Apologia

Of the holy Justin, Apology on behalf of Christians to Antoninus Pius.

To the Emperor Titus Aelius Hadrian Antoninus Pius Augustus Caesar, and to his most reverent son the Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, Caesar’s son by nature and adopted son of Pius, lover of learning, and to the sacred Senate and the whole people of the Romans, on behalf of those from every race of men who are unjustly hated and abused, I, Justin, son of Priscus, son of Bacchius, of the people of Flavia Neapolis in Syria Palaestina, one of them, have composed this address and petition. Reason dictates that only those who are truly pious and philosophers honor and cherish the truth, refusing to follow the opinions of the ancients if they are base; for sound reason dictates not only not to follow those who have done or taught anything unjustly, but that the lover of truth must, by every means and even before his own life, choose to say and do what is right, even if death is threatened. Now that you are called pious and philosophers and guardians of justice and lovers of learning, you hear everywhere; but whether you are so, will be shown.

For we have come not to flatter you through this writing nor to speak to win favor, but to demand that you render judgment according to precise and searching reason, not being possessed by prejudice or by the superstitious desire to please men, nor bringing a verdict against yourselves by irrational impulse and a long-standing evil rumor. For we have reasoned that we can suffer no evil unless we are proven to be workers of wickedness or are judged to be depraved; but you are able to kill, but not to harm. Yet lest this seem a reckless and audacious statement, we ask that the accusations against them be examined, and if they are shown to be true, that they be punished as is fitting—or rather, that you punish; but if one has nothing to prove, true reason does not dictate that innocent men be wronged because of an evil rumor, but rather that you wrong yourselves, since you deem it right to bring charges not by judgment but by passion. Every sensible person would declare this a noble and only just challenge: that the governed provide an irreproachable account of their life and speech, and likewise that the governors cast their vote not by force or tyranny but following piety and philosophy; for thus both rulers and ruled would enjoy the good. For one of the ancients said somewhere: unless the rulers philosophize and the ruled, cities would not be happy.

It is our task, therefore, to provide to all the examination of our life and teachings, so that we may incur the penalty for those who think they are ignorant of our affairs, if they err while blinded concerning them; and it is your task, as reason demands, to be found good judges when you hear. For it will be inexcusable thereafter, if you do not do what is just, before God. Now by the appellation of a name neither good nor evil is judged apart from the actions that fall under the name; since, as far as the name that is charged against us goes, we are most excellent.

But since we do not consider it just to demand acquittal if we are proved evil because of the name, again, if we are found doing no wrong either through the designation of the name or through our conduct, it is your concern to be anxious, lest by unjustly punishing those not convicted by justice you incur punishment.

For from a name neither praise nor punishment would reasonably arise, unless something virtuous or base can be demonstrated through deeds.

And indeed, you do not punish all those accused before you before they are convicted; but in our case you take the name as proof, although, so far as the name goes, you ought rather to punish the accusers. For we are accused of being Christians; and to hate what is good is not just.

And again, if one of the accused denies it by voice, saying he is not, you release him as having nothing to convict him of wrongdoing; but if someone confesses that he is, you punish him for the confession; whereas you ought to examine the life of both the one who confesses and the one who denies, so that through their actions it may be seen what sort each is. For just as some, having received from the teacher Christ the command not to deny when examined, exhort others, so too those living wickedly perhaps provide occasions for others who choose to charge all Christians with impiety and injustice. This is not done rightly either; for indeed some assume the name and guise of philosophy, who do nothing worthy of the profession; and you know that even those of the ancients who held and taught opposite opinions are called by the one name of philosophers.

And some of these taught atheism, and the poets who have arisen proclaim Zeus to be licentious along with his children; and those who follow their teachings are not prevented by you, but you set up prizes and honors for those who eloquently insult these figures. What then is this? In our case, though we promise to do no wrong and not to hold these atheistic beliefs, you do not conduct investigations with judgment, but driven by irrational passion and the whip of evil demons, you punish us without trial, without concern. For the truth will be spoken: since the ancient evil demons, having made appearances, also seduced women, corrupted boys, and showed terrifying things to men, so that those who did not judge the actions that occurred by reason were overwhelmed by fear and, not knowing them to be evil demons, called them gods, and addressed each by the name which each of the demons gave himself.

But when Socrates by true and investigative reason tried to bring these things to light and lead men away from the demons, the demons themselves, through men who delight in evil, contrived to have him killed as an atheist and impious, saying that he was introducing new divinities; and they do the same in our case. For these things were refuted by reason not only among the Greeks through Socrates, but also among the barbarians by the Word himself, who was formed and became man and was called Jesus Christ, to whom we, being persuaded, say that the demons who did these things are not only not righteous, but are evil and unholy demons, who do not even have deeds similar to men who desire virtue.

Hence we are called atheists. And we confess that we are atheists with respect to such reputed gods, but not with respect to the most true God, the father of justice, temperance, and the other virtues, who is unmixed with evil. But we revere and worship that one, and the son who came from him and taught us these things, and the host of the other good angels who follow and are like him, and the prophetic spirit, honoring them with reason and truth, and teaching without envy to all who wish to learn, as we were taught. But someone will say, some have already been arrested and convicted as malefactors. For you often, when you examine the life of each of the accused, condemn many, but not for the reasons previously stated. In general, then, we also confess this: that just as among the Greeks those who have dogmatized what is pleasing to themselves are all called by the one name of philosophy, even though their doctrines are opposite, so also among the barbarians who have arisen and been considered wise, the name imputed to them is common; for all are called Christians. Hence we demand that the actions of all those denounced to you be judged, so that the one convicted as unjust may be punished, but

not as a Christian; but if anyone is found unrefuted, let him be acquitted as a Christian who has done no wrong.

For we will not ask you to punish the accusers; they are content with their inherent wickedness and ignorance of what is good.

Consider that we have said this for your sake, because it is in our power to deny when examined. But we do not wish to live by lying; for, desiring eternal and pure life, we strive for the way of life with God, the father and creator of all, and we hasten to confess, being persuaded and believing that those who have convinced God through their deeds that they followed him and loved the way of life with him, where evil does not resist, can obtain these things. So, to speak briefly, these are what we expect and have learned through Christ and teach. Plato similarly said that Rhadamanthus and Minos would punish the unjust when they came before them; but we say that the same thing will happen, but by Christ, and that the same bodies together with the souls will be punished with eternal punishment, and not merely for a thousand-year period, as he said. If, then, someone says this is unbelievable or impossible, this error is ours and not another's, until we are refuted by deed, doing no wrong.

But we do not honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers those whom men have shaped and set up in temples and called gods, since we know these to be soulless and dead and not possessing the form of God (for we do not think that God has such a form as some claim to have imitated for honor), but to have the names and shapes of those evil demons that have appeared.

For why need I tell you, who know, how the craftsmen dispose the material, scraping, cutting, melting, and hammering? And often from worthless vessels, merely by changing the shape through art and forming it, they name them gods.

This we consider not only irrational, but also to be done to the insult of God, who has ineffable glory and form, yet is named after perishable things that need care. And that the craftsmen of these are licentious and have every vice, not to enumerate them, you know precisely; and they corrupt their own female slaves who work with them. O the stupidity, that licentious men are said to mold gods to be worshipped and to remodel them, and to set up such as guardians of the temples where they are dedicated, not seeing that it is unlawful

not think that men are guardians of gods. But we have learned that God does not need material offerings from men, seeing that he himself provides everything; and we have been taught, are convinced, and believe that only those who imitate the virtues that belong to him—self-control, justice, philanthropy, and all that is proper to God, who is called by no given name—are accepted by him. And we have been taught that he, being good from the beginning, created everything from formless matter for the sake of men; and we have learned that if they show themselves worthy of his purpose through their deeds, they are deemed worthy of living with him, reigning together with him, becoming imperishable and impassible. For just as he made them in the beginning when they did not exist, we consider that in the same way, through choosing what is pleasing to him, those who choose such things are deemed worthy of imperishability and communion with him.

For it was not in our power to come into being in the beginning; but to follow what is dear to him, by choosing through the rational faculties he himself gave us, persuades and leads us to faith.

and we consider that it is for all people not to be prevented from learning these things, but rather to be encouraged toward them.

For what human laws were unable to accomplish, the divine Word, being divine, has achieved, had not the wicked demons scattered many false and godless accusations, taking as an ally the evil and varied desire in each person by nature for everything, none of which pertains to us. And you, upon hearing that we expect a kingdom, have uncritically supposed that we mean a human kingdom, whereas we speak of that with God, as is evident from the fact that when examined by you, we confess to being Christians, knowing that death is the penalty for the one who confesses.

For if we expected a human kingdom, we would deny it, so as not to be put to death, and we would try to hide, so that we might attain what we expect; but since our hopes are not for the present, we have not been concerned about those who put us to death, death being inevitably due in any case. And we are more than all people helpers and allies to you for peace, we who hold these beliefs, since it is impossible to hide from God a wrongdoer, a covetous person, a plotter, or a virtuous person, and each goes to eternal punishment or salvation according to the worth of their deeds.

For if all people knew these things, no one would choose evil even for a short time, knowing that he is going to an eternal condemnation through fire, but would by every means restrain and adorn himself with virtue, so that he might obtain the good things from God and be free from the punishments.

