Contra Julianum Of the blessed Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, an address to

 a fine thing for those who will encounter it, and for those who have a heart easily led astray and most readily carried away to things that are not fi

 1.1 Book One The wise and discerning, and those knowledgeable in the sacred doctrines, marvel at the beauty of the truth, and in every discourse have

 those after them would know the things of the first, and not rather those before them the things of the later Therefore, since the sons of the Hellen

 it was necessary to hide in the city of the Sun in Sippar. And Xisuthros, having accomplished these things, immediately sailed to Armenia, and straigh

 he made human affairs a preliminary exercise for more divine ones. Having brought the times down from Abraham to Moses, let us therefore begin here ag

 Azariah, also called Uzziah, governing the affairs of the Hebrews, and Arbaces of the Medes, and Proca Silvius of the Latins. 1.14 Therefore, from the

 coming together into a harmony of sound, Osirapis, so that in the same name Osiris and Apis might be understood. For both of these a death and a buria

 brought to them from Phoenicia, except that the things of Moses had been written And Solon, the discoverer of the laws in Athens, and indeed Plato hi

 stars and the elements of the world, fire and water, air and earth, from which all individual things are said to be composed but others again, having

 a time for the increase of what he had rightly learned sharpened his mind, then indeed, then he was taught the doctrines concerning the divinity more

 but the divine Abraham running up did not speak as to three: Lords, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant, but named the

 Upon the Sodomites who had sinned unbearably he sent the fire he rained, it says, upon Sodom fire and brimstone, the Lord from the Lord. 1.29 But to

 of nature and preeminence and worth would be reckoned both creator and creation, generated and ungenerated nature, incorruptible and under corruption,

 we are accustomed to grant the proper place, far from it but we also reckon ourselves among the children of Abraham. For we are the sons according to

 full of various counsels, and likewise that Leto suggests forgetfulness, and Hermes both memory and reason. Then he takes up natural philosophy and ex

 to them, and are some torn apart so as to think and say different things? But I would say, O excellent one, that those who were the first and earliest

 is, being a mixture of all the ages, and light of his own powers and works, the beginning of all things, a luminary in heaven, and father of all, mind

 Indeed, the sun which seems all-shining does not even seem to allow one to see himself, but if anyone gazes upon him shamelessly, he takes away his si

 what has been said by them concerning the Holy Spirit. For Porphyry says, setting forth the opinion of Plato, that the divine substance proceeded as f

 that not a few of the wise men among the Greeks, being self-willed, have gone astray, and have held opinions that rise up against each other, but ther

 found saying, setting this forth both in the middle and at the end, he would show that the arguments of his refutation were not, I suppose, produced i

 they set up their plot for the souls of the more simple. For they deceived those throughout all the earth, saying that the heaven and the other elemen

 having contrasted them with the Greeks' as being superior, how does he demand that we be silent, and make no mention at all of the things among them,

 Then do you think you have deliberated well, and not rather that you will suffer the very worst of all evil reputation? But if he should wish to under

 they reject certain foods, but they fear none of the strange things. And in addition to this they delight the supreme Zeus, having chosen to honor his

 belching forth according to what seems right to each, how could they not be thought to be guessers rather than men of knowledge of the truth? For some

 Of Plato. Consider, then, what he says about the creator and what words he puts in his mouth in the cosmogony, so that we may compare the cosmogony of

 distributed to all upon the earth, Moses was a helper and was shown to be an introducer of the most beautiful teachings to all, first by having cried

 it is not easy even for those who have known him to say he is capable in all things. And again, elsewhere: To this common conception of all men there

 the earth, and Apollo the sun and the golden-spindled, resounding one, that is Artemis, the moon? And simply applying to each of the things made by Go

 The supreme nature is understood and exists beyond all, beyond mind, reason, and wonder, having willed to make the living being like itself, as far as

 I will place upon you who are under me this commandment given to you through my Word for this law you have. For as I said just now, the Creator estab

 proclaimed, and thinks it a small thing to have been given by God to human nature to be made by Him in His image and likeness. And yet how would not a

 Did the Creator of all things entrust to other gods the necessity of laboring over the creation of the three kinds? From indolence, then, they might s

 it will campaign against His glory to think that others are also able to create and to call into existence the things that once were not for it is no

 of all nature. If, then, two things are acknowledged as existing, that which comes into being and that which makes, they are one by union, the one pre

 weave mortal to it? It is clear, then, that the demiurgic gods, having received creative power from their own father, generated the mortal animals upo

 of the ruling substances, and so he says: For Empedocles, Strife divides, and Friendship unites and this is also incorporeal for him, but the element

 of others, whatever things may have been made, and reaching even to the most insignificant of them. Is this not then a joke, tell me, and babbling hen

 if each one should need it, and showing that such a great and immeasurable creation is not without a superintendent, through which things it is well-o

 of God, and the earth his footstool. Rightly so, o noble one for I will recall God himself saying through one of the holy prophets. Heaven is my thro

