De fallacia diaboli

Of the same Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria: An Explanation concerning the Deceit of the Devil and the Error of the Idols. All that the devil brought as a terrible threat against the race of men, he contrived from the beginning against our race and devised his wickedness against us. For he alienated us from God who made us, cast us out of paradise, delivered us to death, cast sins upon us, brought corruption to us, devised toils for us; with these evils the evil one filled us, from these the good God delivered us. But it is necessary to reach also his wickedness, so that, knowing against whom we have to do, we may secure ourselves. For it has happened well for them against us... wickedness brought disorder to those who were ordered. For, having set out to alienate us from the good God, he set up snares for us through heaven and air and earth and sea, so that wherever we might look up or turn around, we might be caught in what he contrived. For, seeing that the creations are beautiful, he first attempted by these to alienate us from the creator. "Bright," he says, "is the heaven; I will use it, I will abuse it to darken; and the sun shines; let it be dark for men." And he armed the order of the creations into disorder against us. For, by pointing out the beauties of the creations in the heaven, he deprived us of worshipping the maker, and, leaving the creator, we stood fixed upon the creations, and order became disorder for us, and cosmos became chaos, and light became darkness, and the things made became objects of worship.

Since the soul naturally yearns for the good, he, having observed toward what the soul might even have looked up, offers beauties under pretense, so that it may be deprived of the most beautiful things. And having invested faith in the course of the stars and the order in the heaven, he falsely called it fate, casting out providence, so that we might not cling to God, wishing to be saved. And what things it is necessary to seek from God, these, he says, seek all from the stars, having slandered the creations, so that the creator might not be sought. And having given fine words to the poets and having invested studied figures, and having hidden the falsehood in the pleasure of myths, he says, the heaven begets. 2 And let me be endured, recalling myths at the opportune time: not that I may defile the holy place by recalling shameful things, but that the shameful things, having been refuted here, may free those who are held by the deception. For the apostle did not shrink from recalling the base things from the Acts and narrating them, "not that," he says, "we may learn these things, but that we may be freed from them." For "males working shamelessness with males" is a shameful deed and the word is not seemly, but the remedy is necessary. For every one who heals a wound endures foul odor, soils his hands; for if the hands remain clean, the infection persists. Since, then, it is necessary to refute the falsehood, so that the refutation may appear...

For the evil one resembles those who give deadly drugs in sweet cups; thus he, having hidden wickedness in fine words, unnoticed plots through external pretense. And again, just as those who give drugs do not offer them bare because of their bitterness, but conceal the wickedness in accustomed food, so he, having inserted elegant phrases and contrived figures into the deception of myths and the pleasure of licentiousness, and having added the drunkenness of feasts and the banquet, so that we, being weighed down, may not examine the falsehood of the myths, but may feast against ourselves, stripped bare through wine, befouled with mud through impiety, uttering and suffering shameful things. And he has yielded everything to pleasure, so that the avenger of temperance may not be sought. For since he saw that our soul tends toward the divine, he introduces non-existent gods, so that we may fall away from the true one, and he adorns these with adulteries, so that we may not practice temperance. 3 For who, hearing that a god according to the myth—if indeed these so-called gods exist—but indeed, who, hearing that a certain god, and the first of gods, became a bull in order to ravish a maiden, and again gold in order to empty bosoms, and again an eagle in order to snatch a youth for unnatural pleasure, who would not be induced to imitate the one he worships? For if the worshipped one changes his nature in order to corrupt a soul, or the one called the highest descends for licentiousness, what shall those who wallow below suffer, imitating the one they worship? And when pleasure has been introduced into the soul, it is darkened for the discernment of things.

