin and Trypho sat on one side, and four of Trypho’s companions—two having already left in jest—sat on the other. Then Justin began (n. 10) the Dialogue, which, being interrupted by nightfall, was repeated the following day with Trypho and his companions, along with some others who had not been present the day before, and was carried on until evening.

I would not truly wonder if this work lacked, as learned men have thought, elegance of order. For Justin is not the inventor of the Dialogue, but the faithful reporter of those things which had been disputed between him and the Jews. Yet, if anyone probes this disputation in all its vestiges, and compares the middle with the beginning, and the end with the middle, the series of arguments will not escape him. In which regard, in order to consult the convenience of the readers, we shall distribute the Dialogue into three parts: in the first, the holy Martyr refutes the preconceived opinions of the Jews concerning the Law; in the second, he demonstrates that the true and eternal Son was begotten by God, and that he was incarnate and crucified for our sake; in the third, finally, he shows that the calling of the Gentiles and the Church, which was constituted by Christ, were predicted by the oracles of the prophets and the figures of the Old Testament.

PART I.—To Trypho, who asks why Christians do not observe the Law, Justin replies (n. 11). He asserts that the abrogation of the Old Law and the institution of the New had been predicted; and he proves that this had already come to pass from the conversion of the Gentiles who observe this law through the grace of Christ (n. 12), while the Jews utterly disgrace it. 2° The remission of sins is promised in Isaiah through the blood of Christ (n. 13), and not at all through the purifications of the Jews. 3° (n. 15) Righteousness, according to the same prophet, is not placed in external rites, but in the conversion of the heart, which Christ bestows. This is the true circumcision. 4° (n. 16, 17) For the Jewish circumcision was given as a sign, that they might be punished for the crimes committed against Christ and the Christians. 5° (n. 18, 22) This is deservedly rejected by Christians; inasmuch as it was unknown to the ancients, and was given as a sign to Abraham; but the Law under Moses was instituted because of the hardness of heart. 6° (n. 23) The Jewish opinion concerning the Law provides a handle for calumnies against God. 7° (n. 24) The circumcision of Christians is far more excellent, without which (n. 25, 26) the Jews cannot be saved. And if the prophets taught the same things as Moses, they did so because of that same hardness of heart (n. 27). But true righteousness is obtained through Christ (n. 28), and therefore the Law is useless to Christians (n. 29), since they observe the eternal law through the grace of Christ (n. 30). 8° Justin persists in demonstrating this power of Christ (for it was an argument of great weight, in order that it might be evident that the Law had been abrogated, and that the Jews understand themselves to need very different aids), and since the glory of the first advent had been so great, he proves (n. 31) from Daniel a second and much more glorious one to come, and demonstrates from several psalms that he is called Lord and God and is to be adored (n. 32, 39). He denies that these apply to Solomon, since he not only could not sustain these titles, but was also corrupt and very unlike Christians, among whom, however, he confesses (n. 33) that heresies have arisen, but such as confirm the catholics in the faith, inasmuch as they were predicted by Christ. 9° He shows (n. 40, 42) that the Law was a figure of those things which pertain to Christ, and had its end in Christ (n. 43), without whom (n. 44) the Jews promise salvation to themselves in vain. He confesses (n. 45) that the righteous, who were before the law and under the law, were saved, but through Christ, nor does he deny (n. 46, 47) that they will obtain salvation, if any combine the law with faith in Christ, although many catholics think otherwise.

100 PART II.—What Justin had said thus far concerning the divinity of Christ, he had discussed briefly in order to refute the opinions of the Jews concerning the Mosaic Law. Now, at the request of Trypho, he purposely proves that Christ existed as God before the ages and afterward willed to become man. Before he enters into the disputation, he warns Trypho (n. 48) to hold firm and fixed what has already been demonstrated, namely, that Jesus is the Christ, and when the Jew objects that Elijah has not yet come, he proves (n. 49) that John was the precursor of the first advent of Elijah, and confirms this from the prophecy of Isaiah (n. 50, 51); and he shows that two advents had been predicted by Jacob himself (n. 52, 54). Then, at the request of Trypho that he not use those testimonies in proving the divinity of Christ in which the name of God is not used without metaphor, Justin promises (n. 55) that he will not make use of these testimonies; he proves that God, who appeared to Abraham and Jacob and Moses, is distinct from God the Father (n. 56, 57, 58, 59): and he refutes the Jewish opinions concerning him who appeared in the bush (n. 60), and demonstrates that wisdom was begotten of God, as fire from fire (n. 61), from the words of Solomon, by which he shows it is consistent (n. 62) with that saying of Moses: Let us make man, etc. The Jew yields to these arguments and asks Justin to prove that this Son of God was made man and was crucified and rose again and ascended into heaven.

Then Justin brings forward many testimonies (n. 63), which he had already recited before, primarily from Psalm XLIV, in which Christ is praised as both God and man at once, and the conversion of the Gentiles is predicted. Trypho agrees (n. 64) that Christ may be God of the nations, but denies that the Jews have need of him. Justin therefore disciplines this impiety, and continues the demonstration he had undertaken concerning God made man. Trypho objects (n. 65) that God does not give his glory to another. Justin explains the passage (n. 66), and then recounts the prophecy of Isaiah: Behold a virgin, etc. But when he prepared to say many things concerning this prophecy, Trypho interrupts and objects: 1° That Scripture does not say: Behold a virgin, but: Behold a young woman. That this generation from a virgin is not unlike the fable of Perseus. 3° That it would have been better for Jesus…

confess that he was born a man among men, and that, if he were indeed Christ, he had attained this dignity by the careful observance of the Law. Justin answers these three points in such a way that he begins with the last, which seemed perhaps of the greatest moment. 1° Therefore, he refutes the Jewish opinions concerning the Law and Christ, whom they imagined to be a mere man born of men (n. 67, 68). 2° (n. 69, 70). Among those things which poets have lied about concerning Bacchus, Hercules, Aesculapius, and Perseus, he shows the artifices of the devil, whom he believed to have imitated the oracles of the prophets. 3° Since the Jews, having rejected the interpretation of the seventy elders, said it was written: "Behold, a young woman," he challenges (n. 71) their wicked judgment regarding this interpretation, from which he says they have also removed many testimonies. He produces some of these at the request of Trypho (n. 72, 73), the last of which is: "The Lord has reigned from the tree." But when Trypho contended that this Psalm could not be referred to Christ (n. 74), Justin tries to satisfy him and gathers other places of Scripture (n. 75, 76) in which the majesty of divinity is likewise joined with the humility of the flesh. ^A

Having dispatched these things, which Trypho had objected against the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive," Justin demonstrates (n. 77, 78) that the prophecy was fulfilled in Christ; and after he explains the questions interposed by the Jew, concerning Jerusalem and the reign of a thousand years (n. 79, 81), and having taken the opportunity from the testimony of the Apocalypse, he discourses somewhat (n. 82) on the gift of prophecy among Christians and on the persecutions and heresies foretold by Christ; then he truly exhorts the Jews not to take an occasion from heretics and evil Christians to curse Christ and interpret Scripture perversely. For it is in vain for them to cast up Hezekiah, so as to evade those things which Justin demonstrates (n. 83, 84) were spoken not of Hezekiah, but of Christ alone, as in the Psalm "The Lord said," and so also in this prophecy, "Behold, a virgin." Thus he also shows (n. 85) that Psalm 22 is absurdly referred to Hezekiah: and he declares himself induced by charity to repeat many things discussed the day before for the sake of those who were not present. ^B

Now that the mystery of God born of a Virgin had been defended by so many testimonies of Scripture, a new labor was born for Justin in defending the cross of Christ in a similar way. He therefore gathers many things (n. 86) which had prefigured the wood of the cross in the Old Testament; and when Trypho had taken an occasion from these words, "A rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse," which Justin had cited, to ask why Christ, since he is God, had need of the Holy Spirit, Justin responds to this question (n. 87, 88). Trypho denies that he can be induced to acknowledge the ignominy of the cross, for the reason that "cursed by God is everyone who hangs on a tree." Then Justin demonstrates (n. 90, 91) how great is the power of the cross, from the hands of Moses extended, from the blessing given to Joseph, and from the exalted serpent: he posits some principles for interpreting the Scriptures (n. 92, 93), and finally explains the passage objected to by Trypho (n. 94). He defends the same mystery with other testimonies of Scripture (n. 95), especially these: "They pierced my hands," etc. He even recites the whole Psalm (n. 97, 105) and interprets it verse by verse. ^C

He proves the resurrection of Christ from the end of the same Psalm and from the history of Jonah (n. 106, 107, 108), which, when objected to the Jews by Christ, they not only did not imitate the Ninevites, but also sent men throughout the whole world to bring Christ and Christians into odium with the most terrible calumnies. He says nothing of the ascension of Christ in this place, perhaps because he had said enough on that matter above (n. 85).

PART III. The conversion of the Ninevites, which Christians have imitated, but the Jews not at all, gave Justin an opportune entry into the third part of this Dialogue. He proves that the conversion of the Gentiles was foretold by Micah (n. 109, 110), and collects many other things (n. 111) by which the liberation of the Gentiles through the blood of Christ was prefigured. He refutes the meager and hollow interpretations of the Jews (n. 112), and shows that Joshua was a figure of Christ, and that the Gentiles were to be introduced through Christ into the holy land, and had received from him a second circumcision far more excellent than the Jewish one (n. 113, 114). He confirms the same dogma (n. 115, 116, 117, 118) from the vision of Zechariah and the prediction of Malachi concerning the sacrifice of the Christians, which he confirms from the priesthood of Christ and his other titles. He shows that the same Christians are the people, and a people far holier than the Jews, and the race promised to Abraham and his son and grandson (n. 119, 120); and that the blessing promised in Christ himself does *not* refer to the proselytes of the Jews, but to Christians, who are the true Israel and the children of God (for the reason that Christ is the Son of God, and Israel, and the God who appeared to the ancients, from God the Father, as fire begotten from fire, the Lord distinct from the Lord Father) and they rejoice with the people of God, as the prophets foretold, and justify their calling by the holiness of their morals, while the Jews have always offended and do offend God with the greatest impiety (n. 121, 133). ^D

He also shows the figures and predictions of the Church (n. 134, 139) in the marriages of Jacob, to whom another seed was promised, which would succeed the reprobate Jews; and in the ark of Noah and the blessings which Noah gave to his sons. In this Church there is no distinction of servants and free men (n. 140), and the Jews glory in vain that they are the sons of Abraham, who he proves have indeed fallen by their own fault (n. 141). This dispute having been concluded (n. 142), when Justin fell silent, Trypho offers him very honorable thanks in his own name and in that of his companions, and prays for a prosperous voyage: and in turn, Justin, departing, greets them in a most friendly manner, and declares that he can wish nothing better for them than that they might arrive at the knowledge of Christ.

OF THE SAME JUSTIN, DIALOGUE WITH TRYPHO THE JEW

1. Justin, because of his philosopher’s garb, declares that Moses is to be preferred far above the philosophers. — Walking in the morning in the paths of the xystus, having met a certain person with others, "Greetings, philosopher," he said. And immediately having said this, having turned ^A

he walked with me. His friends also turned with him. Then I, in turn, saluting him: "What is the matter," I said, "most excellent sir?" ^A

And he: "I was taught at Argos," he said, "by Corinthus the Socratic, that I ought not to despise or neglect those who are clothed in this garment, but show them every kindness and associate with them, if any benefit might result from the meeting either to them or to me. It is good for both, even if only one is benefited. For this reason, then, when I see someone in this attire, I gladly approach him; and for the same reason I have now addressed you with pleasure, and these men accompany me, hoping that they too may hear something profitable from you."

"But who are you, most excellent of mortals?" Thus I spoke to him in jest. ^B

And he revealed his name and lineage to me simply: "I am called Trypho," he said; "I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, having fled the war that has recently taken place, and mostly residing in Greece and Corinth."

"And what," I said, "could you possibly be benefited by philosophy as much as by your Lawgiver and the prophets?"

"Why, do not the philosophers," he said, "engage in every argument concerning God, and are not investigations concerning His unity and providence made by them at all times? Or is this not the work of philosophy, to inquire into the divine?" ^C

"Yes," I said; "we also have thought the same. But most people have not even concerned themselves with this—whether there is one God or many, and whether they provide for each of us or not—as if this knowledge contributes nothing to our happiness. Furthermore, they attempt to persuade us that God takes care of the universe and of the kinds and species themselves, but that He does not take care of me ^D

^A and of you, nor of particulars; since otherwise we would not pray to Him throughout the entirety of every night and day. It is not difficult to understand where this ends for them. For there is freedom and license to say and to follow those who hold these opinions, and to do and say whatever they wish, fearing neither punishment nor hoping for any good from God. For how could they fear or hope, since they say that the same things will always happen, and that I and you shall live again in the same way, having become neither better nor worse? Others, assuming that the soul is immortal and incorporeal, believe that they will not pay the penalty if they have done any wrong (for that which is incorporeal is incapable of suffering), nor, such being the case, that an immortal soul is in need of anything from God.

The other, smiling urbanely, said: But what is your opinion regarding these matters, and what is your judgment concerning God, and what is your philosophy? Tell us.

2. Philosophy, I said, is in truth the greatest possession and most precious in the sight of God, to whom it alone leads us and commends us; and those are truly holy who have applied their minds to philosophy. But what philosophy is, and for what reason it was sent down to men, has escaped the notice of the majority. For there would not be Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics ^B, nor Pythagoreans, since this science is one. Why it has become many-headed, I wish to tell. It happened that the first who touched upon it, and for this reason became famous, were followed by their successors without any investigation of the truth, but simply astounded by their endurance and self-control and the strangeness of their discourses, they judged these to be true. ^C These, having deemed philosophy dual, just as Aristotle and Plato, speculative and practical, understood of their own accord, it is clear, that man is by nature suited for action and knowledge. Therefore, let no one divide philosophy into many parts for us, nor let him cut it into many pieces; or rather, let him not make many out of one. For just as truth is one, so also is philosophy. ^D [alt-version omitted]

^A And each person learned from their teacher; then, as they in turn handed down such things and others similar to these to those who came after them, they were designated by that name which the father of the doctrine had been called.

I, at the beginning, feeling this way myself and wishing to share in these things with one of them, gave myself over to a certain Stoic. And having spent a sufficient amount of time with him, since I learned nothing more about God (for neither did he know, nor did he consider this knowledge necessary), I left him and came to another, called a Peripatetic, a sharp-witted man—or so he thought himself. And after this man had borne with me for the first few days, he later requested that I settle a fee, so that our association might not be unprofitable for us. Because of this reason I left him as well, not considering him a philosopher at all.

However, since my soul was still ardently desiring to hear the unique and pre-eminent aspect of philosophy, I approached one who was highly reputed, a Pythagorean, a man who thought much of his own wisdom. And then, as I discoursed with him, wishing to become his student and associate, he said: “What then, have you occupied yourself with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you think you will perceive any of those things which contribute to a happy life if you have not first been taught these, which will draw the soul away from objects perceptible to the senses and render it fit for the intelligible realm, so that it might behold that which is beautiful itself and that which is good itself?” ^B And after praising these disciplines highly and declaring them necessary, he sent me away when I confessed to him that I did not know them.

I was distressed, therefore, as was to be expected, having missed out on my hope, and the more so because I thought he knew something. And again, when I considered the time I would have to spend on those disciplines, I could not bear to be put off for so long. But while I was in this state of helplessness, it seemed good to me to meet with the Platonists, for the reputation of these people was great. And indeed, associating daily with a man of understanding who had recently arrived in our city and who excelled among the Platonists, I made great progress and attained as much as possible, advancing day by day. ^C And the comprehension of immaterial things quite carried me away, and the contemplation of the Ideas added wings to my intellect; and in a short time I thought I had become wise, and because of my foolishness I hoped that I would immediately behold God; for this is the goal of the philosophy of Plato.

5. And when I was in this state, since it seemed good to have a great deal of tranquility and to avoid the beaten path of men, I proceeded to a place not far from the sea. And when I had come near to that place, where I was about to arrive...

^A I would be alone; a certain old man, not unworthy of note in his appearance, displaying a grave and gentle demeanor, was following me at a short distance. I turned toward him, stopped, and fixed my eyes upon him somewhat keenly.

"Do you know me?" he said to me. I denied it. "Why, then," he said to me, "do you look at me so?" "I am amazed," I said, "that you happened to be in the same place as I; for I did not expect to see any man here." "I am concerned," he said to me, "for some of my own people. They have gone abroad; and so I myself have come to watch, to see if they should appear from anywhere. But what of you here?" he asked me. "I take pleasure," I said, "in such strolls, in which, since nothing occurs which might interrupt, my conversation with myself takes place, and is unimpeded. Such places are most appropriate for philosophy." "So you are a lover of words," he said, "but not at all a lover of deeds or of truth; and you do not try to be practical rather than a sophist?" "What greater good," I said, "could one do, than to show that reason ^B governs all, and, having grasped this, and riding upon it, to look down upon the error of others and their pursuits, how they do nothing sound, nor anything pleasing to God? For without philosophy and right reason, prudence could not be present in anyone. Therefore, every man should philosophize, and consider this the greatest and most honorable work." ^C

(67) Sylburgius thinks the words [μὴ ἐναντία δρώσαις] should be read; and these are to be placed before [ἀνεμπόδιστος]. But it is not necessary to require the most accurate construction of words from S. Justin. Perionius conjectured that [μὴ δράσαις] should be read, which I could not render into Latin. For since [λόγοι] signify words, discourse, letters, and doctrine, Justin, as some have already observed, uses this word in the latter sense, but is so agitated by the old man as if he had used it in the former sense. A philosopher and a Christian seem to differ from Tertullian only as much as a "performer of words and deeds." (Apol. 47).

(68) That you are a lover of words, but not at all a lover of deeds.

(69) "Greater good," which can in no way be carried. Who then would say to do a greater good? It is evident that we must read the text as Thirlbius observed before me. For slightly later: "In both cases, however, the preceding words are considered." These things should not be understood of the Son, but of the divine reason or contemplation, in which sense Cicero says in *Tusc. Disp.* 1: "Reason, the mistress and queen of all things." For, first, the passage of Plato which Justin, as we shall see, imitates, pertains to the contemplation of God, and does not even in the smallest part touch upon his Word and Son. Second, when Justin was speaking these things with the old man—that is, in about the year 132—disputes about the Word of God were not yet fervent in the Platonic schools, as we shall demonstrate, if God grants, in the book *Concerning the Divinity of Christ*. The words of the holy martyr correspond well enough with this title of one of the books of Josephus: *Concerning Reason possessed of supreme sovereignty.* Let those who wish read the conjecture of the learned Thirlbius; but I confess it does not please me.

(70) "Reason governing."

(71) "Riding upon it, as if on a raft, to sail through the dangers of this life, if one were not able to cross more safely and without danger ^D on a firmer vehicle, or by some divine reason." Thirlbius reports this testimony, and points out another in the *Phaedo*, p. 246. And these things said concerning divine and human reason did not yet become unbecoming to Justin the Platonist. But the Christians do not say that we are to be governed by reason overall, or by the Word of God, but rather that the Word himself resides in us. Christ is said to be [ἐπιβάτην] (a passenger or rider) in the holy ones by Eusebius in the *Psalms*, p. 193; Gregory of Nyssa in *Homily 5 on the Canticles*; Cyril of Alexandria in *John*, p. 389, and in the *Prophets*, p. 564 and 573. Hence Gregory Nazianzen calls the Word a "rider" (*sessorem*), *Orat.* 34. Jerome in *Epist. ad Salvinam*: "It is our duty," he says, "to quench the ardor of pleasure with a greater love for Christ, and to subjugate the lascivious beast with the reins of fasting: so that it may not seek and desire lust, but food, and may carry the Holy Spirit as its rider with a moderate and composed gait."

^A to be considered the primary and most excellent work, but second and third matters are to be placed; and if such things are attached to philosophy, they are moderate and worthy of acceptance; but if they are deprived of it and it does not accompany them, to those who handle them they are burdensome and illiberal.

"Does philosophy, therefore, produce happiness?" said he, interrupting.

"Most certainly," said I, "and it alone."

"What then is philosophy," says he, "and what is its happiness? If nothing prevents you from explaining, explain."

"Philosophy, then," said I, "is the science of that which is, and the knowledge of the truth; and happiness is the reward of this science and wisdom."

"But what do you call God?" said he.

"That which has the same state and in the same manner always, and is the cause of being for all other things, this indeed is God." These things I answered him, and he was delighted to hear me, and thus he asked me again:

"Is not 'science' a common name for diverse things? For in all the arts, he who has the knowledge of any of them is called a scientist—in the military art, in the art of navigation, and in medicine likewise. In divine and human matters, does it not hold the same way? Is there a science which provides knowledge of human and divine things, and then the knowledge of their divinity and justice?"

"Most certainly," said I.

"What then? Is the knowing of man and God the same as music, and arithmetic, and astronomy, or something of that sort?"

"By no means," said I.

"You have not, therefore, answered me rightly," said he. "For some things are acquired by us through learning or through some experience; while others produce science from sight. If someone should tell you that in India there is an animal by nature unlike all others, but of such and such a kind, manifold and varied in form, you would not know what it is before you see it; nor could you even give any account of it, unless you had heard it from one who has seen it."

"Certainly not," I said.

"How then," said he, "can philosophers think rightly about God, or say anything true, if they have no science of Him, since they have perceived nothing of Him by sight or hearing?"

"But the divine, ^D father," said I, "is not visible to the eyes as other living things are, but is perceived by the mind alone, as Plato says, and I agree with him."

^A

"But," he said, "is there in us a power, if we have not perceived it quickly by sense, that perceives it? Or will the human mind ever see God, if it is not adorned with the Holy Spirit?" ^B

"For Plato says," I replied, "that the eye of the mind has such a nature, and was given to us for this purpose, that we might be able to see that very Being with that clear eye itself—the Being which is the cause of all things that are perceived by the mind, having neither color, nor form, nor size, nor anything of which the eye has sight; but it is something ^C that is above all essence, ineffable and unutterable, but only beautiful and good, which suddenly springs up in souls naturally well-disposed on account of their kinship and desire to see it."

"What kinship, then," he asked, "have we with God? Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very kingly mind? And as that one sees God, is it also possible for us, by our own mind, to grasp the divine and from then on to be blessed?"

"Entirely so," I said. ^D

"Do the souls of all living creatures also possess this," he asked, "or is the soul of man one thing, and that of the horse and donkey another?"

"No," I replied, "but they are the same in all."

"Will horses and donkeys, therefore," he said, "see, or have they ever seen, God?"

"Not at all," I said; "for not even the majority of men, unless one has lived in justice and has been purified by justice and every other virtue."

"It is not, then, because of kinship," he said, "that one sees God, nor because it is mind, but because it is temperate and just?"

"Yes," I said, "and because it possesses that whereby it can perceive God."

"What then? Do goats or sheep harm anyone?"

"None at all," I said.

"Will these animals, then," he said, "according to your reasoning, see God?"

"No; for the body, being such as it is, is an impediment to them."

"If these animals were to receive speech," the old man suggested, "you may be certain that they would with much better reason hurl abuse at the body..."

^A for not acting in accordance with it. But let us leave this aside. Since you have spoken as you have, let it be granted. But tell me this: when the soul is in the body, does it see God, or does it see him after it has been released from it?"

"While it is in the form of a human," I said, "it can attain this through the mind; but it does so most of all when it has been released from the body and, having become itself by itself, it encounters that which it has been seeking for all time."

"And does it recall this again when it enters into a human once more?"

"I do not think so," I said.

"What advantage, then, is it to those who have seen Him? Or what more does he who has seen Him have over him who has not, if he does not even have the memory that he has seen?"

"I cannot say," I replied.

"And those who are judged unworthy of this vision, what happens to them?" he asked. ^B

"They are bound into the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment."

"Do they know, then, that it is for this reason they are in such bodies, and that they have sinned in some way?"

"I do not think so."

"Therefore, they derive no benefit from the punishment, as it seems; indeed, I would not even say they are punished, if they do not perceive the punishment."

"Certainly not."

"Therefore, souls do not see God, nor do they pass into other bodies; for if they did, they would know that they ^C were being punished in this way, and they would fear to commit even the slightest sin hereafter. That they are able to understand that there is a God, and that justice and piety are good, I agree," he said.

"You speak rightly," I said.

"Therefore, those philosophers know nothing about these matters; for they cannot even explain what the soul is."

"It does not seem so."

"It is not right to call it immortal either; for if it is immortal, it is also beyond birth—that is evident."

"Yet some so-called Platonists maintain that it is both beyond birth and immortal."

"And do you also say that the world is beyond birth?" ^D

"There are some who say so, but I do not agree with them."

You do well. For what reason can there be for a body so solid and resistant, and composite, and subject to change and decay, and coming into being every single day, not to be thought to have come into being from some beginning? And if the world is created, it is necessary that souls also have been created and perhaps at one time did not exist. For they came into being for the sake of human beings and other living creatures, if you say they were created ^A separately and not together with their individual bodies. That seems to be correct. Are they not, therefore, immortal? No, since the world appeared to us to be created. But I do not say that all souls perish; for that would indeed be a godsend to the wicked. What then? I mean that the souls of the pious remain in some better place, while the unjust and wicked remain in a worse place, awaiting the time of judgment. Thus, those that are found worthy of God do not die anymore; but the others are punished for as long as God wills them to exist and to be punished. ^B Is what you say, then, of the same nature as what Plato obscurely hands down regarding the world, calling it subject to corruption, in so far as it is created, yet saying that it will not be dissolved, nor meet with the fate of death, because of the will of God? Does the same hold true for you regarding the soul and, in general, everything? For whatever things exist after God, or will exist at some time, have a nature subject to corruption and are such that they can be destroyed and cease to exist. For God alone is unbegotten and incorruptible, and for this reason, He is God; but all other things that exist after Him are created and corruptible. ^C For this very reason, souls must both die and be punished. For if they were unbegotten, they would not commit sin, nor be filled with folly, nor be cowardly and again ferocious; nor would they ever willingly depart into swine or snakes or dogs; nor again would it be right for them to be compelled, if they are unbegotten.

The unbegotten is similar to the unbegotten, and equal, and the same; nor could one of them be preferred over the other in power or in dignity; whence there are not many unbegotten things. For if there were some difference in them, you would not find it by searching for the cause of the difference, but sending your mind ever into the infinite, you would at last, weary, stop at some one unbegotten thing, and you would call this the cause of all. Then did this escape, I say, ^A Plato and Pythagoras, those wise men who have become for us, as it were, a wall and bulwark of philosophy?”

6. “I do not care,” he said, “for Plato or Pythagoras, nor for anyone at all who holds such opinions. For the truth is as follows: you may learn it from this. The soul either is life or has life. If it is life, it would make something else live, not itself, just as motion moves something else rather than itself. But that the soul lives, no one would deny. If it lives, it does not live by being life, but by partaking of life. For that which partakes of something is distinct from that of which it partakes. The soul partakes of life because God wishes it to live; thus it will also not partake of it at any time when He does not wish it to live. For life does not belong to it as it does to God; ^B but just as man does not exist forever, nor is the body always joined with the soul, but whenever this harmony must be dissolved, the soul leaves the body and the man is not, so also when it is necessary for the soul to live no longer, the spirit departs and the soul is no longer, but it returns again to that place from whence it was taken.”

7. From whom, then, I said, could anyone find a teacher, or whence could one be helped, if the truth is not to be found even in these men?

There existed, long before this time, certain men who were much older than all these who are considered philosophers, men who were blessed and just and beloved of God, who spoke by the Holy Spirit and predicted future events, which are even now coming to pass; these men are called prophets. ^B They alone both saw and proclaimed the truth to men, fearing no one and reverencing no one, and not overcome by the desire for glory, but speaking only those things which they heard and saw, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Their writings still remain to this very day, and one who reads them may derive great profit both concerning the beginning and the end, and concerning those things which a philosopher ought to know, provided he has faith in them. For they did not use demonstrations in their discourses, since they themselves were, beyond all demonstration, most trustworthy witnesses of the truth; but the things which have happened and are happening compel one to agree with their prophecies. Although they were also worthy to be believed on account of the miracles which they performed, ^C since they glorified the God and Father of all as Creator, and proclaimed the Christ who was sent by Him as His Son; which indeed the false prophets, who are filled with a lying and impure spirit, neither did nor do, but they dare to perform certain wonders to astonish men, and they glorify the spirits of error and demons. But above all, pray that the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by everyone, unless God and His Christ grant to a man the power to understand.

8. Justin is incited by this conversation to the love of Christ. — When he had said these things and many others, which it is not the time now to relate, he departed, bidding me to follow them up by meditation; and I saw him no more. But in my soul there was immediately ignited a fire, and ^D a love for the prophets and for those men who are friends of Christ took possession of me. As I pondered his words in my mind, I found this to be the only sure and useful philosophy. Thus, and for this reason, am I now a philosopher. And I would wish that all men, following a course of reasoning similar to mine, would not stand apart from the words of the Savior. For they possess a certain terrible majesty in themselves, and are capable of striking with awe those who have turned aside from the right path, while they become a sweetest rest to those who meditate upon them. If, therefore, you have any care for yourself, and seek your own salvation, and trust in God, even as you did not otherwise...

^A know, you might, having recognized the Christ of God and become perfect, enjoy blessedness.

When I had said these things, dearest friend, those who were with Trypho laughed; but he, smiling, said: "As for your other points, I approve of them, and I admire your zeal for the things of God; but it would have been better if you had still remained in the philosophy of Plato or some other, practicing endurance, temperance, and sobriety, rather than being deceived by fallacious words and following men who are worth nothing. For if you had remained in that way of philosophy, and lived blamelessly, a hope of a better lot would have remained for you; but if you have abandoned God and have placed your hope in man, what salvation still remains for you? If, therefore, you are willing to listen to me (for I already consider you a friend), ^B first be circumcised, then observe, as is ordained by the law, the Sabbath and the feasts and the new moons of God, and in a word, do all things written in the law; and then perhaps you will receive mercy from God. But Christ, even if he has been born and exists somewhere, is unknown, and does not even know himself, nor does he have any power until Elias comes and anoints him and makes him manifest to all. But you, having accepted a vain hearsay, invent a certain Christ for yourselves, and for his sake you are now perishing pointlessly."

9. "Forgiveness to you, my friend," I said, "and may it be granted you. For you do not know what you are saying; but, believing teachers who do not understand the Scriptures, you speak like a soothsayer whatever comes into your mind. But if you would allow yourself to receive an argument concerning this, ^C to show that we have not been deceived, nor will we cease to confess him, even if the reproaches of men are brought against us, and even if the most savage tyrant forces us to deny him; for, being present, I will show that we have not believed in empty fables, nor in discourses devoid of proof, but in those that are full of the divine Spirit and abounding in power, and flourishing with grace." — Those who were with him laughed again, and...

cried out indecorously. But when I had risen, I was like one departing; but he, taking hold of my garment, said he would not let me go ^A until I had performed what I had promised. "Do not, then," said I, "let your companions make a disturbance, nor let them behave so indecorously. But if they wish, let them listen in silence; but if some more important business hinders them, let them go; and we, having withdrawn somewhere and rested, shall finish our discourse." It seemed good to Trypho also that we should do so; and so, turning aside, we went into the middle of the stadium of the xystus. But two of those with him, after jeering at us and mocks-treating our zeal, went away. We, when we arrived at that place where there are stone seats on either side, sat down on the other side, and the friends of Trypho, someone of them having mentioned the war that took place in Judæa, began to converse.

10. When they had rested, I began thus to them again: "Is there anything else, my friends, for which you blame us, except this, that we do not live according to the law, nor are we circumcised in the flesh like your ancestors, nor do we keep the sabbath as you do? Or is our life and character also defamed among you? And this is what I mean: have you too believed concerning us, that we eat men, and that after the feast, having extinguished the lamps, we wallow in shameful promiscuity? Or do you condemn us only for this, that we adhere to such doctrines, and believe in a, as you think, false opinion?"

"It is this that we admire," said Trypho. "But as to the things which the many say, they are not worthy of belief; for they are far removed from human nature. But I know that these precepts in your so-called Gospel are so wonderful and great, that I suspect no one can keep them; for I have taken the trouble to read them. But we are in doubt precisely about this, that while you profess to practice piety, and believe yourselves to surpass others, yet in nothing do you differ from them, nor is your mode of life separated from the Gentiles, in that you observe neither festivals, nor sabbaths, nor have you the circumcision; and furthermore, because ^B while your hopes are placed upon a man who was crucified, you nevertheless hope to obtain some good from God, while you do not keep His commandments. Have you not read that that soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be cut off from its kindred? And the same has been ordained concerning strangers and those bought with silver. ^C Having therefore at once despised this covenant, you even treat lightly the things that follow, and attempt to persuade us that God is with you." ^D

^A Since you do not do the things that those who fear God do, if, therefore, you have anything to say in defense of these matters, and can demonstrate in what way you hope for anything at all, even though you do not keep the law, we would most gladly hear this from you, and afterward examine other matters in the same way.

11. There will never be another God, O Trypho, nor has there been another from eternity (so I said to him), except Him who made and fashioned this whole universe. Nor do we consider one God to be ours and another yours, but that very same one who led your fathers out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Nor have we set our hope in any other (for there is no other), but in that same one in whom you also do, the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. But we have not set our hope through Moses, nor through the law; for then we should do the same as you. But now (for I have read, O Trypho, that there would be a final law and a covenant most binding of all, which it is now ^B necessary for all men to observe, whoever claim the inheritance of God. For the law in Horeb is already old and belongs to you alone; but this one belongs to all universally. A law placed against a law has abrogated the one before it; and a covenant made subsequently has likewise established the former as finished; and Christ has been given to us as the eternal and final law, and the faithful covenant, after which there is no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Or have you not read that which Isaiah says: "Hearken to me, hearken to me, my people; and you kings, give ear to me: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment for a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near quickly, and my salvation shall go forth, and in my arm shall the nations trust." And through Jeremiah, regarding this same New Covenant, he says thus: "Behold, the days come, says the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not as the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.") If, therefore, God proclaimed that a new covenant was to be ordained, and this for a light to the nations,

^A we see and are persuaded, through the name of this very Jesus Christ who was crucified, that those who have come to God from idols and from other unrighteousness, and who persevere even unto death in the confession and the piety, can be understood by all—both from these works and from the power that follows—to be the new law, and the new testament, and the expectation of those who from among all nations are awaiting the good things from God. For the true Israelitic, spiritual, and Judahite race—and that of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham, who even in uncircumcision was testified to by God because of his faith, and was blessed, and was called the father of many nations—we, I say, are this race, we who through this crucified Christ have been brought to God, as shall be demonstrated as our discourse proceeds.

12. Judæi æternam legem violant, Mosaicam male interpretantur. — I was also saying and bringing forward what Isaiah cries out in another place: "Hear my words, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, the holy sure things of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the nations. Nations that did not know you will call upon you; and peoples who do not know you will take refuge with you, because of your God, the Holy One of Israel, ^B for he has glorified you." You have treated this very law with contumely, and have made light of His new holy Testament; and even now you do not accept it, nor do you repent of your wicked deeds. "For still your ears are stopped, your eyes have been blinded, and your heart has been hardened," cries out Jeremiah, and even so you do not listen. The Lawgiver is present, and you do not see him; the poor have the gospel preached to them, the blind receive their sight, and you do not understand. There is now need of a second circumcision, yet you boast greatly in the flesh. The new law wishes you to keep the Sabbath continually; and you, because you are idle for one day, think you are being pious, not understanding why it was enjoined upon you; and if you eat unleavened bread, you say you have fulfilled the will of God. It is not in these things that the Lord our God delights. If any one among you is a perjurer or a thief, let him cease; if any is an adulterer, let him repent; and he has kept the ^C sweet and true Sabbaths of God. If any one does not have clean hands, let him wash, and he is clean.

13. Isa. LV, 3, 5. 13. For John ^D did not send you to a bath...

for the slaughter and other sins, for whom not even all the water of the sea suffices to cleanse; but, as is fitting, he was ^A long ago proclaiming that saving bath which would belong to those who repent, and who are no longer cleansed by the blood of goats and sheep, or by the ashes of a heifer, or by offerings of fine flour, ^B but by faith through the blood of Christ and his death, who died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said, speaking thus: “The Lord will reveal his holy arm before all the nations, and all nations and the ends of the earth will see the salvation which is from God. Depart, depart, depart, go out from there, and do not touch the unclean; go out from the midst of her; be separate, you who bear the vessels of the Lord, for you do not go out in ^C alarm. For the Lord will go before your face, and the Lord the God of Israel will gather you. Behold, my child shall understand, and shall be lifted up and shall be glorified exceedingly. According as many shall be astonished at you, so shall your form and your glory be destitute of honor from men. So shall many nations marvel at him, and kings shall shut their mouths; because those to whom no report was told about him, shall see; and those who have not heard, shall understand. Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? We announced before him like a child, like a root in a thirsty land. There is no form to him, and no glory; and we saw him, and he had no form or beauty; but his form is dishonored, and failing before the sons of men. A man in a blow, and knowing how to bear illness, because his face was turned away; he was dishonored and not regarded. He bears our sins, and suffers for us; and we thought him to be in labor and in a blow and in affliction; ^D but he was wounded for our sins, and has been weakened for our iniquities; the discipline of our peace was upon him; by his stripe we were healed. We all like sheep went astray. A man went astray in his own way; and the Lord delivered him over to our sins, and he, because of his affliction, does not open his mouth. As a sheep he was led to the slaughter,

and as a lamb before the shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. And who shall declare his generation? For his life is taken from the earth. By the iniquities of my people he comes to death. And I will give the wicked for his burial, and the rich for his death; because he did no iniquity, nor was deceit found in his mouth. And the Lord wishes to cleanse him from the blow. If he is given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord wishes to take away from the pain of his soul, to show him light, and to form him in understanding, to justify the just one who serves many well; and he himself shall bear our sins; therefore he shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoils of the strong, because his soul was delivered to death, and he was reckoned among the transgressors, and he himself bore the sins of many, and for their iniquities he was delivered. Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labor; for many are the children of the desolate one, rather than of her who has a husband. For the Lord said: Enlarge the place of your tabernacle and of your curtains; fix it, do not spare, lengthen your ropes, and strengthen your stakes; to the right and left expand. And your seed shall inherit the nations, and you shall inhabit the desolate cities. Fear not, because you were shamed, nor be confounded, because you were reproached; for you shall forget your eternal confusion, and you shall no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood; ^B because the Lord has made a name for himself, and the one who delivered you shall be called the God of Israel over all the earth. As a woman abandoned and faint-hearted has the Lord called you, as a woman hated from her youth.

14. ^C *Justice is not set in Jewish rites, but in conversion of heart through Christ, given in baptism.*

Therefore, through the washing of repentance and the knowledge of God, which was instituted for the sins of the peoples of God, as Isaiah cries out, we have believed, and we acknowledge that this was what that baptism heralded, which alone can cleanse those who have repented; this is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken and altogether useless to you. For what benefit is that baptism, from which flesh and the body alone grow bright? Be baptized as to your soul from wrath and from avarice, from envy, from hatred; and behold, the body is clean. For this is the meaning of the unleavened bread, that you should not practice the ^D old deeds of the evil leaven. But you have understood everything carnally and...

believe that it is piety, if you do these things, while your souls are simply filled with deceit and all wickedness. For this reason, even after the seven days of the feast of unleavened bread, God commanded you to knead for yourselves new leaven, that is, the performance of other deeds, and not the imitation of old and base ones. And that this is what this new lawgiver demands of you, I shall recount again the words previously mentioned by me, together with the others that were omitted. ^A They are spoken by Isaiah in this manner: “Give ear to me, and your soul shall live in good things, and I will make for you an everlasting covenant, the holy things of David that are sure. Behold, I have given him as a testimony to nations, a leader and commander to the nations. Nations that know you not shall call upon you, and peoples who do not know you shall flee to you, for the sake of your God, the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you. Seek the Lord, and when you find him, call upon him, when he draws near to you. Let the wicked leave his ways, and the lawless man his counsels, and let him turn to the Lord, and he shall find mercy, for he will abundantly pardon your sins. For my counsels are not as your counsels, ^B nor are my ways as your ways; but as the heavens are distant from the earth, so is my way distant from your way, and your thoughts from my mind. For as the snow or the rain shall come down from heaven and shall not return until it saturates the earth and causes it to bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to eat, so shall my word be, whenever it shall go out of my mouth. It shall not return until it has accomplished all that I have willed, and I shall make my commandments to prosper. For you shall go forth with joy, and shall be taught with gladness. For the mountains and the hills shall leap while waiting for you, and all the trees of the fields shall applaud with their branches; and instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the bramble shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord shall be for a name and an everlasting sign, and it shall not fail.” ^C And concerning these words and such things as have been spoken by the prophets, I said, O Trypho, some are said of the first advent of Christ, in which he is proclaimed as destined to appear without glory, and unsightly, and mortal; but others belong to his second advent, when he shall appear in glory and upon the clouds, and your people shall see and recognize him whom they pierced, as Osee, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel have foretold. ^D

^A Learn, therefore, how to observe the fast of God, as Isaiah says, that you may be pleasing to God. Isaiah cries out thus: "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their sins, and to the house of Jacob their iniquities. They seek me day by day, and desire to know my ways, as a people that has done righteousness and has not forsaken the judgment of God. They ask me now for just judgment, and they desire to approach God, saying, 'Why have we fasted, and you did not see? We have humbled our souls, and you did not know?' For in the days of your fasts you find your own pleasures, and you oppress all those who are under you. Behold, you fast for judgments and strifes, and you strike the humble with fists. Why do you fast for me, as today, so that your voice may be heard in crying? I have not chosen this fast, and the day for a man to humble his soul. Nor if you bend your neck like a ring, and spread sackcloth and ashes, not even so shall you call it a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord. ^B I have not chosen such a fast, says the Lord; but loose every bond of wickedness, undo the knots of violent contracts, let those who are crushed go in remission, and tear up every unjust document. Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; if you see the naked, cover him, and do not despise those of your own seed. Then your morning light shall break forth, and your garments shall quickly rise, and your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of God shall encompass you. Then you shall cry, and God will hear you; while you are yet speaking, he will say, 'Behold, I am here.' If you take away from yourself ^C the bond and the hand-lifting, and the word of murmuring, and give your bread to the hungry from your soul, and satisfy the humbled soul, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the midday; and your God shall be with you always, and you shall be filled as your soul desires; and your bones shall be made fat, and shall be as a watered garden, and a fountain of water, a land whose water does not fail." Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart, as the words of God demand through all these sayings.

^A And the Lord God himself cries out through Moses, saying: «And you shall circumcise the hardness of your heart, and your neck you shall not harden any more. For the Lord your God is the Lord of lords, a God great and mighty and terrible, who does not regard a person, nor will he take a gift.» And in Leviticus: «Because they transgressed and despised me, and because they walked in opposition to me, and I walked in opposition to them, and I will destroy them in the land of their enemies. Then their uncircumcised heart shall be humbled.» For the circumcision from Abraham ^B according to the flesh was given as a sign, so that you might be set apart from other nations and from us, and so that you alone might suffer what you now justly suffer; and that your lands might be desolate, and your cities burned with fire, and strangers might eat the fruits in your presence, and none of you might set foot in Jerusalem. For you are recognized by nothing else compared to other men, except by your circumcision in the flesh. For none of you, I assume, will dare to say that God was not as he is, even a foreknower of things to come, and that he did not assign to each ^C that which was worthy.

^D It is worthy of closer attention, this sentiment of the holy martyr, which is used often in this Dialogue. Heretics used to attribute ignorance and weakness to the God of the Jews, as can be seen in Irenaeus (lib. iv, c. 4), because of the destruction of Jerusalem and the institutions of the Mosaic law which were turned to the ruin of the Jews. Against this, Justin marvels most at the providence of God in this: that whereas most institutions could not be observed anywhere except in Jerusalem, circumcision itself, which could be observed elsewhere, precluded the approach of the Jews to this city. That circumcision was instituted so that the Jews might be separated from other nations, very many writers have said. But that it was instituted, as Justin says, so that being distinguished by this mark they might be punished, this Tertullian imitates in his book *Against the Jews* (c. 3): «For circumcision was given, he says, but for a sign; whence Israel was to be distinguished in the last time, when according to their deserts they were to be forbidden from entering into the holy city... This, therefore, was the providence of God, the giving of circumcision to Israel for a sign whereby they might be distinguished, when the time arrived that, by their aforementioned deserts, they were to be forbidden from being admitted into Jerusalem.» Perhaps in the same sense should be taken what Irenaeus says (lib. iv, c. 16), that circumcision was given as a sign, «so that the race of Abraham might persist in being recognizable.» See lib. iii, c. 12, n. 11.

^A I do not think there is any one of you who would dare to deny that God is both prescient of future events and that He prepares rewards worthy of each. Deservedly, therefore, have these things happened to you. For you killed the Just One and His prophets before Him, and now you set at naught those who hope in Him, and you also set at naught the Almighty and Maker of all things, the God who sent Him. As far as it lies within your power, you treat them with contumely, cursing ^D those in your synagogues who believe in Christ. For you do not have the power to lay violent hands upon us because of those who now hold authority; but as often as you have been able, you have done even this. Therefore does God cry out to you through the prophet Isaiah in these words: "See how the just one has perished, and no one understands. For from the face of iniquity the just one has been taken. His burial shall be in peace, he has been taken from the midst. Draw near here, you lawless sons, seed of adulterers and children of a harlot. In whom have you delighted, and against whom have you opened your mouth, and against whom have you let loose your tongue?" (Isa. LVII, 1-4).

17. ^B It is not, however, the case that the other nations involve themselves in this iniquity against us and against Christ to as great a degree as you do, who are the causes for them, as well as for yourselves, of an evil prejudice against the Just One and against us who have sprung from Him. For after you crucified that only blameless and just man, through whose wounds healing comes to those who through Him approach the Father, because you knew Him to have risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, as the prophecies declared would happen, you not only did not repent of the evils you had done, but [you sent forth choice men from Jerusalem throughout the world proclaiming that a certain godless heresy had arisen...]

^B and spreading those things which all who are ignorant of us say against us. So that you are not only the cause of iniquity for yourselves, but also for all other men entirely; and rightly Isaiah cries: “Because of you my name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” And: “Woe to their soul, because they have taken evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the just one, because he is useless to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruits of their works. Woe to the lawless man; evil things shall happen to him according to the works of his hands.” And again in other places: “Woe to those who draw their sins as if with a long rope, and their iniquities as if with the thong of a heifer to a yoke; who say: Let his speed draw near, and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put light for darkness, and darkness for light; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter.” ^C Therefore, you have made it your business against that one blameless and just light sent by God to men, that bitter and dark and unjust crimes should be cast about in all the earth. For he seemed to you to be useless, crying out among you: “It is written: My house is a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers.” And he overturned the tables of the money-changers in the temple. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you tithe mint and rue, but you do not consider the love of God and judgment. Whitewashed sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead men’s bones.” And to the scribes: “Woe to you, scribes, because you have the keys, and you yourselves do not enter, and you hinder those who are entering, blind guides.” ^D

^A 18. Since you have read, Trypho, and confessed that you have read, the things taught by that Savior of ours, I do not think I have done anything absurd to have added a few of His oracles to the prophetic ones. “Wash yourselves, therefore, and now be clean, and take away the iniquities from your souls,” as God commands, that you may wash with this washing and be circumcised with the true circumcision. For we would also observe this circumcision of the flesh, and the Sabbaths, and all the festivals generally, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined upon you—namely, on account of your iniquities and the hardness of your hearts. For if we consistently endure all that evil men and demons contrive to bring upon us, ^B even to the point—if I may speak of things unspeakable—of death and punishments, praying that mercy may be shown even to those who treat us thus, and wishing not to retaliate against anyone, not even in the slightest, as our new Legislator has commanded us; how, Trypho, should we not also observe those things which do not harm us—I mean fleshly circumcision and the Sabbaths and the festivals?

19. This is the point ^C on which we may rightly hesitate, why, while you endure such things, you do not also observe all the other things about which we are now inquiring.

For this circumcision is not necessary for all, but for you alone, so that, as I have said before, you might suffer those things which you now justly suffer. For we do not accept that useless baptism of the cisterns; for it is nothing in comparison to this baptism of life. Therefore God also cries out that you have forsaken Him, the living fountain, and have hewn out for yourselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. And you, indeed, who are circumcised in the flesh, have need of our circumcision; but we, having this, have no need of that one. For if it were necessary, as you think, God would not have fashioned Adam ^D with a foreskin, nor would He have regarded the gifts of Abel, who offered sacrifices while in the foreskin of his flesh, nor would Enoch have been well-pleasing while in uncircumcision and not be found, because God translated him. Lot, uncircumcised, escaped from Sodom, with the angels themselves and the Lord leading him out. Noah was the beginning of the race; yet, together with his sons, he entered the ark uncircumcised.

^A It was an uncircumcised priest of the Most High, Melchizedek, to whom Abraham, the first to receive circumcision according to the flesh, gave tithes, and he blessed him. Concerning the order of this man, God declared through the mouth of David that He would appoint an eternal priest. To you alone, therefore, was this circumcision necessary, so that the people might not be a people, and the nation not a nation, ^B as Osea, one of the twelve prophets, says. For all the aforementioned righteous men, though they did not observe the Sabbath, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham and all his descendants up to Moses, under whom your people appeared unjust and ungrateful toward God, having fashioned the calf in the desert. Whence God, adapting Himself to that people, commanded also that sacrifices be offered as if to His name, so that you might not engage in idolatry; which indeed you did not observe, but even sacrificed your children to demons. ^C He commanded you also to keep the Sabbath, that you might have a remembrance of God. For His word signifies this, saying: "That you may know that I am the Lord who redeems you."

20. For He also commanded you to abstain from certain foods, so that even in eating and drinking you might have God before your eyes, being prone and ready to depart from the knowledge of Him, as Moses also says: "The people ate and drank, and rose up to play." And again: "Jacob ate and was satisfied, and became fat, ^D and the Beloved kicked; he became fat, he became thick, he became broad, and he abandoned God who made him." For that as to Noah it had been granted by God, being a righteous man, to eat every living thing, except flesh in blood, which is dead flesh, was related to you by Moses in the book of Genesis. And when he was about to say "as the green herbs," I anticipated: "That [as green herbs]..."

you might not hear 67 as it is said, 'do not hear.' That he punished this man—it is said—is eaten; that every herb is grass and is eaten by God, for as God had prepared the herbs for the food of man, so too had He given the animals for the eating of flesh? But since we do not eat some of the grasses, so too you say that a distinction was from then on prescribed to Noah. It is not to be believed as you interpret it. For first, because every herb is grass and is eaten [(68)], being able to say and to strengthen, I will not concern myself with this. But if we distinguish the herbs of the grass, not eating all, we do not refrain from eating them because they are common or unclean, but because they are bitter, or deadly, or thorny. But we desire and partake of all the sweet and most nourishing and best, whether they be of the sea or of the land. So also God commanded you through Moses to abstain ^B from the unclean and unjust and lawless, since even while you were eating manna [(70)] in the desert and seeing all the miracles performed for you by God, you made a golden calf and worshipped it. So that He justly cries out unceasingly: 'Senseless sons; there is no faith in them.'"

21. ^C Sabbaths were instituted because of the sins of your people, and not as a work of justice. But that God ordered the Sabbath to be observed by you as a sign, as I have already said, and imposed other precepts, and what this signifies—that because of the nations, lest His name be profaned among them, He permitted some of you to remain alive entirely—His own words can demonstrate to you. For they are expressed through Ezekiel thus: "I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do not mingle with the customs of Egypt, and hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But you provoked me, and your children [(71)] did not walk in my statutes, and did not keep my judgments to do them; which if a man does, he shall live in them; but they profaned my Sabbaths. And I said that I would pour out my fury upon them in the

to complete my wrath upon them, and I did not, that my name might not be altogether profaned before the nations. I brought them out ^A in their sight. And I lifted my hand over them in the wilderness, to disperse them among the nations, and to scatter them into the countries, because they had not done my judgments, and had rejected my precepts, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after the thoughts of their fathers. And I gave them precepts that were not good, and judgments in which they shall not live in them. And I will pollute them in their gifts, when I pass through, that I may destroy every one that openeth the womb. 22. And that you may perceive that, by reason of the sins of your people and the worship of idols, He gave a like command for these things to be done, not because He stood in need of such offerings, hear what He says concerning these things by Amos, one of the twelve, crying: Woe to those who desire the day of the Lord! Why this day of the Lord for you? And it is darkness and not light. As a man ^B flees from the face of a lion, and a bear meets him, and he enters his house and leans his hands on the wall, and the serpent bites him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom having no brightness for them? I have hated, I have rejected your festivals, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies; because if you bring me your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, I will not accept them, and I will not look upon your saving manifestations. ^C Take away from me the multitude of your songs and psalms; I will not hear your instruments. And judgment shall roll down like water, and righteousness like a torrent that does not dry up. Did you offer me victims and sacrifices in the wilderness, O house of Israel? saith the Lord. And you took up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Remphan, the figures which you made for yourselves? And I will cause you to remove beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, God Almighty is his name. Woe to those who luxuriate in Sion, and who trust ^D in the mountain of Samaria! Who are named as leaders, they have harvested the first-fruits of the nations, having entered

^A into their own house, 82 O Israel. Cross over, all of you, 83 to Chalanen, and see, and go thence to Amath the great, and descend thence to Geth of the foreigners, the strongest of all these kingdoms, if their borders are wider than your borders. They who approach the evil day, who draw near and take hold of lying sabbaths; who sleep on beds of ivory, and luxuriate upon their couches; who eat lambs from the flocks, and sucking calves from the midst of the herds; who applaud 84 to the sound of musical instruments; they reckoned them as standing, and not as fleeing; who drink wine in bowls 85 and anoint themselves with the finest ointments, but felt no pain at the ruin of Joseph. On this account, now ^B they shall be prisoners at the head of the leaders of those being led into exile 86, and the dwelling of evildoers shall be overturned, and the neighing of horses shall be taken away from Ephraim.” And again through Jeremiah: “Gather your flesh and your sacrifices, and eat. For I did not command your fathers concerning sacrifices or libations, in the day that I took hold of their hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.” And again through David in the forty-ninth Psalm, he spoke thus: “The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto its setting. Out of Sion is the beauty of his excellence. God shall come manifestly, our God, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall be kindled before him, and round about him a very great tempest. He shall call the heaven above, and the earth, to judge his people. Gather to him his holy ones, who confirm his covenant over sacrifices. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God is judge. Hear, my people, and I will speak to you, O Israel, and will testify to you: I am God, your God. I will not reprove you for your sacrifices; and your burnt offerings are before me continually. I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your flocks: for all the beasts of the field, the cattle on the mountains, and the oxen are mine. I have known all the birds of the heaven, and the beauty of the field 87 is with me. If I hunger,

I will not tell you; for the world is mine and the fullness thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay to the Most High your vows, and call upon me in the day of affliction, and I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” But to the sinner God said: “Why do you declare my statutes, and take up my covenant in your mouth? But you have hated instruction, and cast my words behind you. If you saw a thief, you ran with him, and set your portion with the adulterer. Your mouth has abounded with malice, and your tongue has woven deceits. You sat and spoke against your brother, and laid a stumbling-block against your mother's son. These things you have done, and I kept silent; you imagined iniquity, that I shall be like you. I will reprove you, and set your sins before your face. Understand these things, you who forget God, ^A lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver. A sacrifice of praise will glorify me, and there is the way by which I will show him my salvation.” Therefore, he neither receives sacrifices from you, nor did he command them to be made from the beginning because he was in need, but because of your sins. For he acknowledged the temple which is called in Jerusalem as his house or court, not because he was in need of it, but so that, attending to him at least in this way, you might not worship idols. And that this is so, Isaiah says: “What house have you built for me? Says the Lord. Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.”

XXIII.

you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, nor of the keeping of Sabbaths, of feasts, and of sacrifices before Moses; so now, after the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has been born according to the will of the Father, ^A without sin, from the Virgin who was descended from the race of Abraham, there is no need of them either. For even Abraham himself, when he was uncircumcised, was justified and blessed on account of the faith which he had in God, as the Scripture points out. He received circumcision as a sign, but not for righteousness, as the Scriptures and the facts themselves compel us to confess. Therefore, it was justly said regarding that people that "that soul which is not circumcised on the eighth day shall be cut off from its race." Furthermore, the fact that the female sex is unable to receive fleshly circumcision is a proof that this circumcision was given as a sign, but not as a work of righteousness. For God created women ^B to be capable of observing all things that are just and virtuous in the same way as men. Yet we see that the form of the flesh is made different in the male and the female; but we do not perceive either of them to be just or unjust on that account, but rather on account of piety and righteousness.

^C I was saying, gentlemen, that the eighth day possessed a certain mystery, proclaimed by God through these rites, which is greater than the seventh. But lest I should seem to wander into other subjects, understand what I cry out: the blood of that circumcision has been rendered obsolete, and we have believed in the saving blood; a new covenant is now here, and another law has gone forth from Sion. Jesus Christ circumcises all who desire it, as was proclaimed from of old, with knives of stone, so that there may be a righteous nation, a people keeping faith, laying hold of truth, and keeping peace. Come all of you, you who fear God, who desire to see the good things of Jerusalem. Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord; for He has released His people, the house of Jacob. Come, all you nations, let us gather together in Jerusalem, which is no longer ^D besieged because of the sins of the peoples. "For I have been manifested to those who did not seek Me; I have been found by those who did not ask for Me," He cries through Isaiah; "I said, Behold I am here, to nations that did not call upon My name. I have stretched out My hands all the day to a disobedient and gainsaying people."

^B 25. These men desire to inherit even a little place, those who justify themselves and say they are the children of Abraham, as the Holy Spirit cries out through Isaiah, speaking as if from their own person as follows: "Turn from heaven, and look from the house of Thy holy One and of Thy glory. Where is Thy zeal and Thy strength? Where is the multitude of Thy mercy, for Thou hast endured us, O Lord? For Thou art our Father, for Abraham did not know us, and Israel did not remember us. But Thou, O Lord, our Father, deliver us: from the beginning Thy name is upon us. Why didst Thou make us go astray, O Lord, from Thy way? Thou didst harden our heart, so that we should not fear Thee. Turn for the sake of Thy servants, for the sake of the tribes of Thine inheritance, that we may inherit a little of Thy holy mountain. We have become as from the beginning, when Thou didst not rule over us, nor was Thy name called upon us. If Thou shalt open the heaven, trembling will seize the mountains from Thee, and they shall melt, as wax melts from the face of fire; and fire will consume the adversaries, and Thy name will be manifest among the adversaries: from Thy face the nations shall be troubled. When Thou doest glorious things, trembling will seize the mountains from Thee. From of old we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God beside Thee. And Thy works, which Thou wilt do for those who repent, ^C mercy. It will meet those who perform righteousness, and they will remember Thy ways. Behold, Thou wast angry, and we sinned. For this reason we went astray and became all unclean, and all our righteousness is as a filthy garment; and we have faded as leaves because of our iniquities; even so the wind will carry us away; and there is no one who calls upon Thy name, and no one who remembers to take hold of Thee, because Thou hast turned Thy face from us, and hast delivered us up because of our sins. And now turn, O Lord, for we are all Thy people. The city of Thy holy One has become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem a curse; the house, our holy place, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has become burnt with fire; and all the glorious nations have fallen together. And upon these things didst Thou endure, O Lord, and didst keep silence, and didst humble us exceedingly."

^A

And Trypho said: What then is this that you say? That none of us shall inherit anything in the holy mountain of God?

And I replied: I do not say this; but those who have persecuted and who persecute Christ, and who do not repent, shall inherit nothing in the holy mountain. But the nations that have believed in Him, and have repented of the sins which they committed, they shall inherit with the patriarchs and the prophets, and with all the just men who are descended from Jacob, even if they do not keep the Sabbath, are not circumcised, and do not observe the feasts. They shall surely inherit the holy inheritance of God. For God says through Isaiah thus: "I, the Lord God, have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thy hand, and will strengthen Thee; and I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the bound from their bonds, and those sitting in darkness from the house of prison." And again: "Lift up a signal to the nations. For behold, the Lord has made it heard unto the end of the earth. Say to the daughters of Sion: Behold, thy Saviour has come, having His reward, and His work before His face; and He shall call him a holy people, redeemed by the Lord. And thou shalt be called a city sought after, and not forsaken. Who is this who comes from Edom, with the redness of his garments from Bosor? This one is beautiful in his robe, ascending with might and strength. I speak justice and judgment of salvation. Why are thy garments red, and thy apparel as if from a trodden winepress? Full of the trampled fruit. I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the nations there is no man with me; and I have trodden them in my wrath, and have crushed them as the earth, and have brought down their blood to the earth. ^B For the day of retribution has come upon them, and the year of redemption is present. And I looked, and there was no helper; and I considered, and no one offered aid. And my own arm rescued, and my wrath came upon them; and I have trodden them in my anger, and I have brought down their blood to the earth." [125 C]

27. Why dost Thou select from the prophetic discourses what pleases Thee, while Thou makest no mention of those which explicitly command the keeping of the Sabbath? For it is said thus through Isaiah: "If thou shalt turn away thy foot from the Sabbaths, so as not to do thy desire in the holy day, and shalt call the Sabbaths delicate, holy to thy God; if thou shalt not move thy foot ^D for work, nor speak a word out of thy mouth...

and thou shalt be confident in the Lord, and he shall lift thee up upon the good things of the earth; and he shall feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things. ^A Then I said: "It is not because such prophecies contradict me, my friends, that I have passed them by, but because you have perceived and understood that even if God, through all the prophets, commands you to do the same things that he also commanded through Moses, he does so because of your hard-heartedness, and your ingratitude toward him, always calling for the same things, so that by this means, even if late, you might repent and please him; and that you might neither sacrifice your children to demons, nor be partners with thieves, nor continue loving ^B bribes, nor chasing after rewards, nor judging the orphans, nor giving attention to the cause of the widow, and furthermore, that your hands might not be full of blood. 'For the daughters of Zion walked with a stretched-out neck, and with winking of eyes, at the same time sporting and dragging their garments. For all have turned aside,' cries the Scripture, 'all are altogether become unprofitable. There is none that understands, there is not so much as one. With their tongues they have dealt deceitfully, an open grave is their throat; the poison of asps is under their lips, destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known.' ^C So, just as these things were originally commanded because of your wickedness, in the same way, because of your perseverance in these things—or rather, your persistence—God calls you through the same things to remembrance of him and to knowledge. But you, a hard-hearted and foolish people, and blind and lame, and children in whom there is no faith, as he himself says, are those who honor him only with your lips, while your heart is far from him, teaching your own doctrines and not his. For, tell me, did God wish the chief priests to sin by offering the sacrifices on the Sabbaths? Or did he wish those who are circumcised and who circumcise on the day of the Sabbath to sin, while he commands that those born on the eighth day must in any case be circumcised likewise, even if it be the day of the Sabbath? Or could he not have empowered them to circumcise those born one day before or one day after the Sabbath, if he considered it a sin to do so on the Sabbath? ^D Or why did he not teach those righteous men who were called such before Moses and Abraham, and who were acceptable to him, to observe these things, since they were neither circumcised in the foreskin, nor did they observe the Sabbaths?"

28. Then Trypho said: "Then we have heard from you that justice is acquired through Christ."

^A And we have pondered this; for it is truly a matter worthy of consideration, and what seems to the many to be said by you, namely that it is God's will. For this is always the refuge of those who are unable to answer what is being investigated.

And I: Since I draw my method of demonstration and discourse from the Scriptures and from the facts themselves, I said, do not delay, nor hesitate to believe an uncircumcised man like me. This short time of proselytizing remains for you. If Christ should happen to come, you will repent in vain, you will weep in vain; for He will not hear you. "Break up for yourselves ^B new ground," Jeremiah cries to the people, "and do not sow among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart." Therefore, do not sow among thorns and in unplowed ground, from which there is no fruit for you. Know Christ, and behold, there is new ground, beautiful and fertile within your hearts. "For behold, days are coming, says the Lord, and I will visit upon all who are circumcised in their foreskin; upon Egypt, and upon Judah, ^C and upon Edom, and upon the sons of Moab. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel is uncircumcised in their hearts." Do you see how God does not desire this circumcision which was given as a sign? For it is not useful to the Egyptians, nor to the sons of Moab, nor to the sons of Edom. But even if someone is a Scythian or a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His Christ, and keeps the eternal righteous laws, he is circumcised with the beautiful and useful circumcision, and he is a friend to God, ^D and he rejoices in His gifts and offerings. I shall also provide for you, my friends, the very words of God, when He spoke to the people through Malachi, one of the twelve prophets. They are as follows: "I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord, and I will not receive your sacrifices from your hands; because from the rising of the sun even to the setting, My name has been glorified among the nations, and in every place a sacrifice is offered to My name, and a pure sacrifice; because My name is honored among the nations, says the Lord; but you profaned it." And through David He says: "A people whom I did not

know served Me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed Me." ^A

29. Let us glorify God together with the gathered nations, because He has looked upon us also. Let us glorify Him through the King of glory, through the Lord of hosts. For He has been well pleased with the nations as well, and receives sacrifices from us more gladly than from you. What need then have I any longer of circumcision, I who have been attested by God? What need have I of that baptism, I who have been baptized in the Holy Spirit? I think that by saying these things I shall persuade even those who possess but little understanding. For these words are not contrived by me, nor adorned by human art, but David chanted them, Isaiah evangelized them, Zechariah ^B proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them down. Do you recognize them, Trypho? They are laid up in your scriptures, or rather, not yours, but ours. For we believe them, but you, though you read them, do not understand the mind within them. Do not, therefore, be vexed, nor reproach us with the foreskin of the body, which God Himself created; nor count it a grievous sin that we drink warm water on the Sabbath, since God governs the universe in the same way on this day as on all other days; as also the high priests, as on other days, so also on this day were commanded to perform the offering of sacrifices; and so many just men, having practiced none of these legal requirements, have been attested by God Himself. ^C

30. But do not ascribe to your own righteousness that God can be slandered by men who are lacking in understanding, as if He had not always taught the same righteousness to all. For to many men such teachings seemed irrational and unworthy of God, because they did not receive the grace to know that He called your people, who were acting wickedly and suffering from a disease of the soul, to conversion and repentance of the Father, and He is eternal ^D after the death of Moses.

And this has been declared through the psalm, O men. And that we confess them to be sweeter than honey and the honeycomb, having been made wise by them, is evident from the fact that we remain unswerving to His name even unto death. And that we who believe in Him pray to Him that He may preserve us from those who are foreign—that is, from the wicked and deceitful spirits—is evident to all, as the prophetic word, forming for itself the persona of one of those who believe in Him, states. For we beseech God always, through Jesus Christ, to be preserved ^A from the demons, which are foreign to the worship of God, whom formerly we worshipped, so that after we have been converted to God through Him, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer; even the demons tremble at the power of His name, and today, when exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the governor of Judea, they are subject; from which it is clear to all that the Father has given Him such power that even the demons are subject to His name and to the economy of His suffering.

31.

But if such power is shown to have followed and to follow the economy of Christ's suffering, how great will it be in His glorious coming?

(26) *And through the psalm.* For the sake of brevity, either by Justin or by the scribes, the psalm *The heavens declare* was omitted. For Justin explains some things from this psalm as if he had already recited it, as anyone reading will be able to notice. *Soon read.* (27) *The formula of prayer of this kind occurs in Apost. Const., bk. viii, ch. 11.*

^A and behold with the clouds of heaven there came one like unto the Son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of days, and stood before him; and they that stood by brought him near. And there was given to him power and royal dignity; and all nations of the earth, by their kinds, and all glory shall serve him. And his power is an everlasting power, which shall not be taken away, and his kingdom shall not be destroyed. And my spirit shuddered within me, and the visions of my head troubled me. And I went up to one of them that stood by, and I sought the exact truth from him concerning all these things. He answering me, said, and explained to me the judgment of the words: These great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and shall not receive the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I desired to know exactly concerning the fourth beast, which destroys all things and is exceedingly terrible, and its teeth were of iron, and its claws of brass; eating and grinding to powder, and trampling the residue with its feet; and concerning its ten horns that were on its head, and of the one that came up, through which three of the former fell. And that horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking great words, and its appearance excelled the others. And I was beholding that horn making ^B war with the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and he gave judgment to the saints of the Most High; and the time arrived, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: A fourth kingdom shall be on the earth, which shall excel all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and lay it waste, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise after them; and this one shall excel in wickedness those who were before them, and shall humble three kings, and shall speak words against the Most High, and shall crush other saints of the Most High, ^C and shall purpose to alter seasons and times. And they shall be delivered into his hand until a time and times and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall remove the dominion to consume and to destroy unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the greatness of the places of the kingdoms under heaven, was given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign with an everlasting kingdom; and all powers shall be subject to him, and shall obey him. Hitherto is the end of the word. I, Daniel, was greatly disturbed in my ecstasy, and the word changed in me, and I kept the speech in my heart.»

32. And Trypho, when I had ceased, said: These Scriptures, O man, and such as these, await the great and glorious one who is to come from the Ancient of days. 32. Trypho, on my ceasing, objects that Christ is described as glorious by Daniel, and Justin distinguishes two advents. — Here Trypho, when I was silent, said: These, ^D he said...

^A And other Scriptures of this kind compel us to expect one who is glorious and great, who receives the eternal kingdom from the Ancient of Days as the Son of man. But that Christ of yours, whom you so call, was dishonored and inglorious, so that he even fell under the ultimate curse which is sanctioned in the law of God. For he was crucified.

Then I said to him: If the Scriptures which I have already recited did not say that his form would be inglorious and his lineage inexpressible, and that the rich would be put to death for his death, and that we have been healed by his stripes, and that he would be led as a sheep; if I had not explained that there would be two advents of his, one in which he was pierced by you, and a second ^B when you will recognize him whom you pierced, and your tribes will lament, tribe by tribe, the women apart and the men apart; I would seem to be saying obscure and uncertain things. But now, in every discourse, I am constructing the entire method of demonstration from the holy and prophetic Scriptures that are among you, hoping that some one of you may be found as a seed which, through the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth, has been left for eternal salvation. Therefore, so that now the subject of our inquiry may become clearer to you, I will bring forward also other words uttered by that blessed man David; from which you will understand that Christ is called Lord by the holy prophetic Spirit, and is summoned by the Father of all from the earth, and is seated at his right hand, until the Father makes his enemies a footstool for his feet. Which indeed is coming to pass from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ, having risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, with the times running to their completion, and with him being already at the doors ^C who is about to speak impious and daring things against the Highest; whom Daniel declares will rule for a time and times and half a time. But you, ignorant of how long he is to remain, think something else. For you interpret the "time" as one hundred years. But if this is so, the man of iniquity must reign for three hundred and fifty years at the minimum, so that what was said by the holy Daniel, "and times," we might number as only two times. But I have said all these things, digressing from my purpose, to you, so that, having at length believed the things that are spoken against you by God—namely, that you are foolish children, and also these words: "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them; ^D and I will take away the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of their prudent ones will I hide";—you may cease to lead astray both yourselves and those who listen to you, and, by learning from us who have been made wise by the grace of Christ,

you will understand the words of David. ^A They are as follows: “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The Lord shall send forth the rod of your power from Sion: and do you rule in the midst of your enemies. With you is the beginning in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints. From the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at your right hand has crushed kings in the day of his wrath; he shall judge among the nations, he shall fill with corpses. He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall he lift up the head.”

33. That you dare to explain this Psalm as being said of king Hezekiah, I am not ignorant, as I have said; but that you are in error, I will straightway demonstrate to you from the very words. It is said: “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent”; and, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” together with what follows and what precedes it. ^B That Hezekiah was neither a priest, nor is the eternal priest of God, you yourselves will not dare to gainsay; but that these words indicate that it has been spoken about our Jesus, the words themselves declare; but your ears are stopped and your hearts are hardened. For by these words: “The Lord has sworn, and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” God, because of your unbelief, by interposing an oath, has declared him to be a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek; that is, in the same way as Melchizedek is written by Moses to have been priest of the Most High, ^C and he was a priest of those in uncircumcision, and blessed Abraham, who brought him tithes while in circumcision, so likewise God declared that His eternal priest, who is also called Lord by the Holy Spirit, would be a priest of those in uncircumcision; and that those in circumcision who draw near to him—that is, those who believe in him and seek the blessings from him—he will also receive, and will bless them. And that he will first be a humble man, and then shall be exalted, ^D the end of the psalm shows: “For he shall drink of the brook in the way,” and at once, “therefore shall he lift up the head.”

34. Furthermore, to persuade you that the Scriptures speak of Christ being first humble, and then to be futurely glorious, this Psalm is shown.

^A And I will remind you of another psalm, dictated by the Holy Spirit to David, which you say was spoken of Solomon, who was also your king; but it has been spoken of our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by ambiguous ^B terms; for where it is said, “The law of the Lord is perfect,” you understand not the law which was to be after Moses, but that which was given through him, although God cries out that He will institute a new law and a new covenant. And where it is said, “O God, give thy judgment to the King,” ^C because Solomon was king, you say that the psalm was spoken of him, although the words of the psalm plainly declare that it was issued for the eternal King, that is, for Christ. For Christ is proclaimed as King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and Angel, and man, and leader of the army, and stone, and child born, and first subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and having an eternal kingdom; as I demonstrate from all the Scriptures. But that you may understand what I say, I will recite the words of the psalm, which are as follows: “O God, give thy judgment to the King, and thy righteousness to the King's son; ^D to judge thy people in righteousness and thy poor in judgment. Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the children of the poor, and shall humble the slanderer; and he shall remain with the sun and before the moon unto generations of generations. He shall come down like rain upon a fleece, and like drops falling upon the earth. In his days shall righteousness arise, and abundance of peace, until the moon be removed. And he shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the world. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tharsis and the isles shall bring presents; the kings of Arabia and Saba shall bring gifts, and all the kings of the earth shall worship him, and all nations shall serve him; for he hath delivered the needy from the mighty, and the poor who had no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the poor. He shall redeem their souls from usury and iniquity; and his name shall be honorable before them. And he shall live, and there shall be given to him of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray for him continually; all the day shall they bless him. And there shall be a resting-place in the earth: he shall be exalted above the tops of the mountains; his fruit shall be above Libanus, and they shall flourish from the city like grass of the earth. His name shall be blessed for ever; his name continues before the sun; and all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who doeth wondrous things alone. And blessed be the name of his glory for ever and for the age of the age; and all the earth shall be filled with his glory: so be it, so be it.” And at the end

of this psalm of which I spoke, it is written: “The hymns of David, son of Jesse, have come to an end.” ^A And that Solomon was an illustrious and great king, under whom the house called of Jerusalem was built, I know; but that none of the things mentioned in the psalm happened to him, is clear. For not all kings worshipped him, nor did he reign to the ends of the earth, nor did his enemies falling before him lick the dust. Nay, I even dare to speak of things written in the Books of Kings ^B as having been done by him, namely that for the sake of a woman he worshipped Sidonian idols; which those who from the Gentiles have recognized the Creator of all things, God, through Jesus who was crucified, are by no means induced to do, but rather endure every affliction and punishment even unto the extreme of death, so as not to worship idols nor to eat things sacrificed to idols.

