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their souls to be, and no longer to be judged or to be burned by fire. And they remained until the times of Terah, the father of Abraham. For Terah was a maker of idols, a modeller, making and selling gods from stones and wood, and he introduced the error of idols and idolatry to men through representations of their ancestors, especially of those who had discovered letters and the arts; with whom the Egyptians and the Babylonians and the Phrygians from Greece eagerly concurred; for they were of this religion. For they themselves were also makers of idols and expounders and initiators of mysteries; from whom especially the same religion was brought to the Hellenes, from someone named Hellen, also a son of Picus Zeus, a man who performed certain mystical rites, of those who settled in Hellas, being from the tribe of Japheth, the third son of Noah. And the Ionians from Io; for they became the leaders of these; for they had been taught by the giant Ioannes who built with the others the tow 56 er; whose tongues were also divided, for which reason men are also called 'meropes' because their speech was divided into many tongues and voices. Reproaching these, Plutarch of Chaeronea set forth the ancient philosophy among Hellenes and barbarians, according to which some introduce the error of idols; but he himself, he says, thought it right to deify the luminaries in the sky, introducing the sun and the moon, as the theology of the Egyptians holds, that they govern the whole cosmos, nourishing and increasing all things by the third motion of the 5 planets and of the rest of the celestial arrangement according to generation and air. And Porphyry praised Plutarch of Chaeronea in his philosophical chronology. 57 THIRD DISCOURSE OF THE TIMES OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD OF ABRAHAM. But Abraham, having come to the knowledge of God, and having reasoned that the idols which his father Terah made are of dead men, and that it was not right to honor them as gods in heaven, since they had become earth and dust; therefore he condemned his own father Terah, saying, "Why do you lead men astray for the sake of profit? For there is no other god, except the one in the heavens, who created all these visible things;" and he took and broke all the idols, and he departed from him and went to Mesopotamia, as Eusebius Pamphili, the wise chronicler, set forth. And in the times of Abraham there was also Melchizedek, a God-fearing man, a gentile, descended from the race of Sidus, son of Aegyptus, king of the land of Libya; from whom the Egyptians are call 58 ed. This Sidus, coming from Egypt, took possession of the land of the so-called Canaanite gentiles, that is, the land now called Palestine. and having subdued it, he dwelt there in it; and he builds a city, which he called Sidon after his own name, which is now in the land of Phoenicia. And then from the race of Sidus was descended Melchi, the father of Sedek, and having become priest and king he was called Melchizedek, as has been written before. This man therefore was priest and king of the Canaanites, and he founded a city on the mountain called Sion, which he called Salem, which is city of peace. and he reigned in it 113 years, and he dies, just and a virgin, as Josephus set forth in his Archaeology. And John and Cyril, the most holy bishops, said the same things. Therefore from the flood until Abraham there are 1003 years, and from the building of the tower there are 523 years. and it happened afterwards from Abraham and Isaac, his son, and Jacob, his grandson, and of their seed, from whom are the Hebrews, from the times of Abraham the

