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they believed. What then did he do? He ran to the altar, and with the enemies' own weapons he conquered them. And this is what he says: I became all things to all men, to the Jews as a Jew, to the lawless as lawless. He saw the altar, he saw the inscription, he rose up in the Spirit. For such is the grace of the Spirit; it makes those who receive it gain from all quarters; such are our spiritual weapons. For we are taking every thought captive, he says, to the obedience of Christ. So he saw the altar, and did not shrink back; but he brought the altar over to his own side; or rather, leaving the letters, he changed its meaning; and just as a general in war, seeing a brave soldier in the enemy's battle line, then grabbing the soldier by the hair, might move him to his own rank, and prepare him to fight on his behalf; so also Paul did, finding the inscription written on the altar as if in the battle line of the enemy, he moved it to his own rank, so that it might fight with Paul against the Athenians, and not with the Athenians strike at Paul. For that inscription was a sword of the Athenians, it was a dagger of the enemies, but this dagger of the enemies cut off their own head. It would not have been so wondrous, if he had conquered them with his own weapons; for this happens according to reason; for what is new and paradoxical is when the weapons of the enemies, these are turned as engines against the enemies; when the sword which they bear against us, this inflicts the fatal blow upon themselves.

4. For such is the power of the Spirit. Thus David also did once; he went out naked of weapons, so that the grace of God might appear naked. For let there be nothing human, he says, when God fights for us. He went out, therefore, naked of weapons, and brought down that tower. Then, since he had no weapons, he ran and seized the sword of Goliath, and thus cut off the barbarian's head; so also Paul did in the case of this inscription. And so that the manner of the victory may be clearer, I will also tell you the power of the inscription. So Paul found in Athens an altar on which was inscribed, To an Unknown God. And who was the unknown one, but Christ? Do you see how he took the inscription captive, not to the harm of those who wrote it, but for their salvation and providence? What then? Did the Athenians write this for Christ, he says? If the Athenians had written it for Christ, it would not have been so wondrous; but this is the wondrous thing, that they wrote it for one purpose, but he was able to change it to another. First it is necessary to say for what reason the Athenians wrote, To an Unknown God. For what reason then did they write it? They had many gods, or rather, many demons; for all the gods of the nations are demons. They had both local and foreign ones. See how great the ridicule is. For if He is God, He is not a foreigner; for