Front Matter

Exhortation to the Greeks

ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΟΤΡΕΠΤΙΚΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ

Clement of Alexandria

Translated by Rick Brannan
with assistance from AI techniques

APPIAN WAY PRESS

EXHORTATION TO THE GREEKS ΛΟΓΟΣ ΠΡΟΤΡΕΠΤΙΚΟΣ ΠΡΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΑΣ

Copyright 2025 by Rick Brannan

Published 2025 by Appian Way Press

Web: https://AppianWayPress.com

Email: info@AppianWayPress.com

About This Translation

This translation was created on 2025-07-20 using the model gpt-4.1-mini from OpenAI. To ensure the translation is communicating the same meaning as the original, a sentence-level semantic similarity check was performed between the source text and translation using the model bowphs/SPhilBerta, which is available from HuggingFace. In addition to the sentence-level semantic similarity check, the text-to-translation length ratio was evaluated for each verse to locate and review possible hallucination.

Disclaimer

Please note, as indicated above, that this translation is a machine-generated translation. There are several older works that are either not available in English or only available in old and difficult to read translations. This translation is an attempt to provide a readable and fairly literal modern English translation of the source text. The process that created this translation has done its best to mitigate hallucinations, but there may still be translation issues.

Chapter 1

Clement of Alexandria

Exhortation to the Greeks

Turning men away from the orgies and wicked mysteries of idols, he calls them to the true joy in the name of the Word of God, and urges them to celebrate the praises of God the Father for the revealed truth.

Amphion of Thebes and Arion of Methymna both stood as singers, and both have a myth (and this song is still sung by a Greek chorus); by the art of music, one lured a fish, the other fortified Thebes. But another Thracian sophist (this is another Greek myth) tamed the wild animals with naked song; and indeed, he transplanted trees and shrubs by means of music. I could also tell you another story and song about a brother to these, Eunomos the Locrian, and the cricket of Pythikos. A Greek festival was held at Pytho for a dead dragon, a funeral for a serpent, while Eunomos was singing; the song was a hymn or a lament for the serpent, I cannot say which. There was a contest, and Eunomos was playing the kithara at the time of the heat, when the crickets sang under the leaves across the mountains, warmed by the sun. But they were not singing for the dead dragon, but for the all-wise God, an independent song, better than the laws of Eunomos. The string of the Locrian breaks; the cricket flies to the yoke; it chirps as if on a branch, the instrument; and the song, fitting to the cricket's singing, filled in the missing string. So the cricket is led by the song of Eunomos, as the story wants, having raised Eunomos at Pytho with a bronze kithara, and the competitor of the Locrian; but the cricket willingly flies up and willingly sings. To the Greeks, however, it seemed that he had become a pretender of music. Where then have you trusted in empty stories, thinking that animals are charmed by music? The bright face of truth alone, it seems, is made up, and it has fallen under the eyes of unbelief. ? So Kithairon, and Helicon, and the mountains of the Odrysians, and the Thracian sanctuaries, the mysteries of error, are consecrated and celebrated. I, for my part, even if these are myths, am troubled by so many tragic disasters; but for you, the records of evils have become dramas. But as for the dramas, and the poets who celebrate the Lenaians, already completely drunk, having bound themselves with a yellow band, wildly raving in the Bacchic ritual, with satyrs and the Maenalian thiasus along with the other chorus of spirits, let us shut them away in Helicon and Kithairon, now grown old. Let us bring down from above, from the heavens, truth together with the clearest understanding, to the holy mountain of God and to the holy prophetic chorus. And let it, as the most far-shining light, shine down on all those rolling in darkness, and free people from error, reaching out with the highest right hand, wisdom, toward salvation. Those who nodded and bowed down, leaving Helicon and Kithairon behind, dwelling in Zion; For from Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. A heavenly word, the true fighter, crowned on the stage of the whole world. My Eunomos indeed sings not the law of Terpander, nor that of Kapiton, nor the Phrygian, or Lydian, or Dorian, but the eternal law of the new harmony, the one bearing the name of God, the new song, the Levitical one,

Free from grief and sorrow, forgetting all evils.

A sweet and true remedy of persuasion has been mixed into the song. To me, then, that Thracian Orpheus and the Theban, and the Methymnaean, some men, not truly men, have become deceitful, harming life under the pretense of music, practicing a certain cunning sorcery, raging with madness, celebrating sorrows, the first to lead people to idols; indeed, to stones and wood, that is, to statues and images, to build up the foolishness of the nation; having yoked that truly beautiful freedom of those living under heaven with songs and spells to the worst slavery; but my song is not such, nor does it come to destroy far off the bitter slavery of the tyrannizing demons; but as it brings us gently and kindly to reverence of God, it again calls back to the heavens those who have been cast down to the earth. Alone, then, among the most difficult beasts ever, he tamed humans; birds, their empty ones; reptiles, the deceitful; lions, the angry; pigs, the pleasure-seeking; wolves, the predatory. Foolish ones are stones and wood; and even more insensitive than stones is the man baptized in ignorance. A prophetic voice stands as witness for us, a companion of truth, pitying those crushed in ignorance and foolishness: "For God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones;" who, having shown mercy on the great ignorance and the hard-heartedness of those hardened against the truth, raised up a seed of godliness, sensing virtue, from those stones, from the nations trusting in stones. Again, certain venomous and deceitful hypocrites traveling in righteousness have been called "offspring of vipers" somewhere; but even if any of these snakes willingly repent, following the Word, he becomes a man of God. He also allegorizes other wolves dressed in sheep's clothing, meaning those who are predators in the form of men. And so all these wildest beasts, and such stones, the heavenly song transformed into gentle men. For we were once foolish, disobedient, wandering, serving pleasures and various desires, living in evil and envy, hateful, hating one another, as the apostolic scripture says. But when the kindness and love of mankind of our Savior God appeared, not because of righteous works that we did, but according to his mercy he saved us. See how powerful the new song is: it made men out of stones, and men out of wild beasts. But those who were otherwise like the dead, those who had no share in true life, having become only listeners of the song, came back to life. This indeed beautifully ordered the whole universe and brought the discord of the elements into a harmony of agreement, so that the entire world might become harmony through it; and it allowed the sea to be free and unbound, but prevented it from going onto the land. But it firmly fixed the earth, which was moving, and set a boundary for the sea. And indeed it softened the force of fire with air, blending a Dorian harmony with a Lydian one; and it controlled the harsh coldness of the air by mixing it with fire, skillfully tuning these youngest of all sounds into a measured melody. And indeed the pure song, the support of all things, and the harmony of everything, arranged from the middle to the ends, and from the edges back to the middle, fitted this whole universe—not according to the Thracian music, similar to Tubal's, but according to the native will of God, which David longed for. The Word of God, who came from David and before him, looking down upon the lyre and the cithara, those lifeless instruments, and this universe, including the small universe of man, both his soul and body, arranged by the Holy Spirit, sings to God through the many-voiced instrument, and accompanies this instrument, which is man: For you are the cithara, and the flute, and my temple. The cithara because of harmony; the flute because of the Spirit; the temple because of the Word; so that one may pluck, another may breathe, and the third may hold the Lord. And indeed David, the king, the cithara player, whom we mentioned a little earlier, who encouraged the truth and turned away from idols; it was very important to sing to him the demons, truly pursued by him with music, by which, when it was working on Saul, he alone singing healed him. The Lord made man a beautiful living instrument in his own image; and man himself is also an instrument of God, perfectly harmonious, measured and holy, a wisdom beyond the world, the heavenly Word. What then is the instrument, the Word of God the Lord, and the new song, he wishes? To open the eyes of the blind, and to open the ears of the deaf, and to guide the lame or the wandering ones to righteousness; to reveal God to people who do not understand, to stop corruption, to conquer death, to reconcile disobedient sons to their father. The instrument of God is loving toward humans; the Lord shows mercy, disciplines, urges, admonishes, saves, protects, and promises us as the reward for learning a kingdom of heaven as an inheritance; enjoying this alone, we are saved. For wickedness brings destruction to humans; but truth, like the bee, though it is harmed by creatures, is not affected, and it rejoices only in the salvation of humans. So you have the promise; you have the love for humans; share in the grace. And do not think that the saving song is so new, as if it were a vessel or a house; For it was before the morning star, and in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.. The error is old, but the truth seems new. Whether the mythical goats teach the ancient Phrygians; or whether the poets who record the arrivals teach the Arcadians; or whether indeed the Egyptians, who first imagined the earth and gods and humans; but none of these existed before this world. Before the foundation of the world, we, who were to be in it, were born earlier to God; we are the rational creatures of the Word of God; through whom we begin, because in the beginning was the Word. But that the Word was from above, it was and is the divine beginning of all things; and that now it has received the name long honored, worthy of power, Christ, is called a new song by me. This Word, Christ, was also our being from long ago (for he was in God [83]); and our well-being, now indeed this same Word has appeared to men, the only one both God and man, the cause of all good things for us; through whom, being taught to live well, we are sent on to eternal life. For according to that divine Apostle of the Lord: The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us, that, having denied ungodliness and worldly desires, we may live soberly, justly, and piously in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.. This is the new song, the appearance now shining forth in us of the Word who was and is from the beginning; and the Savior who goes before appeared clearly; the one who truly is, because the Word who was with God appeared as a Instructor, by whom all things were created; the Word, who also gave life in the beginning with the fullness, as creator, taught how to live well, appearing as a teacher, so that later, as God, he might grant eternal life. But he did not first pity us in this present time, but from above, from the beginning; and now, already lost, appearing, he has saved us; for the evil and creeping beast, the sorcerer, is enslaved and still mistreats men even now; it seems to me that it is punished in a barbaric way, those who are said to bind the captives with dead bodies, and it is as if they also bury them together. This evil tyrant and dragon, who is able by nature to take what is theirs, fastening to stones, and wood, and statues, and such idols, in the miserable bond of superstition, indeed brought the so-called living ones and buried them with these, so that they might also perish together; for whose sake (there is one deceiver) from above first Eve, and now already the other humans, he leads to death; but there is also one helper and assistant to us, the Lord, announcing prophetically from the beginning, and now clearly urging toward salvation. Let us then flee, obeying the apostolic command, the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the children of disobedience; and let us run to the Savior, the Lord, who even now and always urges us toward salvation, through wonders and signs in Egypt and in the wilderness; through the bush, and the following grace of loving-kindness, like a servant to the Hebrews, a cloud. By this fear indeed he urged on the hard-hearted; and now also through Moses the all-wise, and the truthful Isaiah, and the whole prophetic choir, he more reasonably turns those who have ears toward the Word; and there is one who is insulted; there is one who also threatens; but he mourns for the people; and he sings to others, like a good doctor, shaping some of the sick bodies, smoothing others, enduring others; and dividing some with iron, burning others, and there is one who cuts away, if it is possible for a part or a limb to make the person healthy. The Savior is indeed many-voiced and resourceful for the salvation of people; threatening, he warns; insulted, he turns them back; mourning, he shows mercy; singing, he encourages; speaking through the bush; because those people were in need of signs and wonders. And he fears the people with fire, kindling the flame from a pillar, a sign both of grace and fear; if you obey, the light; if you disobey, the fire. And since the flesh is more honorable than both the pillar and the bush, the prophets speak along with those. He himself speaks in Isaiah the Lord; he himself in Elijah; through the mouths of the prophets, he himself. But you, if you do not believe the prophets, and consider them a myth, both the men and the fire; the Lord himself will speak to you, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, the merciful God, willing to save mankind. And the Word himself already speaks clearly to you, silencing your unbelief; yes, I say, the Word of God, having become man; so that you too may learn from a man how indeed a man can become God. Then it is not unreasonable, friends, that God always urges us toward virtue, while we delay the benefit and put off salvation? For does not John also encourage us toward salvation, and the whole thing becomes an exhorting voice ? Let us then ask him, "Who among men are you?" ? Elijah will not say he is Christ, and Christ will deny it; but the voice will confess crying out in the wilderness. Who then is John? To take it as a type, let it be allowed to say, the voice of the Word urging, crying out in the wilderness. What do you cry out, O voice? Speak also to us. Make straight the ways of the Lord. John the Forerunner, and the voice is the forerunner of the Word, a voice of encouragement, preparing for salvation, a voice urging toward the inheritance of the heavens; through which the barren and desert, no longer childless. An angel's voice appointed this pregnancy for me; she was also a forerunner of the Lord, announcing a barren woman, just as John was the forerunner of the desert. Therefore, through this voice of the Word, the barren woman bears children, and the desert produces fruit. The forerunners of the Lord are two voices, those of an angel and of John, hinting to me the salvation that is to come, as, with the appearance of this Word, we who were barren are to bear fruit, eternal life. Since both voices lead to the same point, Scripture makes everything clear: "Let the one who does not bear children listen; let the voice of the one who does not give birth break forth; for there are more children of the desert than of the woman who has a husband." An angel brought us the good news of a man; John urged us to understand the farmer, to seek the man. For this one and the same man is the man of the barren woman, the farmer of the desert, who, filled with divine power, filled both the barren woman and the desert. For the noble woman had many children, but she was childless because of disobedience; the much-childed woman was always a Hebrew woman. The barren woman receives the man, and the desert receives the farmer; then one bears fruit, the other faith; both are mothers, because of the Word. Yet even now, the barren woman and the desert remain among the unbelievers. John, the preacher of the Word, urged her to be ready for the coming of God the Christ; and this was what the silence of Zacharias hinted at, waiting for the forerunner of Christ as fruit, so that the light of truth, the Word of the prophetic riddles, might break the secret silence, becoming the Gospel. But if you long to truly see God, partake in divine purities; not of laurel leaves, or some ribbons, embroidered with wool and purple; but having bound yourself with righteousness, and having put on the petals of self-control, you eagerly seek Christ. For I am the door, he says somewhere, which must be understood by those who wish to know the will of God, so that it may open wide the gates of heaven to us; for the gates of the Word are logical and are opened by the key of faith. No one has known God except the Son, and the one to whom the Son reveals him.. But I know well that the door once shut, the one who opens it later reveals what is inside, and shows things that were not possible to know before, except through Christ, by whom alone God is seen.

Chapter 2

He shows at once the absurdity and impiety of the mysteries of the pagans and the stories about the birth and death of their gods.

Do not be curious about the secret places of the godless, nor about the mouths of the abyss, full of wonders, nor about the Thesprotian cauldron, nor the Kirrhaean tripod, nor the bronze Dodonian [oracle]; the oak tree honored with sandy lands and the oracle there, struck down by the very oak itself—leave these things, aged by myths, behind. At least the Castalian spring has fallen silent, and the other spring of Colophon, and the other prophetic waters have likewise died; and indeed, the empty darkness has been tested late, yet it has been examined through the myths gathered by its own people. Tell us also about the other kinds of prophecy, more like madness, the useless oracles: Clarion, Pythian, Didymean, Amphiaraus, Apollo, Amphilochus; and if you wish, also the watchers of monsters, the bird diviners, and the interpreters of dreams, unholy, along with them; and set beside the Pythian the flour diviners and barley diviners, and those still honored by many, the stomach whisperers; and indeed, the secret places of the Egyptians, and the necromancies of the Tyrrhenians, handed down in darkness. These are truly mad artifices of untrustworthy men; companions of this sorcery are goats, trained for prophecy, and crows, taught by humans to serve humans. What if I were to recount to you the mysteries? I will not dance, as they say of Alcibiades, but I will thoroughly strip away, according to the truth of the matter, the sorcery hidden from them, and even those called by you gods, whose secret rites I will reveal as if on the stage of life to the spectators who are familiar with the truth. The Bacchae worship Dionysus as a mad god, carrying out their sacred madness through raw flesh-eating and completing the bloody laws of slaughter crowned with snakes, shouting out to that Eva, through whom the deception followed. And the serpent is a sign of the Bacchic mysteries fulfilled. Indeed, according to the exact pronunciation of the Hebrews, the name Euia, with a rough breathing, is interpreted as the female serpent. Dēō and Kore have already become a secret drama (27;), and Eleusis holds the torch for their deception, their seizure, and their sorrow. And it seems to me that the orgies and mysteries must be explained etymologically: some from the anger of Dēō, which arose against Zeus, and others from the secret rite that happened concerning Dionysus; but even if from some Attic Myountēs, whom Apollodorus says was killed during a hunt, it is not envy that makes me honor the mysteries with a tombstone tribute. It is also possible to think of other secret meanings for you, corresponding to the letters of the mysteries; for they hunt, even if others do as well, but especially such myths as these: the most barbarous Thracians, the most foolish Phrygians, and the most superstitious Greeks. May the one who began this deception against humans be destroyed! Whether it was Dardanus, who revealed the mysteries of the mother of the gods; or Aetion, who established the rites and ceremonies of the Samothracians; or that Phrygian Midas, who learned from the Odrysians and then passed on a skillful deception to those under his authority. For the Cypriot islander Cinyras would never persuade me, daring to hand over from night to day the noisy rites about Aphrodite, eager to honor a prostitute as a citizen. Others say that Melampus, son of Amythaon, brought the festivals of the Deoae from Egypt to Greece, celebrating mourning. I would say that these men are the original evil fathers of impious stories and destructive superstition, having planted the seed of wickedness and ruin in life through the mysteries. And now, for the time has come, I will expose your rites, full of deceit and wonder-working; and if you have been initiated, you will laugh even more at these punished stories of yours. I speak openly the hidden things, not ashamed to say what you are not ashamed to worship. The one born from foam, and Cyprian, dear to Cinyras, I mean Aphrodite, the lover of cunning, because she appeared from no one, from none of those cut-off heavens, those lustful ones, whose wave was forced after the cutting; as a shameless one worthy of your parts, Aphrodite becomes a fruit in the rites; of this sea-born pleasure, proof of generation, sea foam, and a phallus is given to those initiated in the adulterous art. Those initiated bring a coin to her, as lovers to a companion. The mysteries of Deo, and the Aphrodisian unions of Zeus with his mother Demeter, and wrath—I do not know whether I should say any more, of the mother or the woman, of Deo; whose favor is said to have been called Brimo; supplications to Zeus, and a drink of bile, and heart-wrenching, and secret rites; these the Phrygians complete for Attis, and Cybele, and the Corybantes. It is said that, after Zeus tore apart the twins of the ram, he carried them in the middle and threw them into the bosom of Deo, paying a false penalty for the violent union, as if he were cutting himself apart. The symbols of this initiation, set forth from a private collection, I know will cause laughter, even if you do not laugh yourselves, because of the tests: From the drum I ate, from the cymbal I drank; I carried a wand; under the shepherd's staff I went down. These symbols are not an insult? The mysteries are not mockery? But what if I also add the rest? Demeter conceives, and Kore is raised; then Zeus himself, the one who fathered her, uniting again with Pherephatta, his own daughter, after the mother Deo, forgetting the earlier secret. Zeus is both father and destroyer of Kore; and he unites again, becoming a serpent; who was, having been exposed. Sabasion is indeed a symbol of the mysteries to those initiated, the god through the womb; and this one is a serpent, drawn through the womb of those being perfected; a proof of the lack of self-control of Zeus. Pherephatta also conceives a child, of bull shape without horns, as some idol poet says;

