Protrepticus

 Raging for corruptions, celebrating insolence, deifying sorrows, the first to lead men by the hand to idols, yes, indeed, to stones and wood, that is,

 May inspire, and which may receive the 1.5.4 lord. yes, indeed, david the king, the harpist, whom we mentioned a little before, was exhorting towards

 And to statues and to certain such images having bound them fast with the wretched bond of superstition, that which is indeed said, bringing living me

 Let her who does not give birth hear let her who does not travail break forth with a cry, for the children of the desolate are more than of her who

 Breathing roughly is interpreted as the female serpent but deo and kore have already become a mystic drama, and eleusis holds torches for their wande

 A herdsman, the goad, calling the narthex a herdsman's goad, i suppose, which the bacchants indeed wreathe. 2.17.1 do you wish that i should narrate t

 And the swineherd eubouleus from whom sprang the hierophantic family of the eumolpidae and kerykes, 2.20.3 this very one at athens. and indeed (for i

 A teacher of the woman's 2.24.2 disease to the other scythians. for which reason (for it must by no means be concealed), it comes over me to wonder in

 They have fabricated certain saviors, the dioscuri and heracles, averter of evil, and asclepius the physician. 2.27.1 these are the slippery and harmf

 Apollodorus says, and callimachus, phoebus is appointed over the sacrifices of asses among the hyperboreans. and the same poet elsewhere says, fat sac

 And of gods. he was so poured out in matters of love, as to desire all, and to fulfill his desire upon all. at any rate, he was filled with women no

 Is fashioned in the manner of a member and sits upon the branch, fulfilling the promise to the dead man. a mystical memorial of this passion, phalli a

 Is taught to be prudent. the myth is laid bare for you leda died, the swan died, the eagle died. you seek your zeus? do not meddle with the sky, but

 2.39.8 they acclaimed. but heraclides in *foundations of temples* says that in acarnania, where the actium promontory is and the temple of actian apol

 He records 3.42.7 to have offered a whole burnt-offering. and erechtheus the attic and marius the roman sacrificed their own daughters of whom the on

 In athens, on the acropolis, is that of cecrops, as antiochus says in the ninth book of his histories. and what of erichthonius? was he not buried in

 The so-called palladium, fallen from heaven, which diomedes and odysseus are said to have stolen from ilium, and to have entrusted to demophon, was ma

 Nor insult the blooming youth keep it pure, that it may be beautiful. become a king of beauty, not a tyrant let it remain free then i will recogniz

 Worshippers of stones, having learned by deed not to worship senseless matter, being overcome by the need itself, are destroyed by superstition but t

 And private individuals dignified themselves with divine titles, as menecrates the physician, who was surnamed zeus. why must i list alexarchus (he wa

 4.56.4 offspring of the earth, all these things that you see? why then, o foolish and empty-minded ones (for i will say it again), having blasphemed t

 They boast, having enrolled them as their own household slaves, having made them compelled slaves by their incantations. therefore, the remembered mar

 You shall make, says the prophet, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above and that is in the 4.62.3 earth beneath. would we, then, still s

 Those who worship it have suffered for others named this fire hephaestus. 5.65.1 but the magi of the persians have honored fire, as have many of the

 Of truth, do you show that those who have trusted in you are subjected to a flow and current and disorderly eddies? and why do you fill my life with i

 By counsel but indeed they raise pure arms to heaven, rising early from bed, always cleansing their skin with water, and they honor only the one who

 A comfort of the gods, images of stone, or bronze or gold-wrought or ivory figures and allotting sacrifices to them and empty festivals, thus we thin

 You will empty injustice. 8.77.1 now that the other things have been duly completed by us in order, it is time to turn to the prophetic writings for

 I swear by myself. but he is vexed with the idolaters, saying to whom have you likened the lord? or to what likeness have you likened him? did a car

 For how is it permitted for the foreigner to enter? but when, i suppose, he is enrolled and made a citizen and receives the father, then he will be i

 The wanderers of the hebrews for they are said not to have entered into the rest because of unbelief, until, having followed the successor of moses,