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εἶναι τὰς αὐτῶν ψυχὰς καὶ μηκέτι κρίνεσθαι ἢ καίεσθαι πυρί. καὶ διέμειναν ἕως τῶν χρόνων Θάῤῥα, τοῦ πατρὸς τοῦ Ἀβραάμ. ἦν γὰρ Θάῤῥα ἀγαλματοποιὸς πλαστουργῶν, ἀπὸ λίθων καὶ ξύλων θεοὺς ποιῶν καὶ πιπράσκων, καὶ πλάνην ἀγαλμάτων καὶ εἰδωλολατρίας εἰσῆγε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις διὰ ἀπεικονισμάτων τῶν προγόνων αὐτῶν, μάλιστα τῶν εὑρηκότων τὰ γράμματα καὶ τὰς τέχνας· οἷς συνέτρεχον σπουδαίως οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι καὶ Φρύγες οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος· ταύτης γὰρ τῆς θρησκείας ὑπῆρχον. ἦσαν γὰρ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀγαλμάτων ποιηταὶ καὶ μυστηρίων ἐξηγηταὶ καὶ τελεσταί· ἀφ' ὧν μάλιστα εἰς Ἕλληνας ἤχθη ἡ αὐτὴ θρησκεία, ἀπό τινος Ἕλληνος ὀνόματι, υἱοῦ καὶ αὐτοῦ Πίκου ∆ιός, μυστικά τινα ποιοῦντος ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἐν Ἑλλάδι κατοικησάντων, ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς ὄντος τοῦ Ἰάφεθ, υἱοῦ Νῶε τοῦ τρίτου. Ἴωνες δὲ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἰὼτούτων γὰρ ἀρχηγοὶ ἐγένοντο· ἦσαν γὰρ διδαχθέντες ἐκ τοῦ Ἰωανέως γίγαντος τοῦ οἰκοδομήσαντος σὺν τοῖς ἄλλοις τὸν πύρ 56 γον· ὧντινων καὶ γλῶσσαι διεμερίσθησαν, διὸ καὶ μέροπες κέκληνται οἱ ἄνθρωποι διὰ τὸ μερισθῆναι αὐτῶν τὰς λαλιὰς εἰς πολλὰς γλώσσας καὶ φωνάς. οὕστινας μεμφόμενος ὁ Χερονήσιος Πλούταρχος ἡ παλαιὰ φιλοσοφία παρ' Ἕλλησι καὶ βαρβάροις ἐξέθετο ὡς πλάνην ἀγαλμάτων τινὲς εἰσάγουσιν· αὐτὸς δέ, φησί, τοὺς κατ' οὐρανὸν φωστῆρας θεοποιεῖν ἔδοξε, τὸν ἥλιον καὶ τὴν σελήνην παρεισάγων, ὡς ἡ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων θεολογία ἔχει, αὐτοὺς τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον διοικεῖν τρέφοντας καὶ αὐξάνοντας τὰ πάντα τῇ τρίτῃ κινήσει τῶν εʹ πλανητῶν καὶ τῆς λοιπῆς ἀστροθεσίας κατὰ γένεσιν καὶ ἀέρα. τὸν δὲ Πλούταρχον τὸν Χερονήσιον Πορφύριος ἐν τῇ φιλοσόφῳ αὐτοῦ χρονογραφίᾳ ἐδόξασε. 57 ΛΟΓΟΣ ΤΡΙΤΟΣ ΧΡΟΝΩΝ ΘΕΟΓΝΩΣΙΑΣ ΑΒΡΑΑΜ. Ὁ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ θεογνωσίαν ἐπιγνούς, καὶ λογισάμενος ὅτι τὰ ἀγάλματα, ἃ ἐποίει ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ Θάῤῥας, ἀνθρώπων τεθνηκότων ὑπάρχει, καὶ οὐκ ἐχρῆν τιμᾶσθαι αὐτοὺς ὡς θεοὺς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, γενομένους γῆν καὶ κόνιν· κατεγίνωσκεν οὖν τῷ ἰδίῳ πατρὶ Θάῤῥᾳ λέγων, Τί πλανᾷς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους διὰ κέρδος; οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ ἄλλος θεός, εἰ μὴ ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, ὁ δημιουργήσας τὰ ὁρώμενα ταῦτα πάντα· καὶ λαβὼν ἔκλασε τὰ ἀγάλματα πάντα, καὶ ἀνεχώρησεν ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν Μεσοποταμίαν, καθὼς Εὐσέβιος ὁ Παμφίλου, ὁ σοφὸς χρονογράφος, ἐξέθετο. Ἐν δὲ τοῖς χρόνοις τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ ἦν καὶ ὁ Μελχισεδέκ, ἀνὴρ θεοσεβής, ἐθνικός, καταγόμενος ἐκ τοῦ γένους Σίδου, υἱοῦ Αἰγύπτου, βασιλέως τῆς Λιβύης χώρας· ἐξ οὗ Αἰγύπτιοι κέκλην 58 ται. ὅστις Σίδος ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐπελθὼν παρέλαβε τὴν χώραν τῶν λεγομένων Χαναναίων ἐθνικῶν, τοῦτ' ἐστὶ τὴν νῦν λεγομένην Παλαιστίνην. καὶ ὑποτάξας αὐτὴν ᾤκησεν ἐκεῖ ἐν αὐτῇ· καὶ κτίζει πόλιν, ἣν ἐκάλεσε Σιδόνα εἰς ὄνομα ἴδιον, ἥτις νῦν ἐστιν ὑπὸ τὴν Φοινίκην χώραν. καὶ λοιπὸν ἐκ τοῦ γένους τοῦ Σίδου κατήχθη ὁ Μέλχι, ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ Σεδέκ, γενόμενος ἱερεὺς καὶ βασιλεὺς ἐπεκλήθη Μελχισεδέκ, ὡς προγέγραπται. οὗτος οὖν ὑπῆρχεν ἱερεὺς καὶ βασιλεὺς τῶν Χαναναίων, καὶ ἔκτισε πόλιν ἐν τῷ ὄρει τῷ λεγομένῳ Σιών, ἥντινα ἐκάλεσε Σαλήμ, ὅπερ ἐστὶν εἰρήνης πόλις. καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν ἐν αὐτῇ ἔτη ριγʹ, καὶ τελευτᾷ, δίκαιος καὶ παρθένος, καθὼς Ἰώσηπος ἐν τῇ ἀρχαιολογίᾳ ἐξέθετο. καὶ Ἰωάννης δὲ καὶ Κύριλλος, οἱ ὁσιώτατοι ἐπίσκοποι, τὰ αὐτὰ εἶπον. Ἀπὸ οὖν τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ ἕως Ἀβραὰμ ἔτη εἰσὶν ωςγʹ, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς πυργοποιίας ἔτη εἰσὶ φκγʹ. καὶ ἐγένετο μετέπειτα ἀπὸ Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαάκ, τοῦ υἱοῦ, καὶ Ἰακώβ, τοῦ ἐκγόνου αὐτοῦ, καὶτοῦ σπέρματος αὐτῶν, ἐξ ὧν εἰσιν Ἑβραῖοι, ἀπὸ τῶν χρόνων τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ τὸν