Hortatory address to the greeks by saint justin, philosopher and martyr.

 Alas, with my own eyes i see a dear man pursued around the wall and my heart grieves for him. and what he says about the other gods conspiring agains

 Artemis the archer, sister of the far-shooter. and against leto stood the strong, helpful hermes. these and such things homer taught you about the god

 ...s of you you say have become of piety, some declaring water to be the beginning of all things, others air, others fire, others some other of the af

 Of all of them who had spoken, thales, the eldest of them all, says that the principle of existing things is water for he says that all things are fr

 Having denied it, later says in his conceptions that it is this very thing. moreover, having formerly declared that everything that has come into bein

 Having established for i do not attempt to prove these things from the divine histories among us alone, which you are not yet willing to believe beca

 To organize affairs in egypt, but also to establish the warrior class with laws. and fourth, they say that bocchoris the king became a lawgiver, a wis

 It happened that there were once god-fearing men, as you say the oracle declared: only the chaldeans obtained wisdom, and also the hebrews, purely rev

 Of wise men or orators, should one wish to make mention, he will find that they have written their own compositions in the letters of the greeks. but

 It is fitting that it should appear clearly and manifestly. it is necessary, therefore, for you, o men of greece, foreseeing the things to come and lo

 And in the oracles it is thus: i adjure you, heaven, the wise work of the great god, i adjure you, voice of the father, which he first uttered, when h

 The poem to fall from its meter, lest he should seem not to have first mentioned the name of the gods. but a little later he sets forth clearly and pl

 He should cause meletus to be against himself, accusing him before the athenians and saying: plato does wrong and is a busybody, not believing in the

 That only disobedience was cast out, but not knowing that they were also persuaded that non-existent gods existed, they passed on the name of the gods

 Light, constructs that which comes to be. but perhaps some, not wishing to abandon the doctrines of polytheism, will say that the demiurge himself sai

 Having. for it does not seem to me that what was said by phoenix was said simply: not even if the god himself should promise me, scraping off old age,

 Wishing to confirm what has been said of participation, plato has written thus in these very words: god, then, as the old saying has it, holding the b

 Having heard from one who had come back to life and was relating the things there, has written thus in his very words: for he said that he was present

 Poetry, diodorus, the most renowned of the historians, sufficiently teaches us. for he said that he, having been in egypt, had learned that nepenthes,

 To set up the battle-cry of much-lamented war they were eager to place ossa upon olympus, but upon ossa pelion with its shaking leaves, that heaven m

 And concerning the heaven that came into being that the created heaven, which he also named the firmament, this is the perceptible one that came into

 Proclaimed by the name. for, fearing to call the gift of god holy spirit, lest he should seem to be an enemy of the greeks by following the teaching

 Supposed them to have the forms of men, you will find that they learned this also from the divine history. for since the history of moses says, from t

 To you socrates, the wisest of the wise, to whom even your oracle, as you yourselves say, testifies, saying: of all men socrates is the wisest, confes

 It will be easy for you to learn in part the true worship of god from the ancient sibyl, who teaches you by oracles from some powerful inspiration, th

 It is clear that he said this about the oracle-givers, looking to the oracles of the sibyl. for he spoke thus: when they succeed in saying many and gr

 Tatian's address to the greeks. do not be so very hostile towards the barbarians, o men of greece, nor be envious of their doctrines. for what pursuit

 Very savagely, having imprisoned his own friend for not wanting to worship him, carried him around like a bear or a leopard. indeed, he completely fol

 Selecting places for their covetousness *** the prominent. but one ought not flatter the leaders with the prospect of kingship, but to wait until the

 I have chosen to order the unordered matter in you, and just as the word, having been begotten in the beginning, in turn begot our creation for himsel

 Not according to fate, but by the free will of those who choose, he foretold the outcomes of future events and he became a hinderer of wickedness thro

 With baubles of the earth he deceived the motherless and orphaned girl. poseidon sails, ares delights in wars, apollo is a cithara player, dionysus is

 Of a kingdom, *** were turned into constellations by the shaping of letters? and how is kronos, who was fettered and cast out of his kingdom, appointe

 Of faith with glory become but the poor man and the most moderate, desiring the things that are his own, more easily gets by. why, i ask, according to

 Were zealous to be but the lord of all allowed them to luxuriate until the world, having reached its end, should be dissolved, and the judge should a

 Refusing a suffering god, they were shown to be fighters against god rather than god-fearing. you too are such men, o greeks, talkative in words, but

 Of the spirit but when the tabernacle is not of such a kind, man excels the beasts only in articulate speech, but in other respects his way of life i

 Causes, when they happen, they ascribe to themselves, attacking whenever weariness overtakes them. but there are times when they themselves by a tempe