just as when dust falls into the eye, the sight is deprived of the ability to distinguish, so when passion falls upon the soul, the suffering soul distinguishes nothing; and just as the skill of the helmsman is lost when a storm comes, so when passions come upon the soul, reason is defeated. How many evils the devil contrived, that it might be known how many goods God granted through Christ; for when the disease that previously seized us through the plot is revealed, then that long-standing and manifold power of the physician will be shown. 4 The devil set everything in motion against us: some things willing, others unwilling. He set the heaven against us, though it was unwilling, for the heaven does not wish to be worshipped but to indicate the one who is worshipped. But he, having taken advantage of what the heaven did not wish, and having falsely accused the creation to the one who did not wish it, deprived it of being worshipped; as far as he was concerned, he deprived the one who is worshipped of being worshipped... for God does not demand these things, but it benefits us—he filled our hearts with myths, so that we might not receive the truth. Many gods, he says, and let the one not be sought; and pleasure is sweet, let chastity be overlooked; and the gods, he says, are impious, do not seek what is holy; and with the good things God gave us, he used them against us, not according to God. Gold is good, he says, let it be melted into falsehood; and silver, let it become an image for deception; and bright stones, for another contrivance; and trees, let them be set apart for demons; and springs, let them be dedicated to one another; and rivers, to others; and the sea, to others.

I hesitate to speak, but those who know understand: he hastened to alienate the creatures, he devised these things. We obeyed, for it is not that he compelled us by necessity, but he took us by persuasion, just as well-born children are corrupted, being seduced away from their parents by sweet things. So also the devil, entering paradise, showed that the tree was good and cast in venom, for envy arises against good things. And if a man in paradise had the abode of angels, was loved by his Creator, honored by his Maker... everything had been given to man for his service, everything for his ministration, he could not bear man's prosperity and approached as a friend, but did the deeds of enemies, slandering the created one to the Creator, persuading him to disobey. So that he himself might be believed, it was necessary that God be angered against those he had created, and the benefactor was not believed, but the fellow servant was believed first; although God had previously provided security and threatened death if he disobeyed, not so that he would die, but so that by not disobeying he would not die. But the one who deceived and persuaded and took man captive and... since he took him, he tightened his bonds upon him, he multiplied his deception, so that he might never, perceiving the malice, seek the benefactor. For this reason, through such things, the devil spread nets for him: he showed the sky and says, worship, and he deifies the sun, so that

we might fall away from God, and he contrived that the moon be honored otherwise than is fitting. He named many that do not exist, so that we might fall away from the one who does exist; he set before the eyes of males naked females as gods, so that eyes, seeing the worshipped one naked, might rouse against themselves the sleeping pleasure. Thus indeed he sees desire projected through sight; for even to fish, the bronze is not cast pure but hidden through the food; and now, images cast in metal, elaborated with mouldings and arts, he brings naked, he conceals ambushes in them, he parades the female, he provokes pleasure, he scandalizes males to stand away from God, to thrust away temperance, he roots licentiousness. For what woman, seeing the supposed goddess naked, is eager to be covered, or who, as if celebrating feasts of adultery, keeps her conscience for her husband? And it was necessary to break the snares. He worshipped the plots; fire upon fire, the things moulded by them and painted by them on walls, so that every art is against us, both the graphic and the plastic through which it moulds, and the sculpting through which it carves, and the farming; it gave fruits for burning, and the fine calves for stumbling, and the shady plants for our deception. And he devised every creation against us, so that through all things the power of the savior might not appear. And let the Greeks tell me whether the myths are false or true; let them keep the shameful things, what good has been granted to us; let us not cut off the things of our ancestors, let us tear apart the evil inheritance itself.

