Fragmenta

They live wickedly, and they are mistaken in thinking that the breath of the winds is divine. For it is evident to us that it serves another, since at one time it increases, at another it ceases. Therefore it is necessarily controlled by something else. ... signs, carried from sign to sign day by day, setting and rising, to warm the shoots and plants for the use of men. Since they also have limits together with the rest of the stars, and are smaller than the pole of the sky, and increase and decrease and have eclipse, and have no self-governing power, therefore the sun is not considered to be divine.

persuading even their enemies to do good, and their women are pure and virginal, and they do not expose their infants. Their men abstain from all unlawful intercourse and impurity, and indeed the women likewise practice self-restraint, for they cling to a great hope of the future. Moreover, if they have slaves or maidservants or children, they persuade them to become Christians, so that they may have them as loyal ones, and when they become such, they call them brothers. Being undivided, they do not worship foreign gods. They are gentle, reasonable, modest, and truthful, and they love one another. They do not overlook a widow; they protect an orphan; the one who has supplies ungrudgingly to the one who does not; they bring strangers under their own roof so that they may know them, and they rejoice over him as over a true brother, for they call themselves brothers not by flesh but by soul. When they see a poor person dying, each contributes as they are able ungrudgingly and they bury him. If they hear of persons condemned or imprisoned on account of the name of Christ, they contribute and send them what they need, and if possible they rescue them. If someone is a slave or poor, they fast for two or even three days, and what they were about to set before themselves they send to those others, thinking that they themselves are feasting as if they had been invited to a feast. They securely keep the commandments of God, living piously and justly, and as the Lord God commanded them, they give thanks to him in the morning and at every hour, in every food and drink and in all other good things. And if one of them who is pious dies,

they rejoice and give thanks, and they pray for him and escort him as if he were departing. And when a child is born to them, they give thanks to God; and if an infant passes away, they give great thanks because it has departed without sin. But if someone dies with sins, they weep as if he were going to punishment. These, then, O King, are their teachings, as they, being in need of God, ask from him, and they do not pass through this world without the completion of times, because God has subjected all things to them as servants. They are grateful to him, and through them the whole administration and creation came to be. Truly, then, they have found. I, O King, came into this world by the providence of God; and having observed the heaven and the earth and the sea, the sun and the moon and the rest, I marveled at the order of these. But seeing the world and all things in it, that they move by necessity, I understood that the one who moves and holds them together is God. For everything that moves is stronger than what is moved, and what holds together is stronger than what is held together. I therefore call God the one who has established all things and holds them together, without beginning and eternal, immortal and self-sufficient, superior to all passions and defects, to anger and forgetfulness and ignorance and the rest. Through him all things are constituted. He has no need of sacrifice and libation nor of any of the visible things, but all have need of him. These things having been said about God, as far as I have been able to speak about him, let us come also to the human race, so that we may see which of them partake of the truth and which of error.

It is evident to us, O King, that there are three races of men in this world. Among them are the worshippers of the gods called among you, and Jews, and Christians; and again, those who worship many gods are themselves divided into three races: Chaldeans, Greeks, and Egyptians. For these have become the originators and teachers to the other nations of the worship and adoration of the gods with many names. Let us see, then, which of these partake of the truth and which of error. For the Chaldeans, not knowing God, went astray after the elements and began to worship the creation instead of the creator. Having made some forms of them, they named them images of the sky and the earth and the sea, of the sun and the moon, and of the remaining elements or luminaries, and, enclosing them in temples, they worship them, calling them gods, whom they also guard securely, lest they be stolen by robbers; and they did not understand that everything that guards is greater than the thing guarded, and the maker is greater than the thing made. For if their gods are unable to secure their own safety, how will they grant safety to others? So the Chaldeans were greatly deceived, worshipping dead and useless statues. And I am amazed, O King, that their so-called philosophers did not at all understand that even the elements themselves are perishable. If the elements are perishable and subject to necessity, how can they be gods? And if the elements are not gods, how can the statues, which were made in their honor, be gods?