For it is not because of the laws and penalties established by you that they attempt to escape notice while doing wrong, but knowing that it is possible for them, being human, to escape your notice, they do wrong. If they had learned and been persuaded that it is impossible to hide anything from God, not only what is done but also what is planned, they would, on account of the penalties impending, be orderly in every way, as you yourselves would agree. But you seem to fear that if all should act justly, you would no longer have those whom you punish. Such a work would be that of executioners, not of good rulers. We are convinced, however, that it is from evil demons, who demand sacrifices and services even from those who live irrationally, that these things are brought about, as we said before. But we have not supposed that you, who indeed strive for piety and philosophy, would do anything irrational.

But if you, like the foolish, honor custom before truth, do what you can; but rulers who honor opinion before truth can do no more than bandits in a desert. That you will not succeed, the argument demonstrates, for we know no ruler more royal and just than the God who begot him, after the one who begot him. For just as all men avoid inheriting poverty or suffering or dishonor from their fathers, so too whatever the reason dictates should not be chosen, the prudent man will not choose. That all these things would come to pass, I say, our teacher foretold, who is the son and apostle of the father and master of all, God, Jesus Christ, from whom we have received the name Christian.

Hence we become confident in all that has been taught by him, since what he foretold would happen is seen to happen in fact; which is the work of God, to say before it happens and then to be shown happening as foretold. It would be possible, then, to stop here and add nothing, considering that we ask for what is just and true; but since we know that a soul held by ignorance does not change quickly, we have been eager to add a little more to persuade lovers of truth, knowing that it is not impossible for ignorance to flee when truth is set before it.

We are not atheists, since we worship the creator of this universe, as we have been taught, saying that he is in need of no blood, libations, or incense; we praise him, as best we can, with the word of prayer and thanksgiving over all that we offer, having received this as the only worthy honor for him—not to consume by fire what has come into being for our nourishment, but to offer it to ourselves and to those in need, and to send to him, being grateful, processions and hymns in word for our having come into being and for all the means of strength, for the kinds of qualities and the changes of seasons, and for the hope of coming again into incorruption through faith in him, sending up petitions—what sensible person would not agree?

And that we honor with reason the teacher of these things, who became such for us and was born for this purpose, Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea in the time of Tiberius Caesar, 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 order, we will demonstrate. For here they charge us with madness, saying that we give a second place after the unchangeable and eternal God and begetter of all things to a crucified man, not knowing the mystery in this, to which we urge you to attend as we explain.

We forewarn you to be on your guard, lest the demons whom we have previously denounced deceive you and turn you away from even reading and understanding what is said (for they struggle to keep you as slaves and servants, and sometimes through dream apparitions, sometimes through magical tricks, they subdue all who do not strive for their own salvation), just as we, after being persuaded by reason, abandoned them and follow only the unbegotten God through the Son.

Those who formerly delighted in debaucheries now embrace only chastity; those who practiced magical arts have dedicated themselves to the good and unbegotten God; those who loved money and possessions more than anything now bring even what we have into common use and share with everyone in need.

Those who were hostile and murderous toward one another and did not share common customs and hearths with those not of the same tribe now, after the appearance of Christ, live together, pray even for their enemies, and try to persuade those who unjustly hate them, so that those who live according to Christ's good precepts may hope with us to obtain the same from the God who rules all. Lest we seem to be sophistical, we have thought it well to mention a few of the teachings from Christ himself before the proof, and it is for you, as powerful emperors, to examine whether we have truly been taught and teach these things. His words were brief and concise; for he was not a sophist, but his word was the power of God.

Concerning temperance, then, he spoke thus: "Whoever looks at a woman with a view to desiring her has already committed adultery in his heart before God."

And: "If your right eye offends you, cut it out; for it is better for you to enter the kingdom of heaven with one eye than to be sent with both into the eternal fire." And: "He who marries a woman divorced from another man commits adultery." And: "There are some who have been castrated by men, and some who were born eunuchs, and some who have castrated themselves for the sake of the kingdom of heaven; but not all can bear this." Just as those who contract second marriages by human law are sinners before our teacher, so also are those who look at a woman with a view to desiring her; for not only is the one who commits adultery in deed cast out by him, but also the one who wishes to commit adultery, since not only deeds but also thoughts are manifest to God. And there are many men and women of sixty and seventy years of age, who have been disciples of Christ from childhood, and remain chaste; and I pray that I may show such persons among every race of men. For what shall we say of the countless multitude of those who have changed from licentiousness and learned these things? For Christ did not call the just nor the temperate to repentance, but the impious and licentious and unjust.

He spoke thus: "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. For the heavenly Father desires the repentance of the sinner rather than his punishment."

Concerning loving all people, he taught these things: "If you love those who love you, what new thing are you doing? For even prostitutes do that. But I say to you: Pray for your enemies and love those who hate you and bless those who curse you and pray for those who abuse you."

Regarding sharing with those in need and doing nothing for the sake of glory, he said this: "Give to every one who asks, and do not turn away the one who wishes to borrow. For if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what new thing are you doing? Even tax collectors do that.

But do not store up treasure for yourselves on earth, where moth and decay destroy and thieves dig through; rather, store up treasure for yourselves in the heavens, where neither moth nor decay destroys.

For what benefit does a man have if he gains the whole world but loses his own soul? Or what can he give in exchange for it? Therefore store up treasure in the heavens, where neither moth nor decay destroys." And: "Be kind and compassionate, as your Father is kind and compassionate, and he makes his sun rise upon sinners and righteous alike.

and evil.

Do not be anxious about what you will eat or what you will wear. Do you not differ from the birds and the beasts? And God feeds them.

Therefore do not be anxious about what you will eat or what you will wear; for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of these things.

Seek the kingdom of heaven, and all these things will be added to you. For where the treasure is, there also is the mind of man.

And: Do not do these things to be seen by men; otherwise, you have no reward from your Father in the heavens. Concerning being forbearing and serviceable to all and free from anger, these are the things he said: To the one striking your cheek, offer the other also, and do not hinder the one taking your tunic or your cloak.

Whoever becomes angry is liable to the fire. And to everyone pressing you into service for a mile, follow two. Let your good works shine before men, so that seeing them they may marvel at your Father in the heavens. For one must not resist; nor does he wish us to be imitators of the base, but through endurance and gentleness he exhorted us to lead all away from shame and desire for evil things. For we are able to demonstrate this also in the case of many among you who have changed, having been overcome by the steadfastness of life of neighbors or having observed the strange endurance of those who were defrauded as fellow travelers or having experienced it in business partners.

Concerning not swearing at all, but always speaking the truth, he exhorted thus: Do not swear at all; let your yes be yes, and your no be no; anything beyond this is from the evil one.

And that one must worship only God, he taught thus, saying: The greatest commandment is this: You shall worship the Lord your God and serve him alone with your whole heart and with your whole strength, the Lord God who made you.

And when someone came to him and said, Good teacher, he answered, saying: No one is good except God alone, who made all things. And those who are not found living as he taught, let them be known not to be Christians, even if they utter the teachings of Christ with their tongue; for he said that not only those who speak, but those who also do the works will be saved.

For he spoke thus: Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but

the one who does the will of my Father who is in the heavens. For whoever hears me and does what I say hears the one who sent me.

Many will say to me: Lord, lord, did we not eat and drink and work wonders in your name? And then I will say to them: Depart from me, workers of lawlessness. Then there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when the righteous shine like the sun, and the unjust are sent into the eternal fire.

For many will come in my name, outwardly clothed in sheepskins, but inwardly being rapacious wolves; you will recognize them by their deeds. And every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

We also demand that those who are called Christians only, but do not live in accordance with his teachings, be punished by you.

We try to pay taxes and contributions to those appointed by you everywhere before all else, as we were taught by him.

For at that time some came and asked him whether it was necessary to pay taxes to Caesar. And he answered: Tell me, whose image does the coin bear? And they said: Caesar's. And he answered them again: Then give Caesar's to Caesar and God's to God. Therefore we worship only God, but we gladly serve you in other matters, acknowledging kings and rulers of men and praying that you may be found with royal power and sound reason.

If you disregard us even when we pray and set everything plainly before you, we will suffer no harm, for we believe—indeed, we are convinced—that each person will pay the penalty according to his deeds through eternal fire, and will be called to account in proportion to the powers he received from God, as Christ declared when he said: "To whom God gave more, from him more will be required." For look at the end of every king who has ever lived: they all died the common death of all. If this death led to insensibility, it would be a godsend for all the unjust.

But since sensation persists for all who have ever lived, and eternal punishment is laid up, do not neglect to be persuaded and to believe that these things are true. For necromancies, and the inspections of undefiled children, and the summonings of human souls, and what are called among the magicians dream-senders and familiar spirits, and the things done by those who know these arts—let these convince you that even after death the souls are sentient.

And those who seize and throw people who are possessed by the souls of the dead, whom everyone calls demon-possessed and mad, and the oracles among you called those of Amphilochus and Dodona and Pytho, and all other such things, and the teachings of the writers, Empedocles and Pythagoras, Plato and Socrates, and the pit in Homer and the descent of Odysseus to visit these, and those who have said the same things as these—if you accept us likewise, no less than those believing in God but rather more, we who expect to receive back our own bodies, which have been dead and cast into the earth, saying that nothing is impossible for God. And to one who considers, what would seem more incredible than this: if we were not in a body and someone said that from some small drop of human seed it is possible for bones and sinews and flesh, formed into an image such as we see, to come into being? For let it now be said hypothetically: if someone, when you were not such beings and not of such kind, were to show you human seed and a painted image, and affirm that from such a thing something of such a kind comes to be, would you have believed it before seeing it come to be? No one would dare to deny it.

