A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:27 pm

Justin Martyr

Information

Justin Martyr is an early ecclesiastical writer generally dated to the middle of century II.
Index to other gospel texts.

Text and Translation

I needed to see the Greek text and English translation together side by side for some things I am doing with Justin Martyr:

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:28 pm

Justin Martyr, 1 Apology 1-20.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον τὸν Εὐσεβῆ	First Apology of Justin
I 1. Αὐτοκράτορι Τίτῳ Αἰλίῳ Ἀδριανῷ Ἀντωνίνῳ Εὐσεβεῖ Σεβαστῷ Καίσαρι, καὶ Οὐηρισσίμῳ υἱῷ Φιλοσόφῳ, καὶ Λουκίῳ Φιλοσόφῳ, Καίσαρος φύσει υἱῷ καὶ Εὐσεβοῦς εἰσποιητῷ, ἐραστῇ παιδείας, ἱερᾷ τε συγκλήτῳ καὶ δήμῳ παντὶ Ῥωμαίων, ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐκ παντὸς γένους ἀνθρώπων ἀδίκως μισουμένων καὶ ἐπηρεαζομένων, Ἰουστῖνος Πρίσκου τοῦ Βακχείου, τῶν ἀπὸ Φλαουΐας Νέας πόλεως τῆς Συρίας Παλαιστίνης, εἷς αὐτῶν, τὴν προσφώνησιν καὶ ἔντευξιν πεποίημαι. II 1. Τοὺς κατὰ ἀλήθειαν εὐσεβεῖς καὶ φιλοσόφους μόνον τἀληθὲς τιμᾶν καὶ στέργειν ὁ λόγος ὑπαγορεύει, παραιτουμένους δόξαις παλαιῶν ἐξακολουθεῖν, ἂν φαῦλαι ὦσιν· οὐ γὰρ μόνον μὴ ἕπεσθαι τοῖς ἀδίκως τι πράξασιν ἢ δογματίσασιν ὁ σώφρων λόγος ὑπαγορεύει, ἀλλ’ ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς τὸν φιλαλήθη, κἂν θάνατος ἀπειλῆται, τὰ δίκαια λέγειν τε καὶ πράττειν αἱρεῖσθαι δεῖ. 2. ὑμεῖς μὲν οὖν ὅτι λέγεσθε εὐσεβεῖς καὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ φύλακες δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἐρασταὶ παιδείας, ἀκούετε πανταχοῦ· εἰ δὲ καὶ ὑπάρχετε, δειχθήσεται. 3. οὐ γὰρ κολακεύσοντες ὑμᾶς διὰ τῶνδε τῶν γραμμάτων οὐδὲ πρὸς χάριν ὁμιλήσοντες, ἀλλ’ ἀπαιτήσοντες κατὰ τὸν ἀκριβῆ καὶ ἐξεταστικὸν λόγον τὴν κρίσιν ποιήσασθαι προσεληλύθειμεν, μὴ προλήψει μηδ’ ἀνθρωπαρεσκείᾳ τῇ δεισιδαιμόνων κατεχομένους ἢ ἀλόγῳ ὁρμῇ καὶ χρονίᾳ προκατεσχηκυίᾳ φήμῃ κακῇ τὴν καθ’ ἑαυτῶν ψῆφον φέροντας. 4. ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ πρὸς οὐδενὸς πείσεσθαί τι κακὸν δύνασθαι λελογίσμεθα, ἢν μὴ κακίας ἐργάται ἐλεγχώμεθα ἢ πονηροὶ διεγνώσμεθα· ὑμεῖς δ’ ἀποκτεῖναι μὲν δύνασθε, βλάψαι δ’ οὔ. III 1. Ἀλλ’ ἵνα μὴ ἄλογον φωνὴν καὶ τολμηρὰν δόξῃ τις ταῦτα εἶναι, ἀξιοῦμεν τὰ κατηγορούμενα αὐτῶν ἐξετάζεσθαι, καὶ, ἐὰν οὕτως ἔχοντα ἀποδεικνύωνται, κολάζεσθαι ὡς πρέπον ἐστί [μᾶλλον δὲ κολάζειν]· εἰ δὲ μηδὲν ἔχοι τις ἐλέγχειν, οὐχ ὑπαγορεύει ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος διὰ φήμην πονηρὰν ἀναιτίους ἀνθρώπους ἀδικεῖν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἑαυτούς, οἳ οὐ κρίσει ἀλλὰ πάθει τὰ πράγματα ἐπάγειν ἀξιοῦτε. 2. καλὴν δὲ καὶ μόνην δικαίαν πρόκλησιν ταύτην πᾶς ὁ σωφρονῶν ἀποφανεῖται, τὸ τοὺς ἀρχομένους τὴν εὐθύνην τοῦ ἑαυτῶν βίου καὶ λόγου ἄληπτον παρέχειν, ὁμοίως δ’ αὖ καὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας μὴ βίᾳ μηδὲ τυραννίδι ἀλλ’ εὐσεβείᾳ καὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ ἀκολουθοῦντας τὴν ψῆφον τίθεσθαι· οὕτως γὰρ ἂν καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες καὶ οἱ ἀρχόμενοι ἀπολαύοιεν τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ. 3. ἔφη γάρ που καί τις τῶν παλαιῶν· Ἂν μὴ οἱ ἄρχοντες φιλοσοφήσωσι καὶ οἱ ἀρχόμενοι, οὐκ ἂν εἴη τὰς πόλεις εὐδαιμονῆσαι. 4. ἡμέτερον οὖν ἔργον καὶ βίου καὶ μαθημάτων τὴν ἐπίσκεψιν πᾶσι παρέχειν, ὅπως ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀγνοεῖν τὰ ἡμέτερα νομιζόντων τὴν τιμωρίαν, ὧν ἂν πλημμελῶσι τυφλώττοντες αὐτῶν, αὐτοῖς ὀφλήσωμεν· ὑμέτερον δὲ, ὡς αἱρεῖ λόγος, ἀκούοντας ἀγαθοὺς εὑρίσκεσθαι κριτάς. 5. ἀναπολόγητον γὰρ λοιπὸν μαθοῦσιν, ἢν μὴ τὰ δίκαια ποιήσητε, ὑπάρξει πρὸς θεόν. IV 1. Ὀνόματος μὲν οὖν προσωνυμίᾳ οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὔτε κακὸν κρίνεται ἄνευ τῶν ὑποπιπτουσῶν τῷ ὀνόματι πράξεων· ἐπεί, ὅσον τε ἐκ τοῦ κατηγορουμένου ἡμῶν ὀνόματος χρηστότατοι ὑπάρχομεν. 2. ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ οὐ τοῦτο δίκαιον ἡγούμεθα, διὰ τὸ ὄνομα ἐὰν κακοὶ ἐλεγχώμεθα, αἰτεῖν ἀφίεσθαι, πάλιν, εἰ μηδὲν διά τε τὴν προσηγορίαν τοῦ ὀνόματος καὶ διὰ τὴν πολιτείαν εὑρισκόμεθα ἀδικοῦντες, ὑμέτερον ἀγωνιᾶσαί ἐστι, μὴ ἀδίκως κολάζοντες τοὺς μὴ ἐλεγχομένους τῇ δίκῃ κόλασιν ὀφλήσητε. 3. ἐξ ὀνόματος μὲν γὰρ ἢ ἔπαινος ἢ κόλασις οὐκ ἂν εὐλόγως γένοιτο, ἢν μή τι ἐνάρετον ἢ φαῦλον δι’ ἔργων ἀποδείκνυσθαι δύνηται. 4. καὶ γὰρ τοὺς κατηγορουμένους ἐφ’ ὑμῶν πάντας πρὶν ἐλεγχθῆναι οὐ τιμωρεῖτε· ἐφ’ ἡμῶν δὲ τὸ ὄνομα ὡς ἔλεγχον λαμβάνετε, καίπερ, ὅσον γε ἐκ τοῦ ὀνόματος, τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας μᾶλλον κολάζειν ὀφείλετε. 5. Χριστιανοὶ γὰρ εἶναι κατηγορούμεθα· τὸ δὲ χρηστὸν μισεῖσθαι οὐ δίκαιον. 6. καὶ πάλιν, ἐὰν μέν τις τῶν κατηγορουμένων ἔξαρνος γένηται τῇ φωνῇ μὴ εἶναι φήσας, ἀφίετε αὐτὸν ὡς μηδὲν ἐλέγχειν ἔχοντες ἁμαρτάνοντα, ἐὰν δέ τι ὁμολογήσῃ εἶναι, διὰ τὴν ὁμολογίαν κολάζετε· δέον καὶ τὸν τοῦ ὁμολογοῦντος βίον εὐθύνειν καὶ τὸν τοῦ ἀρνουμένου, ὅπως διὰ τῶν πράξεων ὁποῖός ἐστιν ἕκαστος φαίνηται. 7. ὃν γὰρ τρόπον παραλαβόντες τινὲς παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου Χριστοῦ μὴ ἀρνεῖσθαι ἐξεταζόμενοι παρακελεύονται, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον κακῶς ζῶντες ἴσως ἀφορμὰς παρέχουσι τοῖς ἄλλως καταλέγειν τῶν πάντων Χριστιανῶν ἀσέβειαν καὶ ἀδικίαν αἱρουμένοις. 8. οὐκ ὀρθῶς μὲν οὐδὲ τοῦτο πράττεται· καὶ γάρ τοι φιλοσοφίας ὄνομα καὶ σχῆμα ἐπιγράφονταί τινες, οἳ οὐδὲν ἄξιον τῆς ὑποσχέσεως πράττουσι· γινώσκετε δ’ ὅτι καὶ οἱ τὰ ἐναντία δοξάσαντες καὶ δογματίσαντες τῶν παλαιῶν τῷ ἑνὶ ὀνόματι προσαγορεύονται φιλόσοφοι. 9. καὶ τούτων τινὲς ἀθεότητα ἐδίδαξαν, καὶ τὸν Δία ἀσελγῆ ἅμα τοῖς αὐτοῦ παισὶν οἱ γενόμενοι ποιηταὶ καταγγέλλουσι· κἀκείνων τὰ διδάγματα οἱ μετερχόμενοι οὐκ εἴργονται πρὸς ὑμῶν, ἆθλα δὲ καὶ τιμὰς τοῖς εὐφώνως ὑβρίζουσι τούτους τίθετε. V 1.Τί δὴ οὖν τοῦτ’ ἂν εἴη; ἐφ’ ἡμῶν, ὑπισχνουμένων μηδὲν ἀδικεῖν μηδὲ τὰ ἄθεα ταῦτα δοξάζειν, οὐ κρίσεις ἐξετάζετε, ἀλλὰ ἀλόγῳ πάθει καὶ μάστιγι δαιμόνων φαύλων ἐξελαυνόμενοι ἀκρίτως κολάζετε μὴ φροντίζοντες. 2. εἰρήσεται γὰρ τἀληθές· ἐπεὶ τὸ παλαιὸν δαίμονες φαῦλοι, ἐπιφανείας ποιησάμενοι, καὶ γυναῖκας ἐμοίχευσαν καὶ παῖδας διέφθειραν καὶ φόβητρα ἀνθρώποις ἔδειξαν, ὡς καταπλαγῆναι τοὺς οἳ λόγῳ τὰς γινομένας πράξεις οὐκ ἔκρινον, ἀλλὰ δέει συνηρπασμένοι καὶ μὴ ἐπιστάμενοι δαίμονας εἶναι φαύλους θεοὺς προσωνόμαζον, καὶ ὀνόματι ἕκαστον προσηγόρευον, ὅπερ ἕκαστος αὐτῷ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐτίθετο. 3. ὅτε δὲ Σωκράτης λόγῳ ἀληθεῖ καὶ ἐξεταστικῶς ταῦτα εἰς φανερὸν ἐπειρᾶτο φέρειν καὶ ἀπάγειν τῶν δαιμόνων τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ αὐτοὶ οἱ δαίμονες διὰ τῶν χαιρόντων τῇ κακίᾳ ἀνθρώπων ἐνήργησαν ὡς ἄθεον καὶ ἀσεβῆ ἀποκτεῖναι, λέγοντες καινὰ εἰσφέρειν αὐτὸν δαιμόνια· καὶ ὁμοίως ἐφ’ ἡμῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ἐνεργοῦσιν. 4. οὐ γὰρ μόνον Ἕλλησι διὰ Σωκράτους ὑπὸ λόγου ἠλέγχθη ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν βαρβάροις ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ λόγου μορφωθέντος καὶ ἀνθρώπου γενομένου καὶ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ κληθέντος, ᾧ πεισθέντες ἡμεῖς τοὺς ταῦτα πράξαντας δαίμονας οὐ μόνον μὴ ὀρθοὺς εἶναί φαμεν, ἀλλὰ κακοὺς καὶ ἀνοσίους δαίμονας, οἳ οὐδὲ τοῖς ἀρετὴν ποθοῦσιν ἀνθρώποις τὰς πράξεις ὁμοίας ἔχουσιν. VI 1. Ἔνθεν δὲ καὶ ἄθεοι κεκλήμεθα· καὶ ὁμολογοῦμεν τῶν τοιούτων νομιζομένων θεῶν ἄθεοι εἶναι, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ τοῦ ἀληθεστάτου καὶ πατρὸς δικαιοσύνης καὶ σωφροσύνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρετῶν ἀνεπιμίκτου τε κακίας θεοῦ· 2. ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνόν τε καὶ τὸν παρ’ αὐτοῦ υἱὸν ἐλθόντα καὶ διδάξαντα ἡμᾶς ταῦτα, καὶ τὸν τῶν ἄλλων ἑπομένων καὶ ἐξομοιουμένων ἀγαθῶν ἀγγέλων στρατόν, πνεῦμά τε τὸ προφητικὸν σεβόμεθα καὶ προσκυνοῦμεν, λόγῳ καὶ ἀληθείᾳ τιμῶντες, καὶ παντὶ βουλομένῳ μαθεῖν, ὡς ἐδιδάχθημεν, ἀφθόνως παραδιδόντες. VII 1. Ἀλλά, φήσει τις, ἤδη τινὲς ληφθέντες ἠλέγχθησαν κακοῦργοι. 2. καὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς πολλάκις, ὅταν ἑκάστοτε τῶν κατηγορουμένων τὸν βίον ἐξετάζητε, ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ τοὺς προλεχθέντας καταδικάζετε. 3. καθόλου μὲν οὖν κἀκεῖνο ὁμολογοῦμεν, ὅτι ὃν τρόπον οἱ ἐν Ἕλλησι τὰ αὐτοῖς ἀρεστὰ δογματίσαντες ἐκ παντὸς τῷ ἑνὶ ὀνόματι φιλοσοφίας προσαγορεύονται, καίπερ τῶν δογμάτων ἐναντίων ὄντων, οὕτως καὶ τῶν ἐν βαρβάροις γενομένων καὶ δοξάντων σοφῶν τὸ ἐπικατηγορούμενον ὄνομα κοινόν ἐστι· Χριστιανοὶ γὰρ πάντες προσαγορεύονται. 4. ὅθεν πάντων τῶν καταγγελλομένων ὑμῖν τὰς πράξεις κρίνεσθαι ἀξιοῦμεν, ἵνα ὁ ἐλεγχθεὶς ὡς ἄδικος κολάζηται, ἀλλὰ μὴ ὡς Χριστιανός· ἐὰν δέ τις ἀνέλεγκτος φάνηται, ἀπολύηται ὡς Χριστιανὸς οὐδὲν ἀδικῶν. 5. οὐ γὰρ τοὺς κατηγοροῦντας κολάζειν ὑμᾶς ἀξιώσομεν· ἀρκοῦνται γὰρ τῇ προσούσῃ πονηρίᾳ καὶ τῇ τῶν καλῶν ἀγνοίᾳ. VIII 1. Λογίσασθε δ’ ὅτι ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν ταῦτα ἔφημεν ἐκ τοῦ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν εἶναι ἀρνεῖσθαι ἐξεταζομένους. 2. ἀλλ’ οὐ βουλόμεθα ζῆν ψευδολογοῦντες· τοῦ γὰρ αἰωνίου καὶ καθαροῦ βίου ἐπιθυμοῦντες τῆς μετὰ θεοῦ τοῦ πάντων πατρὸς καὶ δημιουργοῦ διαγωγῆς ἀντιποιούμεθα, καὶ σπεύδομεν ἐπὶ τὸ ὁμολογεῖν, οἱ πεπεισμένοι καὶ πιστεύοντες τυχεῖν τούτων δύνασθαι τοὺς τὸν θεὸν δι’ ἔργων πείσαντας, ὅτι αὐτῷ εἵποντο καὶ τῆς παρ’ αὐτῷ διαγωγῆς ἤρων, ἔνθα κακία οὐκ ἀντιτυπεῖ. 3. ὡς μὲν οὖν διὰ βραχέων εἰπεῖν, ἅ τε προσδοκῶμεν καὶ μεμαθήκαμεν διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ διδάσκομεν ταῦτά ἐστι. 4. Πλάτων δὲ ὁμοίως ἔφη Ῥαδάμανθυν καὶ Μίνω κολάσειν τοὺς ἀδίκους παρ’ αὐτοὺς ἐλθόντας· ἡμεῖς δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ πρᾶγμά φαμεν γενήσεσθαι, ἀλλ’ ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς σώμασι μετὰ τῶν ψυχῶν γινομένων καὶ αἰωνίαν κόλασιν κολασθησομένων, ἀλλ’ οὐχὶ χιλιονταετῆ περίοδον, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἔφη, μόνον. 5. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἄπιστον ἢ ἀδύνατον τοῦτο φήσει τις, πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἥδε ἡ πλάνη ἐστὶν ἀλλ’ οὐ πρὸς ἕτερον, μέχρις οὗ ἔργῳ μηδὲν ἀδικοῦντες ἐλεγχόμεθα. IX 1. Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ θυσίαις πολλαῖς καὶ πλοκαῖς ἀνθῶν τιμῶμεν οὓς ἄνθρωποι μορφώσαντες καὶ ἐν ναοῖς ἱδρύσαντες θεοὺς προσωνόμασαν, ἐπεὶ ἄψυχα καὶ νεκρὰ ταῦτα γινώσκομεν καὶ θεοῦ μορφὴν μὴ ἔχοντα (οὐ γὰρ τοιαύτην ἡγούμεθα τὸν θεὸν ἔχειν τὴν μορφήν, ἥν φασί τινες εἰς τιμὴν μεμιμῆσθαι), ἀλλ’ ἐκείνων τῶν φανέντων κακῶν δαιμόνων καὶ ὀνόματα καὶ σχήματα ἔχειν. 2. τί γὰρ δεῖ εἰδόσιν ὑμῖν λέγειν, ἃ τὴν ὕλην οἱ τεχνῖται διατιθέασι ξέοντες καὶ τέμνοντες καὶ χωνεύοντες καὶ τύπτοντες; καὶ ἐξ ἀτίμων πολλάκις σκευῶν διὰ τέχνης τὸ σχῆμα μόνον ἀλλάξαντες καὶ μορφοποιήσαντες θεοὺς ἐπονομάζουσιν. 3. ὅπερ οὐ μόνον ἄλογον ἡγούμεθα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐφ’ ὕβρει τοῦ θεοῦ γίνεσθαι, ὃς ἄρρητον δόξαν καὶ μορφὴν ἔχων ἐπὶ φθαρτοῖς καὶ δεομένοις θεραπείας πράγμασιν ἐπονομάζεται. 4. καὶ ὅτι οἱ τούτων τεχνῖται ἀσελγεῖς τε καὶ πᾶσαν κακίαν, ἵνα μὴ καταριθμῶμεν, ἔχουσιν, ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθε· καὶ τὰς ἑαυτῶν παιδίσκας συνεργαζομένας φθείρουσιν. 5. ὢ τῆς ἐμβροντησίας, ἀνθρώπους ἀκολάστους θεοὺς εἰς τὸ προσκυνεῖσθαι πλάσσειν λέγεσθαι καὶ μεταποιεῖν, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν, ἔνθα ἀνατίθενται, φύλακας τοιούτους καθιστάναι, μὴ συνορῶντας ἀθέμιτον καὶ τὸ νοεῖν ἢ λέγειν ἀνθρώπους θεῶν εἶναι φύλακας. X 1. Ἀλλ’ οὐ δέεσθαι τῆς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων ὑλικῆς προσφορᾶς προσειλήφαμεν τὸν θεόν, αὐτὸν παρέχοντα πάντα ὁρῶντες· ἐκείνους δὲ προσδέχεσθαι αὐτὸν μόνον δεδιδάγμεθα καὶ πεπείσμεθα καὶ πιστεύομεν, τοὺς τὰ προσόντα αὐτῷ ἀγαθὰ μιμουμένους, σωφροσύνην καὶ δικαιοσύνην καὶ φιλανθρωπίαν καὶ ὅσα οἰκεῖα θεῷ ἐστι, τῷ μηδενὶ ὀνόματι θετῷ καλουμένῳ. 2. καὶ πάντα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀγαθὸν ὄντα δημιουργῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐξ ἀμόρφου ὕλης δι’ ἀνθρώπους δεδιδάγμεθα· οἳ ἐὰν ἀξίους τῷ ἐκείνου βουλεύματι ἑαυτοὺς δι’ ἔργων δείξωσι, τῆς μετ’ αὐτοῦ ἀναστροφῆς καταξιωθῆναι προσειλήφαμεν συμβασιλεύοντας, ἀφθάρτους καὶ ἀπαθεῖς γενομένους. 3. ὃν τρόπον γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ὄντας ἐποίησε, τὸν αὐτὸν ἡγούμεθα τρόπον διὰ τὸ ἑλέσθαι τοὺς αἱρουμένους τὰ αὐτῷ ἀρεστὰ καὶ ἀφθαρσίας καὶ συνουσίας καταξιωθῆναι. 4. τὸ μὲν γὰρ τὴν ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι οὐχ ἡμέτερον ἦν· τὸ δ’ ἐξακολουθῆσαι οἷς φίλον αὐτῷ αἱρουμένους δι’ ὧν αὐτὸς ἐδωρήσατο λογικῶν δυνάμεων πείθει τε καὶ εἰς πίστιν ἄγει ἡμᾶς. 5. καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἡγούμεθα εἶναι τὸ μὴ εἴργεσθαι ταῦτα μανθάνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ προτρέπεσθαι ἐπὶ ταῦτα. 6. ὅπερ γὰρ οὐκ ἠδυνήθησαν οἱ ἀνθρώπειοι νόμοι πρᾶξαι, ταῦτα ὁ λόγος θεῖος ὢν εἰργάσατο, εἰ μὴ οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες κατεσκέδασαν πολλὰ ψευδῆ καὶ ἄθεα κατηγορήματα, σύμμαχον λαβόντες τὴν ἐν ἑκάστῳ κακὴν πρὸς πάντα καὶ ποικίλην φύσει ἐπιθυμίαν, ὧν οὐδὲν πρόσεστιν ἡμῖν.	CHAPTER I -- ADDRESS. To the Emperor Titus Ælius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, and to his son Verissimus the Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, the natural son of Caesar, and the adopted son of Pius, a lover of learning, and to the sacred Senate, with the whole People of the Romans, I, Justin, the son of Priscus and grandson of Bacchius, natives of Flavia Neapolis in Palestine, present this address and petition in behalf of those of all nations who are unjustly hated and wantonly abused, myself being one of them. CHAPTER II -- JUSTICE DEMANDED. Reason directs those who are truly pious and philosophical to honour and love only what is true, declining to follow traditional opinions, if these be worthless. For not only does sound reason direct us to refuse the guidance of those who did or taught anything wrong, but it is incumbent on the lover of truth, by all means, and if death be threatened, even before his own life, to choose to do and say what is right. Do you, then, since ye are called pious and philosophers, guardians of justice and lovers of learning, give good heed, and hearken to my address; and if ye are indeed such, it will be manifested. For we have come, not to flatter you by this writing, nor please you by our address, but to beg that you pass judgment, after an accurate and searching investigation, not flattered by prejudice or by a desire of pleasing superstitious men, nor induced by irrational impulse or evil rumours which have long been prevalent, to give a decision which will prove to be against yourselves. For as for us, we reckon that no evil can be done us, unless we be convicted as evil-doers or be proved to be wicked men; and you, you can kill, but not hurt us. CHAPTER III -- CLAIM OF JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION. But lest any one think that this is an unreasonable and reckless utterance, we demand that the charges against the Christians be investigated, and that, if these be substantiated, they be punished as they deserve; [or rather, indeed, we ourselves will punish them.] But if no one can convict us of anything, true reason forbids you, for the sake of a wicked rumour, to wrong blameless men, and indeed rather yourselves, who think fit to direct affairs, not by judgment, but by passion. And every sober-minded person will declare this to be the only fair and equitable adjustment, namely, that the subjects render an unexceptional account of their own life and doctrine; and that, on the other hand, the rulers should give their decision in obedience, not to violence and tyranny, but to piety and philosophy. For thus would both rulers and ruled reap benefit. For even one of the ancients somewhere said, "Unless both rulers and ruled philosophize, it is impossible to make states blessed." It is our task, therefore, to afford to all an opportunity of inspecting our life and teachings, lest, on account of those who are accustomed to be ignorant of our affairs, we should incur the penalty due to them for mental blindness; and it is your business, when you hear us, to be found, as reason demands, good judges. For if, when ye have learned the truth, you do not what is just, you will be before God without excuse. CHAPTER IV -- CHRISTIANS UNJUSTLY CONDEMNED FOR THEIR MERE NAME. By the mere application of a name, nothing is decided, either good or evil, apart from the actions implied in the name; and indeed, so far at least as one may judge from the name we are accused of, we are most excellent people. But as we do not think it just to beg to be acquitted on account of the name, if we be convicted as evildoers, so, on the other hand, if we be found to have committed no offence, either in the matter of thus naming ourselves, or of our conduct as citizens, it is your part very earnestly to guard against incurring just punishment, by unjustly punishing those who are not convicted. For from a name neither praise nor punishment could reasonably spring, unless something excellent or base in action be proved. And those among yourselves who are accused you do not punish before they are convicted; but in our case you receive the name as proof against us, and this although, so far as the name goes, you ought rather to punish our accusers. For we are accused of being Christians, and to hate what is excellent (Chrestian) is unjust. Again, if any of the accused deny the name, and say that he is not a Christian, you acquit him, as having no evidence against him as a wrong-doer; but if any one acknowledge that he is a Christian, you punish him on account of this acknowledgment. Justice requires that you inquire into the life both of him who confesses and of him who denies, that by his deeds it may be apparent what kind of man each is. For as some who have been taught by the Master, Christ, not to deny Him, give encouragement to others when they are put to the question, so in all probability do those who lead wicked lives give occasion to those who, without consideration, take upon them to accuse all the Christians of impiety and wickedness. And this also is not right. For of philosophy, too, some assume the name and the garb who do nothing worthy of their profession; and you are well aware, that those of the ancients whose opinions and teachings were quite diverse, are yet all called by the one name of philosophers. And of these some taught atheism; and the poets who have flourished among you raise a laugh out of the uncleanness of Jupiter with his own children. And those who now adopt such instruction are not restrained by you; but, on the contrary, you bestow prizes and honours upon those who euphoniously insult the gods. CHAPTER V -- CHRISTIANS CHARGED WITH ATHEISM. Why, then, should this be? In our case, who pledge ourselves to do no wickedness, nor to hold these atheistic opinions, you do not examine the charges made against us; but, yielding to unreasoning passion, and to the instigation of evil demons, you punish us without consideration or judgment. For the truth shall be spoken; since of old these evil demons, effecting apparitions of themselves, both defiled women and corrupted boys, and showed such fearful sights to men, that those who did not use their reason in judging of the actions that were done, were struck with terror; and being carried away by fear, and not knowing that these were demons, they called them gods, and gave to each the name which each of the demons chose for himself. And when Socrates endeavoured, by true reason and examination, to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons, then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that "he was introducing new divinities;" and in our case they display a similar activity. For not only among the Greeks did reason (Logos) prevail to condemn these things through Socrates, but also among the Barbarians were they condemned by Reason (or the Word, the Logos) Himself, who took shape, and became man, and was called Jesus Christ; and in obedience to Him, we not only deny that they who did such things as these are gods, but assert that they are wicked and impious demons, whose actions will not bear comparison with those even of men desirous of virtue. CHAPTER VI -- CHARGE OF ATHEISM REFUTED. Hence are we called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists, so far as gods of this sort are concerned, but not with respect to the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance and the other virtues, who is free from all impurity. But both Him, and the Son (who came forth from Him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are made like to Him), and the prophetic Spirit, we worship and adore, knowing them in reason and truth, and declaring without grudging to every one who wishes to learn, as we have been taught. CHAPTER VII -- EACH CHRISTIAN MUST BE TRIED BY HIS OWN LIFE. But some one will say, Some have ere now been arrested and convicted as evil-doers. For you condemn many, many a time, after inquiring into the life of each of the accused severally, but not on account of those of whom we have been speaking. And this we acknowledge, that as among the Greeks those who teach such theories as please themselves are all called by the one name "Philosopher," though their doctrines be diverse, so also among the Barbarians this name on which accusations are accumulated is the common property of those who are and those who seem wise. For all are called Christians. Wherefore we demand that the deeds of all those who are accused to you be judged, in order that each one who is convicted may be punished as an evil-doer, and not as a Christian; and if it is clear that any one is blameless, that he may be acquitted, since by the mere fact of his being a Christian he does no wrong. For we will not require that you punish our accusers; they being sufficiently punished by their present wickedness and ignorance of what is right. CHAPTER VIII -- CHRISTIANS CONFESS THEIR FAITH IN GOD. And reckon ye that it is for your sakes we have been saying these things; for it is in our power, when we are examined, to deny that we are Christians; but we would not live by telling a lie. For, impelled by the desire of the eternal and pure life, we seek the abode that is with God, the Father and Creator of all, and hasten to confess our faith, persuaded and convinced as we are that they who have proved to God by their works that they followed Him, and loved to abide with Him where there is no sin to cause disturbance, can obtain these things. This, then, to speak shortly, is what we expect and have learned from Christ, and teach. And Plato, in like manner, used to say that Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the wicked who came before them; and we say that the same thing will be done, but at the hand of Christ, and upon the wicked in the same bodies united again to their spirits which are now to undergo everlasting punishment; and not only, as Plato said, for a period of a thousand years. And if any one say that this is incredible or impossible, this error of ours is one which concerns ourselves only, and no other person, so long as you cannot convict us of doing any harm. CHAPTER IX -- FOLLY OF IDOL, WORSHIP. And neither do we honour with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honour), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared. For why need we tell you who already know, into what forms the craftsmen, carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! that dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods. CHAPTER X -- HOW GOD IS TO BE SERVED. But we have received by tradition that God does not need the material offerings which men can give, seeing, indeed, that He Himself is the provider of all things. And we have been taught, and are convinced, and do believe, that He accepts those only who imitate the excellences which reside in Him, temperance, and justice, and philanthropy, and as many virtues as are peculiar to a God who is called by no proper name. And we have been taught that He in the beginning did of His goodness, for man's sake, create all things out of unformed matter; and if men by their works show themselves worthy of this His design, they are deemed worthy, and so we have received--of reigning in company with Him, being delivered from corruption and suffering. For as in the beginning He created us when we were not, so do we consider that, in like manner, those who choose what is pleasing to Him are, on account of their choice, deemed worthy of incorruption and of fellowship with Him. For the coming into being at first was not in our own power; and in order that we may follow those things which please Him, choosing them by means of the rational faculties He has Himself endowed us with, He both persuades us and leads us to faith. And we think it for the advantage of all men that they are not restrained from learning these things, but are even urged thereto. For the restraint which human laws could not effect, the Word, inasmuch as He is divine, would have effected, had not the wicked demons, taking as their ally the lust of wickedness which is in every man, and which draws variously to all manner of vice, scattered many false and profane accusations, none of which attach to us.
XI 1. Καὶ ὑμεῖς, ἀκούσαντες βασιλείαν προσδοκῶντας ἡμᾶς, ἀκρίτως ἀνθρώπινον λέγειν ἡμᾶς ὑπειλήφατε, ἡμῶν τὴν μετὰ θεοῦ λεγόντων, ὡς καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἀνεταζομένους ὑφ’ ὑμῶν ὁμολογεῖν εἶναι Χριστιανούς, γινώσκοντες τῷ ὁμολογοῦντι θάνατον τὴν ζημίαν κεῖσθαι, φαίνεται. 2. εἰ γὰρ ἀνθρώπινον βασιλείαν προσεδοκῶμεν, κἂν ἠρνούμεθα, ὅπως μὴ ἀναιρώμεθα, καὶ λανθάνειν ἐπειρώμεθα, ὅπως τῶν προσδοκωμένων τύχωμεν· ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ οὐκ εἰς τὸ νῦν τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχομεν, ἀναιρούντων οὐ πεφροντίκαμεν τοῦ καὶ πάντως ἀποθανεῖν ὀφειλομένου. XII 1. Ἀρωγοὶ δ’ ὑμῖν καὶ σύμμαχοι πρὸς εἰρήνην ἐσμὲν πάντων μᾶλλον ἀνθρώπων, οἳ ταῦτα δοξάζομεν, ὡς λαθεῖν θεὸν κακόεργον ἢ πλεονέκτην ἢ ἐπίβουλον ἢ ἐνάρετον ἀδύνατον εἶναι, καὶ ἕκαστον ἐπ’ αἰωνίαν κόλασιν ἢ σωτηρίαν κατ’ ἀξίαν τῶν πράξεων πορεύεσθαι. 2. εἰ γὰρ οἱ πάντες ἄνθρωποι ταῦτα ἐγίνωσκον, οὐκ ἄν τις τὴν κακίαν πρὸς ὀλίγον ᾑρεῖτο, γινώσκων πορεύεσθαι ἐπ’ αἰωνίαν διὰ πυρὸς καταδίκην, ἀλλ’ ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου ἑαυτὸν συνεῖχε καὶ ἐκόσμει ἀρετῇ, ὅπως τῶν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τύχῃ ἀγαθῶν καὶ τῶν κολαστηρίων ἀπηλλαγμένος εἴη. 3. οὐ γὰρ διὰ τοὺς ὑφ’ ὑμῶν κειμένους νόμους καὶ κολάσεις πειρῶνται λανθάνειν ἀδικοῦντες, ἀνθρώπους δ’ ὄντας λανθάνειν ὑμᾶς δυνατὸν ἐπιστάμενοι ἀδικοῦσιν· εἰ ἔμαθον καὶ ἐπείσθησαν θεὸν ἀδύνατον εἶναι λαθεῖν τι, οὐ μόνον πραττόμενον ἀλλὰ καὶ βουλευόμενον, κἂν διὰ τὰ ἐπικείμενα ἐκ παντὸς τρόπου κόσμιοι ἦσαν, ὡς καὶ ὑμεῖς συμφήσετε. 4. Ἀλλ’ ἐοίκατε δεδιέναι μὴ πάντες δικαιοπραγήσωσι, καὶ ὑμεῖς οὓς κολάζητε ἔτι οὐχ ἕξετε· δημίων δ’ ἂν εἴη τὸ τοιοῦτον ἔργον, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀρχόντων ἀγαθῶν. 5. πεπείσμεθα δ’ ἐκ δαιμόνων φαύλων, οἳ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἀλόγως βιούντων αἰτοῦσι θύματα καὶ θεραπείας, καὶ ταῦτα, ὡς προέφημεν, ἐνεργεῖσθαι· ἀλλ’ οὐχ ὑμᾶς, οἵ γε εὐσεβείας καὶ φιλοσοφίας ὀρέγεσθε, ἄλογόν τι πρᾶξαι ὑπειλήφαμεν. 6. εἰ δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς ὁμοίως τοῖς ἀνοήτοις τὰ ἔθη πρὸ τῆς ἀληθείας τιμᾶτε, πράττετε ὃ δύνασθε· τοσοῦτον δὲ δύνανται καὶ ἄρχοντες πρὸ τῆς ἀληθείας δόξαν τιμῶντες, ὅσον καὶ λῃσταὶ ἐν ἐρημίᾳ. 7. ὅτι δ’ οὐ καλλιερήσετε, ὁ λόγος ἀποδείκνυσιν, οὗ βασιλικώτατον καὶ δικαιότατον ἄρχοντα μετὰ τὸν γεννήσαντα θεὸν οὐδένα οἴδαμεν ὄντα. 8. ὃν γὰρ τρόπον διαδέχεσθαι πενίας ἢ πάθη ἢ ἀδοξίας πατρικὰς ὑφαιροῦνται πάντες, οὕτως καὶ ὅσα ἂν ὑπαγορεύσῃ ὁ λόγος μὴ δεῖν αἱρεῖσθαι ὁ νουνεχὴς οὐχ αἱρήσεται. 9. γενήσεσθαι ταῦτα πάντα προεῖπε, φημί, ὁ ἡμέτερος διδάσκαλος καὶ τοῦ πατρὸς πάντων καὶ δεσπότου θεοῦ υἱὸς καὶ ἀπόστολος ὢν Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ τὸ Χριστιανοὶ ἐπονομάζεσθαι ἐσχήκαμεν. 10. ὅθεν καὶ βέβαιοι γινόμεθα πρὸς τὰ δεδιδαγμένα ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πάντα, ἐπειδὴ ἔργῳ φαίνεται γινόμενα ὅσα φθάσας γενέσθαι προεῖπεν· ὅπερ θεοῦ ἔργον ἐστί, πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι εἰπεῖν καὶ οὕτως δειχθῆναι γινόμενον ὡς προείρηται. 11. ἦν μὲν οὖν καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις παυσαμένους μηδὲν προστιθέναι, λογισαμένους ὅτι δίκαιά τε καὶ ἀληθῆ ἀξιοῦμεν· ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ γνωρίζομεν οὐ ῥᾷον ἀγνοίᾳ κατεχομένην ψυχὴν συντόμως μεταβάλλειν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεῖσαι τοὺς φιλαλήθεις μικρὰ προσθεῖναι προεθυμήθημεν, εἰδότες ὅτι οὐκ ἀδύνατον ἀληθείας παρατεθείσης ἄγνοιαν φυγεῖν. XIII 1. Ἄθεοι μὲν οὖν ὡς οὔκ ἐσμεν, τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς σεβόμενοι, ἀνενδεῆ αἱμάτων καὶ σπονδῶν καὶ θυμιαμάτων, ὡς ἐδιδάχθημεν, λέγοντες, λόγῳ εὐχῆς καὶ εὐχαριστίας ἐφ’ οἷς προσφερόμεθα πᾶσιν, ὅση δύναμις, αἰνοῦντες, μόνην ἀξίαν αὐτοῦ τιμὴν ταύτην παραλαβόντες, τὸ τὰ ὑπ’ ἐκείνου εἰς διατροφὴν γενόμενα οὐ πυρὶ δαπανᾶν, ἀλλ’ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς δεομένοις προσφέρειν, 2. ἐκείνῳ δὲ εὐχαρίστους ὄντας διὰ λόγου πομπὰς καὶ ὕμνους πέμπειν ὑπέρ τε τοῦ γεγονέναι καὶ τῶν εἰς εὐρωστίαν πόρων πάντων, ποιοτήτων μὲν γενῶν καὶ μεταβολῶν ὡρῶν, καὶ τοῦ πάλιν ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ γενέσθαι διὰ πίστιν τὴν ἐν αὐτῷ αἰτήσεις πέμποντες, - τίς σωφρονῶν οὐχ ὁμολογήσει; 3. τὸν διδάσκαλόν τε τούτων γενόμενον ἡμῖν καὶ εἰς τοῦτο γεννηθέντα Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, τὸν σταυρωθέντα ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, τοῦ γενομένου ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ ἐπὶ χρόνοις Τιβερίου Καίσαρος ἐπιτρόπου, υἱὸν αὐτοῦ τοῦ ὄντως θεοῦ μαθόντες καὶ ἐν δευτέρᾳ χώρᾳ ἔχοντες, πνεῦμά τε προφητικὸν ἐν τρίτῃ τάξει ὅτι μετὰ λόγου τιμῶμεν ἀποδείξομεν. 4. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ μανίαν ἡμῶν καταφαίνονται, δευτέραν χώραν μετὰ τὸν ἄτρεπτον καὶ ἀεὶ ὄντα θεὸν καὶ γεννήτορα τῶν ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπῳ σταυρωθέντι διδόναι ἡμᾶς λέγοντες, ἀγνοοῦντες τὸ ἐν τούτῳ μυστήριον, ᾧ προσέχειν ὑμᾶς ἐξηγουμένων ἡμῶν προτρεπόμεθα. XIV 1. Προλέγομεν γὰρ ὑμῖν φυλάξασθαι, μὴ οἱ προδιαβεβλημένοι ὑφ’ ἡμῶν δαίμονες ἐξαπατήσωσιν ὑμᾶς καὶ ἀποτρέψωσι τοῦ ὅλως ἐντυχεῖν καὶ συνεῖναι τὰ λεγόμενα (ἀγωνίζονται γὰρ ἔχειν ὑμᾶς δούλους καὶ ὑπηρέτας, καὶ ποτὲ μὲν δι’ ὀνείρων ἐπιφανείας, ποτὲ δ’ αὖ διὰ μαγικῶν στροφῶν χειροῦνται πάντας τοὺς οὐκ ἔσθ’ ὅπως ὑπὲρ τῆς αὐτῶν σωτηρίας ἀγωνιζομένους), ὃν τρόπον καὶ ἡμεῖς μετὰ τὸ τῷ λόγῳ πεισθῆναι ἐκείνων μὲν ἀπέστημεν, θεῷ δὲ μόνῳ τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ ἑπόμεθα· 2. οἱ πάλαι μὲν πορνείαις χαίροντες, νῦν δὲ σωφροσύνην μόνην ἀσπαζόμενοι· οἱ δὲ καὶ μαγικαῖς τέχναις χρώμενοι, ἀγαθῷ καὶ ἀγεννήτῳ θεῷ ἑαυτοὺς ἀνατεθεικότες· χρημάτων δὲ καὶ κτημάτων οἱ πόρους παντὸς μᾶλλον στέργοντες, νῦν καὶ ἃ ἔχομεν εἰς κοινὸν φέροντες καὶ παντὶ δεομένῳ κοινωνοῦντες· 3. οἱ μισάλληλοι δὲ καὶ ἀλληλοφόνοι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς οὐχ ὁμοφύλους διὰ τὰ ἔθη καὶ ἑστίας κοινὰς μὴ ποιούμενοι, νῦν μετὰ τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁμοδίαιτοι γινόμενοι, καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν εὐχόμενοι, καὶ τοὺς ἀδίκως μισοῦντας πείθειν πειρώμενοι, ὅπως οἱ κατὰ τὰς τοῦ Χριστοῦ καλὰς ὑποθημοσύνας βιώσαντες εὐέλπιδες ὦσι σὺν ἡμῖν τῶν αὐτῶν παρὰ τοῦ πάντων δεσπόζοντος θεοῦ τυχεῖν. 4. ἵνα δὲ μὴ σοφίζεσθαι ὑμᾶς δόξωμεν, ὀλίγων τινῶν τῶν παρ’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδαγμάτων ἐπιμνησθῆναι καλῶς ἔχειν πρὸ τῆς ἀποδείξεως ἡγησάμεθα, καὶ ὑμέτερον ἔστω ὡς δυνατῶν βασιλέων ἐξετάσαι εἰ ἀληθῶς ταῦτα δεδιδάγμεθα καὶ διδάσκομεν. 5. βραχεῖς δὲ καὶ σύντομοι παρ’ αὐτοῦ λόγοι γεγόνασιν· οὐ γὰρ σοφιστὴς ὑπῆρχεν, ἀλλὰ δύναμις θεοῦ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ ἦν. XV 1. Περὶ μὲν οὖν σωφροσύνης τοσοῦτον εἶπεν· Ὃς ἂν ἐμβλέψῃ γυναικὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς ἤδη ἐμοίχευσε τῇ καρδίᾳ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ. 2. καί· Εἰ ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ὁ δεξιὸς σκανδαλίζει σε, ἔκκοψον αὐτόν· συμφέρει γάρ σοι μονόφθαλμον εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἢ μετὰ τῶν δύο πεμφθῆναι εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ. 3. καί· Ὃς γαμεῖ ἀπολελυμένην ἀφ’ ἑτέρου ἀνδρὸς μοιχᾶται. 4. καί· Εἰσί τινες οἵτινες εὐνουχίσθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ ἐγεννήθησαν εὐνοῦχοι, εἰσὶ δὲ οἳ εὐνούχισαν ἑαυτοὺς διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν· πλὴν οὐ πάντες τοῦτο χωροῦσιν. 5. ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ νόμῳ ἀνθρωπίνῳ διγαμίας ποιούμενοι ἁμαρτωλοὶ παρὰ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ διδασκάλῳ εἰσί, καὶ οἱ προσβλέποντες γυναικὶ πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς· οὐ γὰρ μόνον ὁ μοιχεύων ἔργῳ ἐκβέβληται παρ’ αὐτῷ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ μοιχεῦσαι βουλόμενος, ὡς οὐ τῶν ἔργων φανερῶν μόνον τῷ θεῷ ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων. 6. καὶ πολλοί τινες καὶ πολλαὶ ἑξηκοντοῦται καὶ ἑβδομηκοντοῦται, οἳ ἐκ παίδων ἐμαθητεύθησαν τῷ Χριστῷ, ἄφθοροι διαμένουσι· καὶ εὔχομαι κατὰ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων τοιούτους δεῖξαι. 7. τί γὰρ καὶ λέγομεν τὸ ἀναρίθμητον πλῆθος τῶν ἐξ ἀκολασίας μεταβαλόντων καὶ ταῦτα μαθόντων; οὐ γὰρ τοὺς δικαίους οὐδὲ τοὺς σώφρονας εἰς μετάνοιαν ἐκάλεσεν ὁ Χριστός, ἀλλὰ τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀκολάστους καὶ ἀδίκους. 8. εἶπε δὲ οὕτως· οὐκ ἦλθον καλέσαι δικαίους, ἀλλὰ ἁμαρτωλοὺς εἰς μετάνοιαν. θέλει γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὁ οὐράνιος τὴν μετάνοιαν τοῦ ἁμαρτωλοῦ ἢ τὴν κόλασιν αὐτοῦ. 9. περὶ δὲ τοῦ στέργειν ἅπαντας ταῦτα ἐδίδαξεν· Εἰ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς ἀγαπῶντας ὑμᾶς, τί καινὸν ποιεῖτε; καὶ γὰρ οἱ πόρνοι τοῦτο ποιοῦσιν. Ἐγὼ δὲ ὑμῖν λέγω· Εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ὑμῶν καὶ ἀγαπᾶτε τοὺς μισοῦντας ὑμᾶς καὶ εὐλογεῖτε τοὺς καταρωμένους ὑμῖν καὶ εὔχεσθε ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐπηρεαζόντων ὑμᾶς. 10. εἰς δὲ τὸ κοινωνεῖν τοῖς δεομένοις καὶ μηδὲν πρὸς δόξαν ποιεῖν ταῦτα ἔφη· Παντὶ τῷ αἰτοῦντι δίδοτε καὶ τὸν βουλόμενον δανείσασθαι μὴ ἀποστραφῆτε. εἰ γὰρ δανείζετε παρ’ ὧν ἐλπίζετε λαβεῖν, τί καινὸν ποιεῖτε; τοῦτο καὶ οἱ τελῶναι ποιοῦσιν. 11. ὑμεῖς δὲ μὴ θησαυρίζητε ἑαυτοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὅπου σὴς καὶ βρῶσις ἀφανίζει καὶ λῃσταὶ διορύσσουσι· θησαυρίζετε δὲ ἑαυτοῖς ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει. 12. τί γὰρ ὠφελεῖται ἄνθρωπος, ἂν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον κερδήσῃ, τὴν δὲ ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ ἀπολέσῃ; ἢ τί δώσει αὐτῆς ἀντάλλαγμα; θησαυρίζετε οὖν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὅπου οὔτε σὴς οὔτε βρῶσις ἀφανίζει. 13. καί· Γίνεσθε δὲ χρηστοὶ καὶ οἰκτίρμονες, ὡς καὶ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν χρηστός ἐστι καὶ οἰκτίρμων, καὶ τὸν ἥλιον αὐτοῦ ἀνατέλλει ἐπὶ ἁμαρτωλοὺς καὶ δικαίους καὶ πονηρούς. 14. μὴ μεριμνᾶτε δὲ τί φάγητε ἢ τί ἐνδύσησθε. οὐχ ὑμεῖς τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ τῶν θηρίων διαφέρετε; καὶ ὁ θεὸς τρέφει αὐτά. 15. μὴ οὖν μεριμνήσητε τί φάγητε ἢ τί ἐνδύσησθε· οἶδε γὰρ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος ὅτι τούτων χρείαν ἔχετε. 16. ζητεῖτε δὲ τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, καὶ ταῦτα πάντα προστεθήσεται ὑμῖν. ὅπου γὰρ ὁ θησαυρός ἐστιν, ἐκεῖ καὶ ὁ νοῦς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. 17. καί· Μὴ ποιῆτε ταῦτα πρὸς τὸ θεαθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων· εἰ δὲ μή γε, μισθὸν οὐκ ἔχετε παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. XVI 1. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ ἀνεξικάκους εἶναι καὶ ὑπηρετικοὺς πᾶσι καὶ ἀοργήτους ἃ ἔφη ταῦτά ἐστι· Τῷ τύπτοντί σου τὴν σιαγόνα πάρεχε καὶ τὴν ἄλλην, καὶ τὸν αἴροντά σου τὸν χιτῶνα ἢ τὸ ἱμάτιον μὴ κωλύσῃς. 2. ὃς δ’ ἂν ὀργισθῇ, ἔνοχός ἐστιν εἰς τὸ πῦρ. παντὶ δὲ ἀγγαρεύοντί σε μίλιον ἀκολούθησον δύο. λαμψάτω δὲ ὑμῶν τὰ καλὰ ἔργα ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἵνα βλέποντες θαυμάζωσι τὸν πατέρα ὑμῶν τὸν ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 3. οὐ γὰρ ἀνταίρειν δεῖ· οὐδὲ μιμητὰς εἶναι τῶν φαύλων βεβούληται ἡμᾶς, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῆς ὑπομονῆς καὶ πραότητος ἐξ αἰσχύνης καὶ ἐπιθυμίας τῶν κακῶν ἄγειν πάντας προετρέψατο. 4. ὃ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ πολλῶν τῶν παρ’ ὑμῖν γεγενημένων ἀποδεῖξαι ἔχομεν· ἐκ βιαίων καὶ τυράννων μετέβαλον, ἡττηθέντες ἢ γειτόνων καρτερίαν βίου παρακολουθήσαντες ἢ συνοδοιπόρων πλεονεκτουμένων ὑπομονὴν ξένην κατανοήσαντες ἢ συμπραγματευομένων πειραθέντες. 5. περὶ δὲ τοῦ μὴ ὀμνύναι ὅλως, τἀληθῆ δὲ λέγειν ἀεί, οὕτως παρεκελεύσατο· Μὴ ὀμόσητε ὅλως· ἔστω δὲ ὑμῶν τὸ ναὶ ναί, καὶ τὸ οὒ οὔ· τὸ δὲ περισσὸν τούτων ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ. 6. ὡς δὲ καὶ τὸν θεὸν μόνον δεῖ προσκυνεῖν, οὕτως ἔπεισεν εἰπών· Μεγίστη ἐντολή ἐστι· Κύριον τὸν θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις ἐξ ὅλης τῆς καρδίας σου καὶ ἐξ ὅλης τῆς ἰσχύος σου, κύριον τὸν θεὸν τὸν ποιήσαντά σε. 7. καὶ προσελθόντος αὐτῷ τινος καὶ εἰπόντος· Διδάσκαλε ἀγαθέ, ἀπεκρίνατο λέγων· Οὐδεὶς ἀγαθὸς εἰ μὴ μόνος ὁ θεός, ὁ ποιήσας τὰ πάντα. 8. οἳ δ’ ἂν μὴ εὑρίσκωνται βιοῦντες, ὡς ἐδίδαξε, γνωριζέσθωσαν μὴ ὄντες Χριστιανοί, κἂν λέγωσιν διὰ γλώττης τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδάγματα· οὐ γὰρ τοὺς μόνον λέγοντας, ἀλλὰ τοὺς καὶ τὰ ἔργα πράττοντας σωθήσεσθαι ἔφη. 9. εἶπε γὰρ οὕτως· Οὐχὶ πᾶς ὁ λέγων μοι Κύριε κύριε εἰσελεύσεται εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἀλλ’ ὁ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πατρός μου τοῦ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. 10. ὃς γὰρ ἀκούει μου καὶ ποιεῖ ἃ λέγω ἀκούει τοῦ ἀποστείλαντός με. 11. πολλοὶ δὲ ἐροῦσί μοι· Κύριε κύριε, οὐ τῷ σῷ ὀνόματι ἐφάγομεν καὶ ἐπίομεν καὶ δυνάμεις ἐποιήσαμεν; καὶ τότε ἐρῶ αὐτοῖς· Ἀποχωρεῖτε ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ, ἐργάται τῆς ἀνομίας. 12. τότε κλαυθμὸς ἔσται καὶ βρυγμὸς τῶν ὀδόντων, ὅταν οἱ μὲν δίκαιοι λάμψωσιν ὡς ὁ ἥλιος, οἱ δὲ ἄδικοι πέμπωνται εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ. 13. πολλοὶ γὰρ ἥξουσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἔξωθεν μὲν ἐνδεδυμένοι δέρματα προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δὲ ὄντες λύκοι ἅρπαγες· ἐκ τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν ἐπιγνώσεσθε αὐτούς. πᾶν δὲ δένδρον, μὴ ποιοῦν καρπὸν καλόν, ἐκκόπτεται καὶ εἰς πῦρ βάλλεται. 14. κολάζεσθαι δὲ τοὺς οὐκ ἀκολούθως τοῖς διδάγμασιν αὐτοῦ βιοῦντας, λεγομένους δὲ μόνον Χριστιανούς, καὶ ὑφ’ ὑμῶν ἀξιοῦμεν. XVII 1. Φόρους δὲ καὶ εἰσφορὰς τοῖς ὑφ’ ὑμῶν τεταγμένοις πανταχοῦ πρὸ πάντων πειρώμεθα φέρειν, ὡς ἐδιδάχθημεν παρ’ αὐτοῦ. 2. κατ’ ἐκεῖνο γὰρ τοῦ καιροῦ προσελθόντες τινὲς ἠρώτων αὐτόν, εἰ δεῖ Καίσαρι φόρους τελεῖν. καὶ ἀπεκρίνατο· Εἴπατέ μοι, τίνος εἰκόνα τὸ νόμισμα ἔχει; οἱ δὲ ἔφασαν· Καίσαρος. καὶ πάλιν ἀνταπεκρίνατο αὐτοῖς· Ἀπόδοτε οὖν τὰ Καίσαρος τῷ Καίσαρι καὶ τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ θεῷ. 3. ὅθεν θεὸν μὲν μόνον προσκυνοῦμεν, ὑμῖν δὲ πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα χαίροντες ὑπηρετοῦμεν, βασιλεῖς καὶ ἄρχοντας ἀνθρώπων ὁμολογοῦντες καὶ εὐχόμενοι μετὰ τῆς βασιλικῆς δυνάμεως καὶ σώφρονα τὸν λογισμὸν ἔχοντας ὑμᾶς εὑρεθῆναι. 4. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἡμῶν εὐχομένων καὶ πάντα εἰς φανερὸν τιθέντων ἀφροντιστήσετε, οὐδὲν ἡμεῖς βλαβησόμεθα, πιστεύοντες, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πεπεισμένοι, κατ’ ἀξίαν τῶν πράξεων ἕκαστον τίσειν διὰ πυρὸς αἰωνίου δίκας, καὶ πρὸς ἀναλογίαν ὧν ἔλαβε δυνάμεων παρὰ θεοῦ τὸν λόγον ἀπαιτηθήσεσθαι, ὡς ὁ Χριστὸς ἐμήνυσεν εἰπών· Ὧι πλέον ἔδωκεν ὁ θεός, πλέον καὶ ἀπαιτηθήσεται παρ’ αὐτοῦ. XVIII 1. Ἀποβλέψατε γὰρ πρὸς τὸ τέλος ἑκάστου τῶν γενομένων βασιλέων, ὅτι τὸν κοινὸν πᾶσι θάνατον ἀπέθανον· ὅπερ εἰ εἰς ἀναισθησίαν ἐχώρει, ἕρμαιον ἂν ἦν τοῖς ἀδίκοις πᾶσιν. 2. ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ καὶ αἴσθησις πᾶσι γενομένοις μένει καὶ κόλασις αἰωνία ἀπόκειται, μὴ ἀμελήσητε πεισθῆναί τε καὶ πιστεῦσαι ὅτι ἀληθῆ ταῦτά ἐστι. 3. νεκυομαντεῖαι μὲν γὰρ καὶ αἱ ἀδιαφθόρων παίδων ἐποπτεύσεις καὶ ψυχῶν ἀνθρωπίνων κλήσεις καὶ οἱ λεγόμενοι παρὰ τοῖς μάγοις ὀνειροπομποὶ καὶ πάρεδροι καὶ τὰ γινόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν ταῦτα εἰδότων πεισάτωσαν ὑμᾶς, ὅτι καὶ μετὰ θάνατον ἐν αἰσθήσει εἰσὶν αἱ ψυχαί, 4. καὶ οἱ ψυχαῖς ἀποθανόντων λαμβανόμενοι καὶ ῥιπτούμενοι ἄνθρωποι, οὓς δαιμονιολήπτους καὶ μαινομένους καλοῦσι πάντες, καὶ τὰ παρ’ ὑμῖν λεγόμενα μαντεῖα Ἀμφιλόχου καὶ Δωδώνης καὶ Πυθοῦς, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα τοιαῦτά ἐστι, 5. καὶ τὰ τῶν συγγραφέων διδάγματα, Ἐμπεδοκλέους καὶ Πυθαγόρου, Πλάτωνός τε καὶ Σωκράτους, καὶ ὁ παρ’ Ὁμήρῳ βόθρος καὶ ἡ κάθοδος Ὀδυσσέως εἰς τὴν τούτων ἐπίσκεψιν, καὶ τῶν τὰ αὐτὰ τούτοις εἰπόντων· 6. οἷς κἂν ὁμοίως ἡμᾶς ἀποδέξασθε, οὐχ ἧττον ἐκείνων θεῷ πιστεύοντας ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον, οἳ καὶ τὰ νεκρούμενα καὶ εἰς γῆν βαλλόμενα πάλιν ἀπολήψεσθαι ἑαυτῶν σώματα προσδοκῶμεν, ἀδύνατον μηδὲν εἶναι θεῷ λέγοντες. XIX 1. Καὶ κατανοοῦντι τί ἀπιστότερον ἂν μᾶλλον δόξαι, ἢ εἰ ἐν σώματι μὴ ὑπήρχομεν καί τις ἔλεγεν, ἐκ μικρᾶς τινος ῥανίδος τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος δυνατὸν ὀστέα τε καὶ νεῦρα καὶ σάρκας εἰκονοποιηθέντα, οἷα ὁρῶμεν, γενέσθαι; 2. ἔστω γὰρ νῦν ἐφ’ ὑποθέσεως λεγόμενον· εἴ τις ὑμῖν μὴ οὖσι τοιούτοις μηδὲ τοιούτων ἔλεγε, τὸ σπέρμα τὸ ἀνθρώπειον δεικνὺς καὶ εἰκόνα γραπτήν, ἐκ τοῦ τοιοῦδε οἷόν τε γενέσθαι διαβεβαιούμενος, πρὶν ἰδεῖν γενόμενον ἐπιστεύσατε; οὐκ ἄν τις τολμήσειεν ἀντειπεῖν. 3. τὸν αὐτὸν οὖν τρόπον διὰ τὸ μήπω ἑωρακέναι ὑμᾶς ἀναστάντα νεκρὸν ἀπιστία ἔχει. 4. ἀλλ’ ὃν τρόπον τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἂν ἐπιστεύσατε ἐκ τῆς μικρᾶς ῥανίδος δυνατὸν τοιούτους γενέσθαι, καὶ ὁρᾶτε γινομένους, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον λογίσασθε, ὅτι διαλυθέντα καὶ δίκην σπερμάτων εἰς γῆν διαχυθέντα τὰ ἀνθρώπεια σώματα κατὰ καιρὸν προστάξει θεοῦ ἀναστῆναι καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ἐνδύσασθαι οὐκ ἀδύνατον. 5. ποίαν γὰρ ἀξίαν θεοῦ δύναμιν λέγουσιν οἱ φάσκοντες εἰς ἐκεῖνο χωρεῖν ἕκαστον ἐξ οὗπερ ἐγένετο, καὶ παρὰ ταῦτα μηδὲν ἄλλο δύνασθαι μηδὲ τὸν θεόν, οὐκ ἔχομεν λέγειν· ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνο συνορῶμεν, ὅτι οὐκ ἂν ἐπίστευσαν δυνατὸν εἶναι τοιούτους ποτὲ γενέσθαι, ὁποίους καὶ ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον καὶ ἐξ ὁποίων γεγενημένα ὁρῶσι. 6. κρεῖττον δὲ πιστεύειν καὶ τὰ τῇ ἑαυτῶν φύσει καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἀδύνατα, ἢ ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις ἀπιστεῖν παρειλήφαμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον διδάσκαλον Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἔγνωμεν εἰπόντα· Τὰ ἀδύνατα παρὰ ἀνθρώποις δυνατὰ παρὰ θεῷ. 7. καί· Μὴ φοβεῖσθε τοὺς ἀναιροῦντας ὑμᾶς καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα μὴ δυναμένους τι ποιῆσαι, εἶπε, φοβήθητε δὲ τὸν μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν δυνάμενον καὶ ψυχὴν καὶ σῶμα εἰς γέενναν ἐμβαλεῖν. 8. ἡ δὲ γέεννά ἐστι τόπος, ἔνθα κολάζεσθαι μέλλουσιν οἱ ἀδίκως βιώσαντες καὶ μὴ πιστεύοντες ταῦτα γενήσεσθαι ὅσα ὁ θεὸς διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐδίδαξε. XX 1. Καὶ Σίβυλλα δὲ καὶ Ὑστάσπης γενήσεσθαι τῶν φθαρτῶν ἀνάλωσιν διὰ πυρὸς ἔφασαν. 2. οἱ λεγόμενοι δὲ Στωϊκοὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν εἰς πῦρ ἀναλύεσθαι δογματίζουσι καὶ αὖ πάλιν κατὰ μεταβολὴν τὸν κόσμον γενέσθαι λέγουσιν· ἡμεῖς δὲ κρεῖττόν τι τῶν μεταβαλλομένων νοοῦμεν τὸν πάντων ποιητὴν θεόν. 3. εἰ οὖν καὶ ὁμοίως τινὰ τοῖς παρ’ ὑμῖν τιμωμένοις ποιηταῖς καὶ φιλοσόφοις λέγομεν, ἔνια δὲ καὶ μειζόνως καὶ θείως καὶ μόνοι μετὰ ἀποδείξεως, τί παρὰ πάντας ἀδίκως μισούμεθα; 4. τῷ γὰρ λέγειν ἡμᾶς ὑπὸ θεοῦ πάντα κεκοσμῆσθαι καὶ γεγενῆσθαι Πλάτωνος δόξομεν λέγειν δόγμα· τῷ δὲ ἐκπύρωσιν γενέσθαι Στωϊκῶν· τῷ δὲ κολάζεσθαι ἐν αἰσθήσει καὶ μετὰ θάνατον οὔσας τὰς τῶν ἀδίκων ψυχάς, τὰς δὲ τῶν σπουδαίων ἀπηλλαγμένας τῶν τιμωριῶν εὖ διάγειν, ποιηταῖς καὶ φιλοσόφοις τὰ αὐτὰ λέγειν δόξομεν· 5. τῷ δὲ καὶ μὴ δεῖν χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἔργοις προσκυνεῖν Μενάνδρῳ τῷ κωμικῷ καὶ τοῖς ταῦτα φήσασι ταὐτὰ φράζομεν· μείζονα γὰρ τὸν δημιουργὸν τοῦ σκευαζομένου ἀπεφήναντο.	CHAPTER XI -- WHAT KINGDOM CHRISTIANS LOOK FOR. And when you hear that we look for a kingdom, you suppose, without making any inquiry, that we speak of a human kingdom; whereas we speak of that which is with God, as appears also from the confession of their faith made by those who are charged with being Christians, though they know that death is the punishment awarded to him who so confesses. For if we looked for a human kingdom, we should also deny our Christ, that we might not be slain; and we should strive to escape detection, that we might obtain what we expect. But since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men cut us off; since also death is a debt which must at all events be paid. CHAPTER XII -- CHRISTIANS LIVE AS UNDER GOD'S EYE. And more than all other men are we your helpers and allies in promoting peace, seeing that we hold this view, that it is alike impossible for the wicked, the covetous, the conspirator, and for the virtuous, to escape the notice of God, and that each man goes to everlasting punishment or salvation according to the value of his actions. For if all men knew this, no one would choose wickedness even for a little, knowing that he goes to the everlasting punishment of fire; but would by all means restrain himself, and adorn himself with virtue, that he might obtain the good gifts of God, and escape the punishments. For those who, on account of the laws and punishments you impose, endeavour to escape detection when they offend (and they offend, too, under the impression that it is quite possible to escape your detection, since you are but men), those persons, if they learned and were convinced that nothing, whether actually done or only intended, can escape the knowledge of God, would by all means live decently on account of the penalties threatened, as even you yourselves will admit. But you seem to fear lest all men become righteous, and you no longer have any to punish. Such would be the concern of public executioners, but not of good princes. But, as we before said, we are persuaded that these things are prompted by evil spirits, who demand sacrifices and service even from those who live unreasonably; but as for you, we presume that you who aim at [a reputation for] piety and philosophy will do nothing unreasonable. But if you also, like the foolish, prefer custom to truth, do what you have power to do. But just so much power have rulers who esteem opinion more than truth, as robbers have in a desert. And that you will not succeed is declared by the Word, than whom, after God who begat Him, we know there is no ruler more kingly and just. For as all shrink from succeeding to the poverty or sufferings or obscurity of their fathers, so whatever the Word forbids us to choose, the sensible man will not choose. That all these things should come to pass, I say, our Teacher foretold, He who is both Son and Apostle of God the Father of all and the Ruler, Jesus Christ; from whom also we have the name of Christians. Whence we become more assured of all the things He taught us, since whatever He beforehand foretold should come to pass, is seen in fact coming to pass; and this is the work of God, to tell of a thing before it happens, and as it was foretold so to show it happening. It were possible to pause here and add no more, reckoning that we demand what is just and true; but because we are well aware that it is not easy suddenly to change a mind possessed by ignorance, we intend to add a few things, for the sake of persuading those who love the truth, knowing that it is not impossible to put ignorance to flight by presenting the truth. CHAPTER XIII -- CHRISTIANS SERVE GOD RATIONALLY. What sober-minded man, then, will not acknowledge that we are not atheists, worshipping as we do the Maker of this universe, and declaring, as we have been taught, that He has no need of streams of blood and libations and incense; whom we praise to the utmost of our power by the exercise of prayer and thanksgiving for all things wherewith we are supplied, as we have been taught that the only honour that is worthy of Him is not to consume by fire what He has brought into being for our sustenance, but to use it for ourselves and those who need, and with gratitude to Him to offer thanks by invocations and hymns for our creation, and for all the means of health, and for the various qualities of the different kinds of things, and for the changes of the seasons; and to present before Him petitions for our existing again in incorruption through faith in Him. Our teacher of these things is Jesus Christ, who also was born for this purpose, and was crucified under Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judaea, in the times of Tiberius Caesar; and that we reasonably worship Him, having learned that He is the Son of the true God Himself, and holding Him in the second place, and the prophetic Spirit in the third, we will prove. For they proclaim our madness to consist in this, that we give to a crucified man a place second to the unchangeable and eternal God, the Creator of all; for they do not discern the mystery that is herein, to which, as we make it plain to you, we pray you to give heed. CHAPTER XIV -- THE DEMONS MISREPRESENT CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. For we forewarn you to be on your guard, lest those demons whom we have been accusing should deceive you, and quite diver you from reading and understanding what we say. For they strive to hold you their slaves and servants; and sometimes by appearances in dreams, and sometimes by magical impositions, they subdue all who make no strong opposing effort for their own salvation. And thus do we also, since our persuasion by the Word, stand aloof from them (i.e., the demons), and follow the only unbegotten God through His Son--we who formerly delighted in fornication, but now embrace chastity alone; we who formerly used magical arts, dedicate ourselves to the good and unbegotten God; we who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to every one in need; we who hated and destroyed one another, and on account of their different manners would not live with men of a different tribe, now, since the coming of Christ, live familiarly with them, and pray for our enemies, and endeavour to persuade those who hate us unjustly to live comformably to the good precepts of Christ, to the end that they may become par-takers with us of the same joyful hope of a reward from God the ruler of all. But lest we should seem to be reasoning sophistically, we consider it right, before giving you the promised explanation, to cite a few precepts given by Christ Himself. And be it yours, as powerful rulers, to inquire whether we have been taught and do teach these things truly. Brief and concise utterances fell from Him, for He was no sophist, but His word was the power of God. CHAPTER XV -- WHAT CHRIST HIMSELF TAUGHT. Concerning chastity, He uttered such sentiments as these: "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart before God." And, "If thy right eye offend thee, cut it out; for it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of heaven with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into everlasting fire." And, "Whosoever shall many her that is divorced from another husband, committeth adultery." And, "There are some who have been made eunuchs of men, and some who were born eunuchs, and some who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake; but all cannot receive this saying." So that all who, by human law, are twice married, are in the eye of our Master sinners, and those who look upon a woman to lust after her. For not only he who in act commits adultery is rejected by Him, but also he who desires to commit adultery: since not only our works, but also our thoughts, are open before God. And many, both men and women, who have been Christ's disciples from childhood, remain pure at the age of sixty or seventy years; and I boast that I could produce such from every race of men. For what shall I say, too, of the countless multitude of those who have reformed intemperate habits, and learned these things? For Christ called not the just nor the chaste to repentance, but the ungodly, and the licentious, and the unjust; His words being, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." For the heavenly Father desires rather the repentance than the punishment of the sinner. And of our love to all, He taught thus: "If ye love them that love you, what new thing do ye? for even fornicators do this. But I say unto you, Pray for your enemies, and love them that hate you, and bless them that curse you, and pray for them that despitefully use you." And that we should communicate to the needy, and do nothing for glory, He said, "Give to him that asketh, and from him that would borrow turn not away; for if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what new thing do ye? even the publicans do this. Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where robbers break through; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for it? Lay up treasure, therefore, in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt." And, "Be ye kind and merciful, as your Father also is kind and merciful, and maketh His sun to rise on sinners, and the righteous, and the wicked. Take no thought what ye shall eat, or what ye shall put on: are ye not better than the birds and the beasts? And God feedeth them. Take no thought, therefore, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall put on; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye the kingdom of heaven, and all these things shall be added unto you. For where his treasure is, there also is the mind of a man." And, "Do not these things to be seen of men; otherwise ye have no reward from your Father which is in heaven." CHAPTER XVI -- CONCERNING PATIENCE AND SWEARING. And concerning our being patient of injuries, and ready to serve all, and free from anger, this is what He said: "To him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak or coat, forbid not. And whosoever shall be angry, is in danger of the fire. And every one that compelleth thee to go with him a mile, follow him two. And let your good works shine before men, that they, seeing them, may glorify your Father which is in heaven." For we ought not to strive; neither has He desired us to be imitators of wicked men, but He has exhorted us to lead all men, by patience and gentleness, from shame and the love of evil. And this indeed is proved in the case of many who once were of your way of thinking, but have changed their violent and tyrannical disposition, being overcome either by the constancy which they have witnessed in their neighbours' lives, or by the extraordinary forbearance they have observed in their fellow-travellers when defrauded, or by the honesty of those with whom they have transacted business. And with regard to our not swearing at all, and always speaking the truth, He enjoined as follows: "Swear not at all; but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil." And that we ought to worship God alone, He thus persuaded us: "The greatest commandment is, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shall thou serve, with all thy heart, and with all thy strength, the Lord God that made thee." And when a certain man came to Him and said, "Good Master," He answered and said, "There is none good but God only, who made all things." And let those who are not found living as He taught, be understood to be no Christians, even though they profess with the lip the precepts of Christ; for not those who make profession, but those who do the works, shall be saved, according to His word: "Not every one who saith to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. For whosoever heareth Me, and doeth My sayings, heareth Him that sent Me. And many will say unto Me, Lord, Lord, have we not eaten and drunk in Thy name, and done wonders? And then will I say unto them, Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity. Then shall there be wailing and gnashing of teeth, when the righteous shall shine as the sun, and the wicked are sent into everlasting fire. For many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly being ravening wolves. By their works ye shall know them. And every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire." And as to those who are not living pursuant to these His teachings, and are Christians only in name, we demand that all such be punished by you. CHAPTER XVII -- CHRIST TAUGHT CIVIL OBEDIENCE. And everywhere we, more readily than all men, endeavour to pay to those appointed by you the taxes both ordinary and extraordinary, as we have been taught by Him; for at that time some came to Him and asked Him, if one ought to pay tribute to Caesar; and He answered, "Tell Me, whose image does the coin bear?" And they said, "Caesar's." And again He answered them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Whence to God alone we render worship, but in other things we gladly serve you, acknowledging you as kings and rulers of men, and praying that with your kingly power you be found to possess also sound judgment. But if you pay no regard to our prayers and frank explanations, we shall suffer no loss, since we believe (or rather, indeed, are persuaded) that every man will suffer punishment in eternal fire according to the merit of his deed, and will render account according to the power he has received from God, as Christ intimated when He said, "To whom God has given more, of him shall more be required." CHAPTER XVIII -- PROOF OF IMMORTALITY AND THE RESURRECTION. For reflect upon the end of each of the preceding kings, how they died the death common to all, which, if it issued in insensibility, would be a godsend to all the wicked. But since sensation remains to all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up (i.e., for the wicked), see that ye neglect not to be convinced, and to hold as your belief, that these things are true. For let even necromancy, and the divinations you practise by immaculate children, and the evoking of departed human souls, and those who are called among the magi, Dream-senders and Assistant-spirits (Familiars), and all that is done by those who are skilled in such matters--let these persuade you that even after death souls are in a state of sensation; and those who are seized and cast about by the spirits of the dead, whom all call daemoniacs or madmen; and what you repute as oracles, both of Amphilochus, Dodana, Pytho, and as many other such as exist; and the opinions of your authors, Empedocles and Pythagoras, Plato and Socrates, and the pit of Homer, and the descent of Ulysses to inspect these things, and all that has been uttered of a like kind. Such favour as you grant to these, grant also to us, who not less but more firmly than they believe in God; since we expect to receive again our own bodies, though they be dead and cast into the earth, for we maintain that with God nothing is impossible. CHAPTER XIX -- THE RESURRECTION POSSIBLE. And to any thoughtful person would anything appear more incredible, than, if we were not in the body, and some one were to say that it was possible that from a small drop of human seed bones and sinews and flesh be formed into a shape such as we see? For let this now be said hypothetically: if you yourselves were not such as you now are, and born of such parents [and causes], and one were to show you human seed and a picture of a man, and were to say with confidence that from such a substance such a being could be produced, would you believe before you saw the actual production? No one will dare to deny [that such a statement would surpass belief]. In the same way, then, you are now incredulous because you have never seen a dead man rise again. But as at first you would not have believed it possible that such persons could be produced from the small drop, and yet now you see them thus produced, so also judge ye that it is not impossible that the bodies of men, after they have been dissolved, and like seeds resolved into earth, should in God's appointed time rise again and put on incorruption. For what power worthy of God those imagine who say, that each thing returns to that from which it was produced, and that beyond this not even God Himself can do anything, we are unable to conceive; but this we see clearly, that they would not have believed it possible that they could have become such and produced from such materials, as they now see both themselves and the whole world to be. And that it is better to believe even what is impossible to our own nature and to men, than to be unbelieving like the rest of the world, we have learned; for we know that our Master Jesus Christ said, that "what is impossible with men is possible with God," and, "Fear not them that kill you, and after that can do no more; but fear Him who after death is able to cast both soul and body into hell." And hell is a place where those are to be punished who have lived wickedly, and who do not believe that those things which God has taught us by Christ will come to pass. CHAPTER XX -- HEATHEN ANALOGIES TO CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. And the Sibyl and Hystaspes said that there should be a dissolution by God of things corruptible. And the philosophers called Stoics teach that even God Himself shall be resolved into fire, and they say that the world is to be formed anew by this revolution; but we understand that God, the Creator of all things, is superior to the things that are to be changed. If, therefore, on some points we teach the same things as the poets and philosophers whom you honour, and on other points are fuller and more divine in our teaching, and if we alone afford proof of what we assert, why are we unjustly hated more than all others? For while we say that all things have been produced and arranged into a world by God, we shall seem to utter the doctrine of Plato; and while we say that there will be a burning up of all, we shall seem to utter the doctrine of the Stoics: and while we affirm that the souls of the wicked, being endowed with sensation even after death, are punished, and that those of the good being delivered from punishment spend a blessed existence, we shall seem to say the same things as the poets and philosophers; and while we maintain that men ought not to worship the works of their hands, we say the very things which have been said by the comic poet Menander, and other similar writers, for they have declared that the workman is greater than the work.