 For if it were so, much more would he ward off his own enemy from himself for being able to help others also, he will much more become his own avenge

 You? therefore if you say that one ought not to fear death, sharing our doctrines, die not because of human vainglory, as anaxarchus did, but for the

 Unable to explain those things, because of the impossibility of their theory, they have blamed the tides, and of the seas, one being weedy and the oth

 For what sort are your teachings? who would not mock your public festivals, which, being celebrated under the pretext of wicked demons, turn men to di

 Providing it, feeding it with the most ungodly bloodshed. for the robber kills for the sake of taking, but the rich man buys gladiators for the sake o

 Dedications, and those who read are as with the jar of the danaids. why do you divide time for me, saying that one part of it is past, another present

 The conception which i have concerning all things, this i do not hide. why do you advise me to deceive the state? why, while saying to despise death,

 But again it will be dissolved, if we obey the word of god and do not scatter ourselves. for he has gained control of our possessions through a certai

 Archilochus flourished around the twenty-third olympiad, in the time of gyges the lydian, five hundred years after the trojan war. and concerning the

 The nonsense of affairs for the greeks. for the pursuits of your customs are rather foolish through great glory and behave disgracefully through the w

 Seeing the figures of the strife and of eteocles, and not having thrown them into a pit with pythagoras who made them, do you destroy along with them

 For what is difficult about men who have been shown to be ignorant being now refuted by a man of like passions? and what is strange, according to your

 Maios. the time from inachus until the capture of ilium completes twenty generations and the proof is in this manner. the kings of the argives were th

 Our laws, and what the learned men among the greeks have said, and how many and who they are who have mentioned them, will be shown in the treatise a

 God and what is the creation according to him, i present myself ready to you for the examination of the doctrines, while my way of life according to g

having. For it does not seem to me that what was said by Phoenix was said simply: Not even if the god himself should promise me, scraping off old age, to make me a flourishing youth. For the pronoun 'himself' signifies the truly existing God. For thus also the oracle mentioned by you concerning the Chaldeans and Hebrews signifies; for when someone inquired who had ever happened to be god-fearing men, you say that it spoke thus: Only the Chaldeans obtained wisdom, and also the Hebrews, worshipping a self-begotten king, the god himself. How then does Plato blame Homer for saying the gods are pliable, although Homer said this for the sake of utility, as is clear from the words themselves? For it is characteristic of those who think it right to obtain loving-kindness through prayer and sacrifices to cease and repent for what they have sinned; for those who think the divine is unchangeable in no way choose to desist from their sins, thinking they will have no benefit from repentance. How then does the philosopher Plato, having condemned the poet Homer, who said, Pliable are even the gods themselves, himself introduce the demiurge of the gods as so easily changing, as to say that at one time the gods are mortal, and at another time the same gods are immortal? And not only concerning them, but also concerning matter, from which it was necessary for the created gods, as he himself says, to have been generated, he says that it is at one time uncreated and at another time created, unaware that he is convicted of falling into the very things for which he blames Homer, by saying that the demiurge of the gods changes so easily, although Homer said the opposite about him. For he said that he spoke thus about himself: For my word is not to be taken back, nor is it deceitful, nor unfulfilled, whatever I shall have nodded with my head. But these things, it seems, Plato, fearing those who embrace polytheism, appears to discuss, saying strange things about the gods. But as many things as he learned from Moses and the prophets concerning one God, he thinks he ought to say, these he has chosen to speak mystically, signifying his own opinion to those wishing to be pious. For being pleased with what was said by God to Moses, I am who I am, and having accepted with much contemplation the short utterance spoken through the participle, he knew that God, wishing to signify His eternity to Moses, said, I am who I am, with the participle 'being' signifying not one time, but the three: the past and the present and the future. For thus also Plato mentions 'being' in respect of abundant time, saying, -but never being. For 'never' is said not of the past time, as some think, but of the future time. For this has been precisely stated also among those outside. For this reason, therefore, as if to interpret for the ignorant what was mystically [said] concerning the eternity of God through