In the same way, therefore, because you have not yet seen a dead man rise, you disbelieve. But just as you would not at first have believed it possible for such things to come from a small plank, and you see them happening, in the same way consider that it is not impossible for human bodies, when dissolved and scattered into the earth like seeds, at the appointed time by the command of God to rise and put on incorruption. For what power worthy of God do those claim who assert that each thing goes back to that from which it came, and that nothing else is possible, not even for God? We have nothing to say to that; but we see this, that they would not have believed it possible for such things ever to come to be as they see themselves and the whole world and the things from which they were generated.

But we have learned that it is better to believe even things impossible by their own nature and to men, than to disbelieve like the others, since we know that our teacher Jesus Christ said: "Things impossible among men are possible for God.

And do not fear those who kill you and after this can do nothing, He said, but fear the one who after death is able to cast both soul and body into Gehenna.

Now Gehenna is a place where those who have lived unjustly and do not believe that these things will happen which God taught through Christ are to be punished.

And the Sibyl and Hystaspes also said that there will be a destruction of corruptible things by fire. The so-called Stoic philosophers dogmatize that even God himself is resolved into fire and again say that the world comes into being by change; but we conceive the creator God of all things as something better than things that change. If, therefore, we say some things similarly to the poets and philosophers honored among you, and some things even more greatly and divinely and alone with demonstration, why are we unjustly hated by all?

For by saying that all things have been ordered and have come into being by God, we will seem to be stating the doctrine of Plato; and by saying that a conflagration will take place, that of the Stoics; and by saying that the souls of the unjust are punished in sensation after death, while those of the good, freed from punishments, live well, we will seem to say the same things as the poets and philosophers.

And as to the point that we must not worship the works of human hands, we say the same as Menander the comic poet and those who have said the same things; for they declared the creator greater than the thing made.

And as to the point that we assert that the Word, which is the first offspring of God, was begotten without intercourse—namely, Jesus Christ our teacher, and that he was crucified and died and rose again and ascended into heaven—we introduce nothing new beyond what are called among you the sons of Zeus. For you know how many sons the writers honored among you ascribe to Zeus: Hermes, the interpretive word and teacher of all; Asclepius, who was also a healer, struck by lightning and ascended into heaven; Dionysus, who was torn apart; Heracles, who gave himself to fire to escape his labors; the Dioscuri, sons of Leda; Perseus, son of Danae; and Bellerophon, who was born of men and rode the horse Pegasus. For why should we mention Ariadne and those who are said to have been catasterized like her? And why mention the emperors who die among you, whom you always deem worthy of deification, and you bring forward some who swear they have seen from the pyre the burned Caesar ascending into heaven?

And what sort of deeds are recorded of each of those said to be sons of Zeus, there is no need to tell those who know, except that these things have been written for the differentiation and encouragement of those being educated; for all consider it good to be imitators of the gods.

But may such a thought about the gods be far from a prudent soul, as that even the leader and begetter of all, according to them, Zeus, was a parricide and the son of such a father, and that he was overcome by base and shameful lusts, going after Ganymede and the many women he seduced, and that he accepted his own sons who did similar things.

But, as we said before, the wicked demons did these things. We, however, have been taught that only those who live piously and virtuously near to God are deified, and we believe that those who live unjustly and do not change are punished in eternal fire. The Son of God, called Jesus, even if only a man in common parlance, is worthy to be called Son of God because of his wisdom; for all writers call God the father of both men and gods. And if we say, in a special sense, beyond common generation, that he was born from God as the Word of God, as we said before, let this be common to you who say that Hermes is the Word, the messenger from God.

If someone should find fault with him for being crucified, this too is common to the previously enumerated sons of Zeus who suffered according to you. For the deaths of those are not recorded as similar but as different; so that even the peculiarity of his suffering does not make him seem inferior, but, as we promised, as the argument proceeds we will show him to be superior, or rather he has already been shown to be so; for the superior is evident from his deeds. And if we claim that he was born of a virgin, let this also be common to us with Perseus. And when we say that he made the lame, the paralyzed, and those born evil healthy, and raised the dead, we will seem to be saying things similar to those said to have been done by Asclepius, and to be claiming the same. But in order that this may now be clear to you, that whatever we say, having learned it from Christ and his preceding prophets, is alone true and older than all existing writers, and that we do not claim to be accepted because we say the same things as they do, but because we speak the truth.

And Jesus Christ alone has been specifically born as a son to God, being his Word and Firstborn and Power, and by his will having become man, taught us these things for the transformation and reformation of the human race. Before he became man among men, some, anticipated by the previously mentioned evil demons, through the poets spoke as actual events what they had fabricated in myth, in the same way that they also brought about the slanderous and impious deeds alleged against us, for which there is neither witness nor proof—this we will make our refutation.

First, that while saying things similar to the Greeks, we alone are hated because of the name of Christ, and though doing no wrong, we are put to death as criminals, while elsewhere others worship trees and rivers and mice and cats and crocodiles and many of the irrational animals, and not the same things are honored by all, but different things in different places, so that all are impious toward one another because they do not worship the same things. The only charge you can bring against us is that we do not worship the same gods as you, nor do we bring libations and burnt offerings and crowns in paintings and sacrifices to the dead.

For you know well that the same things are considered gods by some, beasts by others, and sacrificial victims by others. Secondly, that from every race of men, the ancients who worshipped Dionysus, son of Semele, and Apollo, son of Leto—who did shameful things through their lust for males, things shameful even to mention—and those who worshipped Persephone and Aphrodite, who were driven mad with passion for Adonis, whose mysteries you also celebrate, or Asclepius or any of the other so-called gods, even though death was threatened because of Jesus Christ, we have despised these, and have dedicated ourselves to the unbegotten and impassible God, whom we are persuaded has not come upon Antiope and the others similarly, nor upon Ganymede through lust, nor has been released by the help of Thetis through that hundred-handed one, nor, because of this, has he, caring for Achilles, son of Thetis, destroyed many of the Greeks because of the concubine Briseis.

And we pity those who are persuaded; but we recognize the demons who are the cause of these things. Thirdly, that even after the ascension of Christ into heaven, the demons put forward certain men who claimed to be gods, who not only were not persecuted by you, but were deemed worthy of honors: a certain Simon, a Samaritan from the village called Gittae, who in the time of Claudius Caesar, through the art of the active demons, performing magical feats in your royal city of Rome, was considered a god and was honored by you with a statue as a god, which statue has been erected in the Tiber River between the two bridges, bearing this Latin inscription: "Simoni Deo Sancto.

And almost all Samaritans, and a few also among other nations, while confessing that first one as god, also worship him; and they say that a certain Helen, who traveled around with him at that time, having previously stood on a rooftop, was the first thought that came from him. And we know that a certain Menander, also a Samaritan, from the village of Capparetaea, who became a disciple of Simon, was energized by the demons and in Antioch deceived many through magical art, and he persuaded his followers that they would not die; and there are even now some from that group who confess this.

And a certain Marcion of Pontus, who even now is still teaching those who are persuaded, considers another god greater than the creator; who, through the assistance of the demons, has caused many among every race of men to utter blasphemies and to deny the god who is the maker of this universe, and to confess that some other, as being greater, has made the greater things in comparison to this one.

All who derive from these, as we said, are called Christians, just as those who do not share the same doctrines with the philosophers have in common the name of philosophy which is imputed to them. But whether they commit those infamous mythical deeds—overturning lamps, promiscuous unions, and feasting on human flesh—we do not know; but we do know that they are not persecuted nor put to death by you, even on account of their doctrines. We also have a treatise composed against all the heresies that have arisen, which we will give if you wish to examine it. But we, in order that we may persecute no one nor be impious, have been taught that it is evil to expose even newborn children; first, because we see almost everyone leading them into fornication, not only girls but also boys, and in the way that the ancients are said to keep herds of cattle or goats or sheep or grazing horses, so now they keep children only for shameful use; and likewise a multitude of women, androgynes, and those who do unspeakable things stands in every nation for this abomination.

And from these you take fees, contributions, and taxes, which you ought to cut off from your inhabited world. And one of those who practice such things, in addition to their godless, impious, and unrestrained intercourse, if it happens, mingles with a child or a relative or a brother. Some even pimp out their own children and their wives, and some openly mutilate themselves for effeminacy and refer the mysteries to the Mother of the Gods, and with every one of the gods recognized among you, a serpent is inscribed as a great symbol and mystery. And the things openly done and honored by you, as though divine light were overturned and absent, you attribute to us—which, since we are free from doing any of these things, brings no harm to us, but rather to those who do them and bear false witness. For among us, the leader of the evil spirits is called Serpent, and Satan, and Devil, as you can learn by investigating from our writings; he will be sent into the fire with his host, and the men who follow him will be punished for the endless age.

Christ foretold this.

For the fact that God has not yet done this is due to the human race; for he foreknows that some will be saved through repentance, and that some perhaps have not yet been born. And from the beginning he made the human race intelligent and capable of choosing the truth and doing good, so that all men are without excuse before God; for they have been made rational and contemplative. But if anyone disbelieves that God cares for these things, he will either deny his existence through artifice, or claim that he exists and delights in evil, or that he remains like a stone, and that virtue and vice are nothing, but that men only by opinion consider these things good or evil—which is the greatest impiety and injustice.

