§46. Discredit, from the date of the Incarnation, of idol-cultus, oracles, mythologies, demoniacal energy, magic, and Gentile philosophy. And whereas the old cults were strictly local and independent, the worship of Christ is catholic and uniform.

When did men begin to desert the worshipping of idols, save since God, the true Word of God, has come among men? Or when have the oracles among the Greeks, and everywhere, ceased and become empty, save when the Saviour has manifested Himself upon earth? 2. Or when did those who are called gods and heroes in the poets begin to be convicted of being merely mortal men138    Cf. notes on c. Gent. 10, and 12. 2., save since the Lord erected His conquest of death, and preserved incorruptible the body he had taken, raising it from the dead? 3. Or when did the deceitfulness and madness of demons fall into contempt, save when the power of God, the Word, the Master of all these as well, condescending because of man’s weakness, appeared on earth? Or when139    On the following argument see Döllinger ii. 210 sqq., and Bigg, Bampt. Lect. 248, note 1. did the art and the schools of magic begin to be trodden down, save when the divine manifestation of the Word took place among men? 4. And, in a word, at what time has the wisdom of the Greeks become foolish, save when the true Wisdom of God manifested itself on earth? For formerly the whole world and every place was led astray by the worshipping of idols, and men regarded nothing else but the idols as gods. But now, all the world over, men are deserting the superstition of the idols, and taking refuge with Christ; and, worshipping Him as God, are by His means coming to know that Father also Whom they knew not. 5. And, marvellous fact, whereas the objects of worship were various and of vast number, and each place had its own idol, and he who was accounted a god among them had no power to pass over to the neighbouring place, so as to persuade those of neighbouring peoples to worship him, but was barely served even among his own people; for no one else worshipped his neighbour’s god—on the contrary, each man kept to his own idol140    On the local character of ancient religions, see Döllinger i. 109, &c., and Coulanges, La Cité Antique, Book III. ch. vi., and V. iii. (the substance in Barker’s Aryan Civilisation)., thinking it to be lord of all;—Christ alone is worshipped as one and the same among all peoples; and what the weakness of the idols could not do—to persuade, namely, even those dwelling close at hand,—this Christ has done, persuading not only those close at hand, but simply the entire world, to worship one and the same Lord, and through Him God, even His Father.

Πότε τὴν τῶν εἰδώλων θρησκείαν ἤρξαντο καταλιμπάνειν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, εἰ μὴ ἀφ' οὗ γέγονεν ὁ ἀληθινὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ Θεὸς Λόγος ἐν ἀνθρώποις; πότε δὲ τὰ παρ' Ἕλλησι καὶ πανταχοῦ μαντεῖα πέπαυται καὶ κεκένωται, εἰ μὴ ὅτε μέχρι γῆς πεφανέρωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὁ Σωτήρ; Πότε δὲ καταγινώσκεσθαι ἤρξαντο οἱ παρὰ ποιηταῖς λεγόμενοι θεοὶ καὶ ἥρωες, ὡς μόνον ὄντες ἄνθρωποι θνητοί, εἰ μὴ ἀφ' οὗ ὁ Κύριος τὸ κατὰ τοῦ θανάτου τρόπαιον εἰργάσατο, καὶ ὅπερ ἔλαβε σῶμα τετήρηκεν ἄφθαρτον, ἀναστήσας αὐτὸ ἐκ τῶν νεκρῶν; Πότε δὲ ἡ δαιμόνων ἀπάτη καὶ μανία κατεφρονήθη, εἰ μὴ ὅτε ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ ∆ύναμις ὁ Λόγος, ὁ πάντων καὶ τούτων ∆εσπότης, διὰ τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἀσθένειαν συγκαταβάς, ἐπὶ γῆς ἐφάνη; Πότε δὲ τῆς μαγείας ἡ τέχνη καὶ τὰ διδασκαλεῖα ἤρξαντο καταπατεῖσθαι, εἰ μὴ ὅτε τὰ θεοφάνια τοῦ Λόγου γέγονεν ἐν ἀνθρώποις; Καὶ ὅλως, πότε τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡ σοφία μεμώραται, εἰ μὴ ὅτε ἡ ἀληθὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ Σοφία ἐπὶ γῆς ἑαυτὴν ἐφανέρωσε; Πάλαι μὲν γὰρ πᾶσα ἡ οἰκουμένη καὶ πᾶς τόπος τῇ θρησκείᾳ τῶν εἰδώλων ἐπλανᾶτο, καὶ οὐδὲν ἄλλο ἢ τὰ εἴδωλα θεοὺς ἐνόμιζον οἱ ἄνθρωποι. Νῦν δὲ κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκουμένην, τὴν μὲν τῶν εἰδώλων δεισιδαιμονίαν καταλιμπάνουσιν οἱ ἄνθρωποι, ἐπὶ δὲ τὸν Χριστὸν καταφεύγουσι, καὶ Θεὸν αὐτὸν προσκυνοῦντες, δι' αὐτοῦ καὶ ὃν οὐκ ᾔδεισαν Πατέρα γινώσκουσι. Καὶ τό γε θαυμαστόν, διαφόρων ὄντων καὶ μυρίων σεβασμάτων, καὶ ἑκάστου τόπου τὸ ἴδιον ἔχοντος εἴδωλον, καὶ μὴ ἰσχύον τος τοῦ παρ' αὐτοῖς λεγομένου θεοῦ τὸν πλησίον ὑπερ βῆναι τόπον, ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ἐκ γειτόνων πεῖσαι σέβειν αὐτόν, ἀλλὰ μόλις καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις θρησκευομένου–οὐδεὶς γὰρ ἄλλος τὸν τοῦ γείτονος ἐσέβετο θεόν, ἀλλ' ἕκαστος τὸ ἴδιον ἐφύλαττεν εἴδωλον, νομίζων τῶν πάντων αὐτὸ κύριον εἶναι–, μόνος ὁ Χριστὸς παρὰ πᾶσιν εἷς καὶ πανταχοῦ ὁ αὐτὸς προσκυνεῖται· καὶ ὃ μὴ δεδύνηται τῶν εἰδώλων ἡ ἀσθένεια ποιῆσαι, ὥστε κἂν τοὺς πλησίον οἰκοῦντας πεῖσαι, τοῦτο ὁ Χριστὸς πεποίηκεν, οὐ μόνον τοὺς πλησίον ἀλλὰ καὶ πᾶσαν ἁπλῶς τὴν οἰκουμένην πείσας ἕνα καὶ τὸν αὐτὸν Κύριον σέβειν, καὶ δι' αὐτοῦ Θεὸν τὸν αὐτοῦ Πατέρα.