35. ^C And Trypho: “Yet of those,” he says, “who claim to confess Jesus, and are called Christians, I hear that many eat things sacrificed to idols, and claim that they are not harmed by this at all.”

Then I answered: “From the fact that such men exist, confessing themselves to be Christians and confessing the crucified Jesus as both Lord and Christ, but not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, we who are the disciples of the true and pure teaching of Jesus Christ are the more ^D faithful and confirmed in the hope announced by Him. For what He predicted would come to pass in His name, these things we see and behold being accomplished in action. For He said: ‘Many shall come in my name, outwardly clothed in sheep's skins, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’ And: ‘There shall be schisms and heresies.’ And: ‘Beware of false prophets, who shall come to you, outwardly clothed in sheep's skins, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.’ And: ‘Many false christs and false apostles shall arise,

^A and shall deceive many of the faithful.’ There are therefore, and there came to be, O men who are my friends, many who taught to say and to do things godless and blasphemous, coming in the name of Jesus; and they are called by us by the names of the men from whom each doctrine and opinion began. (For some in one way, others in another, teach blasphemy against the Maker of all things, and against the Christ who was predicted by Him ^B to come, and [against] the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; with none of whom do we communicate, knowing them to be atheists and impious, and unjust and lawless, and that instead of worshipping Jesus, they only confess Him in name. And they call themselves Christians, in the same way as those among the Gentiles who inscribe the name of God upon works made by hand, and partake ^C of lawless and godless rituals.) And there are some of them called Marcians, others Valentinians, others Basilidians, others Satornilians, and others [called] by other names, each being named from the author of their opinion; just as each of those who think they are philosophizing, as I said in the beginning, thinks it appropriate to bear the name of the philosophy they follow, [derived] from the father of the discourse. As also from these, as I said, we know Jesus to be the foreknower of things that would come to pass after Him, and [we know Him as such] from many other things which He predicted would happen to those who believe and confess Him as Christ. For indeed, all that we suffer, being put to death by our own kindred, He predicted would happen to us, so that in no way could His word or deed be found blameworthy. Therefore, we also pray for you and for all other men who hate us ^D that, by repenting along with us, you may not blaspheme Him who, by His works and by the miracles even now performed through the invocation of His name, and by the sermons of His doctrine and His prophecies, is shown to be [the Christ].

you do not openly revile; but, by believing in Him, you might be saved at his future glorious appearing, and not be condemned by Him to the fire.

36. Then Trypho answered: ^B Let these things be as you say; let it be granted that Christ was called a Stone, and that it was predicted that He would be passible, and that after His first coming, in which the oracles had foretold He would appear passible, He would return in glory, and would henceforth be the judge of all, and an eternal King and Priest. But prove that this is He of whom these things were predicted.

I said: As you please, Trypho, I shall come in time and place to the demonstrations you ask for; but allow me for now to first mention the prophecies I wish, to demonstrate that the Christ is called both God and Lord of powers, and Jacob, by the Holy Spirit in a parable; and that your expositors, as God cries out, are foolish, saying that these things were not spoken of Christ, but of Solomon, when he brought the tabernacle of witness into the temple which he had built. ^C This is the Psalm of David: "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof, the world and all that dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that is innocent in hands and pure in heart; who has not received his soul in vain, and has not sworn deceitfully to his neighbor; he shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Savior. This is the generation of them that seek the Lord, that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in war. Lift up your gates, O you princes, and be lifted up, you everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of powers, He is the King of glory." That the Lord of powers, therefore, is not Solomon, has been demonstrated; but when our Christ ^D had risen from the dead and was ascending into heaven, the princes in the heavens, ordained by God, were commanded to open the gates of heaven,

^A that He might enter, He who is the King of Glory, and having ascended, might sit at the right hand of the Father, until He makes His enemies a footstool for His feet, as has been declared by the other psalm. For since those who are rulers in heaven saw Him having an uncomely and dishonored appearance and lacking glory, not recognizing Him, they inquired: "Who is this King of Glory?" And the Holy Spirit answers them, either from the person of the Father or from His own: "The Lord of Hosts, He Himself is this King of Glory." For that no one who was stationed at the gates of the temple of Jerusalem would have dared to say, "Who is this King of Glory?", either concerning Solomon, who was so glorious a king, or concerning the tabernacle of testimony, any person whatsoever would admit.

57. The same is proved by other psalms. — But in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth psalm, these things are said concerning Christ: "God has ascended with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to our God, sing praises: sing praises to our King, sing praises: for God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with understanding. God has reigned over the nations; God sits upon His holy throne. The princes of the peoples are gathered together with the God of Abraham, for the mighty ones of the earth have been greatly exalted of God." And in the ninety-eighth psalm, the Holy Spirit ^B rebukes you, and declares that He whom you do not wish to be King, is King and Lord and is so absolutely over Samuel and Aaron and Moses and all the others. And the words of the psalm are these: "The Lord has reigned; let the peoples be angry; He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them confess to Thy great name, for it is terrible and holy; and the honor of the king loves judgment. Thou hast prepared directions; Thou hast executed judgment and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of His feet, for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They called (says the Scripture) upon the Lord, and He heard them; in a pillar of cloud ^C He spoke to them. For they kept His testimonies and the commandment which He gave them. O Lord our God, Thou didst hear them; O God, Thou didst become propitious to them and taking vengeance on all their devices. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy mountain; for the Lord our God is holy."

38. It is offensive to a Jew that Christ is said to be worshipped. Justin confirms this from Psalm XLIV. Here Trypho said: "It would be well for us, if we ^D yielded to our teachers who commanded us that no one of you should converse with us, nor share in such arguments—

^A for you speak many blasphemous things, claiming to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of a cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, ascended into heaven, and will come again ^B to the earth, and is to be adored."

I replied: "I know that, as the word of God has said, this great wisdom of the Creator of all things and of the almighty God is hidden from you. Therefore, moved by compassion for you, I labor to make you understand these paradoxes of ours; if not, so that at least I myself may be innocent in the day of judgment. For you shall hear ^C yet other arguments that seem even more paradoxical; but be not troubled, but rather remain the more eager listeners and investigators, despising the tradition of your teachers; for they are rebuked by the Holy Spirit because they cannot understand what is taught by God, but rather choose to teach their own doctrines. In the forty-fourth Psalm, therefore, it is likewise said concerning ^D Christ these things: 'My heart has brought forth a good word: I tell my works to the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer in beauty than the sons of men; grace is poured out on thy lips; therefore God has blessed thee forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O Mighty One. In thy splendor and thy beauty, bend thy bow, and prosper, and reign, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy right hand shall guide thee wondrously. Thy arrows are sharpened, O Mighty One; peoples shall fall under thee, in the heart of the enemies of the King. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a rod of uprightness is the rod of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Myrrh and aloes and cassia are from thy garments, from ivory palaces, out of which they have gladdened thee. Daughters of kings are in thy honor. The queen stood at thy right hand, in clothing of gold, surrounded and adorned. Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people, and thy father's house;

and the King will desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and they shall worship him. And the daughter of Tyre with gifts. The rich of the people shall entreat thy face. All the glory of the daughter of the King is from within, clothed in gold-woven fringes, adorned. Virgins shall be brought to the King after her; her companions shall be brought to thee. They shall be brought in gladness and exultation: they shall be brought into the temple of the King. Instead of thy fathers, thy sons were born; thou shalt make them princes over all the earth. I will remember thy name in every generation and generation; therefore the peoples shall give thee thanks for ever and ever. ^A

39. And it is no wonder, ^B if you hate us who understand these things, and convict your mind which is always hard-hearted. For Elijah, pleading with God regarding you, says thus: "Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life." And it is answered to him: "There are yet with me seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal." Just as, therefore, God did not bring down his wrath then on account of those seven thousand, so also now he has not yet brought, nor does he bring, the judgment, since he knows that some are still being daily discipled into the name of his Christ, and are leaving the path of error; who also receive gifts, each as they are worthy, being illuminated through the name of this Christ. For one receives the spirit of wisdom, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, another of the fear of God. ^C

To this Trypho said to me: I would have you know that you are talking nonsense when you say these things.

But I said to him: Listen, my good sir, I am neither insane nor talking nonsense. But it was predicted that it would come to pass that Christ, after he had ascended into heaven, would lead us captive from error, and give gifts to us. The words themselves are these: "He ascended on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to men." We, therefore, having received gifts from Christ who ascended on high—[we] show you, "who are wise in yourselves and prudent before yourselves," from the prophetic words, to be foolish, and to honor God and his Christ only with your lips. But we, who are instructed in all truth, honor him both in works and in knowledge and in heart, even unto death. Perhaps it is also for this reason that you doubt this, even as [he is] declared

^A to be the Christ by the Scriptures, and by the things that appear and the things which happen in his name, so that you may not be persecuted by the rulers, who will not cease from the operation of the wicked and deceitful ^B spirit, the serpent, putting to death and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ, until he shall again be present, and shall destroy all, and render to each according to his worth.

And Trypho said: "Now therefore grant us the argument, that this one, whom thou sayest was crucified and ascended into heaven, is the Christ of God. For that the Christ is preached in the Scriptures as passible, and that he is to come again with glory, and to receive an eternal kingdom of all nations, with every kingdom subject to him, has been sufficiently demonstrated from the Scriptures already recited by thee; but that he is this one, demonstrate to us."

And I said: "It has been demonstrated already, O men, to those who have ears, even from the things admitted by you; but that you may not think that I am at a loss and unable to give the demonstrations for what you request, I shall do so in the appropriate place, as I promised; but for the present, I return to the continuation of the arguments I was making.

40. The mystery, therefore, of the lamb which God enjoined ^C to be sacrificed as the Passover, was a type of Christ; with whose blood, according to the word of faith in him, those who believe in him anoint their houses, that is, themselves. For that the formation, which God fashioned—namely, Adam—became the house of the breath from God, all of you can understand. And that this commandment was also temporary, I demonstrate thus: nowhere does God permit the lamb of the Passover to be sacrificed, except in the place where his name has been invoked; knowing that days would come after the suffering of Christ, when even the place of Jerusalem would be delivered to your enemies, and all offerings ^D whatsoever would cease; and that the lamb which was commanded to be roasted whole was a symbol of the passion of the cross, by which Christ was about to suffer. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted arranged in the form of the cross. For one spit is thrust through from the lower parts up to the head, and another again across the shoulders, to which also the hands of the lamb are attached.

^A And those two goats similarly prescribed to be offered during the fast, of which one was sent away and the other was offered, were a proclamation of the two comings of Christ: the one in which your elders and the priests led him away as a scapegoat, laid hands upon him, and put him to death; and indeed that of his second coming, because in that same place ^B in Jerusalem you will recognize him whom you treated with contempt, and he was an offering for all sinners who desire to repent, and for those who observe that fast which Isaiah mentions, by loosening the knots of violent contracts, and observing the other things similarly enumerated by him, which I also recounted, which those who believe in Jesus observe. And you know that the offering of the two goats which were commanded to be offered in the fast was never permitted to be carried out anywhere else but in Jerusalem.

41. And the offering of fine flour, sirs, I said, which was handed down to be offered for those who were being cleansed from leprosy, was a type of the bread of the Eucharist, which Jesus Christ our Lord handed down to us to perform in remembrance of the passion which he suffered for those who were being purged of their souls from all wickedness of men, ^C so that we might at the same time give thanks to God, both for having created the world and all things in it for the sake of man, and for having delivered us from the wickedness in which we were born, and for having destroyed the principalities and powers completely, through him who by his will became susceptible to suffering. Hence, concerning the sacrifices which at that time were offered by you, God says, as I have already said, through Malachi, one of the twelve: «My pleasure is not in you, says the Lord, and I will not accept sacrifices from your hands; for from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure sacrifice; for my name is great among the Gentiles, says the Lord; but you profane it.» ^D Concerning the sacrifices offered to him in every place by us who are Gentiles, that is, of the bread of the Eucharist and of the cup likewise of the Eucharist, he in that place predicts, having also said that we glorify his name, but that you profane it. Now that command of circumcision, ordering that infants be circumcised on the eighth day without exception, was a type of the true circumcision by which we have been circumcised from error and wickedness through him who

rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Jesus Christ our Lord. For the first day of the week, remaining the first of all the days, is called the eighth according to the number of all the days of the cycle, and yet remains the first.

42. ^A But furthermore, the fact that the twelve bells hung from the long robe of the high priest were a symbol of the twelve apostles who were set on fire by the power of the eternal priest, Christ, by whose voice the whole earth was filled with the glory and grace of God and of his Christ—this was a symbol. Therefore David also says: "Into all the earth their sound has gone out, and their words to the ends of the world" (Ps. xviii, 5). And Isaiah, as if representing the apostles saying to Christ that they do not believe by their own hearing, but by the power of him who sent them—therefore he says thus: ^B "Lord, who has believed our report? and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? We have announced before him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land," and the rest of the prophecy that has been foretold (Isa. liii, 1). Now, the word saying as if from the mouth of many, "We have announced before him," and adding, "as a child," is indicative of the fact that those who became his wicked subjects were made to serve his command, and all became as one child. This is also what can be seen in the case of the body; ^C for though many members are numbered, the whole is called and is one body. For a people and a church, though they are many in number as individuals, are called and addressed by one name as if they were one thing. And all the other, absolute, things, O men, I said, which were ordained by Moses, I can enumerate and demonstrate to be types and symbols and proclamations of those things which were to happen to Christ, and of those who were foreknown to believe in him, and of those things which were likewise to be done by Christ himself. ^D But since I have already enumerated enough to suffice for the present, I shall move on to the next point in order.

43. As, therefore, from Abraham circumcision began, and from Moses the Sabbath and sacrifices and offerings...

and feasts, and it was proved that these were ordained because of the hardness of the heart of your people, ^A so it was necessary that they should come to an end according to the will of the Father, in Him who was born of a Virgin of the lineage of Abraham, and of the tribe of Judah, and of the seed of David, namely the Son of God, Christ; who was also the eternal law and the new covenant that was to be proclaimed to the whole world, as the previously cited prophecies indicate. And we, who through Him have drawn near to God, have not received this circumcision of the flesh, but the spiritual ^B one, which Enoch and those like him kept; and this we have obtained through baptism, through the mercy of God, because we had been sinners, and it is permitted to all to obtain it in the same way. But since the discussion now urges me to speak of the mystery of His birth, I will do so. Isaiah, therefore, asserted that the generation of Christ Himself was indescribable to men, as we have already written: "Who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth: for the iniquities of My people He was led to death." Since, then, this generation was indescribable and He was to die, that we sinful men might be healed by His stripes, the prophetic Spirit spoke these words. ^C Furthermore, in order that those who believe in Him might know in what manner He was born into the world, the prophetic Spirit, through the same Isaiah, prophesied how it would come to pass, in these words: "And the Lord spoke further to Ahaz, saying: Ask for thyself a sign from the Lord thy God, in the depth or in the height. And Ahaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. And Isaiah said: Hear now, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to contend with men? And how do you contend with the Lord? Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign. Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel. Butter and honey shall He eat, before He knows or chooses the evil, and chooses ^D the good; for before the child knows good or evil, he refuses evil, to choose the good. For before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. And the land shall be taken, which thou shalt suffer wearily from the face of the two kings. But God will bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not yet come upon thee, from the day that He took Ephraim from Judah, the king of the Assyrians."

That it is manifest to all that no one in the lineage of Abraham according to the flesh has ever been born, or said to have been born, of a virgin, except this Christ of ours, is evident. But since you and your teachers dare to say that it is not even said in the prophecy of Isaiah, "Behold, the Virgin shall have in the womb," but rather, "Behold, the young woman shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son," and you interpret the prophecy as if it were spoken of Hezekiah, who was your king, I shall endeavor to explain briefly against you, even in this matter, and to prove that it is spoken of Him whom we confess to be Christ.

44. For I will so prove it, that I shall exert myself to persuade you. But if you, remaining hard-hearted, or weak ^B of mind because of the death ordained for Christians, do not wish to assent to the truth, you yourselves will be to blame. And you deceive yourselves, supposing that because you are the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, you will by all means inherit the good things which have been announced by God to be given through Christ. For not even those of that seed can obtain anything, except those who have been assimilated in mind to the faith of Abraham, and who have known all the mysteries; I mean that one commandment was ordained unto piety and the practice of justice, while another commandment and act was likewise prescribed—or rather spoken—as a mystery of Christ, because of the hard-heartedness ^C of your people. And that this is so, God, declaring himself regarding this in Ezekiel, said: "If Noah and Jacob and Daniel should ask for either sons or daughters, they shall not be given to them." And in... [alt-version omitted] ^D

^A Isaiah, he speaks to this same effect, saying: "The Lord God said: And they shall go forth, and shall see the members of the transgressing men. For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." Since, therefore, you are cutting this hope from your souls, it is necessary that you hasten to learn the way by which the remission of your sins shall come to you, and the hope of the inheritance of the promised good things. And there is no other way than this: that by acknowledging this Christ, and being washed by the bath for the remission of sins which was preached by Isaiah, you may henceforth live without sin.

45. ^B And Trypho: "Although I seem to interrupt when you are discoursing on necessary matters, yet, because the question I wish to pose is urgent, bear with me first."

I: "Ask whatever you please, as it comes to your mind; for I will endeavor to resume and complete my discourse even after the questions and answers."

He: "Tell me then," he said, "will those who lived according to the law ordained through Moses live, in the resurrection of the dead, like Jacob and Enoch and Noah, or not?"

I said to him: "When I brought forward, Trypho, what was said by Ezekiel: 'Even if Noah, Daniel, and Jacob should ask for sons and daughters, it shall by no means be granted to them,' but that everyone shall be saved by his own righteousness, I said that those also who have lived according to the law of Moses will be saved in like manner. For in the ^C law of Moses, those things which are by nature noble and pious and just are ordained to be done by those who obey them; and likewise it is recorded that those things which were enjoined to be observed on account of the hardness of the people’s hearts were also prescribed, which those under the law indeed did. Since those who did the things which are universally and by nature and eternally good are acceptable to God, they will be saved through this Christ in the resurrection just as those righteous ones who were before them, Noah and Enoch and Jacob, and any others there may have been, along with those who have acknowledged this Christ ^D the Son of God, who was even before the morning star and the moon, and who through the

power of this Virgin of the lineage of David, condescended to become flesh and be born, that by this dispensation the serpent who acted wickedly from the beginning, and the angels who were made like him, might be overthrown, and death might be despised, and—at the second coming of this very Christ—might be completely brought to an end in those who believe in him and live well-pleasing lives, existing no longer when some shall be sent into the judgment and condemnation of fire to be punished without end, but others shall dwell in a state of ^A impassibility, incorruption, freedom from sorrow, and immortality.

46. If there are those who even now wish to live observing the things handed down by Moses, and yet believe in this crucified Jesus, acknowledging that he is the Christ of God, and that to him it has been given to judge all men absolutely, and that his is the eternal kingdom, can even they be saved? he asked me.

And I again: Let us also consider whether it is possible, I said, to observe all the things handed down by Moses now.

And he answered: No. For we acknowledge, as you said, that it is impossible to sacrifice the lamb of the Passover elsewhere, nor to offer the he-goats ordered to be offered during the fast, nor all the other offerings in general.

And I: What, then, are those things that it is possible to observe, I pray you, tell me yourself; for you will be persuaded that anyone who does not observe or perform the eternal statutes ^B will surely fail of salvation for certain.

And he: I mean keeping the Sabbath, and being circumcised, and observing the months, and washing oneself if one has touched anything forbidden by Moses, or has had sexual intercourse.

And I said: But Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Noah, and Job, and whatever other righteous men there were before or after them—I speak also of Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and Rebecca, the wife of Isaac, and Rachel, the wife of Jacob, and Leah, and the other remaining women such as these, down to the mother of Moses, the faithful servant—did they not observe any of these things, and do they seem to you to have been saved?

And Trypho answered: Was not Abraham circumcised, and those after him? ^C

^D

I answered, "I know, I say, that Abraham and those who came after him were circumcised. But I have ^A already discussed in many places why circumcision was given to them, and if what I said does not move you, let us examine the matter again. You know that not one of the righteous men down to Moses observed any of those things we were just asking about, nor did they receive a commandment to observe them, except for the circumcision which took its beginning from Abraham." And he said: "We know that, and we confess that they are saved."

I, again, said: "Consider that all such commandments were given to you by God through Moses on account of the hardness of the heart of your people, so that you, being reminded by these many things, might always have God before your eyes in every action, and might not begin to act unjustly or impiously. For indeed, he commanded you to put on a scarlet thread, so that through this you might not be seized by forgetfulness of ^B God; and he ordered that you wear a phylactery, having certain characters inscribed on very thin membranes, which we indeed understand to be altogether holy, inciting you by these things as well to always keep God in memory, and at the same time reproaching you, because you had no memory of worshipping him. And yet, not even so were you persuaded not to worship idols; but in the time of Elijah, when he counted the number of those who had not bowed the knee to Baal, he said they were seven thousand in number; and in Isaiah, he rebukes you because you even sacrificed your children to idols. But we, so that we may not sacrifice to those to whom we formerly sacrificed, endure the extreme punishments, and we rejoice while we are being put to death; believing that God will raise us up through his Christ, and will make us incorruptible and passionless ^C and immortal, and we know that those things which were ordained because of the hardness of the heart of your people contribute nothing toward the observation of justice and piety."

47. And Trypho again: "But if anyone, knowing that these things are so, besides knowing that this is the Christ, and believing and obeying him, wishes also to observe these institutions, will he be saved?" he asked.

And I said: "As it seems to me, O Trypho, I say that such a one will be saved, if he does not strive to persuade other men—I mean those from the Gentiles who have been circumcised from error through Christ—to observe the same things as he does, saying that they will not be saved unless they observe these things; just as you did at the beginning of our discourse, when you declared that I would not be saved ^D unless I observed these things."

^A And he said: "Why then did you say, 'As it seems to me, such a one will be saved,' unless there are those who say that such people will not be saved?"

"There are such, Trypho," I answered, "and they do not even dare to engage in conversation or hospitality with such persons; but to these I do not assent. But if they, on account of the weakness of their resolve, wish even now to observe as many of those things from Moses—which we know were ordained for the hardness of the people’s heart—as they can, while at the same time hoping in this Christ, and keeping the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and piety; and if they choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not persuading them either to be circumcised like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such things, then I hold that they ought to be received and share in all things as kinsmen and brethren. ^B But if those of your own race who say they believe in this Christ, O Trypho," I said, "force those of the Gentiles who believe in this Christ to live in all respects according to the law ordained through Moses, or else refuse to share in such common life with them, I do not approve of them either. But as for those who obey them in the matter of the legal way of life, along with keeping their confession in the Christ of God, I suspect that they too might be saved. And as for those who have confessed and acknowledged that this is Christ, and who for some reason have turned back to the legal way of life, denying that this is the Christ, and have not repented before their death, I assert that they will not be saved at all. ^C And I also assert that those of the seed of Abraham who live according to the law and do not believe in this Christ before the end of their life will likewise not be saved—and especially those who in the synagogues have cursed, and do curse, this very Christ—and that they will by no means reach salvation and be delivered from the punishment in the fire. For the kindness and the philanthropy of God and the immensity of His riches... ^D

just as He declares through Ezekiel, regards the one who repents of his sins as righteous and sinless; but the one who turns away from piety and the practice of justice to injustice and impiety, He considers a sinner, an unjust man, and an impious one. Wherefore our Lord Jesus Christ said: “In whatever state I find you, in that I will also judge you.” ^A

48. Trypho said: We have heard what you think on these matters. Proceed then, and finish the argument where you left off; for it seems to me to be a somewhat strange thing, and one that cannot be demonstrated at all. For you to say that this Christ existed as God before the ages, and then that He condescended to be born and become man, and that He is not a man from men, seems to me not only strange, but foolish. ^B

To this I replied: I know, I said, that this doctrine seems strange, especially to those of your own race, who have neither wished to understand nor to do the things of God, but those of your teachers, as God Himself cries out. Nevertheless, Trypho, I said, it does not follow that He is not the Christ of God, even if I should be unable to demonstrate that He pre-existed as the Son of the Creator of all, being God, and that He was born as man by the Virgin. But since it has been completely demonstrated that this is the Christ of God, whoever He may be, if I do not demonstrate that He pre-existed, and that He endured to be born as a man subject to like passions as we are, having flesh, in accordance with the will of the Father, it is in this point alone that it would be just to say I have erred, but not to deny that He is the Christ, even if He should appear as a man born of men, and it be demonstrated that He was chosen to be the Christ. For there are some, O friends, I said, of ^C those of our race who acknowledge Him to be Christ, while holding that He is a man born of men, ^D

to whose opinions I do not assent, nor would the greatest part of those who agree with me say this; since we have been commanded by Christ himself not to obey human doctrines, but those which were proclaimed by the blessed prophets and taught by Him.

49. And Trypho said: Those who tell us that He was a man, and that He was anointed by election, and became Christ, seem to me to speak more plausibly than you, who tell us what you hold. For we all expect that Christ will be a man born of men, and that Elijah, when he comes, will anoint Him. But if this man appears to be the Christ, he must be regarded as a man born of men; but because Elijah has not yet come, I do not think that He is the Christ.

And I again asked him: Does not Scripture say that Elijah will be the forerunner of the first advent of Christ?

And Trypho said: Yes.

^A Does Scripture not say, through Zechariah, that Elijah will come before that great and terrible day of the Lord? And he answered: Most certainly.

If, therefore, the word of God compels us to acknowledge that two advents of Christ were prophesied—one in which He would appear subject to suffering, inglorious, and of common appearance; and the other in which He would come glorious and as judge of all, as has been shown in many of the things said above—shall we not understand that the word of God proclaimed Elijah to be the forerunner of the terrible and great day, that is, of His second advent?

Most certainly, he answered.

And our Lord, I said, taught that this same thing would happen among those things He taught, when He said that Elijah also would come. And we know that this will happen when our Lord Jesus Christ is about to ^B arrive gloriously from the heavens, of whose first manifestation the Spirit of God, which had been in Elijah, went ahead as a herald in John, a prophet of your race, after whom no other prophet has appeared among you. And sitting by the river Jordan, he cried out: "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance; but He who is stronger than I will come, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse His threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into the barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire." And this very prophet was cast into prison by your king Herod; and when his birthday was being celebrated, the daughter of his brother, dancing to his satisfaction, was ordered to ask for whatever she might want. Then the girl’s mother prompted her to ask for the head of John, who was in prison; and upon her request, the king sent and ordered John’s head to be brought on a platter. Therefore, ^C our Christ also, while He still walked on earth, said to those who asserted that it was necessary for Elijah to come before Christ: "Elijah indeed will come and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished." And it is written that then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.

Then Trypho said: It seems also to be contrary to my opinion that you say the prophetic Spirit of God, which was in Elijah, was also in John.

To this I replied: Does it not seem to you that the same thing happened in the case of Joshua the son of Nun, who took over the task of leading the people after Moses? For when God Himself ordered Moses to lay his hands upon Joshua, ^D

^A God says: "And I will take of the spirit that is in you, and will put it upon him." ^B And he said: "Certainly."

I said, "Therefore, just as when Moses was still among men, God transferred part of the spirit that was in Moses to Joshua, so too was God able to transfer it from Elijah to John; so that, just as Christ appeared without glory in His first advent, thus also the spirit that was in Elijah, always remaining pure—which is the spirit of Christ—might be understood to have come in an inglorious first advent. For it is said that God wars against Amalek by a secret hand, and you will not deny that Amalek fell. But if it is said that Amalek is only to be engaged in the glorious advent of Christ, what fruit will there be of the Scripture which says: 'God wars against Amalek by a secret hand'? Can you understand that a secret power of God was in the crucified Christ, whom the demons, and all the principalities and powers of the earth simply, fear?"

^B 50. Then Trypho said: "You seem to me to have come from constant arguments with many people about all disputed matters, and therefore to be prepared to answer everything that is asked of you. Answer me, then, first, how you can demonstrate that there is another God besides the Creator of the universe; and then you will demonstrate that He also deigned to be born of the Virgin."

I said, "Allow me first to speak a few words from the prophecy of Isaiah, which were said concerning the mission on which this very John the Baptist and prophet went forth before our Lord Jesus Christ."

He said, "I allow it."

I said, "Isaiah therefore prophesied thus concerning the mission of John: 'And Hezekiah said to Isaiah: Good is the word of the Lord which He has spoken: let there be peace and justice in my days.'" ^{C D}

'" ^A Comfort the people, O priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem, and comfort her, for her humiliation is fulfilled. Her sin is forgiven, for she has received from the hand of the Lord double for her sins. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the ways of the Lord; make straight the paths of our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and all crooked things shall be made straight, and the rough ways into smooth paths; and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God; for the Lord has spoken. A voice saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass has withered, and its flower has fallen, but the word of the Lord abides forever. Go up upon a high mountain, you who bring good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who bring good tidings to Jerusalem. Lift up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah: Behold your God! Behold, the Lord comes with strength, and His arm comes with dominion. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. As a shepherd He will feed His flock, and with His arm He will gather the lambs, and will comfort her that is with young. Who has measured the water with his hand, and the heaven with a span, and all the earth with a handful? Who has weighed the mountains with a scale, and the glens in a balance? Who has known the mind of the Lord, and who has been His counselor, that he might instruct Him? Or with whom did He take counsel, and he instructed Him? Or who showed Him judgment? Or who showed Him the way of understanding? All the nations are as a drop from a bucket, and are counted as the turning of a balance, and shall be counted as spittle. But Lebanon is not sufficient ^C for burning, and the beasts are not sufficient for a whole burnt offering, and all the nations are nothing, and were counted as nothing.

51. Now when I had finished, Trypho said: "All the words of the prophecy which you bring forward are ambiguous, O man, and they possess nothing that can settle that which you wish to prove."

I replied: If indeed, O Trypho, the prophets in your race had not ceased and come to an end after this John, it is clear that what I say concerning Jesus Christ might perhaps seem to you ambiguous. But if John came first, crying to men to repent, and Christ, appearing to him as he sat by the river Jordan, ^D put an end to his prophesying and baptizing; and if He Himself also began to preach the Gospel, saying that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and that He must suffer many things from the scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again, and that He would afterward—

again come to Jerusalem, and then eat and drink with his disciples; ^A and that in the time between his comings, as I have anticipated, priests and false prophets would arise in his name, which indeed it is clear have come to pass. How, then, can you still doubt, when you have the work itself to convince you? I said beforehand that there would no longer be a prophet in your race, and that men might recognize that the new covenant which had long been preached by God—that it would be ordained—was already then present, that is to say, He Himself being the Christ. ^B He spoke to them thus: "The law and the prophets were until John the Baptist; from that time the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. And if you are willing to receive it, he himself is Elias who was to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."

52. Jacob, too, predicted the two advents of Christ, and it was also predicted by the patriarch Jacob that there would be two advents of Christ, and that in the first He would be subject to suffering, and that after His coming there would be neither prophet nor king in your race (for so I went on), and that the Gentiles, believing in the suffering Christ, would look for Him to come again. ^C And for this cause, I said, the Holy Spirit spoke these things in parables and obscurely. I added that He had spoken thus: "Judas, your brethren have praised you; your hands shall be on the back of your enemies; the sons of your father shall worship you. A lion’s whelp is Judah; from the shoot, my son, you have gone up. Having lain down, he slept as a lion, and as a whelp; who shall rouse him? A ruler shall not fail from Judah, and a leader from his thighs, until that which is reserved for Him shall come; and He shall be the expectation of the Gentiles, binding his foal to the vine, and the foal of his ass to the vine-tendril. ^D He shall wash his garment in wine, and his clothing in the blood of the grape. His eyes are gladsome from wine, and his teeth are white as milk." Since, therefore, you will not be able to say, nor even venture to assert impudently, that there ever ceased to be a prophet or a ruler in your race from the time it began until this Jesus Christ both was born and suffered—for indeed, Herodes, after whom He suffered,

^A was an Ascalonite, as you yourselves say—you nevertheless confess that a high priest existed in your race. So even then, when you had one who offered gifts and performed the other legal observances according to the law of Moses, and when prophets had existed by succession down to John—just as also when your people were led away to Babylon, the land having been ravaged and the sacred vessels carried off—a prophet, who was lord and leader and ruler of your people, did not fail from among you. For the Spirit who was in the prophets anointed and appointed your kings. ^B But after the manifestation and death of Jesus, our Christ, within your race, nowhere has a prophet existed, nor does one exist; indeed, you have even ceased to obey your own king, and furthermore your land has been made desolate and left like a watchman's hut in a vineyard. And the saying of the word through Jacob, "And He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified mysteriously His two comings, and that the nations would believe in Him, which you can see has now at last come to pass. For we who are from all the nations, having become God-fearing and righteous through faith in Christ, await His coming again.

53. And that which is said, "Binding his foal to the vine, and to the vine-branch the foal of his ass," was a foreshadowing of the works done by Him during His first coming, and likewise of the nations who were to believe in Him. ^C For these were as a foal unharnessed and lacking a yoke upon its neck, until this Christ came and, having sent through His disciples, made them His disciples; and having borne the yoke of His word, they submitted their backs to endure all things for the sake of the blessings expected and promised by Him. And truly, when our Lord Jesus Christ was about to enter Jerusalem, He commanded His disciples to bring to Him a certain ass bound along with its foal at the entrance of a village called Bethphage, as He was about to enter into Jerusalem, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to bring them to Him; and having mounted, He entered into Jerusalem. How this had been prophesied explicitly as to be done by Christ, [we have already stated.] ^D

^A And when all these things have come to pass and are demonstrated from the holy Scriptures, you still remain hard-hearted. For this, too, was prophesied by Zacharias, one of the twelve, as something that was to happen, in these words: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: Behold, thy King shall come to thee, righteous and saving, and meek, and poor, sitting upon a beast of burden and a foal of an ass." ^B Now, that the prophetic Spirit should name specifically both the beast of burden—which along with her foal had been taken and used—and then also that which I have already mentioned, that He commanded His disciples to bring both animals, was a pre-announcement of those who, from your synagogue, along with those from the nations, were to believe in Him. For, just as the unbroken foal was a sign for those from the nations, so the beast of burden was for those of your people; for you have the Law, which was promulgated through the prophets, laid upon you. But it was also foretold by the prophet Zacharias that this very Christ would be stricken, and His disciples scattered; which also came to pass. For after He was crucified, the disciples who were with Him were scattered until He rose ^C from the dead, and persuaded them that it had been so foretold concerning Him, that He was to suffer thus; and they, having been persuaded and having gone out into the whole world, taught these things. Hence we also are confirmed in the faith and instruction of Him; since we draw our assurance both from the prophets, and from those who, throughout the world, are seen to have become worshipers of God in the name of Him who was crucified. Now the things said by Zacharias are as follows: "O sword, awake against my shepherd, and against the man of my people, saith the Lord of hosts. Strike the shepherd, and his sheep shall be scattered."

54. Regarding what has been recorded by Moses and prophesied by the patriarch Jacob, "He shall wash his garment in wine, and his vesture in the blood of the grape," ^D it signified that by His blood He would wash those who believe in Him. For the Holy Spirit called those who through Him have received the remission of sins His garment; among whom He is always present in power, and shall be present manifestly in His second coming. But the Scripture saying "the blood of the grape" declares, through this artifice, that Christ indeed has blood, but not from human seed, but from the power of God. For in the same way that [the blood of the grape was not born of man, but…]

^A God is not born of man, so too it foretold that the blood of Christ would not be from the human race, but from the power of God. And this prophecy, sirs, which I was mentioning, demonstrates that Christ is not a man begotten of men in the common manner of men.

55. *Trypho requests that Christ be proven God, but without metaphor. Justin promises.* — Then Trypho replied: We shall keep your interpretation in mind, even if you strengthen this question with other arguments. But for now, returning to where the discourse digressed, demonstrate to us that another God, besides the Creator of the universe, is acknowledged by the prophetic Spirit; taking care, however, not to mention the sun and the moon, which it is written were granted by God to the nations for them to worship as gods. And by using this manner of speech, the prophets often say in a certain way: "Your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords," often adding, "the great and mighty and terrible." For these things are not said as if they were gods, but as the word teaching us that, among those who are considered gods and lords, the one who is truly God, who created all things, is the only Lord. For in order to refute even this, the Holy Spirit said through holy David: "The gods of the nations, ^B who are considered gods, are idols of demons, and not gods." And he adds a curse upon those who make them and worship them.

Then I said: I was not intending, Trypho, to bring forward these demonstrations, by which I know that those who worship these and similar things are condemned, but rather such things as no one will be able to speak against. To you, however, they will seem strange, although they are read by you daily; so that even from this it may be clear to you that, on account of your wickedness, God has hidden from you the ability to understand the wisdom which is in His words, except for a few to whom, according to the grace of His great mercy, as Isaiah said, He has left a seed for salvation, so that your race might not perish entirely, as [did that] of the Sodomites and Gomorrahs. Therefore, pay attention to those things which I am about to recall from the holy Scriptures, which ^C indeed will not need to be explained, but only heard.

56. *The God who was seen by Abraham is distinguished from God the Father.* — Moses, therefore, that blessed and faithful servant of God, declares that He is God who appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre with the two angels who were sent with Him by another—Him who remains forever in the heavens, and who has never appeared to anyone, ^D or [at any time] spoken by Himself, whom we understand to be the Maker of all and the Father; thus indeed…

^A he says: “And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of his tent at midday. And lifting up his eyes, he saw; and behold, three men were standing over him; and seeing [them] he ran to meet them from the door of his tent; and he bowed himself to the earth and said,” and the rest up to: “And Abraham arose in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord, and he looked towards the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards the face of the land round about, and he saw; and behold, a flame went up from the earth like the smoke of a furnace.” And having ceased to speak further, I asked them if they had understood what had been said.

But they replied that they had understood, but that the words brought forward contained nothing to show that anyone other than the Creator of all is God or Lord, or that it was spoken by the Holy Spirit.

And I again: “I shall endeavor, inasmuch as you understand the Scriptures, to persuade you [of the truth of] what I say, namely, that there is, and is called, another God and Lord under the Creator of all, who is also called an Angel, because He announces to men whatever the Creator of all—above whom there is no other God—wishes to announce to them.” And recounting again the things said before, I asked Trypho: “Does it seem to you that God appeared to Abraham under the oak of Mamre, as the Scripture says?”

He replied: “Certainly.”

“And was one,” I said, “of those three whom the prophetic Spirit calls men and declares to have appeared to Abraham?”

He said: “By no means; but God appeared to him before the three appeared. But those three whom the Scripture calls men, were angels; two of whom were sent for the destruction of Sodom, but one ^B announcing to Sarah that she would have a child for which [purpose] he had been sent, and having finished it, departed.”

“How then,” I said, “does that one of the three who was in the tent, and who said: ‘At this time I will return to you, and Sarah shall have a son,’ appear to have returned after the son was born to Sarah, and the prophetic Word declares that He is God also in that place? But that what I am saying may be clear and manifest to you, listen to the things [spoken] by Moses.” ^{C D}

And the text runs thus: “Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian handmaid, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with Isaac her son, and she said to Abraham: Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son Isaac. And the matter seemed very grievous to Abraham concerning his son. And God said to Abraham: Let it not be grievous to you concerning the boy and the handmaid. All things that Sarah may say to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Have you understood, then, that He who at that time under the oak tree said that He would return, since He foreknew that it was necessary for Him to counsel Abraham concerning the things which Sarah was contending for, has returned, as is written, and is God, as the words declare which were spoken in this way: “And God said to Abraham: Let it not be grievous unto thee concerning the boy and the handmaid?” This I asked.

Trypho answered: Assuredly; yet you have by no means proven from this that there is another God besides Him who appeared to Abraham, and who also appeared to the other patriarchs and prophets, but you have ^B convinced us that we thought incorrectly when we supposed that those three who were in the tent with Abraham were all angels.

And I again: If, therefore, I were not able to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves that one of those three is God and is called an angel, because He announces, as I previously stated, to whomsoever the Maker of all things, God, wishes the things from Himself to be announced, it would be reasonable for you to hold the same opinion as your whole nation regarding Him who appeared to Abraham on earth in the likeness of a man, not otherwise than the two accompanying angels, and who was God before the world was created.

Entirely so, said he; for thus have we held until now.

And I again: Returning to the Scriptures, I will endeavor to persuade you ^C that this One, who is said to be seen by Abraham and by Jacob and by Moses, and is called God by the Scripture, is other than the God who created all things—other, I say, in number, though not in opinion. For I maintain that He never did anything except what the Maker of the world, above whom there is no other God, wished Him to do and to speak.

Then Trypho: Prove, therefore, that this is the case, so that we may assent to this also. For we do not suspect you of saying that He has done or spoken anything contrary to the will of the ^D Creator of the universe.

^A I said: "The Scripture, therefore, which I have brought forward, will make this clear to you. It is as follows: 'The sun had gone forth upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor; and the Lord rained upon Sodom sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew these cities and all the surrounding region.'"

The fourth of those who remained with Trypho said: "Therefore, must we not necessarily say, concerning the two angels who descended into Sodom, whom the discourse through Moses mentioned, and whom it called 'Lord' [as one], ^B that besides this one, there is also the God Himself who appeared to Abraham?"

I said: "It is not for this reason alone that one ought to confess, in every way, that another is called Lord by the Holy Spirit besides the One who is understood to be the Creator of the universe. Nor is this [taught] only through Moses, but also through David. For it has been said by him also: ^C 'The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet,' as I have previously mentioned. And again in other words: 'Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the sceptre of your kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness more than your fellows.' If, therefore, you say that another is called God and Lord by the Holy Spirit besides the Father of all ^D and His Christ, answer me; for I promise to prove to you from the Scriptures themselves that it is not one of the two angels who descended into Sodom that the Scripture called Lord, but that it is He who was with them, who is also called God and who appeared to Abraham."

And Trypho said: "Demonstrate this; for as you see, the day is advancing, and we are not prepared for such dangerous answers, since we have never heard anyone investigate, or seek, or demonstrate these things; and we have not heard you…"

^A refer all things to the Scriptures; for you strive to draw your demonstrations from them, and you declare that there is no God above the Maker of all things.

Then I said: "Know, then, that the Scripture says: 'And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I indeed bear a child? But I have grown old. Is any word impossible with God? At this time I will return to you at the proper time, and Sara shall have a son.' And after a little: 'And the men, rising up from there, looked towards the face of Sodom and Gomorrah; and Abraham walked with them, accompanying them. The Lord said: Shall I hide from Abraham my servant what I am doing?' And again, after a few words, it says thus: 'The Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied, and their sins are very great. I will go down, therefore, and see whether they are being consumed according to their cry which comes to me; and if not, that I may know.' And the men, turning from there, went to Sodom. But Abraham was standing before the Lord; and drawing near, Abraham said: Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked?' And what follows—for it seems to me that it is not necessary to write the same things again, since I have already written them all; but it is necessary to speak those things from which I have made my demonstration to Trypho and his companions. ^B Then, therefore, I came to the things that follow, in which these things are said: 'And the Lord departed when he finished speaking to Abraham; and he returned to his own place. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening. And Lot was sitting by the gate of Sodom,' and what follows, likewise, until: 'And the men, stretching out their hands, drew Lot to themselves into the house, and shut the door of the house;' and the following, until: 'And the angels took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife, and the hands of his daughters, in that the Lord spared him. And it came to pass when they had led them forth outside, they said: Save, save your soul! Do not look behind you, nor stay in all the surrounding region; be saved to the mountain, lest you be caught at the same time.' And Lot said to them: 'I pray, Lord, because your servant has found mercy before you, and you have magnified your righteousness, which you are doing towards me so that my soul may live; but I cannot be saved in the mountain, ^C lest the evils overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near to flee to, and it is small. I shall be saved there, as it is small; and my soul shall live.' And he said to him: 'Behold, I have admired your face, even in this word, so as not to overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Hasten, therefore, to escape there; for I shall not be able to perform the deed until you arrive there.' Therefore he called the name of the city Segor. The sun went forth upon the earth; and Lot entered into Segor. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah ^D

sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he destroyed these cities, and the whole surrounding country." And again, after a pause, I added: "And now, friends, have you not perceived that one of the three, who is both God and Lord, and who ministers to Him who is in the heavens, is Lord of the two angels? For when they had gone [further] ^A to Sodom, He remained behind and conversed with Abraham concerning the things recorded by Moses. And when He too had departed after the conversation, Abraham returned to his place. But when He arrived, it was no longer two angels who conversed with Lot, but He Himself, as the word declares, and He is Lord, having received from the Lord who is in heaven—that is, from the Creator of all things—[the authority] to inflict upon Sodom and Gomorrah the things which the word recounts in this manner: "The Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire from the Lord out of heaven."

57. And Trypho, when I had ceased, said: "That the Scripture compels us to acknowledge this is manifest; but that it is worthy of inquiry concerning what is said, that they ate the things prepared and set before them by Abraham, this too you would admit."

I answered: "That it is written that they ate is true; but if we should understand it as having been said of the three, and not of those two only, who were truly angels and are nourished in those heavens, as is clear to us, although they are not nourished by the same food as we men use—for concerning the food of manna, on which your fathers lived in the wilderness, the Scripture speaks thus, that they ate angels' food—I would say that the word which speaks of them as having eaten would express it just as we ourselves might speak of fire, that it 'devoured everything,' but not that we must necessarily understand this as though they ate by chewing with teeth and jaws. ^B So that not even here should we be at a loss, if we possess even a slight knowledge of tropes."

And Trypho: "These things can also be smoothed out and explained in this way, if the manner of eating be distinguished, in that it is written that they ate what had been prepared by Abraham. Wherefore now proceed to explain to us how this God who appeared to Abraham, and who is the minister of the God who is the Creator of all things, being born of a Virgin, became a man subject to the same sufferings as all others, as you previously stated."

I replied: "Allow me, Trypho, to first bring together some other proofs for this head through many arguments, so that this also may be examined by you, and after this I will render the explanation you request."

And he said: "As it seems good to you, do so; for you will be doing a thing very much desired by me."

58. And I said: "I am about to recite to you the Scriptures, and I have no desire to show off a display of words for the sake of art alone; ^D for I possess no such power;

but only the grace granted to me by God to understand His Scriptures; of which grace I invite all, freely and abundantly, to become partakers, that I may not be condemned in the judgment which the God who created the universe is about to bring through my Lord Jesus Christ. ^A And Trypho said: "You do this worthily indeed of religion; but you seem to me to be using dissimulation when you say that you do not possess the power of artistic speech."

I answered again: "Since it seems so to you, let it hold; as for me, I am persuaded that what I have said is true. But that I may rather proceed to the remaining demonstrations, pay attention."

He said: "Speak."

And I said: "Again it is written by Moses, brothers, that this same one who appeared to the patriarchs is called God, and is called Angel and Lord, so that you may know from these things that He ministers to the Father of the universe, ^B as you have already agreed, and may hold this firmly persuaded by many arguments. The divine word, therefore, relating through Moses those things which concern Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, speaks thus: 'And it came to pass when the sheep were conceiving in the womb, and I saw them with my eyes in a dream. And behold, the goats and the rams leaping upon the sheep and the goats, white-spotted, and variegated, and ash-colored, and speckled. And the angel of God said to me in a dream, Jacob, Jacob. And I said, What is it, Lord? And he said, Look with your eyes, and see the goats and the rams leaping upon the sheep and the goats, white-spotted, and variegated, and ash-colored, and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban does to you. I am the God who appeared to you in the place of God, where you anointed a pillar for me there, and vowed a vow there. Now therefore arise and depart ^C from this land, and go to the land of your birth, and I will be with you.' And again, speaking of Jacob himself in other words, it says: 'And rising that night, he took his two wives and his two handmaids and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of Jabbok; and he took them and crossed the torrent and caused all his own to cross over. But Jacob was left alone; and an angel wrestled with him until morning. And he saw that he could not prevail against him; and he touched the breadth of his thigh, and the breadth of Jacob's thigh became numb while he wrestled with him. And he said to him, Let me go; for the dawn has ascended. But he said, I will not let you go unless you bless me.'" ^D

' ^A And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." And he said to him, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have prevailed with God, and with men you shall be powerful." And Jacob asked and said, "Tell me your name." And he said, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of that place, "Vision of God"—for, "I saw God face to face, and my soul rejoiced." ^B And again, in other passages speaking about the same Jacob, it says this: "And Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, which is Bethel, he and all the people that were with him; and he built there an altar and called the name of that place Bethel; for there God appeared to him when he was fleeing from the face of Esau his brother. And Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and was buried below Bethel under the oak; and Jacob called the name of it The Oak of Mourning. And God appeared to Jacob again in Luz, when he came from Mesopotamia of Syria, and blessed him; and God said to him, Your name shall no longer ^C be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." He is called God, and He is God, and shall be. And when all had nodded their heads, I said: "And the accounts which tell how He appeared to him when he was fleeing from his brother Esau—this same one being both angel, and God, and Lord, and having appeared to Abraham in the form of a man, and having wrestled with this same Jacob in the form of a man—I think it necessary to present to you; and they are of this sort: 'And Jacob went out from the Well of the Oath, and set out for Charran; and he reached a place and slept there, for the sun had set; and he took from the stones of the place and put them at his head, and slept in that place, and dreamed. And behold, a ladder set up on the earth, ^D whose head reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord was standing over it; and He said, I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and of Isaac; do not fear; the land on which you are sleeping, I will give it to you and to your seed; and your seed shall be as the sand of the earth, and it shall spread abroad to the sea, and to the south, and to the north, and to the east; and in you and in your seed all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed. And behold, I am with you, keeping you in all the way wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land; for I will not forsake you until I have done all things that I have spoken to you. And Jacob awoke from his sleep, and said, Because the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it; and he was afraid and said, How terrible is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose in the morning, and took the stone which he had placed at his head; and he set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it, and Jacob called the name of the place, House of God; and Ulam-maus was the name of the city before.'"

^A 59. When I had said this, "Bear with me," I said, "while I demonstrate to you from the book of Exodus how this same one, who is both angel and God and Lord and man and human, who appeared to Abraham and Isaac ^B and shone forth in the flame of fire from the bush, spoke with Moses." And as they willingly, without annoyance, and readily asserted that they would listen, I continued: "These things are in the book which is inscribed Exodus: 'And it came to pass after those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel groaned because of their works,' and the rest up to the point: 'Go, gather the elders of Israel and you shall say to them: The Lord God of your fathers appeared to me, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, saying, I will surely visit you, and all that has happened to you in Egypt.' And to these things I added: 'Do you understand, sirs, that the angel whom Moses says spoke to him in the flame of fire, while being God, declares to Moses that he is the God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob?'"

60. Trypho replied: "We do not understand this from the words you have recited, but that the angel who was seen in the flame of fire was one, and God who spoke with Moses was another; so that both angel and God were present together in that vision."

I answered again: "Even if this were the case then, my friends, that both an angel and God were present together in the vision that occurred to Moses, as indeed has been demonstrated to you by the words already recorded ^C, it is not the Creator of the universe who is the God who said to Moses that He is the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, but the one who, as has been demonstrated to you, appeared to Abraham and to Jacob, serving the will of the Creator of the universe, and in the judgment of the Sodomites also serving His counsel; so that even if, as you say, there were two—both angel and God—no one who is not entirely bereft of mind would dare to say that the Creator of the universe and Father of all, having abandoned everything above the heavens, appeared in a small ^D portion of the earth."

Trypho said: "Since it has already been demonstrated that the one who appeared to Abraham and was called God and Lord, received from that Lord who is in the heavens the things which He brought upon the land of Sodom, now, even if an angel had been present with the God who appeared to Moses, the God who

spoke from the bush, we must understand that this was not the God who is the creator of all things, but ^A that One who also appeared and was shown to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, who is also called the Angel of the God who is the creator of all things and is understood to be so, because he reports to mankind the commands from the Father and creator of all.

I then said again: But I shall now demonstrate, O Trypho, that in the vision of Moses, this very same one, who is both called angel and is God, appeared and spoke with Moses. For so the Scripture says: ^B "And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the bush; and he sees that the bush burns with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said: I will go over and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the Lord saw that he was drawing near to see, the Lord called to him out of the bush." Therefore, just as the Scripture says that the angel who appeared to Jacob in his sleep was the one who spoke, and then that the very angel who appeared in his sleep had said to him, "I am the God who appeared to thee when thou wast fleeing from the face of Esau thy brother;" and in the case of Abraham, in the judgment of Sodom, it states that the Lord brought the judgment from the Lord who is in the heavens; so also in this place, the Scripture, saying that the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses, and afterwards indicating that He is the Lord and God, does not signify any other than Him whom it indicates, through the many testimonies already brought forward, as ministering to the God who is above the world, above whom there is no other.

61. I shall also give you another testimony from the Scriptures, my friends, that God ^C has begotten as a beginning, before all created things, a certain rational power from Himself, which is also called by the Holy Spirit the glory of the Lord, sometimes the Son, sometimes Wisdom, sometimes the Angel, sometimes God, and sometimes Lord and Word; and sometimes He calls Himself Commander-in-chief, appearing in the form of a man to Joshua the son of Nun. For He has all these names from His serving the Father's will, and from His having been begotten by the will of the Father. But such is... ^D

^A what we see happening even in our own case; for when we utter a word, we beget a word, yet not by abscission, so as to diminish the word that is in us by our uttering it. And just as we see in the case of fire, which is another fire even though it is not diminished, that from which it is kindled remaining as it was, and it, the thing kindled from it, also appearing as something that exists without diminishing that from which it was kindled; so the Word of Wisdom itself, being this God begotten of the Father of all things ^B and being Word, and Wisdom, and Power, and Glory of Him who begot Him, will bear witness for me, speaking these things through Solomon: "If I report to you the things that happen daily, I shall remember to count those from of old. The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works. Before the age He founded me in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, before the fountains of waters went forth, before the mountains were settled; but before all the hills He begets me. God made the region, and the uninhabited, and the topmost places inhabited under heaven. When He was preparing the heaven, I was present with Him; and when He was marking out His throne ^C upon the winds; when He made the clouds above strong, and when He made the fountains of the abyss secure; when He made the foundations of the earth strong, I was with Him as one arranging them. I was the one in whom He delighted; and daily I rejoiced before His face at all times, because He rejoiced at the completion of the inhabited world, and rejoiced in the sons of men. Now, therefore, O child, listen to me. Blessed is the man who will listen to me, and the man who will keep my ways, watching at my doors daily, keeping the posts of my entry. For my exits are the exits of life, and a will is prepared by the Lord. But they who sin against me act impiously against their own souls: and they who hate me love death." ^D

But he says, "a begotten principle before all works." "The principle," he says, "before all works is this offspring itself begotten of God." Tatian, in explaining the Word's advance to the creation of the world, uses exactly the same examples and sentiments as Justin in this place. Yet if one retains these words, they should be written with a mark of interrogation, as in the London edition. Moreover, the generation of which the martyr speaks is here also that which he constantly attributes to the Word as He proceeds to the creation of the world. [alt-version omitted]

^A Moreover, that same thing, O friends, the divine word has proclaimed through Moses, indicating to us that God speaks in this very sense regarding the creation of man, saying these things: “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the reptiles that creep upon the earth.” And God made man: in the image of God He made him; male and female He made them. And God blessed them, saying: “Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it.” And so that you might not, by distorting the previously mentioned words, say those things which your teachers say—either that God was saying to Himself, “Let us make,” just as we, when we are about to make something, often say to ourselves, “Let us make,” or that God was saying “Let us make” to the elements, that is, to the earth and the like, from which we understand man to have been made—I shall again relate the words spoken by Moses himself, from which we can indisputably recognize that He was conversing with someone who was both another in number and rational. And these are the words: ^B “And God said: Behold, Adam has become as one of us, to know good and evil.” Since, therefore, He said, “as one of us,” and declared a number of those who are together, and at least two, I would not say that the heresy which is called among you is true, nor can its teachers prove—that He was speaking to angels or that the human body was the work of angels. But this is the offspring who was truly brought forth from the Father and was with the Father before all created things, and with Him the Father converses, as the Word manifested through ^C Solomon.

^A I have shown that this same one is the Wisdom called by Solomon, and through the revelation made to Joshua the son of Nun, I have spoken of that which he himself declared. But so that what I am saying may become clear to you from these things also, listen to the words taken from the Book of Joshua: "And it came to pass, when Joshua was in Jericho, he looked up with his eyes and saw a man standing opposite him. And Joshua went up and said to him: Are you on our side, or on the side of our adversaries? And he said to him: I am the prince of the host of the Lord; I have now arrived. And Joshua fell on his face to the ground and said to him: Lord, what do you command your servant? And the prince of the Lord's host said to Joshua: Loosen the sandals from your feet; for the place on which you stand, the ground is holy. And Jericho was closed up and fortified, and no one went out from it. And the Lord said to Joshua: Behold, I deliver into your hands Jericho, and its king who is in it, and the men who are mighty in strength."

Trypho said: "Your demonstration is very powerful, my friend, and supported by many proofs. What remains, therefore, is for you to demonstrate that he did not refuse to be born as a man from the Virgin according to the will of His Father, and to be crucified, and to die; and it must be clearly shown that, after these things, having risen, He ascended into heaven."

I replied: "This, too, has already been demonstrated by me, sirs, in the previously recounted words of the prophets, which I shall now recite again for your sake and, by explaining them, I will attempt to bring you to an agreement on this matter as well. For the word which Isaiah spoke, 'Who shall tell of His generation? For His life is taken from the earth,' does it not seem to you to have been said of Him who is declared to have been delivered to death by God on account of the iniquities of the people, signifying that He does not have His lineage from men? Concerning whom Moses also, as I previously stated, when speaking mystically, said that He would wash His robe in the blood of the grape, since His blood was not generated from human seed, but by the will of God. And the words spoken by David: 'In the splendors of your saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you. The Lord swore and will not repent: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,' ^C do they not signify to you that it was ordained of old that He would also be ^D born from a human womb by the God and Father of all?

And in another place, speaking to the same persons previously mentioned: 'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; a rod of equity is the rod of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity; therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Myrrh, and stacte, and cassia from thy garments, from the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. Daughters of kings in thy honour. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; and the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship him' (Ps. XLIV, 7-12). That He is indeed worthy of worship, and is both God and Christ, being witnessed to by Him who performed these things, these words also expressly signify. And that the word of God addresses those who believe in Him, as being one soul, one synagogue, and one Church, as a daughter—the Church which has been formed out of His name and has participated in His name (for we are all called Christians)—is likewise plainly declared by these words, which teach us to forget also the ancient customs of our fathers, being thus: 'Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear, and forget thy people and thy father's house; and the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and thou shalt worship him.' ^B

64. To the Jew who denies that He is in need of this Christ, Justin brings forward other testimonies.

Trypho: Let this be yours, who are from the Gentiles, that He is acknowledged as Lord and Christ and God, as the Scriptures signify, and that you have all even been named Christians from His name. But for us, who are worshippers of God, by whom even this One Himself was made, there is no need to confess or worship Him.

To this I replied: If, Trypho, I were of a mind for contentiousness and light-mindedness like yourselves, I would no longer continue to share words with you; for you do not prepare yourselves to understand the things that are said, but only sharpen yourselves to say something. But now, because I fear the judgment of God, I do not hasten to make a pronouncement regarding any of those things ^C which from ^D the Scriptures—because I suspect that you have designated the author of them, but later preferred to interpret them with Lango concerning the Creator of all things. Do you suppose, sirs, that we could ever have been able to understand these things in the Scriptures, if we had not received grace to understand them by the will of Him who willed them? of Him who willed them, of Him who performed these things... is the true race, if... 158: For Christ, being the firstborn of every creature and the beginning, has again become the head of another race, which has been reborn through Him. See note 110.

^A I do not prejudge anyone from your race, whether or not he is of the number of those who can be saved by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth. Therefore, although you do not act rightly, I shall proceed to answer whatever has been proposed or said against me by you; I do the same toward everyone, without exception, of every race of men who wish to discourse or inquire of me concerning these matters. If, therefore, you had turned your minds to the things which I have brought forward from the Scriptures, you would certainly have understood that those who are saved from your race are saved through Him, and are in His portion; and, evidently, you would not have asked me about this. But I will again state what I previously brought forward from David, and I beseech you to apply yourselves to understanding, and not merely to acting evilly and seeking to contend against it. The words which David speaks are these: ^B "The Lord has reigned; ^C let the peoples be angry; He who sits upon the Cherubim; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Sion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them confess to Thy great name, for it is terrible and holy; and the honor of the king loves judgment. Thou hast prepared uprightness; judgment and justice in Jacob Thou hast wrought. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at the footstool of His feet, for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They were calling upon the Lord, and He was hearing them; in a pillar of cloud He was speaking to them; because they were keeping His testimonies and His commandments, which He gave to them."

And there are other words, also foretold by David, which you foolishly contend were spoken concerning Solomon because they are inscribed to Solomon—from which, however, it is proven that they were not spoken of Solomon, and that He existed even before the sun, and that those from your people who are saved will be saved through Him. These are the words: "O God, give Thy judgment to the King, and Thy justice to the Son of the King. He shall judge Thy people in justice, and Thy poor in judgment. Let the mountains receive peace for the people, and the hills justice. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shall save the sons of the poor, and shall humble the slanderer; and He shall remain with the sun, and before the moon unto generations of generations," and the rest up to: "Before the sun remains His name, and in Him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed; all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who does wondrous things alone; and blessed be the name of His glory for ever and ever; and all the earth shall be filled with His glory. So be it, so be it!"

^A Recall also the other words which I said were spoken by David—to the effect that he was to come from the ends of the heavens, and that his return to the same places was signified—so that you may recognize that He who came down from heaven and became man among men is God; and also that he is to come again, whom those who pierced him are to see and lament. These are those words: "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of His hands. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night declares knowledge. There are no speeches nor words in which their voices are not heard. Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun He has set His tabernacle; and he, as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, will exult as a giant to run his course. His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his course as far as the end of heaven; and there is none who shall hide himself from his heat."

65. Then Trypho said: "Moved by the authority of so many Scriptures, I am at a loss in my mind as to what I should say regarding that Scripture in which God, through Isaiah, declares that He will not give His glory to any other, saying thus: 'I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory I will not give to another, nor my virtues.'" ^B

I said: "If you spoke these words simply and without malice, Trypho, and remained silent, neither prefixing what comes before them nor adding what follows, you may be forgiven. But if you have done so on the grounds that you thought you could drive the argument into such difficulties as to make me say that the Scriptures are contrary to one another, you have erred. For I would never dare to think or say such a thing. On the contrary, if any Scripture is proposed that seems to be of such a nature and provides a pretext as if it were contrary to another, ^C being fully persuaded that no Scripture is contrary to another, I will rather admit that I do not understand what is said, and I will endeavor to persuade those who suspect that the Scriptures are in conflict with one another so that they think the same as I do. But with what intent you have posed this question, God knows. I, however, will bring the Scripture to your memory just as it is clearly written, so that even from this you may know that God gives His glory to His Christ alone.

"I will take up a few words, sirs, which are in connection with those mentioned by Trypho, and those which are similarly joined in sequence. For I will not cite them from another passage, but as they are joined and coherent as one; and you, give your attention to me. They are these: 'Thus says the Lord God who made the heaven and fixed it, who established the earth and those things in it, and who gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it. I, the Lord God, have called you in righteousness, and I will hold your hand, and will strengthen you; and I have given you as a covenant of the race, for a light to the nations, to open the eyes of the blind, to lead out the bound from their bonds, and those sitting in darkness from the house of prison. I am the Lord God; this is my name; my glory I will not give to another, ^D

nor my virtues to graven images. The things from the beginning, behold, are come; new things which I announce, and before they are announced, they are made manifest to you. Sing to the Lord a new song; his dominion is from the end of the earth. You that go down to the sea, and those who sail always, the islands and those who dwell in them. Let the desert rejoice, and the villages thereof, and the houses, and the dwellers in Cedar shall rejoice, and they who dwell in the rock from the summit of the mountains shall cry out; they shall give glory to God; his virtues they shall proclaim in the islands. The Lord God of hosts shall go forth, he shall crush war, he shall stir up zeal, and shall cry out against his enemies with strength. ^C Having recited these, I said to them: "Have you understood, friends, that God declares that he will give glory to Him whom he has established as a light for the nations, and not to any other; but not, as Trypho said, that God keeps the glory for himself?" And Trypho answered: "We have understood this also; finish, therefore, the remaining parts of the discourse."

66. ^D I then resumed the discourse which I had broken off at the beginning, that it was prophesied by Isaiah that he was to be born of a Virgin, and that he was born through a Virgin, and I recited the prophecy itself again in these words: "And the Lord continued to speak to Achaz saying: 'Ask for yourself a sign from the Lord your God, in the depth or in the height.' And Achaz said: 'I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.' And Isaiah said: 'Hear now, O house of David; is it a small thing for you to strive with men? And how do you strive with the Lord? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bring forth a son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel; butter and honey shall he eat; *before he knows or prefers evils, he shall choose the good. For before the child knows evil or good, he disobeys evil to choose the good.* For before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall receive the strength of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians, and the land shall be taken, which you bitterly bear, from before the face of the two kings. But God shall bring upon you, and upon your people, and upon your father's house, days that have not yet come since the day when Ephraim took away from Judah, the king of the Assyrians.'" And I added: "That indeed no one in the race of Abraham according to the flesh has ever been born of a Virgin, nor is said to have been born, except this Christ of ours, who..."

^A is our Christ, is manifest to all. But Trypho replied: "The Scripture does not have, 'Behold, the Virgin shall conceive, and shall bear a son,' but, 'Behold, the young woman shall conceive, and shall bear a son,' and the rest as you read these things. And the entire prophecy was spoken with reference to Hezekiah, in whom it is also demonstrated that those things came to pass which are contained in this oracle. It is related in the myths of those who are called Greeks, that Perseus was born of Danaë, being a virgin, to whom he who is called Zeus by them had descended in the form of gold; ^B and you, repeating the same things as them, ought to be ashamed, and rather say that this Jesus is a human born of humans; and if you prove from the Scriptures that he is the Christ, because he lived lawfully and perfectly, it was granted to him to be chosen as Christ; but do not dare to talk of monsters, so that you may not be convicted of acting foolishly even as the Greeks do."

And I, regarding these things, replied: "O Trypho, I wish you to be convinced, and all men simply, that even if you should speak worse things in joking and mocking, you will not turn me away from the proposed task, but from those words or things which you think provide a handy method of refuting me, ^C from these I shall always draw the demonstrations of the things spoken by me, with the testimony of the Scriptures. However, you do not act rightly nor as a lover of truth, when you attempt to dissolve even those things concerning which we had previously always agreed, namely that some of the commandments were given to you by Moses because of the hardness of the heart of your people. For you said that because of his living lawfully he was selected, and became Christ, if ^D indeed this man should be proved to be He."

And Trypho said: "For you yourself confessed to us," he said, "that he was even circumcised, and observed the other ordinances commanded through Moses."

And I answered: "I confessed, and I confess; but I did not confess that he endured all these things because he was to be justified by them, but because he was fulfilling the dispensation which his Father and the Creator of all, and Lord and God, willed. Indeed, I confess that he endured to die, being crucified, and to become man, and to suffer as many things as the men of your race dared against him. But since, O Trypho, you withdraw again from the things to which you already consented...

answer me: Those righteous ones and ^A patriarchs who lived before Moses, since they observed nothing of that which the word proves to have had its beginning of institution through Moses, are they saved in the inheritance of the blessed, or not?

And Trypho said: The Scriptures compel me to confess it.

Likewise, I asked again, I said: Did God command your fathers to offer gifts and sacrifices because of need, or because of their hardness of heart and their inclination toward idol-worship?

And to this too, he said, the Scriptures likewise compel us to confess.

And that, I said, God promised to institute a new covenant beyond that which was given at Mount Horeb, did the Scriptures likewise foretell this?

And this, he answered, was also foretold.

And I again asked: Was the Old Covenant, I said, ordained to your fathers with fear and trembling, so that they were not even able to listen to God?

And he confessed it.

Why then, I said, did God promise that there would be another covenant, ^B and say that it would be instituted not as that one was, but without fear and trembling and lightnings, and that it would demonstrate what commandment or work God judges to be eternal and suitable for every race, and what he commanded as accommodated to the hardness of the heart of your people, as he cries out through the prophets?

And to this, he said, it is necessary for all lovers of truth, rather than lovers of contention, to agree.

And I said: I do not see how, while calling some others lovers of contention, you yourself have frequently appeared in this same act, often speaking against those things to which you have agreed.

68. And Trypho said: You attempt to prove a thing that is incredible and almost impossible, namely, that God endured to be born and become man.

If I were attempting to prove this, I said, by human teachings or arguments, it would not be right ^C for you to tolerate me. But if I call upon the Scriptures and, bringing forward so many which have been said to this purpose, and frequently citing the same, I ask you to understand them, you show yourselves hard of heart toward recognizing the mind and will of God. If you wish to remain such always, I, for my part, will suffer no harm, but keeping always the same things which I had even before I met with you, I shall depart from you. ^D

^A And Trypho said: "See, friend, that it has come to you with much labor and toil to acquire these things. Therefore, we too must carefully examine all things that come our way, and only then give our assent to those things to which the Scriptures compel us to assent."

To this I replied: "I do not ask you, I said, not to make the examination of the questions at issue with every effort of mind, but rather not to speak against the things to which you have already said you assent, when you have nothing to say."

And Trypho said: "We shall try to do this."

Again I said: "Beyond what I have already asked of you, I wish to ask you again; for by these questions I shall endeavor to conclude the discussion briefly."

And Trypho said: "Ask."

I said: "Do you conceive that any other is to be worshipped, and called Lord and God in the Scriptures, ^B except the Creator of this universe and the Christ, who has been shown to you by so many Scriptures to have been made man?"

And Trypho said: "How can we confess this, since we have made such a great inquiry as to whether there is any other besides the Father only?"

Again I said: "It is necessary that I ask you this as well, that I may know whether you think anything else beyond what you have just now confessed."

"Nothing at all," he said, "O man."

Again I said: "Since you truly assent to these things, and the Scripture says: 'Who shall declare his generation?' ^C ought you not now to understand that he is not the seed of a human race?"

And Trypho said: "How then does the Scripture say to David that God will take to Himself a son from his loins, and will establish for him the kingdom, and will seat him upon the throne of his glory?"

I said: "Trypho, if the prophecy which Isaiah uttered, 'Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb,' ^D did not say it to the house of David, but to another house of a tribe, the matter might perhaps have had some difficulty. But since the prophecy itself is spoken to the house of David, what God said to David in a mystery through Isaiah has been explained as it was to come to pass. Unless, my friends, you are ignorant of the many arcane—

^A expressions and those spoken in parables, or mysteries, or in symbols of actions, which the prophets who came after those who spoke or acted them have explained.”

“Indeed,” said Trypho.

“If, then, I can demonstrate that this prophecy of Isaiah was spoken of this Christ of ours, and not of Hezekiah, as you maintain, will I not also succeed in persuading you not to trust your teachers, who dare to say that the interpretation which your seventy elders—who were with Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians—produced is not in every respect true? For as for those things in the Scriptures which clearly expose their foolish and self-loving opinion, they dare to say that they were not so written. And as for the things which they think they can twist and adapt ^B to human actions, they assert that these were not spoken of our Jesus Christ, but of the one whom they choose to explain them as referring to. Just as they taught you that this Scripture, about which the present discussion is being held, was spoken of Hezekiah; which, as I promised, I shall prove them to be lying about. For when we bring against them those Scriptures which I recited earlier, which demonstrate in express words that Christ is passible, and to be worshipped, and is God—which also I previously recounted to you—they are compelled to agree that they were spoken of Christ, but they dare to say that this man is not the Christ. They confess, however, that he will come, and suffer, and reign, and be ^C an adorable God; which I shall also prove to be ridiculous and foolish. But since I am pressed by urgency to answer first what was said by you in a ridiculous manner, I shall make my replies to these points, and afterward I shall proceed to demonstrate the things that remain.”

69. “The devil, when he emulates the truth, has brought in myths about Bacchus, Hercules, and Aesculapius.—You should know well, Trypho (for so I proceeded), that those things which the so-called devil has corrupted and adulterated, and caused to be narrated among the Greeks—just as he operated through the magicians in Egypt and the false prophets in the time of Elijah—these things have served to confirm my ^D knowledge and faith in the Scriptures. For when they say that Bacchus was born of Jupiter’s union with Semele, and that he became the discoverer of the vine, and that he was torn asunder and died...

and rose again, and ascended into heaven; and when they bring in wine in his ^A mysteries, do I not understand that what the devil said in the prophecy of Jacob, which Moses committed to writing, has been imitated to produce this? And when they say that Hercules was strong, and traveled over the whole earth, and was also born of Jupiter from Alcmene, and died, and ascended into heaven, do I not think that the Scripture which says of Christ, "Strong as a giant to run his course" (Ps. xviii, 6), has been similarly imitated? And when he brings in Aesculapius as having raised the dead and healed all other diseases, do I not say that in this also he has similarly imitated the prophecies about Christ? But because I have not yet brought forward to you any such Scripture as would signify that Christ was to do these things, I shall now necessarily ^B mention one; from which you may be able to understand how it was predicted that even those who were like a desert in regard to the knowledge of God—I mean the Gentiles, who had eyes but did not see, and had hearts but did not understand, worshipping works made of matter—would renounce them, and hope in this Christ. It is stated as follows: "Be glad, thou desert that thirstest; let the desert rejoice, and blossom as the lily: and it shall blossom, and the deserts of Jordan shall rejoice; and the glory of the Lebanon was given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people shall see the height of the Lord, and the glory of God. Be strong, ye slack hands and paralyzed knees. Be comforted, ye faint-hearted in heart; be strong, do not fear. Behold, our God ^C renders judgment, and will render: he himself will come and will save us. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear. Then the lame man shall leap as a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear; for water has broken forth in the desert, and a ravine in the thirsty land, and the waterless place shall be for marshes; and in a thirsty land there shall be a fountain of water." A fountain of living water from God in the desert, the knowledge of God, this Christ has released; who also among your own people...

irsty land there shall be a fountain of water.” A fountain of living water from God in the desert, the knowledge of God, this Christ has ^A released; who also among your own people appeared, and healed those who were from birth blind, and deaf, and lame in body, making one to leap, another to hear, and another to see by his word. And by raising the dead and making them live, he sought by these works to persuade the men of that time to acknowledge him. But those who saw these things taking place said it was a magical illusion; for they even dared to call him a magician and a deceiver of the people. But he did these things even with the intention of persuading those who were to believe in him that, even if any one should suffer from some bodily infirmity, if he should prove a guardian of the teachings handed down by him, he will, at his second coming, raise him up whole ^B and immortal, and incorruptible, and free from pain.