And again, let none of the exposed infants be left unclaimed and die, lest we be murderers; but either we did not marry at all except for the rearing of children, or we abstained entirely from marriage and practiced continence.

And already one of our people, in order to convince you that promiscuous intercourse is not our mystery, presented a petition in Alexandria to Felix, who was governor, asking permission for a physician to remove his testicles; for the physicians there said that doing this without the governor's permission was forbidden.

And when Felix was not at all willing to subscribe, the young man remained by himself and was content with his own conscience and that of those who agreed with him. We have thought it not out of place to mention here also Antinous, who has recently come into being, whom all were impelled to worship as a god out of fear, knowing well who he was and whence he came. But so that no one may object to us, saying, "What prevents the one called Christ among us, being a man born of men, from having performed the deeds we speak of by magic art and from having seemed for this reason to be the son of God?" we will now present the proof, not trusting those who speak, but being persuaded by those who prophesied before the events necessarily, because we see with our own eyes that what has happened and is happening occurred as was foretold; which proof, we think, will appear to you also as the greatest and most true. There have therefore been certain men among the Jews, prophets of God, through whom the prophetic spirit proclaimed beforehand the things that were to happen before they occurred; and the kings who arose among the Jews at various times preserved the prophecies, as they were spoken when they were prophesied, in their own Hebrew language, in books composed by the prophets themselves, and they kept them.

When Ptolemy, the king of the Egyptians, was establishing a library and attempted to collect the writings of all men, having learned also about these prophecies, he sent to Herod, who was then reigning over the Jews, requesting that the books of the prophecies be sent to him. And King Herod sent them, written in the aforementioned Hebrew language. But since what was written in them was not intelligible to the Egyptians, he again requested, sending word, that men be sent to translate them into the Greek language. And when this was done, the books remained among the Egyptians up to the present day, and they are everywhere among all Jews, who, though reading them, do not understand what is said, but consider us enemies and foes, likewise killing and punishing us whenever they can, as you can be persuaded. For indeed, in the recent Jewish war, Bar Kokhba, the leader of the Jewish revolt, ordered that Christians alone be led away to terrible punishments unless they denied Jesus Christ and blasphemed. Now, in the books of the prophets we have found foretold: that he would come, be born through a virgin, grow to manhood, heal every disease and every infirmity, raise the dead, be envied and unknown, be crucified—our Jesus Christ—die, rise again, ascend into the heavens, be and be called Son of God, and that some would be sent by him to every race of men to proclaim these things, and that people from the nations would rather believe in him.

It was prophesied, before he appeared, sometimes five thousand years, sometimes three thousand, sometimes two thousand, and again a thousand, and at other times eight hundred years; for according to the successions of the generations, different prophets arose at different times.

Moses, then, being the first of the prophets, spoke word for word as follows: "A ruler from Judah will not cease, nor a leader from his loins, until the one for whom it is reserved comes; and he himself will be the expectation of nations, binding his foal to the vine, washing his garment in the blood of the grape."

It is therefore your duty to examine carefully and learn, up to what time there was a ruler and king among the Jews who was their own; until the manifestation of Jesus Christ, our teacher and the interpreter of the unknown prophecies, as was foretold by the divine holy prophetic spirit through Moses, that a ruler from the Jews would not cease, until the one for whom the kingdom is reserved comes.

For Judah is the forefather of the Jews, from whom they have received the name "Jews"; and you, after the

His manifestation having taken place, you ruled over the Jews and held sway over their entire land. But the phrase "He himself will be the expectation of the nations" was indicative that from all the nations they would expect him to come again, which you can see with your own eyes and be convinced by the fact: for from all races of men they await the one crucified in Judea, after which your land of Judea was immediately given over to the spear. And the phrase "Binding his colt to a vine and washing his garment in the blood of a grape" was a symbol indicating what would happen to Christ and what would be accomplished by him. For a certain colt of a donkey was standing at some entrance of a village, tied to a vine, which he then ordered his acquaintances to bring to him, and when it was brought, he mounted and sat upon it and entered into Jerusalem, where the greatest temple of the Jews stood, which was later destroyed by you; and after this he was crucified, so that the remainder of the prophecy might be fulfilled. For the phrase "Washing his garment in the blood of a grape" was a foretelling of the passion which he was about to suffer, cleansing through blood those who believe in him.

For the garment called by the divine Spirit through the prophet are the people who believe in him, in whom dwells the seed from God, the Word. And the saying "the blood of the grape" is indicative that the one who would appear would have blood, but not from human seed, but from divine power.

And the first power after the father of all and master God and son is the Word; how he became flesh and became man, we will say in what follows. For just as the blood of the vine is not made by man but by God, so also this was signified, that the blood would not come from human seed but from the power of God, as we said before.

And Isaiah, another prophet, prophesying the same things through other utterances, spoke thus: "A star will rise from Jacob, and a flower will come up from the root of Jesse; and upon his arm nations will hope."

And a bright star rose, and a flower came up from the root of Jesse—this is the Christ. For through a virgin from the seed of Jacob, who became the father of Judah, the declared father of the Jews, he was brought forth by the power of God; and Jesse became the forefather according to the oracle, and he was the son of Jacob and Judah in the succession of the race.

And again, hear how it was prophesied through Isaiah, as if in so many words, that he would be born of a virgin. It was spoken thus: Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a son, and they will say regarding his name, God with us. For those things that were considered unbelievable and impossible among men to happen, God foretold through the prophetic spirit that they would come to pass, so that when they happen they may not be disbelieved, but believed because they were foretold.

But so that some, not understanding the prophecy that has been set forth, may not bring against us the same charges we bring against the poets, who said that Zeus came to women for the sake of sexual pleasures, we will attempt to clarify the words.

Therefore, the phrase "Behold, the virgin will conceive" means that the virgin conceived without having intercourse; for if she had been sexually united with anyone, she would no longer be a virgin. But a power of God came upon the virgin and overshadowed her, and caused her, while remaining a virgin, to become pregnant.

And the angel of God sent to the virgin at that time announced to her, saying: Behold, you will conceive in your womb from the Holy Spirit and bear a son, and he will be called Son of the Most High, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins, as those who have recorded all things concerning our savior Jesus Christ taught, whom we believed, since also through the aforementioned Isaiah the prophetic spirit said that he would be born, as we have foretold.

Therefore, the Spirit and the power from God must be understood as nothing other than the Word, who is also the firstborn of God, as the previously mentioned prophet Moses indicated. And this, coming upon the virgin and overshadowing her, rendered her pregnant not through intercourse but through power.

Now Jesus, a name in the Hebrew language, signifies "savior" in the Greek dialect. Hence the angel also said to the virgin: "And you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."

That those who prophesy are inspired by nothing other than the divine Word, you also, as I suppose, will affirm. And hear where on earth he was to be born, as another prophet, Micah, foretold. He spoke thus: "And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah, are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah; for from you will come forth a leader who will shepherd my people."

Now there is a village in the country of the Jews, thirty-five stades distant from Jerusalem, in which Jesus Christ was born, as you can also learn from the records

of the records made under Quirinius, who was your first governor in Judea.

And that the Christ, after being born, was to remain hidden from other people until he grew to manhood—which indeed happened—hear the prophecies concerning this. They are as follows: "A child was born to us, and a young man was given back to us, whose beginning is upon the shoulders," indicating the power of the cross, to which he submitted his shoulders when crucified, as will be shown more clearly as the discourse proceeds.

And again the same prophet Isaiah, inspired by the prophetic spirit, said: "I stretched out my hands over a disobedient and gainsaying people, over those walking in a way that is not good. Now they ask me for judgment and dare to approach God."

And again in other words through another prophet he says: "They dug under my feet and hands, and they cast lots for my clothing." Now David, the king and prophet, who said these things, suffered none of them; but Jesus Christ had his hands stretched out, being crucified by the Jews who contradicted him and claimed that he was not the Christ. For, as the prophet said, dragging him they seated him on the judgment seat and said: "Judge for us." And the phrase "They dug under my hands and feet" was an explanation of the nails fixed in his hands and feet on the cross. And after crucifying him, they cast lots for his clothing and divided it among themselves, those who crucified him. And that these things happened, you can learn from the acts that took place under Pontius Pilate.

And that he would be seated upon a foal of a donkey and would enter into Jerusalem was prophesied, we will set forth the words of the prophecy from another prophet, Zephaniah.

These are they: "Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem; behold, your king comes to you meek, mounted upon a foal of a donkey, the son of a beast of burden."

Now when you hear the words of the prophets spoken as from a person, do not suppose that they are spoken by the inspired men themselves, but by the divine Word that moves them.

For sometimes, as a foreteller, it speaks of things that will happen; sometimes it speaks as from the person of the master of all and father God; sometimes as from the person of Christ; sometimes as from the person of peoples answering the Lord or his father—just as you may see in the case of your own writers, where one person writes everything but introduces speaking characters. Not understanding this, the Jews who possess the books of the prophets did not recognize Christ when he came, but even hate us who say that he has come and, as was foretold, demonstrate that he was crucified by them. And so that this too may be clear to you, the following words were spoken from the person of the father through Isaiah, the prophet previously mentioned: "The ox knew its owner, and the donkey the manger of its lord, but Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand.

Woe to the sinful nation, a people full of sins, an evil seed, lawless sons; you have abandoned the Lord.

And again elsewhere, when the same prophet speaks similarly from the Father: "What kind of house will you build for me?" says the Lord.