… Bull

Father of the serpent, and father of the bull-serpent;

In the mountain, the secret herdsman is the sting;

The sting is pastoral, I think, performing the thyrsus, which indeed the Bacchae turn beautifully. I will also tell you the anthologies of Pherephatta, and the basket, and the seizure by Aidoneus, and the splitting of the earth, and the pigs of Eubouleus, those devoured by the goddesses; for this reason, during the Thesmophoria, honoring her greatly, they drive out pigs. Women celebrate this mythology in various ways according to the city, Thesmophoria, Skirophoria, performing the tragic abduction of Pherephatta in many forms. For the mysteries of Dionysus are utterly inhuman, when he was still a child, surrounded by the armed dancing of the Curetes, and by the deceitful Titans who submerged him by trickery, having deceived childish toys; these Titans indeed tore him apart while he was still an infant, as Orpheus the Thracian, the author of the rite, says;

The cone, and the rhombus, and the curved games,

And beautiful golden apples from the clear-voiced Hesperides.

And these useless symbols of the ritual should not be uselessly set before you for condemnation: a knucklebone, a ball, a spinning top, apples, a rhombus, a mirror, a peg. Athena, by taking away the heart of Dionysus, was called Pallas from the verb "to shake the heart"; but the Titans, who also tore him apart, placed some kind of tripod cauldron, and after throwing in the limbs of Dionysus, they first fastened them; then, having pierced them with small obelisks, they served under Hephaestus. But later Zeus appeared, if he was a god, perhaps having partaken of the smoke from the roasting meat, which indeed your gods agree is the gift to be received, and he struck the Titans with a thunderbolt, and entrusted the limbs of Dionysus to Apollo the child to bury. But he, for he did not disobey Zeus, carrying the dead body to Parnassus, laid down the torn corpse. But if you want to see also the rites of the Corybantes, these men, having killed the third brother, covered the head of the dead man with a red cloth; and having wrapped it up, they buried it, carrying it on a bronze shield, under the foothills of Olympus. And these are the mysteries, to sum up: murders and burials. The priests of these rites, whom they call Anaktotelestai, a name they intend to use, add a further rule to the disaster, strictly forbidding placing celery on the table. For they believe that celery has grown from the blood that flowed from the Corybantic one; just as the women celebrating the Thesmophoria carefully guard the pomegranate seeds to eat. They think that the pomegranates have sprouted from the drops of Dionysus' blood that fell to the ground. Calling the Corybantes the Cabeiri, they announce a Cabeirian end. For these men, after killing the brother, took up the chest in which the genitals of Dionysus were kept, and carried it to Tyrrhenia as merchants of a famous cargo. And there, while living in exile, they spent their time, handing down the precious teaching of piety—the genitals and the chest—to the Tyrrhenians to be worshiped. For this reason, it is not unreasonable that some want Dionysus to be called Attis, deprived of genitals. And what is there to wonder at if the Tyrrhenians, who are barbarians, are completed by such shameful sufferings, while among the Athenians and the rest of Greece, I am ashamed even to speak, the mythology about Deio is full of shame? For Deio, having been captured during the search for the daughter of Kore, near Eleusis (which is a place in Attica [78]), grows weary and sits down by a well, grieving. This is still forbidden to those being initiated, so that they may not seem to the initiated to imitate the one who is grieving. At that time, the natives lived here at Eleusis; their names were Bavbo, Dysaules, and Triptolemus; also Eumolpus and Eubuleus. Triptolemus was a herdsman; Eumolpus was a shepherd; Eubuleus was a swineherd; from them came the clan of the Eumolpids, and the sacred heralds —this priestly family flourished among the Athenians. And indeed (for I will not hesitate to say it), Bavbo, having hosted Deo as a guest, offered her kykeon; but when she refused to take and drink it (for she was in mourning), Bavbo became very angry, as if scorned. She lifted her skirts and showed herself to the goddess. But Deo was pleased with the sight; and at last she accepted the drink, delighted by the vision. These are the secret mysteries of the Athenians; these very things Orpheus also records for you. I will set before you the verses of Orpheus, so that you may have a witness to the shamelessness of the initiator.

Thus having spoken, she drew back the veil and revealed everything

Not even a fitting form of a body; the child was Iacchus;

And Baubo threw him with her hand, laughing, under her bosom.

And when the goddess smiled, she smiled in her heart,

She took a shining vessel, in which kykeon was placed.

And this is the sign of the Eleusinian mysteries: "I fasted; I drank the kykeon; I took from the basket; having worked, I put it into the basket, and from the basket into the chest." The sights were indeed beautiful and fitting for a goddess; the rites were worthy of the night, the fire, and the great lord, but even more so of the foolish-minded Erechtheid people; and also for the other Greeks, "those who remain after they have died, things they do not even hope for." To these, Heraclitus of Ephesus prophesies: "to night-walkers, magicians, Bacchantes, wine-press attendants, and initiates;" to them he threatens what comes after death; to them he reveals the fire. For the mysteries believed among men are initiated in an unholy way. Law, then, and belief are empty; and what the serpent's mysteries are, who is it that knows, worshiping the truly uninitiated as initiates, and turning to unskilled rites with false piety. What kind are the secret boxes as well? For it is necessary to strip bare their sacred things and to reveal the unspeakable. These are not sesame seeds, nor pyramids, nor scrolls, nor many-knotted popana, nor sea shells, nor a dragon, the ritual of Dionysus Bassarus? Are they not sumac berries along with these, and hearts, and stalks, and wicks? Along with these, also leaves, and poppies? These are their sacred things. And also the secret symbols of Themis: oregano, a lamp, a sword, a woman's comb—that is, to say it euphemistically and mysteriously, a woman's private part. O shameless boldness! Long ago, to sensible people, night was a cover for pleasure, kept silent, but now, to those initiated, the sacred night of lack of self-control is spoken of; and the fire, carried as a torch, exposes the passions. Extinguish the fire, O hierophant; have shame, torchbearer, for the torches. The mysteries are exposed by the night; and let the light of your Iacchus be honored with darkness. Allow the rites to be kept secret. The fire does not pretend to expose and punish what it is commanded to. These are the mysteries of the godless. I rightly call these people godless, who truly have ignored God, the child torn apart by the Titans, and the woman grieving, and the secret parts, which they shamelessly worship as if truly in shame. They are involved in two kinds of godlessness: first, in that they do not know God, the truly existing one, not recognizing him as God; second, and also in this error, they think that those who do not exist are as if they do exist, and they call these gods those who truly do not exist; rather, they are not even existing, having only the name. For this reason the Apostle also rebukes us: "And you were strangers," he says, "without hope, having no covenant of promise, and godless in the world." Many good things would happen to the king of the Scythians, who was once Anacharsis! This man shot an arrow at his own citizen, who was imitating the mother of the gods' ritual among the Cyzicenes, playing the drum and sounding the cymbal, like a certain mountebank hanging from the neck. He called him cowardly among the Greeks and a teacher of a womanly disease to the other Scythians. For this reason I must admire —for it must not be hidden at all—how Euhemerus the Akragantine, Nicanor the Cyprian, Diagoras, Hippon the Melian, and that man from Cyrene named Theodorus, along with some others often mentioned, who lived wisely and observed more sharply than most men the error about these gods, called them godless; even if they did not grasp the truth itself, they at least suspected the error. This is no small seed sprouting into a spark of true understanding. One of them reports to the Egyptians: "If you think these are gods, do not mourn them or beat yourselves; but if you grieve for them, no longer consider these to be gods." He took Heracles made out of wood—(he happened to be boiling something at home, as is natural)—and said, "Come now, Heracles; the time has come for you, just like Eurystheus, to serve in this thirteenth labor, and to prepare this for Diagoras himself." Then he threw it into the fire as wood. The extremes of ignorance are godlessness and superstition; one must strive to stay clear of these. Do you not see Moses, the priest of truth, commanding that a lame and mutilated person should not enter the assembly? And furthermore, the one born from a prostitute? He hints, through the former, at the godless way, deprived of divine and creative power; and through the rest, the third part, at those many so-called false gods, instead of the one true God, just as the one born from the prostitute is called by many fathers out of ignorance of the true father. There was an ancient, innate fellowship of humans with heaven, darkened by ignorance, but suddenly breaking through the darkness and shining forth; just like that, someone said this:

Do you see the one from on high, this boundless ether,

And the earth held around with moist embraces?

And this:

O earth, a vehicle, holding a seat upon the earth,

Whoever you are, hard to see clearly.

And all the other such things that the children of poets sing. Thoughts that have gone astray and turned away from the straight path, truly destructive, have turned the heavenly plant, man, away from a heavenly way of life, and have stretched him out upon the earth, persuading him to endure with earthly creatures. For some, immediately deceived about the view of heaven, and trusting only in what they see, observing the movements of the stars, both marveled and were amazed, calling the stars gods from the act of shining; and they worshiped the sun, like the Indians, and the moon, like the Phrygians. But others, gathering the seasonal fruits that grow from the earth, called wheat Demeter, as the Athenians do, and the vine Dionysus, as the Thebans do. Others, observing the exchanges of evil, make them gods, worshiping the responses and the misfortunes; from this come the Erinyes and the Eumenides, the avengers and encouragers, and also the Alastores, all spread out by the poets around the stage. Some philosophers also, following the poets, make idols of the passions among you: Fear, and Love, and Joy, and Hope; just as the old Epimenides neglected nothing, raising altars to Hubris and Shamelessness among the Athenians. Those who, starting from these things, make gods for people and shape them in bodily form: Justice, and Clotho, and Lachesis, and Atropos, and Fate, also Auxo and Thallo, the Attic ones. The sixth is a deceptive method, making gods, by which they count the twelve gods; of these Hesiod sings his own Theogony, and Homer speaks of as many gods. The last remains (for all these methods are seven), the one that starts from the divine kindness shown toward humans. For not understanding the one who does good, they fashioned certain saviors: the Dioscuri, Heracles the protector against evil, and Asclepius the healer. These are the slippery and harmful deviations from the truth, dragging man down from heaven and turning him toward the abyss. I want to show you these gods themselves, what kind and who they are, so that you may finally end your error and return again to heaven. For we too were once children of wrath, like the others; but God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love which he loved us with, though we were already dead in our sins, made us alive together with Christ.. For the Word is living, and being buried with Christ, is raised up together with God. The unbelievers are still called children of wrath, nourished by wrath; but we are no longer children of wrath, having been taken away from error and rushing toward the truth. In this way, we who were once sons of lawlessness have now become sons of God through the love of the Word; and your own poet from Akragas, Empedocles, also pretends to be one of you.

Therefore, suffering under harsh evils,

You will never let your spirit be lazy in the face of cowardly sorrows.

Most of the stories told to you about the gods are made up; and even those things that have actually happened are written about shameful and wicked people.

You walk in blindness and madness, and you follow a straight path

Leaving the straight path behind, you have gone the way through thorns

And through rough places. Why do you wander? Stop being vain among mortals,

Leave behind the darkness of night, and receive the light.

These things the prophetic and poetic Sibyl advises us; and truth also advises, stripping bare the crowd of gods of these terrifying and astonishing faces, refuting their praises by certain synonyms. For immediately there are those who write down three Zens: one is Aether, in Arcadia; the other two are children of Cronus—one in Crete, the other again in Arcadia. There are also those who assign five Athenas: the Athena of Hephaestus, the Nile's Egyptian one, the third of Cronus, the inventor of war; the fourth of Zeus, whom the Messenians call Koryphasia from her mother; and above all, the daughter of Pallas and the Titaness Oceanus, who, having impiously sacrificed her father, is adorned with her father's skin, like a hide. Indeed, Aristotle places Apollo first among Hephaestus and Athena (here Athena is no longer a virgin); second in Crete, Corybantes; third, Zeus's; and fourth, the Arcadian, Silenus (this one is called Nomios among the Arcadians). In addition, he counts Libyan, the son of Ammon; and Didymus the grammarian adds a sixth, that of Magnes. But how many Apollos are there even now? Countless, mortal, and some are human helpers, called similarly to those mentioned before. What if I were to tell you about the many Asclepiuses? Or the Hermeses who are numbered? Or the Hephaestuses who are spoken of in myths? Would I not seem excessive, overwhelming your ears with these many names? But their homelands, their crafts, their lives, and even their tombs prove that they were men. Ares, indeed, who among poets is honored as much as possible,

Ares, Ares, bane of mortals, bloodstained, breaker of walls.

This fickle and unruly one, as Epicharmus says, was a Spartan; Sophocles knows him as a Thracian; others say he was Arcadian. Homer says that he was bound for thirteen months;

Endure, Ares, when strong Otus and Ephialtes

The sons of Aloeus, bound him in a strong chain;

For thirteen months he was bound with a bronze chain.

May the Carians receive many good things, who sacrifice their dogs to him! And the Scythians, who serve as priests for their donkeys without stopping, as Apollodorus says, and Callimachus;

Phoebus commands the Hyperboreans to offer sacred rites to their donkeys.

The same one elsewhere;

The rich donkey sacrifices please Phoebus.

Hephaestus, whom Zeus threw down from Olympus, falling from the divine peak on Lemnos, worked as a smith, though his two feet were crippled;

… and beneath the shins thin veins flowed.

You have a doctor as well, not only a smith among the gods. But the doctor was greedy for money, named Asclepius. And I will also set before you your own poet, the Boeotian Pindar;

Gold shown in his hands turned even him against noble work without pay,

to bring a man back from death

already captured. By hands

But then the son of Cronus

having thrown with both hands, a breath

he struck down the chest

quickly; and the lightning flashed

struck down death.

And Euripides:

For Zeus, having killed my child, is the cause,

having cast fire into my chest, Asclepius.

He lies, then, having been struck by lightning in the borders of Cynosura. Philochorus says that Poseidon is honored as a healer in Tinos; and that Cronus lies in Sicily, and there he was buried. Patroclus of Thurii and the younger Sophocles, in three tragedies, told the story about the Dioscuri; a certain man was born as a companion to the Dioscuri, if Homer is to be trusted with what is said:

"… and the land already held them, full of life,"

"In Lacedaemon itself, in the dear native land."

Let him also come forward who wrote the Cyprian poems;

Castor is mortal, and death is his fate;

But he, Polydeuces, is immortal, a shoot of Ares.

He lied in this poetical claim; but Homer, more trustworthy than him, said about both Dioscuri; and also, he exposed the image of Heracles;

For Heracles is a mortal man, a great doer of mighty deeds.