70. Even the mysteries of Mithras were distorted by the prophecies of Daniel and Isaiah. — But when those who hand down the mysteries of Mithras say that he was born from a rock, and call the place where they persuade those who believe in him to be initiated a cave, I understand that they have imitated what was said by Daniel, that a stone was cut out from a great mountain without hands, and that they have done this likewise, from which they have attempted to imitate all his words! For they have contrived that discussions concerning the observance of justice should also be had among them. But I must needs recount to you the words of Isaiah, so that you may know from them that things are so. They are of the following kind: “Hear, you who are far off, what I have done: those who draw near shall know my might. The transgressors in Sion have departed; trembling shall seize the ungodly. Who shall announce to you the eternal place? He who walks in righteousness, speaking the straight path, hating iniquity and injustice, and keeping his hands clean from bribes, stopping his ears so as not to hear the unjust judgment of blood, shutting his eyes so as not to see iniquity: he shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock. Bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be trustworthy. You shall see the King with glory, and your eyes shall behold him from afar. ^C The soul ^D

shall meditate on the fear of the Lord. Where is the man of letters? Where are the counselors? Where is he who counts those who are nurtured, the small and the great people? With whom they did not take counsel, nor did they know the depth of the voices, so as not to hear. A despised people, and there is no understanding for the one who hears. ^A That therefore in this prophecy there is also a prediction concerning that bread which our Christ delivered to us to perform in remembrance of his having been made flesh 57 for the sake of his believers, for whom he also became passible; and concerning the cup which he delivered to us to perform in thanksgiving in remembrance of his blood, is apparent. And that this same prophecy declares that we shall see this King with glory; and that the people who were foreknown to believe in him would meditate 58 on the fear of the Lord was foreknown, the very words of the prophecy cry out; and that those who believe themselves to know the letters of the Scriptures and hear the prophecies have no understanding, these same Scriptures likewise shout. But when, O Trypho, I said, I hear that Perseus was born of a virgin, ^B I also understand that the deceitful serpent has imitated this.

71. But I do not put my trust in your teachers, who refuse to admit that what was interpreted by the seventy elders sent to Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, was well interpreted; but they themselves attempt to interpret. And that they have completely removed many Scriptures 40 from the translations...

which clearly prove that this very person who was crucified is both God and man, and is shown to be predicted as being crucified and dying, I wish you to know. Since I know that all those of your race deny these, I do not engage in such questions, but I proceed to conduct the investigation from those things which are still acknowledged by you. For as for all those that I brought forward to you, you recognize them, except that concerning the word: “Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb,” you raised a dispute, asserting that it is said: “Behold, the young woman shall conceive in the womb.” And I promised to provide a demonstration that this prophecy was not spoken of Hezekiah, as you have been taught, but of this my Christ; and from the interpretations that were made by the elders who were with Ptolemy, ^B I will perform this demonstration.

And Trypho said, “First, we request you to tell us also some of those Scriptures which you say have been completely deleted.”

72. And I said, “As you please, I will do so. From those interpretations which Esdras explained concerning the law of the Passover, this explanation was removed: ‘And Esdras said to the people: This Passover is our Saviour and our refuge. And if you think and it rises in your heart, that we are to humble Him in a sign, and if after this we hope in Him, this place shall not be deserted for all time; says the God of hosts. But if you will not believe Him, nor listen to His preaching, you shall be an object of derision to the nations.’ And from those things ^C through Jeremiah...

^A they cut out these: ‘I was as a lamb that is brought to the slaughter. They devised a device against me, saying, Come, let us cast the tree into his bread, and let us destroy him out of the land of the living, and his name shall be remembered no more.’ And since this passage from the words of Jeremiah is still written in some copies in the synagogues of the Jews (for it is not long ago that they cut these out), and since it is proved from these words that the Jews took counsel against Christ to kill Him by crucifying Him—and He Himself is pointed out, as He was also prophesied by Isaiah as a sheep led to the slaughter, and here ^B He is indicated as an innocent lamb—being at a loss about these things, they proceed to blaspheme. And in like manner they cut out these things from the words of the same Jeremiah: ‘The Lord God remembered His dead of Israel who had fallen asleep in the land of the grave; and He descended to them to preach to them His salvation.’

73. And from the ninety-fifth Psalm, they took away these few words from the words spoken by David: ‘from the tree.’ For when it had been said: ‘Tell it among the nations, The Lord hath reigned ^C from the tree,’ they left only: ‘Tell it among the nations: The Lord hath reigned.’ But among you, there has never existed anyone of the men of your race who could be called God and Lord to have reigned among the nations, except this only crucified one, whom the Holy Spirit in that same psalm says that He, having been raised from the dead, is saved ^D

^A from the nations, and declares that He is not like the gods of the nations; for those are the idols of demons. But that you may understand what is said, I will recite the whole psalm to you. It is this: "Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth; sing to the Lord, and bless His name. Bring the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples; for the Lord is great and greatly to be praised; He is terrible above all gods; for all the gods of the nations are demons; but the Lord made the heavens. Confession and beauty are in His presence; holiness and greatness are in His sanctuary. Bring to the Lord, O families of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor; bring to the Lord glory in His name. Take up sacrifices, and go into His courts; worship the Lord in His holy court. Let all the earth be moved from His presence; say among the nations: The Lord has reigned. For He established the world, which shall not be shaken; He shall judge the peoples in equity. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult; let the sea be moved, and its fullness. The fields shall rejoice, and all that is in them. All the trees of the wood shall exult from the presence of the Lord; for He comes, for He comes to judge the earth. He shall judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in His truth."

And Trypho said, "If, as you say, the rulers of the people have ^B cut out something from the Scriptures, God knows; but such a thing seems incredible."

"Truly," I said, "it seems incredible. For it is something more horrible than the golden calf which they made, when they were filled with manna on earth, or than sacrificing their children to demons, or than slaying the prophets themselves. But indeed," I said, "suppose that you have not heard what I said about the Scriptures having been stolen by them. For what has been previously recorded ^C is more than enough for the demonstration of the matters in question, along with what is yet to be said.

^A 74. But Trypho said: "We know that these things were read out by you at our request. But that psalm, which you last cited from the oracles of David, does not appear to me to have been spoken of anyone else, but of the Father who created the heaven and the earth. You, however, contend that it was spoken of this one who is subject to suffering, whom you also strive to demonstrate to be the Christ."

And I answered: "Give attention, I beg you, to the language which the Holy Spirit used in this psalm, and you will see that I am neither speaking wickedly, nor have you ^B been led astray; for in this way you will also be able to understand many other things spoken by the Holy Spirit, when you are by yourselves. 'Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord and bless His name. Evangelize from day to day His salvation, His wonders among all peoples.' Does He not command those who have come to know this salvation—that is, the passion of Christ, ^C through which He saved them—to sing and psalm to God and the Father of all things, who is from all the earth, when they have recognized that He is also praiseworthy, and terrible, and the Creator of both heaven and earth, who accomplished this salvation for the human race, and who, after being crucified and dying, was deemed worthy by Himself to reign over all the earth? And as even through the earth, into which this [people] enters to inhabit it, they will abandon Me and break My covenant which I made with them on that day; ^D and I will abandon them and turn My face from them; and [the people] will be food, and they will find many evils and tribulations; and it as also through the earth into which He said He would bring your fathers, it is manifest; for He spoke thus: 'This people will go a-whoring after the gods of strangers of the earth,' and 'I will be enraged with wrath against them.'"

'" ^A 75. *That the name of God in Exodus was Jesus is proven.* In the book of Exodus, concerning the name of God itself, which it says was not declared to Abraham nor to Jacob, Moses likewise proclaims cryptically that it was Jesus, and we have understood it. For it is said thus: "And the Lord said to Moses: Say to this people: Behold, I send my angel before thy face, that he may keep thee in the way, and may bring thee into the land which I have prepared for thee. Take notice of him and hear him: do not disobey him. For he will not forsake thee; for my name is in him." Who, therefore, brought your fathers into ^B the land, consider at long last; it was, of course, He who was called by this name Jesus, whereas previously he was called Auses. For if you consider this, you will also understand that the name of Him who said to Moses, "For my name is in him," was Jesus. For he was also called Israel, and he gave this surname to Jacob as well. And that the prophets who are sent to announce His commands are called angels and apostles of God is declared in Isaiah. For Isaiah says there: "Send me." And that the one who received the name Jesus was a strong and great prophet, is manifest to all. If, therefore, we know that God was manifested in so many forms to ^C Abraham and to Jacob and to Moses, why do we hesitate and mistrust that, according to the will of the Father of all, He could also be born as a man from a Virgin, especially since we have such Scriptures, from which it is possible to understand explicitly that this also happened according to the will of the Father?

76. *The same majesty and authority of Christ are proven from other passages.* For when Daniel calls Him "as a son of man," who receives the eternal kingdom, does he not suggest this very thing? For to say "as a son of man" indicates that He appeared and became man, yet declares that He did not derive His existence from human seed. And when he calls Him a stone cut without hands, it proclaims the same thing in a mystery. For to say that He was cut out without hands implies that it is not a human work, but of the will of the [Father].

^A of all, God. And that Isaiah says: "Who shall declare His generation?" (Isa. LIII, 8), demonstrates that His lineage is inexpressible. For there is no one, since he is a man born of men, whose lineage is inexpressible. And as for Moses saying that He would wash His robe in the blood of the grape, is this not what I have already often hinted to you that he prophesied regarding Him? Because it indicated that He would have blood, but not from men; just as it was not a man who produced the blood of the vine, but God. And when Isaiah called Him the Angel of Great Counsel, did he not proclaim beforehand that He would come to be a teacher of these things which He taught when He arrived? For the great counsel which the Father determined both towards all those who have been pleasing to Him and those who shall be, and those men and angels who have departed from His will, this [Christ] alone taught openly, saying: ^B "They shall come from the East [and from the West] (Matt. VIII, 11), and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness." And: "Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, did we not eat and drink in your name, and did we not prophesy and cast out demons? And I will say to them: Depart from me" (Matt. VII, 22). And in other words, through which He intends to condemn those unworthy of salvation, He said He would say: "Depart into the outer darkness, which the Father has prepared for Satan and his angels." And again in other words He said: "I give you ^C authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and scolopendrae, and upon all the power of the enemy" (Luc. X, 19). And now we, who believe in Jesus our Lord who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, as we exorcise all demons and evil spirits, have them subjected to us. For if it had been proclaimed enigmatically through the prophets that the Christ was going to suffer, and after these things would be Lord of all, still it could not be understood by anyone (69) until He Himself persuaded the apostles that these things had been explicitly proclaimed in the Scriptures. For He cried out before He was crucified: "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the Scribes and Pharisees, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again" (Luc. IX, 22). And David ^D also prophesied that He would be born from the womb before the sun and the moon, that, according to the will of the Father...

He might be clearly declared ^A to be Christ, who is God, Mighty and to be worshipped.

77.

Return to the explanation of the prophecy of Isaiah.

I replied: "As you wish, so shall I do. But demonstrate to me first, you who say it was spoken of Hezekiah, that before the child knew how to call father or mother, he took the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. For it will not be conceded to you, as you wish to interpret it, that Hezekiah waged war against those in Damascus or in Samaria before the king of the Assyrians. For, 'Before the child knows how to call father or mother,' the prophetic word says, 'he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians.' ^C For if the prophetic Spirit had not spoken this with the addition: 'Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria,' but had only said, 'And he shall beget a son, and he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria,' you would have been able to say: 'Because God foreknew that Hezekiah was going to take these, He had foretold it.' But now, with this addition, the prophecy has spoken: 'Before the child knows how to call father or mother, he will take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria.'"

^D And indeed, the God and Father of all was to be born from a human womb. Since Christ is High Priest, having an unchangeable priesthood—neither beginning the priesthood from a period of time, nor having another successor to his high priesthood... neither anointed with manufactured oil, but begotten of the Father before the ages, and as much more excellent than others as He is a priest with an oath. Christ is called [anointed], not anointed by human hands, but by the Father eternally anointed into a priesthood that is beyond man, beyond men.

^A And you are unable to demonstrate that this ever happened to any among the Jews. But we are able to demonstrate that this took place in our Christ. For immediately after He was born, Magi from Arabia arrived and worshipped Him, having first come to Herod, who at that time was king in your land; him the Scripture calls king of the Assyrians because of his godless and lawless mind. For you know, I said, that the Holy Spirit often speaks of such matters in parables and figures; just as also He has done concerning all the people who were in Jerusalem, often saying to them: "Your father is an Amorite, and your mother a Hittite 11."

78. For this King Herod, learning from the elders of your people, ^B when the Magi from Arabia came to him and said that from a star which appeared in the heaven they had known that a king had been born in your land, and that we have come to worship Him; and though he was taught by the elders of your people, 175 who answered in the city of Bethlehem that it is so written by the prophet: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come forth a leader, who will shepherd my people." The Magi from Arabia, therefore, having come into Bethlehem and worshipped the child, and having offered to Him gifts, gold, and frankincense, and myrrh, because they were divinely warned after worshipping the child in Bethlehem not to return to Herod; and Joseph, who was betrothed to Mary, having previously wished to cast out his betrothed Mary, thinking she was pregnant from intercourse with a man, that is, from fornication, was commanded ^C through a vision not to cast out his wife, the angel who appeared to him saying that she was with child by the Holy Spirit. Struck with fear, he did not cast her out, but, as the census was then being held for the first time in Judea under Quirinius, he went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, whence he was, in order to register; for he was of the lineage of the tribe of Judah that inhabited that land. And he himself, along with Mary, was commanded to go away into Egypt, and to be there with the child, until it should be revealed to them again that they should return into Judea. But the child having been born then in Bethlehem, since Joseph had nowhere to lodge ^D in that village, he lodged in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there, Mary gave birth to Christ and laid Him in a manger, where He was found by the Magi who came from Arabia.

11 Ezech. xvi, 3. 175 Mich. v, 2.

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But I have already told you that Isaiah had prophesied concerning the sign of the cave; 11 Ezech. xvi, 3. 175 Mich. v, 2. yet, for the sake of those who have come today with you, I will repeat the passage. I recalled that I had already cited the passage from Isaiah, and I said that it was because of those who deliver the mysteries of Mithras (80)—who teach that initiations are performed by him in a place they call a cave—that the devil had induced them to say these things. And Herod, when the Magi from Arabia did not return to him as he had asked them to do ^B but had departed according to their instructions by another way into their own country, and when Joseph, together with Mary and the Child, had already departed for Egypt as it had been revealed to them—not knowing which child the Magi had come to worship, he ordered all the children in Bethlehem to be put to death without exception. And this too had been prophesied as intended to come to pass, through Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit saying through him thus: « A voice was heard in Rama, lamentation and much weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted, because they are not. » Therefore, on account of the voice that was to be heard from Rama, that is, from Arabia (for there is even to this day a place in Arabia called Rama), ^C weeping was to seize the place where Rachel, the wife of Jacob—the holy patriarch who was surnamed Israel—is buried, namely Bethlehem, as the women wept for their own children who had been slaughtered, and had no consolation for what had befallen them. For the saying of Isaiah, « He shall receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria, » signified that the power of the wicked demon who dwelt in Damascus would be overcome by Christ as soon as He was born; which it is shown has occurred. For the Magi, who had been taken as spoils for all the evil deeds that were wrought by that demon, upon coming and worshipping Christ, are shown to have withdrawn from that power which had taken them as spoils, which the Word ^D indicates to us in a mystery to dwell in Damascus. And because it is sinful and unjust, in a parable He calls that power

^A from among us Christians, to learn; but by no means to fight in every way to strengthen your own doctrines, while dishonoring those of God. And therefore this grace has been transferred to us, as Isaiah says, speaking thus: "This people draws near to me; with their lips they honor me, but their heart is far from me; but in vain they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men. Therefore, behold, I will add to remove this people, and I will remove them. And I will take away the wisdom of their wise men, and will set aside the understanding of their prudent men." ^B

79. ^B And Trypho, being indignant but reverent, as was evident from his countenance, said to me: "The things of God are holy; but your interpretations are artificial, as is apparent even from the things explained by you, or rather they are blasphemous; for you say that angels acted wickedly and revolted from God."

And I, wishing to prepare him to hear me with a more yielding voice, answered saying: "I admire this piety of yours, O man, and I pray that you may have the same disposition toward Him to whom it is written that the angels minister; as Daniel says, that as the Son of Man He is brought to the Ancient of Days, ^C and to Him is given all the kingdom forever and ever. But in order that you may know, O man, that we have not used our own audacity to employ this interpretation of which you complain, I will provide you with testimony from Isaiah himself, who says that evil angels have dwelt and do dwell in Tanis in the land of Egypt. And these are the words: 'Woe, you rebellious children, says the Lord. You have taken counsel, not through me, and covenants not through my Spirit, that you might add sins to sins; who go down to Egypt (but me they have not asked) to be helped by Pharaoh, and to be covered with the shelter of the Egyptians. For the shelter of Pharaoh shall be a shame to you, and to those who trust in the Egyptians a reproach; for there are in Tanis ^D evil ruling angels. They shall labor in vain for a people that shall not profit them for help, but for shame and reproach.' But also Zacharias says, as you yourself have mentioned, of the devil...

to see that the devil stood at the right hand of Jesus the priest, to oppose him, and that the Lord said: “The Lord who chose ^A Jerusalem rebuke thee.” And again it is written in the book of Job, as you yourself said, that the angels came to stand before the Lord, and the devil had come along with them. And we have it written by Moses in the beginning of Genesis that the serpent deceived Eve, and that he was cursed. And in Egypt we know that the magicians attempted to equal the power that was working through the faithful servant Moses by God; and David said, “Know that the gods of the nations are demons.”

80. But Trypho said to these things: I have already said to you, O man, that you are careful in all things to be engaged with the Scriptures. But tell me, do you truly admit that this place of Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and do you expect that your people will be gathered together, and will rejoice with Christ together with ^B the patriarchs and the prophets, and with those of our own race, or even those who became proselytes before your Christ came; or did you concede these things in order to appear to us to prevail abundantly in controversies?

I answered: I am not so wretched, Trypho, as to say other things than what I think. I confessed to you therefore also before, that I and many others think this, as you also know completely that this will come to pass: but I also signified to you that many—even of those who belong to the pure and pious Christian opinion—do not recognize this. For as for those who are called Christians, but are in ^C reality atheists and impious heretics, that they teach in all respects blasphemous and atheistic and foolish doctrines, I have shown you. But that not only over you—

^A and that you may know that I shall not do this only among you, I shall compose a treatise of all the arguments which we have had with each other, in which I shall describe myself as professing the same things as I profess to you. For I have chosen to follow not men or human doctrines, but God and the doctrines ^B delivered by Him. For if you have even met with some who are called Christians, and who do not admit this, but even dare to blaspheme the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, who also say that there is no resurrection of the dead, but that their souls are taken up to heaven at the very moment of their death, do not suppose that they are Christians; just as one, if he were to examine the matter rightly, would not acknowledge that the Sadducees, or the similar sects of the Genistae, and Meristae, ^C and Galilaeans, and Hellenians, and Pharisees, and Baptists (and do not be displeased at listening to everything that I think and say), are Jews, but individuals who are called Jews and children of Abraham, and who confess God with their lips, as He Himself cries out,

but hold their hearts far from Him. I, however, and whoever are orthodox Christians in all respects, ^A know that there will be a resurrection of the flesh and ^B a thousand years in Jerusalem, which will be built, adorned, and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and the others confess.

81. For Isaiah spoke thus concerning this thousand-year period: «For there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former, nor shall they come into their heart; but they shall find joy and exultation in it, as many things as I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem an exultation, and my people a joy, and I will exult over Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people. And there shall no longer be heard in it the voice of weeping nor the voice of crying. And there shall not be there one untimely in days, and an old man who shall not fulfill his time. For the young man shall be a son of one hundred years; but the sinner who dies shall be a son of one hundred years, and he shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and they themselves shall inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and they themselves shall eat the fruits of them, and drink the wine; they shall not build, and others inhabit; and they shall not plant, and others eat. For according to the days of the tree of life, the days of my people shall be; the works of their labors shall abound. My elect shall not labor in vain, nor beget children for a curse; because they shall be a seed righteous and blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall be, before they call, I will hear them; while they are still speaking, I will say: What is it? Then wolves and lambs shall feed together, and the lion as an ox shall eat straw, and the serpent earth as bread. They shall not work evil, nor shall they destroy on the holy mountain, says the Lord.» The statement, therefore, made in these words—

«For as the days of the tree (7) shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall multiply»—we understand that it signifies a thousand years in a mystery. For since it was said to Adam, that in the day in which he should eat of the tree he should die, we know that he did not complete a thousand years. We have also understood that the saying, «The day of the Lord is as a thousand years (9)», pertains to this. And because among us there is a certain man whose name is John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied that those who have believed in our Christ would live for a thousand years in Jerusalem, and that afterward the universal and, in short, eternal resurrection and judgment of all would simultaneously take place. Which is what our Lord also said: «They shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, but shall be equal unto the angels, being the children of God of the resurrection (10).» ^B

82. For among us, even until now, there are prophetic gifts. From which you also ought to understand that those things which were formerly in your race have been transferred to us. Just as there were false prophets among the holy prophets who were with you, so also now there are many false teachers among us, against whom our Lord warned us to be on our guard, so that nothing might come upon us unprepared, since we know that He was foreknowing of the things which were to happen to us after His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven. For He said that we would be murdered and hated because of His name, and that many false prophets and false Christs would come in His name and would deceive many; which is indeed what has happened. For many have taught, misrepresenting what is impious and blasphemous and wicked in His name, and have taught, and still teach, the things injected into their minds by the unclean, ^C devilish spirit; whom we struggle to persuade, just as you, not to be led astray, knowing that everyone who is able to speak the truth and does not speak it, will be judged by God, as God testified through Ezekiel, saying: «I have set thee as a watchman to the house of Judah. If...»

the sinner shall sin, and thou shalt not testify to him, he indeed shall perish in his sin, but I will require his blood at thy hand. But if thou shalt testify to him, thou shalt be guiltless.» Therefore, for fear of this, we also strive to speak according to the Scriptures, and not for the sake of love of money, or love of glory, or love of pleasure. For no one can convict us of being anything of the sort. ^B We do not wish to live like the rulers of your people, whom God reproaches, saying: «Your rulers are companions of thieves, loving gifts, pursuing recompense.» But if you recognize any such persons among us, do not for their sake blaspheme the Scriptures and Christ, and strive to misinterpret them.

85. Indeed, even that which says: «The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet,» your teachers have dared to interpret as having been spoken concerning Hezekiah, as if he were commanded to sit at the right side of the temple, when the king of Assyria sent to him with threats, and it was signified to him through Isaiah not to fear him. And that what was said by Isaiah did indeed come to pass, and that the king of Assyria was turned away so as not to ^C war against Jerusalem in the days of Hezekiah, and that an angel of the Lord slew of the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand, we both know and confess. But that the psalm was not spoken of him is evident. For it runs thus: «The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand, until I make thine enemies a footstool for thy feet. The Lord shall send forth a rod of power upon Jerusalem, and he shall rule in the midst of thine enemies. In the splendor of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten thee. The Lord swore, and will not repent: Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.» That Hezekiah, therefore, is not a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, who does not admit? And that he is not the one who redeems Jerusalem, who does not know? And that he himself did not «send forth a rod of power» into Jerusalem, ^D and rule in the midst of his enemies, but God was the one who turned them away from him...

who does not know? But our Jesus, not yet having come in glory, sent forth a rod of power into Jerusalem - the word of calling and of repentance to all nations, where demons ruled over them, as David says: «The gods of the nations are demons.» And his powerful word persuaded many to abandon the demons whom they served, and through him to believe in the almighty God, that the gods of the nations are demons. And that which was said, «In the splendors of the saints, from the womb before the morning star I have begotten you,» was said to Christ, as I have previously stated.

84. And that which was said, «Behold, a Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son,» was foretold concerning him. For if this one, of whom Isaiah spoke, was not to be born of a Virgin, who was it concerning whom the Holy Spirit cried out: «Behold, the Lord himself shall give us a sign: Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son»? For if he too were to be born from sexual union just like all other firstborns, why did God say he would perform a sign which is not common to all firstborns? But that which is truly a sign and was to be faithful to the race of men, that is, that the Firstborn of all creation, having become flesh through a virgin womb, truly became a child, this he anticipated through the prophetic Spirit, in one way and another, I have recounted to you, and he proclaimed it, so that when it should come to pass, it might be known to have happened by the power and will of the Creator of all things; just as Eve was made from one of Adam’s ribs, and just as all other living creatures were born from the beginning by the word of God. But you even in these matters dare to pervert the interpretations which your elders gave when they were with Ptolemy, king of the Egyptians, saying that the Scripture does not hold what they interpreted, but, «Behold,» he says, «the young woman shall have in the womb,» as if great things...

were signified if a woman were to bring forth from sexual intercourse; which all young women do, except the barren, although God is able to effect that even these give birth, if He wills. For the mother of Samuel, when she could not give birth, gave birth by the will of God; so also the wife of Abraham, that holy patriarch, and Elizabeth, who brought forth John the Baptist, and certain others likewise. So you must not suppose it is impossible for God to do everything He wills. And especially since it was prophesied that it would come to pass, do not dare to falsify or misinterpret the prophecies, since you will only harm yourselves, but you will not injure God. ^A 85. For the prophecy that says, «Lift up your gates, O you rulers, and be lifted up, you everlasting gates, that the King of glory may enter» ^B, some of you dare to interpret as being said of Hezekiah, and others of Solomon; but it cannot be demonstrated to have been said of him, nor of the other, nor of any other one at all of your kings, but only of this our Christ, who appeared without form and inglorious, as Isaiah and David and all the Scriptures testify; who is the Lord of hosts by the will of the Father who gave it to Him; who also rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, as both the psalm and the other Scriptures demonstrated, and proclaimed Him Lord of hosts, which it is easy for you even now to perceive from the things ^C that take place before your eyes, if you will. For by the name of this very Son of God, and Firstborn of all creation, who was born of a Virgin, and became a man subject to suffering, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate by your people, and died, and rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, every demon is adjured, conquered, and subjected. But if you adjure by the name of any of those who have been among you, whether kings, or righteous men, or prophets, or patriarchs, no demon will be subjected. But if any of you should adjure by the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, perhaps he will be subjected. However, those of you who are exorcists now use the art, as the nations do, ^D employing fumigations and incantations.

^A And that there are angels and powers—whom the word of the prophecy through David commands to lift up the gates, so that this Lord of powers, Jesus Christ, who has risen from the dead, may enter according to the will of the Father—the word of David similarly demonstrates. I shall mention this again for the sake of those who were not with us yesterday; for their sake I also recount many of the things said yesterday in summary. And now, if I say this to you, even if I have repeated myself many times, I know it is not absurd to say it. For it is ridiculous to see the sun, the moon, and the other stars always following the same path and performing the ^B changes of the seasons, and yet to maintain that a man skilled in arithmetic—if he is asked how much twice two is—should, because he has often said "four," henceforth stop saying it is four, and so on for other things which are firmly agreed upon and should always be spoken of and acknowledged in the same way; yet one who draws his discourse from the prophetic Scriptures should set aside the Scriptures and not always refer to the same ones, but imagine that he can express something better than what the Scripture has produced. The word, therefore, by which he signified that God ^C declared that there are also angels and powers in heaven is this: "Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the highest. Praise him all his angels, praise him all his powers" 33.

And one of those who had come with them on the second day, by the name of Mnaseas, said: "We also are glad that you are trying to say the same things again for our sake."

I answered: "Listen, friends, to the Scripture that persuaded me to do this. Jesus commanded us to love even our enemies; which was also proclaimed through Isaiah ^D […]*

[*Note: The original text breaks off here at the bottom of the page, where the Greek column transitions to the Latin summary.]

nemies; which was also proclaimed through Isaiah ^A in many ways, in which is also the mystery of our regeneration, and simply of all those who expect Christ to appear in Jerusalem, and who strive to please Him by their works. The words of Isaiah are these: "Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word. Say, 'Our brethren,' to those who hate you and who abhor you, that the name of the Lord may be glorified. He has appeared in their joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of a cry from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord rendering recompense to the proud. Before the one in labor gives birth, and before the pain of labor comes, she has brought forth a male child. Who has heard such a thing, and who has seen thus? If the earth has labored in one day, or if she has brought forth a nation at once; because Sion has labored and brought forth her children? But I have given this expectation, and to her who does not bear," says the Lord. "Behold, I have made her who bears to be barren," says the Lord. "Rejoice, Jerusalem, and hold a gathering, all you who love her. Rejoice, all you who mourn over her, that you may suck and be filled from the breast of her consolation; that after you have sucked, you may be delighted by the entrance of His glory."

86. The figure of the wood of the cross, by which Christ reigned, in the Old Testament. — Having recited these, I added: "But hear also the symbol of the wood of life, which was said to have been planted in Paradise, and of those things which were to happen to all the righteous, which the Scriptures demonstrate again gloriously, ^B after He had been crucified, He would come again. Moses was sent with a rod for the deliverance of the people; and holding this in his hands, at the head of the people, he divided the sea. Through it, he saw water gushing from the rock; and by casting wood into the water in Marah, which was bitter, he made it sweet. By casting rods into the water-troughs, Jacob succeeded in having his mother's brother's sheep conceive, so that he might possess their offspring himself. In his rod, the same Jacob boasts that he crossed the river. He said also that he saw a ladder, and the Scripture ^C says that God was supported upon it."

^A And that it was not the Father, we have shown from the Scriptures. And that Jacob poured oil upon a stone in the same place, it is testified that he anointed a pillar for God who had appeared to him, by that very God who had appeared to him. And that Christ is symbolically preached as a stone through many Scriptures, we have likewise shown; and that all anointing, whether of oil, or of stacte, or of any other of the ingredients for the composition of perfume, belonged to Him, we have likewise shown, as the Word says: “Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness ^B beyond your companions.” For indeed all kings and anointed ones partook of this, that they might be called kings and anointed ones, just as He himself received from the Father the title of King, and Christ, and Priest, and Angel, and whatever other such titles He has or had. Aaron’s rod, having brought forth a blossom, declared him high priest. Isaiah prophesied that Christ would spring from the root of Jesse. And David says of the righteous man: “Like the tree that is planted by the streams of water, which will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall.” And it is said that the righteous man shall flourish like a palm tree. God appeared to Abraham by an oak, as it is written, at the oak of Mamre. The people found seventy willows and twelve springs after crossing the Jordan. David says that he received consolation from God in a rod and a staff. Elisha, having cast a piece of wood into the river Jordan, recovered the iron of the axe, with which the sons of the prophets had gone out to cut wood for the building of the house, in which they wished to speak and meditate upon the law and the commandments of God; ^C just as He, having redeemed us who were immersed in the most grievous sins which we have committed, through the wood in which He was crucified and through the water by which we are purified, has made us a house of prayer and adoration. And there was a rod which showed Judah to be the father of those born of Tamar, through a great mystery.

87. ^D Trypho, when I had said these things, said: "Do not henceforth suppose that I am trying to refute what is said by you, but that I am making inquiries about whatever I may ask, and that I wish to learn about these very things which I question. Tell me, therefore, through Isaiah’s saying..."

“There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall arise from the root of Jesse; and the Spirit of God shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of God shall fill him” (and having confessed those things to me, he said, “You say this was spoken of Christ, yet you say that he pre-existed as God, and that he was made flesh according to the will of God, and was born a man from the Virgin; how can it be demonstrated that he pre-existed, he who is filled by the powers of the Holy Spirit which Scripture enumerates through Isaiah, as if he were in need of them?”)

I answered: “Most acutely and most prudently have you asked; for it truly seems to be a place for doubt. But in order that you may see the reason for these things as well, listen to what I am about to say. The Scripture does not say that these powers of the Spirit, which were enumerated above, came down upon him because he was in need ^B of them, but that they were about to find rest in him—that is, that they were to have their end in him—so that no prophets of the ancient manner would exist any longer among your nation; which is something you yourselves can see with your own eyes. For after him, no prophet whatsoever has existed among you. And that the prophets among you, each receiving one or another power from God, did and spoke the things which we also have learned from the Scriptures, consider what is said by me. For Solomon had the spirit of wisdom, Daniel that of understanding and counsel, Moses that of strength and piety, Elijah that of fear, and Isaiah that of knowledge; and the others likewise had either one power each, or by turns one along with another; such as Jeremiah, and the twelve, and David, and all the others generally who have been prophets among you. ^C Therefore it ‘rested,’ that is, it ceased, once he had come, in whose days (which were spent by him among men) this dispensation was to have its end among you, and through resting in him, those gifts were to be poured out again, as had been predicted, which he bestows from the grace of the power of that Spirit upon those who believe in him, as he judges each to be worthy. That it had been predicted that this was to happen by him after his ascension into heaven, I have already said, and I say it again.”

He said, therefore: “He ascended on high, he led captivity captive, he gave gifts to the sons of men.” ^D And again in another prophecy it is said: “And it shall be hereafter, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh and upon his servants…”

and “upon my handmaids, and they shall prophesy.”

88. And among us, there are both men and women who possess gifts from the Spirit of God. ^A Wherefore, it was not because He was in need of power that it was prophesied that the powers enumerated by Isaiah would come upon Him, but because they would not exist after Him. And let this also be a testimony to you, which I said to you happened through the Magi from Arabia, who, as soon as the child was born, came and worshipped Him. For since He was born, He possessed His own power; and as He grew up according to the common manner of all other men, using those things that were suitable, He assigned to each ^B stage of growth what was proper, being nourished on all sorts of food, and remaining for thirty years or more, or even less, until John came forth as the herald of His advent, and went before Him in the way of baptism, as I have already demonstrated. And then, when Jesus had come to the Jordan river, where John was baptizing, as Jesus descended into the water, a fire was also kindled in the Jordan; and when He came up from the water, His apostles wrote that the Holy Spirit ^C had alighted upon Him like a dove. And we do not know that He came to the river because He Himself needed to be baptized, or because the Spirit came in the form of a dove; just as He did not endure being born and crucified because He was in need of these things, but for the sake of the race of men, which had fallen under death and the deception of the serpent from Adam, while everyone else acted wickedly through their own fault. For God, wishing both angels and men, possessed ^D of free choice and self-determination, to do whatever He had empowered each one to be able to do, created them such that, if they chose what was pleasing to Him, He would keep them free from corruption and punishment; but if they acted wickedly, He would punish each one according to his own judgment. For neither was it because He was in need, as we have demonstrated to have been predicted, that He entered Jerusalem riding on an ass; but [this was to show] that...

power was being worked in Him to be the Christ; rather, it brought a token to men that He is the Christ. In the same way, it was necessary that there be a token to men regarding John, so that they might recognize who the Christ is. For when John sat by the Jordan and preached a baptism of repentance, wearing only a leather girdle and a garment made of camel's hair, and eating nothing but locusts and wild honey, the people supposed him to be the Christ. To whom he also cried out: "I am not the Christ, but the voice of one crying. For there shall come a *mightier than I; whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to bear." And when Jesus had come to the Jordan, and was thought to be the son of Joseph the carpenter, and appeared without comeliness, even as the Scriptures had proclaimed, and was thought to be a carpenter (for He used to work at the tasks of a carpenter ^B when He was among men, making plows and yokes; and through these means He taught the symbols of righteousness and an active life), the Holy Spirit, also for the sake of men, as I have already said, flew down upon Him in the form of a dove; and a voice came from the heavens, which had also been spoken by David as though from His own person, reciting what the Father was about to say to Him: "You are My Son; this day have I begotten You" (Ps. CXVII, 20); stating [that] His birth [took place] for mankind at the time when knowledge of Him was about to come to them: "You are My Son; this day have I begotten You."

89. ^C But Trypho said, "Know that I am aware that our whole nation expects the Christ, and that all the Scriptures which you have brought forward have been spoken toward Him, we acknowledge. And I also confess that I have been moved by the name Jesus, which was given to the son of Nave, to be concerned even with this. But that the Christ should be so dishonorably crucified, we are in doubt. For the one who is crucified is said in the Law to be accursed. So that, regarding this, [we are] at a loss..."

That the Scriptures preach the Christ as one who is to suffer is manifest; but whether he is to suffer that kind of death which is cursed in the Law, we wish to learn, if you have anything to demonstrate regarding this matter as well.

If the Christ were not to suffer, I say to him, nor had the prophets predicted that he would be led to death for the iniquities of the people, and be treated with dishonor, and be scourged, and be numbered among the lawless, and be led as a sheep to the slaughter, the birth of whom no one can explain, as the prophet says, it would be well to wonder. But if this is that which characterizes him and signals him to all, how can we not have believed in him with confidence? And whoever has understood the words of the prophets will assert that this is he, and no other, if only they hear that he was crucified.

90. And we, he said, are persuaded by the Scriptures, so that we too might believe. For we know that he is to suffer, and that he is to be led as a sheep; but demonstrate to us whether he is also to be crucified, and in such a shameful and dishonorable way to die by the death that is cursed in the Law. For we cannot even come to a thought of this.

You know, I said, that whatever the prophets said and did, as has also been admitted by you, they revealed through parables and signs, so that most of them could not be easily understood by all, hiding the truth within them, so that those who sought to find and learn might have to labor. And they said: And it is admitted by us.

You might hear, then, I said, what follows. For Moses first revealed this apparent curse of his, through the signs which he performed. Of what signs, he said, do you speak? ^B When the people, I said, were warring against Amalek, and the son of Nave—who was surnamed by the name of Jesus—led the battle, Moses himself... ^{C D}

^A prayed to God, extending his hands on both sides; and Aaron and Hur supported them all day, lest they should be lowered when he grew weary. For if there was any remission of this figure, which imitates the cross, as it is written in the books of Moses, the people were defeated; but if he remained in this arrangement, Amalek was defeated, and was powerful, he was powerful through the cross. For it is not because Moses prayed in this manner that the people became the stronger, but because, while the name of Jesus was at the beginning of the battle, he himself performed the sign of the cross ^B. For who among you is unaware that prayer—especially when accompanied by lamentation and tears, or by prostration and the bending of the knees—best propitiates God? But sitting on a stone in this manner, neither he nor anyone else prayed afterward. And the stone itself serves as a symbol, as I have demonstrated, pointing toward Christ.

91.

The cross foretold in the blessings of Joseph and by the raised serpent.

^A For there is one upright piece of wood, from which the highest part is lifted up into a horn, when the other piece of wood is fitted on, and the ends appear on both sides like horns joined to the one horn 72. And that which is fixed in the middle, upon which those who are crucified are seated, also stands out like a horn; and it is seen to be shaped and fixed like a horn together with the other horns. And the saying, “With these he shall push the nations together even to the end of the earth,” is a demonstration of the matter which has now come to pass among all nations. For they were "pushed"—that is, stung or pierced—who, from among all the nations, through this mystery, were turned from vain idols and demons to the true worship of God. To the unbelievers, the same sign is revealed as being for their destruction and condemnation; just as among the people who had come out of Egypt, by means of the type of the stretching out of the hands of Moses, and by the naming of the name of Jesus, son of Nave, Amalek was defeated while Israel was winning. ^B And it is evident also that through the type and sign of the raising up of the snakes against those who were biting Israel 73, salvation occurred for those who believed—since it was proclaimed from that time forth to the serpent that by the one who was to be crucified, death would come to pass, and salvation would be granted to those who have been bitten by it and who flee for refuge to Him who sent into the world His Son who was to be crucified. For the prophetic Spirit did not teach us to believe in the serpent through Moses, seeing that He also reveals that it was cursed 74 by God from the beginning, and signifies through Isaiah that it shall be destroyed as an enemy by the “great sword,” which is Christ.

92. If, therefore, one does not receive from God the great grace to understand the things said and done by the prophets, it will profit him nothing to appear to recite the sayings or the events, if he cannot also provide the reason for them. ^C But will they not also seem contemptible to the many because they are spoken by those who do not understand them? For if anyone wished to examine you, saying that Enoch and Noah together with his children, and any others such as they, were well-pleasing to God, though they were neither circumcised nor kept the Sabbath, what is the reason for this…

^A imposition of laws and differing ordinances following so many generations, by which God willed that those from Abraham until Moses should be justified by circumcision, and those after Moses both by circumcision and by other precepts—namely, the Sabbath, sacrifices, ashes, and offerings—if you cannot demonstrate, as I have said, that this was because God, being prescient of all things, knew that your people would merit being driven from Jerusalem, and that no one would be permitted to enter there? For you are distinguished by no other thing, as I have already said, than this circumcision of the flesh. For God did not testify that Abraham was righteous because of circumcision, but because of faith. For before he was circumcised, it is written of him thus: "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness." ^B And we, therefore, who have believed in God through Christ, and possess that circumcision which is profitable for us who have acquired it—that is, the circumcision of the heart—hope to be found righteous and well-pleasing to God, since we have already received testimony of this from Him through the prophetic words.

And that you were commanded to keep the Sabbath and to bring offerings, and that the Lord allowed a place to be called by His name, was done—unless you can demonstrate otherwise—lest, as we have said, by falling into the worship of idols and becoming forgetful of God, you should become impious and atheistic, as it is evident you have always been. (And that this was the reason why God enacted laws concerning Sabbaths and offerings has been demonstrated by me above; but for the sake of those who have arrived today, I wish to repeat almost all the same things.) ^C If this is not the case, I say, God will be slandered, as if He were neither prescient of the future, nor had taught all men to know and observe the same justice (for it is clear that many generations of men existed before Moses), and as if the Scripture were not true which says that God is true and righteous, and all His ways are judgments, and there is no iniquity in Him. But because the Scripture is true, God does not wish you to remain always as you are—foolish and lovers of yourselves—so that you might be saved with Christ, ^D who was well-pleasing to God, and by Him, as from the holy...

93. This same rationale of justice is delivered to all men. Christ comprises it in two commandments. For the things that are always and everywhere just, and the whole of justice, are exhibited in every race of men; nor is there any race that is ignorant that adultery is an evil, and fornication, and murder, and whatever other things are like to these. And even if all men do them, yet they are not thereby exempt from the knowledge that they are acting unjustly when they perform these deeds, except for those who, filled with an unclean spirit and corrupted by poor upbringing, base customs, and wicked laws, have lost the natural notions, or rather have extinguished them, or hold them suppressed. ^B For it is possible to see even such men not wishing to suffer the same things that they themselves inflict upon others, and in their own conscience rebuking one another for the things they perpetrate. Whence it seems to me to have been well said by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that all justice and piety are fulfilled in two commandments. And they are these: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your strength; and your neighbor as yourself." For he who loves God with all his heart and with all his strength, being full of a pious sentiment, will worship no other god; but he will also worship that angel whom God wills, him who is loved by the Lord and God himself. And he who loves his neighbor as himself will wish for him the same good things that he wishes for himself; and no one wishes for evils to befall himself. Therefore, he who loves his neighbor will both pray for, and strive to bring about for him, the same things he does for himself. Now, a man's neighbor is nothing else than that animal subject to the same sufferings and endowed with reason, which is man. ^C Since, therefore, all justice is divided into two parts, towards God and towards men, whoever, the Word says, loves the Lord God with all his heart and with all his strength, and his neighbor as himself, would truly be just. But you, having never shown love or charity towards God, nor towards the prophets, nor towards yourselves, but always, as is manifest, having shown yourselves to be both idolaters and slayers of the just ^D

ita ut ipsi ^A even reach even Christ with your hands, and even until now persist in your wickedness, cursing both Him and those who demonstrate that this crucified One is Christ. And in addition to this, you insist on demonstrating that He was crucified as an enemy of God and one who is accursed; which is truly a work of your irrational mind. For since you have the means of understanding from the signs performed by Moses that this is the Christ, you not only do not wish to do so, but, considering that we might be able to corner you, you propose whatever questions come into your mind, yet you yourselves have nothing to say when you encounter a more steadfast Christian.

94. Tell me, then: Is God not the One who commanded through Moses to make no image or likeness ^B at all, either of the things in heaven above or of the things on earth below, and yet He Himself, in the wilderness, caused the bronze serpent to be made through Moses, and set it upon a sign, by which sign those who were bitten were saved? And He is free from the charge of injustice. For He was proclaiming a mystery through this, as I have already said, by which He was proclaiming that He would destroy the power of the serpent, which brought about the transgression by Adam, and was proclaiming salvation to those who believe in Him who was to be the subject of this sign—that is, in Him who was to be crucified—from the bites of the serpent, which are wicked actions, idolatries, and other injustices. Unless this is understood, give me a reason why Moses set up ^C the bronze serpent upon a sign and told those who were bitten ^D to look at it.

and why he did so even though he himself had decreed that no likeness of anything at all should be made.

The other of those who had arrived on the second day said: You have spoken truly; we have no answer to give. For I myself have often asked our teachers about this, and no one has given me an answer. Therefore, continue what you have begun to say; for we are listening to you as you reveal a mystery, and explain why the oracles of the prophets are exposed to calumnies.

I replied: Just as God commanded the sign to be made by means of the bronze serpent, and yet is not to blame, so also in the Law a curse lies upon men who are crucified, but it does not lie upon Christ of God, through whom all who have committed things worthy of a curse are saved by God.

95. For all the human race will be found to be under a curse. For it is said in the Law of Moses: "Cursed is every one who does not remain in the things that are written in the book of the Law, to do them." And no one has ever kept all things exactly, and you yourselves will not dare to deny this; but some have kept the commandments more and some less than others. But if it is evident that those who are under this Law are under a curse because they have not kept all things, will it not be much more evident that all the Gentiles who worship idols, commit outrage upon boys, and do other wicked things, are under a curse? If, then, the Father of all wished for his own Christ to take upon himself the curses of all, for the sake of men of every race, knowing that he would raise him up after he had been crucified and had died, why do you speak of him as if he had been cursed, he who endured these things according to the will of the Father, and why do you not rather lament for yourselves? For even if the Father and he himself brought it about that he should suffer these things for the human race, you did not act as though serving the counsel of God; for neither did you display piety by putting the prophets to death. And let no one among you say: If the Father wished him to suffer these things so that by his stripes the human race might be healed, we have done no wrong. If you say these things, intending to repent of your sins, and acknowledging that this is the Christ, and keeping his commandments, I have already said that there will be forgiveness of sins for you. But if you continue to curse both him and those who believe in him, and if, whenever you have the power, you kill them, how will vengeance for the hands you have laid upon him not be exacted from you, as from unjust and sinful men, and those whose hearts are altogether hardened and insensate?

^A For the phrase in the Law, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree," does not mean that God curses this crucified one; rather, it confirms the hope we have attached to the Christ who was crucified, since God had foreshown that your entire nation, and those like you, would not know that he is the one who exists before all things, and the eternal priest of God, and King, and Christ who was to come. And this is something you may see happening before your own eyes. For in your synagogues you curse all those who have been made Christians through him, and the other nations act with effect upon that curse, putting to death those who merely confess themselves to be Christians. To all of them we say: "You are our brothers; rather, recognize the truth of God." And since neither you nor they are persuaded by us, but even strive to make us deny the name of Christ, we prefer to suffer death rather than renounce it, convinced that God will grant us all the good things he has promised through Christ. ^B And in addition to all this, we pray for you, that you may receive mercy from Christ. For he even taught us to pray for our enemies, saying: "Love your enemies; be kind and merciful, just as your heavenly Father is." For we see that the almighty God is kind and merciful, making his sun to rise upon the ungrateful and the just alike, and sending rain upon the holy and the wicked; and he has taught that he is also to judge them all.

^C Nor, furthermore, was it a trivial thing that the prophet Moses, while Hur and Aaron supported his hands, remained in that posture until evening. For the Lord also remained on the tree almost until evening, and at evening they buried him; he then rose again on the third day. This had been foretold through David in these words: "I cried aloud with my voice to the Lord, and he heard me from his holy mountain. I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord took me to himself." And it was similarly said concerning this through Isaiah regarding the manner in which he was to die: "I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good." And that he would rise again, Isaiah himself...

^A says: "His burial is taken away from the midst, and I will give the rich for his death." And in other parts, David, speaking of the passion and the cross in a mysterious allegory, says thus in the twenty-first psalm: "They pierced my hands and my feet; they counted all my bones. They considered and looked upon me; they divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots."

For when they crucified him, driving in the nails, they pierced his hands and his feet; and those who had crucified him divided his garments among themselves, casting lots for each item according to the decision of the lot, as each one wished to choose. And you deny that this same psalm is spoken of Christ, being ^B blind in all respects, and not understanding that no one in your race, even if he were called king or Christ, has ever had his feet and hands pierced while alive and died through this mystery—that is, by being crucified—except this Jesus alone.

98. I shall produce the whole psalm so that you may hear his piety toward the Father, and how he refers all things to him, and through him seeks to be saved from this death; at the same time showing in the psalm what sort of people those were who set themselves against him, and proving that he truly became a man susceptible to suffering. The psalm is as follows: "O God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me? The words of my transgressions are far from my salvation. O my God, I cry to you by day, and you do not hear; and by night, and ^C not for lack of understanding on my part. But you dwell in the holy place, O pride of Israel. In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried, and were saved; in you they trusted, and were not put to shame. But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men, and the offscouring of the people. All who looked upon me mocked me; they spoke with their lips, they wagged their head: He trusted in the Lord, let him deliver him; let him save him, seeing that he delights in him. For you are he who drew me out of the womb, my hope from my mother's breasts; I was cast upon you from the womb. From my mother's womb you are my God; do not depart from me, for tribulation is near, for there is none to help me. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have beset me. They have opened their mouth against me, as a lion ravening and roaring. Like water my bones have been poured out and scattered."

^A My heart also has become like wax, melting in the midst of my belly. My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my throat, and you have brought me down to the dust of death. For many dogs have surrounded me; a gathering of evil-doers has enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and my feet; they have numbered all my bones. But they have looked and stared upon me; they have divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they have cast lots. But you, O Lord, do not remove your help from me; look toward my defense. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only one from the hand of the dog. Save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humility from the horns of unicorns. I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the Church I will praise you. You who fear the Lord, praise him; all the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel fear him.

99. Having said these things, I continued: "Now, that the whole psalm was spoken in this manner concerning Christ, I will further demonstrate to you through the things I shall explain in interpreting it once more." Therefore, what it says immediately: «O God, my God, look upon me; why have you forsaken me?»—this was foretold from of old, which was to be said at the time of Christ. For when fastened to the cross, he said: «O God, my God, why have you forsaken me?» And the following: «Far from my salvation are the words of my transgressions. O my God, I will cry by day and you will not hear, and by night, and not out of ignorance to me;» these things were spoken just as those things which Christ was about to do were spoken. For on the day when he was to be crucified, having brought with him three of the disciples up to the mount called Mount of Olives, which is situated opposite the temple in Jerusalem, he prayed, saying: «Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.» Then he added this prayer: «Not as I will, but as you will.» By these words he declares that he had truly become a man subject to suffering. But lest anyone say: "He was ignorant, then, that he was about to suffer," he immediately adds in the psalm: «And not out of ignorance to me.» For just as it was not out of ignorance for God to ask Adam where he was, nor Cain where Abel was, but so that he might convict each one as to what kind of person he is, and so that the knowledge of all things might come down to us through being written; ^D so also Christ declares that he did not [speak] in ignorance of his own self, but [to convince] those who think he is not Christ, but...

that he would be put to death, and that he would remain in Hades as a common man. ^A

100. In what sense Christ [is called] Jacob and Israel and [is the] Son of Man. — But what follows: “But thou dwellest in the holy place, O praise of Israel,” declared that he was to do a thing worthy of praise and admiration, as one who was to rise from the dead on the third day after the punishment of the cross: a thing which he has received from the Father. For I have shown that Christ is called both Jacob and Israel; and I have shown that the matters concerning him were mystically proclaimed not only in the blessing of Joseph and Judah, but it is also written in the Gospel that he said: “All things have been delivered unto me by the Father,” and “No one knows the Father except the Son; nor the Son except the Father and those to whom the Son shall reveal him.” He has therefore revealed to us all things whatsoever that we have understood by his grace even from the Scriptures, acknowledging him to be the firstborn of God, and before all created things; and the son of the patriarchs, inasmuch as, having become flesh by the Virgin who was of their lineage, he endured to become a man who is uncomely, dishonored, and subject to sufferings. ^B Whence also he said in his discourses, when he was discussing that he was about to suffer, that “The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the Pharisees and Scribes, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” He called himself the Son of Man, either because of his birth by the Virgin, which was (as I have said) of the lineage of David, and Jacob, and Isaac, and Abraham; or because Abraham himself was the father of those whom I have enumerated, from whom Mary traces her lineage. For we know that the fathers of children born to their daughters are the progenitors of their offspring. And indeed, one of his disciples, who had recognized him to be Christ the Son of God by the revelation of his Father, he called Peter, ^C whereas he was previously called Simon; and since we find him written in the memoirs of his apostles as the Son of God, and we call him Son, we have understood that he proceeded from the Father by his power and will before all created things (who is also called Wisdom, and Day, and East, and Sword, and Stone, and Rod, and Jacob, and Israel, in one way or another in the words of the prophets), and that he became man by the Virgin, in order that the way by which the disobedience arising from the serpent took its beginning might also receive its dissolution by the same way. For Eve, when she was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word from the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary, having received faith and joy, when the angel ^D...

^A Gabriel brought her the good news that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Most High would overshadow her, and therefore the Holy One born of her is the Son of God, she answered: "Be it done to me according to your word." And of her was born He, concerning whom we have demonstrated that these Scriptures were spoken; by whom God destroys the serpent and those angels and men who have become like him; but procures release from death for those who repent of their evil deeds and believe in Him.

101. Christ refers everything to the Father. — Now, what follows in the psalm: "In you our fathers hoped; they hoped, and you delivered them. To you they cried out, and they were not put to shame. But I am a worm and no man; a reproach of men and the rejection of the people," declares that those ^B who hoped in God and were saved by Him are acknowledged by Him as fathers, even such as were the fathers of that Virgin through whom He was born, having become man; and at the same time, He reveals that He Himself was to be saved by the same God, and does not boast that He did anything by His own will or power. For He did the very same thing on earth; when someone said to Him, "Good Master," He answered: "Why do you call me good? One is good, that is, my Father who is in heaven." And as for the saying, "I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and the rejection of the people," these were things ^C clearly predicted to Him as destined to happen and as present. For to us men who believe in Him, there is reproach everywhere; and "rejection of the people," because by your people He was held in contempt and treated with ignominy, and suffered those things which you conspired against Him. And what follows: "All who saw me, mocked me; and they spoke with their lips, and moved their head: He hoped in the Lord; let Him deliver him, since He desires him," likewise predicted that these same things would happen to Him. For those who saw Him crucified moved their heads, each one of them, and twisted their lips, and sneering with their noses at one another ^D remarked in mockery those things which are written in the memoirs of His apostles: "He claimed to be the Son of God; let Him come down and walk about; let God save Him."

102. The prophecy of those things which happened to Christ when He was born. Why God permitted this. — Now what follows: "My hope from my mother's breasts. On you was I cast from the womb. From my mother's womb you are my God; there is not yet help for me. Surrounded me have calves..."

^A many; fat bulls have surrounded me. They opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravaging and roaring. Like water I have been poured out, and all my bones have been scattered. My heart has become like wax melting in the midst of my belly. My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has stuck to my throat; these words were a proclamation of the things that were to come to pass. For just as, when he was born in Bethlehem, as I have already stated, King Herod heard from the Magi who came from Arabia about him and plotted to take his life, so Joseph, by the command of God, took him along with Mary and departed into Egypt. For the Father who had begotten him had determined that he should not be put to death before he had reached manhood and had preached the word which came from Him.

If, however, someone should say to us, "Could God not have killed Herod instead?" I shall answer in anticipation: Could God not have removed the serpent from the beginning so that it would not exist, and could He not have refrained from saying, ^B "And I will put enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and her seed?" Could He not have immediately created a multitude of human beings? But, as He judged it to be good that they should come into being, He created both angels and men empowered with free will to perform righteous deeds. And He determined the times during which He knew it was good for them to possess free will. And because He judged it similarly to be good, He enacted both general and particular judgments, while free will nonetheless remained. Whence the Scripture, in the account of the building of the tower and the manifold division and changing of languages, says this: "And the Lord said: Behold, one genus and one language for all; and this they have begun to do, and now they will not fail in anything that they may attempt to do."

And that statement, ^C "My strength has dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has stuck to my throat," was likewise a proclamation of those things which he was about to do according to the will of the Father. For the power of that mighty word, by which he was always rebuking the Pharisees and Scribes who disputed with him, and in short all the teachers of your race, remained suspended like an overflowing and powerful spring whose water was diverted when he himself kept silent and would no longer answer anyone before Pilate, as has been demonstrated in the memoirs of his apostles—so that also the fruit of that saying of Isaiah might be effective, where it is written: "The Lord gives me a tongue, that I may know when I ought to speak a word."

But his saying, "You are my God; do not depart from me," teaches at the same time that all have a duty to hope in God who created all things, and to seek salvation and help from Him alone, and not, after the manner of the rest of men, to think that they can obtain salvation because of ^D lineage, or wealth, or strength, or wisdom. This is the very thing which you yourselves have also always done, who at one time indeed...

made the calf, and always proved yourselves ungrateful, slayers of the just, and puffed up because of your lineage. For if the Son of God is seen, because He is the Son, to say that He cannot be saved either by being strong or by being wise, but [only] by being sinless—as Isaiah says, that He had not sinned even by a word (for He did no iniquity, nor was deceit found in His mouth)—and that He could not be saved without God, how do you, or others who expect to be saved without this hope, not consider that you are deceiving yourselves?

103. ^B *Pharisees are bulls; the roaring lion is Herod or the devil.* What is said next in the Psalm: "For tribulation is near, because there is no one to help me. Many calves have surrounded me; fat bulls have beset me. They have opened their mouths against me, like a raging and roaring lion. As water I have been poured out and all my bones have been scattered," was a prophecy of the things which happened to Him in like manner. For on that night when those from your people—who were sent by the Pharisees and Scribes according to their authority in teaching—came upon Him from the Mount of Olives, they surrounded Him—those whom the Scripture calls "calves with horns" [and] prematurely destructive. But that [saying], "Fat bulls have beset me," foretold those very men who did the same things as the calves, when He was brought to your teachers; whom, indeed, the Scripture designates as bulls, because we know that bulls are the cause of the existence of the calves. As, therefore, bulls are the fathers of the calves, so your teachers were the cause for their children to go out to the Mount of Olives to seize Him and bring Him to them. And the saying, "Because there is no one to help," is also indicative of what happened. For not even one of all men offered help to Him as one who was innocent. And that [saying], "They opened their mouths against me, like a roaring lion," designates the one who was then King of the Jews, Herod himself, who was called such, being the successor of that Herod who, when Jesus was born, slew all the infants born in Bethlehem at that time, because he suspected that He was absolutely in that number, of whom he had heard from the Magi who came from Arabia. But he was ignorant of the counsel of Him who is stronger than all; just as he had ordained for Joseph and Mary

^A that they should depart and take the child, and stay there until it was again revealed to them to return into their own country. ^B And they had gone thither and stayed until Herod, who had killed the children in Bethlehem, was dead, and Archelaus had succeeded him. And he also died before Christ came to the dispensation ^C which occurred by the will of the Father, and was to undergo crucifixion. But when Archelaus had succeeded Herod, and had received the power which had been allotted to him, to whom Pilate, in order to show him favor, sent the bound Jesus, God, foreknowing that this would happen, had said thus: "And they shall bring him as a gift to the Assyrian king." ^D Or He also called the devil a lion roaring against Him; whom Moses calls a serpent, but in Job and Zechariah he is called devil, and by Jesus he is called Satan, a name which indicates that it is a name composed from the action which he performed. For "Sata" in the language of the Jews and Syrians is the same as "desertor" and "apostata," and the name "Nas," from which in interpretation he is called a serpent, if you interpret the Hebrew word: from which two words one name, Satan, is made. For immediately as Jesus ascended from the river Jordan, where the voice was uttered unto Him: "Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee," ^B it is written in the memoirs of the apostles that the devil came to Him and tempted Him, even to the point of saying to Him: "Worship me," and that Christ answered him: "Get thee behind me, Satan: thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve." For as he deceived Adam, he thought he could also plot something against Him. And that saying: "Like water I am poured out, and all my bones are scattered; my heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my belly," ^C was a prophecy of what happened to Him that night, when they came out against Him upon the Mount of Olives to apprehend Him. For in the memoirs, which I say were composed by His apostles and their followers, it is recorded that sweat, like drops of blood, flowed down from Him, while He was praying and saying: "If it be possible, let this cup pass," ^D as trembling in his

of His heart ^A being manifest, and likewise of His bones, His heart being like wax melting into His bowels; so that we might know that the Father willed that His own Son should truly suffer such things for our sake, and that we should not say that He, being the Son of God, was not sentient of those things which were inflicted upon Him and which befell Him. And that which says, "My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue has cleaved to my throat," which I mentioned before, was a prediction of that silence ^B in which (at nothing [27] answering nothing) He, who put to shame all the unwise teachers among you, remained.

104. And that which says, "In the dust of death Thou hast brought me low: for many dogs have encompassed me, the assembly of the wicked have beset me. They pierced my hands and my feet. They counted all my bones. They themselves gazed and looked upon me. They parted my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots;" these words, as I have said, were a prediction of what kind of death the assembly of the wicked was about to condemn Him, whom He also calls dogs and huntsmen, indicating that they themselves, the huntsmen, who also gathered ^C together, were those who struggled to condemn Him. Which, as it is written in his apostles' memoirs, happened. And that after His crucifixion, those who crucified Him divided His garments among themselves, I have shown.

105. The things which follow in the Psalm: "But Thou, O Lord, do not remove Thy help from me: attend to my defense. Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog [31]; save me from the mouth of the lion, and my lowliness from the horns of the unicorns;" were likewise, again, a teaching and a prediction of the things that were His, and of the things about to befall Him. For that He was the only-begotten to the Father of ^D all, having been born specifically from Him as Word and power, and afterward man...

born through the Virgin, as we learned from the memoirs, I have already demonstrated. And that having been crucified He died, he similarly foretold. For that [saying]: “Deliver my soul from the sword, and my only-begotten from the hand of the dog; save me from the mouth of the lion, and my humiliation from the horns of the unicorns,” ^C similarly intimates the passion by which He was about to die, that is to say, to be crucified. For as to the phrase “the horns of the unicorns,” that it is the figure of the cross alone, I have already explained to you. And that by requesting his soul to be saved from the sword and the mouth of the lion and the hand of the dog, it was a petition that no one might have dominion over his soul—so that, when we come to the departure from life, we may ask the same things of God, who is able to avert every shameless and evil angel from taking hold of our soul. And that souls endure, I have demonstrated to you from the fact that the soul of Samuel was called up by the ventriloquist, as Saul asked. And it appears also that all ^D souls of such righteous men and prophets fell under the power of such authorities, such as the power that is confessed to have been in that ventriloquist in the very nature of the events. Whence also He teaches us, through His Son, to strive in every way—on whose account these things are seen to happen—and at the departure [from life] to pray that our souls may not fall under any such power. For indeed, handing over the spirit upon the cross, He said: “Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit,” as I also learned this from the memoirs. For [He also taught] that [we must] surpass the way of life of the Pharisees, urging on His disciples; if not, [they must] know that they will not be saved; and it is written in the memoirs that He said these things: “Unless your righteousness shall exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

106. And that He knew the Father would grant Him all things as He asked, and would raise Him from the dead, and exhorted all who fear God to praise God because He had shown mercy, and because through this mystery of Him who was crucified, [He had shown mercy] to every race of believing men; and that He stood in the midst of His brethren, the apostles...

^B (who indeed, after He rose from the dead, and was persuaded by Him—that even before His passion He had told them that He must suffer these things, and that these things had been foretold by the prophets, repented that they had deserted Him when He was crucified), and while He walked with them, He praised God, as is also declared in the memoirs of the apostles to have happened, and revealed the things left out of the psalm. And these are the things: "I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. Let all the seed of Israel fear him." And that He is said to have renamed one of the apostles Peter, and that this also is written as having occurred in his memoirs, and that He further renamed two other brothers, the sons of Zebedee, Boanerges, which is "sons of thunder," was a sign that He is the very same One by whom the surname of Jacob was given to him who was called Israel, and by whom the name Jesus was given to Auses; by which name also, the people who were left of those who came out of Egypt were led into the land promised to the patriarchs. And that He was to rise as a star ^C from the race of Abraham, Moses declared in these words: "There shall rise a star out of Jacob, and a leader out of Israel." And another Scripture says: "Behold a man; the East is his name." And since a star arose in the heavens at the time He was born, as is written in the memoirs of His apostles, the Magi from Arabia, recognizing this from the sign, came and worshipped Him.

107. The same dogma from the history of Jonah. — And that on the third day, after He was crucified, He was to rise, it is written in the same memoirs that the men of your race, when disputing with Him, said: "Show us a sign;" and that He answered them: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to them, but the sign of the prophet Jonas." And since these things were said by Him in a hidden manner, it was for the hearers to understand that, after He had been crucified, He would rise again on the third day. And He showed that your generation was more wicked and adulterous than the city of the Ninevites, who, when Jonah had preached to them after he had been cast forth on the third day from the belly of the ^D

^A great fish—that after three [in other copies, forty] days they would all perish—proclaimed a fast for every living thing, men and beasts alike, with sackcloth and vehement outcry, and a true turning of their hearts away from iniquity; believing that God is merciful and philanthropic towards all who turn from their wickedness, so that even the king of that city and the nobles likewise, putting on sackcloth, remained in fasting and supplication, and succeeded in having their city spared. But even when Jonah was grieved that on the [in other copies, three] third day, as he had preached, the city was not destroyed, by the providence of God a gourd 44 sprang up from the ground for him, under which he sat and was shaded from the heat the gourd was a sudden growth, neither planted by Jonah nor watered by him, but suddenly springing up to provide him with shade, and then by 45 another command [God] dried it up. At this Jonah was vexed, and God reproved him for being unjustly disheartened because the city of the Ninevites had not been destroyed, saying: "You spared the gourd, for which you did not labor, nor did you nourish it, which came up in a night and perished in a night; and shall I not spare Nineveh, the great city, in which dwell more than twelve myriads of men who do not know their right hand from their left, and many cattle?" ^B

108. And when all the men of your race knew that these things had been done by Jonah, and when Christ cried out among you that He would give you the sign of Jonah, urging you that, even after He had risen from the dead, you should repent of the evils you had committed and likewise, like the Ninevites, weep before God, so that both your nation and your city might not be captured and destroyed as it has been destroyed; and not only did you not repent when you learned that He had risen from the dead, but, as I said before, having chosen and sent out select men into every country, you proclaimed that a certain godless and lawless heresy had been raised up from one Jesus, a Galilean deceiver—whom we crucified, but His disciples stole Him from ^C the tomb by night, and ^D all over the world they sent men to accuse Christ.

from the sepulchre by night, from whence he was taken down ^A, having stolen him, they spread the report that he has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven; further, you have laid to our charge those impious, detestable, and wicked deeds which you repeat against all who confess Christ to be both Teacher and Son of God, to every race of men—calling us atheists, lawless, and unholy. Furthermore, now that your city has been captured and your land laid waste, you do not repent, but you even dare to curse Him and all who believe in Him. Yet we do not hate you, nor those who have taken up such an opinion of us from you; but we pray that even now, having repented, you may all obtain mercy from the all-benign and wondrously merciful Father, the God of the universe.

109. ^B 109. But regarding the fact that the nations were to repent of the wickedness in which they lived while wandering, after they had learned the doctrine which the apostles preached from Jerusalem through them, I would have you bear with me while I recite a few words from the prophecy of Micah, one of the twelve: they are of this kind: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord shall be manifest, prepared on the tops of the mountains; it shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall set a river upon it, and many nations shall go, and they shall say: Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will show us His way, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem; and He shall judge among many peoples, and shall rebuke strong ^C nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; and nation shall not take up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war anymore. And a man shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and there shall be none to make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all peoples will walk each in the name of their god, but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will gather her that is afflicted, and I will assemble her that is cast out, and her whom I have plagued; and I will make her that is afflicted a remnant, and her that is driven far off a strong nation. And the Lord shall reign ^D over them in Mount Zion from henceforth and even forever."

^A I know, sirs, that your teachers confess that all the words of this passage were spoken concerning Christ. And I also know that they say He has not yet come; or, if they say He has come, they maintain that it is not known who He is, but that when He shall become manifest and glorious, then it will be known who He is. They say that then, [they claim,] the things mentioned in this passage will be fulfilled, as though no fruit of the words of the prophecy has yet appeared. How senseless are they, not understanding what has been proved through all the words: that two advents of His have been announced. One, in which He is proclaimed as one who suffers, is inglorious, dishonored, and crucified; and the second, in which He shall come from the heavens with glory, when also the man of apostasy, ^B who dares to speak lawless things against the Most High upon the earth, will venture to do lawless things against us Christians, who, having recognized the worship of God through the apostles of Jesus—the word which went forth from Jerusalem—have taken refuge in the God of Jacob and the God of Israel. And those of us who were filled with war, mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each of us throughout the whole earth changed our instruments of war—swords into ploughshares, and spears into farming implements—and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, and the hope which is from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified; sitting each under his own vine, that is to say, each of us using only his lawful wife. For that the prophetic word says, "And his wife as a flourishing vine," ^C is clear to you. And that there is no one who terrifies or enslaves us who have believed in Jesus throughout all the earth is manifest. For that we do not depart from our confession when we are beheaded, and crucified, and cast to wild beasts, and [bound] with chains and fire and all other torments, is plain; but the more such things happen, the more others in greater numbers become faithful and pious through the name of Jesus. Just as if one should prune the fruit-bearing parts of a vine, it puts forth other branches, both flourishing and fruit-bearing, so it happens also with us. For the vine planted by God and the Savior Christ is His people. The remaining part of the prophecy will be fulfilled in His second advent. For that "afflicted" ^D portion, that is to say, [the part which is] from the world, as far as concerns you and all other men—

^A indeed, each one of the Christians has been cast out, not only from their own possessions, but also from the whole world, granting life to no Christian. ^B Yet you say that this has happened to your own people. But if you have been cast out as a result of being defeated in war, you have suffered these things justly, as all the Scriptures testify. We, however, who have done nothing of the sort after knowing the truth of God, are testified to by God—along with the most righteous and only undefiled and sinless Christ—that we are being removed from the earth. 58 For Isaiah cries out: "Behold how the righteous man has perished, and no one lays it to heart; and righteous men are taken away, and no one understands." [111.] And that these two advents of this Christ were also predicted in the time of Moses, I have already demonstrated by the sign of the goats offered in the fast. And again, in those things which Moses and Jesus did, the same thing was symbolically proclaimed and spoken. For one of them, stretching out his hands, remained on the hill until evening, with his hands being supported; this shows no other type than that of the cross. The other, who was renamed by the name Jesus, led the battle, and Israel was victorious. It is also possible to understand, regarding both those holy men and prophets of God, that it was not possible for either of them to carry both of those mysteries alone—I mean, the type of the cross and the type of the invocation of the Name. For this power belongs to one only, and was, and shall be; at whose Name every authority trembles, ^C shuddering because they are about to be destroyed by Him. Our passible and crucified Christ, therefore, was by no means cursed by the law, but was manifesting only that He would save those who do not depart from the faith of Him. And those who were saved in Egypt, when the firstborn of the Egyptians were perishing, were liberated by the blood of the Passover, which was smeared on the doorposts on both sides and on the lintel. For Christ was the Passover, who was sacrificed later, as Isaiah also said: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter." And it is written that you arrested Him on the day of the Passover, and likewise crucified Him during the Passover. And as the blood of the Passover saved those in Egypt, so also will the blood of Christ deliver from death those who have believed. For God was about to be deceived, if this sign 62 were not marked on the doorposts of the faithful.

doors? I certainly would not say so, but rather that he was foretelling that the salvation would be for the human race through the blood of Christ. For the sign of the scarlet thread 63, which the spies sent to Jericho by Joshua the son of Nun gave to the harlot Rahab, telling her to tie it to the window through which she let them down so that they might escape their enemies, likewise signified the sign of the blood of Christ, by which those who were formerly harlots and unrighteous from among all the nations are saved, having received remission of sins, and sinning no more.

112. But you, when you interpret these things in a lowly manner, assign great weakness to God, if you hear these things so superficially and do not examine the power of what is said. For in this way Moses would also be judged as a transgressor of the law. He himself commanded 64 that there should be no likeness of anything, either of those things in heaven, or on earth, or in the sea; yet afterwards he himself made a bronze serpent and, having set it on a sign 65, he commanded those who had been bitten to look at it; and they were saved by looking at it. Shall the serpent, then, be thought to have saved the people at that time, which God from the beginning ^B cursed and destroyed by the great sword, as Isaiah cries? And shall we foolishly accept such things as your teachers say, and not as symbols? And shall we not refer the sign to the image of the crucified Jesus, since Moses also, through the stretching out of his hands, together with him who was named Jesus, secured victory for your people? For in this way we shall cease to be at a loss concerning the things which the lawgiver did; for he did not leave God and persuade the people to set their hope on a beast, through which transgression and disobedience had their beginning. And these things were done and said by the blessed prophet with great understanding and mystery; and there is nothing which anyone can justly blame in the things which were done or said by all the prophets ^C generally, if you have the knowledge that is in them 66. But if you act as your teachers 67 [do]—why are female camels not mentioned in this place, or what are the so-called female camels, or why are so many measures of fine flour and so many measures of oil in the offerings explained to you, and these in a lowly and... ^D

^A base manner, while they never dare to speak of or explain the great things worthy of inquiry; or even when we explain them, they warn you not to listen at all, nor to enter into any communion of discourse—will they not justly hear what our Lord Jesus Christ said to them: « Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. » Unless, therefore, you despise the doctrine of those who exalt themselves and wish to be called Rabbi, Rabbi, and approach the prophetic writings with such firmness of mind and intelligence as to undergo the same things from your own people that the prophets themselves suffered, you cannot possibly derive any benefit at all from the prophetic oracles.

113. Joshua the figure of Christ.

- ^A self being the one who appeared and spoke to Moses and to Abraham and to the other patriarchs, simply put, and who served the will of the Father, I have demonstrated; he who also came to be born as a man through the Virgin Mary, and *he is always*, I shall say. For this is he from whom 74 both the heaven and the earth exist, and through whom the Father is about to renew them; this is he who is about to shine as an eternal light in Jerusalem; this is he who is king of Salem according to the order of Melchizedek, and who exists as an eternal priest of the Most High. That man (Joshua) is said to have circumcised the people a second time 75 with knives of flint (which was a proclamation of this circumcision with which Jesus Christ himself circumcises us from the stones and from other idols), and to have made heaps of those from uncircumcision—that is, from the error of the world—who in every place were circumcised with knives of flint by the words of Jesus our Lord. For that Christ is proclaimed in the parables as a stone and a rock by the prophets has been demonstrated by me. Therefore, we shall understand his words to be the knives of flint, by which so many of those from uncircumcision who were wandering have been circumcised in the circumcision of the heart, which God, through Jesus, urged even those who had the circumcision that took its beginning from Abraham to receive from that time forward; and he said that those who entered into that holy land received a second circumcision 76 with knives of flint by Jesus.

114. For there are times when the Holy Spirit 77 was doing something, of which it was a type of what was about to happen ^B or was being done; and there are times when he also uttered words concerning things that were about to come to pass, uttering them as if they were happening then or had already happened.