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:28 pm

Justin Martyr, 1 Apology 21-40.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον τὸν Εὐσεβῆ	First Apology of Justin
XXI 1. Τῷ δὲ καὶ τὸν λόγον, ὅ ἐστι πρῶτον γέννημα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἄνευ ἐπιμιξίας φάσκειν ἡμᾶς γεγεννῆσθαι, Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν διδάσκαλον ἡμῶν, καὶ τοῦτον σταυρωθέντα καὶ ἀποθανόντα καὶ ἀναστάντα ἀνεληλυθέναι εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, οὐ παρὰ τοὺς παρ’ ὑμῖν λεγομένους υἱοὺς τῷ Διῒ καινόν τι φέρομεν. 2. πόσους γὰρ υἱοὺς φάσκουσι τοῦ Διὸς οἱ παρ’ ὑμῖν τιμώμενοι συγγραφεῖς, ἐπίστασθε· Ἑρμῆν μέν, λόγον τὸν ἑρμηνευτικὸν καὶ πάντων διδάσκαλον, Ἀσκληπιὸν δέ, καὶ θεραπευτὴν γενόμενον, κεραυνωθέντα ἀνεληλυθέναι εἰς οὐρανόν, Διόνυσον δὲ διασπαραχθέντα, Ἡρακλέα δὲ φυγῇ πόνων ἑαυτὸν πυρὶ δόντα, τοὺς ἐκ Λήδας δὲ Διοσκούρους, καὶ τὸν ἐκ Δανάης Περσέα, καὶ τὸν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων δὲ ἐφ’ ἵππου Πηγάσου Βελλεροφόντην. 3. τί γὰρ λέγομεν τὴν Ἀριάδνην καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίως αὐτῇ κατηστερίσθαι λεγομένους; καὶ τί γὰρ τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας παρ’ ὑμῖν αὐτοκράτορας, ἀεὶ ἀπαθανατίζεσθαι ἀξιοῦντες καὶ ὀμνύντα τινὰ προάγετε ἑωρακέναι ἐκ τῆς πυρᾶς ἀνερχόμενον εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν τὸν κατακαέντα Καίσαρα; 4. καὶ ὁποῖαι ἑκάστου τῶν λεγομένων υἱῶν τοῦ Διὸς ἱστοροῦνται αἱ πράξεις, πρὸς εἰδότας λέγειν οὐκ ἀνάγκη, πλὴν ὅτι εἰς διαφορὰν καὶ προτροπὴν τῶν ἐκπαιδευομένων ταῦτα γέγραπται· μιμητὰς γὰρ θεῶν καλὸν εἶναι πάντες ἡγοῦνται. 5. ἀπείη δὲ σωφρονούσης ψυχῆς ἔννοια τοιαύτη περὶ θεῶν, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν ἡγεμόνα καὶ γεννήτορα πάντων κατ’ αὐτοὺς Δία πατροφόντην τε καὶ πατρὸς τοιούτου γεγονέναι, ἔρωτί τε κακῶν καὶ αἰσχρῶν ἡδονῶν ἥττω γενόμενον ἐπὶ Γανυμήδην καὶ τὰς πολλὰς μοιχευθείσας γυναῖκας ἐλθεῖν, καὶ τοὺς αὐτοῦ παῖδας τὰ ὅμοια πράξαντας παραδέξασθαι. 6. ἀλλ’, ὡς προέφημεν, οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες ταῦτα ἔπραξαν· ἀπαθανατίζεσθαι δὲ ἡμεῖς μόνους δεδιδάγμεθα τοὺς ὁσίως καὶ ἐναρέτως ἐγγὺς θεῷ βιοῦντας, κολάζεσθαι δὲ τοὺς ἀδίκως καὶ μὴ μεταβάλλοντας ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ πιστεύομεν. XXII 1. Υἱὸς δὲ θεοῦ, ὁ Ἰησοῦς λεγόμενος, εἰ καὶ κοινῶς μόνον ἄνθρωπος, διὰ σοφίαν ἄξιος υἱὸς θεοῦ λέγεσθαι· πατέρα γὰρ ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε πάντες συγγραφεῖς τὸν θεὸν καλοῦσιν. 2. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἰδίως, παρὰ τὴν κοινὴν γένεσιν, γεγεννῆσθαι αὐτὸν ἐκ θεοῦ λέγομεν λόγον θεοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν, κοινὸν τοῦτο ἔστω ὑμῖν τοῖς τὸν Ἑρμῆν λόγον τὸν παρὰ θεοῦ ἀγγελτικὸν λέγουσιν. 3. εἰ δὲ αἰτιάσαιτό τις ἐσταυρῶσθαι αὐτόν, καὶ τοῦτο κοινὸν τοῖς προκατηριθμημένοις παθοῦσιν υἱοῖς καθ’ ὑμᾶς τοῦ Διὸς ὑπάρχει. 4. ἐκείνων τε γὰρ οὐχ ὅμοια τὰ πάθη τοῦ θανάτου ἀλλὰ διάφορα ἱστορεῖται· ὥστε μηδὲ τὸ ἴδιον τοῦ πάθους ἥττονα δοκεῖν εἶναι τοῦτον, ἀλλ’, ὡς ὑπεσχόμεθα, προϊόντος τοῦ λόγου καὶ κρείττονα ἀποδείξομεν, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἀποδέδεικται· ὁ γὰρ κρείττων ἐκ τῶν πράξεων φαίνεται. 5. εἰ δὲ καὶ διὰ παρθένου γεγεννῆσθαι φέρομεν, κοινὸν καὶ τοῦτο πρὸς τὸν Περσέα ἔστω ἡμῖν. 6. ᾧ δὲ λέγομεν χωλοὺς καὶ παραλυτικοὺς καὶ ἐκ γενετῆς πονηροὺς ὑγιεῖς πεποιηκέναι αὐτὸν καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνεγεῖραι, ὅμοια τοῖς ὑπὸ Ἀσκληπιοῦ γεγενῆσθαι λεγομένοις καὶ ταὐτὰ φάσκειν δόξομεν. XXIII 1. Ἵνα δὲ ἤδη καὶ τοῦτο φανερὸν ὑμῖν γένηται, ὅτι ὁπόσα λέγομεν μαθόντες παρὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τῶν προελθόντων αὐτοῦ προφητῶν μόνα ἀληθῆ ἐστι καὶ πρεσβύτερα πάντων γεγενημένων συγγραφέων, καὶ οὐχὶ διὰ τὸ ταὐτὰ λέγειν αὐτοῖς παραδεχθῆναι ἀξιοῦμεν, ἀλλ’ ὅτι τὸ ἀληθὲς λέγομεν· 2. καὶ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς μόνος ἰδίως υἱὸς τῷ θεῷ γεγέννηται, λόγος αὐτοῦ ὑπάρχων καὶ πρωτότοκος καὶ δύναμις, καὶ τῇ βουλῇ αὐτοῦ γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος ταῦτα ἡμᾶς ἐδίδαξεν ἐπ’ ἀλλαγῇ καὶ ἐπαναγωγῇ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους· 3. πρὶν ἢ ἐν ἀνθρώποις αὐτὸν γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπον φθάσαντές τινες διὰ τοὺς προειρημένους κακοὺς δαίμονας διὰ τῶν ποιητῶν ὡς γενόμενα εἶπον ἃ μυθοποιήσαντες ἔφησαν, ὃν τρόπον καὶ τὰ καθ’ ἡμῶν λεγόμενα δύσφημα καὶ ἀσεβῆ ἔργα ἐνήργησαν, ὧν οὐδεὶς μάρτυς οὐδὲ ἀπόδειξίς ἐστι, - τοῦτον ἔλεγχον ποιησόμεθα. XXIV 1. Πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τὰ ὅμοια τοῖς Ἕλλησι λέγοντες μόνοι μισούμεθα δι’ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ μηδὲν ἀδικοῦντες ὡς ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀναιρούμεθα, ἄλλων ἀλλαχοῦ καὶ δένδρα σεβομένων καὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ μῦς καὶ αἰλούρους καὶ κροκοδείλους καὶ τῶν ἀλόγων ζώων τὰ πολλά, καὶ οὐ τῶν αὐτῶν ὑπὸ πάντων τιμωμένων ἀλλὰ ἄλλων ἀλλαχόσε, ὥστ’ εἶναι ἀσεβεῖς ἀλλήλοις πάντας διὰ τὸ μὴ τὰ αὐτὰ σέβειν. 2. ὅπερ μόνον ἐγκαλεῖν ἡμῖν ἔχετε, ὅτι μὴ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ὑμῖν σέβομεν θεούς, μηδὲ τοῖς ἀποθανοῦσι χοὰς καὶ κνίσας καὶ ἐν γραφαῖς στεφάνους καὶ θυσίας φέρομεν. 3. ὅτι γὰρ οὖν τὰ αὐτὰ παρ’ οἷς μὲν θεοί, παρ’ οἷς δὲ θηρία, παρ’ οἷς δὲ ἱερεῖα νενομισμένα ἐστίν, ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθε. XXV 1. Δεύτερον δ’ ὅτι ἐκ παντὸς γένους ἀνθρώπων οἱ παλαιοὶ σεβόμενοι Διόνυσον τὸν Σεμέλης καὶ Ἀπόλλωνα τὸν Λητοΐδην, οἳ δι’ ἔρωτας ἀρσένων ὅσα ἔπραξαν αἶσχος καὶ λέγειν, καὶ οἱ Περσεφόνην καὶ Ἀφροδίτην, τὰς διὰ τὸν Ἄδωνιν οἰστρηθείσας, ὧν καὶ τὰ μυστήρια ἄγετε, ἢ Ἀσκληπιὸν ἤ τινα τῶν ἄλλων ὀνομαζομένων θεῶν, καίπερ θανάτου ἀπειλουμένου διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τούτων μὲν κατεφρονήσαμεν, 2. θεῷ δὲ τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ καὶ ἀπαθεῖ ἑαυτοὺς ἀνεθήκαμεν, ὃν οὔτε ἐπ’ Ἀντιόπην καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ὁμοίως οὐδὲ ἐπὶ Γανυμήδην δι’ οἶστρον ἐληλυθέναι πειθόμεθα, οὐδὲ λυθῆναι βοηθείας τυχόντα διὰ Θέτιδος ὑπὸ τοῦ ἑκατοντάχειρος ἐκείνου, οὐδὲ μεριμνῶντα διὰ τοῦτο τὸν τῆς Θέτιδος Ἀχιλλέα διὰ τὴν παλλακίδα Βρισηΐδα ὀλέσαι πολλοὺς τῶν Ἑλλήνων. 3. καὶ τοὺς πειθομένους ἐλεοῦμεν· τοὺς δὲ τούτων αἰτίους δαίμονας γνωρίζομεν. XXVI 1. Τρίτον δ’ ὅτι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀνέλευσιν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς οὐρανὸν προεβάλλοντο οἱ δαίμονες ἀνθρώπους τινὰς λέγοντας ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι θεούς, οἳ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐδιώχθησαν ὑφ’ ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τιμῶν κατηξιώθησαν 2. Σίμωνα μέν τινα Σαμαρέα, τὸν ἀπὸ κώμης λεγομένης Γίτθων, ὃς ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος διὰ τῆς τῶν ἐνεργούντων δαιμόνων τέχνης δυνάμεις ποιήσας μαγικὰς ἐν τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν βασιλίδι Ῥώμῃ θεὸς ἐνομίσθη καὶ ἀνδριάντι παρ’ ὑμῶν ὡς θεὸς τετίμηται, ὃς ἀνδριὰς ἀνεγήγερται ἐν τῷ Τίβερι ποταμῷ μεταξὺ τῶν δύο γεφυρῶν, ἔχων ἐπιγραφὴν Ῥωμαϊκὴν ταύτην· Σίμωνι δεωσάγκτῳ. 3. καὶ σχεδὸν πάντες μὲν Σαμαρεῖς, ὀλίγοι δὲ καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις ἔθνεσιν, ὡς τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν ἐκεῖνον ὁμολογοῦντες ἐκεῖνον καὶ προσκυνοῦσι· καὶ Ἑλένην τινά, τὴν περινοστήσασαν αὐτῷ κατ’ ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ, πρότερον ἐπὶ τέγους σταθεῖσαν, τὴν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἔννοιαν πρώτην γενομένην λέγουσι. 4. Μένανδρον δέ τινα, καὶ αὐτὸν Σαμαρέα, τὸν ἀπὸ κώμης Καππαρεταίας, γενόμενον μαθητὴν τοῦ Σίμωνος, ἐνεργηθέντα καὶ ὑπὸ τῶν δαιμονίων καὶ ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ γενόμενον πολλοὺς ἐξαπατῆσαι διὰ μαγικῆς τέχνης οἴδαμεν, ὃς καὶ τοὺς αὐτῷ ἑπομένους ὡς μηδὲ ἀποθνήσκοιεν ἔπεισε· καὶ νῦν εἰσί τινες ἀπ’ ἐκείνου τοῦτο ὁμολογοῦντες. 5. Μαρκίωνα δέ τινα Ποντικόν, ὃς καὶ νῦν ἔτι ἐστὶ διδάσκων τοὺς πειθομένους, ἄλλον τινὰ νομίζειν μείζονα τοῦ δημιουργοῦ θεόν· ὃς κατὰ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς τῶν δαιμόνων συλλήψεως πολλοὺς πεποίηκε βλασφημίας λέγειν καὶ ἀρνεῖσθαι τὸν ποιητὴν τοῦδε τοῦ παντὸς θεόν, ἄλλον δέ τινα, ὡς ὄντα μείζονα, τὰ μείζονα παρὰ τοῦτον ὁμολογεῖν πεποιηκέναι. 6. πάντες οἱ ἀπὸ τούτων ὁρμώμενοι, ὡς ἔφημεν, Χριστιανοὶ καλοῦνται, ὃν τρόπον καὶ οἱ οὐ κοινωνοῦντες τῶν αὐτῶν δογμάτων τοῖς φιλοσόφοις τὸ ἐπικατηγορούμενον ὄνομα τῆς φιλοσοφίας κοινὸν ἔχουσιν. 7. εἰ δὲ καὶ τὰ δύσφημα ἐκεῖνα μυθολογούμενα ἔργα πράττουσι, λυχνίας μὲν ἀνατροπὴν καὶ τὰς ἀνέδην μίξεις καὶ ἀνθρωπείων σαρκῶν βοράς, οὐ γινώσκομεν· ἀλλ’ ὅτι μὴ διώκονται μηδὲ φονεύονται ὑφ’ ὑμῶν, κἂν διὰ τὰ δόγματα, ἐπιστάμεθα. 8. ἔστι δὲ ἡμῖν καὶ σύνταγμα κατὰ πασῶν τῶν γεγενημένων αἱρέσεων συντεταγμένον, ᾧ εἰ βούλεσθε ἐντυχεῖν, δώσομεν. XXVII 1. Ἡμεῖς δέ, ἵνα μηδένα διώκωμεν μηδὲ ἀσεβῶμεν, ἐκτιθέναι καὶ τὰ γεννώμενα πονηρῶν εἶναι δεδιδάγμεθα· πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τοὺς πάντας σχεδὸν ὁρῶμεν ἐπὶ πορνείᾳ προάγοντας, οὐ μόνον τὰς κόρας ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἄρσενας, καὶ ὃν τρόπον λέγονται οἱ παλαιοὶ ἀγέλας βοῶν ἢ αἰγῶν ἢ προβάτων τρέφειν ἢ ἵππων φορβάδων, οὕτω νῦν παῖδας εἰς τὸ αἰσχρῶς χρῆσθαι μόνον· καὶ ὁμοίως θηλειῶν καὶ ἀνδρογύνων καὶ ἀρρητοποιῶν πλῆθος κατὰ πᾶν ἔθνος ἐπὶ τούτου τοῦ ἄγους ἕστηκε. 2. καὶ τούτων μισθοὺς καὶ εἰσφορὰς καὶ τέλη λαμβάνετε δέον ἐκκόψαι ἀπὸ τῆς ὑμετέρας οἰκουμένης. 3. καὶ τῶν τούτοις χρωμένων τις πρὸς τῇ ἀθέῳ καὶ ἀσεβεῖ καὶ ἀκρατεῖ μίξει, εἰ τύχοι, τέκνῳ ἢ συγγενεῖ ἢ ἀδελφῷ μίγνυται. 4. οἱ δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑαυτῶν τέκνα καὶ τὰς ὁμοζύγους προαγωγεύονται, καὶ φανερῶς εἰς κιναιδίαν ἀποκόπτονταί τινες καὶ εἰς μητέρα θεῶν τὰ μυστήρια ἀναφέρουσι, καὶ παρὰ παντὶ τῶν νομιζομένων παρ’ ὑμῖν θεῷ ὄφις σύμβολον μέγα καὶ μυστήριον ἀναγράφεται. 5. καὶ τὰ φανερῶς ὑμῖν πραττόμενα καὶ τιμώμενα ὡς ἀνατετραμμένου καὶ οὐ παρόντος φωτὸς θείου ἡμῖν προσγράφετε· ὅπερ ἀπηλλαγμένοις ἡμῖν τοῦ πράττειν τι τούτων οὐ βλάβην φέρει, ἀλλὰ τοῖς πράττουσι καὶ ψευδομαρτυροῦσι μᾶλλον. XXVIII 1. Παρ’ ἡμῖν μὲν γὰρ ὁ ἀρχηγέτης τῶν κακῶν δαιμόνων ὄφις καλεῖται καὶ σατανᾶς καὶ διάβολος, ὡς καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἡμετέρων συγγραμμάτων ἐρευνήσαντες μαθεῖν δύνασθε· ὃν εἰς τὸ πῦρ πεμφθήσεσθαι μετὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ στρατιᾶς καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων ἀνθρώπων κολασθησομένους τὸν ἀπέραντον αἰῶνα, προεμήνυσεν ὁ Χριστός. 2. καὶ γὰρ ἡ ἐπιμονὴ τοῦ μηδέπω τοῦτο πρᾶξαι τὸν θεὸν διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος γεγένηται· προγινώσκει γάρ τινας ἐκ μετανοίας σωθήσεσθαι μέλλοντας καί τινας μηδέπω ἴσως γεννηθέντας. 3. καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν νοερὸν καὶ δυνάμενον αἱρεῖσθαι τἀληθῆ καὶ εὖ πράττειν τὸ γένος τὸ ἀνθρώπινον πεποίηκεν, ὥστ’ ἀναπολόγητον εἶναι τοῖς πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις παρὰ τῷ θεῷ· λογικοὶ γὰρ καὶ θεωρητικοὶ γεγένηνται. 4. εἰ δέ τις ἀπιστεῖ μέλειν τούτων τῷ θεῷ, ἢ μὴ εἶναι αὐτὸν διὰ τέχνης ὁμολογήσει, ἢ ὄντα χαίρειν κακίᾳ φήσει ἢ λίθῳ ἐοικότα μένειν, καὶ μηδὲν εἶναι ἀρετὴν μηδὲ κακίαν, δόξῃ δὲ μόνον τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἢ ἀγαθὰ ἢ κακὰ ταῦτα ἡγεῖσθαι· ἥπερ μεγίστη ἀσέβεια καὶ ἀδικία ἐστί. XXIX 1. Καὶ πάλιν, μὴ τῶν ἐκτεθέντων τις μὴ ἀναληφθεὶς θανατωθῇ, καὶ ὦμεν ἀνδροφόνοι· ἀλλ’ ἢ τὴν ἀρχὴν οὐκ ἐγαμοῦμεν εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ παίδων ἀνατροφῇ, ἢ παραιτούμενοι τὸ γήμασθαι τέλεον ἐνεκρατευόμεθα. 2. καὶ ἤδη τις τῶν ἡμετέρων, ὑπὲρ τοῦ πεῖσαι ὑμᾶς ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἡμῖν μυστήριον ἡ ἀνέδην μίξις, βιβλίδιον ἀνέδωκεν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ Φήλικι ἡγεμονεύοντι ἀξιῶν ἐπιτρέψαι ἰατρῷ τοὺς διδύμους αὐτοῦ ἀφελεῖν· ἄνευ γὰρ τῆς τοῦ ἡγεμόνος ἐπιτροπῆς τοῦτο πράττειν ἀπειρῆσθαι οἱ ἐκεῖ ἰατροὶ ἔλεγον. 3. καὶ μηδ’ ὅλως βουληθέντος Φήλικος ὑπογράψαι, ἐφ’ ἑαυτοῦ μείνας ὁ νεανίσκος ἠρκέσθη τῇ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν ὁμογνωμόνων συνειδήσει. 4. οὐκ ἄτοπον δὲ ἐπιμνησθῆναι ἐν τούτοις ἡγησάμεθα καὶ Ἀντινόου τοῦ νῦν γεγενημένου, ὃν καὶ πάντες ὡς θεὸν διὰ φόβου σέβειν ὥρμηντο, ἐπιστάμενοι τίς τε ἦν καὶ πόθεν ὑπῆρχεν. XXX 1. Ὅπως δὲ μή τις εἴπῃ ἀντιτιθεὶς ἡμῖν, τί κωλύει καὶ τὸν παρ’ ἡμῖν λεγόμενον Χριστόν, ἄνθρωπον ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ὄντα, μαγικῇ τέχνη ἃς λέγομεν δυνάμεις πεποιηκέναι καὶ δόξαι διὰ τοῦτο υἱὸν θεοῦ εἶναι, τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ἤδη ποιησόμεθα, οὐ τοῖς λέγουσι πιστεύοντες, ἀλλὰ τοῖς προφητεύουσι πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι κατ’ ἀνάγκην πειθόμενοι, διὰ τὸ καὶ ὄψει ὡς προεφητεύθη ὁρᾶν γενόμενα καὶ γινόμενα· ἥπερ μεγίστη καὶ ἀληθεστάτη ἀπόδειξις καὶ ὑμῖν, ὡς νομίζομεν, φανήσεται.	CHAPTER XXI -- ANALOGIES TO THE HISTORY OF CHRIST. And when we say also that the Word, who is the first-birth of God, was produced without sexual union, and that He, Jesus Christ, our Teacher, was crucified and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, we propound nothing different from what you believe regarding those whom you esteem sons of Jupiter. For you know how many sons your esteemed writers ascribed to Jupiter: Mercury, the interpreting word and teacher of all; AEsculapius, who, though he was a great physician, was struck by a thunderbolt, and so ascended to heaven; and Bacchus too, after he had been torn limb from limb; and Hercules, when he had committed himself to the flames to escape his toils; and the sons of Leda, and Dioscuri; and Perseus, son of Danae; and Bellerophon, who, though sprung from mortals, rose to heaven on the horse Pegasus. For what shall I say of Ariadne, and those who, like her, have been declared to be set among the stars? And what of the emperors who die among yourselves, whom you deem worthy of deification, and in whose behalf you produce some one who swears he has seen the burning Caesar rise to heaven from the funeral pyre? And what kind of deeds are recorded of each of these reputed sons of Jupiter, it is needless to tell to those who already know. This only shall be said, that they are written for the advantage and encouragement of youthful scholars; for all reckon it an honourable thing to imitate the gods. But far be such a thought concerning the gods from every well-conditioned soul, as to believe that Jupiter himself, the governor and creator of all things, was both a parricide and the son of a parricide, and that being overcome by the love of base and shameful pleasures, he came in to Ganymede and those many women whom he had violated and that his sons did like actions. But, as we said above, wicked devils perpetrated these things. And we have learned that those only are deified who have lived near to God in holiness and virtue; and we believe that those who live wickedly and do not repent are punished in everlasting fire. CHAPTER XXII -- ANALOGIES TO THE SONSHIP OF CHRIST. Moreover, the Son of God called Jesus, even if only a man by ordinary generation, yet, on account of His wisdom, is worthy to be called the Son of God; for all writers call God the Father of men and gods. And if we assert that the Word of God was born of God in a peculiar manner, different from ordinary generation, let this, as said above, be no extraordinary thing to you, who say that Mercury is the angelic word of God. But if any one objects that He was crucified, in this also He is on a par with those reputed sons of Jupiter of yours, who suffered as we have now enumerated. For their sufferings at death are recorded to have been not all alike, but diverse; so that not even by the peculiarity of His sufferings does He seem to be inferior to them; but, on the contrary, as we promised in the preceding part of this discourse, we will now prove Him superior--or rather have already proved Him to be so--for the superior is revealed by His actions. And if we even affirm that He was born of a virgin, accept this in common with what you accept of Ferseus. And in that we say that He made whole the lame, the paralytic, and those born blind, we seem to say what is very similar to the deeds said to have been done by AEsculapius. CHAPTER XXIII -- THE ARGUMENT. And that this may now become evident to you--(firstly) that whatever we assert in conformity with what has been taught us by Christ, and by the prophets who preceded Him, are alone true, and are older than all the writers who have existed; that we claim to be acknowledged, not because we say the same things as these writers said, but because we say true things: and (secondly) that Jesus Christ is the only proper Son who has been begotten by God, being His Word and first-begotten, and power; and, becoming man according to His will, He taught us these things for the conversion and restoration of the human race: and (thirdly) that before He became a man among men, some, influenced by the demons before mentioned, related beforehand, through the instrumentality of the poets, those circumstances as having really happened, which, having fictitiously devised, they narrated, in the same manner as they have caused to be fabricated the scandalous reports against us of infamous and impious actions, of which there is neither witness nor proof--we shall bring forward the following proof. CHAPTER XXIV -- VARIETIES OF HEATHEN WORSHIP. In the first place [we furnish proof], because, though we say things similar to what the Greeks say, we only are hated on account of the name of Christ, and though we do no wrong, are put to death as sinners; other men in other places worshipping trees and rivers, and mice and cats and crocodiles, and many irrational animals. Nor are the same animals esteemed by all; but in one place one is worshipped, and another in another, so that all are profane in the judgment of one another, on account of their not worshipping the same objects. And this is the sole accusation you bring against us, that we do not reverence the same gods as you do, nor offer to the dead libations and the savour of fat, and crowns for their statues, and sacrifices. For you very well know that the same animals are with some esteemed gods, with others wild beasts, and with others sacrificial victims. CHAPTER XXV -- FALSE GODS ABANDONED BY CHRISTIANS. And, secondly, because we--who, out of every race of men, used to worship Bacchus the son of Semele, and Apollo the son of Latona (who in their loves with men did such things as it is shameful even to mention), and Proserpine and Venus (who were maddened with love of Adonis, and whose mysteries also you celebrate), or AEsculapius, or some one or other of those who are called gods--have now, through Jesus Christ, learned to despise these, though we be threatened with death for it, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impossible God; of whom we are persuaded that never was he goaded by lust of Antiope, or such other women, or of Ganymede, nor was rescued by that hundred-handed giant whose aid was obtained through Thetis, nor was anxious on this account that her son Achilles should destroy many of the Greeks because of his concubine Briseis. Those who believe these things we pity, and those who invented them we know to be devils. CHAPTER XXVI -- MAGICIANS NOT TRUSTED BY CHRISTIANS. And, thirdly, because after Christ's ascension into heaven the devils put forward certain men who said that they themselves were gods; and they were not only not persecuted by you, but even deemed worthy of honours. There was a Samaritan, Simon, a native of the village called Gitto, who in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and in your royal city of Rome, did mighty acts of magic, by virtue of the art of the devils operating in him. He was considered a god, and as a god was honoured by you with a statue, which statue was erected on the river Tiber, between the two bridges, and bore this inscription, in the language of Rome:-- "Simoni Deo Sancto," "To Simon the holy God." And almost all the Samaritans, and a few even of other nations, worship him, and acknowledge him as the first god; and a woman, Helena, who went about with him at that time, and had formerly been a prostitute, they say is the first idea generated by him. And a man, Meander, also a Samaritan, of the town Capparetaea, a disciple of Simon, and inspired by devils, we know to have deceived many while he was in Antioch by his magical art. He persuaded those who adhered to him that they should never die, and even now there are some living who hold this opinion of his. And there is Marcion, a man of Pontus, who is even at this day alive, and teaching his disciples to believe in some other god greater than the Creator. And he, by the aid of the devils, has caused many of every nation to speak blasphemies, and to deny that God is the maker of this universe, and to assert that some other being, greater than He, has done greater works. All who take their opinions from these men, are, as we before said, called Christians; just as also those who do not agree with the philosophers in their doctrines, have yet in common with them the name of philosophers given to them. And whether they perpetrate those fabulous and shameful deeds--the upsetting of the lamp, and promiscuous intercourse, and eating human flesh--we know not; but we do know that they are neither persecuted nor put to death by you, at least on account of their opinions. But I have a treatise against all the heresies that have existed already composed, which, if you wish to read it, I will give you. CHAPTER XXVII -- GUILT OF EXPOSING CHILDREN. But as for us, we have been taught that to expose newly-born children is the part of wicked men; and this we have been taught lest we should do any one an injury, and lest we should sin against God, first, because we see that almost all so exposed (not only the girls, but also the males) are brought up to prostitution. And as the ancients are said to have reared herds of oxen, or goats, or sheep, or grazing horses, so now we see you rear children only for this shameful use; and for this pollution a multitude of females and hermaphrodites, and those who commit unmentionable iniquities, are found in every nation. And you receive the hire of these, and duty and taxes from them, whom you ought to exterminate from your realm. And any one who uses such persons, besides the godless and infamous and impure intercourse, may possibly be having intercourse with his own child, or relative, or brother. And there are some who prostitute even their own children and wives, and some are openly mutilated for the purpose of sodomy; and they refer these mysteries to the mother of the gods, and along with each of those whom you esteem gods there is painted a serpent, a great symbol and mystery. Indeed, the things which you do openly and with applause, as if the divine light were overturned and extinguished, these you lay to our charge; which, in truth, does no harm to us who shrink from doing any such things, but only to those who do them and bear false witness against us. CHAPTER XXVIII -- GOD'S CARE FOR MEN. For among us the prince of the wicked spirits is called the serpent, and Satan, and the devil, as you can learn by looking into our writings. And that he would be sent into the fire with his host, and the men who follow him, and would be punished for an endless duration, Christ foretold. For the reason why God has delayed to do this, is His regard for the human race. For He fore-knows that some are to be saved by repentance, some even that are perhaps not yet born. In the beginning He made the human race with the power of thought and of choosing the truth and doing right, so that all men are without excuse before God; for they have been born rational and contemplative. And if any one disbelieves that God cares for these things, he will thereby either insinuate that God does not exist, or he will assert that though He exists He delights in vice, or exists like a stone, and that neither virtue nor vice are anything, but only in the opinion of men these things are reckoned good or evil. And this is the greatest profanity and wickedness. CHAPTER XXIX -- CONTINENCE OF CHRISTIANS. And again [we fear to expose children], lest some of them be not picked up, but die, and we become murderers. But whether we marry, it is only that we may bring up children; or whether we decline marriage, we live continently. And that you may understand that promiscuous intercourse is not one of our mysteries, one of our number a short time ago presented to Felix the governor in Alexandria a petition, craving that permission might be given to a surgeon to make him an eunuch. For the surgeons there said that they were forbidden to do this without the permission of the governor. And when Felix absolutely refused to sign such a permission, the youth remained single, and was satisfied with his own approving conscience, and the approval of those who thought as he did. And it is not out of place, we think, to mention here Antinous, who was alive but lately, and whom all were prompt, through fear, to worship as a god, though they knew both who he was and what was his origin. CHAPTER XXX -- WAS CHRIST NOT A MAGICIAN? But lest any one should meet us with the question, What should prevent that He whom we call Christ, being a man born of men, performed what we call His mighty works by magical art, and by this appeared to be the Son of God? we will now offer proof, not trusting mere assertions, but being of necessity persuaded by those who prophesied [of Him] before these things came to pass, for with our own eyes we behold things that have happened and are happening just as they were predicted; and this will, we think appear even to you the strongest and truest evidence.
XXXI 1. Ἄνθρωποι οὖν τινες ἐν Ἰουδαίοις γεγένηνται θεοῦ προφῆται, δι’ ὧν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα προεκήρυξε τὰ γενήσεσθαι μέλλοντα πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι· καὶ τούτων οἱ ἐν Ἰουδαίοις κατὰ καιροὺς γενόμενοι βασιλεῖς τὰς προφητείας, ὡς ἐλέχθησαν ὅτε προεφητεύοντο, τῇ ἰδίᾳ αὐτῶν Ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ ἐν βιβλίοις ὑπ’ αὐτῶν τῶν προφητῶν συντεταγμένας κτώμενοι περιεῖπον. 2. ὅτε δὲ Πτολεμαῖος, ὁ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεύς, βιβλιοθήκην κατεσκεύαζε καὶ τὰ πάντων ἀνθρώπων συγγράμματα συνάγειν ἐπειράθη, πυθόμενος καὶ περὶ τῶν προφητειῶν τούτων, προσέπεμψε τῷ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τότε βασιλεύοντι Ἡρώδῃ ἀξιῶν διαπεμφθῆναι αὐτῷ τὰς βίβλους τῶν προφητειῶν. 3. καὶ ὁ μὲν βασιλεὺς Ἡρώδης τῇ προειρημένῃ Ἑβραΐδι αὐτῶν φωνῇ γεγραμμένας διεπέμψατο. 4. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐκ ἦν γνώριμα τὰ ἐν αὐταῖς γεγραμμένα τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις, πάλιν αὐτὸν ἠξίωσε πέμψας τοὺς μεταβαλοῦντας αὐτὰς εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν ἀνθρώπους ἀποστεῖλαι. 5. καὶ τούτου γενομένου ἔμειναν αἱ βίβλοι καὶ παρ’ Αἰγυπτίοις μέχρι τοῦ δεῦρο, καὶ πανταχοῦ παρὰ πᾶσίν εἰσιν Ἰουδαίοις, οἳ καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντες οὐ συνιᾶσι τὰ εἰρημένα, ἀλλ’ ἐχθροὺς ἡμᾶς καὶ πολεμίους ἡγοῦνται, ὁμοίως ὑμῖν ἀναιροῦντες καὶ κολάζοντες ἡμᾶς ὁπόταν δύνωνται, ὡς καὶ πεισθῆναι δύνασθε. 6. καὶ γὰρ ἐν τῷ νῦν γεγενημένῳ Ἰουδαϊκῷ πολέμῳ Βαρχωχέβας ὁ τῆς Ἰουδαίων ἀποστάσεως ἀρχηγέτης, Χριστιανοὺς μόνους εἰς τιμωρίας δεινάς, εἰ μὴ ἀρνοῖντο Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ βλασφημοῖεν, ἐκέλευεν ἀπάγεσθαι. 7. ἐν δὴ ταῖς τῶν προφητῶν βίβλοις εὕρομεν προκηρυσσόμενον παραγινόμενον, γεννώμενον διὰ παρθένου, καὶ ἀνδρούμενον, καὶ θεραπεύοντα πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ πᾶσαν μαλακίαν καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνεγείροντα, καὶ φθονούμενον καὶ ἀγνοούμενον καὶ σταυρούμενον Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἡμέτερον Χριστόν, καὶ ἀποθνήσκοντα καὶ ἀνεγειρόμενον καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνερχόμενον, καὶ υἱὸν θεοῦ ὄντα καὶ κεκλημένον, καί τινας πεμπομένους ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ εἰς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων κηρύξοντας ταῦτα, καὶ τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν ἀνθρώπους μᾶλλον αὐτῷ πιστεύειν. 8. προεφητεύθη δέ, πρὶν ἢ φανῆναι αὐτόν, ἔτεσι ποτὲ μὲν πεντακισχιλίοις, ποτὲ δὲ τρισχιλίοις, ποτὲ δὲ δισχιλίοις, καὶ πάλιν χιλίοις καὶ ἄλλοτε ὀκτακοσίοις· κατὰ γὰρ τὰς διαδοχὰς τῶν γενῶν ἕτεροι καὶ ἕτεροι ἐγένοντο προφῆται. XXXII 1. Μωυσῆς μὲν οὖν, πρῶτος τῶν προφητῶν γενόμενος, εἶπεν αὐτολεξεὶ οὕτως· Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα οὐδὲ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται· καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν, δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ, πλύνων ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ. 2. ὑμέτερον οὖν ἐστιν ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσαι καὶ μαθεῖν, μέχρι τίνος ἦν ἄρχων καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐν Ἰουδαίοις ἴδιος αὐτῶν· μέχρι τῆς φανερώσεως Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ ἡμετέρου διδασκάλου καὶ τῶν ἀγνοουμένων προφητειῶν ἐξηγητοῦ, ὡς προερρέθη ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου ἁγίου προφητικοῦ πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ Μωυσέως μὴ ἐκλείψειν ἄρχοντα ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται τὸ βασίλειον. 3. Ἰούδας γὰρ προπάτωρ Ἰουδαίων, ἀφ’ οὗ καὶ τὸ Ἰουδαῖοι καλεῖσθαι ἐσχήκασι· καὶ ὑμεῖς μετὰ τὴν γενομένην αὐτοῦ φανέρωσιν καὶ Ἰουδαίων ἐβασιλεύσατε καὶ τῆς ἐκείνων πάσης γῆς ἐκρατήσατε. 4. τὸ δὲ Αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν μηνυτικὸν ἦν ὅτι ἐκ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν προσδοκήσουσιν αὐτὸν πάλιν παραγενησόμενον, ὅπερ ὄψει ὑμῖν πάρεστιν ἰδεῖν καὶ ἔργῳ πεισθῆναι· ἐκ πάντων γὰρ γενῶν ἀνθρώπων προσδοκῶσι τὸν ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ σταυρωθέντα, μεθ’ ὃν εὐθὺς δοριάλωτος ὑμῖν ἡ γῆ Ἰουδαίων παρεδόθη. 5. τὸ δὲ Δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ καὶ πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς σύμβολον δηλωτικὸν ἦν τῶν γενησομένων τῷ Χριστῷ καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ πραχθησομένων. 6. πῶλος γάρ τις ὄνου εἱστήκει ἔν τινι εἰσόδῳ κώμης πρὸς ἄμπελον δεδεμένος, ὃν ἐκέλευσεν ἀγαγεῖν αὐτῷ τότε τοὺς γνωρίμους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀχθέντος ἐπιβὰς ἐκάθισε καὶ εἰσελήλυθεν εἰς τὰ Ἰεροσόλυμα, ἔνθα τὸ μέγιστον ἱερὸν ἦν Ἰουδαίων, ὃ ὑφ’ ὑμῶν ὕστερον κατεστράφη· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐσταυρώθη, ὅπως τὸ λεῖπον τῆς προφητείας συντελεσθῇ. 7. τὸ γὰρ Πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς προαγγελτικὸν ἦν τοῦ πάθους οὗ πάσχειν ἔμελλε, δι’ αἵματος καθαίρων τοὺς πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ. 8. ἡ γὰρ κεκλημένη ὑπὸ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος διὰ τοῦ προφήτου στολὴ οἱ πιστεύοντες αὐτῷ εἰσιν ἄνθρωποι, ἐν οἷς οἰκεῖ τὸ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ σπέρμα, ὁ λόγος. 9. τὸ δὲ εἰρημένον Αἷμα τῆς σταφυλῆς σημαντικὸν τοῦ ἔχειν μὲν αἷμα τὸν φανησόμενον, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος ἀλλ’ ἐκ θείας δυνάμεως. 10. ἡ δὲ πρώτη δύναμις μετὰ τὸν πατέρα πάντων καὶ δεσπότην θεὸν καὶ υἱὸς ὁ λόγος ἐστίν· ὃς τίνα τρόπον σαρκοποιηθεὶς ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ἐν τοῖς ἑξῆς ἐροῦμεν. 11. ὃν τρόπον γὰρ τὸ τῆς ἀμπέλου αἷμα οὐκ ἄνθρωπος πεποίηκεν ἀλλ’ ὁ θεός, οὕτως καὶ τοῦτο ἐμηνύετο οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρωπείου σπέρματος γενήσεσθαι τὸ αἷμα ἀλλ’ ἐκ δυνάμεως θεοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν. 12. καὶ Ἠσαίας δέ, ἄλλος προφήτης, τὰ αὐτὰ δι’ ἄλλων ῥήσεων προφητεύων οὕτως εἶπεν· Ἀνατελεῖ ἄστρον ἐξ Ἰακώβ, καὶ ἄνθος ἀναβήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί· καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν βραχίονα αὐτοῦ ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσιν. 13. ἄστρον δὲ φωτεινὸν ἀνέτειλε, καὶ ἄνθος ἀνέβη ἀπὸ τῆς ῥίζης Ἰεσσαί, οὗτος ὁ Χριστός. 14. διὰ γὰρ παρθένου τῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σπέρματος Ἰακώβ, τοῦ γενομένου πατρὸς Ἰούδα, τοῦ δεδηλωμένου Ἰουδαίων πατρός, διὰ δυνάμεως θεοῦ ἀπεκυήθη· καὶ Ἰεσσαὶ προπάτωρ μὲν κατὰ τὸ λόγιον γεγένηται, τοῦ δὲ Ἰακὼβ καὶ τοῦ Ἰούδα κατὰ γένους διαδοχὴν υἱὸς ὑπῆρχεν. XXXIII 1. Καὶ πάλιν ὡς αὐτολεξεὶ διὰ παρθένου μὲν τεχθησόμενος διὰ τοῦ Ἠσαίου προεφητεύθη, ἀκούσατε. Ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει καὶ τέξεται υἱόν, καὶ ἐροῦσιν ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ Μεθ’ ἡμῶν ὁ θεός. 2. ἃ γὰρ ἦν ἄπιστα καὶ ἀδύνατα νομιζόμενα παρὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις γενήσεσθαι, ταῦτα ὁ θεὸς προεμήνυσε διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος μέλλειν γίνεσθαι, ἵν’ ὅταν γένηται μὴ ἀπιστηθῇ, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τοῦ προειρῆσθαι πιστευθῇ. 3. ὅπως δέ τινες μὴ νοήσαντες τὴν δεδηλωμένην προφητείαν, ἐγκαλέσωσιν ἡμῖν ἅπερ ἐνεκαλέσαμεν τοῖς ποιηταῖς, εἰποῦσιν ἀφροδισίων χάριν ἐληλυθέναι ἐπὶ γυναῖκας τὸν Δία, διασαφῆσαι τοὺς λόγους πειρασόμεθα. 4. τὸ οὖν Ἰδοὺ ἡ παρθένος ἐν γαστρὶ ἕξει σημαίνει οὐ συνουσιασθεῖσαν τὴν παρθένον συλλαβεῖν· εἰ γὰρ ἐσυνουσιάσθη ὑπὸ ὁτουοῦν, οὐκ ἔτι ἦν παρθένος· ἀλλὰ δύναμις θεοῦ ἐπελθοῦσα τῇ παρθένῳ ἐπεσκίασεν αὐτήν, καὶ κυοφορῆσαι παρθένον οὖσαν πεποίηκε. 5. καὶ ὁ ἀποσταλεὶς δὲ πρὸς αὐτὴν τὴν παρθένον κατ’ ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ ἄγγελος θεοῦ εὐηγγελίσατο αὐτὴν εἰπών· Ἰδοὺ συλλήψῃ ἐν γαστρὶ ἐκ πνεύματος ἁγίου καὶ τέξῃ υἱόν, καὶ υἱὸς ὑψίστου κληθήσεται, καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν, αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν, ὡς οἱ ἀπομνημονεύσαντες πάντα τὰ περὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐδίδαξαν, οἷς ἐπιστεύσαμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προδεδηλωμένου τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα τοῦτον γεννησόμενον, ὡς προεμηνύομεν, ἔφη. 6. τὸ πνεῦμα οὖν καὶ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδὲν ἄλλο νοῆσαι θέμις ἢ τὸν λόγον, ὃς καὶ πρωτότοκος τῷ θεῷ ἐστι Μωυσῆς ὁ προδεδηλωμένος προφήτης ἐμήνυσε· καὶ τοῦτο ἐλθὸν ἐπὶ τὴν παρθένον καὶ ἐπισκιάσαν οὐ διὰ συνουσίας ἀλλὰ διὰ δυνάμεως ἐγκύμονα κατέστησε. 7. τὸ δὲ Ἰησοῦς, ὄνομα τῇ Ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ, σωτὴρ τῇ Ἑλληνίδι διαλέκτῳ δηλοῖ. 8. ὅθεν καὶ ὁ ἄγγελος πρὸς τὴν παρθένον εἶπε· Καὶ καλέσεις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦν· αὐτὸς γὰρ σώσει τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. 9. ὅτι δὲ οὐδενὶ ἄλλῳ θεοφοροῦνται οἱ προφητεύοντες εἰ μὴ λόγῳ θείῳ, καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνω, φήσετε. XXXIV 1. Ὅπου δὲ καὶ τῆς γῆς γεννᾶσθαι ἔμελλεν, ὡς προεῖπεν ἕτερος προφήτης ὁ Μιχαίας, ἀκούσατε. ἔφη δὲ οὕτως· Καὶ σὺ Βηθλεέμ, γῆ Ἰούδα, οὐδαμῶς ἐλαχίστη εἶ ἐν τοῖς ἡγεμόσιν Ἰούδα· ἐκ σοῦ γὰρ ἐξελεύσεται ἡγούμενος, ὅστις ποιμανεῖ τὸν λαόν μου. 2. κώμη δέ τίς ἐστιν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ Ἰουδαίων, ἀπέχουσα σταδίους τριάκοντα πέντε Ἰεροσολύμων, ἐν ᾗ ἐγεννήθη Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, ὡς καὶ μαθεῖν δύνασθε ἐκ τῶν ἀπογραφῶν τῶν γενομένων ἐπὶ Κυρηνίου, τοῦ ὑμετέρου ἐν Ἰουδαίᾳ πρώτου γενομένου ἐπιτρόπου. XXXV 1. Ὡς δὲ καὶ λήσειν ἔμελλε τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους γεννηθεὶς ὁ Χριστὸς ἄχρις ἀνδρωθῇ, ὅπερ καὶ γέγονεν, ἀκούσατε τῶν προειρημένων εἰς τοῦτο. 2. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Παιδίον ἐγεννήθη ἡμῖν, καὶ νεανίσκος ἡμῖν ἀπεδόθη, οὗ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων· μηνυτικὸν τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ σταυροῦ, ᾧ προσέθηκε τοὺς ὤμους σταυρωθείς, ὡς προϊόντος τοῦ λόγου σαφέστερον δειχθήσεται. 3. καὶ πάλιν ὁ αὐτὸς προφήτης Ἠσαίας θεοφορούμενος τῷ πνεύματι τῷ προφητικῷ ἔφη· Ἐγὼ ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου ἐπὶ λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα, ἐπὶ τοὺς πορευομένους ἐν ὁδῷ οὐ καλῇ. 4. αἰτοῦσί με νῦν κρίσιν καὶ ἐγγίζειν θεῷ τολμῶσιν. 5. καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἄλλοις λόγοις δι’ ἑτέρου προφήτου λέγει· Αὐτοὶ ὤρυξάν μου πόδας καὶ χεῖρας, καὶ ἔβαλον κλῆρον ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου. 6. καὶ ὁ μὲν Δαυεὶδ ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ προφήτης, ὁ εἰπὼν ταῦτα, οὐδὲν τούτων ἔπαθεν· Ἰησοῦς δὲ Χριστὸς ἐξετάθη τὰς χεῖρας, σταυρωθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀντιλεγόντων αὐτῷ καὶ φασκόντων μὴ εἶναι αὐτὸν Χριστόν· καὶ γάρ, ὡς εἶπεν ὁ προφήτης, διασύροντες αὐτὸν ἐκάθισαν ἐπὶ βήματος καὶ εἶπον· Κρῖνον ἡμῖν. 7. τὸ δὲ Ὤρυξάν μου χεῖρας καὶ πόδας ἐξήγησις τῶν ἐν τῷ σταυρῷ παγέντων ἐν ταῖς χερσὶ καὶ τοῖς ποσὶν αὐτοῦ ἥλων ἦν. 8. καὶ μετὰ τὸ σταυρῶσαι αὐτὸν ἔβαλον κλῆρον ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐμερίσαντο ἑαυτοῖς οἱ σταυρώσαντες αὐτόν. 9. καὶ ταῦτα ὅτι γέγονε, δύνασθε μαθεῖν ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου γενομένων ἄκτων. 10. καὶ ὅτι ῥητῶς καθεσθησόμενος ἐπὶ πῶλον ὄνου καὶ εἰσελευσόμενος εἰς τὰ Ἰεροσόλυμα προεφητεύετο, ἑτέρου προφήτου τοῦ Σοφονίου τὰς τῆς προφητείας λέξεις ἐροῦμεν. 11. εἰσὶ δὲ αὗται· Χαῖρε σφόδρα, θύγατερ Σιών, κήρυσσε, θύγατερ Ἰερουσαλήμ· ἰδοὺ ὁ βασιλεύς σου ἔρχεταί σοι πρᾶος, ἐπιβεβηκὼς ἐπὶ πῶλον ὄνον υἱὸν ὑποζυγίου. XXXVI 1. Ὅταν δὲ τὰς λέξεις τῶν προφητῶν λεγομένας ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου ἀκούητε, μὴ ἀπ’ αὐτῶν τῶν ἐμπεπνευσμένων λέγεσθαι νομίσητε, ἀλλ’ ἀπὸ τοῦ κινοῦντος αὐτοὺς θείου λόγου. 2. ποτὲ μὲν γὰρ ὡς προαγγελτικὸς τὰ μέλλοντα γενήσεσθαι λέγει, ποτὲ δ’ ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ δεσπότου πάντων καὶ πατρὸς θεοῦ φθέγγεται, ποτὲ δὲ ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ποτὲ δὲ ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου λαῶν ἀποκρινομένων τῷ κυρίῳ ἢ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ· ὁποῖον καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν παρ’ ὑμῖν συγγραφέων ἰδεῖν ἔστιν, ἕνα μὲν τὸν τὰ πάντα συγγράφοντα ὄντα, πρόσωπα δὲ τὰ διαλεγόμενα παραφέροντα. 3. ὅπερ μὴ νοήσαντες οἱ ἔχοντες τὰς βίβλους τῶν προφητῶν Ἰουδαῖοι οὐκ ἐγνώρισαν οὐδὲ παραγενόμενον τὸν Χριστόν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς λέγοντας παραγεγενῆσθαι αὐτὸν καί, ὡς προεκεκήρυκτο, ἀποδεικνύντας ἐσταυρῶσθαι ὑπ’ αὐτῶν μισοῦσιν. XXXVII 1. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ τοῦτο ὑμῖν φανερὸν γένηται, ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ πατρὸς ἐλέχθησαν διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προειρημένου προφήτου οἵδε οἱ λόγοι· Ἔγνω βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω καὶ ὁ λαός μου οὐ συνῆκεν. 2. οὐαὶ ἔθνος ἁμαρτωλόν, λαὸς πλήρης ἁμαρτιῶν, σπέρμα πονηρόν, υἱοὶ ἄνομοι· ἐγκατελίπατε τὸν κύριον. 3. καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ, ὅταν λέγῃ ὁ αὐτὸς προφήτης ὁμοίως ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρός· Ποῖόν μοι οἶκον οἰκοδομήσετε; λέγει κύριος. 4. ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος, καὶ ἡ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου. 5. καὶ πάλιν ἀλλαχοῦ· Τὰς νουμηνίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ σάββατα μισεῖ ἡ ψυχή μου, καὶ μεγάλην ἡμέραν νηστείας καὶ ἀργίαν οὐκ ἀνέχομαι· οὐδ’, ἂν ἔρχησθε ὀφθῆναί μοι, εἰσακούσομαι ὑμῶν. 6. πλήρεις αἵματος αἱ χεῖρες ὑμῶν. 7. κἂν φέρητε σεμίδαλιν, θυμίαμα, βδέλυγμά μοί ἐστι· στέαρ ἀρνῶν καὶ αἷμα ταύρων οὐ βούλομαι. 8. τίς γὰρ ἐξεζήτησε ταῦτα ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν; ἀλλὰ διάλυε πάντα σύνδεσμον ἀδικίας, διάσπα στραγγαλιὰς βιαίων συναλλαγμάτων, ἄστεγον καὶ γυμνὸν σκέπε, διάθρυπτε πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον σου. 9. ὁποῖα μὲν οὖν ἐστι καὶ τὰ διδασκόμενα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, νοεῖν δύνασθε. XXXVIII 1. Ὅταν δὲ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ Χριστοῦ λέγῃ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, οὕτως φθέγγεται· Ἐγὼ ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου ἐπὶ λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα, ἐπὶ τοὺς πορευομένους ἐν ὁδῷ οὐ καλῇ. 2. καὶ πάλιν· Τὸν νῶτόν μου τέθεικα εἰς μάστιγας καὶ τὰς σιαγόνας μου εἰς ῥαπίσματα, τὸ δὲ πρόσωπόν μου οὐκ ἀπέστρεψα ἀπὸ αἰσχύνης ἐμπτυσμάτων. 3. καὶ ὁ κύριος βοηθός μου ἐγένετο· διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἐνετράπην, ἀλλ’ ἔθηκα τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ὡς στερεὰν πέτραν, καὶ ἔγνων ὅτι οὐ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶ, ὅτι ἐγγίζει ὁ δικαιώσας με. 4. καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ· Αὐτοὶ ἔβαλον κλῆρον ἐπὶ τὸν ἱματισμόν μου, καὶ ὤρυξάν μου πόδας καὶ χεῖρας. 5. ἐγὼ δὲ ἐκοιμήθην καὶ ὕπνωσα, καὶ ἀνέστην, ὅτι κύριος ἀντελάβετό μου. 6. καὶ πάλιν ὅταν λέγῃ· Ἐλάλησαν ἐν χείλεσιν, ἐκίνησαν κεφαλὴν λέγοντες· Ῥυσάσθω ἑαυτόν. 7. ἅτινα πάντα ὅτι γέγονεν ὑπὸ τῶν Ἰουδαίων τῷ Χριστῷ, μαθεῖν δύνασθε. 8. σταυρωθέντος γὰρ αὐτοῦ ἐξέστρεφον τὰ χείλη καὶ ἐκίνουν τὰς κεφαλὰς λέγοντες· Ὁ νεκροὺς ἀνεγείρας ῥυσάσθω ἑαυτόν. XXXIX 1. Ὅταν δὲ ὡς προφητεῦον τὰ μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι λαλῇ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, οὕτως λέγει· Ἐκ γὰρ Σιὼν ἐξελεύσεται νόμος καὶ λόγος κυρίου ἐξ Ἰερουσαλήμ, καὶ κρινεῖ ἀνὰ μέσον ἐθνῶν καὶ ἐλέγξει λαὸν πολύν· καὶ συγκόψουσι τὰς μαχαίρας αὐτῶν εἰς ἄροτρα καὶ τὰς ζιβύνας αὐτῶν εἰς δρέπανα, καὶ οὐ μὴ λήψονται ἔθνος ἐπὶ ἔθνος μάχαιραν καὶ οὐ μὴ μάθωσιν ἔτι πολεμεῖν. 2. καὶ ὅτι οὕτως γέγονε, πεισθῆναι δύνασθε. 3. ἀπὸ γὰρ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἄνδρες δεκαδύο τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐξῆλθον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, καὶ οὗτοι ἰδιῶται, λαλεῖν μὴ δυνάμενοι, διὰ δὲ θεοῦ δυνάμεως ἐμήνυσαν παντὶ γένει ἀνθρώπων ὡς ἀπεστάλησαν ὑπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδάξαι πάντας τὸν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον· καὶ οἱ πάλαι ἀλληλοφόνται οὐ μόνον οὐ πολεμοῦμεν τοὺς ἐχθρούς, ἀλλ’, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδὲ ψεύδεσθαι μηδ’ ἐξαπατῆσαι τοὺς ἐξετάζοντας, ἡδέως ὁμολογοῦντες τὸν Χριστὸν ἀποθνήσκομεν. 4. δυνατὸν γὰρ ἦν τὸ λεγόμενον Ἡ γλῶσσ’ ὀμώμοκεν, ἡ δὲ φρὴν ἀνώμοτος ποιεῖν ἡμᾶς εἰς τοῦτο. 5. γελοῖον ἤδη πρᾶγμα, ὑμῖν μὲν τοὺς συντιθεμένους καὶ καταλεγομένους στρατιώτας καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ζωῆς καὶ γονέων καὶ πατρίδος καὶ πάντων τῶν οἰκείων τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀσπάζεσθαι ὁμολογίαν, μηδὲν ἄφθαρτον δυναμένων ὑμῶν αὐτοῖς παρασχεῖν, ἡμᾶς δέ, ἀφθαρσίας ἐρῶντας, μὴ πάνθ’ ὑπομεῖναι ὑπὲρ τοῦ τὰ ποθούμενα παρὰ τοῦ δυναμένου δοῦναι λαβεῖν. XL 1. Ἀκούσατε δὲ πῶς καὶ περὶ τῶν κηρυξάντων τὴν διδαχὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ μηνυσάντων τὴν ἐπιφάνειαν προερρέθη, τοῦ προειρημένου προφήτου καὶ βασιλέως οὕτως εἰπόντος διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος· Ἡμέρα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐρεύγεται ῥῆμα, καὶ νὺξ τῇ νυκτὶ ἀναγγέλλει γνῶσιν, 2. οὐκ εἰσὶ λαλιαὶ οὐδὲ λόγοι, ὧν οὐχὶ ἀκούονται αἱ φωναὶ αὐτῶν. 3. εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν ἐξῆλθεν ὁ φθόγγος αὐτῶν καὶ εἰς τὰ πέρατα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὰ ῥήματα αὐτῶν. 4. ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ ἔθετο τὸ σκήνωμα αὐτοῦ, καὶ αὐτός, ὡς νυμφίος ἐκπορευόμενος ἐκ παστοῦ αὐτοῦ, ἀγαλλιάσεται ὡς γίγας δραμεῖν ὁδόν. 5. πρὸς τούτοις δὲ καὶ λόγων ἑτέρων τῶν προφητευθέντων δι’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Δαυεὶδ καλῶς ἔχον καὶ οἰκείως ἐπιμνησθῆναι λελογίσμεθα, ἐξ ὧν μαθεῖν ὑμῖν πάρεστι πῶς προτρέπεται ζῆν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, 6. καὶ πῶς μηνύει τὴν γεγενημένην Ἡρώδου τοῦ βασιλέως Ἰουδαίων καὶ αὐτῶν Ἰουδαίων καὶ Πιλάτου τοῦ ὑμετέρου παρ’ αὐτοῖς γενομένου ἐπιτρόπου σὺν τοῖς αὐτοῦ στρατιώταις κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ συνέλευσιν, 7. καὶ ὅτι πιστεύεσθαι ἔμελλεν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ παντὸς γένους ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ὅτι αὐτὸν υἱὸν καλεῖ ὁ θεὸς καὶ ὑποτάσσειν αὐτῷ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἐπήγγελται, καὶ πῶς οἱ δαίμονες, ὅσον ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς, τήν τε τοῦ πατρὸς πάντων καὶ δεσπότου θεοῦ καὶ τὴν αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐξουσίαν φυγεῖν πειρῶνται, καὶ ὡς εἰς μετάνοιαν καλεῖ πάντας ὁ θεὸς πρὶν ἐλθεῖν τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς κρίσεως. 8. εἴρηνται δὲ οὕτως· Μακάριος ἀνὴρ ὃς οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ἐν βουλῇ ἀσεβῶν καὶ ἐν ὁδῷ ἁμαρτωλῶν οὐκ ἔστη καὶ ἐπὶ καθέδραν λοιμῶν οὐκ ἐκάθισεν, ἀλλ’ ἢ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ κυρίου τὸ θέλημα αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ αὐτοῦ μελετήσει ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτός. 9. καὶ ἔσται ὡς τὸ ξύλον τὸ πεφυτευμένον παρὰ τὰς διεξόδους τῶν ὑδάτων, ὃ τὸν καρπὸν αὐτοῦ δώσει ἐν καιρῷ αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ φύλλον αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἀπορρυήσεται, καὶ πάντα ὅσα ἂν ποιῇ κατευοδωθήσεται. 10. οὐχ οὕτως οἱ ἀσεβεῖς, οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ’ ἢ ὡσεὶ χνοῦς, ὃν ἐκρίπτει ὁ ἄνεμος ἀπὸ προσώπου τῆς γῆς· διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἀναστήσονται ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει οὐδὲ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἐν βουλῇ δικαίων, ὅτι γινώσκει κύριος ὁδὸν δικαίων, καὶ ὁδὸς ἀσεβῶν ἀπολεῖται. 11. Ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη, καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν καινά; παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ, λέγοντες· Διαρρήξωμεν τοὺς δεσμοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ ἀπορρίψωμεν ἀφ’ ἡμῶν τὸν ζυγὸν αὐτῶν. 12. ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν οὐρανοῖς ἐκγελάσεται αὐτούς, καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐκμυκτηριεῖ αὐτούς· τότε λαλήσει πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐν ὀργῇ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τῷ θυμῷ αὐτοῦ ταράξει αὐτούς. 13. ἐγὼ δὲ κατεστάθην βασιλεὺς ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Σιὼν ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ, διαγγέλλων τὸ πρόσταγμα κυρίου. 14. κύριος εἶπε πρός με· Υἱός μου εἶ σύ, ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε. 15. αἴτησαι παρ’ ἐμοῦ, καὶ δώσω σοι ἔθνη τὴν κληρονομίαν σου, καὶ τὴν κατάσχεσίν σου τὰ πέρατα τῆς γῆς· ποιμανεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ, ὡς σκεύη κεραμέως συντρίψεις αὐτούς. 16. καὶ νῦν βασιλεῖς σύνετε, παιδεύθητε πάντες οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν γῆν. 17. δουλεύσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε αὐτῷ ἐν τρόμῳ. 18. δράξασθε παιδείας, μή ποτε ὀργισθῇ κύριος, καὶ ἀπολεῖσθε ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας, ὅταν ἐκκαυθῇ ἐν τάχει ὁ θυμὸς αὐτοῦ. 19. μακάριοι πάντες οἱ πεποιθότες ἐπ’ αὐτόν.	CHAPTER XXXI -- OF THE HEBREW PROPHETS. There were, then, among the Jews certain men who were prophets of God, through whom the prophetic Spirit published beforehand things that were to come to pass, ere ever they happened. And their prophecies, as they were spoken and when they were uttered, the kings who happened to be reigning among the Jews at the several times carefully preserved in their possession, when they had been arranged in books by the prophets themselves in their own Hebrew language. And when Ptolemy king of Egypt formed a library, and endeavoured to collect the writings of all men, he heard also of these prophets, and sent to Herod, who was at that time king of the Jews, requesting that the books of the prophets be sent to him. And Herod the king did indeed send them, written, as they were, in the foresaid Hebrew language. And when their contents were found to be unintelligible to the Egyptians, he again sent and requested that men be commissioned to translate them into the Greek language. And when this was done, the books remained with the Egyptians, where they are until now. They are also in the possession of all Jews throughout the world; but they, though they read, do not understand what is said, but count us foes and enemies; and, like yourselves, they kill and punish us whenever they have the power, as you can well believe. For in the Jewish war which lately raged, Barchochebas, the leader of the revolt of the Jews, gave orders that Christians alone should be led to cruel punishments, unless they would deny Jesus Christ and utter blasphemy. In these books, then, of the prophets we found Jesus our Christ foretold as coming, born of a virgin, growing up to man's estate, and healing every disease and every sickness, and raising the dead, and being hated, and unrecognised, and crucified, and dying, and rising again, and ascending into heaven, and being, and being called, the Son of God. We find it also predicted that certain persons should be sent by Him into every nation to publish these things, and that rather among the Gentiles [than among the Jews] men should believe on Him. And He was predicted before He appeared, first 5000 years before, and again 3000, then 2000, then 1000, and yet again 800; for in the succession of generations prophets after prophets arose. CHAPTER XXXII -- CHRIST PREDICTED BY MOSES. Moses then, who was the first of the prophets, spoke in these very words: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until He come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the desire of the nations, binding His foal to the vine, washing His robe in the blood of the grape." It is yours to make accurate inquiry, and ascertain up to whose time the Jews had a lawgiver and king of their own. Up to the time of Jesus Christ, who taught us, and interpreted the prophecies which were not yet understood, [they had a lawgiver] as was foretold by the holy and divine Spirit of prophecy through Moses, "that a ruler would not fail the Jews until He should come for whom the kingdom was reserved" (for Judah was the forefather of the Jews, from whom also they have their name of Jews); and after He (i.e., Christ) appeared, you began to rule the Jews, and gained possession of all their territory. And the prophecy, "He shall be the expectation of the nations," signified that there would be some of all nations who should look for Him to come again. And this indeed you can see for yourselves, and be convinced of by fact. For of all races of men there are some who look for Him who was crucified in Judaea, and after whose crucifixion the land was straightway surrendered to you as spoil of war. And the prophecy, "binding His foal to the vine, and washing His robe in the blood of the grape," was a significant symbol of the things that were to happen to Christ, and of what He was to do. For the foal of an ass stood bound to a vine at the entrance of a village, and He ordered His acquaintances to bring it to Him then; and when it was brought, He mounted and sat upon it, and entered Jerusalem, where was the vast temple of the Jews which was afterwards destroyed by you. And after this He was crucified, that the rest of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For this "washing His robe in the blood of the grape" was predictive of the passion He was to endure, cleansing by His blood those who believe on Him. For what is called by the Divine Spirit through the prophet "His robe," are those men who believe in Him in whom abideth the seed of God, the Word. And what is spoken of as "the blood of the grape," signifies that He who should appear would have blood, though not of the seed of man, but of the power of God. And the first power after God the Father and Lord of all is the Word, who is also the Son; and of Him we will, in what follows, relate how He took flesh and became man. For as man did not make the blood of the vine, but God, so it was hereby intimated that the blood should not be of human seed, but of divine power, as we have said above. And Isaiah, another prophet, foretelling the same things in other words, spoke thus: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a flower shall spring from the root of Jesse; and His arm shall the nations trust." And a star of light has arisen, and a flower has sprung from the root of Jesse--this Christ. For by the power of God He was conceived by a virgin of the seed of Jacob, who was the father of Judah, who, as we have shown, was the father of the Jews; and Jesse was His forefather according to the oracle, and He was the son of Jacob and Judah according to lineal descent. CHAPTER XXXIII -- MANNER OF CHRIST'S BIRTH PREDICTED. And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and they shall say for His name, 'God with us.' " For things which were incredible and seemed impossible with men, these God predicted by the Spirit of prophecy as about to come to pass, in order that, when they came to pass, there might be no unbelief, but faith, because of their prediction. But lest some, not understanding the prophecy now cited, should charge us with the very things we have been laying to the charge of the poets who say that Jupiter went in to women through lust, let us try to explain the words. This, then, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive," signifies that a virgin should conceive without intercourse. For if she had had intercourse with any one whatever, she was no longer a virgin; but the power of God having come upon the virgin, overshadowed her, and caused her while yet a virgin to conceive. And the angel of God who was sent to the same virgin at that time brought her good news, saying, "Behold, thou shalt conceive of the Holy Ghost, and shalt bear a Son, and He shall be called the Son of the Highest, and thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins,"--as they who have recorded all that concerns our Saviour Jesus Christ have taught, whom we believed, since by Isaiah also, whom we have now adduced, the Spirit of prophecy declared that He should be born as we intimated before. It is wrong, therefore, to understand the Spirit and the power of God as anything else than the Word, who is also the first-born of God, as the foresaid prophet Moses declared; and it was this which, when it came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, caused her to conceive, not by intercourse, but by power. And the name Jesus in the Hebrew language means Swthr (Saviour) in the Greek tongue. Wherefore, too, the angel said to the virgin, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." And that the prophets are inspired by no other than the Divine Word, even you, as I fancy, will grant. CHAPTER XXXIV -- PLACE OF CHRIST'S BIRTH FORETOLD. And hear what part of earth He was to be born in, as another prophet, Micah, foretold. He spoke thus: "And thou, Bethlehem, the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah; for out of thee shall come forth a Governor, who shall feed My people." Now there is a village in the land of the Jews, thirty-five stadia from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can ascertain also from the registers of the taxing made under Cyrenius, your first procurator in Judaea. CHAPTER XXXV -- OTHER FULFILLED PROPHECIES. And how Christ after He was born was to escape the notice of other men until He grew to man's estate, which also came to pass, hear what was foretold regarding this. There are the following predictions:--"Unto us a child is born, and unto us a young man is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders;" which is significant of the power of the cross, for to it, when He was crucified, He applied His shoulders, as shall be more clearly made out in the ensuing discourse. And again the same prophet Isaiah, being inspired by the prophetic Spirit, said, "I have spread out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good. They now ask of me judgment, and dare to draw near to God." And again in other words, through another prophet, He says, "They pierced My hands and My feet, and for My vesture they cast lots." And indeed David, the king and prophet, who uttered these things, suffered none of them; but Jesus Christ stretched forth His hands, being crucified by the Jews speaking against Him, and denying that He was the Christ. And as the prophet spoke, they tormented Him, and set Him on the judgment-seat, and said, Judge us. And the expression, "They pierced my hands and my feet," was used in reference to the nails of the cross which were fixed in His hands and feet. And after He was crucified they cast lots upon His vesture, and they that crucified Him parted it among them. And that these things did happen, you can ascertain from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. And we will cite the prophetic utterances of another prophet, Zephaniah, to the effect that He was foretold expressly as to sit upon the foal of an ass and to enter Jerusalem. The words are these: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." CHAPTER XXXVI -- DIFFERENT MODES OF PROPHECY. But when you hear the utterances of the prophets spoken as it were personally, you must not suppose that they are spoken by the inspired themselves, but by the Divine Word who moves them. For sometimes He declares things that are to come to pass, in the manner of one who foretells the future; sometimes He speaks as from the person of God the Lord and Father of all; sometimes as from the person of Christ; sometimes as from the person of the people answering the Lord or His Father, just as you can see even in your own writers, one man being the writer of the whole, but introducing the persons who converse. And this the Jews who possessed the books of the prophets did not understand, and therefore did not recognise Christ even when He came, but even hate us who say that He has come, and who prove that, as was predicted, He was crucified by them. CHAPTER XXXVII -- UTTERANCES OF THE FATHER. And that this too may be clear to you, there were spoken from the person of the Father through Isaiah the prophet, the following words: "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but Israel doth not know, and My people hath not understood. Woe, sinful nation, a people full of sins, a wicked seed, children that are transgressors, ye have forsaken the Lord." And again elsewhere, when the same prophet speaks in like manner from the person of the Father, "What is the house that ye will build for Me? saith the Lord. The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool." And again, in another place, "Your new moons and your sabbaths My soul hateth; and the great day of the fast and of ceasing from labour I cannot away with; nor, if ye come to be seen of Me, will I hear you: your hands are full of blood; and if ye bring fine flour, incense, it is abomination unto Me: the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls I do not desire. For who hath required this at your hands? But loose every bond of wickedness, tear asunder the tight knots of violent contracts, cover the houseless and naked deal thy bread to the hungry." What kind of things are taught through the prophets from [the person of] God, you can now perceive. CHAPTER XXXVIII -- UTTERANCES OF THE SON. And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks from the person of Christ, the utterances are of this sort: "I have spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walk in a way that is not good." And again: "I gave My back to the scourges, and My cheeks to the buffetings; I turned not away My face from the shame of spittings; and the Lord was My helper: therefore was I not confounded: but I set My face as a firm rock; and I knew that I should not be ashamed, for He is near that justifieth Me." And again, when He says, "They cast lots upon My vesture, and pierced My hands and My feet. And I lay down and slept, and rose again, because the Lord sustained Me." And again, when He says, "They spake with their lips, they wagged the head, saying, Let Him deliver Himself." And that all these things happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews, you can ascertain. For when He was crucified, they did shoot out the lip, and wagged their heads, saying, "Let Him who raised the dead save Himself." CHAPTER XXXIX -- DIRECT PREDICTIONS BY THE SPIRIT. And when the Spirit of prophecy speaks as predicting things that are to come to pass, He speaks in this way: "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." And that it did so come to pass, we can convince you. For from Jerusalem there went out into the world, men, twelve in number, and these illiterate, of no ability in speaking: but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach to all the word of God; and we who formerly used to murder one another do not only now refrain from making war upon our enemies, but also, that we may not lie nor deceive our examiners, willingly die confessing Christ. For that saying, "The tongue has sworn but the mind is unsworn," might be imitated by us in this matter. But if the soldiers enrolled by you, and who have taken the military oath, prefer their allegiance to their own life, and parents, and country, and all kindred, though you can offer them nothing incorruptible, it were verily ridiculous if we, who earnestly long for incorruption, should not endure all things, in order to obtain what we desire from Him who is able to grant it. CHAPTER XL -- CHRIST'S ADVENT FORETOLD, And hear how it was foretold concerning those who published His doctrine and proclaimed His appearance, the above-mentioned prophet and king speaking thus by the Spirit of prophecy "Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their voice has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In the sun hath He set His tabernacle, and he as a bridegroom going out of his chamber shall rejoice as a giant to run his course." And we have thought it right and relevant to mention some other prophetic utterances of David besides these; from which you may learn how the Spirit of prophecy exhorts men to live, and how He foretold the conspiracy which was formed against Christ by Herod the king of the Jews, and the Jews themselves, and Pilate, who was your governor among them, with his soldiers; and how He should be believed on by men of every race; and how God calls Him His Son, and has declared that He will subdue all His enemies under Him; and how the devils, as much as they can, strive to escape the power of God the Father and Lord of all, and the power of Christ Himself; and how God calls all to repentance before the day of judgment comes. These things were uttered thus: "Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the seat of the scornful: but his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law will he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of waters, which shall give his fruit in his season; and his leaf shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away from the face of the earth. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the council of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous; but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine new things? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast their yoke from us. He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak to them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure. Yet have I been set by Him a King on Zion His holy hill, declaring the decree of the Lord. The Lord said to Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as Thy possession. Thou shall herd them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shalt Thou dash them in pieces. Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, all ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Embrace instruction, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and ye perish from the right way, when His wrath has been suddenly kindled. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him."

