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they shut up in little houses, these they are not ashamed to call lords of all heaven and earth.

23 Not only from these things might one learn of their godlessness, but also from the fact that among their very idols their opinion is discordant. For if they are gods themselves, as they say and philosophize about them, to which of these should one attach oneself, and which of them should one judge to be more sovereign, so that one might confidently worship God, or, as they say, not hesitate in knowing the Divine among them? For the same are not named gods among all; but for the most part, as many as there are nations, so many gods are also fabricated. And there are cases where even one country, and one city, are at odds with themselves concerning the superstition of idols. The Phoenicians, for instance, do not know the so-called gods of the Egyptians, nor do the Egyptians worship the same idols as the Phoenicians. And the Scythians do not accept the gods of the Persians, nor the Persians those of the Syrians. But also the Pelasgians slander the gods in Thrace; and the Thracians do not know those of the Thebans. The Indians differ from the Arabs in their idols, and the Arabs from the Ethiopians, and the Ethiopians from them. And the Syrians do not revere those of the Cilicians; and the race of the Cappadocians names other gods besides these. And the Bithynians fabricated some for themselves, and the Armenians others. And why say much? The mainlanders worship different gods than those on the islands; and the islanders worship differently from those on the mainlands. And in general each city and village, not knowing the gods of its neighbors, prefers its own, and considers these alone to be gods. For concerning the abominations in Egypt, it is not even necessary to speak, since it is before the eyes of all that the cities have opposing and conflicting religions, and the neighbors always strive to revere things contrary to their neighbors. For instance, the crocodile worshipped by some as a god, this is considered an abomination by their neighbors; and the lion worshipped by others as a god, their neighbors not only do not worship, but even kill it as a wild beast when they find it; and the fish dedicated by some, this is ground up as food for others. From which indeed come wars and seditions and every pretext for murders and all the pleasure of passions among them. And the amazing thing is that, as the historians relate, the Pelasgians, having learned the names of the gods from the Egyptians, do not know the gods of the Egyptians, but worship others besides them. And in general, of all the nations crazed by idols, their opinion and religion is different, and the same things are not found among the same people. And it is reasonable that they suffer this. For having fallen away from the contemplation of the one God, they have fallen into many and various things; and having turned away from the true Word of the Father, Christ the Savior of all, they reasonably have their mind wandering into many things. And just as those who have turned away from the sun and are in dark places, circle many pathless ways, and do not see those who are present, but imagine those who are not as being present, and seeing they do not see; in the same way, those who have turned away from God and had their soul darkened have a wandering mind, and they imagine things that are not, as if drunk and not seeing.

24 And these things are no small proof of their true godlessness. For since there are different and many gods according to city and country, and one undoes the god of another, all are undone by all. For indeed the gods considered by some become sacrifices and libations to the so-called gods of others; and the sacrifices of some, conversely, are the gods of others. The Egyptians revere the ox and the Apis calf; and others sacrifice these to Zeus. For even if they do not sacrifice those very ones which they have dedicated, but by sacrificing similar ones, they seem to offer the same things.

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οἰκίσκοις κατακλείουσι, τούτους οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ἁπάσης δεσπότας οὐκ αἰσχύνονται καλοῦντες.