"My heaven is my throne, and the earth is the footstool of my feet."

And again elsewhere: "Your new moons and your sabbaths my soul hates, and a great day of fasting and idleness I cannot endure; nor, if you come to appear before me, will I listen to you.

Your hands are full of blood. Even if you bring fine flour, incense, it is an abomination to me; the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls I do not want. For who sought these things from your hands? But dissolve every bond of injustice, break the knots of violent contracts, shelter the roofless and naked, break your bread for the hungry. What then the things taught through the prophets from God are, you can understand.

But when the prophetic spirit speaks from the person of Christ, it utters thus: "I stretched out my hands over a disobedient and gainsaying people, over those walking on a path not good.

And again: "I have placed my back for lashes and my cheeks for slaps, but I did not turn my face away from the shame of spittings. And the Lord became my helper; therefore I was not put to shame, but I set my face like a firm rock, and I knew that I would not be disgraced, because he who will justify me is near." And again when he says: "They cast lots for my clothing, and they dug at my feet and hands. I slept and slumbered, and I arose, because the Lord took hold of me." And again when he says: "They spoke with their lips, they shook their head saying, 'Let him save himself.'" All of which you can learn happened to Christ at the hands of the Jews. For when he was crucified, they twisted their lips and shook their heads saying, "He who raised the dead, let him save himself." But when the prophetic spirit speaks as prophesying what would happen, it says thus: "For from Zion will come forth a law and a word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and it will judge between nations and convict a great people; and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into sickles, and no nation will take up sword against nation, and they will no longer learn to wage war." And that this has happened, you can be persuaded.

For from Jerusalem twelve men in number went out into the world, and these were unlettered men, unable to speak, but by the power of God they proclaimed to every race of men that they were sent by Christ to teach all the word of God; and we who were formerly slayers of one another not only do not war against our enemies, but, for the sake of neither lying nor deceiving those who examine us, we gladly confess Christ and die.

For it was possible for us to do what is said: "The tongue has sworn, but the mind is unsworn," to this end.

It is already a ridiculous thing, that you, on the one hand, have soldiers who enlist and are enrolled, who before their own life and parents and fatherland and all their own embrace your profession, though you are able to provide them with nothing imperishable, while we, who long for incorruption, do not endure everything in order to receive the objects of our desire from the one who is able to give them.

But hear also how it was foretold concerning those who proclaimed his teaching and announced his epiphany, by the aforementioned prophet and king, speaking thus through the prophetic spirit: "Day by day a word is uttered, and night by night knowledge is announced; there are no speeches nor words whose voices are not heard. Their sound went forth into the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the inhabited world. He placed his tent in the sun, and he himself, as a bridegroom coming forth from his bridal chamber, will rejoice as a giant to run a path.

In addition to these things, we have thought it fitting and proper to mention also other words prophesied through David himself, from which it is possible for you to learn how the prophetic spirit exhorts men to live, and how it indicates the gathering that took place of Herod the king of the Jews, and of the Jews themselves, and of Pilate, who was your governor among them, together with his soldiers, against Christ, and that he was to be believed by men of every race, and that God calls him son and promises to subject all his enemies to him, and how the demons, as far as they are able, try to flee the authority of both the father of all and master God and that of Christ himself, and how God calls all to repentance before the day of judgment comes. They are spoken thus:

Blessed is the man who did not go in the counsel of the impious and did not stand in the way of sinners and did not sit in the seat of plagues, but placed his will in the law of the Lord, and will meditate on his law day and night. And he will be like a tree planted by the outflows of waters, which will give its fruit in its season, and its leaf will not fall off, and everything he does will be successful. Not so the impious, not so, but rather like chaff, which the wind casts away from the face of the earth; therefore the impious will not rise in judgment nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous, because the Lord knows the way of the righteous, and the way of the impious will perish. Why did the nations swell with pride, and the peoples devise new things?

The kings of the earth stood by, and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ, saying, "Let us break their bonds and cast off their yoke from us."

He who dwells in the heavens will laugh at them, and the Lord will mock them; then he will speak to them in his anger, and in his wrath he will confound them. And I was appointed king by him over Zion, his holy mountain, proclaiming the command of the Lord. The Lord said to me, "You are my son, I have begotten you today. Ask of me, and I will give you nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession; you will shepherd them with an iron rod, and you will shatter them like a potter's vessels. And now, kings, understand; be instructed, all who judge the earth.

Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling.

Seize instruction, lest the Lord become angry, and you perish from the righteous path, when his wrath is kindled swiftly.

Blessed are all who trust in him. And again, through another prophecy, the prophetic spirit declares through David himself that after being crucified Christ will reign, speaking thus: Sing to the Lord, all the earth, and proclaim from day to day his salvation; for the Lord is great and exceedingly praiseworthy, more fearsome than all the gods; for all the gods of the nations are idols of demons, but God made the heavens. Glory and praise before him, and strength and boast in his holy place; give glory to the Lord, the father of the ages. Receive grace and enter before him and worship in his holy courts; let the whole earth be afraid before him, and let it be set right and not shaken. Let them rejoice among the nations; the Lord has reigned from the tree. Now when the prophetic spirit speaks of things that are to happen as though they had already happened, as can be seen in the foregoing passages, so as to provide no excuse to those who encounter it, we will clarify this as well.

He foretells things that will certainly happen as if they have already happened. And that this is how they must be understood, consider with your mind the things that are said.

David spoke these things a thousand five hundred years before Christ, having become man, was crucified, and none of those who were crucified before him brought joy to the nations, nor did any of those after him.

But our Jesus Christ, having been crucified and having died, rose again, and reigned, having ascended into heaven, and there is joy among all the nations over the things proclaimed by him through the apostles, as they await the incorruptibility announced by him. And so that some might not think, from what we have previously said, that we assert that things happen by necessity of fate because we say they were foreknown, we also resolve this.

Having learned through the prophets that punishments and penalties and good rewards are given according to the worth of each person's actions, we declare this to be true. For if this were not so, but everything happens by fate, then nothing at all would be in our power. For if it were fated that this one be good and that one bad, then neither is this one acceptable nor that one blameworthy. And again, if it were not by free choice to flee from shameful things and

The human race has the power to choose what is good, and it is not responsible for things done in any other way. But that by free choice it both succeeds and fails, we demonstrate in this way: we see the same man pursuing opposite courses.

If it were fated for him to be either base or virtuous, he would never be capable of opposites and would not frequently change; nor would some be virtuous and others base, since we would be declaring fate to be the cause of base things and acting contrary to itself, or that previously stated opinion would seem true, that there is neither virtue nor vice, but only by opinion are things considered good or bad—which, as true reason shows, is the greatest impiety and injustice.

But we say that this fate is inviolable for those who choose what is good, with the fitting penalties, and for those who similarly choose the opposite, the fitting rewards. For God did not make man like other things, such as trees and quadrupeds, which can do nothing by choice; for he would not be worthy of reward or praise, not having chosen the good of his own accord, but having become this; nor, if he were evil, would he justly receive punishment, not being such of his own accord, but being unable to be other than what he was made. The holy prophetic spirit taught us these things, saying through Moses that it was spoken by God to the first formed man thus: "Behold, before your face are the good and the evil; choose the good.

And again through Isaiah, the other prophet, as spoken from the father of all and master God to this effect: Wash yourselves, become clean, remove the wickedness from your souls, learn to do good, judge for the orphan and do justice for the widow, and come and let us reason together, says the Lord; and if your sins are as scarlet, I will whiten them like wool, and if they are as crimson, I will whiten them like snow.

And if you wish and listen to me, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you do not listen to me, a sword will devour you; for the mouth of the Lord spoke these things. The aforementioned "A sword will devour you" does not mean that those who disobey will be killed by swords, but the sword of God is the fire, of which those who choose to do evil become food.

Therefore it says: A sword will devour you; for the mouth of the Lord spoke.

And if it were speaking of a cutting and immediately removing sword, it would not have said "Will devour."

Thus also Plato, saying "The responsibility is of the chooser, God is blameless," took this from the prophet Moses and said it; for Moses is older than all the writers among the Greeks. And all that concerning the immortality of the soul or punishments after death or contemplation of the heavens or similar doctrines both philosophers and poets have said, they were able to take the starting points from the prophets and understand and expound them. Hence among all there seem to be seeds of truth; but they are shown not to have understood accurately, when they say things contrary to themselves. So when we say that the things that will happen have been prophesied, we do not say this because they are done by necessity of fate.

But since God is prescient of all that will be done by all men, and since there is a decree by him that each man will be requited according to the worth of his deeds, and that what comes from him will be meted out according to the worth of what is done, he foretells through the prophetic spirit, ever leading the human race to understanding and remembrance, showing that he cares for them and exercises providence over them.

But by the activity of the evil demons, death was decreed against those who read the books of Hystaspes or the Sibyl or the prophets, so that through fear they might turn men away from encountering them and gaining knowledge of good things, and keep them enslaved to themselves; which they were not able to accomplish in the end.

For not only do we read them without fear, but we also bring them to your examination, as you see, knowing that they will appear pleasing to all; and even if we persuade only a few, we will have gained the greatest reward; for like good farmers, we will receive our recompense from the master. And that the father of all, God, was going to take Christ up into heaven after raising him from the dead, and keep him until he strikes the demons hostile to him, and the number of the good and virtuous deeds foreknown to him is completed, on account of which he has not yet made the final confirmation, listen to what is said through David the prophet.

