Contra Julianum Of the blessed Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, an address to

 a fine thing for those who will encounter it, and for those who have a heart easily led astray and most readily carried away to things that are not fi

 1.1 Book One The wise and discerning, and those knowledgeable in the sacred doctrines, marvel at the beauty of the truth, and in every discourse have

 those after them would know the things of the first, and not rather those before them the things of the later Therefore, since the sons of the Hellen

 it was necessary to hide in the city of the Sun in Sippar. And Xisuthros, having accomplished these things, immediately sailed to Armenia, and straigh

 he made human affairs a preliminary exercise for more divine ones. Having brought the times down from Abraham to Moses, let us therefore begin here ag

 Azariah, also called Uzziah, governing the affairs of the Hebrews, and Arbaces of the Medes, and Proca Silvius of the Latins. 1.14 Therefore, from the

 coming together into a harmony of sound, Osirapis, so that in the same name Osiris and Apis might be understood. For both of these a death and a buria

 brought to them from Phoenicia, except that the things of Moses had been written And Solon, the discoverer of the laws in Athens, and indeed Plato hi

 stars and the elements of the world, fire and water, air and earth, from which all individual things are said to be composed but others again, having

 a time for the increase of what he had rightly learned sharpened his mind, then indeed, then he was taught the doctrines concerning the divinity more

 but the divine Abraham running up did not speak as to three: Lords, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant, but named the

 Upon the Sodomites who had sinned unbearably he sent the fire he rained, it says, upon Sodom fire and brimstone, the Lord from the Lord. 1.29 But to

 of nature and preeminence and worth would be reckoned both creator and creation, generated and ungenerated nature, incorruptible and under corruption,

 we are accustomed to grant the proper place, far from it but we also reckon ourselves among the children of Abraham. For we are the sons according to

 full of various counsels, and likewise that Leto suggests forgetfulness, and Hermes both memory and reason. Then he takes up natural philosophy and ex

 to them, and are some torn apart so as to think and say different things? But I would say, O excellent one, that those who were the first and earliest

 is, being a mixture of all the ages, and light of his own powers and works, the beginning of all things, a luminary in heaven, and father of all, mind

 Indeed, the sun which seems all-shining does not even seem to allow one to see himself, but if anyone gazes upon him shamelessly, he takes away his si

 what has been said by them concerning the Holy Spirit. For Porphyry says, setting forth the opinion of Plato, that the divine substance proceeded as f

 that not a few of the wise men among the Greeks, being self-willed, have gone astray, and have held opinions that rise up against each other, but ther

 found saying, setting this forth both in the middle and at the end, he would show that the arguments of his refutation were not, I suppose, produced i

 they set up their plot for the souls of the more simple. For they deceived those throughout all the earth, saying that the heaven and the other elemen

 having contrasted them with the Greeks' as being superior, how does he demand that we be silent, and make no mention at all of the things among them,

 Then do you think you have deliberated well, and not rather that you will suffer the very worst of all evil reputation? But if he should wish to under

 they reject certain foods, but they fear none of the strange things. And in addition to this they delight the supreme Zeus, having chosen to honor his

 belching forth according to what seems right to each, how could they not be thought to be guessers rather than men of knowledge of the truth? For some

 Of Plato. Consider, then, what he says about the creator and what words he puts in his mouth in the cosmogony, so that we may compare the cosmogony of

 distributed to all upon the earth, Moses was a helper and was shown to be an introducer of the most beautiful teachings to all, first by having cried

 it is not easy even for those who have known him to say he is capable in all things. And again, elsewhere: To this common conception of all men there

 the earth, and Apollo the sun and the golden-spindled, resounding one, that is Artemis, the moon? And simply applying to each of the things made by Go

 The supreme nature is understood and exists beyond all, beyond mind, reason, and wonder, having willed to make the living being like itself, as far as

 I will place upon you who are under me this commandment given to you through my Word for this law you have. For as I said just now, the Creator estab

 proclaimed, and thinks it a small thing to have been given by God to human nature to be made by Him in His image and likeness. And yet how would not a

