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

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 great things, knowing nothing of what they say. But since, O men of Greece, the matters of true piety are not in poetic meters nor in the education esteemed among you, setting aside, therefore, the precision of meters and words, attend without contention to the things spoken by her and know of how many good things she will be the cause for you, clearly and manifestly foretelling the arrival of our Savior Jesus Christ; who, being the Word of God, incomprehensible in power, having taken up the man fashioned according to the image and likeness of God, reminded us of the piety of our ancient forefathers, which the men born from them abandoned and by the teaching of a malicious demon turned to the worship of non-gods. But if any hesitation concerning faith about the creation of man troubles you, be persuaded by those things to which you still think you ought to attend, and know that the oracle among you, having been deemed worthy by someone to publish a hymn of the almighty God, spoke thus in the middle of the hymn: Who first fashioned mortals, and called him Adam. And it happens that this hymn is preserved among many whom we know, for the refutation of those unwilling to be persuaded by the truth which is testified to by all. If, therefore, O men of Greece, you do not consider the false notion about non-existent gods more valuable than your own salvation, be persuaded, as I said, by the most ancient and very old Sibyl, whose books happen to be preserved throughout the whole world, teaching you through oracles, by some powerful inspiration, that the so-called gods do not exist, and clearly and manifestly proclaiming beforehand the future coming of our Savior Jesus Christ and all the things that were to be done by him; for the knowledge of these things will be for you a necessary preliminary exercise for the prophecy of the holy men. But if anyone thinks he has learned the doctrine concerning God from the most ancient philosophers named among them, let him hear both Ammon and Hermes: Ammon, in his discourses, calling God completely hidden, and Hermes saying clearly and manifestly: To conceive God is difficult, but to express him is impossible, even for one to whom conception is possible. Therefore, it is fitting to know from all this, that it is in no way possible to learn about God or true piety otherwise than from the prophets alone, who teach you through divine inspiration.

τωνα εἰς τοὺς τῆς Σιβύλλης ἀφορῶντα χρησμοὺς περὶ τῶν χρησμῳδῶν τοῦτ' εἰρηκέναι δῆλον. Ἔφη γὰρ οὕτως· Ὅταν κατορθῶσι λέγοντες πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα πράγματα, μηδὲν εἰδότες ὧν λέγουσι. Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἐπειδήπερ, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, οὐκ ἐν ποιη τικοῖς μέτροις τὰ τῆς ἀληθοῦς θεοσεβείας πράγματα οὐδὲ ἐν τῇ παρ' ὑμῖν εὐδοκιμούσῃ παιδεύσει, ἀφέμενοι λοιπὸν τῆς τῶν μέτρων καὶ λόγων ἀκριβείας, τοῖς ὑπ' αὐτῆς εἰρημένοις ἀφι λονείκως προσέχοντες γνῶτε πόσων ὑμῖν ἀγαθῶν αἰτία ἔσται, τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἄφιξιν σαφῶς καὶ φανε ρῶς προαγορεύουσα· ὃς τοῦ θεοῦ ὑπάρχων λόγος ἀχώρητος δυνάμει, τὸν κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ καὶ ὁμοίωσιν πλασθέντα ἀνα λαβὼν ἄνθρωπον, τῆς τῶν ἀρχαίων ἡμᾶς προγόνων ἀνέμνησε θεοσεβείας, ἣν οἱ ἐξ αὐτῶν γενόμενοι ἄνθρωποι καταλιπόντες διδασκαλίᾳ βασκάνου δαίμονος ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν μὴ θεῶν ἐτράπη σαν θρησκείαν. Eἰ δέ τις ὄκνος ὑμῖν ἐνοχλεῖ πίστεως περὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου πλάσεως, πείσθητε τούτοις οἷς ἔτι προσ έχειν οἴεσθε δεῖν, καὶ γνῶτε ὅτι τὸ παρ' ὑμῖν χρηστήριον, ἀξιωθὲν ὑπό τινος ὕμνον τοῦ παντοκράτορος ἐκδοῦναι θεοῦ, οὕτως ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ ὕμνου ἔφη· Ὃς πρῶτον πλάσας μερόπων, Ἀδὰμ δὲ καλέσσας. Καὶ τοῦτον σώζεσθαι τὸν ὕμνον παρὰ πολλοῖς ὧν ἴσμεν συμ βαίνει εἰς ἔλεγχον τῶν μὴ πείθεσθαι τῇ ὑπὸ πάντων μαρτυ ρουμένῃ ἀληθείᾳ βουλομένων. Eἰ τοίνυν, ὦ ἄνδρες Ἕλληνες, μὴ προτιμοτέραν ἡγεῖσθε τῆς ὑμῶν αὐτῶν σωτηρίας τὴν περὶ τῶν μὴ ὄντων θεῶν ψευδῆ φαντασίαν, πείσθητε, ὥσπερ ἔφην, τῇ ἀρχαιοτάτῃ καὶ σφόδρα παλαιᾷ Σιβύλλῃ, ἧς τὰς βίβλους ἐν πάσῃ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ σώζεσθαι συμβαίνει, περὶ μὲν τῶν λεγο μένων θεῶν ὡς μὴ ὄντων ἀπό τινος δυνατῆς ἐπιπνοίας διὰ χρησμῶν ὑμᾶς διδασκούσῃ, περὶ δὲ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ μελλούσης ἔσεσθαι παρουσίας καὶ περὶ πάν των τῶν ὑπ' αὐτοῦ γίνεσθαι μελλόντων σαφῶς καὶ φανερῶς προαναφωνούσῃ· ἔσται γὰρ ὑμῖν ἀναγκαῖον προγύμνασμα ἡ τούτων γνῶσις τῆς τῶν ἱερῶν ἀνδρῶν προφητείας. Eἰ δέ τις οἴοιτο παρὰ τῶν πρεσβυτάτων παρ' αὐτοῖς ὀνομασθέντων φι λοσόφων τὸν περὶ θεοῦ μεμαθηκέναι λόγον, Ἄμμωνός τε καὶ Ἑρμοῦ ἀκουέτω· Ἄμμωνος μὲν ἐν τοῖς περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγοις πάγκρυφον τὸν θεὸν ὀνομάζοντος, Ἑρμοῦ δὲ σαφῶς καὶ φανε ρῶς λέγοντος· Θεὸν νοῆσαι μέν ἐστι χαλεπόν, φράσαι δὲ ἀδύνατον, ᾧ καὶ νοῆσαι δυνατόν. Πανταχόθεν τοίνυν εἰδέναι προσήκει, ὅτι οὐδαμῶς ἑτέρως περὶ θεοῦ ἢ τῆς ὀρθῆς θεοσε βείας μανθάνειν οἷόν τε ἢ παρὰ τῶν προφητῶν μόνων, τῶν διὰ τῆς θείας ἐπιπνοίας διδασκόντων ὑμᾶς.