These things are as follows: The Lord said to my lord, "Sit at my right hand, until I place your enemies under the soles of your feet."

A rod of power will the Lord send forth to you from Jerusalem; and rule in the midst of your enemies.

With you is the rule in the day of your power, in the splendors of your saints; from the womb, before the morning star, I begot you.

Now the saying, "A rod of power will the Lord send forth to you from Jerusalem," is prophetic of the strong Word, which his apostles, going forth from Jerusalem, proclaimed everywhere; and, although death was decreed against those teaching or even confessing the name of Christ, we everywhere both greet and teach.

But if you also, as enemies, encounter these words, you can do nothing more, as we said before, than kill; which brings no harm to us, but for you and for all who unjustly bear enmity and do not change, it works an eternal punishment by fire. And so that some, acting unreasonably for the purpose of turning away from what has been taught by us, might not say that we claim Christ was born a hundred and fifty years before, in the time of Cyrenius, but taught what we say he taught later, in the time of Pontius Pilate, and so that they might not object that all men who lived before are without responsibility, we, anticipating the difficulty, will resolve it.

We have been taught and have proclaimed that Christ is the firstborn of God, being the Word, of whom the whole race of human beings partakes.

And those who lived according to the Word are Christians, even if they were considered atheists, such as among the Greeks Socrates and Heraclitus and those like them, and among the barbarians Abraham, Ananias, Azarias, Misael, Elias, and many others, whose deeds or names we now refrain from listing, knowing it would be lengthy. Thus also those who lived before without the Word were useless and enemies of Christ and murderers of those who lived according to the Word; but those who have lived and are living according to the Word are Christians, and are fearless and untroubled.

For what reason, through the power of the Word, according to the will of the father of all and master God, a man was born through a virgin and was named Jesus, and having been crucified, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven, the intelligent person will be able to understand from what has been said at such length. But since a demonstration of this point is not necessary at present, we shall proceed to the urgent demonstrations for the moment.

That the land of the Jews was destined to be laid waste, hear what has been said by the prophetic spirit; the words are spoken as from the perspective of peoples marveling at what had happened.

They are these: Zion became a desert, Jerusalem became a desert, the house became an object of cursing, our holy place and our glory, which our fathers blessed, became burnt by fire, and all its glorious things collapsed. And

after these things you endured and kept silent and humbled us greatly. And that Jerusalem was desolated, as it was foretold would happen, you are convinced.

It has also been said concerning its desolation, and concerning that none of them would be permitted to dwell there, through the prophet Isaiah as follows: Their land is a desert, before them their enemies will devour it, and there will be none of them dwelling in it.

That it is guarded by you so that no one may be in it, and that death is decreed against any Jew found entering, you know precisely. That our Christ was prophesied to heal all diseases and to raise the dead, hear what has been said.

These are the words: At his coming, the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless will be clear; the blind will see again, and lepers will be cleansed, and the dead will rise and walk.

That he did these things, you can learn from the acts that took place under Pontius Pilate. And how it was foretold by the prophetic spirit that he would be put to death together with the men who hoped in him, hear what was said through Isaiah. These are the words: Behold how the righteous one perished, and no one takes it to heart; and righteous men are taken away, and no one notices. The righteous one has been taken from the face of injustice, and his burial will be in peace; he has been taken from the midst.

And again, how it was said through Isaiah that the peoples of the nations who did not expect him will worship him, while the Jews, who were always expecting him, will be ignorant of him when he arrives; the words were spoken as from the person of Christ himself.

They are these: I became manifest to those who did not ask for me, I was found by those who did not seek me; I said, Behold, I am here, O nation, which did not call my name. I stretched out my hands over a disobedient and gainsaying people, over those who walk not in a good way, but after their own sins.

the people who provoke against me. For the Jews, possessing the prophecies and always expecting the Christ to come, were ignorant, and not only that, but they also misused them; but those from the nations, who had never heard anything about the Christ until his apostles, going out from Jerusalem, announced the things concerning him and delivered the prophecies, filled with joy and faith, renounced the idols and dedicated themselves to the unbegotten God through the Christ. And that these blasphemous things were foreknown to be said against those who confess the Christ, and that wretches are those who blaspheme him and say that it is good to keep the old customs, hear the things spoken briefly through Isaiah. And these are: Woe to those who call the sweet bitter and the bitter sweet.

And that, having become man for our sake, he endured suffering and dishonor, and will come again with glory, hear the prophecies spoken to this end. And these are: In return for which they delivered his soul to death, and he was counted among the lawless, he himself took upon himself the sins of many and will atone for the lawless. For behold, my son will understand, and will be raised up and greatly glorified. In the way that many will be amazed at you, so your form and your glory will be dishonored by men, so many nations will marvel, and kings will shut their mouths; because those to whom it was not announced concerning him, and those who have not heard, will understand.

Lord, who believed our report? And to whom was the arm of the Lord revealed? We announced before him as a child, as a root in a thirsty land.

There is no form for him nor glory; and we saw him, and he had no form nor beauty, but his form was dishonored and deficient compared to men. A man being in a plague and knowing how to bear weakness, because his face was turned away, he was dishonored and not accounted.

This one bears our sins and suffers pain for us, and we considered him to be in toil and in plague and in affliction.

But he was wounded because of our lawlessnesses and was weakened because of our sins; a discipline of peace is upon him, by his wound we were healed. All of us wandered like sheep, each man wandered in his own way; and he delivered himself to our sins, and because he was afflicted he does not open his mouth; he was led like a sheep to slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearer speechless, so he does not open his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away. Then after he was crucified, all his acquaintances abandoned him, denying him; but later, when he rose from the dead and appeared

having been set before them and the prophecies in which all these things were foretold as about to happen, having taught, and having seen him ascending into heaven and having believed and having received power sent from him from there and having gone to every race of men, they taught these things and were called apostles. But in order that the prophetic spirit might indicate to us that the one suffering these things has an ineffable lineage and rules over his enemies, it spoke thus: Who will recount his generation? For his life is lifted from the earth, from their lawless deeds he comes to death.

And I will give the wicked in exchange for his burial and the rich in exchange for his death, because he committed no lawlessness nor was deceit found in his mouth; and the Lord wishes to cleanse him of the plague. If you give concerning sin, your soul will see long-lived seed. And the Lord wishes to remove his soul from pain, to show him light and to mold him with understanding, to justify a righteous man who serves many well, and he himself will bear our sins. Therefore he himself will inherit many and will divide the spoils of the mighty, in return for which his soul was given over to death, and he was counted among the lawless, and he himself bore the sins of many and was given over because of their lawless deeds. And as he was about to ascend into heaven, as was foretold, listen. And it was spoken thus: Lift up the gates of the heavens, be opened, so that the king of glory may enter. Who is this king of glory? The Lord is mighty and the Lord is powerful.

But that he is to come from the heavens with glory, hear also what has been said about this through Jeremiah the prophet. And these are the words: "Behold, like a son of man he comes upon the clouds of heaven, and his angels with him." Since, therefore, we show that all things that have happened were proclaimed beforehand through the prophets before they occurred, it is necessary also to have faith concerning the things similarly prophesied, which are yet to happen, that they will certainly come to pass. For in the same way that the things already happened, though proclaimed beforehand and unknown, came to pass, in the same way the remaining things, even if unknown and disbelieved, will come to pass.

For the prophets proclaimed two of his comings: one, which has already happened, as of a dishonored and passible man, and the second, when he is proclaimed to come from the heavens with glory with his angelic host, at which time he will also raise up the bodies of all men who have ever lived, and will clothe the worthy with incorruptibility, and will send the unjust, in eternal sensation, with the evil demons into the eternal fire.

And that these things have been foretold as they will happen, we shall make clear. It was said through Ezekiel the prophet as follows: "Harmony will be gathered to harmony, and bone to bone, and flesh will grow again."

And every knee will bend to the Lord, and every tongue will confess him.

In what sensation and punishment the unjust are about to undergo, hear what has been similarly said concerning this.

These are the words: "Their worm will not cease, and their fire will not be extinguished. And then they will repent, when it will be of no benefit."

And what the peoples of the Jews are about to say and do when they see him arriving in glory, was spoken through the prophet Zechariah as follows: "I will command the four winds to gather the scattered children; I will command the north wind to bring them, and the south wind not to hinder."

And then in Jerusalem there will be great lamentation, not a lamentation of mouths or lips, but a lamentation of the heart, and they will not tear their garments, but their minds. Tribe will mourn against tribe, and then they will see the one whom they pierced, and they will say: 'Why, Lord, did you lead us astray from your path? The glory which our fathers blessed has become a reproach to us.'"

Now we have many other prophecies to speak, but we have stopped, considering these sufficient to persuade those who have hearing ears and intellectual ears, and deeming that they can understand that we do not speak merely like the myths fabricated about the supposed sons of Zeus, but that we have proof to offer.

For by what reasoning would we be persuaded that a man who was crucified is the firstborn of the unbegotten God and that he himself will judge the whole human race, unless we found testimonies proclaimed about him before he came as a man, and saw them come to pass in this way: the desolation of the land of the Jews, and men from every nation persuaded through the teaching of his apostles and abandoning the old customs in which they had lived in error, seeing ourselves, and knowing that Christians from the nations are more numerous and more truthful than those from the Jews and Samaritans?

For all other human races are called nations by the prophetic spirit, but the Jewish and Samaritan tribes are called Israel and the house of Jacob.