Let us come, then, O King, to the elements themselves, that we may demonstrate concerning them that they are not gods, but perishable and mutable, brought forth from non-being by the command of the true God, who is imperishable and immutable and invisible; He Himself sees all and alters and changes as He wills. What then do I say concerning the elements? Those who suppose the heaven to be god are in error. For we see it changing and moving under compulsion and composed of many parts; wherefore it is also called cosmos. Cosmos is the construction of some craftsman; that which is constructed has a beginning and an end. The heaven moves under compulsion together with its luminaries; for the stars, borne in order and interval from point to point, some set, others rise, and at appointed times they make their course to produce summers and winters, as has been ordained for them by God, and they do not transgress their own boundaries under the inexorable necessity of nature together with the heavenly cosmos. Hence it is evident that the heaven is not god but a work of God. Those who suppose the earth to be a goddess have been deceived. For we see it insulted and dominated by men, dug up and kneaded and rendered useless. For if it is baked, it becomes dead; from a potsherd nothing grows. Moreover, if it is soaked too much, it is destroyed, both it and its fruits. It is trampled by men and the other animals, defiled by the blood of the slain, dug through,

is filled with the dead, a tomb of bodies. Since these things are so, it is not possible for the earth to be a goddess, but rather a work of God for the use of men. Those who think water to be a god have erred. For it too has come into being for the use of men and is dominated by them, is defiled and corrupted and altered, being boiled and changed in colors, and frozen by cold, and polluted with blood. And it is brought for the washing of all unclean things. Therefore it is impossible for water to be a god, but rather a work of God. Those who think fire to be a god are in error. For it too has come into being for the use of men and is dominated by them, being carried from place to place for the boiling and roasting of all kinds of meats, and also of dead bodies. It is also destroyed in many ways by men, being extinguished. Therefore it is not possible for fire to be a god, but rather a work of God. Those who think the breath of the winds to be a goddess are in error. For it is evident that it serves another and has been prepared by God for the sake of men, for the transport of ships and the gathering of grain and for their other needs. It increases and ceases at the command of God. Therefore it is not considered that the breath of the winds is a goddess, but rather a work of God. Those who think the sun to be a god are in error. For we see it moving by necessity and turning and passing from one point to another, setting and rising to warm the plants and shoots for the use of men, and also having divisions with the rest of the stars.

and being much lesser than the heaven, and deprived of light, and having no self-governance. Therefore the sun is not considered to be a god, but a work of God. Those who consider the moon to be a goddess are in error. For we see it moving under compulsion and changing and passing from one point to another, setting and rising for the use of men, and being lesser than the sun, increasing and decreasing and having eclipses. Therefore the moon is not considered to be a goddess, but a work of God. Those who consider man to be a god are in error. For we see him moving and being moved under compulsion, and being nourished and growing old, and not of his own will. And at one time he rejoices, at another he grieves, needing food and drink and clothing. And he is wrathful and envious, and desirous, and repentant, and has many defects. He is destroyed in many ways by elements and animals, and by the death that lies upon him. Therefore it is not possible for man to be a god, but a work of God. So the Chaldeans fell into great error, following their own desires. For they worship perishable elements and dead statues, and do not perceive that they are deifying these things. Let us come then to the Greeks, that we may see if they have any understanding concerning God.

Therefore the Greek wise men, in saying that they exist, proved themselves more foolish than the Chaldeans, by introducing many gods who have come into being, some male and some female, slaves of every passion and craftsmen of every lawless deed—whom they themselves set forth as adulterers and murderers, wrathful and envious and passionate, patricides and fratricides, thieves and robbers, crippled and maimed, sorcerers and madmen, and some of them as having died, others as having been struck by lightning, beaten, lamented, enslaved to men, become fugitives, and transformed into animals for base and shameful unions. Hence the Greeks, O King, introduced ridiculous, foolish, and impious words, calling such beings gods, not being such, according to their own evil desires, so that having these as advocates of their wickedness they might commit adultery, plunder, murder, and do all terrible things. For if their gods did such things, how will not the men who attend to them also do such things? From these practices of error it came about that men had frequent wars, slaughters, and bitter captivities. But if we wish to go through each of their gods in detail, you will see much absurdity. Thus among them, first of all, a god called Kronos is introduced, and to him they sacrifice their own children. He had many children from Rhea and, going mad, ate his own children. They say that Zeus cut off his genitals and cast them into the sea, whence Aphrodite is fabled to have been born.

Therefore Zeus bound his own father and cast him into Tartarus. Do you see the error and licentiousness which they introduce against their god? Is it possible, then, for a god to be bound and castrated? O the folly! Who among those with understanding would say these things? Secondly, Zeus is introduced, whom they say reigned over their gods and transformed himself into animals in order to seduce mortal women. For they introduce him transforming into a bull for Europa, and into gold for Danae, and into a swan for Leda, and into a satyr for Antiope, and into a thunderbolt for Semele; then many children were born from these: Dionysus, and Zethus and Amphion, and Heracles, and Apollo and Artemis, and Perseus, Castor and Helen and Polydeuces, and Minos, and Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon, and the nine daughters whom they called the Muses. Then in this way they introduce the matters concerning Ganymede. It happened, therefore, O King, that men imitated all these things, and became adulterers and pederasts, and workers of other terrible deeds, in imitation of their god. How, then, is it possible for a god to be an adulterer or a sodomite or a parricide? Along with this, they also introduce a certain Hephaestus as a god, and he is lame and holds a hammer and tongs and works as a smith for the sake of sustenance. Is he, then, in need? It is not possible for a god to be lame and in need of men. Then they introduce Hermes as a god, a lustful and greedy man, a magician, a cripple, and an interpreter of words. It is not possible for a god to be such.