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:28 pm

Justin Martyr, 1 Apology 41-55.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον τὸν Εὐσεβῆ	First Apology of Justin
XLI 1. Καὶ πάλιν δι’ ἄλλης προφητείας μηνύον τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα δι’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Δαυείδ, ὅτι μετὰ τὸ σταυρωθῆναι βασιλεύσει ὁ Χριστός, οὕτως εἶπεν· Ἄισατε τῷ κυρίῳ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ, καὶ ἀναγγείλατε ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῦ· ὅτι μέγας κύριος καὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα, φοβερὸς ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς θεούς· ὅτι πάντες οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν εἴδωλα δαιμονίων εἰσίν, ὁ δὲ θεὸς τοὺς οὐρανοὺς ἐποίησε. 2. δόξα καὶ αἶνος κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰσχὺς καὶ καύχημα ἐν τόπῳ ἁγιάσματος αὐτοῦ· δότε τῷ κυρίῳ, τῷ πατρὶ τῶν αἰώνων, δόξαν. λάβετε χάριν καὶ εἰσέλθετε κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ καὶ προσκυνήσατε ἐν αὐλαῖς ἁγίαις αὐτοῦ· φοβηθήτω ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ καὶ κατορθωθήτω καὶ μὴ σαλευθήτω. 3. εὐφρανθήτωσαν ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν· ὁ κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου. XLII 1. Ὅταν δὲ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα τὰ μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι ὡς ἤδη γενόμενα λέγῃ, ὡς καὶ ἐν τοῖς προειρημένοις δοξάσαι ἐστίν, ὅπως ἀπολογίαν μὴ παράσχῃ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν, καὶ τοῦτο διασαφήσομεν. 2. τὰ πάντως ἐγνωσμένα γενησόμενα προλέγει ὡς ἤδη γενόμενα· ὅτι δὲ οὕτως δεῖ ἐκδέχεσθαι, ἐνατενίσατε τῷ νοῒ τοῖς λεγομένοις. 3. Δαυεὶδ ἔτεσι χιλίοις καὶ πεντακοσίοις πρὶν ἢ Χριστὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον σταυρωθῆναι τὰ προειρημένα ἔφη, καὶ οὐδεὶς τῶν πρὸ ἐκείνου γενομένων σταυρωθεὶς εὐφροσύνην παρέσχε τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τῶν μετ’ ἐκεῖνον. 4. ὁ καθ’ ἡμᾶς δὲ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς σταυρωθεὶς καὶ ἀποθανὼν ἀνέστη, καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν ἀνελθὼν εἰς οὐρανόν, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς παρ’ αὐτοῦ διὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐν τοῖς πᾶσιν ἔθνεσι κηρυχθεῖσιν εὐφροσύνη ἐστὶ προσδοκώντων τὴν κατηγγελμένην ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ ἀφθαρσίαν. XLIII 1. Ὅπως δὲ μή τινες ἐκ τῶν προλελεγμένων ὑφ’ ἡμῶν δοξάσωσι καθ’ εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκην φάσκειν ἡμᾶς τὰ γινόμενα γίνεσθαι, ἐκ τοῦ προειπεῖν προεγνωσμένα, καὶ τοῦτο διαλύομεν. 2. τὰς τιμωρίας καὶ τὰς κολάσεις καὶ τὰς ἀγαθὰς ἀμοιβὰς κατ’ ἀξίαν τῶν πράξεων ἑκάστου ἀποδίδοσθαι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν μαθόντες καὶ ἀληθὲς ἀποφαινόμεθα· ἐπεὶ εἰ μὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ καθ’ εἱμαρμένην πάντα γίνεται, οὔτε τὸ ἐφ’ ἡμῖν ἐστιν ὅλως· εἰ γὰρ εἵμαρται τόνδε τινὰ ἀγαθὸν εἶναι καὶ τόνδε φαῦλον, οὔθ’ οὗτος ἀπόδεκτος οὐδὲ ἐκεῖνος μεμπτέος. 3. καὶ αὖ εἰ μὴ προαιρέσει ἐλευθέρᾳ πρὸς τὸ φεύγειν τὰ αἰσχρὰ καὶ αἱρεῖσθαι τὰ καλὰ δύναμιν ἔχει τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος, ἀναίτιόν ἐστι τῶν ὁπωσδήποτε πραττομένων. 4. ἀλλ’ ὅτι ἐλευθέρᾳ προαιρέσει καὶ κατορθοῖ καὶ σφάλλεται, οὕτως ἀποδείκνυμεν. 5. τὸν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον τῶν ἐναντίων τὴν μετέλευσιν ποιούμενον ὁρῶμεν. 6. εἰ δὲ εἵμαρτο ἢ φαῦλον ἢ σπουδαῖον εἶναι, οὐκ ἄν ποτε τῶν ἐναντίων δεκτικὸς ἦν καὶ πλειστάκις μετετίθετο· ἀλλ’ οὐδ’ οἱ μὲν ἦσαν σπουδαῖοι, οἱ δὲ φαῦλοι, ἐπεὶ τὴν εἱμαρμένην αἰτίαν φαύλων καὶ ἐναντία ἑαυτῇ πράττουσαν ἀποφαινοίμεθα, ἢ ἐκεῖνο τὸ προειρημένον δόξαι ἀληθὲς εἶναι, ὅτι οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀρετὴ οὐδὲ κακία, ἀλλὰ δόξῃ μόνον ἢ ἀγαθὰ ἢ κακὰ νομίζεται· ἥπερ, ὡς δείκνυσιν ὁ ἀληθὴς λόγος, μεγίστη ἀσέβεια καὶ ἀδικία ἐστίν. 7. ἀλλ’ εἱμαρμένην φαμὲν ἀπαράβατον ταύτην εἶναι, τοῖς τὰ καλὰ ἐκλεγομένοις τὰ ἄξια ἐπιτίμια, καὶ τοῖς ὁμοίως τὰ ἐναντία τὰ ἄξια ἐπίχειρα. 8. οὐ γὰρ ὥσπερ τὰ ἄλλα, οἷον δένδρα καὶ τετράποδα μηδὲν δυνάμενα προαιρέσει πράττειν, ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν ἄνθρωπον· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν ἄξιος ἀμοιβῆς ἢ ἐπαίνου, οὐκ ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ ἑλόμενος τὸ ἀγαθόν, ἀλλὰ τοῦτο γενόμενος οὐδ’, εἰ κακὸς ὑπῆρχε, δικαίως κολάσεως ἐτύγχανεν, οὐκ ἀφ’ ἑαυτοῦ τοιοῦτος ὤν, ἀλλ’ οὐδὲν δυνάμενος εἶναι ἕτερον παρ’ ὃ ἐγεγόνει. XLIV 1. Ἐδίδαξε δὲ ἡμᾶς ταῦτα τὸ ἅγιον προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, διὰ Μωυσέως φῆσαν τῷ πρώτῳ πλασθέντι ἀνθρώπῳ εἰρῆσθαι ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ οὕτως· Ἰδοὺ πρὸ προσώπου σου τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ τὸ κακόν, ἔκλεξαι τὸ ἀγαθόν. 2. καὶ πάλιν διὰ Ἠσαίου, τοῦ ἑτέρου προφήτου, ὡς ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων καὶ δεσπότου θεοῦ εἰς τοῦτο λεχθῆναι οὕτως· 3. Λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γένεσθε, ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν, κρίνατε ὀρφανῷ καὶ δικαιώσατε χήραν, καὶ δεῦτε καὶ διαλεχθῶμεν, λέγει κύριος· καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν ὡς φοινικοῦν, ὡσεὶ ἔριον λευκανῶ, καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν ὡς κόκκινον, ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ. 4. καὶ ἐὰν θέλητε καὶ εἰσακούσητέ μου, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε, ἐὰν δὲ μὴ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα. 5. τὸ δὲ προειρημένον Μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται οὐ λέγει διὰ μαχαιρῶν φονευθήσεσθαι τοὺς παρακούσαντας, ἀλλ’ ἡ μάχαιρα τοῦ θεοῦ ἔστι τὸ πῦρ, οὗ βορὰ γίνονται οἱ τὰ φαῦλα πράττειν αἱρούμενοι. 6. διὰ τοῦτο λέγει· Μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησεν. 7. εἰ δὲ καὶ περὶ τεμνούσης καὶ αὐτίκα ἀπαλλασσούσης μαχαίρας ἔλεγεν, οὐκ ἂν εἶπε Κατέδεται. 8. ὥστε καὶ Πλάτων εἰπών· Αἰτία ἑλομένου, θεὸς δ’ ἀναίτιος, παρὰ Μωυσέως τοῦ προφήτου λαβὼν εἶπε· πρεσβύτερος γὰρ Μωυσῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησι συγγραφέων. 9. καὶ πάντα, ὅσα περὶ ἀθανασίας ψυχῆς ἢ τιμωριῶν τῶν μετὰ θάνατον ἢ θεωρίας οὐρανίων ἢ τῶν ὁμοίων δογμάτων καὶ φιλόσοφοι καὶ ποιηταὶ ἔφασαν, παρὰ τῶν προφητῶν τὰς ἀφορμὰς λαβόντες καὶ νοῆσαι δεδύνηται καὶ ἐξηγήσαντο. 10. ὅθεν παρὰ πᾶσι σπέρματα ἀληθείας δοκεῖ εἶναι· ἐλέγχονται δὲ μὴ ἀκριβῶς νοήσαντες, ὅταν ἐναντία αὐτοὶ ἑαυτοῖς λέγωσιν. 11. ὥστε ὅ φαμεν, πεπροφητεῦσθαι τὰ μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι, οὐ διὰ τὸ εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκῃ πράττεσθαι λέγομεν· ἀλλὰ προγνώστου τοῦ θεοῦ ὄντος τῶν μελλόντων ὑπὸ πάντων ἀνθρώπων πραχθήσεσθαι, καὶ δόγματος ὄντος παρ’ αὐτόν, κατ’ ἀξίαν τῶν πράξεων ἕκαστον ἀμείψεσθαι μέλλοντα τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τὰ παρ’ αὐτοῦ κατ’ ἀξίαν τῶν πραττομένων ἀπαντήσεσθαι, διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος προλέγει, εἰς ἐπίστασιν καὶ ἀνάμνησιν ἀεὶ ἄγων τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος, δεικνὺς ὅτι καὶ μέλον ἐστὶν αὐτῷ καὶ προνοεῖται αὐτῶν. 12. κατ’ ἐνέργειαν δὲ τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων θάνατος ὡρίσθη κατὰ τῶν τὰς Ὑστάσπου ἢ Σιβύλλης ἢ τῶν προφητῶν βίβλους ἀναγινωσκόντων, ὅπως διὰ τοῦ φόβου ἀποστρέψωσιν ἐντυγχάνοντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῶν καλῶν γνῶσιν λαβεῖν, αὐτοῖς δὲ δουλεύοντας κατέχωσιν· ὅπερ εἰς τέλος οὐκ ἴσχυσαν πρᾶξαι. 13. ἀφόβως μὲν γὰρ οὐ μόνον ἐντυγχάνομεν αὐταῖς, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑμῖν, ὡς ὁρᾶτε, εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν φέρομεν, ἐπιστάμενοι πᾶσιν εὐάρεστα φανήσεσθαι· κἂν ὀλίγους δὲ πείσωμεν, τὰ μέγιστα κερδήσαντες ἐσόμεθα· ὡς γεωργοὶ γὰρ ἀγαθοὶ παρὰ τοῦ δεσπόζοντος τὴν ἀμοιβὴν ἕξομεν. XLV 1. Ὅτι δὲ ἀγαγεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ὁ πατὴρ τῶν πάντων θεὸς μετὰ τὸ ἀναστῆσαι ἐκ νεκρῶν αὐτὸν ἔμελλε, καὶ κατέχειν ἕως ἂν πατάξῃ τοὺς ἐχθραίνοντας αὐτῷ δαίμονας, καὶ συντελεσθῇ ὁ ἀριθμὸς τῶν προεγνωσμένων αὐτῷ ἀγαθῶν γινομένων καὶ ἐναρέτων, δι’ οὓς καὶ μηδέπω τὴν ἐπικύρωσιν πεποίηται, ἐπακούσατε τῶν εἰρημένων διὰ Δαυεὶδ τοῦ προφήτου. 2. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. 3. ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ σοι κύριος ἐξ Ἰερουσαλήμ· καὶ κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. 4. μετὰ σοῦ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δυνάμεώς σου ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησι τῶν ἁγίων σου· ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε. 5. τὸ οὖν εἰρημένον Ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ σοι ἐξ Ἰερουσαλὴμ προαγγελτικὸν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ ἰσχυροῦ, ὃν ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ οἱ ἀπόστολοι αὐτοῦ ἐξελθόντες πανταχοῦ ἐκήρυξαν, καί, καίπερ θανάτου ὁρισθέντος κατὰ τῶν διδασκόντων ἢ ὅλως ὁμολογούντων τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἡμεῖς πανταχοῦ καὶ ἀσπαζόμεθα καὶ διδάσκομεν. 6. εἰ δὲ καὶ ὑμεῖς ὡς ἐχθροὶ ἐντεύξεσθε τοῖσδε τοῖς λόγοις, οὐ πλέον τι δύνασθε, ὡς προέφημεν, τοῦ φονεύειν· ὅπερ ἡμῖν μὲν οὐδεμίαν βλάβην φέρει, ὑμῖν δὲ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἀδίκως ἐχθραίνουσι καὶ μὴ μετατιθεμένοις κόλασιν διὰ πυρὸς αἰωνίαν ἐργάζεται. XLVI 1. Ἵνα δὲ μή τινες ἀλογισταίνοντες εἰς ἀποτροπὴν τῶν δεδιδαγμένων ὑφ’ ἡμῶν εἴπωσι πρὸ ἐτῶν ἑκατὸν πεντήκοντα γεγεννῆσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν λέγειν ἡμᾶς ἐπὶ Κυρηνίου, δεδιδαχέναι δὲ ἅ φαμεν διδάξαι αὐτὸν ὕστερον χρόνοις ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, καὶ ἐπικαλῶσιν ὡς ἀνευθύνων ὄντων τῶν προγεγενημένων πάντων ἀνθρώπων, φθάσαντες τὴν ἀπορίαν λυσόμεθα. 2. τὸν Χριστὸν πρωτότοκον τοῦ θεοῦ εἶναι ἐδιδάχθημεν καὶ προεμηνύσαμεν λόγον ὄντα, οὗ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων μετέσχε. 3. καὶ οἱ μετὰ λόγου βιώσαντες Χριστιανοί εἰσι, κἂν ἄθεοι ἐνομίσθησαν, οἷον ἐν Ἕλλησι μὲν Σωκράτης καὶ Ἡράκλειτος καὶ οἱ ὅμοιοι αὐτοῖς, ἐν βαρβάροις δὲ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἀνανίας καὶ Ἀζαρίας καὶ Μισαὴλ καὶ Ἠλίας καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοί, ὧν τὰς πράξεις ἢ τὰ ὀνόματα καταλέγειν μακρὸν εἶναι ἐπιστάμενοι τανῦν παραιτούμεθα. 4. ὥστε καὶ οἱ προγενόμενοι ἄνευ λόγου βιώσαντες, ἄχρηστοι καὶ ἐχθροὶ τῷ Χριστῷ ἦσαν καὶ φονεῖς τῶν μετὰ λόγου βιούντων· οἱ δὲ μετὰ λόγου βιώσαντες καὶ βιοῦντες Χριστιανοὶ καὶ ἄφοβοι καὶ ἀτάραχοι ὑπάρχουσι. 5. δι’ ἣν δ’ αἰτίαν διὰ δυνάμεως τοῦ λόγου κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς πάντων καὶ δεσπότου θεοῦ βουλὴν διὰ παρθένου ἄνθρωπος ἀπεκυήθη καὶ Ἰησοῦς ἐπωνομάσθη, καὶ σταυρωθεὶς ἀποθανὼν ἀνέστη καὶ ἀνελήλυθεν εἰς οὐρανόν, ἐκ τῶν διὰ τοσούτων εἰρημένων ὁ νουνεχὴς καταλαβεῖν δυνήσεται. 6. ἡμεῖς δέ, οὐκ ἀναγκαίου ὄντος τανῦν τοῦ περὶ τῆς ἀποδείξεως τούτου λόγου, ἐπὶ τὰς ἐπειγούσας ἀποδείξεις πρὸς τὸ παρὸν χωρήσωμεν. XLVII 1. Ὅτι οὖν καὶ ἐκπορθηθήσεσθαι ἡ γῆ Ἰουδαίων ἔμελλεν, ἀκούσατε τῶν εἰρημένων ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος· εἴρηνται δὲ οἱ λόγοι ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου λαῶν θαυμαζόντων τὰ γεγενημένα. 2. εἰσὶ δὲ οἵδε· Ἐγενήθη ἔρημος Σιών, ὡς ἔρημος ἐγενήθη Ἰερουσαλήμ, εἰς κατάραν ὁ οἶκος, τὸ ἅγιον ἡμῶν καὶ ἡ δόξα, ἣν εὐλόγησαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, ἐγενήθη πυρίκαυστος, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔνδοξα αὐτῆς συνέπεσε. 3. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀνέσχου καὶ ἐσιώπησας καὶ ἐταπείνωσας ἡμᾶς σφόδρα. 4. καὶ ὅτι ἠρήμωτο Ἰερουσαλήμ, ὡς προείρητο γεγενῆσθαι, πεπεισμένοι ἐστέ. 5. εἴρηται δὲ καὶ περὶ τῆς ἐρημώσεως αὐτῆς, καὶ περὶ τοῦ μὴ ἐπιτραπήσεσθαι μηδένα αὐτῶν οἰκεῖν, διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προφήτου οὕτως· Ἡ γῆ αὐτῶν ἔρημος, ἔμπροσθεν αὐτῶν οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτῶν αὐτὴν φάγονται, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐξ αὐτῶν ὁ κατοικῶν ἐν αὐτῇ. 6. ὅτι δὲ φυλάσσεται ὑφ’ ὑμῶν ὅπως μηδεὶς ἐν αὐτῇ γένηται, καὶ θάνατος κατὰ τοῦ καταλαμβανομένου Ἰουδαίου εἰσιόντος ὥρισται, ἀκριβῶς ἐπίστασθε. XLVIII 1. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ θεραπεύσειν πάσας νόσους καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνεγερεῖν ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς προεφητεύθη, ἀκούσατε τῶν λελεγμένων. 2. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ ἁλεῖται χωλὸς ὡς ἔλαφος, καὶ τρανὴ ἔσται γλῶσσα μογιλάλων· τυφλοὶ ἀναβλέψουσι καὶ λεπροὶ καθαρισθήσονται καὶ νεκροὶ ἀναστήσονται καὶ περιπατήσουσιν. 3. ὅτι τε ταῦτα ἐποίησεν, ἐκ τῶν ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου γενομένων ἄκτων μαθεῖν δύνασθε. 4. πῶς τε προμεμήνυται ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος ἀναιρεθησόμενος ἅμα τοῖς ἐπ’ αὐτὸν ἐλπίζουσιν ἀνθρώποις, ἀκούσατε τῶν λεχθέντων διὰ Ἠσαίου. 5. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Ἴδε ὡς ὁ δίκαιος ἀπώλετο, καὶ οὐδεὶς ἐκδέχεται τῇ καρδίᾳ· καὶ ἄνδρες δίκαιοι αἴρονται, καὶ οὐδεὶς κατανοεῖ. 6. Ἀπὸ προσώπου ἀδικίας ἦρται ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ἔσται ἐν εἰρήνῃ ἡ ταφὴ αὐτοῦ· ἦρται ἐκ τοῦ μέσου. XLIX 1. Καὶ πάλιν πῶς δι’ αὐτοῦ Ἠσαίου λέλεκται ὅτι οἱ οὐ προσδοκήσαντες αὐτὸν λαοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτόν, οἱ δὲ ἀεὶ προσδοκῶντες Ἰουδαῖοι ἀγνοήσουσι παραγενόμενον αὐτόν· ἐλέχθησαν δὲ οἱ λόγοι ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ. 2. εἰσὶ δὲ οὗτοι· Ἐμφανὴς ἐγενήθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσιν, εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσι· εἶπον· Ἰδού εἰμι, ἔθνει, οἳ οὐκ ἐκάλεσαν τὸ ὄνομά μου. 3. ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου ἐπὶ λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα, ἐπὶ τοὺς πορευομένους ἐν ὁδῷ οὐ καλῇ, ἀλλ’ ὀπίσω τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. 4. ὁ λαὸς ὁ παροξύνων ἐναντίον μου. 5. Ἰουδαῖοι γὰρ ἔχοντες τὰς προφητείας καὶ ἀεὶ προσδοκήσαντες τὸν Χριστὸν παραγενησόμενον, ἠγνόησαν, οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ παρεχρήσαντο· οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν μηδέποτε μηδὲν ἀκούσαντες περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, μέχρις οὗ οἱ ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐξελθόντες ἀπόστολοι αὐτοῦ ἐμήνυσαν τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰς προφητείας παρέδωκαν, πληρωθέντες χαρᾶς καὶ πίστεως τοῖς εἰδώλοις ἀπετάξαντο καὶ τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ θεῷ διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἑαυτοὺς ἀνέθηκαν. 6. ὅτι δὲ προεγινώσκετο τὰ δύσφημα ταῦτα λεχθησόμενα κατὰ τῶν τὸν Χριστὸν ὁμολογούντων, καὶ ὡς εἶεν τάλανες οἱ δυσφημοῦντες αὐτὸν καὶ τὰ παλαιὰ ἔθη καλὸν εἶναι τηρεῖν λέγοντες, ἀκούσατε τῶν βραχυεπῶς εἰρημένων διὰ Ἠσαίου. 7. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Οὐαὶ τοῖς λέγουσι τὸ γλυκὺ πικρὸν καὶ τὸ πικρὸν γλυκύ. L 1. Ὅτι δὲ καὶ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν γενόμενος ἄνθρωπος παθεῖν καὶ ἀτιμασθῆναι ὑπέμεινε, καὶ πάλιν μετὰ δόξης παραγενήσεται, ἀκούσατε τῶν εἰρημένων εἰς τοῦτο προφητειῶν. 2. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Ἀνθ’ ὧν παρέδωκαν εἰς θανάτον τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ μετὰ τῶν ἀνόμων ἐλογίσθη, αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν εἴληφε καὶ τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐξιλάσεται. 3. ἴδε γὰρ συνήσει ὁ παῖς μου, καὶ ὑψωθήσεται καὶ δοξασθήσεται σφόδρα. 4. ὃν τρόπον ἐκστήσονται πολλοὶ ἐπὶ σέ, οὕτως ἀδοξήσει ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων τὸ εἶδός σου καὶ ἡ δόξα σου ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὕτως θαυμάσονται ἔθνη πολλά, καὶ συνέξουσι βασιλεῖς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν· ὅτι οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασι συνήσουσι. 5. κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ. 6. οὐκ ἔστιν εἶδος αὐτῷ οὐδὲ δόξα· καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον καὶ ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους. 7. ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη. 8. οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει. 9. αὐτὸς δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν· παιδεία εἰρήνης ἐπ’ αὐτόν, τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. 10. πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ ἐπλανήθη· καὶ παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν, καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὸ κεκακῶσθαι οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ· ὡς πρόβατον ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ἤχθη, καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος αὐτὸν ἄφωνος, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. 11. ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει αὐτοῦ ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη. 12. μετὰ οὖν τὸ σταυρωθῆναι αὐτὸν καὶ οἱ γνώριμοι αὐτοῦ πάντες ἀπέστησαν, ἀρνησάμενοι αὐτόν· ὕστερον δέ, ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστάντος καὶ ὀφθέντος αὐτοῖς καὶ ταῖς προφητείαις ἐντυχεῖν, ἐν αἷς πάντα ταῦτα προείρητο γενησόμενα, διδάξαντος, καὶ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνερχόμενον ἰδόντες καὶ πιστεύσαντες καὶ δύναμιν ἐκεῖθεν αὐτοῖς πεμφθεῖσαν παρ’ αὐτοῦ λαβόντες καὶ εἰς πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων ἐλθόντες, ταῦτα ἐδίδαξαν καὶ ἀπόστολοι προσηγορεύθησαν.	CHAPTER XLI -- THE CRUCIFIXION PREDICTED. And again, in another prophecy, the Spirit of prophecy, through the same David, intimated that Christ, after He had been crucified, should reign, and spoke as follows: "Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and day by day declare His salvation. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, to be feared above all the gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols of devils; but God made the heavens. Glory and praise are before His face, strength and glorying are in the habitation of His holiness. Give Glory to the Lord, the Father everlasting. Receive grace, and enter His presence, and worship in His holy courts. Let all the earth fear before His face; let it be established, and not shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations. The Lord hath reigned from the tree." CHAPTER XLII -- PROPHECY USING THE PAST TENSE. But when the Spirit of prophecy speaks of things that are about to come to pass as if they had already taken place,--as may be observed even in the passages already cited by me,--that this circumstance may afford no excuse to readers [for misinterpreting them], we will make even this also quite plain. The things which He absolutely knows will take place, He predicts as if already they had taken place. And that the utterances must be thus received, you will perceive, if you give your attention to them. The words cited above, David uttered 1500 years before Christ became a man and was crucified; and no one of those who lived before Him, nor yet of His contemporaries, afforded joy to the Gentiles by being crucified. But our Jesus Christ, being crucified and dead, rose again, and having ascended to heaven, reigned; and by those things which were published in His name among all nations by the apostles, there is joy afforded to those who expect the immortality promised by Him. CHAPTER XLIII--RESPONSIBILITY ASSERTED. But lest some suppose, from what has been said by us, that we say that whatever happens, happens by a fatal necessity, because it is foretold as known beforehand, this too we explain. We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man's actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. But that it is by free choice they both walk uprightly and stumble, we thus demonstrate. We see the same man making a transition to opposite things. Now, if it had been fated that he were to be either good or bad, he could never have been capable of both the opposites, nor of so many transitions. But not even would some be good and others bad, since we thus make fate the cause of evil, and exhibit her as acting in opposition to herself; or that which has been already stated would seem to be true, that neither virtue nor vice is anything, but that things are only reckoned good or evil by opinion; which, as the true word shows, is the greatest impiety and wickedness. But this we assert is inevitable fate, that they who choose the good have worthy rewards, and they who choose the opposite have their merited awards. For not like other things, as trees and quadrupeds, which cannot act by choice, did God make man: for neither would he be worthy of reward or praise did he not of himself choose the good, but were created for this end; nor, if he were evil, would he be worthy of punishment, not being evil of himself, but being able to be nothing else than what he was made. CHAPTER XLIV -- NOT NULLIFIED BY PROPHECY. And the holy Spirit of prophecy taught us this, telling us by Moses that God spoke thus to the man first created: "Behold, before thy face are good and evil: choose the good." And again, by the other prophet Isaiah, that the following utterance was made as if from God the Father and Lord of all: "Wash you, make you clean; put away evils from your souls; learn to do well; judge the orphan, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord: And if your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as wool; and if they be red like as crimson, I will make them white as snow. And if ye be willing and obey Me, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye do not obey Me, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." And that expression, "The sword shall devour you," does not mean that the disobedient shall be slain by the sword, but the sword of God is fire, of which they who choose to do wickedly become the fuel. Wherefore He says, "The sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." And if He had spoken concerning a sword that cuts and at once despatches, He would not have said, shall devour. And so, too, Plato, when he says, "The blame is his who chooses, and God is blameless," took this from the prophet Moses and uttered it. For Moses is more ancient than all the Greek writers. And whatever both philosophers and poets have said concerning the immortality of the soul, or punishments after death, or contemplation of things heavenly, or doctrines of the like kind, they have received such suggestions from the prophets as have enabled them to understand and interpret these things. And hence there seem to be seeds of truth among all men; but they are charged with not accurately understanding [the truth] when they assert contradictories. So that what we say about future events being foretold, we do not say it as if they came about by a fatal necessity; but God foreknowing all that shall be done by all men, and it being His decree that the future actions of men shall all be recompensed according to their several value, He foretells by the Spirit of prophecy that He will bestow meet rewards according to the merit of the actions done, always urging the human race to effort and recollection, showing that He cares and provides for men. But by the agency of the devils death has been decreed against those who read the books of Hystaspes, or of the Sibyl, or of the prophets, that through fear they may prevent men who read them from receiving the knowledge of the good, and may retain them in slavery to themselves; which, however, they could not always effect. For not only do we fearlessly read them, but, as you see, bring them for your inspection, knowing that their contents will be pleasing to all. And if we persuade even a few, our gain will be very great; for, as good husbandmen, we shall receive the reward from the Master. CHAPTER XLV -- CHRIST'S SESSION IN HEAVEN FORETOLD. And that God the Father of all would bring Christ to heaven after He had raised Him from the dead, and would keep Him there until He has subdued His enemies the devils, and until the number of those who are foreknown by Him as good and virtuous is complete, on whose account He has still delayed the consummation--hear what was said by the prophet David. These are his words: "The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send to Thee the rod of power out of Jerusalem; and rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. With Thee is the government in the day of Thy power, in the beauties of Thy saints: from the womb of morning hare I begotten Thee." That which he says, "He shall send to Thee the rod of power out of Jerusalem," is predictive of the mighty, word, which His apostles, going forth from Jerusalem, preached everywhere; and though death is decreed against those who teach or at all confess the name of Christ, we everywhere both embrace and teach it. And if you also read these words in a hostile spirit, ye can do no more, as I said before, than kill us; which indeed does no harm to us, but to you and all who unjustly hate us, and do not repent, brings eternal punishment by tire. CHAPTER XLVI -- THE WORD IN THE WORLD BEFORE CHRIST. But lest some should, without reason, and for the perversion of what we teach, maintain that we say that Christ was born one hundred and fifty years ago under Cyrenius, and subsequently, in the time of Pontius Pilate, taught what we say He taught; and should cry out against us as though all men who were born before Him were irresponsible--let us anticipate and solve the difficulty. We have been taught that Christ is the first-born of God, and we have declared above that He is the Word of whom every race of men were partakers; and those who lived reasonably are Christians, even though they have been thought atheists; as, among the Greeks, Socrates and Heraclitus, and men like them; and among the barbarians, Abraham, and Ananias, and Azarias, and Misael, and Elias, and many others whose actions and names we now decline to recount, because we know it would be tedious. So that even they who lived before Christ, and lived without reason, were wicked and hostile to Christ, and slew those who lived reasonably. But who, through the power of the Word, according to the will of God the Father and Lord of all, He was born of a virgin as a man, and was named Jesus, and was crucified, and died, and rose again, and ascended into heaven, an intelligent man will be able to comprehend from what has been already so largely said. And we, since the proof of this subject is less needful now, will pass for the present to the proof of those things which are urgent. CHAPTER XLVII -- DESOLATION OF JUDAEA FORETOLD. That the land of the Jews, then, was to be laid waste, hear what was said by the Spirit of prophecy. And the words were spoken as if from the person of the people wondering at what had happened. They are these: "Sion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. The house of our sanctuary has become a curse, and the glory which our fathers blessed is burned up with fire, and all its glorious things are laid waste: and Thou refrainest Thyself at these things, and hast held Thy peace, and hast humbled us very sore." And ye are convinced that Jerusalem has been laid waste, as was predicted. And concerning its desolation, and that no one should be permitted to inhabit it, there was the following prophecy by Isaiah: "Their land is desolate, their enemies consume it before them, and none of them shall dwell therein." And that it is guarded by you lest any one dwell in it, and that death is decreed against a Jew apprehended entering it, you know very well. CHAPTER XLVIII -- CHRIST'S WORK AND DEATH FORETOLD. And that it was predicted that our Christ should heal all diseases and raise the dead, hear what was said. There are these words: "At His coming the lame shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the stammerer shall be clear speaking: the blind shall see, and the lepers shall be cleansed; and the dead shall rise, and walk about." And that He did those things, you can learn from the Acts of Pontius Pilate. And how it was predicted by the Spirit of prophecy that He and those who hoped in Him should be slain, hear what was said by Isaiah. These are the words: "Behold now the righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and just men are taken away, and no man considereth. From the presence of wickedness is the righteous man taken, and his burial shall be in peace: he is taken from our midst." CHAPTER XLIX -- HIS REJECTION BY THE JEWS FORETOLD. And again, how it was said by the same Isaiah, that the Gentile nations who were not looking for Him should worship Him, but the Jews who always expected Him should not recognize Him when He came. And the words are spoken as from the person of Christ; and they are these "I was manifest to them that asked not for Me; I was found of them that sought Me not: I said, Behold Me, to a nation that called not on My name. I spread out My hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people, to those who walked in a way that is not good, but follow after their own sins; a people that provoketh Me to anger to My face." For the Jews having the prophecies, and being always in expectation of the Christ to come, did not recognise Him; and not only so, but even treated Him shamefully. But the Gentiles, who had never heard anything about Christ, until the apostles set out from Jerusalem and preached concerning Him, and gave them the prophecies, were filled with joy and faith, and cast away their idols, and dedicated themselves to the Unbegotten God through Christ. And that it was foreknown that these infamous things should be uttered against those who confessed Christ, and that those who slandered Him, and said that it was well to preserve the ancient customs, should be miserable, hear what was briefly said by Isaiah; it is this: "Woe unto them that call sweet bitter, and bitter sweet." CHAPTER L -- HIS HUMILIATION PREDICTED. But that, having become man for our sakes, He endured to suffer and to be dishonoured, and that He shall come again with glory, hear the prophecies which relate to this; they are these: "Because they delivered His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors, He has borne the sin of many, and shall make intercession for the transgressors. For, behold, My Servant shall deal prudently, and shall be exalted, and shall be greatly extolled. As many were astonished at Thee, so marred shall Thy form be before men, and so hidden from them Thy glory; so shall many nations wonder, and the kings shall shut their mouths at Him. For they to whom it was not told concerning Him, and they who have not heard, shall understand. O Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have declared before Him as a child, as a root in a dry ground. He had no form, nor glory; and we saw Him, and there was no form nor comeliness: but His form was dishonoured and marred more than the sons of men. A man under the stroke, and knowing how to bear infirmity, because His face was turned away: He was despised, and of no reputation. It is He who bears our sins, and is afflicted for us; yet we did esteem Him smitten, stricken, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of peace was upon Him, by His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray; every man has wandered in his own way. And He delivered Him for our sins; and He opened not His mouth for all His affliction. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. In His humiliation, His judgment was taken away." Accordingly, after He was crucified, even all His acquaintances forsook Him, having denied Him; and afterwards, when He had risen from the dead and appeared to them, and had taught them to read the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as coming to pass, and when they had seen Him ascending into heaven, and had believed, and had received power sent thence by Him upon them, and went to every race of men, they taught these things, and were called apostles.
LI 1. Ἵνα δὲ μηνύσῃ ἡμῖν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα ὅτι ὁ ταῦτα πάσχων ἀνεκδιήγητον ἔχει τὸ γένος καὶ βασιλεύει τῶν ἐχθρῶν, ἔφη οὕτως· Τὴν γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν αὐτῶν ἥκει εἰς θάνατον. 2. καὶ δώσω τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν οὐδὲ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ· καὶ κύριος βούλεται καθαρίσαι αὐτὸν τῆς πληγῆς. 3. ἐὰν δῶτε περὶ ἁμαρτίας, ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν ὄψεται σπέρμα μακρόβιον. 4. καὶ βούλεται κύριος ἀφελεῖν ἀπὸ πόνου τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς καὶ πλάσαι τῇ συνέσει, δικαιῶσαι δίκαιον εὖ δουλεύοντα πολλοῖς, καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει. 5. διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει πολλοὺς καὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν μεριεῖ σκύλα, ἀνθ’ ὧν παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐλογίσθη, καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκε καὶ διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῶν αὐτὸς παρεδόθη. 6. ὡς δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἔμελλεν ἀνιέναι, καθὼς προεφητεύθη, ἀκούσατε. 7. ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· Ἄρατε πύλας οὐρανῶν, ἀνοίχθητε, ἵνα εἰσέλθῃ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης. τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης; Κύριος κραταιὸς καὶ κύριος δυνατός. 8. ὡς δὲ καὶ ἐξ οὐρανῶν παραγίνεσθαι μετὰ δόξης μέλλει, ἀκούσατε καὶ τῶν εἰρημένων εἰς τοῦτο διὰ Ἰερεμίου τοῦ προφήτου. 9. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Ἰδοὺ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται ἐπάνω τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι αὐτοῦ σὺν αὐτῷ. LII 1. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν τὰ γενόμενα ἤδη πάντα ἀποδείκνυμεν πρὶν ἢ γενέσθαι προκεκηρύχθαι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν, ἀνάγκη καὶ περὶ τῶν ὁμοίως προφητευθέντων, μελλόντων δὲ γίνεσθαι, πίστιν ἔχειν ὡς πάντως γενησομένων. 2. ὃν γὰρ τρόπον τὰ ἤδη γενόμενα προκεκηρυγμένα καὶ ἀγνοούμενα ἀπέβη, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τὰ λείποντα, κἂν ἀγνοῆται καὶ ἀπιστῆται, ἀποβήσονται. 3. δύο γὰρ αὐτοῦ παρουσίας προεκήρυξαν οἱ προφῆται· μίαν μέν, τὴν ἤδη γενομένην, ὡς ἀτίμου καὶ παθητοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν, ὅταν μετὰ δόξης ἐξ οὐρανῶν μετὰ τῆς ἀγγελικῆς αὐτοῦ στρατιᾶς παραγενήσεσθαι κεκήρυκται, ὅτε καὶ τὰ σώματα ἀνεγερεῖ πάντων τῶν γενομένων ἀνθρώπων, καὶ τῶν μὲν ἀξίων ἐνδύσει ἀφθαρσίαν, τῶν δ’ ἀδίκων ἐν αἰσθήσει αἰωνίᾳ μετὰ τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων εἰς τὸ αἰώνιον πῦρ πέμψει. 4. ὡς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα προείρηται γενησόμενα, δηλώσομεν. 5. ἐρρέθη δὲ διὰ Ἰεζεκιὴλ τοῦ προφήτου οὕτως· Συναχθήσεται ἁρμονία πρὸς ἁρμονίαν καὶ ὀστέον πρὸς ὀστέον, καὶ σάρκες ἀναφυήσονται. 6. καὶ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψει τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ πᾶσα γλῶσσα ἐξομολογήσεται αὐτῷ. 7. ἐν οἵᾳ δὲ αἰσθήσει καὶ κολάσει γενέσθαι μέλλουσιν οἱ ἄδικοι, ἀκούσατε τῶν ὁμοίως εἰς τοῦτο εἰρημένων. 8. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Ὁ σκώληξ αὐτῶν οὐ παυθήσεται, καὶ τὸ πῦρ αὐτῶν οὐ σβεσθήσεται. 9. καὶ τότε μετανοήσουσιν, ὅτε οὐδὲν ὠφελήσουσι. 10. ποῖα δὲ μέλλουσιν οἱ λαοὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων λέγειν καὶ ποιεῖν, ὅταν ἴδωσιν αὐτὸν ἐν δόξῃ παραγενόμενον, διὰ Ζαχαρίου τοῦ προφήτου προφητευθέντα ἐλέχθη οὕτως· Ἐντελοῦμαι τοῖς τέσσαρσιν ἀνέμοις συνάξαι τὰ ἐσκορπισμένα τέκνα, ἐντελοῦμαι τῷ βορρᾷ φέρειν, καὶ τῷ νότῳ μὴ προσκόπτειν. 11. καὶ τότε ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ κοπετὸς μέγας, οὐ κοπετὸς στομάτων ἢ χειλέων, ἀλλὰ κοπετὸς καρδίας, καὶ οὐ μὴ σχίσωσιν αὐτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια, ἀλλὰ τὰς διανοίας. 12. κόψονται φυλὴ πρὸς φυλήν, καὶ τότε ὄψονται εἰς ὃν ἐξεκέντησαν, καὶ ἐροῦσι· Τί, κύριε, ἐπλάνησας ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου; ἡ δόξα, ἣν εὐλόγησαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν εἰς ὄνειδος. LIII 1. Πολλὰς μὲν οὖν καὶ ἑτέρας προφητείας ἔχοντες εἰπεῖν ἐπαυσάμεθα, αὐτάρκεις καὶ ταύτας εἰς πεισμονὴν τοῖς τὰ ἀκουστικὰ καὶ νοερὰ ὦτα ἔχουσιν εἶναι λογισάμενοι, καὶ νοεῖν δύνασθαι αὐτοὺς ἡγούμενοι ὅτι οὐχ ὁμοίως τοῖς μυθοποιηθεῖσι περὶ τῶν νομισθέντων υἱῶν τοῦ Διὸς καὶ ἡμεῖς μόνον λέγομεν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀποδεῖξαι ἔχομεν. 2. τίνι γὰρ ἂν λόγῳ ἀνθρώπῳ σταυρωθέντι ἐπειθόμεθα, ὅτι πρωτότοκος τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ θεῷ ἐστι καὶ αὐτὸς τὴν κρίσιν τοῦ παντὸς ἀνθρωπείου γένους ποιήσεται, εἰ μὴ μαρτύρια πρὶν ἢ ἐλθεῖν αὐτὸν ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον κεκηρυγμένα περὶ αὐτοῦ εὕρομεν καὶ οὕτως γενόμενα ἑωρῶμεν, 3. γῆς μὲν Ἰουδαίων ἐρήμωσιν, καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ παντὸς ἔθνους ἀνθρώπων διὰ τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοῦ διδαχῆς πεισθέντας καὶ παραιτησαμένους τὰ παλαιά, ἐν οἷς πλανώμενοι ἀνεστράφησαν, ἔθη, ἑαυτοὺς ἡμᾶς ὁρῶντες, πλείονάς τε καὶ ἀληθεστέρους τοὺς ἐξ ἐθνῶν τῶν ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Σαμαρέων Χριστιανοὺς εἰδότες; 4. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα πάντα γένη ἀνθρώπεια ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος καλεῖται ἔθνη, τὸ δὲ Ἰουδαϊκὸν καὶ Σαμαρειτικὸν φῦλον Ἰσραὴλ καὶ οἶκος Ἰακὼβ κέκληνται. 5. ὡς δὲ προεφητεύθη ὅτι πλείονες οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν πιστεύοντες τῶν ἀπὸ Ἰουδαίων καὶ Σαμαρέων, τὰ προφητευθέντα ἀπαγγελοῦμεν. ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· Εὐφράνθητι στεῖρα ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα, ῥῆξον καὶ βόησον ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα, ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα. 6. ἔρημα γὰρ ἦν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀληθινοῦ θεοῦ, χειρῶν ἔργοις λατρεύοντα· Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ καὶ Σαμαρεῖς, ἔχοντες τὸν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον διὰ τῶν προφητῶν παραδοθέντα αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀεὶ προσδοκήσαντες τὸν Χριστόν, παραγενόμενον ἠγνόησαν, πλὴν ὀλίγων τινῶν οὓς προεῖπε τὸ ἅγιον προφητικὸν πνεῦμα διὰ Ἠσαίου σωθήσεσθαι. 7. εἶπε δὲ ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν· Εἰ μὴ κύριος ἐγκατέλιπεν ἡμῖν σπέρμα, ὡς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα ἂν ἐγενήθημεν. 8. Σόδομα γὰρ καὶ Γόμορρα πόλεις τινὲς ἀσεβῶν ἀνδρῶν ἱστοροῦνται ὑπὸ Μωυσέως γενόμεναι, ἃς πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ καύσας ὁ θεὸς κατέστρεψε, μηδενὸς τῶν ἐν αὐταῖς σωθέντος πλὴν ἀλλοεθνοῦς τινος Χαλδαίου τὸ γένος, ᾧ ὄνομα Λώτ· σὺν ᾧ καὶ θυγατέρες διεσώθησαν. 9. καὶ τὴν πᾶσαν αὐτῶν χώραν ἔρημον καὶ κεκαυμένην οὖσαν καὶ ἄγονον μένουσαν οἱ βουλόμενοι ὁρᾶν ἔχουσιν. 10. ὡς δὲ καὶ ἀληθέστεροι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ πιστότεροι προεγινώσκοντο. ἀπαγγελοῦμεν τὰ εἰρημένα διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προφήτου. 11. ἔφη δὲ οὕτως· Ἰσραὴλ ἀπερίτμητος τὴν καρδίαν, τὰ δὲ ἔθνη τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν. 12. τὰ τοσαῦτα γοῦν ὁρώμενα πειθὼ καὶ πίστιν τοῖς τἀληθὲς ἀσπαζομένοις καὶ μὴ φιλοδοξοῦσι μηδὲ ὑπὸ παθῶν ἀρχομένοις μετὰ λόγου ἐμφορῆσαι δύναται. LIV 1. Οἱ δὲ παραδιδόντες τὰ μυθοποιηθέντα ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν οὐδεμίαν ἀπόδειξιν φέρουσι τοῖς ἐκμανθάνουσι νέοις, καὶ ἐπὶ ἀπάτῃ καὶ ἀπαγωγῇ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους εἰρῆσθαι ἀποδείκνυμεν κατ’ ἐνέργειαν τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων. 2. ἀκούσαντες γὰρ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν κηρυσσόμενον παραγενησόμενον τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ κολασθησομένους διὰ πυρὸς τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, προεβάλλοντο πολλοὺς λεχθῆναι λεγομένους υἱοὺς τῷ Διΐ, νομίζοντες δυνήσεσθαι ἐνεργῆσαι τερατολογίαν ἡγήσασθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τὰ περὶ τὸν Χριστὸν καὶ ὅμοια τοῖς ὑπὸ τῶν ποιητῶν λεχθεῖσι. 3. καὶ ταῦτα δ’ ἐλέχθη καὶ ἐν Ἕλλησιν καὶ ἐν ἔθνεσι πᾶσιν, ὅπου μᾶλλον ἐπήκουον τῶν προφητῶν πιστευθήσεσθαι τὸν Χριστὸν προκηρυσσόντων. 4. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀκούοντες τὰ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν λεγόμενα οὐκ ἐνόουν ἀκριβῶς, ἀλλ’ ὡς πλανώμενοι ἐμιμήσαντο τὰ περὶ τὸν ἡμέτερον Χριστόν, διασαφήσομεν. 5. Μωυσῆς οὖν ὁ προφήτης, ὡς προέφημεν, πρεσβύτερος ἦν πάντων συγγραφέων, καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ, ὡς προεμηνύσαμεν, προεφητεύθη οὕτως· Οὐκ ἐκλείψει ἄρχων ἐξ Ἰούδα καὶ ἡγούμενος ἐκ τῶν μηρῶν αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν ἔλθῃ ᾧ ἀπόκειται· καὶ αὐτὸς ἔσται προσδοκία ἐθνῶν, δεσμεύων πρὸς ἄμπελον τὸν πῶλον αὐτοῦ, πλύνων τὴν στολὴν αὐτοῦ ἐν αἵματι σταφυλῆς. 6. τούτων οὖν τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων ἀκούσαντες οἱ δαίμονες Διόνυσον μὲν ἔφασαν γεγονέναι υἱὸν τοῦ Διός, εὑρετὴν δὲ γενέσθαι ἀμπέλου παρέδωκαν, καὶ οἶνον ἐν τοῖς μυστηρίοις αὐτοῦ ἀναγράφουσι, καὶ διασπαραχθέντα αὐτὸν ἀνεληλυθέναι εἰς οὐρανὸν ἐδίδαξαν. 7. καὶ ἐπειδὴ διὰ τῆς Μωυσέως προφητείας οὐ ῥητῶς ἐσημαίνετο, εἴτε υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ ὁ παραγενησόμενός ἐστι, καὶ εἰ ὀχούμενος ἐπὶ πώλου ἐπὶ γῆς μενεῖ ἢ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνελεύσεται, καὶ τὸ τοῦ πώλου ὄνομα καὶ ὄνου πῶλον καὶ ἵππου σημαίνειν ἐδύνατο, μὴ ἐπιστάμενοι εἴτε ὄνου πῶλον ἄγων ἔσται σύμβολον τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ εἴτε ἵππου ὁ προκηρυσσόμενος, καὶ υἱὸς θεοῦ ἐστιν, ὡς προέφημεν, ἢ ἀνθρώπου, τὸν Βελλεροφόντην καὶ αὐτὸν ἐφ’ ἵππου Πηγάσου, ἄνθρωπον ἐξ ἀνθρώπου γενόμενον, εἰς οὐρανὸν ἔφασαν ἀνεληλυθέναι. 8. ὅτε δὲ ἤκουσαν διὰ τοῦ ἄλλου προφήτου Ἠσαίου λεχθέν, ὅτι διὰ παρθένου τεχθήσεται καὶ δι’ ἑαυτοῦ ἀνελεύσεται εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, τὸν Περσέα λεχθῆναι προεβάλλοντο. 9. καὶ ὅτε ἔγνωσαν εἰρημένον, ὡς προλέλεκται ἐν ταῖς προγεγραμμέναις προφητείαις, Ἰσχυρὸς ὡς γίγας δραμεῖν ὁδόν, τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἰσχυρὸν καὶ ἐκπερινοστήσαντα τὴν πᾶσαν γῆν ἔφασαν. 10. ὅτε δὲ πάλιν ἔμαθον προφητευθέντα θεραπεύσειν αὐτὸν πᾶσαν νόσον καὶ νεκροὺς ἀνεγερεῖν τὸν Ἀσκληπιὸν παρήνεγκαν.	CHAPTER LI -- THE MAJESTY OF CHRIST. And that the Spirit of prophecy might signify to us that He who suffers these things has an ineffable origin, and rules His enemies, He spake thus: "His generation who shall declare? because His life is cut off from the earth: for their transgressions He comes to death. And I will give the wicked for His burial, and the rich for His death; because He did no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. And the Lord is pleased to cleanse Him from the stripe. If He be given for sin, your soul shall see His seed prolonged in days. And the Lord is pleased to deliver His soul from grief, to show Him light, and to form Him with knowledge, to justify the righteous who richly serveth many. And He shall bear our iniquities. Therefore He shall inherit many, and He shall divide the spoil of the strong; because His soul was delivered to death: and He was numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sins of many, and He was delivered up for their transgressions." Hear, too, how He was to ascend into heaven according to prophecy. It was thus spoken: "Lift up the gates of heaven; be ye opened, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty." And how also He should come again out of heaven with glory, hear what was spoken in reference to this by the prophet Jeremiah. His words are: "Behold, as the Son of man He cometh in the clouds of heaven, and His angels with Him." CHAPTER LII -- CERTAIN FULFILMENT OF PROPHECY. Since, then, we prove that all things which have already happened had been predicted by the prophets before they came to pass, we must necessarily believe also that those things which are in like manner predicted, but are yet to come to pass, shall certainly happen. For as the things which have already taken place came to pass when foretold, and even though unknown, so shall the things that remain, even though they be unknown and disbelieved, yet come to pass. For the prophets have proclaimed two advents of His: the one, that which is already past, when He came as a dishonoured and suffering Man; but the second, when, according to prophecy, He shall come from heaven with glory, accompanied by His angelic host, when also He shall raise the bodies of all men who have lived, and shall clothe those of the worthy with immortality, and shall send those of the wicked, endued with eternal sensibility, into everlasting fire with the wicked devils. And that these things also have been foretold as yet to be, we will prove. By Ezekiel the prophet it was said: "Joint shall be joined to joint, and bone to bone, and flesh shall grow again; and every knee shall bow to the Lord, and every tongue shall confess Him." And in what kind of sensation and punishment the wicked are to be, hear from what was said in like manner with reference to this; it is as follows: "Their worm shall not rest, and their fire shall not be quenched;" and then shall they repent, when it profits them not. And what the people of the Jews shall say and do, when they see Him coming in glory, has been thus predicted by Zechariah the prophet: "I will command the four winds to gather the scattered children; I will command the north wind to bring them, and the south wind, that it keep not back. And then in Jerusalem there shall be great lamentation, not the lamentation of mouths or of lips, but the lamentation of the heart; and they shall rend not their garments, but their hearts. Tribe by tribe they shall mourn, and then they shall look on Him whom they have pierced; and they shall say, Why, O Lord, hast Thou made us to err from Thy way? The glory which our fathers blessed, has for us been turned into shame." CHAPTER LIII -- SUMMARY OF THE PROPHECIES. Though we could bring forward many other prophecies, we forbear, judging these sufficient for the persuasion of those who have ears to hear and understand; and considering also that those persons are able to see that we do not make mere assertions without being able to produce proof, like those fables that are told of the so-called sons of Jupiter. For with what reason should we believe of a crucified man that He is the first-born of the unbegotten God, and Himself will pass judgment on the whole human race, unless we had found testimonies concerning Him published before He came and was born as man, and unless we saw that things had happened accordingly--the devastation of the land of the Jews, and men of every race persuaded by His teaching through the apostles, and rejecting their old habits, in which, being deceived, they had their conversation; yea, seeing ourselves too, and knowing that the Christians from among the Gentiles are both more numerous and more true than those from among the Jews and Samaritans? For all the other human races are called Gentiles by the Spirit of prophecy; but the Jewish and Samaritan races are called the tribe of Israel, and the house of Jacob. And the prophecy in which it was predicted that there should be more believers from the Gentiles than from the Jews and Samaritans, we will produce: it ran thus: "Rejoice, O barren, thou that dost not bear; break forth and shout, thou that dost not travail, because many more are the children of the desolate than of her that hath an husband." For all the Gentiles were "desolate" of the true God, serving the works of their hands; but the Jews and Samaritans, having the word of God delivered to them by the prophets, and always expecting the Christ, did not recognise Him when He came, except some few, of whom the Spirit of prophecy by Isaiah had predicted that they should be saved. He spoke as from their person: "Except the Lord had left us a seed, we should have been as Sodom and Gomorrah." For Sodom and Gomorrah are related by Moses to have been cities of ungodly men, which God burned with fire and brimstone, and overthrew, no one of their inhabitants being saved except a certain stranger, a Chaldaean by birth, whose name was Lot; with whom also his daughters were rescued. And those who care may yet see their whole country desolate and burned, and remaining barren. And to show how those from among the Gentiles were foretold as more true and more believing, we will cite what was said by Isaiah the prophet; for he spoke as follows "Israel is uncircumcised in heart, but the Gentiles are uncircumcised in the flesh." So many things therefore, as these, when they are seen with the eye, are enough to produce conviction and belief in those who embrace the truth, and are not bigoted in their opinions, nor are governed by their passions. CHAPTER LIV -- ORIGIN OF HEATHEN MYTHOLOGY. But those who hand down the myths which the poets have made, adduce no proof to the youths who learn them; and we proceed to demonstrate that they have been uttered by the influence of the wicked demons, to deceive and lead astray the human race. For having heard it proclaimed through the prophets that the Christ was to come, and that the ungodly among men were to be punished by fire, they put forward many to be called sons of Jupiter, under the impression that they would be able to produce in men the idea that the things which were said with regard to Christ were mere marvellous tales, like the things which were said by the poets. And these things were said both among the Greeks and among all nations where they [the demons] heard the prophets foretelling that Christ would specially be believed in; but that in hearing what was said by the prophets they did not accurately understand it, but imitated what was said of our Christ, like men who are in error, we will make plain. The prophet Moses, then, Was, as we have already said, older than all writers; and by him, as we have also said before, it was thus predicted: "There shall not fail a prince from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until He come for whom it is reserved; and He shall be the desire of the Gentiles, binding His foal to the vine, washing His robe in the blood of the grape." The devils, accordingly, when they heard these prophetic words, said that Bacchus was the son of Jupiter, and gave out that he was the discoverer of the vine, and they number wine [or, the ass] among his mysteries; and they taught that, having been torn in pieces, he ascended into heaven. And because in the prophecy of Moses it had not been expressly intimated whether He who was to come was the Son of God, and whether He would, riding on the foal, remain on earth or ascend into heaven, and because the name of "foal" could mean either the foal of an ass or the foal of a horse, they, not knowing whether He who was foretold would bring the foal of an ass or of a horse as the sign of His coming, nor whether He was the Son of God, as we said above, or of man, gave out that Bellerophon, a man born of man, himself ascended to heaven on his horse Pegasus. And when they heard it said by the other prophet Isaiah, that He should be born of a virgin, and by His own means ascend into heaven, they pretended that Perseus was spoken of. And when they knew what was said, as has been cited above, in the prophecies written aforetime, "Strong as a giant to run his course," they said that Hercules was strong, and had journeyed over the whole earth. And when, again, they learned that it had been foretold that He should heal every sickness, and raise the dead, they produced Aesculapius. CHAPTER LV -- SYMBOLS OF THE CROSS. But in no instance, not even in any of those called sons of Jupiter, did they imitate the being crucified; for it was not understood by them, all the things said of it having been put symbolically. And this, as the prophet foretold, is the greatest symbol of His power and role; as is also proved by the things which fall under our observation. For consider all the things in the world, whether without this form they could be administered or have any community. For the sea is not traversed except that trophy which is called a sail abide safe in the ship; and the earth is not ploughed without it: diggers and mechanics do not their work, except with tools which have this shape. And the human form differs from that of the irrational animals in nothing else than in its being erect and having the hands extended, and having on the face extending from the forehead what is called the nose, through which there is respiration for the living creature; and this shows no other form than that of the cross. And so it was said by the prophet, "The breath before our face is the Lord Christ." And the power of this form is shown by your own symbols on what are called "vexilla" [banners] and trophies, with which all your state possessions are made, using these as the insignia of your power and government, even though you do so unwittingly. And with this form you consecrate the images of your emperors when they die, and you name them gods by inscriptions. Since, therefore, we have urged you both by reason and by an evident form, and to the utmost of our ability, we know that now we are blameless even though you disbelieve; for our part is done and finished.