 Did the Creator of all things entrust to other gods the necessity of laboring over the creation of the three kinds? From indolence, then, they might s

 it will campaign against His glory to think that others are also able to create and to call into existence the things that once were not for it is no

 of all nature. If, then, two things are acknowledged as existing, that which comes into being and that which makes, they are one by union, the one pre

 weave mortal to it? It is clear, then, that the demiurgic gods, having received creative power from their own father, generated the mortal animals upo

 of the ruling substances, and so he says: For Empedocles, Strife divides, and Friendship unites and this is also incorporeal for him, but the element

 of others, whatever things may have been made, and reaching even to the most insignificant of them. Is this not then a joke, tell me, and babbling hen

 if each one should need it, and showing that such a great and immeasurable creation is not without a superintendent, through which things it is well-o

 of God, and the earth his footstool. Rightly so, o noble one for I will recall God himself saying through one of the holy prophets. Heaven is my thro

weave mortal to it? It is clear, then, that the demiurgic gods, having received creative power from their own father, generated the mortal animals upon the earth; for if heaven were not to differ at all from man, and, yes, by Zeus, from a beast and lastly from the very reptiles and the fish swimming in the sea, the Demiurge would have to be one and the same for all; but if the gulf between immortals and mortals is great, made no greater by any addition nor lessened by any subtraction in relation to mortal and transient things, it is fitting that the cause of the latter should be some gods, and of the former, others. {CYRIL} But in these things, that he confuses everything, and mixes up the natures of things with one another, it is possible for those who are willing to see, and very easily. For first, he says that the more manifest gods are images of the more invisible ones, which Plato thought fit to call both intelligible and sensible, naming the visible things "objects of opinion with sensation." And through these things our noble Julian seems to wish to make plain the ideas, which Plato at one time asserts are substances and subsist in themselves, and at another time defines as thoughts of God. 2.45 But however that may be, the experts in these matters say that this argument is unacceptable even to his own disciples. For "let the forms go," says Aristotle; "for they are twitterings, and if they exist, they are nothing to the argument." Why then does he himself see fit to confirm and attempt to introduce as an unassailable opinion that which was considered not well-founded even by his own teachers? Then, in addition to this, we shall find another of his arguments to be not moderately sick with ignorance; for he said that Plato knows the intelligible and more invisible gods as both immanent and co-existent and begotten from the Demiurge himself and having proceeded from him. And he adds that the God of the universe, who crafted earth and heaven, is the demiurge of both the manifest and the intelligible gods. When, therefore, as he himself has clearly confessed, the unbegotten God is the creator of both these and those, how does he say that they have been begotten from him, and are co-existent and immanent in him? How, tell me, will the begotten be co-existent with the unbegotten God? And in what manner will it be immanent? For we maintain that the Word of God, being uncreated, is necessarily co-existent with the one who begot him, and is immanent in him, but has proceeded from him by generation. But the exact advocate of Plato's clever phrasing says that the highest God is unbegotten, but that those who have come from him are immanent and were begotten from him and proceeded, stirring up and confusing everything and deeming purity in theology worthy of no account. 2.46 One might say to him what is parodied on the tongues of many. The boundaries of the Mysians and Phrygians are separate. Away with such frigid, idle talk, man; your argument is about God who is beyond all things, and you are caught thinking very small things about his glory. Then, having declared him the creator of all things and alone sufficient for such brilliant and wonderful creations, he says that for the lesser things of all, other gods took part with him and cooperated in creation, who might perhaps even say to the God over all: Collect a contribution from us, and bring forth the three mortal kinds that are lacking to the universe; for while you give the soul, we will add the body, weaving mortal to immortal. But perhaps he will say and will defend his own doctrines by inserting that the nature of earthly bodies is wrought by the conjunction of the elements. In this, then, he follows his own teachers; for they say indeed that Empedocles the son of Meton both held this opinion and chose to think this way; for he says that the principles of existing things are fire, air, and water, and earth, and to these he adds both Love and Strife; And Plotinus also mentions these in his work On the three