1.1 Book One The wise and discerning, and those knowledgeable in the sacred doctrines, marvel at the beauty of the truth, and in every discourse have made it their aim to be able to understand a parable and a dark saying, both the sayings of the wise and their riddles. For thus, thus fixing their minds accurately and articulately on the divinely inspired Scriptures, they fill their own souls with divine light, and having taken up the enviable boast of a right and most lawful way of life, they would also be agents of the highest benefit to others. For it is written: Son, if you become wise for yourself, you will also be wise for your neighbor. But those who are perverse in heart and have a crippling of the mind, and are entirely without share in the divine light, rise up against the doctrines of piety, are excessively insolent, and mock the ineffable glory, and uttering slanderous words, they speak injustice against the Most High, according to that which is sung in the Psalms. And I think that they suffer this sickness from excessive stupefaction and from their inherent ignorance, or rather, if one must speak the truth, from the plotting of the evil and anciently-evil dragon, I mean, of Satan. 1.2 And to this the divine Paul confirms us, having written: But if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ might not shine. That the one considered to be the god of this age and the thief of the highest glory has darkened their heart is not unclear; for they have admittedly gone astray and establish over life gods more numerous than can be counted, both demons and souls of heroes, as they themselves say and have resolved to think. But the tear of the right-minded would be shed for them, had they chosen to be not very silent about those things for which one might be ashamed; but now their undertaking proceeds to such a point of impiety that they seek to inflict on others the disease of so shameful a superstition. For like certain snakes sitting at crossroads, they cruelly leap upon those who pass by, pouring the venom of destruction into the easily led; and about them it might be said, and very fittingly: You snakes, you brood of vipers, how can you speak good things, being evil? And the Lord would not miss the truth in saying: The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and the evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things, and: Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 1.3 And I say these things having encountered the books of Julian, who made an intolerable denunciation of our holy religion, saying that we have been led astray and have foolishly departed from the path which is both straight and blameless, and are going as if over rocks, and offering a worship altogether unwanted by the God over all, a worship agreeing neither with the laws given through the all-wise Moses, nor indeed with the superstitions of the Greeks, that is, their customs and ways, but have innovated a sort of middle life, erring in respect to both. But I, for my part, would say that we are free from the folly of the Greeks, and that a great argument separates Christian matters from their nonsense; For there is no fellowship of light with darkness, nor any portion for a believer with an unbeliever. But that we are not at variance with the books of Moses, nor have we practiced a way of life contrary to his decrees, I shall try to fully demonstrate as I am able, as the fitting occasion exercises our discourse in these matters. 1.4 However, for the present I shall think it necessary to say this: for it is true that, according to the saying parodied by some, one man is wise from one source, another from another, but it would surely be manifest that the things of the