 10.89.1 but to overturn a custom handed down to us from our fathers, you say, is not reasonable. and why, then, do we not use our first food, milk, to

 Demands repentance. but i want to ask you, if it does not seem absurd to you that you, men, having been born a creation of god and having received you

 Punishment? why do we not accept the gift? why do we not choose the better things, god instead of the wicked one, and prefer wisdom to idolatry, and e

 10.98.3 promised? who has promised immortality? only the creator of all things, the father, the master-craftsman, fashioned us, man, such a living s

 To wipe away the hindrances to salvation, both pride and wealth and fear, uttering this very poetic saying: where, indeed, do i carry these many posse

 They inhumanly attempt to slaughter him who teaches humanely, who calls them to righteousness, neither awaiting the grace from above nor shunning the

 A portion to those who have turned to any part of life, and to consider wisdom the same waveless harbor of salvation 10.107.3 through which those who

 He who also was, through what he taught and showed, having presented himself, our truce-bearer and reconciler and savior, the word, a life-giving, pea

 Since you were not ashamed of your brother. 11.114.1 let us then take away, let us take away the forgetfulness of the truth having cast down the igno

 The trumpet with its great blast sounded, gathered soldiers, and announced war but christ, having breathed a peaceful melody to the ends of the earth

 Bound, you shall be loosed from all corruption, the word of god will steer you, and the holy spirit will bring you to anchor in the harbors of the hea

 12.121.1 let us hasten, let us run, o god-loving and god-like images of the word [men] let us hasten, let us run, let us take up his yoke, let us mou

you will empty injustice. 8.77.1 Now that the other things have been duly completed by us in order, it is time to turn to the prophetic writings; for indeed the oracles, by most clearly setting forth for us the first principles of piety, establish the truth. The divine writings and sober lives are short roads to salvation; being bare of artificial ornament and outward elegance of speech and chatter and flattery, they raise up man when he is throttled by wickedness, supporting him against the slipperiness of life, healing many things with one and the same voice, turning us away from injurious deceit, and exhorting us manifestly to the salvation that is set before us. 8.77.2 Straightway then let the prophetess Sibyl first sing to us the song of salvation; behold, all this is clear, it is unerring; come, do not pursue darkness and gloom forever. Behold, the sweet-looking light of the sun shines exceedingly. Know then, laying up wisdom in your breasts. There is one God who sends rains, and winds, and earthquakes, and lightnings, famines, plagues, and grievous cares, and snows, and ice; but why do I declare each one? He rules heaven, he has power over earth, he himself exists. 8.77.3 very divinely likening deceit to darkness, and the knowledge of God to the sun and light, and by setting both side by side in comparison, she teaches the choice. For falsehood is not scattered by the mere juxtaposition of truth, but is driven out and banished by the use of truth. 8.78.1 But Jeremiah, the all-wise prophet, or rather the Holy Spirit in Jeremiah, reveals God. "I am a God at hand," he says, "and not a God afar off. If a man does anything in secret, shall I not see him? Do not I fill heaven and earth? Says 8.78.2 the Lord." And again through Isaiah, "Who will measure," he says, "the heaven with a span and all the earth with a handful?" Behold the greatness of God, and be amazed. Let us worship him, of whom the prophet says, "from your face the mountains shall melt, as wax melts from the face of fire." This, he says, is God, "whose throne is the heaven, and the earth his footstool," "who if he opens heaven, trembling will seize 8.78.3 you." Do you wish to hear also what this prophet says about idols? "They will be made a public example before the sun, and their carcasses will be food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, and will rot under the sun and the moon, which they themselves loved and which they themselves 8.78.4 served, and their city will be burned up. "And he says that the elements and the world will be destroyed along with them; "the earth," he says, "will grow old and the heaven will pass away," "but the word of the Lord endures forever." 8.79.1 And what when God again wishes to show himself through Moses? "See, see that I am, and there is no other God but me. I will kill and I will make to live; I will strike and I will heal, and there is none who will deliver out of my 8.79.2 hands." But do you also wish to hear another oracle-giver? You have the whole prophetic chorus, the fellow-revellers of Moses. What does the Holy Spirit say to them through Hosea? I will not hesitate to say, "behold, I who make the thunder firm and create the spirit," whose hands established the host of heaven. 8.79.3 And further, also through Isaiah (and I will call this voice to your remembrance); "I am, I am," he says, "the Lord who speaks righteousness and declares truth; gather together and come; take counsel together, you who are saved from the nations. They did not know, those who carry the wood of their graven image, and pray to gods who will not save them." 8.79.4 Then, continuing, "I," he says, "am God, and there is no righteous one besides me, and there is no saviour except me; turn to me and you will be saved, you from the end of the earth. I am 8.79.5 God, and there is no other; by