They introduce Asclepius as a god, a physician who prepares drugs and compounds plasters for the sake of his livelihood. For he was needy; and later he was struck by a thunderbolt from Zeus because of Tyndareus, son of Lacedaemon, and died. But if Asclepius, being a god and thunderstruck, was unable to help himself, how will he help others? Ares is introduced as a god, a warrior and a desirer of flocks and certain other things; and later, when he was committing adultery with Aphrodite, he was bound by the infant Eros and by Hephaestus. How then is he a god who is a desirer and a warrior and a prisoner and an adulterer? They introduce Dionysus as a god, holding nocturnal festivals and a teacher of drunkenness and seducing the wives of his neighbors and being mad and fleeing; and later he was slaughtered by the Titans. If then Dionysus, having been slaughtered, was unable to help himself, but was also mad and a fugitive, how could he be a god? They introduce Heracles as having become drunk and mad and having slain his own children, then having been consumed by fire and thus having died. How could he be a god, a drunkard and a child-killer and one who is burned up? Or how could he help others, when he was unable to help himself?

They introduce Apollo as a god, a jealous one, and moreover one who holds a bow and a quiver, and at times also a cithara and a laurel crown, and who gives oracles to men for the sake of payment. Is he then in need? But it is not possible for a god to be needy and jealous and a cithara-player. They introduce Artemis as his sister, a huntress, and she has a bow with a quiver, and she roams alone over the mountains with her dogs, so that she may hunt a deer or a boar. How then will such a woman be a god, a huntress roaming with her dogs? They say Aphrodite also is herself a goddess, though she is an adulteress. For at one time she had Ares as her lover, at another Anchises, at another Adonis, for whose death she weeps, seeking her beloved; and they say she even goes down to Hades, in order to ransom Adonis from Persephone. Do you see, O King, a greater folly than this? To introduce as a goddess one who commits adultery and laments and weeps? They introduce Adonis as a god, a hunter, and he too died a violent death, struck by a wild boar, and was unable to help himself in his misery. How then will one who is an adulterer, a hunter, and a victim of violent death take thought for men? All these things, and many such, and much more shameful and wicked things, the Greeks have introduced, O King, fabricating them about their own gods, which it is not lawful to speak of nor even to bring to mind at all. Hence men, taking their starting-point from their gods, committed every lawlessness, licentiousness, and impiety, defiling both earth and air with their dreadful deeds.

The Egyptians, being more foolish and senseless than these, went astray worse than all the nations; for they were not satisfied with the reverences of the Chaldeans and Greeks, but they also introduced irrational animals as being gods—both land and water creatures, and plants and shoots—and they defiled themselves in every madness and licentiousness worse than all the nations on earth. For from the beginning they worshipped Isis, who had as brother and husband Osiris, who was slain by his brother Typhon. And because of this, Isis flees with Horus, her son, to Byblos of Syria, seeking Osiris, weeping bitterly, until Horus grew up and killed Typhon. 12.3–5 So neither was Isis able to help her own brother and husband; nor was Osiris, when being slain by Typhon, able to defend himself; nor did Typhon the fratricide, when being destroyed by Horus and Isis, find a way to save himself from death. And having become known through such misfortunes, they themselves were considered gods by the senseless Egyptians. These, not being satisfied even with such things or with the other reverences of the nations, also introduced irrational animals as being gods. For some of them worshipped a sheep, some a goat, others a calf and the pig, others the raven and the hawk and the vulture and the eagle, and others the crocodile, some the cat and the dog and the wolf and the monkey and the serpent and the asp, and others the onion and the garlic and thorns, and the rest of the creatures. And the wretched ones do not perceive concerning all these that they have no power.

