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

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 subtly; for not only did he learn thoroughly that there is one God, and no other besides him, but also that the fullness of the one and pure nature is conceived in a holy and consubstantial Trinity, he was taught as if still in types, and almost even sensibly. For what reason? Because to those newly called to the knowledge of truth, and whose minds are not practiced in the contemplations upon it, the light of the vision of God seems to be somehow inaccessible, and truly is. For such knowledge requires a mind that is steadfast and exercised and knows how to see sharply, and in addition to these things has had faith previously settled in it; for this is the foundation and unshakable basis of the doctrines concerning the divinity. And to this indeed the prophet Isaiah confirms us, saying: If you do not believe, you will not understand. 1.25 But that there is an absolute need for instruction through enigmas for those newly approaching such subtle and, as it were, refined concepts, namely, those concerning God, how could one doubt, since not even the wise among the Greeks were ignorant of the matter? Porphyry, at any rate, who had a not ignoble reputation among them for secular learning, in the first book of his History of Philosophy says something of this sort about the so-called wise men, that is, those who had a reputation for seeming wisdom: For not being able, he says, to hand down the first forms and the first principles clearly in discourse, because they are both difficult to comprehend and difficult to express, they resorted to numbers for the sake of clear teaching, imitating the geometers and the grammarians; for just as these, wishing to hand down the powers of the elements and these things themselves, resorted to characters, saying that these are the elements for the purpose of initial instruction, later, however, they teach that the characters are not the elements, but through them an understanding of the true elements comes about, and the geometers, not being able to present incorporeal things in discourse, resort to diagrams of shapes, saying this is a triangle, not meaning that this thing that falls under sight is the triangle, but that which is of such a nature, and through this they present the concept of the triangle; and so in the case of the first principles and forms the Pythagoreans did the same thing; not being able to present in discourse the incorporeal things and the first principles, they resorted to demonstration through numbers, and thus the principle of unity, and of sameness and of equality, and the cause of the concord and sympathy of all things and of the preservation of that which exists in the same way and manner, they called one. 1.26 Therefore, since the proper and excellent attributes of the divinity are both difficult to express and ineffable and not ready to be contemplated, and whatever discourses might be made about it would be found to be utterly small and falling short of the truth, we learn the things concerning it through clearer figures and types, as in a mirror and in an enigma. Thus we say the divine Abraham was taught; for it is written thus concerning him. And God appeared to him by the oak of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent at midday. And lifting up his eyes he saw, and behold, three men stood before him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent and bowed down to the ground and said: Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. And after other things: And he said, it says, to him: Where is Sarah your wife? And he answered and said: Behold, in the tent. And he said: I will surely return to you at this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son. Behold, then, very clearly it says that God appeared to him, but that those who were seen were three men,

