Chapter XVII.—In Opposition to the Romans Who Rejected the God of Israel Alone.

25. However, here is a matter which should meet with more careful consideration at their hands,—namely, what they take the God of Israel to be, and why they have not admitted Him to the honours of worship among them, in the way that they have done with the gods of other nations that have been made subject to the imperial power of Rome? This question demands an answer all the more, when we see that they are of the mind that all the gods ought to be worshipped by the man of wisdom. Why, then, has He been excluded from the number of these others? If He is very mighty, why is He the only deity that is not worshipped by them? If He has little or no might, why are the images of other gods broken in pieces by all the nations, while He is now almost the only God that is worshipped among these peoples? From the grasp of this question these men shall never be able to extricate themselves, who worship both the greater and the lesser deities, whom they hold to be gods, and at the same time refuse to worship this God, who has proved Himself stronger than all those to whom they do service. If He is [a God] of great virtue,71    Or, power—virtutis. why has He been deemed worthy only of rejection? And if He is [a God] of little or no power, why has He been able to accomplish so much, although rejected? If He is good, why is He the only one separated from the other good deities? And if He is evil, why is He, who stands thus alone, not subjugated by so many good deities? If He is truthful, why are His precepts scorned? And if He is a liar, why are His predictions fulfilled?

CAPUT XVII. In Romanos qui Deum Israel solum rejecerunt.

25. Verumtamen diligentius ab istis quaerendum est, quemnam putent esse Deum Israel; cur eum colendum non receperint, sicut aliarum gentium deos, quas Romanum subegit imperium; praesertim cum eorum sententia sit, omnes deos colendos esse sapienti. Cur ergo a numero caeterorum iste rejectus est? Si plurimum valet, cur ab eis solus non colitur? si parum aut nihil valet, cur contritis eorum simulacris ab omnibus gentibus solus pene jam colitur? Nunquam hujus quaestionis vinculo eximi poterunt, qui cum majores et minores deos colant, quos deos putant, hunc Deum non colunt, qui praevaluit omnibus quos colunt. Si enim magnae virtutis est, cur existimatus est improbandus? si parvae nulliusve virtutis est, cur tantum potuit improbatus? Si bonus est, cur a caeteris bonis solus separatur? si malus est, cur a tot bonis unus non superatur? Si verax est, cur ejus praecepta respuuntur? si mendax est, cur ejus praedicta complentur?