ἀδικίας κενώσετε. 8.77.1 Ὥρα τοίνυν τῶν ἄλλων ἡμῖν τῇ τάξει προδιηνυσμένων ἐπὶ τὰς προφητικὰς ἰέναι γραφάς· καὶ γὰρ οἱ χρησμοὶ τὰς εἰς τὴν θεοσέβειαν ἡμῖν ἀφορμὰς ἐναργέστατα προτείνοντες θεμελιοῦσι τὴν ἀλήθειαν· γραφαὶ δὲ αἱ θεῖαι καὶ πολιτεῖαι σώφρονες σύντομοι σωτηρίας ὁδοί· γυμναὶ κομμωτικῆς καὶ τῆς ἐκτὸς καλλιφωνίας καὶ στωμυλίας καὶ κολακείας ὑπάρχουσαι ἀνιστῶσιν ἀγχόμενον ὑπὸ κακίας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ὑπερείδουσαι τὸν ὄλισθον τὸν βιωτικόν, μιᾷ καὶ τῇ αὐτῇ φωνῇ πολλὰ θεραπεύουσαι, ἀποτρέπουσαι μὲν ἡμᾶς τῆς ἐπιζημίου ἀπάτης, προτρέπουσαι δὲ ἐμφανῶς εἰς προὖπτον 8.77.2 σωτηρίαν. Αὐτίκα γοῦν ἡ προφῆτις ἡμῖν ᾀσάτω πρώτη Σίβυλλα τὸ ᾆσμα τὸ σωτήριον· οὗτος ἰδοὺ πάντ' ἐστὶ σαφής, ἀπλάνητος ὑπάρχει· ἔλθετε, μὴ σκοτίην δὲ διώκετε καὶ ζόφον αἰεί. Ἠελίου γλυκυδερκές, ἰδού, φάος ἔξοχα λάμπει. Γνῶτε δὲ κατθέμενοι σοφίην ἐν στήθεσιν ὑμῶν. Εἷς θεός ἐστι βροχάς, ἀνέμους, σεισμούς τ' ἐπιπέμπων, ἀστεροπάς, λιμούς, λοιμοὺς καὶ κήδεα λυγρὰ καὶ νιφετούς, κρύσταλλα· τί δὴ καθ' ἓν ἐξαγορεύω; Οὐρανοῦ ἡγεῖται, γαίης κρατεῖ, αὐτὸς ὑπάρχει. 8.77.3 ἐνθέως σφόδρα τὴν μὲν ἀπάτην ἀπεικάζουσα τῷ σκότει, τὴν δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ γνῶσιν ἡλίῳ καὶ φωτί, ἄμφω δὲ παραθεμένη τῇ συγκρίσει τὴν ἐκλογὴν διδάσκει· τὸ γὰρ ψεῦδος οὐ ψιλῇ τῇ παραθέσει τἀληθοῦς διασκεδάννυται, τῇ δὲ χρήσει τῆς ἀληθείας ἐκβιαζόμενον φυγαδεύεται. 8.78.1 Ἱερεμίας δὲ ὁ προφήτης ὁ πάνσοφος, μᾶλλον δὲ ἐν Ἱερεμίᾳ τὸ ἅγιον πνεῦμα ἐπιδείκνυσι τὸν θεόν. "Θεὸς ἐγγίζων ἐγώ εἰμι", φησί, "καὶ οὐχὶ θεὸς πόρρωθεν. Εἰ ποιήσει τι ἄνθρωπος ἐν κρυφαίοις, καὶ ἐγὼ οὐκ ὄψομαι αὐτόν; Οὐχὶ τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐγὼ πληρῶ; Λέγει 8.78.2 κύριος." Πάλιν δὲ αὖ διὰ Ἡσαΐου "Τίς μετρήσει", φησί, "τὸν οὐρανὸν σπιθαμῇ καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν δρακί;" Ὅρα τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ καταπλάγηθι. Τοῦτον προσκυνήσωμεν, ἐφ' οὗ φησιν ὁ προφήτης "ἀπὸ προσώπου σου ὄρη τακή σονται, ὡς ἀπὸ προσώπου πυρὸς τήκεται κηρός." Οὗτος, φησίν, ἐστὶν ὁ θεός, "οὗ θρόνος μέν ἐστιν ὁ οὐρανός, ὑποπό διον δὲ ἡ γῆ", "ὃς ἐὰν ἀνοίξῃ τὸν οὐρανόν, τρόμος σε λήψε 8.78.3 