1.1 βιβλίον πρῶτον Οἱ μὲν σοφοὶ καὶ ἀγχίνοι καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν δογμάτων ἐπιστήμονες τὸ κάλλος τῆς ἀληθείας θαυμάζουσι καὶ ἐν παντὶ λόγῳ πεποίηνται τὸ συνιέναι δύνασθαι παραβολὴν καὶ σκοτεινὸν λόγον, ῥήσεις τε σοφῶν καὶ αἰνίγματα. Οὕτω γάρ, οὕτω ταῖς θεοπνεύστοις Γραφαῖς ἀκριβῆ καὶ διηρθρωμένον τὸν νοῦν ἐνερείδοντες φωτὸς μὲν τοῦ θείου τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἀναπιμπλᾶσι ψυχάς, ἀξιοζήλωτον δὲ πολιτείας ὀρθῆς καὶ ἐννομωτάτης ἀράμενοι καύχημα εἶεν ἂν καὶ ἑτέροις ὠφελείας τῆς ἀνωτάτω πρόξενοι. Γέγραπται γὰρ ὅτι· Υἱέ, ἐὰν σοφὸς γένῃ σεαυτῷ, σοφὸς ἔσῃ καὶ τῷ πλησίον. Οἱ δὲ διάστροφοι τὴν καρδίαν καὶ τὴν εἰς νοῦν ἔχοντες ἐμπηρίαν, ἀμέτοχοί τε εἰς ἅπαν τοῦ θείου φωτός, τοῖς δόγμασι μὲν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀντανίστανται, θρασυστομοῦσι δὲ λίαν καὶ τῆς ἀρρήτου κατεπαίρονται δόξης, καὶ παλιμφήμους ἱέντες φωνὰς ἀδικίαν εἰς τὸ ὕψος λαλοῦσι, κατὰ τὸ ἐν ψαλμοῖς ὑμνούμενον. Ἀρρωστῆσαι δὲ οἶμαι τοῦτο αὐτοὺς ἐκ πολλῆς ἄγαν ἀποπληξίας καὶ τῆς ἐνούσης αὐτοῖς ἀμαθίας, μᾶλλον δὲ εἰ χρὴ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς τοῦ πονηροῦ τε καὶ ἀρχεκάκου δράκοντος, φημὶ δὴ τοῦ Σατανᾶ. 1.2 Καὶ πρὸς τοῦτό γε ἡμᾶς ἐμπεδοῖ γεγραφὼς ὁ θεσπέσιος Παῦλος. Εἰ δὲ καὶ ἔστι κεκαλυμμένον τὸ Εὐαγγέλιον ἡμῶν, ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις ἐστὶ κεκαλυμμένον, ἐν οἷς ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου ἐτύφλωσε τὰ νοήματα τῶν ἀπίστων εἰς τὸ μὴ αὐγάσαι τὸν φωτισμὸν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τῆς τοῦ Χριστοῦ δόξης. Ὅτι μὲν οὖν ὁ νομισθεὶς εἶναι θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου καὶ τῆς ἀνωτάτω δόξης κλοπεὺς ἐσκότισεν αὐτῶν τὴν καρδίαν, οὐκ ἀσυμφανές· πεπλάνηνται γὰρ ὁμολογουμένως καὶ ἀριθμοῦ κρείττονας ἐφιστᾶσι τῷ βίῳ θεούς, δαίμονάς τε καὶ ἡρώων ψυχάς, καθά φασιν αὐτοὶ καὶ φρονεῖν ἐγνώκασιν. Ἀλλ' ἦν ἂν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς τὸ τῶν εὖ φρονούντων δάκρυον, οὐ σφόδρα πολὺ σιωπᾶν ᾑρημένοις τὰ ἐφ' οἷς ἄν τις αἰσχύνοιτο· νῦν δὲ δὴ πρόεισι δυσσεβείας εἰς τοῦτο αὐτοῖς τὸ ἐγχείρημα ὥστε καὶ ἑτέροις ζητεῖν ἐνιέναι τῆς οὕτως αἰσχρᾶς δεισιδαιμονίας τὴν νόσον. Οἷα γάρ τινες ὄφεις τριόδοις ἐγκαθήμενοι τοῖς ἐν αὐταῖς διαστείχουσιν ἐπιπηδῶσι πικροί, τὸν τῆς ἀπωλείας ἰὸν τοῖς εὐπαραφόροις ἐγχέοντες· καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν ἂν λέγοιτο, καὶ σφόδρα εἰκότως· Ὄφεις, γεννήματα ἐχιδνῶν, πῶς δύνασθε ἀγαθὰ λαλεῖν πονηροὶ ὄντες; Καὶ οὐκ ἂν ἁμάρτοι τοῦ ἀληθοῦς ὁ Κύριος λέγων· Ὁ ἀγαθὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ προφέρει τὰ ἀγαθά, καὶ ὁ πονηρὸς ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ θησαυροῦ τῆς καρδίας αὐτοῦ προφέρει τὰ πονηρά, καὶ· Ἀπὸ τοῦ περισσεύματος τῆς καρδίας τὸ στόμα λαλεῖ. 1.3 Καὶ ταῦτά φημι τοῖς Ἰουλιανοῦ βιβλίοις ἐντυχών, ὃς τῆς εὐαγοῦς ἡμῶν θρησκείας οὐ φορητὴν ἐποιήσατο τὴν κατάρρησιν, πεπλανῆσθαι λέγων ἡμᾶς καὶ ἀποφοιτῆσαι μὲν ἀσυνέτως τῆς εὐθύ τε καὶ ἀμωμήτως ἐχούσης ὁδοῦ, ἰέναι δὲ ὥσπερ κατὰ πετρῶν, καὶ ὁλοτρόπως ἀβούλητον τῷ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεῷ ποιεῖσθαι λατρείαν, οὔτε τοῖς διὰ τοῦ πανσόφου Μωσέως νόμοις συμβαίνουσαν, οὔτε μὴν ταῖς Ἑλλήνων δεισιδαιμονίαις, ἤγουν ἔθεσί τε καὶ τρόποις, μέσην δὲ ὥσπερ τινὰ καὶ ἀμφοῖν ἁμαρτάνουσαν καινοτομῆσαι ζωήν. Ἐγὼ δέ, ὅτι μὲν τῆς Ἑλλήνων ἀπηλλάγμεθα ἐμβροντησίας, καὶ πολὺς ἀποτειχίζει λόγος τῆς ἐκείνων τερθρείας τὰ Χριστιανῶν, φαίην ἄν· Κοινωνία γὰρ οὐδεμία φωτὶ πρὸς σκότος, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ μερὶς πιστῷ μετὰ ἀπίστου. Ὅτι δὲ τοῖς Μωσέως βιβλίοις ἐσμὲν οὐ διάφοροι, οὔτε μὴν ἀντεξάγουσαν τοῖς ἐκείνου θεσπίσμασι πολιτείαν ἐπετηδεύσαμεν, ὡς ἂν οἷός τε ὦ πληροφορεῖν πειράσομαι, καιροῦ τοῦ καθήκοντος ἐν τούτοις ἡμῖν τὸν λόγον διαγυμνάζοντος. 1.4 Πλὴν ἐκεῖνο εἰπεῖν εἰς τὸ παρὸν οἰήσομαι δεῖν· ἀληθὲς μὲν γὰρ ὅτι, κατὰ τό τισι παρῳδούμενον, σοφὸς ἄλλος ἀπ' ἄλλου, πρόδηλον δὲ δήπουθεν εἴη ἂν ὅτι τὰ τῶν