Homer himself also knows Heracles to be a mortal man. The philosopher Hieronymus also describes its structure as small, bristly-haired, and reddish; Dicaearchus calls it split, sinewy, black, hooked, drooping, and stiff-haired. This Heracles, then, having lived about two years beyond fifty, ended his life, burned on the funeral pyre at Oeta. The Muses, whom Alcander traces as the offspring of Zeus and Mnemosyne, are praised and honored by other poets and writers; and now entire cities set up museums for these Muses, having Megaclus, the daughter of Macar, as their servant. Macar was king of the Lesbians, but he was always quarreling with his wife; Megaclus was angry on behalf of her mother. What was not about to happen? And she bought these Muses as servants, so many in number, and calls them Muses in the Aeolian dialect. She taught them to sing and to play the old pieces on the lyre in harmony. And they, continuously playing the lyre and singing beautifully, charmed Macar and stopped his anger. For this reason, Megaclus, as a thank offering to them on behalf of his mother, set up bronze statues and ordered that the sacred things be honored everywhere. And the Muses are like this; but the account comes from Myrsilus the Lesbian. So now listen to the loves of the gods among you, and the strange stories of their lack of self-control, and their wounds, and their chains, and their laughter, and their fights; also their slavery, and their feasts; their entanglements again, and tears, and passions, and pleasures that sting. Call to me Poseidon, and the chorus corrupted by him: Amphitrite, Amymone, Alope, Melanippe, Alcyone, Hippothoë, Chione, and the countless others; among whom, and in so many, your Poseidon's passions were still confined. Call to me also Apollo; he is Phoebus, a pure prophet, and a good counselor. But it is not these that Sterope speaks of, nor Aithousa, nor Arsinöe, nor Zeuxippe, nor Prothöe, nor Marpissa, nor Hypsipyle; for Daphne alone escaped both the prophet and destruction. Let Zeus himself come upon all, the father of both you men and gods; who has poured out so much around the matters of love, that he desires all things, and fulfills desire in all. He was certainly filled with women, no less than the goat of the Thmoites. And I have marveled at your poems, O Homer;

Indeed, and the son of Cronus nodded with dark-blue brows;

And the ambrosial locks of the lord then flowed down

From the immortal head, and he shook greatly Olympus.

You shape Zeus in a solemn way, Homer, and you give him a respectful nod. But if you show only the embroidered cloak, even Zeus is put to shame, and his hair is dishonored. How far has that Zeus gone in licentiousness, the one who, with Alcmene, enjoyed so many sweet nights? For even the nine nights were not long for the unrestrained one; on the contrary, his whole life was short in excess, so that he might sow for us the god who wards off evil. Heracles, son of Zeus, truly son of Zeus, born from a long night; enduring the twelve labors for a long time; and having destroyed fifty daughters of Thestius in one night, becoming both adulterer and husband of so many virgins; is it not fitting that the poets call this man cruel and lawless? It would be a long story to tell of all his various adulteries and the ruin of children. For even your gods did not refrain from children; some loved Hyllus, others Hyacinthus, others Pelops, others Chrysippus, others Ganymede. Your women worship these gods; and you pray that your men be such, so wise, that they may be like the gods, equally zealous. If you train your children to honor such men, then they will become men, taking the gods as an image of prostitution. But perhaps only the male gods alone are chaste about sexual matters;

But the female goddesses remain modest in their own homes,

Homer says that the goddesses, feeling shame, out of respect have seen Aphrodite caught in adultery. But the unchaste goddesses are more passionately bound in adultery: Dawn with Tithonus, Selene with Endymion, Nereis with Aeacus, and Thetis with Peleus; Demeter with Jason, and Persephone with Adonis. Aphrodite, ashamed before Ares, went to Cinyras and married Anchises; she bore Phaethon and loved Adonis. She envied the ox-eyed one, and after taking off her robe because of an apple, the goddesses, naked, watched the shepherd closely, in case any of them seemed beautiful to him. Come then, and let us quickly go around the contests, and put an end to these funerary festivals, the Isthmian, the Nemean, the Pythian, and the Olympic games held beside them. At Pytho, the dragon called Python is worshiped, and the festival of the serpent is announced as the Pythian games. At the Isthmus, the sea has spat out a miserable refuse; and the Isthmian games mourn Melicertes. At Nemea, another child is cared for by Archemorus, and the child's funeral song is called Nemea. Pisa is your tomb, O all Greeks, of the charioteer Phrygus; and the Olympic libations for Pelops, Zeus claims as his own, the work of Pheidias. The contests held over the dead were therefore, it seems, mysteries, just like the words, and both are bound together. But the mysteries at Sagra, and those at Alimounti in Attica, are confined to Athens; and truly shameful are both the contests and the phallic rites performed for Dionysus, badly dividing up life. For Dionysus, having gone down to Hades, was confused about the way; but a certain Prosymnos, not without reward, promised to show it to him. But the reward was not fine, though it was pleasing to Dionysus; and the favor he asked of Dionysus was not of love. The request was granted because the god wished it. And indeed he promises to give it to him, if he will unyoke, having sworn an oath to the promise. Having learned this, he went away, then came back again; he did not find Prosymnus; for he had died. Dionysus, abandoning his lover, hastens to the tomb and mourns. Then, cutting off a branch of a fig tree as he happened to find it, he fashions it in the form of a man's member; and he fastens himself to the branch, fulfilling his promise to the dead man. As a reminder of this suffering, secret phalluses are raised for Dionysus in cities. "For if they did not make a procession for Dionysus, and sing hymns, he says, the most shameless acts would be done with genitals," says Heraclitus. This one is Hades and Dionysus, when they rage and celebrate the Lenaia not because of drunkenness of the body, as I think, but so much because of the shameful sacred rite of licentiousness. It is fitting, then, that such gods of yours have become slaves to their sufferings. But also, among the so-called Helots, those near the Lacedaemonians, a slave yoke came upon them: Apollo served Admetus in Pherae, Heracles served Omphale in Sardis; and Poseidon and Apollo served Laomedon, just like useless servants, not able to gain freedom from their former master anywhere. Then also the walls of Ilium were rebuilt by the Phrygian. But Homer does not hesitate to show Athena, saying to Odysseus that she holds a golden lamp in her hand. We read of Aphrodite, like a wanton servant, placing before Helen the chariot of the adulterer, so that she might lead him into her bed. For Panyasis, in addition to these, tells that many other gods served humans, writing somewhat like this:

Endure, Demeter, endure, famous Amphigyēus,

Endure, Poseidon, endure, and endure silver-bowed Apollo.

To serve a mortal man for a year.

Endure also fierce-spirited Ares, by necessity under his father.

and the things besides these. Therefore, it naturally follows to introduce your erotic and passionate gods as those who suffer like humans in every way; For they too had mortal flesh.. Homer gives very clear proof, introducing Aphrodite wounded and shouting sharply and loudly; and telling how Ares, the most warlike, was struck by Diomedes in the chest.. Of the warriors, he also says that Athena was wounded by Ornytus; indeed, Homer says that Hades was struck by Heracles with an arrow; and Pañyas records that Augeas of Elis was wounded. Moreover, the same Pañyas tells how Hera, the yoke-bearing goddess, was wounded by the same Heracles in sandy Pylos. Sosibius also says that Heracles was struck on the hand by the Hippocoontids. If indeed there are wounds and blood; for the poetic ichor is more terrible even than blood; for the ichor is understood as the decay of blood. It is necessary, then, to provide treatments and nourishment for those who are in need of them. Therefore, feasts, drinking, laughter, and gatherings would not be for people who do not use them for pleasure, nor for those who have children, nor even for those who do not sleep, if they were immortal, without need, and ageless. Even Zeus himself, while dining with Lycaon the Arcadian, took part in a human feast among the Ethiopians, which was inhuman and unlawful. At least he wore human flesh unwillingly; for God was unaware that Lycaon the Arcadian, his host, after killing his own child (whose name was Nyctimus), would offer him the flesh as a meal to Zeus. Zeus is indeed noble, the prophetic one, the stranger's friend, the protector of suppliants, the gentle one, the all-shining, the encourager of good; but more so he is unjust, lawless, without order, impious, inhuman, violent, destructive, adulterous, and lustful. But then he was such as he was, when indeed he was a man; but now already the myths seem to me to have grown old for us too: Zeus is no longer a dragon, nor a swan, nor an eagle, nor a lustful man; the god does not fly, does not practice pederasty, does not love, does not force himself, although there are many beautiful and still women, more graceful than Leda, and younger than Semele; and youths more handsome and more refined than the Phrygian herdsman. Where now is that eagle? Where then is the swan? Where then is Zeus himself? He has grown old along with his wing; for surely he does not repent of his loves, nor is he taught to be sensible. The story is laid bare to you: Leda has died, the swan has died, the eagle has died. Seek your Zeus; not the sky, but the earth is meddlesome. The Cretan will tell you, by whom Callimachus is also buried, in the Hymns;

… and indeed the tomb, O lord, is yours

The Cretans begot him.

For Zeus died, do not be troubled, like Leda, like a swan, like an eagle, like a man in love, like a dragon. And already the superstitious themselves appear, unwilling indeed, but still understanding the error about the gods;

For you are not from an oak or from an ancient oracle, nor from a rock,

But you are of the race of men.

A little later, even oaks will be found to be alive, and rocks too. Staphylus tells a story that Agamemnon was honored as a kind of Zeus in Sparta; Phanocles, in Eros the Beautiful, says that Agamemnon, the king of the Greeks, was set up at the temple of Aphrodite Argynnis, over Argynnis the beloved. The Arcadians honor Artemis, called the Hanged One, as Callimachus says in Aetia; and Artemis is also honored at Methymna in a different way, Kondylitis says. There is also a sanctuary of another Artemis called Podagras in Laconia, as Sosibius says. There is a statue of Apollo as the bringer of war; and another Apollo, honored in Elis, is called the lover of delicacies. Here the Eleans sacrifice to Apomyius Zeus; the Romans sacrifice to Apomyius Heracles, and to Pyretus and Phobos; these latter they also include among those around Heracles. At dawn, the Argives, who worship Aphrodite as the tomb-robber; (the Argives and the Laconians and the Spartans worship Artemis Chelytis; since they call stepping "cheluting". Do you think these things have been secretly written down for you from somewhere? ? You bring forward what has been set before you; you do not even seem to recognize your own writers, whom I call as witnesses against your disbelief; a mockery of godlessness, you cowards, having filled your whole life with truly unlivable ways. Is it not true that Zeus the Bald was honored in Argos, but another avenger was honored in Cyprus? ? Is it not also true that the Argives honor Aphrodite Peribasia, the Athenians honor her as the Courtesan, and the Syracusans offer sacrifices to Kallipygos? Whom the poet Nicander has perhaps called more beautifully. But now I am silent about Dionysus the pig-singer; the Sicyonians worship him, having assigned to Dionysus a part among women, as overseer of shame and reverence for insolence as their leader. Such are the gods to them; and such are they themselves, playing among the gods, but rather mocking and insulting their own gods. And how much better are the Egyptians, who honor the dumb animals in their comedies and throughout their cities, than the Greeks, who worship such gods! For those animals, even if they are beasts, are not adulterers, nor scoundrels, and by nature they do not hunt for pleasure even in the least. But as for what sort they are, what more is there to say, since they have been properly refuted by them? But now, indeed, I remembered the Egyptians, who are divided according to their religions. The Syennites honor the fierce fish; the Maiotes, who live in Elephantine, honor another kind of fish; the Oxyrhynchites honor the fish that shares the name of their land; the Heracleopolites honor the ichneumon; the Saites and Thebans honor the sheep; the Lycopolites honor the wolf; the Cynopolites honor the dog; the Memphites honor the Apis; the Mendesians honor the goat. And you, who are better than all the Egyptians (I hesitate to say worse), you who laugh at the Egyptians every day, do not stop mocking even the dumb animals? The Thessalians among you honor the storks because of custom; the Thebans honor the weasels because of the birth of Heracles. But why not also say that the Thessalians are known to honor ants, since they have learned that Zeus was changed into an ant, to unite with Eurymedusa, the daughter of Cletor, and to father Myrmidon? The locals say that the people living around Troy honor mice, which they call sminthoi, because these animals gnawed the sinews of their enemies' bows. They even gave the name Smintheus to Apollo because of those mice. Heracleides, in On the Sacred Foundations around Acarnania, says that at Actium, which is a cape, and the site of the temple of Apollo Actius, they offer sacrifices to flies for cattle. I will not even mention the Samians; according to Euphorion, the Samians honor sheep. Nor do the Syrians who live in Phoenicia, some of whom honor doves and others fish, worship them as excessively as the Eleans honor Zeus. Very well then, since the gods you worship are not truly gods, it seems to me that I should examine them again, if indeed they are spirits, listed in this second group as you say. For if the spirits are indeed demons, both harmful and impure, it is possible to find and clearly show local demons honored in various cities: among the people of Kythnos, Edemon; among the people of Tinos, Kallistagoras; among the Eleans, Anion; among the Lacedaemonians, Astrabacon. Also, a certain hero is honored at Phalerum near the stern. And the Pythia arranged for the Plataeans to offer sacrifices to Androcrates, and Democrates, and Kyklaios, and Leukon, who were champions of the Median games. There are also many other demons to be seen, which can even harm a small child;

For three times ten thousand are on the earth, the great nourisher

Immortal demons, guardians of mortal men.

Who are the guardians, O Boeotian, do not be jealous to say. It is clear that these, and those more powerful than them, the great demons, Apollo, Artemis, Leto, Demeter, Kore, Pluto, Heracles, even Zeus himself. But they guard us so that we do not escape, Ascræus; and perhaps so that we do not sin, those certainly not experienced in sinning. Here indeed it is fitting to speak the proverb:

"A father who is not reproached advises his child."

If then these are also guardians, they do not act toward us with kindness, but, holding a grudge against our destruction, like flatterers, they make life bitter, being tempted by smoke. Surely these demons confess their own gluttony;

Of sacrifice and smoke; for this is the gift we receive,

Saying: What other voice could the gods of the Egyptians have, if they had a voice, than one like cats and weasels, both Homeric and poetic, dear to smoke and seasoning? Such are indeed among you the demons and the gods, and even some demigods, called like mules; for you lack even the names for the acts of impiety.

Chapter 3

He exposes the cruelty and savagery of sacrifices offered to the gods.

Then bring this also forward, that your gods are inhuman and hateful to humans demons, and not only do they delight in the madness of people, but they also enjoy murder; now they stir up armed quarrels in the stadiums, now countless ambitions in wars, providing themselves with causes of pleasure, so that they may have the greatest amount of human bloodshed; and already, like plagues, they have fallen upon cities and nations, demanding unceasing sacrifices. Aristomenes the Messinian slaughtered three hundred victims for Ithomian Zeus, thinking that he was offering as many and such great sacrifices all at once; among them was also Theopompus, the king of the Lacedaemonians, a noble priest. The Taurians, the people living around the Tauric peninsula, whenever they capture any foreigners among them who have come by sea, immediately sacrifice them to Artemis of Tauris; these sacrifices of yours Euripides portrays on the stage in his tragedies. Monimos reports in The Collection of Wonders, in Pella of Thessaly, that an Achaean man was sacrificed to Peleus and Chiron; for the Lyctians are a people of the Cretans. Thus Anticleides states in Nostoi that they slaughter people for Zeus; and Dosiadas says that the Lesbians offer a similar sacrifice to Dionysus. The Phocaeans (and I will not even call them such) — Pythocles, in the third book of On Concord, reports that they burn a person completely as a sacrifice to Tauropolian Artemis. Erechtheus the Athenian and Marius the Roman sacrificed their own daughters; the former to Persephatta, as Demaratus reports in the first book of Tragōidoumenōn; the latter to the averters, Marius, as Dorotheus records in the fourth book of Italikōn. The spirits certainly show themselves to be kind-hearted from these acts; how then could the superstitious not be equally pious? ? Some are called saviors with praise, while others ask for salvation from those plotting their destruction; at least seeking to appease them, they kill people themselves, having forgotten who they really are. For the killing does not take place because of the sacred place; nor even if someone slaughters a person at a supposedly holy spot dedicated to Artemis or Zeus, more out of anger and greed than for other similar spirits, on altars or in the streets, calling the victim a sacred priest; but such a sacrifice is murder and manslaughter. So then, what is it, most wise of all animals, humans, that we flee from wild beasts, but when we meet wild animals like a bear or a lion, we turn away,

Just as when someone sees a serpent and steps back in fear

In the mountain among the bushes, and trembling seized his limbs,

He touched it and withdrew;

Demons, destructive and harmful, plotting and hateful toward humans, and being tormentors, when perceived and understood, you do not turn away, nor do you withdraw? What could the evil ones even speak truly, or how could they help anyone? At once, then, I have to show you a better example than these local gods, the demons, of a human being: Apollo the seer, Cyrus, and Solon. Phoebus is generous to you, but not loving toward humans. He betrayed his friend Croesus, forgetting his reward; so ambitious was he. He led Croesus up to the pyre by the Halys River. Thus the demons, loving in this way, lead to the fire. But, O man more loving and truer than Apollo, have pity on the one bound upon the pyre. And you, Solon, prophesy the truth; and you, Cyrus, order the pyre to be put out. Be wise at last, Croesus, having learned from suffering; the one you worship is ungrateful; he takes the reward and then lies after the gold. O Solon, see again the end; then it is not the spirit, but the man who speaks to you. Solon does not prophesy wrongly; you will place this man well. Only the truth, O barbarian, will you test by the pyre this oracle. That is why I am amazed, at how the first ones, once led away by illusions, deceived, accused people of superstition, setting laws to worship harmful spirits; whether it was Phoroneus, or Merops, or someone else, who built temples and altars for them, and are said to have been the first to arrange sacrifices as well. And indeed, even later on, they fashioned gods to worship; they neglected this Eros, who is said to be among the oldest of the gods, and before Charmus took a young boy and set up an altar in the Academy, no one honored him. This made desire more graceful when fulfilled. They also called Eros the cause of disease's cruelty, making him a god of reckless desire. The Athenians themselves did not even know who Pan was before Philippides told them. It is reasonable, then, that superstition took its origin from somewhere, becoming the source of foolish wickedness. And when it was not stopped, but instead grew stronger, it became the maker of many demons, offering sacrifices of a hundred beasts, holding festivals, setting up statues, and building temples. And indeed, I will not keep silent even about these, but will expose them as well: temples that are called by good names but are actually tombs—that is, tombs called temples. But we, even now, though you forget superstition, are ashamed to honor tombs. In the temple of Athena at Larissa on the acropolis is the tomb of Acrisius; and on the acropolis at Athens is the tomb of Cecrops, as Antiochus says in the ninth of the Histories. What then about Erichthonius? Is he not buried in the temple of the Polias? Isn't Immaros, the son of Eumolpus, and Daeiras buried in the enclosure of the Eleusinian sanctuary, which is under the acropolis? Are not the daughters of Celeus buried in Eleusis? ? Why should I mention to you the women of the Hyperboreans? ? They were called Hyperoche and Laodice; they were honored in the temple of Artemis in Delos; and this is in the temple of Apollo the Delian. Leandrios says that Clearchus was buried in Miletus, in the Didymaion. Here is the tomb of Leukophryne, not unworthy to be passed by, following Zeno the Myndian; she is honored in the temple of Artemis in Magnesia. And yet not even the altar of Apollo in Telmissus, which they say is also a tomb, is overlooked; this too is recorded as belonging to Telmissus the seer. Ptolemaeus, son of Agesarchus, says in the first of his writings about Philopator in Paphos that Kinyras and the descendants of Kinyras are honored in the temple of Aphrodite. But as I come to the tombs you honor, no amount of time would be enough for me. And you, unless some shame stops those who dare, being truly dead, and truly trusting the dead, go around them.

