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

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 "in his Father's house," then he will be deemed worthy to inherit, then he will share 9.82.6 in the paternal kingdom with the legitimate son, the "beloved." For this is the first-born church, composed of many good children; these are the "first-born who are written in heaven," celebrating with so many "myriads of angels"; 9.82.7 and we are the first-born children, the nurslings of God, the legitimate friends of the "first-born," the first of other men to have understood God, the first to be torn away from sins, the first to be separated from the devil. 9.83.1 But now some are as much more godless as God is more man-loving; for while He wishes us to become sons from being slaves, they have been too proud even to become sons. Oh, 9.83.2 the great madness; you are ashamed of the Lord. He promises 9.83.2 freedom, but you run away into slavery. He grants salvation, but you are carried away towards man. He gives eternal life, but you await punishment, and you look to "the fire" "which the Lord has prepared for the devil 9.83.3 and his angels." For this reason the blessed apostle says, "I testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to licentiousness, for the working of all impurity and greediness." 9.84.1 When such a witness convicts the folly of men and calls upon God, what else, indeed, is left for the unbelievers but judgment and condemnation? But the Lord does not grow weary of exhorting, frightening, urging, arousing, admonishing; indeed He awakens and raises up from the darkness itself those who have gone astray; 9.84.2 "Awake," he says, "you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ the Lord will shine on you," the sun of the resurrection, the one begotten "before the morning star," the one who has granted life 9.84.3 with his own rays. Therefore, let no one despise the Word, lest he unknowingly despise himself. For somewhere Scripture says: "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me 9.84.4 in proving." And if you wish to learn what the proving is, the Holy Spirit will explain it to you: "and they saw My works," He says, "for forty years; therefore I was provoked with this generation, and I said: they always go astray in their heart; and they have not known My ways, as I swore in My wrath: 9.84.5 'they shall not enter into My rest.'" See the threat; see the exhortation; see the honor; why then do we still change grace into wrath and not, receiving the Word with open ears, give hospitality to God in pure souls? For great is the grace of His promise, if today we hear His voice; and "today" grows with each [His] 9.84.6 day, as long as "today" is named. Until the consummation both "today" and learning remain; and then the true "today," the unfailing day of God, is coextensive with the ages. Let us therefore always obey the voice of the divine Word; for "today" is eternal; it is an image of the ages, and the day is a symbol of light, and the Word is light for men, through whom we are illuminated by God. 9.85.1 Rightly, therefore, for those who believe and obey, grace will abound all the more, but for those who disobey and go astray in their heart, and have not known the Lord's ways, which John commanded to make straight and prepare, with these indeed 9.85.2 God was provoked and threatens; and indeed the ancients have received the end of the threat in a hidden manner

