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

of nature and preeminence and worth would be reckoned both creator and creation, generated and ungenerated nature, incorruptible and under corruption, if indeed it is possible to say without being mistaken that in every way and altogether that which is conceived in generation would also be subject to the necessity of perishing. 1.32 For the divine Moses, looking toward the things to come by the initiations of the Holy Spirit, foresaw the things concerning us, and I will tell in what manner; for since in Father and Son and Holy Spirit, that is, is conceived in a consubstantial Trinity the one and ineffable and incomprehensible nature of God, so that no one, having been carried away to things he ought not out of excessive folly, should say that man has been made in the image and likeness of God, but not also of the Son and it was likely, of course, to suppose the opposite, and to say that man came to be in the likeness of the Son, but not also of the Father , having foreseen, as I said, the quibbles that would sometimes come from certain people, he said that the Holy Trinity itself said to itself: Let us make man in our image and after our likeness, so that he might be understood to be formed, that is, spiritually, according to the whole ineffable nature of the Godhead. But they, although considering themselves very wise, think these things are some kind of nonsense, and through the greatest possible stupefaction, having the light of truth inaccessible, they perhaps maintain that he addressed the saying to some falsely named and illegitimate gods. And yet how is it not worthwhile to consider that the creator by nature would not have bestowed the surpassing dignity of his own glory and preeminence on a generated nature? And we are certainly not saying that he was envious, from where?, but that the nature of things that have been made could never arrive at the preeminence of the divine dignities, nor could it, I think, be enriched with anything, and this essentially, of those things which especially belong solely and uniquely to the ineffable nature. 1.33 And in another way it is also absurd to think that the king and lord of all spoke to other gods: Let us make man in our image and after our likeness. For what indeed had he experienced that he made for himself co-workers, as it were, and certain assistants for the creation of man alone, although he created all the rest of creation impromptu, I mean Angels and Dominions, Principalities, Authorities, intellectual Powers, both heaven and earth, sun and moon, stars and light, and in short all things both in the heavens and on the earth? For would someone say that, having experienced weakness, that is, not having sufficient power, for this he admits those who will help? And yet how would it not become a charge of the utmost folly for some to choose to think thus? For the divine is all-powerful, and self-sufficient for anything whatsoever, and nothing is unaccomplished for it. Therefore, abandoning the nonsense in these things, let us proceed to that point, that it is necessary to confess together that in the holy and consubstantial Trinity the fullness of the ineffable Godhead is conceived, and we are formed according to the true and most exact image of the Father, that is, according to the Son, and in our souls his divine beauty is imprinted through participation in the Holy Spirit; for it is in us, as the Son himself is; For the Spirit is the truth, according to what is written. 1.34 Thus the all-wise Moses has truly initiated us, and the holy prophets and apostles and evangelists who came after him have not thought anything different from him. One and the same manner of theology is seen in all, and one would not find them fighting with one another in any respect at all. For having truly heard God they speak the things from the one Holy Spirit, and our Lord Jesus Christ does not allow us to doubt this, speaking most clearly in them: It is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of our Father who is speaking in you. Therefore having the opinion concerning God that descends to us from above and from the holy fathers unaltered, we boast in it and not to those of the blood of Israel as if to them more

