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in the heavens." 2.4 Since you say these and such things, and being unable to contradict the commands of your piety, I have committed myself to this, trusting that your prayers will assist me, and praying that divine grace may be with us in the opening of our mouth, without which we can accomplish nothing, so that we might be able, without polished and artificial speech, but in plain and simple words, while grace shows its own power, to teach both its own nurslings the knowledge of divine doctrines and the lives of men who were well-pleasing, and to speak without hesitation about the figures of the world's creation, and to write eagerly and to impart generously what we ourselves have freely received from God. 2.5 Having therefore completed, O lover of God, the first discourse concerning the counterfeit Christians, and having refuted them, insofar as was possible, as I think, for attempting impossible things, not attempting to overturn the decency of their arguments—may it not be so—but rejecting the fictions and myths of the Hellenic suppositions, and having put an end to that discourse, we now take up your command, first in this second discourse narrating Christian hypotheses concerning the figures and topography of the world; then thus in the third, that the divine Scripture, Old and New Testament, is firm and trustworthy in and of itself, narrating and demonstrating also the usefulness of the figures; and then again in the fourth a recapitulation and description of the figures of the world; likewise in the fifth a description of the tabernacle constructed in the wilderness, and the harmony of the prophets and apostles. Let this book, therefore, be named by us Christian Topography, encompassing the entire world, having proofs truly from the divine Scripture, about which Christians ought not to dispute. Therefore, with the impulse from above, as has been said, assisting us through your prayers, we begin to state our hypotheses. 2.6 The divine cosmographer Moses, therefore, says: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth." We suppose, therefore, that heaven and earth together are the containers of the universe, as containing the whole within themselves. And that these things are so, he himself again exclaims: "For in six days God made the heaven and the earth and all things that are in them." Likewise again he says: "And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them." And again summarizing and naming the book, he says thus: "This is the book of the generation of heaven and earth," as if they were containers and all things in them were meant to be signified together with them. 2.7 For if, according to the counterfeit Christians, the heaven alone contains the universe, he would not have mentioned the earth with the heaven, but: "This is the book of the generation of heaven." But indeed he is not seen to have done this, nor any other of the prophets; it is clear that he knows both happen to be containers of the universe, and the whole choir of the just and prophets always signify the heaven together with the earth. And hear each of them speaking. Melchizedek first, blessing Abraham, says thus: "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth." Second, Abraham says: "I will lift up my hand to God Most High, who created the heaven and the earth." And again: "Put your hand under my thigh, and I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth." And again: "The Lord, the God of heaven and of the earth, who took me from my father's house." 2.8 Further, David: "Blessed are you by the Lord, who made the heaven and the earth." And again: "Whatever he willed, he did in the heaven and in the earth." And again: "You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands." Likewise Hosea says thus: "I am the Lord your God who makes firm the heaven and creates the earth, whose hands have created all the host of heaven." Zechariah: "stretching out the heaven and laying the foundation of the earth and forming the spirit of man within him." 2.9 Isaiah says thus: "The Lord God who made the heaven and fixed it