He is Lord of the whole world. Some of these, then, they had received from their fathers, and others from neighboring nations, such as from the Scythians, from the Thracians, from the Egyptians; and if you were experienced in outside learning, I would have read all these histories to you as well. Since, therefore, they did not receive them all from the beginning, but they were introduced to them little by little, some in their fathers' time, others in their own generation, they came together and said to one another: "Just as we were ignorant of these," they say, "and then later we received and came to know them, so it happens that there is another who is unknown, who is indeed a God, but is not known by us; and for this reason he escapes notice, being neglected, and not even worshipped." What then was to be done? They set up an altar and wrote, To an Unknown God, saying this through the inscription: "And if there is any other god not yet known to us, let us worship him too." See the excess of superstition. For this reason Paul began by saying, In all things I perceive that you are very superstitious; for you worship not only the demons known to you, but also those not yet known to you. They indeed inscribed it for this reason,

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ἐπίστευον. Τί οὖν ἐποίησεν; Ἐπὶ τὸν βωμὸν ἔδραμε, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ὅπλων τῶν πολεμίων αὐτοὺς ἐχειρώσατο. Καὶ τοῦτό ἐστιν, ὃ λέγει· Ἐγενόμην τοῖς πᾶσι τὰ πάντα, τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὡς Ἰουδαῖος, τοῖς ἀνόμοις ὡς ἄνομος. Εἶδε τὸν βωμὸν, εἶδε τὸ ἐπίγραμμα, ἀνέστη τῷ Πνεύματι. Τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος χάρις· πάντοθεν ποιεῖ κερδαίνειν τοὺς ὑποδεχομένους αὐτήν· τοιαῦτα ἡμῶν τὰ ὅπλα τὰ πνευματικά. Αἰχμαλωτίζοντες γὰρ, φησὶ, πᾶν νόημα πρὸς τὴν ὑπακοὴν τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εἶδε τοίνυν τὸν βωμὸν, καὶ οὐκ ἐδειλίασεν· ἀλλὰ μετέστησε τὸν βωμὸν πρὸς ἑαυτόν· μᾶλλον δὲ τὰ γράμματα ἀφεὶς, μετέθηκεν αὐτοῦ τὰ νοήματα· καὶ καθάπερ ἐν πολέμῳ στρατηγὸς ἰδὼν στρατιώτην ἐν τῇ παρατάξει τῶν πολεμίων γενναῖον, εἶτα λαβόμενος ἀπὸ τῆς κόμης τοῦ στρατιώτου, πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν αὐτὸν μεταστήσειε, καὶ παρασκευάσειεν ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πολεμεῖν· οὕτω καὶ ὁ Παῦλος ἐποίησε, καθάπερ ἐν παρατάξει πολεμίων τὸ ἐπίγραμμα εὑρὼν ἐν τῷ βωμῷ γεγραμμένον, πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ τάξιν μετέστησεν, ἵνα μετὰ Παύλου τοῖς Ἀθηναίοις πολεμῇ, ἀλλ' οὐ μετὰ Ἀθηναίων τὸν Παῦλον βάλλῃ· ξίφος γὰρ ἦν τῶν Ἀθηναίων, μάχαιρα ἦν τῶν πολεμίων τὸ ἐπίγραμμα ἐκεῖνο, ἀλλ' αὕτη ἡ μάχαιρα τῶν πολεμίων τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐξέτεμεν. Οὐκ ἦν οὕτω θαυμαστὸν, εἰ τοῖς οἰκείοις αὐτοῦ ὅπλοις ἐχειρώσατο· τοῦτο γὰρ κατὰ λόγον συμβαίνει· τὸ γὰρ καινὸν καὶ παράδοξον, ὅταν τὰ τῶν πολεμίων ὅπλα, ταῦτα μηχανήματα τοῖς πολεμίοις προσάγηται· ὅταν τὸ ξίφος, ὃ καθ' ἡμῶν βαστάζουσι, τοῦτο αὐτοῖς τὴν καιρίαν ἐπαγάγῃ πληγήν.