How cowardly, what evil is this that you suffer? At night you

Wrapped heads.

Chapter 4

How absurd and shameful are the images by which they worship their gods.

But if, in addition to these things, I were to bring before you to examine those very statues themselves, you would clearly find the custom to be foolish, as they are lifeless works of human hands. Long ago, the Scythians worshiped the akinaḱēn; the Arabs worshiped the stone; the Persians worshiped the river. And among other peoples, even older ones set up notable wooden images and stood columns made of stone; these were called xoana, because the material was carved out. In Ikaria, the statue of Artemis was a piece of wood, unworked; and the image of Hera of Kithaironia in Thespiae was a carved tree trunk; and the statue of Hera of Samos, as Aethlios says, was at first a plank, but later, under the rule of Procleus, it became a statue in human form. But when the xoana began to be made in the likeness of humans, the name brētē came to be used for those made by mortals. In Rome, the old statue of Mars is said by the writer Varro to have been made from a simple wooden beam, before any craftsmen had attempted to improve this rough work; but when the art flourished, the error increased. So, since you have made statues and images from stones and wood, and, to sum up, from matter itself, shaping them to represent piety while falsely accusing the truth, this is already clear from the start; yet, because the matter requires proof, it must not be avoided. It is clear enough that Phidias made the Olympian Zeus and the Athena Polias from gold and ivory; and Olympichus in the Samian Histories records that the statue of Hera at Samos was carved by the sculptor Euclides. Do not doubt, then, that of the revered gods called Athena, two of the statues called Scopas made from the so-called lychnis stone; and Kalos, who is said to have them in the middle, shows Polemon in the fourth book against Timaios; nor the statues of Zeus and Apollo at Patara in Lycia, which Phidias again made—those statues, just like the lions lying beside them; if, as some say, Bryxius was an artist, I do not object—you have this sculptor too; whichever you want, inscribe it. And indeed, according to Philochorus, the statues of Poseidon and Amphitrite, nine cubits tall, worshiped in Tinos, are the work of Telesios the Athenian. For Demetrius, in the second book of the Argolic, records the wooden image of Hera in Tiryns and the wood as onyx, and he also mentions Argos the poet. Many would perhaps be amazed if they learned about the Palladium, called the Diopetes. Diomedes and Odysseus are said to have taken it from Ilium and entrusted it to Demophon. It is said to have been made from the bones of Pelops, just as the statue of Olympian Zeus was made from the bones of an Indian beast. And indeed, I present Dionysius, the historian, in the fifth part of the Cycle. Apellas says that there were two Palladia at Delphi, both made by human hands. But so that no one might think I have passed over these things in ignorance, I will set down that the statue of Morychus Dionysus was made for the Athenians from a stone called Fellata, and that it was the work of Simon the Eupalamus, as Polemon says in a certain letter. I was also made by another two, I think Cretan, sculptors; I was called Skylles and Dipoinos. The latter made the statues of the Dioscuri at Argos, as well as the statue of Heracles at Tiryns and the image of Artemis Munychia at Sicyon. And why do I spend time on these things, when it is possible to show you the great spirit himself, who was? Whom indeed we hear is especially worthy of all reverence; this one they dare to call the not-made-by-hand, the Egyptian Sarapis. For some say that he was sent as a gift by the Sinopians to Ptolemy Philadelphus, the king of the Egyptians; who, when they were suffering from famine, sent for grain from Egypt and received it. This statue is said to be an image of Pluto; who, having accepted the statue, set it up on the height now called Rhacotis. There the temple of Sarapis has been honored; and the place is near the village. Ptolemy, having brought the concubine Blistichis, who died in Canopus, buried her under the previously mentioned shrine. Others say that Sarapis was a Pontic Bretas, who was brought to Alexandria with great ceremonial honor. Isidore alone says that the statue was brought by the Seleucids to Antioch during a famine there, and that they were supported by Ptolemy. But Athenodorus, the son of Sandon, wanting to trace the origins of Sarapis, I do not know how he came to the conclusion, after examining him, that he was a created statue. He says that Sesostris, the Egyptian king who presented most of the nations known to the Greeks, after returning to Egypt, brought in skilled craftsmen. He then ordered Osiris, his own ancestor, to be richly crafted; Bryaxis the artisan made it—not the Athenian, but another man of the same name as that Bryaxis—who used mixed and varied wood for the creation. For it was a mixture of gold and silver, and also of bronze, iron, and lead, as well as tin; and among the Egyptian stones, not a single one was missing—fragments of sapphire and hematite, and also emerald and topaz. He mixed everything with pitch and dyed it blue; for this reason, the color of the statue was darker. Then, having mixed everything with the poison left over from the burial of Osiris and Apis, he shaped Sarapis. The name itself hints at the connection to the burial and the creation from the tomb, a compound made from Osiris and Apis, called Osirapis. A new and different god was reverently established in Egypt by the king of the Romans, a god beloved and made very handsome, Antinous, whom he deified just as Zeus did Ganymede. Desire does not easily hold back, having no fear. Now people worship the sacred nights of Antinous, nights that the lover who stayed awake did not believe to be shameful. Why do you call a god one honored for prostitution? But why did you also order him to be mourned as a son? Why then do you also describe his beauty? Beauty that is mixed with arrogance is shameful. Do not let beauty become a tyrant, human, nor insult the blooming youth; keep it pure, so that it may be truly beautiful. Be a king of beauty, not a tyrant. Let him remain free; then I will show you the beauty, because you have kept the image pure. Then I will worship the true beauty, which is the archetype of all that is beautiful. Already, the beloved is a tomb; Antinous is a temple and a city. For just as, I think, temples are admired, so also are tombs—pyramids and Mausoleums, and labyrinths, which are other temples of the dead, just as those tombs are temples of the gods. I will present to you the prophetess Sibyl as a teacher;

No lie from Phoebus the oracle, which even the foolish

Men called him god, but they lied about the prophet;

But of the great God, whom no hands of men shaped,

Like mute idols carved from stone.

These ruins, however, announce the temple, predicting that the one of Ephesus Artemis will be sunk by chasms and earthquakes, thus foretelling;

Ephesus will wail on its banks, crying face upward,

And seeking the temple no longer inhabited;

It is said that the temple of Isis and Serapis in Egypt will be carried away and burned;

Isis, goddess of many sorrows, you remain on the floods of the Nile

Alone, mad, mute, on the sands of the Acheron.

Then going down, she said:

And you, Serapis, lay many slow stones,

You will lie as the greatest wretched corpse in Egypt.

But if you do not listen to the prophetess, then hear the philosopher of Ephesus, Heraclitus, who blames the insensibility of statues: "And to these very statues they pray, as if someone were lodging in a house." For are not those who run to stones monstrous, and yet they stand before the gates, treating them as if they were alive? They worship Hermes as a god, and the Agyeus, standing as a doorkeeper. For if they insult them as senseless, why do they worship them as gods? But if they think they have sensation, why do they set these as doorkeepers? The Romans, attributing their greatest successes to chance, and thinking this to be the greatest god, dedicated it to the latrine, assigning a worthy temple to the god of the privy. But to a senseless stone, or wood, or rich gold, it does not matter at all—no smell, no blood, no smoke. Yet, being honored and worshiped, they ignore this. But it is neither honor nor insult; statues are even more worthless than any animal. And how the senseless things have been made divine, it is right to wonder, and to pity those wandering in folly as cowardly. For if even some animals do not have all the senses, like caterpillars and worms, and those born defective from the start, like the mole and the gadfly, which Nicander calls "both blind and foul-smelling," still they are better than these statues and images, which are completely deaf. For these have at least one sense, whether you call it hearing, or touch, or the one corresponding to smell or taste; but statues do not share even one sense. Many animals have neither sight, nor hearing, nor even a voice, such as the kind of shellfish, but they do live and grow, and even share in the moon's changes. The statues are inactive, powerless, senseless; they need support, are fixed in place, are nailed down, melted, carved, sawed, trimmed, and polished. The statue-makers dishonor the silent earth, persuading people to worship by art what goes against its own nature. But those who make gods do not worship gods and spirits, according to my sense; rather, they worship the earth and the craft—the statues as they really are. For truly a statue is dead matter, shaped by the hand of an artist. For us, the statue is not something sensed by the senses of matter; the statue is something understood by the mind, God, the only true God. And indeed, in these very situations, the superstitious, the worshipers of stones, having learned by experience not to worship lifeless matter, being less than the need itself, are destroyed by superstition; yet despising the statues, and not wanting to seem to despise them completely, they are exposed by the very gods to whom the statues are said to belong. [PG 8.51]. For Dionysius the tyrant, the younger, having taken the golden cloak of Zeus in Sicily, ordered that a linen one be put on it, saying charmingly that this was better than gold, lighter in summer, and more protective against the cold. Antiochus of Cyzicus, lacking money, ordered the golden statue of Zeus, which was fifteen cubits tall, to be melted down, and a similar statue made of less valuable material, covered with gold leaf, to be set up again. [PG 8.52]. Swallows, and most birds, are exceptions to these statues, perching on them without any care for either Olympian Zeus, or Asclepius of Epidaurus, nor even for Athena Polias or Serapis of Egypt; from these, you do not learn even the insensitivity of the statues themselves. But there are some criminals or enemies who attack, who out of greed have destroyed the sacred places, plundered the offerings, or even melted down the statues themselves; and if Cambyses, or Darius, or some other madman tried such things, and if an Egyptian killed Apis, I laugh because he killed their god, but I am angry if he did it for the sake of profit. Therefore, willingly I will call this wrongdoing the work of greed, not a proof of the idols' powerlessness. But certainly neither fire nor greedy earthquakes are feared or cursed, neither the spirits, nor the statues, no more than the pebbles piled up by the waves along the shores. I know a fire that tests and a cure for superstition. If you want to stop your foolishness, fire will bring you to the light. This fire burned down the temple and the priesthood in Argos, by Chrysis; and the temple of Artemis in Ephesus, second after the Amazons, and the Capitol in Rome were often destroyed by it; nor did it spare the temple of Serapis in the city of Alexandria. For in Athens, it destroyed the temple of Dionysus the Liberator, and at Delphi, first a storm seized the temple of Apollo, then fire wisely wiped it out. This is shown to you as a prelude to what the fire promises. But the makers of the statues do not blame you, the sensible ones, for despising the material? The Athenian Phidias, on the finger of Zeus Olympius, inscribed, "All-powerful is beautiful"; for Zeus was not beautiful to him, but the one loved was. And Praxiteles, as Posidippus explains in his work On Knidos, making the statue of Aphrodite of Knidos, made her similar in appearance to Kratine, the woman he loved, so that the cowards might worship Praxiteles' beloved. When Phryne, the courtesan from Thespiae, was flourishing, all the painters copied the images of Aphrodite after the beauty of Phryne, just as the stonecutters in Athens made the statues of Hermes resemble Alcibiades. It remains for your judgment to add the work, if you wish, of worshiping the courtesans as well. From here, I think, the old kings were moved, despising these myths, and openly, because they were safe from humans, declared themselves gods; teaching that they too would become immortal for the sake of glory. Ceix was called the son of Aeolus, Zeus by his wife Alcyone; and Alcyone again was called Hera by her husband. Ptolemy the Fourth was called Dionysus; and Mithridates of Pontus was also Dionysus. Alexander wished to be thought the son of Ammon, and to be shaped by sculptors as a horned one, eager to insult the beauty of a man with a horn. And not only kings, but also private individuals honored themselves with divine titles, like Menekrates the doctor, who was called Zeus. Why should I mention Alexarchus? This grammarian, having become skilled in the art, as Aristos of Salamis records, shaped himself into the sun. Why is it necessary to mention Nicagoras as well? He was of the Zeleite race, living in the time of Alexander; Nicagoras was called Hermes, and he used the attire of Hermes, as he himself testifies. For everywhere, all peoples and cities without men, pretending flattery, degrade the myths about the gods, shaping themselves as men equal to gods, born from pride, voting for excessive honors for themselves. Now they worship Philip, the Macedonian from Pella, son of Amyntas, who legislated at Cynosarges, the one who lost a key and whose leg was pierced, the one who lost an eye; again, they call Demetrius a god as well. And there, when he dismounted from his horse entering Athens, there is a temple of Demetrius at Kataibatus; altars are everywhere, and a marriage was celebrated by the Athenians for him, who was favored by Athena. But he was proud of being a god, unable to enjoy the statue; having Lamia as his companion, he went up to the acropolis and appeared before the statue of Athena, the old virgin, showing the forms of the new companion. So there was no punishment even for Hippon, who made his own death immortal. For this Hippon ordered this elegy to be inscribed on his own tomb:

This is the tomb of Hippon, to the immortal gods

He made the fate of the perishable equal.

Well done, Hippon, you show us human error clearly. For even if those who speak to you do not believe, let them become followers of the dead. This is the prophecy of Hippon; let us understand it. The people who worship you were once human, but then they die; the story and time have honored them. For time somehow loves that the present things be despised by habit, and the past things, separated by the unclear passage of time, be honored by the imagination, and that some things be disbelieved, and others admired. At once, then, the old dead, proud of the long time of error, are thought afterward to be gods. Your faith is in these things, your own mysteries, your festivals, bonds and wounds, and gods who weep;

Oh woe to me, when Sarpedon, the dearest of men to me,

To be overcome by the fate sent by Patroclus, son of Menoetius.

The will of Zeus has been fulfilled, and Zeus laments for you through Sarpedon, having been defeated. You have rightly called them images, and you yourselves have named them spirits; for even Homer, dishonoring Athena herself and the other gods in some way, called them spirits.

… But she has defiled Olympus

To the halls of aegis-bearing Zeus along with other spirits.

