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

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 three "Lord" in the singular, asking to receive them as one with himself, since also the three, being as one, spoke again as from the person of one: "Where is Sarah your wife?" and "I will surely return to you at this time next year." Consider then, consider those who appeared to him, being three and each subsisting in his own person, yet by the principle of consubstantiality brought together into one and eager to conduct their conversation in this way. 1.27 But such images are somewhat faint, and fall far short of the truth, yet they have what is needed for guidance to, I say, things beyond mind and reason. For to the purest intellects the light of the vision of God penetrates and as if from things perceptible we fly up somehow to things above perception and surpassing the power of the reason within us. For there is confessedly one nature of divinity which is over all and through all and in all, but it is extended intelligibly into a holy, revered, and consubstantial Trinity, into the Father, I say, and indeed the Son, and into the Holy Spirit. And yet, though each of the named subsists individually, being in truth that which it is and is said to be, still the principle of consubstantiality gathers them into an unvarying nature; for the Son is begotten of the Father and is in Him and from Him by nature, and the Spirit also proceeds, being proper to God the Father and likewise to the Son; for through Him the Father sanctifies that which is by nature sanctified. The forefather Abraham, therefore, was not ignorant of the one worshipped in the Holy Trinity, the creator of earth and heaven and of all things, who has dominion over all. Indeed those who came from him, Isaac I mean and Jacob, did not think otherwise, but following in the footsteps of their father's virtue they became zealots of his faith. And so the blessed Moses, explaining the things concerning them in the book of Genesis, says that the God of all appeared to Jacob, and to confirm him in good hopes said: "I am the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac." And Jacob himself also confessed, saying: "If the Lord gives me bread to eat and a garment to wear, then the Lord shall be my God." 1.28 And these things are sufficient concerning them; but I say it is necessary now to entrust the word to the divine Moses. For he too proclaims the one God by nature and in truth, not being ignorant of the one through whom all things have been brought into being, I mean his living and hypostatic Word and the life-giving Spirit in God and from him, who is sent to creation through the Son; For he said: "In the beginning God made the heaven and the earth," declaring him in this brief statement to be the author of the genesis of all things in summary form, he elaborates the narrative, and has shown that through the living Word of God who rules all things, things that once were not were brought into existence, and are made alive also in the Spirit. For God said, he says: "Let there be light," and there was light; "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water," and it was so; and in the case of each of the things that came to be, one might see the Father saying, "Let this or that thing be," and bringing to pass through the Word whatever he wills without any delay; for the Word of God is living and active, and even if he only nods, what seems good is done. And he said: "But the earth was invisible and unfinished and darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water"; therefore he mentions very clearly the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and in other ways also he proclaims the one divinity, by nature and in truth, in the holy and consubstantial Trinity. For when indeed

