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

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 in an orderly manner; for it is altogether necessary that those who have chosen to contend with his words should be seen speaking always of the same things not once but many times. Therefore, having divided his argument in a more fitting order, and having brought together the thoughts in it by type, let us meet them not many times for each one, but sufficiently once and skillfully. He begins then his argument against us and says: {JULIAN} It seems to me a good thing to set forth for all men the reasons by which I was convinced that the fabrication of the Galileans is a fiction of men composed by wickedness, having nothing divine in it, but making use of the part of the soul that is fond of fable and childish and foolish, it brought its tale of marvels to the credit of truth. {CYRIL} 2.3 By Galileans, then, as I think, he means the holy apostles, and by the tale of marvels the writings of Moses and the predictions and divine utterances of the holy prophets. And he was perhaps ignorant, or rather not without divine will has he made his denunciation of his own superstition. For there are two Galilees, one of which is in Judea, and the other is a borderland and neighbor to the Phoenician cities. And so at any rate in the Gospels it is written concerning Christ the Savior of us all that, walking by the sea of Galilee, that is the lake of Tiberias, he made his disciples chosen. And God said somewhere through one of the holy prophets: And what are you to me, O Tyre and Sidon, and all Galilee of the foreigners? and indeed also the divine Isaiah says: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, and the rest who inhabit the sea coast, Galilee of the nations, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. Therefore, Galileans would surely be understood not only as those in Judea, but indeed all the nations; for it says, 'Galilee of the nations.' It is therefore inconsistent and not yet clear against whom his argument would more fittingly and more truly proceed: whether against us, or rather against him and those who have honored his frantic and beloved superstition? For they too are Galileans, or rather one would in no way doubt that the force of what has been said would apply to the frenzies of the Greeks. 2.4 For where is the mythical, the very vulgar and childish, the frigid and reckless, and full of all foolishness, except among them alone, who, having fashioned many kinds of marvels, attempt to bring falsehood to the credit of truth? And it is so unseemly and widespread among them that even their chosen men, who are accustomed to philosophize best in their own traditions, have made the greatest possible outcry against the poets’ madness, which is not inspired but rather absurd, and it is fitting that they openly tell people to depart from their nonsense. For Plato does not accept the works of Homer, who introduced gods and goddesses, on the one hand condemned for licentiousness and wronged by the greed of men, and on the other hand weeping, and grieving for those of their family who have died, and saying 'woe is me' in a womanish way, for this very reason that they wish to snatch someone from death, but are no longer able to do this, but are overcome by the Fates and yield to Destiny, as being clearly mightier even than the one who presides over the other gods, whom they indeed call the highest, Zeus. But leaving aside the ability to say very much more on this topic, so as not to seem to be carried away from what is fitting, I will return to the subject before us. 2.5 The mythical belongs to the Greeks, and they themselves have been eager to introduce their tale of marvels to the credit of truth, not from simple concepts, but rather from ones invented impiously and with a love of evil, and against the ineffable glory of God who rules over all they have composed their malicious fiction, and like a kind of snare