How then can the gods still be called images and spirits, truly hateful and unclean spirits, known by all as earthly and fearful, dwelling below, crying around the tombs and monuments? Around which indeed faint shadowy apparitions also appear. These are your gods, the images, the shadows, and in addition those lame and filthy ones, the prayerful eyes, the Litae, the daughters of Thersites, or rather the daughters of Zeus. So it seems to me to say charmingly what Bion said: How could people rightly ask Zeus for fertility, which he was not able to grant even to himself?? Alas for your godlessness! You dig into the pure essence, that which is in you; and that undefiled and holy thing, you have covered with graves, having robbed the truly real essence, the divine. What then have you assigned as honor to those who are not gods instead of to God? Why then, having left the sky, have you honored the earth? What else is gold, or silver, or diamond, or iron, or bronze, or ivory, or precious stones, if not earth and from earth? Are not all these things you see the offspring of one mother, the earth? Why then, you foolish and empty-minded ones (for I will repeat it again), having blasphemed the heavenly place, have you dragged piety down to the earth, shaping gods for yourselves from the soil? And by placing these created things before the uncreated God, you have fallen into a deeper darkness? The Parian stone is beautiful, but not yet Poseidon; the ivory is beautiful, but not yet Olympian; the material for art is always lacking; but God is never lacking. Art came first and took on form; the material and the richness of the substance serve for gain, but only the form becomes worthy of respect. Your statue is gold, it is wood, it is stone, it is earth, if you think of it from above, having received form from the artist. I have practiced treading on the earth, not worshiping it; for it is not right for me to ever trust lifeless things with the hopes of the soul. Willow wood, then, is especially close to statues, since error is shown even in the appearance; for very clearly the forms of statues reveal the nature of the spirits. If anyone carefully examines the writings and statues, they will immediately recognize your gods from their shameful shapes: Dionysus from his clothing; Hephaestus from his craft; Deio from her misfortune; Ino from her headband; Poseidon from the trident; Zeus from the swan; and Heracles is shown by the pyre. And even if someone sees a naked, unpainted woman, they think of the golden Aphrodite. Thus the Cypriot, that Pygmalion, fell in love with an ivory statue; the statue was of Aphrodite and was naked. The Cypriot is overcome by the form and comes together with the statue. Philostephanos also records this. Another Aphrodite in Knidos was a stone, and she was beautiful; another man fell in love with her and united with the stone. Posidippus records this: the first in the work about Cyprus, the other in the work about Knidos. Art had such power to deceive, becoming a guide leading lovers among humans into a pit. Creative power is active, but it is not able to deceive the rational mind, nor those who live according to reason. For by painting, through the likeness of a shadow image, doves flew toward the pigeons; and horses, well drawn, served as horses. They say to love a girl of the image; and a handsome young man of the statue of Knidian. But the eyes of the spectators were deceived by the art; for no one would embrace a goddess, nor would anyone be buried with a corpse, nor would a sensible man fall in love with a spirit or a stone. But art deceives you by another kind of magic, even if it does not lead you to love, but to honor and worship; and the statues, and the paintings. The writing is indeed similar. Let the art be praised, but let it not deceive the person, as if it were the truth. The horse stands quietly; the dove, motionless; the wing, still; and the ox of Daedalus, made from wood, seized a wild bull, and the art, having deceived the beast, forced it to carry the desire of a woman. So great a frenzy have the arts, when badly done, created in foolish people. But the monkeys, the foster children and imitators of these things, have marveled that nothing deceives them from wax or clay figures and puppets. But will you become even worse than monkeys, enduring stone and wooden, and golden, and ivory statues and paintings? So great a destruction have the makers of harmful toys brought upon you—stonecutters, and sculptors, and also painters and carpenters, and poets—introducing a large and such a crowd, in the fields, Satyrs and Panes, and through the woods, Nymphs, the Oreads, and the Hamadryads; and indeed also around the waters, and by the rivers, and the springs, the Naiads; and by the sea, the Nereids. But these are already magicians, servants of their own impiety, calling demons, having made them their servants, forced and made slaves by incantations. Weddings too, and childbirths, and the births of gods remembered, and adultery sung, and feasts acted out in comedies, and laughter introduced out of place, all urge me to cry out, even if I want to keep silent: Woe to impiety! You have made the sky a stage, and the divine has become a play for you, and the holy you have mocked with the masks of demons, turning true reverence for god into superstition like a satyr play.

But the one playing the bagpipe was delaying to sing well.

"Sing for us, Homer, with your beautiful voice."

"About the love of Ares and the well-crowned Aphrodite."

"How at first they joined together in the house of Hephaestus"

Secretly; and he gave many things, but he shamed the bed and the marriage chamber

of lord Hephaestus.

Stop, Homer, your song; it is not good; it teaches adultery. We refuse to listen to such things and to live in sin. For we are the ones who carry the image of God in this living and moving statue, the human being, a fellow image, a counselor, a companion, a fellow guest, sharing feelings and suffering deeply; we have become a dedication to God for Christ. We are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession; who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, who, according to John, are not from below, but have learned everything from the one who came from above. We have understood the plan of God, and we have practiced walking in newness of life.. But most people do not think these things; having thrown away shame and fear, they suffer the torments of demons in their own homes. At least some, lying on boards set higher up, indulging in debauchery, have decorated their chambers, thinking licentiousness is piety; and lying on the couch, still with the folds nearby, they gaze at that naked Aphrodite tied up in the embrace; and the love bird flying around Leda, accepting the writing of femininity, they mark with slingshots, using a seal fitting for the debauchery of Zeus. These are the original patterns of your pleasure-seeking; these are the theologies of your arrogance; these are the teachings of the gods who sleep with prostitutes for you; for each one thinks and believes what he wants, according to the Athenian speaker. And what other images of yours there are also? Some little dancers, and naked girls, and drunken Satyrs, and the stretching of genitals, stripped bare in the drawings, exposed because of their lack of self-control. Now clearly, the shapes of all debauchery are written everywhere for all to see, and you are not ashamed. Instead, you guard them even more closely, as if you neglect the images of your gods, having set up pillars of shamelessness in your homes, with the forms of Philaenis inscribed alongside, as if they were the labors of Heracles. Of these, we report not only the use but also the shamelessness in seeing and hearing them. Your ears have become weak, your eyes have committed fornication, and, what is more recent, before the act itself, your glances have already committed adultery. O you who have forced the human being; even the divine part of the creature reproaches you. Having begun, you disbelieve everything, so that you may perish, and you believe in idols, seeking their lack of self-control, but you disbelieve God, not showing self-control; and you have hated the better things, and honored the worse; you have become spectators of virtue, but fighters for evil. Blessed alone then, so to speak, all those together in one mind, according to the Sibyl;

Those who will deny all the temples after seeing them,

And altars, ill-formed structures of silent stones,

And stone idols, and statues made by hand,

Stained with living blood, and by sacrifices

Of four-footed animals, two-footed, birds, and beasts by slaughter.

For it is clearly forbidden to you that the craft be defined as deceitful; for the prophet says, "You shall not make any likeness of anything in heaven above or on the earth below." Where else could we still consider Praxiteles' Demeter, and Kore, and the secret Iacchus as gods, or the works of Lysippus, or the hands of Apelles, which indeed have given the form of piety to the material? But you, however, keep striving for the statue to be made as beautiful as possible; yet you do not care that you yourselves do not become like the statues because of insensitivity. Certainly, the prophetic word clearly and briefly exposes the common belief, saying, "For all the gods of the nations are demons"; "But God made the heavens and all that is in the heaven." Some, wandering from here, I do not know how, worship the sun and the moon and the other group of stars, not as divine art but not as God, wrongly thinking these are gods, the instruments of time; "By his word they were established, and by the breath of his mouth all their power." But human skill makes houses and ships, and cities, and writings; how then could I call God the maker of these things? See the whole world; the sky and the sun are his work; and angels and humans are the works of his fingers. How great is the power of God! Only his will is world-making; for God alone made all things, since he alone truly is God; by mere willing he creates, and only by his willing does what is made follow. Here a group of philosophers turns aside, agreeing that man was beautifully made for the view of the sky; and they worship the things seen and caught by the eye in the sky. For even if the works in the sky are not human, at least they have been made for humans. And let no one worship the sun, but long for the maker of the sun; let no one worship the world, but seek the creator of the world. So it seems that only divine wisdom remains as a refuge for the one about to reach the saving doors; from here, as if from a sacred asylum, man is no longer led by demons, but hurries toward salvation.

Chapter 5

He reviews the opinions of the philosophers about God.

Let us also run through, if you wish, the opinions of the philosophers, as many as they boast about the gods, so that perhaps we may find philosophy itself, out of vanity, making the material world into idols; even if it praises such spirits, we might be able, by mistake, to present the truth as if dreaming. Having praised the elements as principles, Thales of Miletus named water, and Anaximenes, also a Milesian, named air; Diogenes the Apolloniat later followed him in this. Parmenides of Elea introduced fire and earth as gods; but only one of these, fire, was acknowledged as a god by Hippasus of Metapontum and Heraclitus of Ephesus. For Empedocles of Acragas, expanding to a multitude, added Strife and Friendship to these four elements. These men were indeed atheists, worshiping matter with a certain foolish wisdom; they did not honor stones or wood, but instead deified the earth as their mother, and did not fashion Poseidon, but turned instead to water itself. For what is earlier, Poseidon, or some moist substance, named from drinking? Just as the hostile Ares is called from lifting and taking away. And many seem to me especially to desire Ares, having fixed only the sword, as if to Ares. Such a thing exists among the Scythians, just as Eudoxus says in the second book of the Period. The Sauromatae among the Scythians, as Ikesios says in the On Mysteries, honor the akinakes (a type of short sword). Those around Heraclitus, too, honoring fire as primal, have experienced this; for some have called that fire Hephaestus. The Magi of the Persians have honored fire, as have many of those living in Asia; and also the Macedonians, as Diogenes says in the first book of Persica. Why should I mention the Sauromatae, whom Nymphodorus in Nomima Barbarika records as honoring fire; or the Persians, and the Medes, and the Magi? Dion says that these people offer sacrifices outdoors, considering only fire and water as images of the gods. I did not hide even their ignorance; for if they think they avoid error the most, yet they slip into another kind of deception. They did not imagine the statues of the gods as wood and stone, like the Greeks; nor did they think of ibises and trackers, like the Egyptians, but rather fire and water, as philosophers do. After many years, however, they began to worship statues resembling humans. Berosus, in the third book of his Chaldaean history, reports that this was introduced by Artaxerxes, son of Darius the Ochus, who was the first to set up a statue of Aphrodite of the Tanais in Babylon, and showed that it should be worshiped also in Susa, among the Persians in Ecbatana, in Bactra, Damascus, and Sardis. Since the philosophers agreed, their teachers—the Persians, either Sauromatae or magi, from whom they learned the irreverence toward the sacred—did not know the ruler of all, the creator of the rulers themselves, the God without beginning. They turned instead to these poor and weak things, which the Apostle says were made to serve humans, the elements. Among the other philosophers, those who went beyond the elements busied themselves with something higher and more excessive. Some praised the infinite, among whom were Anaximander of Miletus, Anaxagoras of Clazomenae, and the Athenian Archelaus. The last two set Mind over the infinite. The Milesian Leucippus and the Chian Metrodorus apparently left behind two principles: the full and the empty. Democritus of Abdera added to these two the idols. For Alcmaeon of Croton thought that the gods were the stars, living beings (I will not be silent about even their shamelessness). Xenocrates, the Carthaginian, counted seven gods as the wandering stars, and a eighth, which he hinted was the world composed of all of them. Nor will I pass over those from the Stoa, who say that the divine runs through all matter, even the most dishonorable, and who shamelessly disgrace philosophy. I do not think it is difficult here to mention those from the Peripatetic school; and he himself, the father of the sect, not understanding the Father of all, called the highest one (ὕπατον) the soul of everything. That is, he considered the soul of the world to be God, binding himself to himself. For he defines providence only up to the moon itself, then considers the world to be God, turning around, declaring the Godless God. But that Eresian Theophrastus, a close associate of Aristotle, sometimes suggests that God is the sky, and sometimes that God is spirit. For I will call upon Epicurus alone and willingly, who thinks that God does not even care, because of all his impieties. For what about Heraclides of Pontus? There is no place where he himself does not also follow the images of Democritus.

Chapter 6

Sometimes a philosopher, even while striving himself, has touched on the truth in this matter.

And a great crowd like this flows upon me, as if introducing some kind of demon spirit from abroad; a strange shadow-painting of myth-makers, a Greek-made nonsense; it is necessary for men to allow themselves to listen to such words, who do not even allow their own children, that is to say, those called, accustomed to crying and lamenting, to be comforted by myths, trembling as they grow up with them in godlessness, which is proclaimed by these so-called wise men, knowing nothing true more than infants. For what, O you who are toward the truth, do you show your believers as being terribly and disorderly subjected to ruin and destruction? Why do you fill life with images, with winds, or air, or fire, or earth, or stones, or wood, or iron, or this world, fashioning gods? And gods and the wandering stars to the truly deceived among men, through this much-talked-about astrology, not astronomy, speaking of the heavens and babbling nonsense? I long for the Lord of spirits, the Lord of fire, the creator of the world, the God who lights the sun, I seek, not the works of God. Whom then shall I take from you as a partner in the search? For we have not utterly given up, if you will, on Plato. Where then, O Plato, must the God be traced? For the father and maker of this whole universe, it is impossible to find his work and, having found it, to explain it all. Why indeed? O you who are toward him: For he is nowhere to be spoken of. Well done, O Plato, to touch on the truth; but do not grow weary; take with me the search concerning the good; for to all men simply and plainly, especially to those who spend time on words, a certain divine inspiration has been given; for the sake of this, even unwillingly they agree that there is one God, immortal and unbegotten; this one somewhere above, around the nape of the sky, truly existing in his own and proper majesty, always existing.

But what kind of God must be understood, tell me?

The one who sees all things, yet is not seen himself,

Euripides says. Menander seems to me to be mistaken, where he says:

Sun; for you must be worshiped first among the gods,

Because of whom it is possible to see the other gods;

For neither the sun would ever show the true God, nor the healthy reason, which is the sun of the soul, through which alone the eye is enlightened from within, rising in the depth of the mind, and the eye is illuminated by its own mind. Therefore, it is not without reason that Democritus says that few of the learned men have raised their hands; here is what we Greeks now call the air, through which all things are explained; and this one knows all things, gives all things, takes away all things, and is king of all. It is in this sense that Plato, thinking about God, hints at the king of all, who is all things, and that cause of all good things. Who then is the king of all? God, the measure of the truth of all things. Just as things measurable are grasped by a measure, so too truth is measured and grasped by the mind when it thinks of God. And truly holy is Moses; he says, "There shall not be in your pouch a false or unjust measure, great or small", but "a true and just measure shall be yours," considering God as the measure and number of all things. For unjust and unequal images dwell in the pouch and, so to speak, are hidden in the soul, defiling it; but the only just measure, the only true God, always equal, always the same in kind and manner, measures and weighs all things like a balance of justice, embracing and enduring the nature of all things without error. God, as the ancient teaching says, having the beginning and the end and the middle of all things, proceeds straight according to nature; and justice always accompanies him, punishing those who break the divine law. Wherefore, O Plato, do you hint at the truth? Whence does the abundant supply of words prophesy piety? The kinds of barbarians are wiser than these, he says. I know your teachers, even if you want to hide them: you learn geometry from the Egyptians; astronomy from the Babylonians; healthy incantations from the Thracians; many things the Assyrians have taught you; and you will benefit from the laws, which are true, and the belief about God from the Hebrews;

Who do not deceive with empty words, nor with the works of men,

Gold and bronze, and silver and ivory,

And wooden and stone images of dead mortals,

They honor, just as mortals do, with empty-minded purpose;

But indeed they lift up pure hands toward heaven,

Always at dawn from their beds, purifying their bodies

With water, and they honor only the one who always rules

The Immortal.

And indeed, philosophy, do not only bring forward this one Plato, but also many others, who earnestly proclaim the one true God as God, inspired by him, if they have touched upon the truth somewhere. For Antisthenes did not mean this as a Cynic; and since he was familiar with Socrates, he says that God resembles no one; therefore no one can learn about him from an image. Xenophon the Athenian would also clearly write something about the truth, testifying that Socrates, if he had not feared the poison of Socrates, would not hint at anything less.

"He who shakes and does not tremble all things," he says, "as if he were great and clearly powerful; and what sort of form he has, is invisible. And not even the very shining sun, seeming to be the sun, itself appears to allow itself to be seen; but if someone shamelessly looks at it, it takes away the sight."

Where then does the wisdom of Gryllus come from? Or is it indeed from the Hebrew prophetess, who proclaims something like this?

For what flesh can grasp the heavenly and true?

With eyes to see the immortal God, who dwells in the heavens?

But not even by rays opposite to the sun

Can mortals stand, having been made mortal?

Cleanthes of Pisaeus, the philosopher from the Stoa, who showed not a poetic theogony but a true theology, did not hide what he thought about God;

"If you ask me what the good is like, listen then;"

"Ordered, just, holy, pious,"

"Strong in itself, useful, beautiful, necessary,"

"Strict, unchanging, always beneficial",

"Without fear, without pain, profitable, painless,"

"Useful", "pleasing, safe, friendly,"

"Honorable, acknowledged, glorious,"

"Unburned, careful, gentle, intense,"

"Enduring, blameless," "always remaining."

"Everyone who looks to glory is unfree,"

"As if by gaining some good thing from that one."

Here clearly, I think, it teaches what kind of God he is; and how common glory and custom enslave those who follow them but do not seek God. It must not be hidden even from those around Pythagoras, who say: "God is one; and this one is not, as some suppose, outside the universe, but entirely within it, overseeing all generations in the whole circle, the mixture of all things; always existing, and the worker of his own powers and all works, a light in heaven, and father of all, mind and soul to the whole circle, the movement of all." These things also serve, for the knowledge of God, as a breath of God written down for them, but chosen for us, able at least to nourish a little truth.

Chapter 7

Poets also bear witness to the truth.