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τοῖς οὐρανοῖς." 2.4 Ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ὑμῶν φασκόντων, καὶ ταῖς τῆς σῆς θεοσεβείας κελεύσεσι μὴ δυνάμενος ἀντειπεῖν καθῆκα ἐμαυτὸν εἰς τοῦτο, τὰς σὰς εὐχὰς συλλαβέσθαι μοι θαρρῶν, τήν τε θείαν χάριν ἡμῖν προσγενέσθαι δεόμενος ἐν ἀνοίξει τοῦ στόματος, ἧς ἄνευ οὐδὲν δυνάμεθα κατορθῶσαι, ὅπως δυνηθείημεν ἄνευ κεκομψευμένου καὶ τεχνικοῦ λόγου, ἐν ἰδιωτικοῖς τε καὶ ἀπλάστοις ῥήμασι, τὴν ἰδίαν ἰσχὺν τῆς χάριτος δεικνυούσης, διδάσκειν τε τοὺς αὐτῆς τροφίμους καὶ δογμάτων θείων εἴδησιν καὶ βίους ἀνδρῶν εὐαρέστων, καὶ σχήματα γενέσεως κόσμου λέγειν ἀδιστάκτως, καὶ συγγράφειν προθύμως καὶ μεταδιδόναι ἀφθόνως, ἅπερ καὶ ἡμεῖς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ δωρεὰν ἐλάβομεν. 2.5 Τελέσαντες τοίνυν, ὦ θεόφιλε, τὸν πρῶτον λόγον περὶ τῶν πεπλασμένων χριστιανῶν, καὶ ἐλέγξαντες ὡς ἀδυνάτοις ἐπιχειροῦσιν, ὅσον ἐνῆν, ὡς ἔγωγε οἶμαι, οὐ τὴν κοσμιότητα τῶν λόγων ἀνατρέπειν ἐπιχειροῦντεςμὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ τὰ πλάσματα καὶ τοὺς μύθους τῶν ἑλληνικῶν ὑποθέσεων ἀπωθούμενοι καὶ πέρας ἐπιτεθεικότες τῷ λόγῳ ἐφαπτόμεθα νυνὶ τῆς ὑμετέρας κελεύσεως ὑποθέσεις χριστιανικὰς ἐν τούτῳ πρῶτον τῷ δευτέρῳ λόγῳ διηγούμενοι περὶ σχημάτων καὶ τοποθεσίας τοῦ κόσμου· εἶθ' οὕτως ἐν τῷ τρίτῳ, ὅτι βεβαία ἐστὶ καὶ ἀξιόπιστος ἡ θεία Γραφή, Παλαιά τε καὶ Καινὴ ∆ιαθήκη, αὐτὴ καθ' ἑαυτήν, διηγουμένη καὶ ἀποφαινομένη καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον τῶν σχημάτων· ἔτι τε πάλιν ἐν τῷ τετάρτῳ ἀνακεφαλαίωσιν καὶ διαγραφὴν τῶν τοῦ κόσμου σχημάτων· ὁμοίως ἐν τῷ πέμπτῳ διαγραφὴν τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ κατασκευασθείσης, καὶ τῶν προφητῶν καὶ ἀποστόλων τὴν συμφωνίαν. Ἔστω τοίνυν αὕτη ἡ βίβλος Χριστιανικὴ Τοπογραφία περιεκτικὴ παντὸς τοῦ κόσμου παρ' ἡμῶν ὠνομασμένη, ἀποδείξεις ἔχουσα ἐκ τῆς θείας ὄντως Γραφῆς, περὶ ἧς ἀμφισβητεῖν χριστιανοὺς οὐ δέον. Τῆς οὖν ἄνωθεν, ὡς εἴρηται, ῥοπῆς συνεργούσης ἡμῖν διὰ τῶν ὑμετέρων προσευχῶν, ἀρχόμεθα λέγειν τὰς ἡμετέρας ὑποθέσεις. 2.6 Λέγει τοίνυν ὁ θεῖος κοσμογράφος Μωϋσῆς· "Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." Ὑποτιθέμεθα τοίνυν οὐρανὸν ἅμα καὶ γῆν περιεκτικὰ τοῦ παντὸς ὑπάρχειν, ὡς περιέχοντα τὸ πᾶν ἔνδον ἑαυτῶν. Ὅτι δὲ ταῦθ' οὕτως ἔχει, αὐτὸς πάλιν βοᾷ· "Ἐν γὰρ ἓξ ἡμέραις ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς." Ὁμοίως πάλιν λέγει· "Καὶ συνετελέσθη ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ πᾶς ὁ κόσμος αὐτῶν." Ἀνακεφαλαιούμενος δὲ πάλιν καὶ τὴν βίβλον ὀνομάζων φησὶν οὕτως· "Αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς", ὡσανεὶ περιεκτικῶν αὐτῶν ὄντων καὶ συσσημαίνεσθαι ὀφειλόντων πάντων τῶν ἐν αὐτοῖς. 2.7 Εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς πεπλασμένους χριστιανοὺς ὁ οὐρανὸς μόνος περιέχει τὸ πᾶν, οὐκ ἂν ἔλεγε τὴν γῆν σὺν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ἀλλ'· "Αὕτη ἡ βίβλος γενέσεως οὐρανοῦ." Ἀλλὰ μὴν τοῦτο οὐ φαίνεται πεποιηκώς, οὔτε ἕτερός τις τῶν προφητῶν· εὔδηλον ὡς ἀμφότερα οἶδε τοῦ παντὸς περιεκτικὰ τυγχάνειν, καὶ πᾶς δὲ ὁ χορὸς τῶν δικαίων καὶ προφητῶν τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀεὶ σὺν τῇ γῇ συσσημαίνουσι. Καὶ ἄκουσον ἑκάστου λέγοντος. Μελχισεδὲκ πρῶτος εὐλογῶν τὸν Ἀβραάμ φησιν οὕτως· "Εὐλογημένος Ἀβρὰμ τῷ Θεῷ τῷ ὑψίστῳ, ὃς ἔκτισε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." ∆εύτερος Ἀβραάμ φησιν· "Ἐκτενῶ τὴν χεῖρά μου πρὸς Θεὸν τὸν ὕψιστον, ὃς ἔκτισε τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Ὑπόθες τὴν χεῖρά σου ὑπὸ τὸν μηρόν μου καὶ ἐξορκίζω σε Κύριον τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τὸν Θεὸν τῆς γῆς." Καὶ πάλιν· "Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς, ὃς ἔλαβέ με ἐκ τοῦ οἴκου τοῦ πατρός μου." 2.8 Ἔτι ὁ ∆αυΐδ· "Εὐλογημένοι ὑμεῖς τῷ Κυρίῳ τῷ ποιήσαντι τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν." Καὶ πάλιν· "Πάντα ὅσα ἠθέλησεν, ἐποίησεν ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ." Καὶ πάλιν· "Σὺ κατ' ἀρχάς, Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐρανοί." Ὁμοίως Ὠσηὲ οὕτως φησίν· "Ἐγὼ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου ὁ στερεῶν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ κτίζων γῆν, οὗ αἱ χεῖρες ἔκτισαν πᾶσαν τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ." Ζαχαρίας· "Ἐκτείνων τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ θεμελιῶν τὴν γῆν καὶ πλάσσων πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπου ἐν αὐτῷ." 2.9 Ἠσαΐας οὕτως λέγει· "Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ πήξας