εὑρίσκοιτο λέγων, τοῦτο καὶ διὰ μέσου καὶ τοῖς τελευταίοις ἐκτιθείς, τοὺς τῆς ἀντιρρήσεως λόγους ἀποφήνειεν ἂν οὐκ ἐν κόσμῳ τάχα που γεγενημένους· πᾶσα γάρ πως ἀνάγκη τοῖς παρ' αὐτοῦ λεγομένοις φιλονεικεῖν ᾑρημένους οὐχ ἅπαξ ἀλλὰ πλειστάκις περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀειλογοῦντας ὁρᾶσθαι. ∆ιελόντες τοίνυν ἐν τάξει τῇ πρεπωδεστέρᾳ τὸν παρ' αὐτοῦ λόγον, καὶ τὰς ἐν αὐτῷ διανοίας συνενεγκόντες κατ' εἶδος, οὐχ ἑκάστης πλειστάκις, ἀποχρώντως δὲ ἅπαξ καὶ ἐντέχνως ὑπαντήσωμεν. Ἄρχεται τοίνυν τοῦ καθ' ἡμῶν λόγου καί φησιν· {ΙΟΥΛΙΑΝΟΣ} Καλῶς ἔχειν μοι φαίνεται τὰς αἰτίας ἐκθέσθαι πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ὑφ' ὧν ἐπείσθην ὅτι τῶν Γαλιλαίων ἡ σκευωρία πλάσμα ἐστὶν ἀνθρώπων ὑπὸ κακουργίας συντεθέν, ἔχουσα μὲν οὐδὲν θεῖον, ἀποχρησαμένη δὲ τῷ φιλομύθῳ καὶ παιδαριώδει καὶ ἀνοήτῳ τῆς ψυχῆς μορίῳ, τὴν τερατολογίαν εἰς πίστιν ἤγαγεν ἀληθείας. {ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΣ} 2.3 Γαλιλαίους μὲν οὖν, ὥς γε οἶμαι, φησὶ τοὺς ἁγίους ἀποστόλους, τερατολογίαν δὲ τὰ Μωσέως γράμματα καὶ τὰς τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν προαγορεύσεις τε καὶ θεηγορίας. Καὶ ἠγνόηκε μὲν ἴσως, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐκ ἀθεεὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ δεισιδαιμονίας πεποίηται τὴν κατάρρησιν. Εἰσὶ γὰρ Γαλιλαῖαι δύο, ὧν ἡ μὲν μία κατὰ τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ἥ γε μὴν ἑτέρα ταῖς Φοινίκων πόλεσιν ὅμορός τε καὶ γείτων. Καὶ γοῦν ἐν μὲν τοῖς Εὐαγγελίοις γέγραπται περὶ τοῦ πάντων ἡμῶν Σωτῆρος Χριστοῦ ὅτι περιπατῶν παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν τῆς Γαλιλαίας, τουτέστι τὴν Τιβεριάδος λίμνην, ἀπολέκτους ἐποιεῖτο τοὺς μαθητάς. Ἔφη δέ που Θεὸς δι' ἑνὸς τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν. Καὶ τί καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐμοί, Τύρος καὶ Σιδὼν καὶ πᾶσα Γαλιλαία ἀλλοφύλων; καὶ μὴν καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος Ἠσαΐας· Χώρα Ζαβουλών φησί καὶ γῆ Νεφθαλείμ, καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ τὴν παραλίαν οἰκοῦντες, Γαλιλαία τῶν ἐθνῶν, ὁ λαὸς ὁ καθήμενος ἐν σκότει φῶς εἶδε μέγα. Γαλιλαῖοι δὴ οὖν οὐχὶ δήπου μόνον νοηθεῖεν ἂν οἱ κατά γε τὴν Ἰουδαίαν, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη· Γαλιλαία γάρ, φησί, τῶν ἐθνῶν. Ἀσυμφανὲς οὖν ἄρα καὶ οὔπω σαφὲς κατὰ τίνων ἂν ἴοι πρεπωδέστερόν τε καὶ ἀληθέστερον ὁ λόγος αὐτῷ· πότερον καθ' ἡμῶν ἤγουν κατ' αὐτοῦ καὶ τῶν τὴν ἀπόπληκτον καὶ φίλην αὐτῷ δεισιδαιμονίαν τετιμηκότων; Γαλιλαῖοι γὰρ καὶ αὐτοί, μᾶλλον δὲ κατ' οὐδένα τρόπον ἐνδοιάσαι τις ἂν ὅτι ταῖς Ἑλλήνων ἐμβροντησίαις ἁρμόσειεν ἂν τῶν εἰρημένων ἡ δύναμις. 2.4 Ποῦ γὰρ τὸ μυθῶδες πολὺ καὶ ἀσύφηλον καὶ παιδαριῶδες, ψυχρόν τε καὶ εἰκαιόβουλον, καὶ ἀσυνεσίας ἁπάσης ἔμπλεων, πλὴν ὅτι παρὰ μόνοις αὐτοῖς, οἳ πολυτρόπως τερατευσάμενοι καὶ εἰς πίστιν ἀληθείας ἀγαγεῖν ἐπιχειροῦσι τὸ ψεῦδος; Ἀκαλλὲς δὲ οὕτω παρ' αὐτοῖς ἐστι καὶ πολὺ ὡς καὶ αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἐξειλεγμένους, ἄριστά τε φιλοσοφεῖν τὰ παρ' ἑαυτοῖς εἰωθότας, τῆς τῶν ποιητῶν οὐκ ἐνθέου μᾶλλον ἀλλ' ἐκτόπου μανίας πλείστην μὲν ὅσην ποιήσασθαι τὴν καταβοήν, πρέπει δὲ ὅτι τῆς παρ' αὐτοῖς τερθρείας ἀποφοιτᾶν ἀναφανδὸν εἰπεῖν. Οὐ γάρ τοι προσίεται τὰ Ὁμήρου Πλάτων θεοὺς καὶ θεὰς εἰσκεκομικότος, τοῦτο μὲν ἐπ' ἀσελγείᾳ κατεγνωσμένους καὶ ταῖς ἐξ ἀνθρώπων πλεονεξίαις ἠδικημένους, τοῦτο δὲ καὶ κλάοντας, καὶ τεθνεώτων αὐτοῖς τῶν ἐκ γένους ἀσχάλλοντας, καὶ τὸ ὤ μοι ἐγώ λέγοντας γυναικοπρεπῶς, διά τοι τὸ βούλεσθαι μὲν ἐξαρπάσαι θανάτου τινά, μὴ μὴν ἔτι δύνασθαι τοῦτο δρᾶν, ἀλλ' ἡττᾶσθαι Μοιρῶν καὶ Πεπρωμένῃ παραχωρεῖν, ὡς ἀλκιμωτέρᾳ δηλονότι καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ προὔχοντος τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν, ὃν δὴ καὶ ὕπατον καλοῦσι ∆ία. Ἀλλὰ γὰρ τὸ καὶ ἔτι δύνασθαι πλεῖστα λέγειν ἔν γε δὴ τούτῳ παρεὶς διὰ τὸ μὴ δοκεῖν ἀποφέρεσθαι τοῦ εἰκότος, ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν προκειμένων ἐπανήξω σκοπόν. 2.5 Ἑλλήνων ἐστὶ τὸ μυθῶδες, καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν τερατολογίαν εἰς πίστιν ἀληθείας οὐκ ἐξ ἁπλῶν ἐννοιῶν, ἀνοσίως δὲ μᾶλλον καὶ φιλοκακούργως ἐξηυρημένων, ἐπενεγκεῖν ἐσπούδασαν καὶ κατὰ τῆς ἀρρήτου δόξης τοῦ πάντων κρατοῦντος Θεοῦ τὸ κακόηθες πλάσμα συντεθείκασι, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ παγὴν