δʹ. Τοιαύτη γὰρ ἡ τοῦ Πνεύματος δύναμις. Οὕτω καὶ ὁ ∆αυῒδ ἐποίησέ ποτε· ἐξῆλθε γυμνὸς τῶν ὅπλων, ἵνα φανῇ γυμνὴ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χάρις. Μηδὲν γὰρ, φησὶν, ἀνθρώπινον ἔστω, ὅταν Θεὸς ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν πολεμῇ. Ἐξῆλθε τοίνυν γυμνὸς τῶν ὅπλων, καὶ κατήνεγκε τὸν πύργον ἐκεῖνον. Εἶτα ἐπειδὴ ὅπλα οὐκ εἶχε, δραμὼν ἥρπασε τὴν μάχαιραν τοῦ Γολιὰθ, καὶ οὕτω τὴν κεφαλὴν ἐξέτεμε τὴν τοῦ βαρβάρου· οὕτω καὶ Παῦλος ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἐπιγράμματος τούτου. Καὶ ἵνα σαφέστερος γένηται ὁ τῆς νίκης τρόπος, καὶ τὴν δύναμιν ὑμῖν τοῦ ἐπιγράμματος ἐρῶ. Εὗρε τοίνυν ὁ Παῦλος ἐν Ἀθήναις βωμὸν, ἐν ᾧ ἐπεγέγραπτο Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ. Τίς δὲ ἦν ὁ ἀγνοούμενος, ἀλλ' ἢ ὁ Χριστός; Εἶδες πῶς ἐξῃχμαλώτισε τὸ ἐπίγραμμα, οὐκ ἐπὶ κακῷ τῶν γραψάντων, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ σωτηρίᾳ αὐτῶν καὶ προνοίᾳ; Τί οὖν; Οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ἔγραψαν τοῦτο, φησίν; Εἰ διὰ τὸν Χριστὸν ἔγραψαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, οὐκ ἦν οὕτω θαυμαστόν· ἀλλὰ τοῦτό ἐστι τὸ θαυμαστὸν, ὅτι ἐκεῖνοι μὲν ἄλλως ἔγραψαν, οὗτος δὲ ἴσχυσεν ἄλλως αὐτὸ μεταβαλεῖν. Πρότερον ἀναγκαῖον εἰπεῖν τίνος ἕνεκεν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἔγραψαν, Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ. Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν ἔγραψαν; Πολλοὺς εἶχον θεοὺς ἐκεῖνοι, μᾶλλον δὲ πολλοὺς δαίμονας· Πάντες γὰρ οἱ θεοὶ τῶν ἐθνῶν δαιμόνια. Εἶχον καὶ ἐπιχωρίους, καὶ ξένους. Ὁρᾶτε ὅσος ὁ κατάγελως. Εἰ γὰρ Θεός ἐστιν, οὐκ ἔστι ξένος· τῆς γὰρ οἰκουμένης ἁπάσης ∆εσπότης ἐστί. Τούτων τοίνυν τοὺς μὲν παρὰ πατέρων εἶχον δεξάμενοι, τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν πλησίον ἐθνῶν, οἷον ἀπὸ Σκυθῶν, ἀπὸ Θρᾳκῶν, ἀπὸ Αἰγυπτίων· καὶ εἰ τῆς ἔξωθεν παιδεύσεως ἦτε ἔμπειροι, καὶ ταύτας ἂν ὑμῖν ἀνέγνων τὰς ἱστορίας πάσας. Ἐπεὶ οὖν οὐκ ἐξ ἀρχῆς πάντας ἐδέξαντο, ἀλλὰ κατὰ μικρὸν εἰσηνέχθησαν αὐτοῖς, οἱ μὲν ἐπὶ τῶν πατέρων, οἱ δὲ ἐπὶ τῆς γενεᾶς τῆς ἑαυτῶν, συνελθόντες εἶπον πρὸς ἀλλήλους· ὅτι Ὥσπερ τούτους ἠγνοοῦμεν, φασὶν, ἔπειτα ὕστερον αὐτοὺς ἐδεξάμεθα καὶ ἐγνωρίσαμεν, οὕτω συμβαίνει καὶ ἄλλον εἶναι ἀγνοούμενον, καὶ ὄντα μὲν Θεὸν, οὐ γνωριζόμενον δὲ ὑφ' ἡμῶν· καὶ διὰ τοῦτο λανθάνει ἀμελούμενος, καὶ μηδὲ θεραπευόμενος. Τί οὖν ἵνα γένηται; Ἔστησαν βωμὸν, καὶ ἔγραψαν, Ἀγνώστῳ Θεῷ, τοῦτο λέγοντες διὰ τοῦ ἐπιγράμματος· ὅτι Καὶ εἴ τίς ἐστι θεὸς ἕτερος οὐδέπω γνωρισθεὶς ἡμῖν, κἀκεῖνον θεραπεύσωμεν. Ὅρα ὑπερβολὴν δεισιδαιμονίας. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ Παῦλος ἀρχόμενος ἔφη, Κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς ὁρῶ· οὐ γὰρ τοὺς γνωρίμους ὑμῖν δαίμονας θεραπεύετε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς οὐδέπω γνωρισθέντας ὑμῖν. Ἐκεῖνοι μὲν διὰ τοῦτο ἐπέγραψαν,