καιρὸς εἰς ἐπίδοσιν αὐτῷ τῶν ὀρθῶς ἐγνωσμένων ἠκόνησε τὴν διάνοιαν, τότε δή, τότε τοὺς περὶ τῆς θεότητος λόγους ἰσχνότερον ἐπαιδεύετο· οὐ γάρ τοι μόνον ὡς εἷς μὲν ἔστι Θεός, ἕτερος δὲ παρ' αὐτὸν οὐδεὶς διεμάνθανεν, ἀλλ' ὅτι καὶ ἐν ἁγίᾳ καὶ ὁμοουσίῳ νοεῖται Τριάδι τὸ τῆς μιᾶς τε καὶ ἀκηράτου φύσεως πλήρωμα ὡς ἐν τύποις ἔτι, μονονουχὶ δὲ καὶ αἰσθητῶς, ἐδιδάσκετο. ∆ιὰ ποίαν αἰτίαν; Ὅτι τοῖς ἄρτι κεκλημένοις εἰς ἐπίγνωσιν ἀληθείας, καὶ οὐκ ἐντριβῆ τοῖς ἐπ' αὐτῇ θεωρήμασι τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχουσιν, ἀπρόσιτόν πως εἶναι δοκεῖ καί ἐστιν ἀληθῶς τὸ φῶς τῆς θεοπτίας. ∆εῖται γὰρ ἡ τοιάδε γνῶσις βεβηκότος τε νοῦ καὶ γεγυμνασμένου καὶ ὀξὺ βλέπειν εἰδότος, καὶ προσέτι τούτοις προεισοικισαμένου τὴν πίστιν· κρηπὶς γὰρ αὕτη καὶ ἀκατάσειστος ὑποβάθρα τῶν περὶ τῆς θεότητος λόγων. Καὶ πρός γε τοῦτο ἡμᾶς ἐμπεδοῖ λέγων ὁ προφήτης Ἠσαΐας· Ἐὰν μὴ πιστεύσητε, οὐδ' οὐ μὴ συνῆτε. 1.25 Ὅτι δὲ δεῖ πάντως τῆς δι' αἰνιγμάτων παιδαγωγίας τοῖς ἄρτι προσβάλλουσι ταῖς οὕτως ἰσχναῖς καὶ οἱονεὶ κατερρινισμέναις ἐννοίαις, ταῖς περὶ Θεοῦ δηλονότι, πῶς ἂν ἐνδοιάσειέ τις, οὐδὲ τῶν παρ' Ἕλλησι σοφῶν ἠγνοηκότων τὸ χρῆμα; Πορφύριος γοῦν, ἐπὶ παιδείᾳ κοσμικῇ δόξαν ἔχων παρ' ἐκείνοις οὐκ ἀγεννῆ, ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ λόγῳ τῆς Φιλοσόφου ἱστορίας τοιοῦτόν τί φησι περὶ τῶν ὠνομασμένων σοφῶν, ἤτοι δοκησισοφίας ὑπόληψιν ἐσχηκότων· Μὴ δυνάμενοι γάρ, φησί, τὰ πρῶτα εἴδη καὶ τὰς πρώτας ἀρχὰς σαφῶς τῷ λόγῳ παραδοῦναι διά τε τὸ δυσπερινόητον αὐτῶν καὶ δυσέξοιστον παρεγένοντο ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀριθμοὺς εὐσήμου διδασκαλίας χάριν, μιμησάμενοι τοὺς γεωμέτρας καὶ τοὺς γραμματιστάς· ὡς γὰρ οὗτοι, τὰς δυνάμεις τῶν στοιχείων καὶ αὐτὰ ταῦτα βουλόμενοι παραδοῦναι, παρεγένοντο ἐπὶ τοὺς χαρακτῆρας, τούτους λέγοντες ὡς πρὸς τὴν πρώτην διδασκαλίαν στοιχεῖα εἶναι, ὕστερον μέντοι διδάσκουσιν ὅτι οὐχ οὗτοι στοιχεῖά εἰσιν οἱ χαρακτῆρες, ἀλλὰ διὰ τούτων ἔννοια γίνεται τῶν πρὸς ἀλήθειαν στοιχείων, καὶ οἱ γεωμέτραι, μὴ δυνάμενοι τἀσωματοειδῆ λόγῳ παραστῆσαι, παραγίνονται ἐπὶ τὰς διαγραφὰς τῶν σχημάτων, λέγοντες εἶναι τρίγωνον τόδε, οὐ τοῦτο βουλόμενοι τρίγωνον εἶναι τὸ ὑπὸ τὴν ὄψιν ὑποπίπτον ἀλλὰ τὸ τοιοῦτον, καὶ διὰ τούτου τὴν ἔννοιαν τοῦ τριγώνου παριστᾶσι· κἀπὶ τῶν πρώτων οὖν λόγων καὶ εἰδῶν τὸ αὐτὸ ἐποίησαν οἱ Πυθαγόρειοι· μὴ ἰσχύοντες λόγῳ παραστῆσαι τἀσωματοειδῆ καὶ τὰς πρώτας ἀρχάς, παρεγένοντο ἐπὶ τὴν διὰ τῶν ἀριθμῶν δήλωσιν, καὶ οὕτω τὸν μὲν τῆς ἑνότητος λόγον, καὶ τὸν τῆς ταὐτότητος καὶ τῆς ἰσότητος, καὶ τὸ αἴτιον τῆς συμπνοίας καὶ τῆς συμπαθείας τῶν ὅλων καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας τοῦ κατὰ τὰ αὐτὰ καὶ ὡσαύτως ἔχοντος ἓν προσηγόρευσαν. 1.26 Οὐκοῦν ἐπειδήπερ δυσέξοιστά τέ ἐστι καὶ δυσέκφραστα καὶ οὐχ ἕτοιμα πρὸς τὸ καταθρεῖν τὰ τῆς θεότητος ἴδια καὶ ἐξαίρετα, καὶ οἵπερ ἂν περὶ αὐτῆς γένοιντο λόγοι σμικροὶ κομιδῆ καὶ κατόπιν ἰόντες τῆς ἀληθείας ἁλοῖεν ἄν, διὰ σχημάτων καὶ τύπων τῶν ἐναργεστέρων ὡς ἐν ἐσόπτρῳ καὶ ἐν αἰνίγματι τὰ περὶ αὐτῆς μανθάνομεν. Οὕτω φαμὲν πεπαιδεῦσθαι τὸν θεσπέσιον Ἀβραάμ· γέγραπται γὰρ ὡδὶ περὶ αὐτοῦ. Ὤφθη δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ Θεὸς πρὸς τῇ δρυῒ τῇ Μαμβρῆ καθημένου αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς θύρας τῆς σκήνης αὐτοῦ μεσημβρίας· ἀναβλέψας δὲ τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ εἶδε καὶ ἰδοὺ τρεῖς ἄνδρες εἱστήκεισαν ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἰδὼν προσέδραμεν εἰς συνάντησιν αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς θύρας τῆς σκήνης αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεκύνησεν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν καὶ εἶπε· Κύριε, εἰ εὗρον χάριν ἐναντίον σου, μὴ παρέλθῃς τὸν παῖδά σου. Καὶ μεθ' ἕτερα· Εἶπε δέ, φησί, πρὸς αὐτόν· Ποῦ Σάρρα ἡ γυνή σου; Ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς εἶπεν· Ἰδοὺ ἐν τῇ σκήνῃ. Εἶπε δέ· Ἐπαναστρέφων ἥξω πρός σε, κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον εἰς ὥρας, καὶ ἕξει υἱὸν Σάρρα ἡ γυνή σου. Ἰδοὺ δὴ μάλα σαφῶς ὦφθαι μὲν αὐτῷ φησι τὸν Θεόν, εἶναί γε μὴν τοὺς ἑωραμένους ἄνδρας τρεῖς,