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By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and by the spirit of his mouth 2.87 all their power." And indeed both Plutarch and Plotinus heard of the divine gospels. Amelius, the leader of Porphyry's school, clearly shows this; for he greatly admires 2.88 the preface of John's theology, speaking thus: "And this, then, was the Word, by whom, being eternal, the things that are made came to be, as Heraclitus also would maintain, and, by Zeus, the barbarian also claims that, having been established in the order and dignity of the beginning, he was with God and was God, through whom all things simply have come to be, in whom what has come to be was living and life and being, and that he fell into a body, and having put on flesh appeared as a man, while at the same time showing the greatness of his nature, and indeed that after being released he was deified again and was God, such as he was before he was brought down into the body and the flesh and the man." 2.89 Thus, then, did the one nurtured in the eloquence of Plato and the other philosophers marvel at the theology of the barbarian; and he agreed that the Word was both in the beginning, and was God, and was with God, and had made all things, and was the cause and provider of life to all, and for the sake of the salvation of all concealed in flesh the majesty of the Godhead, but nevertheless revealed, even in that small and dense cloud, his paternal nobility. 2.90 For the divine evangelist, having said "and the Word became flesh" and having shown the unchangeable nature of the divine nature, added "and dwelt among us" and taught that even while clothed in flesh he sent forth the ineffable and incorruptible splendor of the Godhead: "For 'we have seen,' he said, 'his glory, glory as of the only-begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.'" For the covering of the flesh did not dim the rays of his divinity, but even wearing this it was clear who he was, and from whom he had shone forth. 2.91 But if even the opponents of the truth so completely admire the truth, as to adorn their own writings with small portions plundered from it, and these things, mixed with much falsehood, do not dull their own beauty, but the pearls, even lying in refuse, glitter, and, according to the evangelical teaching, "the light shines in the darkness and is not hidden by the darkness," it is easy to understand how lovable and admirable are the divine teachings, separated from falsehood. 