φύσεως καὶ ὑπεροχῆς καὶ ἀξίας καταλογισθεῖεν ἂν δημιουργός τε καὶ κτίσις, γενετὴ καὶ ἀγένητος φύσις, ἄφθαρτος καὶ ὑπὸ φθοράν, εἴπερ ἔστιν οὐ διεψευσμένως εἰπεῖν ὅτι πάντη καὶ πάντως τὸ ἐν γενέσει νοούμενον ὑποκέοιτο ἂν καὶ τῷ καταφθείρεσθαι δεῖν. 1.32 Μωσῆς μὲν γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος ταῖς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος μυσταγωγίαις πρὸς τὰ ἐσόμενα βλέπων προενόησε τῶν καθ' ἡμᾶς, καὶ τίνα τρόπον ἐρῶ· ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν Πατρὶ καὶ Υἱῷ καὶ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι, τουτέστιν ἐν ὁμοουσίῳ νοεῖται Τριάδι ἡ μία καὶ ἄφραστος καὶ ἀπερινόητος τοῦ Θεοῦ φύσις, ἵνα μή τις, ἐκ τῆς πολλῆς ἄγαν ἀβελτηρίας ἐφ' ἃ μὴ προσῆκε παρενηνεγμένος, κατ' εἰκόνα μὲν λέγοι καὶ ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὸν ἄνθρωπον πεποιῆσθαι, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἦν δὲ δήπου καὶ τὸ ἔμπαλιν ὑπονοεῖν εἰκός, καὶ φάναι μὲν καθ' ὁμοίωσιν τοῦ Υἱοῦ γενέσθαι τὸν ἄνθρωπον, οὐ μὴν ἔτι καὶ τοῦ Πατρός , προαναθρήσας, ὡς ἔφην, τὰς ἔσθ' ὅτε παρά τινων ἐσομένας εὑρεσιλογίας, αὐτὴν ἔφη τὴν ἁγίαν Τριάδα πρὸς ἑαυτὴν εἰπεῖν· Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν, ἵνα πρὸς ὅλην γε νοῆται μεμορφωμένος, δηλονότι νοητῶς, τὴν ἀπόρρητον τῆς θεότητος φύσιν. Οἱ δέ, καίτοι δοκησισοφοῦντες ἄγαν, ὕθλους εἶναί τινας οἴονται ταυτί, καὶ διὰ πλείστην ὅσην ἐμβροντησίαν ἀπρόσβλητον τῆς ἀληθείας ἔχοντες τὸ φῶς, ψευδωνύμοις τισὶ καὶ νόθοις θεοῖς εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν ἴσως διατείνονται τὴν φωνήν. Καίτοι πῶς οὐ περινοεῖν ἄξιον ὡς οὐκ ἂν ὁ φύσει δημιουργὸς τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δόξης καὶ ὑπεροχῆς τὸ ὑπερφερὲς ἀξίωμα τῇ τῶν γενητῶν ἐχαρίζετο φύσει; Καὶ οὔτι πού φαμεν βασκήναντα πόθεν; , ἀλλ' ὅτι τῶν πεποιημένων ἡ φύσις οὐκ ἂν ἀφίκοιτό ποτε πρὸς τὴν τῶν θείων ἀξιωμάτων ὑπεροχήν, οὐδ' ἄν, οἶμαί, τι καταπλουτήσειε, καὶ τοῦτο οὐσιωδῶς, τῶν ὅ τι μάλιστα μόνῃ τε καὶ ἰδικῶς τῇ ἀφράστῳ φύσει προσπεφυκότων. 1.33 Ἔκτοπον δὲ καὶ ἑτέρως τὸ θεοῖς ἑτέροις εἰπεῖν οἴεσθαι τὸν τῶν ὅλων βασιλέα καὶ κύριον· Ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ' ὁμοίωσιν. Τί γὰρ δὴ καὶ πεπονθὼς συνεργάτας ὥσπερ καὶ συλλήπτορας οἰονεί τινας ἐποιεῖτο ἐπὶ μόνῃ τῇ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου κατασκευῇ, καίτοι τὴν ἄλλην ἅπασαν κτίσιν ἀποσχεδιάσας, Ἀγγέλους δὴ λέγω καὶ Κυριότητας, Ἀρχάς, Ἐξουσίας, ∆υνάμεις νοεράς, οὐρανόν τεκαὶ γῆν, ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην, ἄστρα καὶ φῶς, καὶ συλλήβδην ἅπαντα τά τε ἐν οὐρανοῖς καὶ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς; Ἆρα γὰρ ἐκεῖνο φαίη τις ἂν ὡς τὸ ἄναλκι παθών, ἤγουν ἀποχρῶσαν οὐκ ἔχων ἐνέργειαν τὴν εἴς γε τουτὶ συνεισδέχεται τοὺς ἐπικουρήσοντας; Καίτοι πῶς οὐ τῆς ἐσχάτης ἀβελτηρίας ἔγκλημα γένοιτ' ἄν τισιν τὸ ὧδε ἑλέσθαι φρονεῖν; Πανσθενὲς γὰρ τὸ θεῖον, καὶ αὐτοτελὲς πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν, καὶ οὐδὲν ἀνήνυτον αὐτῷ. Λῆρον δὴ οὖν τὸν ἔν γε τούτοις ἀφέντες, ἐπ' ἐκείνῳ ἴωμεν, ὡς χρὴ συνομολογεῖν ἐν ἁγίᾳ καὶ ὁμοουσίῳ Τριάδι τὸ τῆς ἀφράστου θεότητος νοεῖσθαι πλήρωμα, μεμορφώμεθα δὲ ἡμεῖς πρὸς τὴν ἀληθῆ καὶ ἀκριβεστάτην εἰκόνα τοῦ Πατρός, τουτέστι πρὸς τὸν Υἱόν, καὶ ταῖς ἡμετέραις ψυχαῖς τὸ θεῖον αὐτοῦ κάλλος ἐνσημαίνεται διὰ μετοχῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος· καὶ γάρ ἐστιν ἐν ἡμῖν, ὡς αὐτὸς ὁ Υἱός· Τὸ γὰρ Πνεῦμά ἐστιν ἡ ἀλήθεια, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. 1.34 Οὕτως ἡμᾶς ὁ πάνσοφος ἀληθῶς μεμυσταγώγηκε Μωσῆς, καὶ οὐχ ἕτερά τινα παρ' αὐτὸν πεφρονήκασιν οἱ μετ' αὐτὸν γεγονότες ἅγιοι προφῆται καὶ ἀπόστολοι καὶ εὐαγγελισταί. Εἷς καὶ ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν πᾶσι τῆς θεολογίας ὁρᾶται τρόπος, καὶ οὐκ ἄν τις εὕροι κατά τι γοῦν ὅλως ἀλλήλοις μεμαχημένους. Θεοκλυτήσαντες γὰρ ἀληθῶς τὰ ἐξ ἑνὸς λαλοῦσι τοῦ ἁγίου Πνεύματος, καὶ πρός γε τοῦτο ἡμᾶς ἐνδοιάζειν οὐκ ἐᾷ σαφέστατα λέγων ἐν αὐτοῖς ὁ Κύριος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦς ὁ Χριστός· Οὐχ ὑμεῖς ἐστε οἱ λαλοῦντες, ἀλλὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τοῦ Πατρὸς ἡμῶν τὸ λαλοῦν ἐν ὑμῖν. Τὴν τοίνυν ἄνωθεν καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἁγίων πατέρων καταβαίνουσαν εἰς ἡμᾶς περὶ Θεοῦ δόξαν ἀπαρά σημον ἔχοντες, ἐπ' αὐτῇ καυχώμεθα καὶ οὐχὶ τοῖς ἐξ αἵματος Ἰσραὴλ ὡς αὐτοῖς μᾶλλον