Let us go then (for philosophy alone is not enough ), but also poetry itself, which is entirely occupied with falsehood; hardly ever does it bear witness to the truth, and rather it confesses to God the mythical digression. Let someone also be present who wishes to be the first poet. Aratus, then, understands that the power of God extends through all things;

"… so that all things may grow firmly,"

To him always, both first and last, they offer propitiation.

Rejoice, father, great wonder, great blessing to humans.

In this, Hesiod the Askraean also hints.

God;

For he himself is king and ruler of all,

of the immortals, and there is no other power that holds sway.

Already even on the stage they expose the truth; one says, "And looking up to the ether and to the sky, I consider this one God," says Euripides; and Sophocles, the son of Sophilus, says;

"One in truth, one is God,"

"Who made the heaven and the vast earth,"

"And the fierce swell of the sea, and the power of the winds."

"But mortals, wandering with much cunning,"

"We have established a respite from sufferings"

"Statues of gods made of stone, or wood, or bronze,"

"Or images made of gold, or ivory;"

"And sacrifices to these, and empty festivals,"

"We think that by doing this we are worshiping properly."

Thus already, even at the risk of danger, he introduced the truth to the spectators on the stage. But the Thracian hierophant and poet at the same time, Orpheus of Oiagros, after the hierophancy of the mysteries and the theology of the idols, brings in a counter-song of truth, truly sacred though late, yet still singing a message;

"I will speak what is right; impious ones, shut the doors."

"All together: but you, listen, offspring of the shining moon,"

"Muses, for I will speak the truth; may what came before not"

"Having appeared in the breast of a dear age, may it not fade away."

"Looking toward the divine word, he attended to this,"

"Guiding the thoughtful heart's chamber, and proceeding well,"

"Of the pathless way, and alone beholding the ruler of the universe,"

"Immortal…"

Then going down, he clearly brings forth;

There is one, self-generated; from one all things have been born;

And in them he himself is contained; nor does anyone him

He is seen by mortals, but he himself sees all.

Thus indeed Orpheus; at one time, confused, he came to understand with time;

But you, mortal of many wiles, do not delay or hesitate;

But turning back again, you may appease God.

For even if the Greeks, having taken some of the greatest hints from the divine word, spoke a few fragments of the truth, they bear witness to its power not being hidden, yet they themselves are shown to be weak, not reaching the full end. For I think it is clear to everyone now that those who act or even speak apart from the word of truth are like those who try to walk without a foundation. Even those around your gods, who mock you for salvation, are rebuked; these poets, forced by the truth, make a comedy of it. Menander, the comic poet, in The Charioteer, in Hypobolimaios the play,

"No one pleases me," he says, "walking outside the god."

"Along with an old woman, and not even entering houses"

"On the plank, a beggar."

For such are the beggars. Therefore, it is fitting that Antisthenes said to them who change their minds: "I do not nourish the Mother of the gods, whom the gods nourish." Again, the same comic poet, in the play The Priestess, angry at custom, tries to refute the atheist's blindness of error, speaking sensibly:

"… For if he drags God"

"A man with cymbals, wherever he wishes,"

"He who does this is greater than God."

"But these are instruments of boldness and life"

"Found for men."

And not only Menander, but also Homer, Euripides, and many other poets often challenge your gods, and they do not fear being insulted by them, nor to what extent. Immediately they call Athena "dog-eyed" and Hephaestus "bow-legged"; and Helen says this about Aphrodite:

"Do not return to Olympus on your feet anymore."

Regarding Dionysus, Homer clearly writes:

"Who once, when Dionysus was raging, put to rest"

"Seue down to the good Nysaean mountain; and all at once"

"They poured their thyrsus sticks down to the ground, under the man-slaying Lycurgus."

Euripides is truly worthy of a Socratic way of life, going toward the truth, and looking down on the spectators; at one time Apollo,

"… Who [sits] on the mid-navel seats"

He dwells, clearly ruling over mortals' mouths,

examining closely;

Obeying him, I killed the one who gave birth;

Consider that one impious, and kill him;

That one sinned, not I, being more ignorant;

Being of what is good and just;

Once, introducing Heracles in a frenzy, drunk, elsewhere, and greedy; for how could he not, while eating meat, have eaten green figs, barking without music, so that a barbarian might learn? Already in Ionia, in the drama with the bare head, he surrounds the gods in the theater;

How then is it just for you mortals to have laws?

Having written them down, do they incur injustice themselves?

But if not, for it will not be so, I will use reason;

Violent men give laws to human marriages,

You, and Poseidon, and Zeus who rules the sky,

By wronging temples, you will make them empty.

Chapter 8

The true teaching about God must be sought from the Prophets.

It is time, then, after the others have been explained to us in order, to turn to the prophetic writings; for the oracles, clearly offering us the starting points for reverence toward God, establish the truth. The divine Scriptures are prudent laws and brief paths to salvation; free of ornamentation, of external elegance, of smooth speech, and of flattery, they raise up a person weighed down by evil, having looked beyond the slippery path of life, healing many things with one and the same voice, turning us away from harmful deception and clearly urging us toward foresight and salvation. At once, then, let the prophetess Sibyl sing to us the saving song first.

This indeed is entirely clear, and stands without error;

Come, and do not always pursue darkness and gloom;

Sweet-seeing sun, behold, a light shines forth brightly.

But know this, laying down wisdom in your hearts;

There is one God, sending down rain, winds, and earthquakes,

lightning, famines, plagues, and bitter sorrows,

and snowfalls, and hailstones. Why do I speak of each one separately?

He rules the sky, holds the earth, and exists by himself;

Inspired strongly, representing deceit as darkness, and knowledge as the sun and light of God; and placing both side by side in comparison, it teaches choice. For falsehood is not scattered by a bare juxtaposition with truth; but, forced by the use of truth, it flees away. But Jeremiah the prophet, the all-wise one, or rather the holy Spirit in Jeremiah, shows God: "I am a God who is near," he says, "and not a God far away." If a man does something in secret, and I do not see him? Or do I not fill the heavens and the earth? The Lord says. Again through Isaiah he says, "Who will measure me the heaven by a span, and the whole earth by a handbreadth?" See the greatness of God, and be amazed. Let us worship this one, about whom the prophet says, "Before your face the mountains will melt away, as wax melts before fire." This one, he says, is God, "whose throne is heaven, and whose footstool is the earth; whoever opens the heaven will be seized with trembling." Do you also want to hear what this prophet says about the idols? "They will be made an example before the sun, and their mortal food will be for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth; and what they loved, and to which they served, will rot under the sun and the moon, and their city will be burned." He also says that the elements and the world will be destroyed along with them: "The earth, he says, will grow old, and the sky will pass away; but the word of the Lord remains forever." What then, when God wishes to reveal himself again through Moses: "Look, look, that I am, and there is no other God" "besides me." "I will kill, and I will make alive; I will strike, and I will heal; and there is no one who can rescue out of my hands." But you also want to hear another oracle? You have the whole prophetic chorus, the companions of Moses. What does the Holy Spirit say to them through Hosea? I will not hesitate to say: "Behold, I am making a firm thunder, and creating a spirit; by whose hands they also founded the army of heaven." Also, through Isaiah I will remind you of this voice: "I am, I am," says the Lord, "the one who speaks justice and proclaims truth." Gather together, and come; plan together, you who are saved from the nations. Those who carry the wood did not know, their carving; and they prayed to gods, who will not save them. Then going down, I am, says God, and there is no one just except me and a savior; there is no one besides me. "Turn to me, and you will be saved," those from the ends of the earth. I am God, and there is no other; I swear by myself. But to the idolaters he says harshly: "To whom did you liken the Lord, or with what image did you compare him?" The craftsman did not make an image? Or did the goldsmith melt gold and cover him with gold? And the things on top of these. So do not be idolaters any longer; but even now, if you heed the warnings, the carved and handmade idols will cry out, and even more so those who trust in them. For the material is lifeless. Moreover, the Lord says, "He will shake inhabited cities, and he will seize the whole world with his hand, like a young bird." What wisdom I tell you are mysteries, and sayings from a Hebrew child made wise? The Lord created me as the beginning of his ways for his works. And, the Lord gives wisdom, and from his presence come knowledge and understanding. How long, lazy one, will you lie there? But when will you be awakened from sleep? But if you are lazy, your poverty will come to you like a spring; the paternal Word, the good lamp, the Lord bringing the light, faith to all, and salvation. For the Lord, who made the earth by his power, as Jeremiah says, has raised up the world by his wisdom; for wisdom, which is his Word, will raise us up from falling into idols to the truth. And this is the first resurrection from sin. Therefore, turning away from all idolatry, the divine Moses cried out beautifully: "Hear, Israel: The Lord your God is one Lord; and you shall worship the Lord your God, and serve him only." Now then, be wise, O people, according to that blessed psalmist David: "Take hold of discipline, lest the Lord become angry, and you be destroyed from the way of righteousness, when his anger quickly burns. Blessed are all who trust in him." Now already, the Lord, showing us great mercy, gives salvation as a song, like a marching rhythm: "Sons of men, how long will you be heavy-hearted? Why do you love vanity, and seek after falsehood?" What then is "vanity," and what is "falsehood"? The holy Apostle of the Lord, blaming the Greeks, will explain to you, "Because they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks, but they became vain in their thoughts, and they changed the glory of God into the likeness of the image of a perishable man, and they worshiped the creation instead of the Creator." And indeed, this God, who "in the beginning made the heaven and the earth," But you do not understand God, yet you worship the heaven; and how are you not ungodly? Listen again to the prophet saying: "The sun will be darkened, and the heaven will be darkened; but the almighty will shine forever, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, and the heavens will roll up like a scroll being stretched out and rolled together (for these are the prophetic voices); and the earth will flee from the presence of the Lord."

Chapter 9

They sin seriously who scorn or neglect the kind calling of God.

And I could bring you countless Scriptures, of which not even one small letter will pass away, without being fulfilled; for the mouth of the Lord, the holy Spirit, has spoken these things. Therefore, do not any longer, he says, my son, despise the discipline of the Lord; nor grow weary when you are corrected by him.. Oh, the surpassing kindness! The teacher does not treat his students as servants, nor the lord as slaves, nor God as men, but as a father gently admonishes his sons; then Moses himself admits to being fearful and trembling when hearing the Word; but you, hearing the divine Word, do not fear? You do not struggle? You do not both show reverence and hurry to learn—that is, you hurry toward salvation—fearing the anger, loving the grace, and eagerly desiring the hope, so that you may avoid judgment? You have come, you have come, my youth; for if you do not again become like children and be born again, as the Scripture says, you will not receive the truly existing Father, nor will you ever enter the kingdom of heaven. For how is it allowed for a stranger to enter? But when, I think, he is registered, and lives as a citizen, and receives the father, then he will become one of the father's, then he will be deemed worthy to inherit, then he will share in the paternal kingdom with the genuine, the beloved. For this is the firstborn Church, made up of many good children; these are the firstborn, those enrolled in heaven and celebrating together with so many myriads of angels. We are the firstborn children, the ones nourished by God, the true friends of the firstborn, the first among other people to have known God, the first to be separated from sins, the first to be separated from the devil. But now some are more godless, even though God is more loving; for he wants us to become sons from slaves, but they have become proud even to become sons. O great foolishness! You are dishonoring the Lord? He promises freedom; but you are running away into slavery. He grants salvation; but you endure yourself to a man. He gives eternal life; but you await punishment, and you face the fire which the Lord has prepared for the devil and his angels. For this reason the blessed Apostle says, "I testify in the Lord that you should no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds, being darkened in their understanding, and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to the hardness of their hearts; who have given themselves over to sensuality, to work all uncleanness and greed." With such a witness exposing the foolishness of men and calling on God, what else remains for the unbelievers but judgment and condemnation? The Lord does not neglect, but encourages, warns, urges, awakens, and instructs; indeed, he awakens those who are lost in their darkness. "Arise," he says, "you who are sleeping, and rise from the dead; and Christ the Lord, the Sun of resurrection, who was born before the dawn star, will shine on you, giving life with his own rays." Therefore, let no one despise the Word, lest he unknowingly despise himself. For Scripture says somewhere, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested me in trial." And what is the testing? If you want to learn, the Holy Spirit will explain it to you: "And I saw my works," he says, "for forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and I said, "They always wander in their hearts; but they did not know my ways." As I swore in my anger, that they would not enter into my rest. Do you see the threat. Do you see the encouragement? Do you see the honor. Why then do we still change grace into anger, and not, having opened our ears, receive the Word, welcoming God in pure souls? ? For great is the grace of his promise, if today we listen to his voice. But the today of each day grows greater with him; so it may be called today. But until completion, both the today and the learning remain; and then the true today, the unending day of God, extends along with the ages. Therefore, let us always listen to the voice of the divine Word; for today is an eternal age; a symbol of light, a day; and the light is the Word to people, through whom we are enlightened about God. It is reasonable, then, that for those who believe and obey, grace will abound exceedingly; but for those who disobey and are led astray in heart, and do not know the Lord's ways, which John commanded to make straight and prepare; to these God became angry and threatens.. And indeed, the end of the threat was enigmatically foretold by the ancient deceivers of the Hebrews; for they are said not to enter into the rest because of unbelief, which holds them back, following the successor of Moses, to learn at last by experience that they could not be saved otherwise, unless perhaps they believed in Jesus. Being loving toward humanity, the Lord urges all people to the knowledge of the truth, sending the Paraclete.. What then is knowledge? Godliness; and godliness is beneficial in every way, according to Paul, holding the promise of life, both present and future.. How great you must admit, O people, if eternal salvation were to be gained, you would benefit from it? Not even if someone were to measure the entire Pactolus, the legendary stream of gold, would they count a reward worthy of salvation. Therefore, do not give up; it is possible for you, if you wish, to gain the priceless salvation with your own treasure, by love and faith in life; which is a reward worth having. God gladly accepts this honor; for we have hoped in the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially of those who believe. But the others, having grown attached to the world like seaweed on underwater rocks, neglect immortality; just like the old man from Ithaca, who is not longing for the truth and the homeland in heaven, nor for the truly existing light, but for the smoke. Godliness, which makes a person as much like God as possible, is rightly called a teacher God, the one who alone is able to truly represent a person in the likeness of God. This teaching, truly divine, the Apostle knowing well, says, "But you, Timothy, have known the sacred writings from childhood, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ. For the sacred writings are truly holy, making holy and godlike." From these sacred letters and syllables come the collected scriptures, the compositions, which the same Apostle then calls inspired by God, "useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." No one should be so surprised by the exhortations of the other saints as by the Lord himself, the lover of mankind. For this alone is his work: to save the person. He certainly cries out, urging toward salvation himself: "The kingdom of heaven has come near." He turns people back, drawing them close with fear. In this, the Apostle of the Lord, urging the Macedonians, becomes an interpreter of the divine voice: "The Lord has come near," he says, "be careful that we are not caught empty." But you, so shameless, and even more unbelieving, neither trusting the Lord himself nor Paul, and these things asked for on behalf of Christ, you will experience, and see that Christ is God? Faith will lead you in, experience will teach you, Scripture will guide you: "Come, children," it says, "listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Then, as those who already believe, he briefly chooses: "Who is the man who wants life, who loves to see good days?" We are, we will say, those who worship the good, those who desire the good things. Listen then, you who are far away, listen, you who are near; the Word has not hidden anyone; it is a common light, shining on all people; no one is in darkness in the Word. Let us hurry toward salvation, toward rebirth, to be gathered in one love by many, according to the union of the unique essence; let us hurry, doing good works, and accordingly pursue unity, seeking the good oneness. The union of many, having received a divine harmony from many voices and scattering, becomes one agreement, following the one dancer and teacher, the Word, resting on that very truth, calling it Father; this true voice God welcomes as the first fruit from his own children.

Chapter 10

Answering the objection of the Gentiles, who said it was wrong to abandon the ancestral custom, he urges them all the more eagerly to embrace the truth, by which they will be freed from those errors.

But it is not reasonable, O speaker, to overturn the custom handed down to us from our fathers. And why do we not use the first nourishment, the milk, to which the nurses accustomed us from birth? Why do we increase or decrease the ancestral substance, and not keep it the same, as we have received it? Why do we no longer suckle at the paternal breasts, or even the other things which, as infants nourished by our mothers, we received with laughter and still complete? But have we corrected ourselves, even if we have not had good teachers? Then come the deviations in passions, although harmful and dangerous, yet somehow they fall sweetly upon us; and in life, do we not leave behind the bad, passionate, and godless custom, even if the fathers are angry, and do not turn away from the truth, seeking the truly existing father, as if rejecting custom were like a poisonous drug? For this is indeed the best thing to show you, that godliness was hated because of madness and this most wretched custom; for such a great good would never have been hated or forbidden, of which nothing greater has ever been given by God to the race of men, if we had not been swept away by custom, then having shut our ears, like hard-necked horses running wild, biting the reins, you avoid words, longing for us to shake off the charioteers of your life, but carried to the cliffs of destruction by folly, you take the holy Word of God for a leader. Therefore, according to Sophocles, the proofs of choice follow for you; [PG 8.95]

Mind, foolish one, useless ears, empty worries.