Certain rules for discerning what is said about Christ.

And when He speaks of future things, He pronounces them as if they were taking place even then, or had already happened. Unless those who read this view it with such an art, they will be unable to follow the prophetic words as they ought. By way of example, I shall put forth some prophetic sayings so that you may follow what is being said. ^A When He says through Isaiah, “He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before the shearer,” He speaks as if the passion had already occurred. And when He says again, “I have spread out my hands unto a people disobedient and gainsaying,” and when He says, “Lord, who hath believed our report?” the words signify the announcement of things as if they had already come to pass. For I have already demonstrated that in metaphor Scripture often calls Christ a stone, and in allegory, Jacob and Israel. And again, when it says, “I shall behold the heavens, the works of Thy fingers,” if I do not understand the operation of His Word, I shall understand it foolishly, as it pleases your teachers, who think that the Father of all and the unbegotten God possesses hands and feet and fingers and ^B a soul, like a composite living being; and who for this reason teach that the Father Himself appeared to Abraham and to Jacob. Blessed, therefore, are we who have been circumcised with stone knives for the second circumcision. For your first circumcision was and is performed with iron; for you remain hard-hearted. But our circumcision, which is the second in number, having been manifested after yours, by sharp stones—that is, by the words of the apostles of that chief corner-stone, which was cut without hands—circumcises us from idolatry and from every wickedness entirely. Those whose hearts are thus circumcised from wickedness, so that they even rejoice as they die for the sake of the name of that fair Rock, which also pours forth living water into the hearts of those who through Him love ^C the Father of all, and gives to drink to those who thirst for the water of life. But as I say these things, you do not understand. For you understand neither the things which the prophets predicted that Christ would do, nor do you believe us when we lead you to the Scriptures. For Jeremiah thus cries out: “Woe unto you, because ye have forsaken the living fountain, and have dug for yourselves broken cisterns, which cannot hold water. Will it be a wilderness where mount Sion is? Because I have given Jerusalem a bill of divorce before you.”

^A 115. But you ought to believe Zechariah, who shows the mystery of Christ in a parable and announces it in a hidden manner. These are his words: “Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Sion; for behold I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord; and many nations shall be added to the Lord in that day. And they shall be for a people to me, and I will dwell in the midst of you; and you shall know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you. And the Lord shall inherit Judah, and his portion in the holy land, and he shall choose Jerusalem again.” Let all flesh fear before the face of the Lord, for he has arisen from his holy clouds. “And he showed me Jesus the high priest standing before the face of an angel; and the devil stood at his right hand, to resist him. And the Lord said to the devil, The Lord rebuke you, who chooses Jerusalem. Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” ^B While Trypho was preparing to answer and contradict me, I said, “First wait and hear what I say; for I am not about to put forward the explanation which you suspect—namely, that there was no priest named Jesus in the land of Babylon, where your people were captive. Even if I were doing that, I have proved that there was a Jesus, a priest, among your people, but that it was not he whom the prophet saw in his revelation; just as the prophet did not see either the devil or the angel of the Lord with his own eyes while he was in a normal state, but in an ecstasy, a revelation having been made to him. But now I say that just as Scripture said that certain virtues and actions, which proclaimed the things that were to be done by our Lord, were performed by the son of Nave ^C through the name of Jesus; so also did it signify the [actions] under that Jesus who was priest in Babylon among your people— ^D

^A a revelation to your people, I now proceed to demonstrate that the things which were to be performed by our priest and God and Christ, the Son of the Father of all, were indeed a proclamation. But I was wondering, I said, why a little while ago you remained silent when I was speaking, or how you did not challenge me when I said that the son of Nave was the only one of those who came out of Egypt—besides his contemporaries—who entered the holy land, along with those who were recorded as being younger than that generation. For you rush and fly ^B towards ulcers like flies. For even if someone says ten thousand things well, but a tiny little part in them is not pleasing to you, or is not understood, or is not stated with precision, you care nothing for the many good things, but you seize upon the small word, and you strive to construe it as an impiety and a wickedness, in order that you may, by the same 89 judgment, be judged by God, and much more be held to account for your great rash acts, or for your wicked deeds, or for the base interpretations which you twist and explain. 90 For with the judgment you judge, it is just that you should be judged.

116. But that I may render to you the account concerning the revelation of the holy Jesus Christ, 91 I take up the discourse again, and I say that this revelation also has happened to us who believe in this Christ as the high priest, the one who was crucified; we who were living in fornications and simply in every filthy ^C practice, but through the grace given by our Jesus according to the will of his Father, we have put off all those filthy evils with which we were clothed; against which the devil always stands, opposing us, and wishing to draw everyone to himself; but the angel of God—that is, the power of God which was sent to us through Jesus Christ—rebukes him, and he departs from us. And just as we have been snatched from the fire, being cleansed from our former sins, so too are we to be 92 delivered from the affliction and the burning which both the devil and all his servants kindle against us; ^D and out of these, Jesus the Son of God has promised again to snatch us, and to clothe us with the prepared garments, if we perform his commandments, and he has promised that he will provide an eternal kingdom. For in the same manner as that Jesus who is called priest by the prophet was seen wearing filthy garments because it was said that he had taken a harlot 94 as his wife, and was called a brand plucked from the fire, because the remission of

^A sins had been received, the devil who stood against him having been rebuked. So we, who through the name of Jesus have believed as one man in God the Creator of all, through the name of His first-begotten Son, have been stripped of the filthy garments, that is, of our sins, by the word of His calling, and have been set on fire by His word, and are the true high-priestly race of God, as even God Himself bears witness, saying that in every place among the Gentiles, sacrifices pleasing and pure are offered to Him. But God does not receive sacrifices from anyone, except through His priests.

117. ^B Accordingly, God, anticipating the sacrifices which Jesus Christ commanded to be offered, that is, at the Eucharist of the bread and the cup, and which are offered by Christians in every place of the earth, bears witness that they are pleasing to Him. But those offered by you and through those priests of yours, He rejects, saying: "And I will not accept your sacrifices from your hands; because from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name has been glorified among the Gentiles," says He, "but you profane it." And even now, striving in argument, you say that God does not accept the sacrifices of those who were then called Israelites, who were dwelling in Jerusalem; but that He said He accepts the prayers of those of that race who were then in the dispersion, and calls their prayers sacrifices. That, indeed, both prayers and thanksgiving, when performed by the worthy, are the only perfect and pleasing sacrifices to God, I also affirm. For these alone have Christians received to do, and even ^C in remembrance of their food, both dry and liquid, in which also is commemorated the passion which the Son of God suffered for them, ^D

^A of whom the name, once profaned throughout the whole world and pelted with blasphemies, the chief priests of your people and your teachers have caused. But God will show these very filthy garments, which have been imposed by you upon all who have become Christians through the name of Jesus, to be removed from us, when He shall raise up all men, and shall appoint some to be incorruptible, immortal, and free from pain in an eternal and indissoluble kingdom, but shall send others away to the eternal punishment of fire.

And that you yourselves and your teachers deceive yourselves, interpreting the Scripture as though it were speaking of those of your own race who are in the diaspora, and as though it were saying that their prayers and sacrifices which are made in every place are pure and acceptable, recognize that you are lying and are trying to deceive yourselves in every way. For first of all, even now your race is not spread from the rising of the sun to its setting, but there are nations in which not one of your race has yet dwelt. ^B For there is no race of men at all, whether of barbarians or of Greeks, or even of those named by any name whatsoever, whether they be called those who live in wagons ^C or nomads without fixed houses, or those who dwell in tents and live off their herds, in which prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Maker of all things through the name of the crucified Jesus.

CONCERNING THE SACRIFICE OF THE CHRISTIANS

^D Everyone perceives quite easily the unbloody remembrance of the bloody passion. But as regards the very species of bread and wine, Justin appears to praise and commend the sacrifice of the Christians for a certain extraordinary simplicity of them. For Eustathius observes in *Iliad* A, p. 138 (Roman edition), that the ancients, before the use of victims, offered only fine flour and libations, that they might testify their gratitude as with first-fruits of the whole of human sustenance, which is, to be sure, both dry and liquid. In agreement with the opinion of Justin is this testimony of Irenaeus: "And giving counsel to his disciples to offer the first-fruits of His creatures to God—not because He is in need, but that they might be neither unfruitful nor ungrateful—He took that which is created, the bread, and gave thanks, saying: 'This is my body.' And the cup likewise, which is that which is created according to us, He confessed to be His own blood, and taught the new oblation of the New Testament, which the Church, receiving from the apostles, offers to God in the whole world, to Him who provides us with sustenance, the first-fruits of His own gifts in the New Testament" (Book IV, chap. 47, n. 5). So also Origen (Book VIII, *Against Celsus*, p. 399): "And Celsus indeed, as one who knows not God, gives thanks to demons; but we, who give thanks to the Creator of all, even eat those breads which have been offered with thanksgiving and prayer over these gifts, and they have become, by means of the prayer, a certain holy body, and one which sanctifies those who use it with a sound purpose." The words of our Liturgy also bring light to Justin: "Through whom, O Lord, You always create all these good things," etc. (See Joan. Bona, *Liturg.* II, 14).

^A nor any of the barbarians, by whatever name they may be called, whether they dwell in wagons or are nomads without houses, or are Scenitae who live in tents feeding cattle—there is no such race in which prayers and thanksgivings are not offered to the Father and Creator of all things in the name of the crucified Jesus. Furthermore, at the time when the prophet Malachi was saying these things, your dispersion into all those parts of the earth where you now are had not yet occurred, as is also proven by the Scriptures.

118. Repent, therefore, before the great day of judgment comes, in which all those chosen from your tribes ^B who have pierced this Christ will lament, as I have proven from the Scriptures was foretold. And I have explained what was previously said, that "The Lord has sworn according to the order of Melchizedek," and that the prophecy of Isaiah saying, "His burial is taken away from the midst," was spoken concerning the Christ who was to be buried and to rise again; and I have demonstrated to many that this very Christ is the judge of all the living and the dead. Likewise, when Nathan was speaking to David about Him, he added this: "I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son, and my mercy I will not take away from him, as I did from those who were before him; and I will establish him in my house and in his kingdom forever." Nor does Ezekiel mention any other as the leader in the house than this one. For he is the pre-eminent priest and eternal king, Christ, as the Son of God. ^C Do not think that Isaiah or the other prophets, in speaking of His second coming, refer to sacrifices of blood or libations being offered upon the altar, but rather to true and spiritual praises and thanksgivings. Nor is it in vain that we have believed in Him, nor have we been deceived by those who so taught; but this has happened by the admirable providence of God, so that we, through the calling of the new and eternal Covenant—that is, Christ—might be found wiser and more God-fearing than you, who are thought to be, but are not in reality, lovers of God or wise. Wondering at this, Isaiah said: "Kings shall shut their mouths; for those to whom it was not announced regarding them shall see; and those who have not heard shall understand. Lord, who has believed our report, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" And saying these things, Trypho, I said, ^D as much as is possible for those who have arrived with you today,

I attempt to state these things, yet briefly and concisely.

And he said: You do well, and even if you say the same things again at greater length, understand that I and those who are present are delighted to hear them.

119. ^A I also said: Do you think, O men, that we could have understood these things in the Scriptures, if we had not received grace by the will of him who willed these things, so that we might understand? ^B Thus, what was said by Moses may also come to pass: "They have provoked me with strange gods, they have angered me with their abominations. They sacrificed to demons which they did not know; new and recent ones have come, which their fathers did not know. You have forsaken the God who begat you, and have forgotten the God who fostered you." And the Lord saw, and was jealous, and was provoked to anger because of the wrath of his sons and daughters; and he said: "I will hide my face from them, and I will show what shall befall them in the last days; for it is a perverse generation, sons in whom there is no faith. They have provoked me to jealousy with that which is not God, they have angered me with their idols; and I will provoke them to jealousy with that which is not a nation; with a foolish nation I will anger them. For a fire is kindled out of my wrath, and it shall burn even to the underworld. It shall devour the earth and its produce, it shall burn to the foundations of the mountains: I will heap evils upon them." ^C And after that righteous one was slain, we, another people, have flourished, and we have sprouted like new and blooming ears of grain, as the prophets said: "And many nations shall flee for refuge to the Lord in that day, for a people, and they shall dwell in the midst of all the earth." And we are not only a people, but we are a holy people, as we have already demonstrated. "And they shall call them a holy people, redeemed by the Lord." Therefore, we are not a despicable people, nor a barbarian tribe, nor such as the nations of the Carians ^D or the Phrygians; but God has also chosen us, and he became manifest to those who did not inquire for him. "Behold, I am God," he says, "to a nation that did not call upon my name." For this is that nation which God formerly promised to Abraham, and pledged that he would make him a father of many nations, not saying that he would be a father of Arabs, or Egyptians, or Idumaeans; for Ishmael also became the father of a great nation, as did Esau, and there exists even now a great multitude of Ammonites. Noah was the father of Abraham himself, and indeed of the whole human race; and others were progenitors of others.

^A But what more does Christ grant here to Abraham? Because He called him by a voice similar to the calling by which He called us all through that voice; and we have already emerged from that manner of life in which we were living wickedly, according to the common custom of the other inhabitants of the earth. And together with Abraham we shall inherit the holy land, receiving the inheritance for an everlasting age, being children of Abraham on account of our similar faith. For in the same way that he believed the voice of God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, in the same way we also, having believed the voice of God—that which was spoken through the apostles of Christ, and also that which was preached to us through the prophets—have renounced all things that are in the world, down to the point of death. A nation, then, of similar faith, and God-fearing, and righteous, and gladdening the Father, He promises to him; but not to you, in whom there is no faith.

^B 120. Observe, however, how He promises the same things also to Isaac and to Jacob. For so He says to Isaac: "And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." And to Jacob: "And all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed in you, and in your seed." He no longer says this to Esau, nor to Reuben, nor to any other, but to those from whom Christ was to be born according to the dispensation through the Virgin Mary. If you were to consider also the blessing of Judah, you would see what I am saying. For the seed from Jacob is divided, and descends through Judah, and Phares, and Jesse, and David. Now these were signs that some of your race would be found to be children of Abraham and would be found in the portion of Christ; but others, while being children of Abraham, would be as the sand ^C that is on the seashore, which is barren and fruitless, existing in great and numberless quantity, yet producing no fruit at all, but only drinking the water of the sea. And this is exactly what the great multitude among your race is proven to be, as they drink in the teachings of bitterness and godlessness, but spit out the word of God. He says, therefore, also in the case of Judah: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until those things which are stored up for him come; and he himself shall be the expectation of the nations." And it is evident that this was not spoken of Judah, but of Christ. For we do not all expect Judah from among all the nations, but Jesus, who also led your fathers out of Egypt. For until the coming of Christ, the prophecy proclaimed: "Until he shall come for whom it is laid up, and he shall be the expectation of the nations."

^D He has therefore come, as we have demonstrated to many, and He will come again upon the clouds, Jesus, whose name you profane, and you labor to have it profaned in the whole world. I could indeed contend against you concerning the voice of these words which you interpret, asserting that it is said: "Until those things which are stored up for him come." Nor did the Seventy interpret it in such a way, but: "Until he shall come for whom it is laid up." But that these things were said of Christ is evident from what follows...

^A for they have it thus: "And he shall be the expectation of the Gentiles." I do not come to dispute with you about this little word, just as I did not strive to produce a demonstration concerning Christ from those Scriptures which are not acknowledged by you—which I also recounted—from the words of the prophet Jeremiah, and Ezra, and David, but from those which are acknowledged by you even until now. If your teachers had understood these, know that they would have made them obscure, just as they have also made obscure those things concerning the death of Isaiah, whom you sawed with a wooden saw; ^B a mystery, that one, of Christ who was to cleave your race in two, and who was to deem the worthy, together with the holy patriarchs and prophets, worthy of the eternal kingdom, but to send those who are under the condemnation of the unquenchable fire, together with like-minded disobedient and intransigent people from among all nations, as he has already declared. "For they shall come," he said, "from the west and from the east, and shall recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into outer darkness" (Matt. viii, 11). And I said these things, because I am so affected in my mind that I have said absolutely nothing in which ^C I care for anything other than to speak the truth, intending to revere no one, even if I must instantly be hewn apart by you. For not even regarding any of my own race—I speak of the Samaritans—did I care when, in a writing presented to the Caesar, I appealed to him; I said that they were deceived, as those who put faith in Simon, a magician of their own race, whom they say is a god above every principality and power and might. 121. And when they remained silent, I added: "Through David, concerning this Christ, it is said..."

in Scripture no longer in 'his seed' shall the nations be blessed, but in him. And it is thus there: 'His name shall rise up forever, above the sun, and all nations shall be blessed in him.' If, then, all the nations are blessed in Christ, and we from all the nations believe in him, and he himself is the Christ, then we are those who have been blessed through him. For God indeed previously gave the sun to be worshipped, as it is written, and it is not possible to see anyone who has ever endured to die for his faith in the sun; but for the name of Jesus, from every race of mankind, one may see those who have endured, or who are enduring, to suffer everything so as not to deny him. For the word of his truth and wisdom is more piercing and much brighter than the powers of the sun, and it penetrates into the depths of the heart and mind. Hence also the Word said: 'His name shall rise up above the sun.' And again, 'The East is his name,' says Zacharias, and speaking about the same one, he said: 'They shall wail, tribe by tribe.' ^B If, then, in his first advent, which was inglorious and uncomely and despised, he so shone and prevailed that in no nation is he unknown, and from every sort of life men have repented of their old evil manner of living, so that even the demons are subject to his name, and all principalities and kingdoms fear his name more than all those who have died; and if in his glorious advent he will in every way destroy all those who have hated him and those who have unjustly apostatized from him, but will give rest to his own, bestowing upon them all the things they expectant — has it not been given to us both to hear and to understand and to be saved through this Christ, and to know all the things revealed by the Father? For this reason he said to him: 'It is a great thing for you to be called my servant, to restore the tribes of Jacob, and to turn back the dispersals of Israel. I have set you as a light to the nations, that you may be for their salvation until the last part of the earth.' ^C"

[You] think that these things were said of the *Geiorem* and your proselytes; but in truth they were said of us, who have been illuminated through Jesus. For otherwise Christ would have borne witness to them as well; but as it is, you become—as He Himself said—twice as much children of hell. ^A Therefore, the words of the prophets do not pertain to them, but to us, of whom Scripture says: "I will lead the blind in a way that they knew not, and they shall walk in paths that they have not known." And "I am a witness," says the Lord God, "and my servant whom I have chosen." To whom, then, does Christ bear witness? Clearly, to those who have believed. But the proselytes not only do not believe, but they surpass you twofold in vomiting out blasphemies against His name; and they wish to kill and torture us who believe in Him; for in all things they hasten to be made like you. And again, elsewhere, He cries out: "I, the Lord, have called you in justice, and I will hold your hand, and will strengthen you, and I will set you for a testament of the nation, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring forth the prisoners out of their bonds." Since these things, sirs, were also said concerning Christ and the illuminated Gentiles, will you say again: "He says these things to the law and the proselytes"?

Here, some of those who had arrived on the second day cried out as if in a theater: "What? Does He not speak these things to the law, and to those who are illuminated by it?" These are the proselytes.

"By no means," I said, looking at Trypho; "for if the law were able to illuminate the Gentiles and those who have the law, what need would there be for a New Testament? But because God announced that He would send a New Testament and an eternal law and commandment, we do not understand [this to refer to] that old law and its proselytes, but to Christ and His proselytes—namely, us from among the Gentiles, whom He has illuminated—just as He says somewhere: "Thus says the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you, and I gave you for a testament of the nations, to establish the earth, and to possess the inheritances of the desolate [places]." ^D What, then, is the inheritance of Christ? Is it not the nations? What is the testament of God? Is it not Christ? As He also says elsewhere: "You are my Son, this day have I begotten you. Ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession."

123. Ridiculous interpretations of the Jews. Christians the true Israel. — How, therefore, do you think that these things were said—just as [you think those were said]—concerning Christ and the nations?

^A For proselytes do not need the covenant, if one and the same law has been set for all who are circumcised, of whom Scripture speaks thus: "And the sojourner shall also be added to them, and he shall be added to the house of Jacob." And that a proselyte ^B who is circumcised has passed into the people just as a native, while we, though accounted worthy to be called a people, are yet in the same way a nation because we remain uncircumcised. Moreover, it is ridiculous for you to suppose that the eyes of those proselytes have been opened, but yours not, and that you think yourselves to be hearing, while they are blind and deaf, but they are enlightened. And it will turn out to be even more ridiculous for you if you claim that the law was given to the nations, while you yourselves do not even know that law. For you would have feared the wrath of God, and as lawless sons and wanderers you would not be, being put to shame whenever you heard Him say: "Children in whom there is no faith. And who is blind, but My children? And deaf, but those who rule over them? And the servants of God have been blinded. You have seen often, and did not observe; your ears were opened, and you did not hear." ^C Is this a fine praise from God, and a testimony of God fitting for servants? Are you not ashamed to hear these things often, and do you not tremble when God threatens, but rather you are a foolish and hard-hearted people. "Therefore, behold, I will proceed to take away this people," says the Lord, "and I will take them away, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will hide the understanding of the prudent." With good reason; for you are not wise, nor prudent, but sharp and crafty; wise to do evil only; but to know the hidden counsel of God, or the faithful covenant of the Lord, or to find the eternal paths, you are powerless. "Therefore I will raise up," He says, "to Israel and to Judah the seed of men and the seed of cattle." And through Isaiah concerning another Israel He says thus: ^D "In that day there shall be a third Israel in the Assyrians and the Egyptians, blessed in the land which the Lord of Sabaoth blessed, saying: Blessed shall be My people who are in Egypt, and those in Assyria, and My inheritance

Israel. ^A Since therefore God blesses this people and calls them Israel, and proclaims them to be His inheritance, how is it that you do not repent, both for deceiving yourselves that you alone are Israel, and for cursing the people whom God has blessed? For indeed, since He spoke to Jerusalem and the regions around it, He added again: "And I will generate over you men, My people Israel; and they shall possess you by inheritance, and you shall be to them for a possession; and it shall not be added for you any more to be bereaved of them."

What then? says Trypho; are you Israel, and is He speaking these things about you?

If, I said to him, I had not already discoursed concerning these things, and at some length, I would doubt whether you were asking this because you did not understand; but since we have already concluded this question both with demonstration and with assent, I do not believe that you are unaware of what has been said, or that you are once again indulging in a spirit of contention, but rather that you are challenging me to demonstrate the same things again for these people as well. And as he gave his assent with a nod of his eyes, I said: Again, in Isaiah, if you hear with ears that hear, God ^B speaking in a parable about Christ calls Him Jacob and Israel. Thus He says: "Jacob My servant, I will uphold him; Israel My elect, I will put My spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to the nations. He shall not strive, nor cry out, nor shall anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench; but he shall bring forth judgment in truth; he shall not falter nor be broken, until he establishes judgment in the earth. And in His name shall the nations hope." As therefore from that one Jacob who was also surnamed Israel, your whole race was called Jacob and Israel, so also we, from Christ who begat us unto God—as Jacob, and Israel, and Judah, and Joseph, and David—are called and truly are children of God, we who keep the commandments of Christ.

124. Christians the children of God. — And when I saw them perturbed because I had said that we are also children of God, anticipating their question, I said: Hear, O men, how the Holy Spirit says concerning this people, that they are all sons of the Highest, and ^C that in their assembly this very Christ will be present, to judge every race of men. These words were spoken by David—as you indeed interpret them—thus: "God stood in the congregation of the gods, and in the midst He judges the gods. How long do you judge unjustly, and accept the persons of sinners? Judge the

and the ward, and do justice to the humble and the poor. Deliver the poor and needy, and rescue them from the hand of the sinner. They have not known nor understood; they walk in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. I said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High. But you shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You shall inherit among all the nations. ^B In the Septuaginta (35) version, however, it is stated: "Behold, you die like men, and you fall like one of the princes"; that it might declare the disobedience of men—of Adam, I say, and of Eve—and the fall of one of the princes, that is, of him who is called that serpent, who fell with a great fall because he deceived Eve (36). But since I do not bring forward these words now for that purpose, but to demonstrate to you that the Holy Spirit rebukes men—who were made like God, exempt from suffering and death if they would keep His commandments, and deemed worthy by Him to be called His sons—because they, by likening themselves to Adam and Eve, bring death upon themselves; let the interpretation of the Psalm be as you wish, it is still proven that they were deemed worthy to become gods and all to become sons of the Most High, and that they are about to be judged and condemned of themselves, just as Adam and Eve were. And that He also calls Christ God has been demonstrated in many places.

125. ^C I desired, I say, to learn from you, O men, what the power of the name Israel is. And as they remained silent, I added: I will tell you what I know, for I consider it neither right that I should not speak what I know, nor, if I suspect that you yourselves know it, that I should, through envy or through a voluntary ignorance of any desire to learn, be forever distracted with care. Rather, I wish to speak everything simply and without guile, as my Lord said: "The sower went out to sow his seed; and some fell by the way, and some into thorns, and some upon stony ground, and some upon good ground." In the hope, therefore, that there is somewhere good ground, I must speak; since my Lord, as strong and mighty, will come and require His own from all, and will not condemn His steward, if He knows that he, recognizing that his Lord is mighty and will come to require His own, has given what he received to every table, and not buried it for any reason whatsoever. And so the name Israel signifies this, a man who overcomes power. For the "Isra" (39) is man; the ^D

"El" is power. This was predicted also through the mystery of the struggle which Jacob waged against the One who appeared, ^B who was, on one hand, ministering to the will of the Father, and, on the other, is God, in that He is the first-begotten Son of all creatures; so too it was prophesied that Christ, when He became man, would act. For when, as I said, He became man, the devil approached Him—that is, that power which is also called the serpent and Satan—tempting Him and struggling to overthrow Him by demanding that He worship him. But He destroyed and cast him down, proving that he is wicked, since, contrary to Scripture, he demanded to be worshipped as God, having become an apostate from the intent of God. For He answered him: "It is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve." And the devil, being defeated and exposed, then withdrew. But because our Christ was also to be "numbed"—that is, to be in toil and in the perception of the suffering—when He was about to be crucified, He also provided a symbolic prediction of this by touching the thigh of Jacob and making it numb. Now the name Israel was His from of old, which He bestowed, blessing the blessed Jacob with His own name, proclaiming also through this that all who flee to the Father through Him are the blessed Israel. But you, understanding none of these things, nor preparing to understand, because you are children of Jacob according to the fleshly seed, expect to be saved under any circumstances. But that you are leading yourselves into error in these matters as well, has been demonstrated by me in many things.

126. Who, then, is this who is called "Angel of great counsel," and sometimes a "man" through Ezekiel, and as the "Son of man" through Daniel, and a "child" through Isaiah, and "Christ," and "God to be worshipped," and "David" (42), and ^{C D} [index: entries preserved]

"Christ" and "Stone" by many, and "Wisdom" by Solomon, and "Joseph" and "Judas" and "Star" by Moses, and "Dayspring" by Zechariah, and again through Isaiah as one who suffers, and "Jacob" and "Israel," and "Rod" and "Flower" and "Chief cornerstone," and he is called "Son of God." If you had understood this, Trypho, I said, you would not have blasphemed against him who has already come, who was born, and suffered, and ascended into heaven—who shall also come again, and then your twelve tribes shall lament. For if you had understood the things said by the prophets, you would not have denied that he is God, the Son of the only, unbegotten, and ineffable God.

For it has been said somewhere also through Moses in Exodus in this manner: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, and said to him: I am the Lord, and I was seen by Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, as their ^B God, and my name I did not declare unto them, and I established my covenant with them." And thus again He says: "And with Jacob a man wrestled; and he says he is God." For, "I have seen God face to face, and my soul was preserved," he says that Jacob said. And that he even described the place where he wrestled with him, and was seen, and blessed him, and called it the "Face of God," he recorded.

And similarly, Moses says that God appeared to Abraham at the oak of Mamre, while he was sitting at the door of his tent at midday. Then, after saying these things, he adds: "And lifting up his eyes, he saw, and behold, three men stood above him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them." And a little later, one of them promises a son to Abraham: "Why did Sarah laugh, saying: Shall I ^C indeed bear? I have grown old. Is anything impossible with God? At this time I will return at the hour, and Sarah shall have a son. And they departed from Abraham." And thus again concerning them he says: "And the men rising up from thence, looked toward the face of Sodom." Then again toward Abraham, he who is, and who was, as he says: "I will not hide from my servant Abraham what I am about to do."

And the subsequent things narrated from the books of Moses, and explained by me in turn, I said, by which it is demonstrated that he who appeared to Abraham, and to Isaac, and to Jacob, and to the other patriarchs, was appointed under the Father and Lord, and served His will, ^D and who was...

also called God in the Scriptures. And I would add this, although I did not mention it before: So also when the people lusted to eat flesh, and Moses did not believe the one who was called an Angel there, who promised that God would give them enough to eat—that he who is both God and was sent as an Angel by the Father is the one who is shown to have said and done these things. For thus the Scripture leads on, saying: "And the Lord said to Moses: Shall the hand of the Lord not be sufficient? Now you shall know whether my word will overtake you or not." And again in other words it says: "And the Lord said to me: You shall not pass over this Jordan; the Lord your God who goes before your face, He himself will exterminate the nations."

127. ^B These Scripture passages do not refer to the Father, but to the Word. There are also other statements of the lawgiver and the prophets of this kind; and it seems sufficient to me to have said that when God says to me: "God went up from Abraham," or "The Lord spoke to Moses," and "The Lord went down to see the tower which the sons of men built," or when "God shut the ark of Noah from without," do not suppose that the unbegotten God himself has come down or gone up from any place. For the ineffable Father and Lord of all neither comes to any place, nor walks, nor sleeps, nor stands up, but remains in his own place, wherever that may be, seeing sharply and hearing sharply—not with eyes or ears, but with an ineffable power—and he oversees all things and knows all things, and none of us escapes his notice; nor is he moved, ^C as he is uncontainable by place and the whole world, seeing that he was even before the world was made. How then could this one speak to anyone, or be seen by anyone, or appear in the smallest part of the earth, when even the glory that is from him...? ^D [alt-version omitted]

which was sent to the people, they were not able to behold on Sinai, and Moses himself was not able to enter the tabernacle which he had made, until it was filled with the glory of God? Nor, indeed, could the priest endure to stand before the temple when Solomon brought the ark into the house in Jerusalem, which Solomon himself had built. Neither Abraham, therefore, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor any other man saw the Father and ineffable Lord of all, and of Christ himself ^B, but [rather] that one who according to His will is both God, as being His Son, and angel, in that he serves His counsel; whom He also willed to be born as a man through the Virgin; who also once became fire in the conversation with Moses from the bush. For if we do not understand the Scriptures in this way, it will follow that the Father and Lord of all was not then in the heavens, when it was said through Moses: «And the Lord rained upon Sodom fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven»; ^C or again, when it is said through David thus: «Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall enter in»; and again when he says: «The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet.»

128. And that Christ, being Lord and God of God the Son, and appearing by power first as a man, and an angel, and in the glory of fire, as he appeared in the bush and in the judgment that was brought upon Sodom, has been demonstrated in many of the things said. But I was again recounting all that I had written before from Exodus, both concerning the vision in the bush, and the invocation of the name of Jesus, and I was saying: And do not think, O you men, that I am being redundant in saying these things many times; but because I know that some wish to claim these things, and ^D that he was for some time away from heaven, as Justin says a little later, if these places of Scripture were referred to him: «Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall enter in. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand,» and other things of the sort which are said about the Son, they are easily reconciled with the divine nature, because the Son is sent from the Father and, taking into account his humanity, was for some time away from heaven. But if applied to the Father, no longer having the same reason for explaining the matter, they would injure the divine essence. This reflects the whole method of Justin's arguing, such that he forces the Jews to confess that the Son was begotten of the Father, like light from light, not to mention that he attributed to him the divine nature. The Jews, as Justin reproaches them in number 114, imagined God as a certain composite being, and for that reason they wanted him to have appeared. What wonder is it, then, if Justin calls them to more sublime things, and contends that the Son was-seen in various forms, but the Father in no way in His own proper nature?

^A I know there are also those who wish to take these things and say that that power, which appeared to Moses or to Abraham or to Jacob from the Father of all things, is called an angel when it comes to men, because through it the commands of the Father are announced to men; and "glory," because it appears at times in a manifestation that cannot be sustained; and at times a "man" and a human being, because it appears shaped in such forms as the Father wills; and finally they call it the Word, because it brings to men the messages from the Father. But they [the heretics] maintain that this power is indivisible and inseparable from the Father, in the same way that they say the light of the sun on earth is indivisible and inseparable from the sun in heaven; and when it sets, the light is taken away along with it. Thus, they say, when the Father wills, He causes that power of His to go forth, and when He wills, He again withdraws it into Himself. In this way, they also teach that angels are brought into being by Him. But it has been demonstrated that angels truly exist and remain forever, and do not dissolve back into that from which they originated; and that this power, which the prophetic word also calls God, has ^B likewise been shown by many arguments to be a power, and is called an angel, not only counted by name as the light of the sun is, but exists as something else in number. I have also discussed this matter briefly in the preceding pages, saying that this power has been begotten from the Father by His power and will, but not by abscission, as if the substance of the Father were divided, just as all other things which are divided and cut are not the same as they were before they were cut. For the sake of example, I took the fires that are kindled from another fire, which we see can have many fires kindled from them without the original fire being diminished, but while it remains the same. ^C [alt-version omitted] ^D

^A And now, in order that I may repeat the testimonies regarding this demonstration. When the prophetic word says: "The Lord rained fire from the Lord out of heaven" (Gen. XIX, 24), it indicates that there are two in number: one upon the earth, who, as He says, descended to see the cry of the Sodomites; and another in the heavens, who is Lord of the Lord who appeared upon the earth, as Father and God, being the cause to Him of His existence and of His being powerful, and Lord, and God. And again, when the word says that God said in the beginning: "Behold, Adam has become as one of us" (Gen. III, 22), this "as one of us" also indicates number. These words do not admit of the tropology which the sophists attempt to interpret, and who are able neither to speak the truth nor to understand it. It is also said in Wisdom: "If I shall recount to you the things that happen day by day, I shall remember to number them from the beginning. The Lord created me the beginning of His ways for His works; before the age He founded me in the beginning, before He made the earth, and before He made the abysses, before the fountains of waters went forth, before the mountains were settled; but before all the hills He begets me" (Prov. VIII, 22-25). And having said these things, I added: "Understand, O listeners, if you are also in fact paying attention, that the Word indicated that this offspring was begotten by the Father before all created things absolutely; and that the begotten is numerically distinct from the begetter, everyone will acknowledge."

^{B C} 130. And when they all agreed, I said: "Some other testimonies, which I did not mention previously, I will now bring forward. They are spoken obscurely by the faithful servant Moses in this manner: 'Rejoice, O heavens, with Him, and let all the angels of God worship Him' (Deut. XXXII, 43); and I added these things which follow in the Scripture: 'Rejoice, O nations, with His people, and let all the angels of God be strengthened in Him; because He avenges the blood of His sons, and will avenge, and will render justice to His enemies, and will repay those who hate Him, and the Lord will purge the land of His people.' And having said these things, I say that we, the nations, rejoice with His people—I mean Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets absolutely, and all those from that people who have been pleasing to God, according to the things we have agreed upon among ourselves. But we do not understand that all who are of your race will *hear*, since we have learned also through Isaiah that the limbs of those who have transgressed are to be eaten by the worm and by unquenchable fire, remaining immortal, so as to be a spectacle to all flesh" (Isa. LXVI, 24). And I wish, I said, to tell you also in addition to these things, O men, other words from the same... ^D

writings of Moses, from which you may be able to understand that God dispersed all men of old ^A according to their families and tongues; but from all the families He took your nation for Himself—a useless, disobedient, and faithless nation—and showed that those who, from every nation, choose to obey His will through Christ, whom He also calls Jacob and names Israel, must be both Jacob and Israel, as I have said in many places. For when he says, “Rejoice, O nations, with His people” (Deut. XXXII, 43), he assigns to them the same inheritance and gives them the same name. And by calling them "nations" and "rejoicing with His people," he uses the term "nations" as a reproach to you. For in the same way that you provoked Him to anger by worshiping idols, so too did He deign to make known His will to those who were idolaters, and ^B to grant them the inheritance that is with Him.

131. That the nations who have turned to Christ are more faithful to God than the Jews. — But, I said, I will bring forward the words from which it is shown that all nations have been divided by God. They are of this kind: “Ask thy father, and he will declare to you; your elders, and they will tell you, when the Most High divided the nations, when He dispersed the sons of Adam. He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the children of Israel, and the portion of the Lord became His people Jacob, the cord of His inheritance, Israel” (Deut. XXXII, 7-9). And when I had said these things, I added: The Seventy translated it thus: “He set the boundaries of the ^C nations according to the number of the angels of God.” But I have cited your interpretation, because my argument is in no way diminished by it. But you, if you wish to confess the truth, will not deny that we are more faithful to God than you are—we, who have been called by God through the mystery of the cross, which is despised and full of reproach (to whose confession, and obedience, and piety, punishments even unto death are inflicted by the demons and the army of the devil through the service which you have rendered to them), and we endure all things so as not to deny Christ even with our voice, by whom we have been called to the salvation prepared by our Father, ^D we who have been redeemed from Egypt with a high arm and a visitation of great glory, when the sea was divided for you and a dry path was made, in which God slew those who pursued you with very great power and splendid chariots, by pouring upon them the sea which for your sake had been made passable; whereas you, I say, to whom a column of light shone, that you might, beyond all other people in the world, have an own and un-

undying light to enjoy: ^A to whom He rained down manna as food, the peculiar bread of celestial angels, so that you would not even have need of bread-making; ^B for whom the waters at Mara were made sweet; for whom, in short, the sign of Him who was to be crucified was shown, as I have already said, and when the serpents bit you—all the mysteries were granted to you by God before their proper times, in whom you have been proved to have been always ungrateful—and by the figure of the stretching out of the hands of Moses, and of him who was named Jesus, fighting against Amalek: concerning which God commanded the event to be recorded, ^C saying that it should be placed in your ears, that this is He who was about to blot out from under heaven the memorial of Amalek. And that the memorial of Amalek remains even after the son of Nave is evident; but that by Jesus who was crucified, of whom also those symbols were proclamations of all the things that would come to pass under Him, the demons are about to be destroyed, and to fear His name, and all principalities and kingdoms alike to dread Him, and that out of every race of men those who believe in Him are shown to be pious and peaceful, is made manifest, ^D and these things previously recounted by me, Trypho, signify. And such a quantity of quails was granted to you when you desired meat, as was beyond counting; for whom also water gushed from the rock, and a cloud followed, providing shade from the heat and protection from the cold, in the manner of a new and strange heaven, and announcing a prophecy: whose sandal-straps did not break, nor did the sandals themselves grow old, nor the garments wear out, but even grew with the younger ones.

152. Moreover, you fashioned a calf, and were zealous to fornicate with the daughters of foreigners and to worship idols; and after these things, again, when the land was delivered to you with such power that you beheld even the sun, at the command of that man who was surnamed Jesus, standing still in heaven and not setting for thirty-six hours, and all the other powers which were granted to you at various times; of which it seems to me better to recount one other at this time. For it contributes to the end that you might even from it understand Jesus, whom we have recognized as Christ, the Son of God, crucified, and risen, and having ascended

^A into the heavens, and who will come again as Judge of all men whatsoever, even unto Adam himself. You know, therefore, I said, that when the tabernacle of testimony had been captured by the enemies around Azotus, and a fearful and incurable plague had befallen them, they concluded to place it upon a cart, to which they yoked heifers that had recently calved, for the sake of putting to the test whether they had been struck by the power of God because of the tabernacle, and whether God wished for it to be brought back to where it had been taken from. And when they had done this, the heifers, led by no man, did not come to the place from which the tabernacle had been taken, but to the field of a certain man named Auses, having the same name as that man who, as has been said before, was renamed with the name of Jesus, and who led the people into the land and gave it to them as an inheritance. When they came into the field, they stood still; from which it is also shown to you that they were led by the power of the name; just as before, the remnant of the people who had departed from Egypt were led into the land by him who received the name of Jesus, being formerly called Auses.

133. That the hardness of heart of the Jews is the cause of the Christians praying for them.

light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and learned in their own sight. Woe to your strong men, who drink wine, and you powerful men who mix strong drink; who justify the ungodly for the sake of bribes, and take away the justice of the just! Therefore, as stubble is burned by a coal of fire, and is consumed by a flaming heat, so their root shall be as chaff, and their flower shall go up like dust. ^A For they would not have the law of the Lord of Sabaoth, but provoked the utterance of the Holy One of Israel. And the Lord of Sabaoth was angered with wrath, and he laid his hands upon them, and smote them, and he was provoked against the mountains; and their dead bodies became as dung in the midst of the way. And in all these things they did not turn away ^B, but their hand is still lifted up. For in truth your hand is still lifted up to do evil, since, even after killing Christ, you do not even then repent, but you even hate and murder us who believe through him in God and the Father of all, as often as you get the power; and you unceasingly curse both him and those who are his, while we all pray for you and for all men without exception, as we have been taught by our Christ and Lord to do; for he commanded us to pray even for our enemies, and to love those who hate us, and to bless those who curse us.

134. If, therefore, the doctrine of the prophets and of that very person moves you, it is better for you to follow God than your imprudent and blind ^C teachers, who even until now permit every man to have four or five wives, and if any man, on seeing a beautiful woman, should desire her, they bring forward the deeds of Jacob, who was called Israel, and of the other patriarchs, and claim that those who act in like manner commit no sin; these men are wretched and foolish even in this. For, as I have already said, dispensations of great mysteries were performed in every single such action. For I will tell you what dispensation and prefiguration was performed in the marriages of Jacob, so that you may also recognize in these that your teachers have always looked not to the more divine cause of any deed, but rather to those things that creep upon the ground and are full of ^D the passions of corruption. Attend, therefore, to what I say. The marriages of Jacob were types of that which Christ was to accomplish. For it was not lawful for Jacob to marry two sisters at the same time. He served Laban for his daughters, and, being deceived in the younger,

he served another seven years. Now Leah is your people and the Synagogue; but Rachel is our Church. And for these, even until now, Christ serves, as well as for the servants who are in both. For since Noah consigned the offspring of the third son into slavery, and Christ has now come for the restoration of both the free children and the servants who are among them, granting the same dignity to all who keep His commandments; just as all those whom Jacob had adopted as sons from his free wives and from his maidservants became equally children and equal in honor. But it was predicted in accordance with the order and foreknowledge of what each one would be. Jacob served Laban for the speckled and various sheep; ^B Christ also performed a service even unto the cross for the various and multiform people of every race, acquiring them by His blood and the mystery of the cross. Leah’s eyes were weak; and indeed, the eyes of your soul are very weak. Rachel stole the gods of Laban and hid them until this very day; for us, too, our ancestral and material gods have perished. Jacob was hated by his brother for all time; and now we, and the Lord Himself, are hated by you and by all men in general, although all are by nature brothers. Jacob was surnamed Israel; and it has been demonstrated that Christ is also Israel, who is and is called Jesus.

135.

Christ, King of Israel and the Israelitish race of Christians.

and the valley of Achor a place of rest for the herds of the people who have sought me. But you who forsake me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for demons, and fill up the mixed drink for the daemon, I will deliver you to the sword. Ye shall all fall by slaughter, because I called you, and ye did not obey, and ye did evil in my sight, and chose that which I would not. ^B And these belong to the Scripture. You yourselves also understand that the seed from Jacob, of which the Scripture now speaks, is something else, and is not, as one might think, spoken of your people. For it is not possible that those who have been born from Jacob should leave room for those who were sown from Jacob to enter in, nor that the same prophet who reproaches the people as unworthy of the inheritance should again, as if changing his own mind, promise the inheritance to those same people. But in the same way as the prophet there says: "And now, O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord; for He has dismissed His people, the house of Jacob, because their land was filled, as from the beginning, with divinations and vaticinations," so also in this place we must understand two seeds of Judah, and two generations, even as the two houses of Jacob; the one having been born of blood and flesh, the other born of faith and spirit.

136. See, indeed, how He now addresses the people. After He said above, "As the berry shall be found in the bunch, and they shall say, Do not spoil it, for a blessing is in it; so will I do for the sake of the one who serves me; because of this I will not destroy all," He then inserts this: "And I will bring forth the seed from Jacob and from Judah." It is manifest, therefore, if He is thus angry with these, and threatens that He will leave but a very few, that He promises that He will bring forth certain others who shall dwell in His holy mountain. And these are no other than those whom He said He would sow and generate. ^C For you neither endure Him when He calls, nor do you hear when He speaks, but you have even done evil in the sight of the Lord. But your wickedness truly overflows in this, that you even hate the just one, whom you killed, and those who have received from Him to be what they are—pious, just, and humane. Therefore, "Woe to their soul," says the Lord, "for they have devised an evil counsel against themselves, saying, Let us take away the just one, for he is useless to us." For it is not that you offer sacrifice to Baal, as your fathers did, nor do you offer cakes in groves or in high places to the host of heaven; but it is because you have not received His Christ. For whoever is ignorant of Him is ignorant also of the counsel of God; and whoever insults and hates Him, he likewise hates and insults Him by whom He was sent. And if anyone does not believe in Him, he does not believe the proclamations of the prophets who announced Him and preached Him to all. ^D

137. Do not, brethren, say anything evil against the Crucified One, and do not mock the welts of his wounds, by which it is possible for all to be healed, just as we also have been healed. For it would be excellent if, by assenting to the Scriptures, you were to receive the circumcision of the hard heart, which you have—not, ^B as I said, because it is being brought about through you, since it was given as a sign, but not as a work of righteousness, as the Scriptures necessarily demonstrate. Assent, therefore, and do not make a reproach against the Son of God; and do not, acting in accordance with the Pharisaic teachers, ever mock the King of Israel, as your synagogue leaders teach you to do after the prayer. For if he who touches those things that are not pleasing to God is, as it were, touching the pupil of God’s eye, how much more does he who touches the Beloved one do so? And that this one is he, and is sufficiently demonstrated, [is clear]. And while they were silent, I said: Truly, friends, I am now citing the Scriptures as the Seventy translated them; for when I previously cited them as you have them, I was putting you to the test, to see how you were already disposed in your mind. For while citing the Scripture which says, “Woe to them, for they have plotted an evil plot against themselves, saying,” I added, as the Seventy translated: “Let us remove the just one, for he is useless to us,” having at the beginning of the discourse said what you wished to have said, when you said: “Let us bind the just one, for he is useless to us.” But you did other things, and you do not seem to me to be unaware ^C of the words.

^A But since the day is now already beginning to draw to an end—for the sun is already sinking—I shall add one thing to what has been said, and then stop. I have indeed already touched upon this very thing in what has been said, but it seems right to me to expend some further effort on it. ^B Know, therefore, O men, that it was said by God in Isaiah to Jerusalem: “In the flood of Noe I saved you.” Now, what God meant by this is that the mystery of human salvation occurred at the time of the flood. For the just Noe, together with the other people at the time of the flood—that is, his wife, his three sons, and the wives of his sons—who were eight in number, possessed a sign of the eighth day, on which our Christ appeared, having risen from the dead, though by power He is always the first. For Christ, being the first-born of every creature, became again the beginning of another race, which has been regenerated by Him through water, and faith, and wood, which contains the mystery of the cross; just as Noe, too, was saved upon the wood, being borne over the waters together with his own. Therefore, when the prophet says, “In the time of Noe I saved you,” as I have already said, he speaks to a people who are equally faithful to God and who possess these same signs. For Moses, too, holding a staff in his hand, led your people through the sea. Yet you suppose that he said these things only for your race or for the earth. But since the entire earth, as the Scripture says, was flooded, and the water rose fifteen cubits above all the mountains, it is clear that God did not say these things to the earth, but to the people ^C who obey Him, for whom He even prepared rest in Jerusalem, as has been shown beforehand through all the signs at the time of the flood. And I said that those who make preparation through water, and faith, and wood, and who repent of the sins they have committed, will escape the judgment of God that is coming.

139. For there is also another mystery regarding Noe that was prophesied, which you do not know. And it is this. In the blessings with which Noe blesses his two sons, he curses the son of his son. For the prophetic Spirit could not have cursed the son who had been blessed together with his brothers by God. But since it was to occur that [the descendants] of the one who laughed at the nakedness of his father would bear the penalty of the sin—

^A he made the beginning of the curse from his son. And in the things he said, he prophesied that those who would come from Shem would possess the properties and dwellings of Canaan; and again, that those from Japheth would take them, which those from Shem held from the descendants of Canaan, and would possess them, having taken them away from those born of Shem, just as they themselves had possessed them after they had been taken away from the sons of Canaan. And that this is what occurred, listen. For you, who trace your ancestry from Shem, came according to the will of God into the land of the sons of Canaan, and you possess it. And that the sons of Japheth, according to the judgment of God, also came upon you and took the land from you, and possessed it, is manifest. These things were spoken as follows: «And Noah awoke from the wine, and he knew all that his younger son had done to him; and he said: Cursed be the child Canaan; he shall be a servant to his brothers. And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant. May the Lord enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the houses of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.» Since, therefore, two peoples were blessed, those from Shem and those from Japheth; and since it was decreed and foretold that the descendants from Shem would first hold the houses of Canaan, and that the descendants of Japheth would in turn receive the same properties from them; and since, of the two peoples, the one people sprung from Canaan had been delivered into servitude, Christ arrived according to the power given to him by the omnipotent Father, and calling them into friendship and blessing and repentance and a communion of good things—the one ^B that is to take place in that same land of all the saints, as has been shown before—he promised that they would possess it. Whence people from everywhere, whether slaves or free, believing in Christ and knowing the truth in his words and those of his prophets, know that they will be with him in that land and will inherit eternal and incorruptible goods.

140. In ^C Christ all are free. In vain do the Jews hope for salvation because they are children of Abraham. Hence also Jacob, as I said before, being himself a type of Christ, had taken the two handmaids of his two free wives, and from them he had children, so that it might be foretold that Christ would also take those in the race of Japheth—who are all sprung from Canaan—just like the free [children], and would have them as joint heirs. And these we are; but you cannot understand this, because you cannot drink from the living fountain of God, but from broken cisterns, which cannot contain water, as the Scripture says. Broken cisterns, then, not containing water, are those which your teachers have dug for you, as the Scripture also explicitly says, teaching doctrines and commandments of men. ^D

^A Moreover, they deceive both themselves and you by supposing that the eternal kingdom will certainly be given to those who are of the seed of Abraham according to the flesh, even if they are sinners, unbelieving, and disobedient towards God; which the Scriptures demonstrate not to be true. For would Isaiah not have said this: "And unless the Lord of Hosts had left us a seed, we would have become as Sodom and Gomorrah"? And Ezekiel, that: "Even if Noah and Jacob and Daniel should request sons or daughters, they shall not be given to them." But neither shall a father perish for a son, nor a son for a father, but each shall perish by his own sin, and each shall be saved by his own righteous deeds. And again Isaiah: "They shall behold the corpses of those who have transgressed; their worm shall not cease, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." And our Lord, according to the will of the Father who sent Him and is the Master of all, would not have said: "They shall come from the west and the east, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom shall be cast into the outer darkness." But also that it is not by the fault of God that those who are foreseen to be likely to become unrighteous, whether angels or men, become depraved, but that each one is such by his own fault, according as each shall appear, I have demonstrated even in what was said before.

141. That you may not have a pretext to say that it was necessary for Christ to be crucified, or for those who transgress to be in our race, and that it could not have been otherwise, I have already ^B anticipated by saying briefly that God, wishing for angels and human beings to follow His counsel, willed to create them with power over their own actions for the practice of righteousness, endowed with reason to know by whom they were created and through whom they exist, whereas before they were not, and with a law to be judged by Him if they act contrary to right reason; and we, human beings and angels, shall be convicted of having done evil on our own account, unless we prevent this by turning to repentance. But if the word of God foretells that certain angels and human beings are going to be punished, it is because He foresaw that they would be unchangeable in their wickedness ^C and because they would be such, not because God made them such. So that if they repent, all who wish to obtain the mercy of God can do so, and the Scripture pronounces them blessed, saying: "Blessed is the one to whom the Lord shall not impute sin," which means this: that having repented of his sins, he may receive remission of sins from God; but not as you deceive your^Dselves.

^A And there are others like you in this respect, who say that even if they are sinners, yet because they know God, the Lord will not impute sin to them. We have as a testimony of this that one fall of David, which took place because of his boasting, which was then forgiven when he wept and lamented as the Scripture testifies. If to such a man forgiveness was not granted before he had done penance, but only when he had so wept and conducted himself—that great king, and anointed one, and prophet—how can those who are impure and utterly abandoned, if they do not mourn and beat their breasts and repent, have any hope that the Lord will not impute sin to them? And this one act of David's transition, namely that with the wife of Uriah, O men, I said, shows that the patriarchs did not have many wives so that they might commit adultery, but that there was some dispensation and that all mysteries were fulfilled through them. For if it were permitted to whomsoever wishes, and in the manner he wishes, and as many as he wishes to take wives—a thing which those of your own race do throughout the entire world, wherever they may settle or be sent, taking wives in the name of marriage—how much more would this have been permitted to David? Having said these things, dearest Marcus Pompeius, I brought the discourse to an end.

142. They give thanks, and depart from Justin. ^B But Tryphon, after holding his peace for a while, said, "You see that it was not by design that we came to converse about these matters. Indeed, I confess that I was greatly delighted by this meeting, and I think that these men are likewise disposed toward me. For we have found more than we expected, or than could ever have been expected. And if it were permitted for us to do this more often, we would certainly derive greater utility from examining the Scriptures themselves. But since, as you have said, you are prepared for travel, and look forward to sailing daily, do not ^C forget us, as you would friends, when you have departed."

As for me, I said, if I were remaining, I would wish for the same thing to happen daily. But since I look forward to setting sail, God willing and aiding, I exhort you that, embarking upon this great struggle for your own salvation, you may strive to prefer the Christ of the almighty God to your own teachers. After this, they departed, praying for my safety both from the voyage and from every evil. For my part, praying for them, I said, "I can wish for nothing greater for you, O men, than that, recognizing that through this path the understanding is given to every man, you yourselves also may come to believe, as we do, that Jesus is the Christ of God." ^D

ANALYSIS OF TATIAN’S ORATION AGAINST THE GREEKS

233-241 Tatian demonstrates in this Oration against the Greeks the excellence and antiquity of the Christian religion, not without wit and sharp barbs against his adversaries, whose errors and superstitions he compares with the light of Christian truth. ^A At the beginning (n. 1), he assails the heathens because they boast so greatly of their distinguished arts and disciplines, although they neither discovered them nor use them as is proper, but turn rhetoric toward injustice and calumny, and poetry toward the corruption of morals, and because even the leaders of the philosophers (n. 2 and 3) are themselves characterized by their own vices and errors. Therefore it is unjust (n. 4) that Christians are held in hatred as the most wicked of men because they reject such institutions. Moreover, they are submissive to the king, yet they fear only God alone: in this one matter they do not obey, if they are commanded to deny God.

Starting from these foundations, he explains more openly the inner dogmas of the religion to demonstrate its excellence, and discourses at some length on what Christians believe concerning God and His Word, concerning the creation of the world, the resurrection of the bodies, concerning the fall of man, and the methods for repairing that fall; and finally, he compares these institutions with the institutions of the heathens. ^B He establishes that there is one sole God (n. 5); that all things were created by Him through the Word, which was in Him and with Him and sustained all things before the world existed. The Word proceeded from Him for the creation of the world, yet in such a way that He was not severed from Him, but merely took upon Himself the voluntary administration. This doctrine concerning creation confirms the faith in the resurrection (n. 6), which will some day be the cause of judgment. This doctrine is mocked, but Christians count it of little consequence; for just as they were created, when before they were not, so, although they die and cease to be seen, they trust that they will one day live again, with God gathering the particles of their bodies from the elements.

But so that he might move men to the pursuit of attaining immortality, Tatian discourses at greater length on how man fell, and in what ways he might repair his ruin. His entire line of reasoning returns to this point (n. 7): The heavenly Word created man in the image of his own immortality, and before him, the angels. Both were created free, so that they might be rewarded according to their merits. ^C But after man followed the first-born angel and strayed from the divine law, he became mortal, as the more powerful Spirit deserted him. That first-born angel, however, became a demon, and his followers, the army of demons. Men were the material of the demons’ sin (n. 8). For from the demons the table of the position of the stars was shown to men; by the demons was fate introduced, of which they themselves are reported by the same to be the moderators under the names of gods (n. 9); from them were animal constellations in the heavens, the transformations of gods and of wicked men, and consecrations introduced. But the morals of Christians do not require fate (n. 10), nor did men sin through fate but freely (n. 11): evil was produced by the men themselves, not by God; but those who produced it can flee and repudiate it. How they might achieve this, he explains as follows:

There are two kinds of spirits (n. 12): one is called soul, the other, however, the Holy Spirit. The soul cannot become immortal, unless it is joined ^D to the Holy Spirit (n. 13). For it is not of itself immortal, but of its own nature it is nothing other than darkness. Wherefore, if it remains solitary, it turns downward toward matter, dying together with the body. But when joined with the divine Spirit, it does not lack help, but ascends to where it is led by the Spirit. It is much better (n. 14) to follow the Spirit as leader than the demons, who, although they do not die now like men, will be punished all the more severely in their immortality. Effort must therefore be made (n. 15), so that we may seek out what we have lost, and connect the soul with the Holy Spirit. By no means, like the demons, do we lack the hope of forgiveness. But once vanquished, we can once again be victorious.

If we wish to overcome, we must take care lest the demons deceive us while they display their own power, either by inflicting some evil (n. 16)—which we will easily repel by the virtue of the heavenly Spirit—or by promising health through hidden dissensions (n. 17), or through the relics of the dead, or by joining other forbidden things to matters that are not desired (n. 18): for they do not heal, but deceive men. Depraved desires (n. 19), 242 which dominate even in the philosophers themselves, bring faith to these alleged healings and predictions of the demons. Even if we are healed by the use of matter (n. 20), thanks must be given to God for that reason, and effort must be given so that, having spurned matter, we may recover those wings of the Spirit which, once lost, caused angels to be cast down from heaven, and men from the earth, which is far more excellent in this arrangement of things and entirely unknown to geographers.

Tatian compares (n. 21) the trifles of the heathens with our institutions; and he declares that Christians, while they proclaim that God was born in human form, are by no means foolish, but that the Greeks themselves are, while they worship such gods, who are either wicked and mortal or, if they are drawn back to nature, fall into nothingness. Then, most bitingly, he assails (n. 22) mimes, athletes (n. 23), gladiators, and other spectacles (n. 24).

Neither do the philosophers escape his barbs (n. 25), whose worship and lifestyle, arrogance and dissensions, he treats with disdain, and he asks why those who are discordant wage war against the concordant Christians, who teach far more excellent things; why the Thyestean feasts are attributed to Christians, when such crimes are proven by the examples of the gods. He also mocks (n. 26) the empty labor of the Greeks in useless questions and the absurd studies of grammar and Attic pronunciation. The more tenacious the Greeks are of such institutions, the more they are to be blamed (n. 27), while they turn the far more superior Christian things into a crime. Death is threatened against Christians in vain, that they might lie about their religion or approve of the trifles of the Greeks. Why, not even the laws of the Greeks can be approved (n. 28), which are varied in a wondrous fashion, when they ought to be the same everywhere. Tatian adds (n. 29) that he himself, when he had observed these things and had stumbled upon certain books of the barbarians, was captured and struck by all the marks of truth with which these books are signed, and he gave his name to the Christian religion, and he does not wish to leave any opening to the demon (n. 30), who is strengthened even by the slightest moments, and who lays snares for us with the help of a hidden treasure.

In the second part, he demonstrates that Christian philosophy is far older than the institutions of the Greeks, having brought forward as an example Moses and Homer (n. 31). Concerning the age of Homer there is the greatest variety of opinions, with some asserting he lived eighty years after the Trojan War, while others say four hundred or even five hundred. This dissension is proof that the histories of the Greeks do not stand on a firm basis. Among Christians, however, as there is no desire for reputation, so there is no dissension: no age or condition is excluded from their doctrine. The heathens mock the little women and virgins who are addicted to Christian discipline, but quite unjustly; for they themselves are the students of harlots (n. 32), and they have placed statues to harlots and to wicked men (n. 33)—statues which Tatian testifies to having seen (n. 34) when he had traveled through a great part of the world and had lived in Rome, to which city they had been brought. He returns to Moses and Homer, and demonstrates first that he [Moses] is far older (n. 35) from the Chaldean and Phoenician writers (n. 36) who have spoken about Moses, and from the Egyptians (n. 37), who place him under Inachus (n. 38), that is, 400 years before the Iliad, as is evident from the series of Argive kings (n. 39). Therefore one must believe Moses rather than the Greeks (n. 40). Indeed, Moses surpasses others who are older than Homer (n. 41): and he is far older than those who are thought to be wise. Finally, concluding (n. 42), he declares that he was born in the region of the Assyrians, and that he was first imbued with the institutions of the Greeks, and then with Christian doctrine, to which he professes to adhere in such a way that he judges it an impiety to deny it.

TATIAN THE ASSYRIAN ORATION AGAINST THE GREEKS

^A 1. The Greeks arrogantly claim the invention of the arts for themselves in vain. — Do not bear an entirely hostile mind towards the barbarians, O Greeks, nor envy their doctrines. For what institution among you did not receive its origin from the barbarians? For the most esteemed of the Telmessians discovered the art of divination from dreams; the Carians, foreknowledge from the stars; the Phrygians and the most ancient of the Isaurians, auspices; the Cyprians, the art of the haruspex; the Babylonians, astronomy; the Persians, magic; the Egyptians, geometry; the Phoenicians, the elements of letters. Therefore, cease to call those things inventions which have been expressed by imitation. For Orpheus taught you to cultivate poetry and to sing; the same also to be initiated; the Tuscans, sculpture; the commentaries of the times among the Egyptians, to adorn histories. But you have adopted the modulation of the pipes from Marsyas and Olympus. Both Phrygians, both rustic men, they discovered the harmony of the flute; ^{B C D}

concentum invenerunt; tubam Tyrrheni, fabricam ^A ærariam Cyclopes, epistolas scribere mulier, Persarum, ut ait Hellanicus, olim regina, cui nomen erat Atossa. Deponite igitur hunc fastum, nec verborum elegantiam ostentate; qui dum vosmetipsos laudatis, domesticos adhibetis patronos. Oportet autem ut qui hanc laudem sibi arrogant, ii, si sapiant, aliorum testimonium exspectent, ac in ipsa sermonis pronuntiatione inter se consentiant. Nunc autem vobis solis contigit ne in colloquiis quidem similes sonos edere. Neque enim Doricorum eadem dictio est ac Atticorum; ^B nec Æoles similiter ut Iones loquuntur. Cum ergo tantum sit inter eos dissidium, inter quos minime oportebat, statuere non possum, quem a me Græcum oporteat appellari. Nam quod omnium absurdissimum est, dictiones, quæ vobis alienæ non sunt, in pretio habetis, et barbaris interdum vocibus abutentes, sartaginem loquendi linguam vestram effecistis. Quamobrem sapientiæ vestræ valediximus, quamvis in hoc genere præclarus omnino et spectatus aliquis essem. Nam, ut ait Comicus:

Infructuosi hæc sunt pampini et loquacitas, Musæ hirundinum: inferunt damnum haud leve Et turpe clamant hujus artis aucupes Corvique ructantur sonos.

Rhetoricam enim ad injustitiam et calumniam instituistis, pretio addicentes sermonum vestrorum libertatem, et ^C sæpe id quod nunc justum, alias haud bonum asserentes. Poeticam vero, ut pugnas describeretis, et deorum amores et animæ corruptelam.

2. Philosophorum vitia et errores. — Quid enim egregii philosophando protulistis, aut quis ex iis, qui præstantissimi fuerunt, extra arrogantiam constitutus fuit? Diogenes, qui dolii ostentatione de ^D se gloriari solitus, quomodo vitam non impudenter instituit?

^A polypus, being raw, 15 having suffered a seizure of [it] through intemperance, died. Aristippus, walking in a purple robe, lived as a spendthrift with credit. Plato, while philosophizing, was sold by Dionysius on account of gluttony. 16 And Aristotle, having ignorantly set a limit to providence, and having delimited happiness in a most unlearned way to those things in which he took pleasure, flattered Alexander, ^B having forgotten that he was a mere youth. And he, in a truly Aristotelian fashion, because his friend was unwilling to worship him, held him captive and carried him about like a bear or a leopard. At any rate, he was quite obedient to the dogmas of his teacher, demonstrating courage and virtue at banquet tables, and running his own and very dear friend through with a spear, and then again weeping and abstaining from food under the pretext of grief, so that he might not be hated by his own household. I would laugh also at those who until now abuse his dogmas, who, while saying that the things after the moon are apart from providence, being closer to the earth than the moon and lower than its course, provide for things unprovided for. For among them there is no beauty, no wealth, no strength of body, [neither is there nobility, among them there is not after Aristotle 17 the happy life.] ^C

(13) Polypus, being raw. On the death of Diogenes, says Laertius lib. vi, various accounts are told. Some say he died seized by a bile-fit after eating a raw octopus; others, when he had held his breath. To this latter opinion is added what Jerome says in lib. ii in Jovinian: He died with his throat compressed during the night, as he said he was not so much dying as excluding a fever by death. Julian defends the deed of Diogenes at greater length in his fifth oration, and contends that he is undeservedly attacked for the raw octopus he devoured. ^D It seems that Gregory Nazianzen refers to this history when he reproaches Diogenes for *opsophagia*, or the gluttony of delicacies, orat. 23, p. 414. Athenaeus counts him among the celebrated *opsophagoi* or gluttons of delicacies, lib. viii, cap. 5, on account of this eaten octopus.

(14) With credit he lived. It seems Tertullian wished to interpret these words of Tatian when he said *Apolog.* c. 46: Aristippus in purple behaves as a spendthrift under a great guise of gravity. But I strongly doubt whether he grasped Tatian's meaning. For Aristippus was not some gloomy sensualist; he did not apply gravity to pleasures, but rather jest and sport, as is perceived from many of his witticisms recorded among the ancients. See Clement of Alexandria *Paedag.* p. 177 and 179. Lactantius records in lib. iii *Institut.*, c. 14, that saying of Aristippus, to which I think Tatian referred: The difference between me and the spendthrifts, Aristippus used to say, is that they get their pleasures at a high price, I get mine for free. It seems that *axiopistos* signifies the same thing with Tatian as "for free" with Lactantius. For it signifies that Aristippus, when he gave himself to pleasures, was not forced to pay money immediately, but that the same habit of honor was held for him as for the rich, who are easily trusted because they are wont to be considered good names. For Tatian is accustomed to take the word *axiopistos* in this sense. He opposes in n. 13 the *axiopistia* to the opinion of poverty and indigence; and in n. 11 he attributes *axiopistia* to the rich; because clearly they are considered good names, and ready money, if they wish to buy anything, or pledges, if they borrow money, are not wont to be demanded of them. Tatian therefore jokes about Aristippus, and indicates that he satisfied his lusts for free, while he says that by *axiopistos* luxury—that is, the law of paying the price immediately—he was exempt, just like some good name.

(15) On account of gluttony he was sold. The Sicilian dishes harmed the reputation of Plato. Hence Xenophon does not obscurely sting him in a certain epistle to Aeschines. Tertullian in the place cited above: Plato, he says, is sold by Dionysius for the sake of his belly. Gregory Nazianzen also carps at him, orat. 3: The Sicilian gluttony of Plato, on account of which he himself is also sold, and is not ransomed by any of his disciples, nay not even by a Greek man. Plato journeyed to Sicily three times, once indeed under Dionysius the elder, twice under the younger, as Plutarch in the *Life of Dion* and Diogenes Laertius lib. iii, and Aristides apud Photius testify. He came into offense with both tyrants: the elder handed him over to Pollis the Lacedaemonian, by whom he was sold in Aegina; under the younger he was brought into danger, as an encourager of Dion in liberating the island. More probably this latter trouble should be attributed to a love of the Sicilian table; for he came to Sicily at the invitation of Dionysius the younger, and did not leave without having tasted the delights of the palace. But that other danger, which he underwent having been handed over to Pollis, cannot be attributed to the same cause. For Plato sailed to Sicily under the elder tyrant with the intention of visiting the island, nor did he insinuate himself into the familiarity of the tyrant: but having been admitted to his conversation through the labors of Dion, he so moved the spirit of the tyrant with his freedom of speech that mandates were immediately given to Pollis about killing or at least selling him, as Plutarch narrates in the *Life of Dion*. Tatian therefore erred in his timing. Much less does St. Cyril agree with Plutarch, who in book xi *adv. Jul.*, p. 50, says of Plato: For they say that Dionysius did not sell him because he was displeased by his flatteries. For he is said to be sold by Dionysius, who was offended by his flatteries.

(16) Having forgotten Alexander. Read in the margin of codex Reg. 2: *Having been honored by Alexander*. That word *memnēmenos* is absent from the Anglican codex; Cotelerius, tom. ii *Monum. Eccl. Græc.*, p. 657, thinks it should be read *memēnēmenon meirakion*, he was flattering a mad youth. But a much more apt emendation, if we read *mē memnēmenos*, is "having forgotten the youth." That *mē* could easily have fallen out due to the similarity of the following syllable. I have no doubt that Tertullian read it this way, for he renders this place of Tatian thus: Aristotle, he says in *Apolog.* p. 46, "flattered Alexander so shamefully, or rather by ruling him." No one fails to see how aptly that of Tertullian, "or rather by ruling him," responds to these words of Tatian: *mē memnēmenos meirakion*, having forgotten that he was a youth.

^A To those to whom beauty, riches, bodily strength, or nobility are wanting, according to Aristotle, happiness is likewise absent. Let such men as these be philosophers!

3. I would not approve of Heraclitus, who, because he was self-taught and arrogant, used to say, "I have investigated myself." Nor would I praise his having concealed his poem in the temple of Diana, so that it might later be published as a mystery. For those who are concerned with these matters say that Euripides the tragedian, in going down and reading it, gradually committed the darkness of Heraclitus to memory with great diligence. But his ignorance was refuted by his death. For, having been seized with dropsy, and having treated medicine just as he did philosophy, he smeared himself with cow dung; and as the dung hardened and pulled at his whole body, he was torn apart and died. ^B For we must set aside Zeno, who declares through his theory of conflagration that the same men rise again for the same purposes—I mean Anytus and Melitus for accusing, Busiris for killing guests, and Hercules again for performing his labors. In his discourse on the conflagration, he introduces more wicked men than just ones, since there was only one Socrates, one Hercules, and not many others of that sort, but few. For the wicked are found to be far more numerous than the good. According to him, God must even ^C be the author of evils, because he did not wish to depart from those darknesses into which he had plunged philosophy, not even when he had become dropsical and was consulting physicians. For, as Laertius says, he asked the physicians by way of an enigma whether they could produce a drought from a rainstorm.

^A And God, according to him, would be proven the creator of evils, occupying Himself with mud, worms, and unspeakable things. For the Sicilian eruptions of fire have proven the arrogance of Empedocles, in that, not being God, he falsely claimed that he was what he said he was. I also mock the geneaology of Pherecydes, and the doctrine he bequeathed to Pythagoras, and his imitator, Plato—even if some deny it. For who would bear witness to the "dog-marriage" of Crates, and not rather, having ^B cast aside the puffy garrulity of those like him, turn to seeking what is truly important? Therefore, let not the festive gatherings of those who are philosophers and those who are not lead you astray; they teach things that are contradictory to themselves, and each one has proclaimed whatever happened to come into his mind. There are also many stumbling blocks among them; for one hates the other, and they contend against one another with opposing opinions, choosing exalted positions out of arrogance. It was fitting, however, that they should neither cultivate empires with ^C anticipated favors, nor fawn upon princes, but wait until the great ones came to them.

4. Rightly do Christians spurn these things and worship God alone. Why then, O Greeks, do you wish to set the states against us as if in a boxing match? ^D

^A And if I am not willing to use the customs of some, why am I hated as if I were a wretch? Does the king order tribute to be paid? I am ready to provide it. Does the master order service and ministration? I acknowledge the service. For man is to be honored in a human way, but God alone is to be feared; He who is not visible to human eyes, nor can be comprehended by art. If I am ordered to deny Him, I will not be persuaded; I would rather die, so that I might not be proven a liar and ungrateful.

Our God has no beginning in time, being the only one without beginning, and He himself is the beginning of all things. God is spirit, not passing through matter, but the maker of material spirits and of the forms that are in matter; both invisible and intangible, He having become the Father of things perceptible and invisible. We know Him through His creation, and we comprehend the invisible of His power through the things that have been made. I do not wish to worship the creation that came into being through Him for our sake. The sun and moon were made for our sake; how then shall I worship my own ministers? How shall I pronounce wood and stone to be gods? For indeed, the spirit that passes through matter is inferior to the more divine spirit; and that which is likened to a soul is not to be honored equally with the perfect God. Nor should the unnameable God be bribed. ^B For He who is in need of nothing should not be blamed by us as if He were in need. But I will explain our position more clearly.

5.