Those who have been freed from slavery do not often hesitate to recount the slavery of their fathers, in order to give thanks to the one who freed them. Just as those who have been saved from a storm do not fail to remember the surrounding dangers, and just as those who have risen from sickness recount their affliction to thank the physician, let us say by what things we were held, so that we may know the magnitude of the grace. If the myths are false, thanks be to the one who delivered us from falsehood; but if the myths are true, thanks be to the one who saved us. For whether the one who said that the sky gave birth lied, or his son cut him off, what suffering does this attribute to him? For if the son cut off the father, neither is the father who suffered a god, nor is the son who cut him off, having done what our sons do not do. He, it is said, devoured his own children, lest he suffer at the hands of those he begot what he did to his father, and a so-called god devoured those he begot; and a mother, sparing her son, gave a stone, and he, greedily hastening to devour the child, perceived neither stone nor son. These things are shameful, and I am ashamed to speak them; but when light came, just as we are now ashamed of things we were ashamed of at the coming of day. I rejoice with you and give thanks with you, because those whom your fathers and ancestors worshipped you hesitate to speak by mouth and cannot bear to hear by ears. Since, then, such a change has occurred, let us say what we hated and give thanks to the one who loved every change. He adorned the so-called father of gods and men for this purpose, that he might corrupt many virgins. And those so-called gods corrupted virgins, but he somehow preserves virgins even to old age; and he descended contrary to nature, while he ascended above nature.

That these things are false... For if gods were begetting then, what has happened that they do not beget now? Have they grown old too, or have they died, and who has come to his senses? Or do they beget even now, and yet so many are not seen? For if they were immortal and begetting, the whole universe would have been filled, since death would not cut off those born; but those who do not exist did not beget, and the poets, having composed fine phrases, inserted a wicked falsehood. For from the time the poets ceased, begettings of gods are not seen; and if they were from the beginning such as to busy themselves with virgins among men, what has happened that in so long an age since the poets raved they have not? Have they not seen a beautiful virgin on earth? Has their desire not been stirred? No longer does he change into a bull, no longer into gold for bosoms, no longer does the virgin flee, while the pursuer pursues, and the virgin, according to the myth, relying on her chastity, fled, while the so-called god, dissolved by lust, did not overtake her? Since the virgin fled in order to remain a virgin, while the god pursued in order to plunder the woman—I am ashamed to say it, but it must be said. Moreover, even after the light has risen, some are shameless and take offense at shameful statues and want there to be temples in which these things are defiled... and the remnants are useful, so that we may learn from what we have been delivered. The pursuing god will be known by his works. Joseph, being young and serving beyond his station, when the mistress made advances and used force and dragged him, left his cloak and fled with modesty.

And the dignified man is more with self-control in prison and with dignity as a slave than with licentiousness as a master; but the so-called god of the falsely named pursued a virgin and did not overtake her. For self-control strengthens even a female, while pleasure weakens even males. But when the earth, itself also called a goddess, but being what it is, drew near, sparing the virgin according to the myth—for none of these things is true—and condemning the pursuer, it changed the virgin into a plant, it is said; and he, even after the virgin was changed, did not change his desire along with her, but plucks a branch and crowns his defeated head with that of the victor. And indeed I reveal the crowns in the contest for the victors: those who provide them bear on their head a crown of Daphne, a garland of the defeated, those who now seem to conquer. Since these things are false, thanks be to the truth that we have been delivered. But if these things are true, let those who hasten to them have their shame. For if men fabricated these things, but the powers that are served take no pleasure in them, let the falsely accused not inhabit the temples; for if the statue lies about the story, let nothing attend the lie. If, then, it does not attend, you worship in vain; but if, these things being so, it does attend, it delights in them, and those who delight in these things are demons worthy of being hated and not worshipped. What would you say about the shedding of blood, what about smoke, what about the stench? Those who worship stop up their nostrils, and those who are worshipped receive it.