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:28 pm

Justin Martyr, 1 Apology 56-68.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου Ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς Ἀντωνῖνον τὸν Εὐσεβῆ	First Apology of Justin
LVI 1. Οὐκ ἠρκέσθησαν δὲ οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες πρὸ τῆς φανερώσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰπεῖν τοὺς λεχθέντας υἱοὺς τῷ Διῒ γεγονέναι, ἀλλ’ ἐπειδή, φανερωθέντος αὐτοῦ καὶ γενομένου ἐν ἀνθρώποις, καὶ ὅπως διὰ τῶν προφητῶν προεκεκήρυκτο ἔμαθον καὶ ἐν παντὶ γένει πιστευόμενον καὶ προσδοκώμενον ἔγνωσαν, πάλιν, ὡς προεδηλώσαμεν, προεβάλλοντο ἄλλους, Σίμωνα μὲν καὶ Μένανδρον ἀπὸ Σαμαρείας, οἳ καὶ μαγικὰς δυνάμεις ποιήσαντες πολλοὺς ἐξηπάτησαν καὶ ἔτι ἀπατωμένους ἔχουσι. 2. καὶ γὰρ παρ’ ὑμῖν, ὡς προέφημεν, ἐν τῇ βασιλίδι Ῥώμῃ ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος γενόμενος ὁ Σίμων καὶ τὴν ἱερὰν σύγκλητον καὶ τὸν δῆμον Ῥωμαίων εἰς τοσοῦτο κατεπλήξατο, ὡς θεὸς νομισθῆναι καὶ ἀνδριάντι, ὡς τοὺς ἄλλους παρ’ ὑμῖν τιμωμένους θεούς, τιμηθῆναι. 3. ὅθεν τήν τε ἱερὰν σύγκλητον καὶ τὸν δῆμον τὸν ὑμέτερον συνεπιγνώμονας ταύτης ἡμῶν τῆς ἀξιώσεως παραλαβεῖν αἰτοῦμεν, ἵν’, εἴ τις εἴη τοῖς ἀπ’ ἐκείνου διδάγμασι κατεχόμενος, τἀληθὲς μαθὼν τὴν πλάνην φυγεῖν δυνηθῇ. 4. καὶ τὸν ἀνδριάντα, εἰ βούλεσθε, καθαιρήσατε. LVII 1. Οὐ γὰρ μὴ γενέσθαι τὴν ἐκπύρωσιν ἐπὶ κολάσει τῶν ἀσεβῶν οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες πεῖσαι δύνανται, ὅνπερ τρόπον οὐδὲ λαθεῖν τὸν Χριστὸν παραγενόμενον ἴσχυσαν πρᾶξαι, ἀλλ’ ἐκεῖνο μόνον, τοὺς ἀλόγως βιοῦντας καὶ ἐμπαθῶς ἐν ἔθεσι φαύλοις τεθραμμένους καὶ φιλοδοξοῦντας ἀναιρεῖν ἡμᾶς καὶ μισεῖν, δύνανται ποιῆσαι· οὓς οὐ μόνον οὐ μισοῦμεν, ἀλλ’, ὡς δείκνυται, ἐλεοῦντες μεταθέσθαι πεῖσαι βουλόμεθα. 2. οὐ γὰρ δεδοίκαμεν θάνατον, τοῦ πάντως ἀποθανεῖν ὁμολογουμένου, καὶ μηδενὸς ἄλλου καινοῦ ἀλλ’ ἢ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐν τῇδε τῇ διοικήσει ὄντων· ὧν εἰ μὲν κόρος τοὺς μετασχόντας κἂν ἐνιαυτοῦ ἔχῃ, ἵνα ἀεὶ ὦσι καὶ ἀπαθεῖς καὶ ἀνενδεεῖς, τοῖς ἡμετέροις διδάγμασι προσέχειν δεῖ. 3. εἰ δ’ ἀπιστοῦσι μηδὲν εἶναι μετὰ θάνατον, ἀλλ’ εἰς ἀναισθησίαν χωρεῖν τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας ἀποφαίνονται, παθῶν τῶν ἐνταῦθα καὶ χρειῶν ἡμᾶς ῥυόμενοι εὐεργετοῦσιν, ἑαυτοὺς δὲ φαύλους καὶ μισανθρώπους καὶ φιλοδόξους δεικνύουσιν· οὐ γὰρ ὡς ἀπαλλάξοντες ἡμᾶς ἀναιροῦσιν, ἀλλ’ ὡς ἀποστεροῦντες ζωῆς καὶ ἡδονῆς φονεύουσι. LVIII 1. Καὶ Μαρκίωνα δὲ τὸν ἀπὸ Πόντου, ὡς προέφημεν, προεβάλλοντο οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες, ὃς ἀρνεῖσθαι μὲν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν οὐρανίων καὶ γηΐνων ἁπάντων θεὸν καὶ τὸν προκηρυχθέντα διὰ τῶν προφητῶν Χριστὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ νῦν διδάσκει, ἄλλον δέ τινα καταγγέλλει παρὰ τὸν δημιουργὸν τὸν πάντων θεὸν καὶ ὁμοίως ἕτερον υἱόν· 2. ᾧ πολλοὶ πεισθέντες ὡς μόνῳ τἀληθῆ ἐπισταμένῳ, ἡμῶν καταγελῶσιν, ἀπόδειξιν μηδεμίαν περὶ ὧν λέγουσιν ἔχοντες, ἀλλὰ ἀλόγως ὡς ὑπὸ λύκου ἄρνες συνηρπασμένοι βορὰ τῶν ἀθέων δογμάτων καὶ δαιμόνων γίνονται. 3. οὐ γὰρ ἄλλο τι ἀγωνίζονται οἱ λεγόμενοι δαίμονες, ἢ ἀπάγειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀπὸ τοῦ ποιήσαντος θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ πρωτογόνου αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ· καὶ τοὺς μὲν τῆς γῆς μὴ ἐπαίρεσθαι δυναμένους τοῖς γηΐνοις καὶ χειροποιήτοις προσήλωσαν καὶ προσηλοῦσι, τοὺς δὲ ἐπὶ θεωρίαν θείων ὁρμῶντας ὑπεκκρούοντες, ἢν μὴ λογισμὸν σώφρονα καὶ καθαρὸν καὶ ἀπαθῆ βίον ἔχωσιν, εἰς ἀσέβειαν ἐμβάλλουσιν. LIX 1. Ἵνα δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἡμετέρων διδασκάλων, λέγομεν δὲ τοῦ λόγου τοῦ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν, λαβόντα τὸν Πλάτωνα μάθητε τὸ εἰπεῖν, ὕλην ἄμορφον οὖσαν στρέψαντα τὸν θεὸν κόσμον ποιῆσαι, ἀκούσατε τῶν αὐτολεξεὶ εἰρημένων διὰ Μωυσέως, τοῦ προδεδηλωμένου πρώτου προφήτου καὶ πρεσβυτέρου τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησι συγγραφέων, δι’ οὗ μηνύον τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, πῶς τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ ἐκ τίνων ἐδημιούργησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν κόσμον, ἔφη οὕτως· 2. Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. 3. ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου· καὶ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τῶν ὑδάτων. 4. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Γενηθήτω φῶς. καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως. 5. ὥστε λόγῳ θεοῦ ἐκ τῶν ὑποκειμένων καὶ προδηλωθέντων διὰ Μωυσέως γεγενῆσθαι τὸν πάντα κόσμον, καὶ Πλάτων καὶ οἱ ταὐτὰ λέγοντες καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐμάθομεν, καὶ ὑμεῖς πεισθῆναι δύνασθε. 6. καὶ τὸ καλούμενον Ἔρεβος παρὰ τοῖς ποιηταῖς εἰρῆσθαι πρότερον ὑπὸ Μωυσέως οἴδαμεν. LX 1. Καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ παρὰ Πλάτωνι Τιμαίῳ φυσιολογούμενον περὶ τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτε λέγει· Ἐχίασεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ παντί, παρὰ Μωυσέως λαβὼν ὁμοίως εἶπεν. 2. ἐν γὰρ ταῖς Μωυσέως γραφαῖς ἀναγέγραπται, ὡς κατ’ ἐκεῖνο τοῦ καιροῦ, ὅτε ἐξῆλθον ἀπὸ Αἰγύπτου οἱ Ἰσραηλῖται καὶ γεγόνασιν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, ἀπήντησαν αὐτοῖς ἰοβόλα θηρία, ἔχιδναί τε καὶ ἀσπίδες καὶ ὄφεων πᾶν γένος, ὃ ἐθανάτου τὸν λαόν· 3. καὶ κατ’ ἐπίπνοιαν καὶ ἐνέργειαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ λεγομένην λαβεῖν τὸν Μωυσέα χαλκὸν καὶ ποιῆσαι τύπον σταυροῦ καὶ τοῦτον στῆσαι ἐπὶ τῇ ἁγίᾳ σκηνῇ καὶ εἰπεῖν τῷ λαῷ· Ἐὰν προσβλέπητε τῷ τύπῳ τούτῳ καὶ πιστεύητε, ἐν αὐτῷ σωθήσεσθε. 4. καὶ γενομένου τούτου τοὺς μὲν ὄφεις ἀποθανεῖν ἀνέγραψε, τὸν δὲ λαὸν ἐκφυγεῖν τὸν θάνατον οὕτως παρέδωκεν. 5. ἃ ἀναγνοὺς Πλάτων καὶ μὴ ἀκριβῶς ἐπιστάμενος, μηδὲ νοήσας τύπον εἶναι σταυροῦ ἀλλὰ χίασμα νοήσας, τὴν μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον θεὸν δύναμιν κεχιάσθαι ἐν τῷ παντὶ εἶπε. 6. καὶ τὸ εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν τρίτον, ἐπειδή, ὡς προείπομεν, ἐπάνω τῶν ὑδάτων ἀνέγνω ὑπὸ Μωυσέως εἰρημένον ἐπιφέρεσθαι τὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πνεῦμα. 7. δευτέραν μὲν γὰρ χώραν τῷ παρὰ θεοῦ λόγῳ, ὃν κεχιάσθαι ἐν τῷ παντὶ ἔφη, δίδωσι, τὴν δὲ τρίτην τῷ λεχθέντι ἐπιφέρεσθαι τῷ ὕδατι πνεύματι, εἰπών· Τὰ δὲ τρίτα περὶ τὸν τρίτον. 8. καὶ ὡς ἐκπύρωσιν γενήσεσθαι διὰ Μωυσέως προεμήνυσε τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα, ἀκούσατε. 9. ἔφη δὲ οὕτως· Καταβήσεται ἀείζωον πῦρ καὶ καταφάγεται μέχρι τῆς ἀβύσσου κάτω. 10. οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ οὖν ἡμεῖς ἄλλοις δοξάζομεν, ἀλλ’ οἱ πάντες τὰ ἡμέτερα μιμούμενοι λέγουσι. 11. παρ’ ἡμῖν οὖν ἔστι ταῦτα ἀκοῦσαι καὶ μαθεῖν παρὰ τῶν οὐδὲ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας τῶν στοιχείων ἐπισταμένων, ἰδιωτῶν μὲν καὶ βαρβάρων τὸ φθέγμα, σοφῶν δὲ καὶ πιστῶν τὸν νοῦν ὄντων, καὶ πηρῶν καὶ χήρων τινῶν τὰς ὄψεις· ὡς συνεῖναι οὐ σοφίᾳ ἀνθρωπείᾳ ταῦτα γεγονέναι, ἀλλὰ δυνάμει θεοῦ λέγεσθαι.	CHAPTER LVI -- THE DEMONS STILL MISLEAD MEN. But the evil spirits were not satisfied with saying, before Christ's appearance, that those who were said to be sons of Jupiter were born of him; but after He had appeared, and been born among men, and when they learned how He had been foretold by the prophets, and knew that He should be believed on and looked for by every nation, they again, as was said above, put forward other men, the Samaritans Simon and Menander, who did many mighty works by magic, and deceived many, and still keep them deceived. For even among yourselves, as we said before, Simon was in the royal city Rome in the reign of Claudius Caesar, and so greatly astonished the sacred senate and people of the Romans, that he was considered a god, and honoured, like the others whom you honour as gods, with a statue. Wherefore we pray that the sacred senate and your people may, along with yourselves, be arbiters of this our memorial, in order that if any one be entangled by that man's doctrines, he may learn the truth, and so be able to escape error; and as for the statue, if you please, destroy it. CHAPTER LVII -- AND CAUSE PERSECUTION. Nor can the devils persuade men that there will be no conflagration for the punishment of the wicked; as they were unable to effect that Christ should be hidden after He came. But this only can they effect, that they who live irrationally, and were brought up licentiously in wicked customs, and are prejudiced in their own opinions, should kill and hate us; whom we not only do not hate, but, as is proved, pity and endeavour to lead to repentance. For we do not fear death, since it is acknowledged we must surely die; and there is nothing new, but all things continue the same in this administration of things; and if satiety overtakes those who enjoy even one year of these things, they ought to give heed to our doctrines, that they may live eternally free both from suffering and from want. But if they believe that there is nothing after death, but declare that those who die pass into insensibility, then they become our benefactors when they set us free from sufferings and necessities of this life, and prove themselves to be wicked, and inhuman, and bigoted. For they kill us with no intention of delivering us, but cut us off that we may be deprived of life and pleasure. CHAPTER LVIII -- AND RAISE UP HERETICS. And, as we said before, the devils put forward Marcion of Pontus, who is even now teaching men to deny that God is the maker of all things in heaven and on earth, and that the Christ predicted by the prophets is His Son, and preaches another god besides the Creator of all, and likewise another son. And this man many have believed, as if he alone knew the truth, and laugh at us, though they have no proof of what they say, but are carried away irrationally as lambs by a wolf, and become the prey of atheistical doctrines, and of devils. For they who are called devils attempt nothing else than to seduce men from God who made them, and from Christ His first-begotten; and those who are unable to raise themselves above the earth they have riveted, and do now rivet, to things earthly, and to the works of their own hands; but those who devote themselves to the contemplation of things divine, they secretly beat back; and if they have not a wise sober-mindedness, and a pure and passionless life, they drive them into godlessness. CHAPTER LIX -- PLATO'S OBLIGATION TO MOSES. And that you may learn that it was from our teachers--we mean the account given through the prophets--that Plato borrowed his statement that God, having altered matter which was shapeless, made the world, hear the very words spoken through Moses, who, as above shown, was the first prophet, and of greater antiquity than the Greek writers; and through whom the Spirit of prophecy, signifying how and from what materials God at first formed the world, spake thus: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was invisible and unfurnished, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved over the waters. And God said, Let there be light; and it was so." So that both Plato and they who agree with him, and we ourselves, have learned, and you also can be convinced, that by the word of God the whole world was made out of the substance spoken of before by Moses. And that which the poets call Erebus, we know was spoken of formerly by Moses. CHAPTER LX -- PLATO'S DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS. And the physiological discussion concerning the Son of God in the Timoeus of Plato, where he says, "He placed him crosswise in the universe," he borrowed in like manner from Moses; for in the writings of Moses it is related how at that time, when the Israelites went out of Egypt and were in the wilderness, they fell in with poisonous beasts, both vipers and asps, and every kind of serpent, which slew the people; and that Moses, by the inspiration and influence of God, took brass, and made it into the figure of a cross, and set it in the holy tabernacle, and said to the people, "If ye look to this figure, and believe, ye shall be saved thereby." And when this was done, it is recorded that the serpents died, and it is handed down that the people thus escaped death. Which things Plato reading, and not accurately understanding, and not apprehending that it was the figure of the cross, but taking it to be a placing crosswise, he said that the power next to the first God was placed crosswise in the universe. And as to his speaking of a third, he did this because he read, as we said above, that which was spoken by Moses, "that the Spirit of God moved over the waters." For he gives the second place to the Logos which is with God, who he said was placed crosswise in the universe; and the third place to the Spirit who was said to be borne upon the water, saying, "And the third around the third." And hear how the Spirit of prophecy signified through Moses that there should be a conflagration. He spoke thus: "Everlasting fire shall descend, and shall devour to the pit beneath." It is not, then, that we hold the same opinions as others, but that all speak in imitation of ours. Among us these things can be heard and learned from persons who do not even know the forms of the letters, who are uneducated and barbarous in speech, though wise and believing in mind; some, indeed, even maimed and deprived of eyesight; so that you may understand that these things are not the effect of human wisdom, but are uttered by the power of God.
LXI 1. Ὃν τρόπον δὲ καὶ ἀνεθήκαμεν ἑαυτοὺς τῷ θεῷ καινοποιηθέντες διὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐξηγησόμεθα, ὅπως μὴ τοῦτο παραλιπόντες δόξωμεν πονηρεύειν τι ἐν τῇ ἐξηγήσει. 2. ὅσοι ἂν πεισθῶσι καὶ πιστεύωσιν ἀληθῆ ταῦτα τὰ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν διδασκόμενα καὶ λεγόμενα εἶναι, καὶ βιοῦν οὕτως δύνασθαι ὑπισχνῶνται, εὔχεσθαί τε καὶ αἰτεῖν νηστεύοντες παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν προημαρτημένων ἄφεσιν διδάσκονται, ἡμῶν συνευχομένων καὶ συννηστευόντων αὐτοῖς. 3. ἔπειτα ἄγονται ὑφ’ ἡμῶν ἔνθα ὕδωρ ἐστί, καὶ τρόπον ἀναγεννήσεως, ὃν καὶ ἡμεῖς αὐτοὶ ἀνεγεννήθημεν, ἀναγεννῶνται· ἐπ’ ὀνόματος γὰρ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων καὶ δεσπότου θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου τὸ ἐν τῷ ὕδατι τότε λουτρὸν ποιοῦνται. 4. καὶ γὰρ ὁ Χριστὸς εἶπεν· Ἂν μὴ ἀναγεννηθῆτε, οὐ μὴ εἰσέλθητε εἰς τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν. 5. ὅτι δὲ καὶ ἀδύνατον εἰς τὰς μήτρας τῶν τεκουσῶν τοὺς ἅπαξ γενομένους ἐμβῆναι, φανερὸν πᾶσίν ἐστι. 6. καὶ διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προφήτου, ὡς προεγράψαμεν, εἴρηται, τίνα τρόπον φεύξονται τὰς ἁμαρτίας οἱ ἁμαρτήσαντες καὶ μετανοοῦντες. 7. ἐλέχθη δὲ οὕτως· Λούσασθε, καθαροὶ γένεσθε, ἀφέλετε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, μάθετε καλὸν ποιεῖν, κρίνατε ὀρφανῷ καὶ δικαιώσατε χήραν, καὶ δεῦτε καὶ διαλεχθῶμεν, λέγει κύριος· καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ὑμῶν ὡς φοινικοῦν, ὡσεὶ ἔριον λευκανῶ, καὶ ἐὰν ὦσιν ὡς κόκκινον, ὡς χιόνα λευκανῶ. 8. ἐὰν δὲ μὴ εἰσακούσητέ μου, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς κατέδεται· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα. 9. καὶ λόγον δὲ εἰς τοῦτο παρὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐμάθομεν τοῦτον. 10. ἐπειδὴ τὴν πρώτην γένεσιν ἡμῶν ἀγνοοῦντες κατ’ ἀνάγκην γεγεννήμεθα ἐξ ὑγρᾶς σπορᾶς κατὰ μῖξιν τὴν τῶν γονέων πρὸς ἀλλήλους καὶ ἐν ἔθεσι φαύλοις καὶ πονηραῖς ἀνατροφαῖς γεγόναμεν, ὅπως μὴ ἀνάγκης τέκνα μηδὲ ἀγνοίας μένωμεν ἀλλὰ προαιρέσεως καὶ ἐπιστήμης, ἀφέσεώς τε ἁμαρτιῶν ὑπὲρ ὧν προημάρτομεν τύχωμεν, ἐν τῷ ὕδατι ἐπονομάζεται τῷ ἑλομένῳ ἀναγεννηθῆναι καὶ μετανοήσαντι ἐπὶ τοῖς ἡμαρτημένοις τὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων καὶ δεσπότου θεοῦ ὄνομα, αὐτὸ τοῦτο μόνον ἐπιλέγοντος τοῦ τὸν λουσόμενον ἄγοντος ἐπὶ τὸ λουτρόν. 11. ὄνομα γὰρ τῷ ἀρρήτῳ θεῷ οὐδεὶς ἔχει εἰπεῖν· εἰ δέ τις τολμήσειεν εἶναι λέγειν, μέμηνε τὴν ἄσωτον μανίαν. 12. καλεῖται δὲ τοῦτο τὸ λουτρὸν φωτισμός, ὡς φωτιζομένων τὴν διάνοιαν τῶν ταῦτα μανθανόντων. 13. καὶ ἐπ’ ὀνόματος δὲ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, καὶ ἐπ’ ὀνόματος πνεύματος ἁγίου, ὃ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν προεκήρυξε τὰ κατὰ τὸν Ἰησοῦν πάντα, ὁ φωτιζόμενος λούεται. LXII 1. Καὶ τὸ λουτρὸν δὴ τοῦτο ἀκούσαντες οἱ δαίμονες διὰ τοῦ προφήτου κεκηρυγμένον ἐνήργησαν καὶ ῥαντίζειν ἑαυτοὺς τοὺς εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ αὐτῶν ἐπιβαίνοντας καὶ προσιέναι αὐτοῖς μέλλοντας, λοιβὰς καὶ κνίσας ἀποτελοῦντας· τέλεον δὲ καὶ λούεσθαι ἀπιόντας πρὶν ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ ἱερά, ἔνθα ἵδρυνται, ἐνεργοῦσι. 2. καὶ γὰρ τὸ ὑπολύεσθαι ἐπιβαίνοντας τοῖς ἱεροῖς καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς τοὺς θρησκεύοντας κελεύεσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερατευόντων ἐκ τῶν συμβάντων Μωυσεῖ τῷ εἰρημένῳ προφήτῃ μαθόντες οἱ δαίμονες ἐμιμήσαντο. 3. κατ’ ἐκεῖνο γὰρ τοῦ καιροῦ ὅτε Μωυσῆς ἐκελεύσθη κατελθὼν εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐξαγαγεῖν τὸν ἐκεῖ λαὸν τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν, ποιμαίνοντος αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ Ἀρραβικῇ γῇ πρόβατα τοῦ πρὸς μητρὸς θείου, ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρὸς ἐκ βάτου προσωμίλησεν αὐτῷ ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστός, καὶ εἶπεν· Ὑπόλυσαι τὰ ὑποδήματά σου καὶ προσελθὼν ἄκουσον. 4. ὁ δὲ ὑπολυσάμενος καὶ προσελθὼν ἀκήκοε κατελθεῖν εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐξαγαγεῖν τὸν ἐκεῖ λαὸν τῶν Ἰσραηλιτῶν, καὶ δύναμιν ἰσχυρὰν ἔλαβε παρὰ τοῦ λαλήσαντος αὐτῷ ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρὸς Χριστοῦ, καὶ κατελθὼν ἐξήγαγε τὸν λαὸν ποιήσας μεγάλα καὶ θαυμάσια, ἃ εἰ βούλεσθε μαθεῖν, ἐκ τῶν συγγραμμάτων ἐκείνου ἀκριβῶς μαθήσεσθε. LXIII 1. Ἰουδαῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ νῦν διδάσκουσι τὸν ἀνωνόμαστον θεὸν λελαληκέναι τῷ Μωυσεῖ. 2. ὅθεν τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα διὰ Ἠσαίου τοῦ προμεμηνυμένου προφήτου ἐλέγχον αὐτούς, ὡς προεγράψαμεν, εἶπεν· Ἔγνω βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω καὶ ὁ λαός με οὐ συνῆκε. 3. καὶ Ἰησοῦς δὲ ὁ Χριστός, ὅτι οὐκ ἔγνωσαν Ἰουδαῖοι τί πατὴρ καὶ τί υἱός, ὁμοίως ἐλέγχων αὐτοὺς καὶ αὐτὸς εἶπεν· Οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, οὐδὲ τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ οἷς ἂν ἀποκαλύψῃ ὁ υἱός. 4. ὁ λόγος δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ, ὡς προέφημεν. 5. καὶ ἄγγελος δὲ καλεῖται καὶ ἀπόστολος· αὐτὸς γὰρ ἀπαγγέλλει ὅσα δεῖ γνωσθῆναι, καὶ ἀποστέλλεται, μηνύσων ὅσα ἀγγέλλεται, ὡς καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ κύριος ἡμῶν εἶπεν· Ὁ ἐμοῦ ἀκούων ἀκούει τοῦ ἀποστείλαντός με. 6. καὶ ἐκ τῶν τοῦ Μωυσέως δὲ συγγραμμάτων φανερὸν τοῦτο γενήσεται. 7. λέλεκται δὲ ἐν αὐτοῖς οὕτως· Καὶ ἐλάλησε Μωυσεῖ ἄγγελος θεοῦ ἐν φλογὶ πυρὸς ἐκ τῆς βάτου καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, θεὸς Ἀβραάμ, θεὸς Ἰσαάκ, θεὸς Ἰακώβ, ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων σου. 8. κάτελθε εἰς Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐξάγαγε τὸν λαόν μου. 9. τὰ δ’ ἑπόμενα ἐξ ἐκείνων βουλόμενοι μαθεῖν δύνασθε· οὐ γὰρ δυνατὸν ἐν τούτοις ἀναγράψαι πάντα. 10. ἀλλ’ εἰς ἀπόδειξιν γεγόνασιν οἵδε οἱ λόγοι ὅτι υἱὸς θεοῦ καὶ ἀπόστολος Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός ἐστι, πρότερον λόγος ὤν, καὶ ἐν ἰδέᾳ πυρὸς ποτὲ φανείς, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐν εἰκόνι ἀσωμάτῳ· νῦν δὲ διὰ θελήματος θεοῦ ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἀνθρωπείου γένους ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος ὑπέμεινε καὶ παθεῖν ὅσα αὐτὸν ἐνήργησαν οἱ δαίμονες διατεθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνοήτων Ἰουδαίων. 11. οἵτινες ἔχοντες ῥητῶς εἰρημένον ἐν τοῖς Μωυσέως συντάγμασι· Καὶ ἐλάλησεν ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ τῷ Μωυσεῖ ἐν πυρὶ φλογὸς ἐν βάτῳ καὶ εἶπεν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακώβ, τὸν τῶν ὅλων πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν τὸν ταῦτα εἰπόντα λέγουσιν εἶναι. 12. ὅθεν καὶ τὸ προφητικὸν πνεῦμα ἐλέγχον αὐτοὺς εἶπεν· Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω, καὶ ὁ λαός με οὐ συνῆκε. 13. καὶ πάλιν ὁ Ἰησοῦς, ὡς ἐδηλώσαμεν, παρ’ αὐτοῖς ὢν εἶπεν· Οὐδεὶς ἔγνω τὸν πατέρα εἰ μὴ ὁ υἱός, οὐδὲ τὸν υἱὸν εἰ μὴ ὁ πατὴρ καὶ οἷς ἂν ὁ υἱὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ. 14. Ἰουδαῖοι οὖν ἡγησάμενοι ἀεὶ τὸν πατέρα τῶν ὅλων λελαληκέναι τῷ Μωυσεῖ, τοῦ λαλήσαντος αὐτῷ ὄντος υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃς καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ ἀπόστολος κέκληται, δικαίως ἐλέγχονται καὶ διὰ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὡς οὔτε τὸν πατέρα οὔτε τὸν υἱὸν ἔγνωσαν. 15. οἱ γὰρ τὸν υἱὸν πατέρα φάσκοντες εἶναι ἐλέγχονται μήτε τὸν πατέρα ἐπιστάμενοι, μηθ’ ὅτι ἐστὶν υἱὸς τῷ πατρὶ τῶν ὅλων γινώσκοντες· ὃς καὶ λόγος πρωτότοκος ὢν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ θεὸς ὑπάρχει. 16. καὶ πρότερον διὰ τῆς τοῦ πυρὸς μορφῆς καὶ εἰκόνος ἀσωμάτου τῷ Μωυσεῖ καὶ τοῖς ἑτέροις προφήταις ἐφάνη· νῦν δ’ ἐν χρόνοις τῆς ὑμετέρας ἀρχῆς, ὡς προείπομεν, διὰ παρθένου ἄνθρωπος γενόμενος κατὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς βουλὴν ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας τῶν πιστευόντων αὐτῷ καὶ ἐξουθενηθῆναι καὶ παθεῖν ὑπέμεινεν, ἵνα ἀποθανὼν καὶ ἀναστὰς νικήσῃ τὸν θάνατον. 17. τὸ δὲ εἰρημένον ἐκ βάτου τῷ Μωυσεῖ· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, ὁ θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ θεὸς Ἰακὼβ καὶ ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων σου, σημαντικὸν τοῦ καὶ ἀποθανόντας ἐκείνους μένειν καὶ εἶναι αὐτοῦ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀνθρώπους· καὶ γὰρ πρῶτοι τῶν πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐκεῖνοι περὶ θεοῦ ζήτησιν ἠσχολήθησαν, Ἀβραὰμ μὲν πατὴρ ὢν τοῦ Ἰσαάκ, Ἰσαὰκ δὲ τοῦ Ἰακώβ, ὡς καὶ Μωυσῆς ἀνέγραψε. LXIV 1. Καὶ τὸ ἀνεγείρειν δὲ τὸ εἴδωλον τῆς λεγομένης Κόρης ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν ὑδάτων πηγαῖς ἐνεργῆσαι τοὺς δαίμονας, λέγοντας θυγατέρα αὐτὴν εἶναι τοῦ Διός, μιμησαμένους τὸ διὰ Μωυσέως εἰρημένον, ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων νοῆσαι δύνασθε. 2. ἔφη γὰρ ὁ Μωυσῆς, ὡς προεγράψαμεν· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν. 3. ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, καὶ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τῶν ὑδάτων. 4. εἰς μίμησιν οὖν τοῦ λεχθέντος ἐπιφερομένου τῷ ὕδατι πνεύματος θεοῦ τὴν Κόρην θυγατέρα τοῦ Διὸς ἔφασαν. 5. καὶ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν δὲ ὁμοίως πονηρευόμενοι θυγατέρα τοῦ Διὸς ἔφασαν, οὐκ ἀπὸ μίξεως, ἀλλ’, ἐπειδὴ ἐννοηθέντα τὸν θεὸν διὰ λόγου τὸν κόσμον ποιῆσαι ἔγνωσαν, ὡς τὴν πρώτην ἔννοιαν ἔφασαν τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν· ὅπερ γελοιότατον ἡγούμεθα εἶναι, τῆς ἐννοίας εἰκόνα παραφέρειν θηλειῶν μορφήν. 6. καὶ ὁμοίως τοὺς ἄλλους λεγομένους υἱοὺς τοῦ Διὸς αἱ πράξεις ἐλέγχουσιν. LXV 1. Ἡμεῖς δὲ μετὰ τὸ οὕτως λοῦσαι τὸν πεπεισμένον καὶ συγκατατεθειμένον ἐπὶ τοὺς λεγομένους ἀδελφοὺς ἄγομεν, ἔνθα συνηγμένοι εἰσί, κοινὰς εὐχὰς ποιησόμενοι ὑπέρ τε ἑαυτῶν καὶ τοῦ φωτισθέντος καὶ ἄλλων πανταχοῦ πάντων εὐτόνως, ὅπως καταξιωθῶμεν τὰ ἀληθῆ μαθόντες καὶ δι’ ἔργων ἀγαθοὶ πολιτευταὶ καὶ φύλακες τῶν ἐντεταλμένων εὑρεθῆναι, ὅπως τὴν αἰώνιον σωτηρίαν σωθῶμεν. 2. ἀλλήλους φιλήματι ἀσπαζόμεθα παυσάμενοι τῶν εὐχῶν. 3. ἔπειτα προσφέρεται τῷ προεστῶτι τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἄρτος καὶ ποτήριον ὕδατος καὶ κράματος, καὶ οὗτος λαβὼν αἶνον καὶ δόξαν τῷ πατρὶ τῶν ὅλων διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου ἀναπέμπει καὶ εὐχαριστίαν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κατηξιῶσθαι τούτων παρ’ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ πολὺ ποιεῖται· οὗ συντελέσαντος τὰς εὐχὰς καὶ τὴν εὐχαριστίαν πᾶς ὁ παρὼν λαὸς ἐπευφημεῖ λέγων· Ἀμήν. 4. τὸ δὲ Ἀμὴν τῇ Ἑβραΐδι φωνῇ τὸ Γένοιτο σημαίνει. 5. εὐχαριστήσαντος δὲ τοῦ προεστῶτος καὶ ἐπευφημήσαντος παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ οἱ καλούμενοι παρ’ ἡμῖν διάκονοι διδόασιν ἑκάστῳ τῶν παρόντων μεταλαβεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ εὐχαριστηθέντος ἄρτου καὶ οἴνου καὶ ὕδατος καὶ τοῖς οὐ παροῦσιν ἀποφέρουσι. LXVI 1. Καὶ ἡ τροφὴ αὕτη καλεῖται παρ’ ἡμῖν εὐχαριστία, ἧς οὐδενὶ ἄλλῳ μετασχεῖν ἐξόν ἐστιν ἢ τῷ πιστεύοντι ἀληθῆ εἶναι τὰ δεδιδαγμένα ὑφ’ ἡμῶν, καὶ λουσαμένῳ τὸ ὑπὲρ ἀφέσεως ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ εἰς ἀναγέννησιν λουτρόν, καὶ οὕτως βιοῦντι ὡς ὁ Χριστὸς παρέδωκεν. 2. οὐ γὰρ ὡς κοινὸν ἄρτον οὐδὲ κοινὸν πόμα ταῦτα λαμβάνομεν· ἀλλ’ ὃν τρόπον διὰ λόγου θεοῦ σαρκοποιηθεὶς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ σωτὴρ ἡμῶν καὶ σάρκα καὶ αἷμα ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας ἡμῶν ἔσχεν, οὕτως καὶ τὴν δι’ εὐχῆς λόγου τοῦ παρ’ αὐτοῦ εὐχαριστηθεῖσαν τροφήν, ἐξ ἧς αἷμα καὶ σάρκες κατὰ μεταβολὴν τρέφονται ἡμῶν, ἐκείνου τοῦ σαρκοποιηθέντος Ἰησοῦ καὶ σάρκα καὶ αἷμα ἐδιδάχθημεν εἶναι. 3. οἱ γὰρ ἀπόστολοι ἐν τοῖς γενομένοις ὑπ’ αὐτῶν ἀπομνημονεύμασιν, ἃ καλεῖται εὐαγγέλια, οὕτως παρέδωκαν ἐντετάλθαι αὐτοῖς· τὸν Ἰησοῦν λαβόντα ἄρτον εὐχαριστήσαντα εἰπεῖν· Τοῦτο ποιεῖτε εἰς τὴν ἀνάμνησίν μου, τοῦτ’ ἐστι τὸ σῶμά μου· καὶ τὸ ποτήριον ὁμοίως λαβόντα καὶ εὐχαριστήσαντα εἰπεῖν· Τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ αἷμά μου· καὶ μόνοις αὐτοῖς μεταδοῦναι. 4. ὅπερ καὶ ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Μίθρα μυστηρίοις παρέδωκαν γίνεσθαι μιμησάμενοι οἱ πονηροὶ δαίμονες· ὅτι γὰρ ἄρτος καὶ ποτήριον ὕδατος τίθεται ἐν ταῖς τοῦ μυουμένου τελεταῖς μετ’ ἐπιλόγων τινῶν, ἢ ἐπίστασθε ἢ μαθεῖν δύνασθε. LXVII 1. Ἡμεῖς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα λοιπὸν ἀεὶ τούτων ἀλλήλους ἀναμιμνήσκομεν· καὶ οἱ ἔχοντες τοῖς λειπομένοις πᾶσιν ἐπικουροῦμεν, καὶ σύνεσμεν ἀλλήλοις ἀεί. 2. ἐπὶ πᾶσί τε οἷς προσφερόμεθα εὐλογοῦμεν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν πάντων διὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ διὰ πνεύματος τοῦ ἁγίου. 3. καὶ τῇ τοῦ ἡλίου λεγομένῃ ἡμέρᾳ πάντων κατὰ πόλεις ἢ ἀγροὺς μενόντων ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ συνέλευσις γίνεται, καὶ τὰ ἀπομνημονεύματα τῶν ἀποστόλων ἢ τὰ συγγράμματα τῶν προφητῶν ἀναγινώσκεται, μέχρις ἐγχωρεῖ. 4. εἶτα παυσαμένου τοῦ ἀναγινώσκοντος ὁ προεστὼς διὰ λόγου τὴν νουθεσίαν καὶ πρόκλησιν τῆς τῶν καλῶν τούτων μιμήσεως ποιεῖται. 5. ἔπειτα ἀνιστάμεθα κοινῇ πάντες καὶ εὐχὰς πέμπομεν· καί, ὡς προέφημεν, παυσαμένων ἡμῶν τῆς εὐχῆς ἄρτος προσφέρεται καὶ οἶνος καὶ ὕδωρ, καὶ ὁ προεστὼς εὐχὰς ὁμοίως καὶ εὐχαριστίας, ὅση δύναμις αὐτῷ, ἀναπέμπει, καὶ ὁ λαὸς ἐπευφημεῖ λέγων τὸ Ἀμήν, καὶ ἡ διάδοσις καὶ ἡ μετάληψις ἀπὸ τῶν εὐχαριστηθέντων ἑκάστῳ γίνεται, καὶ τοῖς οὐ παροῦσι διὰ τῶν διακόνων πέμπεται. 6. οἱ εὐποροῦντες δὲ καὶ βουλόμενοι κατὰ προαίρεσιν ἕκαστος τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ὃ βούλεται δίδωσι, καὶ τὸ συλλεγόμενον παρὰ τῷ προεστῶτι ἀποτίθεται, καὶ αὐτὸς ἐπικουρεῖ ὀρφανοῖς τε καὶ χήραις, καὶ τοῖς διὰ νόσον ἢ δι’ ἄλλην αἰτίαν λειπομένοις, καὶ τοῖς ἐν δεσμοῖς οὖσι, καὶ τοῖς παρεπιδήμοις οὖσι ξένοις, καὶ ἁπλῶς πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν χρείᾳ οὖσι κηδεμὼν γίνεται. 7. τὴν δὲ τοῦ ἡλίου ἡμέραν κοινῇ πάντες τὴν συνέλευσιν ποιούμεθα, ἐπειδὴ πρώτη ἐστὶν ἡμέρα, ἐν ᾗ ὁ θεὸς τὸ σκότος καὶ τὴν ὕλην τρέψας κόσμον ἐποίησε, καὶ Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς ὁ ἡμέτερος σωτὴρ τῇ αὐτῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνέστη· τῇ γὰρ πρὸ τῆς κρονικῆς ἐσταύρωσαν αὐτόν, καὶ τῇ μετὰ τὴν κρονικήν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡλίου ἡμέρα, φανεὶς τοῖς ἀποστόλοις αὐτοῦ καὶ μαθηταῖς ἐδίδαξε ταῦτα, ἅπερ εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν καὶ ὑμῖν ἀνεδώκαμεν. LXVIII 1. Καὶ εἰ μὲν δοκεῖ ὑμῖν λόγου καὶ ἀληθείας ἔχεσθαι, τιμήσατε αὐτά· εἰ δὲ λῆρος ὑμῖν δοκεῖ, ὡς ληρωδῶν πραγμάτων καταφρονήσατε, καὶ μὴ ὡς κατ’ ἐχθρῶν κατὰ τῶν μηδὲν ἀδικούντων θάνατον ὁρίζετε. 2. προλέγομεν γὰρ ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ ἐκφεύξεσθε τὴν ἐσομένην τοῦ θεοῦ κρίσιν, ἐὰν ἐπιμένητε τῇ ἀδικίᾳ· καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐπιβοήσομεν· Ὃ φίλον τῷ θεῷ τοῦτο γενέσθω. 3. Καὶ ἐξ ἐπιστολῆς δὲ τοῦ μεγίστου καὶ ἐπιφανεστάτου Καίσαρος Ἀδριανοῦ, τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν, ἔχοντες ἀπαιτεῖν ὑμᾶς καθὰ ἠξιώσαμεν κελεῦσαι τὰς κρίσεις γενέσθαι, οὐκ ἐκ τοῦ κεκρῖσθαι τοῦτο ὑπὸ Ἀδριανοῦ μᾶλλον ἠξιώσαμεν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τοῦ ἐπίστασθαι δίκαια ἀξιοῦν τὴν προσφώνησιν καὶ ἐξήγησιν πεποιήμεθα. 4. ὑπετάξαμεν δὲ καὶ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς Ἀδριανοῦ τὸ ἀντίγραφον, ἵνα καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο ἀληθεύειν ἡμᾶς γνωρίζητε. 5. καὶ ἔστι τὸ ἀντίγραφον τοῦτο· Ἀδριανοῦ ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν ἐπιστολή. Μινουκίῳ Φουνδανῷ. 6. Ἐπιστολὴν ἐδεξάμην γραφεῖσάν μοι ἀπὸ Σερηνίου Γρανιανοῦ, λαμπροτάτου ἀνδρός, ὅντινα σὺ διεδέξω. 7. οὐ δοκεῖ οὖν μοι τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀζήτητον καταλιπεῖν, ἵνα μήτε οἱ ἄνθρωποι ταράττωνται καὶ τοῖς συκοφάνταις χορηγία κακουργίας παρασχεθῇ. 8. ἂν οὖν σαφῶς εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἀξίωσιν οἱ ἐπαρχιῶται δύνωνται διϊσχυρίζεσθαι κατὰ τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ὡς καὶ πρὸ βήματος ἀποκρίνεσθαι, ἐπὶ τοῦτο μόνον τραπῶσιν, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀξιώσεσιν οὐδὲ μόναις βοαῖς. 9. πολλῷ γὰρ μᾶλλον προσῆκεν, εἴ τις κατηγορεῖν βούλοιτο, τοῦτό σε διαγινώσκειν. 10. εἴ τις οὖν κατηγορεῖ καὶ δείκνυσί τι παρὰ τοὺς νόμους πράττοντας, οὕτως διόριζε κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τοῦ ἁμαρτήματος· ὡς μὰ τὸν Ἡρακλέα, εἴ τις συκοφαντίας χάριν τοῦτο προτείνοι, διαλάμβανε ὑπὲρ τῆς δεινότητος, καὶ φρόντιζε ὅπως ἂν ἐκδικήσειας.	CHAPTER LXI -- CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. I will also relate the manner in which we dedicated ourselves to God when we had been made new through Christ; lest, if we omit this, we seem to be unfair in the explanation we are making. As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For, in the name of God, the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water. For Christ also said, "Except ye be born again, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Now, that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter into their mothers' wombs, is manifest to all. And how those who have sinned and repent shall escape their sins, is declared by Esaias the prophet, as I wrote above; he thus speaks: "Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from your souls; learn to do well; judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow: and come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. And though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white like wool; and though they be as crimson, I will make them white as snow. But if ye refuse and rebel, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." And for this [rite] we have learned from the apostles this reason. Since at our birth we were born without our own knowledge or choice, by our parents coming together, and were brought up in bad habits and wicked training; in order that we may not remain the children of necessity and of ignorance, but may become the children of choice and knowledge, and may obtain in the water the remission of sins formerly committed, there is pronounced over him who chooses to be born again, and has repented of his sins, the name of God the Father and Lord of the universe; he who leads to the layer the person that is to be washed calling him by this name alone. For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God; and if any one dare to say that there is a name, he raves with a hopeless madness. And this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings. And in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Ghost, who through the prophets foretold all things about Jesus, he who is illuminated is washed. CHAPTER LXII -- ITS IMITATION BY DEMONS. And the devils, indeed, having heard this washing published by the prophet, instigated those who enter their temples, and are about to approach them with libations and burnt-offerings, also to sprinkle themselves; and they cause them also to wash themselves entirely, as they depart [from the sacrifice], before they enter into the shrines in which their images are set. And the command, too, given by the priests to those who enter and worship in the temples, that they take off their shoes, the devils, learning what happened to the above-mentioned prophet Moses, have given in imitation of these things. For at that juncture, when Moses was ordered to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites who were there, and while he was tending the flocks of his maternal uncle in the land of Arabia, our Christ conversed with him under the appearance of fire from a bush, and said, "Put off thy shoes, and draw near and hear." And he, when he had put off his shoes and drawn near, heard that he was to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites there; and he received mighty power from Christ, who spoke to him in the appearance of fire, and went down and led out the people, having done great and marvellous things; which, if you desire to know, you will learn them accurately from his writings. CHAPTER LXIII -- HOW GOD APPEARED TO MOSES. And all the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spake to Moses; whence the Spirit of prophecy, accusing them by Isaiah the prophet mentioned above, said "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib; but israel doth not know Me, and My people do not understand." And Jesus the Christ, because the Jews knew not what the Father was, and what the Son, in like manner accused them; and Himself said, "No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; nor the Son, but the Father, and they to whom the Son revealeth Him." Now the Word of God is His Son, as we have before said. And He is called Angel and Apostle; for He declares whatever we ought to know, and is sent forth to declare whatever is revealed; as our Lord Himself says, "He that heareth Me, heareth Him that sent Me." From the writings of Moses also this will be manifest; for thus it is written in them, "And the Angel of God spake to Moses, in a flame of fire out of the bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of thy fathers; go down into Egypt, and bring forth My people." And if you wish to learn what follows, you can do so from the same writings; for it is impossible to relate the whole here. But so much is written for the sake of proving that Jesus the Christ is the Son of God and His Apostle, being of old the Word, and appearing sometimes in the form of fire, and sometimes in the likeness of angels; but now, by the will of God, having become man for the human race, He endured all the sufferings which the devils instigated the senseless Jews to inflict upon Him; who, though they have it expressly affirmed in the writings of Moses, "And the angel of God spake to Moses in a flame of fire in a bush, and said, I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob," yet maintain that He who said this was the Father and Creator of the universe. Whence also the Spirit of prophecy rebukes them, and says, "Israel doth not know Me, my people have not understood Me." And again, Jesus, as we have already shown, while He was with them, said, "No one knoweth the Father, but the Son; nor the Son but the Father, and those to whom the Son will reveal Him." The Jews, accordingly, being throughout of opinion that it was the Father of the universe who spake to Moses, though He who spake to him was indeed the Son of God, who is called both Angel and Apostle, are justly charged, both by the Spirit of prophecy and by Christ Himself, with knowing neither the Father nor the Son. For they who affirm that the Son is the Father, are proved neither to have become acquainted with the Father, nor to know that the Father of the universe has a Son; who also, being the first-begotten Word of God, is even God. And of old He appeared in the shape of fire and in the likeness of an angel to Moses and to the other prophets; but now in the times of your reign, having, as we before said, become Man by a virgin, according to the counsel of the Father, for the salvation of those who believe on Him, He endured both to be set at nought and to suffer, that by dying and rising again He might conquer death. And that which was said out of the bush to Moses, "I am that I am, the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and the God of your fathers," this signified that they, even though dead, are let in existence, and are men belonging to Christ Himself. For they were the first of all men to busy themselves in the search after God; Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses wrote. CHAPTER LXIV -- FURTHER MISREPRESENTATIONS OF THE TRUTH. From what has been already said, you can understand how the devils, in imitation of what was said by Moses, asserted that Proserpine was the daughter of Jupiter, and instigated the people to set up an image of her under the name of Kore [Cora, i.e., the maiden or daughter] at the spring-heads. For, as we wrote above, Moses said, "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and unfurnished: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." In imitation, therefore, of what is here said of the Spirit of God moving on the waters, they said that Proserpine [or Coral was the daughter of Jupiter. And in like manner also they craftily feigned that Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter, not by sexual union, but, knowing that God conceived and made the world by the Word, they say that Minerva is the first conception [ennoia]; which we consider to be very absurd, bringing forward the form of the conception in a female shape. And in like manner the actions of those others who are called sons of Jupiter sufficiently condemn them. CHAPTER LXV -- ADMINISTRATION OF THE SACRAMENTS. But we, after we have thus washed him who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in order that we may offer hearty prayers in common for ourselves and for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every place, that we may be counted worthy, now that we have learned the truth, by our works also to be found good citizens and keepers of the commandments, so that we may be saved with an everlasting salvation. Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he taking them, gives praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and offers thanks at considerable length for our being counted worthy to receive these things at His hands. And when he has concluded the prayers and thanksgivings, all the people present express their assent by saying Amen. This word Amen answers in the Hebrew language to genoito [so be it]. And when the president has given thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who are called by us deacons give to each of those present to partake of the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a portion. CHAPTER LXVI -- OF THE EUCHARIST. And this food is called among us Eukaristia [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in like manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour, having been made flesh by the Word of God, had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise have we been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, have thus delivered unto us what was enjoined upon them; that Jesus took bread, and when He had given thanks, said, "This do ye in remembrance of Me, this is My body;" and that, after the same manner, having taken the cup and given thanks, He said, "This is My blood;" and gave it to them alone. Which the wicked devils have imitated in the mysteries of Mithras, commanding the same thing to be done. For, that bread and a cup of water are placed with certain incantations in the mystic rites of one who is being initiated, you either know or can learn. CHAPTER LXVII -- WEEKLY WORSHIP OF THE CHRISTIANS. And we afterwards continually remind each other of these things. And the wealthy among us help the needy; and we always keep together; and for all things wherewith we are supplied, we bless the Maker of all through His Son Jesus Christ, and through the Holy Ghost. And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits; then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs, and exhorts to the imitation of these good things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability, and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is a distribution to each, and a participation of that over which thanks have been given, and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need. But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration. CHAPTER LXVIII -- CONCLUSION. And if these things seem to you to be reasonable and true, honour them; but if they seem nonsensical, despise them as nonsense, and do not decree death against those who have done no wrong, as you would against enemies. For we forewarn you, that you shall not escape the coming judgment of God, if you continue in your injustice; and we ourselves will invite you to do that which is pleasing to God. And though from the letter of the greatest and most illustrious Emperor Adrian, your father, we could demand that you order judgment to be given as we have desired, yet we have made this appeal and explanation, not on the ground of Adrian's decision, but because we know that what we ask is just. And we have subjoined the copy of Adrian's epistle, that you may know that we are speaking truly about this. And the following is the copy:-- EPISTLE OF ADRIAN IN BEHALF OF THE CHRISTIANS. I have received the letter addressed to me by your predecessor Serenius Granianus, a most illustrious man; and this communication I am unwilling to pass over in silence, lest innocent persons be disturbed, and occasion be given to the informers for practising villany. Accordingly, if the inhabitants of your province will so far sustain this petition of theirs as to accuse the Christians in some court of law, I do not prohibit them from doing so. But I will not suffer them to make use of mere entreaties and outcries. For it is far more just, if any one desires to make an accusation, that you give judgment upon it. If, therefore, any one makes the accusation, and furnishes proof that the said men do anything contrary to the laws, you shall adjudge punishments in proportion to the offences. And this, by Hercules; you shall give special heed to, that if any man shall, through mere calumny, bring an accusation against any of these persons, you shall award to him more severe punishments in proportion to his wickedness.

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:29 pm

Justin Martyr, 2 Apology 1-15.

Τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνον Φιλοσόφου καὶ Μάρτυρος Ἀπολογία ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν πρὸς τὴν Ῥωμαίων Σύγκλητον

Second Apology of Justin (For the Christians, Addressed to the Roman Senate)

I 1. Καὶ τὰ χθὲς δὲ καὶ πρώην ἐν τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν γενόμενα ἐπὶ Οὐρβίκου, ὦ Ῥωμαῖοι, καὶ τὰ πανταχοῦ ὁμοίως ὑπὸ τῶν ἡγουμένων ἀλόγως πραττόμενα ἐξηνάγκασέ με ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν, ὁμοιοπαθῶν ὄντων καὶ ἀδελφῶν, κἂν ἀγνοῆτε καὶ μὴ θέλητε διὰ τὴν δόξαν τῶν νομιζομένων ἀξιωμάτων, τὴν τῶνδε τῶν λόγων σύνταξιν ποιήσασθαι. 2. πανταχοῦ γὰρ, ὃς ἂν σωφρονίζηται ὑπὸ πατρὸς ἢ γείτονος ἢ τέκνου ἢ φίλου ἢ ἀδελφοῦ ἢ ἀνδρὸς ἢ γυναικὸς κατ’ ἔλλειψιν, χωρὶς τῶν πεισθέντων τοὺς ἀδίκους καὶ ἀκολάστους ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ κολασθήσεσθαι, τοὺς δ’ ἐναρέτους καὶ ὁμοίως Χριστῷ βιώσαντας ἐν ἀπαθείᾳ συγγενέσθαι τῷ θεῷ (λέγομεν δὲ τῶν γενομένων Χριστιανῶν), διὰ τὸ δυσμετάθετον καὶ φιλήδονον καὶ δυσκίνητον πρὸς τὸ καλὸν ὁρμῆσαι, καὶ οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες, ἐχθραίνοντες ἡμῖν καὶ τοὺς τοιούτους δικαστὰς ἔχοντες ὑποχειρίους καὶ λατρεύοντας, ὡς οὖν ἄρχοντας δαιμονιῶντας, φονεύειν ἡμᾶς παρασκευάζουσιν. 3. ὅπως δὲ καὶ ἡ αἰτία τοῦ παντὸς γενομένου ἐπὶ Οὐρβίκου φανερὰ ὑμῖν γένηται, τὰ πεπραγμένα ἀπαγγελῶ.

II 1. Γυνή τις συνεβίου ἀνδρὶ ἀκολασταίνοντι, ἀκολασταίνουσα καὶ αὐτὴ πρότερον. 2. ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδάγματα ἔγνω, αὐτὴ ἐσωφρονίσθη καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα ὁμοίως σωφρονεῖν πείθειν ἐπειρᾶτο, τὰ διδάγματα ἀναφέρουσα, τήν τε μέλλουσαν τοῖς οὐ σωφρόνως καὶ μετὰ λόγου ὀρθοῦ βιοῦσιν ἔσεσθαι ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ κόλασιν ἀπαγγέλλουσα. 3. ὁ δὲ ταῖς αὐταῖς ἀσελγείαις ἐπιμένων ἀλλοτρίαν διὰ τῶν πράξεων ἐποιεῖτο τὴν γαμετήν. 4. ἀσεβὲς γὰρ ἡγουμένη τὸ λοιπὸν ἡ γυνὴ συγκατακλίνεσθαι ἀνδρί, παρὰ τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον καὶ παρὰ τὸ δίκαιον πόρους ἡδονῆς ἐκ παντὸς πειρωμένῳ ποιεῖσθαι, τῆς συζυγίας χωρισθῆναι ἐβουλήθη. 5. καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐξεδυσωπεῖτο ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῆς, ἔτι προσμένειν συμβουλευόντων, ὡς εἰς ἐλπίδα μεταβολῆς ἥξοντός ποτε τοῦ ἀνδρός, βιαζομένη ἑαυτὴν ἐπέμενεν. 6. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὁ ταύτης ἀνὴρ εἰς τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρειαν πορευθεὶς χαλεπώτερα πράττειν ἀπηγγέλθη, ὅπως μὴ κοινωνὸς τῶν ἀδικημάτων καὶ ἀσεβημάτων γένηται, μένουσα ἐν τῇ συζυγίᾳ καὶ ὁμοδίαιτος καὶ ὁμόκοιτος γινομένη, τὸ λεγόμενον παρ’ ὑμῖν ῥεπούδιον δοῦσα ἐχωρίσθη. 7. ὁ δὲ καλὸς κἀγαθὸς ταύτης ἀνήρ, δέον αὐτὸν χαίρειν ὅτι ἃ πάλαι μετὰ τῶν ὑπηρετῶν καὶ τῶν μισθοφόρων εὐχερῶς ἔπραττε, μέθαις χαίρουσα καὶ κακίᾳ πάσῃ, τούτων μὲν τῶν πράξεων πέπαυτο καὶ αὐτὸν τὰ αὐτὰ παύσασθαι πράττοντα ἐβούλετο, μὴ βουλομένου ἀπαλλαγείσης κατηγορίαν πεποίηται, λέγων αὐτὴν Χριστιανὴν εἶναι. 8. καὶ ἡ μὲν βιβλίδιόν σοι τῷ αὐτοκράτορι ἀνέδωκεν, πρότερον συγχωρηθῆναι αὐτῇ διοικήσασθαι τὰ ἑαυτῆς ἀξιοῦσα, ἔπειτα ἀπολογήσασθαι περὶ τοῦ κατηγορήματος μετὰ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων αὐτῆς διοίκησιν· καὶ συνεχώρησας τοῦτο. 9. ὁ δὲ ταύτης ποτὲ ἀνήρ, πρὸς ἐκείνην μὲν μὴ δυνάμενος τὰ νῦν ἔτι λέγειν, πρὸς Πτολεμαῖόν τινα, ὃν Οὔρβικος ἐκολάσατο, διδάσκαλον ἐκείνης τῶν Χριστιανῶν μαθημάτων γενόμενον, ἐτράπετο διὰ τοῦδε τοῦ τρόπου. 10. ἑκατόνταρχον εἰς δεσμὰ ἐμβαλόντα τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, φίλον αὐτῷ ὑπάρχοντα, ἔπεισε λαβέσθαι τοῦ Πτολεμαίου καὶ ἀνερωτῆσαι εἰ, αὐτὸ τοῦτο μόνον, Χριστιανός ἐστιν. 11. καὶ τὸν Πτολεμαῖον, φιλαλήθη ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἀπατηλὸν οὐδὲ ψευδολόγον τὴν γνώμην ὄντα ὁμολογήσαντα ἑαυτὸν εἶναι Χριστιανόν, ἐν δεσμοῖς γενέσθαι ὁ ἑκατόνταρχος πεποίηκεν, καὶ ἐπὶ πολὺν χρόνον ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ ἐκολάσατο. 12. τελευταῖον δέ, ὅτε ἐπὶ Οὔρβικον ἤχθη ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ὁμοίως αὐτὸ τοῦτο μόνον ἐξητάσθη, εἰ εἴη Χριστιανός. 13. καὶ πάλιν, τὰ καλὰ ἑαυτῷ συνεπιστάμενος διὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδαχήν, τὸ διδασκαλεῖον τῆς θείας ἀρετῆς ὡμολόγησεν. 14. ὁ γὰρ ἀρνούμενος ὁτιοῦν ἢ κατεγνωκὼς τοῦ πράγματος ἔξαρνος γίνεται, ἢ ἑαυτὸν ἀνάξιον ἐπιστάμενος καὶ ἀλλότριον τοῦ πράγματος τὴν ὁμολογίαν φεύγει· ὧν οὐδὲν πρόσεστιν τῷ ἀληθινῷ Χριστιανῷ. 15. καὶ τοῦ Οὐρβίκου κελεύσαντος αὐτὸν ἀπαχθῆναι Λούκιός τις, καὶ αὐτὸς ὢν Χριστιανός, ὁρῶν τὴν ἀλόγως οὕτως γενομένην κρίσιν, πρὸς τὸν Οὔρβικον ἔφη· 16. Τίς ἡ αἰτία; τοῦ μήτε μοιχὸν μήτε πόρνον μήτε ἀνδροφόνον μήτε λωποδύτην μήτε ἅρπαγα μήτε ἁπλῶς ἀδίκημά τι πράξαντα ἐλεγχόμενον, ὀνόματος δὲ Χριστιανοῦ προσωνυμίαν ὁμολογοῦντα τὸν ἄνθρωπον τοῦτον ἐκολάσω; οὐ πρέποντα Εὐσεβεῖ αὐτοκράτορι οὐδὲ φιλοσόφου Καίσαρος παιδὶ οὐδὲ τῇ ἱερᾷ συγκλήτῳ κρίνεις, ὦ Οὔρβικε. 17. καὶ ὃς οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἀποκρινάμενος καὶ πρὸς τὸν Λούκιον ἔφη· Δοκεῖς μοι καὶ σὺ εἶναι τοιοῦτος. 18. καὶ Λουκίου φήσαντος· Μάλιστα, πάλιν καὶ αὐτὸν ἀπαχθῆναι ἐκέλευσεν. 19. ὁ δὲ καὶ χάριν εἰδέναι ὡμολόγει, πονηρῶν δεσποτῶν τῶν τοιούτων ἀπηλλάχθαι γινώσκων καὶ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα καὶ βασιλέα τῶν οὐρανῶν πορεύεσθαι. 20. καὶ ἄλλος δὲ τρίτος ἐπελθὼν κολασθῆναι προσετιμήθη.

III 1. Κἀγὼ οὖν προσδοκῶ ὑπό τινος τῶν ὠνομασμένων ἐπιβουλευθῆναι καὶ ξύλῳ ἐμπαγῆναι, ἢ κἂν ὑπὸ Κρίσκεντος τοῦ φιλοψόφου καὶ φιλοκόμπου. 2. οὐ γὰρ φιλόσοφον εἰπεῖν ἄξιον τὸν ἄνδρα, ὅς γε περὶ ἡμῶν ἃ μὴ ἐπίσταται δημοσίᾳ καταμαρτυρεῖ, ὡς ἀθέων καὶ ἀσεβῶν Χριστιανῶν ὄντων, πρὸς χάριν καὶ ἡδονὴν τῶν πολλῶν τῶν πεπλανημένων ταῦτα πράττων. 3. εἴτε γὰρ μὴ ἐντυχὼν τοῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ διδάγμασι κατατρέχει ἡμῶν, παμπόνηρός ἐστι καὶ ἰδιωτῶν πολὺ χείρων, οἳ φυλάττονται πολλάκις περὶ ὧν οὐκ ἐπίστανται διαλέγεσθαι καὶ ψευδομαρτυρεῖν· ἢ εἰ ἐντυχών, μὴ συνῆκε τὸ ἐν αὐτοῖς μεγαλεῖον, ἢ συνείς, πρὸς τὸ μὴ ὑποπτευθῆναι τοιοῦτος ταῦτα ποιεῖ, πολὺ μᾶλλον ἀγεννὴς καὶ παμπόνηρος, ἰδιωτικῆς καὶ ἀλόγου δόξης καὶ φόβου ἐλάττων ὤν. 4. καὶ γὰρ προθέντα με καὶ ἐρωτήσαντα αὐτὸν ἐρωτήσεις τινὰς τοιαύτας καὶ μαθεῖν καὶ ἐλέγξαι, ὅτι ἀληθῶς μηδὲν ἐπίσταται, εἰδέναι ὑμᾶς βούλομαι. 5. καὶ ὅτι ἀληθῆ λέγω, εἰ μὴ ἀνηνέχθησαν ἡμῖν αἱ κοινωνίαι τῶν λόγων, ἕτοιμος καὶ ἐφ’ ὑμῶν κοινωνεῖν τῶν ἐρωτήσεων πάλιν· βασιλικὸν δ’ ἂν καὶ τοῦτο ἔργον εἴη. 6. εἰ δὲ καὶ ἐγνώσθησαν ὑμῖν αἱ ἐρωτήσεις μου καὶ αἱ ἐκείνου ἀποκρίσεις, φανερὸν ὑμῖν ἐστιν ὅτι οὐδὲν τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐπίσταται· ἢ εἰ καὶ ἐπίσταται, διὰ τοὺς ἀκούοντας δὲ οὐ τολμᾷ λέγειν, ὁμοίως Σωκράτει ὡς προέφην, οὐ φιλόσοφος ἀλλὰ φιλόδοξος ἀνὴρ δείκνυται, ὅς γε μηδὲ τὸ Σωκρατικὸν ἀξιέραστον ὂν τιμᾷ· Ἀλλ’ οὔτι γε πρὸ τῆς ἀληθείας τιμητέος ἀνήρ. 7. ἀδύνατον δὲ Κυνικῷ, ἀδιάφορον τὸ τέλος προθεμένῳ, τὸ ἀγαθὸν εἰδέναι πλὴν ἀδιαφορίας.

IV 1. Ὅπως δὲ μή τις εἴπῃ· Πάντες οὖν ἑαυτοὺς φονεύσαντες πορεύεσθε ἤδη παρὰ τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἡμῖν πράγματα μὴ παρέχετε, – ἐρῶ δι’ ἣν αἰτίαν τοῦτο οὐ πράττομεν, καὶ δι’ ἣν ἐξεταζόμενοι ἀφόβως ὁμολογοῦμεν. 2. οὐκ εἰκῆ τὸν κόσμον πεποιηκέναι τὸν θεὸν δεδιδάγμεθα, ἀλλ’ ἢ διὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος· χαίρειν τε τοῖς τὰ προσόντα αὐτῷ μιμουμένοις προέφημεν, ἀπαρέσκεσθαι δὲ τοῖς τὰ φαῦλα ἀσπαζομένοις ἢ λόγῳ ἢ ἔργῳ. 3. εἰ οὖν πάντες ἑαυτοὺς φονεύσομεν, τοῦ μὴ γεννηθῆναί τινα καὶ μαθητευθῆναι εἰς τὰ θεῖα διδάγματα, ἢ καὶ μὴ εἶναι τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος, ὅσον ἐφ’ ἡμῖν, αἴτιοι ἐσόμεθα, ἐναντίον τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ βουλῇ καὶ αὐτοὶ ποιοῦντες, ἐὰν τοῦτο πράξωμεν. 4. ἐξεταζόμενοι δὲ οὐκ ἀρνούμεθα διὰ τὸ συνεπίστασθαι ἑαυτοῖς μηδὲν φαῦλον, ἀσεβὲς δὲ ἡγούμενοι μὴ κατὰ πάντα ἀληθεύειν, ὃ καὶ φίλον τῷ θεῷ γινώσκομεν, ὑμᾶς δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀδίκου προλήψεως ἀπαλλάξαι νῦν σπεύδοντες.

V 1. Εἰ δέ τινα ὑπέλθοι καὶ ἡ ἔννοια αὕτη ὅτι, εἰ θεὸν ὡμολογοῦμεν βοηθόν, οὐκ ἄν, ὡς λέγομεν, ὑπὸ ἀδίκων ἐκρατούμεθα καὶ ἐτιμωρούμεθα, καὶ τοῦτο διαλύσω. 2. ὁ θεὸς τὸν πάντα κόσμον ποιήσας καὶ τὰ ἐπίγεια ἀνθρώποις ὑποτάξας καὶ τὰ οὐράνια στοιχεῖα εἰς αὔξησιν καρπῶν καὶ ὡρῶν μεταβολὰς κοσμήσας καὶ θεῖον τούτοις νόμον τάξας, ἃ καὶ αὐτὰ δι’ ἀνθρώπους φαίνεται πεποιηκὼς, τὴν μὲν τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν πρόνοιαν ἀγγέλοις, οὓς ἐπὶ τούτοις ἔταξε, παρέδωκεν. 3. οἱ δ’ ἄγγελοι, παραβάντες τήνδε τὴν τάξιν, γυναικῶν μίξεσιν ἡττήθησαν καὶ παῖδας ἐτέκνωσαν, οἵ εἰσιν οἱ λεγόμενοι δαίμονες. 4. καὶ προσέτι λοιπὸν τὸ ἀνθρώπειον γένος ἑαυτοῖς ἐδούλωσαν· τὰ μὲν διὰ μαγικῶν γραφῶν, τὰ δὲ διὰ φόβων καὶ τιμωριῶν, ὧν ἐπέφερον, τὰ δὲ διὰ διδαχῆς θυμάτων καὶ θυμιαμάτων καὶ σπονδῶν, ὧν ἐνδεεῖς γεγόνασι μετὰ τὸ πάθεσιν ἐπιθυμιῶν δουλωθῆναι· καὶ εἰς ἀνθρώπους φόνους, πολέμους, μοιχείας, ἀκολασίας καὶ πᾶσαν κακίαν ἔσπειραν. 5. ὅθεν καὶ ποιηταὶ καὶ μυθολόγοι, ἀγνοοῦντες τοὺς ἀγγέλους καὶ τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν γεννηθέντας δαίμονας ταῦτα πρᾶξαι εἰς ἄρρενας καὶ θηλείας καὶ πόλεις καὶ ἔθνη, ἅπερ συνέγραψαν, εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν καὶ τοὺς ὡς ἀπ’ αὐτοῦ σπορᾷ γενομένους υἱοὺς καὶ τῶν λεχθέντων ἐκείνου ἀδελφῶν καὶ τέκνων ὁμοίως τῶν ἀπ’ ἐκείνων, Ποσειδῶνος καὶ Πλούτωνος, ἀνήνεγκαν. 6. ὀνόματι γὰρ ἕκαστον, ὅπερ ἕκαστος ἑαυτῷ τῶν ἀγγέλων καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις ἔθετο, προσηγόρευσαν.

VI 1. Ὄνομα δὲ τῷ πάντων πατρὶ θετόν, ἀγεννήτῳ ὄντι, οὐκ ἔστιν· ᾧ γὰρ ἂν καὶ ὄνομά τι προσαγορεύηται, πρεσβύτερον ἔχει τὸν θέμενον τὸ ὄνομα. 2. τὸ δὲ πατὴρ καὶ θεὸς καὶ κτίστης καὶ κύριος καὶ δεσπότης οὐκ ὀνόματά ἐστιν, ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῶν εὐποιϊῶν καὶ τῶν ἔργων προσρήσεις. 3. ὁ δὲ υἱὸς ἐκείνου, ὁ μόνος λεγόμενος κυρίως υἱός, ὁ λόγος πρὸ τῶν ποιημάτων καὶ συνὼν καὶ γεννώμενος, ὅτε τὴν ἀρχὴν δι’ αὐτοῦ πάντα ἔκτισε καὶ ἐκόσμησε, Χριστὸς μὲν κατὰ τὸ κεχρῖσθαι καὶ κοσμῆσαι τὰ πάντα δι’ αὐτοῦ τὸν θεὸν λέγεται, ὄνομα καὶ αὐτὸ περιέχον ἄγνωστον σημασίαν, ὃν τρόπον καὶ τὸ θεὸς προσαγόρευμα οὐκ ὄνομά ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ πράγματος δυσεξηγήτου ἔμφυτος τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων δόξα. 4. Ἰησοῦς δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπου καὶ σωτῆρος ὄνομα καὶ σημασίαν ἔχει. 5. καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἄνθρωπος, ὡς προέφημεν, γέγονε κατὰ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ πατρὸς βουλὴν ἀποκυηθεὶς ὑπὲρ τῶν πιστευόντων ἀνθρώπων καὶ ἐπὶ καταλύσει τῶν δαιμόνων· καὶ νῦν ἐκ τῶν ὑπ’ ὄψιν γινομένων μαθεῖν δύνασθε. 6. δαιμονιολήπτους γὰρ πολλοὺς κατὰ πάντα τὸν κόσμον καὶ ἐν τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ πόλει πολλοὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀνθρώπων, τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ἐπορκίζοντες κατὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, ὑπὸ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων ἐπορκιστῶν καὶ ἐπᾳστῶν καὶ φαρμακευτῶν μὴ ἰαθέντας, ἰάσαντο καὶ ἔτι νῦν ἰῶνται, καταργοῦντες καὶ ἐκδιώκοντες τοὺς κατέχοντας τοὺς ἀνθρώπους δαίμονας.

VII 1. Ὅθεν καὶ ἐπιμένει ὁ θεὸς τὴν σύγχυσιν καὶ κατάλυσιν τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου μὴ ποιῆσαι, ἵνα καὶ οἱ φαῦλοι ἄγγελοι καὶ δαίμονες καὶ ἄνθρωποι μηκέτι ὦσι, διὰ τὸ σπέρμα τῶν Χριστιανῶν, ὃ γινώσκει ἐν τῇ φύσει ὅτι αἴτιόν ἐστιν. 2. ἐπεὶ εἰ μὴ τοῦτο ἦν, οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ ὑμῖν ταῦτα ἔτι ποιεῖν καὶ ἐνεργεῖσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων δυνατὸν ἦν, ἀλλὰ τὸ πῦρ τὸ τῆς κρίσεως κατελθὸν ἀνέδην πάντα διέκρινεν, ὡς καὶ πρότερον ὁ κατακλυσμὸς μηδένα λιπὼν ἀλλ’ ἢ τὸν μόνον σὺν τοῖς ἰδίοις παρ’ ἡμῖν καλούμενον Νῶε, παρ’ ὑμῖν δὲ Δευκαλίωνα, ἐξ οὗ πάλιν οἱ τοσοῦτοι γεγόνασιν, ὧν οἱ μὲν φαῦλοι, οἱ δὲ σπουδαῖοι. 3. οὕτω γὰρ ἡμεῖς τὴν ἐκπύρωσίν φαμεν γενήσεσθαι, ἀλλ’ οὐχ, ὡς οἱ Στωϊκοί, κατὰ τὸν τῆς εἰς ἄλληλα πάντων μεταβολῆς λόγον, ὃ αἴσχιστον ἐφάνη· ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ καθ’ εἱμαρμένην πράττειν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἢ πάσχειν τὰ γινόμενα, ἀλλὰ κατὰ μὲν τὴν προαίρεσιν ἕκαστον κατορθοῦν ἢ ἁμαρτάνειν, καὶ κατὰ τὴν τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων ἐνέργειαν τοὺς σπουδαίους, οἷον Σωκράτην καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους, διώκεσθαι καὶ ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶναι, Σαρδανάπαλον δὲ καὶ Ἐπίκουρον καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίους ἐν ἀφθονίᾳ καὶ δόξῃ δοκεῖν εὐδαιμονεῖν. 4. ὃ μὴ νοήσαντες οἱ Στωϊκοὶ καθ’ εἱμαρμένης ἀνάγκην πάντα γίνεσθαι ἀπεφήναντο. 5. ἀλλ’ ὅτι αὐτεξούσιον τό τε τῶν ἀγγέλων γένος καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐποίησεν ὁ θεός, δικαίως ὑπὲρ ὧν ἂν πλημμελήσωσι τὴν τιμωρίαν ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ κομίσονται. 6. γεννητοῦ δὲ παντὸς ἥδε ἡ φύσις, κακίας καὶ ἀρετῆς δεκτικὸν εἶναι· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἦν ἐπαινετὸν οὐδὲν αὐτῶν, εἰ οὐκ ἦν ἐπ’ ἀμφότερα τρέπεσθαι καὶ δύναμιν εἶχε. 7. δεικνύουσι δὲ τοῦτο καὶ οἱ πανταχοῦ κατὰ λόγον τὸν ὀρθὸν νομοθετήσαντες καὶ φιλοσοφήσαντες ἄνθρωποι ἐκ τοῦ ὑπαγορεύειν τάδε μὲν πράττειν, τῶνδε δὲ ἀπέχεσθαι. 8. καὶ οἱ Στωϊκοὶ φιλόσοφοι ἐν τῷ περὶ ἠθῶν λόγῳ τὰ αὐτὰ τιμῶσι καρτερῶς, ὡς δηλοῦσθαι ἐν τῷ περὶ ἀρχῶν καὶ ἀσωμάτων λόγῳ οὐκ εὐοδοῦν αὐτούς. 9. εἴτε γὰρ καθ’ εἱμαρμένην φήσουσι τὰ γινόμενα πρὸς ἀνθρώπων γίνεσθαι, ἢ μηδὲν εἶναι θεὸν παρὰ τρεπόμενα καὶ ἀλλοιούμενα καὶ ἀναλυόμενα εἰς τὰ αὐτὰ ἀεί, φθαρτῶν μόνων φανήσονται κατάληψιν ἐσχηκέναι καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν θεὸν διά τε τῶν μερῶν καὶ διὰ τοῦ ὅλου ἐν πάσῃ κακίᾳ γινόμενον ἢ μηδὲν εἶναι κακίαν μηδ’ ἀρετήν· ὅπερ καὶ παρὰ πᾶσαν σώφρονα ἔννοιαν καὶ λόγον καὶ νοῦν ἐστι.

VIII 1. Καὶ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν Στωϊκῶν δὲ δογμάτων, ἐπειδὴ κἂν τὸν ἠθικὸν λόγον κόσμιοι γεγόνασιν, ὡς καὶ ἔν τισιν οἱ ποιηταὶ, διὰ τὸ ἔμφυτον παντὶ γένει ἀνθρώπων σπέρμα τοῦ λόγου, μεμισῆσθαι καὶ πεφονεῦσθαι οἴδαμεν· Ἡράκλειτον μέν, ὡς προέφημεν, καὶ Μουσώνιον δὲ ἐν τοῖς καθ’ ἡμᾶς καὶ ἄλλους οἴδαμεν. 2. ὡς γὰρ ἐσημάναμεν, πάντας τοὺς κἂν ὁπωσδήποτε κατὰ λόγον βιοῦν σπουδάζοντας καὶ κακίαν φεύγειν μισεῖσθαι ἀεὶ ἐνήργησαν οἱ δαίμονες. 3. οὐδὲν δὲ θαυμαστόν, εἰ τοὺς οὐ κατὰ σπερματικοῦ λόγου μέρος, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὴν τοῦ παντὸς λόγου, ὅ ἐστι Χριστοῦ, γνῶσιν καὶ θεωρίαν πολὺ μᾶλλον μισεῖσθαι οἱ δαίμονες ἐλεγχόμενοι ἐνεργοῦσιν· οἳ τὴν ἀξίαν κόλασιν καὶ τιμωρίαν κομίσονται ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ ἐγκλεισθέντες. 4. εἰ γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἤδη διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἡττῶνται, δίδαγμά ἐστι τῆς καὶ μελλούσης αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς λατρεύουσιν αὐτοῖς ἐσομένης ἐν πυρὶ αἰωνίῳ κολάσεως. 5. οὕτως γὰρ καὶ οἱ προφῆται πάντες προεκήρυξαν γενήσεσθαι, καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ ἡμέτερος διδάσκαλος ἐδίδαξε.

IX 1. Ἵνα δὲ μή τις εἴπῃ τὸ λεγόμενον ὑπὸ τῶν νομιζομένων φιλοσόφων, ὅτι κόμποι καὶ φόβητρά ἐστι τὰ λεγόμενα ὑφ’ ἡμῶν ὅτι κολάζονται ἐν αἰωνίῳ πυρὶ οἱ ἄδικοι, καὶ διὰ φόβον ἀλλ’ οὐ διὰ τὸ καλὸν εἶναι καὶ ἀρεστὸν ἐναρέτως βιοῦν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἀξιοῦμεν, βραχυεπῶς πρὸς τοῦτο ἀποκρινοῦμαι, ὅτι, εἰ μὴ τοῦτό ἐστιν, οὔτε ἔστι θεός, ἤ, εἰ ἔστιν, οὐ μέλει αὐτῷ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ οὐδέν ἐστιν ἀρετὴ οὐδὲ κακία, καί, ὡς προέφημεν, ἀδίκως τιμωροῦσιν οἱ νομοθέται τοὺς παραβαίνοντας τὰ διατεταγμένα καλά. 2. ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἄδικοι ἐκεῖνοι καὶ ὁ αὐτῶν πατήρ, τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτῷ πράττειν διὰ τοῦ λόγου διδάσκων, οἱ τούτοις συντιθέμενοι οὐκ ἄδικοι. 3. ἐὰν δέ τις τοὺς διαφόρους νόμους τῶν ἀνθρώπων προβάληται, λέγων ὅτι παρ’ οἷς μὲν ἀνθρώποις τάδε καλά, τὰ δὲ αἰσχρὰ νενόμισται, παρ’ ἄλλοις δὲ τὰ παρ’ ἐκείνοις αἰσχρὰ καλά, καὶ τὰ καλὰ αἰσχρὰ νομίζεται, ἀκουέτω καὶ τῶν εἰς τοῦτο λεγομένων 4. καὶ νόμους διατάξασθαι τῇ ἑαυτῶν κακίᾳ ὁμοίους τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀγγέλους ἐπιστάμεθα, οἷς χαίρουσιν οἱ ὅμοιοι γενόμενοι ἄνθρωποι, καὶ ὀρθὸς λόγος παρελθὼν οὐ πάσας δόξας οὐδὲ πάντα δόγματα καλὰ ἀποδείκνυσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ μὲν φαῦλα, τὰ δὲ ἀγαθά· ὥστε μοι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς τοιούτους τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ τὰ ὅμοια εἰρήσεται, καὶ λεχθήσεται διὰ πλειόνων, ἐὰν χρεία ᾖ. 5. τανῦν δὲ ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον ἀνέρχομαι.

X 1. Μεγαλειότερα μὲν οὖν πάσης ἀνθρωπείου διδασκαλίας φαίνεται τὰ ἡμέτερα διὰ τοῦ τὸ λογικὸν τὸ ὅλον τὸν φανέντα δι’ ἡμᾶς Χριστὸν γεγονέναι, καὶ σῶμα καὶ λόγον καὶ ψυχήν. 2. ὅσα γὰρ καλῶς ἀεὶ ἐφθέγξαντο καὶ εὗρον οἱ φιλοσοφήσαντες ἢ νομοθετήσαντες, κατὰ λόγου μέρος δι’ εὑρέσεως καὶ θεωρίας ἐστὶ πονηθέντα αὐτοῖς. 3. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οὐ πάντα τὰ τοῦ λόγου ἐγνώρισαν, ὅς ἐστι Χριστός, καὶ ἐναντία ἑαυτοῖς πολλάκις εἶπον. 4. καὶ οἱ προγεγενημένοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ, κατὰ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον λόγῳ πειραθέντες τὰ πράγματα θεωρῆσαι καὶ ἐλέγξαι, ὡς ἀσεβεῖς καὶ περίεργοι εἰς δικαστήρια ἤχθησαν. 5. ὁ πάντων δὲ αὐτῶν εὐτονώτερος πρὸς τοῦτο γενόμενος Σωκράτης τὰ αὐτὰ ἡμῖν ἐνεκλήθη· καὶ γὰρ ἔφασαν αὐτὸν καινὰ δαιμόνια εἰσφέρειν, καὶ οὓς ἡ πόλις νομίζει θεοὺς μὴ ἡγεῖσθαι αὐτόν. 6. ὁ δὲ δαίμονας μὲν τοὺς φαύλους καὶ τοὺς πράξαντας ἃ ἔφασαν οἱ ποιηταί, ἐκβαλὼν τῆς πολιτείας καὶ Ὅμηρον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ποιητάς, παραιτεῖσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐδίδαξε, πρὸς θεοῦ δὲ τοῦ ἀγνώστου αὐτοῖς διὰ λόγου ζητήσεως ἐπίγνωσιν προὐτρέπετο, εἰπών· Τὸν δὲ πατέρα καὶ δημιουργὸν πάντων οὔθ’ εὑρεῖν ῥᾴδιον, οὔθ’ εὑρόντα εἰς πάντας εἰπεῖν ἀσφαλές. 7. ἃ ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς διὰ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεως ἔπραξε. 8. Σωκράτει μὲν γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἐπείσθη ὑπὲρ τούτου τοῦ δόγματος ἀποθνήσκειν· Χριστῷ δέ, τῷ καὶ ὑπὸ Σωκράτους ἀπὸ μέρους γνωσθέντι (λόγος γὰρ ἦν καὶ ἔστιν ὁ ἐν παντὶ ὤν, καὶ διὰ τῶν προφητῶν προειπὼν τὰ μέλλοντα γίνεσθαι καὶ δι’ ἑαυτοῦ ὁμοιοπαθοῦς γενομένου καὶ διδάξαντος ταῦτα), οὐ φιλόσοφοι οὐδὲ φιλόλογοι μόνον ἐπείσθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ χειροτέχναι καὶ παντελῶς ἰδιῶται, καὶ δόξης καὶ φόβου καὶ θανάτου καταφρονήσαντες· ἐπειδὴ δύναμίς ἐστι τοῦ ἀρρήτου πατρὸς καὶ οὐχὶ ἀνθρωπείου λόγου κατασκευή.