ἔχον. Oὐ γὰρ ἁπλῶς εἰρῆσθαί μοι δοκεῖ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ Φοίνικος εἰρημένον· Oὐδ' εἴ κέν μοι ὑποσταίη θεὸς αὐτός, Γῆρας ἀποξύσας, θήσειν νέον ἡβώοντα. Ἡ γὰρ αὐτὸς ἀντωνυμία τὸν ὄντως ὄντα σημαίνει θεόν. Oὕτως γὰρ καὶ ὁ περὶ τῶν Χαλδαίων ὑμῖν καὶ Ἑβραίων εἰρη μένος σημαίνει χρησμός· πυθομένου γάρ τινος, τίνας πώποτε θεοσεβεῖς ἄνδρας γεγενῆσθαι συνέβη, οὕτως εἰρηκέναι αὐτόν φατε· Μοῦνοι Χαλδαῖοι σοφίην λάχον, ἠδ' ἄρ' Ἑβραῖοι, Aὐτογένητον ἄνακτα σεβαζόμενοι θεὸν αὐτόν. Πῶς οὖν ὁ Πλάτων Ὁμήρῳ μέμφεται τοὺς θεοὺς στρεπτοὺς εἶναι λέγοντι, καίτοι Ὁμήρου διὰ τὸ χρήσιμον τοῦτ' εἰρηκότος, ὡς ἔστι δῆλον ἀπ' αὐτῶν τῶν εἰρημένων; Ἴδιον γὰρ τῶν δι' εὐχῆς καὶ θυσιῶν φιλανθρωπίας τυγχάνειν ἀξιούν των τὸ παύεσθαι καὶ μεταγινώσκειν ἐφ' οἷς ἥμαρτον· οἱ γὰρ ἀνεπιστρεφὲς τὸ θεῖον οἰόμενοι εἶναι, οὐδαμῶς ἀφίστασθαι τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων προῄρηνται, οὐδὲν ὄφελος ἐκ τῆς μετανοίας ἕξειν οἰόμενοι. Πῶς οὖν Ὁμήρου τοῦ ποιητοῦ καταγνοὺς ὁ φιλόσοφος Πλάτων, Στρεπτοὶ δέ τε καὶ θεοὶ αὐτοὶ εἰρηκότος, αὐτὸς τὸν τῶν θεῶν δημιουργὸν εἰσάγει οὕτω ·ᾳ δίως τρεπόμενον, ὡς ποτὲ μὲν θεοὺς θνητούς, ποτὲ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἀθανάτους εἶναι λέγειν; Καὶ οὐ μόνον περὶ αὐτῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τῆς ὕλης, ἀφ' ἧς καὶ τοὺς δημιουργηθέντας θεούς, ὡς αὐτός φησι, γεγενῆσθαι ἀνάγκη, ποτὲ μὲν ἀγένητον ποτὲ δὲ γενητὴν εἶναι λέγει, ἀγνοῶν ὅτι οἷς Ὁμήρῳ μέμφεται τούτοις αὐτὸς περιπίπτων ἐλέγχεται, τὸν τῶν θεῶν δημιουργὸν οὕτω ·ᾳδίως τρέπεσθαι λέγων, καίτοι Ὁμήρου περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐναντία εἰρηκότος. Ἔφη γὰρ αὐτὸν οὕτω περὶ ἑαυτοῦ λέγειν· Oὐ γὰρ ἐμὸν παλινάγρετον οὐδ' ἀπατηλὸν Oὐδ' ἀτελεύτητον, ὅ τι κεν κεφαλῇ κατανεύσω. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἑκών, ὡς ἔοικεν, ὁ Πλάτων, τοὺς τὴν πο λυθεότητα ἀσπαζομένους δεδιώς, ἀλλόκοτα περὶ θεῶν διεξιέ ναι φαίνεται. Ὅσα δὲ παρὰ Μωϋσέως καὶ τῶν προφητῶν περὶ ἑνὸς θεοῦ μεμαθηκὼς οἴεται δεῖν λέγειν ταῦτα μυστικῶς προῄρηται λέγειν, τοῖς θεοσεβεῖν βουλομένοις τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σημαίνων δόξαν. Ἀρεσθεὶς γὰρ τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ πρὸς τὸν Μωϋσέα εἰρημένῳ Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὤν, καὶ τὴν βραχεῖαν διὰ τῆς μετοχῆς εἰρημένην ·ῆσιν μετὰ πολλῆς θεωρίας δεξάμενος, ἔγνω ὅτι τὴν ἀϊδιότητα αὐτοῦ ὁ θεὸς τῷ Μωϋσεῖ σημῆναι θέλων Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ὢν ἔφη, τῆς ὢν συλλαβῆς οὐχ ἕνα χρόνον δηλού σης, ἀλλὰ τοὺς τρεῖς, τόν τε παρεληλυθότα καὶ τὸν ἐνεστῶτα καὶ τὸν μέλλοντα. Oὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ Πλάτων τοῦ ὢν ἐπὶ τοῦ περιττοῦ μέμνηται χρόνου, -Oν δὲ οὐδέποτε λέγων. Τὸ γὰρ οὐδέποτε οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρεληλυθότος, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος εἴρηται χρόνου. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς ἔξωθεν ἠκρίβωται. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τοίνυν, ὥσπερ ἑρμηνεῦσαι τοῖς ἀγνοοῦσι τὸ μυστικῶς περὶ τῆς ἀϊδιότητος τοῦ θεοῦ διὰ