Chapter XXXIX.

I do not think it necessary to grapple with an argument advanced not in a serious but in a scoffing spirit, such as the following:  “If the mother of Jesus was beautiful, then the god whose nature is not to love a corruptible body, had intercourse with her because she was beautiful;” or, “It was improbable that the god would entertain a passion for her, because she was neither rich nor of royal rank, seeing no one, even of her neighbours, knew her.”  And it is in the same scoffing spirit that he adds:  “When hated by her husband, and turned out of doors, she was not saved by divine power, nor was her story believed.  Such things,” he says, “have no connection with the kingdom of heaven.”  In what respect does such language differ from that of those who pour abuse on others on the public streets, and whose words are unworthy of any serious attention?

Οὐ δοκεῖ μοι ἀγωνίσασθαι πρὸς λόγον, μὴ μετὰ σπουδῆς ἀλλὰ μετὰ χλεύης εἰρημένον· Εἰ ἄρα καλὴ ἦν ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, καὶ ὡς καλῇ αὐτῇ ἐμίγνυτο ὁ θεός, οὐ πεφυκὼς ἐρᾶν φθαρτοῦ σώματος; Ἢ ὅτι οὐδ' εἰκὸς ἦν ἐρασθήσεσθαι αὐτῆς τὸν θεόν, οὔσης οὔτ' εὐδαίμονος οὔτε βασιλικῆς, ἐπεὶ μηδεὶς αὐτὴν ᾔδει μηδὲ τῶν γειτόνων· παίζει δὲ λέγων καὶ ὅτι μισουμένην αὐτὴν ὑπὸ τοῦ τέκτονος καὶ ἐκβαλλομένην οὐκ ἔσωσε θεία δύναμις οὐδὲ λόγος πειστικός. Οὐδὲν οὖν, φησί, ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ βασι λείαν. Τί οὖν ταῦτα διαφέροι ἂν τῶν ἐν ταῖς τριόδοις λοιδορουμένων τισὶ καὶ οὐδὲν σπουδῆς ἄξιον λεγόντων;