Chapter XXIX.—Of the Question Why the Heathen Should Refuse to Worship the God of Israel; Even Although They Deem Him to Be Only the Presiding Divinity of the Elements?

45. What do they say of this God of Sabaoth, which term, by interpretation, means the God of powers or of armies, inasmuch as the powers and the armies of the angels serve Him? What do they say of this God of Israel; for He is the God of that people from whom came the seed wherein all the nations were to be blessed? Why is He the only deity excluded from worship by those very persons who contend that all the gods ought to be worshipped? Why do they refuse their belief to Him who both proves other gods to be false gods, and also overthrows them? I have heard one of them declare that he had read, in some philosopher or other, the statement that, from what the Jews did in their sacred observances, he had come to know what God they worshipped. “He is the deity,” said he, “that presides over those elements of which this visible and material universe is constructed;” when in the Holy Scriptures of His prophets it is plainly shown that the people of Israel were commanded to worship that God who made heaven and earth, and from whom comes all true wisdom. But what need is there for further disputation on this subject, seeing that it is quite sufficient for my present purpose to point out how they entertain any kind of presumptuous opinions regarding that God whom yet they cannot deny to be a God? If, indeed, He is the deity that presides over the elements of which this world consists, why is He not worshipped in preference to Neptune, who presides over the sea only? Why not, again, in preference to Silvanus, who presides over the fields and woods only? Why not in preference to the Sun, who presides over the day only, or who also rules over the entire heat of heaven? Why not in preference to the Moon, who presides over the night only, or who also shines pre-eminent for power over moisture? Why not in preference to Juno, who is supposed to hold possession of the air only? For certainly those deities, whoever they may be, who preside over the parts, must necessarily be under that Deity who wields the presidency over all the elements, and over the entire universe. But this Deity prohibits the worship of all those deities. Why, then, is it that these men, in opposition to the injunction of One greater than those deities, not only choose to worship them, but also decline, for their sakes, to worship Him? Not yet have they discovered any constant and intelligible judgment to pronounce on this God of Israel; neither will they ever discover any such judgment, until they find out that He alone is the true God, by whom all things were created.

CAPUT XXIX. Deum Israel quidni colant pagani, si eum vel praepositum elementorum esse opinantur.

45. Quid dicunt de isto Deo sabaoth, quod interpretatur Deus virtutum vel exercituum; quia illi serviunt virtutes et exercitus Angelorum? quid dicunt de isto Deo Israel, quia Deus est illius populi, de quo venit semen, in quo benedicerentur omnes Gentes? Cur solum non colunt, qui omnes deos colendos esse contendunt? cur ei non credunt, qui alios deos falsos et ostendit, et evertit? Audivi quemdam eorum dicere, se regisse apud nescio quem philosophum, quod ex iis quae Judaei in suis sacramentis agerent, intellexisset quem Deum colerent: «Praepositum, inquit, istorum elementorum, quibus iste visibilis et corporeus mundus exstructus est:» cum in Scripturis sanctis Prophetarum ejus aperte ostendatur, illum Deum colendum praeceptum esse populo Israel, qui fecit coelum et terram, et a quo est omnis vera sapientia. Sed quid opus est hinc diutius disputare, cum ad id quod ago sufficiat, quod illi qualibet praesumptione opinantur de illo Deo, quem Deum esse negare non possunt? Si enim praepositus est elementorum quibus mundus iste consistit, cur non ipse potius colitur, quam Neptunus, qui solius maris praepositus est? quam denique Silvanus, qui solorum agrorum atque silvarum? quam Sol, qui solius diei, vel etiam universi coelestis caloris? quam Luna, quae solius noctis, vel etiam humoris potestate praefulget? quam Juno, quae solum aerem tenere perhibetur? Certe enim isti partium praepositi, quicumque sunt, necesse est ut sub illo sint, qui omnium elementorum et universae hujus molis praeposituram gerit. At iste illos omnes coli prohibet: cur ergo isti contra praeceptum majoris illorum, non solum eos colere volunt, sed propter istos illum nolunt? Adhuc non inveniunt quid de isto Deo Israel constanter liquidoque pronuntient; nec unquam invenient, donec eum inveniant Deum solum verum, a quo creata sunt omnia.