The Christian Doctrine of the Creation of the World through the Word

^A The Word; but the Word, not having gone forth into a vacuum [(44)], becomes the first-begotten work [(45)] of the Father. This we know to be the beginning of the world. It was brought into being by division, not by abscission. For what is abscinded is separated from the first; but what is divided, having assumed the choice of dispensation [(46)], does not leave void [(47)] that from which it has been taken. Non-acceptance of this way of speaking by Justin, who says in *Dialog.* n. 61 that things which are divided and cleft do not remain the same. But that which was displeasing to Justin in this word, Tatian corrects, when he says: "But the Word, having undertaken a voluntary administration, proceeds by communication." For by these words the Word is declared, not as a working force abscinded from the Father, nor as a sound which vanishes into the air, but as the Son, equal to the Father, and having gone forth endowed from eternity with His ideas and all His attributes; and not having been created by such proceeding, nor changed, but having undertaken a voluntary administration. But if this progression of the Word is nothing other than the assumption of a voluntary administration, why is the Word said to be divided [(48)] or to have progressed or been born by communication? Why does Tatian use the example of a torch ^B kindled from another torch, which seems apt and appropriate for explaining an eternal generation? To the explanation of this matter Tertullian helps, when he says: "Then therefore also the speech itself takes its form and adornment, sound and voice, when God says: 'Let there be light' [(49)]," *adv. Prax.*, c. 7. The same author was saying a little before, namely in ch. 5: "For God is rational, and reason is in Him first; and thus all things from Him. Which reason is his own sense; this the Greeks call *Logos*, by which word we also designate speech. And therefore it is already the custom of our people, through the simplicity of interpretation, to say that speech was in the beginning with God, although it is more appropriate to consider reason as more ancient, because God is not speech-like from the beginning, but is rational even before the beginning; and because the speech itself, consisting in reason, shows that reason as its own substance. Nevertheless, it makes no difference even so. For although God had not yet sent forth His speech, He still had it with Himself and in that very reason within Himself, silently thinking and disposing with Himself what He was soon to do through the speech." That subtle consideration of one and the same person under two names was not displeasing to Augustine, who, in his book *Eighty-three Questions*, explaining that of John: "In the beginning was the Word," *q.* 63, speaks thus: "In this place we interpret 'Word' better, so that it may signify not only the relationship to the Father, but also the operative power toward those things which were made through the Word. Reason, however, even if nothing is made through it, is rightly called reason."* ^C* Hither, therefore, returns that which was communicated to the Son by the Father as He proceeded to the creation of the world, namely, form and adornment, sound and voice, as Tertullian says, to whose words the assumption of voluntary administration in Tatian answers. By a subtle distinction, the same person is called now "reason," now "Word"; but one should not suspect a change in the Son any more than in the Father Himself, who is not speech-like from the beginning, but is rational even before the beginning. But why does Tatian, just like Justin, use the example of a torch kindled from another torch? Would it not square more aptly with eternal generation, in which God so handed over His entire substance to the Son that He did not lose it Himself, just as a torch, from which others are kindled, is not in the least diminished? 1° We have already observed in regard to Justin’s *Dialog.* n. 128, that eternal generation and procession are to be distinguished from temporal progression. 2° Justin and Tatian do not for that reason use the example of a torch kindled from another because they believed that the Son of God then began to be Light of Light; but...

in this alone consists the comparison, that just as a torch from which others are kindled is not in the least diminished, so the substance of the Father, as the Son proceeds, is in no way divided, nor did the Word proceeding from the Father’s power make the Begetter lacking. ^A For just as from one torch many fires are kindled, yet the light of the first torch is not diminished by the ignition of the many torches; so also the Word, proceeding from the power of the Father, has not rendered the Begetter devoid of the Word. For indeed I myself speak, and you hear, and surely by the transmission of speech I who am speaking do not become empty of speech; but by putting forth my own voice, I purpose to adorn the unadorned matter within you. And just as the Word, having been begotten in the beginning, in turn begat our creation, having Himself fashioned the matter for Himself; so I also, having been regenerated ^B in imitation of the Word and having achieved the apprehension of the truth, am rearranging the confusion of the matter related to me. For neither is matter without beginning as God is, nor is it on account of being without beginning equal in power to God; but it was created and has not come into being by another, but has been brought forth only by the Creator of all.

6. And for this reason we have believed that there shall be a resurrection of bodies after the consummation of all things, not as the Stoics dogmatize, according to certain cycles of periods, with the same things always being generated and perishing, ^C for no useful end; but once, when our ages have reached their limit, and for all time, by the sole constitution of men, for the sake of judgment. And it is not Minos or Rhadamanthus who judge us, before whose death none of the souls—as they recount in myths—was judged; but the judge is the Creator God Himself. And even if you think us to be utterly prattlers and babblers, we care not, since we have believed in this word. For just as when I did not exist before I was born, I did not know myself, but only existed in the substance of my fleshly ^D [existence]

yet, having come to be, though I once was not, I have attained through generation [the assurance] that I should not doubt that I exist; in the same way, having been born and having ceased to exist and be seen through death, I shall exist again, just as I did not exist before I was born, and was then produced. And even if fire should consume my flesh, the world has received the matter that has been vaporized; and even if I am consumed in rivers, or in the seas, or torn apart by wild beasts, I am stored away in the treasuries of a wealthy Lord. And the poor and godless man does not know what is stored away; but God the Ruler, whenever He wills, will restore the substance visible to Him alone to its former state.

7. How men fell. — For that heavenly Word, ^B a Spirit begotten by the Father, and a Word from the rational power, made man in the image of immortality, in imitation of the Father from whom he was begotten; so that, just as immortality is with God, in the same way man, having partaken of a portion of God, might also possess the immortal. The Word, then, before the creation of men, becomes the creator of the angels. Each species of the creation, however, was created free, not having the nature of the good—for that exists only with God—but being perfected by the freedom of choice on the part of men; so that the base man may be justly punished, having become wicked of his own accord; while the just man may be worthily praised for his virtuous deeds, since he has not transgressed the will of God, while using his free choice. And such is the state of things concerning angels and men. But the power of the Word, foreseeing in itself what would happen freely—not by fate, but by the free will of those choosing—foretold the outcomes of future ^C events; and it was a preventer of wickedness through prohibitions, and a praiser of those who remained good. And since men followed after some one being, more cunning than the rest, because he was the first-born, and held him to be God, even though he resisted the law of God; then the power of the Word [began]...

^A kept away both the initiator of this folly and those who followed him from the life they shared with him. And he who was made in the image of God, upon the departure from him of the stronger Spirit, becomes mortal; but that first-born, on account of his transgression and ignorance, is proven to be a demon, and those who imitated his fantasies have turned into a company of demons, and because of their free will have been handed over to their own foolishness.

8. The source of their apostasy is mankind. For they displayed to them a diagram of the arrangement of the stars ^B, and, like those who play with dice, they introduced a very unjust fate. For both the judge and the judged have been made according to fate, and those who kill and those who are killed, the rich and the poor, are products of the same fate; and all generation ^C, as if in a theatre, provided amusement for these [demons], among whom, as Homer says, *Unquenchable laughter arose among the blessed gods.* For those who watch the combatants, and one favoring another, and the one who marries ^D, and the one who corrupts boys, and the one who commits adultery, and who laughs and is angry, and who flees...

and is wounded, how should he not be considered mortal ^A? For by the very things through which they have revealed to men what sort of beings they were, by these they have urged their hearers to similar deeds. And are not the demons themselves, together with their leader Zeus, subjected to fate, dominated by the same passions just as humans are? And, in any other way, how should those be honored among whom there is great contrariety of dogmas? For Rhea, whom those from the Phrygian mountains call Cybele, they say ordained the excision of the private parts on account of Attis, whom she loved. Venus takes pleasure in the embraces of marriage; Diana is a magician, Apollo a physician. And after the cutting off of the head of the Gorgon, the beloved of Poseidon—from whom the horse Pegasus and Chrysaor sprang—Minerva and Asclepius divided the drops of blood ^B between them; and the one, from these, brought salvation, while the other, as a result of the same gore, became a murderess and a provoker of wars. It seems to me that the Athenians, not wishing to slander her, attributed the child born from his union with Vulcan to the earth, so that Minerva might not appear to have been deprived of her virility by Vulcan, as Atalanta was by Meleager. For the lame god, as is likely, the craftsman of clasps ^C and curved earrings, as is probable, deceived the motherless and orphaned child with women’s ornaments. Poseidon sails, Mars delights in wars, Apollo is a cithara-player, Bacchus plays the tyrant over the Thebans, Saturn is a tyrannicide. Zeus cohabits with his daughter, and the daughter conceives by him. Eleusis will bear testimony to me now, and the mystic Draco, and Orpheus, who says: ^D “Shut the doors against the profane.” Pluto carries off the Maiden, and the deeds of these became mysteries.

^A Ceres laments her daughter, and some are deceived on account of the Athenians. In the sanctuary of the son of Leto there is a place which is called the Omphalos; but the Omphalos is the tomb of Dionysus. I praise thee now, O Daphne, who, having overcome the intemperance of Apollo, hast exposed his divination; for since he did not foresee what concerned thee, his art was of no benefit to him. Let the far-darter Apollo now tell me how Zephyrus killed Hyacinth. Zephyrus conquered him; and as the tragic poet says:

Aura, the most precious carriage of the gods, Conquered by a slight breeze, he lost his beloved.

9. Such are the demons; these are they who have defined fate. Their foundation was the living creation. For the animals upon the earth, and those swimming in the waters, and the quadrupeds upon the mountains, with which they held their life, being cast out from the dwelling in heaven, these they deemed worthy of heavenly honor, so that they themselves might be thought to dwell in heaven, and might demonstrate the irrational life ^B upon earth to be rational through the arrangement of the stars. So that the irascible man, and the laborious, and the continent, and the incontinent, and the man who is in poverty, exist from these very ones who legislated their birth. For the configuration of the zodiacal circle is the creation of the gods. And the light that prevails, as they say, of one of them, surpasses the others, and he who is conquered is wont to prevail in his turn again. And the seven planets satisfy them, just as those who play with dice. We, however, are superior to fate, and instead of wandering demons, we have learned one non-wandering Lord: and being not led by fate, we have rejected its legislators. Tell me, by God, did Triptolemus sow the grain, ^C and after his mourning did he confer a benefit upon the Athenians? But why did Ceres, before she lost her daughter, not deserve well of human beings? The dog of Erigone is shown in the heaven, and Scorpio the helper of Artemis, and Chiron the centaur, and the bisected Argo, and the Bear of Callisto. How then, before these performed the aforesaid deeds, was the heaven unadorned? And to whom will it not seem ridiculous that the Delta, as it pleases some, is among the stars on account of Sicily, or, as it pleases others, on account of the first letter of the name of Zeus? For why not Sardinia

^A and Cyprus also be honored in the heavens? And for what reason are the brothers of Zeus, who divided the kingdoms among themselves, not also established as figures of letters? How is the bound Saturn, who was cast out of his kingdom, appointed as the administrator of fate? And how does he who no longer reigns grant kingdoms? Cast aside this nonsense, therefore, and do not violate divine law through unjust hatred toward us ^B.

10. A fabulous transformation of men is narrated; but even the gods among you are transformed. Rhea becomes a tree; Zeus becomes a serpent for the sake of Proserpina; the sisters of Phaethon are poplars; and Latona is a vile animal, on whose account Ortygia is now called Delos. A god, tell me, becomes a swan, and assumes the form of an eagle, and while he has Ganymede for a cupbearer, does he boast of the base love of boys? What is the point of worshiping gods who are hunters of gifts, and who get angry if they do not receive them? Let them have their fate; I do not wish to worship the wandering stars. Who is that hair of Berenice? ^C And where were its stars before she herself died? And how is the dead Antinoüs, a beautiful youth, consecrated in the moon? Who raised him up to it? Unless perhaps (just as one finds credence if someone asserts, not without perjury and mockery of the gods, that kings hired for a price have ascended into heaven), someone, referring this one also to the gods by a similar reasoning, has been adorned with prizes and gifts. Why are you sacrilegious against God? Why do you disgrace his work? You slaughter a sheep, and the same you worship; a bull is in heaven, and you slay its image. The one they call Engonasin ^D crushes a harmful animal; and the eagle that devoured the creator of man, Prometheus, is honored. Truly the swan is famous, since he was an adulterer. Excellent also are those famous sons of Zeus living on alternate days, the ravishers of the daughters of Leucippus. More outstanding than these is Helen, who, having left the fair-haired Menelaus, followed the turbaned and gold-abundant Paris! Sophron even proved himself just and moderate, he who [escorted] the one who had prostituted herself into the Elysian plains.

^A But not even Tyndaris has been granted immortality; and Euripides wisely represents her as being killed by Orestes.

11. How, therefore, can I accept that a person is born of fate, when I see such moderators of it? I do not wish to reign; I do not desire to be rich; I decline the command of the army; I have hated fornication; I do not practice seafaring for the sake of insatiable greed; I do not strive to obtain crowns; I am freed from the madness of glory; I despise death; I am superior to every kind of disease; sorrow does not consume my soul. If I am a slave, I endure slavery; if I happen to be free, I do not pride myself on my noble birth. I see the sun as the same for all, and death as one for all, whether one lives in pleasure or suffers through want. The rich man sows, and the poor man partakes of the same seed; the wealthiest die, and those who ask for alms have the same limitation of life. The wealthy have need of more things, and they gain prominence through their reputation; but the poor man, and he who is most moderate, desiring that which is sufficient for him, attains it more easily. Why do you wake in the night for the sake of avarice according to fate? Why, repeatedly desiring out of fate, do you repeatedly die? Die to the world, rejecting the madness in it; live to God, rejecting your old generation through the knowledge of Him. We were not made to die, but we die through our own fault. Free will destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we were sold through sin. Nothing evil has been made by God; we ourselves brought forth wickedness; but those who have brought it forth are able to reject it again.

12. We know of two kinds of spirits, of which the one is called the soul, ^B but the one greater than the soul, the image and likeness of God. Both existed in the first men, so that one part of them was material, and the other part was superior to matter. And the matter stands thus: it is possible to see the entire construction of the world and the whole of creation as having come to be from matter, and that matter itself was brought forth by God, so that one part of it is understood as being without resource and unformed before it received distinction, and the other part as decorated and ^{C D}

^A brought into order following that same distinction. Therefore, the heaven in it and the stars in it consist of matter; and the earth also, and all that is perceived from it, have a similar constitution, so that the generation of all things is common. Since these things are thus, there are certain differences among those things that consist of matter, so that one thing is more beautiful, while another is indeed beautiful, yet is inferior to something better. For just as the constitution of the body is of one arrangement, and the cause of its birth revolves around it, yet although these things are so, there are certain differences of dignity in it—one thing is the eye, another the ear, another the adornment of hair, or the arrangement of the bowels, or the connection of marrow and bones and nerves—and when one thing differs from another, there is a harmony of agreement according to the arrangement. In like manner also the cosmos, according to the power of him who made it, contains some things more ^B brilliant and some things unlike these, having received a material spirit, as the Maker willed. But one who does not proudly reject the most divine oracles, which were recorded by writing at various times, can perceive these things one by one, for they have made those who attend to them completely beloved by God. Yet, therefore, even the demons—whom you speak of in this way—having received a structure from matter and having drawn spirit from it, have become dissolute and gluttonous; some of them having turned toward purer matter, others having chosen the inferior part of matter and living according to its likeness. These, O Greeks, you worship, though they were made of matter and have been found far removed from right order. For the aforementioned, having turned through their own stupidity toward vainglory and having broken away, sought to become robbers of divinity. But the Lord of all allowed them to amuse themselves until such time as the cosmos, having reached its end, is dissolved, and the Judge arrives, and all men, through the opposition of the ^C demons, desiring the knowledge of the perfect God, might receive a more perfect witness through their struggles on the day of judgment. There is, therefore, spirit in the luminaries, spirit in the angels, spirit in plants and waters, spirit in men, spirit in animals; and, although it exists as one and the same, it possesses differences within itself. As for our speaking these things—not by tongue, nor by probable reasoning, nor by the equipment of sophistic composition, but using the speech of a more divine utterance—those of you who wish to learn, hasten. And you who do not reject ^D the Scythian Anacharsis, do not even now consider it unworthy of you

^A to be instructed by those who follow a barbarian legislation. Adopt our dogmas, even if only as you accept the Babylonian art of looking into the future; give ear to us when we speak, even if only as you would to an oak tree giving prophecies. For as for the things previously mentioned, they are the counter-sophistries of raving demons, but the things of our instruction are higher than worldly comprehension.

13. The soul is not in itself immortal, O Greeks, but mortal. Yet it is possible for the same soul not to die. For it dies and is dissolved together with the body when it does not know the truth, but it rises again at the end of the world together with the body, receiving death through punishment in immortality. And again, it does not die, even if it is dissolved for a time, if it has acquired the knowledge of God. For in itself it is darkness, and there is nothing luminous in it, and this is, then, what has been said: *The darkness does not comprehend the light* (John 1, 5). For the soul did not save the Spirit itself, but it was saved by it, and the light apprehended the darkness. The Word ^B is indeed the light of God, but the ignorant soul is darkness. For this reason, when it dwells alone, it inclines downward toward matter, dying together with the flesh; but when it has acquired the fellowship of the divine Spirit, it is not helpless; it ascends to the regions where the Spirit guides it. For the Spirit’s dwelling place is above, but the soul’s generation is from below.

The Spirit was indeed the soul’s companion from the beginning; but the Spirit left it when the soul was unwilling to follow, and it remained like a spark of its power, and because of the separation the soul does not see the higher things. It has been reduced to darkness, seeking God, but not by searching for Him in the way of truth. And the soul—let us now also speak of it as it is—wanders about, and as it were, falls into the abyss, paying the penalty for its isolation. ^C But when it is again entrusted with the fellowship of the Spirit, it does not remain in the darkness but becomes light. But since we are those who carry about the image of God in this living and moving statue, the human being, we have become an image, a counselor, a companion, a housemate, a fellow-sufferer, and an offering to God for the sake of Christ, ^D whose Spirit is a fellow-dweller, a counselor, an intimate and sharer of the same dwelling, a fellow-sufferer, and an offering. But since the memory of the Spirit, which had been cast away and abandoned, had grown dim, the soul—not being able to see what is perfect—sought for God, wandering about in many places, and did not find Him. It was deceived by demons, and instead of God, it began to venerate the works of the hands.

^A Since it was not able to behold what is perfect, because of its separation from the power of God, and while seeking God, it fashioned many gods by the error of its opinion, following those demons who use counter-sophistry. ^B Now the Spirit of God is not in all, but residing in some who live justly, and being intertwined with their soul, it announced the hidden things to the other souls by means of prophecies. And those which obeyed the wisdom drew to themselves the kindred Spirit, but those which did not obey and rejected the minister of the suffering God were found to be fighting against God rather than venerating Him.

14. Demons are punished more severely than men. — Such are you also, O Greeks, polished indeed in language, but having a deranged mind; you have professed a government of many rather than of one, while you have decided to follow after demons as if they were all-powerful. For just as a robber, being inhuman, is accustomed to subdue those like himself through his audacity, so too the demons, having drifted into great wickedness, have deceived the souls among you that are isolated through ignorance and phantasms. They do not indeed die easily, for they are destitute of flesh, but while living, they practice the institutions of death, dying to the same extent as they educate their followers in sins. ^C And so, that which is now their advantage—that they do not die in the same manner as men—that, when they are about to be punished, will not be theirs; they will not share in eternal life, but will obtain a certain death in immortality. For just as we, to whom dying easily happens now, later receive either immortality with pleasure, or pain with immortality: so also the demons, who abuse their present life for sinning, and die throughout their whole life, will hereafter have immortality, the same indeed as when they were living, but in status like those men who have performed, according to their own will, whatever ^D

^A demons have prescribed. For is it not true that for men, fewer species of sin flourish because they do not live for a long time, whereas for the aforementioned demons, sinning results to a greater degree because of their infinite age?

15. And it is necessary now that we seek what we possess but have lost, that we join the soul with the Holy Spirit and labor for that union which is according to God. Now, the soul of men is multi-part, and not single-part. For it is composite, so as to be manifest through the body. For it would never appear without a body, nor does the flesh rise again without the soul. For man is, not as those croaking-voiced ones dogmatize, a rational animal, capable of mind and knowledge; for it will be shown that, according to them, even irrational creatures are capable of mind and knowledge. But man alone is the image and likeness of God. And by man I do not mean him who acts like the beasts, but him who is far from humanity ^B and has attained unto God Himself. And concerning this, it has been written more accurately by us in the book *On Animals*. But what must now be discussed is what sort of thing that image and likeness according to God is. That which cannot be compared is nothing else than Being itself; but that which is compared is nothing else than that which is similar. Now, the perfect God is without flesh, but man is flesh; the soul is the bond of the flesh, and the flesh is in relation to the soul. And such a species of constitution, if it should be as a temple, God wishes to dwell in it through the ^C interceding Spirit. But if it should suffer with the body, just as is shown by the testimony of observable things, it cannot be bodiless. That is to say, God alone is an unbegotten, needing nothing, and tireless nature, being bodiless, and therefore also invisible; for no one has seen God. But souls, originating from the Creator and Father of all, while being spiritual bodies, have been ordered into limbs discernible by reason.

But if such a tabernacle does not exist, man is superior to the beasts only in his articulate voice, while in all other respects his manner of life is the same as theirs, for he is not a likeness of God. Furthermore, all demons possess no flesh, but they have a spiritual composition, as of fire or air. Only to those who are guarded by the Spirit of God are the bodies ^A of demons discernible [(39)]; to others, however, they are nowhere to be seen — I mean to those who are psychic [(40)]. For the lesser is unable to comprehend the greater. For this reason, then, the substance of the demons has no place for repentance. For they are effulgences of matter and wickedness. Matter, however, wished to dominate the soul, and in accordance with free will, the former handed down the laws of death to men; but men, after the loss of immortality [(42)], have overcome death through the death to be undergone in faith, and through repentance a calling has been granted to them, according to the word that says [(43)]: "Since they were made a little lower than the angels." [(Ps. VIII, 4)] And it is possible for everyone who has been conquered to conquer again, by refusing to accept the constitution of death. And whoever wishes to see what this is, the immortal ^B will be clearly visible to them.

16. Demons needlessly show off their power. They are easily conquered by the virtue of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the demons who rule over men are not the souls of men. For how could they be active even after death? Unless, perhaps, a man is foolish and weak while he lives, but once he has become a corpse, he is believed to be endowed with more effective power. But the matter is not so, as we have demonstrated elsewhere; and it is very difficult to think that the immortal [(45)] soul, which is impeded by the limbs of the body, becomes more sagacious when it has departed from it. ^C For demons, while they revel in their wickedness against men [(46)], pervert their minds with various and deceitful dramatic performances, so that they look downward and are unable to rise toward the journey in the heavens. But ^D

^A things in the world are not hidden from us, and the divine is easily apprehended by us, if that power which makes souls immortal has approached us. And the demons are also seen by the psychic, sometimes showing themselves to men, that they may be thought to be something, or even to do some harm, being evil friends in their mind, just like enemies, if they provide pretexts for those who hold to the worship of them, to those who are like them. For if it were possible for them, they would certainly have dragged down heaven itself together with the rest of creation. But now they do not do this at all; for they are unable; but with the material below, they fight against the material similar to them. But if one should wish to overcome these (demons), let him renounce the material. For being armed with the breastplate of the heavenly Spirit, he will be able to save everything that is encompassed by it. There are, then, also diseases and disturbances of the ^B material within us; but the demons themselves ascribe the causes of these to themselves when they occur, approaching whenever fatigue takes hold. And there is a time when they themselves, by the storm of their own stupidity, shake the state of the body; but struck by the word of the power of God, they depart in terror, and the sufferer is healed.

17. For regarding the sympathies and antipathies according to Democritus, what have we to say, except this: that according to the common saying, the man from Abdera is an "Abderite" (a chatterer)? But just as he who is the cause of the name for that city, being a friend of Heracles, as they say, was devoured by the horses of Diomedes; in the same way, he who boasts of the magician Ostanes shall at the day of consummation be handed over to the food of eternal fire. And you too, if you do not cease your laughter, shall suffer the same punishments ^C as the magicians. Therefore, O Greeks, listen to me as if I were crying out from on high, and do not, by mocking my folly, bring down upon yourselves the judgment due to your own folly regarding the herald of the truth.

^A transfer your lack of judgment into a herald of the truth. Disease is not removed by secret dissent, nor is one who is raving cured by the hanging of skins. But demons behave like visitors: and both the sick person, and he who says he is in love, and he who hates, and he who desires to take revenge, take these as their helpers. ^B Now their method of trickery is as follows: just as the characters of letters, and the lines consisting of them, are not of themselves able to signify what is planned, but men have created signs of their thoughts for themselves, perceiving through their specific composition what the order of letters was also instituted to signify; likewise, the varieties of roots, and the arrangements of sinews and bones, are not inherently effective in themselves, but are an element of the wickedness of the demons, who have defined what each of them ^C is powerful for. But when they see that men assent to being ministered to through these things, then they come upon them and cause men to serve them. For how could it be honorable to minister to adulteries, or excellent to aid some people in their hatred, or to attribute the cure of those who are raving to created things and not to God! For they turn men away from the worship of God by leading them to put their faith in herbs and roots. But if God had created these things to accomplish that which men desire, He would indeed be the creator of evil things. Yet He created all things that are in a good state; but the profligacy of the demons has abused the things that are in the world for the purpose of doing evil, and this is a species of their wickedness, not of the perfect ^D God. For how could I, who am not in the least evil while alive, when I am dead, become an inanimate remnant that does nothing of my own, which neither moves nor even feels, effect anything that can be perceived? And how could he who has died a most miserable death, ^D be able to lend his aid for the vengeance of another? For if this...

were so, much more would he be able to take vengeance upon his own enemy; for, if he is able to help others, he would be far more capable of acting as his own avenger.

18. The method of healing, and everything contained in it, is of the same artifice. For if anyone is healed by matter, trusting in it, he would be healed far more by attending to the power of God. For just as the poisons are material compositions, in the same way, the remedies are of the same substance. But if often, through the entanglement of one of these evils ^A with another, some attempt to heal, they would be using even these evils for a good purpose. Just as if you were to dine with a robber, even if you yourself are not a robber, still, because you have feasted with him, you become a sharer in his punishment; in the same way, he who is not evil, if he joins himself to the wicked, will be punished by God, the judge, for ^B the sake of that which is considered good. For why does the one who trusts in the management of matter, not wish to trust in God? And for what reason do you not go to the more powerful Master, but rather heal yourself—just as the dog does with grass, the deer with the viper, the pig with freshwater crabs, and the lion with monkeys? And why do you deify for me the things that are in the world? And why, when you heal your neighbor, are you called a benefactor? Follow after the power of the Word. ^C Demons do not heal, but by their art they capture men, ensnaring them with superstition, while they seem to be useful by nature. Thus it is spoken: Although, where there are no incantations, invocations, and characters, it is generally doubtful whether the thing which is bound or in any way joined to the body to be healed, avails by the power of nature (which may be freely used), or whether it proceeds from some significant binding; which a Christian ought to beware of all the more prudently, the more effectively it appears to be of benefit. ^D

^A And those men, by their art, take human beings captive. And the most admirable Justin rightly proclaimed that they are like robbers. For just as it is the custom there to capture some [people], and then restore them to their own [people and kin] for a price; so also do those who are considered gods, after they have crept into the bodies of some, and then by means of dreams have manufactured a reputation for themselves, command them to go forth in public, [and] when they have obtained worldly goods while all are watching, they fly away from the sick—once the disease which they themselves had induced ^B has been wiped out—and restore the men to their former health.

19. You, who do not perceive these things, learn from us who do perceive them. You say that you despise death and practice self-sufficiency—though the philosophers among you fall so far short of such training that some receive six hundred aurei annually from the Roman Emperor for nothing useful, and do not even have their beards allowed to grow for free. Crescens, indeed, that man who had built his nest in the great city, surpassed all in his love for boys, and was altogether intent upon the study of money. Yet this man, who made a show of despising death, feared death so much that he brought machinations against Justin—and against me, too—as [if it were] some great evil, [simply] because, by proclaiming the truth, I called them gluttons and impostors. ^C But even now, who is ignorant that in the great city, at the festival of Jupiter Latiaris, a man is slaughtered?

On the interpretation of the "great city" and the references to Crescent

^D (76) *In the great city.* Fronto Ducæus and others have thought that Megalopolis is what is meant by Tatian. Rufinus and Christophorsonus interpret it better as "the great city" in the *Ecclesiastical History* of Eusebius, who quotes this passage of Tatian in Book IV, chapter 16. That Tatian refers to Rome is clear, both from Justin’s *Minor Apology* and from this very passage, where it is established that Justin suffered [martyrdom] at Rome, and where Tatian mentions the plots of Crescens. In the same way, the great city is denoted by Porphyry in *De abstinentia animalium*, page 226, where he speaks as follows: "But even now, who is ignorant that in the great city, at the festival of Jupiter Latiaris, a man is slaughtered?" Rome is also called [the great city] in Theodoret, in the Epistle of the Council of Constantinople, though the proper name "Rome" is added. Sometimes this name is applied to other cities, as to Alexandria in Evagrius (Book II, chapter 4), to Thebes in Synesius (*De Providentia*, page 94); to Constantinople in the epistle just cited and in St. John Chrysostom (*Oratio ad Antioch.*), and in the epistle of Atticus to Cyril, and in Palladius (*Vita S. Chrysost.*, page 85), and in Photius (*Nomocanon*, chapter 2, title 8).

^A and refuted the philosophers. For whom of the philosophers was he accustomed to persecute, if not us alone? But if you say that one ought not fear death—agreeing with our doctrines—do not seek death, like Anaxarchus, out of an insane love for human praise, but become despisers of death for the sake of the knowledge of God. For the construction of the world is good, but the way of life within it is wicked; and just as in a festival, one may see those who do not know God being applauded and admired in the theater. For what is divination? Why are you deceived by it? It is a minister to you of the covetous desires existing in the world. You wish to wage war, and you take Apollo as an advisor for slaughter. You wish to snatch away a virgin, and you choose the demon to fight on your side. You are ill because of your own actions, and, like Agamemnon desiring ten counselors, you wish to have gods by your side. ^B A woman drinks water and goes mad, and by means of incense she becomes bereft of her senses, and yet you call such a one a prophetess. Apollo was a foreknower and the master of those who divine; yet at Daphne he deceived himself. Does an oak tree, tell me, prophesy, and do birds, in turn, announce the future? Are you then inferior to animals and trees? It would be a fine thing for you to become a divining piece of wood and to take on the flight of those who move through the air. The same one who makes you a lover of money also divines for you regarding how to get rich. The one who stirs up sedition and fighting also predicts the victory in war. If you were to be superior to the passions, you would despise all things that are in the world. Being such as we are, do not hate us, but having rejected the demons, follow after the only God. ^C All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made. But if there is any venom in those things which grow, this has befallen them on account of our sin. I can demonstrate an image of these things; only listen, and he who believes will understand. * John 1, 3.

^A If you are cured by drugs, I do not forbid you; but you must ascribe the testimony to God. For the world still pulls us down 90, and because of our weakness it requires material things. For the Spirit of God was the wing of the soul, which, having cast it off through sin, it flew like a fledgling and fell to the ground; and having departed from the heavenly association, it longed for a share of lesser things. The demons were banished 91, the first-formed were cast out; and the former were thrown down from heaven, but the latter from earth—not the earth of this world, but from a better order of things. And we must now, having longed for our ancient state, renounce everything that becomes an obstacle. For the heaven is not infinite, O man, but is bounded and finite 92. And beyond it are the higher ages, which do not have the change of seasons, through which various diseases are established, but having partaken of every temperate state, they possess a day that remains forever, and a light inaccessible to those who are on earth. Those, therefore, who labored on geographies, according to the extent that it was possible for man, made a description of the lands. But as for the regions beyond, being unable to speak because of the impossibility of the vision, they blamed the tides 93, and one sea as green, another as muddy, and of places, some as burning, and others as cold and frozen. But we have learned things unknown to you through the prophets; who, being simultaneously convinced in their soul that the heavenly Spirit will possess the immortal garment of mortality 94, proclaimed all those things which other souls did not know. And it is possible for every one who is stripped [of his sin] to acquire this adornment and to run back to his ancient kinship. ^B

21. That the doctrine of the Christians regarding God who was born in the form of a man is not to be compared to the doctrine of the Greeks concerning their gods.

21. For we do not play the fool, O Greeks, nor do we tell nonsense, when we proclaim that God was born in the form of a man. You who reproach us, compare your own myths with our narratives. Deiphobus, as they say, was Athena on account of Hector, ^C and for the sake of Admetus, Phoebus grazed the shambling kine, 95...

^A and the aged spouse of Zeus came to Semele. While you study such things, how can you mock us? Your Asclepius is dead, and he who deflowered fifty virgins in one night at Thespiae, having delivered himself to devouring fire, has departed. Prometheus, bound to the Caucasus, suffered punishment on account of his benefit to men. Zeus, according to you, is envious, ^B and covers the dream from men, wishing them to perish. Therefore, look to your own records, and admit that you are telling myths just as we might. We are not acting foolishly, but your tales are mere trifles. If you speak of the generation of the gods, you also declare them mortal. For why is Hera not pregnant now? Has she grown old? Or is there no one to bring you the news? Believe me now, O Greeks, and do not draw your myths or your gods into allegory. For if you attempt to do this, ^C your very deities are overthrown by you. For either these demons among you are of base character, if they are such as they are called; or if they are interpreted according to nature, they are not what they are called. As for me, I would neither be persuaded to worship the substance of the elements, nor would I persuade my neighbor. Metrodorus of Lampsacus, in his book on Homer, has argued very foolishly, referring everything to allegory. For he says that neither Hera, nor Athena, nor Zeus is what those who built shrines and temples for them imagine, but rather they are ^D substances of nature and arrangements of the elements. You would also say that Hector, and Achilles of course, and Agamemnon, and all the Greeks and barbarians without exception—together with Helen and Paris—belonging to the same nature, were introduced for the sake of arrangement, so that none of the aforementioned... Thus the Dream by the command of Zeus addressed Agamemnon:

"He bade thee arm the long-haired Achaeans with all their host: For now mayest thou take the wide-wayed city Of the Trojans."

Agamemnon, not understanding that ambiguous voice, which, as Synesius observes in *De Insomniis* (p. 149), contained Achilles and the phalanx of Myrmidons, was foolishly deluded as if he were to take the city in the first assault without the aid of Achilles.

^A

We have set forth these things as a supposition; for it is not holy to compare our apprehension concerning God with those who wallow in matter and mire. ^B

22. For what, indeed, are your teachings? Who would not mock your public festive games, which, celebrated under the pretext of wicked demons, drive men into ignominy? I have often seen some man, and upon seeing him, I marveled; and after I marveled, I despised him, as one who is internally something else, but externally feigns what he is not. This man, I say, I saw utterly dissolute in luxury, broken by every effeminacy, now flashing with his eyes, now twisting his hands hither and thither, and raving with a miry countenance, at one time becoming like Venus, at another like Apollo; a single accuser of all the gods, an epitome of superstition, a calumniator of heroic deeds, an actor of murders, a demonstrator of adultery and avarice, a teacher of the pathic, an occasion for capital sentences; yet that same man was praised by all. But I refused him, as one who lies in everything, and his impiety, and his pursuits, and the man himself. But you are carried off as spoil by these ^C

22. For what, indeed, are your teachings? Who would not mock your public festive games, which, celebrated under the pretext of wicked demons, drive men into ignominy? I have seen someone 7 frequently, and seeing him, I marveled; and after I marveled, I despised him, because he is internally one thing, but externally pretends to be what he is not, swaggering exceedingly, and twisting himself in all ways, and at one moment sparkling with his eyes, at another twisting his hands 8, and through his muddy 9 appearance playacting the demon, becoming at one time like Aphrodite, at another like Apollo, one accuser of all the gods 10, the epitome of superstition 11, a slanderer of heroic actions, an actor of murders, a recorder of adultery, an expert in treasure-thief fiction 12, a teacher of the pathic, an occasion for those who are condemned 13, and such a man as this is praised by all. I, however, rejected him, as one who lies in everything—his godlessness, his pursuits, and the man himself. But you are carried off as spoil by such people. ^D

^A And you heap abuse on those who do not share in your practices. I do not wish to stand gaping at a chorus of many singers, nor do I wish to be swayed by one who nods and moves in a manner contrary to nature. What is there wonderful or remarkable that is achieved among you? They "snort through their noses" at shameful things, and they make movements which they ought not, and your sons and daughters look on as they teach the art of adultery upon the stage. Your lecture halls are excellent, proclaiming everything that is wickedly transacted by night, and delighting the listeners with the declamations of shameful speech. Your lying poets are also excellent, deceiving those who listen through their gestures.

23. ^B I have seen men weighed down by the burden of their bodies, carrying about the weight of their own flesh, for whom prizes and crowns are set forth, while the masters of the games urge them on, not to noble deeds, but to the contention of causing injury and stirring up strife; and he who is the greater striker is crowned. And these are the lesser of your evils; but who would shrink from telling of the greater ones? Some, having surrendered themselves to idleness, sell themselves to be slaughtered on account of their profligacy. The poor man sells himself; the rich man buys murderers; those who bear witness to them sit by, and the boxers fight over nothing, and there is no one who descends to help. Is it really the case that such things are well carried out by you? For the commander among you gathers together an army of bloodthirsty men, professing himself a provider of robbers; and the robbers go forth from him, and all of you gather for the spectacle, becoming judges, partly of the master of the games’ wickedness, and partly of the gladiators themselves. ^C He who has not been present at the slaughter is grieved, because he has not been condemned to be a spectator of wicked, godless, and abominable deeds. You sacrifice animals for the sake of eating flesh, and you buy men, providing your soul with the feast of cannibalism, feeding it with most godless bloodshed. The robber, therefore, kills for the sake of gain; but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake of being killed.

24. What benefit does it bring me to be drawn away by the madman in Euripides, and the matricide of Alcmaeon D

24. On other spectacles

fire, and wears an inhuman garment. Farewell to the myths of Hegesilaus, and to Menander, the poet of his language. And why should I marvel at the mythical piper, or busy myself with Aristoxenus the Theban in the matter of Antigenides? We yield to you things that are useless; do you either be persuaded by our doctrines, or withdraw to us in accordance with your own likeness. ^B

25. *Philosophical ostentation and dissension. The concord and superior teaching of the Christians, innocent customs.* — What great or marvelous thing do the philosophers do among you? For they neglect one of their shoulders, let their hair grow long, nurse a beard, carry about claws like wild beasts, and say they need nothing; yet, after the manner of Proteus, they require a tanner for their bag, a weaver for their cloak, a woodcutter for their staff, and, on account of their gluttony, they require the wealthy and a cook. O man who mimics the dog, you do not know God, and have turned to the imitation of brute beasts. You who shout in public with a certain confidence of one who is not needy, you be the avenger of yourself, and if you do not receive, you abuse; and the art of philosophy becomes for you a means of gaining. You follow the decrees of Plato; behold, the Epicurean sophist opposes you openly and plainly. Again, you wish to follow Aristotle; and some follower of Democritus abuses you. Pythagoras says that he was Euphorbus. But Aristotle is the heir of the doctrine of Pherecydes, and slanders the immortality of the soul. Since you have ^C successors to your doctrines who are ^D full of faction...

you fight against those who are in agreement with themselves. One man says that God is a body—I say He is incorporeal; ^A that the world is indissoluble—I say it is to be dissolved; that a conflagration occurs at various times—I say it will happen once; that Minos and Rhadamanthus are judges—I say it is God Himself; that only the soul is rendered immortal—I say the flesh also, with the soul. What harm do we do you, O Greeks, or why do you hate those who follow the Word of God as if they were the most abominable of men? We do not eat human flesh; you are false witnesses who have been trained to say this. Among you, Pelops is served up for the banquet of the gods, and is the beloved of Neptune; Saturn devours his sons, and Jupiter swallows Metis. ^B

26. Cease to boast of the discourses of others, and stop your scholarly affectations. Desist from making a show of alien learning, and do not deck yourselves out like a jackdaw in feathers that are not your own. If every city were to take away its own peculiar dialect from you, your sophistries would fail you. While you inquire what God is, you are ignorant of what is happening within yourselves, and, gaping at the sky, you fall into pits. The treatments of your books are like labyrinths, and those who read them are like the Danaids with their water-jar. Why do you divide time for me, saying that one part of it is past, another present, and another future? For how can the future pass by, if the present is present? ^C Just as those who are sailing, while the ship is moving, think through their ignorance that the mountains are running, so you also do not perceive that you yourselves are passing by, while the age stands still, until He who created it wills it to be. For why am I accused when I speak of what is mine, and why do you hasten to destroy all that is mine? For have you not been born in the same way as we, and have you not partaken of the same ordering of the world? Why do you claim that wisdom exists only among you, seeing that you have no other sun, no different risings of the stars, no better generation, and no death more exceptional than that of other men? The beginning of your trifling lies with the grammarians, and you who divide wisdom have cut yourselves off from the true wisdom, and have attributed the names of its parts to men. You are ignorant of God, and while you fight among yourselves, you are destroying one another. For this reason you are all nothing at all; and although you claim these discourses for yourselves as if by right, like— ^D

For this does not exist, inasmuch as it has already passed; but the future is not yet present, and therefore it is not at all. He proves that the present cannot be apprehended thus: For the time which is called present, together with the thought and the utterance, flies away even faster. It is utterly impossible to grasp it as present. For it is necessary that we either expect the future or contemplate the past. Inasmuch as it flees, it slips away together with the very thought.

^A ...at all? Why do you take up arguments while keeping far away from deeds; puffed up with glory, but humbled in misfortunes? You misuse appearances contrary to reason; for publicly you make a display, but you hide your discourses in corners [(42)]. Having recognized you for what you are, we have left you behind; we no longer concern ourselves with your affairs, but we follow the word of God. For why, O man, do you invent a war of letters? And why do you strike together their utterances like a boxer’s blows with Athenian stammers, when you should speak more naturally? For if you Atticize, though not an Athenian, tell me the reason for not Doricizing? How does the one seem to you more barbarian, and the other more pleasing in conversation?

^B 27. If, however, you hold to their training, why do you quarrel with me for choosing the dogmas that I please? For how is it not absurd not to punish a thief because of the name with which he is labeled before the truth has been carefully learned, yet to hate us because of an opinion taken up from insults without examination? Diagoras was an Athenian, but you punished him because he danced out [(45)] the mysteries among the Athenians; and by reading his Phrygian books [(44)] [(45)], you have hated us. Possessing the memoranda of Leo, you value them; and you who read his Phrygian books hold us in hatred. This emendation is confirmed by the most learned man with a similar passage from Tertullian, where it reads, *Apol.* cap. 12, edit. Pamel.: You are the same ones who reprehend a certain Seneca for haranguing at greater length and more strongly about your superstition. Better in the edition of Rigaltius, *probatis*.

^C ...that ancient physiology, both among Greeks and barbarians, was a natural rationale wrapped in myths, a theology for the most part hidden through enigmas and underlying meanings, and mysterious, having the things spoken of as no clearer to the crowd than the things kept silent, and the things kept silent as more suspicious than the things spoken of, is clear from the Orphic poems and the Egyptian and Phrygian books. [(original-script column: see facsimile)] ^D ...books that pertain to Cybele, Vossius maintains were discussed by Diagoras, *lib. De historicis Græcis*, cap. 2. Moreover, concerning the refutation of the gods, both Diagoras himself and two others, whom Tatian will mention presently, followed this path, so as to prove them to be either men or inanimate objects. Arnobius, *lib. IV Contra gentes*, enumerates Diagoras and Leo of Pella among the writers who with scrupulous diligence and free-thinking spirit brought hidden things to light; and he declares that by their testimony he can show all these gods to have been men. There is no doubt that these same writers labored not listlessly in recalling fabulous gods to nature. Thus, indeed, regarding the Phrygian and Egyptian books, Plutarch says in Eusebius, *Præp. Evangel.*, lib. III, c. 1: (read: That ancient physiology, both among the Greeks and the barbarians, was a natural reason hidden in fables, and a theology mostly hidden through enigmas and abstruse meanings, and full of mystery, in which both those things which are kept silent and those which are uttered are not clearer among the common people, and those things which are kept silent bring more suspicion than those which are uttered; this is manifest from the Orphic verses and the Egyptian and Phrygian books. Read: [original-script column: see facsimile])

^A you feel annoyed at being refuted by us; and yet you possess the opinions of Apion regarding the gods of Egypt among you, while proclaiming us to be the most godless of men. The tomb of the Olympian Zeus is shown among you, even if some Cretan says that they lie. The gathering of the many gods is nothing. And even if Epicurus, who despises ^B them, acts as a torchbearer, I will not hide from those in authority any more than from God what I think concerning the universe. Why do you advise me to lie about my way of life? And why, when you say that one should despise death, do you tell me to flee from it by artifice? I, for my part, do not have the heart of a deer; but the pursuits of your philosophy are like the immoderate Thersites. How shall I be persuaded by one who says the sun is ^C a mass of fire, and the moon is earth? For these things are a contest of words, and not an illustration of truth. Or how is it not foolish to be persuaded by the books of Herodotus regarding the story of Hercules, proclaiming an upper earth, and that a lion fell down from it, which was slain by Hercules? And what benefit would a fine Attic style provide, or a heap of philosophers, or the probabilities of syllogisms, and the measurement of the earth, and the positions of the stars, and the courses of the sun? For to be occupied in such inquiry ^D is for a man to impose his own dogmas upon himself as law.

28. Therefore, I have condemned the legislation that exists among you. For there ought to have been one common way of life for all. But now, as there are many nations of cities, so there are many institutional laws, so that things which are shameful among some are considered noble among others. For instance, the Greeks consider it something to be avoided to have intercourse ^C with a mother; but this is considered a most noble practice among the Persian magi. And pederasty is pursued by barbarians, but it is honored with privileges by the Romans, who seek to gather herds of boys, like brood-mares.

29. Seeing these things, and having further been a partaker of the mysteries and having tested the religions practiced by all, which are established by effeminates and androgynes—having also found that among the Romans the Latiarian ^D Jupiter takes delight in the gore of men and the blood poured out from homicides; that Artemis, not far from the Great City, likewise holds forth such practices; and that other demons elsewhere engineer up risings of evil deeds—being left to myself,

I sought by what means I might discover the truth ^A. Having turned my mind to all the best things, I happened to encounter certain barbarian books, writings older than the teachings of the Greeks and far more divine than their errors. And I was persuaded by them because their diction was unassuming, their writers were free from artifice, their explanation of the creation of the whole world was easy to comprehend, their foreknowledge of future things was wonderful, their precepts were extraordinary, and their understanding of the universe was monarchical. Instructed by God, my soul understood that while some things are akin to condemnation, others dissolve the servitude in the world and liberate us from a plurality of ruling powers and thousands of tyrants, bestowing upon us not that which we had not received, but rather that which we had received, yet were prevented by error from possessing ^B.

30. How to resist the devil. — Initiated and instructed by this knowledge, I wish, like newborn infants, to strip myself bare. For we know that the nature of wickedness is like the nature of the smallest seeds; for it is strengthened by a small occasion, yet it shall again be dissolved if we give credence to the words of God and do not disperse ourselves. For it has taken over our territory by means of some hidden treasure, while digging for which we have been filled with dust, yet we have provided it with the occasion to take its stand. For, considering everything to be its own possession, it has brought more precious riches into its own power. These things, then, let them be said to those of our own household. But to you Greeks, what else can I say, except that you should not revile your betters, nor, if they are called barbarians, take that as an occasion for mockery? For if you wish, you will be able to find the reason why different people are unable to understand each other's language; for if you are willing to examine our teachings, I shall provide a ready and abundant explanation ^C.

31. How much older our philosophy is than that of the Greeks. Regarding the age of Homer, there are various opinions. — Now, therefore, I believe I have shown our philosophy to be older than that of the Greeks. Those who seek for gold dig up much earth and find only a little.

Let Moses and Homer serve as our boundaries, ^A seeing that both of them are of the greatest antiquity; for the former is the most ancient of poets and historians, and the latter is the primary source of all barbarian wisdom. Let them now be brought forward by us for comparison. For we shall find that not only are our own doctrines older than the disciplines of the Greeks, but even older than the invention of their letters. And I shall not take witnesses from among ourselves, but rather I shall use the Greeks as my assistants. For the one course is foolish, since it would not even be acceptable to you; but the other is shown to be admirable, when I fight against you using your own weapons and take proofs that are not suspected by you ^B. For regarding the poetry of Homer, his lineage, and the time in which he flourished, those most ancient men have made inquiry: Theagenes of Rhegium, who lived in the time of Cambyses, Stesimbrotus the Thasian, Antimachus the Colophonian, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, and Dionysius of Olynthus. After them came Ephorus of Cyme, and Philochorus the Athenian, as well as Megaclides and Chamaeleon, the Peripatetics; these were followed by the grammarians Zenodotus, Aristophanes, Callimachus, Crates, Eratosthenes, Aristarchus, and Apollodorus. Of these, the followers ^C of Crates say that he flourished before the return of the Heraclidae, less than eighty years after the Trojan War; those who follow Eratosthenes say one hundred years after the capture of Ilium; those who follow Aristarchus say at the time of the Ionian migration, which happened one hundred and forty years after the Trojan events; Philochorus says after the Ionian migration, in the archonship of Archippus at Athens, one hundred and eighty years after the Trojan events; the followers of Apollodorus say one hundred years after the Ionian migration, which would be two hundred and forty years ^D after the Trojan events. Some have said that he lived before the Olympiads, that is, four hundred and ninety years after the capture of Ilium.

^A Others have brought the time down lower, saying that Homer was contemporary with Archilochus; but Archilochus flourished in the twenty-third Olympiad, in the time of Gyges the Lydian, five hundred years after the Trojan events. And as for the time of the aforementioned poet—I mean Homer—and the lack of agreement concerning him among those who have spoken about him, let this suffice as a summary for those who are able to examine matters accurately. For it is possible to demonstrate that even the written accounts concerning these matters are false, for among such people it is not even possible to attain to historical truth. For what is the cause of error in writing, if not that what is written is not true?

52.

Christian doctrine, however, is remote from dissent and is adapted to every age and condition.

too, needed him against Troy, but he had the divine sign. ^A What sort of person was Thersites? Yet he was a commander; and had not excessive loquacity, owing to his lack of skill, been present in him, his pointed and bald head would not have been reproached. All those among us who desire to philosophize, we do not judge by their appearance, nor do we evaluate those who come to us by their outward form. For we have reasoned that the strength of the mind can be present in all, even if they be weak in body; whereas yours is full of envy and much sloth.

33. For this reason you are accustomed to prefer those who are honored among you, because our customs are temperate, while yours are filled with much madness. ^B For those among you who say that we babble among women and youths, among maidens and old men, and who mock us because we are not with you, hear the nonsense of the Greek affairs. For their practices are far more foolish than the renown of your gods, and you behave indecently regarding the women’s quarters. For Lysippus made a bronze statue of Praxilla, who said nothing useful through her poems; Menestratus of Learchis; Silanion of the harlot Sappho; Naucydes of Erinna the Lesbian; Boiscus of Myrtis; Cephisodotus of Myro the Byzantine; Gomphus of Praxigoris; and Amphistratus of Cleito. For what need I say concerning Anyta, Telesilla, and Mystis? For of the first, Euthycrates and Cephisodotus are the craftsmen; ^C of the second, Niceratus; of the third, Aristodotus. Euthycrates was the sculptor of Mnesarchis the Ephesian, Silanion of Corinna, and Euthycrates of Thalarchis the Argive. I was eager to mention these, so that you might not think that anything strange is being done among us; and so that, by comparing the things before your eyes, you might not mock those who philosophize among us. And Sappho, indeed, was a profligate and love-mad woman, and she sings of her own wantonness; but all those among us are chaste, and our maidens, while at their distaffs, speak divine utterances ^D more seriously than your girl. Because of this, be ashamed—you who are found to be pupils of women, while those who live among us...

^A show them to be mocked along with the festive gatherings they attend. For what noble child did Glaucippe introduce for you? Or what monster did she give birth to? As her statue demonstrates, made by the Athenian Niceratus, son of Euctemon. For if she gave birth to an elephant, what is the reason for Glaucippe to enjoy public honor? Praxiteles and Herodotus have fashioned the courtesan Phryne for you, and Euthycrates fashioned Panteuchis, pregnant by a debaucher. Denomenes, by his own art, provided that the Pæonian queen, Besantis, be remembered because she gave birth to a black infant. But I condemn both Pythagoras, who placed Europa upon the bull, and you, who have honored the accuser of Zeus because of that man’s art. I laugh also at the skill of Myron, who fashioned a heifer and imposed victory upon it, because it had brought back the prize of adultery and intemperance by having snatched away the daughter of Agenor. The Olynthian Herodotus fashioned the courtesan Glycera and the Argive lyre-player. Bryaxis set up Pasiphae, whose lewdness you commemorate, and you have all but expressed the wish that women today be the same. A certain Melanippe was wise, and because of this Lysistratus fashioned her; yet you do not believe that there are wise women among us.

34. ^B Indeed, the tyrant Phalaris, who devoured suckling children, is shown even now, through the craftsmanship of Polystratus of Ambracia, as a kind of admirable man. And while the Agrigentines feared to look upon his face because of his cannibalism, those who occupy themselves with learning boast that they behold him through an image. For how is it not shameful for fratricide to be honored among you, who look upon the images of Polynices and Eteocles, and instead of having buried them along with their maker, Pythagoras, do not destroy the monuments of ^C wickedness? Why should I consider and contemplate as something admirable a woman who gave birth to thirty children, on account of Periclymenus? For since she had borne many fruits of intemperance, it would have been honorable to detest her, much like the sow among the Romans, which itself is said to have attained some sacred honor on account of a similar birth. Ares committed adultery with Aphrodite, and Andron fashioned for you the Harmonia born of them. Sophron, who committed trifles and absurdities to writing, was more famous on account of ^D the bronze sculpture which exists even now. And it was not only fables that commended the storyteller Aesop to immortality, but also...

^A the sculpture connected with Aristodemus demonstrated it. How then are you not ashamed, possessing so many poetesses who are useful for nothing, and countless harlots and so many wicked men, to slander the temperance of the women among us? What great thing would it be for me to learn that Euanthes gave birth in the Peripatos, or to gape at the art of Callistratus, or to fix my eyes on Neaera at the house of Calliades? She was a harlot. Lais was a prostitute, and Turnus set her up as a monument to prostitution. Why are you not ashamed of the prostitution of Hephaestion, even if Philo crafted an image of him with great skill? And for what reason, on account of the Ganymede of Leochares, do you honor the pathic as a piece of property of great value? Praxiteles also fashioned a woman named Spilumene. It were better, having dismissed all such things, to seek what is truly serious and honorable, and not, while laying claim to the unspeakable inventions of Philaenis and Elephantis, to loathe our way of life.

35. Tatian is an eyewitness of the things he brings against the Greeks. — I have not indeed set forth these things by receiving them from another, for I have wandered through many regions, and have partly exercised myself in your disciplines, and have partly stumbled upon many arts and inventions, and finally, having stayed in the city of the Romans, I saw the varieties of statues exported there by you. For I do not attempt, as most are wont to do, to confirm my own views by the opinions of others; but whatever I have seen, I undertake to commit to writing. Therefore, having said farewell both to the boasting of the Romans and to the cold discourse of the Athenians, and to their ill-patched opinions, I have embraced our barbarian philosophy; and that it is older than your institutions, I, having begun to write, but having deferred it because of the urgency of my exposition, now, when there is time, shall attempt to discourse upon its tenets. For do not let our learning stir your stomach, nor labor in a refutation against us filled with trifles and scurrilous words, saying: "Tatian, above the Greeks, above the infinite multitude of philosophers, is a new follower of the barbarian doctrine." For what harm is there if men whose ignorance has been demonstrated are now convicted by a man of the same nature? Or what is absurd, according to your own sophist, in always growing old while learning something? ^D

^A 36. *Moysis antiquitas probatur testimonio Chaldæorum scriptorum.* — Let Homer be, if you will, not only no later than the events of the Iliad, but even contemporary with the war itself, and let him be thought to have campaigned with Agamemnon, and, if anyone wishes, to have existed even before the discovery of letters. It will be clear that the aforementioned Moses is altogether many years older than the destruction of Troy, as he precedes the building of Ilium and the age of Tros and Dardanus by a long way. For the sake of proof, I shall use as witnesses the Chaldeans, the Phoenicians, and the Egyptians. And why should I say more? It is necessary that he who professes to persuade should relate matters to his hearers briefly and concisely. Berosus the Babylonian, a priest of Bel among the Babylonians, who lived at the same time as Alexander, and dedicated his history of the Chaldeans in three books to Antiochus, who was third after him, set forth the deeds of the kings. He mentions one of them by name, Nabuchodonosor, by whom an expedition was undertaken against the Phoenicians and the Jews. These things we know were predicted by our prophets, and occurred a long time after the age of Moses—namely, seventy years before the Persian empire. Berosus is a most learned writer, and proof of this is Juba, who, in writing about Assyrian affairs, declares that he learned his history from Berosus. He wrote two books concerning the deeds of the Assyrians.

^B 37. *Idem testantur Phœnices.* — The case of the Phoenicians is as follows. There existed among them three men: Theodotus, Hypsicrates, and Mochus. Laetus translated their books into the Greek tongue, and he also accurately wrote the lives of the philosophers. In these histories it is related that, under a certain king, the abduction of Europa took place, as well as the arrival of Menelaus in Phoenicia, and the events concerning Hiram, who gave his daughter in marriage to Solomon, king of the Jews, and supplied all kinds of timber for the construction of the temple. The same things are written by Menander of Ephesus. Now, the age of Hiram is close to the events of the Iliad, but Solomon, who was contemporary with Hiram, is much more recent than the age of Moses.

^C 38. *Moyser sub Inacho Ægyptii collocant.* — The Egyptians, for their part, place [events] accurately ^D according to time...

and an interpreter of the affairs transacted among them is Ptolemy—not the king, but a priest of Mendes. In setting forth the deeds of the kings, he testifies that in the time of Amosis, king of Egypt, the departure of the Jews from Egypt took place into the lands which they occupied, with Moses as their leader. He speaks as follows: "Amosis was contemporary with king Inachus." After him, [Appion] the grammarian, a most learned man, in the fourth book of his *Egyptiaca* (for he has five books), among many other things, testifies that Amosis destroyed Avaris, being contemporary with the Argive Inachus, as Ptolemy of Mendes had recorded in his annals. The time that elapsed from Inachus to the fall of Ilium fills twenty generations; and the proof of this is as follows:

39. *Series Regum Argivorum.* — These were the kings of the Argives: Inachus, Phoroneus, Apis, Criasis, ^B Triopas, Argius, Phorbas, Crotopas, Sthenelaus, Danaus, Lynceus, Proetus, Abas, Acrisius, Perseus, Sthenelaus, Eurystheus, Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, in the eighteenth year of whose reign Troy was captured. But every man of sense ought to diligently observe that, according to the Greek tradition itself, there was no record of history consigned to writing among them. For Cadmus, who handed down the letters to those before mentioned, came to Boeotia many ^C generations later. And after Inachus, under Phoroneus, men were with difficulty drawn away from a savage, nomadic life to a more civilized culture. Wherefore, if Moses appeared as a contemporary of Inachus, he is four hundred years older than the Trojan events. And this is further demonstrated from the succession of the Attic kings, and the Macedonian, and the Ptolemaic, and also the Antiochene [successions]. Whence, if after Inachus the more ^D famous deeds among the Greeks were recorded and became known, it is evident that [they were so] even after Moses. For Phoroneus, who...

^A succeeded Inachus, is recorded as being contemporary with Ogygus among the Athenians, in whose time the first flood occurred. Under Phorbas was Actaeus, from whom the Attic region was also called Actaea; under Triopas, Prometheus, and Epimetheus, and Atlas, and that Diphyes Cecrops, and Io. Under Cecrops, the conflagration of Phaethon and the flood of Deucalion. Under Sthenelus, the kingdom of Amphictyon, the arrival of Danaus in the Peloponnese, the founding of Dardania by Dardanus, and the return of Europa from Phoenicia to Crete. Under Lynceus, the rape of Proserpina, the construction of the temple at Eleusis, the agriculture of Triptolemus, the arrival of Cadmus in Thebes, and the kingdom of Minos. Under Proetus, the war of Eumolpus against the Athenians. Under Acrisius, the descent of Pelops from Phrygia, and the arrival of Ion at Athens, and the second ^B Cecrops, and the deeds of Perseus and Bacchus, and Musaeus, the disciple of Orpheus. Under the reign of Agamemnon, Ilium was taken.

40. Therefore, Moses is shown to be older than the aforementioned ancient heroes, wars, and demons. And it is right to believe one who is older in age, rather than the Greeks, who drew from the fountain but, with an ungrateful mind, [did not receive] his dogmas. For many of the sophists among them, when they inquired more curiously, attempted to adulterate whatever they learned from Moses and from those who philosophized as he did; first, indeed, so that they might seem to say something properly their own; secondly, so that they might cover up what they did not understand with certain eloquent fabrications, ^C and give to the truth the appearance of a fable. Therefore, regarding our own way of life, and the history according to our laws, [and regarding] what the learned among the Greeks have said, and how many there were and what kind they were ^D who took the parts of the truth from the Hebrew prophets before the coming of the Lord, not with knowledge, but instead claimed them as their own dogmas—these people would be thieves and robbers. For the Greek philosophers were thieves and robbers, who, before the coming of the Lord, took parts of the truth from the Hebrew prophets, not with true knowledge, but claimed them as their own dogmas. Therefore, he understood the meaning of "ungrateful mind," the duty of which he thought the Greek philosophers lacked, because they attributed to themselves as their own what they had borrowed from the Hebrews.

^A And how many and who they are among the Greeks who have made mention of these things, will be demonstrated in the book against those who have pronounced judgment on divine matters.

41. ^B But now, what is upon us must be demonstrated with the greatest possible precision, namely that Moses is not only older than Homer, but also older than the writers before him: Linus, Philammon, Thamyris, Amphion, Musæus, Orpheus, Demodocus, Phemius, the Sibyl, Epimenides of Crete, who came to Sparta, Aristeas of Proconnesus, who wrote the Arimaspeia, Asbolus the Centaur, and Isatis, Drymon, and Eumiclus the Cyprian, and Horus the Samian, and Prosnautides the Athenian. For Linus was the teacher of Hercules; and Hercules appeared one generation before the Trojan War, as is evident from his son Tlepolemus, who set out against Ilium. Orpheus was contemporary with Hercules; for the works that are attributed to him are said to have been composed by Onomacritus the Athenian, who lived at the time of the rule of the Pisistratidæ, around the fiftieth Olympiad. Musæus was the disciple of Orpheus. Amphion, since he precedes the Trojan events by two generations, prevents us from setting forth more for those who are eager to learn. Demodocus and Phemius lived at the time of the Trojan War itself; for the one spent his time among the suitors, and the other among the Phæacians. Thamyris and Philammon are not much older than these. As for the treatise on each individual doctrine, and the times and the recording of them, I believe I have written to you with all possible precision. But in order that I may also complete what is hitherto lacking, I will proceed to provide a demonstration concerning those who are considered wise. ^C For Minos, who was deemed to excel in every kind of wisdom, as well as in intelligence and legislation, lived in the time of Lynceus, who reigned after Danaus, in the eleventh generation after Inachus. ^D Lycurgus, born long after the capture of Ilium, prescribed laws for the Lacedæmonians one hundred years before the Olympiads. Draco, around the thirtieth Olympiad, is found...

to have been born; Solon around the ^A forty-seventh, Pythagoras around the sixty-second. We have demonstrated that the Olympiads were instituted four hundred and seven years after the events of Troy. And since these things have been thus demonstrated, we shall no longer add many things concerning the age of the seven wise men. For since Thales, the eldest of those previously mentioned, flourished around the fiftieth Olympiad, the things pertaining also to those born later have been nearly described for you in brief.

42. Tatian’s Peroration.

277 ANALYSIS OF THE APOLOGY OF ATHENAGORAS

Athenagoras presented this Apology in the year 177 to the emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, as we demonstrate at greater length in the Preface. He complains (n. 1, 2) that under the most equitable emperors, the Christians, despite their supreme piety toward God, neither obtain the same status as others who engage in various absurd superstitions, nor receive the same form of judicial treatment as those guilty of the most serious crimes, despite their absolute innocence of character. Then (n. 3), he proceeds to the crimes ascribed to the Christians: atheism, Thyestean feasts, and Œdipodean unions.

He proves (n. 4) that Christians are not atheists, based on their doctrine concerning the one and unbegotten God: since poets and philosophers have said similar things (n. 5, 6) and yet have not been seen as atheists, much less should Christians be branded with this crime (n. 7), who do not—like the poets and philosophers—seek God in vain, but rely upon the oracles of the divine Spirit. This doctrine of the Christians is confirmed (n. 8) by the inconveniences resulting from the multitude of gods and by the testimony of the prophets (n. 9). Christians (n. 10) worship with God the Father His Son and the Holy Spirit; they also acknowledge angels; finally, they are informed by such precepts of living, and live in such a way, that no one could suspect them of being atheists (n. 11, 12).

But because the accusation arose mainly from the fact that Christians neither offered sacrifices nor worshipped the gods, Athenagoras proves (n. 13) that God is not to be worshipped with the odors of sacrifices and bloody victims. As for the gods, he demonstrates that if Christians are atheists because they do not worship the same gods as the cities, the same crime inheres in all cities (n. 14), because they are all impious toward one another, while some worship certain gods and others different ones; and even if all were to consent in this superstition, the Christians would still deserve praise (n. 15), because they distinguish the Creator from the created, and matter from God, and worship neither the world (n. 16) nor the parts of the world, much less the works of men, and gods whose names are very recent and whose statues were the invention of the third generation (n. 17).

When, however, some raised the objection that the worship offered to statues is directed toward the gods, and as an argument took the efficacy inherent in some images, he responds (n. 18, 19) that those gods were created by the consent of poets and philosophers and therefore should not be worshipped; and he produces the same result (n. 20, 21, 22) from their absurd forms, shameful deeds, and cupidities and loves, which he demonstrates are vainly called back to nature.

But since it was objected that marvelous things are sometimes done by the statues of gods, to explain that supposed efficacy, Athenagoras sets forth (n. 23) the opinions of Thales and Plato concerning demons; then he himself teaches (n. 24) that angels are acknowledged by Christians, and that when they had been set over the works of God, some remained in their duty, while others were corrupted and became caught by the love of women. From them were born giants, or demons. These demons (n. 25), just like evil angels, while opposing the good of God, afforded some reason for wrongly denying providence. These, greedy for odors, entice men to the images (n. 26), and claim for themselves the names, for whom the statues have been erected; and they bring it about that, as if from the images, empty visions flow into weak souls (n. 27); and if the soul happens to divine by conjecture, or to effect cures and healings, they snatch the glory of this event. Since Athenagoras had promised earlier, namely at n. 17, that he would speak about the names of the gods, and had merely touched upon it lightly, he proves more fully (n. 28, 29) from Herodotus and the poets that those gods were men, and he investigates (n. 30) how they secured the reputation of divinity.

Hatred of Christian virtue produced two other crimes (n. 31), but these have been sufficiently and more than sufficiently refuted by the doctrine held by Christians concerning God and eternal rewards. Furthermore, there is no suspicion of moral lapses in those who consider a freer gaze adultery (n. 32); whose highest virtue is charity in greeting one another, and caution in kissing; who define the use of marriage for the procreation of children (n. 33) and cultivate perpetual virginity, or are content with a single marriage (n. 34). It is therefore grossly unjust that those who are chaste and single-married should be inveighed against as adulterers and corrupters of boys; those who are not only practitioners of justice, but also of patience, are treated as ravishers and evildoers.

Thyestean feasts cannot take place without murder. But no one has ever said that they have seen a man killed by Christians (n. 35). There is no suspicion of this crime in those who would not even wish to look upon a just judicial killing, much less the games of gladiators; and who consider using abortive drugs to be homicide, and exposing children to be parricide. To this is added (n. 36) the doctrine of the Christians concerning the resurrection and eternal rewards, which if they seem absurd, Christians are not on that account wicked; but rather (n. 37) it is equitable that, since they have cleared themselves of all accusations, the emperors should grant their petition, in accordance with their supreme kindness toward all humanity.

ATHENAGORAS THE ATHENIAN, CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER: EMBASSY FOR THE CHRISTIANS

To the Emperors Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius Aurelius Commodus, conquerors of Armenia and Sarmatia, and, which is most important, philosophers:

^A 1. Christian piety cannot obtain the same legal rights as impious superstitions. Your world, greatest kings, uses different customs and laws in different places; and no one is prevented by law or fear of judgment from cherishing ancestral practices, even if they should be ridiculous. But the man of Ilium calls Hector a god, and Helen Adrastia ^B. The Lacedaemonian Aga- ^C

Agamemnon calls Zeus a god, and venerates Phylonoe, the daughter of Tyndarus, and Tenes. The Athenian offers sacrifice to Erechtheus, Poseidon; and the Athenians perform ceremonies and mysteries to Agraulus and Pandrosus, who indeed did not escape the reputation of impiety for having opened the chest. And, in a word, among all nations and peoples, men bring about sacrifices and mysteries according to whatever they please. ^B But the Egyptians consider cats, crocodiles, serpents, asps, and dogs to be gods. And you and the laws permit all of these, judging that it is altogether impious and profane to consider no god at all, but necessary to worship as gods those whom each person wishes, so that by fear of the divine they might abstain from wrongdoing. But our name (do not, I beg you, be offended by the mere sound of it, as the vulgar are) — why is it hated? For names are not worthy of hatred, but the evil deed is worthy of judicial punishment. Therefore, admiring your gentleness and kindness and your peaceful and philanthropic demeanor toward all, individuals live in equality, and cities, according to their own dignity, receive fair honor, and the whole world enjoys deep peace through your wisdom. We, however, who are called Christians—since you have not taken thought for us, but permit us, though we do wrong to no one, but rather (as will be shown as the discourse proceeds) are most piously and justly disposed toward both the divine and your empire—to be driven ^C and

[Notes on the text]

...as if they were Adrastia, knowing they adore. But these things seem to be able to be explained from those things which are read below n. 14: That we do not choose as gods the same beings whom they themselves acknowledge. Among Eusebius, Hist. vii, 11, thus Aemilianus addresses Dionysius: That therefore [he] seems to be the same as acknowledging. Clement Alex., Protrept, p. 24, and among Lycophron, verse 85, where Tzetzes observes that kings were accustomed to be called [this] of old. The same is observed by Eustathius in the Iliad, p. 166. Often other names of gods are attributed to men. Shortly after, Athenagoras calls Erechtheus Neptune, Agesilaus Pluto. Lactantius, lib. 1, cap. 11. Clement of Alexandria observes in Protrept. p. 36, that not only kings arrogated to themselves the names of gods, like the Dionysii, or ^D the Ptolemy the fourth and Mithridates, but even private individuals dared the same, such as Menecrates the physician, and Nicagoras, of whom the former was called Jupiter, the latter Mercury. Hence also Aristarchus is Jupiter among Athenaeus lib. III, cap. 20. See lib. vi, and lib. vii, and lib. [others].

...[words and conjectures omitted]...

...and Phylonoe among the Greeks is said to be, as the Latins think, the same as Hecate, and [is derived] [alt-version omitted] from "impelling," because she has her caduceus like Mercury; and she leads the dead to the underworld. The same Suffridus adds that Phylonoe is the same as Proserpina the caduceatrix, and he removes "kai" before... Gesner thinks it should be read "Tenem in Tenedos" [as] most holy God, and that they founded their city. Furthermore, whether you write "Tennem" or "Tenem," it is the same. Conon among Photius, cod. 18, writes with a double v. Langus reads and interprets it as the compital Proserpina; Meursius prefers [it as] Diana, and declares her to be named thus. lib. I, cap. 2, Miscell. Laconic. [from] the first hand. ...[notes on reading of codices]... ...[notes on text emendations regarding "Hemon de"... "...tis apechthainesthe"...] ...[notes on variants in Reg. 1 and others].

^A to be dragged and pursued, by the name alone, ^B by the many who war against us, we have dared to declare our circumstances (for you will be instructed by the discourse that we are suffering things beyond justice and contrary to all law and reason), and we entreat you to consider also regarding our situation, so that we may at last cease being slaughtered by sycophants. For the loss of money at the hands of the prosecutors is not the issue, nor the disgrace of public ignominy, nor any other damage to greater things (for these we despise, even if they seem important to the many; having learned not only not to strike back, nor to bring legal action against those who bear us off and rob us, but to those who, even if they strike us on the cheek, offer the other part of our head to be struck; and to those who take away our tunic, to offer our cloak as well), but they aim at our bodies and souls, once we have abandoned our money, showering us with a mass of charges—things which do not even reach the point of suspicion for us, but which cling to those who babble them and to their kind.

2. If anyone has evidence that we commit even small or greater crimes, we do not refuse to be punished, but we think it right to undergo the most bitter and merciless ^C penalty. But if the accusation rests on the name alone (for such is the rumor that is common and unexamined among men regarding us up to the present day, and no Christian has been convicted of any wrongdoing), it is already your task, as you are the greatest and most philanthropic and most scholarly of kings, to ward off the injury from us by law; so that, just as the whole world and every individual and city shares in your benefits, we too may have gratitude toward you, glorying that we have ceased to be slandered. For it is not in accordance with your justice that others, when they have been charged with misdeeds, should not be punished before they are convicted; while in our case the name should have more power than the proofs in court; the judges not inquiring ^D whether the accused has committed any evil, but treating the name itself as a crime. But no name is considered good or bad in and of itself; it is rather because of the evil or good actions underlying them that they appear either base or good. You know these things more clearly, as those who have been trained in all philosophy and learning. For this reason, those who are judged before you, even if they are in danger on the most serious charges, have confidence, knowing that you will examine...

their life, and that you will not be moved by the empty names of the accusations, if they should be false; for with equal fairness ^A they receive the vote, whether it condemns or absolves. Therefore, we also demand for all this same equality, that we not be hated and punished simply because we are called Christians (for what does the name contribute to our wickedness?), but that we be judged on whatever grounds one may bring a charge, and that we either be released by refuting the accusations, or punished if we are caught in wickedness; but not because of the name (for no Christian is wicked unless he is only making a pretense of the teaching), but because of the crime. We see that the same judgment is brought against those ^B who are from philosophy. No one among them, before trial, is deemed by the judge to be good or wicked because of his knowledge or art; but if he is shown to be unjust, he is punished, having brought no crime upon philosophy (for that man is wicked who does not live as philosophy enjoins, whereas the knowledge itself is blameless), and if he clears himself of the slanders, he is released. Let there be, therefore, the same fairness for us: let the life of those who are judged be examined; but let the name be immune from every charge. It is necessary for me, as I begin to make my defense, to entreat you, most great emperors, to be impartial listeners, and not to be swept away by common and irrational rumor, and thus be forestalled, but to grant your love of learning and love of truth to our cause as well. For you yourselves will not err through ignorance, and we, having stripped away ^C what the uncritical rumor of the many charges against us, shall cease to be warred upon.

3. *The three crimes imputed to Christians.* — Three crimes they impute to us: atheism, Thyestean feasts, and Oedipean intercourse. But if these things are true, spare no race; proceed against the crimes: kill us, root and branch, with our wives and children, if any man lives after the manner of wild beasts. Although even wild beasts do not touch those of their own kind, and by the law of nature they do not couple indiscriminately, but only at the time for procreation, and they recognize those by whom they are benefited. If, therefore, any man is more savage than the wild beasts, what punishment, then, will he be thought to have rendered proportioned to such great crimes? But if these are merely tales and empty slanders, arising because vice is naturally opposed to virtue, ^D and because opposites war against one another, who compels a philosopher to sacrifice or to swear oaths or to bring forward empty lamps at midday? Rather, they even openly destroy your gods, and with your approval condemn your superstitions in their writings. [alt-version omitted]

^A And by a certain divine law to do none of these things, you are witnesses, by ordering that there be ^B no harmony—on your part, it remains to make an examination of our life, our doctrines, and of our zeal and obedience toward you, your house, and your empire, and thus at length to grant us no more than to those who persecute us. For we shall overcome them, since we even willingly lay down our lives for the sake of the truth.