And do you not know that this is especially true of all, that the good and god-fearing will receive a good reward, honored for their goodness, while the wicked, from the opposite side, will receive the proper punishment. And indeed, punishment has been hung upon the ruler of evil; the prophet Zechariah at least threatens him: "The one who chose Jerusalem will rebuke you; is this not like a torch torn out of the fire?" ? Who then still has a desire for voluntary death among humans? Why then have they fled to this deadly torch, by which they will be burned up, when it is possible to live well, according to God, not according to custom? For God grants life, but evil custom, after release from here, is worn down by empty repentance along with punishment. But the foolish one learned through suffering that superstition destroys, and godliness saves. Let one of you look at those who serve idols, with their hair unclean, dressed in filthy and torn clothing, completely unwashed by baths, their fingernails grown wild, and many even deprived of their private parts, showing by their actions that the temples of the idols are places of tombs or prisons. These seem to me to mourn, not to worship the gods; having suffered things worthy of pity rather than of godliness. And seeing these things, you are still more blind, and do not look up to the Master of all and Lord of all? Will you not take refuge from these prisons here, fleeing to the mercy that comes from heaven? For God, out of great love for mankind, endures the person, just as a mother bird flies after a young bird that has fallen from the nest; and if perhaps a creeping beast opens its mouth to the young bird, the mother hovers around, grieving for her dear children. But God the Father seeks the creature, heals the fault, chases away the beast, and again takes up the young bird, encouraging it to climb back to the nest. Then dogs, already gone astray, sniffing with their noses, tracked down the master; and horses, shaking off their rider, obeyed the master with the neighing of one horse. It is said, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's manger; but Israel did not know me." What then does the Lord? Does not hold a grudge, still shows mercy, still demands repentance. I want to ask you, if it does not seem strange to you, that you, who are the creation of God, and have received your soul from him, and are entirely God's, serve another master; and even serve as a healer, but instead of the king, the tyrant, and instead of the good one, the evil one? For who, O you who are wise toward the truth, leaves the good and joins with evil? For who is it that, avoiding God, lives with demons? For who, being able to be a son of God, takes pleasure in serving? Or who, being able to be a citizen of heaven, chases darkness, though able to cultivate paradise, and to walk around heaven, and to share in the life-giving and pure spring, following in the footsteps of that bright cloud walking in the air, like Elijah, watching the saving rain? But those, like worms, around puddles and mud, flowing with pleasure, delighting themselves, feed on senseless and foolish luxuries, some foul-smelling men. For, he says, pigs enjoy the mud more than clean water; and they wallow in the mire, according to Democritus. Let us not, then, be enslaved, nor become foul-smelling men, but as true children of light, let us look up and turn our eyes to the light, so that the Lord does not expose us as illegitimate, just as the sun exposes the eagles. Let us repent, then, and turn from ignorance to knowledge, from foolishness to wisdom, from lack of self-control to self-discipline, from injustice to justice, from godlessness to God. It is a noble risk to defect to God; and there are many other blessings for the lovers of righteousness, who pursue eternal salvation. Indeed, even those things that God hints at through Isaiah when he says: "The inheritance belongs to those who serve the Lord." The inheritance is beautiful and desirable—not gold, not silver, not clothing, where perhaps your thief and the robber of the earth sinks, coveting lowly wealth. But that treasure of salvation, toward which we must hurry, becoming lovers of the word. The foolish deeds are carried away from us here, swept away together with the wing of truth. The eternal covenant of God hands over this inheritance to us, granting the eternal gift; and this loving father of ours, the true father, never stops urging, advising, disciplining, and loving us. For the one who saves never stops; he advises what is best: "Be righteous," says the Lord. "Those who are thirsty, come to the water; and you who have no money, come, buy, and drink without money." He calls to the bath, to salvation, to the enlightenment, crying out alone and saying: "I give you the earth and the sea, child, and the sky too; and all the living things in them I give to you as a gift." Only, child, thirst for the Father; God will be shown to you without cost; truth is not sold like merchandise. He will give you also the birds, and the swimming creatures, and those upon the earth. These things the Father has created for your pleasant delights; but the illegitimate child, who is lost, who has chosen to be a slave to wealth, will buy them with silver; for you, however, he allows what is yours, speaking to the genuine one, to the one who loves the Father, for whom he still works, to whom alone he promises, saying: The earth also will be given as a guarantee; for it is not subject to decay; for all the earth is mine; and it will be yours, if you receive God. Therefore the Scripture rightly proclaims good news to those who have believed: The holy ones of the Lord will inherit the glory of God and his power. What kind of glory, O blessed one, tell me? Which no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of a person; and they will rejoice in the kingdom of their Lord forever. Amen. You have, O people, the divine promise of grace; you have also heard the other threat of punishment; through these the Lord saves, guiding the person with fear and grace. What are we about to do? Why do we not avoid punishment? Why do we not accept the gift? Why then do we not choose the better things, God instead of evil, and prefer idolatry to wisdom, and exchange life for death? Behold, I have set before you, he says, death and life. The Lord tests you to choose life. He advises you like a father to obey God. For if you listen to me, he says, and are willing, you will eat the good things of the land; grace comes from obedience. But if you do not listen to me, nor are willing, the sword and fire will consume you; judgment comes from disobedience. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things; a law of truth, the Word of the Lord. I want to be a good counselor to you? But you, listen; I, if possible, will explain. It was necessary for you, O people, to have within you a natural witness worthy of trust about what is good, clearly choosing the best from faith born at home, and not seeking whether it must be pursued or avoided. For even if one must delay, so to speak, it is proper to hesitate; but you, before you consider, are drunk; and even if you must insult, you do not act with care, but rather you insult quickly. But only if one must honor God, seek, and if one must follow this wise one, God and Christ; and this, you demand of counsel and thought, not what is fitting for God, whatever that may be, having understood it. Believe us even if it seems like drunkenness, so that you may become sober; believe even if it seems like insult, so that you may live. But if you also want to be persuaded, having suspected the clear faith of the virtues, I will bring to you from my wealth the trust about the Word as a pledge. But you (for even your ancestral customs still keep you busy, having fixed habits away from the truth) would now listen to what comes next, how it stands; and indeed, let no one take shame on your behalf for this name, which is great among men, turning away from salvation. Therefore, having stripped off everything, let us truly struggle openly in the race of truth, with the holy Word as the judge and the Master of all as the organizer of the contest. For the prize set before you is not small—it is immortality. So do not worry anymore, even if some common market speakers speak against you a little—godless dancers of superstition, driven by foolishness and madness toward the abyss, makers of idols and worshipers of stones. For these people have dared to take humans out of the godhead, writing down Alexander the Macedonian as the thirteenth god, the one whom Babylon declared dead. I am amazed, then, at the divine sophist—Theocritus is his name. After the death of Alexander, Theocritus mocked the empty reputations of humans, which they held as gods. To the citizens he said, "Men, be brave until you see the gods die before humans." But the gods, indeed, are the visible ones and the throng of these created beings whom the worshiper and follower joins; he is far more miserable than those very demons. For God is nowhere unjust at all, like the demons; but, as far as possible, he is most just, and there is nothing more like him than when one of us becomes most just. Go on the way, all you working people, who turn the fierce-eyed goddess Ergatē of Zeus into cradles; you are urged on, fools, as makers and worshipers of stones. Phidias and Polykleitos have come to you, as well as Praxiteles and Apelles, and all who practice the manual arts, being workers of earthly soil. For then, says a certain prophecy, these things will be in trouble, whenever they trust in statues. So again, when the minor crafts come (and I will not neglect the beautiful ones). No one, I suppose, has made a living image of these, nor yet softened flesh from the earth. Who melted marrow? Or who fastened bones? Who stretched sinews? Who breathed into the veins? Who poured blood into them? Or who stretched the skin around them? Where then could someone make eyes for them that see? Who breathed life into them? Who granted them righteousness? Who promised immortality? Only the creator of all things, the most skillful Father, fashioned us, human beings, as such a living image. But your Olympian god, a mere image of an image, greatly lacking in truth, is the silent work of Attic hands. For the Word is the image of God; and the divine Word is the true Son of the Mind, the original light of light; and man is the image of the Word. The true mind in man, who is said to be born in the image and likeness of God, is joined to the divine Word by the heart's understanding and is therefore rational; but the mind of the visible, earthly man, the earthly image, the lifeless statues that look like men, far from the truth, clearly appear as a mere copy. Therefore, it seemed to me that life was nothing but full of madness, given the great eagerness spent on matter. Habit, allowed by empty glory, having tasted slavery and irrational curiosity, and ignorance of lawful, unlawful, and deceitful pretenses, has already been made the cause of deadly plagues and hated idols for the human race, inventing many forms of demons, and has spread a long stain of death upon those who follow it. Therefore, receive rational water, wash yourselves who are defiled, sprinkle yourselves from habit with true drops; for you must rise pure into the heavens. You are a human, seek the most common one, the creator who made you; you are a son, recognize the most special one, the father. But you still remain in sins, having added pleasures? To whom will the Lord speak: "The kingdom of heaven belongs to you"? It belongs to you, if you are willing, who have the will toward God; it belongs to you, if you are willing to believe only, and to follow the briefness of the preaching; to which, when the Ninevites obeyed, they exchanged the awaited destruction for salvation through genuine repentance. How then shall I ascend, he says, into the heavens? The Lord is the way; narrow indeed, but from the heavens; narrow indeed, but leading up to the heavens; narrow, overlooking the earth; wide, worshiped in the heavens. Then the one who is without understanding of the Word has ignorance as forgiveness for his error; but the one who is struck in the ears, and carries disobedience in his soul against knowledge, as much as he seems to be wiser, his understanding is toward evil; because he has used his reason as an accuser, not choosing what is best. For man was created otherwise; to have a natural relationship with God. Just as we do not force a horse to plow, nor a bull to hunt, but lead each animal according to its nature; so we neglect to call man, who is made for the view of heaven, a truly heavenly creature, to the knowledge of God, his own and unique nature, different from other animals, advising him to prepare self-sufficient provision for the ages, reverence for God. You are a farmer, we say, if you are a farmer; but know God, the one who farms. And be full of love for sailing, but call upon the heavenly pilot; knowledge has taken hold of you as you go to war? Listen to the commander who rightly signals. Just as those weighed down by wine and drunkenness recover, wake up, and after seeing a little, understand what the worshiped stones want from you, and how you waste your effort in vain over matter. In ignorance, you spend both your money and your life, as if your living is being consumed by death; having found only this as the end of your vain hope. Not even able to pity yourselves, nor willing to obey those who pity you in your error, enslaved by a bad habit, to which you are attached, stubborn, until your last breath, you endure destruction. For the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light; it is possible to wipe away the obstacles to salvation, and blindness, and wealth, and fear, proclaiming this creative truth:

Where then do I bring these many riches?

And where do I myself wander?

If you want then to throw away these empty imaginations, to reject that same habit, you choose vanity,

False dreams, farewell; then there is no defeat.

For what do you think, O people, about Typhon, and Hermes, and Andocides, and Amyetus? or anything else that is clear. that they are stones, just like Hermes as well? Just as the sea is not a god, and the rainbow is not a god, but rather effects of air and clouds; and just as day is not a god, nor indeed a year, nor the time that is completed by these; in the same way, neither the sun nor the moon is a god, each of which is defined by one of those mentioned before. Who then, thinking clearly, would suppose that gods are responsible for punishment, judgment, and retribution? For neither the Furies, nor the Fates, nor Destiny are gods, since neither government, nor reputation, nor wealth are gods; which even painters show as blind. But if you worship Reverence, and Desire, and Aphrodite, then Shame, and Impulse, and Beauty, and Union follow them. Then it would no longer be reasonable for Sleep and Death to be considered twin gods among you, since these are natural experiences that happen to living beings; and yet you would not rightly call Keres, or Destiny, or the Fates goddesses. But if Strife and Battle are not gods, neither is Ares, nor Enyo. Moreover, if the lightning, and the thunderbolts, and the rains are not gods, how then are Fire and Water gods? How then also are the winds that divide and the clouds that carry them gods, since they have come into being through the nature of the air? But whoever calls Fortune a god must also call Action a god. If then none of these is considered a god, neither are those things made by hand and without feeling; yet some care for us shows a divine power; nothing else remains to be admitted except this, that truly there is only one who is and stands firm, the only truly existing God. But foolish people seem to think that mandrake or some other drug has been given to humans. May God one day refresh you from this sleep and help you understand what a god is; may you not imagine gold, or stone, or tree, or action, or passion, or disease, or fear as a god. For truly there are three hundred thousand spirits on the much-nourishing earth, not immortal, nor mortal; for they have not received sensation, and so not death either. They are stone and wooden masters of humans, abusing and breaking agreements in life through habit. The earth, the Lord says, and all that fills it. Then why do you dare, while enjoying the things of the Lord, to ignore the Master? Leave my land, the Lord says to you; do not touch the water that I give; do not share in the fruits that I cultivate. Give back, human, the food to God. Know your Master; you are God's own creation. But how could what is his own rightly become someone else's? For what is alienated, deprived of its belonging, is deprived of the truth. For is it not somewhat like Niobe, or rather, to speak more mysteriously to you, like the wife of the Hebrew, the ancients called her Lot's wife, that you turn to insensibility? We have received this woman as turned to stone because she loved Sodom; the Sodomites are the godless, and those who turn to ungodliness, hard-hearted and foolish. Do you think these voices are from God? For do not think that stones, and wood, and birds, and snakes are sacred, but never humans; rather, quite the opposite: truly consider humans to be sacred, and beasts and stones to be what they are. For the cowardly and miserable among humans think that God cries out through the crow and the jackdaw, but is silent through a human; and they have honored the crow as an angel of God, but they persecute the human of God—not croaking, not cawing, but speaking, alas! Reasonably and with love for humans teaching, they cruelly try to kill him, calling on justice, neither expecting grace from above nor turning away from punishment. For they do not believe in God, nor do they understand his power; where indeed there is unspeakable love for humanity, there is no place for hatred of goodness. Anger feeds punishment because of sin; but love for humanity does good when there is repentance. Most pitiable is to be deprived of help from God. The hardening of the eyes and the deafness of hearing are more painful than the other forms of evil greed; for the former has been taken away from the sight of heaven, and the latter is deprived of divine learning. You, however, crippled in truth, blind in mind, and deaf in understanding, do not feel pain, do not get angry, do not desire to see heaven, nor do you long to hear and learn from the creator and father of all, having joined your will to salvation. For nothing stands in the way of one eager to know God—not lack of childhood, not poverty, not lack of honor, not lack of property. No one who truly wishes to change true wisdom, having tested it with bronze or iron, prays for that. For this has been chosen above all else: Christ is the savior everywhere. The zealous one for righteousness, like a lover of the needy, though poor in spirit, has not stored up his blessed treasure in anything else but in himself and God, where no thief, no robber, no tempter can reach, but only the eternal giver of good things. Therefore, you have rightly been likened to those snakes whose ears are closed to those who charm them. For anger, Scripture says, is like the snake, as a mute shield, closing its ears and not listening to the voice of those who charm it. But you have been charmed by holiness, and you have accepted the gentle and your own Word, and you have spat out the poisonous venom, so that, just as old age is the ruin for those snakes, you may be freed from destruction above all else. Listen to me, and do not close your ears, nor block your hearing, but pay attention to what is being said. The medicine of immortality is good; have you ever set traps for creeping things? For the enemies of the Lord will lick up the dust, as the Scripture says. Look up from the earth to the sky, look up to heaven, be amazed, stop watching for the heel of the righteous, and blocking the way of truth. Be wise and harmless; (perhaps the Lord will grant you a wing of simplicity. For those born of the earth have chosen to have wings.) So that, leaving behind the poor, you may dwell in the heavens. Let us repent with all our heart, so that with all our heart we may be able to hold God. "Hope in him," he says, "all the assembly of the people; pour out before him all your hearts, toward the new ones of wickedness," he says, "he shows mercy and is full of justice." Believe in both man and God; believe, man, in the one who suffered, and in the living God who is worshiped. Believe, servants, in the dead one; all people, believe in the one God of all humans alone. Believe, and receive the reward of salvation; seek God, and your soul will live. The one who seeks God is busily concerned with his own salvation. You have found God? You have life. Let us then seek, so that we may also live. The reward of finding is life from God. Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad; and let them always say, "Let God be magnified." A beautiful hymn of God, an immortal man, built up in righteousness, in whom the words of truth are engraved. For where else but in a sensible soul should righteousness be written? Where else but love? But where else but in reverence? But where else but in gentleness? I think that these divine scriptures, once sealed upon the soul, should be considered a good starting point of wisdom for those nourished by any part of life, and that wisdom itself is the steady anchor of salvation; for by it, good fathers have run to the Father for their children, good parents have understood the Son for their sons, good husbands have remembered the Bridegroom for their wives, and good masters have been freed from the worst slavery for their servants. O beasts more blessed than the error among men! What ignorance spreads, like you, does not pretend to be truth. There are no kinds of flatterers among them; fish do not fear spirits; birds do not worship idols. Only the sky is amazed, since it cannot understand God, having rejected reason. Then you are not ashamed, having made yourselves more irrational than the irrational creatures, who, through so many years, have been worn down in godlessness? You have been children, then youths, then young men, then adults; but never good. And even if you feel shame for old age, having come to the sunset of life; be sensible even at the end of life; know God; so that indeed the end of your life may take up the beginning of salvation. You have loved superstition; as young men, come to godliness; God approves innocent children. Let the Athenian follow the laws of Solon; and the Argive those of Phoroneus; and the Spartan those of Lycurgus; but if you enroll yourself as a servant of God, heaven is your homeland, and God is your lawgiver. But what are laws? You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not destroy children; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall love the Lord your God. There are also supplements to these, wise laws and holy words, written in the hearts themselves: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself"; and, "If someone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also"; and, "You shall not covet; for by coveting alone you have already committed adultery." How much better, then, it is for people not to desire at all the things they should not, than to simply get what they desire? But you do not endure the strictness of salvation; just as with food, we take pleasure in sweets, preferring them because of the shortness of the pleasure. Bitter things heal us and make us healthy by roughening the sense, but for the weak, the strictness of medicines strengthens the stomach. In this way, habit is pleasant and tickles, but habit pushes one into the abyss; truth, however, leads one up to heaven. Harsh at first, but a good nurse; and this women's chamber is dignified, and the council is sensible; it is neither hard to approach nor impossible to grasp, but it is very near, in our homes. As the all-wise Moses hints, it is divided into three parts according to us: by hands, by mouth, and by heart. This is a true symbol of the threefold fullness of truth in all things—by will, by action, and by word. For do not fear this either, that many and pleasant things might take away your wisdom; willingly you yourself will go beyond the empty habit, just as children, becoming men, throw away their toys. Indeed, the divine power, shining upon the earth with unsurpassed goodwill and kindness, filled all things with the seed of salvation. For the Lord would not have accomplished such a great work in so short a time without divine care, despised by sight, worshiped by deed, the purifier, the savior, and the gentle one, the divine Word, truly the most manifest God, equal to the Master of all; for he was his son, and the Word was in God, neither was he disbelieved when first proclaimed, nor was he unknown when taking on the human face and being formed in flesh, fulfilling the saving work of humanity. For he was a genuine fighter, and a fellow struggler with the created; and quickly spread to all people, rising faster than the sun from the will of the Father, God shone upon us most easily. Therefore, he was himself, and who he was, by whom he taught and showed himself, standing as the mediator, the reconciler, and our Savior Word, a life-giving, peaceful spring poured out over the whole face of the earth; through whom, so to speak, all things have already become a sea of good.

