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

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 which, I suppose, our nurses accustomed us from birth? Why do we increase or diminish our paternal inheritance, and not preserve the same amount as we have received it? And why do we no longer slobber in our fathers' laps, or still perform the other things which, as infants being reared by our mothers, we incurred laughter for, but have corrected ourselves, even if we did not happen to have good tutors? 10.89.2 Then, in our diet, variations, although being harmful and dangerous, are nevertheless somehow pleasant; but in our life, shall we not abandon the wicked, passionate, and godless custom, even if our fathers are angry, and turn to the truth and seek the truly existing Father, thrusting aside custom like a deadly drug? 10.89.3 For this very thing is the finest of undertakings, to show you that piety has come to be hated from madness and this thrice-wretched custom; for so great a good would never have been hated or forbidden, than which nothing greater has yet been given by God to the race of men, if you were not carried away by custom, and then, moreover, stopping your ears to us, like hard-necked horses running wild, biting the bits, you flee from our words, desiring to shake off us, the charioteers of your life, and being carried by your folly toward the cliffs of destruction, you consider the holy Word of God accursed. 10.90.1 Therefore there follows for you, according to Sophocles, the penalty of your choice, a departed mind, useless ears, empty thoughts, and you do not know that this is truer than anything, that the good and pious will obtain a good reward, having honored the good, but the wicked, from the opposite, a fitting punishment, and for the ruler of wickedness punishment has been attached. 10.90.2 At any rate, the prophet Zechariah threatens him, "may He who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you; is not this, behold, a brand plucked from the fire?" What then is this desire for voluntary death still in men? And why have they fled for refuge to this death-bringing brand, with which they will be consumed, when it is possible to live well according to God, not 10.90.3 according to custom? For God grants life, but wicked custom after the departure from here inflicts empty repentance along with punishment, "and the fool learns by suffering," that superstition destroys and piety saves. 10.91.1 Let one of you look at those who serve the idols, filthy in their hair, disgraced in squalid and torn clothing, altogether unacquainted with baths, made like wild beasts by the length of their nails, and many also deprived of their genitals, showing by their deeds that the precincts of the idols are certain tombs or prisons; these seem to me to be mourning, not worshipping the gods, having suffered things worthy of pity rather than 10.91.2 piety. And seeing these things do you still remain blind and will you not look up to the master of all things and lord of the universe? And will you not flee for refuge, escaping from the prisons here, to the mercy from the heavens? 10.91.3 For God out of His great love for man holds on to man, just as over a nestling falling from the nest the mother bird flutters; and if somewhere a creeping beast should gape at the nestling, "the mother flutters about, lamenting her dear children;" and God the Father both seeks His creature and heals his transgression and pursues the beast and takes up the nestling again, urging it to fly up to the nest. 10.92.1 Then dogs that have gone astray, tracking by scents, have tracked down their master, and horses that have thrown their rider, at a single whistle, I suppose, have obeyed their master; "An ox," he says, "knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger, but Israel does not know me." What then does the Lord do? 10.92.2 He does not bear a grudge, He still pities, still