4. That we are not atheists (for I shall answer each of the accusations, so that it might not be ridiculous for those who make these statements not to refute them)—now the Athenians ^B rightly accused Diagoras of atheism, not only because he brought the Orphic words into the public in the middle, and divulged the mysteries of Eleusis and the Cabiri, and cut up the statue of Hercules in order to boil his turnips, but also because he openly and plainly declared that a God does not exist at all. But as for us, who separate God from matter, and demonstrate that matter is one thing and God another, ^C and that there is a great interval between the two—for we say that the Divine is unbegotten and eternal, and perceived only by mind and word, while matter is created and corruptible—is it not without cause that they fasten the name of atheism upon us? For if we thought the same as Diagoras, having such and so great pledges of the worship of God—the orderly arrangement, the perpetual harmony, the magnitude, the color, the ^D figure, the layout of the world—the reputation for not worshipping God and the cause for being persecuted would rightly be leveled against us. But since our discourse leads to one God, the Maker of this whole universe,

Himself unbegotten (for that which is does not come into being, but that which is not), and having made all things by the Word from Him, we are unreasonably treated in both respects, and are ill-spoken of and persecuted.

5. Testimonies of the poets concerning one God.

*If Jove his dwelling in the heavens hath,* *His justice fails if he o'erlooketh truth.*

But regarding Him who is perceived by knowledge, as he himself defines and asserts:

*Seest thou on high this infinite ether,* *And earth embraced in its moist arms?* *Hold this for Jove, and deem this God.*

For he saw that neither the essences, to which the names happen to be attributed, were underlying (for who Jove is, I know not save by report), nor that the names were attributed to the subjects of the things; for where the essences do not underlie, what is more to them than the names? But he understood that the Invisible One ^B is to be seen from His works—the manifestations of ether, air, and earth. Whose works therefore exist, and by whose Spirit all things are governed, Him he understood to be God (Sophocles also agreeing with him):

*There is in truth, there is but one only God,* *Who made the heaven and the wide earth.*

As he who sees all things, but is not himself seen, fills the beauty of the divine nature with His own. ^{C D}

6. Philolaus, too, regarding all things as if in a prison, being contained by God, demonstrates both that He is one and that He is above matter. Lysis and Opsimus define God, the one as a number that cannot be expressed, the other as that by which the greatest number exceeds that which is nearest to it. If the greatest number, according to the Pythagoreans, is ten—being the tetrad, and containing within itself all arithmetic and harmonic ratios—and the number nine lies nearest to this, then the monad is God, which is to say, one. For the greatest number exceeds the one nearest to it—the smallest—by one. I shall also set forth the opinion of Plato and Aristotle—not as though I were setting out to demonstrate the doctrines of the philosophers with exactitude, for I am well aware that, just as you surpass all men in wisdom and in the power of your rule, so too do you surpass everyone in the exact investigation of all learning, so conversant are you in each part of knowledge, as not even those who devote themselves to a single portion of it are. But since it is impossible to demonstrate that we are not the only ones to shut God up into a monad without bringing forward names, I have turned to their opinions. Plato, therefore, says: *To find the maker and father of this universe is a task, and having found him, to tell of him to all is impossible,* conceiving of one unbegotten and eternal God. But if he knows of others, such as the sun and moon and stars, he knows them as created: *Gods of gods, of whom I am the maker, and the father of works, which are indissoluble if I am not willing. But whatever has been bound can be dissolved.* If, therefore, Plato is not an atheist, conceiving of one unbegotten God as the creator of all things, neither are we atheists, who acknowledge and hold to this God, by whom all things were created through the Word and are held together by His spirit. Aristotle and his followers, while acknowledging one God, describe him as a kind of composite being, consisting of soul and body, considering his body to be the ether, and the wandering stars, and the sphere of the fixed stars moving in circular rotation, and his soul to be the reason presiding over the motion of the body.

^A The Stoics, although they multiply God by names according to the changes of matter through which they say the Spirit of God permeates, in reality posit only one God. For if God is a creative fire moving according to a path toward the generations of the world, and containing within himself all the seminal reasons according to which all things happen by fate; if his Spirit pervades the whole world; then, according to them, God is one, being called Jupiter because of the fervent part of matter, Juno because of the air, and being designated by other names according to each part of matter through which he has passed. ^B

7. *Christian doctrine is far superior to that of the poets and philosophers.* — Since, therefore, nearly everyone, even if unwilling, confesses that there is one God when they come to the principles of the universe; and since we confirm that He by whom this whole universe was adorned is God; what reason is there why it should be permitted for them with impunity to say and write whatever they please about God, while a law is laid upon us, who are able to demonstrate by signs of truth and by reasons that what we understand and rightly believe is that there is one God? For poets and philosophers, just as with other matters, so also with this, have reached out by conjecture, spurred on—by a certain kinship of divine inspiration—from their own mind, to attempt ^C whether they might be able to discover and understand the truth. But only such capacity was found in them as not to attain the object by investigation, because they imagined that they had to learn about God not from God himself, but each one from himself: whence one man defined differently from another about God, and about matter, and about forms, and about the world. But we have as witnesses of those things which we understand and believe, the prophets, who have spoken by the divine Spirit about God and the things of God. You yourselves might also say, excelling others in wisdom and piety toward the truly divine, that it is irrational to forsake the Holy Spirit who moved the tongues of the prophets as if they were instruments, in order to pay attention to human opinions. ^D

8. *The disadvantages consequent upon a plurality of gods.* — Consider, therefore, in this way, that there is one creator God of this universe from the beginning, so that you may also perceive the reasoning of our faith. If there were two or more gods from the beginning, they were either in one and the same, or each one was by himself. Now, to be in one and the same is not

possible. For if they are gods, they cannot be similar; but because they are unbegotten, they are not similar. For things that are begotten are similar to their patterns, but unbegotten things are dissimilar, since they are neither begotten from another nor for another. But if, just as hand, eye, and foot exist around one body, and while they complete its parts, they form one entity out of themselves, so God is one; ^A truth is that Socrates, insofar as he is begotten and subject to corruption, is composite and divided into parts, but God, being unbegotten and exempt from suffering and division, does not consist of parts. But if each of them exists separately, since the creator of the world is above the things that have been made and attends to the things he made and arranged, where will the other or the rest be? For if the world, ^B being spherical, is enclosed by the cycles of the heavens, and the creator of the world, residing above the things that have been made, holds onto it by his providence, what is the place of the other god or the rest? For he is not in the world, because it belongs to another; nor is he around the world, for the creator of the world, God, is above this. But if he is neither in the world nor around the world (for all that circuit is occupied by this one), where is he? Above the world and God? In another world, or around another? But if he is in another and around another, he is no longer concerned with us. For he neither rules the world, nor is he great in power, since he is in a circumscribed place. But if he is ^C not in another world (for all things are filled by him), nor around another (for all things are held by him), he simply does not exist, as there is nothing in which he can exist. Or what will he do, if the world is held by another, while he himself is above the creator of the world, and yet does not exist in the world or around the world? But is there something in which he can stand? But what will this place be, when the things above the world are filled by the creator? Does he even provide for anything? For nothing is made by him unless he provides. But if he neither makes nor provides, and there is no other place in which he exists, then this one, from the beginning, is the only God and creator of the world.

9. If we relied only upon such reasoning, some might consider our doctrine human. But since ^D the voices of the prophets confirm our arguments (for I consider that you, being most learned and most knowledgeable, are not unacquainted with the writings of Moses, or of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and the rest of the prophets, who, having been moved by the Divine Spirit, spoke the...

things ^A which they were moved to utter, the Spirit using them as a flute-player blows a flute. What then are they? "The Lord our God: no other shall be reckoned against Him." And again: "I am God the first and after these, and besides Me there is no God." "There was no other God before Me, and after Me there shall not be. I am God, and there is none besides Me." And concerning His greatness: "Heaven is My throne, and the earth is the footstool of My feet. What house will you build for Me, or what is the place of My rest?" I leave it to you, by resorting to the very books themselves, to examine their oracles with greater care, so that, with proper reflection, you may rid yourselves of the unfounded accusation brought against us.

10. ^B Christians worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. — It has been sufficiently demonstrated by me that we are not atheists, since we hold God to be one, unbegotten, eternal, invisible, and impassible, who can neither be grasped nor comprehended, who is known only by mind and reason, surrounded by light, beauty, spirit, and ineffable power, and by whom everything has been created, adorned, and is conserved through His own Word. For we also acknowledge the Son of God. And let no one think it ridiculous that there should be a Son for God. For we do not entertain thoughts about God the Father or about the Son according to the myths of poets, who depict their gods as being no better than men. But the Son of God is the Word of the Father in idea and in operation; for ^C of Him and through Him all things were made, the Father and the Son being one. And since the Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son, by the unity and power of the Spirit, the Son of God is the mind and word of the Father.

And if, in your surpassing intelligence, it occurs to you to inquire what the Son means, I shall state briefly that He is the first offspring of the Father, not as having been created (for from the beginning, God, being an eternal mind, had the Word in Himself, being from eternity rational), but as having come forth to be the idea and energy for all material things, which originally lay in a state of formless matter and inert earth, with the heavier parts commingled with the lighter. The Holy Spirit Himself confirms this too. For, He says, "The Lord created me as the beginning of His ways for His works."* And we say that the Holy Spirit Himself, who operates in those who speak prophetically, is an effluence of God, flowing forth and returning again like a ray of the sun. ^B Who therefore would not be astonished to hear those called atheists who maintain God the Father, and God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, demonstrating both their power in unity and their distinction in order? Nor does the rationale of our theology stop here, but we also acknowledge a multitude of angels and ministers, whom the Creator and Maker of the world, God, distributed and appointed through the Word who is from Him, to be concerned with the elements, the heavens, the world, and what is therein, and their orderly arrangement.

^A

11. The Christian doctrine rejects the accusation of immorality.

They do not rehearse speeches, but exhibit good deeds: when struck, they do not strike back; when robbed, they do not go to law; they give to those who ask, and love their neighbors as themselves.

12. The life of Christians leaves no room for the charge of atheism. For would we live so purely and innocently if we did not believe that God presides over the human race? That is ^A certainly not to be said. But because we are persuaded that we shall have to render an account of our whole life here to the God who created both us and the world, we choose a moderate, philanthropic, and contemptuous life—thinking that we shall suffer no evil here, even if some take away our lives, compared to what we shall receive back there from the great Judge for our gentle, philanthropic, and equitable life. Plato, indeed, said that Minos and Rhadamanthus would judge and punish the wicked; but we say that even if someone is Minos or Rhadamanthus, or even their father, not even he shall escape the judgment of God. ^B Furthermore, those who think of this life as, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die" (Isa. XXII, 13), and who consider death to be a deep sleep and forgetfulness (sleep and death being twins), are believed to be pious. But we, who consider the life here to be worth little and of slight value, and who are conducted by this alone—to know God and the Word from Him, what is the unity of the Son with the Father, what is the communion of the Father with the Son, what is the Spirit, what is the unity of these and the distinction of those who are united, the Spirit, the Son, the Father—and who know that the life which ^C we await is far better than can be expressed in words, if we are conducted to it pure from every injustice; and up to this point are so philanthropic that we do not love our friends only — "For if you love," He says,

"those who love you, and lend to those who lend to you, what reward will you have?" ^A Being such as this, and living such a life, that we may escape judgment, are we deemed not to live piously? These things, then, are little from the great, and few from the many, so that we may not weary you further; for those who test honey and whey, by a small part of the whole, judge whether the whole is good.

13.

Why Christians do not offer bloody sacrifices.

Atque illos victimis et precibus mœstis, Nec non libamine et nidore placant homines Orantes, si quis transgressus fuerit et peccaverit.

What need have I of burnt offerings, of which God has no need? Although it is necessary to offer an unbloody sacrifice, and to bring the reasonable service.

14.

That impious Christians do not worship the gods; the same charge will cling to all cities.

promote Menelaus, and offer him sacrifices and hold festivals for him; the Ilienses, however, though they do not even hear his name, celebrate Hector; the Chians ^A honor Aristaeus, whom they believe to be the same as Zeus and Apollo; the Thasians honor Theagenes, by whom even a murder was committed at the Olympics; the Samians honor Lysander, after so many slaughters and so many evils; Alcman and Hesiod honor Medea, and the Cilicians honor Niobe; the Sicilians honor Philip, son of Butacides, the Amathusians honor Onesilaus, and the Carthaginians honor Hamilcar. The day will fail me if I recount the multitude. Since, therefore, they disagree among themselves about their gods, why do they charge us with failure to agree? Further, is not that which concerns the Egyptians ridiculous? For they beat their breasts ^B in the temples during the festivals as if for the dead, and yet they sacrifice to them as gods. And there is nothing to be marvelled at, since they even consider beasts to be gods, and shave their heads when they die, and bury them in temples, and raise public lamentations. If, therefore, we are impious because we do not worship the gods in the same way as they do, then all cities and all nations are impious; for not all men worship the same gods. But truly, the Cadusians worship Medea, just as the Cilicians do Niobe.

^A 15. But let it be that they worship the same ones—what then? Since the many are unable to distinguish what is matter and what is God, and how great is the interval between them, they approach the idols made from matter. For that reason, are we—who do distinguish and separate the unbegotten from the begotten, existence from non-existence, the intelligible from the sensible, and who assign to each of them its appropriate name—to approach and worship these statues? For if matter and God were the same thing, two names for one thing, we would be impious for not considering stones and wood, gold and silver, to be gods. But if they differ as widely from one another as the craftsman differs from the provision for his craft, why are we blamed? For just as the potter and the clay (the clay being the matter, the potter the craftsman), so too God is the maker, and matter is that which obeys His craft. But just as clay cannot by itself become vessels without craft, ^B so too the all-receptive matter could not have received distinction, form, and order without the Creator. And just as we do not hold the pottery to be more precious than the one who fashioned it, nor the bowls and gold ornaments more precious than the smith—but if there is anything elegant about them by craft, we praise the craftsman, and he is the one who reaps the glory for the vessels—so too, regarding matter and God, the glory and honor of the world’s ordering does not justly befit matter itself, but its Creator, God. Thus, if we were to consider the forms of matter to be gods, we would seem to be devoid of any sense of the true God, equating things subject to dissolution and corruption with the Eternal. ^C 16. Neither the world, nor the parts of the world, are to be worshipped, nor the works of men. The world is indeed magnificent, both in its size, as it encompasses all things, and in the arrangement of those things in the oblique circle and those around the North, and in its spherical shape; but not it, rather its craftsman, is to be worshipped. For those who come to you as subjects do not, while ignoring you, their princes and masters from whom they might obtain what they need, take refuge in the majesty of your residence; rather, they observe the royal house in passing, admire it as beautifully adorned, but pursue you with all honor. And you, indeed, O kings, adorn the royal residences for yourselves; ^D but the world was not made because God needed it. For God is all things to Himself, an inaccessible light, a perfect world, spirit, power, and word. If, therefore, the world is a well-tuned instrument and moving [in rhythm, He who attuned and struck the strings, and...]

performs the harmonious melody, is He whom I worship, not the instrument. Neither, in the games, do the heralds leave the cithara-players aside to crown their citharae. Whether ^A (as Plato says) it is the art of God, I admire its beauty and approach the artist; or whether it is substance and body (as the Peripatetics say), since we do not neglect to worship God, the author of the body’s movement, we do not fall away to poor and weak elements, worshipping—according to them—the passive matter through the air, which is immune to suffering. Or whether one considers the parts of the world to be the powers of God, we do not approach the powers for the sake of worship, but their Creator and Master. I do not ask of matter what it does not possess, nor, leaving God, do I worship the elements which have no more power than that which they were commanded. For even if they are fair to look upon by the art of the Creator, they are themselves of the nature of matter. ^B Plato himself bears witness to this account; for he says that the heaven and the world, though they have shared in many blessings from the Father, yet partook of body; hence it is impossible for it to be exempt from change. If, therefore, admiring the art of the heaven and the elements, I do not worship them as gods, knowing the account of their dissolution—the authors of which I know to be men—how should I call these gods? But consider [this] for me in a few words.

17. ^C It is necessary for one making a defense to supply arguments more accurately, both concerning the names, that they are recent, and concerning the images, that they were made but yesterday and the day before, so to speak. But you yourselves know these things more worthily, as those who have associated with all learned men and, beyond all others, have been occupied with ancient writers. I say, therefore, that it was Orpheus and Homer and Hesiod who gave the generations and names to those whom they call gods. Herodotus ^D also bears witness to this; “For I think,” he says, “that Hesiod and Homer were four hundred years older than I, and not more, who gave both the generations and the names [to them].” These are they who created the theogony for the Greeks, and ascribed titles to the gods.

^A and distributed honors and arts, and designated their forms and figures. But as for images, so long as plastic art and painting and statuary did not exist, they were not even conceived of, ^B until Saurius the Samian, and Craton of Sicyon, and Cleanthes of Corinth, and the Corinthian maiden Core appeared. Outline-drawing was invented by Saurius, who traced a horse in the sun; painting, by Craton, who brushed the shadows of a man and a woman onto a whitewashed tablet; while coroplastic (the art of modeling in clay) was discovered by Core. For she, being taken with love for someone, traced the shadow of him sleeping on the wall; then her father, delighted by the very exact likeness (for he was a potter), cut out the outline and filled it with clay. ^C This figure is still preserved in Corinth. After these, Daedalus and Theodorus of Miletus invented plastic art and statuary. The time, therefore, since the appearance of images and the apparatus of idols is so short that we can name the craftsman of each god. For we can name the craftsman of the Artemis at Ephesus, and that of Minerva—or rather, Athela (for it is called Athela by those who hand down the matter more secretly, for so is that ancient image made of olive-wood), and the sitting Minerva produced by Endoeus, a pupil of Daedalus; and the Pythius, a work of Theodorus and Telecles; and the Delius and Artemis, an art of Idectaeus ^D and Angelion. The Samian Juno and the Argive are the handiwork of Smilis; the Phidian works are others.

The Venus in Cnidus is a harlot, the art of Praxiteles; the Asclepius in Epidaurus is the work of Phidias. To speak generally, not one of them has escaped being made by human hands. If, therefore, they are gods, why were they not in existence from the beginning? Why, moreover, are they younger than those who made them? What need had they of men and art in order to come into being? These things are earth and stones and matter and over-curious art.

^B 18. Since, therefore, some say that these are images, but that they are gods whose images they are; and that the manner of supplication which they pay to the images, and the sacrifices which they offer to them, are referred to the gods and are made to them, and that there is no other way of approaching the gods (for it is difficult for gods to be seen clearly and openly), and because they provide as proof of why this matter is so, the efficacy of some images; come, let us examine the power of their names. But I will ask you, greatest ^C of emperors, before the discourse, to grant pardon to one who presents true reasonings. For it is not my purpose to refute the images, but by dissolving the accusations brought against us, I present the rationale of our choice. You may examine for yourselves the heavenly kingdom; for as all things have been subjected to you, father and son, who have received the kingdom from above (for "the king's heart," says the prophetic Spirit, "is in the hand of God"), so also to the one God and His Word, ^D the Son, whom we understand as inseparable from Him, all things are subjected.

Consider this, therefore, before all else. They were not, as they say, gods from the beginning; but each of them has come into being just as we are born; and in this they all agree. For Homer indeed says:

*Ocean, the origin of gods, and mother Tethys.*

Orpheus, moreover (who was the first to discover their names, and described their births, and how many deeds each performed), also sang of their births.

and how he established their first generation from water:

^A Oceanus, who is the genesis of all things.

For according to him, water was the beginning of all things; from the water, mud was formed; and from both combined, a living creature was begotten—a dragon having a lion’s head attached, and in the middle of them ^B the face of a god, named Hercules and Chronus. This Hercules begat an egg of immense size, which, when it was full, was disrupted into two parts by the force of the progenitor. That which was on top became the sky, and that which was beneath became the earth. And the goddess Earth came forth, endowed with a body. Now, when the sky was joined to the earth, he begat females, namely Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos; and males, the hundred-handed ones—Cottus, Gyges, and Briareus—and the Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes, and Arges. These, having bound, he cast down into Tartarus, for he had learned that he would be cast out of his sovereignty by his sons. Therefore Earth, being angered, brought forth the Titans:

The venerable Tellus brought forth heavenly sons, Whom they call by the name of Titans, Because they punished the great starry heaven.

^C 19. Philosophers agree with the poets concerning the gods. — This was the beginning of the origin, both of these whom they deem to be gods, and of the universe. What, then, is this? For each of the things spoken of as theological is held to be the beginning.

^A For if they have come into being, not having existed before—as those who theologize about them say—they do not exist. For either something is unbegotten and eternal, or it is begotten and corruptible. And I do not say this of myself, but the philosophers hold it differently. What is that which always exists, but has no genesis, or what is that which indeed comes to be, but at no time actually is? Discoursing on the intellectual and the sensible, Plato teaches that that which always is—the intelligible—is unbegotten, but that which is not—the sensible—is begotten, having a beginning and an end. For this reason, the Stoics also say that all things will be consumed by fire and will again exist, with the world receiving another beginning. But if, ^B although there are, according to them, two causes—the one active and beginning, which is providence; the other passive and mutable, which is matter—it is impossible for the world, having been begotten, to remain the same even while governed by providence, how can the constitution of these gods remain, since they do not exist by nature, but have been made? And in what way are the gods superior to matter, if they have their constitution from water? But not even according to them is water the beginning of all things; for what could be constituted out of simple and uniform elements? Moreover, there is need both of an artificer for the matter, and of matter for the artificer; for how could forms be expressed without matter or an artificer? Nor is it consistent with reason that matter should be older than God; for it is necessary that the efficient cause should exist and command before those things which come to be.

20. ^C If their theology were contained within these bounds, by saying that the gods were begotten and constituted from water, I would have proceeded to the remaining accusations, having demonstrated that nothing that is begotten is not also subject to dissolution. But now they describe their bodies, as when they speak of the god Hercules as a coiling serpent, or speak of the hundred-handed ones; or as when they describe the daughter of Zeus, whom he begot from his own mother, Rhea—or Demeter, or her mother—as having two eyes according to nature, and two on her forehead, and a face on the back of her neck, and as being equipped with horns; for which reason Rhea, frightened by the monster of a child, fled and did not offer her the breast, ^D whence she is mystically called Athela, but commonly Persephone and Kore.

But ^A they have unfolded their deeds—as they think—with precision. For instance, Saturn, how he cut off his father’s genitals and cast him from his chariot; and how he practiced infanticide by swallowing his male children. And Zeus, that he bound his father and cast him into Tartarus, just as Uranus did to his sons; and that he fought against the Titans for the throne; and that he pursued his mother Rhea when she fled his marriage; and when she turned into a serpent, he himself changed into a serpent, and knotting her with what they call the Herculean knot, he mated with her—the rod of Hermes being a symbol of the imagery of that union. Then, that he mated with his daughter Persephone, violating her also in the form of a serpent, from whom the boy Dionysus was born to him. ^B There is a necessity, at least, to speak of such things. What is honorable or useful in such a history, that we should believe Saturn, Zeus, Kore, and the rest to be gods? Is it the descriptions of their bodies? And what man possessed of judgment and experienced in contemplation could believe that a viper was born of God? For thus says Orpheus:

“But Phanes another offspring brought forth, terrible, From sacred womb, a viper fearful to behold, Whose hair was from the head, and lovely face To see, but the other parts a fearful dragon’s, From the neck downwards.”

Or who could accept that Phanes himself—the god who is first-born (for he is the one who poured forth from the egg)—could have the body or form of a dragon, or that he could have been swallowed ^C by Zeus, so that Zeus might become all-encompassing? For if they do not differ from the vilest beasts—for it is clear that one must distinguish the divine from earthly things and those separated from matter—then they are not gods. Why, then, do we approach those who are born like beasts and are beast-like and deformed in appearance? ^D 21. For if they were to say that they have only flesh, and blood, and seed, and the maladies of anger and desire—not even these—

such an account ^A should avoid opinions and ridicule. For neither anger, nor desire, nor seed for procreation fall into God. Let them, therefore, consist of flesh, but let them be superior to anger and rage, so that Minerva may not be seen ^B angered at Father Jove, nor a fierce wrath grip her; nor let Juno appear in this state: *Nor did her breast contain Juno’s wrath, but it spoke out.* Let them be superior to pain: *Alas! I see with my eyes a dear man being pursued around the wall; my heart is pained!* For I say that even men are ignorant and base if they yield to anger and pain; but if the father of men and gods should lament his son, ^C *Alas, that it is fated for Sarpedon, dearest of men to me, to be subdued by Patroclus, son of Menoetius!* and yet, while lamenting, he cannot rescue him from danger—Sarpedon, son of Jove; and he does not even help his own son—who would not censure the ignorance of those who, with such fables, show themselves to be worshippers of gods, or rather atheists? Let them have flesh, but let not Venus be wounded in her body by Diomedes: *The proud son of Tydeus, Diomedes, wounded me,* nor in her spirit by Mars: *Since Jove’s daughter, Venus, always dishonors me, who am lame, but loves the ^D destructive Mars,* *and she tore his beautiful skin.* Does that one, terrible in wars and the ally of Jove against the Titans, appear weaker than Diomedes? *He raged as when Mars, brandisher of the spear.* Be silent, Homer: God does not rage. But do you describe to me the god as both stained with slaughter and a destroyer of men (*Mars, Mars, destroyer of men, stained with slaughter*), and tell of his adultery and his bonds? *They, having gone to bed, slept; and the skillfully wrought bonds of crafty Vulcan were cast about them, and they could move their limbs in no way.* Do they not cast aside this great amount of impious nonsense?

^A For about the gods—heaven is mutilated, Cronus is bound and cast into Tartarus, the Titans rise up, Styx dies in the battle. Now they also make them mortals: they love one another, they love human beings. *Aeneas, whom divine Venus bore under the heights of Ida, a goddess mated with a mortal.* Do they not love? Do they not suffer? For insofar as they are gods, does desire touch them? Even if a god, by divine dispensation, takes on flesh, is he therefore a slave to desire? *For never did the love of a goddess or a woman so surround and conquer the spirit within my breast,* *Neither when I was taken with love for Ixion’s wife,* *Nor when for the fair-ankled daughter of Acrisius, Danaë,* *Nor when for the renowned daughter of Phoenix,* *Nor when for Semele, nor for Alcmene in Thebes,* *Nor when for Demeter, the fair-tressed queen,* *Nor when for the glorious Leto, nor for thee thyself.* He is begotten, he is subject to corruption, he possesses nothing of God. Moreover, they even serve men: *O house of Admetus, in which I endured to praise the table of slaves, though I was a god.* And they tend cattle: *Having come to this land, I fed the kine for my host, and I preserved this house.* Admetus, therefore, is better than the god. O prophet and wise one, and one who foretells to others things that are to come, did you not prophesy the slaughter of your beloved, but did you even kill your friend with your own hands? ^C *The heavenly mouth of Phoebus, knowing no lie,* *I believed to be full of the arts of augury.* (How Aeschylus taunts Apollo as a false prophet): *He himself who sings, he who is present at the feast,* *He who said these things, he himself is the one who killed my son.* 22. But these are perhaps only poetic fictions; yet there is, in addition to these, a certain natural reasoning of this kind, *Zeus the swift (as Empedocles says), and Juno who gives life, and Pluto,* *And Nestis, who bedews with tears the human springs.* If, therefore, Zeus is fire, and Juno is earth, and Pluto is air, and Nestis is water, and these—fire, water, air—are elements; none of them is a god, neither Zeus, nor Juno, nor Pluto: for their constitution and generation are from matter separated by God. ^D

^A And friendship with them, which cannot endure without friendship, being confounded by discord. How, then, could anyone say that these are gods? Friendship, according to Empedocles, is the ruling principle; the things compounded are that which is ruled; and that which is ruling holds the dominion. If, then, we postulate that the power of that which is ruled and that of the ruler are one and the same, we shall, without realizing it, make matter—which is corruptible, fluid, and changeable—equal to the unbegotten, eternal, and ever-consistent God. Zeus is the boiling essence according to the Stoics; Juno is the air, and even in her name, if it be added to itself, it is sounded as one. Neptune is the drinkable. Others, however, explain this naturally in different ways: some say that the air is twofold, and that Zeus is male-female; others say that he is the season that turns time to a temperate state; for this reason he alone escaped Saturn. ^B But as for those from the Stoa, it is possible to say: if you recognize one supreme God, eternal and unbegotten, but acknowledge that there are as many bodies compounded as there are changes in matter, and that the Spirit of God, which pervades matter, receives different names according to its various mutations; then the species of matter will become the body of God, and, as the elements perish during the conflagration, it is necessary that the names should perish along with the species, while only the Spirit of God remains. Since, therefore, the change of these bodies according to matter is corruption, who would believe that they are gods? As for those who say that Saturn is time, and Rhea is the earth; that she conceives and gives birth from Saturn (whence she is also considered the mother of all), and that he begets and devours what is begotten; ^C and that the cutting off of the virile members is nothing other than the intercourse of a man with a woman, by which, as if cut off from the male body, the seed is sent into the womb, and man, in whom desire—which is Venus—is implanted, is generated; and that the madness of Saturn is nothing other than the change of time corrupting animate and inanimate things; and that the chains and Tartarus are time, which is changed by the seasons and vanishes—to these, therefore, we say: Whether Saturn is time, he changes; or if he is a season, he turns; or if he is darkness, or ice, or a fluid substance, none of these remains; but the Divine is immortal, immovable, and unchangeable. Therefore, neither is Saturn, nor the idol corresponding to him, a god. As for Zeus, if indeed he is air born from Saturn, of which the masculine ^D part [is] discord desiring...

termed Jupiter, while the feminine part is Juno (so called because she is both sister and wife), ^A he is changed; and if it be season, he is turned. But the Divine neither changes nor falls. Why is there a need [(98)] to trouble you further by speaking, or to show you what you know better, concerning the masters of physical speculation in their respective schools? Or what the writers have understood concerning nature? Or what they think in regards to Athena, whom they call the intelligence spread through all things? Or concerning Isis, whom they speak of as the nature of the aeon, from whom all things grew, and by whom all things are? Or concerning Osiris, whom, having been slain by his brother Typhon, Isis sought the members of, and having found them, adorned them for burial; the burial place of which is called the Osiriac ^B tomb to this day? For, wandering up and down amidst the forms of matter, they fall away in their reasoning [(3)] from the contemplation of God; and they deify the elements and their parts, giving them different names at different times: calling the sowing of grain 'Osiris' (whence, they say, in the mysteries, upon the discovery of the members or the fruits, the cry is raised to Isis: "We have found, we rejoice together"); and the fruit of the vine 'Dionysus'; and the vine itself 'Semele'; and the thunderbolt, the heat of the sun. But why [(4)] do those who deify myths do anything other than construct a theology, not knowing that the very things by which they offer an apology for the gods, only confirm the stories told about them? [(5)] What are Europa, the Bull, the Swan, and Leda in relation to earth and air, that the vile intercourse of Zeus must be directed toward these, [(6)] or of earth and air? But falling away [(7)] from the magnitude of God, and unable to look up [(8)] with their reason (for they have no affinity for the heavenly sphere), they have melted down into the forms of matter, [(9)] and collapsing, they deify the changes of the elements: it is as if someone were to take a ship, in which he sailed, in place of the pilot. ^C But even if no more is meant than a ship, even if it is perfectly equipped, if it does not have—

a pilot, it is of no use; nor are the elements of any use, though they be arranged in order, without the providence of God. For as the ship will not sail of itself, so the elements will not move without the Artificer. ^A

23. By what argument, then, do some of the idols work, if the gods for whom we set up the images do not exist? For it is not reasonable that lifeless and motionless images should have power of themselves, without one who moves them. That in various places, cities, and nations certain effects occur in the name of idols, we do not deny—but if some have been helped and others injured, we do not therefore count as gods those who have worked in either case. ^B But we have accurately investigated, by what argument you think the idols have power, and who those are who work in them, arrogating their names to themselves. Now, as I intend to show who those are that work in the idols, and that they are not gods, it is necessary for me to call also upon certain witnesses from philosophy. First, Thales makes a division (as those who classify his teachings accurately record) into God, demons, and heroes. And he considers God to be the mind of the world, but demons to be spiritual essences, and heroes to be the separated souls of men—the good ones being the good, and the base ones the bad. ^C Plato, while leaving the rest, also divides them into the unbegotten God, and those who were brought into the heaven by the unbegotten, ^D and...

those errant and fixed stars, and divides them also into demons. ^A Regarding these demons, he himself refuses to speak, but thinks it right to pay attention to those who have spoken about them. But to speak about the other demons and to know their generation, he says, is a greater task than we can handle. Yet we must believe those who have spoken before, being descendants of gods, as they themselves claimed, and clearly appearing to know their own ancestors. It is impossible, therefore, not to believe the children of gods, even if they speak without probable and necessary proofs; but, as they profess to narrate their own family history, we must follow the law and believe them. Thus, then, let us hold and speak about the generation of these gods according to them. From Earth and Heaven were born children, Oceanus and Tethys; ^B from these, Phorcys, and Saturn, and Rhea, and all who are with them; and from Saturn and Rhea, Jupiter, and Juno, and all whom we know to be called their brothers; and furthermore, other children born from these. Did he then, who had contemplated the eternal mind and the God that is known by reason, and had explained what belongs to Him—namely, that which truly is, which is uniform, the good flowing from Him, which is truth; and concerning the first power; and how all things are around the King of all, and all things are for His sake, and He is the cause of all; and concerning the two and the three, the second concerning the second things, and the third concerning the third things—did he, I ask, think it a task surpassing his own powers to learn the truth about those who are said to be born from things which fall under the senses, heaven and earth? Or is it impossible to say so? But because he understood that it was impossible for gods to beget and be begotten, seeing as that which is begotten must have an end, and that it is even more difficult to persuade the multitude who have accepted these myths without examination; for these reasons he said it was a task greater than his own powers to know and speak about the generation of the other demons, since they were ^C neither able to learn nor to speak of gods being born. And that which was said by him, "The great leader in heaven, Zeus, driving a winged chariot, advances first, ordering all things and caring for them; and there follows him a host of gods and demons," was not spoken of that Jupiter who is said to have sprung from Saturn. For in this the name is given to the Maker of all; and Plato himself shows this, as he had no other significant name to call Him by, and so used the common name, not as if it were the proper name of God, ^D but for the sake of clarity, because it is not possible...

for God to be discussed by all men according to His power, he used that term, adding the name "great," so as to distinguish the heavenly from the earthly, the unbegotten from the begotten, who is posterior to heaven and earth, and posterior even to the Cretans themselves, by whom he was stolen away, lest he be put to death by his father. ^B

24. Of angels and giants. — But it is necessary among you, who are versed in every doctrine, either to call to mind the poets, or to inquire into other opinions, since I can say in a few words: If philosophers and poets did not recognize that there is one God, nor hold such views concerning these gods—that some say they are demons, others matter, and others that they were men—there would not be lacking a cause for us to be driven out, who distinguish between God and matter, and the natures of each. For even as we say that there is God, and His Son the Word, and the Holy Spirit, united ^C as to power, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, because the Mind, the Word, the Wisdom, the Son of the Father, and the Spirit are an emanation, as light from fire; so too we have learned that there are other powers that have to do with matter and operate through it: one indeed that is opposed to God—not because anything is doctrinally contrary to God, as Strife is to Friendship according to Empedocles, or Night to Day according to appearances (for if anything were to stand against God, it would cease to be, dissolved by the power and strength of God), but because it is contrary to the good of God, and it is to Him an accident, ^D and co-existent, as color to a body, without which it [the body] does not exist (not as though it were a part of it, but as a necessary attendant and concomitant inseparably united and dyed-in, just as it is for fire to be yellow, and for the ether to be blue): so is the spirit that occupies itself with matter, having been made by God, just as the others were made by Him, the author and father of this whole universe, to find whom is a difficult task, and to disclose Him to all is impossible.

^A For this purpose God created the angels, providing for the things created by Him, so that God Himself might hold the universal and general care of all things, while the angels, who were assigned to this task, might sustain the care of those parts to which they were appointed.

Just as it is with men, who possess the freedom to choose virtue or vice (for you would not reward the good or punish the wicked if virtue and vice were not within their power, and since some are found to be honest regarding what is entrusted to them by you, while others are found to be unfaithful), so too is the situation with the angels. For some, being truly free, remained as they were created by God, keeping to the purposes for which they were created and to those things which God entrusted to them; but others abused both the substance of their nature and the office committed to them—namely, this prince of matter and of the forms within it, and others who were stationed around this first firmament (for you know that we say nothing without witnesses, but set forth those things which have been proclaimed by the prophets). These last, having fallen into desire for virgins and being overcome by the love of flesh, while the former, through negligence and wickedness in the administration of the things entrusted to him... ^B From these lovers of virgins, then, were born those who are called giants. And if the poets have also spoken in some part about the giants, do not wonder, since divine wisdom differs as much from worldly wisdom as truth differs from probability, and the one is heavenly while the other is earthly. And according to the prince of matter:

*We know how to speak many falsehoods that resemble realities.*

^C 25. These angels, therefore, who have fallen from the heavens and wander about the air and the earth, no longer being able to rise above the heavenly things, and the souls of the giants, which are the demons wandering about the world, excite motions, the former indeed [being those who brought about the ^D] composition of the demons, the latter... [alt-version omitted]

Embassy for the Christians

^A demons, in accordance with the nature and constitution which they received; these, however—namely, the angels—act in accordance with the lusts which they have experienced. But the prince of matter, as one may see from the very things that come to pass, exercises an administration and management contrary to the goodness of God.

Incerta sæpe cura mentem agitat meam, Casus gubernet, an Deus mortalia. Spem nempe præter, jusque præter, hos quidem Domo excidentes, omnibus nudos bonis: Illos fruentes rebus usque prosperis.

These unexpected and unjust successes and adversities brought Euripides to such a state of perplexity that he could not say to whom the administration of earthly things should be ascribed, of which one might say: ^B

Ergo hæc videntes quomodo deûm genus Dicamus esse, aut obsequamur legibus?

This also led Aristotle to say that the things below the heavens are not governed by providence, although the eternal providence of God is equally extended to us.

(Coacta terra, seu velit, seu non velit, Producit herbas, et pecus pascit meum),

but that which pertains to individuals proceeds according to truth, not according to opinion, and in accordance with the merits of each; while other things are governed by the law of reason according to the common constitution of nature. But because the demonic motions and operations which proceed from the contrary spirit excite these inordinate impulses, and move men differently—some in one way, some in another, individually and collectively, privately and publicly—in accordance with the nature of matter and their affinity with divine things, inwardly and outwardly; for this reason, some whose reputation is not slight have thought that this whole universe does not consist by any order, but is driven and carried along by blind chance. They failed to see that of those things which pertain to the constitution of the whole world, nothing is inordinate or neglected, but each thing exists by reason; hence they do not transgress the order prescribed for them. Man, however, insofar as he is viewed in relation to Him by whom he was made, is orderly, both by the nature of his generation, which retains one common reason, and by the disposition of the body which is fashioned, which does not transgress the law proper to it, and by the end of his life, which remains equal and common; but according to the particular reason of each, and the operation of the dominant prince and the accompanying demons, he is driven and moved in various ways, although ^D a common faculty of reasoning exists in all.

26. ^A And those who draw them toward idols are the aforementioned, those who have been corrupted.

As we have already said, they are demons who are attached to the blood of victims and lick it up. But those gods that please the multitude, and to whom names are given upon statues, were—as one can see from their history—human beings. And that it is demons who take upon themselves these names is proven by the individual action of each of them. For some emasculate themselves, as those around Rhea; others cut or gash themselves, as those around Artemis. And she in Tauris kills strangers. For I pass over those who torment themselves with knives and dice, and how many species of demons there are. For it is not the act of God to impel toward things contrary to nature. ^B Whenever a demon prepares evils for a man, he harms the mind first. But God, being perfectly good, is eternally beneficent. That there are others who act and others for whom the statues are erected is a very great proof, [provided by] Troas and Parium; of which cities one possesses the statues of Neryllinus, who lived in our own age, while Parium has those of Alexander and Proteus. For Alexander, there is still his tomb and his image in the forum. And while the other statues of Neryllinus are a public ornament (if indeed a city is ornamented by these), one of them is considered to deliver oracles and to heal the sick: and on account of this the Troadenses perform sacrifices, cover it with gold, and crown the statue. And as regards the statues of Alexander and Proteus (the latter of whom you are not ignorant threw himself into the fire near Olympia), this one too is said to deliver oracles; but to the statues of Alexander (O wretched Paris, fairest in form, mad for women) public sacrifices and festivals are conducted at public expense, as to a god who hears [prayers]. Whether, therefore, are Neryllinus and Proteus and Alexander the ones who perform these things concerning the statues, or is it the nature of the material? But the material is bronze; and what can bronze do by itself? Since it is permitted to reshape it into another form, as [Amasis did with] the wash-basin in Herodotus. ^C But Neryllinus and Proteus and Alexander, what more can they provide to the sick? For that which the statue is now said to perform, it performed even while Neryllinus was living and sick.

27. What then is to be said? First, that the illogical and fantastic motions of the soul regarding opinions, at one time draw these images from matter, and at another time fashion and bring them forth for themselves. The soul suffers this most of all when it takes to itself and becomes commingled with the material spirit, not looking toward the heavenly things and their Maker, but downward toward earthly things, looking generally toward the earth, as being only blood and flesh, and no longer becoming a pure spirit. These illogical and dreamy movements of the soul produce phantasies that bear images. ^D

^A When a soul is tender and yielding, untrained and inexperienced in powerful reason, and fails to contemplate the truth or to conceive of the Father and Maker of all things, it becomes imprinted and branded with false opinions about itself. Then the demons, who hover about matter, licking up the incense and the blood of sacrifices and deceiving men, take hold of these false movements of the soul belonging to the masses, and, by entering into their thoughts, cause phantasies to flow into them as if from statues and images. And all that the soul does by itself, as an immortal being, moving in a rational way, whether it foretells the future or heals present ills, the demons harvest the glory for themselves. ^B

28. It is necessary, therefore, to speak a few words about these names as we previously promised. Herodotus and Alexander, the son of Philip, in his letter to his mother (both of whom are said to have entered into discussions with the priests at Heliopolis, Memphis, and Thebes), say that they learned from them that those [gods] were men. Herodotus speaks thus: "As for those whose images they were, they demonstrated that they had been such, though they were far removed from being gods. But before these men, gods reigned in Egypt, not being present with those men; and of these, one was always the ruler. ^C Later, there reigned in Egypt Horus, the son of Osiris, whom the Greeks call Apollo. He, having overthrown Typhon, was the last to reign in Egypt. Osiris, in the Greek tongue, is Dionysus." Since therefore the other kings, and the last king of Egypt (from whom the names of the gods came down to the Greeks), namely Apollo, the son of Dionysus and Isis (as the same Herodotus says: "They say that Apollo and Artemis were the children of Dionysus and Isis, and that Leto was their nurse and protectress"), all this leads to the conclusion that statues can do nothing of their own accord; Neryllinus, Proteus, and Alexander are no more effective; therefore, it is with an empty appearance that demons mock mankind. ^D Tatian, relying on the authority of Justin, denies that demons heal; Minucius and Cyprian reduce the machinations of demons to mere appearance, so that they might seem to have healed. "They can do nothing except harm," says Lactantius (lib. II, cap. 15). From this we can assert that the early Christians placed absolutely no faith in Cornelius Tacitus, when he narrates (Hist. lib. IV) that a blind man in Alexandria and another man suffering with his hand, at the prompting of Serapis, fled to Vespasian, and when one begged that he would deign to moisten his cheeks and the balls of his eyes with the spittle of his mouth, and the other that he might be trodden on by the foot of Caesar, that the emperor obeyed Serapis and both were immediately healed. Soon Gesner, who had been reading, imitates this passage just cited above, as if he had read it.

^A whom they had as their first kings, born of heavenly origin, the Egyptians, partly out of ignorance of true religion regarding the Divine, and partly out of gratitude for their reign, imagined them to be gods along with their wives. And, indeed, all the Egyptians sacrifice clean bulls and male calves; but it is not lawful for them to sacrifice females, ^B for these are sacred to Isis, whose image is in the form of a woman with ox-horns, just as the Greeks depict Io. Who, however, would be more worthy of belief when recounting these things than those who, through the succession of their race, from father to son, have received the history just as they received the priesthood? For it is not likely that the temple-wardens, who commend these idols with such great honor, would have lied when they said that they were human beings. But if Herodotus alone were saying that the gods of the Egyptians are spoken of in histories as if they were men, then one might perhaps have to conclude that Herodotus was a writer of fables—especially since he himself says: "Regarding the divine matters of which I have heard, I am not eager to relate them, except for their names alone," which are very minimal ^C indeed. But since Alexander and Mercurius, who is called Trismegistus, and countless others—not to recount them one by one—conjoin their race to the gods as eternal, no reason for doubting remains but that, while they were kings, they were held to be gods. The most learned of the Egyptians also demonstrate that they were men, who, while calling the air, the earth, the sun, and the moon gods, hold that the others are mortal men, and that their temples are their tombs. Apollodorus also teaches the same in his book *On the Gods*. Moreover, Herodotus calls their sufferings mysteries: "In the city of Busiris, as I have already mentioned, they celebrate the festival of Isis. After the sacrifice, all of them, men and women, many thousands of people, beat themselves. But in what manner they beat themselves, it is not lawful for me to say. If they are gods, they are immortal; but if they are beaten, and if these sufferings are mysteries, then they are humans," just as Herodotus himself testifies: "And there are also her tombs, the name of which, if I were to pronounce it in this matter, I would not be acting piously, in the city of Sais, in the temple of Minerva, behind the entire shrine, adjacent to the wall of Minerva." ^D There is also a lake attached, adorned with a stone base and well-wrought on all sides, equal in size, as it seems to me, to that which is...

in Delos, called the Trochoides. ^A In this lake, the Egyptians perform by night the representations of his sufferings, which they call mysteries. And not only is the tomb of Osiris shown, but the preparation of the body as well. When the corpse is brought to them, they show those who brought it wooden models of the dead, fashioned with paint, and they say that the most important of these—whose name I do not deem it holy to mention in such a matter—is one.

29. But even those of the Greeks who are wise in poetry and history teach the same things. Concerning Heracles, for instance:

Wretched man, who did not revere the retribution of the gods, nor the table ^B Which he had set before him; then he even slew Iphitus himself.

Being such as this, it was reasonable that he should fall into madness; and reasonably, too, he kindled a pyre and burned himself. Concerning Asclepius, Hesiod says:

The father of men and gods, When he was enraged, and having hurled an incandescent thunderbolt from Olympus, Slew the beloved son of Leto, stirring up his wrath.

And Pindar:

But wisdom itself is bound by gain. Gold appeared in his hands, having corrupted even him with the bribe Of a great recompense. And so the son of Cronus with his hands, Having hurled [his bolt] at both, took away the breath ^C From their chests; and a blazing thunderbolt brought upon them death.

If, therefore, they were gods, they were neither subject to the love of gold:

O gold, the greatest gift to mortals, Than which neither mother has such sweetness, Nor children.

For the Divine is in need of nothing and is superior to desire, nor did they die; or, if they were men who became [gods], they were wicked through ignorance and inferior to wealth. Why need I say much, or mention Castor or Polydeuces, or Amphiaraus, who, to speak figuratively, yesterday and the day before were men born of men and are considered gods; whereas Ino, even after her madness and the sufferings that followed ^D upon her madness, they consider to have become a goddess:

The sea-wanderer, known as Leucothea. And her child— Semnus Palaemon shall be called upon by sailors.

30. For if those who were detestable and hated by God held the reputation of being gods; and if the daughter of Derceto, Semiramis, a lascivious and bloodthirsty woman, was considered the Syrian goddess, and because of Derceto and the...

^A Syrians worship the dove and ^A Semiramis (for the woman could not be transformed into a dove, as the myth according to Ctesias holds)—what wonder is it if some have been called gods by those of their own time on account of their rule and tyranny? (The Sibyl, and Plato also, makes mention of her:

The Sibylline Verses

^B Others [have been called gods] on account of power, as Hercules and Perseus; others on account of art, as Asclepius. Those to whom either the subjects themselves or the rulers themselves accorded honor—some through fear, others through reverence—partook of the name. And Antinous, through the benevolence ^B of your ancestors toward their subjects, happened to be considered a god. And those who came after them accepted this without investigation.

Cretans are always liars; for even a tomb, O King, The Cretans fashioned for you; yet you did not die.

You believe, Callimachus, in the births of Zeus, yet you disbelieve in his tomb; and when you hope to cast darkness over the truth, you proclaim the dead man even to those who are ignorant of it. And if you see the cave, you are reminded of the birth of Rhea; ^C but if you see the sarcophagus, you cast darkness upon the dead man, not knowing that the unbegotten God alone is eternal. For either the myths told by the multitude and the poets concerning the gods are untrustworthy, and the piety toward them is superfluous (for those of whom the accounts are false do not exist); or, if their births, desires, murders, thefts, mutilations, and thunderbolts are true, then they do not exist, having ceased to be; since, as they were born, they were not [always] existing. For what reason is there to believe in some and to disbelieve in others, ^D when [the accounts] are equally ^D fabulous?

^A For if those by whom they were thought to be gods had believed them to be such, they would not have invented these histories, nor would they have lied about their sufferings. That we are not atheists, therefore, seeing that we acknowledge God the Maker of this universe and the Word that proceeds from Him, I have shown to the best of my ability, though not in proportion to the dignity of the subject.

31. ^B Other charges are now brought against our Christian doctrine. They accuse us of abominable feasts and illicit unions, both so that they may appear to hate us with reason, and because they think that by such threats they may either turn us aside from our steadfastness in our way of life, or make the rulers harsh and inexorable toward us on account of the magnitude of the crimes. But they are making sport of men who have long known that this practice has prevailed from of old, not only in our time, but according to a certain divine law and reason, that vice wars against virtue. ^C Thus, Pythagoras was burned with three hundred others; Heraclitus and Democritus—the one was banished by the city of the Ephesians, and the other, the Abderites, was accused of madness—and the Athenians condemned Socrates to death. But just as those men were not one whit the worse in regard to virtue because of the opinion of the many, so also the unexamined blasphemy of some does not darken our holiness of life. For we are in good standing with God. Nevertheless, I shall answer these charges as well. As for you, I know well that I have defended myself through what I have said. For you, who surpass all others in intelligence—whose lives are regulated by God as if by a plumb line, so that each of us may be blameless and irreproachable before Him—you are well aware that such men would not even come to have the thought of committing the slightest sin. For if we believed that we were to live only this life, one might indeed suspect that we would commit sin by serving flesh and blood, or by being overcome by covetousness or desire. ^D But since we know that God is present to our thoughts, to our words, and to everything we say, both by night and by day, and that, being Himself all light, He sees even what is in our hearts, we are persuaded that when we are released from this present life, we shall live another life, better than the present one, and heavenly, not earthly (so that we may, with God and in God, immovable and free from passion, [continue to exist].

^A even if we possess flesh, we shall remain as heavenly spirit)—or, falling away with the rest to something worse and through fire (for God did not create us like sheep or beasts of burden, as a mere side-product, that we should perish and vanish), it is not likely that we would willingly act wickedly in these matters, or hand ourselves over to be punished by the great Judge.

32. Now, it is no wonder [for them] to make up stories about us similar to what they say about their own gods, ^B and demonstrate their passions as mysteries. Yet they ought, if they meant to judge that to have intercourse licentiously and promiscuously is a great impiety, either to have hated Zeus—who had children by his mother Rhea and his daughter Kore, and used his own sister as a wife—or the inventor of these things, Orpheus, who made Zeus more wicked and more polluted than Thyestes. For he too, according to an oracle, defiled his daughter, wanting to reign and be avenged. ^C But we are so far from promiscuous vice that it is not even permitted for us to look with a view to desiring. For he who looks, he says, at a woman to desire her, has already committed adultery in his heart. Since, therefore, the use of our eyes is limited to the end for which God fashioned eyes—namely, that they should be light for us—and since for those for whom looking with pleasure is adultery, it is those who have turned their eyes to other uses who shall be judged even to the intensity of their thought, how could these men be disbelieved when they claim to be self-controlled? ^D For our discourse is not directed toward human laws, which a wicked man might evade (and at the beginning, Sovereigns, I demonstrated to you that our doctrine is God-taught); but we have a law that has made justice the measure of our eternal life. We judge it by ourselves and our neighbors; hence, according to their age, we consider some to be sons and daughters, others we have as brothers and sisters, and to those who have advanced in years we assign the honor of fathers and mothers. Those, therefore, whom we consider brothers and sisters and by the other names of kinship, it is our greatest care that their bodies remain undefiled and incorrupt. To this is added that scripture: "If anyone repeats a kiss because he takes pleasure in it." It then adds: "With the utmost caution, therefore, must the kiss be used, or rather the salutation, for if it be slightly defiled in thought, it excludes us from eternal life."

^A Since we have the hope of eternal life, we despise the things that are in this life, even to the pleasures of the soul. Each of us considers the wife whom he has taken according to the laws set down by you, as a wife only for the purpose of procreation. For just as the farmer, having cast seeds into the ground, awaits the harvest, and does not sow more upon it; so for us, the measure of desire is the procreation of children. You would find many among us, both men and women, who grow old unmarried, in the hope of being more closely united with God. And if remaining in virginity and in the state of a eunuch ^B brings us closer to God, while the arrival even at thoughts and desires leads us away, we avoid the thoughts, and much more do we reject the deeds. For our way of life is not based on the study of words, but on the demonstration and teaching of deeds: either to remain as one was born, or in a single marriage. For the second [marriage] is a decent adultery. For whoever puts away his wife, he says, and marries another—he commits adultery. ^C

As for the intention of each person—both of him who has made himself a eunuch, and of him who has joined himself in marriage for the sake of procreation—they ought to remain steadfastly in the lesser [state if that is their calling]. For if one is able to extend [vigorous] life, he will gain for himself greater worth before God, having practiced self-control purely and rationally; but if, having exceeded the standard he chose for greater glory, he then falls away, how will he still have the hope? For marriage, just as the state of a eunuch, has its own proper functions and ministries that are approved by the Lord. ^D

^A nor does he permit one to put away her whose virginity he has brought to an end, nor to take another. For he who separates himself from his former wife, even if she be dead, is an adulterer in disguise, transgressing the hand of God; for in the beginning God fashioned one man and one woman; and he dissolves the flesh-to-flesh union ^B for the commingling of the race.

34. How great is the discrepancy in conduct between the Christians and their accusers! But since we are such (why should I bring forth things that ought to be kept silent?), we hear said that saying of the proverb: The harlot reproaches the chaste. For those who have set up markets for prostitution, and established unlawful resorts for the young for every kind of foul pleasure, and who do not even spare the males, with males committing horrible acts, abusing in every way bodies that are more honorable and beautiful, and insulting the beauty created by God (for beauty on earth does not spring forth of its own accord, but is sent by the hand and counsel of God)—these men, ^C who are conscious of these things in themselves and call their own [actions] gods, and who praise these same things as honorable and as belonging to the gods, revile us with them. The adulterers and sodomites blame those who are eunuchs and those who have married only once; they live like fish (for these also devour whoever falls in their way, the stronger chasing the weaker; and this is to touch human flesh, to exert force and violence against the written laws that you and your ancestors have established for all justice), ^D so that even the governors of the provinces sent by you can barely bear the burden of judging cases; these men, I say, who live such lives rail against those to whom it is not permitted, even when struck, not to hand themselves over, and to those who speak ill of us, not to return a blessing. For it is not sufficient to be just (for justice is to return equal for equal), but it is also proposed to us to be good and patient of evils.

35. Who then, being of sound mind, could say that we are murderers; for it is not possible to feed on human flesh without first having killed someone. Therefore, they lie in the first place; in the second, even if someone were to ask them if they have seen what they keep saying, no one is so shameless as to say he has seen. Although they also have our slaves, to some of whom...

they cannot remain hidden, yet not one of them has ever fabricated such great charges against us. For who would accuse those whom they know do not even endure to see a man justly put to death of either murder 12 or cannibalism? Who of those who take pleasure in the strife of weapons and wild beasts, and especially in those which you oversee, holds this view? But we, thinking that to see a man killed is almost the same as killing him, have turned away from such spectacles. How then, not even watching them so as not to smear ourselves with defilement and pollution, could we be capable of murder? And those who useabortifacients, we say they are murderers and will account to God for the abortion; how, then, could we murder a man? For it is not the same thing to think that the fetus in the womb is a living being and therefore an object of God's care, and then to kill it once it has been brought into the light; nor not to expose a newborn, as they who expose them are child-slayers, and then to kill what has been nourished and raised. But we are always and in all things the same and equal, serving reason and not ruling 14 over it. ^B

56. Who, then, believing in a resurrection, would offer his own body as a tomb for those who are to be resurrected? For it is not the same thing to be persuaded that our bodies will rise again, and yet to eat them as though they would not, and to think that the earth will return its own dead, but that those which one has buried in oneself will not be demanded back. On the contrary, it is reasonable to think that those who neither account for their life here, whether good or evil, nor believe in any resurrection, but think that the soul perishes with the body and is, as it were, extinguished, would refrain from no daring act. But as for those who are persuaded that nothing will pass unexamined before God, and that the body which served the irrational impulses of the soul and its desires will also be punished along with it, there is no reason for them to commit even the slightest sin. And if to anyone it seems like much nonsense that the body, which has rotted and been dissolved and vanished, should be reconstituted, we should not, at any rate, be held in ill repute because of those who do not believe, but rather be considered pious. ^{C D}

For we wrong no one by the arguments with which we deceive ourselves. That, however, it is not only we who maintain that bodies will rise again, but many of the philosophers as well, it is superfluous to demonstrate at the present time, lest we should seem to be introducing irrelevant arguments into the subject before us, whether we speak of the intelligible and the sensible [things] and their constitution, or that incorporeal things are older than bodies, and that the intelligible [things] precede the sensible, even if we happen upon the sensible first, since bodies consist of the incorporeal through the accumulation of the insensible, and sensible [things] consist of those which are perceived by the mind. For according to Pythagoras and Plato, nothing prevents that, when the dissolution of bodies has taken place, they should be reconstituted again from the very same elements from which they were first composed. But let the discussion concerning the resurrection be set aside.

^B 37. You, however, O emperors, being by both nature and education altogether good, moderate, humane, and worthy of your empire, now that I have dissolved the accusations and demonstrated our piety towards God, our gentleness, and the restraint of our souls, grant me this with a nod of your royal heads. For who are more worthy to obtain what they ask than those who pray for your empire, that a son may, most justly, receive the kingdom from his father, and that your empire may be increased by additions and growth, with all [things] being subject to your rule? And this is indeed also in our interest, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, and ourselves serve all that is commanded with alacrity.

^{C D}

973

ANALYSIS OF THE BOOK OF ATHENAGORAS ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

314 Athenagoras divides this book into two parts, in the first of which he uproots preconceived opinions from the mind and refutes the objections of adversaries; in the second, he confirms Christian doctrine with arguments.

He observes (n. 1) that this method is often useful and appropriate for this discussion concerning the resurrection. He therefore establishes (n. 2) that those who say the resurrection is impossible must demonstrate that their dogma, if they ascribe the cause of things to God, is contradictory, either because God cannot call the dead back to life, or because He does not will it. For God to be said to be unable to effect the resurrection, one must deny Him either knowledge or power. Athenagoras proves that God is not ignorant of how bodies may be recalled to life, as He was not ignorant of how they were formed in the first generation, nor is the power to effect the resurrection lacking to Him (n. 3), just as the power to effect generation was not lacking.

The unbelievers chiefly object to this (n. 4): that human bodies, after having fed wild beasts, pass into other men, indeed that men are sometimes devoured by men. To respond to this argument derived from such cases, Athenagoras demonstrates (n. 5) that suitable food is provided by God for every animal, and that only this [food] serves to nourish parts and limbs, while whatever is contrary to this is expelled in various ways, or at least never reaches those parts which alone are necessary for the resurrecting body (n. 7). Therefore, nothing can be achieved by the adversaries (n. 8) unless they demonstrate that human flesh is the natural food for man. ^A Athenagoras does not wish to linger (n. 9) on refuting the argument drawn from craftsmen and potters, who cannot restore their own works. Nor can it even be said (n. 10) that God does not wish to call the dead back to life. For He would not want this either because it is unjust, or because it is unworthy of God: but neither can be said at all.

These points having been completed, Athenagoras discourses somewhat on the utility of the method he has adopted (n. 11), and comes to the second part of the work, promising that he will prove the resurrection from a triple moment: from the cause according to which and on account of which man was created, from his nature, and from the judgment of God. Man was not created for the use of another (n. 12), but that he might exist and contemplate God; wherefore he cannot perish, but the resurrection is demonstrated from the plan of God in creating such a nature (n. 13). Nature follows the cause (n. 14), and those who derive the entire cause of the resurrection solely from judgment do not reason accurately. This nature, however, is placed in this (n. 15), that man should consist of soul and body; and since the end is one and the same for the animal composed of soul and body, the permanence and therefore the resurrection is necessary (n. 16). And although this conjunction of soul and body is interrupted by death, the resurrection is not to be despaired of; but as the present life, even if interrupted by sleep and various mutations, is nevertheless called the same life, so one must reason concerning the permanence of man in his own nature, and the resurrection (n. 17), as the last of all mutations, is to be expected, as is proved from the various mutations which supervene upon man. The judgment of God (n. 18), since it is just, must be directed toward the soul and body, that is, toward man composed of both. And Athenagoras establishes this against those who agree concerning first principles. Against others he demonstrates (n. 19) either that there is no providence, or that the reward for deeds done rightly and wrongly must be distributed by God; a thing which indeed is not manifest as happening in this life; nor can it happen after death, if either the soul and body perish, or only the body (n. 20). For it is inequitable (n. 21) that the soul alone be rewarded or punished, when the body has been a participant in deeds done rightly or wrongly: indeed, virtue (n. 22) and vice cannot even be conceived of and understood in the soul alone; nor are laws imposed upon the soul alone (n. 23), but upon the whole man. ^B To these three promised arguments Athenagoras adds a fourth, repeated from the end for which man was created. He teaches (n. 24) that this end is placed neither in indolence, nor in bodily pleasures, nor even in the soul separated from the body; whence he concludes (n. 25) that the resurrection is necessary.

OF ATHENAGORAS THE ATHENIAN, PHILOSOPHER AND CHRISTIAN, ON THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD

1. To every dogma and doctrine, which indeed is in agreement with the truth of things, a certain falsehood is wont to grow alongside it. But it grows alongside it not from any underlying principle according to nature. 315 1. He renders the reason why he thinks one should discourse about the truth [itself] before [disputing] concerning the truth. — [It is necessary that every] opinion and doctrine, which indeed is in agreement with the truth of things, consist of [sound] principles, and he opposes this to those things which he presently pronounces about a lie, namely that it relies upon no underlying principle, and is contained by no natural cause.

^A But it arises from those who, for the sake of the corruption of the truth, have purposefully valued a lawless sowing. This can be discovered, first of all, from those who in times past have been occupied with concerns about these matters, and from the dissension that arose among themselves, both with their elders and their contemporaries; and not least from the very confusion of the things now in question. For such men have left no part of the truth without slander, neither the essence of God, nor His knowledge, nor His operation, nor the things that follow from these in a sequence, and the account that outlines piety for us; but some utterly and entirely despair of the truth concerning these things, while others twist it to fit their own opinions, and others take pains to doubt even things that are manifest. ^B Whence I think there must be two kinds of discourse for those who labor on these matters: those *for* the truth, and those *concerning* the truth. And the ones *for* the truth are against those who disbelieve or doubt; the ones *concerning* the truth are for those who are fair-minded and receive the truth with goodwill. Wherefore, those who wish to inquire concerning these matters ought to observe what is expedient at each time, and to measure their arguments accordingly, and to adapt the order of their disputation to what is fitting, and not, by seeming always to preserve the same starting point, neglect what is appropriate and the place suitable for each. For as far as demonstration and natural order are concerned, the discourses *concerning* the truth always take precedence over those *for* the truth; but as far as greater utility is concerned, the latter take precedence over the former, by a reversed method. ^C For neither could a farmer properly cast seeds into the ground unless he had first rooted out the wild matter that is harmful to the good seeds being sown, nor could a physician give a healing medicine to a body in need of treatment unless he had first purged away the sickness dwelling within, or checked that which is flowing into it. Nor, indeed, could one who wishes to teach the truth, while speaking *concerning* the truth, persuade anyone if some false opinion were lurking in the mind of the hearers and resisting his words. Wherefore we too, looking to what is more useful, sometimes place the discourses *for* the truth before those *concerning* the truth. And to do this now in this treatise on the resurrection does not seem useless to those who consider what is fitting. For even in this matter we find some who disbelieve entirely, some ^D who doubt, and even some of those who have accepted the first assumptions

^A regarding the beginning of human life, who disbelieve just as irrationally and causelessly as those who doubt. But ^B the most absurd thing of all is that they suffer this, having no handle for disbelief from the facts themselves, nor being able to find any reasonable cause for which they disbelieve or doubt.

2. Let us consider the matter as follows: If any disbelief does not arise ^C lightly and from some unexamined opinion, but with some strong cause and with the security of truth (for then it preserves the reasonable argument, when the thing itself about which they disbelieve appears to be incredible; for it is the work of people not using sound judgment regarding the truth to disbelieve things that are not [in themselves] incredible); then those who disbelieve or doubt concerning the resurrection ought not to offer their opinion about it in accordance with what seems to them without examination or what is merely pleasing to the intemperate. Rather, they must either refer the origin of men to no cause at all (which is also highly refutable), or, if they ascribe the cause of existing things to God, they must look to the premise of this dogma, and through this demonstrate that the resurrection has nowhere any credibility. This they will do, if they are able to show that it is either impossible for God or contrary to His will to reunite and gather together the dead, and even wholly dissolved, ^D bodies toward the constitution of the same human beings. But if they cannot do this, let them cease from this godless disbelief, and from blaspheming things which it is not right [to blaspheme]. For that those who say it is impossible are not telling the truth, and [that those who say] it is against His will [are not telling the truth], will be made clear from what is to be said. For that which is impossible to someone is known to be such, in truth, either from not knowing what is to be done, or from not having sufficient power to perform well what is known. For whoever does not know any of the things that must come to be would neither attempt nor be able to do at all what he is ignorant of; and one who knows well what is to be done, and whence it might come to be, and how, but has no power at all to do what is known, or does not have sufficient [power], would not attempt it from the beginning, if he were sensible, and would consider his own power. Having attempted it rashly, he would not bring to fulfillment what he had imagined. But it is not possible for God to be ignorant of the nature of the bodies that are to be raised, both in their total part and in their specific member, nor, indeed, whither each of the dissolved parts goes, and what sort of…

^A part of the elements has received that which is dissolved, and whither it has gone, or which part of the element has reunited naturally with the whole. For it was not unknown to Him, before the constitution of each thing, either what is the nature of the elements from which the human bodies are made, or what are the parts of these from which it was to take what seemed appropriate for the constitution of the human body. It is manifest, therefore, that even after the whole has been ^B dissolved, it will not be unknown to Him whither each of those things has migrated, which He had taken for the completion of each. For in proportion to the order of things now prevailing among us, and the judgment usually passed on other matters, it is a greater thing to know beforehand what does not yet exist; but as far as the majesty of God and His wisdom are concerned, both are in accordance with nature, and it is no more difficult to know things that do not yet exist than to know things that have been dissolved.

4. The power to recall to life is not wanting to Him who was able to create. And that His power is not unequal to exciting bodies to life is proven by their very generation. For if He made the bodies of men when they did not exist, and their principles in the first creation, He will also, with the same ^C ease, raise them up when they have been dissolved, in whatever manner that may have happened; for this is equally possible to Him. Nor is anything detracted from this reasoning, whether some suppose the first principles [to be derived] from primal matter, or from the elements as first principles, [to form] human bodies, or from seeds. For the same power that can shape that which is "formless" (as they think) and—to take what is devoid of appearance and order—adorn it with many and varied figures, and gather the parts of the elements into one, and divide the seed—which is one and simple—into many, and shape and compose what is rude and uncompounded, and impart life to that which is devoid of it: the same power is also able to reunite things that have been dissolved, and to rouse those that lie prone, and to recall the dead to life, and to transform the corruptible into a state free from corruption. And it would be the work of the same Author and of the same power and ^D wisdom to distinguish from the multitude of all kinds of animals—which are accustomed to approach such bodies and satisfy their hunger from them—what has been rent asunder, and to reunite it again to its proper parts and members, even if

it has migrated into one of these animals, or into many, or from there into others, or even if, having been dissolved together with them, it has been carried back to the first principles in accordance with natural dissolution. This is a matter which has seemed to disturb some people, even those admired for their wisdom, who for some reason have considered these questions—which are bandied about by the common crowd—to be powerful arguments.

^B 4. These people say that many human bodies, which have perished miserably in shipwrecks and rivers, have become food for fish, and many of those who have died in wars, or through some other harsher cause and circumstance, have been deprived of funeral rites and have lain as prey for whatever animals happened by. Therefore, regarding bodies consumed in this way, and the parts and members that compose them, which are rent asunder into a multitude of animals and, through food, are united to the bodies of those things being fed—they say first that the separation of these is impossible; and in addition to this, a second point which is more difficult. For regarding the bodies of men that have been fed upon by animals, in as much as those animals are suitable for human food, passing through the stomachs of the latter and becoming united with the bodies of those who have partaken of them, it is necessary, they say, that all the parts of the first men, in as much as they became food for the animals that partook of them, should pass over into other human bodies, the animals that fed upon them acting as carriers of the food, from which they were fed, to those other men for whom they became food. Then they proceed to relate with tragic drama the cases of child-eating perpetrated during famines and fits of madness, and children eaten because of the plots of their parents' ^C enemies, and that "Median feast," and the tragic banquets of Thyestes, and they string together various such calamities contrived among Greeks and barbarians. From these they construct an argument, as they imagine, that the resurrection is impossible, since the same parts cannot rise again with different and different bodies; but that either the bodies of the former cannot be reconstituted, because the parts composing them have moved over to others, or, if these parts are given back to the former, those of the latter will be left lacking and incomplete.

5. To me, however, such men seem first to be ignorant of the power and wisdom of the Creator and Governor of this universe, ^D who has adapted and harmonized for each animal's nature and kind a food that is appropriate and suitable, and who has neither willed that every nature should be able to unite or mix with every body, nor experiences any difficulty in separating those things that have been united; but instead, he grants to the nature of each individual thing that it may do or suffer what it is naturally disposed to do, sometimes also restraining it, and allowing or changing everything according to his own will. Furthermore, in addition to what has been said, they [do not understand...]

seem to have considered the power and nature of each of those things that nourish or are nourished. For had they perceived it, they would surely have realized that not everything a person consumes to satisfy an external necessity is food suited to the animal. Rather, some things are naturally intended to perish as soon as they come into contact with the parts that surround the stomach, being vomited, excreted, or dispersed in another way, so that they do not even for a moment undergo the first and natural digestion, let alone mix with the parts that are nourished. In the same way, not everything that has been digested and has received its first transformation always reaches the parts that are nourished; for some things lose their nutritive power within the stomach itself, while others are separated during the second transformation and the digestion that occurs in the liver, and they move on to something else, which has exceeded the power of nourishing. And indeed, the ^B in the liver—the transformation that occurs—does not entirely yield food for human beings, but is separated into customary superfluities; and what remains of the food in those very members and parts of members that are nourished is sometimes turned into something else, according as that which is redundant and luxuriant dominates, and is accustomed to corrupt or turn into itself whatever it touches.

6. Whatever is contrary to nature is ejected in various ways. Since, therefore, there is much variety of nature in all animals, and the food suited to the nature of the animal and the body that is nourished is transformed according to the [specific] kind; and since there is a triple ^C purification and secretion of food for every animal, it is necessary that whatever is alien to the animal's nutrition—since it cannot coalesce—must be entirely destroyed and removed where it is appropriate, or changed into something else. But that which is congruent and according to nature to the powers of the animal that is nourished is the force of the body that nourishes, and this, having passed through its natural channels and having been accurately purified by natural cleansers, becomes the most sincere intake for substance. Indeed, this ^D alone—if one were to give things their true names—would one call food, as it casts off everything alien and harmful to the constitution of the body being nourished, as well as that great bulk introduced to fill the stomach and satisfy the desire of hunger. But this food, no one would doubt, coalesces with the body that is nourished, being intertwined 49 and glued to all its parts and members; while that which is otherwise and is alien to nature destroys [the part that is] unnatural.

It ^B is quickly corrupted, if it encounters greater forces, and it easily corrupts [the body] if it prevails, being converted into depraved juices and poisonous qualities, seeing that it brings nothing kindred or friendly to the body being nourished. The greatest proof of this is that in many animals pain, or danger, or death follows from such foods, if from a sharper appetite they have drawn into the food something poisonous and alien to nature; which indeed brings total ruin to the body which is being nourished, since things which are nourished are nourished by things that are kindred and accommodated to nature, but are corrupted by contraries. Therefore, if according to the varied nature of animals there are varied kinds of congruent foods, and not whatever has been taken by an animal from these very foods coalesces wholly with the body that is nourished—no, not even any part of it, but only that which has been purged by every digestion and ^C transformed purely for the union with a certain body, and which is well-adjusted to the parts being nourished—it is clear that nothing that is contrary to nature could ever be united with these things, for which it is not an apt and suitable nourishment; but it is either cast out through the belly itself, before it generates some other juice, raw and corrupted, or if it remains for too long, it begets a defect and a disease which is not easily healed, and which corrupts the food congruent to nature or the very flesh that is in need of nourishment. But even if it is sometimes expelled, either by certain medicines, or by better foods, or by being overcome by natural faculties, it does not depart without great ^D damage, since it brings nothing that is peaceful to things that are according to nature, because it cannot coalesce with nature.

7. Whatever is contrary to nature has no passage to the feeding of those parts which alone are necessary for the one rising again. 7. Moreover, even if someone should concede that the nourishment introduced from such things (for so let it be called for the sake of custom) is separated and changed into something moist or dry, or warm or cold, not even in this way, these things being conceded, will they promote anything; because bodies that are rising again will consist once more of their own proper parts, and none of the things we have spoken of is either a part, or occupies the appearance and place of a part; nay, it does not even always remain in the parts receiving the nourishment, nor will it rise again with those who are rising again; nothing then contributing to life regarding blood, or phlegm, or bile, or spirit. For neither will the bodies, when they are [risen], be in need of those things of which they once stood in need when they were being nourished, the need of those things from which they were nourished perishing together with the indigence and corruption of him who was being nourished. Then, that even if one were to suppose that the change from such food reaches as far as the flesh,

^A nor even then will there be any necessity for the flesh, which has just been changed from such food, to move toward the body of another man, and again to serve as part for his completion, since the flesh that receives it neither always keeps what it has received, nor is the flesh that has been united with it permanent, but remains in the place to which it was added; rather, it receives many and varying changes, being sometimes dissolved by labors or anxieties, at other times melted away by sorrows, or toils, or diseases, and by the bad states of the body that arise from heat or cold, when the flesh and the fat of the people do not change in sympathy while remaining what they are, even though they receive food. And since such sufferings ^B occur in the flesh, one would find that the flesh which is nourished by incongruous foods undergoes these things even much more so: now swelling and growing fat from the things it has received, then again spitting them out in whatever way it happens, and being diminished by one or more of the causes previously mentioned; but only those parts remain which by nature are accustomed to hold together, contain, or warm, which nature has selected and which have grown fast to those parts with which it has fulfilled a life according to nature and the toils in that life. But indeed, neither when those things which we have just investigated are judged as is fitting, nor when those things which have been argued in opposition are approved by ^C concession, is it possible to demonstrate that what is said by them is true; nor would the bodies of men ever coalesce with others of the same nature, whether they taste of such a body unawares, through the fraud of another stealing away their perception, or whether through lack or insanity they defile themselves with bodies of a similar nature. For it does not escape our notice that there are some beasts in human form, or that they have a nature composed of men and beasts, such as the more daring poets are accustomed to fashion.