23 Οὐ μόνον δὲ ἐκ τούτων ἄν τις αὐτῶν τὴν ἀθεότητα καταμάθοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀφ' ὧν ἐν αὐτοῖς τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν ἐστιν ἀσύμφωνος ἡ δόξα. εἰ γὰρ αὐτοὶ θεοί εἰσιν, ὡς λέγουσι καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν φιλο σοφοῦσι, τίνι τις πρόσθηται τούτων, καὶ ποίους ἂν αὐτῶν κρίνῃ κυριωτέρους, ἵνα ἢ τὸν Θεὸν θαρρήσῃ προσκυνῶν, ἤ, ὥς φασιν, ἐν αὐτοῖς μὴ διστάζῃ γινώσκων τὸ Θεῖον; οὐ γὰρ οἱ αὐτοὶ παρὰ πᾶσιν ὀνομάζονται θεοί· ἀλλ' ὅσα κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστόν ἐστιν ἔθνη, τοσοῦτοι καὶ θεοὶ ἀναπλάττονται. ἔστι δὲ ὅπου καὶ μία χώρα, καὶ μία πόλις πρὸς ἑαυτὰς στασιάζουσι περὶ τῆς τῶν εἰδώλων δεισιδαιμονίας. Φοίνικες γοῦν οὐκ ἴσασι τοὺς παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις λεγομένους θεούς, οὐδὲ Αἰγύπτιοι τὰ αὐτὰ τοῖς παρὰ Φοίνιξι προσκυνοῦσιν εἴδωλα. καὶ Σκύθαι μὲν τοὺς Περσῶν, Πέρσαι δὲ τοὺς Σύρων οὐ παραδέχονται θεούς. ἀλλὰ καὶ Πελασγοὶ μὲν τοὺς ἐν Θρᾴκῃ θεοὺς διαβάλλουσι· Θρᾷκες δὲ τοὺς παρὰ Θηβαίοις οὐ γινώσκουσιν. Ἰνδοὶ δὲ κατὰ Ἀράβων, καὶ Ἄραβες κατ' Αἰθιόπων, καὶ Αἰθίοπες κατ' αὐτῶν ἐν τοῖς εἰδώλοις διαφέρονται. καὶ Σύροι μὲν τὰ Κιλίκων οὐ σέβουσι· Καππαδοκῶν δὲ τὸ γένος ἄλλους παρὰ τούτους ὀνομάζουσι θεούς. καὶ Βιθυνοὶ μὲν ἑτέρους, Ἀρμένιοι δὲ ἄλλους ἑαυτοῖς ἀνεπλάσαντο. καὶ τί μοι πολλῶν; ἠπειρῶται παρὰ τοὺς ἐν ταῖς νήσοις ἄλλους θεοὺς προσκυνοῦσι· καὶ νησιῶται παρὰ τοὺς ἐν ταῖς ἠπείροις θρησκεύουσι. καὶ ὅλως ἑκάστη πόλις καὶ κώμη, τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων οὐκ εἰδυῖα θεούς, τοὺς ἑαυτῆς προκρίνει, καὶ μόνους εἶναι τούτους νομίζει θεούς. περὶ γὰρ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ μυσαρῶν οὐδὲ λέγειν ἐστί, πᾶσιν ἐπ' ὀφθαλμῶν ὄντων ὅτι ἐναντίας καὶ μαχομένας ἀλλήλαις ἔχουσι τὰς θρησκείας αἱ πόλεις, καὶ οἱ ἐκ γειτόνων ἀεὶ σπουδάζουσι κατὰ τῶν πλησίων τὰ ἐναντία σέβειν. ὁ γοῦν παρ' ἑτέροις προσκυνούμενος ὡς θεὸς κροκόδειλος, οὗτος παρὰ τοῖς πλησίον βδέλυγμα νομίζεται· καὶ ὁ παρ' ἑτέροις λέων ὡς θεὸς θρησκευόμενος, τοῦτον οἱ ἀστυ γείτονες οὐ μόνον οὐ θρησκεύουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ εὑρόντες ἀποκτείνουσιν ὡς θηρίον· καὶ ὁ παρ' ἄλλοις ἀνατεθεὶς ἰχθύς, οὗτος ἄλλων ἀλήθεται τροφή. ὅθεν δὴ πόλεμοι καὶ στάσεις καὶ πᾶσα φόνων πρόφασις καὶ πᾶσα τῶν παθῶν ἡδονὴ παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐστι. καὶ τό γε θαυμαστόν, ὅτι ὡς οἱ ἱστορήσαντες ἐξηγοῦνται, παρ' Αἰγυπτίων οἱ Πελασγοὶ μαθόν τες τὰ ὀνόματα τῶν θεῶν, οὐκ ἴσασιν οὗτοι τοὺς παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις θεούς, ἀλλὰ ἄλλους παρ' ἐκείνους θρησκεύουσι. καὶ ὅλως πάντων τῶν ἐν εἰδώλοις μανέντων ἐθνῶν διάφορός ἐστιν ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ θρησκεία, καὶ οὐ τὰ αὐτὰ παρὰ τοῖς αὐτοῖς εὑρίσκεται. καὶ εἰκότως γε τοῦτο πάσχουσιν. ἐκπεσόντες γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἕνα Θεὸν κατανοήσεως, εἰς πολλὰ καὶ διάφορα καταπεπτώκασι· καὶ ἀπο στραφέντες τὸν ἀληθῶς τοῦ Πατρὸς Λόγον, τὸν πάντων Σωτῆρα Χριστόν, εἰκότως εἰς πολλὰ τὴν διάνοιαν ἔχουσι ῥεμβομένην. καὶ ὥσπερ οἱ τὸν ἥλιον ἀποστραφέντες καὶ ἐν σκοτεινοῖς γενόμενοι τόποις, πολλὰς ἀνόδους κυκλεύουσιν ὁδούς, καὶ τοὺς μὲν παρόντας οὐχ ὁρῶσι, τοὺς δὲ μὴ ὄντας φαντάζονται ὡς παρόντας, καὶ βλέποντες οὐ βλέπουσι· τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον οἱ τὸν Θεὸν ἀπο στραφέντες καὶ σκοτισθέντες τὴν ψυχὴν ῥεμβόμενον ἔχουσι τὸν νοῦν, καὶ τὰ οὐκ ὄντα ὡς μεθύοντες καὶ μὴ ὁρῶντες φαντάζονται.

24 Ταῦτα δὲ οὐ μικρὸς ἔλεγχός ἐστι τῆς ἀληθῶς ἀθεότητος αὐτῶν. διαφόρων γὰρ ὄντων καὶ πολλῶν κατὰ πόλιν καὶ χώραν θεῶν, καὶ τοῦ ἑτέρου τὸν τοῦ ἑτέρου ἀναιροῦντος θεόν, οἱ πάντες παρὰ πάντων ἀναιροῦνται. καὶ γὰρ οἱ παρ' ἄλλοις νομιζόμενοι θεοὶ τῶν παρ' ἄλ λοις λεγομένων θεῶν γίγνονται θυσίαι καὶ σπονδαί· καὶ ἄλλων αἱ θυσίαι, ἄλλων ἔμπαλίν εἰσι θεοί. Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ τὸν βοῦν καὶ τὸν Ἄπιν μόσχον ὄντα σέβουσι· καὶ τούτους ἄλλοι τῷ ∆ιὶ θύουσι. κἂν γὰρ μὴ αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους οὓς ἀνατεθείκασι θύσωσιν, ἀλλὰ τὰ ὅμοια θύοντες, τὰ αὐτὰ προσάγειν δοκοῦσι.