θνητὸν προσυφαίνετε; ∆ῆλον οὖν ὅτι παραλαβόντες οἱ δημιουργοὶ θεοὶ παρὰ τοῦ σφῶν πατρὸς τὴν δημιουργικὴν δύναμιν ἀπεγέννησαν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὰ θνητὰ τῶν ζῴων· εἰ γὰρ μηδὲν ἔμελλε διαφέρειν οὐρανὸς ἀνθρώπου, καὶ ναὶ μὰ ∆ία θηρίου καὶ τελευταῖον αὐτῶν τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῶν ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ νηχομένων ἰχθύων, ἔδει τὸν ∆ημιουργὸν ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι πάντων· εἰ δὲ πολὺ τὸ μέσον ἐστὶν ἀθανάτων καὶ θνητῶν, οὐδεμιᾷ προσθήκῃ μεῖζον οὐδὲ ἀφαιρέσει μειούμενον πρὸς τὰ θνητὰ καὶ ἐπίκηρα, αἴτιον εἶναι προσήκει τούτων μὲν ἄλλους, ἑτέρων δὲ ἑτέρους. {ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΣ} Ἀλλ' ἔν γε δὴ τούτοις ὅτι τὰ πάντα συγχεῖ, φύρει τε ἀλλήλαις τῶν πραγμάτων τὰς φύσεις, κατιδεῖν ἔστι τοῖς ἐθέλουσι, καὶ μάλα ῥᾳδίως. Πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἐμφανεστέρους τῶν θεῶν εἰκόνας εἶναί φησι τῶν ἀφανεστέρων, ἃ καὶ νοητὰ καὶ αἰσθητὰ καλεῖν ἐδόκει τῷ Πλάτωνι, δοξαστὰ μετ' αἰσθήσεως ὀνομάζοντι τὰ ὁρώμενα. Ἔοικε δὲ διὰ τούτων ὁ γενναῖος ἡμῖν Ἰουλιανὸς τὰς ἰδέας βούλεσθαι καταδηλοῦν, ἃς ποτὲ μὲν οὐσίας καὶ ὑφεστάναι καθ' ἑαυτὰς διϊσχυρίζεται Πλάτων, ποτὲ δὲ καὶ ἐννοίας Θεοῦ διορίζεται. 2.45 Πλὴν ὅπωσπερ ἂν ἔχοι, καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ μαθηταῖς ἀπαράδεκτον εἶναί φασι τὸν ἐπὶ τῷδε λόγον οἱ ταῦτα τεχνῖται· Τὰ γὰρ εἴδη χαιρέτω, φησὶν ὁ Ἀριστοτέλης· τερετίσματα γάρ ἐστι, καὶ εἰ ἔστιν, οὐδὲν πρὸς τὸν λόγον. Ἀνθ' ὅτου δὴ οὖν αὐτὸς ἐμπεδοῦν ἀξιοῖ καὶ ὡς ἀκατάσκωπτον δόξαν εἰσκομίζειν ἐπιχειρεῖ τὸ καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ διδασκάλοις οὐκ εὖ ἔχειν ὑπειλημμένον; Εἶτα πρὸς τούτῳ καὶ ἕτερον αὐτοῦ λόγον οὐ μετρίως κατηρρωστηκότα τὸ ἀμαθὲς εὑρήσομεν· ἔφη γὰρ ὅτι τοὺς νοητοὺς καὶ ἀφανεστέρους τῶν θεῶν ἐνυπάρχοντάς τε καὶ συνυπάρχοντας καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεννηθέντας τοῦ ∆ημιουργοῦ καὶ προελθόντας οἶδεν ὁ Πλάτων. Προσεπάγει δὲ ὅτι καὶ τῶν ἐμφανῶν καὶ τῶν νοητῶν δημιουργός ἐστιν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεός, ὁ γῆν καὶ οὐρανὸν τεχνησάμενος. Ὅτε