Πῶς γὰρ εἰσελθεῖν ἐπιτέτραπται τῷ ξένῳ; Ἀλλ' ὅταν, οἶμαι, ἐγγραφῇ καὶ πολιτευθῇ καὶ τὸν πατέρα ἀπολάβῃ, τότε "ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρὸς" γενήσεται, τότε κληρονομῆσαι καταξιωθήσεται, τότε τῆς βασιλείας τῆς πατρῴας κοινω 9.82.6 νήσει τῷ γνησίῳ, τῷ "ἠγαπημένῳ". Αὕτη γὰρ ἡ πρωτό τοκος ἐκκλησία ἡ ἐκ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν συγκειμένη παιδίων· ταῦτ' ἔστι τὰ "πρωτότοκα τὰ ἐναπογεγραμμένα ἐν οὐρα νοῖς" καὶ τοσαύταις "μυριάσιν ἀγγέλων" συμπανηγυρί 9.82.7 ζοντα· πρωτότοκοι δὲ παῖδες ἡμεῖς οἱ τρόφιμοι τοῦ θεοῦ, οἱ τοῦ "πρωτοτόκου" γνήσιοι φίλοι, οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων τὸν θεὸν νενοηκότες, οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπεσπασμένοι, οἱ πρῶτοι τοῦ διαβόλου κεχωρισμένοι. 9.83.1 Νυνὶ δὲ τοσούτῳ τινές εἰσιν ἀθεώτεροι, ὅσῳ φιλαν θρωπότερος ὁ θεός· ὃ μὲν γὰρ ἐκ δούλων υἱοὺς ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι βούλεται, οἳ δὲ καὶ υἱοὶ γενέσθαι ὑπερηφανήκασιν. Ὢ τῆς 9.83.2 ἀπονοίας τῆς πολλῆς· τὸν κύριον ἐπαισχύνεσθε. Ἐλευθερίαν 9.83.2 ἐπαγγέλλεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς δουλείαν ἀποδιδράσκετε. Σωτη ρίαν χαρίζεται, ὑμεῖς δὲ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ὑποφέρεσθε. Ζωὴν δωρεῖται αἰώνιον, ὑμεῖς δὲ τὴν κόλασιν ἀναμένετε, καὶ "τὸ πῦρ" δὲ προσκοπεῖτε, "ὃ ἡτοίμασεν ὁ κύριος τῷ διαβόλῳ 9.83.3 καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ." ∆ιὰ τοῦτο ὁ μακάριος ἀπόστολος "μαρτύρομαι ἐν κυρίῳ," φησίν, "μηκέτι ὑμᾶς περιπατεῖν, καθὼς καὶ τὰ ἔθνη περιπατεῖ ἐν ματαιότητι τοῦ νοὸς αὐτῶν, ἐσκοτισμένοι τῇ διανοίᾳ ὄντες καὶ ἀπηλλοτριωμένοι τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ θεοῦ, διὰ τὴν ἄγνοιαν τὴν οὖσαν ἐν αὐτοῖς, διὰ τὴν πώρωσιν τῆς καρδίας αὐτῶν· οἵτινες ἑαυτοὺς παρέ δωκαν ἀπηλγηκότες τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ εἰς ἐργασίαν ἀκαθαρσίας πάσης καὶ πλεονεξίας." 9.84.1 Τοιούτου μάρτυρος ἐλέγχοντος τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἄνοιαν καὶ θεὸν ἐπιβοωμένου, τί δὴ ἕτερον ὑπολείπεται τοῖς ἀπίστοις ἢ κρίσις καὶ καταδίκη; Οὐ κάμνει δὲ ὁ κύριος παραινῶν, ἐκφοβῶν, προτρέπων, διεγείρων, νουθετῶν· ἀφυπνίζει γέ τοι καὶ τοῦ σκότους αὐτοῦ τοὺς πεπλανημένους 9.84.2 διανίστησιν· "ἔγειρε," φησίν, "ὁ καθεύδων καὶ ἀνάστα ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν, καὶ ἐπιφαύσει σοι ὁ Χριστὸς κύριος," ὁ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἥλιος, ὁ "πρὸ ἑωσφόρου" γεννώμενος, ὁ ζωὴν 9.84.3 χαρισάμενος ἀκτῖσιν ἰδίαις. Μὴ οὖν περιφρονείτω τις τοῦ λόγου, μὴ λάθῃ καταφρονῶν ἑαυτοῦ. Λέγει γάρ που ἡ γραφή· "σήμερον ἐὰν τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσητε, μὴ σκληρύνητε τοῦ καρδίας ὑμῶν ὡς ἐν τῷ παραπικρασμῷ κατὰ τὴν ἡμέραν τοῦ πειρασμοῦ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, οὗ ἐπείρασαν οἱ 9.84.4 πατέρες ὑμῶν ἐν δοκιμασίᾳ." Ἡ δὲ δοκιμασία τίς ἐστιν εἰ θέλεις μαθεῖν, τὸ ἅγιόν σοι πνεῦμα ἐξηγήσεται· "καὶ εἶδον τὰ ἔργα μου," φησί, "τεσσαράκοντα ἔτη· διὸ προσώχθισα τῇ γενεᾷ ταύτῃ καὶ εἶπον· ἀεὶ πλανῶνται τῇ καρδίᾳ· αὐτοὶ δὲ οὐκ ἔγνωσαν τὰς ὁδούς μου, ὡς ὤμοσα ἐν τῇ ὀργῇ μου· 9.84.5 εἰ εἰσελεύσονται εἰς τὴν κατάπαυσίν μου." Ὁρᾶτε τὴν ἀπειλήν· ὁρᾶτε τὴν προτροπήν· ὁρᾶτε τὴν τιμήν· τί δὴ οὖν ἔτι τὴν χάριν εἰς ὀργὴν μεταλλάσσομεν καὶ οὐχὶ ἀναπεπ ταμέναις ταῖς ἀκοαῖς καταδεχόμενοι τὸν λόγον ἐν ἁγναῖς ξενοδοχοῦμεν ταῖς ψυχαῖς τὸν θεόν; Μεγάλη γὰρ τῆς ἐπαγγελίας αὐτοῦ ἡ χάρις, ἐὰν σήμερον τῆς φωνῆς αὐτοῦ ἀκούσωμεν· τὸ δὲ σήμερον καθ' ἑκάστην [αὐτοῦ] αὔξεται 9.84.6 τὴν ἡμέραν, ἔστ' ἂν ἡ σήμερον ὀνομάζηται. Μέχρι δὲ συντελείας καὶ ἡ σήμερον καὶ ἡ μάθησις διαμένει· καὶ τότε ἡ ὄντως σήμερον ἡ ἀνελλιπὴς τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρα τοῖς αἰῶσι συνεκτείνεται. Ἀεὶ οὖν τῆς φωνῆς ὑπακούωμεν τοῦ θείου λόγου· ἡ σήμερον γὰρ ἀίδιος· αἰώνων ἐστὶν εἰκών, σύμβολον δὲ τοῦ φωτὸς ἡ ἡμέρα, φῶς δὲ ὁ λόγος ἀνθρώποις, δι' οὗ καταυγαζόμεθα τὸν θεόν. 9.85.1 Εἰκότως ἄρα πιστεύσασι μὲν καὶ ὑπακούουσιν ἡ χάρις ὑπερπλεονάσει, ἀπειθήσασι δὲ καὶ πλανωμένοις κατὰ καρδίαν, ὁδούς τε τὰς κυριακὰς μὴ ἐγνωκόσιν, ἃς εὐθείας ποιεῖν καὶ εὐτρεπίζειν παρήγγειλεν Ἰωάννης, τούτοις δὴ 9.85.2 προσώχθισεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἀπειλεῖ· καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἀπειλῆς αἰνιγματωδῶς ἀπειλήφασιν οἱ παλαιοὶ