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

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 exchange life for death? 10.95.2 "Behold, I have set before your face," he says, "death and life." The Lord tries you, to choose life; he counsels you as a father to obey God. "For if you hear me," he says, "and are willing, you shall eat the good things of the earth," the grace of obedience; "but if you do not obey me and are not willing, the sword and fire will devour you," the judgment of disobedience. "For the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things;" the word of the Lord is the law of truth; do you wish that I become a good 10.95.3 counselor for you? But you must listen; and I, if possible, will demonstrate. It was necessary for you, O men, when thinking about the good itself, to bring to it an innate faith, a worthy witness from itself, from home, manifestly choosing what is best, and not to inquire if it is to be pursued, <but the good> 10.95.4 is to be worked out. For if one must get drunk, so to speak, one ought to have doubts; but you get drunk before even considering it; and if one must commit outrage, you do not meddle, but you commit outrage with all speed. Only then, if one must worship God, do you inquire, and if this wise [indeed] God and Christ must be followed, this you deem worthy of counsel and consideration, not having understood what befits God, whatever that may be. 10.96.1 Believe us even as in drunkenness, so that you may become sober-minded; believe even as in outrage, so that you may live. But if you also wish to be persuaded, having beheld the clear faith of the ineffable mysteries, come, I will set before you from my abundance the persuasion 10.96.2 concerning the Word. But you, since the ancestral customs no longer distract you from the truth, having been previously catechized, might now hear how it is after this; and indeed let no shame for this name seize you beforehand, "which greatly harms men," 10.96.3 turning them aside from salvation. Let us therefore, having stripped, openly and genuinely contend in the stadium of truth, with the holy Word awarding the prize, and the Master of all presiding over the games. For no small prize is set before us: immortality. 10.96.4 Therefore, no longer be concerned, not even [if] a little, what some rabble of the marketplace say about you, atheistic dancers of superstition, driven by folly and madness into the very pit, makers of idols and worshippers of stones; for these have dared to deify men, enrolling Alexander the Macedonian as the thirteenth god, "whom Babylon proved to be a corpse." 