8. And what need is there to speak regarding no animal ^D being allotted for food to bodies, but rather having been allotted only the burial in the earth for the honor of nature? Since the Creator has not assigned any of the animals as food to animals of the same species, even if in some other cases food from different species is according to nature. If, therefore, they are able to demonstrate that the flesh of men has been allotted to men for food, nothing will prevent cannibalism from being according to nature, just as

any other thing ^A that is permitted by nature. Those who dare to say such things should be delighted to feast upon the bodies of their most beloved ones, as being more akin to them, or even serve their most well-disposed friends as a meal! But if this is not even holy to utter, and for men to partake of the flesh of men is most hateful and utterly polluted, and more accursed than any lawless or unnatural food or deed—and that which is against nature could never pass into nutrition for the parts and members that require it—and that which does not go into nutrition would neither be united with them nor is it naturally fitted to nourish them; then the bodies of men could never be united with bodies like their own, for which it is against nature to serve as food, ^B even if it frequently passes through their stomach by some most bitter calamity.

Departing from the nutritive power and being scattered back to those things from which they first had their constitution, they are united with these for as long as each happens to endure. From there, having been separated again by the wisdom and power of Him who combined the entire nature of each animal together with its own proper faculties, each is fitted again to its own: even if it be burned by fire, or rotted by water, or consumed by wild beasts or any other animals that happen by, or though it be cut off from the whole body and dissolved before the other parts. ^C When united again to one another, they occupy the same place for the harmony and constitution of the same body, and for the resurrection and life of that which had died or was even wholly dissolved.

It is not expedient, however, to dwell on these things at greater length, for they have an admitted judgment, at least among those who are not half-beasts.

9. The argument derived from potters is refuted

9. Since there are many things more useful for the proposed question, I do not wish, for the present, to hear those who take refuge in the works of men and in men themselves as creators—who are unable to renew their ^D works if they are shattered, worn by time, or otherwise destroyed—and then attempt to demonstrate from the similarity to potters and builders that God is neither willing, nor, if willing, able to raise up a body that has died or even been dissolved. They do not calculate that by these things they are offering the most serious insult to God, while they compare...

^A the stable powers, or rather the natures of those who use these substances and the artificial with the natural. To be studious about these matters, therefore, does not lack reproach. For it is truly foolish to refute trivial and empty things. But it is much more probable, and indeed by far the most true of all, that what cannot be done among men is possible to God. And if the account demonstrates, through these very things as probable and through those which we investigated above, that the matter is possible, it is clear that it is not alien to the power of God. Indeed, it is not alien to His will.

10. For that which is unwilled is so either as being unjust, or as being unworthy. And again, the injustice is considered either in relation to the person who is to rise again, or in relation to someone else other than him. ^B But that no one else externally, nor of those numbered among existing things, is injured, is evident. For neither would the intellectual natures be injured by the resurrection of men (nor is the resurrection of men an impediment to them toward being, nor a harm, nor an insult); nor the nature of irrational creatures, nor of inanimate things; for indeed, they will not exist after the resurrection; and concerning that which does not exist, there is no injustice. But if one were to suppose that they exist throughout, they would not be injured by the human bodies being renewed. For if, even now, yielding to the nature of men and to the needs of those who are needy, and brought under the yoke and every kind of servitude, they suffer no injustice; ^C much more, when they have become incorruptible and lacking nothing, and no longer in need of their service, and liberated from all servitude, they will not be injured. For not even if they were endowed with a voice would they accuse the Creator for being placed, undeservedly, below men, not having obtained the same resurrection as them. For of those whose nature is not equal, the just One does not assign an equal end. Apart from these things, among those for whom there is no judgment of justice, there is no complaint of injustice. Nor again is it possible to say that any injustice regarding the man who is rising again is observed. For this being consists of soul and body; and it receives injustice in neither soul nor body. For no one who is sensible ^D will say that the soul is injured, for in that case the imprudent person would, along with the resurrection, exclude the present life as well. For if, now, dwelling in a corruptible and passible body, it suffers no injustice, much more, living with an incorruptible and impassible one, it will not be injured. But neither is the body injured in any way. For if now, being corruptible and joined to what is corruptible, it is not injured, it is clear that it will not be injured when it is incorruptible and joined to what is incorruptible. Nor indeed could someone say that it is an unworthy work of God to raise up and gather together the body that was dissolved. For if it is not unworthy to make the lesser—that is, the corruptible and passible body—much more, now being corruptible and joined to what is corruptible, it will not be injured by that which is incorruptible, I mean that which is incorruptible and impassible.

the greater is not unworthy, which is incorruptible and impassible. ^A

11. The method employed. A threefold argument for the resurrection. But if it has been demonstrated, both by those things which are first by nature and by those which follow from them, that everything which has come into question is both possible and desirable and worthy of the Creator, it is manifest that the resurrection of bodies that have been dissolved is a work of such a kind as God can perform and desire, and which is worthy of Him. For by these things the falsehood of the contrary opinion and the absurd reasoning of the incredulous have been convicted. ^B For what need is there to speak of the conversion of one thing into another and their mutual coherence? If indeed one must speak of coherence, as if they differ by some dissimilarity, and not rather that what God can do, He can be said to desire, and what He can desire, He can do, and that this is worthy of Him. And that the discourse concerning the truth is one thing, and that on behalf of the truth is another, and in what the distinction consists between them, and in what places and among whom their utility lies, we have already sufficiently demonstrated. ^C Nothing, however, prevents us, for the sake of common security and for the coherence of what we have said with what is to be said, from taking our start again from these very things and their accompaniments. And it is fitting for the one by nature to hold the primacy, while for the other to attend the first as a satellite, to pave the way, and to remove whatever is obstructive and rugged before it. For the discourse concerning the truth, being necessary to all men for security and salvation, holds the first place in nature, in order, and in utility: in nature, as providing knowledge of things; in order, as existing in these and at the same time with these, of which it is the index and pointer; in utility, as becoming the purveyor of security and salvation to those who know it. But the one undertaken on behalf of the truth is by nature and power inferior. For it is less to refute falsehood than to confirm the truth. It is also later in order; for it draws its force against those who are held by false opinions. And false opinion arises from superinduced seed and corruption. ^D But yet, although matters are thus, it is often placed before, and sometimes becomes more useful; inasmuch as it uproots and cleanses beforehand the incredulity that disturbs some, and the doubt or false opinion held by those who are newly approaching. And toward one end each is referred (for both the one refuting falsehood and the one confirming the truth have their reference toward piety), but they are not therefore definitively one; rather, the one is necessary, as I have said, to all who believe, and to those of the truth.

who take care of their own salvation; the other is sometimes more useful for some people and against some people. And let these things be said by us in summary by way of reminding you of what has already been said. Now we must proceed to the subject at hand and demonstrate that the doctrine concerning the resurrection is true, considering both the very cause according to which and for the sake of which the first man was created, as well as those after him (even if they were not created in the same way), and also from the common nature of all men, insofar as they are men; and further from the judgment of the Creator concerning them, relative to the whole time of their life and the laws by which they lived; which no one would dispute is just. ^A

Let us consider whether man was made simply and in vain, or for some purpose; and if for some purpose, whether he was made for this very thing, that he should live and remain in the nature in which he was created, or for the benefit of something else. And if for a benefit, whether it is for the benefit of the Creator himself, or of some other of those beings that pertain to him and are judged worthy of greater care. Which, when we consider more commonly, we find that everyone who is of sound mind and is moved by rational judgment to do something, does nothing of those things which he performs by design in vain; but he does them either for his own use, or for the sake of another whose care he has undertaken; or for the sake of the thing being made itself, moved by a certain natural attraction and affection toward its generation. For example (for let us speak by way of a comparison, so that what is proposed may become clear), a man builds a house for his own ^B use, but he makes suitable shelter for oxen and camels or the other animals of which he has need, not for his own use according to the appearance, but according to the end for this reason, and according to the immediate purpose for the care of those for whom he has taken thought. And he begets children, neither for his own need, nor for any other of those things which pertain to him, but in order that they who are born of him may exist and remain as long as is possible, by the succession of children and grandchildren providing comfort for his own death, and in this way thinking to render immortal that which is mortal. But these things are so with men. God, however, would neither have made man in vain (for He is wise; and no work of wisdom is vain), nor for His own need; for He is ^C in need of nothing; and to Him who is in need of nothing at all, none of the things created by Him could contribute to His own need. But He did not make man for the sake of any of the works created by Himself. For no one of those things which use reason and judgment, whether of the greater or of the lesser, has been made or is made for the need of another, but for the own life and remaining of the things that have been made. Nor is the ^D

^A reason found for why there should be any need of human generation, since those who are immortal stand in no need of anything, and in no way require any assistance from men for their existence. As for irrational creatures, they are by nature subject, and provide for men the uses for which each was fashioned, but are not themselves fitted to use men. For it is not, nor was it ever, right that what rules and holds the primacy should be brought down to the service of the lesser, or that that which possesses reason should be subordinated to irrational creatures, which are unfit to rule.

Therefore, if man was not made without cause and in vain (for nothing that has been made by God is vain, at least according to the intention of the Maker), nor for the sake of the Maker himself, nor for the sake of any other ^B of the things made by God, it is clear that, according to the first and more general principle, God made man for His own sake and for the sake of the goodness and wisdom perceived in the whole of creation; but according to the more immediate principle regarding the things fashioned, He made him for the sake of the life of the things themselves—a life not destined to be kindled for a little while and then utterly extinguished. ^C For to reptiles, I think, and to birds, and to fish, or to speak more generally, to all irrational creatures, God has allotted just such a life. But to those who carry the Maker as an image within themselves, and who are endowed with mind and partake of rational judgment, the Maker has assigned an eternal existence, so that, knowing their own Maker and His power and wisdom, and following after law and justice, they may dwell eternally without toil in those things to which they clung in their previous life, even though they were in corruptible and earthly bodies.

For as many things as were created for the sake of another, when those things for whose sake they were created have ceased to exist, they too will reasonably cease to be, and will not continue in vain (since there is no room for vanity among the things made by God). But those things which have been created for the sake of existence and life itself, in accordance with their nature—as being comprised by the very principle of ^D essence and perceived solely in themselves for their existence—could never admit any cause that would utterly destroy their existence.

[alt-version omitted]

For there is nothing that God cannot do; therefore, man, whom God has created, is a being to be desired for his own sake. But if man had been created for the sake of others, God would have no other reason for making him, unless perhaps he could not have been created otherwise, so that God, as a good Artificer, might exist, and they might arrive at the knowledge of God. For God would not have created that for whose sake man was made, if man had not been created.

^A For this very reason they were created that they might exist, and lead a life convenient to themselves, since this cause is bound up with nature, and placed in the reason of existence alone, so that nothing can ever happen to them for which they should altogether cease to be. But since that cause for which they were created is always regarded with respect to the reason of existence, it is necessary that an animal so created should be preserved for perpetuity, acting as agent and patient in matters that befit its own nature, both those parts of which it consists bringing forth their own share: so that the soul may exist and endure equably in the nature in which it was created, and may administer the office befitting it (and its proper office is to govern the appetites of the body, and to judge and measure whatever may happen with suitable judgments and measures); and the body may be moved according to nature toward those things that befit it, and may receive the changes destined for it, and along with other things that pertain to age, or form, or magnitude, it may also receive resurrection. For resurrection is a species of change, and the last of all, and a change for the better for those who at that time shall still survive.

13. ^B 13. Relying on these contentions, therefore, and contemplating the things that have already come to pass, and our own nature, we cherish the life which is subject to want and corruption as befitting the present age, and we firmly hope for a perpetuity immune to corruption. This hope we do not dream up from the inventions of men, deluding ourselves with false expectations, but we believe in the most certain warrant—the counsel of Him who created us. In accordance with this counsel, He made man of an immortal soul and a body, and joined to him a mind and an innate law for the preservation and keeping of those things which were given by Him, and which are congruent to a wise life and a participant of reason; for we well know that He would not have fashioned such an animal, and adorned it with all things for perpetuity, if He had not intended the creature to endure. Therefore, if the Artificer of the universe created man to be a participant of a wise life, and to become a spectator of His own magnificence and of the wisdom that shines forth in all things, [that man] might ever remain in the contemplation of these, according to the counsel of the Author and the nature received from Him: the cause of birth creates belief in perpetuity, and perpetuity [creates belief] in the resurrection, without which man could not endure. From the things we have said, it is manifest that the resurrection is clearly demonstrated from the cause of birth and the counsel of the Author. Since, therefore, such a cause existed for why man was introduced into the world, it is consistent that we should consider what things follow from these by nature or by order. ^C If the order of investigation is regarded, there follows the cause of the birth of created men, then the nature of men, then the just judgment of the Creator concerning them; and all these [lead to] the end of life. These things which hold the first place having been investigated, next the nature of man must be considered.

14. ^D [The cause of the resurrection is not from judgment alone.]

^A The demonstration of the truth of dogmas or of any matter proposed for investigation—which confirms what is said by indisputable arguments—is not derived from anywhere without, nor from things that only seem so to some people or have been commonly opined, but from common and natural understanding, or from the sequence of secondary things following upon the first. For it is either a matter concerning primary principles, and there is need only of a reminder to awaken one’s natural intuition; or it is a matter of those things which naturally follow from the first, and of the natural order. In these cases, there is need to apply an order, demonstrating what truly coheres with the first and primary principles, so that neither the truth nor the secure demonstration of truth be neglected, nor things that are naturally ordered and distinct be confounded, nor the natural sequence be disrupted. ^B Whence I think it necessary that those who apply a fair study to the proposed question and wish to judge prudently whether or not the resurrection of human bodies is to occur, should first attentively consider what force those things have which contribute to the demonstration of this matter, and what place each holds, what is first among them, what second, what third, and what finally is last.

Having arranged these things, one must first set down the cause of the generation of men—that is, the intention of Him who created, according to which He made man. To this, one must appropriately append the nature of created men, not as being posterior in order, but because the two cannot be judged at the same time, even though they exist together to the highest degree and provide equal weight to the proposed question. ^C Through these things—as being primary and clearly demonstrating the resurrection, having its beginning from the creation—nonetheless it is also possible to grasp the faith concerning this through the arguments from providence; I mean through the honor or punishment due to each of the men according to a just judgment, and the end of human life. For many who discuss the account of the resurrection have attributed the entire cause to the third point only, thinking the cause of the resurrection to be for the sake of judgment.

But this is clearly shown to be false from the fact that all men who die rise again, yet not all who rise again are judged. For if the justice of judgment were the sole cause of the resurrection, it would surely be necessary that those who have done wrong or right in nothing—that is, very young infants—should not even rise. But since it is conceded that all rise, both others and specifically those who died in the first stage of life, they themselves are an argument that the resurrection does not come to pass primarily for the sake of judgment, if the primary cause

^A of all things is to be looked at, but rather on account of the purpose of the Creator and the nature of the things created.

15. Since the cause observed in the generation of men ^A is sufficient to demonstrate, by natural sequence, the resurrection following the dissolution of bodies, it is perhaps right not to shrink from any of the points set forth, but, in accordance with what has been said, to demonstrate to those who cannot see for themselves what follows from each point—especially the nature of the men who have been generated, which leads to the same notion and provides equal grounds for belief in the resurrection. For if the nature of all men in common consists of an immortal soul and the body which in generation was fitted to it, and God did not assign such a generation or life or the whole course of existence to the nature of the soul by itself, nor to the nature of the body separately, but to men composed of both, so that from the things of which they consist when they are generated and live, they might, after passing through life, arrive at one and the same ^B common end—it is absolutely necessary, since the animal that suffers both the passions of the soul and the functions of the body, and that acts according to the judgment of sense or reason, is one, that the whole sequence of these things should be referred to one end; so that all things and through all things may concur toward one harmony and the same sympathy of man: the generation of man, the nature of man, the life of man, his actions and passions, his existence, and the end befitting his nature.

If there is one harmony and sympathy of the whole animal, both of the things springing from the soul and those brought about through the body, there must also be one end for all these things. And there will truly be one end for the same animal ^C existing according to its own constitution, of which the end is the goal. This same animal will exist in its pure state, consisting of the very same things from which, as parts, the animal is composed; and these same things, through their proper union, will exist when those that were dissolved coalesce again for the constitution of the animal. The constitution of these same human beings necessarily demonstrates the resurrection of the dead and dissolved bodies. For without this, the same parts could neither be united according to nature, nor could the nature of these same men subsist.

But if mind and reason have been given to men for the discernment ^D of intelligible things, and not only of substances but also of the goodness, wisdom, and justice of Him who gave them, it is necessary that, while those things for whose sake the rational faculty was granted remain, the faculty granted for discerning these things should also remain. However, it is impossible for this to remain unless the nature that received it and in which it exists also remains. The one who has received mind and reason is man, not a soul by itself. It is therefore necessary that the man, who is composed of both, should exist forever. But it is impossible for him to exist

^A without a resurrection; for if there is no resurrection, the nature of men, as men, would not persist. And if the nature of men does not persist, in vain has the soul been united to the indigence of the body and to its sufferings; in vain is the body fettered so that it may attain what it desires, yielding to and being bridled by the reins of the soul; vain is the mind, vain is prudence, and the observance of justice, and the exercise of every virtue, and the setting and ordering of laws, and, to speak generally, everything that is noble in men and for men—or rather, the very creation and nature of men itself. But if in all of God’s works and the gifts granted by Him there is no place for anything vain, it is entirely necessary that the eternal duration of the soul should correspond to the eternal duration of the body according to its own nature.

^B 16. Let no one be surprised that we call a life interrupted by death and corruption a "duration," considering that the word does not have one meaning, nor is there one measure of duration, because the nature of those things that endure is not one. For if each of those things that endure has its duration according to its own proper nature, no one would find an equal duration among those who are purely incorruptible and immortal, because the superior substances are not matched with those that are inferior; nor is it right to seek that uniform and unchangeable duration in men, since those who were created immortal from the beginning endure solely by the will of their Creator; whereas men, from their very birth, possess an unchangeable duration according to their soul, but acquire incorruption for the body through a transformation. This is what the reasoning regarding the resurrection ^C intends; keeping our eyes on this, we anticipate the dissolution of the body—as it follows upon a life subject to want and corruption—and after this, we hope for a duration free from corruption. We do not make our death equivalent to the death of irrational creatures, nor do we make the duration of men equivalent to the duration of the immortal beings, lest, by doing so, we might inadvertently equate the nature and life of men with things to which they are not alike. It is not, therefore, a cause for vexation in this matter if some inequality is perceived in the duration of men, nor should the resurrection be despaired of because the departure of the soul from the parts and members of the body interrupts the continuous life. For even though the natural lapses of the senses and the physical faculties that occur during sleep ^D seem to interrupt the life situated in the senses, we do not refuse to call it the same life as the men sleep for equal intervals of time and in a certain manner as it were come to life again. For which reason,

I think, some call sleep the brother of death, not because they are begotten of the same ancestors or fathers ^A, but because those who are dead and those who are asleep undergo similar things, so far as concerns repose and oblivion of surrounding things and events, or rather oblivion of their own existence and life. If, then, we do not refuse to call the life of men, which is so full of inequality from birth until dissolution and is interrupted by all the things we mentioned, the same life, we ought not to despair of the life that follows dissolution, which brings with it the resurrection, even if it is for a time interrupted by the departure of the soul from the body.

17. For this nature of man, having received from the Creator and from the beginning an unequal lot by His will, has an unequal life and duration, interrupted now by sleep, now by death, and by the changes of every age, while those things which supervene upon what precedes are not clearly apparent. For who would believe, were he not taught by experience, that in the similar and soft seed there are deposited so many and so great faculties, or the difference of the structures that arise and are compacted together from it—I mean bones, and nerves, and cartilages, and further, muscles, and flesh, and viscera, and the other parts of the body? ^B For it is not possible to see anything of these in the still moist seeds, nor does anything of those things which supervene upon the perfect appear in infants, nor does that which belongs to those who have passed the age of youth appear in these, nor does the appearance of the aged appear in them. Although, however, some of the things mentioned do not exhibit the natural sequence and the changes that supervene upon human nature in any way at all, while others exhibit them only obscurely, yet all who are not blinded by wickedness or sloth in judging these matters know that, first, there must be the sowing of the seeds, and when these have been developed into each part and member, and the fetuses have been brought to the light, there supervenes the growth of the first age, then perfection from growth, then from perfection the remission of natural faculties unto old age, and finally ^C the dissolution of the bodies as they waste away. As, therefore, in this matter, although neither the seed of itself presents the life and form of men, nor life the dissolution into its first principles, the series of natural events creates faith in those things the arguments for which are not delivered to be viewed by the eyes; much more does reason, investigating the truth from the natural sequence, create faith in the resurrection, being safer and better than experience for the confirmation of the truth.

18. Of the things previously proposed for our examination and for the demonstration of the resurrection, all ^D that of the former statements to us.

^A are of the same kind, as having sprung from the same origin (for the principle to them is the generation of the first humans from creation); but some of them are strengthened by that very first origin from which they sprang, while others, following the nature and life of men, receive their faith from God’s providence concerning us (for the cause according to which and for which men were born, being bound up with human nature, derives its strength from creation; but the discourse of justice, according to which God judges men who have lived well or badly 14, derives from their end). For they are born from the former, but they depend more upon providence. When the former have been demonstrated to us as far as possible, it would be well to show the matter proposed also through the latter; I mean through the reward or punishment owed to each of the human beings ^B according to a just judgment, and through the end corresponding to human life; and to place before these very things that which takes the lead according to nature; and first indeed to examine the discourse concerning the judgment, only premising this much for the care of the principle and order becoming to the matters proposed: that those who acknowledge God as the maker of this whole universe must, if they wish to remain in their own principles, assign to His wisdom and justice the guardianship and providence of all things that have come into existence, and, holding such views concerning these things, should consider that nothing at all, neither of the things on earth nor of the things in heaven, is ungoverned or without providence, but rather that a care from Him who made them extends to everything alike, hidden and manifest, small and great. For all things that have come to be 15 have need of the care of the maker, and each one individually according to what it is by nature, and for what it is 16. For I do not think it is a matter of vainglory ^C to bring down 17, or to divide things now, or to wish to enumerate what is profitable to each nature. Man indeed, concerning whom it is now proposed to speak, as he is needy, stands in need of food; as he is mortal, of succession; as he is rational, of justice. If then each of the things mentioned is in man according to nature, and he needs food for his life, and needs succession for the permanence of his race, and needs justice on account of the lawfulness of food and succession, it is necessary, I suppose, that since food and succession are borne toward the composite whole, toward this the man consisting of soul and body ^D must also be borne; and that such a man must be held accountable for all his deeds, and must receive for these either reward or punishment. But if the just judgment brings the penalty for what has been done against the composite whole, and it is right that the soul should not alone receive the rewards of deeds done with the body (for it is not moved by itself regarding those transgressions which come about concerning bodily pleasures or food and care), nor that the body alone should—for this is by itself [...]

^A devoid of law and justice—but the human being composed of both should be called to judgment for each one of his actions. Since reason finds that this does not occur in this life (for the condition according to merit is not preserved in the present life, because many who are atheists and devoted to every iniquity and wickedness remain free from evils until death; whereas, on the contrary, those who demonstrate their own life directed toward every virtue live in pains, insults, slanders, tortures, and calamities of every kind), nor yet after death (for the two are no longer together, the soul being separated from the body, and the body itself being dissolved into the elements from which it was composed, and preserving nothing of its former nature and form, much less the memory of deeds done), it is manifest to everyone that what remains—according to the Apostle—is that this corruptible and dissipatable [part] must put on incorruption ^B, in order that, those things which were dead being enlivened by the resurrection, and those things which were separated, or even entirely dissolved, being again united, each may justly receive what he did through the body, whether good or evil.

19. *Life of men is worse than that of beasts, if the reward which cannot be bestowed in this life, is not bestowed in the other.*

Therefore, against those who confess providence and accept the same principles as we do, but then, I know not how, fall away from their own hypotheses, one might use these arguments, and many more besides, if one wished to expand what has been spoken briefly and in summary. But against those who differ about the principles, it would perhaps be best to posit another principle before these, doubting with them about the very things they opine, and discussing in this manner: Is the life of humans and the entire course of living utterly and altogether despised, and a certain thick darkness poured over the earth, covering by ignorance and silence both the humans themselves and their deeds? Or is it much safer to opine that the Creator stands over His own works, being the overseer of all things that exist or come to be, and the judge of deeds and counsels? For if no judgment at all of things done by humans were to occur, humans would have nothing more than irrational animals; nay, they would act more miserably than them, as those who enslave the passions and are concerned for piety and justice and the other virtues. And the life of beasts and wild animals would be the best; but virtue would be folly; the threat of judgment a loud laugh; and to indulge in every pleasure the greatest good. And the common ^C decree and one law of all these would be that maxim friendly to the intemperate and lascivious: "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." For the end of such a life is not even pleasure, as some opine, but a complete absence of all sensation. But if there is any care for His own works on the part of the One who created humans, and there is preserved somewhere the distinction ^D of those who have lived well or even

^A poorly, whether in the present life, while those who have practiced virtue or vice are still living, or after death, while they are in a state of separation and dissolution. But in neither case can a preserved equity of judgment be found. For neither do the good receive in the present life the rewards of virtue, nor do the wicked those of vice. For I pass over saying that if the nature in which we now exist is preserved, the mortal nature is not able to endure the proportionate penalty for many or more severe transgressions. For he who, as a robber, a ruler, or a tyrant, has killed countless thousands unjustly, would not surely by one death discharge the penalty for these crimes. And he who has held no true opinion about God, but has lived in all abuse and blasphemy, has despised divine things, ^B has broken laws, has forced vice upon boys and women alike, has unjustly razed cities, and has burned homes along with their inhabitants, and has laid waste a region, and together with these has extinguished peoples and nations, or even an entire race—how would he, in a body subject to corruption, be able to pay a penalty proportionate to these things, when death anticipates the fitting recompense, and the mortal nature is not sufficient even for one of the things that have been committed? Therefore, neither in the present life is the judgment shown to be according to merit, nor after death.

20. Either death is the complete extinction of life, as the soul is dissolved and destroyed together with the body; or the soul remains in itself indissoluble, unscattered, and incorruptible, but the body is destroyed and dissolved, preserving no longer any memory of the things that have been done, nor any sensibility of the sufferings ^C it endured on its own account. For if the life of humans is extinguished completely, no care will appear for humans who no longer exist, nor will there be any judgment for those who have lived according to virtue or vice; but the swarm of the difficulties of the lawless life and of the absurdities following from this will roll back again, along with the head of this lawlessness, which is atheism. But if the body is destroyed and each of its parts goes toward its kin among the dissolved elements, yet the soul remains in itself as incorruptible, not even so will the judgment of it have a place, since justice is not present; because it is not right to suppose ^D that any judgment comes from God or by God to which justice is not joined; and justice is absent from a judgment when the one who practiced the justice or the lawlessness is not preserved. For the one who performed each of the things in life, regarding which the judgment is instituted, was a human, not a soul by itself. And to say it in a word, this account keeps no part of justice.

21. For as for achievements being rewarded, unjust is...

it will be clearly an injury to the body, in that it was a participator in the labors undertaken in noble actions, yet is not a participator in the reward for those right deeds; and whereas the soul may often obtain pardon for certain transgressions on account of the body’s indigence and need, the body itself would lose its share in the fruits of those noble actions for which it bore the labors in this life. Furthermore, when transgressions are judged, justice for the soul is not maintained, if it alone is to pay the penalty for things in which, with the body clamoring and dragging it toward its own appetites and motions, it has transgressed—at one time snatched away, as if abducted by theft, at another drawn more violently, and at other times by a sort of concurrence, in the way of favor and care for the preservation of this [the body]. ^B Or how is it not unjust for the soul to be judged by itself concerning those things for which, according to its own nature, it has no appetite, no motion, and no impulse whatsoever—such as lusts, or acts of violence, or avarice, or injustice, and the transgressions arising from these? For if the majority of such evils arise from the fact that men do not master the passions that disturb them, and they are disturbed because of the body’s indigence and need, and the zeal and care for [the body] (for it is for the sake of these that all possessions exist, and before possessions, their use; and furthermore, marriage, and all the activities of life, in which and concerning which what is vicious and what is not is observed), where is the justice in this: that in those things where the body feels the initial impulse and drags the soul into a mutual sympathy and partnership in the activities it requires, the soul alone should be judged? And that the appetites and pleasures, as well as the fears and sorrows—by which all that is immoderate is held liable—should have their motion from the body, ^C but the sins resulting from these and the punishments for those sins should be brought against the soul alone, which neither needs anything of the sort, nor desires, nor fears, nor suffers anything such as a human is accustomed to suffer?

Although we may posit that these movements of the mind belong not to the body alone, but to the human as a whole (which we do correctly, since his life is one, composed of the two), we shall not, however, say that these properly belong to the soul if we contemplate its own nature purely. For if it is altogether in need of no nourishment, it will surely never desire the things it does not need in order to exist, nor will it be carried toward any of those things it is not at all naturally equipped to use; nor, indeed, would it be grieved by a lack of money or possessions, as they are things that pertain nothing to it. ^D And if it is also superior to corruption, it fears nothing at all that could bring it destruction; it does not fear hunger, nor disease, nor the amputation of members, nor a disfiguring mark, nor fire, nor iron—since it can suffer nothing harmful or painful from these, as neither the bodies nor bodily powers touch it at all. If, then, it is absurd to attribute these passions to souls distinctively, [it is also absurd to attribute] the sins arising from them and [the judgments] upon these...

^A to souls alone, as it is most iniquitous and unworthy of the judgment of God.

22. Furthermore, if it is absurd for virtue and vice not to be even conceived of apart from the soul (for we know that it is man’s virtues that are virtues, just as it is also the vice opposed to them, and not as if they were a soul separated from the body and existing by itself), how is it that the reward or punishment for these should be carried out upon the soul alone? Or how could anyone conceive in the soul alone of fortitude or endurance, which has no fear of death, nor of wounds, nor of the mutilation of limbs, nor of loss, nor of injury, nor of the pains resulting from these, or of the suffering arising from them? And how [could one conceive of] continence and temperance, when no desire draws it towards food, or intercourse, or other pleasures and delights, and when there is nothing else either troubling it from within or stimulating it from without? And how [could one conceive of] prudence, when there are no actions ^B set before it to be done or not done, to be chosen or avoided—or rather, when there is no movement at all in it, nor any natural impulse towards any of the things to be done? And where, generally, is justice between souls, or towards anything else of the same or different kind, when they have neither the source, nor the means, nor the method by which they might distribute what is equal according to merit or proportion, except for the reverence and observance due to God? Nor ^C do they have otherwise any impulse or movement towards the use of their own things, or towards abstinence from what belongs to others; for the use of things according to nature, or abstinence [from them], is observed in those who are naturally constituted to use them—but the soul neither needs anything, nor is it naturally constituted to use anything, and for this reason, neither can that which is called the proper functioning of the parts be found in a soul so constituted.

23. And furthermore, that which is most unreasonable of all is to apply the ordained laws to humans, yet to turn the punishment for things done lawfully or unlawfully to souls alone. ^D For if it is he who received the laws who would justly receive also the punishment for wrongdoing, and it is man who received the laws, not a soul by itself, then it is man who must also suffer the punishment for sins, not a soul by itself. For God did not command souls to abstain from things that do not at all pertain to them, such as adultery, murder, theft, robbery, the dishonoring of those who begat them, and every desire universally that results in injury and harm to one's neighbor. For neither is that commandment, *Honor thy father and thy mother*, suitable for souls alone, since such names do not apply to them; for it is not souls [that beget] souls, bringing forth the

^A appellation of father or mother, but men [who beget] men. Therefore, neither could the commandment, *Thou shalt not commit adultery*, be fittingly spoken or understood with regard to souls, since there is no distinction among them of male and female, nor any aptitude or appetite for union. Where there is no such appetite, neither can there be any union. And among those where there is no union at all, there is no lawful union—which is marriage. And since there is no lawful union, neither can there be any unlawful desire or union with another man's wife; for this is what adultery is. Furthermore, the prohibition of theft or the desire for more is not applicable to souls; for they have no need of those things, which those who are in need are accustomed to steal or seize by force on account of their natural want or necessity—such as gold, or silver, or an animal, or anything else serviceable for food, clothing, or use. For everything that those who are in need desire as if it were useful is useless to an immortal nature. But let a fuller discussion of these matters be left to those who wish to examine each point more diligently, or to contend more vehemently with ^B their opponents. For us, since what has just been said and what is in agreement with it to confirm the resurrection is sufficient, it is no longer timely to dwell any longer upon them. For it is not our intention to omit nothing of what could be said, but rather to indicate summarily to those present what should be thought concerning the resurrection, and to adapt to the capacity of the hearers the arguments upon which this dogma rests.

24. The proper end for man cannot be placed in indolence or in pleasures. Having thus far examined the points proposed, it now remains for us to consider the argument derived from the end. This is already apparent and shining forth from what has been said, requiring only as much examination and addition as is necessary, so that we may not appear to leave anything unmentioned ^C from those things just discussed, or to injure the subject matter or the division established from the beginning. For their sake, therefore, and for the sake of those who are occupied with these matters, it would be excellent to note just this: that there must be a proper end for each thing, whether of those things which exist by nature or those which come to be by art. This, indeed, the common notion of all men teaches us, and the things placed before our eyes testify. For do we not see that one end is proposed for farmers, another for physicians, and again another for those things which ^D are produced from the earth, and another for animals nourished upon it, and those generated according to a certain natural sequence? If then one—

^A considers it manifest, and that it is absolutely necessary that for natural or artificial powers, and the acts proceeding from these, there should follow an end in accordance with nature, it is then also absolutely necessary that the end of man, as belonging to a distinct nature, should be separated from the commonality of others. For it is not even permissible to premise the same end for those things which lack rational judgment as for those which act according to an innate law and reason, and which employ a temperate life and justice. Neither, then, could a painless state be the peculiar end for these (for this would be shared also by those who are completely without sensation); nor indeed the enjoyment of those things which nourish or delight the body, and a multitude of pleasures; for then the brutish life would necessarily take first place, and that which is in accordance with virtue would be imperfect. For I consider this to be the end proper to cattle and grazing animals, not to men who possess an immortal soul and employ rational judgment.

^B 25. The peculiar end of man is not that of the soul or of the body, but of the man consisting of both. Whence resurrection necessarily follows. For we do not consider the life or end of either one of these from which man consists, but of him who consists of both. For such is every man who has obtained this life, and there must be some end proper to his life. But if the end is that of both together, and this (as has been often stated) can neither be found while they are still living in this life, due to the causes already mentioned, nor indeed when the soul is in a state of separation—because such a man does not exist, the body being dissolved or even entirely dispersed, even if the soul remains by itself—it is absolutely necessary that the end of man be found in another ^C condition and constitution of the same living being. And since this follows of necessity, there must absolutely be a resurrection of the bodies that have been dead or even entirely dissolved, and those same men must exist again; since the law of nature establishes the end not simply, nor for any men whatever, but for those very ones who have passed through the previous life. But the same men cannot exist again unless the same bodies are restored to the same souls. And the same soul can receive the same body in no other way than by resurrection. For when this has occurred, the end suitable to the nature of men follows. ^D And one would not err in saying that the end of an intelligent life and rational judgment is to abide without distraction in those things to which natural reason is most especially and primarily adapted, and to delight unceasingly in the contemplation of Him who is, and of His law; although most men, being more passionately and vehemently affected by earthly things, continue to miss this. For it does not invalidate the common summons of—

vehemently affected, they do not attain this end. For the multitude of those who fall short of the proper end does not destroy the common lot; since an examination and inquiry of such matters pertains to each individual, and the reward or punishment for a life well or evilly lived is adjusted to each one. ^A

OF OUR HOLY FATHER THEOPHILUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH, THREE BOOKS TO AUTOLYCUS

ANALYSIS OF THE FIRST BOOK

337 This first book contains the conversation had by Theophilus with Autolycus, a man indeed learned, but a worshiper of idols and no friend to the Christians. Since he had mocked the opinion of the Christians concerning God and the resurrection, he gave Theophilus the material to defend both dogmas. Therefore, after Theophilus (n. 1) has grazed upon his arrogance in hawking his gods and his boorish taunts against the name of Christian, he responds to this very request of his (n. 2): "Show me your God." He demonstrates: 1° That God cannot be seen unless the eyes of the heart have been diligently purged. 2° (n. 3, 4), If anyone demands that the form of God be expressed, that this cannot possibly be done, because we can say nothing of God that is not far surpassed by His infinite power. 3° Although God is not seen with the eyes, He is known from providence and works (n. 5, 6). 4° Then finally it will come to pass that we see God, when we have put off mortality and put on incorruption (n. 7).

But because the faith of the resurrection was abhorrent to the mind of Autolycus, Theophilus attempts to bend his incredulous spirit, and proves: 1° That in many arts and various things pertaining to the cultivation of life, nothing can be brought to a successful conclusion without faith (n. 8); how much less ought faith to be denied to God, by whom we were created? 2° He agitates Autolycus because, while he believes that statues are gods and perform wonders, he is unwilling to believe that God, by whom he was created, can create again. 3° Then, with the opportunity offered, he pursues the crimes and shames of the gods, the superstitions of the Egyptians, and the mother of the gods and her sons who are tributary to Caesar (n. 18); from which he concludes that Caesar is much more to be honored than gods of that sort, yet in such a way that he is not at all adored (n. 11). He demonstrates, moreover, that the name of Christian (n. 12) is not, like the gods of Autolycus, worthy of laughter, but signifies a matter most sweet and useful. 4° When Autolycus had requested (n. 13) that someone from the dead be shown to him alive, and had promised that he would believe if he saw one such, Theophilus refers him to Hercules and Aesculapius, and doubts that he would believe even if he saw someone from the dead recalled to life. But yet, to break his obstinate spirit, he objects images of the resurrection in things placed before our eyes, such as in the turnings of days and nights, in the wonderful manner of the birth of fruits and plants, in the waning and rising of the moon, in the restoration of sick men to their former health and form. Finally, he proposes his own example (n. 14) to Autolycus; and just as he himself, once an unbeliever, came to believe, convinced both by the reasons demonstrated above and by the reading of the Scriptures and the most certain event of the prophetic oracles, so he thinks that Autolycus ought to do the same, lest, if he be unwilling to believe usefully now, he believe too late in vain, cast into eternal punishments.

THEOPHILUS TO AUTOLYCUS

BOOK I

1. Autolycus, a defender of idols and a mocker of the Christian name. 1. A glib tongue and elegant diction provide pleasure and praise for the reputation of vain, wretched men who have a corrupted mind; but the lover of

^A truth is not led by varnished language, but inquires into the work of the word, what it is and what its quality may be. Since, therefore, my friend, you have stunned me with empty language, boasting of your gods of stone and wood, carved and cast and molded and painted, which neither see nor hear—for they are idols and works of the hands of men—and furthermore call me a Christian, as one bearing a wicked name, I for my part confess that I am a Christian, and I bear this name which is pleasing to God, hoping to be useful to God. For it is not, as you suppose, an offensive thing, the name of God; but perhaps because you yourself are useless to God, for that reason you think about God in this way.

2. ^B But you also say, "Show me your God." And I might say to you, "Show me your man, and I will show you my God." Therefore, show me whether the eyes of your soul can see, and the ears of your heart can hear. For just as those who see with the eyes of the body perceive what goes on in this earthly life, and examine those things that differ from one another—such as light and darkness, or white and black, or deformed and beautiful, or harmonious and well-proportioned, or discordant and disproportionate, or excessive or deficient; and likewise with things that falls under the hearing, such as high-pitched, deep-toned, or pleasant sounds—so too is it in the case of the ears of the heart and the eyes of the soul, ^C to be able to behold God. For God is seen by those who are able to see Him, when they have the eyes of their soul opened.

^A For all indeed have eyes, but some have them veiled and not seeing the light of the sun; and it is not because the blind do not see that the light of the sun does not shine, but let the blind and their own eyes blame themselves. So also, O man, you have the eyes of your soul veiled by your sins and your evil deeds. As it is fitting to have a polished mirror, so it behooves a man to have a pure soul. When, therefore, there is rust upon the mirror, the face of a man cannot be reflected in the mirror; so also, when there is sin in a man, such a man cannot behold God. Show me, therefore, yourself, whether you are not an adulterer, whether you are not a fornicator, a thief, a robber, a plunderer, a corrupter of boys, contumelious, a slanderer, irascible, envious, arrogant, proud, a striker, ^B covetous, disobedient to parents, or a seller of your own children; for to those who do these things, God does not appear, unless they have first cleansed themselves from every defilement. Therefore, all these things cast darkness upon you, even as a drift of matter—if it should happen to the eyes—prevents them from being able to gaze upon the light of the sun; thus, O man, do your impieties cast darkness upon you, so that you are unable to see God.

8. There is nothing that can be said about God, for it is inferior to His virtue. You say to me then: "Do you, who see, tell me what the form of God is like." Listen, O man: ^C The form of God is ineffable and inexpressible, and cannot be seen by mortal eyes. For it is incomprehensible in glory, ungraspable in magnitude, beyond thought in height, incomparable in strength, unapproachable in wisdom, inimitable in goodness, and indescribable in beneficence. For if I call Him light, I speak of His work; if I call Him word, I speak of His sovereignty; if I call Him mind, I speak of His prudence; if I call Him spirit, I speak of my own breath; if I call Him wisdom, I speak of His offspring; if I call Him strength, I speak of His power; if I call Him virtue, I speak of His operation; if I call Him providence, I speak of His goodness; if I call Him kingdom, I speak of His glory; if I call Him Lord, I speak of Him as Judge; ^D if I call Him Judge, I speak of Him as righteous; if I call Him Father, I speak of Him as all things; if I call Him fire, I speak of His wrath.

You will say to me, "Is God angry?" Most certainly; He is angry with those who do evil, but He is good, and kind, and merciful to those who love and fear Him. For He is the instructor ^A of the God-fearing and the Father of the righteous, but the judge and chastiser of the ungodly.

4. He is without beginning, because He is unbegotten; and He is unchanging, because He is immortal. And He is called God because He has established ^B all things in His own security, and because of His running; for [i]theein[/i] (to run) is [the same as] to move, and to act, and to nourish, and to provide, and to govern, and to give life to all things. He is Lord because He exercises lordship over the whole; Father, because He is before all things; Maker and Creator, because He is the Founder and Creator of all things; Highest, because He is above all things; Almighty, because He Himself holds and embraces all things. For the heights of heaven, and the depths of the abysses, and the ends of the habitable world, are in His hand; and there is no place of His rest. For the heavens are His ^C work, the earth is His creation, the sea is His handiwork; man is His fashioned creature and His image. The sun, and moon, and stars are His elements, brought into existence for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years, for the service and servitude of men; and all these things God made from things that were not into the state of being, so that by the works His greatness might be known and understood.

5. Just as ^D the soul in man is not seen, being invisible to men, but is understood by the movement of the body, so the soul...

^A of God also is not invisible, ^B or rather, God Himself cannot be seen by human eyes, but He is seen and understood through His providence and works. For just as a man who has seen a ship on the sea, fitted out and moving and coming into harbor, will certainly conclude that there is a governor in it who is steering it; so one must understand that God is the governor of all things, even if He is not perceived by fleshy eyes because He is incomprehensible. For if a man cannot look steadily at the sun, ^C an infinitesimal element, because of its overwhelming heat and power, how much more is mortal man unable to look directly at the glory of God, which is inexpressible? For just as a pomegranate, having a rind that encompasses it, has within it many chambers and compartments separated by membranes, and has many grains that dwell within it; so the whole creation is contained by the spirit of God, and the spirit which contains it is contained along with the creation by the hand of God. Just as, therefore, the grain of the pomegranate residing within cannot see what is outside the rind, being itself within; so man, who is contained together with the whole creation by the hand of God, cannot see God. Furthermore, an earthly king ^D is believed to exist, even though he is not seen by all, but he is known through his laws and ordinances, and through his authorities and powers and images; and will you not, then, wish to understand God through His works and powers?

Through authorities and powers, through authorities and powers... [index: entries preserved]

^A the change of times according to the seasons, and the transformations of the air, the orderly course of the elements, the regulated progression of days and nights, and months and years; the varied beauty of seeds and plants and fruits; the manifold offspring of four-footed animals, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of swimming creatures, both those that live in fresh water and those that live in the sea; or the instinct given to these very animals for procreating and rearing their offspring, not for their own use, but for the use of man; the providence which God exercises in preparing food for all flesh, or the subjection which He ordained so that all things might be subject to the human race; the nature of sweet springs and ever-flowing rivers; the supply of dews and rains and showers which occurs at the proper times; the manifold movement of the heavenly bodies, with the Morning Star rising and portending the arrival of the perfect light-bringer, the conjunction of the Pleiades and Orion, ^B and the course of Arcturus and the rest of the stars occurring in the circle of the heavens, to all of which the manifold wisdom of God has given proper names. This is the only God who made light out of darkness, who brings forth light from His treasuries, and who made the storehouses of the south and the treasuries of the abyss and the boundaries of the seas, and the treasuries of snow and hail; who gathers the waters in the treasuries of the abyss and stores up the darkness in His treasuries, and brings forth the sweet and desirable and delightful light from His treasuries; who leads up clouds from the end of the earth and multiplies lightnings into rain; who sends forth the thunder as a terror and announces the sound of the thunder beforehand by means of the lightning, ^C so that the soul, being suddenly disturbed, may not fail; and furthermore, He tempers the intensity of the lightning coming down from the heavens so as not to burn up the earth; for if the lightning were to receive the power to act without restraint, it would burn up the earth; and if the thunder were to do the same, it would destroy everything in it.

7. This too is God, the Lord of all, who alone stretched out the heaven, and set the breadth of the earth under the heaven ^D; who stirs up the depth of the sea and makes its waves sound; who governs its power and calms the surge of the waves; who founded the earth upon the waters, and gave the spirit that nourishes it; whose breath gives life to all things; and if He should withhold the breath to Himself, all things would fail.

^A You speak to Him, man; you breathe His spirit, and yet you do not know Him. This has happened to you because of the blindness of your soul and the hardness of your heart. But if you wish, you can be healed; deliver yourself to the Physician, and He will pierce the eyes of your soul and of your heart. Who is this physician? God, who heals and gives life through the Word and Wisdom. God made all things through His Word and Wisdom; for by His Word the heavens were established, and by His Spirit all their host. His Wisdom is most excellent. God founded the earth by His Wisdom; He prepared the heavens by His understanding; by His perception the abysses were broken up, and the clouds dropped dew. If you understand these things, man, and live purely and holily and righteously, you may see God. ^B But before all else, let faith and the fear of God precede in your heart, and then you shall understand these things. When you shall have put off the mortal and put on immortality, then you shall see God according to your desert. For God shall raise up your flesh immortal with your soul, and then, having become immortal, you shall see the Immortal, if now you believe in Him; and then you shall know that you have spoken against Him unjustly.

8. But it is absurd to be unwilling to believe that the dead are raised. ^A If it occurs, you will then believe even against your will; and your faith will be reckoned as unbelief, unless you believe now. But why do you even disbelieve? Or do you not know that faith precedes all things? For who is able ^B to reap if he does not first entrust the seed to the earth? Or who is able to go to sea unless he first entrusts himself and the ship to the sea? And what sick person can be healed unless he first entrusts himself to a physician? What art or what science can be learned unless one first commits oneself to a teacher? Since, then, you entrust yourself to other men, that you may attain your ends, and to earthly masters, will you not much more entrust yourself to God, who has given you even your being?

^A For first, he made you out of that which was not into being (for if there was no father of yours, nor mother, much more you were not at any time), and he fashioned you out of a moist substance, a small and most minute drop, which itself also was not at any time; and God brought you forth into this life. Then you believe that the images made by men are gods and can bestow blessings, but you do not believe that God, who made you, can also restore you to life?

9. ^B Flagitia et scelera deorum.—As for the names of those whom you claim to be gods and worship, they are the names of dead men. And who and what sort of men were they? Is not Saturn found to be a devourer of his own children? And if you name his son, Jupiter, consider his actions and way of life: first, that he was raised on Mount Ida by a goat, and, as the myths tell, having slaughtered it and flayed it, he made for himself a garment. His other deeds—incestuous intercourse with his sister, adulteries, and the corruption of youth—Homer and the other poets ^C have described better. Why need I recount the rest concerning his sons? Hercules who burned himself; Bacchus, drunken and raving; Apollo, fleeing in fear of Achilles, the lover of Daphne, and ignorant of the death of Hyacinthus; Venus wounded, and Mars, the bane of men, and furthermore the blood flowing from these so-called gods? And these things are mere trifles to mention, when a god is found dismembered, he who is called Osiris, whose mysteries are celebrated every year as if he had perished and were found, and his individual limbs are sought; for it is neither known if he perished, nor is it shown if he is found. What shall I say of Attis being castrated, or Adonis wandering in the woods, hunting and wounded by a boar; or ^D Asclepius struck by a thunderbolt?

[The following contains the scholarly apparatus and notes regarding the text, largely concerning arguments with the pagan critics:]

It is necessary that they should teach what manner of beings these are which they assert [to exist], and whence they originated. Celsus, after having mocked Christians because they are wont to say: "Do not investigate, but believe, and your faith will save you," urges this against them as if they did not prove that these things were delivered and revealed by God: If they were willing to answer me, as to one who is not testing them—for I know all things—but as one who cares for all equally, it would be well; but if they will not be willing, and will say as is their wont: "Do not investigate," it is necessary for them to teach what these things are which they say, and whence they originated.

^A Serapis, the fugitive from Sinope to Alexandria; and Artemis, herself the fugitive from Scythia, and a murderess, and a huntress, and one who succumbed to the love of Endymion? For these things are not said by us, but are proclaimed by your own historians and poets.

10. Superstitions of the Egyptians. The mother of the gods and her sons are tax-payers to Caesar. — What point is there now in enumerating the multitude of animals which are worshipped by the Egyptians—reptiles, and cattle, and wild beasts, and birds, and fish of the river? And in addition to these, even washbasins and sounds of shame? But if you were to name the Greeks and other nations, they worship stones and wood and the rest of matter, as we have already said, being likenesses of dead men. For Phidias is found to have made in Pisa the Olympian Jupiter for the Eleans, and for the Athenians in the acropolis, Minerva. ^B I, too, shall ask you, O man, how many Jupiters are found? For Jupiter is called, in the first place, Olympius, and Jupiter Latialis, and Jupiter Cassius, and Jupiter Ceraunius, and Jupiter Propator, and Jupiter Pannychius, and Jupiter Poliuchus, and Jupiter Capitolinus. And one Jupiter, who is the son of Saturn and became king of the Cretans, has his tomb in Crete; but as for the others, perhaps they were not even deemed worthy of burial. If, however, you also bring forward the mother of those whom you call gods, may it not come to pass that I should speak her deeds through my mouth (for it is forbidden for us even to name such things), or the deeds of her ministers by whom she is served, and how great the taxes and ^C tributes which both she and her sons pay to the emperor. For they are not gods, but idols, as we have already said, works of the hands of men, and unclean demons. May those who make them and those who place their hope in them be as they are.

11. Caesar is more to be honored, to whom the gods pay taxes [ref: Ps. CXVII, 8 and CXXXIV, 18].

real God, knowing that the king was created by Him. You will say to me, therefore: "Why do you not worship the king?" Because he was not created to be worshipped, but to be honored with legitimate honor. For he is not a god, but a man appointed by God, not that he should be worshipped, but that he should judge justly. For in a certain way ^B he has been entrusted with a ministry by God. For indeed he himself does not wish those whom he has appointed under himself to be called kings, for "king" is his own title, and it is not lawful for another to be called by this name; so neither is it lawful for anyone to be worshipped except God alone. Thus, in every respect, you are in error, O man. But honor the king by being well-disposed to him, by being subject to him, and by praying for him. For by doing this, you perform the will of God; ^C for the law of God says: "Honor, my son, God and the king, and be disobedient to neither of them; for suddenly they shall avenge their enemies."

12. As to your mocking me, calling me a Christian, you do not know what you are saying. First, because what is anointed is sweet and useful, and not to be mocked. For what ship can be useful and safe unless it is first anointed? Or what tower or house ^D is beautiful and useful when it has not been anointed? And what man, entering into this life or engaging in a contest, is not anointed with oil? And what work is able to be beautiful and bright unless it is anointed and polished? Furthermore, the air and all that is under heaven is in a certain way anointed with light and spirit; and do you not wish to be anointed with the oil of God? For this reason we are called Christians, because we are anointed with the oil of God.

13. But you also deny that the dead are raised. For you say: "Show me even one who has been raised from the dead, that, having seen, I may believe." First, what great thing is it if you believe, having seen the thing happen?

^A Since you believe that Hercules, who burned himself, is alive, and that Asclepius, who was struck by lightning, was recalled to life, why do you disbelieve the things spoken to you by God? Perhaps I will show you a dead person who has been raised and is alive, and even this you will disbelieve. Now, God shows you many proofs so that you may believe in Him. For if you wish, consider the passing of the seasons and the days and the nights, how they also end and arise. And why not also the resurrection of seeds and fruits that takes place, and this for the use of men? For if it should happen that a grain of wheat or of the other seeds, when it is cast into the earth, first dies and dissolves, then it is raised and becomes a stalk of grain. And does not the nature of trees and fruits, by the command of God, bring forth at the proper times the fruits that were previously hidden and invisible? ^B Furthermore, sometimes a small bird or some other of the feathered creatures, having swallowed a seed of an apple, or a fig, or of something else, has come to some stony hill or tomb, and has excreted it, and that seed, having taken root, has grown into a tree, the very one that had once been swallowed and had passed through such great heat. All these things the wisdom of God works, to show even by these things that God is able to effect the general resurrection of all men. But if you wish to see a more wonderful spectacle taking place for the proof of the resurrection, not only of earthly things, but also of those in heaven, consider the resurrection of the moon, which occurs month by month, how it wanes and arises again. Moreover, hear also of the work of resurrection taking place within yourself, even if you are ignorant of it, O man. For perhaps you have once fallen into a sickness and lost your flesh, and your strength, and your form; but having found mercy and healing from God, you have again received your body and your form and your strength. And just as you did not know where your flesh had gone when it vanished, so you do not know from where it came, or how it arrived. But you will say: "From foods and juices converted into blood." Well; but this too is the work of God who created you in this way, and of no one else. ^C 14. Do not, therefore, disbelieve, but believe; for I too used to disbelieve that this would happen, but now, having considered these things [I believe].

I am not an unbeliever; but rather believe. For I also did not believe that this would happen, but now I do believe, after having considered these things more attentively; and at the same time, because I have met with the holy Scriptures of the holy prophets, who also foretold by the Spirit of God both what had happened in the way it happened, and what is currently happening in the way it is happening, and what is about to come in the order in which it will be accomplished. Having therefore received proof of what is coming to pass and was foretold, I am not an unbeliever; but I believe, obeying God, to whom, if you wish, you also submit, believing in Him, so that you may not, having been an unbeliever now, come to believe only when you are being tormented ^A in eternal punishments. Regarding these punishments, which were foretold by the prophets, the poets and philosophers, having been born later, stole from the holy Scriptures, so that their own doctrines might be considered trustworthy. Yet even they themselves foretold regarding the punishments that were to befall the impious and the unbelieving, so that this might be evidenced to all, so that some might not say, "We did not hear, nor did we know." But if you wish, examine the prophetic Scriptures with zeal; and they will guide you more clearly toward escaping the eternal punishments and attaining the eternal goods of God. For He who gave the mouth to speak, and fashioned the ears to hear, and made the eyes to see, will examine all things and judge what is just, rendering to each according to the worth of their deeds ^B. To those who by patience in good works seek immortality, He will give eternal life, joy, peace, rest, and a multitude of goods, which neither eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has it entered the heart of man. But to the unbelieving and the scornful and those who disobey the truth, but obey iniquity, when they have been steeped in adulteries, and fornications, and sodomy, and greed, and forbidden idolatries, there will be wrath and fury, affliction and distress; and in the end, eternal fire will seize such ones. Seeing that you have added, O friend, "Show me your God"; this is my God, and I counsel you to fear Him and to believe in Him ^C.

ANALYSIS OF THE SECOND BOOK

After that discourse, which is related in the first book, Autolycus urged Theophilus (n. 1) to discourse at greater length upon the Christian religion. Theophilus complies with his request, and in this second book he attempts to demonstrate the foolishness of the superstition to which Autolycus was addicted, and he opposes to it the light of truth blossoming from the books of the prophets. He remarks first (n. 2) how statuaries do not think highly of their own work while they are laboring upon it and polishing it, but adore it once it has been sold and placed in a temple; just so, those who read the genealogies of the gods do not deny that they were men, but nonetheless worship them as gods afterward. He then inquires (n. 5) why the gods have ceased begetting, and why Mount Ida is empty, which ought to be filled with gods. Then (n. 4) he comes to the writings of the philosophers and poets. Among the philosophers, some deny God altogether or abolish [the belief in] providence; others say the world is uncreated, and that there is no God other than each person’s own conscience. Plato himself, who teaches that God is unbegotten and the creator of all things, joins matter with Him as uncreated. Homer traces the origin of the gods from water (n. 3): the opinion of Hesiod is no sounder. His verses concerning the creation of the world (n. 6): he posits matter as unbegotten and prattles about the lineage of the gods: other fables of the Greeks are agitated (n. 7). Certain historians prattle similarly, such as Satyrus, who [traces] the lineage of Ptolemy Philopator to a long ^D

^A series going back to Bacchus. From these things, Theophilus concludes that all writers fall into error, and he confirms this (n. 8) from their dissensions regarding the world and providence, and by way of example he cites some of the poets' contradictory opinions regarding providence. The doctrine of the prophets is far different (n. 9), which he proves were inspired by the Holy Spirit by the outcome of the things they predicted. These, with the highest consensus, taught that the world was created from nothing by God through the Word (n. 10). The description of the work of the six days (n. 11) is from the book of Genesis. From thence, Greek writers drew some things, but corrupted them with error (n. 12). God brings the beginning from the very pinnacle (n. 13): He bestows spirit upon created things, just as he gives a soul to man; He adorns the earth, once the waters were removed, with seeds, flowers, and plants. In these we have an image of the resurrection (n. 14), and in the sea an image of the world. Various considerations are given concerning those things which were created on the fourth, fifth, and sixth days (n. 15, 16, 17). The creation of man (n. 18) holds something singular and excellent: his creation is declared, and he is placed in paradise (n. 19). Theophilus appends (n. 20, 21) what follows in the book of Genesis concerning paradise, the formation of Eve, and the fall of man. Moreover, that God is said to have walked in paradise, Theophilus teaches should be understood of His Word (n. 22). The truth of those things related in Genesis is manifest from the pains of women in childbirth and the state of the serpent (n. 23). After Theophilus has considered the adornment and beauty of paradise (n. 24), he proves against heretics that God is not to be accused for having forbidden Adam the tree of knowledge, or for having inflicted death upon the transgressor (n. 25, 26): for it was not fitting that Adam be created mortal, nor immortal, but capable of either. Ejected from paradise, Adam knew his wife, whom God had formed from his rib, in order that He might exhibit an argument of God's unity and bind conjugal love more tightly (n. 28). Eve gave birth to Cain (n. 29) and then to Abel. The crime and punishment of Cain and his descendants are recounted (n. 30), along with the arts invented by them, about which the Greek writers could say nothing but what was fabulous. By the benefit of the same Scripture (n. 31), we learn the origin of the greatest cities, the division of languages, and the series of the most ancient kings, and how (n. 32) the human race was dispersed over the whole earth. It is in vain (n. 33) that knowledge of such things is sought from the books of the heathens. The prophets taught us not only about the creation of the world, but also transmitted precepts on worshipping God (n. 34) and living righteously, and a specimen of these matters from their books is provided (n. 35). To these are added the verses of the Sibyls (n. 36). Furthermore, the poets themselves have said some things regarding the penalties inflicted for wickedness and many other matters (n. 37, 38) which agree with the prophets.

BOOK II

1. The occasion for writing this book. — Some days ago, most excellent Autolycus, when you were asking me who my God is, and because you had shortly before lent your ears to my discourse, I expounded my religion to you. We departed then, and though our first meeting was somewhat harsh, we went nonetheless as most friendly people to our own homes. For you know and remember that you considered our doctrine to be foolishness. Since you have urged me ^B afterwards—even though I am unskilled in speech—I wish now, through this booklet, to demonstrate to you more accurately the useless labor and vain superstition in which you are held, so that through a few of the histories—which you indeed read, but perhaps do not yet understand—I might make the truth manifest to you.

2. Gods are despised when they are made: they are valued when they are sold. — It seems ridiculous to me that statue-makers, potters, painters, and metal-founders should be molding, painting, carving, and casting, and preparing gods which, once they are produced by the craftsmen, are held in no value by them; but after they have been sold for use in a temple or some house, not only do those who bought them sacrifice to them, but even those who made and sold them come with great zeal and a formal array of sacrifices and libations to worship them, thinking them to be gods, not seeing that they are such as they were when they were made by them: namely, stone, or bronze, or wood, or color, or any other matter. This same thing, ^C indeed, has happened to you who read the histories.

^A lineage of the gods, their genealogies which, when you encounter them, you understand them to be men; but afterwards you call them gods and worship them, not pausing to consider nor understanding that, just as you read that they were born, such also were they begotten.

3. Why do the gods cease to beget, and why is Mount Ida empty? For then indeed, if the gods were born, a fertile generation was found. But now where is the generation of the gods shown? If they were then begetting and being begotten, it is clear that they ought to have continued to be born as gods even up to the present day; otherwise, such a notion will be judged weak. For either they have grown old—and for that reason no longer beget—or they have died and exist no longer. For if gods were born, they ought to be born even until now, just as men are born; nay, more, there ought to be more gods than men, as the Sibyl says: If gods beget, and yet remain immortal, Born gods would much outnumber mortal men, ^B And place for men to stand would not remain.

If, while mortal men of very short lifespan continue to be born until this day, and the begetting of men has not ceased—whence it comes that cities and towns are full, and even the fields are inhabited—is it not much more fitting that the gods, who (as the poets claim) do not die, should beget and be begotten, just as you say the gods were born? And why is the mountain called Olympus, which was once inhabited by the gods, now found desolate? Or for what reason did Zeus once dwell in Ida, and was known to reside there according to Homer and the other poets, while now he is unknown? Why also was he not everywhere, but found [only] in a part of the earth? For he was either neglecting the rest, or he was ^C incapable of being everywhere and providing for all things. For if he were, to speak by way of example, in an eastern place, he was not in a western place; but if, on the other hand, he was in western places, he was by no means in the eastern ones. But for the Most High and Almighty God, and the truly God, it is characteristic not only to be everywhere, but also to oversee all things and hear all things, and is not to be contained by a place; otherwise, the containing place will be found greater than he; for that which contains is greater than that which is contained. But God is not circumscribed by place, but He Himself is the place of all things. Why then did Zeus abandon Ida? Was it because he died, or because that mountain no longer pleased him? ^D And where did he go? Into the heavens? By no means. You will perhaps say, into Crete? Very good; for there his tomb is still visited to this day. Perhaps you will also say that he went to Pisa, where to this day...

posita esse. And if the work of Phidias obtains fame and honor by the hands of men, let us now come to the writings of the philosophers and poets.

^A 4. *Absurd opinions of the philosophers concerning God and the world.* — Some from the Porch deny that God exists at all, or if He does, they say He cares for nothing except Himself. And this folly was utterly pronounced by Epicurus and Chrysippus. Others say that all things happen by chance, and that the world is uncreated and is its own nature, and they dared to declare that there is no providence of God at all; but they say that God is merely the conscience of each individual. Others again dogmatize that the spirit which permeates all things is God. But Plato and those of his school confess that God is unbegotten, and is the Father and Creator of all things; yet they then assume God and matter to be unbegotten, and say that this [matter] has existed and flourished together with God. But if God is unbegotten and matter is unbegotten, then God is no longer the Creator of all things according to the Platonists, nor indeed is the monarchy of God proved, so far as their position goes. Furthermore, just as ^B God, being unbegotten, is also immutable, so too, if matter were unbegotten, it would also be immutable and equal to God; for that which is begotten can be turned and changed, but that which is unbegotten is unturnable and immutable. And what great thing would it be if God fashioned the world out of subject matter? For an artificer among us, when he has received matter from someone, fashions whatever he wishes out of it. But the power of God is made manifest in this, that He makes out of nothing whatever He wishes; just as it is not the power of anyone else, but of God alone, to give soul and motion. For man indeed fashions an image, but he cannot give reason, or breath, or sensation to that which is made by him; but God possesses this in greater measure, the ability to make a creature rational, breathing, and sentient. ^D

Thus also in the act of making things out of nothing—and having made things that exist and whatever He wills, as He wills—God is more powerful than man.

5.

Homer's and Hesiod's opinion concerning the gods.

^A Tell me these things, O Muses who possess Olympian dwellings, from the beginning, and say what first came into being among them. But how could the Muses know these things, being younger than the cosmos? Or how could they relate them to Hesiod, seeing that their father was not yet born?

6. Hesiod’s verses on the origin of the world. — He posits, in a certain manner, the material and the creation of the world, when he says:

Truly first Chaos came into being, and then Earth of broad breast, ever a secure seat for all The immortals who occupy the heights of snowy Olympus, And dark Tartarus in the recesses of the broad-pathed earth, And Love, who is the most beautiful among the immortal gods, ^B Who loosens the limbs, and in the breasts of all gods and all men Subdues the mind and prudent counsel. Out of Chaos, Erebos and black Night came into being; From Night again, Aether and Day came forth, Whom she bore, having conceived them, mingled in love with Erebos. Earth truly first bore one equal to herself, Starry Heaven, that he might cover her on all sides, So that it might be for the blessed gods a secure seat forever; She bore besides the high mountains, the graceful haunts ^C Of the Nymphs, who inhabit the hollow mountains. She also bore the unharvested sea, raging with its swell, Pontus, without lovely desire; but afterwards, Having lain with Heaven, she bore deep-eddying Ocean.

Having said these things, he did not even demonstrate by whom they were created. For if there was chaos in the beginning, and a certain unbegotten matter pre-existed, who then was it who arranged it, and regulated it, and transformed it? Whether did matter itself reshape ^D and adorn itself (for Jupiter was born much later, not only than matter, but also than the world and the multitude of men; and furthermore, his father Saturn as well), or was there rather some primary cause that made it? I mean God, from whom it also received its adornment. Moreover, he is found to be babbling in every respect, and contradicting himself; for having spoken of earth and heaven and sea, he intends that the gods were born from them, and from these, in turn, he proclaims certain most terrible men as kin to the gods: the race of Titans, the crowd of Cyclopes and Giants, as well as the demons, or rather most worthless men, of Egypt, of whom Apollonides, also called Horapius, makes mention in the book inscribed *Semenouthi*, and in other histories written by him concerning the Egyptian religion and their kings.

^A Why is it necessary to recount the fables of the Greeks and the waste of labor spent upon them: Pluto the king of darkness, and Neptune descending beneath the sea, and his entanglement with Melanippe, and his begetting of a man-eating son; or of the children of Zeus, how many and how great are the tragedies that writers have composed, and that they themselves recount their lineage, showing that these were born as men and not as gods? Aristophanes the comic poet, in the play inscribed *The Birds*, attempting to discourse upon the creation of the world, said that the constitution of the world first came into being from an egg, speaking thus:

Night with black wings first brings forth a wind-egg.

^B But also Satyrus, in his account of the clans of the Alexandrians, beginning from Philopator, who was also called Ptolemy, declares that Dionysus was the founder of his lineage; wherefore Ptolemy established it as the first tribe. Satyrus speaks therefore as follows: From Dionysus and Althea, the daughter of Thestius, was born Deianira; from her and Heracles, the son of Zeus, I believe, came Hyllus, and from him Cleodemus, from him Aristomachus, from him Temenus, from him Ceisus, from him Maron, from him Thestius, from him Acom, from him Aristomidas, from him Caranus, from him Coenus, from him Tyrimmas, from him Perdiccas, from him Philip, from him Aeropus, from him Alcetas, from him Amyntas, from him Bocrus, from him Meleager, from him Arsinoe; and from her and Lagus, Ptolemy, also called Soter; and from him and Berenice, Ptolemy Philadelphus; and from him and Arsinoe, Ptolemy Euergetes; and from him and Berenice, the daughter of Magas who reigned in Cyrene, Ptolemy Philadelphus.

^C Such, therefore, is the kinship with Dionysus of those who reigned in Alexandria. Whence it is also that the demes are distributed within the Dionysiac tribe: *Altheis*, from Althea, the wife of Dionysus, who was the daughter of Thestius; *Deianiris*, from the daughter of Dionysus and Althea, the wife of Heracles, whence the demes among them have their names; *Ariadnis*, from the daughter of Minos, the wife of Dionysus, the maiden who loved her father. ^D

^A Likewise, *Thestis* is from Thestius, the father of Althea; *Thoantis* from Thoas, the son of Dionysus; *Staphylis* from Staphylus, the son of Dionysus; *Euaenis* from Eunus, the son of Dionysus; *Maronis* from Maron, the son of Ariadne and Dionysus: for all these are sons of Dionysus. But there have been, and are to this day, many other names: from Heracles, those called Heraclidae; from Apollo, the Apollonidae and Apollonii; from Poseidon, the Poseidonii; and from Zeus, the Dii and Diogenae.

8. Dissensions of the Greeks concerning Providence. — And why is it necessary to pursue the rest of this multitude of names and genealogies? Therefore, all who are called historians, poets, and philosophers—and furthermore those who devote themselves to them—are in every way mocking us. For they have composed myths and foolish commentaries about their gods, and they have not demonstrated them to be gods, but humans—some indeed drunkards, others fornicators and murderers. Moreover, concerning the origin of the world, they have handed down accounts that are contradictory and base. First, some asserted that the world is ungenerated, as we demonstrated above. ^B And those who claim it is ungenerated and of a nature peculiar to itself do not agree with those who dogmatize that it is generated. For they spoke these things by conjecture and human thought, and not according to the truth. Others, again, said that there is a providence, and others have overturned the decrees of these men. ^C Aratus indeed says:

From Zeus let us begin, whom we mortals never leave Unspoken; full of Zeus are all the streets, And all the marketplaces of men; full is the sea And the havens; and everywhere we all make use of Zeus; For we are also his offspring; and he, being kind to men, Gives favorable signs, rouses the people to work, Reminding them of life, tells when the soil is best For oxen and for mattocks, tells when the hours are right For planting shrubs and casting all seeds.

To whom, therefore, shall we submit? To Aratus here, or to Sophocles, who says:

Of no one is there clear providence, 'Tis best to live by chance as one might be able.

Homer again does not agree with this, for he says: Zeus increases and diminishes virtue for men.

And Simonides: No one gains virtue without the gods, Not a city, nor a mortal; God is the all-counselor.

^D But there is nothing sound in them.

^A Likewise Euripides: Nothing for men exists without God. And Menander: God alone, then, takes thought for us. And again Euripides: For whenever it pleases God to save, He provides many pretexts for salvation. And Thestius: God willing, even on a wicker raft You are saved. Having said ten thousand such things, they spoke things inconsistent with themselves. Sophocles, for instance, in another place speaks of a lack of providence: A mortal does not escape the stroke of God. Moreover, they introduced a multitude of gods, while also speaking of a monarchy; and they stated that there is providence, yet they said the opposite to those who assert there is no providence. Hence Euripides admits this, saying: We toil much in vain, driven by hopes, Having labors, but knowing nothing. And even unwillingly, they confess that they do not know the truth; but inspired and puffed up by demons, they spoke what they spoke through them. ^B For indeed the poets, Homer that is and Hesiod, as they say, being inspired by the Muses, spoke through fantasy and error, and not by a pure spirit, but a fallacious one. From this it is clearly demonstrated, even if the demons—which are sometimes even to this day adjured by the Name of the true God—are compelled to confess that they are the very same spirits of error, that they are not what they claim to be.

^A but are the demons who even then operated within them. Yet sometimes, certain ones, having sobered their souls, have spoken in accordance with the prophets, so as to serve as a testimony both to themselves and to all men concerning the monarchy of God, the judgment, and the other things they related.

9. Prophets inspired by the Holy Spirit. — For holy men, when they were moved and became prophets by the Holy Spirit, inspired and made wise by God Himself, they became taught of God, and holy, and righteous. Wherefore they were accounted worthy to receive this reward, namely, to become instruments of God, and to receive the wisdom which is from Him, ^B by which wisdom they spoke also concerning the creation of the world and all other things. For they foretold concerning pestilences, and famines, and wars; and not one or two, but many in various times and seasons arose among the Hebrews (as also among the Greeks the Sibyl), and all spoke together in a friendly and harmonious manner, both of things that had occurred before them, and of things that happened in their own time, and of things that are now being fulfilled in our own day; wherefore we are persuaded that things to come will happen just as the former things have been completed.

10. The world created by God through the Word. — And first, they have taught us with the highest consensus ^C that He made all things out of nothing. For nothing was co-eternal with God, but He, being Himself His own place and needing nothing, and existing before the ages, willed to make man by whom He might be known; for this man, therefore, He prepared the world. For that which is created has need of many things, but the Uncreated has need of nothing at all. God, therefore, having His own Word internal within His own bowels, begat Him with His own Wisdom, bringing Him forth before all things. This Word He used ^D as an administrator of His works, and through Him He created all things. He is called "the beginning," because He rules and exercises dominion over all things created through Him. This One, therefore, being the Spirit of God, and the beginning, and wisdom, and power of the Most High, would descend into the prophets, and through them would speak those things concerning the creation of the world and all other things.

^A For the prophets were not present when the world was being created, but the wisdom of God which is in Him 17, and His holy Word which is always present with Him. Hence also, through Solomon the prophet, He speaks thus: "When He prepared the heaven, I was present with Him; and when He made strong the foundations of the earth, I was with Him arranging." And Moses, who indeed lived many years before Solomon 18, or rather the Word of God as his instrument, speaks through him: "In the beginning 19 God created the heaven and the earth." He first named the beginning and the creation, and then He established God; for one ought not to name God aimlessly and without cause. For the divine wisdom knew beforehand that some would babble and name a multitude of gods that do not exist. Therefore, so that the true God might be perceived through His works, and that it might be understood that God created the heaven and the earth and what is in them by His Word, He said: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Then, having spoken of their creation, He clarifies for us: "And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water." These things the divine Scripture teaches in the first place, signifying in a way the created matter 20, brought into being by God, from which God made and fashioned the world.

11. The beginning of the creation is made from light; for light reveals those things which are created and adorned. Therefore He says: "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the light, that it was good" 21—that is to say, it was made good for man. "And God divided between the light and between the darkness, and God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and let it be dividing between water and water. And it came to pass so. And God made the firmament, and God divided between..."