XI 1. Οὐκ ἂν δὲ οὐδὲ ἐφονευόμεθα οὐδὲ δυνατώτεροι ἡμῶν ἦσαν οἵ τε ἄδικοι ἄνθρωποι καὶ δαίμονες, εἰ μὴ πάντως παντὶ γεννωμένῳ ἀνθρώπῳ καὶ θανεῖν ὠφείλετο· ὅθεν καὶ τὸ ὄφλημα ἀποδιδόντες εὐχαριστοῦμεν. 2. καίτοι γε καὶ τὸ Ξενοφώντειον ἐκεῖνο νῦν πρός τε Κρίσκεντα καὶ τοὺς ὁμοίως αὐτῷ ἀφραίνοντας καλὸν καὶ εὔκαιρον εἰπεῖν ἡγούμεθα. 3. τὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐπὶ τρίοδόν τινα ἔφη ὁ Ξενοφῶν βαδίζοντα εὑρεῖν τήν τε ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν κακίαν, ἐν γυναικῶν μορφαῖς φαινομένας. 4. καὶ τὴν μὲν κακίαν, ἁβρᾷ ἐσθῆτι καὶ ἐρωτοπεποιημένῳ καὶ ἀνθοῦντι ἐκ τῶν τοιούτων προσώπῳ, θελκτικήν τε εὐθὺς πρὸς τὰς ὄψεις οὖσαν, εἰπεῖν πρὸς τὸν Ἡρακλέα ὅτι, ἢν αὐτῇ ἕπηται, ἡδόμενόν τε καὶ κεκοσμημένον τῷ λαμπροτάτῳ καὶ ὁμοίῳ τῷ περὶ αὐτὴν κόσμῳ διαιτήσειν ἀεὶ ποιήσει. 5. καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν ἐν αὐχμηρῷ μὲν τῷ προσώπῳ καὶ τῇ περιβολῇ οὖσαν εἰπεῖν· Ἀλλ’ ἢν ἐμοὶ πείθῃ, οὐ κόσμῳ οὐδὲ κάλλει τῷ ῥέοντι καὶ φθειρομένῳ ἑαυτὸν κοσμήσεις ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀϊδίοις καὶ καλοῖς κόσμοις. 6. καὶ πάνθ’ ὁντινοῦν πεπείσμεθα, φεύγοντα τὰ δοκοῦντα καλά, τὰ δὲ νομιζόμενα σκληρὰ καὶ ἄλογα μετερχόμενον, εὐδαιμονίαν ἐκδέχεσθαι. 7. ἡ γὰρ κακία, πρόβλημα ἑαυτῆς τῶν πράξεων τὰ προσόντα τῇ ἀρετῇ καὶ ὄντως ὄντα καλὰ διὰ μιμήσεως ἀφθάρτων περιβαλλομένη (ἄφθαρτον γὰρ οὐδὲν ἔχει οὐδὲ ποιῆσαι δύνατα), δουλαγωγεῖ τοὺς χαμαιπετεῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, τὰ προσόντα αὐτῇ φαῦλα τῇ ἀρετῇ περιθεῖσα. 8. οἱ δὲ νενοηκότες τὰ προσόντα τῷ ὄντι καλὰ καὶ ἄφθαρτοι τῇ ἀρετῇ· ὃ καὶ περὶ Χριστιανῶν καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἄθλου καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τῶν τοιαῦτα πραξάντων, ὁποῖα ἔφασαν οἱ ποιηταὶ περὶ τῶν νομιζομένων θεῶν, ὑπολαβεῖν δεῖ πάντα νουνεχῆ, ἐκ τοῦ καὶ τοῦ φευκτοῦ καταφρονεῖν ἡμᾶς θανάτου λογισμὸν ἕλκοντα.

XII 1. Καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐγώ, τοῖς Πλάτωνος χαίρων διδάγμασι, διαβαλλομένους ἀκούων Χριστιανούς, ὁρῶν δὲ ἀφόβους πρὸς θάνατον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἄλλα νομιζόμενα φοβερά, ἐνενόουν ἀδύνατον εἶναι ἐν κακίᾳ καὶ φιληδονίᾳ ὑπάρχειν αὐτούς. 2. τίς γὰρ φιλήδονος ἢ ἀκρατὴς καὶ ἀνθρωπίνων σαρκῶν βορὰν ἀγαθὸν ἡγούμενος δύναιτο ἂν θάνατον ἀσπάζεσθαι, ὅπως τῶν αὐτοῦ ἀγαθῶν στερηθῇ, ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἐκ παντὸς ζῆν μὲν ἀεὶ τὴν ἐνθάδε βιοτὴν καὶ λανθάνειν τοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐπειρᾶτο, οὐχ ὅτι γε ἑαυτὸν κατήγγειλε φονευθησόμενον; 3. ἤδη καὶ τοῦτο ἐνήργησαν οἱ φαῦλοι δαίμονες διά τινων πονηρῶν ἀνθρώπων πραχθῆναι. 4. φονεύοντες γὰρ αὐτοί τινας ἐπὶ συκοφαντίᾳ τῇ εἰς ἡμᾶς καὶ εἰς βασάνους εἵλκυσαν οἰκέτας τῶν ἡμετέρων ἢ παῖδας ἢ γύναια, καὶ δι’ αἰκισμῶν φοβερῶν ἐξαναγκάζουσι κατειπεῖν ταῦτα τὰ μυθολογούμενα, ἃ αὐτοὶ φανερῶς πράττουσιν· ὧν ἐπειδὴ οὐδὲν πρόσεστιν ἡμῖν, οὐ φροντίζομεν, θεὸν τὸν ἀγέννητον καὶ ἄρρητον μάρτυρα ἔχοντες τῶν τε λογισμῶν καὶ τῶν πράξεων. 5. τίνος γὰρ χάριν οὐχὶ καὶ ταῦτα δημοσίᾳ ὡμολογοῦμεν ἀγαθὰ καὶ φιλοσοφίαν θείαν αὐτὰ ἀπεδείκνυμεν, φάσκοντες Κρόνου μὲν μυστήρια τελεῖν ἐν τῷ ἀνδροφονεῖν, καὶ ἐν τῷ αἵματος ἐμπίπλασθαι, ὡς λέγεται, τὰ ἴσα τῷ παρ’ ὑμῖν τιμωμένῳ εἰδώλῳ, ᾧ οὐ μόνον ἀλόγων ζώων αἵματα προσραίνεται ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνθρώπεια, διὰ τοῦ παρ’ ὑμῖν ἐπισημοτάτου καὶ εὐγενεστάτου ἀνδρὸς τὴν πρόσχυσιν τοῦ τῶν φονευθέντων αἵματος ποιούμενοι, Διὸς δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν μιμηταὶ γενόμενοι ἐν τῷ ἀνδροβατεῖν καὶ γυναιξὶν ἀδεῶς μίγνυσθαι, Ἐπικούρου μὲν καὶ τὰ τῶν ποιητῶν συγγράμματα ἀπολογίαν φέροντες; 6. ἐπειδὴ δὲ ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα καὶ τοὺς ταῦτα πράξαντας καὶ μιμουμένους φεύγειν πείθομεν, ὡς καὶ νῦν διὰ τῶνδε τῶν λόγων ἠγωνίσμεθα, ποικίλως πολεμούμεθα· ἀλλ’ οὐ φροντίζομεν, ἐπεὶ θεὸν τῶν πάντων ἐπόπτην δίκαιον οἴδαμεν. 7. εἴθε καὶ νῦν τις ἂν τραγικῇ φωνῇ ἀνεβόησεν ἐπί τι βῆμα ὑψηλὸν ἀναβάς· Αἰδέσθητε, αἰδέσθητε ἃ φανερῶς πράττετε εἰς ἀναιτίους ἀναφέροντες, καὶ τὰ προσόντα καὶ ἑαυτοῖς καὶ τοῖς ὑμετέροις θεοῖς περιβάλλοντες τούτοις ὧν οὐδὲν οὐδ’ ἐπὶ ποσὸν μετουσία ἐστί. 8. μετάθεσθε, σωφρονίσθητε.

XIII 1. Καὶ γὰρ ἐγώ, μαθὼν περίβλημα πονηρὸν εἰς ἀποστροφὴν τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων περιτεθειμένον ὑπὸ τῶν φαύλων δαιμόνων τοῖς Χριστιανῶν θείοις διδάγμασι, καὶ ψευδολογουμένων ταῦτα καὶ τοῦ περιβλήματος κατεγέλασα καὶ τῆς παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς δόξης. 2. Χριστιανὸς εὑρεθῆναι καὶ εὐχόμενος καὶ παμμάχως ἀγωνιζόμενος ὁμολογῶ, οὐχ ὅτι ἀλλότριά ἐστι τὰ Πλάτωνος διδάγματα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἀλλ’ ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι πάντη ὅμοια, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τὰ τῶν ἄλλων, Στωϊκῶν τε καὶ ποιητῶν καὶ συγγραφέων. 3. ἕκαστος γάρ τις ἀπὸ μέρους τοῦ σπερματικοῦ θείου λόγου τὸ συγγενὲς ὁρῶν καλῶς ἐφθέγξατο· οἱ δὲ τἀναντία ἑαυτοῖς ἐν κυριωτέροις εἰρηκότες οὐκ ἐπιστήμην τὴν ἄποπτον καὶ γνῶσιν τὴν ἀνέλεγκτον φαίνονται ἐσχηκέναι. 4. ὅσα οὖν παρὰ πᾶσι καλῶς εἴρηται, ἡμῶν τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐστι· τὸν γὰρ ἀπὸ ἀγεννήτου καὶ ἀρρήτου θεοῦ λόγον μετὰ τὸν θεὸν προσκυνοῦμεν καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ δι’ ἡμᾶς ἄνθρωπος γέγονεν, ὅπως καὶ τῶν παθῶν τῶν ἡμετέρων συμμέτοχος γενόμενος καὶ ἴασιν ποιήσηται. 5. οἱ γὰρ συγγραφεῖς πάντες διὰ τῆς ἐνούσης ἐμφύτου τοῦ λόγου σπορᾶς ἀμυδρῶς ἐδύναντο ὁρᾶν τὰ ὄντα. 6. ἕτερον γάρ ἐστι σπέρμα τινὸς καὶ μίμημα κατὰ δύναμιν δοθέν, καὶ ἕτερον αὐτὸ οὗ κατὰ χάριν τὴν ἀπ’ ἐκείνου ἡ μετουσία καὶ μίμησις γίνεται.

XIV 1. Καὶ ὑμᾶς οὖν ἀξιοῦμεν ὑπογράψαντας τὸ ὑμῖν δοκοῦν προθεῖναι τουτὶ τὸ βιβλίδιον, ὅπως καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τὰ ἡμέτερα γνωσθῇ καὶ δύνωνται τῆς ψευδοδοξίας καὶ ἀγνοίας τῶν καλῶν ἀπαλλαγῆναι, οἳ παρὰ τὴν ἑαυτῶν αἰτίαν ὑπεύθυνοι ταῖς τιμωρίαις γίνονται [εἰς τὸ γνωσθῆναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ταῦτα], 2. διὰ τὸ ἐν τῇ φύσει τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἶναι τὸ γνωριστικὸν καλοῦ καὶ αἰσχροῦ, καὶ διὰ τὸ ἡμῶν, οὓς οὐκ ἐπίστανται τοιαῦτα ὁποῖα λέγουσιν αἰσχρὰ πράττειν, καταψηφίζεσθαι, καὶ διὰ τὸ χαίρειν τοιαῦτα πράξασι θεοῖς καὶ ἔτι νῦν ἀπαιτοῦσι παρὰ ἀνθρώπων τὰ ὅμοια, ὡς ἐκ τοῦ καὶ ἡμῖν, ὡς τοιαῦτα πράττουσι, θάνατον ἢ δεσμὰ ἢ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτον προστιμᾶν ἑαυτοὺς κατακρίνειν, ὡς μὴ δέεσθαι ἄλλων δικαστῶν.

XV 1. [Καὶ τοῦ ἐν τῷ ἐμῷ ἔθνει, ἀσεβοῦς καὶ πλάνου Σιμωνιανοῦ διδάγματος κατεφρόνησα.] 2. ἐὰν δὲ ὑμεῖς τοῦτο προγράψητε, ἡμεῖς τοῖς πᾶσι φανερὸν ποιήσαιμεν, ἵνα εἰ δύναιντο μεταθῶνται· τούτου γε μόνου χάριν τούσδε τοὺς λόγους συνετάξαμεν. 3. οὐκ ἔστι δὲ ἡμῶν τὰ διδάγματα κατὰ κρίσιν σώφρονα αἰσχρά, ἀλλὰ πάσης μὲν φιλοσοφίας ἀνθρωπείου ὑπέρτερα· εἰ δὲ μὴ, κἂν Σωταδείοις καὶ Φιλαινιδείοις καὶ Ἀρχεστρατείοις καὶ Ἐπικουρείοις καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις τοῖς τοιούτοις ποιητικοῖς διδάγμασιν οὐχ ὅμοια, οἷς ἐντυγχάνειν πᾶσι, καὶ λεγομένοις καὶ γεγραμμένοις, συγκεχώρηται. 4. καὶ παυσόμεθα λοιπόν, ὅσον ἐφ’ ἡμῖν ἦν πράξαντες, καὶ προσεπευξάμενοι τῆς ἀληθείας καταξιωθῆναι τοὺς πάντη πάντας ἀνθρώπους. 5. εἴη οὖν καὶ ὑμᾶς ἀξίως εὐσεβείας καὶ φιλοσοφίας τὰ δίκαια ὑπὲρ ἑαυτῶν κρῖναι.

CHAPTER I -- INTRODUCTION. Romans, the things which have recently happened in your city under Urbicus, and the things which are likewise being everywhere unreasonably done by the governors, have compelled me to frame this composition for your sakes, who are men of like passions, and brethren, though ye know it not, and though ye be unwilling to acknowledge it on account of your glorying in what you esteem dignities. For everywhere, whoever is corrected by father, or neighbour, or child, or friend, or brother, or husband, or wife, for a fault, for being hard to move, for loving pleasure and being hard to urge to what is right (except those who have been persuaded that the unjust and intemperate shall be punished in eternal fire, but that the virtuous and those who lived like Christ shall dwell with God in a state that is free from suffering,--we mean, those who have become Christians), and the evil demons, who hate us, and who keep such men as these subject to themselves, and serving them in the capacity of judges, incite them, as rulers actuated by evil spirits, to put us to death. But that the cause of all that has taken place under Urbicus may become quite plain to you, I will relate what has been done.

CHAPTER II -- URBICUS CONDEMNS THE CHRISTIANS TO DEATH. A certain woman lived with an intemperate husband; she herself, too, having formerly been intemperate. But when she came to the knowledge of the teachings of Christ she became sober-minded, and endeavoured to persuade her husband likewise to be temperate, citing the teaching of Christ, and assuring him that there shall be punishment in eternal fire inflicted upon those who do not live temperately and conformably to right reason. But he, continuing in the same excesses, alienated his wife from him by his actions. For she, considering it wicked to live any longer as a wife with a husband who sought in every way means of indulging in pleasure contrary to the law of nature, and in violation of what is right, wished to be divorced from him. And when she was overpersuaded by her friends, who advised her still to continue with him, in the idea that some time or other her husband might give hope of amendment, she did violence to her own feeling and remained with him. But when her husband had gone into Alexandria, and was reported to be conducting himself worse than ever, she--that she might not, by continuing in matrimonial connection with him, and by sharing his table and his bed, become a partaker also in his wickednesses and impieties--gave him what you call a bill of divorce, and was separated from him. But this noble husband of hers,--while he ought to have been rejoicing that those actions which formerly she unhesitatingly committed with the servants and hirelings, when she delighted in drunkenness and every vice, she had now given up, and desired that he too should give up the same,--when she had gone from him without his desire, brought an accusation against her, affirming that she was a Christian. And she presented a paper to thee, the Emperor, requesting that first she be permitted to arrange her affairs, and afterwards to make her defence against the accusation, when her affairs were set in order. And this you granted. And her quondam husband, since he was now no longer able to prosecute her, directed his assaults against a man, Ptolemaeus, whom Urbicus punished, and who had been her teacher in the Christian doctrines. And this he did in the following way. He persuaded a centurion--who had cast Ptolemaeus into prison, and who was friendly to himself--to take Ptolemaeus and interrogate him on this sole point: whether he were a Christian? And Ptolemaeus, being a lover of truth, and not of a deceitful or false disposition, when he confessed himself to be a Christian, was bound by the centurion, and for a long time punished in the prison. And, at last, when the man came to Urbicus, he was asked this one question only: whether he was a Christian? And again, being conscious of his duty, and the nobility of it through the teaching of Christ, he confessed his discipleship in the divine virtue. For he who denies anything, either denies it because he condemns the thing itself, or he shrinks from confession because he is conscious of his own unworthiness or alienation from it; neither of which cases is that of the true Christian. And when Urbicus ordered him to be led away to punishment, one Lucius, who was also himself a Christian, seeing the unreasonable judgment that had thus been given, said to Urbicus: "What is the ground of this judgment? Why have you punished this man, not as an adulterer, nor fornicator, nor murderer, nor thief, nor robber, nor convicted of any crime at all, but who has only confessed that he is called by the name of Christian? This judgment of yours, O Urbicus, does not become the Emperor Pius, nor the philosopher, the son of Caesar, nor the sacred senate." And he said nothing else in answer to Lucius than this: "You also seem to me to be such an one." And when Lucius answered, "Most certainly I am," he again ordered him also to be led away. And he professed his thanks, knowing that he was delivered from such wicked rulers, and was going to the Father and King of the heavens. And still a third having come forward, was condemned to be punished.

CHAPTER III -- JUSTIN ACCUSES CRESCENS OF IGNORANT PREJUDICE AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS. I too, therefore, expect to be plotted against and fired to the stake, by some of those I have named, or perhaps by Crescens, that lover of bravado and boasting; for the man is not worthy of the name of philosopher who publicly bears witness against us in matters which he does not understand, saying that the Christians are atheists and impious, and doing so to win favour with the deluded mob, and to please them. For if he assails us without having read the teachings of Christ, he is thoroughly depraved, and far worse than the illiterate, who often refrain from discussing or bearing false witness about matters they do not understand. Or, if he has read them and does not understand the majesty that is in them, or, understanding it, acts thus that he may not be suspected of being such [a Christian], he is far more base and thoroughly depraved, being conquered by illiberal and unreasonable opinion and fear. For I would have you to know that I proposed to him certain questions on this subject, and interrogated him, and found most convincingly that he, in truth, knows nothing. And to prove that I speak the truth, I am ready, if these disputations have not been reported to you, to conduct them again in your presence. And this would be an act worthy of a prince. But if my quesions and his answers have been made known to you, you are already aware that he is acquainted with none of our matters; or, if he is acquainted with them, but, through fear of those who might hear him, does not dare to speak out, like Socrates, he proves himself, as I said before, no philosopher, but an opionative man; at least he does not regard that Socratic and most admirable saying: "But a man must in no wise be honoured before the truth." But it is impossible for a Cynic, who makes indifference his end, to know any good but indifference.

CHAPTER IV -- WHY THE CHRISTIANS DO NOT KILL THEMSELVES. But lest some one say to us, "Go then all or you and kill yourselves, and pass even now to God, and do not trouble us," I will tell you why we do not so, but why, when examined, we fearlessly confess. We have been taught that God did not make the world aimlessly, but for the sake of the human race; and we have before stated that He takes pleasure in those who imitate His properties, and is displeased with those that embrace what is worthless either in word or deed. If, then, we all kill ourselves, we shall become the cause, as far as in us lies, why no one should be born, or instructed in the divine doctrines, or even why the human race should not exist; and we shall, if we so act, be ourselves acting in opposition to the will of God. But when we are examined, we make no denial, because we are not conscious of any evil, but count it impious not to speak the truth in all things, which also we know is pleasing to God, and be cause we are also now very desirous to deliver you from an unjust prejudice.

CHAPTER V -- HOW THE ANGELS TRANSGRESSED. But if this idea take possession of some one that if we acknowledge God as our helper, we should not, as we say, be oppressed and persecuted by the wicked; this, too, I will solve. God, when He had made the whole world, and subjected things earthly to man, and arranged the heavenly elements for the increase of fruits and rotation of the seasons, and appointed this divine law--for these things also He evidently made for man--committed the care of men and of all things under heaven to angels whom He appointed over them. But the angels transgressed this appointment. and were captivated by love of women, and begat children who are those that are called demons; and besides, they afterwards subdued the human race to themselves, partly by magical writings, and partly by fears and the punishments they occasioned, and partly by teaching them to offer sacrifices, and incense, and libations, of which things they stood in need after they were enslaved by lustful passions; and among men they sowed murders, wars, adulteries, intemperate deeds, and all wickedness. Whence also the poets and mythologists, not knowing that it was the angels and those demons who had been begotten by them that did these things to men, and women, and cities, and nations, which they related, ascribed them to god himself, and to those who were accounted to be his very offspring, and to the offspring of those who were called his brothers, Neptune and Pluto, and to the children again of these their offspring. For whatever name each of the angels had given to himself and his children, by that name they called them.

CHAPTER VI -- NAMES OF GOD AND OF CHRIST, THEIR MEANING AND POWER. But to the Father of all, who is unbegotten, there is no name given. For by whatever name He be called, He has as His elder the person who gives Him the name. But these words, Father, and God, and Creator, and Lord, and Master, are not names, but appellations derived from His good deeds and functions. And His Son, who alone is properly called Son, the Word, who also was with Him and was begotten before the works, when at first He created and arranged all things by Him, is called Christ, in reference to His being anointed and God's ordering all things through Him; this name itself also containing an unknown significance; as also the appellation "God" is not a name, but an opinion implanted in the nature of men of a thing that can hardly be explained. But "Jesus," His name as man and Saviour, has also significance. For He was made man also, as we before said, having been conceived according to the will of God the Father, for the sake of believing men, and for the destruction of the demons. And now you can learn this from what is under your own observation. For numberless demoniacs throughout the whole world, and in your city, many of our Christian men exorcising them in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, have healed and do heal, rendering helpless and driving the possessing devils out of the men, though they could not be cured by all the other exorcists, and those who used incantations and drugs.

CHAPTER VII -- THE WORLD PRESERVED FOR THE SAKE OF CHRISTIANS. MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY. Wherefore God delays causing the confusion and destruction of the whole world, by which the wicked angels and demons and men shall cease to exist, because of the seed of the Christians, who know that they are the cause of preservation in nature. Since, if it were not so, it would not have been possible for you to do these things, and to be impelled by evil spirits; but the fire of judgment would descend and utterly dissolve all things, even as formerly the flood left no one but him only with his family who is by us called Noah, and by you Deucalion, from whom again such vast numbers have sprung, some of them evil and others good. For so we say that there will be the conflagration, but not as the Stoics, according to their doctrine of all things being changed into one another, which seems most degrading. But neither do we affirm that it is by fate that men do what they do, or suffer what they suffer, but that each man by free choice acts rightly or sins; and that it is by the influence of the wicked demons that earnest men, such as Socrates and the like, suflcr persecution and are in bonds, while Sardanapalus, Epicurus, and the like, seem to be blessed in abundance and glory. The Stoics, not observing this, maintained that all things take place according to the necessity of fate. But since God in the beginning made the race of angels and men with free-will, they will justly suffer in eternal fire the punishment of whatever sins they have committed. And this is the nature of all that is made, to be capable of vice and virtue. For neither would any of them be praiseworthy unless there were power to turn to both [virtue and vice]. And this also is shown by those men everywhere who have made laws and philosophized according to right reason, by their prescribing to do some things and refrain from others. Even the Stoic philosophers, in their doctrine of morals, steadily honour the same things, so that it is evident that they are not very felicitous in what they say about principles and incorporeal things. For if they say that human actions come to pass by fate, they will maintain either that God is nothing else than the things which are ever turning, and altering, and dissolving into the same things, and will appear to have had a comprehension only of things that are destructible, and to have looked on God Himself as emerging both in part and in whole in every wickedness; or that neither vice nor virtue is anything; which is contrary to every sound idea, reason, and sense.

CHAPTER VIII -- ALL HAVE BEEN HATED IN WHOM THE WORD HAS DWELT. And those of the Stoic school--since, so far as their moral teaching went, they were admirable, as were also the poets in some particulars, on account of the seed of reason [the Logos] implanted in every race of men-- were, we know, hated and put to death,--Heraclitus for instance, and, among those of our own time, Musonius and others. For, as we intimated, the devils have always effected, that all those who anyhow live a reasonable and earnest life and shun vice, be hated. And it is nothing wonderful; if the devils are proved to cause those to be much worse hated who live not according to a part only of the word diffused [among men], but by the knowledge and contemplation of the whole Word, which is Christ. And they, having been shut up in eternal fire, shall suffer their just punishment and penalty. For if they are even now overthrown by men through the name of Jesus Christ, this is an intimation of the punishment in eternal fire which is to be inflicted on themselves and those who serve them. For thus did both all the prophets foretell, and our own teacher Jesus teach.

CHAPTER IX -- ETERNAL PUNISHMENT NOT A MERE THREAT. And that no one may say what is said by those who are deemed philosophers, that our assertions that the wicked are punished in eternal fire are big words and bugbears, and that we wish men to live virtuously through fear, and not because such a life is good and pleasant; I will briefly reply to this, that if this be not so, God does not exist; or, if He exists, He cares not for men and neither virtue nor vice is anything, and, as we said before, lawgivers unjustly punish those who transgress good commandments. But since these are not unjust, and their Father teaches them by the word to do the same things as Him self, they who agree with them are not unjust. And if one object that the laws of men are diverse, and say that with some, one thing is considered good, another evil, while with others what seemed bad to the former is esteemed good, and what seemed good is esteemed bad, let him listen to what we say to this. We know that the wicked angels appointed laws conformable to their own wickedness, in which the men who are like them delight; and the right Reason, when He came, proved that not all opinions nor all doctrines are good, but that some are evil, while others are good. Wherefore, I will declare the same and similar things to such men as these, and, if need be, they shall be spoken of more at large. But at present I return to the subject.

CHAPTER X -- CHRIST COMPARED WITH SOCRATES. Our doctrines, then, appear to be greater than all human teaching; because Christ, who appeared for our sakes, became the whole rational being, both body, and reason, and soul. For whatever either lawgivers or philosophers uttered well, they elaborated by finding and contemplating some part of the Word. But since they did not know the whole of the Word, which is Christ, they often contradicted themselves. And those who by human birth were more ancient than Christ, when they attempted to consider and prove things by reason, were brought before the tribunals as impious persons and busybodies. And Socrates, who was more zealous in this direction than all of them, was accused of the very same crimes as ourselves. For they said that he was introducing new divinities, and did not consider those to be gods whom the state recognised. But he cast out from the state both Homer[4] and the rest of the poets, and taught men to reject the wicked demons and those who did the things which the poets related; and he exhorted them to become acquainted with the God who was to them unknown, by means of the investigation of reason, saying, "That it is neither easy to find the Father and Maker of all, nor, having found Him, is it safe to declare Him to all."[5] But these things our Christ did through His own power. For no one trusted in Socrates so as to die for this doctrine, but in Christ, who was partially known even by Socrates (for He was and is the Word who is in every man, and who foretold the things that were to come to pass both through the prophets and in His own person when He was made of like passions, and taught these things), not only philosophers and scholars believed, but also artisans and people entirely uneducated, despising both glory, and fear, and death; since He is a power of the ineffable Father, and not the mere instrument of human reason.

CHAPTER XI -- HOW CHRISTIANS VIEW DEATH. But neither should we be put to death, nor would wicked men and devils be more powerful than we, were not death a debt due by every man that is born. Wherefore we give thanks when we pay this debt. And we judge it right and opportune to tell here, for the sake of Crescens and those who rave as he does, what is related by Xenophon. Hercules, says Xenophon, coming to a place where three ways met, found Virtue and Vice, who appeared to him in the form of women: Vice, in a luxurious dress, and with a seductive expression rendered blooming by such ornaments, and her eyes of a quickly melting tenderness, said to Hercules that if he would follow her, she would always enable him to pass his life in pleasure and adorned with the most graceful ornaments, such as were then upon her own person; and Virtue, who was of squalid look and dress, said, But if you obey me, you shall adorn yourself not with ornament nor beauty that passes away and perishes, but with everlasting and precious graces. And we are persuaded that every one who flees those things that seem to be good, and follows hard after what are reckoned difficult and strange, enters into blessedness. For Vice, when by imitation of what is incorruptible (for what is really incorruptible she neither has nor can produce) she has thrown around her own actions, as a disguise, the properties of Virtue, and qualities which are really excellent, leads captive earthlyminded men, attaching to Virtue her own evil properties. But those who understood the excellences which belong to that which is real, are also uncorrupt in virtue. And this every sensible person ought to think both of Christians and of the athletes, and of those who did what the poets relate of the so-called gods, concluding as much from our contempt of death, even when it could be escaped.

CHAPTER XII -- CHRISTIANS PROVED INNOCENT BY THEIR CONTENIPT OF DEATH. For I myself, too, when I was delighting in the doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered, and saw them fearless of death, and of all other things which are counted fearful, perceived that it was impossible that they could be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what sensual or intemperate man, or who that counts it good to feast on human flesh,[4] could welcome death that he might be deprived of his enjoyments, and would not rather continue always the present life, and attempt to escape the observation of the rulers; and much less would he denounce himself when the consequence would be death? This also the wicked demons have now caused to be done by evil men. For having put some to death on account of the accusations falsely brought against us, they also dragged to the torture our domestics, either children or weak women, and by dreadful torments forced them to admit those fabulous actions which they themselves openly perpetrate; about which we are the less concerned, because none of these actions are really ours, and we have the unbegotten and ineffable God as witness both of our thoughts and deeds. For why did we not even publicly profess that these were the things which we esteemed good, and prove that these are the divine philosophy, saying that the mysteries of Saturn are performed when we slay a man, and' that when we drink our fill of blood, as it is said we do, we are doing what you do before that idol you honour, and on which you sprinkle the blood not only of irrational animals, but also of men, making a libation of the blood of the slain by the hand of the most illustrious and noble man among you? And imitating Jupiter and the other gods in sodomy and shameless intercourse with woman, might we not bring as our apology the writings of Epicurus and the poets? But because we persuade men to avoid such instruction, and all who practise them and imitate such examples, as now in this discourse we have striven to persuade you, we are assailed in every kind of way. But we are not concerned, since we know that God is a just observer of all. But would that even now some one would mount a lofty rostrum, and shout with a loud voice, "Be ashamed, be ashamed, ye who charge the guiltless with those deeds which yourselves openly commit, and ascribe things which apply to yourselves and to your gods to those who have not even the slightest sympathy with them. Be ye converted; become wise."

CHAPTER XIII.-HOW THE WORD HAS BEEN IN ALL MEN. For I myself, when I discovered the wicked disguise which the evil spirits had thrown around the divine doctrines of the Christians, to turn aside others from joining them, laughed both at those who framed these falsehoods, and at the disguise itself, and at popular opinion; and I confess that I both boast and with all my strength strive to be found a Christian; not because the teachings of Plato are different from those of Christ, but because they are not in all respects similar, as neither are those of the others, Stoics, and poets, and historians. For each man spoke well in proportion to the share he had of the spermatic word, seeing what was related to it. But they who contradict themselves on the more important points appear not to have possessed the heavenly wisdom, and the knowledge which cannot be spoken against. Whatever things were rightly said among all men, are the property of us Christians. For next to God, we worship and love the Word who is from the unbegotten and ineffable God, since also He became man for our sakes, that, becoming a partaker of our sufferings, He might also bring us healing. For all the writers were able to see realities darkly through the sowing of the implanted word that was in them. For the seed and imitation imparted according to capacity is one thing, and quite another is the thing itself, of which there is the participation and imitation according to the grace which is from Him.

CHAPTER XIV -- JUSTIN PRAYS THAT THIS APPEAL BE PUBLISHED. And we therefore pray you to publish this little book, appending what you think right, that our opinions may be known to others, and that these persons may have a fair chance of being freed from erroneous notions and ignorance of good, who by their own fault are become subject to punishment; that so these things maybe published to men, because it is in the nature of man to know good and evil; and by their condemning us, whom they do not understand, for actions which they say are wicked, and by delighting in the gods who did such things, and even now require similar actions from men, and by inflicting on us death or bonds or some other such punishment, as if we were guilty of these things, they condemn themselves, so that there is no need of other judges.

CHAPTER XV -- CONCLUSION. And I despised the wicked and deceitful doctrine of Simon of my own nation. And if you give this book your authority, we will expose him before all, that, if possible, they may be converted. For this end alone did we compose this treatise. And our doctrines are not shameful, according to a sober judgment, but are indeed more lofty than all human philosophy; and if not so, they are at least unlike the doctrines of the Sotadists and Philaenidians, and Dancers, and Epicureans and such other teachings of the poets, which ali are allowed to acquaint themselves with, both as acted and as written. And henceforth we shall be silent, having done as much as we could, and having added the prayer that all men everywhere may be counted worthy of the truth. And would that you also, in a manner becoming piety and philosophy, would for your own sakes judge justly!

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:29 pm

Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 1-10.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον Διάλογος

Dialogue With Trypho

I 1 Περιπατοῦντί μοι ἕωθεν ἐν τοῖς τοῦ ξυστοῦ περιπάτοις συναντήσας τις μετὰ καὶ ἄλλων· Φιλόσοφε, χαῖρε, ἔφη. καὶ ἅμα εἰπὼν τοῦτο ἐπιστραφεὶς συμπεριεπάτει μοι· συνεπέστρεφον δ' αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ φίλοι αὐτοῦ. κἀγὼ ἔμπαλιν προσαγορεύσας αὐτόν· Τί μάλιστα; ἔφην. 2 Ὁ δέ· Ἐδιδάχθην ἐν Ἄργει, φησίν, ὑπὸ Κορίνθου τοῦ Σωκρατικοῦ ὅτι οὐ δεῖ καταφρονεῖν οὐδὲ ἀμελεῖν τῶν περικειμένων τόδε τὸ σχῆμα, ἀλλ' ἐκ παντὸς φιλοφρονεῖσθαι προσομιλεῖν τε αὐτοῖς, εἴ τι ὄφελος ἐκ τῆς συνουσίας γένοιτο ἢ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ ἢ ἐμοί. ἀμφοτέροις δὲ ἀγαθόν ἐστι, κἂν θάτερος ᾖ ὠφελημένος. τούτου οὖν χάριν, ὅταν ἴδω τινὰ ἐν τοιούτῳ σχήματι, ἀσμένως αὐτῷ προσέρχομαι, σέ τε κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ ἡδέως νῦν προσεῖπον, οὗτοί τε συνεφέπονταί μοι, προσδοκῶντες καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀκούσεσθαί τι χρηστὸν ἐκ σοῦ. 3 Τίς δὲ σύ ἐσσι, φέριστε βροτῶν; οὕτως προσπαίζων αὐτῷ ἔλεγον. Ὁ δὲ καὶ τοὔνομά μοι καὶ τὸ γένος ἐξεῖπεν ἁπλῶς. Τρύφων, φησί, καλοῦμαι· εἰμὶ δὲ Ἑβραῖος ἐκ περιτομῆς, φυγὼν τὸν νῦν γενόμενον πόλεμον, ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι καὶ τῇ Κορίνθῳ τὰ πολλὰ διάγων. Καὶ τί ἂν, ἔφην ἐγώ, τοσοῦτον ἐκ φιλοσοφίας σύ τ' ἂν ὠφεληθείης, ὅσον παρὰ τοῦ σοῦ νομοθέτου καὶ τῶν προφητῶν; Τί γάρ; οὐχ οἱ φιλόσοφοι περὶ θεοῦ τὸν ἅπαντα ποιοῦνται λόγον, ἐκεῖνος ἔλεγε, καὶ περὶ μοναρχίας αὐτοῖς καὶ προνοίας αἱ ζητήσεις γίνονται ἑκάστοτε; ἢ οὐ τοῦτο ἔργον ἐστὶ φιλοσοφίας, ἐξετάζειν περὶ τοῦ θείου; 4 Ναί, ἔφην, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς δεδοξάκαμεν. ἀλλ' οἱ πλεῖστοι οὐδὲ τούτου πεφροντίκασιν, εἴτε εἷς εἴτε καὶ πλείους εἰσὶ θεοί, καὶ εἴτε προνοοῦσιν ἡμῶν ἑκάστου εἴτε καὶ οὔ, ὡς μηδὲν πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν τῆς γνώσεως ταύτης συντελούσης· ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειροῦσι πείθειν ὡς τοῦ μὲν σύμπαντος καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν γενῶν καὶ εἰδῶν ἐπιμελεῖται θεός, ἐμοῦ δὲ καὶ σοῦ οὐκ ἔτι καὶ τοῦ καθ' ἕκαστα, ἐπεὶ οὐδ' ἂν ηὐχόμεθα αὐτῷ δι' ὅλης νυκτὸς καὶ ἡμέρας. 5 τοῦτο δὲ ὅπη αὐτοῖς τελευτᾷ, οὐ χαλεπὸν συννοῆσαι· ἄδεια γὰρ καὶ ἐλευθερία λέγειν καὶ ἕπεσθαι τοῖς δοξάζουσι ταῦτα, ποιεῖν τε ὅ τι βούλονται καὶ λέγειν, μήτε κόλασιν φοβουμένοις μήτε ἀγαθὸν ἐλπίζουσί τι ἐκ θεοῦ. πῶς γάρ; οἵ γε ἀεὶ ταὐτὰ ἔσεσθαι λέγουσι, καὶ ἔτι ἐμὲ καὶ σὲ ἔμπαλιν βιώσεσθαι ὁμοίως, μήτε κρείσσονας μήτε χείρους γεγονότας. ἄλλοι δέ τινες, ὑποστησάμενοι ἀθάνατον καὶ ἀσώματον τὴν ψυχήν, οὔτε κακόν τι δράσαντες ἡγοῦνται δώσειν δίκην (ἀπαθὲς γὰρ τὸ ἀσώματον), οὔτε, ἀθανάτου αὐτῆς ὑπαρχούσης, δέονταί τι τοῦ θεοῦ ἔτι. 6 Καὶ ὃς ἀστεῖον ὑπομειδιάσας· Σὺ δὲ πῶς, ἔφη, περὶ τούτων φρονεῖς καὶ τίνα γνώμην περὶ θεοῦ ἔχεις καὶ τίς ἡ σὴ φιλοσοφία, εἰπὲ ἡμῖν.

II 1 Ἐγώ σοι, ἔφην, ἐρῶ ὅ γέ μοι καταφαίνεται. ἔστι γὰρ τῷ ὄντι φιλοσοφία μέγιστον κτῆμα καὶ τιμιώτατον θεῷ, ᾧ τε προσάγει καὶ συνίστησιν ἡμᾶς μόνη, καὶ ὅσιοι ὡς ἀληθῶς οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ φιλοσοφίᾳ τὸν νοῦν προσεσχηκότες. τί ποτε δέ ἐστι φιλοσοφία καὶ οὗ χάριν κατεπέμφθη εἰς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, τοὺς πολλοὺς λέληθεν; οὐ γὰρ ἂν Πλατωνικοὶ ἦσαν οὐδὲ Στωϊκοὶ οὐδὲ Περιπατητικοὶ οὐδὲ Θεωρητικοὶ οὐδὲ Πυθαγορικοί, μιᾶς οὔσης ταύτης ἐπιστήμης. 2 οὗ δὲ χάριν πολύκρανος ἐγενήθη, θέλω εἰπεῖν. συνέβη τοῖς πρώτοις ἁψαμένοις αὐτῆς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐνδόξοις γενομένοις ἀκολουθῆσαι τοὺς ἔπειτα μηδὲν ἐξετάσαντας ἀληθείας πέρι, καταπλαγέντας δὲ μόνον τὴν καρτερίαν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν ἐγκράτειαν καὶ τὸ ξένον τῶν λόγων ταῦτα ἀληθῆ νομίσαι ἃ παρὰ τοῦ διδασκάλου ἕκαστος ἔμαθεν, εἶτα καὶ αὐτούς, τοῖς ἔπειτα παραδόντας τοιαῦτα ἄττα καὶ ἄλλα τούτοις προσεοικότα, τοῦτο κληθῆναι τοὔνομα, ὅπερ ἐκαλεῖτο ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ λόγου. 3 ἐγώ τε κατ' ἀρχὰς οὕτω ποθῶν καὶ αὐτὸς συμβαλεῖν τούτων ἑνί, ἐπέδωκα ἐμαυτὸν Στωϊκῷ τινι· καὶ διατρίψας ἱκανὸν μετ' αὐτοῦ χρόνον, ἐπεὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἐγίνετό μοι περὶ θεοῦ (οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἠπίστατο, οὐδὲ ἀναγκαίαν ἔλεγε ταύτην εἶναι τὴν μάθησιν), τούτου μὲν ἀπηλλάγην, ἐπ' ἄλλον δὲ ἧκα, Περιπατητικὸν καλούμενον, δριμύν, ὡς ᾤετο. καί μου ἀνασχόμενος οὗτος τὰς πρώτας ἡμέρας ἠξίου με ἔπειτα μισθὸν ὁρίσαι, ὡς μὴ ἀνωφελὴς ἡ συνουσία γίνοιτο ἡμῖν. καὶ αὐτὸν ἐγὼ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν κατέλιπον, μηδὲ φιλόσοφον οἰηθεὶς ὅλως. 4 τῆς δὲ ψυχῆς ἔτι μου σπαργώσης ἀκοῦσαι τὸ ἴδιον καὶ τὸ ἐξαίρετον τῆς φιλοσοφίας, προσῆλθον εὐδοκιμοῦντι μάλιστα Πυθαγορείῳ, ἀνδρὶ πολὺ ἐπὶ τῇ σοφίᾳ φρονοῦντι. κἄπειτα ὡς διελέχθην αὐτῷ, βουλόμενος ἀκροατὴς αὐτοῦ καὶ συνουσιαστὴς γενέσθαι· Τί δαί; ὡμίλησας, ἔφη, μουσικῇ καὶ ἀστρονομίᾳ καὶ γεωμετρίᾳ; ἢ δοκεῖς κατόψεσθαί τι τῶν εἰς εὐδαιμονίαν συντελούντων, εἰ μὴ ταῦτα πρῶτον διδαχθείης, ἃ τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν περισπάσει καὶ τοῖς νοητοῖς αὐτὴν παρασκευάσει χρησίμην, ὥστε αὐτὸ κατιδεῖν τὸ καλὸν καὶ αὐτὸ ὅ ἐστιν ἀγαθόν; 5 πολλά τε ἐπαινέσας ταῦτα τὰ μαθήματα καὶ ἀναγκαῖα εἰπὼν ἀπέπεμπέ με, ἐπεὶ αὐτῷ ὡμολόγησα μὴ εἰδέναι. ἐδυσφόρουν οὖν, ὡς τὸ εἰκός, ἀποτυχὼν τῆς ἐλπίδος, καὶ μᾶλλον ᾗ ἐπίστασθαί τι αὐτὸν ᾠόμην· πάλιν τε τὸν χρόνον σκοπῶν, ὃν ἔμελλον ἐκτρίβειν περὶ ἐκεῖνα τὰ μαθήματα, οὐκ ἠνειχόμην εἰς μακρὰν ἀποτιθέμενος. 6 ἐν ἀμηχανίᾳ δέ μου ὄντος ἔδοξέ μοι καὶ τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς ἐντυχεῖν· πολὺ γὰρ καὶ τούτων ἦν κλέος. καὶ δὴ νεωστὶ ἐπιδημήσαντι τῇ ἡμετέρᾳ πόλει συνετῷ ἀνδρὶ καὶ προὔχοντι ἐν τοῖς Πλατωνικοῖς συνδιέτριβον ὡς τὰ μάλιστα, καὶ προέκοπτον καὶ πλεῖστον ὅσον ἑκάστης ἡμέρας ἐπεδίδουν. καί με ᾕρει σφόδρα ἡ τῶν ἀσωμάτων νόησις, καὶ ἡ θεωρία τῶν ἰδεῶν ἀνεπτέρου μοι τὴν φρόνησιν, ὀλίγου τε ἐντὸς χρόνου ᾤμην σοφὸς γεγονέναι, καὶ ὑπὸ βλακείας ἤλπιζον αὐτίκα κατόψεσθαι τὸν θεόν· τοῦτο γὰρ τέλος τῆς Πλάτωνος φιλοσοφίας.

III 1 Καί μου οὕτως διακειμένου ἐπεὶ ἔδοξέ ποτε πολλῆς ἠρεμίας ἐμφορηθῆναι καὶ τὸν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀλεεῖναι πάτον, ἐπορευόμην εἴς τι χωρίον οὐ μακρὰν θαλάσσης. πλησίον δέ μου γενομένου ἐκείνου τοῦ τόπου, ἔνθα ἔμελλον ἀφικόμενος πρὸς ἐμαυτῷ ἔσεσθαι, παλαιός τις πρεσβύτης, ἰδέσθαι οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητος, πρᾶον καὶ σεμνὸν ἦθος ἐμφαίνων, ὀλίγον ἀποδέων μου παρείπετο. ὡς δὲ ἐπεστράφην εἰς αὐτόν, ὑποστὰς ἐνητένισα δριμύτερον αὐτῷ. 2 Καὶ ὅς· Γνωρίζεις με; ἔφη. Ἠρνησάμην ἐγώ. Τί οὖν, μοι ἔφη, οὕτως με κατανοεῖς; Θαυμάζω, ἔφην, ὅτι ἔτυχες ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ μοι γενέσθαι· οὐ γὰρ προσεδόκησα ὄψεσθαί τινα ἀνδρῶν ἐνθάδε. Ὁ δέ· Οἰκείων τινῶν, φησί μοι, πεφρόντικα. οὗτοι δέ μοί εἰσιν ἀπόδημοι· ἔρχομαι οὖν καὶ αὐτὸς σκοπήσων τὰ περὶ αὐτούς, εἰ ἄρα φανήσονταί ποθεν. σὺ δὲ τί ἐνθάδε; ἐμοὶ ἐκεῖνος. Χαίρω, ἔφην, ταῖς τοιαύταις διατριβαῖς· ἀνεμπόδιστος γάρ μοι ὁ διάλογος πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν γίνεται, [μὴ ἐναντία δρώσαις ὡσανεί,] φιλολογίᾳ τε ἀνυτικώτατά ἐστι τὰ τοιάδε χωρία. 3 Φιλόλογος οὖν τις εἶ σύ, ἔφη, φιλεργὸς δὲ οὐδαμῶς οὐδὲ φιλαλήθης, οὐδὲ πειρᾷ πρακτικὸς εἶναι μᾶλλον ἢ σοφιστής; Τί δ' ἄν, ἔφην ἐγώ, τούτου μεῖζον ἀγαθὸν ἄν τις ἐργάσαιτο, τοῦ δεῖξαι μὲν τὸν λόγον ἡγεμονεύοντα πάντων, συλλαβόντα δὲ καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ ὀχούμενον καθορᾶν τὴν τῶν ἄλλων πλάνην καὶ τὰ ἐκείνων ἐπιτηδεύματα, ὡς οὐδὲν ὑγιὲς δρῶσιν οὐδὲ θεῷ φίλον; ἄνευ δὲ φιλοσοφίας καὶ ὀρθοῦ λόγου οὐκ ἄν τῳ παρείη φρόνησις. διὸ χρὴ πάντα ἄνθρωπον φιλοσοφεῖν καὶ τοῦτο μέγιστον καὶ τιμιώτατον ἔργον ἡγεῖσθαι, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ δεύτερα καὶ τρίτα, καὶ φιλοσοφίας μὲν ἀπηρτημένα μέτρια καὶ ἀποδοχῆς ἄξια, στερηθέντα δὲ ταύτης καὶ μὴ παρεπομένης τοῖς μεταχειριζομένοις αὐτὰ φορτικὰ καὶ βάναυσα. 4 Ἦ οὖν φιλοσοφία εὐδαιμονίαν ποιεῖ; ἔφη ὑποτυχὼν ἐκεῖνος. Καὶ μάλιστα, ἔφην ἐγώ, καὶ μόνη. Τί γάρ ἐστι φιλοσοφία, φησί, καὶ τίς ἡ εὐδαιμονία αὐτῆς, εἰ μή τι κωλύει φράζειν, φράσον. Φιλοσοφία μέν, ἦν δ' ἐγώ, ἐπιστήμη ἐστὶ τοῦ ὄντος καὶ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ἐπίγνωσις, εὐδαιμονία δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἐπιστήμης καὶ τῆς σοφίας γέρας. 5 Θεὸν δὲ σὺ τί καλεῖς; ἔφη. Τὸ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἀεὶ ἔχον καὶ τοῦ εἶναι πᾶσι τοῖς ἄλλοις αἴτιον, τοῦτο δή ἐστιν ὁ θεός. οὕτως ἐγὼ ἀπεκρινάμην αὐτῷ· καὶ ἐτέρπετο ἐκεῖνος ἀκούων μου, οὕτως τέ με ἤρετο πάλιν. Ἐπιστήμη οὐκ ἔστι κοινὸν ὄνομα διαφόρων πραγμάτων; ἔν τε γὰρ ταῖς τέχναις ἁπάσαις ὁ ἐπιστάμενος τούτων τινὰ ἐπιστήμων καλεῖται, ἔν τε στρατηγικῇ καὶ κυβερνητικῇ καὶ ἰατρικῇ ὁμοίως. ἔν τε τοῖς θείοις καὶ ἀνθρωπείοις οὐχ οὕτως ἔχει. ἐπιστήμη τίς ἐστιν ἡ παρέχουσα αὐτῶν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων καὶ τῶν θείων γνῶσιν, ἔπειτα τῆς τούτων θειότητος καὶ δικαιοσύνης ἐπίγνωσιν; Καὶ μάλα, ἔφην. 6 Τί οὖν; ὁμοίως ἐστὶν ἄνθρωπον εἰδέναι καὶ θεόν, ὡς μουσικὴν καὶ ἀριθμητικὴν καὶ ἀστρονομίαν ἤ τι τοιοῦτον; Οὐδαμῶς, ἔφην. Οὐκ ὀρθῶς ἄρα ἀπεκρίθης ἐμοί, ἔφη ἐκεῖνος· αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ μαθήσεως προσγίνονται ἡμῖν ἢ διατριβῆς τινος, αἱ δὲ ἐκ τοῦ ἰδέσθαι παρέχουσι τὴν ἐπιστήμην. εἴ γέ σοι λέγοι τις ὅτι ἐστὶν ἐν Ἰνδίᾳ ζῶον φυὴν οὐχ ὅμοιον τοῖς ἄλλοις πᾶσιν, ἀλλὰ τοῖον ἢ τοῖον, πολυειδὲς καὶ ποικίλον, οὐκ ἂν πρότερον εἰδείης ἢ ἴδοις αὐτό, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ λόγον ἂν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν αὐτοῦ τινα εἰ μὴ ἀκούσαις τοῦ ἑωρακότος. 7 Οὐ γάρ, φημί. Πῶς οὖν ἄν, ἔφη, περὶ θεοῦ ὀρθῶς φρονοῖεν οἱ φιλόσοφοι ἢ λέγοιέν τι ἀληθές, ἐπιστήμην αὐτοῦ μὴ ἔχοντες, μηδὲ ἰδόντες ποτὲ ἢ ἀκούσαντες; Ἀλλ' οὐκ ἔστιν ὀφθαλμοῖς, ἦν δ' ἐγώ, αὐτοῖς, πάτερ, ὁρατὸν τὸ θεῖον ὡς τὰ ἄλλα ζῶα, ἀλλὰ μόνῳ νῷ καταληπτόν, ὥς φησι Πλάτων, καὶ ἐγὼ πείθομαι αὐτῷ.

IV 1 Ἔστιν οὖν, φησί, τῷ νῷ ἡμῶν τοιαύτη τις καὶ τοσαύτη δύναμις, ἢ μὴ τὸ ὂν δι' αἰσθήσεως ἔλαβεν; ἢ τὸν θεὸν ἀνθρώπου νοῦς ὄψεταί ποτε μὴ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι κεκοσμημένος; Φησὶ γὰρ Πλάτων, ἦν δ' ἐγώ, αὐτὸ τοιοῦτον εἶναι τὸ τοῦ νοῦ ὄμμα καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ἡμῖν δεδόσθαι, ὡς δύνασθαι καθορᾶν αὐτὸ ἐκεῖνο τὸ ὂν εἰλικρινεῖ αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ, ὃ τῶν νοητῶν ἁπάντων ἐστὶν αἴτιον, οὐ χρῶμα ἔχον, οὐ σχῆμα, οὐ μέγεθος, οὐδὲ οὐδὲν ὧν ὀφθαλμὸς βλέπει· ἀλλά τι ὂν τοῦτ' αὐτό, φησί, ὂν ἐπέκεινα πάσης οὐσίας, οὔτε ῥητὸν οὔτε ἀγορευτόν, ἀλλὰ μόνον καλὸν καὶ ἀγαθόν, ἐξαίφνης ταῖς εὖ πεφυκυίαις ψυχαῖς ἐγγινόμενον διὰ τὸ συγγενὲς καὶ ἔρωτα τοῦ ἰδέσθαι. 2 Τίς οὖν ἡμῖν, ἔλεγε, συγγένεια πρὸς τὸν θεόν ἐστιν; ἢ καὶ ἡ ψυχὴ θεία καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι καὶ αὐτοῦ ἐκείνου τοῦ βασιλικοῦ νοῦ μέρος; ὡς δὲ ἐκεῖνος ὁρᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὕτω καὶ ἡμῖν ἐφικτὸν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ νῷ συλλαβεῖν τὸ θεῖον καὶ τοὐντεῦθεν ἤδη εὐδαιμονεῖν; Πάνυ μὲν οὖν, ἔφην. Πᾶσαι δὲ αὐτὸ διὰ πάντων αἱ ψυχαὶ χωροῦσι τῶν ζώων, ἠρώτα, ἢ ἄλλη μὲν ἀνθρώπου, ἄλλη δὲ ἵππου καὶ ὄνου; Οὔκ, ἀλλ' αἱ αὐταὶ ἐν πᾶσίν εἰσιν, ἀπεκρινάμην. 3 Ὄψονται ἄρα, φησί, καὶ ἵπποι καὶ ὄνοι ἢ εἶδόν ποτε τὸν θεόν; Οὔ, ἔφην· οὐδὲ γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, εἰ μή τις ἐν δίκῃ βιώσαιτο, καθηράμενος δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ ἀρετῇ πάσῃ. Οὐκ ἄρα, ἔφη, διὰ τὸ συγγενὲς ὁρᾷ τὸν θεόν, οὐδ' ὅτι νοῦς ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ὅτι σώφρων καὶ δίκαιος; Ναί, ἔφην, καὶ διὰ τὸ ἔχειν ᾧ νοεῖ τὸν θεόν. Τί οὖν; ἀδικοῦσί τινα αἶγες ἢ πρόβατα; Οὐδὲν οὐδένα, ἦν δ' ἐγώ. 4 Ὄψονται ἄρα, φησί, κατὰ τὸν σὸν λόγον καὶ ταῦτα τὰ ζῶα; Οὔ· τὸ γὰρ σῶμα αὐτοῖς, τοιοῦτον ὄν, ἐμπόδιόν ἐστιν. Εἰ λάβοιεν φωνὴν τὰ ζῶα ταῦτα, ὑποτυχὼν ἐκεῖνος, εὖ ἴσθι ὅτι πολὺ ἂν εὐλογώτερον ἐκεῖνα τῷ ἡμετέρῳ σώματι λοιδοροῖντο· νῦν δ' ἐάσωμεν οὕτω, καί σοι ὡς λέγεις συγκεχωρήσθω. ἐκεῖνο δέ μοι εἰπέ· ἕως ἐν τῷ σώματί ἐστιν ἡ ψυχὴ βλέπει, ἢ ἀπαλλαγεῖσα τούτου; 5 Καὶ ἕως μέν ἐστιν ἐν ἀνθρώπου εἴδει, δυνατὸν αὐτῇ, φημί, ἐγγενέσθαι διὰ τοῦ νοῦ, μάλιστα δὲ ἀπολυθεῖσα τοῦ σώματος καὶ αὐτὴ καθ' ἑαυτὴν γενομένη τυγχάνει οὗ ἤρα πάντα τὸν χρόνον. Ἦ καὶ μέμνηται τούτου πάλιν ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ γενομένη; Οὔ μοι δοκεῖ, ἔφην. Τί οὖν ὄφελος ταῖς ἰδούσαις, ἢ τί πλέον τοῦ μὴ ἰδόντος ὁ ἰδὼν ἔχει, εἰ μηδὲ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ὅτι εἶδε μέμνηται; 6 Οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν, ἦν δ' ἐγώ. Αἱ δὲ ἀνάξιαι ταύτης τῆς θέας κριθεῖσαι τί πάσχουσιν; ἔφη. Εἴς τινα θηρίων ἐνδεσμεύονται σώματα, καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶ κόλασις αὐτῶν. Οἴδασιν οὖν ὅτι διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίαν ἐν τοιούτοις εἰσὶ σώμασι καὶ ὅτι ἐξήμαρτόν τι; Οὐ νομίζω. 7 Οὐδὲ ταύταις ἄρα ὄφελός τι τῆς κολάσεως, ὡς ἔοικεν· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ κολάζεσθαι αὐτὰς λέγοιμι, εἰ μὴ ἀντιλαμβάνονται τῆς κολάσεως. Οὐ γάρ. Οὔτε οὖν ὁρῶσι τὸν θεὸν αἱ ψυχαί, οὔτε μεταμείβουσιν εἰς ἕτερα σώματα· ᾔδεσαν γὰρ ἂν ὅτι κολάζονται οὕτως, καὶ ἐφοβοῦντο ἂν καὶ τὸ τυχὸν ἐξαμαρτεῖν ὕστερον. νοεῖν δὲ αὐτὰς δύνασθαι ὅτι ἔστι θεὸς καὶ δικαιοσύνη καὶ εὐσέβεια καλόν, κἀγὼ συντίθεμαι, ἔφη. Ὀρθῶς λέγεις, εἶπον.

V 1 Οὐδὲν οὖν ἴσασι περὶ τούτων ἐκεῖνοι οἱ φιλόσοφοι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστι ψυχὴ ἔχουσιν εἰπεῖν. Οὐκ ἔοικεν. Οὐδὲ μὴν ἀθάνατον χρὴ λέγειν αὐτήν· ὅτι εἰ ἀθάνατός ἐστι, καὶ ἀγέννητος δηλαδή. Ἀγέννητος δὲ καὶ ἀθάνατός ἐστι κατά τινας λεγομένους Πλατωνικούς. Ἦ καὶ τὸν κόσμον σὺ ἀγέννητον λέγεις; Εἰσὶν οἱ λέγοντες, οὐ μέντοι γε αὐτοῖς συγκατατίθεμαι ἐγώ. 2 Ὀρθῶς ποιῶν. τίνα γὰρ λόγον ἔχει σῶμα οὕτω στερεὸν καὶ ἀντιτυπίαν ἔχον καὶ σύνθετον καὶ ἀλλοιούμενον καὶ φθίνον καὶ γινόμενον ἑκάστης ἡμέρας μὴ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τινος ἡγεῖσθαι γεγονέναι; εἰ δὲ ὁ κόσμος γεννητός, ἀνάγκη καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς γεγονέναι καὶ οὐκ εἶναί ποι τάχα· διὰ γὰρ τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐγένοντο καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ζῶα, εἰ ὅλως κατ' ἰδίαν καὶ μὴ μετὰ τῶν ἰδίων σωμάτων φήσεις αὐτὰς γεγονέναι. Οὕτως δοκεῖ ὀρθῶς ἔχειν. Οὐκ ἄρα ἀθάνατοι. Οὔ, ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ κόσμος γεννητὸς ἡμῖν ἐφάνη. 3 Ἀλλὰ μὴν οὐδὲ ἀποθνήσκειν φημὶ πάσας τὰς ψυχὰς ἐγώ· ἕρμαιον γὰρ ἦν ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῖς κακοῖς. ἀλλὰ τί; τὰς μὲν τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐν κρείττονί ποι χώρῳ μένειν, τὰς δὲ ἀδίκους καὶ πονηρὰς ἐν χείρονι, τὸν τῆς κρίσεως ἐκδεχομένας χρόνον τότε. οὕτως αἱ μέν, ἄξιαι τοῦ θεοῦ φανεῖσαι, οὐκ ἀποθνήσκουσιν ἔτι· αἱ δὲ κολάζονται, ἔστ' ἂν αὐτὰς καὶ εἶναι καὶ κολάζεσθαι ὁ θεὸς θέλῃ. 4 Ἆρα τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν ὃ λέγεις, οἷον καὶ Πλάτων ἐν Τιμαίῳ αἰνίσσεται περὶ τοῦ κόσμου, λέγων ὅτι αὐτὸς μὲν καὶ φθαρτός ἐστιν ᾗ γέγονεν, οὐ λυθήσεται δὲ οὐδὲ τεύξεται θανάτου μοίρας διὰ τὴν βούλησιν τοῦ θεοῦ; τοῦτ' αὐτό σοι δοκεῖ καὶ περὶ ψυχῆς καὶ ἁπλῶς πάντων πέρι λέγεσθαι; ὅσα γάρ ἐστι μετὰ τὸν θεὸν ἢ ἔσται ποτέ, ταῦτα φύσιν φθαρτὴν ἔχειν, καὶ οἷά τε ἐξαφανισθῆναι καὶ μὴ εἶναι ἔτι· μόνος γὰρ ἀγέννητος καὶ ἄφθαρτος ὁ θεὸς καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θεός ἐστι, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ πάντα μετὰ τοῦτον γεννητὰ καὶ φθαρτά. 5 τούτου χάριν καὶ ἀποθνήσκουσιν αἱ ψυχαὶ καὶ κολάζονται· ἐπεὶ εἰ ἀγέννητοι ἦσαν, οὔτ' ἂν ἐξημάρτανον οὔτε ἀφροσύνης ἀνάπλεῳ ἦσαν, οὐδὲ δειλαὶ καὶ θρασεῖαι πάλιν, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἑκοῦσαί ποτε εἰς σύας ἐχώρουν καὶ ὄφεις καὶ κύνας, οὐδὲ μὴν ἀναγκάζεσθαι αὐτὰς θέμις, εἴπερ εἰσὶν ἀγέννητοι. τὸ γὰρ ἀγέννητον τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ ὅμοιόν ἐστι καὶ ἴσον καὶ ταὐτόν, καὶ οὔτε δυνάμει οὔτε τιμῇ προκριθείη ἂν θατέρου τὸ ἕτερον. 6 ὅθεν οὐδὲ πολλά ἐστι τὰ ἀγέννητα· εἰ γὰρ διαφορά τις ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς, οὐκ ἂν εὕροις ἀναζητῶν τὸ αἴτιον τῆς διαφορᾶς, ἀλλ', ἐπ' ἄπειρον ἀεὶ τὴν διάνοιαν πέμπων, ἐπὶ ἑνός ποτε στήσῃ ἀγεννήτου καμὼν καὶ τοῦτο φήσεις ἁπάντων αἴτιον. ἢ ταῦτα ἔλαθε, φημὶ ἐγώ, Πλάτωνα καὶ Πυθαγόραν, σοφοὺς ἄνδρας, οἳ ὥσπερ τεῖχος ἡμῖν καὶ ἔρεισμα φιλοσοφίας ἐξεγένοντο;

VI 1 Οὐδὲν ἐμοί, ἔφη, μέλει Πλάτωνος οὐδὲ Πυθαγόρου οὐδὲ ἁπλῶς οὐδενὸς ὅλως τοιαῦτα δοξάζοντος. τὸ γὰρ ἀληθὲς οὕτως ἔχει· μάθοις δ' ἂν ἐντεῦθεν. ἡ ψυχὴ ἤτοι ζωή ἐστιν ἢ ζωὴν ἔχει. εἰ μὲν οὖν ζωή ἐστιν, ἄλλο τι ἂν ποιήσειε ζῆν, οὐχ ἑαυτήν, ὡς καὶ κίνησις ἄλλο τι κινήσειε μᾶλλον ἢ ἑαυτήν. ὅτι δὲ ζῇ ψυχή, οὐδεὶς ἀντείποι. εἰ δὲ ζῇ, οὐ ζωὴ οὖσα ζῇ, ἀλλὰ μεταλαμβάνουσα τῆς ζωῆς· ἕτερον δέ τι τὸ μετέχον τινὸς ἐκείνου οὗ μετέχει. ζωῆς δὲ ψυχὴ μετέχει, ἐπεὶ ζῆν αὐτὴν ὁ θεὸς βούλεται. 2 οὕτως ἄρα καὶ οὐ μεθέξει ποτέ, ὅταν αὐτὴν μὴ θέλοι ζῆν. οὐ γὰρ ἴδιον αὐτῆς ἐστι τὸ ζῆν ὡς τοῦ θεοῦ· ἀλλὰ ὥσπερ ἄνθρωπος οὐ διὰ παντός ἐστιν οὐδὲ σύνεστιν ἀεὶ τῇ ψυχῇ τὸ σῶμα, ἀλλ', ὅταν δέῃ λυθῆναι τὴν ἁρμονίαν ταύτην, καταλείπει ἡ ψυχὴ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος οὐκ ἔστιν, οὕτως καί, ὅταν δέῃ τὴν ψυχὴν μηκέτι εἶναι, ἀπέστη ἀπ' αὐτῆς τὸ ζωτικὸν πνεῦμα καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ψυχὴ ἔτι, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτὴ ὅθεν ἐλήφθη ἐκεῖσε χωρεῖ πάλιν.

VII 1 Τίνι οὖν, φημί, ἔτι τις χρήσαιτο διδασκάλῳ ἢ πόθεν ὠφεληθείη τις, εἰ μηδὲ ἐν τούτοις τὸ ἀληθές ἐστιν; Ἐγένοντό τινες πρὸ πολλοῦ χρόνου πάντων τούτων τῶν νομιζομένων φιλοσόφων παλαιότεροι, μακάριοι καὶ δίκαιοι καὶ θεοφιλεῖς, θείῳ πνεύματι λαλήσαντες καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα θεσπίσαντες, ἃ δὴ νῦν γίνεται· προφήτας δὲ αὐτοὺς καλοῦσιν. οὗτοι μόνοι τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ εἶδον καὶ ἐξεῖπον ἀνθρώποις, μήτ' εὐλαβηθέντες μήτε δυσωπηθέντες τινά, μὴ ἡττημένοι δόξης, ἀλλὰ μόνα ταῦτα εἰπόντες ἃ ἤκουσαν καὶ ἃ εἶδον ἁγίῳ πληρωθέντες πνεύματι. 2 συγγράμματα δὲ αὐτῶν ἔτι καὶ νῦν διαμένει, καὶ ἔστιν ἐντυχόντα τούτοις πλεῖστον ὠφεληθῆναι καὶ περὶ ἀρχῶν καὶ περὶ τέλους καὶ ὧν χρὴ εἰδέναι τὸν φιλόσοφον, πιστεύσαντα ἐκείνοις. οὐ γὰρ μετὰ ἀποδείξεως πεποίηνται τότε τοὺς λόγους, ἅτε ἀνωτέρω πάσης ἀποδείξεως ὄντες ἀξιόπιστοι μάρτυρες τῆς ἀληθείας· τὰ δὲ ἀποβάντα καὶ ἀποβαίνοντα ἐξαναγκάζει συντίθεσθαι τοῖς λελαλημένοις δι' αὐτῶν. 3 καίτοι γε καὶ διὰ τὰς δυνάμεις, ἃς ἐπετέλουν, πιστεύεσθαι δίκαιοι ἦσαν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν καὶ πατέρα ἐδόξαζον καὶ τὸν παρ' αὐτοῦ Χριστὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ κατήγγελλον· ὅπερ οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ πλάνου καὶ ἀκαθάρτου πνεύματος ἐμπιπλάμενοι ψευδοπροφῆται οὔτε ἐποίησαν οὔτε ποιοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ δυνάμεις τινὰς ἐνεργεῖν εἰς κατάπληξιν τῶν ἀνθρώπων τολμῶσι καὶ τὰ τῆς πλάνης πνεύματα καὶ δαιμόνια δοξολογοῦσιν. εὔχου δέ σοι πρὸ πάντων φωτὸς ἀνοιχθῆναι πύλας· οὐ γὰρ συνοπτὰ οὐδὲ συννοητὰ πᾶσίν ἐστιν, εἰ μή τῳ θεὸς δῷ συνιέναι καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς αὐτοῦ.

VIII 1 Ταῦτα καὶ ἔτι ἄλλα πολλὰ εἰπὼν ἐκεῖνος, ἃ νῦν καιρὸς οὐκ ἔστι λέγειν, ᾤχετο, κελεύσας διώκειν αὐτά· καὶ οὐκέτι αὐτὸν εἶδον. ἐμοῦ δὲ παραχρῆμα πῦρ ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ ἀνήφθη, καὶ ἔρως ἔχει με τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων, οἵ εἰσι Χριστοῦ φίλοι· διαλογιζόμενός τε πρὸς ἐμαυτὸν τοὺς λόγους αὐτοῦ ταύτην μόνην εὕρισκον φιλοσοφίαν ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ σύμφορον. 2 οὕτως δὴ καὶ διὰ ταῦτα φιλόσοφος ἐγώ. βουλοίμην δ' ἂν καὶ πάντας ἴσον ἐμοὶ θυμὸν ποιησαμένους μὴ ἀφίστασθαι τῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος λόγων· δέος γάρ τι ἔχουσιν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς, καὶ ἱκανοὶ δυσωπῆσαι τοὺς ἐκτρεπομένους τῆς ὀρθῆς ὁδοῦ, ἀνάπαυσίς τε ἡδίστη γίνεται τοῖς ἐκμελετῶσιν αὐτούς. εἰ οὖν τι καὶ σοὶ περὶ σεαυτοῦ μέλει καὶ ἀντιποιῇ σωτηρίας καὶ ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ πέποιθας, ἅπερ οὐκ ἀλλοτρίῳ τοῦ πράγματος, πάρεστιν ἐπιγνόντι σοὶ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τελείῳ γενομένῳ εὐδαιμονεῖν. 3 Ταῦτά μου, φίλτατε, εἰπόντος οἱ μετὰ τοῦ Τρύφωνος ἀνεγέλασαν, αὐτὸς δὲ ὑπομειδιάσας· Τὰ μὲν ἄλλα σου, φησίν, ἀποδέχομαι καὶ ἄγαμαι τῆς περὶ τὸ θεῖον ὁρμῆς, ἄμεινον δὲ ἦν φιλοσοφεῖν ἔτι σε τὴν Πλάτωνος ἢ ἄλλου του φιλοσοφίαν, ἀσκοῦντα καρτερίαν καὶ ἐγκράτειαν καὶ σωφροσύνην, ἢ λόγοις ἐξαπατηθῆναι ψευδέσι καὶ ἀνθρώποις ἀκολουθῆσαι οὐδενὸς ἀξίοις. μένοντι γάρ σοι ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τῆς φιλοσοφίας τρόπῳ καὶ ζῶντι ἀμέμπτως ἐλπὶς ὑπελείπετο ἀμείνονος μοίρας· καταλιπόντι δὲ τὸν θεὸν καὶ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἐλπίσαντι ποία ἔτι περιλείπεται σωτηρία; 4 εἰ οὖν καὶ ἐμοῦ θέλεις ἀκοῦσαι, φίλον γάρ σε ἤδη νενόμικα, πρῶτον μὲν περιτεμοῦ, εἶτα φύλαξον, ὡς νενόμισται, τὸ σάββατον καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὰς νουμηνίας τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ ἁπλῶς τὰ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ γεγραμμένα πάντα ποίει, καὶ τότε σοι ἴσως ἔλεος ἔσται παρὰ θεοῦ. Χριστὸς δέ, εἰ καὶ γεγένηται καὶ ἔστι που, ἄγνωστός ἐστι καὶ οὐδὲ αὐτός πω ἑαυτὸν ἐπίσταται οὐδὲ ἔχει δύναμίν τινα, μέχρις ἂν ἐλθὼν Ἠλίας χρίσῃ αὐτὸν καὶ φανερὸν πᾶσι ποιήσῃ· ὑμεῖς δέ, ματαίαν ἀκοὴν παραδεξάμενοι, Χριστὸν ἑαυτοῖς τινα ἀναπλάσσετε καὶ αὐτοῦ χάριν τὰ νῦν ἀσκόπως ἀπόλλυσθε.