Chapter 11

How great are the blessings of God bestowed on humanity through the coming of Christ.

But if you wish, look briefly from above at the divine kindness. The first, when he was playing freely in paradise, since he was a child of God; but when he fell into pleasure — (the serpent [20] is an allegory for pleasure creeping upon the belly, an earthly evil nourished by the material world) — the child was led by desires, growing strong in disobedience; and having disobeyed the Father, he was ashamed of God. Just as pleasure grew strong. The man, freed by simplicity, was found bound by sins. The Lord wished again to free this one from his bonds; and having taken on flesh, a divine mystery! He seized the serpent for him, and enslaved the tyrant, death; and most astonishingly, he showed that man, deceived by pleasure, bound by corruption, was freed by his own outstretched hands. O wonder of the mystery! The Lord has fallen, but man has risen; and he who fell from paradise now receives the heavens as a greater prize of obedience. Therefore, it seems to me, since the Word himself came down to us from heaven, that we no longer need to use teaching to reach us in human form, Athens and the rest of Greece, and also Ionia, who are busy with many things. For if the teacher for us, who has fulfilled everything with holy powers—creation, salvation, kindness, lawgiving, prophecy, teaching—now instructs everything, then Athens and all of Greece have already become entirely subject to the Word. For you do not believe in the poetic myth, Minos the Cretan, son of Zeus, as the best, yet you will disbelieve us, who have become disciples of God, having received the truly true wisdom—not just the highest points of philosophy, which the disciples of Christ both grasped and proclaimed. And indeed, Christ, so to speak, is not divided; he is neither barbarian, nor Jew, nor Greek; not male, not female; but a new man, transformed by the Holy Spirit of God. Then the other pieces of advice and suggestions are trivial and concern particular matters—whether to marry, whether to take part in politics, whether to have children. But the universal encouragement alone is toward the whole life, at every time, in every situation, aiming at the highest goal, life itself, focused on godliness, which is the only necessity for living, so that we may live forever. Philosophy, which the elders say, is a long-lasting counsel of wisdom, eternally engaged to love; and the command of the Lord is very clear, shining light upon the eyes. Enjoy Christ, enjoy seeing, enjoy your light;

So that you may know well both God and man.

The Word who has enlightened us is sweet, more precious than gold and a precious stone; it is more desirable than honey and honeycomb. For how could he not be desirable, who made active the mind buried in darkness, and sharpened the shining eyes of the soul? For just as without the sun, all things would be night because of the other stars; so, if we did not know the Word, and were not enlightened by him, we would be lacking all the birds we feed on, wandering in darkness and nourished by death. Let us make room for the light, so that we may make room for God; let us make room for the light, and let us become disciples of the Lord. This is also promised to the Father: "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the midst of the Church I will praise you." Praise, and I will declare your Father, God; your stories save me, the song will teach me, for until now I have wandered, seeking God. Since you enlighten me, Lord, and I find God through you, and I receive the Father from you, I become your co-heir, since you were not ashamed of the brother. Let us then remove, let us remove the forgetfulness of the truth, the ignorance; and the darkness that blocks us, like a mist of sight, having brought it down, let us behold the truly existing God, first praising with this voice to him: "Rejoice, light; for light has shone upon us from heaven, on those who were dug out in darkness, and shut in the shadow of death, brighter than the sun, sweeter here than life." That light is eternal life; and all who have received a share of it, live. The night reveres the light; and, setting because of fear, it yields to the day of the Lord. All things have become an unceasing light, and the setting has trusted in the rising. This the new creation has willed; for the Sun of righteousness who rides over all things also watches over humanity, imitating the Father, who causes his sun to rise on all people and sprinkles the dew of truth; he has changed the setting into a rising, and crucified death into life; and having snatched humanity from destruction, he hung him in the air, transplanting corruption into incorruption, and changing earth into heaven, the farmer of God, signaling with his right hand, and raising the peoples to good works, reminding them of true life; and granting us the great, truly divine, and unshakable inheritance of the Father, deifying humanity through heavenly teaching, giving laws to their mind, and writing them on their heart. Whom does he sign laws for? That all will know God, from the least to the greatest; and God says, "I will be merciful to them, and I will not remember their sins." Let us accept the laws of life; let us obey the God who urges us on; let us learn him, so that he may be merciful; let us give, even though he does not need a reward, a grateful devotion, a fitting dwelling, piety toward God, the dwelling place here.

Golden bronze, hundred sacrifices of nine-year-olds,

The earth gives you so much to farm with little faith, to drink water, to sail elsewhere, to breathe air, to serve fire, to live in the world; from here it has agreed to send you as a colony to the heavens; these great and so many creations and gifts it has rewarded you with little faith. Then some, having trusted in sorcerers, accept amulets and spells, supposedly as saving; but you do not want to wear the heavenly one himself, the Savior Word; and believing in the spell of God, you expect to be freed from sufferings, which are indeed diseases of the soul, and to be torn away from sin; for sin is eternal death. Indeed, you are completely dull and blind, just like moles, doing nothing else but eating, living in darkness, and falling completely into decay. But the truth has been shouted out: "Light will shine out of darkness." Let the light shine then in the hidden part of the person, in the heart; and let the rays of knowledge rise, revealing and shining forth the hidden person within, the disciple of the light, the one known and co-heir with Christ; especially when the most precious and most revered name, both pious and good, of the good Father, has come to knowledge, gently commanding, and the child being urged toward salvation. But the one who obeys him in everything truly gains more, follows God, obeys the Father, recognizes his error, loves God, loves neighbor, fulfills the commandment, seeks the prize, and demands the promise. It is always God's purpose to save the flock of humans; and for this, God sent the good shepherd, the good one. The Word spread out the truth and showed people the height of salvation, so that they might either be saved by repenting or, if they do not obey, be judged; this is the proclamation of justice—those who obey hear the gospel, those who disobey face judgment. But the great-sounding trumpet, having sounded, gathered soldiers and announced war; Christ, having breathed a peaceful song to the ends of the earth, will he not gather his own peaceful soldiers? So then, human, gather the bloodless army, with blood and word; and he handed over to them the kingdom of heaven. The gospel of Christ is a trumpet; he sounded it, and we heard it. Let us equip ourselves peacefully, putting on the breastplate of righteousness, and taking up the shield of faith, and wearing the helmet of salvation; and let us sharpen the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Thus the Apostle arranges us peacefully; these are our invulnerable weapons. Armed with these, let us stand against the evil one; let us extinguish the fiery arrows of the evil one with the sharp waters, confirmed by the Word, gratefully repaying good deeds with blessings, and honoring God with the divine Word. For even while you are speaking, he will say, he says, "Behold, I am here." O the holy and blessed power by which God shares citizenship with humans. It is better and more excellent, then, to become both imitator and servant of the best of beings; for no one can imitate God except through what he serves with holiness; nor can one serve and worship except by imitating. For the heavenly and truly divine love comes to humans through this, whenever the truly good in the soul, kindled by the divine Word, is able to shine forth; and the greatest thing is that, along with the genuine desire to be saved, the will and life act together, as it were, yoked in harmony. Therefore, this alone, the call of truth, is reflected to the most faithful among friends, remaining until the last breath, a good guide to the whole and perfect spirit of the soul, becoming those who are lifted up to heaven. What then do I urge you to do? I urge you to be saved; this is what Christ wants. In one word, life is given to you. And who is this one? Learn briefly: the Word of truth, the Word of incorruption, who renews the person, bringing him back to truth, the center of salvation, who drives out corruption, who expels death, who has built a temple in humans, so that God may be established in humans. Purify the temple, and leave behind pleasures and laziness, like a fleeting flower, abandoned to wind and fire; wisely cultivate the fruits of self-control, and raise yourself as a firstfruits to God, so that you may be not only a work but also a grace of God. Both are fitting to be known by Christ and to be worthy of the kingdom, and to be made worthy of the kingdom.

Chapter 12

He urges that, having cast away former errors and desires, they offer themselves to Christ, the only teacher of truth, to be instructed.

Let us then flee habit, let us flee it as a very harsh cliff, or the threat of Charybdis, or the mythical Sirens. It chokes a person, turns them away from the truth, leads them away from life; it is a trap, it is a pit, it is a pitfall, it is a cradle, habit is evil.

Keep away from the smoke and the wave of that one.

A ship.

Let us flee, fellow sailors, let us flee this wave, fire is roaring; it is an evil island, piled with bones and dead bodies; and on it sings a beautiful little prostitute, pleasure, delighting the whole crowd with music;

"Come here, going, much-suffering Odysseus, great glory of the Achaeans."

"Bring the ship close, so that you may hear a more divine voice".

She praises you, sailor, and speaks much of your fame, and the prostitute claims the glory of the Greeks for herself; let her distribute the dead, a heavenly Spirit helps you; enjoy the pleasure, it is pastoral;

Do not let a woman deceive you with her cunning, a trickster of the rear,

She sharpens her tongue, spoiling your beautiful cloak.

She sails past the song, working death. If you are willing only, you have won over destruction; and bound to the wood, you will be freed from all corruption. The Word of God will guide you, and the holy Spirit will anchor you in the harbors of heaven. Then you will behold God, and be completed in those holy mysteries, and enjoy the hidden things in the heavens, which I have kept, "which neither ear has heard, nor has entered into the heart of anyone."

And indeed, to me it seems I see two suns, and two Thebes,

Someone was Bacchic chanting to the idols, drunken with unrestrained ignorance. But I would pity him, who is speaking foolishly, and I would urge him to salvation with sound mind, since even the Lord welcomes the repentance of a sinner, and not death. Stop, you who are wandering astray, do not brandish the thyrsus, do not tie on the yellow cloak; throw away the mitre, throw away the fawn skin, be sensible. I will show you the Word, and the mysteries of the Word, explaining them according to your own image. This is a mountain beloved by God; not subject to tragedies like Cithaeron, but resting on the dramas of truth. A sober mountain, shaded by pure woods; and not the sisters of Semele struck by lightning, the Maenads, who are initiated into savage flesh-eating, revel there, but the daughters of God, the beautiful lambs, who celebrate the solemn rites of the Word, raising a sober dance. The dance is of the righteous; the song is a hymn to the king of all. The maidens sing, the angels praise, the prophets speak; a sound is sent forth of music, they chase the choir in a race; the called ones hurry, longing to receive the Father. Come to me, old man, you too, leaving Thebes behind, and casting aside prophecy and Bacchic rites, as a guide to the truth. Behold, I give you the wood to lean on; hurry, Tiresias, believe, you will see. Christ shines brighter than the sun, through whom the eyes of the blind look up; night will flee from you, fire will be afraid, death will go away; you will see the heavens, old man, not looking at Thebes. O truly holy mysteries! O light undefiled! I am torched, having gazed upon the heavens and God; I become holy, being initiated. The Lord acts as high priest, and seals the initiate by giving light; and he is presented to the Father as one trusted, kept through the ages. These are the Bacchic rites of my mysteries; if you wish, you too may be initiated; and you will dance with angels around the unbegotten and imperishable one, the only true God, with the Word of God singing along with us. This one, Jesus, is eternal, the great high priest of the one God and Father himself; he prays for humans and commands humans. Listen, countless tribes, and especially all those humans who are rational, both barbarians and Greeks; I call the whole human race, of which I am the creator by the will of the Father. Come to me, being assigned under one God, and the one Word of God; and do not be like irrational animals, lacking reason. From all mortals, I alone give you the gift of immortality. For I want, I truly want to share this grace with you: granting the whole blessing, incorruption; and I give you the Word, the knowledge of God—I give you myself, perfect. This is who I am, this is what God wills, this is agreement, this is the harmony of the Father, this is the Son, this is Christ, this is the Word of God, the arm of the Lord, the power of all, the will of the Father; of these, long ago there were images, but not all were like the original. I want you to be corrected toward the archetype, so that you may become like me. I anoint you with the ointment of faith, through which you cast off corruption; and I will show you the form of righteousness, through which you ascend to God. Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest; take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is kind, and my burden is light.. Let us hurry, let us run, O God-loving and godlike statues of the Word, men; let us hurry, let us run, let us take up his yoke, let us accept Christ, the good and incorruptible guide of men. Let us love the colt; it carried a burden along with the old one. And having yoked the crowd of men to God, it directs the chariot toward immortality, eager to fully reveal what it previously hinted at—first toward Jerusalem, but now driving into the heavens. The most beautiful sight to the Father: the eternal Son, victorious. Therefore, let us be eager for what is good, and let us become men who love God, and let us gain the greatest of the impassible things, God and life. The Word is our helper; let us be confident in him. And may the desire for so much silver and gold never come upon us, as great as the desire for that very Word of truth. For it is not pleasing even to God himself, if we do the things most worthy for the least, but put more effort into obvious foolishness, ignorance, laziness, and the insults of idolatry, and the worst impiety. For the children of philosophers do not think that all the things foolish people do are impious and ungodly, and they even call ignorance a kind of madness, admitting that most people are simply insane. Certainly, then, the Word will say, there is no doubt about whether it is better for them to be sensible or insane; but since they hold fast to the truth, they must follow God with all their strength, being sensible and accepting everything about him as it is. And for us, who have learned the best of possessions, it is right to entrust ourselves to God, loving the Lord God, and considering this the work of our whole life. If the things of friends are shared, then a person who loves God is a friend to God; for indeed, a friend is one with the Word as mediator. Therefore, all things belonging to a person become all things belonging to God, and all things are shared between both friends, God and man. It is time, then, for us to call the God-fearing Christian both rich, sensible, and noble; and in this, to say and believe that he is an image of God with likeness, just and holy, made with understanding by Christ Jesus, and already so much like God. The prophet certainly does not hide the grace, saying: "I said, You are gods, and all of you are sons of the Most High." For he has made us, he has made us, and he wishes to be called the father of us alone, not of those who disobey. And indeed, this is how it is with us, the followers of Christ: "As the plans are, so are the words; and as the words are, so are the actions; and as the actions are, such is the life." The whole life of those who have known Christ is good among all people. I think I have said enough, even if I went on longer out of love for humanity, because I was pouring out from God, so as to encourage salvation, the greatest of goods; for concerning the cessation of life, which is nowhere at all, not even the words want to ever stop revealing the sacred mysteries. For you, there remains yet this end: to choose what is profitable, either judgment or grace. As for me, I do not even hesitate to judge which is better for them; yet it is not right to compare life with destruction.

The foundation of truth is firmly set, O children, for you yourselves, the unshakable foundation of knowledge of the holy great new God, a good encouragement, the command of blessed obedience, eternal life, a spiritual desire having been laid down separately.