11. The description of the six days' work from the book of Genesis.

which was under the firmament, and between the water which was above the firmament. And God called the firmament heaven. And God saw that it was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, the second day. And God said: Let the water which is under the heaven be gathered into one gathering, and let the dry land appear. And it happened so. And the water was gathered into its gatherings, and the dry land appeared. And God called the dry land earth, and the gatherings of the waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said: Let the earth sprout with a herb of grass, sowing seed according to its kind and likeness, and a fruit-bearing tree, producing fruit, whose seed is in itself according to likeness; and it happened so. And the earth brought forth a herb of grass, sowing seed according to its kind, and a fruit-bearing tree, producing fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind on the earth. And God saw that it was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, the third day. And God said: Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven, for illumination upon the earth, to divide between the day and between the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years; and let them be for illumination in the firmament of heaven, to shine upon the earth; and it happened so. And God made the two great lights, the great light to preside over the day, and the lesser light to preside over the night, and the stars. And God set them in the firmament of heaven, so as to shine upon the earth, and to preside over the day and the night, and to divide between the light and between the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And it was evening, and it was morning, the fourth day. And God said: Let the waters bring forth creeping things of living souls, and birds flying above the earth under the firmament of heaven; and it happened so. And God made the great sea monsters, and every soul of living creeping things, which the waters brought forth according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. ^C And God saw that they were good; and God blessed them saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea, and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth. And it was evening, and it was morning, the fifth day. And God said: Let the earth bring forth a living soul according to its kind, quadrupeds, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kind. And it happened so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the earth. And God saw that it was good. And God said: Let us make man according to our image and likeness, and let them rule over the fishes of the sea, and the birds of heaven, and the cattle, and all the earth, and all the creeping things that creep upon the earth. And God made man: according to the image of God he made him, male and female he made them. And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subject it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the birds of heaven, and the cattle, and all the earth, and all the creeping things, which creep upon the earth. And God said: Behold, I have given to you every seed-bearing herb, sowing seed, which is upon the surface of all the earth; and every tree which has in itself fruit of seed, shall be for food to you: but also to all the beasts of the earth, and to all the birds of heaven,

and to every reptile creeping upon the earth, which has in it the breath of life, every green herb for food. And it was so. And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. And the heavens and the earth and all their host were finished. And God finished on the sixth day His works which He made, and He ceased on the seventh day from all His works which He made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He ceased from all His works which God began to do.

^B 12. No man is able to explain and declare in accordance with its worth the whole account and arrangement of the six days of creation, not even if he had ten thousand mouths and ten thousand tongues; and not even if he were to live ten thousand years, dwelling as a stranger in this life, would he even then be capable of saying anything worthy of these things, because of the exceeding greatness and the riches of the wisdom of God which is in this aforementioned Six Days’ Work. Many writers indeed have attempted it, and have wished to produce a narrative concerning these things, although they took their starting points from hence—either concerning the creation of the world or concerning the nature of man—yet they have not expressed even a single spark of the truth that is worthy. For the things said by the philosophers and writers and poets seem to be trustworthy because they are adorned with fine language, but their speech is shown to be foolish and empty, because there is a great multitude of their babbling, yet not even a casual trace of the truth is found in them. For even if anything they say appears to be true, it has a mixture of error. Just as a deadly poison, when mixed with honey or wine or anything else, makes the whole thing harmful and useless, so too the verbosity found in them is mere wasted labor and a cause of harm ^C rather than benefit to those who are persuaded by it. Furthermore, concerning the seventh day, which all men speak of, but the majority do not know: that among the Hebrews it is called Sabbath, which in Greek is interpreted as "seventh" (or "the number seven"), which indeed is named among every race of men,

^D yet they do not understand the reason why.

^A That the poet Hesiod says that Erebus was born from Chaos, and the Earth, and Love ruling over the gods and men after his own kind, is shown to be a vain and frigid statement, and alien to all truth. For God ought not to be overcome by pleasure; especially since even temperate men abstain from all shameful pleasure and evil desire.

13. But that the same Hesiod draws the beginning of his narrative of creation from earthly things, his thought is human, lowly, and altogether weak, insofar as it relates to God. For man, being beneath, ^B begins to build from the earth, and cannot construct the roof, according to order, unless he has first laid the foundation. But the power of God is seen in this, that He first of all creates things out of nothing, and then creates according to His own will. For things impossible with men are possible with God. Wherefore the prophet testifies that the heaven was the first of all things to be built by Him in the manner of a roof, saying: "In the beginning God created the heaven," which means that by the beginning the heaven was created, as we have already shown. By "earth," he means, by implication, the ground and foundation; by "abyss," the multitude of waters; and by "darkness," the fact that the heaven, ^C having been created by God, covered the waters together with the earth like a lid; and the Spirit, which God gave for the vivification of the creation, just as He gave a soul to man. ^D

[Translating the Latin column, beginning from "hoc genere…"]

In this class, two testimonies of Tertullian are especially to be noted, in which I shall attempt to correct something. He speaks thus in Book I *ad Nationes*, c. 14: "Others more humanely think the Sun is the Christian God, because it is known that we offer prayer towards the part of the east, or make a day of joy for the sun. What do you do less? Do not very many of you sometimes, through an affectation of worship, move your lips to the beginnings of the sun? You are certainly the ones who have received the sun into the register of seven days, and have chosen it out from the days, on which day you withdraw from the bath, or defer it until evening, or provide for leisure and a feast. Which indeed you do, wandering away also yourselves from your own into foreign religions. For the Jews have their festivals, sabbaths, and the pure supper, and Jewish rites of lamps, and fasts with unleavened bread, and coastal prayers, which are certainly foreign to your gods." Wherefore, to return from this digression, you who reproach us with the sun and its day, recognize the proximity; we are not far from your Saturn and sabbaths. There are two things in this testimony easy to observe. 1st: That the Sabbath is observed among the Gentiles not without some imitation of the Jewish institution. 2nd: That in this matter the Gentiles are not far removed from Christians, both because the Sabbath is near to the day of the sun, and because both prefer one day over the other six. Wherefore these words: "And you have chosen it out from the days, on which day," etc., ought not to be referred to the day of the sun but to the Sabbath, and the discourse will be much more accurate if we read: "And out of the six days you yourselves have chosen it, on which day," etc. The same in *Apologet.* c. 16: "And if we indulge in the day of the sun as a day of joy," he says, "for a reason far other than the religion of the sun; in the second place we are from those who appoint the day of Saturn for leisure and food, wandering away also themselves from the Jewish custom, which they do not know." It seems to me clearer than light that it should be read "according to the Jewish custom" (*ad Judaicum morem*), and I greatly wonder why Samuel Petitus, in the *Commentary on the Attic Laws*, p. 4, corrects the book *ad Nationes* from the *Apologeticus* and in the above testimony reads "wandering away also yourselves from your own, from [others], by religion."

^A mingling the thin with the thin. For the spirit is thin and the water is thin, so that the spirit might nourish the water, and the water, together with the spirit, might nourish the creation, showing itself everywhere. The spirit, indeed, holding the type of light, served as a mediator between the water and the heaven, so that the darkness should not, in some way, have fellowship with the heaven, which was nearer to God, before God had said: "Let there be light." ^B For the heaven was like a vault, containing matter like a clod. For another prophet, by name Isaiah, has spoken concerning the heaven, saying: "It is this God who made the heaven as a vault, and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in." The arrangement, therefore, of God—this is His Word—shining like a lamp in a closed room, illuminated that which is under heaven, having made it apart from the world; and God called the light "day," but the darkness He called "night." Since, indeed, man would not have known to call the light "day," or the darkness "night"—nor even the rest—if he had not received the naming from God who made them.

On the first premise, therefore, of the history and creation of the world, the holy Scripture speaks not of this firmament, but of another heaven, ^C invisible to us, after which this heaven, visible to us, is called a firmament, upon which half of the water was taken up, so that it might be for humanity unto rains, and showers, and dews. The other half of the water was left on the earth unto rivers, and fountains, and seas. Since, therefore, the water still covered the earth, especially its hollow places, God made, through His Word, the water to be gathered into one gathering-place, and the dry land to become visible, having previously been invisible. The earth, therefore, having become visible before it was [fully] organized, God then prepared and adorned it through every kind of grass, and seeds, and plants.

^A Consider further the variation and diverse beauty and abundance in these things, and how through them the resurrection is demonstrated, as a model of the resurrection of all mankind that is to come. For who, upon reflecting, would not marvel that a fig tree grows from a fig seed, or that from other minute seeds emerge trees of vast size?

We say that the world is a likeness to the sea. For just as the sea, if it did not have the inflow and contribution of rivers and springs for its nourishment, would have long since dried up and withered because of its saltiness: so too the world, if it had not the law of God and the prophets—flowing and springing forth with sweetness, and mercy, and righteousness, and the teaching of the holy commandments of God—would have long since perished because of the wickedness and sin that abound in it.

And just as in the sea there are some islands that are habitable, well-watered, and fruitful, possessing harbors and ports so that those tossed by the storm may have refuge in them: so God has given to the world, which is surging and storm-tossed by sins, synagogues—I speak of the holy churches—in which, as in safe harbors on islands, are the teachings of the truth; to which those who wish to be saved take refuge, becoming lovers of the truth and desiring to escape the wrath and judgment of God.

And just as, on the other hand, there are other islands—rocky, waterless, barren, full of wild beasts, and uninhabitable, set there to the ruin of seafarers and those overtaken by storms, where ships are broken and those who land perish utterly: so it is with the doctrines of error—I mean the heresies—to which those who approach perish entirely. For they are not led by the word of the truth as their guide; but just as ^B pirates, ^C when they have filled their ships, drive them toward the aforementioned places in order to destroy them there, the same happens to those who stray from the truth, so that they are brought to ruin by error.

15. Of the fourth day.

^A For the things that are later cannot create those that are prior to them. But these hold the pattern and emblem of a great mystery. For the sun is in the likeness of God, but the moon of man (45). And just as the sun far excels the moon in power and glory, so does God far excel humanity. And just as the sun always remains full, never becoming less, so does God always remain perfect, being full of all power, and understanding, and wisdom, and immortality, and all good things. But the moon wanes each month, and in a sense dies, being in the likeness of man; then it is reborn and increases as an emblem of the future resurrection. Likewise, the three days of the luminaries (46) that have passed are emblems of the Trinity: of God, and of His Word, and of His Wisdom. And in the fourth place (47) is man, who needs light, so that there may be God, Word, Wisdom, man. For this reason also, on the fourth day, the luminaries were created. The position of the stars contains the arrangement and order of those who are righteous and pious, and who keep the law and the commandments of God. For the conspicuous and brilliant stars are in imitation of the prophets; for this reason they remain fixed, not shifting ^B from place to place (48). Those that hold a different position of brightness are emblems of the people of the righteous. But those that shift and flee from place to place, which are also called wandering stars, are themselves emblems of those who depart from God, having abandoned (49) the law and His commandments.

16. On the fifth day, living creatures were produced from the waters; through which, even in these things, the manifold wisdom of God is demonstrated. For who could enumerate the multitude and the infinitely varied offspring that are in them? Furthermore, those things which were produced from the waters were blessed by God, so that this also might be an emblem of men who were to receive repentance and remission of sins through water and the laver of regeneration, all who approach the truth and are reborn and receive a blessing from God. But even the sea-monsters and the carnivorous birds are in the likeness of ^D covetous men and transgressors. For just as the water-creatures and the winged creatures, while being of one nature, some remain in that which is according to na-

nature, doing no injury to the weaker ones, but keeping the law of God and living upon the seeds of the earth; while others among them transgress the law of God by eating flesh and doing violence to those weaker than themselves: so too the righteous, who keep the law of God, bite or injure no one, living holily and justly. But the rapacious, the murderers, and the impious are like the sea-monsters, wild beasts, and carnivorous birds; for they in a manner devour those who are weaker than themselves. ^B The race of water-creatures and of reptiles, though it has become a partaker of the blessing of God, has yet obtained nothing peculiar.

17. *On the sixth day.* — But when on the sixth day God had made the quadrupeds, wild beasts, and terrestrial reptiles, He is silent about the blessing, reserving it for man, whom He was about to create on the sixth day. There are also quadrupeds and wild beasts that are an image of certain men who are ignorant of God, live impiously, mind earthly things, and do no penance. For those who turn away from iniquities and live justly, like birds, soar up in their soul, minding the things that are above and pleasing the will of God. ^C But those who are ignorant of God and live impiously are like birds that indeed have wings, but cannot fly upwards and run to the heights of the Divinity. Thus, even these are called men, yet they mind base and earthly things, weighed down by their sins. Now the animals are called *wild beasts* (θηρία) ^D from the fact of being hunted (θηρεύεσθαι); not because they were evil or venomous from the beginning—for nothing evil was created by God, but all things were good, and very good—but the sin that pertains to man has made them evil. For when man transgressed, they also transgressed with him. For just as when the master of a house acts rightly, he necessarily causes his servants to live in good order; but if the lord sins, the servants also sin along with him: in the same way, it happened that man, who was lord, sinned, and his servants sinned with him. When, therefore, man returns again to his natural state and puts an end to sin, the wild beasts will return to their state as in the beginning ^A (57)...

^A and will be restored to their original gentleness.

18. The creation of man. — What relates to the creation of man is too great to be recounted by man, even though what the divine Scripture reports concerning it is very brief. For when God says: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness," He first reveals the dignity of man. For when God had made all things by His Word, and considered all things as secondary, He deemed only the creation of man worthy to be the work of His own hands. Furthermore, God is even found speaking as if He needed assistance: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness." Yet He speaks of "making" to no other than to His own Word and His own wisdom. And having made him and blessed him that he might increase and fill the earth, He subjected all things to his power and authority; and He commanded ^B from the beginning that he should live upon the fruits of the earth, and upon seeds, and herbs, and fruits of trees, while at the same time commanding animals to have their share of food with man, that they too might eat of all the seeds of the earth.

19. Declaration of the creation of man and his being placed in paradise. — When God had thus finished the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them on the sixth day, He rested on the seventh day from all His works which He had made. Then the holy Scripture summarizes what it had hitherto said: "This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth, when they were made, in the day that God made the heaven and the earth, and every green thing of the field before it was made, and every grass of the field before it sprang up. For God had not rained upon the earth, and there was no man to till the earth." By these words He signified to us that the whole earth at that time was watered by a divine fountain, and that there was no need for man to till it; but that all things sprouted forth ^C of their own accord by the command of God, so that man might not toil in labor. And in order that the fashioning might be shown, so that no insoluble question might seem to arise among men, since it had been said by God, "Let us make man," and yet his fashioning had not been declared...

^A thus the Scripture teaches us, saying: "A fountain went up from the earth, and watered the whole face of the earth; and God formed man of dust from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul." ^B Whence also the soul is called immortal by the majority. And after God had formed man, He chose for him a garden in the eastern places, preeminent in light, transparent with a more splendid air, and fruitful with all kinds of trees, in which He placed the man.

20. The words of the holy history, the Scripture reports thus:

The Creation of Paradise

21. Regarding man's fall. — But the serpent was craftier than all the beasts of the earth, which the Lord God had made. And the serpent said to the woman: Why...

^A did God say, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent: Of every tree of the garden we will eat; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God said: You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman: You shall not surely die. For God knew that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil. And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes to see, and beautiful to behold; and taking of its fruit, she ate, and gave also to her husband with her, and they ate. And the eyes of both were opened, and they knew ^B that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made for themselves loincloths. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the evening, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in the midst of the tree of the garden. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where are you? And he said to him: I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself. And he said to him: Who told you that you were naked, unless you ate of the tree, from which I commanded you alone not to eat? And Adam said: The woman whom you gave to me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate. And God said to the woman: Why have you done this? And the woman said: The serpent deceived ^C me, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because you have done this, you are cursed from all the beasts of the earth; upon your breast and your belly you shall go, and earth you shall eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall watch your head, and you shall watch his heel. And to the woman he said: I will multiply your pains and your groaning; in pain you shall bring forth children, and toward your husband shall be your turning, and he shall rule over you. And to Adam he said: Because you listened to the voice of your wife, and ate of the tree of which I commanded you alone not to eat, and you ate of it; cursed is the ground in your ^D works; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the grass of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread, until you return to the ground from which you were taken; for earth you are, and to earth you shall return.

Such, then, are the words of the holy Scripture concerning the history of man and of paradise.

^A 22. Why God is said to walk. — You say to me, then: "You were saying that God cannot be contained in a place; how then do you now say that He walks in paradise?" Hear what I reply: God and the Father of the universe is indeed uncontainable—and is not found in a place, for there is no place of His rest—but His Word, through whom He made all things, being His power and His wisdom, assuming the person of the Father and Lord of the universe, this One came into paradise in the person of God and conversed with Adam. Indeed, divine Scripture itself teaches us that Adam said he had heard a voice. But what is this voice other than the Word, who is also His Son? — not as poets and mythologizers speak of sons of gods begotten by intercourse, but as truth narrates: the Word who always existed as innate in the heart of God. For before anything was, He had Him as a counselor, being His own mind and prudence. But when God willed to make what He had planned, He begot this Word ^B as uttered, the firstborn of all creation, not having emptied Himself of the Word, but having begotten the Word, and constantly conversing with His Word. From this, the holy Scriptures and all those who were inspired by the Spirit teach us, from whom John says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God" — showing that in the beginning God alone was, and in Him was the Word. Then he says: "And the Word was God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made." Therefore, the Word, being God and born from God, whenever the Father of the universe wills, He sends Him to some place, and He, having arrived, is both heard and seen, being sent by Him, and is found in a place ^C.

23. The truth of those things related in Genesis. — God, therefore, created man on the sixth day, but made his formation manifest after the seventh day, when He had also made paradise, so that he might be in a better place,

and one of varied excellence. And that these things are true, the very work itself ^A demonstrates. For how is one not able to observe the pains which women suffer in childbirth, and after this they fall into forgetfulness of the pain, so that the word of God may be fulfilled, for the human race to increase and multiply? Why, too, is the condemnation of the serpent not observable, how he happens to be loathsome, crawling upon his belly, and eating dust, so that this also serves as proof to us of the things previously said?

24.

The beauty of Paradise.

^A *to work it* (76), it signifies no other labour than the keeping of the commandment of God, so that by not disobeying he might not destroy himself, just as he did destroy himself through sin.

25. *God is not to be accused for having forbidden eating of the tree of knowledge.* — The tree of knowledge was indeed good, and its fruit was good. For it was not, as some suppose, that the tree had death, but rather disobedience. For there was nothing else in the fruit except knowledge; and knowledge is good if one uses it properly. As for his age, Adam was still an infant (77), and therefore he was not yet able to receive knowledge worthily. For even now, if a child is born, it cannot immediately eat bread, but is first nourished with milk, and then, as age progresses, it comes to solid food. The same thing would have happened to Adam; for which reason God did not forbid him to eat of the knowledge ^B out of envy, as some suppose. Moreover, He also wished to test him, to see if he would become obedient to His commandment. At the same time, He also wished the human being to remain simple and sincere in his infancy for a longer time. For this is holy not only before God, but also before men, to be in simplicity and innocence subject to one's parents. And if children ought to be submissive to their parents, how much more to God, the Father of all! Furthermore, it is unseemly for infant children to be wiser than their age requires; for just as one grows in age by certain steps, as it were, so also in wisdom. Finally, when the law prescribes that one should abstain from something, and someone does not obey, it is clear that it is not the law that provides the punishment, but the disobedience and the transgression. For a father sometimes forbids his child certain things, and if he does not obey the paternal command, he is beaten and receives punishment on account of the disobedience. And it is not the things themselves that are the blows, but the disobedience brings ^C reproach upon the one who disobeys (81). So too, for the first-formed man, disobedience brought about his being cast out of paradise; not, however, as if the tree of knowledge contained anything evil, but through the disobedience, the human being drew forth toil, pain, grief, and finally fell under death.

26. *God’s great benefit to the first-formed man (82).*

^A And this God granted to man: that he should not remain forever in sin, but as if by a kind of exile, He cast him out of Paradise, so that by means of the punishment, having paid the penalty for his sin within a fixed time and having been chastened, he might afterwards be recalled. Wherefore, since man was formed in this world, it is written with mystery in Genesis that he was twice placed in Paradise, so that the one time might be fulfilled when he was once placed there, and the second time is to be fulfilled after the resurrection and judgment. Furthermore, just as any vessel, when once fashioned, if it has any defect, is recast or remade so that it becomes new and entire, so does this happen to man through death. For he is shattered into potentiality, that he may be found whole in the resurrection—I mean, spotless, righteous, and immortal. And His calling and saying to God, "Adam, where are you?" God did not do this as one who does not know, but being long-suffering, He gave him an occasion for repentance and confession.

^B 27. Was the human being made mortal by nature? By no means. What then, immortal? We do not say that either. But someone will say, "Was he made nothing at all?" We do not say that either. Therefore, he was made neither mortal by nature, nor immortal. For if He had made him immortal from the beginning, He would have made him God. Again, if He had made him mortal, God would have seemed to be the cause of his death. Neither mortal, then, did He make him, nor immortal, but as we said above, ^C capable of both. But to us someone will say: Was Adam made of mortal nature? Not at all. Was he immortal? No more so. Was he nothing then? We do not say that either. Therefore he was made neither of mortal nature nor immortal. For if He had made him immortal from the beginning, He would have made him God. Again, if He had made him mortal, God would have seemed the cause of his death. Therefore He made him neither immortal nor mortal, but as I said above, capable of both. But to us someone will say: Was Adam made of mortal nature? Not at all. Was he immortal? Not at all. Was he nothing, then? Not that either, I think. Therefore, he was not made naturally mortal, nor immortal. For if He had made him immortal from the beginning, He would have made him God. Again, if He had made him mortal, God would have seemed the cause of his death. Therefore, He did not make him immortal, nor mortal, but as I have said above, capable of both, so that he might increase ^D and fulfill his duty.

[alt-version omitted]

^A of immortality, and by keeping the commandment of God might receive from Him the reward of immortality, and become a god; but if, on the other hand, he should turn to things leading to death, disobeying God, he would himself be the author of his own death. For God made man free and independent. And what he had brought upon himself through negligence and disobedience, God now grants back to him through His own kindness and mercy, if he obeys Him. For just as man by disobedience brought death upon himself, so, by obeying the will of God, whoever wishes can procure for himself eternal life. For God has given us a law and holy commandments, which all who perform can be saved, and having attained the resurrection, can inherit incorruption. ^B

28.

Why Eve was formed from Adam's rib.

it comes that for the sake of their wives many often become liable even unto death. ^A This Eve, because she was deceived from the beginning by the serpent and became the originator of sin, the evildoing demon—who is also called Satan, who at that time spoke to her through the serpent, and who even until now works in those who are possessed by him—calls out "Eve." But the demon is also called "dragon," because he fled away from God; for he was an angel in the beginning. And regarding him the discourse is long; wherefore for the present we shall omit the explanation of this matter, for we have discoursed concerning him elsewhere.

29. When therefore Adam knew his wife Eve, she conceived and bore a son, whose name was Cain, and she said: "I have acquired a man through God." And she added further to bear a second, whose name was Abel, who began to be a shepherd of sheep; but Cain worked the earth. Now the things pertaining to them contain much history, indeed an economy of interpretation; wherefore this book, which is inscribed *Genesis of the World*, can instruct most accurately those who love learning in the details of the history. When therefore Satan saw not only Adam and his wife living, but that they had also begotten children, for which reason he was not able to bring death upon them, being stung with envy, when he saw Abel pleasing God, he spurred on and led his brother, who is called Cain, to kill his brother Abel. ^B And thus the beginning of death came into this world, to travel even until now upon every race of men. But God, being merciful and wishing to provide an opportunity for repentance and confession to Cain, just as also to Adam, said: "Where is Abel thy brother?" But Cain answered God disobediently, saying: "I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?" Thus, having been angered at him, God said: "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood cries to me from the earth, which opened its mouth to receive the blood of thy brother from thy hand. Groaning and trembling shalt thou be upon the earth." From that time the earth, struck with fear, no longer receives the blood of a man, nor even that of any animal. ^C Whence it is evident that it is not the earth that is the cause, but the man who transgressed.

30. Cain also had a son whose name was Enoch; and he built a city, which he named after the name of his son, Enoch. From that time was the beginning...

of the building of cities, and this before the flood; not as Homer ^A lies, saying: *For not yet had a city of distinct-languaged men been built.* And to Enoch was born a son named Gaidad, who begat him who is called Meel, and Meel begat Mathusala, and Mathusala begat Lamech. And Lamech took unto himself two wives, whose ^B names were Ada and Sela. From that time there was a beginning of the multiplication of wives, and also of music. For to Lamech were born three sons, Obel, Jubal, and Thobel. And Obel became a man who tended flocks in tents; but Jubal is he who discovered the psaltery and the cithara; and Thobel became a hammerer, a smith of copper and iron. Up to this point, therefore, the seed of Cain possesses a genealogy. As for the rest of his progeny, because he had slain his brother, oblivion has blotted them out. But in place ^C of Abel, God gave Eve to conceive and bring forth a son, who is called Seth; from whom the remaining race of men travels until this day. And if those who are desirous of learning wish to know all the generations, it is easy to demonstrate them through the Holy Scriptures. For in part, a discourse has already been produced by us in another book, as we said above, concerning the order of the genealogy in the first book of the Histories. ^D All these things the Holy Spirit teaches us, who spoke through Moses and the other prophets, so that our writings—the writings of those of us who worship God—are discovered to be more ancient than all writers and poets, and at the same time demonstrated to be more true. Moreover, as for music, some have foolishly prated that Apollo was its inventor; others say that Orpheus discovered music from the sweet harmony of birds. But their speech is shown to be vain and empty; for these men lived many years after the flood. As for the things concerning Noah, who by some is called Deucalion, the account is given by us in the book which we mentioned, which you also may consult if you wish.

31. Origin of cities, division of tongues, series of kings. —After the flood, there was again a beginning of cities and kings, in this manner. The first city was Babylon, then Orech, and Archath and Chalane in the land of Senaar. And there was a king over them named Nebroth. From these went forth he who is called Assur, whence also the Assyrians are named. And Nebroth built the cities of Ninive and Roboom and Calae and Dasen, which is situated between Ninive and Calae.

^A Now, Ninive was a great city in the beginning. And another son of Sem, the son of Noe, by name Mesraim, begot the Ludonim, and those who are called Enemigim, and the Labiim, and the Nephtaliim, and the Patrosoniim, from whom the Philistiim came forth. We have therefore summarized the three sons of Noe, and their family line and genealogy, in the book which we have mentioned before. And now we shall call to mind the things that were omitted, concerning both cities and kings, and the things that came to pass when there was one lip and one language. Before the languages were divided, those cities which we have written down above had been built. But when that time was near that men should be dispersed into different parts, they took counsel of their own accord, and not according to the judgment of God, to build a city and a tower whose top should reach to heaven, so that they might make for themselves a name of glory. Since, therefore, they had dared to perform a heavy work contrary to the purpose of God, God cast down their city and destroyed the tower. From that time forth, He changed the languages of men, giving to each a different dialect. The Sibyl clearly indicated this when she announced that wrath was about to come upon the world; she spoke as follows: ^B

But when the threats of the great God are fulfilled, Which He once threatened to mortals, when they built a tower In the land of Assyria; for all were of one language, And they wished to ascend to the starry heaven. Straightway the Immortal laid a great constraint upon The winds; and the winds cast down the great and high tower, And they stirred up strife among mortals against one another. But when the tower fell, and the languages of men Were divided into many dialects of mortals, The earth was filled with mortals, as kings were divided. And the things that follow. These things, then, came to pass in the land of the Chaldeans. ^C But in the land of Chanaan there was a city named Charra. And in those times, the first king of Egypt was Pharao, who was also named Nechaoth by the Egyptians, and thus the succeeding kings came to be. But in the land of Sennaar, among those called Chaldeans, the first king was Arioch; and after him another, Ellasar; then Chodollagomor, king of Elam, then Thargal, king of ^D

the nations called Assyrians. But there were five other cities in that part which Cham, the son of Noah, possessed: the first, the one called Sodom; then Gomorrah, Adama, and Seboim, and the one called Segor. ^B And these are the names of their kings: Ballas, king of Sodom; Barsas, king of Gomorrah; Senaar, king of Adama; Hymor, king of Seboim; Balac, king of Segor, which is also called Kephalac. These served Chodollagomor, the king of the Assyrians, for twelve years. But in the thirteenth year they revolted from the Assyrian, and so it happened then that the four kings of the Assyrians joined battle against the five kings. This was the first origin ^C of wars on earth; and they struck down the giants of Caranain and the powerful nations with them in the city, and the Chorræans who dwelt in the mountains called Seir, as far as the so-called Terebinth of Pharan, which is in the desert. At that same time there was a righteous king named Melchisedech in the city of Salem, which is now Hierosolyma. He was the first of all the priests of God Most High; and by him the city was named Jerusalem, which we previously called Hierosolyma. From him also priests appeared throughout the whole world. After him, Abimelech reigned in Geraris; and after him, another Abimelech. Then reigned Ephron, surnamed the Chettæan. The names of the first kings, therefore, are as we have set forth. But the rest of the kings of the Assyrians, who reigned after many years had passed, have been passed over in silence, all writers commemorating only the times closer to our own age. Now the kings of the Assyrians were Teglaphasar, and after him Salmanasar, then Sennacherim. The triarch of the latter was Adramelech the Ethiopian, who also obtained the kingdom of Egypt; although these things, as far as our writings go, are altogether recent.

^D 32. From this, therefore, those who are studious of learning and ancient history can pass judgment that those things which are spoken by us without the holy prophets are recent. For when in these earliest times there were few men in the land of Arabia and Chaldea, after their languages were divided, they began little by little to grow and to multiply over all the earth.

^A And some inclined to dwell in the east, others in the parts of the great continent and the north, so as to extend even to the Britons in the Arctic climates. Others inhabited the land of Canaan, and Judea, and Phoenicia, as it was called, and the parts of Ethiopia, and Egypt, and Libya, and the so-called torrid zone, and the regions extending to the west; and the rest held those tracts which stretch from the seacoast and Pamphylia, and Asia, and Greece, and Macedonia, and, to finish, Italy, and the so-called Gauls, and Spains, and Germanies; so that now the whole world is filled with its inhabitants. Since, therefore, the habitation of men upon the earth was tripartite in the beginning—in the east, and the south, and the west—afterward the other parts of the earth also began to be inhabited as men became numerous. ^B Being ignorant of these things, the writers desire to call the world spherical, and to compare it to a cube. But how can they speak the truth in these matters, being ignorant of the creation of the world and its habitation? As men increased in part and multiplied upon the earth, as we have said before, thus the islands of the sea and the other regions also began to be inhabited.

33. Who, then, among those called wise men, and poets, and historians, has been able to tell the truth, having been born long after them, and having introduced a multitude of gods, who were themselves born so many years after the cities, and kings, and nations, and wars? For it behooved them to keep a record of all things, even of those that happened before the flood; and regarding the creation of the world, and the fashioning of man, and the subsequent events, it behooved the prophets among the Egyptians or the Chaldeans, or the other writers, to speak accurately, if indeed they spoke by a divine and pure spirit and announced the truth; and it was necessary for them to have foretold not only the past or the present, but also the things about to happen to the world. ^C Hence it is shown that all the others have been led astray, and that Christians alone have attained the truth, for we are taught by the Holy Spirit, who spoke in the holy prophets and foretold all things.

34. And for the rest, be it your concern, with a well-disposed mind, to investigate the things of God—I mean the things said through the prophets—so that, by comparing what is said by us and what is said by others, you may be able to find the truth. As for the names of the so-called gods, that the names of men are found among them, as we have shown in what is written above from their own histories that they have recorded ^D since the prophets of the Egyptians and the Chaldeans of the Assyrians were the leaders of their philosophy.

^A And their images are formed daily even to this day—mere idols, works of the hands of men. And the multitude of foolish men pays them homage, but they reject the Creator and Fashioner of all things and the Nourisher of every breath, being persuaded by vain doctrines through the error of an irrational tradition handed down by their fathers. Yet God, the Father and Creator of all, did not abandon the human race, but gave a law and sent holy prophets to announce and to show ^B to the race of men that each one of us might awaken and acknowledge that there is one God. They also taught us to abstain from wicked idolatry, and adultery, and murder, and fornication, and theft, and avarice, and false swearing, and anger, and all licentiousness, and impurity; and that whatever a man does not wish to be done to himself, he should not do to another, so that by acting justly he may escape eternal punishments and be deemed worthy of eternal life from God.

35. Specimens of the precepts from the prophetic books.—The divine law forbids, therefore, not only idols, but also the elements, the sun, and the moon, or the other stars to be worshiped, or for homage to be paid to the heaven, or the earth, or the sea, or to springs or rivers; but rather that He who is truly God ^C and Creator of all things is alone to be worshiped 28 with holiness of heart and a sincere mind. Therefore the holy law says: "Thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife." Likewise also the prophets. Solomon indeed teaches us that we should not sin even by a glance of the eyes, saying: "Let thy eyes behold righteous things, and let thy eyelids gaze upon just things." And Moses, who was himself also a prophet, speaks concerning the monarchy of God: "This is your God, who establishes the heaven and creates the earth, whose hands have manifested the whole host of the heaven, and He did not manifest them to you in order that you should go after them." And Isaiah also himself says: "Thus says the Lord God, who established ^D the heaven and founded the earth and the things in it, and gives breath to the people upon it, and spirit to those who walk upon it: this is the Lord your God." And again through him: "I," he says, "made the earth and man upon it. I with my hand have established the heaven." And in another chapter: "This is your God who constructed the ends of the earth; he shall neither hunger, nor grow weary, nor is there any searching of his understanding." Similarly also Jeremiah, and

he makes the rain, and brought forth winds 32 from his treasuries." One may see how friendly and harmonious all the prophets have spoken, announcing by one and the same Spirit both the singular monarchy of God, and the origin of the world, and the creation of man. Moreover, they were also in travail, mourning for the godless race of men; and those who seemed to be wise they put to shame on account of the error and hardening 33 of their hearts. Jeremiah indeed said: "Every man is become foolish by his knowledge; every artisan is put to shame by his graven images; the silversmith 34 laboured in vain; there is no spirit in them; in the day of their visitation they shall perish." David 35 says the same thing: "They are corrupt and have become abominable in their pursuits; there is no one who does good, there is not even one; all have turned aside, together they have become useless." Likewise also Habakkuk: "What does the graven image profit a man, that he carved it, a false imagination? Woe to him who says to the stone: Awake, and to the wood: Be exalted." In like manner also the other prophets of the Truth have spoken. And why should I count the multitude of the prophets, who were many, and who spoke of countless matters in a friendly and consistent way? For those who wish, if they consult their sayings, can accurately know the truth, and not be carried away by the storm of thoughts and laborious trifles. These prophets, therefore, whom we have spoken of, existed among the Hebrews, unlettered men, and shepherds, and simple folk.

Sibyl’s precepts consistent with the prophetic oracles.

But the Sibyl, who among the Greeks and other nations existed as a prophetess, thus at the beginning of her prophecy inveighs against the human race, saying:

Mortals and men of flesh, who are nothing, How quickly you are puffed up, not seeing the end of life 36? Do you not tremble, nor fear God, the inspector of your 37 Highest, the knower, the all-seeing, the witness of all, The all-nourishing, the creator, who placed a sweet spirit In all, and made the guide of all mortals? There is one God, who alone rules, immense, unbegotten.

Omnipotent, invisible, who alone sees all things, Yet He Himself is not seen by any mortal flesh. For what flesh is able to see with its eyes The heavenly and true immortal God, who dwells in heaven? Neither are men, born as mortals, able to stand Opposite the rays of the sun, being men who have Veins and flesh within their breasts. ^A Worship Him alone, the existing guide of the world, Who alone was begotten from the age and existence itself, Self-begotten, unbegotten, holding all things forever, Describing judgment for all men in common light. You shall have a reward worthy of your evil counsel, Because, leaving the true and eternal God To celebrate Him, and to sacrifice holy hecatombs to Him, You have offered sacrifices to demons, to those in the underworld. Driven by pride and madness, you walk, and, leaving behind The straight and even path, you went away through thorns And through ditches. Why do you wander? Mortals, cease from vainly Wandering in darkness and in the obscure, black night; Leave the darkness of the night, and take hold of the light. Lo, here He is clear to all and free from error. Come, do not follow darkness and gloom forever; Lo, the sweet light of the sun shines exceedingly to the sight. Know this, having placed wisdom in your breasts. ^B One God there is, who sends rains, winds, earthquakes, Lightning, famines, plagues, and sad griefs, And snows and ice. And why do I recount them one by one? He governs heaven, holds the earth, He Himself exists. And He said concerning those who are called begotten: If that which is begotten is altogether corruptible, it is not possible for man, From loins and womb, to be formed as God. But God alone, one, most high, who has made Heaven and sun and stars and moon, Fruitful earth and the surges of the sea, High mountains, and perennial springs of fountains; ^C

^A again He brings forth an innumerable great multitude of creatures of the water, And the reptiles of the earth, moving, He nourishes in the wet places, And various beasts, sweetly resonating and stammering, ^B Chestnut-colored, with thin voices, disturbing the air with their wings; And in the ravines of the mountains He placed the wild race of beasts; And He subjected all beasts to us mortals; And He established all as a leader fashioned by God, And subjected to man very various and innumerable things. For what flesh of mortals can know all these things? ^C But He alone, who made these things from the beginning, knows, Incorruptible, creator, eternal, dwelling in the ether, Bestowing a good and very abundant reward upon the good, But rousing wrath and fury against the evil and the unjust, And war, and pestilence, and tearful sorrows. Men, why do you perish, lifted up in vain by the roots? Let it shame you to deify cats and crawling creatures. ^D Is this not madness and frenzy of minds and foolish burdens, If gods steal dishes and plunder pots? And when they should inhabit the gilded heaven and the fat earth, They are seen eaten by worms, and covered over by spiders! You worship serpents, dogs, cats, you madmen, And you honor birds, and the creeping beasts of the earth, And stone idols, and images made by hand, And in the ways, heaps of stones. You worship these, And many other vain things, which it is even shameful to mention. For these gods are deceivers of foolish men, 377 From whose mouth is poured out lethal poison. But His is the life, and imperishable and sempiternal light,

^A And, sweeter than honey to men 70, a joy, Pouring forth 71, to Him alone you must bend the neck, And incline your path through the ages in the company of the pious. Leaving all these things, a cup brimming with justice, Pure, strong, pressed, not tempered, You have all drained it in imprudence and mad spirit, And you do not wish to wake up and come to a prudent mind, And to know the King God, who oversees all things. Therefore the gleam of burning fire comes upon you; You shall be burned in flames forever, throughout the whole day, Suffused with shame because of false and useless idols. But those who worship the true and eternal God, Shall receive as an inheritance life for eternal time, Inhabiting together the lush garden of paradise, Eating sweet bread from the starry heaven: That these things are indeed true, and useful, and just, and dear to all ^B men, is manifest.

37. That those who have acted wickedly must necessarily be punished according to the merit of their actions is something that even some of the poets have declared, as if by an oracle, testifying both to themselves and to those who do iniquitous things, by saying that they are about to be punished. Aeschylus said: For it is owed that he who has done the deed should also suffer. Pindar also himself said: For it is fitting that he who does something should also suffer. Likewise, Euripides: Bear up in suffering 75, for when you did the deed you rejoiced; ^C It is law 76 to do harm to an enemy wherever you may take him. And again the same poet: I consider it the part of a brave man to harm an enemy. Similarly, Archilochus: One thing I know as greatest: if someone brings any evil Upon me, to repay it vigorously. That God sees all things, and nothing escapes Him, but being patient He waits until He judges—on this matter also Dionysius said: The eye of justice, though it seems to look Gently, is always looking at everything 79. That the judgment of God is about to come, and that evils ^D

^A suddenly overtake the wicked, this too Aeschylus signified, saying:

Indeed, evil comes with swift foot to mortals, When one transgresses the bounds of Themis. You see justice voiceless, unseen, As you sleep, and as you walk, and as you sit, It follows immediately or later, obliquely; Night does not cover up what is wickedly done. Whatever terrible thing you may do, believe that someone sees it.

And why not Simonides also?

There is nothing unexpected to men, But in a short time God overturns everything.

Again, Euripides:

Never should one judge the prosperity Of an evil man a secure wealth, Nor the race of the unjust. For time, which has no father, Reveals the wickedness of men ^B.

Again, Euripides:

For the Divine is not senseless, But can understand those who have sworn Evil oaths and have been compelled.

And Sophocles:

If you have done terrible things, you must also suffer terrible things.

Whether, therefore, concerning an unjust oath, or also concerning some other fault, that God is about to examine it, they themselves have almost foretold; or even concerning the conflagration of the world, willing or unwilling, they spoke things consistent with the prophets, although they were born much later, and stole these things from the law and the prophets.

38. For what does it matter if they were the last or the first? It is enough that they themselves also spoke ^C things consistent with the prophets. Now concerning the conflagration, the prophet Malachi has foretold: Behold, the day of the Lord comes like a burning furnace, and it will kindle all the ungodly 39. And Isaiah: For the wrath of God will come like hail borne down with force, and like water dragging in a ravine 30. Therefore, the Sibyl and the remaining prophets, but indeed also the poets and philosophers ^D and...

wise men, have declared ^A regarding justice, and judgment, and punishment; and furthermore also regarding providence, that God cares not only for us who are alive, but also for those who have died, even though all were 91 actually refuted by the truth. And of the prophets, Solomon said regarding the dead: "There shall be healing for the flesh, and care for the bones 31." David says the same: "The humbled bones shall rejoice 32." Consistent with these, Timocles also speaks, saying: "To the dead, a merciful God is gracious."

And so, having spoken about the multitude of gods, these writers descended into monarchianism; and speaking of [a world] without providence, they spoke of providence; and saying there is no judgment, they confessed that there shall be judgment; and those who denied that there is perception after death, confessed ^B it. Homer, therefore, having said: "The soul, like a dream, has flown away 33," says in another place: "The soul, having flown from the limbs, has gone to Hades 34." And again: "Bury me, as quickly as possible, that I may pass the gates of Hades 35."

Regarding the rest of what you have read, I believe you understand accurately how they have spoken. But all these things shall be understood by everyone who seeks the wisdom of God, and is well-pleasing to Him through faith, and justice, and good works. For someone from the prophets whom we have mentioned above, by the name of Hosea, said: "Who is wise, and will understand these things? Prudent, and will know them? Because ^C the ways of the Lord are straight, and the just shall walk in them; but the ungodly shall be weak in them 36." It is therefore necessary for one who is a lover of learning to learn willingly; and accordingly, work at meeting more often, so that by hearing the living voice, you may accurately learn the truth.

ANALYSIS OF THE THIRD BOOK

Since the previous arguments had not broken down the obstinate mind of Autolycus, Theophilus attacks him with a third onslaught, and declares his intention to set the antiquity of our Scriptures before his eyes, briefly and repeated from the beginning, so that finally he might understand that the authors by whose admiration he was held are of no value. For they neither saw with their own eyes what they committed to writing, nor did they learn from those who had seen. And they contend not only among themselves, but also with themselves, and sometimes assert that gods exist, and sometimes deny it; they defend providence and shortly after overturn it. Furthermore, while giving precepts on the honesty of morals, they teach debauchery and adultery, and attribute wicked feasts and horrendous crimes even to the gods themselves. ^D Theophilus would have gladly passed over such matters, which he touched upon in another book; but since he saw that Autolycus was still wavering in his mind, and being swayed by the discourse of insane men who imputed promiscuous intercourse and the feasting upon human flesh to the Christians, and who kept asserting that their doctrine was both new and devoid of arguments, he judged that a more ample disputation concerning the innocence and antiquity of the Christians ought to be undertaken. Thus he demonstrates the most serious marks of these crimes in Greek writers, showing that no suspicion at all clings to the Christians. The most celebrated philosophers teach that one should devour human flesh and not even spare one's parents. Almost all...

those who have written of unknown things, are in a way beating the air. For what benefit did Homer gain from writing the Trojan War, and leading many into deception? Or Hesiod, from the catalogue of the theogony of the gods he names, or Orpheus with his three hundred and sixty-five gods, whom he himself sets aside at the end of his life, saying in his 96 "Testaments" that there is one God? And what did Aratus profit from the celestial sphere of the cosmic cycle, or those who said things similar to him, except for human glory, which they did not even obtain on their own merits? What truth have they spoken? And what did the tragedies profit Euripides and Sophocles, or the other tragedians? Or Menander...

BOOK III

^A 1. Theophilus to Autolycus, greeting. Since authors love to compose a multitude of books for the sake of empty glory—some concerning gods, wars, or historical eras, and others regarding useless myths and the rest of their vain labors—to which you have been devoted until now, and since you willingly endure that toil, but, when debating with me, you still consider the word of truth to be nonsense, believing that our writings are recent and modern: for this reason, I will not hesitate to summarize for you, with God’s help, the antiquity of our own writings, creating for you a short account of these matters, so that you may not be reluctant to read through it, and so that you may recognize the folly of the other writers.

^B 2. For it was necessary for those who write to have either seen these things themselves, concerning which they make assertions, or to have learned them accurately from those who had seen them. For those who write about uncertain things are in a manner beating the air. For what did it profit Homer to write the Trojan War, and to deceive many? Or Hesiod, to compile the genealogy of the gods he names? Or Orpheus, to enumerate the three hundred and sixty-five gods, whom he himself cast aside at the end of his life, stating in his "Testaments" that there is one God? What did Aratus gain from his celestial sphere of the cosmic cycle, or those who spoke the same things as he did, except for human glory, which they did not even attain as they deserved? What truth have they spoken? Or what did the tragedies profit Euripides and Sophocles, or the other tragedians? Or Menander...

Or to Menander and Aristophanes and the rest of the comic poets, to have written comedies? ^A Or to Herodotus and Thucydides, their histories; or to Pythagoras, his adyta, and the pillars of Heracles; or to Diogenes, his cynic philosophy; or to Epicurus, his dogmatizing that there is no providence; or to Empedocles, his teaching of atheism; or to Socrates, his swearing by the dog, and the goose, and the plane tree, and Aesculapius struck by lightning, and the demons that he used to invoke? And why did he die of his own free will? Expecting to receive what kind of wages after death? And what did the instruction according to him profit Plato? Or the rest of the philosophers, their dogmas? So that I may not recount their number, seeing they are many. We say these things to demonstrate their useless and godless frame of mind.

3. *Their inconsistency.* For all these people, having been overcome by vain and empty glory, neither saw the truth themselves, nor did they lead others to the truth. For they are refuted by their own words, inasmuch as they have spoken things that are inconsistent, and the majority of them have dissolved their own decrees. For they do not merely overturn one another, but some of them have already rendered their own decrees invalid; so that their glory has turned into ignominy and folly. For they are condemned by those who are gifted with intelligence. ^B For they either spoke about gods and afterwards taught atheism; or if they also spoke about the generation of the world, in the end they said that all things were the result of spontaneous movement. But even while arguing about providence, they again dogmatized that the world is without providence. And why should one not also mention that, while trying to write about temperance, they taught that lewdness and fornication and adultery should be practiced, and furthermore introduced abominable, unspeakable acts? And they even proclaim their gods to be the first in [practicing] unspeakable—

^A acts; and the other deeds concerning him, which the poets sing, you are likely acquainted with. What need is there for me to recount the matters concerning Poseidon, and Apollo, or Dionysus, and Heracles, and Athena the lustful, and Venus the shameless, when we have dealt with the account of them more accurately in another place?

4. For I would not have needed to refute these things, if I did not see you ^B still wavering regarding the word of truth. For being a man of understanding, you gladly suffer fools. Yet you would not have been moved by senseless men to be led away by empty words, and persuaded by a rumor that has taken hold in advance, [a rumor] from godless mouths falsely slandering us—who are the worshippers of God and are called Christians—alleging that our wives are common to all and that we associate in promiscuous ^C union, and furthermore that we have relations with our own sisters, and, the most godless and cruelest thing of all, that we feast upon human flesh. But they also say that our doctrine has recently come forth, and that we have nothing to say in proof of the truth of our teaching; and they call our word folly. I, then, marvel most of all at you, who, while in other matters you are diligent and an explorer of all things, listen to us quite carelessly. For if it were possible for you, you would not hesitate to spend even the night in libraries.

5. Since, therefore, you have read much, what did you think of those [books] of Zeno or Diogenes, and Cleanthes, whatever their books contain, teaching anthropophagy: that parents should be boiled and eaten by their own children, and if anyone should not wish to eat, or should throw away some limb of that abominable food, the one who does not eat should himself be eaten? In addition to these, a more godless statement is found, that of Diogenes, teaching that children ^D should—

^A offer their own parents as a sacrifice and eat them—O, what madness is this! The historian Herodotus, moreover, weaves a tale that Cambyses slaughtered the children of Harpagus and, having roasted them, served them to their father as a meal. He furthermore tells a story that among the Indians, fathers are eaten by their own children. O the godless teaching of those who wrote down—or rather, who taught—such things! O their impiety and atheism! O the mind of those who have philosophized so precisely and yet profess to be philosophers! For those who dogmatized these things have filled the world with ^B impiety.

6. *On the shameful opinions of the philosophers.* — For there is an agreement among almost all who have strayed into the ranks of philosophy regarding this unspeakable wickedness. And first, Plato, who appears to have philosophized more seriously among them, specifically in the first book inscribed *The Republic*, legislates in a certain way that the wives of all should be common, using as an example the son of Zeus and the lawgiver of the Cretans, so that by providing a pretext, abundant offspring might be born from such unions, and—as it were—to comfort those who are suffering on account of such intercourse. ^C And indeed, regarding this shameful deed, nearly all who have strayed into the choir of philosophy are in agreement. First and foremost is Plato, who is considered to have philosophized more gravely than the others; he explicitly legislates in the first book, entitled *The Republic*, that wives shall be common to all men, using as an example the son of Jupiter and the lawgiver of the Cretans, in order that through a pretext, a numerous offspring may be born from such unions; and as if to provide solace for those troubled by such liaisons.

6. On the shameful opinions of the philosophers

And regarding this abominable crime, there is almost universal agreement among those who have wandered from the choir of philosophy. First of all Plato, who among them appears to have philosophized most gravely, explicitly ordains in the first book entitled *The Republic* that the wives of all men are to be common, using as an example the son of Jupiter and the lawgiver of the Cretans, so that by this pretext a numerous offspring might be born from such unions, and allegedly so that those who labour [might be comforted] through such couplings. ^D They decree that these wives of all these men are to be common to all, and that no woman is to live privately with any man; and that the children likewise are to be common, and that neither does a parent know his own offspring, nor do children know their parent. So that, by this pretext, and so that in the case of the good among the young, gifts and other rewards are to be given to them in war or elsewhere, and there might be a more generous freedom for the sharing of women, in order that at the same time, under this pretext, as many as possible may be begotten from such as these.

^A And Epicurus himself, along with the prohibition 24 and rejection of the laws, counsels the teaching of atheism and the practice of intercourse with mothers and sisters 25—acts which the laws forbid. For Solomon 26 even legislated clearly on this matter, so that children might be born lawfully from those who are married, and not from adultery; so that no one might honor one who is not his father as being his father, or dishonor the one who is truly his father, through ignorance that he is not his father; and further, as the rest of the laws of the Romans and Greeks forbid such things to be done. Why then do Epicurus and the Stoics dogmatize that incest and pederasty should be practiced, and have filled libraries with doctrines teaching such things, so that from childhood one might learn this lawless communion? And what more is there for me to be worn out about concerning them, when they have proclaimed similar things even concerning the gods among them? ^B 7. For having claimed that the gods exist, they again reduce them to nothing. For some have said that they consist of atoms; and they say that if they return to atoms, they can do nothing more than men. But Plato, while saying that there are gods, wishes them to be composed of material. And Pythagoras, having labored so much concerning the gods and having made his way up and down, finally concludes that nature and spontaneous movement are the cause of all things, and that the gods 27 take no thought for men. And how many things did Clitomachus the Academic 28 introduce regarding atheism? And why not also Critias, and Protagoras the Abderite, who said: "Whether the gods exist, I am unable to say concerning them, nor can I explain what kind they are; for many are the things that prevent me." For it is superfluous for us to speak about Euhemerus the atheist. For having dared to utter many things about the gods, finally, he wishes it to be understood that there are no gods at all, but that all things are governed by spontaneous movement. ^C But Plato 29, who said so much concerning the monarchy of God, and the soul of man, declaring the soul to be immortal, not… ^D [alt-version omitted]

is he not found to be at variance with himself, saying that some souls pass into other men, while others pass into irrational animals? How will his doctrine not appear terrible and detestable to those who possess understanding, that a man should at some time be a wolf again, or a dog, or an ass, or some other irrational beast? Pythagoras also ^B is found to be babbling in harmony with this, in addition to the fact that he destroys providence. Whom, therefore, shall we believe? Philemon the Comic poet, who says:

"For those who worship God have good hopes For salvation."

Or those we have mentioned, Euhemerus and Epicurus and Pythagoras, and the others who deny that God is to be worshipped, and who destroy providence? ^C Now, concerning God and providence, Aristo spoke as follows:

"Take heart, for God is accustomed To bring aid to all the worthy; and to such especially. If there be no reward established for the living, As is right, what profit is there in being pious? But take the matter thus; for I have often seen Those who wish to pass their lives piously Fare not well; while those who care for nothing Save small gains and what is solely useful to themselves, Are more radiant in honor than we In this age. But it is necessary to see further And await the end of all things. For it is not, as the opinion held by many implies, A totally impious and useless notion in this age, That there is some unbidden motion, or that all things Are governed as chance brings them. For the wicked wish To have these as defenses for their own ways. But there is a reward for the worshippers of piety: There is also, as is fitting, punishment for the wicked; For nothing at all happens without providence."

And whatever others, and almost the majority, have said concerning God and providence, it is manifest how little they have spoken in harmony with one another. For some have altogether denied God and providence; others, again, have maintained that there is a God, and have confessed that ^D all things are governed by providence. Therefore, the intelligent listener and reader must pay close attention to what is said by each, just as Simylus said:

Philemon says: "A foolish listener is a troublesome seat, For through senselessness, he finds no fault with himself."

One must, therefore, pay attention and understand what is being said, examining critically what has been spoken by the philosophers and the other poets.

8. For they themselves deny that there are gods, yet claim that they perform lawless deeds. And first ^B of all, the poets sing in more pleasing verses of the shameful acts of Zeus. And Chrysippus, who has uttered many trifles, how is he not found to be implying that Hera had intercourse with Zeus with an impure mouth? For why must I recount the lasciviousness of her who is called the mother of the gods, or of Zeus Latiaris thirsting for human blood, or of Attis being castrated? Or should I mention that Zeus known as the "Tragedian," who, as they say, inundated his own hand and is now worshipped as a god among the Romans? I pass over the temples of Antinous and the rest of those whom they call gods. For when these things are recounted, they provoke laughter in intelligent men. Either, then, they are convicted of atheism by their own dogmas—those who have philosophized such things—or else of promiscuity and illicit unions. Furthermore, the practice of devouring men is also found among them in the writings they have composed, and they describe as the authors of these deeds the very ones they honor as gods.

9. We, however, confess God—one, the creator and maker and architect of this whole universe—and we know that all things are governed by providence, but by Him alone. And we have learned a holy law; we have as our lawgiver the true God, ^C who teaches us to act justly, to be pious, and to do good. And concerning piety, He says: "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, nor a likeness of anything that is in heaven above, ^D or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters under the earth; you shall not bow down to them, nor shall you serve them. For I am the Lord your God." And concerning doing good, He said: "Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well...

with you, and that you may live long upon the land which I, the Lord God, give to you." ^B Furthermore, of righteousness: "You shall not commit adultery, you shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. You shall not covet his house, nor his field, nor his servant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his beast of burden, nor any of his cattle, nor anything that is your neighbor's. You shall not pervert the judgment of the poor in his cause. You shall keep yourself far from every unjust word. You shall not kill the innocent and righteous, nor shall you justify the wicked, and you shall not take gifts; for gifts blind the eyes of those who see and pervert just words."

The minister of this divine law was Moses, the servant of God, to the whole world, but especially to the Hebrews, who are also called Jews, whom the king of Egypt had from the beginning reduced to slavery; they were the righteous seed of pious and holy men—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God, remembering them and having performed miraculous and stupendous prodigies through Moses, delivered them and led them out of Egypt, conducted them through the region that is called the desert, and restored them to the land of Canaan—afterwards called Judea—and He established the law and taught them these things. The ten chapters of this great and admirable law, which we have just related, which relates to every form of justice, are such as these. ^C

10. *Of the commandment concerning strangers.* Since, therefore, those who were Hebrews by race had been residents in Egypt, having come from the land of the Chaldeans (for a famine having arisen in those times, they were compelled to cross into Egypt for the sake of the grain being sold there, where they dwelt for a long time; and these things happened to them according to the prediction of God), and since, I say, they had been residents in Egypt for four hundred and thirty years, and when Moses was about to lead them into the desert, God instructed them through the law, saying: "You shall not afflict a stranger; for you know the soul of a stranger; for you yourselves were strangers in the land of Egypt."

11. *Of repentance.* But when the people transgressed the law given to them by God, God, being kind and merciful, and not willing to destroy them after having given them the law, subsequently also ^D sent them prophets from among their brethren, to teach them and call the institutes of the law to their memory, and to turn them to repentance, so that they might no longer

^A sin. But if they should persist in evil deeds, He announced beforehand that they would be delivered as captives to all the kingdoms of the earth; and that this has already come to pass for them, is clear. Now, regarding repentance, the prophet Isaiah speaks generally to all, but specifically to the people, saying: "Seek the Lord, and when you find Him, call upon Him; as soon as He draws near to you, let the wicked man forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him turn to the Lord God, and he shall obtain mercy, because He will abundantly forgive your sins." And another prophet, Ezekiel, says: "If the wicked man turns from all the iniquities which he has done and keeps my commandments and does my statutes, he shall surely live and shall not die; all his iniquities which he has done shall not be remembered, but in the righteousness which he has done he shall live, because I do not desire the death of the wicked, says the Lord, but that he should turn from his evil way and live." Again, Isaiah: "Repent, you who take secret and wicked counsel, that you may be saved." And another, Jeremiah: "Turn to the Lord your God, as the grape-gatherer to his basket, and you shall obtain mercy." Many, or rather innumerable, are the things said in the holy Scriptures concerning repentance, since God ^B always desires to turn the human race from all sins.

12. Further, as for justice, which the Law prescribes, the sentiments of the Prophets and the Gospels are found to be in agreement, because they all spoke by the one Spirit of God. Isaiah, for instance, spoke thus: "Put away evils from your souls; learn to do good; seek judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge for the orphan, and plead for the widow." The same prophet says: "Dissolve every bond of iniquity; unloose the knots of violent contracts; send away the broken in forgiveness; and tear up every unjust writing. Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; if you see the naked, clothe him, and do not despise those of your own seed. Then your light shall break forth like the morning, and your healings shall spring up speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you." Likewise Jeremiah: "Stand on the ways," he says, "and see, and ask which is the good way of the Lord our God, and walk in it, and you shall find rest for your souls." Similar things are said by Moses: "Keep judgment and draw near to the Lord your God, who established the heaven and the ^D

created the earth." And another, Joel, spoke in accordance with these: "Gather the people, sanctify the Church, receive the elders, gather the infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom go forth from his chamber, and the bride from her bridal chamber; and pray to the Lord your God intently, that He may have mercy on you and blot out your sins." Likewise also another, Zechariah: "Thus says the Lord Almighty: Judge a judgment of truth, and perform mercy and compassion each one toward his neighbor; and the widow and the orphan and the stranger do not oppress, and let no one remember malice against his brother in your hearts, says the Lord Almighty."

13. Of chastity.

14. Of enemies, and of virtues toward some others.

^A to principalities and powers, and to pray for them, the divine Word instructs us, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life. And it teaches us to render to all their dues: to whom honor, honor; to whom fear, fear; to whom tribute, tribute; and to owe no man anything, save only to love all.

15. Innocence of Christians clearly defended. — Consider, therefore, whether those who are taught such things can live indifferently and wallow in unlawful flagrancy, or—what surpasses all impiety—lay hold of human flesh, when it is forbidden for us even to see the spectacles of gladiators, lest we become participants and privy to murders. Nor ought we to see other spectacles, lest our eyes and ears be polluted, becoming participants in the voices sung there. For if one speaks of human consumption, there the children of Thyestes and Tereus are eaten; but if of adultery, it is exhibited on the stage by them ^B not only regarding men, but even regarding the gods, whom they proclaim with tuneful voice, not without prize and reward. But far be it from Christians to entertain the thought of doing anything of the kind, among whom temperance is present, continence is cultivated, monogamy is kept, chastity is guarded, injustice is rooted out, sin is extirpated, righteousness is practiced, the law is enacted, the fear of God is performed, God is confessed, truth bears the rule, grace protects, peace fosters, the sacred Word leads, wisdom teaches, life directs, God reigns.

Having, therefore, much to say regarding our society and the justifications of God and the Creator of all creation, we think we have sufficiently recalled these things for now, in order that you might apply your mind to knowing the matter, especially since you may still read on; so that, just as you have been a lover of learning until now, so you may be a lover of learning ^C henceforth as well.

16. The absurd opinions of the Greeks regarding the defense of Christian doctrine. I desire, however, to demonstrate to you, if God permits, even more accurately those things which concern the eras; so that you may understand that our doctrine is neither recent nor fabulous, but older and more true than all the poets and writers who have written in ignorance. For some, by saying the world was uncreated, arrived at infinity; others, maintaining that it was created, said that fifteen myriad years, and three thousand seventy-five years have already passed. These things, then, Apollonius the Egyptian records. But Plato, who seems to have been the wisest of the Greeks, into what trifles did he fall! For in his book entitled ^A *Cities*, these very words are found: "For how could anything new ever be discovered, if these things had remained in this state for all time, just as they are now arranged, since for ten thousand times ten thousand years they escaped the notice of the men of that time, and a thousand or two thousand years have passed since the things—some to Daedalus, some to Orpheus, and some to Palamedes—were brought to light?" And by saying these things, he signifies that from the Flood to Daedalus there were ten thousand times ten thousand years. And after having said much ^B about cities, decorations, and habitations, and nations, he confesses that he spoke these things by conjecture. For he says: "If, therefore, O stranger, some god were to promise us that we would undertake the consideration of the legislation in the same way we have spoken just now," etc.; clearly, he spoke by conjecture. And if by conjecture, then the things said by him are not true.

17. That we should rather become disciples of the divine legislation, as even he himself confessed that it is impossible to learn the truth accurately unless God teaches it through the law. Is it not the case that even the poets, Homer and Hesiod and Orpheus, said that they were instructed by divine providence? Furthermore, they ^C recount that the writers were contemporaries of the prophets and seers, and that those who were instructed by them wrote accurately. How much more, then, will the truth be known by us, who learn from the holy prophets who were filled with the Holy Spirit of God! Therefore ^D consistent testimony is found in the prophets. [alt-version omitted]

^A For the outcome of the events foretold and already fulfilled is able to teach those who are eager to learn, or rather those who are lovers of truth, that those things which were proclaimed by them regarding the times and seasons prior to the deluge—from the time the world was created until the present day, as the years stand—are truly authentic, so as to demonstrate the folly of the falsehood of the writers who say that what was spoken by them is not true.

18. Plato, as we have said, when he demonstrated that a deluge had occurred, said that it did not happen to the entire earth, but only to the plains, and that those who escaped to the highest mountains were saved. Others say that Deucalion and Pyrrha existed then, and that they were saved in a chest; and that Deucalion, after coming out of the chest, threw stones behind his back, and that men were born from the stones; whence they say the multitude of men came to be called *laous* (peoples). Others, again, have said that Clymenus lived in the second deluge. That those, therefore, who have written such things and philosophized in vain are wretched, and utterly impious, and found to be foolish, is clear from what has been said. But our prophet and servant of God, Moses, in recounting the creation of the world, narrated how the deluge occurred upon the earth; and not only that, but also the manner in which the events of the deluge took place; not inventing a Pyrrha or a Deucalion or a Clymenus, nor [saying] that only the plains were flooded, and that those who fled to the mountains alone ^C escaped to safety.

19. But he also declares that a second deluge has not occurred. Indeed, he maintains that no other deluge of waters will ever come upon the world, just as in reality it neither has happened, nor will it happen. He says that eight souls of men in all were saved in the ark, which had been constructed by the command of God, not by Deucalion, but by Noe—which, in the Hebrew tongue, is translated into the Greek language as "rest." As we have indicated in another book, Noe, by proclaiming to the men of that time that a deluge was about to occur, prophesied to them, saying: "Come, God calls you to repentance." Hence he was aptly called Deucalion. This Noe had three sons, as we have also shown in the second book, whose names are Sem, Cham, and Japhet; and they each had a wife, and there was also he himself and his wife. Some have called this man a eunuch. Therefore, eight souls of men in all were saved, being those found in the ark. And Moses signified that the deluge raged for forty days and forty nights, with the cataracts of heaven opened and the fountains of the abyss gushing forth...

so that the water reached fifteen cubits above every high mountain. And thus the entire race of men of that time perished; only those who were kept in the ark were saved, being eight in number; and the remains of this ark are shown to this day in the Arabian ^A mountains. Such is the history of the deluge in summary.

20. The Antiquity of Moses

Moses, however, was the leader of the Jews who were cast out from the land of Egypt by King Pharaoh, whose name was Amasis. He, they say, after the expulsion of the people, reigned for twenty-five years and four months, as Manetho calculates. He was succeeded by Chebron, who reigned for thirteen years. To him succeeded Amenophis, who reigned for twenty years and seven months. After him his sister, Amesse, reigned for twenty-one years and one month. After her, Mephres reigned for twelve years and nine months. After him, Methrammuthosis reigned for twenty years and ten months. After him, Tythmoses reigned for nine years and eight months. To him succeeded Damphenophis, who reigned for thirty years and ten months. After him, Orus reigned for thirty-five years and five months. His daughter then reigned for one year and three months. After her, Mercheres reigned for twelve years and three months. To him succeeded a son named Armais, who reigned for thirty-one years and one month. After him, Messes, son of Miammi, reigned for six years and two months. After him, Rhamesses reigned for one year and four months. After him, Amenophis reigned for nineteen years and ^B six months. After him, Thoessus and Rhamesses reigned for ten years, who are said to have possessed a great force of cavalry and a naval fleet. And the Hebrews indeed, after the times of their own nation, having been sojourners in Egypt at that time, were reduced to servitude by the king, as has been said before, Tethmosis, and built for him fortified cities, Peitho and Rhamesen and On, which is Heliopolis; so that even of the cities famous at that time, they are shown to be older according to the Egyptians. Rhamesses possessed cavalry and naval power. ^C But Sethos and Rhamesses are said—whom they say [to have turned back...]. After their own times, the Hebrews, having at that time been sojourners in Egypt and enslaved by the king, as has been said before, Tethmosis, built for him fortified cities, both Peitho and Rhamesen, and On, which is Heliopolis; so that even of the cities famous at that time, they are shown to be older according to the Egyptians. ^D

^A For the country of Egypt was named from King Sethos. For they say that Egypt is called "Sethos." Now Sethos had a brother named Armais; he is called Danaus, who came into Argos from Egypt, of whom the rest of the writers make mention, as being of very great antiquity.

21. Manetho, however, having trifled much according to the Egyptians, and furthermore having uttered blasphemies, such that he said ^B Moses and the Hebrews who were with him were cast out of Egypt as if for leprosy, calling them both "pastors" and enemies of the Egyptians, was unable to state the accurate count of the times. For he spoke of them as "pastors" against his will, being convicted by the truth; for our ancestors, who sojourned in Egypt, were indeed truly pastors, but they were not lepers. For when they had arrived at the land called Jerusalem, where they also settled thereafter, it is shown in what manner their priests, by the command of God, persevering in the temple, ^C then healed every disease, so that they also cured those infected with leprosy and every infirmity. Solomon, the king of Judea, built the temple. And that Manetho erred concerning the times is clear from the things said by him. (But also concerning the king ^D who expelled them, Pharaoh by name. For he did not reign after the expulsion of his brother for fifty-nine years, and his son Rampses for sixty-six. Then that fabulous Amenophis, whose years for that reason Manetho dared not define, although in other kings he adds the years accurately.)

^A For he no longer reigned over them. For having pursued the Hebrews with his army, he was drowned in the Red Sea. Moreover, he also lies about those whom he says were shepherds who had waged war against the Egyptians. For they departed from Egypt and inhabited the region which is now called Judea, 393 years before Danaus arrived in Argos. That they consider this man to be more ancient than the rest, according to the Greeks, is evident. So Manetho ^B against his will has revealed to us two chapters of the truth through his own writings: first, by admitting they were shepherds, and second, by saying they had gone out from the land of Egypt; so that even from these records it is shown that Moses and those with him were nine hundred or even a thousand years older than the Trojan War.

22. The antiquity of the temple

^A from Abeimalus, because he was a friend of Solomon, both on account of the custom he had had with his father, and on account of the surpassing wisdom which Solomon possessed; for they were constantly exercising one another with problems. And a proof of this, he says, are the copies of their letters, which are preserved even to this day among the Tyrians, and the letters which they kept sending to one another, as Menander of Ephesus mentions, who, in recording the history of the Tyrian kings, speaks as follows: "For upon the death of Abeimalus, king of the Tyrians, his son Hieromus [Hiram] took up the reins of the kingdom, having lived fifty-three years. ^B Him Bazorus succeeded, who lived forty-five years and reigned seventeen years. After him Methuastartus, who lived fifty-four years and reigned twelve years. After him his brother Atharymus, who lived fifty-eight years and reigned nine years. Him his brother, Helles by name, slew; he lived fifty years and reigned eight months. Him Juthobalus, a priest of Astarte, slew; he lived forty years and reigned twelve years. Him his son Bazorus succeeded, who lived forty-five years and reigned seven years. And his son, Mettin, who lived thirty-four years, reigned twenty-nine years. Him Pygmalion succeeded, son of Pygmalion, who lived fifty-six years and reigned seven years. But in the seventh year of his reign, his sister, fleeing into Libya, built a city called Carthage to this day." The whole time, therefore, from the reign of Hieromus until the foundation of Carthage, totals one hundred and fifty-five years and eight months. And in the twelfth year of the reign of Hieromus, the temple in Jerusalem was built. So that the total time from the building of the temple until the foundation of Carthage amounts to one hundred and forty-three years and eight months.

^A Since the testimonies regarding the dates of our history, as recorded by Manetho the Egyptian, Menander the Ephesian, and also Josephus, who committed to writing the war of the Jews waged against them by the Romans, are sufficient for us, it is demonstrated from these very ancients that the writings of the rest are more recent than the scriptures given to us through Moses, and even more recent than the prophets themselves; for the last of the prophets, Zechariah by name, flourished during the reign of Darius. Moreover, all the lawgivers are found to have instituted their laws later. If anyone objects with Solon the Athenian, he lived during the times of the kings Cyrus and Darius, contemporary with the aforementioned prophet Zechariah, being many years later. But if anyone puts forward such lawgivers as Lycurgus, Draco, or Minos, Josephus writes and says that the holy books surpass them in antiquity, inasmuch as the writings of the divine law, which was given to us through Moses, are shown to be older even than the Jupiter who reigned over the Cretans and the Trojan War. ^B But that we may demonstrate more accurately the account of the times and years, with God favoring us, we shall now proceed to set forth not only the things that happened after the Flood, but also those that occurred before it, so that we may number the years of all events as far as we are permitted—travelling back to the most remote beginning of the creation of the world, which Moses, the servant of God, described under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. For in discoursing on the creation and generation of the world, of the first-created man, and of those who were born subsequently, he also declared what things occurred ^C before the Flood. I, however, ask grace from the one God, that I may speak all things accurately according to his will, so that you, and whoever reads these things, may have the truth as your guide, and his grace. I shall begin, then, first with the genealogies that are recorded, starting from the first-created man.

24. The succession of years from Adam to the kings. Adam, at the age of 230, begat Seth. Seth, at the age of 205, begat Enos. Enos lived 190 years and begat Cainan. Cainan, at the age of 170, begat Malaleel. Malaleel, at the age of 165, begat a son named Jared. Jared, at the age of 162, begat ^D Enoch. Enoch, at the age of 165, begat Mathusala. Mathusala, at the age of 167, begat Lamech. Lamech, at the age of 188, begat Noah. Noah, at the age of 500, begat Sem. Under Noah, when he was 600 years old, the Flood occurred. Thus, from the creation of man until the Flood, there have been 2,242 years. And immediately after the Flood, Sem, at the age of 100, begat Arphaxad. And Arphaxad, at the age of 135, begat Sala. And Sala begat...

^A Heber at the age of 130; from whom their race was called Hebrews. His son was Phaleg, at the age of 130. His son was Rhageu, at the age of 132. His son was Seruch, at the age of 130. His son was Nachor, at the age of 75. His son was Tharra, at the age of 70. His son was Abraham, our patriarch, who begat Isaac at the age of 100. There are, therefore, until Abraham, 3,278 years. Isaac, mentioned above, lived 60 years until he begat children, and he begat Jacob. Jacob lived until the migration which took place into Egypt, which we mentioned above, at the age of 130. The sojourn of the Hebrews in Egypt lasted 430 years; and after they went out ^B from the land of Egypt, they spent 40 years in what is called the desert. Totaling, therefore, all the years up to the time when Moses died, Joshua the son of Nave took over the leadership and presided over them for 27 years. After Joshua, the people having transgressed the commandments of God, they served the king of Mesopotamia, Chusarathon by name, for 8 years. Then, the people having repented, they obtained judges by whom they were judged: Gothonoel for 40 years, Eglon for 18 years, Aoth for 8 years. Then, having sinned, foreigners ruled over them for 20 years. Then Debbora judged them for 40 years. ^C Then the Madianites ruled over them for 7 years. Then Gedeon judged them for 40 years, Abimelech for 3 years, Thola for 22 years, Jair for 22 years. Then the Philistines and Ammonites ruled over them for 18 years. Then Jephte judged them for 6 years, Esbon for 7 years, Ailon for 10 years, Abdon for 8 years. Then foreigners ruled over them for 40 years. Then Samson judged them for 20 years. Then there was peace among them for 40 years. Then Samir judged them for one year; Eli for 20 years, Samuel for 12 years.

25. After the judges, there were kings among them, the first by name Saul, who reigned for 20 years, then David, our ancestor, for 40 years. There are, therefore, until the kingdom of David, all in all ^D 496 years. After them reigned Solomon, who also first built the temple in Jerusalem according to the will of God, for 40 years; and after him Roboam for 17 years; and after him Abias for 7 years; and after him Asa for 41 years; and after him Josaphat for 25 years; and after him Joram for 8 years; and after him Ochozias for 1 year; and after him Gotholia for 6 years; and after her Josias for 40 years; and after him Amasias for 39 years; and after him Ozias for 52 years; and after him Joatham for 16 years; and after him Achaz for 17 years; and after him Ezechias for 29 years; and after him Manasses...