ται." Βούλει καὶ περὶ τῶν εἰδώλων ἀκοῦσαι τί φησὶν προφή της οὗτος; "Παραδειγματισθήσονται ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ ἔσται τὰ θνησιμαῖα αὐτῶν βρώματα τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τοῖς θηρίοις τῆς γῆς, καὶ σαπήσεται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡλίου καὶ τῆς σελήνης, ἃ αὐτοὶ ἠγάπησαν καὶ οἷς αὐτοὶ 8.78.4 ἐδούλευσαν, καὶ ἐμπρησθήσεται ἡ πόλις αὐτῶν. "Φθαρή σεσθαι δὲ καὶ τὰ στοιχεῖα καὶ τὸν κόσμον σὺν καὶ αὐτοῖς λέγει· "ἡ γῆ", φησί, "παλαιωθήσεται καὶ ὁ οὐρανὸς παρελεύσεται", "τὸ δὲ ῥῆμα κυρίου μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα." 8.79.1 Τί δὲ ὅταν πάλιν ἑαυτὸν δεικνύναι ὁ θεὸς βουληθῇ διὰ Μωυσέως; "Ἴδετε ἴδετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι καὶ οὐκ ἔστι θεὸς ἕτερος πλὴν ἐμοῦ. Ἐγὼ ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω· πατάξω κἀγὼ ἰάσομαι, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ὃς ἐξελεῖται ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν 8.79.2 μου." Ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρου ἐπακοῦσαι θέλεις χρησμῳδοῦ; Ἔχεις τὸν χορὸν πάντα τὸν προφητικόν, τοὺς συνθιασώτας τοῦ Μωυσέως. Τί φησὶν αὐτοῖς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον διὰ Ὠσηέ; Οὐκ ὀκνήσω λέγειν "ἰδού, ἐγὼ στερεῶν βροντὴν καὶ κτίζων πνεῦμα", οὗ αἱ χεῖρες τὴν στρατιὰν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ 8.79.3 ἐθεμελίωσαν. Ἔτι δὲ καὶ διὰ Ἡσαΐου (καὶ ταύτην ἀπομνημονεύσω σοι τὴν φωνήν)· "ἐγώ εἰμι, ἐγώ εἰμι", φησίν, "ὁ κύριος ὁ λαλῶν δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀναγγέλλων ἀλήθειαν· συνάχθητε καὶ ἥκετε· βουλεύσασθε ἅμα, οἱ σῳζόμενοι ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνῶν. Οὐκ ἔγνωσαν οἱ αἴροντες τὸ ξύλον γλύμμα αὐτῶν, καὶ προσευχόμενοι θεοῖς οἳ οὐ σώσουσιν αὐτούς." 8.79.4 Εἶθ' ὑποβάς "ἐγώ", φησίν, "ὁ θεός, καὶ οὐκ ἔστι πλὴν ἐμοῦ δίκαιος, καὶ σωτὴρ οὐκ ἔστι πάρεξ ἐμοῦ· ἐπιστράφητε πρός με καὶ σωθήσεσθε οἱ ἀπ' ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς. Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ 8.79.5 θεὸς καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλος· κατ'