IX 1 Συγγνώμη σοι, ἔφην, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, καὶ ἀφεθείη σοι· οὐ γὰρ οἶδας ὃ λέγεις, ἀλλὰ πειθόμενος τοῖς διδασκάλοις, οἳ οὐ συνίασι τὰς γραφάς, καὶ ἀπομαντευόμενος λέγεις ὅ τι ἄν σοι ἐπὶ θυμὸν ἔλθοι. εἰ δὲ βούλοιο τούτου πέρι δέξασθαι λόγον, ὡς οὐ πεπλανήμεθα οὐδὲ παυσόμεθα ὁμολογοῦντες τοῦτον, κἂν τὰ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἡμῖν ἐπιφέρωνται ὀνείδη, κἂν ὁ δεινότατος ἀπειπεῖν ἀναγκάζῃ τύραννος· παρεστῶτι γὰρ δείξω ὅτι οὐ κενοῖς ἐπιστεύσαμεν μύθοις οὐδὲ ἀναποδείκτοις λόγοις, ἀλλὰ μεστοῖς πνεύματος θείου καὶ δυνάμει βρύουσι καὶ τεθηλόσι χάριτι. 2 Ἀνεγέλασαν οὖν πάλιν οἱ μετ' αὐτοῦ καὶ ἄκοσμον ἀνεφθέγγοντο. ἐγὼ δὲ ἀναστὰς οἷός τ' ἤμην ἀπέρχεσθαι· ὁ δέ μου τοῦ ἱματίου λαβόμενος οὐ πρὶν ἀνήσειν ἔφη, πρὶν ὃ ὑπεσχόμην ἐκτελέσαι. Μὴ οὖν, ἔφην, θορυβείτωσαν οἱ ἑταῖροί σου μηδὲ ἀσχημονείτωσαν οὕτως, ἀλλ', εἰ μὲν βούλονται, μετὰ ἡσυχίας ἀκροάσθωσαν, εἰ δὲ καὶ ἀσχολία τις αὐτοῖς ὑπέρτερος ἐμποδών ἐστιν, ἀπίτωσαν· ἡμεῖς δέ, ὑποχωρήσαντές ποι καὶ ἀναπαυσάμενοι, περαίνωμεν τὸν λόγον. 3 ἔδοξε καὶ τῷ Τρύφωνι οὕτως ἡμᾶς ποιῆσαι, καὶ δὴ ἐκνεύσαντες εἰς τὸ μέσον τοῦ ξυστοῦ στάδιον ᾔειμεν· τῶν δὲ σὺν αὐτῷ δύο, χλευάσαντες καὶ τὴν σπουδὴν ἡμῶν ἐπισκώψαντες, ἀπηλλάγησαν. ἡμεῖς δὲ ὡς ἐγενόμεθα ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ τόπῳ, ἔνθα ἑκατέρωθεν λίθινοί εἰσι θῶκοι, ἐν τῷ ἑτέρῳ καθεσθέντες οἱ μετὰ τοῦ Τρύφωνος, ἐμβαλόντος τινὸς αὐτῶν λόγον περὶ τοῦ κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν γενομένου πολέμου, διελάλουν.

X 1 Ὡς δὲ ἀνεπαύσαντο, ἐγὼ οὕτως αὐτοῖς πάλιν ἠρξάμην· Μὴ ἄλλο τί ἐστιν ὃ ἐπιμέμφεσθε ἡμᾶς, ἄνδρες φίλοι, ἢ τοῦτο ὅτι οὐ κατὰ τὸν νόμον βιοῦμεν, οὐδὲ ὁμοίως τοῖς προγόνοις ὑμῶν περιτεμνόμεθα τὴν σάρκα, οὐδὲ ὡς ὑμεῖς σαββατίζομεν; ἢ καὶ ὁ βίος ἡμῶν καὶ τὸ ἦθος διαβέβληται παρ' ὑμῖν; τοῦτο δ' ἐστὶν ὃ λέγω, μὴ καὶ ὑμεῖς πεπιστεύκατε περὶ ἡμῶν, ὅτι δὴ ἐσθίομεν ἀνθρώπους καὶ μετὰ τὴν εἰλαπίνην ἀποσβεννύντες τοὺς λύχνους ἀθέσμοις μίξεσιν ἐγκυλιόμεθα, ἢ αὐτὸ τοῦτο καταγινώσκετε ἡμῶν μόνον, ὅτι τοιούτοις προσέχομεν λόγοις καὶ οὐκ ἀληθεῖ, ὡς οἴεσθε, πιστεύομεν δόξῃ; 2 Τοῦτ' ἔστιν ὃ θαυμάζομεν, ἔφη ὁ Τρύφων, περὶ δὲ ὧν οἱ πολλοὶ λέγουσιν, οὐ πιστεῦσαι ἄξιον· πόρρω γὰρ κεχώρηκε τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως. ὑμῶν δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ λεγομένῳ εὐαγγελίῳ παραγγέλματα θαυμαστὰ οὕτως καὶ μεγάλα ἐπίσταμαι εἶναι, ὡς ὑπολαμβάνειν μηδένα δύνασθαι φυλάξαι αὐτά· ἐμοὶ γὰρ ἐμέλησεν ἐντυχεῖν αὐτοῖς. 3 ἐκεῖνο δὲ ἀποροῦμεν μάλιστα, εἰ ὑμεῖς, εὐσεβεῖν λέγοντες καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἰόμενοι διαφέρειν, κατ' οὐδὲν αὐτῶν ἀπολείπεσθε, οὐδὲ διαλλάσσετε ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν τὸν ὑμέτερον βίον, ἐν τῷ μήτε τὰς ἑορτὰς μήτε τὰ σάββατα τηρεῖν μήτε τὴν περιτομὴν ἔχειν, καὶ ἔτι, ἐπ' ἄνθρωπον σταυρωθέντα τὰς ἐλπίδας ποιούμενοι, ὅμως ἐλπίζετε τεύξεσθαι ἀγαθοῦ τινος παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, μὴ ποιοῦντες αὐτοῦ τὰς ἐντολάς. ἢ οὐκ ἀνέγνως, ὅτι Ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτῆς, ἥτις οὐ περιτμηθήσεται τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ; ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀλλογενῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀργυρωνήτων διέσταλται. 4 ταύτης οὖν τῆς διαθήκης εὐθέως καταφρονήσαντες ὑμεῖς ἀμελεῖτε καὶ τῶν ἔπειτα, καὶ πείθειν ἡμᾶς ἐπιχειρεῖτε ὡς εἰδότες τὸν θεόν, μηδὲν πράσσοντες ὧν οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν. εἰ οὖν ἔχεις πρὸς ταῦτα ἀπολογήσασθαι, καὶ ἐπιδεῖξαι ᾧτινι τρόπῳ ἐλπίζετε ὁτιοῦν, κἂν μὴ φυλάσσοντες τὸν νόμον, τοῦτό σου ἡδέως ἀκούσαιμεν μάλιστα, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα δὲ ὁμοίως συνεξετάσωμεν.

CHAPTER I -- INTRODUCTION While I was going about one morning in the walks of the Xystus, a certain man, with others in his company, having met me, and said, "Hail, O philosopher!" And immediately after saying this, he turned round and walked along with me; his friends likewise followed him. And I in turn having addressed him, said, "What is there important?" And he replied, "I was instructed," says he, "by Corinthus the Socratic in Argos, that I ought not to despise or treat with indifference those who array themselves in this dress, but to show them all kindness, and to associate with them, as perhaps some advantage would spring from the intercourse either to some such man or to myself. It is good, moreover, for both, if either the one or the other be benefited. On this account, therefore, whenver I see any one in such costume, I gladly approach him, and now, for the same reason, have I willingly accosted you; and these accompany me, in the expectation of hearing for themselves something profitable from you." "But who are you, most excellent man?" So I replied to him in jest. Then he told me frankly both his name and his family. "Trypho," says he, "I am called; and I am a Hebrew of the circumcision, and having escaped from the war lately carried on there, I am spending my days in Greece, and chiefly at Corinth." And in what," said I, "would you be profited by philosophy so much as by your own lawgiver and the prophets?" Why not?" he replied. "Do no the philosophers turn every discourse on God? And do not questions continually arise to them about His unity and providence? Is not this truly the duty of philophy, to investigate the Deity?" "Assuredly," said I, "so we too have believed. But the most have not taken thought of this, whether there be one or more gods, and whether they have a regard for each one of us or not, as if this knowledge contributed nothing to our happiness; nay, they moreover attempt to persuade us that God takes care of the universe with its genera and species, but not of me and you, and each individually, since otherwise we would surely not need to pray to Him night and day. But it is not difficult to understand the upshot of this; for fearlessness and license in speaking result to such as maintain these opinions, doing and saying whatever they choose, neither dreading punishment nor hoping for any benefit from God. For how could they? They affirm that the same things shall always happen; and, further, that I and you shall again live in like manner, having become neither better men nor worse. But there are some others, who, having supposed the soul to be immortal and immaterial, believe that though they have committed evil they will not suffer punishment (for that which is immaterial is insensible), and that the soul, in consequence of its immortality, needs nothing from God." And he, smiling gently, said, "Tell us your opinion of these matters, and what idea you entertain respecting God, and what you philosophy is."

CHAPTER II -- JUSTIN DESCRIBES HIS STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY. "I will tell you," said I, "what seems to me; for philosophy is, in fact, the greatest possession, and most honourable before God, to whom it leads us and alone commends us; and these are truly holy men who have bestowed attention on philosophy. What philosophy is, however, and the reason why it has been sent down to men, have escaped the observation of most; for there would be neither Platonists, nor Stoics, nor Peripatetics, nor Theoretics, nor Pythagoreans, this knowledge being one. I wish to tell you why it has become many-headed. It has happened that those who first handled it [i.e., philosophy], and who were therefore esteemed illustrious men, were succeeded by those who made no investigations concerning truth, but only admired the perseverance and self-discipline of the former, as well as the novelty of the doctrines; and each thought that to be true which he learned from his teacher: then, moreover, those latter persons handed down to their successors such things, and others similar to them; and this system was called by the name of him who was styled the father of the doctrine. Being at first desirous of personally conversing with one of these men, I surrendered myself to a certain Stoic; and having spent a considerable time with him, when I had not acquired any further knowledge of God (for he did not know himself, and said such instruction was unnecessary), I left him and betook myself to another, who was called a Peripatetic, and as he fancied, shrewd. And this man, after having entertained me for the first few days, requested me to settle the fee, in order that our intercourse might not be unprofitable. Him, too, for this reason I abandoned, believing him to be no philosopher at all. But when my soul was eagerly desirous to hear the peculiar and choice philosophy, I came to a Pythagorean, very celebrated--a man who thought much of his own wisdom. And then, when I had an interview with him, willing to become his hearer and disciple, he said, 'What then? Are you acquainted with music, astronomy, and geometry? Do you expect to perceive any of those things which conduce to a happy life, if you have not been first informed on those points which wean the soul from sensible objects, and render it fitted for objects which appertain to the mind, so that it can contemplate that which is honourable in its essence and that which is good in its essence?' Having commended many of these branches of learning, and telling me that they were necessary, he dismissed me when I confessed to him my ignorance. Accordingly I took it rather impatiently, as was to be expected when I failed in my hope, the more so because I deemed the man had some knowledge; but reflecting again on the space of time during which I would have to linger over those branches of learning, I was not able to endure longer procrastination. In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with the Platonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of my time as possible with one who had lately settled in our city,--a sagacious man, holding a high position among the Platonists,--and I progressed, and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perception of immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation of ideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposed that I had become wise; and such was my stupidity, I expected forthwith to look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy.

CHAPTER III -- JUSTIN NARRATES THE MANNER OF HIS CONVERSION. "And while I was thus disposed, when I wished at one period to be filled with great quietness, and to shun the path of men, I used to go into a certain field not far from the sea. And when I was near that spot one day, which having reached I purposed to be by myself, a certain old man, by no means contemptible in appearance, exhibiting meek and venerable manners, followed me at a little distance. And when I turned round to him, having halted, I fixed my eyes rather keenly on him. "And he said, 'Do you know me?' I replied in the negative. "'Why, then,' said he to me, 'do you so look at me? "'I am astonished,' I said, 'because you have chanced to be in my company in the same place; for I had not expected to see any man here.' "And he says to me, 'I am concerned about some of my household. These are gone away from me; and therefore have I come to make personal search for them, if, perhaps, they shall make their appearance somewhere. But why are you here?' said he to me. "'I delight,' said I, 'in such walks, where my attention is not distracted, for converse with myself is uninterrupted; and such places are most fit for philology.' "'Are you, then, a philologian,' said he, but no lover of deeds or of truth? and do you not aim at being a practical man so much as being a sophist?' "'What greater work,' said I, 'could one accomplish than this, to show the reason which governs all, and having laid hold of it, and being mounted upon it, to look down on the errors of others, and their pursuits? But without philosophy and right reason, prudence would not be present to any man. Wherefore it is necessary for every man to philosophize, and to esteem this the greatest and most honourable work; but other things only of second-rate or third-rate importance, though, indeed, if they be made to depend on philosophy, they are of moderate value, and worthy of acceptance; but deprived of it, and not accompanying it, they are vulgar and coarse to those who pursue them.' "'Does philosophy, then, make happiness?' said he, interrupting. "'Assuredly,' I said, 'and it alone.' "'What, then, is philosophy?' he says; 'and what is happiness? Pray tell me, unless something hinders you from saying.' "'Philosophy, then,' said I, 'is the knowledge of that which really exists, and a clear perception of the truth; and happiness is the reward of such knowledge and wisdom.' "'But what do you call God?' said he. "'That which always maintains the same nature, and in the same manner, and is the cause of all other things--that, indeed, is God.' So I answered him; and he listened to me with pleasure, and thus again interrogated me:-- "'Is not knowledge a term common to different matters? For in arts of all kinds, he who knows any one of them is called a skilful man in the art of generalship, or of ruling, or of healing equally. But in divine and human affairs it is not so. Is there a knowledge which affords understanding of human and divine things, and then a thorough acquaintance with the divinity and the righteousness of them?' "'Assuredly,' I replied. "'What, then? Is it in the same way we know man and' God, as we know music, and arithmetic, and astronomy, or any other similar branch?' "'By no means,' I replied. "'You have not answered me correctly, then,' he said; 'for some [branches of knowledge] come to us by learning, or by some employment, while of others we have knowledge by sight. Now, if one were to tell you that there exists in India an animal with a nature unlike all others, but of such and such a kind, multiform and various, you would not know it before you saw it; but neither would you be competent to give any account of it, unless you should hear from one who had seen it.' "'Certainly not,' I said. "'How then,' he said, 'should the philosophers judge correctly about God, or speak any truth, when they have no knowledge of Him, having neither seen Him at any time, nor heard Him?' "'But, father,' said I, 'the Deity cannot be seen merely by the eyes, as other living beings can, but is discernible to the mind alone, as Plato says; and I believe him.'

CHAPTER IV -- THE SOUL OF ITSELF CANNOT SEE GOD. "'Is there then,' says he, 'such and so great power in our mind? Or can a man not perceive by sense sooner? Will the mind of man see God at any time, if it is uninstructed by the Holy Spirit?' "'Plato indeed says,' replied I, 'that the mind's eye is of such a nature, and has been given for this end, that we may see that very Being when the mind is pure itself, who is the cause of all discerned by the mind, having no colour, no form, no greatness--nothing, indeed, which the bodily eye looks upon; but It is something of this sort, he goes on to say, that is beyond all essence, unutterable and inexplicable, but alone honourable and good, coming suddenly into souls well-dispositioned, on account of their affinity to and desire of seeing Him.' "'What affinity, then,' replied he, 'is there between us and God? Is the soul also divine and immortal, and a part of that very regal mind? And even as that sees God, so also is it attainable by us to conceive of the Deity in our mind, and thence to become happy?' "'Assuredly,' I said. "'And do all the souls of all living beings comprehend Him?' he asked; 'or are the souls of men of one kind and the souls of horses and of asses of another kind?' "'No; but the souls which are in all are similar,' I answered. "'Then,' says he, 'shall both horses and asses see, or have they seen at some time or other, God?' "'No,' I said; 'for the majority of men will not, saving such as shall live justly, purified by righteousness, and by every other virtue.' "'It is not, therefore,' said he, 'on account of his affinity, that a man sees God, nor because he has a mind, but because he is temperate and righteous?' "'Yes,' said I; 'and because he has that whereby he perceives God.' "'What then? Do goats or sheep injure anyone?' "'No one in any respect,' I said. "'Therefore these animals will see [God] according to your account,' says he. "'No; for their body being of such a nature, is an obstacle to them.' "He rejoined,' If these animals could assume speech, be well assured that they would with greater reason ridicule our body; but let us now dismiss this subject, and let it be conceded to you as you say. Tell me, however, this: Does the soul see [God] so long as it is in the body, or after it has been removed from it?' "'So long as it is in the form of a man, it is possible for it,' I continue, 'to attain to this by means of the mind; but especially when it has been set free from the body, and being apart by itself, it gets possession of that which it was wont continually and wholly to love.' "'Does it remember this, then [the sight of God], when it is again in the man?' "'It does not appear to me so,' I said. "'What, then, is the advantage to those who have seen [God]? or what has he who has seen more than he who has not seen, unless he remember this fact, that he has seen?' "'I cannot tell,' I answered. "'And what do those suffer who are judged to be unworthy of this spectacle?' said he. "'They are imprisoned in the bodies of certain wild beasts, and this is their punishment.' "'Do they know, then, that it is for this reason they are in such forms, and that they have committed some sin?' "'I do not think so.' "'Then these reap no advantage from their punishment, as it seems: moreover, I would say that they are not punished unless they are conscious of the punishment.' "'No indeed.' "'Therefore souls neither see God nor trans-migrate into other bodies; for they would know that so they are punished, and they would be afraid to commit even the most trivial sin afterwards. But that they can perceive that God exists, and that righteousness and piety are honourable, I also quite agree with you,' said he. "'You are right,' I replied.

CHAPTER V -- THE SOUL IS NOT IN ITS OWN NATURE IMMORTAL. "'These philosophers know nothing, then, about these things; for they cannot tell what a soul is.' "'It does not appear so.' "'Nor ought it to be called immortal; for if it is immortal, it is plainly unbegotten.' "'It is both unbegotten and immortal, according to some who are styled Platonists.' "'Do you say that the world is also unbegotten?' "'Some say so. I do not, however, agree with them.' "'You are right; for what reason has one for supposing that a body so solid, possessing resistance, composite, changeable, decaying, and renewed every day, has not arisen from some cause? But if the world is begotten, souls also are necessarily begotten; and perhaps at one time they were not in existence, for they were made on account of men and other living creatures, if you will say that they have been begotten wholly apart, and not along with their respective bodies.' "'This seems to be correct.' "'They are not, then, immortal?' "'No; since the world has appeared to us to be begotten.' "'But I do not say, indeed, that all souls die; for that were truly a piece of good fortune to the evil. What then? The souls of the pious remain in a better place, while those of the unjust and wicked are in a worse, waiting for the time of judgment. Thus some which have appeared worthy of God never die; but others are punished so long as God wills them to exist and to be punished.' "'Is what you say, then, of a like nature with that which Plato in Timoeus hints about the world, when he says that it is indeed subject to decay, inasmuch as it has been created, but that it will neither be dissolved nor meet with the fate of death on account of the will of God? Does it seem to you the very same can be said of the soul, and generally of all things? For those things which exist after God, or shall at any time exist, these have the nature of decay, and are such as may be blotted out and cease to exist; for God alone is unbegotten and incorruptible, and therefore He is God, but all other things after Him are created and corruptible. For this reason souls both die and are punished: since, if they were unbegotten, they would neither sin, nor be filled with folly, nor be cowardly, and again ferocious; nor would they willingly transform into swine, and serpents, and dogs and it would not indeed be just to compel them, if they be unbegotten. For that which is unbegotten is similar to, equal to, and the same with that which is unbegotten; and neither in power nor in honour should the one be preferred to the other, and hence there are not many things which are unbegotten: for if there were some difference between them, you would not discover the cause of the difference, though you searched for it; but after letting the mind ever wander to infinity, you would at length, wearied out, take your stand on one Unbegotten, and say that this is the Cause of all. Did such escape the observation of Plato and Pythagoras, those wise men,' I said, 'who have been as a wall and fortress of philosophy to us?'

CHAPTER VI -- THESE THINGS WERE UNKNOWN TO PLATO AND OTHER PHILOSOPHERS. "'It makes no matter to me,' said he, 'whether Plato or Pythagoras, or, in short, any other man held such opinions. For the truth is so; and you would perceive it from this. The soul assuredly is or has life. If, then, it is life, it would cause something else, and not itself, to live, even as motion would move something else than itself. Now, that the soul lives, no one would deny. But if it lives, it lives not as being life, but as the partaker of life; but that which partakes of anything, is different from that of which it does partake. Now the soul partakes of life, since God wills it to live. Thus, then, it will not even partake [of life] when God does not will it to live. For to live is not its attribute, as it is God's; but as a man does not live always, and the soul is not for ever conjoined with the body, since, whenever this harmony must be broken up, the soul leaves the body, and the man exists no longer; even so, whenever the soul must cease to exist, the spirit of life is removed from it, and there is no more soul, but it goes back to the place from whence it was taken.'

CHAPTER VII -- THE KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH TO BE SOUGHT FROM THE PROPHETS ALONE. "'Should any one, then, employ a teacher?' I say, 'or whence may any one be helped, if not even in them there is truth?' "'There existed, long before this time, certain men more ancient than all those who are esteemed philosophers, both righteous and beloved by God, who spoke by the Divine Spirit, and foretold events which would take place, and which are now taking place. They are called prophets. These alone both saw and announced the truth to men, neither reverencing nor fearing any man, not influenced by a desire for glory, but speaking those things alone which they saw and which they heard, being filled with the Holy Spirit. Their writings are still extant, and he who has read them is very much helped in his knowledge of the beginning and end of things, and of those matters which the philosopher ought to know, provided he has believed them. For they did not use demonstration in their treatises, seeing that they were witnesses to the truth above all demonstration, and worthy of belief; and those events which have happened, and those which are happening, compel you to assent to the utterances made by them, although, indeed, they were entitled to credit on account of the miracles which they performed, since they both glorified the Creator, the God and Father of all things, and proclaimed His Son, the Christ [sent] by Him: which, indeed, the false prophets, who are filled with the lying unclean spirit, neither have done nor do, but venture to work certain wonderful deeds for the purpose of astonishing men, and glorify the spirits and demons of error. But pray that, above all things, the gates of light may be opened to you; for these things cannot be perceived or understood by all, but only by the man to whom God and His Christ have imparted wisdom.'

CHAPTER VIII -- JUSTIN BY HIS COLLOQUY IS KINDLED WITH LOVE TO CHRIST. "When he had spoken these and many other things, which there is no time for mentioning at present, he went away, bidding me attend to them; and I have not seen him since. But straightway a flame was kindled in my soul; and a love of the prophets, and of those men who are friends of Christ, possessed me; and whilst revolving his words in my mind, I found this philosophy alone to be safe and profitable. Thus, and for this reason, I am a philosopher. Moreover, I would wish that all, making a resolution similar to my own, do not keep themselves away from the words of the Saviour. For they possess a terrible power in themselves, and are sufficient to inspire those who turn aside from the path of rectitude with awe; while the sweetest rest is afforded those who make a diligent practice of them. If, then, you have any concern for yourself, and if you are eagerly looking for salvation, and if you believe in God, you may--since you are not indifferent to the matter -- become acquainted with the Christ of God, and, after being initiated, live a happy life." When I had said this, my beloved friends those who were with Trypho laughed; but he, smiling, says, "I approve of your other remarks, and admire the eagerness with which you study divine things; but it were better for you still to abide in the philosophy of Plato, or of some other man, cultivating endurance, self-control, and moderation, rather than be deceived by false words, and follow the opinions of men of no reputation. For if you remain in that mode of philosophy, and live blamelessly, a hope of a better destiny were left to you; but when you have forsaken God, and reposed confidence in man, what safety still awaits you? If, then, you are willing to listen to me (for I have already considered you a friend), first be circumcised, then observe what ordinances have been enacted with respect to the Sabbath, and the feasts, and the new moons of God; and, in a word, do all things which have been written in the law: and then perhaps you shall obtain mercy from God. But Christ--if He has indeed been born, and exists anywhere--is unknown, and does not even know Himself, and has no power until Elias come to anoint Him, and make Him manifest to all. And you, having accepted a groundless report, invent a Christ for yourselves, and for his sake are inconsiderately perishing."

CHAPTER IX -- THE CHRISTIANS HAVE NOT BELIEVED GROUNDLESS STORIES. "I excuse and forgive you, my friend," I said. "For you know not what you say, but have been persuaded by teachers who do not understand the Scriptures; and you speak, like a diviner whatever comes into your mind. But if you are willing to listen to an account of Him, how we have not been deceived, and shall not cease to confess Him,--although men's reproaches be heaped upon us, although the most terrible tyrant compel us to deny Him,--I shall prove to you as you stand here that we have not believed empty fables, or words without any foundation but words filled with the Spirit of God, and big with power, and flourishing with grace." Then again those who were in his company laughed, and shouted in an unseemly manner. Then I rose up and was about to leave; but he, taking hold of my garment, said I should not accomplish that until I had performed what I promised. "Let not, then, your companions be so tumultuous, or behave so disgracefully," I said. "But if they wish, let them listen in silence; or, if some better occupation prevent them, let them go away; while we, having retired to some spot, and resting there, may finish the discourse." It seemed good to Trypho that we should do so; and accordingly, having agreed upon it, we retired to the middle space of the Xystus. Two of his friends, when they had ridiculed and made game of our zeal, went off. And when we were come to that place, where there are stone seats on both sides, those with Trypho, having seated themselves on the one side, conversed with each other, some one of them having thrown in a remark about the war waged in Judaea.

CHAPTER X -- TRYPHO BLAMES THE CHRISTIANS FOR THIS ALONE--THE NON-OBSERVANCE OF THE LAW. And when they ceased, I again addressed them thus:-- "Is there any other matter, my friends, in which we are blamed, than this, that we live not after the law, and are not circumcised in the flesh as your forefathers were, and do not observe sabbaths as you do? Are our lives and customs also slandered among you? And I ask this: have you also believed concerning us, that we eat men; and that after the feast, having extinguished the lights, we engage in promiscuous concubinage? Or do you condemn us in this alone, that we adhere to such tenets, and believe in an opinion, untrue, as you think?" "This is what we are amazed at," said Trypho, "but those things about which the multitude speak are not worthy of belief; for they are most repugnant to human nature. Moreover, I am aware that your precepts in the so-called Gospel are so wonderful and so great, that I suspect no one can keep them; for I have carefully read them. But this is what we are most at a loss about: that you, professing to be pious, and supposing yourselves better than others, are not in any particular separated from them, and do not alter your mode of living from the nations, in that you observe no festivals or sabbaths, and do not have the rite of circumcision; and further, resting your hopes on a man that was crucified, you yet expect to obtain some good thing from God, while you do not obey His commandments. Have you not read, that soul shall be cut off from his people who shall not have been circumcised on the eighth day? And this has been ordained for strangers and for slaves equally. But you, despising this covenant rashly, reject the consequent duties, and attempt to persuade yourselves that you know God, when, however, you perform none of those things which they do who fear God. If, therefore, you can defend yourself on these points, and make it manifest in what way you hope for anything whatsoever, even though you do not observe the law, this we would very gladly hear from you, and we shall make other similar investigations."

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:29 pm

Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 11-20.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον Διάλογος

Dialogue With Trypho

XI 1 Οὔτε ἔσται ποτὲ ἄλλος θεός, ὦ Τρύφων, οὔτε ἦν ἀπ' αἰῶνος, ἐγὼ οὕτως πρὸς αὐτόν, πλὴν τοῦ ποιήσαντος καὶ διατάξαντος τόδε τὸ πᾶν. οὐδὲ ἄλλον μὲν ἡμῶν, ἄλλον δὲ ὑμῶν ἡγούμεθα θεόν, ἀλλ' αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν ἐξαγαγόντα τοὺς πατέρας ὑμῶν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐν χειρὶ κραταιᾷ καὶ βραχίονι ὑψηλῷ· οὐδ' εἰς ἄλλον τινὰ ἠλπίκαμεν, οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, ἀλλ' εἰς τοῦτον εἰς ὃν καὶ ὑμεῖς, τὸν θεὸν τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ. ἠλπίσαμεν δὲ οὐ διὰ Μωυσέως οὐδὲ διὰ τοῦ νόμου· ἦ γὰρ ἂν τὸ αὐτὸ ὑμῖν ἐποιοῦμεν. 2 νυνὶ δὲ ἀνέγνων γάρ, ὦ Τρύφων, ὅτι ἔσοιτο καὶ τελευταῖος νόμος καὶ διαθήκη κυριωτάτη πασῶν, ἣν νῦν δέον φυλάσσειν πάντας ἀνθρώπους, ὅσοι τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ κληρονομίας ἀντιποιοῦνται. ὁ γὰρ ἐν Χωρὴβ παλαιὸς ἤδη νόμος καὶ ὑμῶν μόνων, ὁ δὲ πάντων ἁπλῶς· νόμος δὲ κατὰ νόμου τεθεὶς τὸν πρὸ αὐτοῦ ἔπαυσε, καὶ διαθήκη μετέπειτα γενομένη τὴν προτέραν ὁμοίως ἔστησεν. αἰώνιός τε ἡμῖν νόμος καὶ τελευταῖος ὁ Χριστὸς ἐδόθη καὶ ἡ διαθήκη πιστή, μεθ' ἣν οὐ νόμος, οὐ πρόσταγμα, οὐκ ἐντολή. 3 ἢ σὺ ταῦτα οὐκ ἀνέγνως ἅ φησιν Ἠσαίας; Ἀκούσατέ μου, ἀκούσατέ μου, λαός μου, καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς πρός με ἐνωτίζεσθε, ὅτι νόμος παρ' ἐμοῦ ἐξελεύσεται καὶ ἡ κρίσις μου εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν. ἐγγίζει ταχὺ ἡ δικαιοσύνη μου, καὶ ἐξελεύσεται τὸ σωτήριόν μου, καὶ εἰς τὸν βραχίονά μου ἔθνη ἐλπιοῦσι. καὶ διὰ Ἰερεμίου περὶ ταύτης αὐτῆς τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης οὕτω φησίν· Ἰδοὺ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει κύριος, καὶ διαθήσομαι τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰούδα διαθήκην καινήν, οὐχ ἣν διεθέμην τοῖς πατράσιν αὐτῶν, ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ᾗ ἐπελαβόμην τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου. 4 εἰ οὖν ὁ θεὸς διαθήκην καινὴν ἐκήρυξε μέλλουσαν διαταχθήσεσθαι καὶ ταύτην εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, ὁρῶμεν δὲ καὶ πεπείσμεθα διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀπὸ τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἀδικίας προσελθόντας τῷ θεῷ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου ὑπομένοντας τὴν ὁμολογίαν καὶ εὐσέβειαν ποιεῖσθαι, καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἔργων καὶ ἐκ τῆς παρακολουθούσης δυνάμεως συνιέναι πᾶσι δυνατὸν ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ καινὸς νόμος καὶ ἡ καινὴ διαθήκη καὶ ἡ προσδοκία τῶν ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀναμενόντων τὰ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ἀγαθά. 5 Ἰσραηλιτικὸν γὰρ τὸ ἀληθινόν, πνευματικόν, καὶ Ἰούδα γένος καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἀβραάμ, τοῦ ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ ἐπὶ τῇ πίστει μαρτυρηθέντος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ εὐλογηθέντος καὶ πατρὸς πολλῶν ἐθνῶν κληθέντος, ἡμεῖς ἐσμεν, οἱ διὰ τούτου τοῦ σταυρωθέντος Χριστοῦ τῷ θεῷ προσαχθέντες, ὡς καὶ προκοπτόντων ἡμῖν τῶν λόγων ἀποδειχθήσεται.

XII 1 Ἔλεγον δὲ ἔτι καὶ προσέφερον ὅτι καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις λόγοις Ἠσαίας βοᾷ· Ἀκούσατέ μου τοὺς λόγους, καὶ ζήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν, καὶ διαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην αἰώνιον, τὰ ὅσια Δαυεὶδ τὰ πιστά. ἰδοὺ μάρτυρα αὐτὸν ἔθνεσι δέδωκα. ἔθνη, ἃ οὐκ οἴδασί σε, ἐπικαλέσονταί σε, λαοί, οἳ οὐκ ἐπίστανταί σε, καταφεύξονται ἐπὶ σέ, ἕνεκεν τοῦ θεοῦ σου τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι ἐδόξασέ σε. 2 τοῦτον αὐτὸν ὑμεῖς ἠτιμώσατε τὸν νόμον καὶ τὴν καινὴν ἁγίαν αὐτοῦ διαθήκην ἐφαυλίσατε, καὶ οὐδὲ νῦν παραδέχεσθε οὐδὲ μετανοεῖτε πράξαντες κακῶς. ἔτι γὰρ τὰ ὦτα ὑμῶν πέφρακται, οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ὑμῶν πεπήρωνται, καὶ πεπάχυται ἡ καρδία. κέκραγεν Ἰερεμίας, καὶ οὐδ' οὕτως ἀκούετε· πάρεστιν ὁ νομοθέτης, καὶ οὐχ ὁρᾶτε· πτωχοὶ εὐαγγελίζονται, τυφλοὶ βλέπουσι, καὶ οὐ συνίετε. 3 δευτέρας ἤδη χρεία περιτομῆς, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπὶ τῇ σαρκὶ μέγα φρονεῖτε. σαββατίζειν ὑμᾶς ὁ καινὸς νόμος διὰ παντὸς ἐθέλει, καὶ ὑμεῖς μίαν ἀργοῦντες ἡμέραν εὐσεβεῖν δοκεῖτε, μὴ νοοῦντες διὰ τί ὑμῖν προσετάγη· καὶ ἐὰν ἄζυμον ἄρτον φάγητε, πεπληρωκέναι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ φατε. οὐκ ἐν τούτοις εὐδοκεῖ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν. εἴ τις ἐστὶν ἐν ὑμῖν ἐπίορκος ἢ κλέπτης, παυσάσθω· εἴ τις μοιχός, μετανοησάτω, καὶ σεσαββάτικε τὰ τρυφερὰ καὶ ἀληθινὰ σάββατα τοῦ θεοῦ· εἴ τις καθαρὰς οὐκ ἔχει χεῖρας, λουσάσθω, καὶ καθαρός ἐστιν.

XIII 1 Οὐ γὰρ δή γε εἰς βαλανεῖον ὑμᾶς ἔπεμπεν Ἠσαίας ἀπολουσομένους ἐκεῖ τὸν φόνον καὶ τὰς ἄλλας ἁμαρτίας, οὓς οὐδὲ τὸ τῆς θαλάσσης ἱκανὸν πᾶν ὕδωρ καθαρίσαι, ἀλλά, ὡς εἰκός, πάλαι τοῦτο ἐκεῖνο τὸ σωτήριον λουτρὸν ἦν, ὃ εἶπε, τὸ τοῖς μεταγινώσκουσι καὶ μηκέτι αἵμασι τράγων καὶ προβάτων ἢ σποδῷ δαμάλεως ἢ σεμιδάλεως προσφοραῖς καθαριζομένοις, ἀλλὰ πίστει διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ὃς διὰ τοῦτο ἀπέθανεν, ὡς αὐτὸς Ἠσαίας ἔφη, οὕτως λέγων· 2 Ἀποκαλύψει κύριος τὸν βραχίονα αὐτοῦ τὸν ἅγιον ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν, καὶ ὄψονται πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ τὰ ἄκρα τῆς γῆς τὴν σωτηρίαν τὴν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἀπόστητε, ἀπόστητε, ἀπόστητε, ἐξέλθετε ἐκεῖθεν καὶ ἀκαθάρτου μὴ ἅψησθε, ἐξέλθετε ἐκ μέσου αὐτῆς, ἀφορίσθητε οἱ φέροντες τὰ σκεύη κυρίου, ὅτι οὐ μετὰ ταραχῆς πορεύεσθε· πορεύσεται γὰρ πρὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν κύριος, καὶ ὁ ἐπισυνάγων ὑμᾶς κύριος ὁ θεὸς Ἰςραήλ. ἰδοὺ συνήσει ὁ παῖς μου, καὶ ὑψωθήσεται καὶ δοξασθήσεται σφόδρα. 3 ὃν τρόπον ἐκστήσονται πολλοὶ ἐπὶ σέ, οὕτως ἀδοξήσει ἀπὸ ἀνθρώπων τὸ εἶδος καὶ ἡ δόξα σου, οὕτως θαυμασθήσονται ἔθνη πολλὰ ἐπ' αὐτῷ, καὶ συνέξουσι βασιλεῖς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν· ὅτι οἷς οὐκ ἀνηγγέλη περὶ αὐτοῦ ὄψονται, καὶ οἳ οὐκ ἀκηκόασι συνήσουσι. Κύριε, τίς ἐπίστευσε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἡμῶν; καὶ ὁ βραχίων κυρίου τίνι ἀπεκαλύφθη; ἀνηγγείλαμεν ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ ὡς παιδίον, ὡς ῥίζα, ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ. 4 οὐκ ἔστιν εἶδος αὐτῷ οὐδὲ δόξα· καὶ εἴδομεν αὐτόν, καὶ οὐκ εἶχεν εἶδος οὐδὲ κάλλος, ἀλλὰ τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄτιμον, ἐκλεῖπον παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. ἄνθρωπος ἐν πληγῇ ὢν καὶ εἰδὼς φέρειν μαλακίαν, ὅτι ἀπέστραπται τὸ πρόσωπον αὐτοῦ, ἠτιμάσθη καὶ οὐκ ἐλογίσθη. οὗτος τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν φέρει καὶ περὶ ἡμῶν ὀδυνᾶται, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐλογισάμεθα αὐτὸν εἶναι ἐν πόνῳ καὶ ἐν πληγῇ καὶ ἐν κακώσει. 5 οὗτος δὲ ἐτραυματίσθη διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν καὶ μεμαλάκισται διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν· παιδεία εἰρήνης ἡμῶν ἐπ' αὐτόν, τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν. πάντες ὡς πρόβατα ἐπλανήθημεν, ἄνθρωπος τῇ ὁδῷ αὐτοῦ ἐπλανήθη. καὶ κύριος παρέδωκεν αὐτὸν ταῖς ἁμαρτίαις ἡμῶν. καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τὸ κεκακῶσθαι οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ· ὡς πρόβατον εἰς σφαγὴν ἤχθη· καὶ ὡς ἀμνὸς ἐναντίον τοῦ κείροντος ἄφωνος, οὕτως οὐκ ἀνοίγει τὸ στόμα αὐτοῦ. 6 ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει αὐτοῦ ἡ κρίσις αὐτοῦ ἤρθη. τὴν δὲ γενεὰν αὐτοῦ τίς διηγήσεται; ὅτι αἴρεται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς ἡ ζωὴ αὐτοῦ, ἀπὸ τῶν ἀνομιῶν τοῦ λαοῦ μου ἥκει εἰς θάνατον. καὶ δώσω τοὺς πονηροὺς ἀντὶ τῆς ταφῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοὺς πλουσίους ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἀνομίαν οὐκ ἐποίησεν καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη δόλος ἐν τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ. καὶ κύριος βούλεται καθαρίσαι αὐτὸν τῆς πληγῆς. ἐὰν δῶτε περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν ὄψεται σπέρμα μακρόβιον. 7 καὶ βούλεται κύριος ἀφελεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ πόνου τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ, δεῖξαι αὐτῷ φῶς, καὶ πλάσαι τῇ συνέσει, δικαιῶσαι δίκαιον εὖ δουλεύοντα πολλοῖς. καὶ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν αὐτὸς ἀνοίσει. διὰ τοῦτο αὐτὸς κληρονομήσει πολλούς, καὶ τῶν ἰσχυρῶν μεριεῖ σκῦλα, ἀνθ' ὧν παρεδόθη εἰς θάνατον ἡ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀνόμοις ἐλογίσθη, καὶ αὐτὸς ἁμαρτίας πολλῶν ἀνήνεγκε καὶ διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῶν παρεδόθη. 8 Εὐφράνθητι στεῖρα ἡ οὐ τίκτουσα, ῥῆξον καὶ βόησον ἡ οὐκ ὠδίνουσα, ὅτι πολλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐρήμου μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς ἐχούσης τὸν ἄνδρα. εἶπε γὰρ κύριος· πλάτυνον τὸν τόπον τῆς σκηνῆς σου καὶ τῶν αὐλαιῶν σου, πῆξον, μὴ φείσῃ, μάκρυνον τὰ σχοινίσματά σου καὶ τοὺς πασσάλους κατίσχυσον, εἰς τὰ δεξιὰ καὶ εἰς τὰ ἀριςτερὰ ἐκπέτασον· καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου ἔθνη κληρονομήσει, καὶ πόλεις ἠρημωμένας κατοικιεῖς. 9 μὴ φοβοῦ ὅτι κατῃσχύνθης, μηδὲ ἐντραπῇς ὅτι ὠνειδίσθης, ὅτι αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον ἐπιλήσῃ καὶ ὄνειδος τῆς χηρείας σου οὐ μνησθήσῃ· ὅτι κύριος ἐποίησεν ὄνομα ἑαυτῷ, καὶ ὁ ῥυσάμενός σε, αὐτὸς θεὸς Ἰσραήλ, πάσῃ τῇ γῇ κληθήσεται. ὡς γυναῖκα καταλελειμμένην καὶ ὀλιγόψυχον κέκληκέ σε ὁ κύριος, ὡς γυναῖκα ἐκ νεότητος μεμισημένην.

XIV 1 Διὰ τοῦ λουτροῦ οὖν τῆς μετανοίας καὶ τῆς γνώσεως τοῦ θεοῦ, ὃ ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀνομίας τῶν λαῶν τοῦ θεοῦ γέγονεν, ὡς Ἠσαίας βοᾷ, ἡμεῖς ἐπιστεύσαμεν, καὶ γνωρίζομεν ὅτι τοῦτ' ἐκεῖνο, ὃ προηγόρευε, τὸ βάπτισμα, τὸ μόνον καθαρίσαι τοὺς μετανοήσαντας δυνάμενον, τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς ζωῆς· οὓς δὲ ὑμεῖς ὠρύξατε λάκκους ἑαυτοῖς, συντετριμμένοι εἰσὶ καὶ οὐδὲν ὑμῖν χρήσιμοι. τί γὰρ ὄφελος ἐκείνου τοῦ βαπτίσματος, ὃ τὴν σάρκα καὶ μόνον τὸ σῶμα φαιδρύνει; 2 βαπτίσθητε τὴν ψυχὴν ἀπὸ ὀργῆς καὶ ἀπὸ πλεονεξίας, ἀπὸ φθόνου, ἀπὸ μίσους· καὶ ἰδοὺ τὸ σῶμα καθαρόν ἐστι. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ σύμβολον τῶν ἀζύμων, ἵνα μὴ τὰ παλαιὰ τῆς κακῆς ζύμης ἔργα πράττητε. ὑμεῖς δὲ πάντα σαρκικῶς νενοήκατε, καὶ ἡγεῖσθε εὐσέβειαν, ἐὰν τοιαῦτα ποιοῦντες τὰς ψυχὰς μεμεστωμένοι ἦτε δόλου καὶ πάσης κακίας ἁπλῶς. 3 διὸ καὶ μετὰ τὰς ἑπτὰ ἡμέρας τῶν ἀζυμοφαγιῶν νέαν ζύμην φυρᾶσαι ἑαυτοῖς ὁ θεὸς παρήγγειλε, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἄλλων ἔργων πρᾶξιν καὶ μὴ τῶν παλαιῶν καὶ φαύλων τὴν μίμησιν. καὶ ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ ἀξιοῖ ὑμᾶς οὗτος ὁ καινὸς νομοθέτης, τοὺς προλελεγμένους ὑπ' ἐμοῦ λόγους πάλιν ἀνιστορήσω μετὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τῶν παραλειφθέντων. εἴρηνται δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἠσαίου οὕτως· 4 Εἰσακούσετέ μου, καὶ ζήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ὑμῶν, καὶ διαθήσομαι ὑμῖν διαθήκην αἰώνιον, τὰ ὅσια τοῦ Δαυεὶδ τὰ πιστά. ἰδοῦ μαρτύριον αὐτὸν ἔθνεσι δέδωκα, ἄρχοντα καὶ προστάσσοντα ἔθνεσιν. ἔθνη, ἃ οὐκ οἴδασί σε, ἐπικαλέσονταί σε, καὶ λαοί, οἳ οὐκ ἐπίστανταί σε, ἐπὶ σὲ καταφεύξονται, ἕνεκεν τοῦ θεοῦ σου τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραήλ, ὅτι ἐδόξασέ σε. 5 ζητήσατε τὸν θεὸν καὶ ἐν τῷ εὑρίσκειν αὐτὸν ἐπικαλέσασθε, ἡνίκα ἂν ἐγγίζῃ ὑμῖν. ἀπολιπέτω ὁ ἀσεβὴς τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀνὴρ ἄνομος τὰς βουλὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιστραφήτω ἐπὶ κύριον, καὶ ἐλεηθήσεται, ὅτι ἐπὶ πολὺ ἀφήσει τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν. οὐ γάρ εἰσιν αἱ βουλαί μου ὥσπερ αἱ βουλαὶ ὑμῶν, οὐδὲ αἱ ὁδοί μου ὥσπερ αἱ ὁδοὶ ὑμῶν, ἀλλὰ ὅσον ἀπέχει ὁ οὐρανὸς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, τοσοῦτον ἀπέχει ἡ ὁδός μου ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ διανοήματα ὑμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς διανοίας μου. 6 ὡς γὰρ ἂν καταβῇ χιὼν ἢ ὑετὸς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἀποστραφήσεται, ἕως ἂν μεθύσῃ τὴν γῆν καὶ ἐκτέκῃ καὶ βλαςτήσῃ καὶ δῷ σπέρμα τῷ σπείραντι καὶ ἄρτον εἰς βρῶσιν, οὕτως ἔσται τὸ ῥῆμά μου, ὃ ἂν ἐξέλθῃ ἐκ τοῦ στόματός μου· οὐ μὴ ἀποστραφῇ, ἕως ἂν συντελεσθῇ πάντα ὅσα ἠθέλησα, καὶ εὐοδώσω τὰ ἐντάλματά μου. 7 ἐν γὰρ εὐφροσύνῃ ἐξελεύσεσθε καὶ ἐν χαρᾷ διδαχθήσεσθε· τὰ γὰρ ὄρη καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ ἐξαλοῦνται προσδεχόμενοι ὑμᾶς, καὶ πάντα τὰ ξύλα τῶν ἀγρῶν ἐπικροτήσει τοῖς κλάδοις, καὶ ἀντὶ τῆς στοιβῆς ἀναβήσεται κυπάρισσος, ἀντὶ δὲ τῆς κονύζης ἀναβήσεται μυρσίνη, καὶ ἔσται κύριος εἰς ὄνομα καὶ εἰς σημεῖον αἰώνιον καὶ οὐκ ἐκλείψει. 8 Τῶν τε λόγων τούτων καὶ τοιούτων εἰρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν προφητῶν, ἔλεγον, ὦ Τρύφων, οἱ μὲν εἴρηνται εἰς τὴν πρώτην παρουσίαν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ἐν ᾗ καὶ ἄτιμος καὶ ἀειδὴς καὶ θνητὸς φανήσεσθαι κεκηρυγμένος ἐστίν, οἱ δὲ εἰς τὴν δευτέραν αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν, ὅτε ἐν δόξῃ καὶ ἐπάνω τῶν νεφελῶν παρέσται, καὶ ὄψεται ὁ λαὸς ὑμῶν καὶ γνωριεῖ εἰς ὃν ἐξεκέντησαν, ὡς Ὠσηέ, εἷς τῶν δώδεκα προφητῶν, καὶ Δανιὴλ προεῖπον, εἰρημένοι εἰσί.

XV 1 Καὶ τὴν ἀληθινὴν οὖν τοῦ θεοῦ νηστείαν μάθετε νηστεύειν, ὡς Ἠσαίας φησίν, ἵνα τῷ θεῷ εὐαρεστῆτε. 2 κέκραγε δὲ Ἠσαίας οὕτως· Ἀναβόησον ἐν ἰσχύϊ καὶ μὴ φείσῃ, ὡς σάλπιγγι ὕψωσον τὴν φωνήν σου καὶ ἀνάγγειλον τῷ γένει μου τὰ ἁμαρτήματα αὐτῶν καὶ τῷ οἴκῳ Ἰακὼβ τὰς ἀνομίας αὐτῶν. ἐμὲ ἡμέραν ἐξ ἡμέρας ζητοῦσι καὶ γνῶναι τὰς ὁδούς μου ἐπιθυμοῦσιν, ὡς λαὸς δικαιοσύνην πεποιηκὼς καὶ κρίσιν θεοῦ οὐκ ἐγκαταλελοιπώς. 3 αἰτοῦσί με νῦν κρίσιν δικαίαν καὶ ἐγγίζειν θεῷ ἐπιθυμοῦσι, λέγοντες· Τί ὅτι ἐνηστεύσαμεν καὶ οὐκ εἶδες, ἐταπεινώσαμεν τὰς ψυχὰς ἡμῶν καὶ οὐκ ἔγνως; ἐν γὰρ ταῖς ἡμέραις τῶν νηστειῶν ὑμῶν εὑρίσκετε τὰ θελήματα ὑμῶν, καὶ πάντας τοὺς ὑποχειρίους ὑμῶν ὑπονύσσετε· ἰδοὺ εἰς κρίσεις καὶ μάχας νηστεύετε, καὶ τύπτετε πυγμαῖς ταπεινόν. ἵνα τί μοι νηστεύετε ἕως σήμερον, ἀκουσθῆναι ἐν κραυγῇ τὴν φωνὴν ὑμῶν; 4 οὐ ταύτην τὴν νηστείαν ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην, καὶ ἡμέραν ταπεινοῦν ἄνθρωπον τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ· οὐδ' ἂν κάμψῃς ὡς κρίκον τὸν τράχηλόν σου καὶ σάκκον καὶ σποδὸν ὑποστρώσῃ, οὐδ' οὕτως καλέσετε νηστείαν καὶ ἡμέραν δεκτὴν τῷ κυρίῳ. οὐχὶ τοιαύτην νηστείαν ἐγὼ ἐξελεξάμην, λέγει κύριος· ἀλλὰ λύε πάντα σύνδεσμον ἀδικίας, διάλυε στραγγαλιὰς βιαίων συναλλαγμάτων, ἀπόστελλε τεθραυσμένους ἐν ἀφέσει καὶ πᾶσαν συγγραφὴν ἄδικον διάσπα. 5 διάθρυπτε πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον σου καὶ πτωχοὺς ἀστέγους εἰσάγαγε εἰς τὸν οἶκόν σου· ἐὰν ἴδῃς γυμνόν, περίβαλλε, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκείων τοῦ σπέρματός σου οὐχ ὑπερόψει. τότε ῥαγήσεται πρώϊμον τὸ φῶς σου, καὶ τὰ ἱμάτιά σου ταχὺ ἀνατελεῖ, καὶ προπορεύσεται ἔμπροσθέν σου ἡ δικαιοσύνη σου, καὶ ἡ δόξα τοῦ θεοῦ περιστελεῖ σε. τότε βοήσῃ, καὶ ὁ θεὸς εἰσακούσεταί σου· ἔτι λαλοῦντός σου ἐρεῖ· Ἰδοὺ πάρειμι. 6 ἐὰν δὲ ἀφέλῃς ἀπὸ σοῦ σύνδεσμον καὶ χειροτονίαν καὶ ῥῆμα γογγυσμοῦ, καὶ διδῷς πεινῶντι τὸν ἄρτον σου ἐκ ψυχῆς, καὶ ψυχὴν τεταπεινωμένην ἐμπλήσῃς, τότε ἀνατελεῖ ἐν τῷ σκότει τὸ φῶς σου, καὶ τὸ σκότος σου ὡς μεσημβρία, καὶ ἔσται ὁ θεός σου μετὰ σοῦ διὰ παντός, καὶ ἐμπλησθήσῃ καθὰ ἐπιθυμεῖ ἡ ψυχή σου, καὶ τὰ ὀστᾶ σου πιανθήσονται, καὶ ἔσται ὡς κῆπος μεθύων καὶ πηγὴ ὕδατος ἢ γῆ ᾗ μὴ ἐξέλιπεν ὕδωρ. 7 περιτέμεσθε οὖν τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν, ὡς οἱ λόγοι τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ πάντων τούτων τῶν λόγων ἀξιοῦσι.

XVI 1 Καὶ διὰ Μωυσέως κέκραγεν ὁ θεὸς αὐτός, οὕτως λέγων· Καὶ περιτεμεῖσθε τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν ὑμῶν καὶ τὸν τράχηλον οὐ σκληρυνεῖτε ἔτι· ὁ γὰρ κύριος, ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν καὶ κύριος τῶν κυρίων, θεὸς μέγας καὶ ἰσχυρὸς καὶ φοβερὸς, ὅστις οὐ θαυμάζει πρόσωπον οὐδὲ μὴ λάβῃ δῶρον. καὶ ἐν τῷ Λευιτικῷ· Ὅτι παρέβησαν καὶ ὑπερεῖδόν με καὶ ὅτι ἐπορεύθησαν ἐναντίον μου πλάγιοι, καὶ ἐγὼ ἐπορεύθην μετ' αὐτῶν πλαγίως, καὶ ἀπολῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ γῇ τῶν ἐχθρῶν αὐτῶν. τότε ἐντραπήσεται ἡ καρδία ἡ ἀπερίτμητος αὐτῶν. 2 ἡ γὰρ ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ κατὰ σάρκα περιτομὴ εἰς σημεῖον ἐδόθη, ἵνα ἦτε ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων ἐθνῶν καὶ ἡμῶν ἀφωρισμένοι, καὶ ἵνα μόνοι πάθητε ἃ νῦν ἐν δίκῃ πάσχετε, καὶ ἵνα γένωνται αἱ χῶραι ὑμῶν ἔρημοι καὶ αἱ πόλεις πυρίκαυστοι, καὶ τοὺς καρποὺς ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν κατεσθίωσιν ἀλλότριοι, καὶ μηδεὶς ἐξ ὑμῶν ἐπιβαίνῃ εἰς τὴν Ἰερουσαλήμ. 3 οὐ γὰρ ἐξ ἄλλου τινὸς γνωρίζεσθε παρὰ τοὺς ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους, ἢ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν σαρκὶ ὑμῶν περιτομῆς. οὐδεὶς γὰρ ὑμῶν, ὡς νομίζω, τολμήσει εἰπεῖν ὅτι μὴ καὶ προγνώστης τῶν γίνεσθαι μελλόντων ἦν καὶ ἔστιν ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὰ ἄξια ἑκάστῳ προετοιμάζων. καὶ ὑμῖν οὖν ταῦτα καλῶς καὶ δικαίως γέγονεν. 4 ἀπεκτείνατε γὰρ τὸν δίκαιον καὶ πρὸ αὐτοῦ τοὺς προφήτας αὐτοῦ· καὶ νῦν τοὺς ἐλπίζοντας ἐπ' αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν πέμψαντα αὐτὸν παντοκράτορα καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν ἀθετεῖτε καί, ὅσον ἐφ' ὑμῖν, ἀτιμάζετε, καταρώμενοι ἐν ταῖς συναγωγαῖς ὑμῶν τοὺς πιστεύοντας ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστόν. οὐ γὰρ ἐξουσίαν ἔχετε αὐτόχειρες γενέσθαι ἡμῶν διὰ τοὺς νῦν ἐπικρατοῦντας· ὁσάκις δὲ ἂν ἐδυνήθητε, καὶ τοῦτο ἐπράξατε. 5 διὸ καὶ ἐμβοᾷ ὑμῖν ὁ θεὸς διὰ τοῦ Ἠσαίου λέγων· Ἴδετε ὡς ὁ δίκαιος ἀπώλετο, καὶ οὐδεὶς κατανοεῖ. ἀπὸ γὰρ προσώπου τῆς ἀδικίας ἦρται ὁ δίκαιος. ἔσται ἐν εἰρήνῃ· ἡ ταφὴ αὐτοῦ ἦρται ἐκ τοῦ μέσου. ὑμεῖς προσηγάγετε ὧδε, υἱοὶ ἄνομοι, σπέρμα μοιχῶν καὶ τέκνα πόρνης. ἐν τίνι ἐνετρυφᾶτε καὶ ἐπὶ τίνα ἠνοίξατε τὸ στόμα καὶ ἐπὶ τίνι ἐχαλάσατε τὴν γλῶσσαν;

XVII 1 Οὐχ οὕτως γὰρ τὰ ἄλλα ἔθνη εἰς ταύτην τὴν ἀδικίαν τὴν εἰς ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν ἐνέχονται, ὅσον ὑμεῖς, οἳ κἀκείνοις τῆς κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου καὶ ἡμῶν τῶν ἀπ' ἐκείνου κακῆς προλήψεως αἴτιοι ὑπάρχετε· μετὰ γὰρ τὸ σταυρῶσαι ὑμᾶς ἐκεῖνον τὸν μόνον ἄμωμον καὶ δίκαιον ἄνθρωπον, δι' οὗ τῶν μωλώπων ἴασις γίνεται τοῖς δι' αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν πατέρα προσχωροῦσιν, ἐπειδὴ ἐγνώκατε αὐτὸν ἀναστάντα ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ ἀναβάντα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ὡς αἱ προφητεῖαι προεμήνυον γενησόμενον, οὐ μόνον οὐ μετενοήσατε ἐφ' οἷς ἐπράξατε κακοῖς, ἀλλὰ ἄνδρας ἐκλεκτοὺς ἀπὸ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐκλεξάμενοι τότε ἐξεπέμψατε εἰς πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, λέγοντας αἵρεσιν ἄθεον Χριστιανῶν πεφηνέναι, καταλέγοντας τε ταῦτα ἅπερ καθ' ἡμῶν οἱ ἀγνοοῦντες ἡμᾶς πάντες λέγουσιν· ὥστε οὐ μόνον ἑαυτοῖς ἀδικίας αἴτιοι ὑπάρχετε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασιν ἁπλῶς ἀνθρώποις. 2 καὶ δικαίως βοᾷ Ἠσαίας· Δι' ὑμᾶς τὸ ὄνομά μου βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι. καί· Οὐαὶ τῇ ψυχῇ αὐτῶν, διότι βεβούλευνται βουλὴν πονηρὰν καθ' ἑαυτῶν, εἰπόντες· Δήσωμεν τὸν δίκαιον, ὅτι δύσχρηστος ἡμῖν ἐστι. τοίνυν τὰ γεννήματα τῶν ἔργων αὐτῶν φάγονται. οὐαὶ τῷ ἀνόμῳ· πονηρὰ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ συμβήσεται αὐτῷ. καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἄλλοις· Οὐαὶ οἱ ἐπισπώμενοι τὰς ἁμαρτίας αὐτῶν ὡς σχοινίῳ μακρῷ καὶ ὡς ζυγοῦ ἱμάντι δαμάλεως τὰς ἀνομίας, οἱ λέγοντες· Τὸ τάχος αὐτοῦ ἐγγισάτω, καὶ ἐλθέτω ἡ βουλὴ τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰσραήλ, ἵνα γνῶμεν. οὐαὶ οἱ λέγοντες τὸ πονηρὸν καλὸν <καὶ τὸ καλὸν πονηρόν,> οἱ τιθέντες τὸ φῶς σκότος καὶ τὸ σκότος φῶς, οἱ τιθέντες τὸ πικρὸν γλυκὺ καὶ τὸ γλυκὺ πικρόν. 3 κατὰ οὖν τοῦ μόνου ἀμώμου καὶ δικαίου φωτός, τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πεμφθέντος παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ πικρὰ καὶ σκοτεινὰ καὶ ἄδικα καταλεχθῆναι ἐν πάσῃ τῇ γῇ ἐσπουδάσατε. δύσχρηστος γὰρ ὑμῖν ἔδοξεν εἶναι, βοῶν παρ' ὑμῖν· Γέγραπται· Ὁ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς ἐστιν, ὑμεῖς δὲ πεποιήκατε αὐτὸν σπήλαιον λῃστῶν. καὶ τὰς τραπέζας τῶν ἐν τῷ ναῷ κολλυβιστῶν κατέστρεψε. 4 καὶ ἐβόα· Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι, ὑποκριταί, ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἡδύοςμον καὶ τὸ πήγανον, τὴν δὲ ἀγάπην τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὴν κρίσιν οὐ κατανοεῖτε· τάφοι κεκονιαμένοι, ἔξωθεν φαινόμενοι ὡραῖοι, ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμοντες ὀστέων νεκρῶν. καὶ τοῖς γραμματεῦσιν· Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς, ὅτι τὰς κλεῖς ἔχετε, καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε καὶ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους κωλύετε· ὁδηγοὶ τυφλοί.

XVIII 1 Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀνέγνως, ὦ Τρύφων, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁμολογήσας ἔφης, τὰ ὑπ' ἐκείνου τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διδαχθέντα, οὐκ ἄτοπον νομίζω πεποιηκέναι καὶ βραχέα τῶν ἐκείνου λόγια πρὸς τοῖς προφητικοῖς ἐπιμνησθείς. 2 Λούσασθε οὖν καὶ νῦν καθαροὶ γένεσθε καὶ ἀφέλεσθε τὰς πονηρίας ἀπὸ τῶν ψυχῶν ὑμῶν, ὡς δὲ λούσασθαι ὑμῖν τοῦτο τὸ λουτρὸν κελεύει ὁ θεὸς καὶ περιτέμνεσθαι τὴν ἀληθινὴν περιτομήν. ἡμεῖς γὰρ καὶ ταύτην ἂν τὴν περιτομὴν τὴν κατὰ σάρκα καὶ τὰ σάββατα καὶ τὰς ἑορτὰς πάσας ἁπλῶς ἐφυλάσσομεν, εἰ μὴ ἔγνωμεν δι' ἣν αἰτίαν καὶ ὑμῖν προσετάγη, τοῦτ' ἔστι διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὴν σκληροκαρδίαν. 3 εἰ γὰρ ὑπομένομεν πάντα τὰ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων καὶ δαιμόνων φαύλων ἐνεργούμενα εἰς ἡμᾶς φέρειν, ὡς καὶ μέχρι τῶν ἀρρήτων, θανάτου καὶ τιμωριῶν, εὐχόμενοι ἐλεηθῆναι καὶ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα διατιθέντας ἡμᾶς, καὶ μηδὲ μικρὸν ἀμείβεσθαι μηδένα βουλόμενοι, ὡς ὁ καινὸς νομοθέτης ἐκέλευσεν ἡμῖν, πῶς οὐχὶ καὶ τὰ μηδὲ βλάπτοντα ἡμᾶς, περιτομὴν δὲ σαρκικὴν λέγω καὶ σάββατα καὶ τὰς ἑορτάς, ἐφυλάσσομεν, ὦ Τρύφων;

XIX 1 <Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων·> Τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ ἀπορεῖν ἄξιόν ἐστιν, ὅτι τοιαῦτα ὑπομένοντες οὐχὶ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πάντα, περὶ ὧν νῦν ζητοῦμεν, φυλάσσετε. 2 Οὐ γὰρ πᾶσιν ἀναγκαία αὕτη ἡ περιτομή, ἀλλ' ὑμῖν μόνοις, ἵνα, ὡς προέφην, ταῦτα πάθητε ἃ νῦν ἐν δίκῃ πάσχετε. οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ βάπτισμα ἐκεῖνο τὸ ἀνωφελὲς τὸ τῶν λάκκων προςλαμβάνομεν· οὐδὲν γὰρ πρὸς τὸ βάπτισμα τοῦτο τὸ τῆς ζωῆς ἐστι. διὸ καὶ κέκραγεν ὁ θεός, ὅτι Ἐγκατελίπετε αὐτόν, πηγὴν ζῶσαν, καὶ ὠρύξατε ἑαυτοῖς λάκκους συντετριμμένους, οἳ οὐ δυνήσονται συνέχειν ὕδωρ. 3 καὶ ὑμεῖς μέν, οἱ τὴν σάρκα περιτετμημένοι, χρῄζετε τῆς ἡμετέρας περιτομῆς, ἡμεῖς δέ, ταύτην ἔχοντες, οὐδὲν ἐκείνης δεόμεθα. εἰ γὰρ ἦν ἀναγκαία, ὡς δοκεῖτε, οὐκ ἂν ἀκρόβυστον ὁ θεὸς ἔπλασε τὸν Ἀδάμ, οὐδὲ ἐπέβλεψεν ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις τοῦ ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ σαρκὸς προσενέγκαντος θυσίας Ἅβελ, οὐδ' ἂν εὐηρέστησεν ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ Ἑνώχ, καὶ οὐκ εὑρίσκετο, διότι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός. 4 Λὼτ ἀπερίτμητος ἐκ Σοδόμων ἐσώθη, αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν ἀγγέλων αὐτὸν καὶ τοῦ κυρίου προπεμψάντων. Νῶε, ἀρχὴ γένους ἄλλου, ἅμα τοῖς τέκνοις ἀπερίτμητος εἰς τὴν κιβωτὸν εἰσῆλθεν. ἀπερίτμητος ἦν ὁ ἱερεὺς τοῦ ὑψίστου Μελχισεδέκ, ᾧ καὶ δεκάτας προσφορὰς ἔδωκεν Ἀβραάμ, ὁ πρῶτος τὴν κατὰ σάρκα περιτομὴν λαβών, καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτόν· οὗ κατὰ τὴν τάξιν τὸν αἰώνιον ἱερέα ὁ θεὸς καταστήσειν διὰ τοῦ Δαυεὶδ μεμήνυκεν. 5 ὑμῖν οὖν μόνοις ἀναγκαία ἦν ἡ περιτομὴ αὕτη, ἵνα ὁ λαὸς οὐ λαὸς ᾖ καὶ τὸ ἔθνος οὐκ ἔθνος, ὡς καὶ Ὠσηέ, εἷς τῶν δώδεκα προφητῶν, φησί. καὶ γὰρ μὴ σαββατίσαντες οἱ προωνομασμένοι πάντες δίκαιοι τῷ θεῷ εὐηρέστησαν καὶ μετ' αὐτοὺς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ οἱ τούτου υἱοὶ ἅπαντες μέχρι Μωυσέως, ἐφ' οὗ ἄδικος καὶ ἀχάριστος εἰς τὸν θεὸν ὁ λαὸς ὑμῶν ἐφάνη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ μοσχοποιήσας. 6 ὅθεν ὁ θεὸς ἁρμοσάμενος πρὸς τὸν λαὸν ἐκεῖνον καὶ θυσίας φέρειν ὡς πρὸς ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐνετείλατο, ἵνα μὴ εἰδωλολατρῆτε· ὅπερ οὐδὲ ἐφυλάξατε, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν ἐθύετε τοῖς δαιμονίοις. καὶ σαββατίζειν οὖν ὑμῖν προστέταχεν, ἵνα μνήμην λαμβάνητε τοῦ θεοῦ· καὶ γὰρ ὁ λόγος αὐτοῦ τοῦτο σημαίνει λέγων· Τοῦ γινώσκειν ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ θεὸς ὁ λυτρωσάμενος ὑμᾶς.

XX 1 Καὶ γὰρ βρωμάτων τινῶν ἀπέχεσθαι προσέταξεν ὑμῖν, ἵνα καὶ ἐν τῷ ἐσθίειν καὶ πίνειν πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔχητε τὸν θεόν, εὐκατάφοροι ὄντες καὶ εὐχερεῖς πρὸς τὸ ἀφίστασθαι τῆς γνώσεως αὐτοῦ, ὡς καὶ Μωυσῆς φησιν· Ἔφαγε καὶ ἔπιεν ὁ λαὸς καὶ ἀνέστη τοῦ παίζειν. καὶ πάλιν· Ἔφαγεν Ἰακὼβ καὶ ἐνεπλήσθη, καὶ ἐλιπάνθη, καὶ ἀπελάκτισεν ὁ ἠγαπημένος· ἐλιπάνθη, ἐπαχύνθη, ἐπλατύνθη, καὶ ἐγκατέλιπε θεὸν τὸν ποιήσαντα αὐτόν. τῷ γὰρ Νῶε ὅτι συγκεχώρητο ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, δικαίῳ ὄντι, πᾶν ἔμψυχον ἐσθίειν πλὴν κρέας ἐν αἵματι, ὅπερ ἐστὶ νεκριμαῖον, διὰ Μωυσέως ἀνιστορήθη ὑμῖν ἐν τῇ βίβλῳ τῆς Γενέσεως. 2 καὶ βουλομένου αὐτοῦ εἰπεῖν Ὡς λάχανα χόρτου, προεῖπον ἐγώ· Τὸ ὡς λάχανα χόρτου τοῦ μὴ ἀκούσεσθε ὡς εἴρηται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτι ὡς τὰ λάχανα εἰς τροφὴν τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐπεποιήκει ὁ θεός, οὕτως καὶ τὰ ζῶα εἰς κρεωφαγίαν ἐδεδώκει; ἀλλ' ἐπεί τινα τῶν χόρτων οὐκ ἐσθίομεν, οὕτω καὶ διαστολὴν ἔκτοτε τῷ Νῶε διεστάλθαι φατέ. 3 οὐχ ὡς ἐξηγεῖσθε πιστευτέον. πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ὅτι πᾶν λάχανον χόρτος ἐστὶ καὶ βιβρώσκεσθαι δυνάμενος λέγειν καὶ κρατύνειν, οὐκ ἐν τούτῳ ἀσχοληθήσομαι. ἀλλὰ εἰ καὶ τὰ λάχανα τοῦ χόρτου διακρίνομεν, μὴ πάντα ἐσθίοντες, οὐ διὰ τὸ εἶναι αὐτὰ κοινὰ ἢ ἀκάθαρτα οὐκ ἐσθίομεν, ἀλλὰ ἢ διὰ τὸ πικρὰ ἢ θανάσιμα ἢ ἀκανθώδη· τῶν δὲ γλυκέων πάντων καὶ τροφιμωτάτων καὶ καλλίστων, θαλασσίων τε καὶ χερσαίων, ἐφιέμεθα καὶ μετέχομεν. 4 οὕτω καὶ τῶν ἀκαθάρτων καὶ ἀδίκων καὶ παρανόμων ἀπέχεσθαι ὑμᾶς ἐκέλευσεν ὁ θεὸς διὰ Μωυσέως, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸ μάννα ἐσθίοντες ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ καὶ τὰ θαυμάσια πάντα ὁρῶντες ὑμῖν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ γινόμενα, μόσχον τὸν χρύσεον ποιήσαντες προσεκυνεῖτε. ὥστε δικαίως ἀεὶ βοᾷ· Υἱοὶ ἀσύνετοι, οὐκ ἔστι πίστις ἐν αὐτοῖς.

CHAPTER XI -- THE LAW ABROGATED; THE NEW TESTAMENT PROMISED AND GIVEN BY GOD. "There will be no other God, O Trypho, nor was there from eternity any other existing" (I thus addressed him), "but He who made and disposed all this universe. Nor do we think that there is one God for us, another for you, but that He alone is God who led your fathers out from Egypt with a strong hand and a high arm. Nor have we trusted in any other (for there is no other), but in Him in whom you also have trusted, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob. But we do not trust through Moses or through the law; for then we would do the same as yourselves. But now--(for I have read that there shall be a final law, and a covenant, the chiefest of all, which it is now incumbent on all men to observe, as many as are seeking after the inheritance of God. For the law promulgated on Horeb is now old, and belongs to yourselves alone; but this is for all universally. Now, law placed against law has abrogated that which is before it, and a covenant which comes after in like manner has put an end to the previous one; and an eternal and final law--namely, Christ--has been given to us, and the covenant is trustworthy, after which there shall be no law, no commandment, no ordinance. Have you not read this which Isaiah says: 'Hearken unto Me, hearken unto Me, my people; and, ye kings, give ear unto Me: for a law shall go forth from Me, and My judgment shah be for a light to the nations. My righteousness approaches swiftly, and My salvation shall go forth, and nations shall trust in Mine arm?' And by Jeremiah, concerning this same new covenant, He thus speaks: 'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant which I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt'). If, therefore, God proclaimed a new covenant which was to be instituted, and this for a light of the nations, we see and are persuaded that men approach God, leaving their idols and other unrighteousness, through the name of Him who was crucified, Jesus Christ, and abide by their confession even unto death, and maintain piety. Moreover, by the works and by the attendant miracles, it is possible for all to understand that He is the new law, and the new covenant, and the expectation of those who out of every people wait for the good things of God. For the true spiritual Israel, and descendants of Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham (who in uncircumcision was approved of and blessed by God on account of his faith, and called the father of many nations), are we who have been led to God through this crucified Christ, as shall be demonstrated while we proceed.

CHAPTER XII -- THE JEWS VIOLATE THE ETERNAL LAW, AND INTERPRET ILL THAT OF MOSES. I also adduced another passage in which Isaiah exclaims: "'Hear My words, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people: nations which know not Thee shall call on Thee; peoples who know not Thee shall escape to Thee, because of thy God, the Holy One of Israel; for He has glorified Thee.' This same law you have despised, and His new holy covenant you have slighted; and now you neither receive it, nor repent of your evil deeds. 'For your ears are closed, your eyes are blinded, and the heart is hardened,' Jeremiah has cried; yet not even then do you listen. The Lawgiver is present, yet you do not see Him; to the poor the Gospel is preached, the blind see, yet you do not understand. You have now need of a second circumcision, though you glory greatly in the flesh. The new law requires you to keep perpetual sabbath, and you, because you are idle for one day, suppose you are pious, not discerning why this has been commanded you: and if you eat unleavened bread, you say the will of God has been fulfilled. The Lord our God does not take pleasure in such observances: if there is any perjured person or a thief among you, let him cease to be so; if any adulterer, let him repent; then he has kept the sweet and true sabbaths of God. If any one has impure hands, let him wash and be pure.