τοίνυν, καθὰ καὶ αὐτὸς διωμολόγηκεν ἐναργῶς, τούτων τε κἀκείνων γενεσιουργός ἐστιν ὁ ἀγέννητος Θεός, πῶς ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγενῆσθαί φησιν αὐτούς, συνυπάρχειν τε καὶ ἐνυπάρχειν αὐτῷ; Πῶς, εἰπέ μοι, τῷ ἀγεννήτῳ Θεῷ συνυπάρξει τὸ γεννητόν; Ἐνυπάρξει δὲ κατὰ ποῖον τρόπον; Ἡμεῖς μὲν γὰρ ἀγέννητον ὄντα τὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ Λόγον συνυπάρχειν ἀναγκαίως τῷ φύσαντι διϊσχυριζόμεθα καὶ ἐνυπάρχειν μὲν αὐτῷ, προελθεῖν δὲ γεννητῶς ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ὁ δέ γε τῆς Πλάτωνος εὑρεσιεπείας συνήγορος ἀκριβὴς ἀγέννητον μὲν εἶναί φησι τὸν ἀνωτάτω Θεόν, ἐνυπάρχειν δὲ καὶ ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεννηθῆναι καὶ προελθεῖν τοὺς παρ' αὐτοῦ γεγονότας, τὰ πάντα κυκῶν καὶ συγχέων καὶ τὸ ἀκραιφνὲς εἰς θεοπτίαν τοῦ μηδενὸς ἀξιώσας λόγου. 2.46 Φαίη δ' ἄν τις αὐτῷ τὸ ταῖς τῶν πολλῶν παρῳδούμενον γλώσσαις. Χωρὶς τὰ Μυσῶν καὶ Φρυγῶν ὁρίσματα. Ἄπαγε τῆς οὕτω ψυχρᾶς εἰκαιομυθίας, ἄνθρωπε· περὶ Θεοῦ σοι λόγος τοῦ πάντων ἐπέκεινα, καὶ σμικρὰ κομιδῇ περὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ δόξης ἁλίσκῃ πεφρονηκώς. Εἶτα γενεσιουργὸν αὐτὸς ἀποφήνας τῶν ὅλων καὶ μόνον ἀρκέσαντα πρὸς τὰ οὕτω λαμπρὰ καὶ ἀξιοθαύμαστα τῶν κτισμάτων, ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁπάντων μείοσι συλλαβέσθαι φησὶ θεοὺς ἑτέρους αὐτῷ καὶ συνεργάσασθαι πρὸς δημιουργίαν, οἳ καὶ φαῖεν ἂν ἴσως τῷ ἐπὶ πάντας Θεῷ· Παρ' ἡμῶν ἔρανον συνάγαγε, καὶ τὰ τρία θνητὰ λείποντά τε τῷ παντὶ παρακόμιζε γένη· σοῦ γὰρ διδόντος ψυχήν, ἡμεῖς τὸ σῶμα προσθήσομεν, ἀθανάτῳ θνητὸν προσυφαίνοντες. Ἀλλ' ἐρεῖ τάχα που καὶ συνασπίσει τοῖς οἰκείοις δόγμασιν ἐκεῖνο παρεντιθεὶς ὅτι τῶν ἐπιγείων σωμάτων τὴν φύσιν ἡ τῶν στοιχείων σύνοδος ἀπεργάζεται. Ἕπεται μὲν οὖν κἀν τούτῳ τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ καθηγηταῖς· φασὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ Ἐμπεδοκλέα τὸν Μέτωνος οὕτω τε δοξάσαι καὶ μὴν καὶ ἑλέσθαι φρονεῖν· ἀρχὰς γὰρ εἶναί φησι τῶν ὄντων πῦρ, ἀέρα καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ γῆν, προσεπάγει δὲ τούτοις Φιλίαν τε καὶ Νεῖκος· Μέμνηται δὲ τούτων καὶ ὁ Πλωτῖνος ἐν τῷ Περὶ τριῶν