And as it was prophesied that those from the nations who believe would be more numerous than those from the Jews and Samaritans, we shall announce the prophecies. And it was spoken thus: "Rejoice, barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry out, you who do not labor in childbirth, for the children of the desert are more numerous than those of the one who has a husband." For all the nations were desert of the true God, worshiping the works of their hands; but the Jews and Samaritans, having the word from God handed down to them through the prophets and always expecting the Christ, did not recognize him when he came, except for a few whom the holy prophetic spirit foretold through Isaiah would be saved.

He said, as from their person: "If the Lord had not left us seed, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah."

For Sodom and Gomorrah are recorded by Moses as having been cities of impious men, which God destroyed by burning with fire and brimstone, none of those in them being saved except a certain foreigner of Chaldean race, whose name was Lot, with whom his daughters also were saved. And their whole country, being desolate and burnt and remaining barren, those who wish may see. And since those from the nations were recognized as more truthful and more trustworthy, we will announce the things spoken through the prophet Isaiah. He spoke thus:

"Israel uncircumcised in heart, but the nations in the foreskin." These many things, then, that are seen can instill persuasion and faith in those who embrace the truth and are not fond of glory nor ruled by passions, with reason.

But those who hand down the myths fabricated by the poets bring no proof to the young who learn them, and we show that they were spoken for the deception and leading astray of the human race, by the activity of the evil demons. For having heard through the prophets that the Christ was proclaimed as about to come, and that the impious among men would be punished by fire, they put forward many who were said to be sons of Zeus, thinking they would be able to make men consider the things concerning Christ as marvel-mongering and similar to the things said by the poets. And these things were said both among Greeks and among all nations, wherever they more readily heeded the prophets who proclaimed beforehand that Christ would be believed.

But that they, hearing the things spoken through the prophets, did not understand accurately, but, as men in error, imitated the things concerning our Christ, we shall make clear. Moses the prophet, then, as we said before, was older than all writers, and through him, as we previously indicated, it was prophesied thus: "A ruler will not fail from Judah, and a leader from his loins, until the one for whom it is reserved comes; and he himself will be the expectation of nations, binding his foal to a vine, washing his garment in the blood of the grape."

Hearing these prophetic words, therefore, the demons said that Dionysus was a son of Zeus, and handed down that he became the discoverer of the vine, and they record wine in his mysteries, and taught that he, having been torn apart, ascended into heaven. And since through the prophecy of Moses it was not clearly indicated whether the one who was to come is a son of God, and whether, mounted on a foal, he would remain on earth or ascend into heaven, and the name of the foal could signify both a foal of a donkey and of a horse, not knowing whether the one proclaimed would bring a foal of a donkey as a symbol of his coming or of a horse, and whether he is a son of God, as we said before, or of a man, they said that Bellerophon, also mounted on the horse Pegasus, a man born from a man, ascended into heaven.

When they heard through the other prophet, Isaiah, that he would be born of a virgin and would ascend into heaven by himself, they put forward Perseus as having been spoken of.

And when they knew it said, as is foretold in the previously written prophecies, "Strong as a giant to run a path," they said that Heracles was strong and had traversed the whole earth.

And when again they learned that it was prophesied that he would heal every disease and raise the dead, they brought forward Asclepius.

But nowhere, nor in any of the so-called sons of Zeus, did they imitate the being crucified; for they did not understand, symbolically, as has been previously shown, all the things said concerning this.

Which, as the prophet foretold, is the greatest symbol of his power and authority, as is also shown from things that fall under our eyes; for consider all things in the world, whether they are administered or can have community without this form.

For the sea is not crossed unless this trophy, which is called a sail, remains intact on the ship; the earth is not plowed without it; diggers do not perform their work, nor craftsmen similarly, except through tools having this form.

The human form differs from that of all other irrational animals only in being upright, having an extension of hands, and bearing on the face, from the forehead, the so-called nose, through which the animal breathes, and which shows nothing else but the shape of the cross. And through the prophet it was spoken thus: "Spirit before our face, Christ the Lord."

And among you, the symbols manifest the power of this shape, so that we may disregard even the trophies, through which your processions take place everywhere, showing the signs of rule and power in these, even if you do this without understanding. And you set up the images of your deceased emperors in this shape, and you name them gods through inscriptions. Therefore, by word and by the visible shape, as far as we are able, having exhorted you, we know that we are henceforth blameless, even if you disbelieve; for our part has been done and completed.

But the wicked demons were not satisfied, before the manifestation of Christ, to say that the so-called sons of Zeus had been born, but when, after he was manifested and had come among men, they learned how he had been proclaimed beforehand through the prophets, and knew that he was believed and expected among every race, again, as we previously indicated, they put forward others, Simon and Menander from Samaria, who, having performed magical feats, deceived many and still have those who are deceived.

For among you, as we said before, in the imperial city of Rome under Claudius Caesar, Simon came and so astounded the sacred senate and the Roman people that he was considered a god and was honored with a statue, like the other gods honored among you.

Therefore we ask that the sacred senate and your people be taken as co-adjudicators of this our petition, so that if anyone is held by the teachings of that man, having learned the truth, he may be able to flee the error.

And if you wish, take down the statue. For the evil demons cannot persuade that the conflagration will not come for the punishment of the impious, just as they were not able to hide the coming of Christ; but they can only do this: make those who live irrationally and passionately, reared in evil habits and loving glory, kill us and hate us. These we not only do not hate, but, as is shown, we wish to persuade them to change, pitying them. For we do not fear death, since it is agreed that all must die.

and that there is nothing else new but the same things in this administration. If satiety of those who have partaken, even for a year, holds them, so that they may always be and be impassible and without need, then it is necessary to attend to our teachings.

But if they disbelieve that there is anything after death, and declare that the dead pass into insensibility, they benefit us by relieving us of sufferings and needs here, but they show themselves to be base, misanthropic, and glory-seeking; for they do not kill us as if to release us, but as if to deprive us of life and pleasure they murder. And Marciōn from Pontus, as we said before, was put forward by the evil demons, who now teaches to deny the maker of all heavenly and earthly things, God, and the Christ proclaimed through the prophets, his son, and proclaims another god besides the creator of all things, and likewise another son.

Many, persuaded by him as the only one who knows the truth, laugh at us, having no proof about what they say, but irrationally, as lambs snatched by a wolf, they become prey to atheistic doctrines and demons. For the so-called demons strive for nothing else than to lead men away from the creating God and his firstborn Christ; and those unable to rise above the earth they have nailed and nail to earthly and handmade things, while those who are impelled toward the contemplation of divine things, unless they have sober reason and a pure and passionless life, they knock aside and cast into impiety.

And that Plato took from our teachers—we mean from the Word through the prophets—to say that God turned shapeless matter and made the world, hear the very words spoken through Moses, the first prophet already mentioned and the oldest of Greek writers, through whom the prophetic spirit reveals how God created the world in the beginning and from what, he spoke thus:

In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was invisible and unformed, and darkness was over the abyss; and the spirit of God was borne over the waters.

And God said, "Let there be light." And it was so.

Thus we, and Plato and those who say the same things, learned that the whole world was made by the word of God from the underlying things already revealed through Moses, and you can be persuaded.

And we know that what is called Erebus by the poets was spoken earlier by Moses.

And the physical discourse in Plato's Timaeus about the son of God, when he says, "He marked him out in the universe," he likewise said, taking from Moses. For in the writings of Moses it is recorded that at that time, when the Israelites left Egypt and were in the desert, venomous beasts met them—vipers, asps, and every kind of serpent—which killed the people; and by inspiration and energy said to be from God, Moses took bronze and made a figure of a cross and set it up on the holy tabernacle and said to the people: "If you look at this figure and believe, you will be saved in it.

And when this happened, he recorded that the serpents died, but that the people escaped death in this way. Plato, reading this and not understanding precisely, nor realizing that it was a figure of the cross but thinking it a chi, said that the power after the first god was placed as a chi in the universe. And his saying "third" is because, as we said before, he read above the waters the words spoken by Moses, that the spirit of God was borne. For he gives the second place to the Word from God, which he said was placed as a chi in the universe, and the third to the spirit said to be borne upon the water, saying, "And the third things around the third." And hear how the prophetic spirit foretold through Moses that a conflagration will occur.

He spoke thus: "An ever-living fire will descend and will consume down to the abyss below." Therefore we do not hold the same opinions as others, but all who imitate us speak our teachings.

So it is possible among us to hear and learn these things from those who do not even know the letters of the alphabet, who are uneducated and barbarian in speech, but wise and faithful in mind, and some who are blind and widows in their sight; so that one may understand that these things have come about not by human wisdom, but are spoken by the power of God.

We shall explain in what manner we have dedicated ourselves to God, being made new through Christ, so that by omitting this we may not seem to be acting maliciously in our explanation. All who are persuaded and believe that these things taught and said by us are true, and who promise that they are able to live accordingly, are taught to pray and ask, while fasting, for forgiveness of their past sins from God, with us praying and fasting together with them.

Then they are led by us to where there is water, and they are reborn in the manner of rebirth in which we ourselves were reborn; for in the name of the Father of all and master God, and of our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then perform the washing in the water. For Christ said: "Unless you are reborn, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven." And that it is impossible for those who have once been born to enter again into the wombs of their mothers is evident to all.