CHAPTER XIII -- ISAIAH TEACHES THAT SINS ARE FORGIVEN THROUGH CHRIST'S BLOOD. "For Isaiah did not send you to a bath, there to wash away murder and other sins, which not even all the water of the sea were sufficient to purge; but, as might have been expected, this was that saving bath of the olden time which followed s those who repented, and who no longer were purified by the blood of goats and of sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer, or by the offerings of fine flour, but by faith through the blood of Christ, and through His death, who died for this very reason, as Isaiah himself said, when he spake thus: 'The Lord shall make bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the nations and the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God. Depart ye, depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, and touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her, be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord, for ye go not with haste. For the Lord shall go before you; and the Lord, the God of Israel, shall gather you together. Behold, my servant shall deal prudently; and He shall be exalted, and be greatly glorified. As many were astonished at Thee, so Thy form and Thy glory shall be marred more than men. So shall many nations be astonished at Him, and the kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them concerning Him shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider. Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? We have announced Him as a child before Him, as a root in a dry ground. He hath no form or comeliness, and when we saw Him He had no form or beauty; but His form is dishonoured, and fails more than the sons of men. He is a man in affliction, and acquainted with bearing sickness, because His face has been turned away; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. He bears our sins, and is distressed for us; and we esteemed Him to be in toil and in affliction, and in evil treatment But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. With His stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. Every man has turned to his own way; and the Lord laid on Him our iniquities, and by reason of His oppression He opens not His mouth. He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before her shearer is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. In His humiliation His judgment was taken away. And who shall declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth. Because of the transgressions of my people He came unto death. And I will give the wicked for His grave, and the rich for His death, because He committed no iniquity, and deceit was not found in His mouth. And the Lord wills to purify Him from affliction. If he has been given for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed. And the Lord wills to take His soul away from trouble, to show Him light, and to form Him in understanding, to justify the righteous One who serves many well. And He shall bear our sins; therefore He shall inherit many, and shall divide the spoil of the strong, because His soul was delivered to death; and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sins of many, and was delivered for their transgression. Sing, O barren, who bearest not; break forth and cry aloud, thou who dost not travail in pain: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife. For the Lord said, Enlarge the place of thy tent and of thy curtains; fix them, spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; stretch forth to thy right and thy left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and thou shalt make the desolate cities to be inherited. Fear not because thou art ashamed, neither be thou confounded because thou hast been reproached; for thou shalt forget everlasting shame, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood, because the Lord has made a name for Himself, and He who has redeemed thee shall be called through the whole earth the God of Israel. The Lord has called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, as a woman hated from her youth.'

CHAPTER XIV -- RIGHTEOUSNESS IS NOT PLACED IN JEWISH RITES, BUT IN THE CONVERSION OF THE HEART GIVEN IN BAPTISM BY CHRIST. "By reason, therefore, of this laver of repentance and knowledge of God, which has been ordained on account of the transgression of God's people, as Isaiah cries, we have believed, and testify that that very baptism which he announced is alone able to purify those who have repented; and this is the water of life. But the cisterns which you have dug for yourselves are broken and profitless to you. For what is the use of that baptism which cleanses the flesh and body alone? Baptize the soul from wrath and from covetousness, from envy, and from hatred; and, lo! the body is pure. For this is the symbolic significance of unleavened bread, that you do not commit the old deeds of wicked leaven. But you have understood all things in a carnal sense, and you suppose it to be piety if you do such things, while your souls are filled with deceit, and, in short, with every wickedness. Accordingly, also, after the seven days of eating unleavened bread, God commanded them to mingle new leaven, that is, the performance of other works, and not the imitation of the old and evil works. And because this is what this new Lawgiver demands of you, I shall again refer to the words which have been quoted by me, and to others also which have been passed over. They are related by Isaiah to the following effect: 'Hearken to me, and your soul shall live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given Him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the nations. Nations which know not Thee shall call on Thee; and peoples who know not Thee shall escape unto Thee, because of Thy God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified Thee. Seek ye God; and when you find Him, call on Him, so long as He may be nigh you. Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will obtain mercy, because He will abundantly pardon your sins. For my thoughts are not as your thoughts, neither are my ways as your ways; but as far removed as the heavens are from the earth, so far is my way removed from your way, and your thoughts from my thoughts. For as the snow or the rain descends from heaven, and shall not return till it waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread for food, so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return until it shall have accomplished all that I desired, and I shall make My commandments prosperous. For ye shall go out with joy, and be taught with gladness. For the mountains and the hills shall leap while they expect you, and all the trees of the fields shall applaud with their branches: and instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle. And the Lord shall be for a name, and for an everlasting sign, and He shall not fail!' Of these and such like words written by the prophets, O Trypho," said I, "some have reference to the first advent of Christ, in which He is preached as inglorious, obscure, and of mortal appearance: but others had reference to His second advent, when He shall appear in glory and above the clouds; and your nation shall see and know Him whom they have pierced, as Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, and Daniel, foretold.

CHAPTER XV -- IN WHAT THE TRUE FASTING CONSISTS. "Learn, therefore, to keep the true fast of God, as Isaiah says, that you may please God. Isaiah has cried thus: 'Shout vehemently, and do not spare: lift up thy voice as with a trumpet, and show My people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek Me from day to day, and desire to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the judgment of God. They ask of Me now righteous judgment, and desire to draw near to God, saying, Wherefore have we fasted, and Thou seest not? and afflicted our souls, and Thou hast not known? Because in the days of your fasting you find your own pleasure, and oppress all those who are subject to you. Behold, ye fast for strifes and debates, and smite the humble with your fists. Why do ye fast for Me, as to-day, so that your voice is heard aloud? This is not the fast which I have chosen, the day in which a man shall afflict his soul. And not even if you bend your neck like a ring, or clothe yourself in sackcloth and ashes, shall you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord. This is not the fast which I have chosen, saith the Lord; but loose every unrighteous bond, dissolve the terms of wrongous covenants, let the oppressed go free, and avoid every iniquitous contract. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and lead the homeless poor under thy dwelling; if thou seest the naked, clothe him; and do not hide thyself from thine own flesh. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy garments shall rise up quickly: and thy righteousness shall go before thee, and the glory of God shall envelope thee. Then shalt thou cry, and the Lord shall hear thee: while thou art speaking, He will say, Behold, I am here. And if thou take away from thee the yoke, and the stretching out of the hand, and the word of murmuring; and shalt give heartily thy bread to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light arise in the darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noon-day: and thy God shall be with thee continually, and thou shalt be satisfied according as thy soul desireth, and thy bones shall become fat, and shall be as a watered garden, and as a fountain of water, or as a land where water fails not.' 'Circumcise, therefore, the foreskin of your heart,' as the words of God in all these passages demand."

CHAPTER XVI -- CIRCUMCISION GIVEN AS A SIGN, THAT THE JEWS MIGHT BE DRIVEN AWAY FOR THEIR EVIL DEEDS DONE TO CHRIST AND THE CHRISTIANS. "And God himself proclaimed by Moses, speaking thus: 'And circumcise the hardness of your hearts, and no longer stiffen the neck. For the Lord your God is both Lord of lords, and a great, mighty, and terrible God, who regardeth not persons, and taketh not rewards.' And in Leviticus: 'Because they have transgressed against Me, and despised Me, and because they have walked contrary to Me, I also walked contrary to them, and I shall cut them off in the land of their enemies. Then shall their uncircumcised heart be turned.' For the circumcision according to the flesh, which is from Abraham, was given for a sign; that you may be separated from other nations, and from us; and that you alone may suffer that which you now justly suffer; and that your land may be desolate, and your cities burned with fire; and that strangers may eat your fruit in your presence, and not one of you may go up to Jerusalem.' For you are not recognised among the rest of men by any other mark than your fleshly circumcision. For none of you, I suppose, will venture to say that God neither did nor does foresee the events, which are future, nor fore-ordained his deserts for each one. Accordingly, these things have happened to you in fairness and justice, for you have slain the Just One, and His prophets before Him; and now you reject those who hope in Him, and in Him who sent Him--God the Almighty and Maker of all things--cursing in your synagogues those that believe on Christ. For you have not the power to lay hands upon us, on account of those who now have the mastery. But as often as you could, you did so. Wherefore God, by Isaiah, calls to you, saying, 'Behold how the righteous man perished, and no one regards it. For the righteous man is taken away from before iniquity. His grave shall be in peace, he is taken away from the midst. Draw near hither, ye lawless children, seed of the adulterers, and children of the whore. Against whom have you sported yourselves, and against whom have you opened the mouth, and against whom have you loosened the tongue?'

CHAPTER XVII -- THE JEWS SENT PERSONS THROUGH THE WHOLE EARTH TO SPREAD CALUMNIES ON CHRISTIANS. "For other nations have not inflicted on us and on Christ this wrong to such an extent as you have, who in very deed are the authors of the wicked prejudice against the Just One, and us who hold by Him. For after that you had crucified Him, the only blameless and righteous Man,-- through whose swipes those who approach the Father by Him are healed,--when you knew that He had risen from the dead and ascended to heaven, as the prophets foretold He would, you not only did not repent of the wickedness which you had committed, but at that time you selected and sent out from Jerusalem chosen men through all the land to tell that the godless heresy of the Christians had sprung up, and to publish those things which all they who knew us not speak against us. So that you are the cause not only of your own unrighteousness, but in fact of that of all other men. And Isaiah cries justly: 'By reason of you, My name is blasphemed among the Gentiles.' And: 'Woe unto their soul! because they have devised an evil device against themselves, saying, Let us bind the righteous, for he is distasteful to us. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked evil shall be rendered to him according to the works of his hands.' And again, in other words: 'Woe unto them that draw their iniquity as with a long cord, and their transgressions as with the harness of a heifer's yoke: who say, Let his speed come near; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put light for darkness, and darkness for light; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!' Accordingly, you displayed great zeal in publishing throughout all the land bitter and dark and unjust things against the only blameless and righteous Light sent by God. For He appeared distasteful to you when He cried among you, 'It is written, My house is the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves!' He overthrew also the tables of the money-changers in the temple, and exclaimed, 'Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye pay tithe of mint and rue, but do not observe the love of God and justice. Ye whited sepulchres! appearing beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones.' And to the Scribes, 'Woe unto you, Scribes! for ye have the keys, and ye do not enter in yourselves, and them that are entering in ye hinder; ye blind guides!'

CHAPTER XVIII -- CHRISTIANS WOULD OBSERVE THE LAW, IF THEY DID NOT KNOW WHY IT WAS INSTITUTED. "For since you have read, O Trypho, as you yourself admitted, the doctrines taught by our Saviour, I do not think that I have done foolishly in adding some short utterances of His to the prophetic statements. Wash therefore, and be now clean, and put away iniquity from your souls, as God bids you be washed in this layer, and be circumcised with the true circumcision. For we too would observe the fleshly circumcision, and the Sabbaths, and in short all the feasts, if we did not know for what reason they were enjoined you,--namely, on account of your transgressions and the hardness of your hearts. For if we patiently endure all things contrived against us by wicked men and demons, so that even amid cruelties unutterable, death and torments, we pray for mercy to those who inflict such things upon us, and do not wish to give the least retort to any one, even as the new Lawgiver commanded us: how is it, Trypho, that we would not observe those rites which do not harm us,--I speak of fleshly circumcision, and Sabbaths, and feasts?

CHAPTER XIX -- CIRCUMCISION UNKNOWN BEFORE ABRAHAM. THE LAW WAS GIVEN BY MOSES ON ACCOUNT OF THE HARDNESS OF THEIR HEARTS. "It is this about which we are at a loss, and with reason, because, while you endure such things, you do not observe all the other customs which we are now discussing." "This circumcision is not, however, necessary for all men, but for you alone, in order that, as I have already said, you may suffer these things which you now justly suffer. Nor do we receive that useless baptism of cisterns, for it has nothing to do with this baptism of life. Wherefore also God has announced that you have forsaken Him, the living fountain, and digged for your selves broken cisterns which can hold no water. Even you, who are the circumcised according to the flesh, have need of our circumcision; but we, having the latter, do not require the former. For if it were necessary, as you suppose, God would not have made Adam uncircumcised would not have had respect to the gifts of Abel when, being uncircumcised, he offered sacrifice and would not have been pleased with the uncircumcision of Enoch, who was not found, because God had translated him. Lot, being uncircumcised, was saved from Sodom, the angels themselves and the Lord sending him out. Noah was the beginning of our race; yet, uncircumcised, along with his children he went into the ark. Melchizedek, the priest of the Most High, was uncircumcised; to whom also Abraham the first who received circumcision after the flesh, gave tithes, and he blessed him: after whose order God declared, by the mouth of David, that He would establish the everlasting priest. Therefore to you alone this circumcision was necessary, in order that the people may be no people, and the nation no nation; as also Hosea, one of the twelve prophets, declares. Moreover, all those righteous men already mentioned, though they kept no Sabbaths, were pleasing to God; and after them Abraham with all his descendants until Moses, under whom your nation appeared unrighteous and ungrateful to God, making a calf in the wilderness: wherefore God, accommodating Himself to that nation, enjoined them also to offer sacrifices, as if to His name, in order that you might not serve idols. Which precept, however, you have not observed; nay, you sacrificed your children to demons. And you were commanded to keep Sabbaths, that you might retain the memorial of God. For His word makes this announcement, saying, 'That ye may know that I am God who redeemed you.'

CHAPTER XX -- WHY CHOICE OF MEATS WAS PRESCRIBED. "Moreover, you were commanded to abstain from certain kinds of food, in order that you might keep God before your eyes while you ate and drank, seeing that you were prone and very ready to depart from His knowledge, as Moses also affirms: 'The people ate and drank, and rose up to play.' And again: 'Jacob ate, and was satisfied, and waxed fat; and he who was beloved kicked: he waxed fat, he grew thick, he was enlarged, and he forsook God who had made him.' For it was told you by Moses in the book of Genesis, that God granted to Noah, being a just man, to eat of every animal, but not of flesh with the blood, which is dead." And as he was ready to say, "as the green herbs," I anticipated him: "Why do you not receive this statement, 'as the green herbs,' in the sense in which it was given by God, to wit, that just as God has granted the herbs for sustenance to man, even so has He given the animals for the diet of flesh? But, you say, a distinction was laid down thereafter to Noah, because we do not eat certain herbs. As you interpret it, the thing is incredible. And first I shall not occupy myself with this, though able to say and to hold that every vegetable is food, and fit to be eaten. But although we discriminate between green herbs, not eating all, we refrain from eating some, not because they are common or unclean, but because they are bitter, or deadly, or thorny. But we lay hands on and take of all herbs which are sweet, very nourishing and good, whether they are marine or land plants. Thus also God by the mouth of Moses commanded you to abstain from unclean and improper and violent animals: when, moreover, though you were eating manna in the desert, and were seeing all those wondrous acts wrought for you by God, you made and worshipped the golden calf. Hence he cries continually, and justly, 'They are foolish children, in whom is no faith.'

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:30 pm

Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 21-30.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον Διάλογος

Dialogue With Trypho

XXI 1 Καὶ ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἀδικίας ὑμῶν καὶ τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν εἰς σημεῖον, ὡς προέφην, καὶ τὸ σάββατον ἐντέταλται ὁ θεὸς φυλάσσειν ὑμᾶς καὶ τὰ ἄλλα προστάγματα προσετετάχει, καὶ σημαίνει ὅτι διὰ τὰ ἔθνη, ἵνα μὴ βεβηλωθῇ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς, διὰ τοῦτο εἴασέ τινας ἐξ ὑμῶν ὅλως ζῶντας, αὐταὶ αἱ φωναὶ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἀπόδειξιν ποιήσασθαι δύνανται ὑμῖν. 2 εἰσὶ δὲ εἰρημέναι διὰ τοῦ Ἰεζεκιὴλ οὕτως· Ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν· ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασί μου πορεύεσθε, καὶ τὰ δικαιώματά μου φυλάσσετε, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἐπιτηδεύμασιν Αἰγύπτου μὴ συναναμίγνυσθε, καὶ τὰ σάββατά μου ἁγιάζετε, καὶ ἔσται εἰς σημεῖον ἀνὰ μέσον ἐμοῦ καὶ ὑμῶν τοῦ γινώσκειν ὅτι ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὑμῶν. καὶ παρεπικράνατέ με, καὶ τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν ἐν τοῖς προςτάγμασί μου οὐκ ἐπορεύθησαν, καὶ τὰ δικαιώματά μου οὐκ ἐφύλαξαν τοῦ ποιεῖν αὐτά, ἃ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς, ἀλλὰ τὰ σάββατά μου ἐβεβήλουν. 3 καὶ εἶπα τοῦ ἐκχέαι τὸν θυμόν μου ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τοῦ συντελέσαι ὀργήν μου ἐπ' αὐτούς, καὶ οὐκ ἐποίησα, ὅπως τὸ ὄνομά μου τὸ παράπαν μὴ βεβηλωθῇ ἐνώπιον τῶν ἐθνῶν; ἐξήγαγον αὐτοὺς κατ' ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐγὼ ἐξῆρα τὴν χεῖρά μου ἐπ' αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, τοῦ διασκορπίσαι ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι καὶ διασπεῖραι αὐτοὺς ἐν ταῖς χώραις, ἀνθ' ὧν τὰ δικαιώματά μου οὐκ ἐποίησαν, καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου ἀπώσαντο, καὶ τὰ σάββατά μου ἐβεβήλουν, καὶ ὀπίσω τῶν ἐνθυμημάτων τῶν πατέρων αὐτῶν ἦσαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ αὐτῶν. 4 καὶ ἐγὼ ἔδωκα αὐτοῖς προστάγματα οὐ καλά, καὶ δικαιώματα ἐν οἷς οὐ ζήσονται ἐν αὐτοῖς· καὶ μιανῶ αὐτοὺς ἐν τοῖς δώμασιν αὐτῶν, ἐν τῷ διαπορεύεσθαί με πᾶν διανοῖγον μήτραν ὅπως ἀφανίσω.

XXII 1 Καὶ ὅτι διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τοῦ λαοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ διὰ τὰς εἰδωλολατρείας, ἀλλ' οὐ διὰ τὸ ἐνδεὴς εἶναι τῶν τοιούτων προσφορῶν, ἐνετείλατο ὁμοίως ταῦτα γίνεσθαι, ἀκούσατε πῶς περὶ τούτων λέγει διὰ Ἀμώς, ἑνὸς τῶν δώδεκα, βοῶν· 2 Οὐαὶ οἱ ἐπιθυμοῦντες τὴν ἡμέραν κυρίου. ἵνα τί αὕτη ὑμῖν ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου; καὶ αὐτή ἐστι σκότος καὶ οὐ φῶς. ὃν τρόπον ὅταν ἐκφύγῃ ἄνθρωπος ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ λέοντος, καὶ συναντήσῃ αὐτῷ ἡ ἄρκος, καὶ εἰσπηδήσῃ εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπερείσηται τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν τοῖχον, καὶ δάκῃ αὐτὸν ὁ ὄφις. οὐχὶ σκότος ἡ ἡμέρα τοῦ κυρίου καὶ οὐ φῶς, καὶ γνόφος οὐκ ἔχων φέγγος αὐτῆς; μεμίσηκα, ἀπῶσμαι τὰς ἑορτὰς ὑμῶν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ὀσφρανθῶ ἐν ταῖς πανηγύρεσιν ὑμῶν. 3 διότι ἐὰν ἐνέγκητέ μοι τὰ ὁλοκαυτώματα καὶ τὰς θυσίας ὑμῶν, οὐ προσδέξομαι αὐτὰ, καὶ σωτηρίου ἐπιφανείας ὑμῶν οὐκ ἐπιβλέψομαι. ἀπόστησον ἀπ' ἐμοῦ πλῆθος ᾠδῶν σου καὶ ψαλμῶν· ὀργάνων σου οὐκ ἀκούσομαι. καὶ κυλισθήσεται ὡς ὕδωρ κρίμα καὶ ἡ δικαιοσύνη ὡς χειμάρρους ἄβατος. μὴ σφάγια καὶ θυσίας προσηνέγκατέ μοι ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οἶκος Ἰσραήλ; λέγει κύριος. καὶ ἀνελάβετε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ Μολὸχ καὶ τὸ ἄστρον τοῦ θεοῦ ὑμῶν Ῥαφάν, τοὺς τύπους, οὓς ἐποιήσατε ἑαυτοῖς. 4 καὶ μετοικιῶ ὑμᾶς ἐπέκεινα Δαμασκοῦ, λέγει κύριος· ὁ θεὸς ὁ παντοκράτωρ ὄνομα αὐτῷ. οὐαὶ οἱ κατασπαταλῶντες Σιὼν καὶ τοῖς πεποιθόσιν ἐπὶ τὸ ὄρος Σαμαρείας. οἱ ὠνομασμένοι ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀρχηγοῖς ἀπετρύγησαν ἀρχὰς ἐθνῶν· εἰσῆλθον ἑαυτοῖς οἶκος Ἰσραήλ. διάβητε πάντες εἰς Χαλάνην καὶ ἴδετε, καὶ πορεύθητε ἐκεῖθεν εἰς Ἀμὰθ τὴν μεγάλην, καὶ κατάβητε ἐκεῖθεν εἰς Γὲθ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων, τὰς κρατίστας ἐκ πασῶν τῶν βασιλειῶν τούτων, εἰ πλείονά ἐστι τὰ ὅρια αὐτῶν τῶν ὁρίων ὑμῶν. 5 οἱ ἐρχόμενοι εἰς ἡμέραν πονηράν, οἱ ἐγγίζοντες καὶ ἐφαπτόμενοι σαββάτων ψευδῶν, οἱ κοιμώμενοι ἐπὶ κλινῶν ἐλεφαντίνων καὶ κατασπαταλῶντες ἐπὶ ταῖς στρωμναῖς αὐτῶν, οἱ ἐσθίοντες ἄρνας ἐκ ποιμνίων καὶ μοσχάρια ἐκ μέσου βουκολίων γαλαθηνά, οἱ ἐπικροτοῦντες πρὸς τὴν φωνὴν τῶν ὀργάνων, ὡς ἑστῶτα ἐλογίσαντο καὶ οὐχ ὡς φεύγοντα, οἱ πίνοντες ἐν φιάλαις οἶνον καὶ τὰ πρῶτα μύρα χριόμενοι, καὶ οὐκ ἔπασχον οὐδὲν ἐπὶ τῇ συντριβῇ τοῦ Ἰωσήφ. διὰ τοῦτο νῦν αἰχμάλωτοι ἔσονται ἀπὸ ἀρχῆς δυναστῶν τῶν ἀποικιζομένων, καὶ μεταστραφήσεται οἴκημα κακούργων, καὶ ἐξαρθήσεται χρεμετισμὸς ἵππων ἐξ Ἐφραίμ. 6 καὶ πάλιν διὰ Ἰερεμίου· Συναγάγετε τὰ κρέα ὑμῶν καὶ τὰς θυσίας καὶ φάγετε, ὅτι οὔτε περὶ θυσιῶν ἢ σπονδῶν ἐνετειλάμην τοῖς πατράσιν ὑμῶν, ᾗ ἡμέρᾳ ἐπελαβόμην τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῶν ἐξαγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου. 7 καὶ πάλιν διὰ Δαυεὶδ ἐν τεσσαρακοστῷ ἐνάτῳ ψαλμῷ οὕτως ἔφη· Θεὸς θεῶν κύριος ἐλάλησε, καὶ ἐκάλεσε τὴν γῆν ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν ἡλίου μέχρι δυσμῶν. ἐκ Σιὼν ἡ εὐπρέπεια τῆς ὡραιότητος αὐτοῦ. ὁ θεὸς ἐμφανῶς ἥξει, ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐ παρασιωπήσεται· πῦρ ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ καυθήσεται, καὶ κύκλῳ αὐτοῦ καταιγὶς σφόδρα. προσκαλέσεται τὸν οὐρανὸν ἄνω καὶ τὴν γῆν τοῦ διακρῖναι τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ. συναγάγετε αὐτῷ τοὺς ὁσίους αὐτοῦ, τοὺς διατιθεμένους τὴν διαθήκην αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ θυσίαις. καὶ ἀναγγελοῦσιν οἱ οὐρανοὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ, ὅτι θεὸς κριτής ἐστι. 8 ἄκουσον, λαός μου, καὶ λαλήσω σοι, Ἰσραήλ, καὶ διαμαρτυροῦμαί σοι· ὁ θεός, ὁ θεός σου εἰμὶ ἐγώ. οὐκ ἐπὶ ταῖς θυσίαις σου ἐλέγξω σε· τὰ δὲ ὁλοκαυτώματά σου ἐνώπιόν μου ἐστὶ διὰ παντός. οὐ δέξομαι ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου σου μόσχους οὐδὲ ἐκ τῶν ποιμνίων σου χιμάρους, ὅτι ἐμά ἐστι πάντα τὰ θηρία τοῦ ἀγροῦ, κτήνη ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσι καὶ βόες· ἔγνωκα πάντα τὰ πετεινὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ὡραιότης ἀγροῦ μετ' ἐμοῦ ἐστιν. 9 ἐὰν πεινάσω, οὐ μή σοι εἴπω· ἐμὴ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς. μὴ φάγωμαι κρέα ταύρων, ἢ αἷμα τράγων πίωμαι; θῦσον τῷ θεῷ θυσίαν αἰνέσεως, καὶ ἀπόδος τῷ ὑψίστῳ τὰς εὐχάς σου· καὶ ἐπικάλεσαί με ἐν ἡμέρᾳ θλίψεως, καὶ ἐξελοῦμαί σε, καὶ δοξάσεις με. τῷ δὲ ἁμαρτωλῷ εἶπεν ὁ θεός· Ἵνα τί σὺ ἐκδιηγῇ τὰ δικαιώματά μου, καὶ ἀναλαμβάνεις τὴν διαθήκην μου διὰ στόματός σου; σὺ δὲ ἐμίσησας παιδείαν καὶ ἐξέβαλες τοὺς λόγους μου εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω. 10 εἰ ἐθεώρεις κλέπτην, συνέτρεχες αὐτῷ, καὶ μετὰ μοιχοῦ τὴν μερίδα σου ἐτίθεις. τὸ στόμα σου ἐπλεόνασε κακίαν, καὶ ἡ γλῶσσά σου περιέπλεκε δολιότητας. καθήμενος κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου κατελάλεις, καὶ κατὰ τοῦ υἱοῦ τῆς μητρός σου ἐτίθεις σκάνδαλον. ταῦτα ἐποίησας, καὶ ἐσίγησα· ὑπέλαβες ἀνομίαν ὅτι ἔσομαί σοι ὅμοιος. ἐλέγξω σε καὶ παραστήσω κατὰ πρόσωπόν σου τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου. σύνετε δὴ ταῦτα οἱ ἐπιλανθανόμενοι τοῦ θεοῦ, μήποτε ἁρπάσῃ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ᾖ ὁ ῥυόμενος. θυσία αἰνέσεως δοξάσει με, καὶ ἐκεῖ ὁδός, ἣν δείξω αὐτῷ τὸ σωτήριόν μου. 11 οὔτε οὖν θυσίας παρ' ὑμῶν λαμβάνει, οὔτε ὡς ἐνδεὴς τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνετείλατο ποιεῖν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ὑμῶν. καὶ γὰρ τὸν ναὸν τὸν ἐν Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπικληθέντα οὐχ ὡς ἐνδεὴς ὢν ὡμολόγησεν οἶκον αὐτοῦ ἢ αὐλήν, ἀλλ' ὅπως καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο προσέχοντες αὐτῷ μὴ εἰδωλολατρῆτε. καὶ ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν, Ἠσαίας λέγει· Ποῖον οἶκον ᾠκοδομήσατέ μοι; λέγει κύριος. ὁ οὐρανός μοι θρόνος, καὶ ἡ γῆ ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν μου.

XXIII 1 Ἐὰν δὲ ταῦτα οὕτως μὴ ὁμολογήσωμεν, συμβήσεται ἡμῖν εἰς ἄτοπα ἐμπίπτειν νοήματα, ὡς τοῦ αὐτοῦ θεοῦ μὴ ὄντος τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Ἑνὼχ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους πάντας, οἳ μήτε περιτομὴν τὴν κατὰ σάρκα ἔχοντες μήτε σάββατα ἐφύλαξαν μήτε δὲ τὰ ἄλλα Μωυσέως ἐντειλαμένου ταῦτα ποιεῖν, ἢ τὰ αὐτὰ αὐτὸν δίκαια μὴ ἀεὶ πᾶν γένος ἀνθρώπων βεβουλῆσθαι πράσσειν· ἅπερ γελοῖα καὶ ἀνόητα ὁμολογεῖν φαίνεται. 2 δι' αἰτίαν δὲ τὴν τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν αὐτὸν ὄντα ἀεὶ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἐντετάλθαι ὁμολογεῖν, καὶ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ προγνώστην καὶ ἀνενδεῆ καὶ δίκαιον καὶ ἀγαθὸν ἀποφαίνειν ἔστιν. ἐπεὶ εἰ μὴ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχει, ἀποκρίνασθέ μοι, ὦ ἄνδρες, περὶ τῶν ζητουμένων τούτων ὅ τι φρονεῖτε. 3 Καὶ μηδὲν μηδενὸς ἀποκρινομένου· Διὰ ταῦτά σοι, ὦ Τρύφων, καὶ τοῖς βουλομένοις προσηλύτοις γενέσθαι κηρύξω ἐγὼ θεῖον λόγον, ὃν παρ' ἐκείνου ἤκουσα τοῦ ἀνδρός. ὁρᾶτε ὅτι τὰ στοιχεῖα οὐκ ἀργεῖ οὐδὲ σαββατίζει. μείνατε ὡς γεγένησθε. εἰ γὰρ πρὸ τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἦν χρεία περιτομῆς οὐδὲ πρὸ Μωυσέως σαββατισμοῦ καὶ ἑορτῶν καὶ προσφορῶν, οὐδὲ νῦν, μετὰ τὸν κατὰ τὴν βουλὴν τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ Μαρίας τῆς ἀπὸ γένους τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ παρθένου γεννηθέντα υἱὸν θεοῦ Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, ὁμοίως ἐστὶ χρεία. 4 καὶ γὰρ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἀβραὰμ ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ ὢν διὰ τὴν πίστιν, ἣν ἐπίστευσε τῷ θεῷ, ἐδικαιώθη καὶ εὐλογήθη, ὡς ἡ γραφὴ σημαίνει· τὴν δὲ περιτομὴν εἰς σημεῖον, ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς δικαιοσύνην ἔλαβεν, ὡς καὶ αἱ γραφαὶ καὶ τὰ πράγματα ἀναγκάζει ἡμᾶς ὁμολογεῖν. ὥστε δικαίως εἴρητο περὶ ἐκείνου τοῦ λαοῦ, ὅτι ἐξολοθρευθήσεται ἡ ψυχὴ ἐκείνη ἐκ τοῦ γένους αὐτῆς, ἣ οὐ περιτμηθήσεται τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ὀγδόῃ. 5 καὶ τὸ μὴ δύνασθαι δὲ τὸ θῆλυ γένος τὴν σαρκικὴν περιτομὴν λαμβάνειν δείκνυσιν ὅτι εἰς σημεῖον ἡ περιτομὴ αὕτη δέδοται, ἀλλ' οὐχ ὡς ἔργον δικαιοσύνης· τὰ γὰρ δίκαια καὶ ἐνάρετα ἅπαντα ὁμοίως καὶ τὰς θηλείας δύνασθαι φυλάσσειν ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν. ἀλλὰ σχῆμα μὲν τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς ἕτερον καὶ ἕτερον ὁρῶμεν γεγενημένον ἄρρενος καὶ θηλείας, διὰ δὲ τοῦτο οὐδὲ δίκαιον οὐδὲ ἄδικον οὐδέτερον αὐτῶν ἐπιστάμεθα, ἀλλὰ δι' εὐσέβειαν καὶ δικαιοσύνην.

XXIV 1 Καὶ τοῦτο μὲν οὖν δυνατὸν ἦν ἡμῖν ἐπιδεῖξαι, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἔλεγον, ὅτι ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ ὀγδόη μυστήριόν τι εἶχε κηρυσσόμενον διὰ τούτων ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μᾶλλον τῆς ἑβδόμης. ἀλλ' ἵνα τὰ νῦν μὴ ἐπ' ἄλλους ἐκτρέπεσθαι λόγους δοκῶ, σύνετε, βοῶ, ὅτι τὸ αἷμα τῆς περιτομῆς ἐκείνης κατήργηται, καὶ αἵματι σωτηρίῳ πεπιστεύκαμεν· ἄλλη διαθήκη τὰ νῦν, καὶ ἄλλος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ Σιὼν νόμος. 2 Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς πάντας τοὺς βουλομένους περιτέμνει, ὥσπερ ἄνωθεν ἐκηρύσσετο, πετρίναις μαχαίραις, ἵνα γένηται ἔθνος δίκαιον, λαὸς φυλάσσων πίστιν, ἀντιλαμβανόμενος ἀληθείας καὶ φυλάσσων εἰρήνην. 3 δεῦτε σὺν ἐμοὶ πάντες οἱ φοβούμενοι τὸν θεόν, οἱ θέλοντες τὰ ἀγαθὰ Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἰδεῖν. δεῦτε, πορευθῶμεν τῷ φωτὶ κυρίου· ἀνῆκε γὰρ τὸν λαὸν αὐτοῦ, τὸν οἶκον Ἰακώβ. δεῦτε πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, συναχθῶμεν εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ τὴν μηκέτι πολεμουμένην διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας τῶν λαῶν. Ἐμφανὴς γὰρ ἐγενήθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ζητοῦσιν, εὑρέθην τοῖς ἐμὲ μὴ ἐπερωτῶσι, βοᾷ διὰ Ἠσαίου. 4 Εἶπα· ἰδού εἰμι, ἔθνεσιν οἳ οὐκ ἐπεκαλέσαντό μου τὸ ὄνομα. ἐξεπέτασα τὰς χεῖράς μου ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν ἐπὶ λαὸν ἀπειθοῦντα καὶ ἀντιλέγοντα, τοῖς πορευομένοις ὁδῷ οὐ καλῇ, ἀλλὰ ὀπίσω τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν αὐτῶν. λαὸς ὁ παροξύνων με ἐναντίον μου.

XXV 1 Σὺν ἡμῖν καὶ κληρονομῆσαι βουλήσονται κἂν ὀλίγον τόπον οὗτοι οἱ δικαιοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς καὶ λέγοντες εἶναι τέκνα Ἀβραάμ, ὡς διὰ τοῦ Ἠσαίου βοᾷ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα, ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν λέγων τάδε· 2 Ἐπίστρεψον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ ἴδε ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ ἁγίου σου καὶ δόξης. ποῦ δή ἐστιν ὁ ζῆλός σου καὶ ἡ ἰσχύς; ποῦ ἔστι τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους σου, ὅτι ἀνέσχου ἡμῶν, κύριε; σὺ γὰρ ἡμῶν εἶ πατήρ, ὅτι Ἀβραὰμ οὐκ ἔγνω ἡμᾶς, καὶ Ἰσραὴλ οὐκ ἐπέγνω ἡμᾶς. ἀλλὰ σύ, κύριε, πατὴρ ἡμῶν, ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς· ἀπ' ἀρχῆς τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐφ' ἡμᾶς ἐστι. τί ἐπλάνησας ἡμᾶς, κύριε, ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ σου, ἐσκλήρυνας ἡμῶν τὴν καρδίαν τοῦ μὴ φοβεῖσθαί σε; 3 ἐπίστρεψον διὰ τοὺς δούλους σου, διὰ τὰς φυλὰς τῆς κληρονομίας σου, ἵνα μικρὸν κληρονομήσωμεν τοῦ ὄρους τοῦ ἁγίου σου. ἐγενόμεθα ὡς τὸ ἀπ' ἀρχῆς, ὅτε οὐκ ἦρξας ἡμῶν, οὐδὲ ἐπεκλήθη τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐφ' ἡμᾶς. ἐὰν ἀνοίξῃς τὸν οὐρανόν, τρόμος λήψεται ἀπὸ σοῦ ὄρη, καὶ τακήσονται ὡς ἀπὸ πυρὸς κηρὸς τήκεται· καὶ κατακαύσει πῦρ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους, καὶ φανερὸν ἔσται τὸ ὄνομά σου ἐν τοῖς ὑπεναντίοις, ἀπὸ προσώπου σου ἔθνη ταραχθήσονται. 4 ὅταν ποιῇς τὰ ἔνδοξα, τρόμος λήψεται ἀπὸ σοῦ ὄρη. ἀπὸ τοῦ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἠκούσαμεν, οὐδὲ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ ἡμῶν εἶδον θεὸν πλὴν σοῦ καὶ τὰ ἔργα σου. ποιήσει τοῖς μετανοοῦσιν ἔλεον. συναντήσεται τοῖς ποιοῦσι τὸ δίκαιον, καὶ τῶν ὁδῶν σου μνησθήσονται. ἰδοὺ σὺ ὠργίσθης, καὶ ἡμεῖς ἡμάρτομεν· διὰ τοῦτο ἐπλανήθημεν καὶ ἐγενόμεθα ἀκάθαρτοι πάντες, καὶ ὡς ῥάκος ἀποκαθημένης πᾶσα ἡ δικαιοσύνη ἡμῶν, καὶ ἐξερρύημεν ὡς φύλλα διὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν· οὕτως ἄνεμος οἴσει ἡμᾶς. 5 καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ ἐπικαλούμενος τὸ ὄνομά σου καὶ ὁ μνησθεὶς ἀντιλαβέσθαι, ὅτι ἀπέστρεψας τὸ πρόσωπόν σου ἀφ' ἡμῶν καὶ παρέδωκας ἡμᾶς διὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας ἡμῶν. καὶ νῦν ἐπίστρεψον, κύριε, ὅτι λαός σου πάντες ἡμεῖς. ἡ πόλις τοῦ ἁγίου σου ἐγενήθη ἔρημος, Σιὼν ὡς ἔρημος ἐγενήθη, Ἰερουσαλὴμ εἰς κατάραν· ὁ οἶκος, τὸ ἅγιον ἡμῶν, καὶ ἡ δόξα, ἣν εὐλόγησαν οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν, ἐγενήθη πυρίκαυστος, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἔνδοξα συνέπεσε. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀνέσχου, κύριε, καὶ ἐσιώπησας, καὶ ἐταπείνωσας ἡμᾶς σφόδρα. 6 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων· Τί οὖν ἐστιν ὃ λέγεις, ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἡμῶν κληρονομήσει ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ τοῦ θεοῦ οὐδέν;

XXVI 1 Κἀγώ· Οὐ τοῦτό φημι, ἀλλ' οἱ τὸν Χριστὸν διώξαντες καὶ διώκοντες καὶ μὴ μετανοοῦντες οὐ κληρονομήσουσιν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ ἁγίῳ οὐδέν· τὰ δὲ ἔθνη τὰ πιστεύσαντα εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ μετανοήσαντα ἐφ' οἷς ἥμαρτον, αὐτοὶ κληρονομήσουσι μετὰ τῶν πατριαρχῶν καὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ τῶν δικαίων ὅσοι ἀπὸ Ἰακὼβ γεγέννηνται· εἰ καὶ μὴ σαββατίζουσι μηδὲ περιτέμνονται μηδὲ τὰς ἑορτὰς φυλάσσουσι, πάντως κληρονομήσουσι τὴν ἁγίαν τοῦ θεοῦ κληρονομίαν. 2 λέγει γὰρ ὁ θεὸς διὰ Ἠσαίου οὕτως· Ἐγὼ κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἐκάλεσά σε ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ, καὶ κρατήσω τῆς χειρός σου καὶ ἰσχύσω σε, καὶ ἔδωκά σε εἰς διαθήκην γένους, εἰς φῶς ἐθνῶν, ἀνοῖξαι ὀφθαλμοὺς τυφλῶν, ἐξαγαγεῖν ἐκ δεσμῶν πεπεδημένους καὶ ἐξ οἴκου φυλακῆς καθημένους ἐν σκότει. 3 καὶ πάλιν· Ἐξάρατε σύσσημον εἰς τὰ ἔθνη. ἰδοὺ γὰρ κύριος ἐποίησεν ἀκουστὸν ἕως ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς· εἴπατε ταῖς θυγατράσι Σιών· ἰδού σοι ὁ σωτὴρ παραγέγονεν ἀπέχων τὸν ἑαυτοῦ μισθόν, καὶ τὸ ἔργον ἀπὸ προσώπου αὐτοῦ. καὶ καλέσει αὐτὸν λαὸν ἅγιον, λελυτρωμένον ὑπὸ κυρίου, σὺ δὲ κληθήσῃ ἐπιζητουμένη πόλις καὶ οὐ καταλελειμμένη. τίς οὗτος ὁ παραγινόμενος ἐξ Ἐδώμ, ἐρύθημα ἱματίων αὐτοῦ ἐκ Βοσόρ; οὗτος ὡραῖος ἐν στολῇ, ἀναβαίνων βίᾳ μετὰ ἰσχύος; ἐγὼ διαλέγομαι δικαιοσύνην καὶ κρίσιν σωτηρίου. 4 διὰ τί σου ἐρυθρὰ τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ τὰ ἐνδύματά σου ὡς ἀπὸ πατητοῦ ληνοῦ; πλήρης καταπεπατημένης ληνὸν ἐπάτησα μονώτατος, καὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀνὴρ μετ' ἐμοῦ· καὶ κατεπάτησα αὐτοὺς ἐν θυμῷ, καὶ κατέθλασα αὐτοὺς ὡς γῆν, καὶ κατήγαγον τὸ αἷμα αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν. ἡμέρα γὰρ ἀνταποδόσεως ἦλθεν αὐτοῖς, καὶ ἐνιαυτὸς λυτρώσεως πάρεστι. καὶ ἐπέβλεψα καὶ οὐκ ἦν βοηθός, καὶ προσενόησα καὶ οὐδεὶς ἀντελάβετο· καὶ ἐρρύσατο ὁ βραχίων, καὶ ὁ θυμός μου ἐπέστη· καὶ κατεπάτησα αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου, καὶ κατήγαγον τὸ αἷμα αὐτῶν εἰς γῆν.

XXVII 1 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων· Διὰ τί ἅπερ βούλει ἐκλεγόμενος ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων λέγεις, ἃ δὲ διαρρήδην κελεύει σαββατίζειν οὐ μέμνησαι; διὰ γὰρ Ἠσαίου οὕτως εἴρηται· Ἐὰν ἀποστρέψῃς τὸν πόδα σου ἀπὸ τῶν σαββάτων τοῦ μὴ ποιεῖν τὰ θελήματά σου ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ἁγίᾳ, καὶ καλέσῃς τὰ σάββατα τρυφερὰ ἅγια τοῦ θεοῦ σου, οὐκ ἄρῃς τὸν πόδα σου ἐπ' ἔργον οὐδὲ μὴ λαλήσῃς λόγον ἐκ τοῦ στόματός σου, καὶ ἔσῃ πεποιθὼς ἐπὶ κύριον, καὶ ἀναβιβάσει σε ἐπὶ τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς καὶ ψωμιεῖ σε τὴν κληρονομίαν Ἰακώβ, τοῦ πατρός σου· τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησε ταῦτα. 2 Κἀγώ· Οὐχ ὡς ἐναντιουμένων μοι τῶν τοιούτων προφητειῶν, ὦ φίλοι, παρέλιπον αὐτάς, ἀλλὰ ὡς ὑμῶν νενοηκότων καὶ νοούντων ὅτι, κἂν διὰ πάντων τῶν προφητῶν κελεύῃ ὑμῖν τὰ αὐτὰ ποιεῖν ἃ καὶ διὰ Μωυσέως ἐκέλευσε, διὰ τὸ σκληροκάρδιον ὑμῶν καὶ ἀχάριστον εἰς αὐτὸν ἀεὶ τὰ αὐτὰ βοᾷ, ἵνα κἂν οὕτως ποτὲ μετανοήσαντες εὐαρεστῆτε αὐτῷ, καὶ μήτε τὰ τέκνα ὑμῶν τοῖς δαιμονίοις θύητε, μήτε κοινωνοὶ κλεπτῶν καὶ φιλοῦντες δῶρα καὶ διώκοντες ἀνταπόδομα, ὀρφανοῖς οὐ κρίνοντες καὶ κρίσει χήρας οὐ προσέχοντες, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ πλήρεις τὰς χεῖρας αἵματος. 3 καὶ γὰρ αἱ θυγατέρες Σιὼν ἐπορεύθησαν ἐν ὑψηλῷ τραχήλῳ, καὶ ἐν νεύμασιν ὀφθαλμῶν ἅμα παίζουσαι καὶ σύρουσαι τοὺς χιτῶνας. καὶ πάντες γὰρ ἐξέκλιναν, βοᾷ, πάντες ἄρα ἠχρειώθησαν· οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ συνίων, οὐκ ἔστιν ἕως ἑνός. ταῖς γλώσσαις αὐτῶν ἐδολιοῦσαν, τάφος ἀνεῳγμένος ὁ λάρυγξ αὐτῶν, ἰὸς ἀσπίδων ὑπὸ τὰ χείλη αὐτῶν, σύντριμμα καὶ ταλαιπωρία ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁδὸν εἰρήνης οὐκ ἔγνωσαν. 4 ὥστε ὃν τρόπον τὴν ἀρχὴν διὰ τὰς κακίας ὑμῶν ταῦτα ἐντέταλτο, ὁμοίως διὰ τὴν ἐν τούτοις ὑπομονήν, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐπίτασιν, διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀνάμνησιν αὐτοῦ καὶ γνῶσιν ὑμᾶς καλεῖ. ὑμεῖς δὲ λαὸς σκληροκάρδιος καὶ ἀσύνετος καὶ τυφλὸς καὶ χωλὸς καὶ υἱοὶ οἷς οὐκ ἔστι πίστις ἐν αὐτοῖς, ὡς αὐτὸς λέγει, ἐστέ, τοῖς χείλεσιν αὐτὸν μόνον τιμῶντες, τῇ δὲ καρδίᾳ πόρρω αὐτοῦ ὄντες, ἰδίας διδασκαλίας καὶ μὴ τὰ ἐκείνου διδάσκοντες. 5 ἐπεί, εἴπατέ μοι, τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς ἁμαρτάνειν τοῖς σάββασι προσφέροντας τὰς προσφορὰς ἐβούλετο ὁ θεός, ἢ τοὺς περιτεμνομένους καὶ περιτέμνοντας τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων, κελεύων τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ ὀγδόῃ ἐκ παντὸς περιτέμνεσθαι τοὺς γεννηθέντας ὁμοίως, κἂν ᾖ ἡμέρα τῶν σαββάτων; ἢ οὐκ ἠδύνατο πρὸ μιᾶς ἡμέρας ἢ μετὰ μίαν ἡμέραν τοῦ σαββάτου ἐνεργεῖν περιτέμνεσθαι τοὺς γεννωμένους, εἰ ἠπίστατο κακὸν εἶναι ἐν τοῖς σάββασιν; ἢ καὶ τοὺς πρὸ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἀβραὰμ ὠνομασμένους δικαίους καὶ εὐαρέστους αὐτῷ γενομένους, μήτε τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν περιτετμημένους μήτε τὰ σάββατα φυλάξαντας, διὰ τί οὐκ ἐδίδασκε ταῦτα ποιεῖν;

XXVIII 1 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων· Καὶ πρότερον ἀκηκόαμέν σου τοῦτο προβάλλοντος καὶ ἐπεστήσαμεν· ἄξιον γάρ, ὡς ἀληθῶς εἰπεῖν, ἐπιστάσεως. καὶ οὔ μοι, ὃ τοῖς πολλοῖς, δοκεῖ λέγειν, ὅτι ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ· τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι πρόφασις ἀεὶ τοῖς μὴ δυναμένοις ἀποκρίνασθαι πρὸς τὸ ζητούμενον. 2 Κἀγώ· Ἐπειδὴ ἀπό τε τῶν γραφῶν καὶ τῶν πραγμάτων τάς τε ἀποδείξεις καὶ τὰς ὁμιλίας ποιοῦμαι, ἔλεγον, μὴ ὑπερτίθεσθε μηδὲ διστάζετε πιστεῦσαι τῷ ἀπεριτμήτῳ ἐμοί. βραχὺς οὗτος ὑμῖν περιλείπεται προσηλύσεως χρόνος· ἐὰν φθάσῃ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐλθεῖν, μάτην μετανοήσετε, μάτην κλαύσετε· οὐ γὰρ εἰσακούσεται ὑμῶν. Νεώσατε ἑαυτοῖς νεώματα, Ἰερεμίας τῷ λαῷ κέκραγε, καὶ μὴ σπείρετε ἐπ' ἀκάνθας. περιτέμνετε τῷ κυρίῳ, καὶ περιτέμνεσθε τὴν ἀκροβυστίαν τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν. 3 μὴ οὖν εἰς ἀκάνθας σπείρετε καὶ ἀνήροτον χωρίον, ὅθεν ὑμῖν καρπὸς οὐκ ἔστι. γνῶτε τὸν Χριστόν, καὶ ἰδοὺ νειὸς καλή, καλὴ καὶ πίων ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν. Ἰδοὺ γὰρ ἡμέραι ἔρχονται, λέγει κύριος, καὶ ἐπισκέψομαι ἐπὶ πάντας περιτετμημένους ἀκροβυστίας αὐτῶν, ἐπ' Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐπὶ Ἰούδαν καὶ ἐπὶ Ἐδὼμ καὶ ἐπὶ υἱοὺς Μωάβ, ὅτι πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ἀπερίτμητα καὶ πᾶς οἶκος Ἰσραὴλ ἀπερίτμητος καρδίας αὐτῶν. 4 ὁρᾶτε ὡς οὐ ταύτην τὴν περιτομὴν τὴν εἰς σημεῖον δοθεῖσαν ὁ θεὸς θέλει· οὐδὲ γὰρ Αἰγυπτίοις χρήσιμος οὐδὲ τοῖς υἱοῖς Μωὰβ οὐδὲ τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἐδώμ. ἀλλὰ κἂν Σκύθης ᾖ τις ἢ Πέρσης, ἔχει δὲ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν καὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ φυλάσσει τὰ αἰώνια δίκαια, περιτέτμηται τὴν καλὴν καὶ ὠφέλιμον περιτομήν, καὶ φίλος ἐστὶ τῷ θεῷ, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς δώροις αὐτοῦ καὶ ταῖς προσφοραῖς χαίρει. 5 παρέξω δὲ ὑμῖν, ἄνδρες φίλοι, καὶ αὐτοῦ ῥήματα τοῦ θεοῦ, ὁπότε πρὸς τὸν λαὸν εἶπε διὰ Μαλαχίου, ἑνὸς τῶν δώδεκα προφητῶν. ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα· Οὐκ ἔστι θέλημά μου ἐν ὑμῖν, λέγει κύριος, καὶ τὰς θυσίας ὑμῶν οὐ προσδέχομαι ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν ὑμῶν· διότι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῆς ἡλίου ἕως δυσμῶν τὸ ὄνομά μου δεδόξασται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ θυσία προσφέρεται τῷ ὀνόματί μου καὶ θυσία καθαρά, ὅτι τιμᾶται τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, λέγει κύριος, ὑμεῖς δὲ βεβηλοῦτε αὐτό. 6 καὶ διὰ τοῦ Δαυεὶδ ἔφη· Λαός, ὃν οὐκ ἔγνων, ἐδούλευσέ μοι· εἰς ἀκοὴν ὠτίου ὑπήκουσέ μου.

XXIX 1 Δοξάσωμεν τὸν θεόν, ἅμα τὰ ἔθνη συνελθόντα, ὅτι καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐπεσκέψατο· δοξάσωμεν αὐτὸν διὰ τοῦ βασιλέως τῆς δόξης, διὰ τοῦ κυρίου τῶν δυνάμεων. εὐδόκησε γὰρ καὶ εἰς τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ τὰς θυσίας ἥδιον παρ' ἡμῶν ἢ παρ' ὑμῶν λαμβάνει. τίς οὖν ἔτι μοι περιτομῆς λόγος ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μαρτυρηθέντι; τίς ἐκείνου τοῦ βαπτίσματος χρεία ἁγίῳ πνεύματι βεβαπτισμένῳ; 2 ταῦτα οἶμαι λέγων πείσειν καὶ τοὺς βραχὺν νοῦν κεκτημένους. οὐ γὰρ ὑπ' ἐμοῦ συνεσκευασμένοι εἰσὶν οἱ λόγοι οὐδὲ τέχνῃ ἀνθρωπίνῃ κεκαλλωπισμένοι, ἀλλὰ τούτους Δαυεὶδ μὲν ἔψαλλεν, Ἠσαίας δὲ εὐηγγελίζετο, Ζαχαρίας δὲ ἐκήρυξε, Μωυσῆς δὲ ἀνέγραψεν. ἐπιγινώσκεις αὐτούς, Τρύφων; ἐν τοῖς ὑμετέροις ἀπόκεινται γράμμασι, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐχ ὑμετέροις ἀλλ' ἡμετέροις· ἡμεῖς γὰρ αὐτοῖς πειθόμεθα, ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀναγινώσκοντες οὐ νοεῖτε τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς νοῦν. 3 μὴ οὖν ἄχθεσθε, μηδὲ ὀνειδίζετε ἡμῖν τὴν τοῦ σώματος ἀκροβυστίαν, ἣν αὐτὸς ὁ θεὸς ἔπλασε, μηδέ, ὅτι θερμὸν πίνομεν ἐν τοῖς σάββασι, δεινὸν ἡγεῖσθε· ἐπειδὴ καὶ ὁ θεὸς τὴν αὐτὴν διοίκησιν τοῦ κόσμου ὁμοίως καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ πεποίηται καθάπερ καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἄλλαις ἁπάσαις, καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς τὰς προσφορὰς καθὰ καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις ἡμέραις καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ κεκελευσμένοι ἦσαν ποιεῖσθαι, καὶ οἱ τοσοῦτοι δίκαιοι μηδὲν τούτων τῶν νομίμων πράξαντες μεμαρτύρηνται ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτοῦ.

XXX 1 Ἀλλὰ τῇ αὐτῶν κακίᾳ ἐγκαλεῖτε, ὅτι καὶ συκοφαντεῖσθαι δυνατός ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς ὑπὸ τῶν νοῦν μὴ ἐχόντων, ὡς τὰ αὐτὰ δίκαια μὴ πάντας ἀεὶ διδάξας. πολλοῖς γὰρ ἀνθρώποις ἄλογα καὶ οὐκ ἄξια θεοῦ τὰ τοιαῦτα διδάγματα ἔδοξεν εἶναι, μὴ λαβοῦσι χάριν τοῦ γνῶναι ὅτι τὸν λαὸν ὑμῶν πονηρευόμενον καὶ ἐν νόσῳ ψυχικῇ ὑπάρχοντα εἰς ἐπιστροφὴν καὶ μετάνοιαν τοῦ πνεύματος κέκληκε, καὶ αἰώνιός ἐστι μετὰ τὸν Μωυσέως θάνατον προελθοῦσα ἡ προφητεία. 2 καὶ διὰ τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τοῦτο εἴρηται, ὦ ἄνδρες. καὶ ὅτι γλυκύτερα ὑπὲρ μέλι καὶ κηρίον ὁμολογοῦμεν αὐτά, οἱ σοφισθέντες ἀπ' αὐτῶν, ἐκ τοῦ καὶ μέχρι θανάτου ἀνεξαρνήτους ἡμᾶς γίνεσθαι τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ φαίνεται. ὅτι δὲ καὶ αἰτοῦμεν αὐτόν, οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς αὐτόν, ἵνα ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἀπὸ τῶν πονηρῶν καὶ πλάνων πνευμάτων, συντηρήσῃ ἡμᾶς, ἀπὸ προσώπου ἑνὸς τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν πιστευόντων σχηματοποιήσας ὁ λόγος τῆς προφητείας λέγει, πᾶσι φανερόν ἐστιν. 3 ἀπὸ γὰρ τῶν δαιμονίων, ἅ ἐστιν ἀλλότρια τῆς θεοσεβείας τοῦ θεοῦ, οἷς πάλαι προσεκυνοῦμεν, τὸν θεὸν ἀεὶ διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ συντηρηθῆναι παρακαλοῦμεν, ἵνα μετὰ τὸ ἐπιστρέψαι πρὸς θεὸν δι' αὐτοῦ ἄμωμοι ὦμεν. βοηθὸν γὰρ ἐκεῖνον καὶ λυτρωτὴν καλοῦμεν, οὗ καὶ τὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος ἰσχὺν καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια τρέμει, καὶ σήμερον ἐξορκιζόμενα κατὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, τοῦ γενομένου ἐπιτρόπου τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ὑποτάσσεται, ὡς καὶ ἐκ τούτου πᾶσι φανερὸν εἶναι ὅτι ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ τοσαύτην ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ δύναμιν, ὥστε καὶ τὰ δαιμόνια ὑποτάσσεσθαι τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ τοῦ γενομένου πάθους αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίᾳ.

CHAPTER XXI -- SABBATHS WERE INSTITUTED ON ACCOUNT OF THE PEOPLE'S SINS, AND NOT FOR A WORK OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. "Moreover, that God enjoined you to keep the Sabbath, and impose on you other precepts for a sign, as I have already said, on account of your unrighteousness, and that of your fathers,--as He declares that for the sake of the nations, lest His name be profaned among them, therefore He permitted some of you to remain alive,--these words of His can prove to you: they are narrated by Ezekiel thus: I am the Lord your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and take no part in the customs of Egypt; and hallow My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding ye rebelled against Me, and your children walked not in My statutes, neither kept My judgments to do them: which if a man do, he shall live in them. But they polluted My Sabbaths. And I said that I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness, to accomplish My anger upon them; yet I did it not; that My name might not be altogether profaned in the sight of the heathen. I led them out before their eyes, and I lifted up Mine hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, and polluted My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after the devices of their fathers. Wherefore I gave them also statutes which were not good, and judgments whereby they shall not live. And I shall pollute them in their own gifts, that I may destroy all that openeth the womb, when I pass through them.'

CHAPTER XXII -- SO ALSO WERE SACRIFICES AND OBLATIONS. "And that you may learn that it was for the sins of your own nation, and for their idolatries and not because there was any necessity for such sacrifices, that they were likewise enjoined, listen to the manner in which He speaks of these by Amos, one of the twelve, saying: 'Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is this day of the Lord for you? It is darkness and not light, as when a man flees from the face of a lion, and a bear meets him; and he goes into his house, and leans his hands against the wall, and the serpent bites him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark, and no brightness in it? I have hated, I have despised your feast-days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies: wherefore, though ye offer Me your burnt-offerings and sacrifices, I will not accept them; neither will I regard the peace-offerings of your presence. Take thou away from Me the multitude of thy songs and psalms; I will not hear thine instruments. But let judgment be rolled down as water, and righteousness as an impassable torrent. Have ye offered unto Me victims and sacrifices in the wilderness, O house of Israel? saith the Lord. And have ye taken up the tabernacle of Moloch, and the star of your god Raphan, the figures which ye made for yourselves? And I will carry you away beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is the Almighty God. Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria: those who are named among the chiefs have plucked away the first-fruits of the nations: the house of Israel have entered for themselves. Pass all of you unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye unto Hamath the great, and go down thence to Gath of the strangers, the noblest of all these kingdoms, if their boundaries are greater than your boundaries. Ye who come to the evil day, who are approaching, and who hold to false Sabbaths; who lie on beds of ivory, and are at ease upon their couches; who eat the lambs out of the flock, and the sucking calves out of the midst of the herd; who applaud at the sound of the musical instruments; they reckon them as stable, and not as fleeting, who drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments, but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. Wherefore now they shall be captives, among the first of the nobles who are carried away; and the house of evil-doers shall be removed, and the neighing of horses shall be taken away from Ephraim. And again by Jeremiah: 'Collect your flesh, and sacrifices, and eat: for concerning neither sacrifices nor libations did I command your fathers in the day in which I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt. And again by David, in the forty-ninth Psalm, He thus said: 'The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken, and called the earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Out of Zion is the perfection of His beauty. God, even our God, shall come openly, and shall not keep silence. Fire shall burn before Him, and it shall be very temptestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Assemble to Him His saints; those that have made a covenant with Him by sacrifices. And the heavens shall declare His righteousness, for God is judge. Hear, O My people, and I will speak to thee; O Israel, and I will testify to thee, I am God, even thy God. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; thy burnt-offerings are continually before me. I will take no bullocks out of thy house, nor he-goats out of thy folds: for all the beasts of the field are Mine, the herds and the oxen on the mountains. I know all the fowls of the heavens, and the beauty of the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof. Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Offer unto God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows unto the Most High, and call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me. But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare My statutes, and to take My covenant into thy mouth? But thou hast hated instruction, and cast My words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him; and hast been partaker with the adulterer. Thy mouth has framed evil, and thy tongue has enfolded deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I would be like thyself in wickedness. I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest He tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify Me; and there is the way in which I shall show him My salvation. Accordingly He neither takes sacrifices from you nor commanded them at first to be offered because they are needful to Him, but because of your sins. For indeed the temple, which is called the temple in Jerusalem, He admitted to be His house or court, not as though He needed it, but in order that you, in this view of it, giving yourselves to Him, might not worship idols. And that this is so, Isaiah says: 'What house have ye built Me? saith the Lord. Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool.'

CHAPTER XXXIII -- THE OPINION OF THE JEWS REGARDING THE LAW DOES AN INJURY TO GOD. "But if we do not admit this, we shall be liable to fall into foolish opinions, as if it were not the same God who existed in the times of Enoch and all the rest, who neither were circumcised after the flesh, nor observed Sabbaths, nor any other rites, seeing that Moses enjoined such observances; or that God has not wished each race of mankind continually to perform the same righteous actions: to admit which, seems to be ridiculous and absurd. Therefore we must confess that He, who is ever the same, has commanded these and such like institutions on account of sinful men, and we must declare Him to be benevolent, foreknowing, needing nothing, righteous and good. But if this be not so, tell me, sir, what you think of those matters which we are investigating." And when no one responded: "Wherefore, Trypho, I will proclaim to you, and to those who wish to become proselytes, the divine message which I heard from that man. Do you see that the elements are not idle, and keep no Sabbaths? Remain as you were born. For if there was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or Of the observance of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses; no more need is there of them now, after that, according to the will of God, Jesus Christ the Son of God has been born without sin, of a virgin sprung from the stock of Abraham. For when Abraham himself was in un-circumcision, he was justified and blessed by reason of the faith which he reposed in God, as the Scripture tells. Moreover, the Scriptures and the facts themselves compel us to admit that He received circumcision for a sign, and not for righteousness. So that it was justly recorded concerning the people, that the soul which shall not be circumcised on the eighth day shall be cut off from his family. And, furthermore, the inability of the female sex to receive fleshly circumcision, proves that this circumcision has been given for a sign, and not for a work of righteousness. For God has given likewise to women the ability to observe all things which are righteous and virtuous; but we see that the bodily form of the male has been made different from the bodily form of the female; yet we know that neither of them is righteous or unrighteous merely for this cause, but [is considered righteous] by reason of piety and righteousness.

CHAPTER XXIV -- THE CHRISTIANS' CIRCUMCISION FAR MORE EXCELLENT. "Now, sirs," I said, "it is possible for us to show how the eighth day possessed a certain mysterious import, which the seventh day did not possess, and which was promulgated by God through these rites. But lest I appear now to diverge to other subjects, understand what I say: the blood of that circumcision is obsolete, and we trust in the bloOd of salvation; there is now another covenant, and another law has gone forth from Zion. Jesus Christ circumcises all who will--as was declared above--with knives of stone; that they may be a righteous nation, a people keeping faith, holding to the truth, and maintaining peace. Come then with me, all who fear God, who wish to see the good of Jerusalem. Come, let us go to the light of the Lord; for He has liberated His people, the house of Jacob. Come, all nations; let us gather ourselves together at Jerusalem, no longer plagued by war for the sins of her people. 'For I was manifest to them that sought Me not; I was found of them that asked not for Me;' He exclaims by Isaiah: 'I said, Behold Me, unto nations which were not called by My name. I have spread out My hands all the day unto a disobedient and gainsaying people, which walked in a way that was not good, but after their own sins. It is a people that rovoketh Me to my face.'

CHAPTER XXV -- THE JEWS BOAST IN VAIN THAT THEY ARE SONS OF ABRAHAM. "Those who justify themselves, and say they are sons of Abraham, shall be desirous even in a small degree to receive the inheritance along with you; as the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of Isaiah, cries, speaking thus while he personates them: 'Return from heaven, and behold from the habitation of Thy holiness and glory. Where is Thy zeal and strength? Where is the multitude of Thy mercy? for Thou hast sustained us, O Lord. For Thou art our Father, because Abraham is ignorant of us, and Israel has not recognised us. But Thou, O Lord, our Father, deliver us: from the beginning Thy name is upon us. O Lord, why hast Thou made us to err from Thy way? and hardened our hearts, so that we do not fear Thee? Return for Thy servants' sake, the tribes of Thine inheritance, that we may inherit for a little Thy holy mountain. We were as from the beginning, when Thou didst not bear rule over us, and when Thy name was not called upon us. If Thou wilt open the heavens, trembling shall seize the mountains before Thee: and they shall be melted, as wax melts before the fire; and fire shah consume the adversaries, and Thy name shall be manifest among the adversaries; the nations shall be put into disorder before Thy face. When Thou shall do glorious things, trembling shall seize the mountains before Thee. From the beginning we have not heard, nor have our eyes seen a God besides Thee: and Thy works, the mercy which Thou shall show to those who repent. He shall meet those who do righteousness, and they shall remember Thy ways. Behold, Thou art wroth, and we were sinning. Therefore we have erred and become all unclean, and all our righteousness is as the rags of a woman set apart: and we have faded away like leaves by reason of our iniquities; thus the wind will take us away. And there is none that calleth upon Thy name, or remembers to take hold of Thee; for Thou hast turned away Thy face from us, and hast given us up on account of our sins. And now return, O Lord, for we are all Thy people. The city of Thy holiness has become desolate. Zion has become as a wilderness, Jerusalem a curse; the house, our holiness, and the glory which our fathers blessed, has been burned with fire; and all the glorious nations have fallen along with it. And in addition to these [misfortunes], O Lord, Thou hast refrained Thyself, and art silent, and hast humbled us very much.'" And Trypho remarked, "What is this you say? that none of us shall inherit anything on the holy mountain of God?"

CHAPTER XXVI -- NO SALVATION TO THE JEWS EXCEPT THROUGH CHRIST. And I replied, "I do not say so; but those who have persecuted and do persecute Christ, if they do not repent, shall not inherit anything on the holy mountain. But the Gentiles, who have believed on Him, and have repented of the sins which they have committed, they shall receive the inheritance along with the patriarchs and the prophets, and the just men who are descended from Jacob, even although they neither keep the Sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe the feasts. Assuredly they shall receive the holy inheritance of God. For God speaks by Isaiah thus: 'I, the Lord God, have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will strengthen Thee; and I have given Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind, to bring out them that are bound from the chains, and those who sit in darkness from the prison-house.' And again: 'Lift up a standard s for the people; for, lo, the Lord has made it heard unto the end of the earth. Say ye to the daughters of Zion, Behold, thy Saviour has come; having His reward, and His work before His face: and He shall call it a holy nation, redeemed by the Lord. And thou shalt be called a city sought out, and not forsaken. Who is this that cometh from Edom? in red garments from Bosor? This that is beautiful in apparel, going up with great strength? I speak righteousness, and the judgment of salvation. Why are Thy garments red, and Thine apparel as from the trodden wine-press? Thou art full of the trodden grape. I have trodden the wine-press all alone, and of the people there is no man with Me; and I have trampled them in fury, and crushed them to the ground, and spilled their blood on the earth. For the day of retribution has come upon them, and the year of redemption is present. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I considered, and none assisted: and My arm delivered; and My fury came on them, and I trampled them in My fury, and spilled their blood on the earth.'"

CHAPTER XXVII -- WHY GOD TAUGHT THE SAME THINGS BY THE PROPHETS AS BY MOSES. And Trypho said, "Why do you select and quote whatever you wish from the prophetic writings, but do not refer to those which expressly command the Sabbath to be observed? For Isaiah thus speaks: 'If thou shalt turn away thy foot from the Sabbaths, so as not to do thy pleasure on the holy day, and shalt call the Sabbaths the holy delights of thy God; if thou shalt not lift thy foot to work, and shalt not speak a word from thine own mouth; then thou shalt trust in the Lord, and He shall cause thee to go up to the good things of the land; and He shall feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.'" And I replied, "I have passed them by, my friends, not because such prophecies were contrary to me, but because you have understood, and do understand, that although God commands you by all the prophets to do the same things which He also commanded by Moses, it was on account of the hardness of your hearts, and your ingratitude towards Him, that He continually proclaims them, in order that, even in this way, if you repented, you might please Him, and neither sacrifice your children to demons, nor be partakers with thieves, nor lovers of gifts, nor hunters after revenge, nor fail in doing judgment for orphans, nor be inattentive to the justice due to the widow nor have your hands full of blood. 'For the daughters of Zion have walked with a high neck, both sporting by winking with their eyes, and sweeping along their dresses. For they are all gone aside,' He exclaims, 'they are all become useless. There is none that understands, there is not so much as one. With their tongues they have practised deceit, their throat is an open sepulchre, the poison of asps is under their lips, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known.' So that, as in the beginning, these things were enjoined you because of your wickedness, in like manner because of your stedfastness in it, or rather your increased proneness to it, by means of the same precepts He calls you to a remembrance or knowledge of it. But you are a people hard-hearted and without understanding, both blind and lame, children in whom is no faith, as He Himself says, honouring Him only with your lips, far from Him in your hearts, teaching doctrines that are your own and not His. For, tell me, did God wish the priests to sin when they offer the sacrifices on the Sabbaths? or those to sin, who are circumcised and do circumcise on the Sabbaths; since He commands that on the eighth day--even though it happen to be a Sabbath--those who are born shall be always circumcised? or could not the infants be operated upon one day previous or one day subsequent to the Sabbath, if He knew that it is a sinful act upon the Sabbaths? Or why did He not teach those--who are called righteous and pleasing to Him, who lived before Moses and Abraham, who were not circumcised in their foreskin, and observed no Sabbaths--to keep these institutions?"

CHAPTER XXVIII -- TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS IS OBTAINED BY CHRIST. And Trypho replied, "We heard you adducing this consideration a little ago, and we have given it attention: for, to tell the truth, it is worthy of attention; and that answer which pleases most--namely, that so it seemed good to Him--does not satisfy me. For this is ever the shift to which those have recourse who are unable to answer the question." Then I said, "Since I bring from the Scriptures and the facts themselves both the proofs and the inculcation of them, do not delay or hesitate to put faith in me, although I am an uncircumcised man; so short a time is left you in which to become proselytes. If Christ's coming shall have anticipated you, in vain you will repent, in vain you will weep; for He will not hear yon. 'Break up your fallow ground,' Jeremiah has cried to the people, 'and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and circumcise the foreskin of your heart.' Do not sow, therefore, among thorns, and in untilled ground, whence you can have no fruit. Know Christ; and behold the fallow ground, good, good and fat, is in your hearts. 'For, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will visit all them that are circumcised in their foreskins; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the sons of Moab. For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in their hearts.' Do you see how that God does not mean this circumcision which is given for a sign? For it is of no use to the Egyptians, or the sons of Moab, or the sons of Edom. But though a man be a Scythian or a Persian, if he has the knowledge of God and of His Christ, and keeps the everlasting righteous decrees, he is circumcised with the good and useful circumcision, and is a friend of God, and God rejoices in his gifts and offerings. But I will lay before you, my friends, the very words of God, when He said to the people by Malachi, one of the twelve prophets, 'I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord; and I shall not accept your sacrifices at your hands: for from the rising of the sun unto its setting My name shall be glorified among the Gentiles; and in every place a sacrifice is offered unto My name, even a pure sacrifice: for My name is honoured among the Gentiles, saith the Lord; but ye profane it.' And by David He said, 'A people whom I have not known, served Me; at the hearing of the ear they obeyed Me.'

CHAPTER XXIX -- CHRIST IS USELESS TO THOSE WHO OBSERVE THE LAW. "Let us glorify God, all nations gathered together; for He has also visited us. Let us glorify Him by the King of glory, by the Lord of hosts. For He has been gracious towards the Gentiles also; and our sacrifices He esteems more grateful than yours. What need, then, have I of circumcision, who have been witnessed to by God? What need have I of that other baptism, who have been baptized with the Holy Ghost? I think that while I mention this, I would persuade even those who are possessed of scanty intelligence. For these words have neither been prepared by me, nor embellished by the art of man; but David sung them, Isaiah preached them, Zechariah proclaimed them, and Moses wrote them. Are you acquainted with them, Trypho? They are contained in your Scriptures, or rather not yours, but ours. For we believe them; but you, though you read them, do not catch the spirit that is in them. Be not offended at, or reproach us with, the bodily uncircumcision with which God has created us; and think it not strange that we drink hot water on the Sabbaths, since God directs the government of the universe on this day equally as on all others; and the priests, as on other days, so on this, are ordered to offer sacrifices; and there are so many righteous men who have performed none of these legal ceremonies, and yet are witnessed to by God Himself.

CHAPTER XXX -- CHRISTIANS POSSESS THE TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS. "But impute it to your own wickedness, that God even can be accused by those who have no understanding, of not having always instructed all in the same righteous statutes. For such institutions seemed to be unreasonable and unworthy of God to many men, who had not received grace to know that your nation were called to conversion and repentance of spirit, while they were in a sinful condition and labouring under spiritual disease; and that the prophecy which was announced subsequent to the death of Moses is everlasting. And this is mentioned in the Psalm, my friends. And that we, who have been made wise by them, confess that the statutes of the Lord are sweeter than honey and the honey-comb, is manifest from the fact that, though threatened with death, we do not deny His name. Moreover, it is also manifest to all, that we who believe in Him pray to be kept by Him from strange, i.e., from wicked and deceitful, spirits; as the word of prophecy, personating one of those who believe in Him, figuratively declares. For we do continually beseech God by Jesus Christ to preserve us from the demons which are hostile to the worship of God, and whom we of old time served, in order that, after our conversion by Him to God, we may be blameless. For we call Him Helper and Redeemer, the power of whose name even the demons do fear; and at this day, when they are exorcised in the name of Jesus Christ, crucified under Pontius Pilate, governor of Judaea, they are overcome. And thus it is manifest to all, that His Father has given Him so great power, by virtue of which demons are subdued to His name, and to the dispensation of His suffering.