For seeing their gods being devoured by other men, and burned, and slaughtered, and rotting, they did not understand concerning them that they are not gods. 12,9-13.1 Therefore the Egyptians and the Chaldeans and the Greeks fell into great error, introducing such gods and making images of them and deifying the dumb and senseless idols. 12,9-13.2 And I wonder how, seeing their gods being sawn and hewn and mutilated by the craftsmen, and aged by time, and dissolved and melted down, they did not perceive concerning them that they are not gods. For if they have no power for their own preservation, how will they take thought for men? 12,9-13.3 But their poets and philosophers, both of the Chaldeans and Greeks and Egyptians, wishing to exalt the gods among them by their poems and writings, have rather uncovered their shame and set it bare before all. For if the body of man, being composed of many parts, does not cast off any of its own members, but has an unbreakable unity with all its members and is in harmony with itself, how can there be such strife and discord in the nature of a god? For if there were one nature of the gods, a god ought not to pursue a god, nor slay, nor do evil.

If the gods were pursued by gods, and were slaughtered, and were seized, and were struck by lightning, then there is no longer a single nature, but divided opinions, all of them evil. So none of them is a god. It is therefore evident, O King, that the whole natural philosophy concerning the gods is an error. 12,9-13.5 How did the wise and learned among the Greeks not understand that, by establishing laws, they are condemned by their own laws? For if the laws are just, then their gods are certainly unjust, having done unlawful things—fratricides, poisonings, adulteries, thefts, and pederasties. But if they did these things rightly, then the laws are unjust, having been framed against the gods. As it is, however, the laws are good and just, praising what is good and forbidding what is evil. But the deeds of their gods themselves are unlawful. Therefore their gods are unlawful and all liable to death, and those who introduce such gods are impious. For if the stories about them are mythical, they are nothing but words. If they are physical, then those who did and suffered these things are no longer gods. If they are allegorical, they are myths and nothing else. 12,9-13.6 It has therefore been demonstrated, O King, that these polytheistic cults are works of error and destruction. For one ought not to call visible and non-seeing beings gods, but one must worship the invisible one who created everything. Let us come, then, O King, also to the Jews, so that we may see what they too think about God. For these, being descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, sojourned in Egypt. And from there God led them out...

For they now also worship God the only Pantokrator, but not with knowledge; for they deny Christ the Son of God, and are similar to the Gentiles, even if they seem in some way to approach the truth, from which they have removed themselves. These things concerning the Jews. But the Christians are descended from the Lord Jesus Christ. This one is the Son of the Most High God, acknowledged in the Holy Spirit, having come down from heaven for the salvation of men and born of a holy virgin without seed and without corruption; he took on flesh and appeared among men, in order to recall them from polytheistic error. And having completed his wonderful economy, he tasted death through the cross by his own will according to a great economy; and after three days he revived and ascended into the heavens. The glory of whose presence you may know, O King, from the holy evangelical scripture called by them, if you should consult it. He had twelve disciples who after his ascent into the heavens went out into the provinces of the inhabited world and taught his greatness; just as one of them went around our own regions proclaiming the doctrine of truth. Hence those who still serve the righteousness of their proclamation are called Christians. And these are the ones who have found the truth above all the nations of the earth; for they know God the creator and maker of all things in a single Son and Holy Spirit, and they worship no other god besides this one. They have the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ himself engraved in their hearts, and

they keep these, expecting the resurrection of the dead and the life of the coming age. They do not commit adultery, they do not fornicate, they do not bear false witness, they do not covet the possessions of others, they honor father and mother, and they love their neighbors, they judge justly. Whatever they do not wish to happen to themselves, they do not do to another; they exhort those who wrong them and make them friendly to themselves, they strive to do good to their enemies, they are gentle and reasonable. They abstain from every unlawful intercourse and from every impurity, they do not neglect a widow, they do not grieve an orphan; the one who has supplies the one who does not have ungrudgingly; if they see a stranger, they bring him under their roof and rejoice over him as over a true brother; for they call themselves brothers not according to the flesh but according to the spirit. They are ready to give up their lives for Christ; for they securely keep his commandments, living piously and justly, as the Lord God commanded them, giving thanks to him at every hour for every food and drink and the remaining good things. 16-17.1 Truly, then, this is the way of truth, which leads those who travel it to the eternal kingdom promised by Christ in the future life. And so that you may know, O King, that I do not say these things on my own, if you examine the scriptures of the Christians you will find that I say nothing outside the truth. Your son, then, has understood well and has been justly taught to worship the living God and to be saved for the coming age. For great and wonderful are the things said and done by the Christians.

For they do not speak the words of men, but the words of God. The rest of the nations are deceived and deceive themselves; for walking in darkness they dash against themselves like drunkards. Thus far my speech to you, O King, dictated to my mind by the truth. Therefore let your foolish wise men cease their vain talk against the Lord. For it is better for you to worship the Creator God and to be shown heirs of the imperishable.