And in your own house you do not wish to see a drop of blood, but in the temples there are tens of thousands and thousands; and in your own house you do not wish a flute to sound, but at the festivals they play the flute; and you do not wish your daughter to utter shameful things, but they sing shameful songs in the temples; and you do not wish anyone to see your wife naked, nor even yourself, as is proper, but you worship the goddess naked, a bad example of self-control; and you would not choose to acquire a slave who betrays his nature—for it is necessary, as has been said, to use more dignified speech—but you worship the abducted youth who is misused; and you do not tolerate acquiring a slave girl who practices prostitution, but you worship this one who practices prostitution. But the defense is worse than the accusation, and the remedy more bitter than the wound, for when we charge these things, what do they say in defense? "We know too," they say, "that they are not gods at all... having learned when the sun rose. They are not gods, and why do you worship them?" "They are household members," they say, "of the god." The defense is that they are household members of the god. But do not let the falsehood escape you; for he who created man did not... for the household members of God do not commit outrage nor pervert the creation of the creator, so as neither to leave a man... nor to fall into a woman... It is shown by what it does that it is hostile and not a household member. God granted marriages for succession and comfort of mortals, so that ailing men might be healed and women might receive philanthropy, but the demon that practices prostitution, having corrupted the dignified, does alien and not household things, just as the licentious are not the household members of a dignified king, but the dignified are.

I seek his promise, I will examine the deeds; for it is not speaking well that is sought, but pursuing truth. When I hear that a temple... immediately the mind was humbled... if God has a temple on earth and on the ground, and beyond the heavens. For I seek the facts according to the promise. If he is God, why do you seek him on earth, although even on earth he is God, but not shut up in a chamber, not bound to a statue, not subordinating himself to evildoers, not confined by magic; for if he was not overshadowed by us but was laid bare by us, let us see what is hidden and know what is refuted. Since, then, they proclaim God and gods, let them give the promise, let them not show us temples but heavens beyond, let them not pour out blood, let them not smoke the statues, let the seer not rave; for if God is active, let him not fall, but even having fallen let him rise; let the one who speaks of future things not be deranged, let him not be ignorant of present things; for if he becomes frenzied and falls out of his mind and does not see present things, he scarcely knows future things.

I wish to say everything, so that we may acknowledge all the grace, but we were weighed down for a long time and much, not of a single day, by the myths according to our choice; we were burdened by the lie, we were unable to recover. Jesus came, who is able to bear everything. For what do you wish? Shall I examine the myths? Those who wrote them are ashamed; the allegories did not heal the myths, nor the doctrines of the wise; they have not yet ceased raving. When we persuade by conquering, then if indeed we shall be persuaded... but shall we leave the evils? Since he freed the heavens, and having abandoned the myths, let us receive the truth, and having stood apart from defilements, let us receive goodness, and having stood apart from gods that are not, let us worship the God who is, let us renounce the darkness, let us love the light, having cast off drunkenness let us love fasting, having condemned licentiousness let us practice temperance. How shall I give thanks, how shall I fulfill the word, and how shall I be silent? Jesus does not cease doing good, even now he saves, but with the benefaction the benefaction itself also increases, and the benefaction does not cease doing good, so that we may not cease giving thanks. Still he calls, still he saves, still he enlightens, still he admonishes—he who yesterday worshipped a naked woman now confesses God—and by testifying he enlightens, and through peace he instructs, and through persecutions he strengthens, and through the cross he has conquered, and through death he has saved, and through a curse he has freed the curse, and he has done everything and has undone for us the plot from above.

Since, then, we are able neither to recount worthily the malice of the one who plotted against us nor the magnitude of the one who benefited us, through whose grace we escaped the evils, having given thanks not as much as we ought but as much as we are able, let us also gather together, that we may be heard and pay attention, that we may be confirmed. Do not reject the grace. It is not a man who has been called. Not one like you taught thus on earth, but a god from above, the Son who is before the ages, the only-begotten before time, the one in glory with the Father, the master of all, the judge of all was judged for your sake, that you might be exalted. If, then, he has supplied everything to you, give thanks through all things to the all-holy God, who made from the beginning and honored, and to the one who afterward made, through whom he made and renewed and saves. Glory, power, honor with the Holy Spirit, both now and always and for all the ages of ages. Amen.