10.97.1 Therefore I admire the Chian sophist, Theocritus was his name; after Alexander's death, Theocritus, mocking the empty opinions that men held concerning gods, said to the citizens, "Men, be of good courage as long as you see the gods dying before 10.97.2 men." And indeed, he who worships and befriends the visible gods and this promiscuous crowd of created things, is by far more wretched than those very demons. For "God" is "in no way and in no manner unjust" like the demons, "but as just as possible, and there is nothing more like him than whoever among us becomes as just as possible." 10.97.3 Go on your way, then, all you artisan folk, you who entreat the Gorgon-eyed Ergane, goddess of Zeus, with stationary winnowing fans, foolish makers and worshippers of stones. 10.98.1 Let your Pheidias and Polykleitos come, and Praxiteles too, and Apelles, and as many as pursue the mechanical arts, earthy workers of the earth. For then, a certain prophecy says, the affairs here will be unfortunate, whenever they put their trust in statues. 10.98.2 Let them come again, therefore—for I will not cease calling—the lesser artisans. Surely none of these has fashioned a breathing image, nor indeed has he molded soft flesh from earth. Who has melted marrow or who has fixed bones? Who has stretched out sinews, who has breathed into veins? Who has poured blood into them or who has stretched skin around them? And where could any of them make eyes that see? Who has breathed in a soul? Who bestowed righteousness

κόλασιν; Τί οὐ καταδεχόμεθα τὴν δωρεάν; Τί δὲ οὐχ αἱρούμεθα τὰ βελτίονα, θεὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ πονηροῦ, καὶ σοφίαν εἰδωλολατρείας προκρίνομεν, καὶ ζωὴν ἀντικαταλλασσόμενοι θανάτου; 10.95.2 "Ἰδοὺ τέθεικα πρὸ προσώπου ὑμῶν", φησί, "τὸν θάνατον καὶ τὴν ζωήν." Πειράζει σε ὁ κύριος ἐκλέξασθαι τὴν ζωήν, συμβουλεύει σοι ὡς πατὴρ πείθεσθαι τῷ θεῷ. "Ἐὰν γὰρ ἀκούσητέ μου", φησί, "καὶ θελήσητε, τὰ ἀγαθὰ τῆς γῆς φάγεσθε," ὑπακοῆς ἡ χάρις· "ἐὰν δὲ μὴ ὑπακούσητέ μου μηδὲ θελήσητε, μάχαιρα ὑμᾶς καὶ πῦρ κατέδεται," παρακοῆς ἡ κρίσις. "Τὸ γὰρ στόμα κυρίου ἐλάλησεν ταῦτα"· νόμος ἀληθείας λόγος κυρίου· βούλεσθε ὑμῖν ἀγαθὸς γένωμαι 10.95.3 σύμβουλος; Ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς μὲν ἀκούσατε· ἐγὼ δέ, εἰ δυνατόν, ἐνδείξομαι. Ἐχρῆν μὲν ὑμᾶς, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, αὐτοῦ πέρι ἐννοουμένους τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ἔμφυτον ἐπάγεσθαι πίστιν, μάρτυρα ἀξιόχρεων αὐτόθεν οἴκοθεν, περιφανῶς αἱρουμένην τὸ βέλτιστον, μηδὲ ζητεῖν εἰ μεταδιωκτέον, <τὸ δ' ἀγαθὸν> 10.95.4 ἐκπονεῖν. Καὶ γὰρ εἴ τῳ μεθυστέον, φέρε εἰπεῖν, ἀμφιβάλλειν χρή· ὑμεῖς δὲ πρὶν ἢ ἐπισκέψασθαι μεθύετε· καὶ εἰ ὑβρισ τέον, οὐ πολυπραγμονεῖτε, ἀλλ' ᾗ τάχος ὑβρίζετε. Μόνον δ' ἄρα εἰ θεοσεβητέον, ζητεῖτε, καὶ εἰ τῷ σοφῷ τούτῳ [δὴ] τῷ θεῷ καὶ τῷ Χριστῷ κατακολουθητέον, τοῦτο δὴ βουλῆς καὶ σκέψεως ἀξιοῦτε, οὐδ' ὃ πρέπει θεῷ, ὅ τι ποτέ ἐστι, νενοηκότες. 