And through the prophet Isaiah, as we wrote previously, it has been said in what manner those who have sinned and repent will escape their sins. And it was spoken thus: "Wash yourselves, become clean, remove the wickedness from your souls, learn to do good, judge for the orphan and do justice for the widow, and come and let us converse," says the Lord; "and even if your sins are like crimson, I will whiten them like wool, and if they are like scarlet, I will whiten them like snow.

But if you do not heed me, the sword will devour you; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things.

And we have learned this account from the apostles concerning this matter.

Since, being ignorant of our first origin, we were of necessity born from a moist seed through the union of our parents with each other, and we came to be in base habits and evil upbringings, so that we might no longer remain children of necessity and ignorance, but of choice and knowledge, and obtain remission of sins for those we previously committed, in the water the name of the father of all and master God is pronounced over the one who chooses to be reborn and repents of his sins, the one leading the person to be bathed uttering only this name.

For no one can utter the name of the ineffable God; and if anyone should dare to say that it exists, he raves with a reckless madness. And this bath is called illumination, as those who learn these things have their understanding illuminated. And the one being illuminated is bathed in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and in the name of the Holy Spirit, who through the prophets foretold all things concerning Jesus. And the demons, having heard of this bath proclaimed through the prophet, contrived to cause those entering their temples and intending to approach them, while performing libations and burnt offerings, to also wash themselves completely and to bathe before coming to the temples where they are established.

For the practice of removing one's sandals when entering sacred places, and the worshippers being commanded to do so by the priests, the demons imitated, having learned from the events concerning Moses, the aforementioned prophet. For at that time when Moses was commanded to go down into Egypt to lead out the people of the Israelites there, while he was shepherding the sheep of his maternal uncle in the land of Arabia, our Christ, in the form of fire, spoke to him from a bush and said: "Remove your sandals and come near and listen." And he, having removed his sandals and approached, heard that he was to go down into Egypt and lead out the people of the Israelites there, and he received great power from Christ, who spoke to him in the form of fire, and going down, he led out the people, performing great and wondrous deeds, which if you wish to learn, you will learn accurately from his writings.

But all the Jews even now teach that the nameless God spoke to Moses. Hence the prophetic spirit, through the aforementioned prophet Isaiah, rebuking them, as we wrote earlier, said: "The ox knew its owner, and the ass the manger of its lord, but Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand me." And Jesus Christ, likewise rebuking them because the Jews did not know what is father and what is son, himself said: "No one knows the father except the son, nor the son except the father and those to whom the son reveals it.

The Word of God is his Son, as we have said before.

And he is also called Angel and Apostle; for he announces all that must be known, and is sent to declare what is announced, as our Lord himself said: "He who hears me hears the one who sent me." And this will become evident from the writings of Moses. For it is said in them thus: "And an angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from the bush and said: 'I am the one who is, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, the God of your fathers. Go down into Egypt and lead out my people.'" If you wish to learn what follows from those writings, you can; for it is not possible to record everything in this work. But for proof, these words show that the Son of God and Apostle is Jesus Christ, who was first the Word, and sometimes appeared in the form of fire, sometimes also in an incorporeal image; and now, by the will of God for the sake of the human race, having become man, he endured and suffered all that the demons caused him to undergo at the hands of the senseless Jews.

Those who have it explicitly stated in the writings of Moses: "And an angel of God spoke to Moses in a flame of fire from a bush and said: 'I am the one who is, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,'" claim that the one who said these things is the father and creator of all.

Hence the prophetic spirit, rebuking them, said: "Israel did not know me, and the people did not understand me." And again Jesus, as we have shown, being among them, said: "No one knew the father except the son, nor the son except the father and those to whom the son reveals him." Therefore the Jews, who have always supposed that the father of all spoke to Moses, when the one who spoke to him was the son of God, who is also called angel and apostle, are justly refuted both by the prophetic spirit and by Christ himself, as having known neither the father nor the son.

For those who claim that the son is the father are shown to know neither the father, nor to understand that there is a son to the father of all; who, being the firstborn word of God, is also God.

And earlier he appeared to Moses and the other prophets through a formless image and likeness of fire; but now in the times of your rule, as we said before, having become a man through a virgin according to the will of the father for the salvation of those who believe in him, he endured being despised and suffering, so that by dying and rising he might conquer death.

And the saying spoken to Moses from the bush: "I am the one who is, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob and the God of your fathers," is indicative that those men, though dead, remain and are men of this Christ; for they were the first of all men to engage in inquiry about God, Abraham being the father of Isaac, and Isaac of Jacob, as Moses also recorded. And the raising of the image of the so-called Kore at the sources of waters, which the demons caused to be done, calling her the daughter of Zeus, imitating what was said through Moses, you can understand from what has been said before. For Moses said, as we wrote earlier: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth.

And the earth was invisible and unformed, and the spirit of God was borne over the waters. Therefore, in imitation of the said spirit of God borne over the water, they called Kore the daughter of Zeus. And likewise, acting wickedly, they called Athena the daughter of Zeus,

not from union, but because they knew that God, having conceived it in thought, made the world through the word, they called Athena the first thought; which we consider most ridiculous, to present an image of thought in the form of a female. And similarly, the deeds of the others called sons of Zeus refute them. But we, after thus washing the one who has been persuaded and has given assent, lead him to those called brothers, where they are assembled, to make common prayers earnestly for ourselves and for the one who has been enlightened and for all others everywhere, that we may be deemed worthy, having learned the truth, to be found through our works good citizens and guardians of the commandments, so that we may be saved for eternal salvation. We greet one another with a kiss when the prayers are ended.

Then bread and a cup of water and mixed wine are brought to the president of the brethren, and he, taking them, sends up praise and glory to the father of all through the name of the son and of the holy spirit, and makes a long thanksgiving for being deemed worthy of these things from him. When he has finished the prayers and the thanksgiving, all the people present acclaim, saying, “Amen.” The word “Amen” in the Hebrew tongue means “So be it.” And when the president has given thanks and all the people have acclaimed, those who are called deacons among us give to each of those present a portion of the eucharisted bread and wine and water, and carry it to those who are absent.

And this food is called among us the Eucharist, of which it is not lawful for any other to partake except one who believes that the things taught by us are true, and who has washed in the bath for the remission of sins and for regeneration, and who lives as Christ handed down. For we do not receive these as common bread nor common drink; but just as through the word of God Jesus Christ our savior was made flesh and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food over which thanks have been given through the word from him, from which our blood and flesh are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus. For the apostles, in the memoirs composed by them, which are called Gospels, handed down that they were commanded thus: that Jesus, taking bread and having given thanks, said, “Do this in remembrance of me; this is my body.

And taking the cup likewise, and having given thanks, to say: This is my blood; and to give it to them alone. Which also in the mysteries of Mithra they have handed down to be done, imitated by the evil demons; for that bread and a cup of water are placed in the initiatory rites of the initiate with certain incantations, you either know or can learn.

We, after these things, ever after remind one another of these things; and those who have, assist all who are in need, and we always consort with one another. And over all that we partake of, we bless the maker of all things through his son Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit. And on the day called Sunday, a meeting of all who live in cities or in the country is held in the same 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 delivers a discourse, giving admonition and exhortation to the imitation of these good things. Afterwards we all stand up together and send forth prayers; and, as we said before, when we have finished the prayer, bread and wine and water are brought, and the president likewise sends up prayers and thanksgivings, to the best of his ability, and the people assent, saying the Amen, and the distribution and partaking of the things over which thanks have been given is made to each, and to those not present it is sent through the deacons.

Those who are well off and wish to do so, each according to his own choice, give what they will, and the collection is deposited with the president, and he himself cares for orphans and widows, and for those who are in need due to sickness or some other cause, and for those who are in bonds, and for strangers who are sojourning, and in short becomes a guardian for all who are in need. And we all make our assembly in common on the day of the sun, since it is the first day, on which God, turning darkness and matter, made the world, and Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead on the same day; for they crucified him on the day before the day of Saturn, and on the day after the day of Saturn, which is the day of the sun, appearing to his apostles and disciples, he taught these things which we have submitted for your examination. And if it seems to you to be in accordance with reason and truth, honor them; but if it seems to you to be nonsense, despise them as trifling matters, and do not, as against enemies, decree death against those who have done no wrong.

We forewarn you that you will not escape the coming judgment of God if you persist in injustice; and we will cry out, "Let what is pleasing to God come to pass."

And from a letter of the greatest and most illustrious Caesar Hadrian, your father, we are able to demand of you, as we have requested, that you order the trials to be conducted; we have made this address and explanation not because this was decreed by Hadrian, but because we know that we are making a just request.

We have also appended a copy of Hadrian's letter, so that you may recognize that we speak the truth in this matter as well. And this copy is as follows:

Letter of Hadrian concerning Christians. To Minucius Fundanus.

I have received a letter written to me by Serenius Granianus, a most illustrious man, whom you have succeeded. It does not seem right to me to leave the matter uninvestigated, so that people may not be disturbed and opportunity for mischief be given to informers.

If, therefore, the provincials can clearly press this demand against the Christians, so as to give a defense before the tribunal, let them proceed on this basis only, and not on mere petitions or outcries. For it is much more fitting that, if anyone wishes to bring an accusation, you should examine this.

If, then, someone accuses and proves that certain persons are acting contrary to the laws, determine the penalty according to the gravity of the offense; but, by Heracles, if someone brings such a charge for the sake of false accusation, judge the severity of the matter and take care how you might exact punishment.