Ben C. Smith · Post by **Ben C. Smith** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:30 pm

Justin Martyr, Dialogue With Trypho 31-40.

Τοῦ ἁγίου Ἰουστίνου πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον Διάλογος

Dialogue With Trypho

XXXI 1 Εἰ δὲ τῇ τοῦ πάθους αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίᾳ τοσαύτη δύναμις δείκνυται παρακολουθήσασα καὶ παρακολουθοῦσα, πόση ἡ ἐν τῇ ἐνδόξῳ γινομένῃ αὐτοῦ παρουσίᾳ; ὡς υἱὸς γὰρ ἀνθρώπου ἐπάνω νεφελῶν ἐλεύσεται, ὡς Δανιὴλ ἐμήνυσεν, ἀγγέλων σὺν αὐτῷ ἀφικνουμένων. 2 εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ λόγοι οὗτοι· Ἐθεώρουν ἕως ὅτου θρόνοι ἐτέθησαν, καὶ ὁ παλαιὸς ἡμερῶν ἐκάθητο, ἔχων περιβολὴν ὡσεὶ χιόνα λευκήν, καὶ τὸ τρίχωμα τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ ἔριον καθαρόν, ὁ θρόνος αὐτοῦ ὡσεὶ φλὸξ πυρός, οἱ τροχοὶ αὐτοῦ πῦρ φλέγον. ποταμὸς πυρὸς εἷλκεν ἐκπορευόμενος ἐκ προσώπου αὐτοῦ· χίλιαι χιλιάδες ἐλειτούργουν αὐτῷ, καὶ μύριαι μυριάδες παρειστήκεισαν αὐτῷ. βίβλοι ἀνεῴχθησαν, καὶ κριτήριον ἐκάθισεν. 3 ἐθεώρουν τότε τὴν φωνὴν τῶν μεγάλων λόγων ὧν τὸ κέρας λαλεῖ, καὶ ἀπετυμπανίσθη τὸ θηρίον, καὶ ἀπώλετο τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐδόθη εἰς καῦσιν πυρός· καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ θηρία μετεστάθη τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῶν, καὶ χρόνος ζωῆς τοῖς θηρίοις ἐδόθη ἕως καιροῦ καὶ χρόνου. ἐθεώρουν ἐν ὁράματι τῆς νυκτός, καὶ ἰδοὺ μετὰ τῶν νεφελῶν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ὡς υἱὸς ἀνθρώπου ἐρχόμενος· καὶ ἦλθεν ἕως τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν καὶ παρῆν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἱ παρεστηκότες προσήγαγον αὐτόν. 4 καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐξουσία καὶ τιμὴ βασιλική, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη τῆς γῆς κατὰ γένη καὶ πᾶσα δόξα λατρεύουσα· καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτοῦ ἐξουσία αἰώνιος, ἥτις οὐ μὴ ἀρθῇ, καὶ ἡ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ οὐ μὴ φθαρῇ. καὶ ἔφριξε τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐν τῇ ἕξει μου, καὶ αἱ ὁράσεις τῆς κεφαλῆς μου ἐτάρασσόν με. καὶ προσῆλθον πρὸς ἕνα τῶν ἑστώτων, καὶ τὴν ἀκρίβειαν ἐζήτουν παρ' αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ πάντων τούτων. ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ λέγει μοι καὶ τὴν κρίσιν τῶν λόγων ἐδήλωσέ μοι· Ταῦτα τὰ θηρία τὰ μεγάλα εἰσὶ τέσσαρες βασιλεῖαι, αἳ ἀπολοῦνται ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς, καὶ οὐ παραλήψονται τὴν βασιλείαν ἕως αἰῶνος καὶ ἕως τοῦ αἰῶνος τῶν αἰώνων. 5 τότε ἤθελον ἐξακριβώσασθαι ὑπὲρ τοῦ τετάρτου θηρίου, τοῦ καταφθείροντος πάντα καὶ ὑπερφόβου, καὶ οἱ ὀδόντες αὐτοῦ σιδηροῖ καὶ οἱ ὄνυχες αὐτοῦ χαλκοῖ, ἐσθίον καὶ λεπτύνον καὶ τὰ ἐπίλοιπα αὐτοῦ τοῖς ποσὶ κατεπάτει· καὶ περὶ τῶν δέκα κεράτων αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς κεφαλῆς, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς τοῦ προσφυέντος, καὶ ἐξέπεσον ἐκ τῶν προτέρων δι' αὐτοῦ τρία, καὶ τὸ κέρας ἐκεῖνο εἶχεν ὀφθαλμοὺς καὶ στόμα λαλοῦν μεγάλα, καὶ ἡ πρόσοψις αὐτοῦ ὑπερέφερε τὰ ἄλλα. καὶ κατενόουν τὸ κέρας ἐκεῖνο πόλεμον συνιστάμενον πρὸς τοὺς ἁγίους καὶ τροπούμενον αὐτούς, ἕως τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὸν παλαιὸν ἡμερῶν, καὶ τὴν κρίσιν ἔδωκε τοῖς ἁγίοις τοῦ ὑψίστου, καὶ ὁ καιρὸς ἐνέστη, καὶ τὸ βασίλειον κατέσχον ἅγιοι ὑψίστου. 6 καὶ ἐρρέθη μοι περὶ τοῦ τετάρτου θηρίου· Βασιλεία τετάρτη ἔσται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἥτις διοίσει παρὰ πάσας τὰς βασιλείας ταύτας, καὶ καταφάγεται πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν καὶ ἀναστατώσει αὐτὴν καὶ καταλεανεῖ αὐτήν. καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα, δέκα βασιλεῖς ἀναστήσονται, [καὶ ἕτερος] μετ' αὐτούς, καὶ οὗτος διοίσει κακοῖς ὑπὲρ τοὺς πρώτους, καὶ τρεῖς βασιλεῖς ταπεινώσει, καὶ ῥήματα πρὸς τὸν ὕψιστον λαλήσει, καὶ ἑτέρους ἁγίους τοῦ ὑψίστου καταστρέψει, καὶ προσδέξεται ἀλλοιῶσαι καιροὺς καὶ χρόνους· καὶ παραδοθήσεται εἰς χεῖρας ἕως καιροῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ καιρῶν καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ. 7 καὶ ἡ κρίσις ἐκάθισε, καὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν μεταστήσουσι τοῦ ἀφανίσαι καὶ τοῦ ἀπολέσαι ἕως τέλους. καὶ ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ ἐξουσία καὶ ἡ μεγαλειότης τῶν τόπων τῶν ὑπὸ τὸν οὐρανὸν βασιλειῶν ἐδόθη λαῷ ἁγίῳ ὑψίστου βασιλεῦσαι βασιλείαν αἰώνιον· καὶ πᾶσαι ἐξουσίαι ὑποταγήσονται αὐτῷ καὶ πειθαρχήσουσιν αὐτῷ. ἕως ὧδε τὸ τέλος τοῦ λόγου. ἐγὼ Δανιὴλ ἐκστάσει περιειχόμην σφόδρα, καὶ ἡ ἕξις διήνεγκεν ἐμοί, καὶ τὸ ῥῆμα ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου ἐτήρησα.

XXXII 1 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων παυσαμένου μου εἶπεν· Ὦ ἄνθρωπε, αὗται ἡμᾶς αἱ γραφαὶ καὶ τοιαῦται ἔνδοξον καὶ μέγαν ἀναμένειν τὸν παρὰ τοῦ παλαιοῦ τῶν ἡμερῶν ὡς υἱὸν ἀνθρώπου παραλαμβάνοντα τὴν αἰώνιον βασιλείαν ἀναγκάζουσιν· οὗτος δὲ ὁ ὑμέτερος λεγόμενος Χριστὸς ἄτιμος καὶ ἄδοξος γέγονεν, ὡς καὶ τῇ ἐσχάτῃ κατάρᾳ τῇ ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ θεοῦ περιπεσεῖν· ἐσταυρώθη γάρ. 2 Κἀγὼ πρὸς αὐτόν· Εἰ μέν, ὦ ἄνδρες, μὴ ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν, ὧν προανιστόρησα, τὸ εἶδος αὐτοῦ ἄδοξον καὶ τὸ γένος αὐτοῦ ἀδιήγητον, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ θανάτου αὐτοῦ τοὺς πλουσίους θανατωθήσεσθαι, καὶ τῷ μώλωπι αὐτοῦ ἡμεῖς ἰάθημεν, καὶ ὡς πρόβατον ἀχθήσεσθαι ἐλέγετο, καὶ δύο παρουσίας αὐτοῦ γενήσεσθαι ἐξηγησάμην, μίαν μὲν ἐν ᾗ ἐξεκεντήθη ὑφ' ὑμῶν, δευτέραν δὲ ὅτε ἐπιγνώσεσθε εἰς ὃν ἐξεκεντήσατε, καὶ κόψονται αἱ φυλαὶ ὑμῶν, φυλὴ πρὸς φυλήν, αἱ γυναῖκες κατ' ἰδίαν καὶ οἱ ἄνδρες κατ' ἰδίαν, ἀσαφῆ καὶ ἄπορα ἐδόκουν λέγειν· νῦν δὲ διὰ πάντων τῶν λόγων ἀπὸ τῶν παρ' ὑμῖν ἁγίων καὶ προφητικῶν γραφῶν τὰς πάσας ἀποδείξεις ποιοῦμαι ἐλπίζων τινὰ ἐξ ὑμῶν δύνασθαι εὑρεθῆναι ἐκ τοῦ κατὰ χάριν τὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ κυρίου Σαβαὼθ περιλειφθέντος εἰς τὴν αἰώνιον σωτηρίαν. 3 οὖν καὶ σαφέστερον ὑμῖν τὸ ζητούμενον νῦν γένηται, ἐρῶ ὑμῖν καὶ ἄλλους λόγους τοὺς εἰρημένους διὰ Δαυεὶδ τοῦ μακαρίου, ἐξ ὧν καὶ κύριον τὸν Χριστὸν ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου προφητικοῦ πνεύματος λεγόμενον νοήσετε, καὶ τὸν κύριον πάντων πατέρα ἀνάγοντα αὐτὸν ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ καθίζοντα αὐτὸν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ, ἕως ἂν θῇ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ· ὅπερ γίνεται ἐξ ὅτου εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνελήφθη μετὰ τὸ ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστῆναι ὁ ἡμέτερος κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, τῶν χρόνων συμπληρουμένων καὶ τοῦ βλάσφημα καὶ τολμηρὰ εἰς τὸν ὕψιστον μέλλοντος λαλεῖν ἤδη ἐπὶ θύραις ὄντος, ὃν καιρὸν καὶ καιροὺς καὶ ἥμισυ καιροῦ διακαθέξειν Δανιὴλ μηνύει. 4 καὶ ὑμεῖς, ἀγνοοῦντες πόσον χρόνον διακατέχειν μέλλει, ἄλλο ἡγεῖσθε· τὸν γὰρ καιρὸν ἑκατὸν ἔτη ἐξηγεῖσθε λέγεσθαι. εἰ δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν, εἰς τὸ ἐλάχιστον τὸν τῆς ἀνομίας ἄνθρωπον τριακόσια πεντήκοντα ἔτη βασιλεῦσαι δεῖ, ἵνα τὸ εἰρημένον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου Δανιήλ, καὶ καιρῶν, δύο μόνους καιροὺς λέγεσθαι ἀριθμήσωμεν. 5 καὶ ταῦτα δὲ πάντα ἃ ἔλεγον ἐν παρεκβάσεσι λέγω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἵνα ἤδη ποτὲ πεισθέντες τῷ εἰρημένῳ καθ' ὑμῶν ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ, ὅτι Υἱοὶ ἀσύνετοί ἐστε, καὶ τῷ Διὰ τοῦτο ἰδοὺ προσθήσω τοῦ μεταθεῖναι τὸν λαὸν τοῦτον, καὶ μεταθήσω αὐτούς, καὶ ἀφελῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν καὶ τὴν σύνεσιν τῶν συνετῶν αὐτῶν κρύψω, παύσησθε καὶ ἑαυτοὺς καὶ τοὺς ὑμῶν ἀκούοντας πλανῶντες, καὶ παρ' ἡμῶν μανθάνοντες τῶν σοφισθέντων ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ χάριτος. 6 εἰσὶν οὖν καὶ οἱ λόγοι οἱ διὰ Δαυεὶδ λεχθέντες οὗτοι· Εἶπεν ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου· Κάθου ἐκ δεξιῶν μου, ἕως ἂν θῶ τοὺς ἐχθρούς σου ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου. ῥάβδον δυνάμεως ἐξαποστελεῖ σοι κύριος ἐκ Σιών· καὶ κατακυρίευε ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν σου. μετὰ σοῦ ἡ ἀρχὴ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δυνάμεώς σου· ἐν ταῖς λαμπρότησι τῶν ἁγίων σου, ἐκ γαστρὸς πρὸ ἑωσφόρου ἐγέννησά σε. ὤμοσε κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται· Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ. κύριος ἐκ δεξιῶν σου· συνέθλασεν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ ὀργῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλεῖς. κρινεῖ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, πληρώσει πτώματα. ἐκ χειμάρρου ἐν ὁδῷ πίεται· διὰ τοῦτο ὑψώσει κεφαλήν.

XXXIII 1 Καὶ τοῦτον τὸν ψαλμὸν ὅτι εἰς τὸν Ἑζεκίαν τὸν βασιλέα εἰρῆσθαι ἐξηγεῖσθαι τολμᾶτε, οὐκ ἀγνοῶ, ἐπεῖπον· ὅτι δὲ πεπλάνησθε, ἐξ αὐτῶν τῶν λόγων αὐτίκα ὑμῖν ἀποδείξω. Ὤμοσε κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται, εἴρηται, καὶ Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ, καὶ τὰ ἐπαγόμενα καὶ τὰ προάγοντα. ἱερεὺς δὲ ὅτι οὔτε γέγονεν Ἑζεκίας οὔτε ἐστὶν αἰώνιος ἱερεὺς τοῦ θεοῦ, οὐδὲ ὑμεῖς ἀντειπεῖν τολμήσετε· ὅτι δὲ περὶ τοῦ ἡμετέρου Ἰησοῦ εἴρηται, καὶ αὐταὶ αἱ φωναὶ σημαίνουσι. τὰ δὲ ὦτα ὑμῶν πέφρακται καὶ αἱ καρδίαι πεπώρωνται. 2 τὸ γὰρ Ὤμοσε κύριος καὶ οὐ μεταμεληθήσεται· Σὺ ἱερεὺς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδέκ· μεθ' ὅρκου ὁ θεὸς διὰ τὴν ἀπιστίαν ὑμῶν ἀρχιερέα αὐτὸν κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲκ εἶναι ἐδήλωσε, τοῦτ' ἔστιν, ὃν τρόπον ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ ἱερεὺς ὑψίστου ὑπὸ Μωυσέως ἀναγέγραπται γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ οὗτος τῶν ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ ἱερεὺς ἦν, καὶ τὸν ἐν περιτομῇ δεκάτας αὐτῷ προσενέγκαντα Ἀβραὰμ εὐλόγησεν, οὕτως τὸν αἰώνιον αὐτοῦ ἱερέα καὶ κύριον ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος καλούμενον, ὁ θεὸς τῶν ἐν ἀκροβυστίᾳ γενήσεσθαι ἐδήλου· καὶ τοὺς ἐν περιτομῇ προσιόντας αὐτῷ τοῦτ' ἔστι πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ καὶ τὰς εὐλογίας παρ' αὐτοῦ ζητοῦντας, καὶ αὐτοὺς προσδέξεται καὶ εὐλογήσει. καὶ ὅτι ταπεινὸς ἔσται πρῶτον ἄνθρωπος, εἶτα ὑψωθήσεται, τὰ ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ ψαλμοῦ δηλοῖ. Ἐκ χειμάρρου γὰρ ἐν ὁδῷ πίεται, καὶ ἅμα· Διὰ τοῦτο ὑψώσει κεφαλήν.

XXXIV 1 Ἔτι δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸ πεῖσαι ὑμᾶς ὅτι τῶν γραφῶν οὐδὲν συνήκατε, καὶ ἄλλου ψαλμοῦ τῷ Δαυεὶδ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος εἰρημένου ἀναμνήσομαι, ὃν εἰς Σολομῶνα, τὸν γενόμενον καὶ αὐτὸν βασιλέα ὑμῶν, εἰρῆσθαι λέγετε· εἰς δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν ἡμῶν καὶ αὐτὸς εἴρηται. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν ὁμωνύμων λέξεων ἑαυτοὺς ἐξαπατᾶτε. ὅπου γὰρ ὁ νόμος τοῦ κυρίου ἄμωμος εἴρηται, οὐχὶ τὸν μετ' ἐκεῖνον μέλλοντα ἀλλὰ τὸν διὰ Μωυσέως ἐξηγεῖσθε, τοῦ θεοῦ βοῶντος καινὸν νόμον καὶ καινὴν διαθήκην διαθήσεσθαι. 2 καὶ ὅπου λέλεκται· Ὁ θεός, τὸ κρίμα σου τῷ βασιλεῖ δός, ἐπειδὴ βασιλεὺς Σολομὼν γέγονεν, εἰς αὐτὸν τὸν ψαλμὸν εἰρῆσθαί φατε, τῶν λόγων τοῦ ψαλμοῦ διαρρήδην κηρυσσόντων εἰς τὸν αἰώνιον βασιλέα, τοῦτ' ἔστιν εἰς τὸν Χριστόν, εἰρῆσθαι. ὁ γὰρ Χριστὸς βασιλεὺς καὶ ἱερεὺς καὶ θεὸς καὶ κύριος καὶ ἄγγελος καὶ ἄνθρωπος καὶ ἀρχιστράτηγος καὶ λίθος καὶ παιδίον γεννώμενον καὶ παθητὸς γενόμενος πρῶτον, εἶτα εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνερχόμενος καὶ πάλιν παραγινόμενος μετὰ δόξης καὶ αἰώνιον τὴν βασιλείαν ἔχων κεκήρυκται, ὡς ἀπὸ πασῶν τῶν γραφῶν ἀποδείκνυμι. 3 ἵνα δὲ καὶ ὃ εἶπον νοήσητε, τοὺς τοῦ ψαλμοῦ λόγους λέγω. εἰσὶ δ' οὗτοι· Ὁ θεός, τὸ κρίμα σου τῷ βασιλεῖ δὸς καὶ τὴν δικαιοσύνην σου τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ βασιλέως, κρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ τοὺς πτωχούς σου ἐν κρίσει. ἀναλαβέτω τὰ ὄρη εἰρήνην τῷ λαῷ καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ δικαιοσύνην. κρινεῖ τοὺς πτωχοὺς τοῦ λαοῦ, καὶ σώσει τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν πενήτων, καὶ ταπεινώσει συκοφάντην· καὶ συμπαραμενεῖ τῷ ἡλίῳ καὶ πρὸ τῆς σελήνης εἰς γενεὰς γενεῶν. καταβήσεται ὡς ὑετὸς ἐπὶ πόκον καὶ ὡσεὶ σταγὼν ἡ στάζουσα ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν. 4 ἀνατελεῖ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ δικαιοσύνη, καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης ἕως οὗ ἀνταναιρεθῇ ἡ σελήνη. καὶ κατακυριεύσει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἕως θαλάσσης καὶ ἀπὸ ποταμῶν ἕως περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης. ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ προπεσοῦνται Αἰθίοπες, καὶ οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ χοῦν λείξουσι. βασιλεῖς Θαρσεῖς καὶ νῆσοι δῶρα προσάξουσι, βασιλεῖς Ἀρράβων καὶ Σαββᾶ δῶρα προσάξουσι, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς, καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη δουλεύσουσιν αὐτῷ· ὅτι ἐρρύσατο πτωχὸν ἐκ δυνάστου, καὶ πένητα ᾧ οὐχ ὑπῆρχε βοηθός. 5 φείσεται πτωχοῦ καὶ πένητος, καὶ ψυχὰς πενήτων σώσει· ἐκ τόκου καὶ ἐξ ἀδικίας λυτρώσεται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν, καὶ ἔντιμον τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ ἐνώπιον αὐτῶν. καὶ ζήσεται καὶ δοθήσεται αὐτῷ ἐκ τοῦ χρυσίου τῆς Ἀρραβίας, καὶ προσεύξονται διὰ παντὸς περὶ αὐτοῦ· ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν εὐλογήσουσιν αὐτόν. καὶ ἔσται στήριγμα ἐν τῇ γῇ ἐπ' ἄκρων τῶν ὀρέων· ὑπεραρθήσεται ὑπὲρ τὸν Λίβανον ὁ καρπὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξανθήσουσιν ἐκ πόλεως ὡσεὶ χόρτος τῆς γῆς. 6 ἔσται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ εὐλογημένον εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· πρὸ τοῦ ἡλίου διαμένει. καὶ ἐνευλογηθήσονται ἐν αὐτῷ πᾶσαι αἱ φυλαὶ τῆς γῆς· πάντα τὰ ἔθνη μακαριοῦσιν αὐτόν. εὐλογητὸς κύριος, ὁ θεὸς Ἰσραήλ, ὁ ποιῶν θαυμάσια μόνος, καὶ εὐλογημένον τὸ ὄνομα τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος· καὶ πληρωθήσεται τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ πᾶσα ἡ γῆ. γένοιτο, γένοιτο. καὶ ἐπὶ τέλει τοῦ ψαλμοῦ τούτου, οὗ ἔφην, γέγραπται· Ἐξέλιπον οἱ ὕμνοι Δαυείδ, υἱοῦ Ἰεσσαί. 7 καὶ ὅτι μὲν βασιλεὺς ἐγένετο καὶ μέγας ὁ Σολομών, ἐφ' οὗ ὁ οἶκος Ἰερουσαλὴμ ἐπικληθεὶς ἀνῳκοδομήθη, ἐπίσταμαι. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲν τῶν ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ εἰρημένων συνέβη αὐτῷ, φαίνεται. οὔτε γὰρ πάντες οἱ βασιλεῖς προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ, οὔτε μέχρι τῶν περάτων τῆς οἰκουμένης ἐβασίλευσεν, οὔτε οἱ ἐχθροὶ αὐτοῦ ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πεσόντες χοῦν ἔλειξαν. 8 ἀλλὰ καὶ τολμῶ λέγειν ἃ γέγραπται ἐν ταῖς Βασιλείαις ὑπ' αὐτοῦ πραχθέντα, ὅτι διὰ γυναῖκα ἐν Σιδῶνι εἰδωλολάτρει· ὅπερ οὐχ ὑπομένουσι πρᾶξαι οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦ τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπιγνόντες τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων θεόν, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν αἰκίαν καὶ τιμωρίαν μέχρις ἐσχάτου θανάτου ὑπομένουσι περὶ τοῦ μήτε εἰδωλολατρῆσαι μήτε εἰδωλόθυτα φαγεῖν.

XXXV 1 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων· Καὶ μὴν πολλοὺς τῶν τὸν Ἰησοῦν λεγόντων ὁμολογεῖν καὶ λεγομένων Χριστιανῶν πυνθάνομαι ἐσθίειν τὰ εἰδωλόθυτα καὶ μηδὲν ἐκ τούτου βλάπτεσθαι λέγειν. 2 Κἀγὼ ἀπεκρινάμην· Καὶ ἐκ τοῦ τοιούτους εἶναι ἄνδρας, ὁμολογοῦντας ἑαυτοὺς εἶναι Χριστιανοὺς καὶ τὸν σταυρωθέντα Ἰησοῦν ὁμολογεῖν καὶ κύριον καὶ Χριστόν, καὶ μὴ τὰ ἐκείνου διδάγματα διδάσκοντας ἀλλὰ τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς πλάνης πνευμάτων, ἡμεῖς, οἱ τῆς ἀληθινῆς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ καθαρᾶς διδασκαλίας μαθηταί, πιστότεροι καὶ βεβαιότεροι γινόμεθα ἐν τῇ ἐλπίδι τῇ κατηγγελμένῃ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ. ἃ γὰρ προλαβὼν μέλλειν γίνεσθαι ἐν ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ ἔφη, ταῦτα ὄψει καὶ ἐνεργείᾳ ὁρῶμεν τελούμενα. 3 εἶπε γάρ· Πολλοὶ ἐλεύσονται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματί μου, ἔξωθεν ἐνδεδυμένοι δέρματα προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσι λύκοι ἅρπαγες. καί· Ἔσονται σχίσματα καὶ αἱρέσεις. καί· Προσέχετε ἀπὸ τῶν ψευδοπροφητῶν, οἵτινες ἐλεύσονται πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἔξωθεν ἐνδεδυμένοι δέρματα προβάτων, ἔσωθεν δέ εἰσι λύκοι ἅρπαγες. καί· Ἀναστήσονται πολλοὶ ψευδόχριστοι καὶ ψευδαπόστολοι, καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν πιστῶν πλανήσουσιν. 4 εἰσὶν οὖν καὶ ἐγένοντο, ὦ φίλοι ἄνδρες, πολλοὶ οἳ ἄθεα καὶ βλάσφημα λέγειν καὶ πράττειν ἐδίδαξαν, ἐν ὀνόματι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ προσελθόντες· καὶ <καλούμενοί> εἰσιν ὑφ' ἡμῶν ἀπὸ τῆς προσωνυμίας τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἐξ οὗπερ ἑκάστη διδαχὴ καὶ γνώμη ἤρξατο. 5 ἄλλοι γὰρ κατ' ἄλλον τρόπον βλασφημεῖν τὸν ποιητὴν τῶν ὅλων καὶ τὸν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ προφητευόμενον ἐλεύσεσθαι Χριστὸν καὶ τὸν θεὸν Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ διδάσκουσιν· ὧν οὐδενὶ κοινωνοῦμεν, οἱ γνωρίζοντες ἀθέους καὶ ἀσεβεῖς καὶ ἀδίκους καὶ ἀνόμους αὐτοὺς ὑπάρχοντας, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ τὸν Ἰησοῦν σέβειν ὀνόματι μόνον ὁμολογεῖν. 6 καὶ Χριστιανοὺς ἑαυτοὺς λέγουσιν, ὃν τρόπον οἱ ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ ἐπιγράφουσι τοῖς χειροποιήτοις, καὶ ἀνόμοις καὶ ἀθέοις τελεταῖς κοινωνοῦσι. καί εἰσιν αὐτῶν οἱ μέν τινες καλούμενοι Μαρκιανοί, οἱ δὲ Οὐαλεντινιανοί, οἱ δὲ Βασιλειδιανοί, οἱ δὲ Σατορνιλιανοί, καὶ ἄλλοι ἄλλῳ ὀνόματι, ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀρχηγέτου τῆς γνώμης ἕκαστος ὀνομαζόμενος, ὃν τρόπον καὶ ἕκαστος τῶν φιλοσοφεῖν νομιζόντων, ὡς ἐν ἀρχῇ προεῖπον, ἀπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ λόγου τὸ ὄνομα ἧς φιλοσοφεῖ φιλοσοφίας ἡγεῖται φέρειν. 7 ὡς καὶ ἐκ τούτων ἡμεῖς, ὡς ἔφην, τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τῶν μετ' αὐτὸν γενησομένων προγνώστην ἐπιστάμεθα, καὶ ἐξ ἄλλων δὲ πολλῶν ὧν προεῖπε γενήσεσθαι τοῖς πιστεύουσι καὶ ὁμολογοῦσιν αὐτὸν Χριστόν. καὶ γὰρ ἃ πάσχομεν πάντα, ἀναιρούμενοι ὑπὸ τῶν οἰκείων, προεῖπεν ἡμῖν μέλλειν γενέσθαι, ὡς κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον ἐπιλήψιμον αὐτοῦ λόγον ἢ πρᾶξιν φαίνεσθαι. 8 διὸ καὶ ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν καὶ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἐχθραινόντων ἡμῖν εὐχόμεθα, ἵνα μεταγνόντες σὺν ἡμῖν μὴ βλασφημῆτε τὸν διά τε τῶν ἔργων καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ καὶ νῦν γινομένων δυνάμεων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν τῆς διδαχῆς λόγων καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν προφητευθεισῶν εἰς αὐτὸν προφητειῶν ἄμωμον καὶ ἀνέγκλητον κατὰ πάντα Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν, ἀλλὰ πιστεύσαντες εἰς αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ πάλιν γενησομένῃ ἐνδόξῳ αὐτοῦ παρουσίᾳ σωθῆτε καὶ μὴ καταδικασθῆτε εἰς τὸ πῦρ ὑπ' αὐτοῦ.

XXXVI 1 Κἀκεῖνος ἀπεκρίνατο· Ἔστω καὶ ταῦτα οὕτως ἔχοντα ὡς λέγεις, καὶ ὅτι παθητὸς Χριστὸς προεφητεύθη μέλλειν εἶναι, καὶ λίθος κέκληται, καὶ ἔνδοξος μετὰ τὴν πρώτην αὐτοῦ παρουσίαν, ἐν ᾗ παθητὸς φαίνεσθαι κεκήρυκτο, ἐλευσόμενος καὶ κριτὴς πάντων λοιπὸν καὶ αἰώνιος βασιλεὺς καὶ ἱερεὺς γενησόμενος· εἰ οὗτος δέ ἐστι περὶ οὗ ταῦτα προεφητεύθη, ἀπόδειξον. 2 Κἀγώ· Ὡς βούλει, ὦ Τρύφων, ἐλεύσομαι πρὸς ἃς βούλει ταύτας ἀποδείξεις ἐν τῷ ἁρμόζοντι τόπῳ, ἔφην· τὰ νῦν δὲ συγχωρήσεις μοι πρῶτον ἐπιμνησθῆναι ὧνπερ βούλομαι προφητειῶν, εἰς ἐπίδειξιν ὅτι καὶ θεὸς καὶ κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων ὁ Χριστὸς καὶ Ἰακὼβ καλεῖται ἐν παραβολῇ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος, καὶ οἱ παρ' ὑμῖν ἐξηγηταί, ὡς θεὸς βοᾷ, ἀνόητοί εἰσι, μὴ εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν εἰρῆσθαι λέγοντες ἀλλ' εἰς Σολομῶνα, ὅτε εἰσέφερε τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου εἰς τὸν ναὸν ὃν ᾠκοδόμησεν. 3 ἔστι δὲ ψαλμὸς τοῦ Δαυεὶδ οὗτος· Τοῦ κυρίου ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ πλήρωμα αὐτῆς, ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ πάντες οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ. αὐτὸς ἐπὶ θαλασσῶν ἐθεμελίωσεν αὐτήν, καὶ ἐπὶ ποταμῶν ἡτοίμασεν αὐτήν. τίς. ἀναβήσεται εἰς τὸ ὄρος τοῦ κυρίου, ἢ τίς στήσεται ἐν τόπῳ ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ; ἀθῷος χερσὶ καὶ καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, ὃς οὐκ ἔλαβεν ἐπὶ ματαίῳ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐκ ὤμοσεν ἐπὶ δόλῳ τῷ πλησίον αὐτοῦ. 4 οὗτος λήψεται εὐλογίαν παρὰ κυρίου καὶ ἐλεημοσύνην παρὰ θεοῦ σωτῆρος αὐτοῦ. αὕτη ἡ γενεὰ ζητούντων τὸν κύριον, ζητούντων τὸ πρόσωπον τοῦ θεοῦ Ἰακώβ. ἄρατε πύλας, οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης. τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης; κύριος κραταιὸς καὶ δυνατὸς ἐν πολέμῳ. ἄρατε πύλας οἱ ἄρχοντες ὑμῶν, καὶ ἐπάρθητε, πύλαι αἰώνιοι, καὶ εἰσελεύσεται ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης. τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης; κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων, αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης. 5 κύριος οὖν τῶν δυνάμεων ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Σολομὼν ἀποδέδεικται· ἀλλὰ ὁ ἡμέτερος Χριστὸς ὅτε ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνέστη καὶ ἀνέβαινεν εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, κελεύονται οἱ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ταχθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἄρχοντες ἀνοῖξαι τὰς πύλας τῶν οὐρανῶν, ἵνα εἰσέλθῃ οὗτος ὅς ἐστι βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης, καὶ ἀναβὰς καθίσῃ ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ πατρός, ἕως ἂν θῇ τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, ὡς διὰ τοῦ ἄλλου ψαλμοῦ δεδήλωται. 6 ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἄρχοντες ἑώρων ἀειδῆ καὶ ἄτιμον τὸ εἶδος καὶ ἄδοξον ἔχοντα αὐτόν, οὐ γνωρίζοντες αὐτόν, ἐπυνθάνοντο· Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης; καὶ ἀποκρίνεται αὐτοῖς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἢ ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ πατρὸς ἢ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἰδίου· Κύριος τῶν δυνάμεων, αὐτὸς οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης. ὅτι γὰρ οὔτε περὶ Σολομῶνος, ἐνδόξου οὕτω βασιλέως ὄντος, οὔτε περὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου τῶν ἐφεστώτων ταῖς πύλαις τοῦ ναοῦ τῶν Ἰεροσολύμων ἐτόλμησεν ἄν τις εἰπεῖν· Τίς ἐστιν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς τῆς δόξης; πᾶς ὁστισοῦν ὁμολογήσει.

XXXVII 1 Καὶ ἐν διαψάλματι τεσσαρακοστοῦ ἕκτου ψαλμοῦ, ἔφην, εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν οὕτως εἴρηται· Ἀνέβη ὁ θεὸς ἐν ἀλαλαγμῷ, κύριος ἐν φωνῇ σάλπιγγος. ψάλατε τῷ θεῷ ἡμῶν, ψάλατε· ψάλατε τῷ βασιλεῖ ἡμῶν, ψάλατε. ὅτι βασιλεὺς πάσης τῆς γῆς ὁ θεός, ψάλατε συνετῶς. ἐβασίλευσεν ὁ θεὸς ἐπὶ τὰ ἔθνη, ὁ θεὸς κάθηται ἐπὶ θρόνου ἁγίου αὐτοῦ. ἄρχοντες λαῶν συνήχθησαν μετὰ τοῦ θεοῦ Ἀβραάμ, ὅτι τοῦ θεοῦ οἱ κραταιοὶ τῆς γῆς σφόδρα ἐπήρθησαν. 2 καὶ ἐν ἐνενηκοστῷ ὀγδόῳ ψαλμῷ ὀνειδίζει ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, καὶ τοῦτον, ὃν μὴ θέλετε βασιλέα εἶναι, βασιλέα καὶ κύριον καὶ τοῦ Σαμουὴλ καὶ τοῦ Ἀαρὼν καὶ Μωυσέως καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων ἁπλῶς ὄντα μηνύει. 3 εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ λόγοι τοῦ ψαλμοῦ οὗτοι· Ὁ κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν, ὀργιζέςθωσαν λαοί· ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῶν χερουβίμ, σαλευθήτω ἡ γῆ. κύριος ἐκ Σιὼν μέγας καὶ ὑψηλός ἐστιν ἐπὶ πάντας τοὺς λαούς. ἐξομολογησάσθωσαν τῷ ὀνόματί σου τῷ μεγάλῳ, ὅτι φοβερὸν καὶ ἅγιόν ἐστι, καὶ τιμὴ βασιλέως κρίσιν ἀγαπᾷ. σὺ ἡτοίμασας εὐθύτητα, κρίσιν καὶ δικαιοσύνην ἐν Ἰακὼβ σὺ ἐποίησας. ὑψοῦτε κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ προσκυνεῖτε τῷ ὑποποδίῳ τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἅγιός ἐστι. 4 Μωυσῆς καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐν τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν αὐτοῦ, καὶ Σαμουὴλ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαλουμένοις τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ· ἐπεκαλοῦντο, φησὶν ἡ γραφή, τὸν κύριον, καὶ αὐτὸς εἰσήκουεν αὐτῶν. ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης ἐλάλει πρὸς αὐτούς· ἐφύλασσον τὰ μαρτύρια αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸ πρόσταγμα ὃ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς. κύριε ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν, σὺ ἐπήκουες αὐτῶν· ὁ θεός, σὺ εὐίλατος ἐγένου αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐκδικῶν ἐπὶ πάντα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν. ὑψοῦτε κύριον τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν καὶ προσκυνεῖτε εἰς ὄρος ἅγιον αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ἅγιος κύριος ὁ θεὸς ἡμῶν.

XXXVIII 1 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων εἶπεν· Ὦ ἄνθρωπε, καλὸν ἦν πειςθέντας ἡμᾶς τοῖς διδασκάλοις, νομοθετήσασι μηδενὶ ἐξ ὑμῶν ὁμιλεῖν, μηδέ σοι τούτων κοινωνῆσαι τῶν λόγων· βλάσφημα γὰρ πολλὰ λέγεις, τὸν σταυρωθέντα τοῦτον ἀξιῶν πείθειν ἡμᾶς γεγενῆσθαι μετὰ Μωυσέως καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ λελαληκέναι αὐτοῖς ἐν στύλῳ νεφέλης, εἶτα ἄνθρωπον γενόμενον σταυρωθῆναι, καὶ ἀναβεβηκέναι εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, καὶ πάλιν παραγίνεσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, καὶ προσκυνητὸν εἶναι. 2 Κἀγὼ ἀπεκρινάμην· Οἶδα ὅτι, ὡς ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγος ἔφη, κέκρυπται ἀφ' ὑμῶν ἡ σοφία ἡ μεγάλη αὕτη τοῦ ποιητοῦ τῶν ὅλων καὶ παντοκράτορος θεοῦ. διὸ συμπαθῶν ὑμῖν προσκάμνειν ἀγωνίζομαι, ὅπως τὰ παράδοξα ἡμῶν ταῦτα νοήσητε, εἰ δὲ μή, ἵνα κἂν αὐτὸς ἀθῷος ὦ ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως. ἔτι γὰρ καὶ παραδοξοτέρους δοκοῦντας ἄλλους λόγους ἀκούσετε· μὴ ταράσσεσθε δέ, ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον προθυμότεροι γινόμενοι ἀκροαταὶ καὶ ἐξετασταὶ μένετε, καταφρονοῦντες τῆς παραδόσεως τῶν ὑμετέρων διδασκάλων, ἐπεὶ οὐ τὰ διὰ τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπὸ τοῦ προφητικοῦ πνεύματος ἐλέγχονται νοεῖν δυνάμενοι, ἀλλὰ τὰ ἴδια μᾶλλον διδάςκειν προαιρούμενοι. 3 ἐν τεσσαρακοστῷ οὖν τετάρτῳ ψαλμῷ ὁμοίως εἴρηται εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν ταῦτα· Ἐξηρεύξατο ἡ καρδία μου λόγον ἀγαθόν· λέγω ἐγὼ τὰ ἔργα μου τῷ βασιλεῖ. ἡ γλῶσσά μου κάλαμος γραμματέως ὀξυγράφου. ὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων, ἐξεχύθη χάρις ἐν χείλεσί σου· διὰ τοῦτο εὐλόγησέ σε ὁ θεὸς εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. περίζωσαι τὴν ῥομφαίαν σου ἐπὶ τὸν μηρόν σου, δυνατέ· τῇ ὡραιότητί σου καὶ τῷ κάλλει σου, καὶ ἔντεινε καὶ κατευοδοῦ καὶ βασίλευε ἕνεκεν ἀληθείας καὶ πραότητος καὶ δικαιοσύνης· καὶ ὁδηγήσει σε θαυμαστῶς ἡ δεξιά σου. τὰ βέλη σου ἠκονημένα, δυνατέ, λαοὶ ὑποκάτω σου πεσοῦνται ἐν καρδίᾳ τῶν ἐχθρῶν τοῦ βασιλέως. 4 ὁ θρόνος σου, ὁ θεός, εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος, ῥάβδος εὐθύτητος ἡ ῥάβδος τῆς βασιλείας σου. ἠγάπησας δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἐμίσησας ἀνομίαν· διὰ τοῦτο ἔχρισέ σε ὁ θεός σου ἔλαιον ἀγαλλιάσεως παρὰ τοὺς μετόχους σου. σμύρναν καὶ στακτὴν καὶ κασίαν ἀπὸ τῶν ἱματίων σου, ἀπὸ βάρεων ἐλεφαντίνων, ἐξ ὧν εὔφρανάν σε. θυγατέρες βασιλέων ἐν τῇ τιμῇ σου· παρέστη ἡ βασίλισσα ἐκ δεξιῶν σου, ἐν ἱματισμῷ διαχρύσῳ περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη. ἄκουσον, θύγατερ, καὶ ἴδε καὶ κλῖνον τὸ οὖς σου, καὶ ἐπιλάθου τοῦ λαοῦ σου καὶ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός σου· καὶ ἐπιθυμήσει ὁ βασιλεὺς τοῦ κάλλους σου, ὅτι αὐτός ἐστι κύριός σου, καὶ προσκυνήσουσιν αὐτῷ. 5 καὶ θυγάτηρ Τύρου ἐν δώροις· τὸ πρόσωπόν σου λιτανεύσουσιν οἱ πλούσιοι τοῦ λαοῦ. πᾶσα ἡ δόξα τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ βασιλέως ἔσωθεν, ἐν κροσωτοῖς χρυσοῖς περιβεβλημένη, πεποικιλμένη. ἀπενεχθήσονται τῷ βασιλεῖ παρθένοι ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ· αἱ πλησίον αὐτῆς ἀπενεχθήσονταί σοι. ἀπενεχθήσονται ἐν εὐφροσύνῃ καὶ ἀγαλλιάσει, ἀχθήσονται εἰς ναὸν βασιλέως. ἀντὶ τῶν πατέρων σου ἐγεννήθησαν οἱ υἱοί σου· καταστήσεις αὐτοὺς ἄρχοντας ἐπὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν. μνησθήσομαι τοῦ ὀνόματός σου ἐν πάσῃ γενεᾷ καὶ γενεᾷ· διὰ τοῦτο λαοὶ ἐξομολογήσονταί σοι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος.

XXXIX 1 Καὶ οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν, ἐπεῖπον, εἰ καὶ ἡμᾶς μισεῖτε, τοὺς ταῦτα νοοῦντας καὶ ἐλέγχοντας ὑμῶν τὴν ἀεὶ σκληροκάρδιον γνώμην. καὶ γὰρ Ἠλίας περὶ ὑμῶν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐντυγχάνων οὕτως λέγει· Κύριε, τοὺς προφήτας σου ἀπέκτειναν καὶ τὰ θυσιαστήριά σου κατέσκαψαν· κἀγὼ ὑπελείφθην μόνος, καὶ ζητοῦσι τὴν ψυχήν μου. καὶ ἀποκρίνεται αὐτῷ· Ἔτι εἰσί μοι ἑπτακισχίλιοι ἄνδρες, οἳ οὐκ ἔκαμψαν γόνυ τῇ Βάαλ. 2 ὃν οὖν τρόπον διὰ τοὺς ἑπτακισχιλίους ἐκείνους τὴν ὀργὴν οὐκ ἐπέφερε τότε ὁ θεός, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ νῦν οὐδέπω τὴν κρίσιν ἐπήνεγκεν ἢ ἐπάγει, γινώσκων ἔτι καθ' ἡμέραν τινὰς μαθητευομένους εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπολείποντας τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς πλάνης, οἳ καὶ λαμβάνουσι δόματα ἕκαστος ὡς ἄξιοί εἰσι, φωτιζόμενοι διὰ τοῦ ὀνόματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ τούτου· ὁ μὲν γὰρ λαμβάνει συνέσεως πνεῦμα, ὁ δὲ βουλῆς, ὁ δὲ ἰσχύος, ὁ δὲ ἰάσεως, ὁ δὲ προγνώσεως, ὁ δὲ διδασκαλίας, ὁ δὲ φόβου θεοῦ. 3 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων πρὸς ταῦτα εἶπέ μοι· Ὅτι παραφρονεῖς ταῦτα λέγων, ἐπίστασθαί σε βούλομαι. 4 Κἀγὼ πρὸς αὐτόν· Ἄκουσον, ὦ οὗτος, ἔλεγον, ὅτι οὐ μέμηνα οὐδὲ παραφρονῶ· ἀλλὰ μετὰ τὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀνέλευσιν προεφητεύθη αἰχμαλωτεῦσαι αὐτὸν ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ τῆς πλάνης καὶ δοῦναι ἡμῖν δόματα. εἰσὶ δὲ οἱ λόγοι οὗτοι· Ἀνέβη εἰς ὕψος, ᾐχμαλώτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν, ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις. 5 οἱ λαβόντες οὖν ἡμεῖς δόματα παρὰ τοῦ εἰς ὕψος ἀναβάντος Χριστοῦ ὑμᾶς, τοὺς σοφοὺς ἐν ἑαυτοῖς καὶ ἐνώπιον ἑαυτῶν ἐπιστήμονας, ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν λόγων ἀποδείκνυμεν ἀνοήτους καὶ χείλεσι μόνον τιμῶντας τὸν θεὸν καὶ τὸν Χριστὸν αὐτοῦ· ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ ἐν ἔργοις καὶ γνώσει καὶ καρδίᾳ μέχρι θανάτου, οἱ ἐκ πάσης τῆς ἀληθείας μεμαθητευμένοι τιμῶμεν. 6 ὑμεῖς δὲ ἴσως καὶ διὰ τοῦτο διστάζετε ὁμολογῆσαι ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Χριστός, ὡς αἱ γραφαὶ ἀποδεικνύουσι καὶ τὰ φαινόμενα καὶ τὰ γινόμενα ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ, ἵνα μὴ διώκησθε ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων, οἳ οὐ παύσονται ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ πονηροῦ καὶ πλάνου πνεύματος, τοῦ ὄφεως, ἐνεργείας θανατοῦντες καὶ διώκοντες τοὺς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁμολογοῦντας, ἕως πάλιν παρῇ καὶ καταλύσῃ πάντας καὶ τὸ κατ' ἀξίαν ἑκάστῳ προσνείμῃ. 7 Καὶ ὁ Τρύφων· Ἤδη οὖν τὸν λόγον ἀπόδος ἡμῖν, ὅτι οὗτος, ὃν φῂς ἐσταυρῶσθαι καὶ ἀνεληλυθέναι εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν, ἐστὶν ὁ Χριστὸς τοῦ θεοῦ. ὅτι γὰρ καὶ παθητὸς ὁ Χριστὸς διὰ τῶν γραφῶν κηρύσσεται, καὶ μετὰ δόξης πάλιν παραγίνεσθαι, καὶ αἰώνιον τὴν βασιλείαν πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν λήψεσθαι, πάσης βασιλείας αὐτῷ ὑποτασσομένης, ἱκανῶς διὰ τῶν προανιστορημένων ὑπὸ σοῦ γραφῶν ἀποδέδεικται· ὅτι δὲ οὗτός ἐστιν, ἀπόδειξον ἡμῖν. 8 Κἀγώ· Ἀποδέδεικται μὲν ἤδη, ὦ ἄνδρες, τοῖς ὦτα ἔχουσι καὶ ἐκ τῶν ὁμολογουμένων ὑφ' ὑμῶν· ἀλλ' ὅπως μὴ νομίσητε ἀπορεῖν με καὶ μὴ δύνασθαι καὶ πρὸς ἃ ἀξιοῦτε ἀποδείξεις ποιεῖσθαι, ὡς ὑπεσχόμην, ἐν τῷ προσήκοντι τόπῳ ποιήσομαι, τὰ νῦν δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν συνάφειαν ὧν ἐποιούμην λόγων ἀποτρέχω.

XL 1 Τὸ μυστήριον οὖν τοῦ προβάτου, ὃ τὸ πάσχα θύειν ἐντέταλται ὁ θεός, τύπος ἦν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, οὗ τῷ αἵματι κατὰ τὸν λόγον τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν πίστεως χρίονται τοὺς οἴκους ἑαυτῶν, τοῦτ' ἔστιν ἑαυτούς, οἱ πιστεύοντες εἰς αὐτόν· ὅτι γὰρ τὸ πλάσμα, ὃ ἔπλασεν ὁ θεὸς τὸν Ἀδάμ, οἶκος ἐγένετο τοῦ ἐμφυσήματος τοῦ παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ πάντες νοεῖν δύνασθε. καὶ ὅτι πρόσκαιρος ἦν καὶ αὕτη ἡ ἐντολή, οὕτως ἀποδείκνυμι. 2 οὐδαμοῦ θύεσθαι τὸ πρόβατον τοῦ πάσχα ὁ θεὸς συγχωρεῖ, εἰ μὴ ἐπὶ τόπῳ ᾧ ἐπικέκληται τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ, εἰδὼς ὅτι ἐλεύσονται ἡμέραι μετὰ τὸ παθεῖν τὸν Χριστόν, ὅτε καὶ ὁ τόπος τῆς Ἰερουσαλὴμ τοῖς ἐχθροῖς ὑμῶν παραδοθήσεται καὶ παύσονται ἅπασαι ἁπλῶς προσφοραὶ γινόμεναι. 3 καὶ τὸ κελευσθὲν πρόβατον ἐκεῖνο ὀπτὸν ὅλον γίνεσθαι τοῦ πάθους τοῦ σταυροῦ, δι' οὗ πάσχειν ἔμελλεν ὁ Χριστός, σύμβολον ἦν. τὸ γὰρ ὀπτώμενον πρόβατον σχηματιζόμενον ὁμοίως τῷ σχήματι τοῦ σταυροῦ ὀπτᾶται· εἷς γὰρ ὄρθιος ὀβελίσκος διαπερονᾶται ἀπὸ τῶν κατωτάτω μερῶν μέχρι τῆς κεφαλῆς, καὶ εἷς πάλιν κατὰ τὸ μετάφρενον, ᾧ προσαρτῶνται καὶ αἱ χεῖρες τοῦ προβάτου. 4 καὶ οἱ ἐν τῇ νηστείᾳ δὲ τράγοι δύο ὅμοιοι κελευσθέντες γίνεσθαι, ὧν ὁ εἷς ἀποπομπαῖος ἐγίνετο, ὁ δὲ ἕτερος εἰς προσφοράν, τῶν δύο παρουσιῶν τοῦ Χριστοῦ καταγγελία ἦσαν· μιᾶς μέν, ἐν ᾗ ὡς ἀποπομπαῖον αὐτὸν παρεπέμψαντο οἱ πρεσβύτεροι τοῦ λαοῦ ὑμῶν καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς, ἐπιβαλόντες αὐτῷ τὰς χεῖρας καὶ θανατώσαντες αὐτόν, καὶ τῆς δευτέρας δὲ αὐτοῦ παρουσίας, ὅτι ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ τόπῳ τῶν Ἰεροσολύμων ἐπιγνωσθήσεσθε αὐτόν, τὸν ἀτιμωθέντα ὑφ' ὑμῶν, καὶ προσφορὰ ἦν ὑπὲρ πάντων τῶν μετανοεῖν βουλομένων ἁμαρτωλῶν καὶ νηστευόντων ἣν καταλέγει Ἠσαίας νηστείαν, διασπῶντες στραγγαλιὰς βιαίων συναλλαγμάτων καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁμοίως τὰ κατηριθμημένα ὑπ' αὐτοῦ, ἃ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀνιστόρησα, φυλάσσοντες, ἃ ποιοῦσιν οἱ τῷ Ἰησοῦ πιστεύοντες. 5 καὶ ὅτι καὶ ἡ τῶν δύο τράγων τῶν νηστείᾳ κελευσθέντων προσφέρεσθαι προσφορὰ οὐδαμοῦ ὁμοίως συγκεχώρηται γίνεσθαι εἰ μὴ ἐν Ἰεροσολύμοις, ἐπίστασθε.

CHAPTER XXXI -- IF CHRIST'S POWER BE NOW SO GREAT, HOW MUCH GREATER AT THE SECOND ADVENT! "But if so great a power is shown to have followed and to be still following the dispensation of His suffering, how great shall that be which shall follow His glorious advent! For He shall come on the clouds as the Son of man, so Daniel foretold, and His angels shall come with Him. These are the words: 'I beheld till the thrones were set; and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool. His throne was like a fiery flame, His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The books were opened, and the judgment was set. I beheld then the voice of the great words which the horn speaks: and the beast was beat down, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. And the rest of the beasts were taken away from their dominion, and a period of life was given to the beasts until a season and time. I saw in the vision of the night, and, behold, one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven; and He came to the Ancient of days, and stood before Him. And they who stood by brought Him near; and there were given Him power and kingly honour, and all nations of the earth by their families, and all glory, serve Him. And His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not be taken away; and His kingdom shall not be destroyed. And my spirit was chilled within my frame, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of them that stood by, and inquired the precise meaning of all these things. In answer he speaks to me, and showed me the judgment of the matters: These great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall perish from the earth, and shall not receive dominion for ever, even for ever and ever. Then I wished to know exactly about the fourth beast, which destroyed all [the others] and was very terrible, its teeth of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, made waste, and stamped the residue with its feet: also about the ten horns upon its head, and of the one which came up, by means of which three of the former fell. And that horn had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things; and its countenance excelled the rest. And I beheld that horn waging war against the saints, and prevailing against them, until the Ancient of days came; and He gave judgment for the saints of the Most High. And the time came, and the saints of the Most High possessed the kingdom. And it was told me concerning the fourth beast: There shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall prevail over all these kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall destroy and make it thoroughly waste. And the ten horns are ten kings that shall arise; and one shall arise after them; and he shall surpass the first in evil deeds, and he shall subdue three kings, and he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall overthrow the rest of the saints of the Most High, and shall expect to change the seasons and the times. And it shall be delivered into his hands for a time, and times, and half a time. And the judgment sat, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the power, and the great places of the kingdoms under the heavens, were given to the holy people of the Most High, to reign in an everlasting kingdom: and all powers shall be subject to Him, and shall obey Him. Hitherto is the end of the matter. I, Daniel, was possessed with a very great astonishment, and my speech was changed in me; yet I kept the matter in my heart.'"

CHAPTER XXXII -- TRYPHO OBJECTING THAT CHRIST IS DESCRIBED AS GLORIOUS BY DANIEL, JUSTIN DISTINGUISHES TWO ADVENTS. And when I had ceased, Trypho said, "These and such like Scriptures, sir, compel us to wait for Him who, as Son of man, receives from the Ancient of days the everlasting kingdom. But this so-called Christ of yours was dishonourable and inglorious, so much so that the last curse contained in the law of God fell on him, for he was crucified." Then I replied to him, "If, sirs, it were not said by the Scriptures which I have already quoted, that His form was inglorious, and His generation not declared, and that for His death the rich would suffer death, and with His stripes we should be healed, and that He would be led away like a sheep; and if I had not explained that there would be two advents of His,--one in which He was pierced by you; a second, when you shall know Him whom you have pierced, and your tribes shall mourn, each tribe by itself, the women apart, and the men apart, --then I must have been speaking dubious and obscure things. But now, by means of the contents of those Scriptures esteemed holy and prophetic amongst you, I attempt to prove all [that I have adduced], in the hope that some one of you may be found to be of that remnant which has been left by the grace of the Lord of Sabaoth for the eternal salvation. In order, therefore, that the matter inquired into may be plainer to you, I will mention to you other words also spoken by the blessed David, from which you will perceive that the Lord is called the Christ by the Holy Spirit of prophecy; and that the Lord, the Father of all, has brought Him again from the earth, setting Him at His own right hand, until He makes His enemies His footstool; which indeed happens from the time that our Lord Jesus Christ ascended to heaven, after He rose again from the dead, the times now running on to their consummation; and he whom Daniel foretells would have dominion for a time, and times, and an half, is even already at the door, about to speak blasphemous and daring things against the Most High. But you, being ignorant of how long he will have dominion, hold another opinion. For you interpret the 'time' as being a hundred years. But if this is so, the man of sin must, at the shortest, reign three hundred and fifty years, in order that we may compute that which is said by the holy Daniel--'and times'--to be two times only. All this I have said to you in digression, in order that you at length may be persuaded of what has been declared against you by God, that you are foolish sons; and of this, 'Therefore, behold, I will proceed to take away this people, and shall take them away; and I will strip the wise of their wisdom, and will hide the understanding of their prudent men;' and may cease to deceive yourselves and those who hear you, and may learn of us, who have been taught wisdom by the grace of Christ. The words, then, which were spoken by David, are these: 'The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of Thy strength out of Sion: rule Thou also in the midst of Thine enemies. With Thee shall be, in the day, the chief of Thy power, in the beauties of Thy saints. From the womb, before the morning star, have I begotten Thee. The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at Thy right hand: He has crushed kings in the day of His wrath: He shall judge among the heathen, He shall fill [with] the dead bodies. He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore shall He lift up the head.'

CHAPTER XXXIII -- PS, CX. IS NOT SPOKEN OF HEZEKIAH. HE PROVES THAT CHRIST WAS FIRST HUMBLE, THEN SHALL BE GLORIOUS. "And," I continued, "I am not ignorant that you venture to expound this psalm as if it referred to king Hezekiah; but that you arc mistaken, I shall prove to you from these very words forthwith. 'The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent,' it is said; and, 'Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek,' with what follows and precedes. Not even you will venture to object that Hezekiah was either a priest, or is the everlasting priest of God; but that this is spoken of our Jesus, these expressions show. But your ears are shut up, and your hearts are made dull. For by this statement, 'The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek,' with an oath God has shown Him (on account of your unbelief) to be the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek; i.e., as Melchizedek was described by Moses as the priest of the Most High, and he was a priest of those who were in uncircumcision, and blessed the circumcised Abraham who brought him tithes, so God has shown that His everlasting Priest, called also by the Hold Spirit Lord, would be Priest of those in uncircumcision. Those too in circumcision who approach Him, that is, believing Him and seeking blessings from Him, He will both receive and bless. And that He shall be first humble as a man, and then exalted, these words at the end of the Psalm show: 'He shall drink of the brook in the way,' and then, 'Therefore shall He lift up the head.'

CHAPTER XXXIV -- NOR DOES PS. LXXII. APPLY TO SOLOMON, WHOSE FAULTS CHRISTIANS SHUDDER AT. "Further, to persuade you that you have not understood anything of the Scriptures, I will remind you of another psalm, dictated to David by the Holy Spirit, which you say refers to Solomon, who was also your king. But it refers also to our Christ. But you deceive yourselves by the ambiguous forms of speech. For where it is said, 'The law of the Lord is perfect,' you do not understand it of the law which was to be after Moses, but of the law which was given by Moses, although God declared that He would establish a new law and a new covenant. And where it has been said, 'O God, give Thy judgment to the king,' since Solomon was king, you say that the Psalm refers to him, although the words of the Psalm expressly proclaim that reference is made to the everlasting King, i.e., to Christ. For Christ is King, and Priest, and God, and Lord, and angel, and man, and captain, and stone, and a Son born, and first made subject to suffering, then returning to heaven, and again coming with glory, and He is preached as having the everlasting kingdom: so I prove from all the Scriptures. But that you may perceive what I have said, I quote the words of the Psalm; they are these: 'O God, give Thy judgment to the king, and Thy righteousness unto the king's son, to judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall take up peace to the people, and the little hills righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people, and shah save the children of the needy, and shall abase the slanderer. He shall co-endure with the sun, and before the moon unto all generations. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece, as drops falling on the earth. In His days shall righteousness flourish, and abundance of peace until the moon be taken away. And He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the rivers unto the ends of the earth. Ethiopians shall fall down before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and the isles shall offer gifts; the kings of Arabia and Seba shall offer gifts; and all the kings of the earth shall worship Him, and all the nations shall serve Him: for He has delivered the poor from the man of power, and the needy that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy: He shall redeem their souls from usury and injustice, and His name shall be honourable before them. And He shall live, and to Him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, and they shall pray continually for Him: they shall bless Him all the day. And there shall be a foundation on the earth, it shall be exalted on the tops of the mountains: His fruit shall be on Lebanon, and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. His name shah be blessed for ever. His name shall endure before the sun; and all tribes of the earth shall be blessed in Him, all nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things; and blessed be His glorious name for ever, and for ever and ever; and the whole earth shall be filled with His glory. Amen, amen.' And at the close of this Psalm which I have quoted, it is written, 'The hymns of David the son of Jesse are ended.' Moreover, that Solomon was a renowned and great king, by whom the temple called that at Jerusalem was built, I know; but that none of those things mentioned in the Psalm happened to him, is evident. For neither did all kings worship him; nor did he reign to the ends of the earth; nor did his enemies, failing before him, lick the dust. Nay, also, I venture to repeat what is written in the book of Kings as committed by him, how through a woman's influence he worshipped the idols of Sidon, which those of the Gentiles who know God, the Maker of all things through Jesus the crucified, do not venture to do, but abide every torture and vengeance even to the extremity of death, rather than worship idols, or eat meat offered to idols."

CHAPTER XXXV -- HERETICS CONFIRM THE CATHOLICS IN THE FAITH. And Trypho said, "I believe, however, that many of those who say that they confess Jesus, and are called Christians, eat meats offered to idols, and declare that they are by no means injured in consequence." And I replied, "The fact that there are such men confessing themselves to be Christians, and admitting the crucified Jesus to be both Lord and Christ, yet not teaching His doctrines, but those of the spirits of error, causes us who are disciples of the true and pure doctrine of Jesus Christ, to be more faithful and stedfast in the hope announced by Him. For what things He predicted would take place in His name, these we do see being actually accomplished in our sight. For he said, 'Many shall come in My name, clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And, 'There shall be schisms and heresies.' And, 'Beware of false prophets, who shall come to you clothed outwardly in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.' And, 'Many false Christs and false apostles shall arise, and shall deceive many of the faithful.' There are, therefore, and there were many, my friends, who, coming forward in the name of Jesus, taught both to speak and act impious and blasphemous things; and these are called by us after the name of the men from whom each doctrine and opinion had its origin. (For some in one way, others in another, teach to blaspheme the Maker of all things, and Christ, who was foretold by Him as coming, and the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, with whom we have nothing in common, since we know them to be atheists, impious, unrighteous, and sinful, and confessors of Jesus in name only, instead of worshippers of Him. Yet they style themselves Christians, just as certain among the Gentiles inscribe the name of God upon the works of their own hands, and partake in nefarious and impious rites.) Some are called Marcians, and some Valentinians, and some Basilidians, and some Saturnilians, and others by other names; each called after the originator of the individual opinion, just as each one of those who consider themselves philosophers, as I said before, thinks he must bear the name of the philosophy which he follows, from the name of the father of the particular doctrine. So that, in consequence of these events, we know that Jesus foreknew what would happen after Him, as well as in consequence of many other events which He foretold would befall those who believed on and confessed Him, the Christ. For all that we suffer, even when killed by friends, He foretold would take place; so that it is manifest no word or act of His can be found fault with. Wherefore we pray for you and for all other men who hate us; in order that you, having repented along with us, may not blaspheme Him who, by His works, by the mighty deeds even now wrought through His name, by the words He taught, by the prophecies announced concerning Him, is the blameless, and in all things irreproachable, Christ Jesus; but, believing on Him, may be saved in His second glorious advent, and may not be condemned to fire by Him."

CHAPTER XXXVI -- HE PROVES THAT CHRIST IS CALLED LORD OF HOSTS. Then he replied, "Let these things be so as you say--namely, that it was foretold Christ would suffer, and be called a stone; and after His first appearance, in which it had been announced He would suffer, would come in glory, and be Judge finally of all, and eternal King and Priest. Now show if this man be He of whom these prophecies were made." And I said, "As you wish, Trypho, I shall come to these proofs which you seek in the fitting place; but now you will permit me first to recount the prophecies, which I wish to do in order to prove that Christ is called both God and Lord of hosts, and Jacob, in parable by the Holy Spirit; and your interpreters, as God says, are foolish, since they say that reference is made to Solomon and not to Christ, when he bore the ark of testimony into the temple which he built. The Psalm of David is this: 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and all that dwell therein. He hath rounded it upon the seas, and prepared it upon the floods. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? He that is clean of hands and pure of heart: who has not received his soul in vain, and has not sworn guilefully to his neighbour: he shall receive blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour. This is the generation of them that seek the Lord, that seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your gates, ye rulers; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty in battle. Lift up your gates, ye rulers; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.' Accordingly, it is shown that Solomon is not the Lord of hosts; but when our Christ rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the rulers in heaven, under appointment of God, are commanded to open the gates of heaven, that He who is King of glory may enter in, and having ascended, may sit on the right hand of the Father until He make the enemies His footstool, as has been made manifest by another Psalm. For when the rulers of heaven saw Him of uncomely and dishonoured appearance, and inglorious, not recognising Him, they inquired, 'Who is this King of glory?' And the Holy Spirit, either from the person of His Father, or from His own person, answers them, 'The Lord of hosts, He is this King of glory.' For every one will confess that not one of those who presided over the gates of the temple at Jerusalem would venture to say concerning Solomon, though he was so glorious a king, or concerning the ark of testimony, 'Who is this King of glory?'

CHAPTER XXXVII -- THE SAME IS PROVED FROM OTHER PSALMS. "Moreover, in the diapsalm of the forty-sixth Psalm, reference is thus made to Christ: 'God went up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing ye to our God, sing ye: sing to our King, sing ye; for God is King of all the earth: sing with understanding. God has ruled over the nations. God sits upon His holy throne. The rulers of the nations were assembled along with the God of Abraham, for the strong ones of God are greatly exalted on the earth.' And in the ninety-eighth Psalm, the Holy Spirit reproaches you, and predicts Him whom you do not wish to be king to be King and Lord, both of Samuel, and of Aaron, and of Moses, and, in short, of all the others. And the words of the Psalm are these: 'The Lord has reigned, let the nations be angry: [it is] He who sits upon the cherubim, let the earth be shaken. The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the nations. Let them confess Thy great name, for it is fearful and holy, and the honour of the King loves judgment. Thou hast prepared equity; judgment and righteousness hast Thou performed in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship the footstool of His feet; for He is holy. Moses and Aaron among His priests, and Samuel among those who call upon His name. They called (says the Scripture) on the Lord, and He heard them. In the pillar of the cloud He spake to them; for they kept His testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them. O Lord our God, Thou heardest them: O God, Thou wert propitious to them, and [yet] taking vengeance on all their inventions. Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy.'"

CHAPTER XXXVIII -- IT IS AN ANNOYANCE TO THE JEW THAT CHRIST IS SAID TO BE ADORED. JUSTIN CONFIRMS IT, HOWEVER, FROM PS. XLV. And Trypho said, "Sir, it were good for us if we obeyed our teachers, who laid down a law that we should have no intercourse with any of you, and that we should not have even any communication with you on these questions. For you utter many blasphemies, in that you seek to persuade us that this crucified man was with Moses and Aaron, and spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud; then that he became man, was crucified, and ascended up to heaven, and comes again to earth, and ought to be worshipped." Then I answered, "I know that, as the word of God says, this great wisdom of God, the Maker of all things, and the Almighty, is hid from you. Wherefore, in sympathy with you, I am striving to the utmost that you may understand these matters which to you are paradoxical; but if not, that I myself may be innocent in the day of judgment. For you shall hear other words which appear still more paradoxical; but be not confounded, nay, rather remain still more zealous hearers and investigators, despising the tradition of your teachers, since they are convicted by the Holy Spirit of inability to perceive the truths taught by God, and of preferring to teach their own doctrines. Accordingly, in the forty-fourth [forty-fifth] Psalm, these words are in like manner referred to Christ: 'My heart has brought forth a good matter; I tell my works to the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Fairer in beauty than the sons of men: grace is poured forth into Thy lips: therefore bath God blessed Thee for ever. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty One. Press on in Thy fairness and in Thy beauty, and prosper and reign, because of truth, and of meekness, and of righteousness: and Thy right hand shall instruct Thee marvellously. Thine arrows are sharpened, O mighty One; the people shall fall under Thee; in the heart of the enemies of the King [the arrows are fixed]. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of equity is the sceptre of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hast hated iniquity; therefore thy God hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows. [He hath anointed Thee] with myrrh, and oil, and cassia, from Thy garments; from the ivory palaces, whereby they made Thee glad. Kings' daughters are in Thy honour. The queen stood at Thy right hand, clad in garments embroidered with gold. Hearken, O daughter, and behold, and incline thine ear, and forget thy people and the house of thy father: and the King shall desire thy beauty; because He is thy Lord, they shall worship Him also. And the daughter of Tyre [shall be there] with gifts. The rich of the people shall entreat Thy face. All the glory of the King's daughter within, clad in embroidered garments of needlework. The virgins that follow her shall be brought to the King; her neighbours shall be brought unto Thee: they shall be brought with joy and gladness: they shall be led into the King's shrine. Instead of thy fathers, thy sons have been born: Thou shalt appoint them rulers over all the earth. I shall remember Thy name in every generation: therefore the people shall confess Thee for ever, and for ever and ever.'

CHAPTER XXXIX -- THE JEWS HATE THE CHRISTIANS WHO BELIEVE THIS. HOW GREAT THE DISTINCTION IS BETWEEN BOTH! "Now it is not surprising," I continued, "that you hate us who hold these opinions, and convict you of a continual hardness of heart. For indeed Elijah, conversing with God concerning you, speaks thus: 'Lord, they have slain Thy prophets, and digged down Thine altars: and I am left alone, and they seek my life.' And He answers him: 'I have still seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.' Therefore, just as God did not inflict His anger on account of those seven thousand men, even so He has now neither yet inflicted judgment, nor does inflict it, knowing that daily some [of you] are becoming disciples in the name of Christ, and quitting the path of error; who are also receiving gifts, each as he is worthy, illumined through the name of this Christ. For one receives the spirit of understanding, another of counsel, another of strength, another of healing, another of foreknowledge, another of teaching, and another of the fear of God." To this Trypho said to me, "I wish you knew that you are beside yourself, talking these sentiments." And I said to him, "Listen, O friend, for I am not mad or beside myself; but it was prophesied that, after the ascent of Christ to heaven, He would deliver us from error and give us gifts. The words are these: 'He ascended up on high; He led captivity captive; He gave gifts to men.' Accordingly, we who have received gifts from Christ, who has ascended up on high, prove from the words of prophecy that you, 'the wise in yourselves, and the men of understanding in your own eyes,' are foolish, and honour God and His Christ by lip only. But we, who are instructed in the whole truth, honour Them both in acts, and in knowledge, and in heart, even unto death. But you hesitate to confess that He is Christ, as the Scriptures and the events witnessed and done in His name prove, perhaps for this reason, lest you be persecuted by the rulers, who, under the influence of the wicked and deceitful spirit, the serpent, will not cease putting to death and persecuting those who confess the name of Christ until He come again, and destroy them all, and render to each his deserts." And Trypho replied, "Now, then, render us the proof that this man who you say was crucified and ascended into heaven is the Christ of God. For you have sufficiently proved by means of the Scriptures previously quoted by you, that it is declared in the Scriptures that Christ must suffer, and come again with glory, and receive the eternal kingdom over all the nations, every kingdom being made subject to Him: now show us that this man is He." And I replied, "It has been already proved, sirs, to those who have ears, even from the facts which have been conceded by you; but that you may not think me at a loss, and unable to give proof of what you ask, as I promised, I shall do so at a fitting place. At present, I resume the consideration of the subject which I was discussing.

CHAPTER XL -- HE RETURNS TO THE MOSAIC LAWS, AND PROVES THAT THEY WERE FIGURES OF THE THINGS WHICH PERTAIN TO CHRIST. "The mystery, then, of the lamb which God enjoined to be sacrificed as the passover, was a type of Christ; with whose blood, in proportion to their faith in Him, they anoint their houses, i.e., themselves, who believe on Him. For that the creation which God created--to wit, Adam--was a house for the spirit which proceeded from God, you all can understand. And that this injunction was temporary, I prove thus. God does not permit the lamb of the passover to be sacrificed in any other place than where His name was named; knowing that the days will come, after the suffering of Christ, when even the place in Jerusalem shall be given over to your enemies, and all the offerings, in short, shall cease; and that lamb which was commanded to be wholly roasted was a symbol of the suffering of the cross which Christ would undergo. For the lamb, which is roasted, is roasted and dressed up in the form of the cross. For one spit is transfixed right through from the lower parts up to the head, and one across the back, to which are attached the legs of the lamb. And the two goats which were ordered to be offered during the fast, of which one was sent away as the scape [goat], and the other sacrificed, were similarly declarative of the two appearances of Christ: the first, in which the elders of your people, and the priests, having laid hands on Him and put Him to death, sent Him away as the scope [goat]; and His second appearance, because in the same place in Jerusalem you shall recognise Him whom you have dishonoured, and who was an offering for all sinners willing to repent, and keeping the fast which Isaiah speaks of, loosening the terms of the violent contracts, and keeping the other precepts, likewise enumerated by him, and which I have quoted, which those believing in Jesus do. And further, you are aware that the offering of the two goats, which were enjoined to be sacrificed at the fast, was not permitted to take place similarly anywhere else, but only in Jerusalem.

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A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.

Re: A collection of diglot texts of Justin Martyr.