10.96.1 Πιστεύσατε ἡμῖν κἂν ὡς μέθῃ, ἵνα σωφρονήσητε· πιστεύσατε κἂν ὡς ὕβρει, ἵνα ζήσητε. Εἰ δὲ καὶ πείθεσθαι βούλεσθε τὴν ἐναργῆ τῶν ἀρρήτων ἐποπτεύσαντες πίστιν, φέρε ὑμῖν ἐκ περιουσίας τὴν περὶ τοῦ λόγου παραθήσομαι 10.96.2 πειθώ. Ὑμεῖς δέ, οὐ γὰρ τὰ πάτρια ὑμᾶς ἔτι τῆς ἀληθείας ἀπασχολεῖ ἔθη προκατηχημένους, ἀκούοιτ' ἂν ἤδη τὸ μετὰ τοῦτο ὅπως ἔχει· καὶ δὴ μή τις ὑμᾶς τοῦδε τοῦ ὀνόματος αἰσχύνη προκαταλαμβανέτω, "ἥτ' ἄνδρας μέγα σίνεται," 10.96.3 παρατρέπουσα σωτηρίας. Ἀποδυσάμενοι δ' οὖν περιφανῶς ἐν τῷ τῆς ἀληθείας σταδίῳ γνησίως ἀγωνιζώμεθα, βρα βεύοντος μὲν τοῦ λόγου τοῦ ἁγίου, ἀγωνοθετοῦντος δὲ τοῦ δεσπότου τῶν ὅλων. Οὐ γὰρ σμικρὸν ἡμῖν τὸ ἆθλον ἀθανασία 10.96.4 πρόκειται. Μὴ οὖν ἔτι φροντίζετε μηδὲ [εἰ] ὀλίγον, τί ὑμᾶς ἀγορεύουσι σύρφακές τινες ἀγοραῖοι, δεισιδαιμονίας ἄθεοι χορευταί, ἀνοίᾳ καὶ παρανοίᾳ ἐς αὐτὸ ὠθούμενοι τὸ βάραθρον, εἰδώλων ποιηταὶ καὶ λίθων προσκυνηταί· οἵδε γὰρ ἀνθρώ πους ἀποθεοῦν τετολμήκασι, τρισκαιδέκατον Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Μακεδόνα ἀναγράφοντες θεόν, "ὃν Βαβυλὼν ἤλεγξε νεκρόν". 10.97.1 Ἄγαμαι τοίνυν τὸν Χῖον σοφιστήν, Θεόκριτος ὄνομα αὐτῷ· μετὰ τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου τελευτὴν ἐπισκώπτων ὁ Θεόκριτος τὰς δόξας τὰς κενὰς τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἃς εἶχον περὶ θεῶν, πρὸς τοὺς πολίτας "ἄνδρες," εἶπεν, "θαρρεῖτε ἄχρις ἂν ὁρᾶτε τοὺς θεοὺς πρότερον τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀποθνῄσ 10.97.2 κοντας." Θεοὺς δὲ δὴ τοὺς ὁρατοὺς καὶ τὸν σύγκλυδα τῶν γενητῶν τούτων ὄχλον ὁ προσκυνῶν καὶ προσεταιριζόμενος, αὐτῶν ἐκείνων τῶν δαιμόνων ἀθλιώτερος μακρῷ. "Θεὸς" γὰρ "οὐδαμῇ οὐδαμῶς ἄδικος" ὥσπερ οἱ δαίμονες, "ἀλλ' ὡς οἷόν τε δικαιότατος, καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν αὐτῷ ὁμοιότερον οὐδὲν ἢ ὃς ἂν ἡμῶν γένηται ὅτι δικαιότατος." 10.97.3 Βᾶτ' εἰς ὁδὸν δὴ πᾶς ὁ χειρῶναξ λεώς, οἳ τὴν ∆ιὸς γοργῶπιν Ἐργάνην θεὸν στατοῖσι λίκνοις προστρέπεσθε, ἠλίθιοι τῶν λίθων δημιουργοί τε καὶ προσκυνηταί. 10.98.1 Ὁ Φειδίας ὑμῶν καὶ ὁ Πολύκλειτος ἡκόντων Πραξι τέλης τε αὖ καὶ Ἀπελλῆς καὶ ὅσοι τὰς βαναύσους μετέρχονται τέχνας, γήινοι γῆς ὄντες ἐργάται. Τότε γάρ, φησί τις προφητεία, δυστυχήσειν τὰ τῇδε πράγματα, ὅταν ἀνδριᾶσι 10.98.2 πιστεύσωσιν. Ἡκόντων οὖν αὖθις, οὐ γὰρ ἀνήσω καλῶν, οἱ μικροτέχναι. Οὐδείς που τούτων ἔμπνουν εἰκόνα δεδημιούρ γηκεν, οὐδὲ μὴν ἐκ γῆς μαλθακὴν ἐμάλαξε σάρκα. Τίς ἔτηξε μυελὸν ἢ τίς ἔπηξεν ὀστέα; Τίς νεῦρα διέτεινεν, τίς φλέβας ἐφύσησεν; Τίς αἷμα ἐνέχεεν ἐν αὐταῖς ἢ τίς δέρμα περιέτεινεν; Ποῦ δ' ἄν τις αὐτῶν ὀφθαλμοὺς ποιήσαι βλέποντας; Τίς ἐνεφύσησε ψυχήν; Τίς δικαιοσύνην ἐδωρή