προσθέοντα δὲ τὸν θεσπέσιον Ἀβραὰμ οὐχ ὡς τρισὶν εἰπεῖν· Κύριοι, εἰ εὗρον χάριν ἐναντίον ὑμῶν, μὴ παρέλθητε τὸν παῖδα ὑμῶν, Κύριον δὲ μοναδικῶς ὀνομάζοντα τοῦς τρεῖς, ὡς ἕνα παρ' ἑαυτῷ καταίρειν ἀξιοῦν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ὡς εἷς ὄντες οἱ τρεῖς ἔφασκον ὡς ἐκ προσώπου πάλιν ἑνός· Ποῦ Σάρρα ἡ γυνή σου; καὶ τὸ ἐπαναστρέφων ἥξω κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον εἰς ὥρας. Ἄθρει δὴ οὖν, ἄθρει τοὺς ὀφθέντας αὐτῷ τρεῖς μὲν ὄντας καὶ ἰδιοσυστάτως ἕκαστον ὑφεστηκότας, τῷ γε μὴν λόγῳ τῆς ὁμοουσιότητος εἰς ἕνα συνειλημμένους καὶ τὰς διαλέξεις οὕτω ποιεῖσθαι σπουδάσαντας. 1.27 Ἀλλ' αἱ μὲν τῶν τοιούτων εἰκόνες ἀμυδραί πώς εἰσι, καὶ πολὺ τῆς ἀληθείας ἡττώμεναι, πλὴν τὸ χρειῶδες ἔχουσιν εἰς χειραγωγίαν τὴν ἐπί γέ, φημι, τὰ ὑπὲρ νοῦν καὶ λόγον. ∆ιανοίαις γε μὴν ταῖς καθαρωτάταις τὸ φῶς τῆς θεοπτίας εἰσδύεται καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀνιπτάμεθά πως πρὸς τὰ αἰσθήσεως ἀνωτέρω καὶ λόγων τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν τὴν δύναμιν ὑπερκείμενα. Μία μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ὁμολογουμένως φύσις θεότητος ἡ ἐπὶ πάντας τε καὶ διὰ πάντων καὶ ἐν πᾶσι, κατευρύνεται δὲ νοητῶς εἰς ἁγίαν Τριάδα σεπτήν τε καὶ ὁμοούσιον εἴς τε Πατέρα φημὶ καὶ μέντοι καὶ τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ εἰς τὸ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Πλὴν εἰ καὶ ὑφεστήκασιν ἰδικῶς τῶν ὠνομασμένων ἕκαστον, τοῦτο ὑπάρχον κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ὅπερ εἶναι καὶ λέγεται, ἀλλ' ὅ γε τῆς ὁμοουσιότητος λόγος εἰς ἀπαράλλακτον αὐτὰ συναγείρει φύσιν· γεγέννηται μὲν γὰρ ὁ Υἱὸς ἐκ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῷ τε καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ φυσικῶς, ἐκπορεύεται δὲ καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα, ἴδιον ὂν τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς καὶ ὁμοίως τοῦ Υἱοῦ· ἁγιάζει γὰρ δι' αὐτοῦ τὸ ἁγιάζεσθαι πεφυκὸς ὁ Πατήρ. Οὐκ ἠγνόηκε τοίνυν ὁ προπάτωρ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν ἐν ἁγίᾳ Τριάδι προσκυνούμενον, τὸν γῆς τε καὶ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν καὶ τὸ κατὰ πάντων ἔχοντα κράτος. Οἵ γε μὴν ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγονότες, Ἰσαάκ τέ φημι καὶ Ἰακώβ, πεφρονήκασιν οὐχ ἑτέρως, ἀλλὰ τῆς πατρῴας ἀρετῆς κατ' ἴχνος ἰόντες τῆς αὐτοῦ πίστεως γεγόνασι ζηλωταί. Καὶ γοῦν Μωσῆς ὁ μακάριος ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τῆς Κοσμογονίας τὰ περὶ αὐτῶν ἐξηγούμενος ὦφθαι μέν φησι τῷ Ἰακὼβ τὸν τῶν ὅλων Θεόν, ἐμπεδοῦντα δὲ πρὸς ἐλπίδας αὐτὸν ἀγαθὰς εἰπεῖν· Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ πατρός σου καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαάκ. Ὡμολόγει δὲκαὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ἰακὼβ λέγων· Ἐὰν δῷ μοι Κύριος ἄρτον φαγεῖν καὶ ἱμάτιον περιβαλέσθαι, καὶ ἔσται μοι Κύριος εἰς Θεόν. 1.28 Καὶ ταυτὶ μὲν ἀπόχρη περὶ αὐτῶν· χρῆναι δέ φημι καὶ αὐτῷ λοιπὸν ἐπαφεῖναι τὸν λόγον τῷ θεσπεσίῳ Μωσεῖ. Ἕνα γὰρ καὶ αὐτὸς τὸν φύσει τε καὶ ἀληθῶς διακηρύττει Θεόν, οὐκ ἠγνοηκὼς τὸν δι' οὗ τὰ πάντα παρῆκται πρὸς γένεσιν, τὸν ζῶντά τέ φημι καὶ ἐνυπόστατον Λόγον αὐτοῦ καὶ τὸ ἐν Θεῷ τε καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ Πνεῦμα ζῳοοποιόν, τὸ δι' Υἱοῦ τῇ κτίσει πεμπόμενον· Ἔφη γὰρ ὅτι· Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἐποίησεν ὁ Θεὸς τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὴν γῆν, κεφαλαιωδέστερον δὲ καὶ ὡς ἐν βραχεῖ τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ γενεσιουργὸν τῶν ὅλων ἀποφήνας αὐτόν, ἐπεξεργάζεται τὸ διήγημα, καὶ δέδειχεν ὅτι διὰ ζῶντος Λόγου τοῦ κρατοῦντος πάντων Θεοῦ παρήχθη πρὸς ὕπαρξιν τὰ οὐκ ὄντα ποτέ, ζωογονεῖται δὲ καὶ ἐν Πνεύματι. Εἶπε γάρ, φησίν, ὁ Θεός· Γενηθήτω φῶς, καὶ ἐγένετο φῶς· Γενηθήτω στερέωμα ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ὕδατος, καὶ ἐγένετο οὕτως· καὶ ἐφ' ἑκάστου τῶν γεγονότων κατίδοι τις ἂν λέγοντα μὲν τὸν Πατέρα Γενηθήτω τόδε τι τυχὸν ἢ τόδε, παρακομίζοντα δὲ διὰ τοῦ Λόγου πρὸς γένεσιν ὅπερ ἂν βούληται μελλησμοῦ δίχα παντός· ζῶν γὰρ ὁ Λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ ἐνεργής, κἂν εἰ κατανεύσειε μόνον, ἔστι τὸ δοκοῦν. Ἔφη δὲ ὅτι· Ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ πνεῦμα Θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος· οὐκοῦν διαμνημονεύει καὶ μάλα σαφῶς Πατρὸς καὶ Υἱοῦ καὶ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καὶ κατὰ τρόπους δὲ ἑτέρους ἐν ἁγίᾳ καὶ ὁμοουσίῳ Τριάδι τὴν μίαν καὶ φύσει καὶ ἀληθῶς διακηρύττει θεότητα. Ὅτε γὰρ δὴ