2.92 For surely a pearl lying in the mire differs greatly from one shining in a diadem; and indeed even the finger-bones, disjointed from each other and scattered, do not have the same seemliness and grace and use, as they are seen to have and 2.93 to perform when grown together and fitted to one another. Therefore, the beauty of the truth must be contemplated pure and unmixed. For if it shines even when mixed with contrary colors, it is clear that it will appear more brilliant when separated from the things that mar it. 2.94 And one might learn this more clearly by setting the Greek mythology beside the apostolic and prophetic teaching and observing the difference side-by-side. Sanchuniathon of Berytus, then, wrote the theology of the Phoenicians; and Philo—not the Hebrew, but of Byblos—translated this into the Greek language, and Porphyry greatly admired Sanchuniathon. Manetho recounted the myths about Isis and Osiris and Apis and Sarapis and the other gods of the Egyptians; 2.95 Diodorus Siculus wrote a cosmogony; and even the boys know the Theogony of the Ascraean poet; and Orpheus the Odrysian instructed the Greeks in the Egyptian rites; and Cadmus in those of the Phoenicians; Cornutus the philosopher composed the Greek Theology; Plutarch and Aetius teach the opinions of the philosophers; and Porphyry also undertook the same labor, adding the life of each to his 2.96 opinions. To these things, O men, I ask you to compare our own, and to learn that not only, according to the poet, are they as far apart as heaven is from earth,

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λόγῳ Κυρίου οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἐστερεώθησαν, καὶ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ 2.87 πᾶσα ἡ δύναμις αὐτῶν." Καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ τῶν θείων εὐαγγελίων ὅ τε Πλούταρχος καὶ ὁ Πλωτῖνος ἐπήκουσαν. ∆ηλοῖ δὲ τοῦτο σαφῶς ὁ Ἀμέλιος, ὁ τῆς Πορφυρίου πρωτεύσας διατριβῆς· ὑπεράγαται 2.88 γὰρ τὸ τῆς Ἰωάννου θεολογίας προοίμιον, οὑτωσὶ λέγων· "Καὶ οὗτος ἄρα ἦν ὁ λόγος, καθ' ὃν ἀεὶ ὄντα τὰ γινόμενα ἐγίνετο, ὡς ἂν καὶ ὁ Ἡράκλειτος ἀξιώσειεν, καὶ νὴ ∆ία καὶ ὁ βάρβαρος ἀξιοῖ ἐν τῇ τῆς ἀρχῆς τάξει τε καὶ ἀξίᾳ καθεστηκότα πρὸς θεὸν εἶναι καὶ θεὸν εἶναι, δι' οὗ πάντα ἁπλῶς γεγενῆσθαι, ἐν ᾧ τὸ γενόμενον ζῶν καὶ ζωὴν καὶ ὂν πεφυκέναι εἴς τε σῶμα πίπτειν καὶ σάρκα ἐνδυσάμενον φαντάζεσθαι ἄνθρωπον, μετὰ τοῦ καὶ τηνικαῦτα δεικνύειν τῆς φύσεως τὸ μεγαλεῖον, ἀμέλει καὶ ἀνα λυθέντα πάλιν ἀποθεοῦσθαι καὶ θεὸν εἶναι, οἷος ἦν πρὸ τοῦ εἰς τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν σάρκα καὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον καταχθῆναι." 2.89 Οὕτως ἄρα τὴν τοῦ βαρβάρου θεολογίαν τεθαύμακεν ὁ τῇ Πλάτωνος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φιλοσόφων ἐντραφεὶς εὐεπείᾳ· καὶ ξυ νωμολόγησε τὸν λόγον καὶ ἐν ἀρχῇ εἶναι καὶ θεὸν εἶναι καὶ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν εἶναι καὶ τὰ πάντα πεποιηκέναι καὶ ζωῆς τοῖς ἅπασιν αἴτιον ὑπάρχειν καὶ χορηγὸν καὶ τῆς τῶν ὅλων ἕνεκα σωτηρίας σαρκὶ μὲν ξυγκρύψαι τὸ μεγαλοπρεπὲς τῆς θεότητος, ἀποκαλύψαι δὲ ὅμως κἀν τῇ σμικρᾷ καὶ παχείᾳ νεφέλῃ τὴν πατρῴαν εὐγέ 2.90 νειαν. Καὶ γὰρ ὁ θεσπέσιος εὐαγγελιστὴς εἰρηκὼς "καὶ ὁ λόγος σὰρξ ἐγένετο" καὶ δείξας τὸ τῆς θείας φύσεως ἀναλλοίωτον, ἐπήγαγε "καὶ ἐσκήνωσεν ἐν ἡμῖν" καὶ ἐδίδαξεν, ὡς καὶ σάρκα περικείμενος τὴν ἄρρητόν τε καὶ ἄφθαρτον ἠφίει τῆς θεότητος αἴγλην· "Ἐθεασάμεθα" γὰρ ἔφη "τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ, δόξαν ὡς μονογενοῦς παρὰ πατρός, πλήρης χάριτος καὶ ἀληθείας." Οὐκ ἠμαύρωσε γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὰς τῆς θεότητος ἀκτῖνας ἡ περιβολὴ τῆς σαρκός, ἀλλὰ καὶ ταύτην ἀμπεχόμενος δῆλος ἦν, τίς τε ἦν, καὶ ἐκ τίνος ἐξέλαμψεν. 2.91 Εἰ δὲ καὶ οἱ τῆς ἀληθείας ἀντίπαλοι οὕτω κομιδῇ θαυμάζουσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ὡς καὶ βραχέσι μορίοις ἐκεῖθεν σεσυλημένοις δια καλλύνειν τὰ οἰκεῖα ξυγγράμματα, καὶ πολλῷ ψεύδει ταῦτα μιγνύμενα μὴ ἀμβλύνειν τὸ σφέτερον κάλλος, ἀλλὰ κἀν φορυτῷ κειμένους τοὺς μαργαρίτας ἀστράπτειν καὶ, κατὰ τὴν εὐαγ γελικὴν διδασκαλίαν, "τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ φαίνειν καὶ ὑπὸ τῆς σκοτίας μὴ κρύπτεσθαι" ξυνιδεῖν εὐπετές, ὅπως ἐστὶν ἀξιέ ραστα καὶ ἀξιάγαστα τὰ θεῖα μαθήματα, τοῦ ψεύδους κεχωρι 2.92 σμένα. Πολλὴν γάρ που διαφορὰν ἔχει μαργαρίτης ἐν βορβόρῳ κείμενος καὶ ἐν διαδήματι λάμπων· καὶ μὲν δὴ καὶ τῶν δακτύλων αἱ σκυταλίδες ἀφηρμοσμέναι τε ἀλλήλων καὶ διεσκεδασμέναι, οὐ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔχουσιν εὐπρέπειάν τε καὶ χάριν καὶ χρείαν, ὅσην ξυμπεφυκυῖαί τε ἀλλήλαις καὶ ξυνηρμοσμέναι ἔχουσαί τε καὶ 2.93 ἐπιτελοῦσαι ὁρῶνται. Ἀκήρατον τοίνυν καὶ ἀμιγὲς τῆς ἀληθείας θεωρητέον τὸ κάλλος. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ χρώμασιν ἐναντίοις μιγνύμε νον λάμπει, δῆλον ὅτι λαμπρότερον φανεῖται τῶν πημαινόντων 2.94 κεχωρισμένον. Ἐναργέστερον δὲ τοῦτο καταμάθοι τις ἄν, τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν μυθολογίαν τῇ ἀποστολικῇ καὶ προφητικῇ διδασκαλίᾳ παρατιθεὶς καὶ ἐκ παραλλήλου θεώμενος τὸ διάφορον. Σαγχωνιάθων μὲν οὖν ὁ Βηρύτιος τὴν Φοινίκων θεολογίαν ξυνέγραψε· μετήνεγκε δὲ ταύτην εἰς τὴν Ἑλλάδα φωνὴν Φίλων, οὐχ ὁ Ἑβραῖος, ἀλλ' ὁ Βύβλιος, τὸν δὲ Σαγχωνιάθωνα λίαν τε θαύμακεν ὁ Πορφύριος· Μανεθὼς δὲ τὰ περὶ Ἴσιδος καὶ Ὀσίριδος καὶ Ἄπιδος καὶ Σαράπιδος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων 2.95 ἐμυθολόγησε· ∆ιόδωρος δὲ ὁ Σικελιώτης κοσμογονίαν ξυνέγραψε· τὴν δὲ τοῦ Ἀσκραίου ποιητοῦ Θεογονίαν οἶδε καὶ τὰ μειράκια· ὁ δέ γε Ὀδρύσης Ὀρφεὺς τὰς Αἰγυπτίων τελετὰς τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἐξεπαίδευσε· Κάδμος δὲ τὰς Φοινίκων· Κορνοῦτος δὲ ὁ φιλόσοφος τὴν Ἑλληνικὴν θεολογίαν ξυντέθεικε· Πλούταρχος δὲ καὶ Ἀέτιος τὰς τῶν φιλοσόφων ἐκπαιδεύουσι δόξας· τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ καὶ ὁ Πορφύριος ἀνεδέξατο πόνον, τὸν ἑκάστου βίον ταῖς 2.96 δόξαις προστεθεικώς. Τούτοις ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνδρες, ἀξιῶ τὰ ἡμέτερα παραθεῖναι καὶ μαθεῖν ὡς οὐ μόνον, κατὰ τὸν ποιητήν, ὅσον οὐρανός ἐστ' ἀπὸ γαίης ἀφέστηκεν,