10.89.1 Ἀλλ' ἐκ πατέρων, φατέ, παραδεδομένον ἡμῖν ἔθος ἀνατρέπειν οὐκ εὔλογον. Καὶ τί δὴ οὐχὶ τῇ πρώτῃ τροφῇ, τῷ γάλακτι, χρώμεθα, ᾧ δήπουθεν συνείθισαν ἡμᾶς ἐκ γενετῆς αἱ τίτθαι; Τί δὲ αὐξάνομεν ἢ μειοῦμεν τὴν πατρῴαν οὐσίαν, καὶ οὐχὶ τὴν ἴσην, ὡς παρειλήφαμεν, διαφυλάττομεν; Τί δὲ οὐκέτι τοῖς κόλποις τοῖς πατρῴοις ἐναποβλύζομεν, ἢ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα, ἃ νηπιάζοντες ὑπὸ μητράσιν τε ἐκτρεφόμενοι γέλωτα ὤφλομεν, ἐπιτελοῦμεν ἔτι, ἀλλὰ σφᾶς αὐτούς, καὶ εἰ μὴ παιδαγωγῶν ἐτύχομεν ἀγαθῶν, ἐπανωρθώσαμεν; 10.89.2 Εἶτα ἐπὶ τῶν πάτων αἱ παρεκβάσεις καίτοι ἐπιζήμιοι καὶ ἐπισφαλεῖς οὖσαι, ὅμως γλυκεῖαί πως προσπίπτουσιν, ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ βίου οὐχὶ τὸ ἔθος καταλιπόντες τὸ πονηρὸν καὶ ἐμπαθὲς καὶ ἄθεον, κἂν οἱ πατέρες χαλεπαίνωσιν, ἐπὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐκκλινοῦμεν καὶ τὸν ὄντως ὄντα πατέρα ἐπιζη τήσομεν, οἷον δηλητήριον φάρμακον τὴν συνήθειαν ἀπωσά 10.89.3 μενοι; Τοῦτ' αὐτὸ γάρ τοι τὸ κάλλιστον τῶν ἐγχειρουμένων ἐστίν, ὑποδεῖξαι ὑμῖν ὡς ἀπὸ μανίας καὶ τοῦ τρισαθλίου τούτου ἔθους ἐμισήθη ἡ θεοσέβεια· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐμισήθη ποτὲ ἢ ἀπηγορεύθη ἀγαθὸν τοσοῦτον, οὗ μεῖζον οὐδὲν ἐκ θεοῦ δεδώρηταί πω τῇ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γενέσει, εἰ μὴ συναρπα ζόμενοι τῷ ἔθει, εἶτα μέντοι ἀποβύσαντες τὰ ὦτα ἡμῖν, οἷον ἵπποι σκληραύχενες ἀφηνιάζοντες, τοὺς χαλινοὺς ἐνδακόντες, ἀποφεύγετε τοὺς λόγους, ἀποσείσασθαι μὲν τοὺς ἡνιόχους ὑμῶν τοῦ βίου ἡμᾶς ἐπιποθοῦντες, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς κρημνοὺς τῆς ἀπωλείας ὑπὸ τῆς ἀνοίας φερόμενοι ἐναγῆ τὸν ἅγιον ὑπολαμβάνετε τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον. 10.90.1 Ἕπεται τοιγαροῦν ὑμῖν κατὰ τὸν Σοφοκλέα τὰ ἐπίχειρα τῆς ἐκλογῆς, νοῦς φροῦδος, ὦτα ἀχρεῖα, φροντίδες κεναί, καὶ οὐκ ἴστε ὡς παντὸς μᾶλλον τοῦτο ἀληθές, ὅτι ἄρα οἱ μὲν ἀγαθοὶ καὶ θεοσεβεῖς ἀγαθῆς τῆς ἀμοιβῆς τεύξονται τἀγαθὸν τετιμηκότες, οἱ δὲ ἐκ τῶν ἐναντίων πονηροὶ τῆς καταλλήλου τιμωρίας, καὶ τῷ γε ἄρχοντι τῆς κακίας ἐπήρτη 10.90.2 ται κόλασις. Ἀπειλεῖ γοῦν αὐτῷ ὁ προφήτης Ζαχαρίας "ἐπιτιμήσαι ἐν σοὶ ὁ ἐκλεξάμενος τὴν Ἱερουσαλήμ· οὐκ ἰδοὺ τοῦτο δαλὸς ἐξεσπασμένος ἐκ πυρός;" Τίς οὖν ἔτι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὄρεξις ἔγκειται θανάτου ἑκουσίου; Τί δὲ τῷ δαλῷ τῷ θανατηφόρῳ τούτῳ προσπεφεύγασιν, μεθ' οὗ καταφλεχθήσονται, ἐξὸν βιῶναι καλῶς κατὰ τὸν θεόν, οὐ 10.90.3 κατὰ τὸ ἔθος; Θεὸς μὲν γὰρ ζωὴν χαρίζεται, ἔθος δὲ πονηρὸν μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀπαλλαγὴν μετάνοιαν κενὴν ἅμα τιμωρίᾳ προστρίβεται, "παθὼν δέ τε νήπιος ἔγνω", ὡς ἀπολλύει δεισιδαιμονία καὶ σῴζει θεοσέβεια. 10.91.1 Ἰδέτω τις ὑμῶν τοὺς παρὰ τοῖς εἰδώλοις λατρεύοντας, κόμῃ ῥυπῶντας, ἐσθῆτι πιναρᾷ καὶ κατερρωγυίᾳ καθυβρισ μένους, λουτρῶν μὲν παντάπασιν ἀπειράτους, ταῖς δὲ τῶν ὀνύχων ἀκμαῖς ἐκτεθηριωμένους, πολλοὺς δὲ καὶ τῶν αἰδοίων ἀφῃρημένους, ἔργῳ δεικνύντας τῶν εἰδώλων τὰ τεμένη τάφους τινὰς ἢ δεσμωτήρια· οὗτοί μοι δοκοῦσι πενθεῖν, οὐ θρῃσκεύειν τοὺς θεούς, ἐλέου μᾶλλον ἢ θεοσε 10.91.2 βείας ἄξια πεπονθότες. Καὶ ταῦτα ὁρῶντες ἔτι τυφλώττετε καὶ οὐχὶ πρὸς τὸν δεσπότην τῶν πάντων καὶ κύριον τῶν ὅλων ἀναβλέψετε; Οὐχὶ δὲ καταφεύξεσθε, ἐκ τῶν ἐνταῦθα δεσμωτηρίων ἐκφεύγοντες, ἐπὶ τὸν ἔλεον τὸν ἐξ οὐρανῶν; 10.91.3 Ὁ γὰρ θεὸς ἐκ πολλῆς τῆς φιλανθρωπίας ἀντέχεται τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, ὥσπερ ἐκ καλιᾶς ἐκπίπτοντος νεοττοῦ ἡ μήτηρ ὄρνις ἐφίπταται· εἰ δέ που καὶ θηρίον ἑρπηστικὸν περιχάνοι τῷ νεοττῷ, μήτηρ δ' ἀμφιποτᾶται ὀδυρομένη φίλα τέκνα· ὁ δὲ θεὸς πατὴρ καὶ ζητεῖ τὸ πλάσμα καὶ ἰᾶται τὸ παράπτωμα καὶ διώκει τὸ θηρίον καὶ τὸν νεοττὸν αὖθις ἀναλαμβάνει ἐπὶ τὴν καλιὰν ἀναπτῆναι παρορμῶν. 10.92.1 Εἶτα κύνες μὲν ἤδη πεπλανημένοι ὀδμαῖς ῥινηλα τοῦντες ἐξίχνευσαν τὸν δεσπότην καὶ ἵπποι τὸν ἀναβάτην ἀποσεισάμενοι ἑνί που συρίγματι ὑπήκουσαν τῷ δεσπότῃ· "ἔγνω δέ", φησί, "βοῦς τὸν κτησάμενον καὶ ὄνος τὴν φάτνην τοῦ κυρίου αὐτοῦ, Ἰσραὴλ δέ με οὐκ ἔγνω." Τί οὖν ὁ κύριος; 10.92.2 Οὐ μνησικακεῖ, ἔτι ἐλεεῖ, ἔτι